The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.
by Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
The Political Social Worker
Join us on Twitter at 8 pm EST to discuss PTST in veterans and the use of MDMA (ecstasy) in treatment. Laura Reed Goodson (@reedtome) will be our guest. To participate use #swunited. Questions to the moderator can be sent to @swhelpercom. You can learn more about this topic ahead of the discussion here.
Social Work Chats is a weekly Tweeter discussion hosted by socialworkhelper.com. The chats are archived and can be reviewed here.
Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
The Political Social Worker
It has been a very difficult day for many. 26 innocent people, 20 children and 6 adults, shot dead in Connecticut. We still do not have all the facts but it is clear that we need to do something about the lax gun laws in this country. According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 97,820 people in the United States are shot or killed each year. In 2010 8,775 people in the US where murdered with a gun. Compared to Great Britain, which has stricter gun laws, where 58 people were killed by firearms during the same time period.
We need to take action now. Call and write to your Congressman demanding that they support stricter gun control policies. If you can take a couple of hour out of your day set up a meeting at their district office and invite a few neighbors to participate. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has further tips on how to take action here.
by Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
The Political Social Worker
A few weeks back I mentioned that The Political Social Worker would be moving to self hosting and getting a make over. Here is a sneak peek of the new site. When you can take a look and let me know what you think. A Big thank you to Deona at socialworkhelper.com for designing the new site and for all the support/encouragement she has given me.
In other news here is the link to the online version of Living Out Magazine. I co-write the article on page 33 Politics 2012: Big Wins for the GLBT Community.
English: The Supreme Court of the United States. Washington, D.C. Français : La Cour suprême des États-Unis. Washington D.C., États-Unis. Norsk (bokmål)â¬: Høyesterett i USA. Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
The Political Social Worker
On Friday the Supreme Court of The United States announced that it will hear two cases relating to same-sex marriage. The court will hear the case on California’s Prop 8 and one of the cases, Windsor v. United Sates, on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Back in 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled in favor in same-sex marriage. In response opponents launched an anti-marriage equality campaign and managed to get an amendment on the ballot that November, Prop 8, that sought to define marriage as being between one man and one women. It passed. In February the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the law. Supporters of the ban appealed the case to the Supreme Court. If SCOTUS upholds the lower courts ruling, same-sex marriage will return to the state.
Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as being a legal union between one man and one woman. As a result the federal government does not recognize marriages of same-sex couples who marry in a state or foreign county, such as Canada, where same-sex marriage is legal. Edith Windsor and her partner of over 40 years married in Canada in 2007. A couple of years later her partner died and the federal government sent Windsor a $363,000 estate tax bill. Had Windsor’s spouse been a man she would have to pay nothing on her inheritance. In October the 2nd circuit court of appeals ruled in Windsor favor by declaring section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional.
Melinda Lewis weighs in on non-profit functioning like for-profit corporations.
It’s an axiom these days:
Nonprofit organizations should operate ‘more like a business’.
The people/donors/media/policymakers who advise this are seldom very specific about what this corporate approach would really look like for social service agencies.
I mean, it’s not like the for-profit world has a lock on efficiency or ‘good governance’, and certainly many nonprofit organizations can measure their impact on a scale more impressive than most businesses.
I think, too often, this exhortation to ‘run like a business’ is really code for, “we’re uncomfortable with the whole ‘social impact’ thing, and not really sure that we should collectively have a responsibility to [fill in the blank worthy cause], so…can’t you just ‘take care of that yourself’, like a business?”
And my obvious frustration with the ‘wash our hands of this’ approach, aside, this post is about one place where I’ll concede that nonprofits for sure have a lot to…
View original post 345 more words
Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
The Political Social Worker
Mother Jones breaks down Americas 50 Worst State Legislatures. Did you know Georgia passed a resolution recognizing March 30-April 4th as WrestleMania Appreciation Week? And that was one of the brighter moments on the list.
The Political Social Worker 