http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/06/responsible-gun-owner-gets-mad-and-shoots-a-man-in-the-face-killing-him/
Meanwhile, Flemmings wife and kids are in deep mourning. The day he was shot and killed was also his kids’, ages 5 and 7, first day of school. Amy Flemming says the kids keep asking where their daddy is. As you can imagine that’s something they’ll relive every first day of the year for the rest of their school days.
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Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
President Obama is the best economic President in Modern Times - New Study
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/06/its-official-president-obama-is-the-best-economic-president-in-modern-times/
A new economic report, published by Forbes.com on September 6, 2014, clearly shows that President Obama is the best economic president in modern times. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact, based on all of typical the economic indicators, including jobs, investments, growth and expansion, even the rate of inflation. In all of these areas President Obama’s record outperforms that of every other modern president, including conservative idol, Ronald Reagan.
Under President Obama’s leadership, the unemployment rate has now decreased to 6.1 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2007, when the economy began gushing jobs under the failed leadership of then president George W. Bush.
President Obama has achieved a 6.1% unemployment rate in his 6th year, fully one year faster than President Reagan did. At this point in his presidency, President Reagan was still struggling with 7.1% unemployment, and he did not reach into the mid-low 6% range for another full year. So, despite today’s number, the Obama administration has still done considerably better at job creating and reducing unemployment than did the Reagan administration.
In order to satisfy Obama’s conservative critics, Forbes compared the economy under President Obama to that of Ronald Reagan, who the GOP often touts as the best economic president of our times. It’s no surprise to discover that even with many additional obstacles in his path, Forbes concluded that:
“President Obama’s administration has outperformed President Reagan’s in all commonly watched categories.”
President Obama has achieved a 6.1% unemployment rate in his 6th year, fully one year faster than President Reagan did. At this point in his presidency, President Reagan was still struggling with 7.1% unemployment, and he did not reach into the mid-low 6% range for another full year. So, despite today’s number, the Obama administration has still done considerably better at job creating and reducing unemployment than did the Reagan administration.
US Oil based Empire Destroys the World's Climate, not pretty.
http://www.alternet.org/world/chomsky-americas-obsession-destroys-earths-climate?akid=12208.294211.w_zzby&rd=1&src=newsletter1018198&t=5
Oil based economy has been chosen by those we elected. The alternative of clean energy was ignored because of the payoffs by the Billionaire Koch Brothers and their wealthy buddies.
Oil based economy has been chosen by those we elected. The alternative of clean energy was ignored because of the payoffs by the Billionaire Koch Brothers and their wealthy buddies.
Friday, September 5, 2014
CA: Worse drought seen in 2000 years of data
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/03/worse-anything-seen-2000-years-megadrought-threatens-western-states
A new study warns that the chances of western states in the U.S. experiencing a multi-decade 'megadrought'—not seen in historical climate records in over 2,000 years—has a much higher chance of occurring in the decades ahead than previously realized. In fact, scientists are warning, the drought now being experienced in California and elsewhere could be just the beginning of an unprecedented water crisis across the west and southwest regions of the country.
A new study warns that the chances of western states in the U.S. experiencing a multi-decade 'megadrought'—not seen in historical climate records in over 2,000 years—has a much higher chance of occurring in the decades ahead than previously realized. In fact, scientists are warning, the drought now being experienced in California and elsewhere could be just the beginning of an unprecedented water crisis across the west and southwest regions of the country.
Louisiana Swamp Land is disappearing fast.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gulf-mexico-rapidly-swallowing-southeastern-louisiana?page=0%2C5
In just 80 years, some 2,000 square miles of Louisiana's coastal landscape have turned to open water, wiping places off maps, bringing the Gulf of Mexico to the back door of New Orleans and posing a lethal threat to an energy and shipping corridor vital to the nation’s economy. And it’s going to get worse, even quicker.
Scientists now say one of the greatest environmental and economic disasters in the nation’s history is rushing toward a catastrophic conclusion over the next 50 years, so far unabated and largely unnoticed.
Trying to keep pace with the vanishing pieces of southeast Louisiana today is like chasing the sunset; it’s a race that never ends. Lambert said when he’s leading fishing trips, he finds himself explaining to visitors what he means when he says, “This used to be Bay Pomme d’Or” and the growing list of other spots now only on maps. Signs of the impending death of this delta are there to see for any visitor.
Falling tides carry patches of marsh grass that have fallen from the ever-crumbling shorelines. Pelicans circle in confusion over nesting islands that have washed away since last spring. Pilings that held weekend camps surrounded by thick marshes a decade ago stand in open water, hundreds of yards from the nearest land — mute testimony to a vanishing culture. Shrimpers push their wing nets in lagoons that were land five years ago. The bare trunks of long-dead oaks rise from the marsh, tombstones marking the drowning of high ridges that were built back when the river pumped life-giving sediment through its delta.
“If you’re a young person you think this is what it’s supposed to look like,” Lambert said. “Then when you’re old enough to know, it’s too late.”
Beheadings during Bush Years - Not the President's fault back then
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/09/05/when-fox-news-didnt-blame-the-gop-president-for/200643
Charles Krauthammer condemned Obama for not rising to the occasion, while former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on Fox to claim world leaders see the president as "weak and ineffective" in the wake of the most recent beheading.
That last part is telling because in the spring of 2004, when Cheney was vice president and the misbegotten war he championed was raging in Iraq, two American citizens, Nick Berg and Paul Johnson, were also kidnapped by Islamic terrorists and were also beheaded for the world to see. But of course, Cheney didn't see that as a sign of President Bush's weakness and ineffectiveness, and neither did the White House's loyal band of professional defenders at Fox News.
Even six years into Obama's presidency, it's still stunning to see how radically different Fox presents the news and frames its commentary based entirely on which party controls the White House. When Bush was president, Fox talkers urged that Americans come together and support the administration as it battled lawless killers ("murders," "sadists," "savages") who decapitated Americans.
EPIC BATTLE: Corporations vs People who insist upon eating healthy
http://www.alternet.org/food/contested-terrain-american-dinner-plate?akid=12202.294211.BUDdY4&rd=1&src=newsletter1018096&t=14
Corporate American made Billions with the American Diet, which is making people unhealthy and provides much profit in getting the fat off after putting it on.
I find it is easy to see that capitalism makes us sick with the standard Western diet of processed food and abundant sweeteners, for profit, and then heals us with various body industries, also for profit. Neocon angst over the Affordable Care Act would likely turn to hysteria if the federal government embraced veganism on health and environmental grounds. The American right to fast food is as central as the right to bear arms, although the fast-food sandwich, with fries, is far more lethal than the handgun, as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mortality data suggest. Esselstyn, Ornish, Fuhrman and other prophets of plant-based diets, including Colin Campbell who co-authored The China Study, note that we would save billions in health care costs by eating differently. Plant-based cardiology entered the mainstream with CNN's Sanjay Gupta's 2011 documentary Last Heart Attack. His account features heart patient Bill Clinton's conversion to veganism, following bypass surgery.
Corporate American made Billions with the American Diet, which is making people unhealthy and provides much profit in getting the fat off after putting it on.
I find it is easy to see that capitalism makes us sick with the standard Western diet of processed food and abundant sweeteners, for profit, and then heals us with various body industries, also for profit. Neocon angst over the Affordable Care Act would likely turn to hysteria if the federal government embraced veganism on health and environmental grounds. The American right to fast food is as central as the right to bear arms, although the fast-food sandwich, with fries, is far more lethal than the handgun, as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mortality data suggest. Esselstyn, Ornish, Fuhrman and other prophets of plant-based diets, including Colin Campbell who co-authored The China Study, note that we would save billions in health care costs by eating differently. Plant-based cardiology entered the mainstream with CNN's Sanjay Gupta's 2011 documentary Last Heart Attack. His account features heart patient Bill Clinton's conversion to veganism, following bypass surgery.
Medicare for all would save billions the first year: NEW STUDY
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2013/july/%E2%80%98medicare-for-all%E2%80%99-would-cover-everyone-save-billions-in-first-year-new-study
‘Medicare for All’ would cover everyone, save billions in first year: new study
Economist says Canadian-style, single-payer health plan would reap huge savings from reduced paperwork and from negotiated drug prices, enough to pay for quality coverage for all – at less cost to families and businesses
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Guns KILL CHILDREN - The evidence is Overwhelming.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/06/gun_deaths_in_children_statistics_show_firearms_endanger_kids_despite_nra.html
Caroline Starks was 2 years old. Her 5-year-old brother was playing nearby with his birthday present: a .22-caliber Crickett rifle. His mother stepped outside for a moment, certain the gun wasn’t loaded. She was wrong. Caroline was pronounced dead a few hours later at the Cumberland County Hospital in Kentucky.
Caroline Starks was 2 years old. Her 5-year-old brother was playing nearby with his birthday present: a .22-caliber Crickett rifle. His mother stepped outside for a moment, certain the gun wasn’t loaded. She was wrong. Caroline was pronounced dead a few hours later at the Cumberland County Hospital in Kentucky.
Despite harrowing tragedies like Caroline’s death, the National Rifle Association iscommitted to expanding firearm ownership among children. The NRA’s recent convention in Indianapolis included a “Youth Day” to promote firearms for children, an event from which the media was banned. For years, gun manufacturers and the NRA have marketed firearms to children ages 5 to 12, insisting that programs such as the Eddie Eagle Safety Program ensure the safety of children. If they truly believe this, they are mistaken.
The overwhelming empirical evidence indicates that the presence of a gun makes children less safe;
As one study found, for every time a gun is used legally in self-defense at home, there are “four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.” A study of adolescents in California found that there were 13 times as many threatening as self-defensive uses of guns. Of the defensive encounters, many arose in confrontations that became hostilebecause of the presence of a firearm.
In terms of accidental fatalities, American children younger than 15 are nine timesmore likely to die by a gun accident than those in the rest of the developed world.
As one study found, for every time a gun is used legally in self-defense at home, there are “four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.” A study of adolescents in California found that there were 13 times as many threatening as self-defensive uses of guns. Of the defensive encounters, many arose in confrontations that became hostilebecause of the presence of a firearm.
In terms of accidental fatalities, American children younger than 15 are nine timesmore likely to die by a gun accident than those in the rest of the developed world.
The Slow Motion Lynching of President Obama - Well Stated
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/12/the-slow-motion-lynching-of-president-barack-obama/
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/12/the-slow-motion-lynching-of-president-barack-obama/#ixzz3CP1Imtys
We’ve been watching a slow motion lynching of a moderate brilliant family man, a father, and faithful loving husband. The Republicans in Congress are so dedicated to lynching the President they’ve been willing to shut down our government and risk the future of our economy.
Evangelical “Christians” have been so stuck on putting a rope around this black man’s neck they have denied their faith and been the backbone of the lying Tea Party who spawned the so-called “birthers” and the rest of the white people driving our news cycle.
Roman Catholic bishops have denied their tradition of helping the poor and been so eager to destroy this president they aligned themselves with white Evangelical bigots and tried to stop health care reform, all because the President wants to give women a fair shake. The bishops even called him “anti-religious” because the president wants insurers to pay for contraception.
This is a slow motion lynching of a black man who is so moderate and centrist
God bless you Mr. President. I’m praying for you. I am so very sorry. But take heart, in the long reach of history the door you opened will stay open for the millions of Americans of all colors, genders and beliefs who will follow you. They will bless your name. So will history.
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/12/the-slow-motion-lynching-of-president-barack-obama/#ixzz3CP23gcFp
God bless you Mr. President. I’m praying for you. I am so very sorry. But take heart, in the long reach of history the door you opened will stay open for the millions of Americans of all colors, genders and beliefs who will follow you. They will bless your name. So will history.
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/12/the-slow-motion-lynching-of-president-barack-obama/#ixzz3CP23gcFp
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/12/the-slow-motion-lynching-of-president-barack-obama/#ixzz3CP1Imtys
Judge blasts Expert Witness in TX abortion case
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/03/1326895/-Judge-blasts-expert-witnesses-called-to-defend-Texas-anti-abortion-law?detail=email
The Judge was very upset about the witness who had been discredited but Texas chose to allow him to make the case. The judge was not nice because of the deception the state went to in trying to hide the witnesses identity.
An interesting tidbit about the Texas anti-abortion law that got struck down in part last week: The judge's disgust with how the state's "expert witnesses" conducted themselves. Specifically, that longtime anti-abortion crank and/or "consultant" and/or "expert witness" Vincent Rue had a large hand in how the other "expert witnesses" presented their cases:
The Judge was very upset about the witness who had been discredited but Texas chose to allow him to make the case. The judge was not nice because of the deception the state went to in trying to hide the witnesses identity.
An interesting tidbit about the Texas anti-abortion law that got struck down in part last week: The judge's disgust with how the state's "expert witnesses" conducted themselves. Specifically, that longtime anti-abortion crank and/or "consultant" and/or "expert witness" Vincent Rue had a large hand in how the other "expert witnesses" presented their cases:
[US District Judge Lee Yeakel] ultimately discarded the testimony of four expert witnesses because of Rue's "considerable editorial and discretionary control" over their written reports and testimony: James C. Anderson, the chair of Virginia Physicians for Life; Deborah Kitz, a health care consultant from Pennsylvania; Peter Uhlenberg, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and Dr. Mayra Jimenez Thompson, an OB-GYN and University of Texas-Southwestern professor.So a judge is calling shenanigans on the whole cottage industry of faux-experts going to different states en masse in an organized effort to bend the law according to whatever a half-dozen people are willing to say in court in exchange for money. Well, at least this collection of people.Emails showed that that Rue sent Uhlenberg sources, "ideas," and "fact changes." In one message, Uhlenberg wrote, "I need your critical suggestions." Kitz wrote Rue an email that said, "Tried to use as much of your material as I could, but time ran out." Anderson testified that Rue was responsible for "wordsmithing" his report to the court. Rue has tapped Anderson as an expert witness in four other states that paid Anderson more than $110,000.
Growing Pressure to make President Obama to "DO SOMETHING STUPID"
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/growing-pressure-obama-something-stupid?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=borowitz&mbid=nl_090414_Borowitz&CUST_ID=24484788&spMailingID=7039357&spUserID=MjczNzc1NzE1MjES1&spJobID=520378967&spReportId=NTIwMzc4OTY3S0
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the attack on Thursday, blasting Obama for failing to craft a stupid response to crises in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the attack on Thursday, blasting Obama for failing to craft a stupid response to crises in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine.
“Instead of reacting to these events with the haste and recklessness they deserve, the President has chosen to waste valuable time thinking,” McCain said. “This goes against the most fundamental principles of American foreign policy.”
ISIL Beheading Videos are working as Propaganda tools for ISIL terrorists. Sad but True.
http://www.alternet.org/isil-beheading-videos-scariest-part-how-well-their-propaganda-working?akid=12200.294211.KLroe1&rd=1&src=newsletter1017948&t=8
I have not watched the ISIL killing videos but worldwide they are big. Those killing videos are great recruitment tools for ISIL it appears. During this age of armchair video shoot and kill games, it appears that beheading a man from the WEALTHY country plays well. ISIL is doing what they do in kill em video games but for real. Give me big money or he dies is the theme.
I have not watched the ISIL killing videos but worldwide they are big. Those killing videos are great recruitment tools for ISIL it appears. During this age of armchair video shoot and kill games, it appears that beheading a man from the WEALTHY country plays well. ISIL is doing what they do in kill em video games but for real. Give me big money or he dies is the theme.
ISIL clearly thinks that its opponents have a certain set of assumptions, that they are, apparently, coldhearted, psychopathic killers. And they play into that. The message is direct and clear: Don’t mess with us. We will do exactly what we said we will do. No ransom? He dies.
How Fundamentalist Home Schooling is hurting our nation
http://www.alternet.org/education/barely-literate-how-christian-fundamentalist-homeschooling-hurts-kids?page=0%2C1&akid=12200.294211.KLroe1&rd=1&src=newsletter1017948&t=18
I was introduced to a whole world of conservative Christian homeschoolers, some of whom we would now consider “Quiverfull” families: homeschooling conservatives who eschew any form of family planning and choose instead to “trust God” with matters related to procreation.
Though I fell out of touch with my homeschooled friends as we grew older, a few years ago, I reconnected with a few ex-Quiverfull peers on a new support blog called No Longer Quivering. Poring over their stories, I was shocked to find so many tales of gross educational neglect. I don’t merely mean that they had received what I now view as an overly politicized education with huge gaps, for example, in American history, evolution or sexuality. Rather, what disturbed me were the many stories about homeschoolers who were barely literate when they graduated, or whose math and science education had never extended much past middle school.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Government programs increase happiness and life satisfaction: Republicans got it wrong.
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2014/09/despite-what-republicans-say-bigger.html
New Study shows people are more satisfied with government programs than the Republicans want us to believe.
New Study shows people are more satisfied with government programs than the Republicans want us to believe.
'Convert them or Kill Them' - A Christian said this. Isn't that the philosophy which just got 2 reporters beheaded?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/03/1326776/-Hannity-scores-exclusive-interview-with-bearded-fanatic-who-declares-Convert-them-or-kill-them#?detail=facebook
What is the difference from ISIS and Mr. Christian - Phil Robertson? They say the same thing.
What is the difference from ISIS and Mr. Christian - Phil Robertson? They say the same thing.
Jimmy Fallon and Adam Levine doing impressions - Great
http://www.today.com/entertainment/jimmy-fallon-adam-levine-bring-sinatra-azalea-more-tonight-1D80123427?cid=sm_t_main_1_20140903_30922936
Fallon fans have long known that he's a master singer sound-alike, thanks to his many spot-on performances as Neil Young and his History of Rap installments with pal Justin Timberlake. But as it turns out, Maroon 5 frontman Levine is an impressive impressionist, too.
Fallon fans have long known that he's a master singer sound-alike, thanks to his many spot-on performances as Neil Young and his History of Rap installments with pal Justin Timberlake. But as it turns out, Maroon 5 frontman Levine is an impressive impressionist, too.
Supreme Court using poorly Supported Data to support their decisions.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/02/1326521/-Supreme-Court-justices-using-poorly-supported-data-in-their-decisions-poorly?detail=facebook
The report with a bit more information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/us/politics/the-dubious-sources-of-some-supreme-court-facts.html?_r=0
The Supreme Court received more than 80 friend-of-the-court briefs in the Hobby Lobby case. Most of these filings, also called amicus briefs, were dull and repetitive recitations of familiar legal arguments.More information the better, right? Right????
Some of the factual assertions in recent amicus briefs would not pass muster in a high school research paper. But that has not stopped the Supreme Court from relying on them. Recent opinions have cited “facts” from amicus briefs that were backed up by blog posts, emails or nothing at all.
The report with a bit more information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/us/politics/the-dubious-sources-of-some-supreme-court-facts.html?_r=0
The Rich Control Our Politics - It is getting worse.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2014/rich-control-our-politics-more-ever-you-can-thank-right-wingers-supreme-court
The newest class of wealthy super-donors created by the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority now has more political access and influence than ever, according to several new reports. Of America’s 318 million citizens, 310 people have taken advantage of its April ruling that threw out a $123,200 combined contribution cap for indviduals to candidates and political parties.
The newest class of wealthy super-donors created by the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority now has more political access and influence than ever, according to several new reports. Of America’s 318 million citizens, 310 people have taken advantage of its April ruling that threw out a $123,200 combined contribution cap for indviduals to candidates and political parties.
Fukushima radiation disaster continues to worsen
http://www.alternet.org/world/fukushima-disaster-continues-worsen?akid=12195.294211.Yv73Eu&rd=1&src=newsletter1017782&t=25
Nobody in the world knows how to dispose of radioactive waste safely
and permanently. That's a given. The Japanese central government is
presumably aware that anything it does with still the unmeasured but
vast amount of radioactive waste from Fukushima's six nuclear power
generators will be temporary. Leaving it in place is not an option. So
Tokyo announced on August 29 that the Fukushima waste would be stored
for 30 years in Fukushima prefect, in an " interim facility" to be built probably in nearby Okuma or Futaba ( now evacuated).
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Republicans worried: Democrats gaining momentum for Nov 2014 elections.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/09/02/momentum-moves-democrats-republicans-worried-2014-election.html
Massive gains by the Republicans is just not happening.
Massive gains by the Republicans is just not happening.
Man Getting a BJ in alley, shoots at strangers who were walking by watching - Really happened.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/02/1326446/-Man-Fires-9mm-At-Couple-Who-Interrupted-Public-Fellatio-Because-2nd-Amendment-Remedy?detail=email#
I am not sure that this is what Thomas Jefferson was considering people shooting at passerbys because your BJ was seen. He was using his 2nd amendment rights? OK - Thats his story and he is sticking to it.
I am not sure that this is what Thomas Jefferson was considering people shooting at passerbys because your BJ was seen. He was using his 2nd amendment rights? OK - Thats his story and he is sticking to it.
7 Scientific Mysteries - a discusion and the origins of everything.
http://www.alternet.org/7-fascinating-scientific-mysteries-black-holes-ufos-and-origins-everything?akid=12191.294211.1AXVB1&rd=1&src=newsletter1017648&t=28
The most thrilling aspect of science, however, is what has yet to be discovered, and the process by which we test a never-ending stream of hypotheses. As Albert Einstein once said: “The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder.”
Mysteries are vexing, and sometimes deadly, but the process of continually searching for answers is what ultimately solves problems. We are far from understanding the worlds infinite mysteries — from the wonders of our universe, to the mysteries of human genetics, to mystifying deadly diseases. Here are just a few of the unknowns humans — especially scientists — grapple with every day.
The most thrilling aspect of science, however, is what has yet to be discovered, and the process by which we test a never-ending stream of hypotheses. As Albert Einstein once said: “The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder.”
Mysteries are vexing, and sometimes deadly, but the process of continually searching for answers is what ultimately solves problems. We are far from understanding the worlds infinite mysteries — from the wonders of our universe, to the mysteries of human genetics, to mystifying deadly diseases. Here are just a few of the unknowns humans — especially scientists — grapple with every day.
The book that got Teaching Right
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/book-got-teaching-right?src=mp
UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE by Bel Kaufman
In the course of a few decades, I became separated from my copy of “Up the Down Staircase,” Bel Kaufman’s classic novel about a New York City schoolteacher. So after Kaufman died, in July, at the age of a hundred and three, I felt compelled to reread the book. I called up my neighborhood Barnes & Noble to reserve a copy. Considering the stunning popularity “Up the Down Staircase” had enjoyed—it spent sixty-four weeks on the best-seller list after its release, in 1965, inspired a popular film adaptation in 1967, and ultimately sold more than six million copies—I assumed that the coverage of Kaufman’s death had renewed interest in the book, and that copies would be selling out.
Instead, very much to my surprise, the Barnes & Noble clerk informed me that “Up the Down Staircase” was out of print. Unconvinced, I checked several online booksellers, and, sure enough, no current edition was available. So I grabbed a copy from the library, and as I plunged into it I realized just how sadly appropriate it was that the book had fallen into obsolescence. What place can there be for a book about the large struggles and little glories of a teacher, at a time when teacher bashing has become a major strain, even the dominant strain, of what passes for “education reform.”
UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE by Bel Kaufman
In the course of a few decades, I became separated from my copy of “Up the Down Staircase,” Bel Kaufman’s classic novel about a New York City schoolteacher. So after Kaufman died, in July, at the age of a hundred and three, I felt compelled to reread the book. I called up my neighborhood Barnes & Noble to reserve a copy. Considering the stunning popularity “Up the Down Staircase” had enjoyed—it spent sixty-four weeks on the best-seller list after its release, in 1965, inspired a popular film adaptation in 1967, and ultimately sold more than six million copies—I assumed that the coverage of Kaufman’s death had renewed interest in the book, and that copies would be selling out.
Instead, very much to my surprise, the Barnes & Noble clerk informed me that “Up the Down Staircase” was out of print. Unconvinced, I checked several online booksellers, and, sure enough, no current edition was available. So I grabbed a copy from the library, and as I plunged into it I realized just how sadly appropriate it was that the book had fallen into obsolescence. What place can there be for a book about the large struggles and little glories of a teacher, at a time when teacher bashing has become a major strain, even the dominant strain, of what passes for “education reform.”
We are now Addicted to Violence and Misery: How it came to be.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-weve-become-resigned-spectacle-violence-and-misery
We are paying a high price for all of the war games and Macho talk and actions which I believe came about with the lies that put us into wars and the War On Terror.
The quest to merely survive is now legitimated through spectacles of violence that misdirect moral and political outrage into entertainment and the abyss of a moral coma. As violence joins becomes part of a disimagination machine that makes it difficult to imagine other modes of social behavior, resistance, if not a more just a democratic future, the spectacle of the apocalypse signals a society in which a collective sense of despair merges with the notion of a future that is no longer worth fighting for.
We live in an age in which violence and the logic of disposability mutually reinforce each other. For example, unarmed and with his hands raised, Michael Brown was not only shot by a white policeman, but his body was also left in the street for four hours, a reminder of the same treatment given to the low income inhabitants of Katrina whose bodies, rendered worthless and underserving of compassion, were also left in the streets after the hurricane swept through New Orleans. The disposable are the new living dead, invisible, and relegated to zones of terminal exclusion and impoverishment.
We are paying a high price for all of the war games and Macho talk and actions which I believe came about with the lies that put us into wars and the War On Terror.
The quest to merely survive is now legitimated through spectacles of violence that misdirect moral and political outrage into entertainment and the abyss of a moral coma. As violence joins becomes part of a disimagination machine that makes it difficult to imagine other modes of social behavior, resistance, if not a more just a democratic future, the spectacle of the apocalypse signals a society in which a collective sense of despair merges with the notion of a future that is no longer worth fighting for.
We live in an age in which violence and the logic of disposability mutually reinforce each other. For example, unarmed and with his hands raised, Michael Brown was not only shot by a white policeman, but his body was also left in the street for four hours, a reminder of the same treatment given to the low income inhabitants of Katrina whose bodies, rendered worthless and underserving of compassion, were also left in the streets after the hurricane swept through New Orleans. The disposable are the new living dead, invisible, and relegated to zones of terminal exclusion and impoverishment.
Wages DROPPED for most workers the first half of 2014.
http://www.alternet.org/labor/awful-wages-dropped-almost-all-american-workers-first-half-2014?akid=12191.294211.1AXVB1&rd=1&src=newsletter1017648&t=4
The Republican Race to the Bottom is working quite well. Billionaires are making out like bandits while the rest of us are making less and less.
Think your money's not going very far this year? It's not your imagination. According to new research by the Economic Policy Institute, real hourly wages declined for almost everybody in the U.S. workforce in the first half of 2014. Thanks, so-called recovery.
Economist Elise Gould pored over data from the government’s Current Population Survey and determined that workers at the 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th, and 95th percentiles all saw declines in their real wages in the first half of 2014 compared with the same period last year. This was true whether you had no high school degree, a high school diploma, some college, a college degree, or an advanced degree. In fact, people with advanced degrees saw the biggest drop (2.7 percent).
EPI reveals this isn't just a blip. Real wages dropped 4.9 percent for workers with a high school degree and 2.5 percent for workers with a college degree from the first half of 2007 to the first half of this year.
The Republican Race to the Bottom is working quite well. Billionaires are making out like bandits while the rest of us are making less and less.
Think your money's not going very far this year? It's not your imagination. According to new research by the Economic Policy Institute, real hourly wages declined for almost everybody in the U.S. workforce in the first half of 2014. Thanks, so-called recovery.
Economist Elise Gould pored over data from the government’s Current Population Survey and determined that workers at the 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th, and 95th percentiles all saw declines in their real wages in the first half of 2014 compared with the same period last year. This was true whether you had no high school degree, a high school diploma, some college, a college degree, or an advanced degree. In fact, people with advanced degrees saw the biggest drop (2.7 percent).
EPI reveals this isn't just a blip. Real wages dropped 4.9 percent for workers with a high school degree and 2.5 percent for workers with a college degree from the first half of 2007 to the first half of this year.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Where Did We Come From?
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2014/09/watching-this-literally-fills-me-with.html
f we could only shed ourselves of our crippling insecurities, and shake off the chains of superstition, just imagine how much farther we would be down the path of understanding.
Everyday we should ask ourselves what we want to learn today.
And the answer should always come back "Everything."
f we could only shed ourselves of our crippling insecurities, and shake off the chains of superstition, just imagine how much farther we would be down the path of understanding.
Everyday we should ask ourselves what we want to learn today.
And the answer should always come back "Everything."
Schools For Sale! MONEY IS DRIVING THE DEBATE! Wallstreet is out to make money.
http://billmoyers.com/episode/public-schools-for-sale/
Public education is becoming big business as bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity investors are entering what they consider to be an “emerging market.” As Rupert Murdoch put it after purchasing an education technology company, “When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone.”
Education historian Diane Ravitch says the privatization of public education has to stop. As assistant secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush, she was an advocate of school choice and charter schools; under George W. Bush, she supported the No Child Left Behind initiative. But after careful investigation, she changed her mind, and has become, according to Salon, “the nation’s highest profile opponent” of charter-based education.
Public education is becoming big business as bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity investors are entering what they consider to be an “emerging market.” As Rupert Murdoch put it after purchasing an education technology company, “When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone.”
Education historian Diane Ravitch says the privatization of public education has to stop. As assistant secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush, she was an advocate of school choice and charter schools; under George W. Bush, she supported the No Child Left Behind initiative. But after careful investigation, she changed her mind, and has become, according to Salon, “the nation’s highest profile opponent” of charter-based education.
New Semi Trucks look like Space Ships - run on electricity
http://cutepuppylove.me/2014/09/01/walmarts-new-trucks-look-like-spaceships/
Walmart has just unveiled their latest truck; it’s the Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience, or WAVE.
These trucks are super-efficient with very advanced aerodynamics and powered by a prototype advanced turbine-powered, range-extending series hybrid powertrain, if you know what I mean (’cause I don’t)…
The trailer is almost completely made of carbon fiber, which makes them about 4,000 pounds lighter than most.
Walmart has just unveiled their latest truck; it’s the Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience, or WAVE.
These trucks are super-efficient with very advanced aerodynamics and powered by a prototype advanced turbine-powered, range-extending series hybrid powertrain, if you know what I mean (’cause I don’t)…
The trailer is almost completely made of carbon fiber, which makes them about 4,000 pounds lighter than most.
People are ignorant of Abortion facts and realities - A New Study
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/08/21/study-proves-that-80-of-americans-dont-know-anything-about-abortion/
The results were shocking. Out of the 569 people surveyed, only 41% knew that one in three women in the United States will have an abortion by the time she’s 45. Only 31% knew that giving birth is riskier than a first-trimester abortion. A baffling 17% of participants didn’t even know that first-trimester abortions were legal. Additionally, two-thirds of those surveyed believed that abortion was linked to breast cancer, mental health issues and fertility difficulty, which it is not. In short, only 13% of people were knowledgeable about abortion and could answer the majority of the questions correctly.
The results were shocking. Out of the 569 people surveyed, only 41% knew that one in three women in the United States will have an abortion by the time she’s 45. Only 31% knew that giving birth is riskier than a first-trimester abortion. A baffling 17% of participants didn’t even know that first-trimester abortions were legal. Additionally, two-thirds of those surveyed believed that abortion was linked to breast cancer, mental health issues and fertility difficulty, which it is not. In short, only 13% of people were knowledgeable about abortion and could answer the majority of the questions correctly.
Researchers believe that these results reveal serious shortcomings in America’s education policy. They stated:
“Men and women making sexual and reproductive health decisions may not be well informed about the relative safety and consequences of their choices, highlighting a need for the provision of better, more comprehensive and evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education.” [source]
These findings also reveal that abortion has been highly targeted by politically charged misinformation campaigns
which spew “facts” that are not based on science or medicine. Myths
about abortion are politicized to give the public the idea that it is
dangerous, unhealthy and immoral.
Medicare is costing less and helping more people - A little known fact which needs to be reported.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-woefully-underreported-surprisingly-good-news-about-medicare
Remember those scary rising healthcare costs, the ones that historically have risen much faster than G.D.P.?
Remember those scary rising healthcare costs, the ones that historically have risen much faster than G.D.P.?
They are a thing of the past, Paul Krugman informs us in today's column. " Health spending has slowed sharply,"
he writes, "and it’s already well below projections made just a few
years ago. The falloff has been especially pronounced in Medicare, which is spending $1,000 less per beneficiary than the Congressional Budget Office projected just four years ago."
Wow,
this is really great news. Why aren't we hearing more about it? Could
it be because the deficit scolds who continue to hold sway in the halls
of power don't want us to hear it, and refuse to acknowledge it? Could
be, because, as Krugman writes, "a big implication of the Medicare cost
miracle is that everything the usual suspects have been saying about
fiscal responsibility is wrong."
Women DO NOT like the Republican messaging by a lot.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/31/here-s-why-you-helpless-tramps-don-t-vote-republican.html
A new internal GOP survey suggests
the party’s history of demeaning comments and policies is just killing
them with women voters.
Things
aren’t looking good for the GOP when it comes to women voters,
according to a large survey by party strategists this summer. On
Republicans’ top issues—jobs and the economy—the poll showed only
flagging advantages, and in some cases, outright defeats. As Politico reported this week:
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