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Many authorities have said it: banks do not lend their deposits. They create the money they lend on their books. Which leaves us to wonder: If banks do not lend their depositors' money, why are they always scrambling to get it? Banks advertise to attract depositors, and they pay interest on the funds. What good are our deposits to the bank?
The mass media are plagued by the same mediocrity, corporatism and careerism as the academy, labor unions, the arts, the Democratic Party and religious institutions. They cling to the self-serving mantra of impartiality and objectivity to justify their subservience to power. To effectively disseminate state propaganda the press must maintain the fiction of independence and integrity.
By Andrew Schmookler
When Bad Politics Are Supported by Good People
A recent wonderful visit with our Republican cousins underscored a stark contrast between the goodness of those people and the nature of the political force to which they give their support. So I wrote about that contrast in this piece published in several newspapers in my conservative Virginia congressional District.
When Bad Politics Are Supported by Good People
A recent wonderful visit with our Republican cousins underscored a stark contrast between the goodness of those people and the nature of the political force to which they give their support. So I wrote about that contrast in this piece published in several newspapers in my conservative Virginia congressional District.
By Seymour Patterson
A failed experiment may go national after the November elections
Governor Brownback's economic experiment for Kansas has been a resounding failure. He cut government spending and taxes and expected that economic growth would follow. What followed was a shortfall in government receipts. The elections of November 2014 would elevate the Kansas experiment to the nation. If that were to happen, the prospect for the continued economic would be encouraging.
A failed experiment may go national after the November elections
Governor Brownback's economic experiment for Kansas has been a resounding failure. He cut government spending and taxes and expected that economic growth would follow. What followed was a shortfall in government receipts. The elections of November 2014 would elevate the Kansas experiment to the nation. If that were to happen, the prospect for the continued economic would be encouraging.
Article discusses how Eric Holder's review of law enforcement fails to examine the prosecutors who enable rogue police.
My guest tonight is Mikel Weisser. Mikel has been a long time content contributor, a writer for OpEdNews. And now Mikel is running for congress as a democratic party candidate in Arizona, which is pretty cool....having one of OpEdNews regulars running for congress.
"What Amnesty International witnessed in Missouri on the ground this summer underscored that human rights abuses do not just happen across borders and oceans."
This article deals with the government and media campaign to undermine quarantine as a method of slowing and stopping the spread of Ebola. Quarantine is the only available method available that can stop Ebola from spreading to other countries and districts.
By Michael Roberts
The Racism Papers
The Myth Of A Post Racial American Society Is Deliberately Blind To Facts
The Racism Papers
The Myth Of A Post Racial American Society Is Deliberately Blind To Facts
According to highly credible sources, the Ukraine government is planning a new attack on the southeastern regions focused on the heavily populated city of Donetsk. Will the Obama administration tell them to back off? Not likely, since misguided United States policy is responsible for putting the Kiev ruling junta in power.
To Gordon Robertson:
By Frederick Clarkson
Real Religious Liberty is Not Oppression
Religious liberty is one of the defining issues of our time -- offering distinct challenges and historic opportunities for everyone who is struggling to create a more just society. As the Christian Right continues to use the term to frame their issues, we must not concede it to interlopers.
Real Religious Liberty is Not Oppression
Religious liberty is one of the defining issues of our time -- offering distinct challenges and historic opportunities for everyone who is struggling to create a more just society. As the Christian Right continues to use the term to frame their issues, we must not concede it to interlopers.
Four times a year, the IRS publishes a list of people who have renounced their American citizenship. I think there are much more interesting aspects to the topic than just these statistics. It is the right of all Americans to renounce their citizenship.
Autumn ushers in another wolf hunt in many states in the USA. But has the gray wolf really had enough time to recover from its near extinction? Meantime, with only 100 red wolves alive, it would be catastrophic to give an open season to make them the targets of trigger happy hunters. Should we trust the sanctity and future of the environment's trophic cascade to human beings, who've long been set on the total annihilation of other species? It's time to end the wolf hunt. Give the gray wolf some time to replenish and recover. And for God's sake, leave the southern red wolf alone. Who eats wolf meat, anyhow? And for the narcissistic that need stuffed wolfs in their man caves to boost greedy egos, take up some other sport. We don't need such a much-needed species to go extinct.
In an embarrassing about-turn, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, said he would agree to lift the controversial quarantine imposed on Kaci Hickox if she received the all-clear from the Center for Disease Control, which is in charge of responding to the Ebola outbreak. Miss Hickox tested negative for Ebola soon after being taken into quarantine when she arrived at New Jersey's Newark Airport on her way home to Maine from Africa on Friday night. She had been volunteering with the charity Doctors Without Borders and had spent time caring for children dying from the virus.
By Tom Engelhardt
Rory Fanning: Why Do We Keep Thanking the Troops?
Since 9/11, those thank yous have been aimed at veterans with the regularity of the machine gun fire that may still haunt their dreams. Veterans have also been offered special consideration when it comes to applications for mostly menial jobs so that they can "utilize the skills" they learned in the military. . . .The only question that never seems to come up is: What exactly are they being thanked for?
Rory Fanning: Why Do We Keep Thanking the Troops?
Since 9/11, those thank yous have been aimed at veterans with the regularity of the machine gun fire that may still haunt their dreams. Veterans have also been offered special consideration when it comes to applications for mostly menial jobs so that they can "utilize the skills" they learned in the military. . . .The only question that never seems to come up is: What exactly are they being thanked for?
George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, appeared on ABC's This Week on Sunday and said his father is "moving forward" on a 2016 presidential run. "I think it's more than likely that he's giving this serious thought in moving forward ... that he'll run," he said.
America used to be a country that built for the future. Sometimes the government built directly: Public projects, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, provided the backbone for economic growth. But nowadays we simply won't invest, even when the need is obvious and the timing couldn't be better. America has turned its back on its own history. We need public investment; at a time of very low interest rates, we could easily afford it. But build we won't.
By Glenn Greenwald
Compare How U.S. Responds to the Killing of American Kids Based on Identity of the Killers
Compare How U.S. Responds to the Killing of American Kids Based on Identity of the Killers
When the U.S. calls for a "speedy and transparent investigation" of the West Bank shooting, what they mean is that they want the IDF -- the occupying force which killed the American teenager -- to investigate (and inevitably clear) itself.
By Elayne Clift
Is America a Failed State?
Have we become a failed state like those we accuse of being "developing countries"? Given political corruption, police brutality, SCOTUS decisions, gun violence and more it's beginning to look that way.
Is America a Failed State?
Have we become a failed state like those we accuse of being "developing countries"? Given political corruption, police brutality, SCOTUS decisions, gun violence and more it's beginning to look that way.
State-sponsored terrorism poses a significant challenge to the psychological well-being of the body politic. While evident in many geopolitical locales, this condition arising from such government abuses is especially prevalent in the West. Such a disorder is comparable to the psychological manipulation recognized on a micro-level in some spousal relationships.
By Move to Amend
Does a community have a right to clean air and water?
We cannot deny the power big, multi-national corporations hold in our democracy and economy, but we don't have to accept corporate rule as a way of life. CoCRN organizers are taking matters into their own hands in an effort to pass the Colorado Community Rights amendment, but the powerful extraction industries are not sitting still.
Does a community have a right to clean air and water?
We cannot deny the power big, multi-national corporations hold in our democracy and economy, but we don't have to accept corporate rule as a way of life. CoCRN organizers are taking matters into their own hands in an effort to pass the Colorado Community Rights amendment, but the powerful extraction industries are not sitting still.
Latest Articles
Angels by the River: A Memoir by James Gustave Speth is pleasantly written but painful to read. Speth knew about the dangers of global warming before the majority of today's climate change deniers were born. He was an advisor to President Jimmy Carter and advised him and the public to address the matter before it became a crisis.
Two riveting developments October 8 strike at the heart of Americans' right to vote and minorities' abilities to have fair power.
As an American, try to imagine any known American politician, or for that matter any professor at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Stanford capable of giving an address to an educated discussion group of the quality of Putin's remarks. Try to find any American politician capable of responding precisely and directly to questions instead of employing evasion.
One woman I interviewed says she was refused service in a restaurant for wearing a fur, albeit an edgy restaurant populated by young people.
How much interest can be charged before the rate becomes usurious? Today's liturgy of the word suggests an answer: "Zero," "Nada," "Zilch,"none at all!
The Rape of Democracy
There is no real progressive political party. There are only two conservative parties, plus fools' parties.
There is no real progressive political party. There are only two conservative parties, plus fools' parties.
In the last two days, however, the NYT has given space to an outsider and a newly hired journalist not from the EU beat to write about EU austerity. Each column contain more blunt truths than six years of the NYT's regular coverage of EU austerity -- combined.
Burma needs to investigate extrajudicial killing of a journalist
If the junta is sincere regarding democratic reforms, the journalists must be free at the outset since access to information is essential to a healthy democracy. But in Burma, the political opposition as well as journalists and media personnel are under the strictest controls by the quasi-civilian government.
If the junta is sincere regarding democratic reforms, the journalists must be free at the outset since access to information is essential to a healthy democracy. But in Burma, the political opposition as well as journalists and media personnel are under the strictest controls by the quasi-civilian government.
What do the left and right wing have in commmon?
This weekend, October 25 and 26, I will be joining leading critics, from the United States and abroad, of corporate-controlled technologies, who are also proponents of appropriate technologies for the people (Vandana Shiva, Anuradha Mittal, Helen Caldicott, Wes Jackson, Bill McKibben), convening at the historic Cooper Union Great Hall on "Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth".
If Republicans take the Senate next month (and if he wins his own reelection race), Sen. Mitch McConnell will be that body's next majority leader. Then what happens? McConnell's been frank about what the GOP would do with the Senate -- at least when he thinks nobody's listening.
Whenever people like David Brooks use their top perch among those who form America's opinions to inaccurately claim that "both parties" and "the political class" are failing to deliver essential government functions, not only are readers left poorly informed. They are left less able to apply pressure to their elected officials how and where it is needed.
review of J. T. Waldron's "Fatally Flawed," the start of an ongoing saga about blatant election corruption co-exisiting outrageously with the voting public in Pima County, Arizona, and how activists are fighting against it.
"Israeli Arabs" are an integral part of the Palestinian people. Almost every Israeli Arab citizen has relatives in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip or both, as well as in the refugee camps. When actual fighting is going on, as in the recent Gaza war, their hearts are with the other side, the "enemy." At this moment, several young Israeli Arab citizens are fighting with ISIS, after crossing into Syria through Turkey.
The following articles are about the Hartzok for Congress Press Conferences held in four locations (10/14/14) on the "Paul Revere Ride" throughout PA Congressional District 9 to alert citizens of the failure of Congressman Bill Shuster to bring forward for a House vote the crucially important Saracini Aviation Safety Act.
Official Washington treats whatever comes out of Russian President Putin's mouth as the ravings of a lunatic, even when what he says is obviously true or otherwise makes sense, as the New York Times has demonstrated again, writes Robert Parry.
Happy Blog-iversary (and A Half) to Me
I've been publishing my blog for ten years plus, but I've just copped to being an optimist. With my history, how is that possible? Because I'm all about change, and unless you believe it can come, what's the point? Check out my latest changemaking role, Chief Policy Wonk of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture!
I've been publishing my blog for ten years plus, but I've just copped to being an optimist. With my history, how is that possible? Because I'm all about change, and unless you believe it can come, what's the point? Check out my latest changemaking role, Chief Policy Wonk of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture!
It is a testament to our unique digital age that not only has the government found it easy to sweep up as much information as possible, but that people have found swift ways to undermine that power through whistle-blowing actions such as Snowden's and through rapid-fire journalism based on those revelations by Greenwald and his colleagues.
Ask honestly the best approach for finding a cure and vaccine for Ebola,the answer would not be the for profit model of "leave it to the market." Proof of that is the fact that we could have had a vaccine for Ebola years ago but haven't because there was little profit in it for the competitive "leave it to the market" model.Yet we do have a model that would work if our main interest was saving lives rather than financial gain.
Major League Baseball continues to balk on player drug use
While the media is covering domestic abuse among NFL players nonstop, an equally big and more widespread sports scandal is ongoing drug use in Major League Baseball as the Playoffs and World Series take place.
While the media is covering domestic abuse among NFL players nonstop, an equally big and more widespread sports scandal is ongoing drug use in Major League Baseball as the Playoffs and World Series take place.
The NRA continues to support animal cruelty. This is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at its influence upon the largest state legislature in the country.
Ralph Nader's Book "Unstoppable'" is both Accurate and Useful, But ...?
An Essay Review of Ralph Nader's book "Unstoppable"
An Essay Review of Ralph Nader's book "Unstoppable"
A few final words after long time Executive Editor of the Washington Post Ben Bradlee passed this week.
As the result of 13 years of murderous destruction of life and property in the Middle East and Africa, a dysfunctional and collapsing US economy, and a display of unrivaled arrogance, Washington has destroyed America's soft power. Abroad only the deluded few and those paid by US-financed NGOs still have a good opinion of the United States.
Washington for its part is manipulating Kobani to completely legitimize -- on a "humanitarian," R2P vein -- its crusade against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. It's never enough to remember this whole thing started with a barrage of Washington spin about the bogus, ghostly Khorasan group preparing a new 9-11. Khorasan, predictably, entirely vanished from the news cycle.
Christie wants to elect governors who will stop all this talk about raising the minimum wage. Yes, Christie wants to elect governors who will "start offending people"--like school teachers and their unions. Among the reasons he mentions for electing Republican governors, says Christie, is a desire to put the GOP in charge of the "voting mechanism" of likely 2016 presidential battleground states.
In recent months, a few U.S. religious bodies have heard voices denouncing injustice. Two U.S. Christian bodies -- the Central Pacific Conference and the Connecticut Conference, both in the United Church of Christ -- have voted to endorse the BDS movement to apply economic pressure on Israel to "pursue a genuine peace process."
Best News Links from the Web
A dozen Nobel Peace Prize laureates are urging President Obama to make "full disclosure to the American people of the extent and use of torture" by the United States, including the release of a long-delayed Senate report about the C.I.A.'s torture of terrorism suspects after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The appeal comes as the White House continues to wrestle with how much of a 480-page executive summary of the report should be declassified, an issue that pits the C.I.A. against the mostly Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
In strong editorials, the two largest newspapers in Kentucky have both endorsed Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes over Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky Senate election. McConnell has no agenda for Kentucky. The thirty-year incumbent has no plans to do anything for the state. Kentucky is nothing more than the vehicle that Mitch McConnell is using in his quest to become Senate Majority Leader. The two endorsements cut right to the heart of the matter. Kentucky has a chance to elect a candidate who has a vision for the future of her state. At age 72, Sen. McConnell's only visions are of himself as Majority Leader.
Taking the Carbon Out of Coal
"When we look at those three generic types, ignoring chemical looping, all take about 30 percent of the power plant's energy to capture and compress carbon dioxide. That's a big hit," Phillips said. The economic analysis mentioned above compared the "energy penalty" of CDCL with that of a post-combustion-style plant: 8.8 percent vs. 27.6 percent. The technology also surpasses what's currently available in terms of removing carbon. For example, a pre-combustion facility being constructed in Kemper, Miss., will capture just two-thirds of the carbon emitted; this gives coal roughly the carbon footprint of natural gas, which, thanks to the hydraulic fracturing boom, is increasingly used for electricity generation.
"When we look at those three generic types, ignoring chemical looping, all take about 30 percent of the power plant's energy to capture and compress carbon dioxide. That's a big hit," Phillips said. The economic analysis mentioned above compared the "energy penalty" of CDCL with that of a post-combustion-style plant: 8.8 percent vs. 27.6 percent. The technology also surpasses what's currently available in terms of removing carbon. For example, a pre-combustion facility being constructed in Kemper, Miss., will capture just two-thirds of the carbon emitted; this gives coal roughly the carbon footprint of natural gas, which, thanks to the hydraulic fracturing boom, is increasingly used for electricity generation.
Unless you are a rich and a member of the GOP, Republicans don't want you to vote. Naturally, most Republicans assert that laws making it harder to vote really aren't about making it harder to vote, but about protecting your vote. Occasionally, a Republican lawmaker, party official or commentator comes right out and admits it. Take Chris Christie, for example. Christie has made his support for vote suppression known on several occasions. Last week, Christie told the Chamber of Commerce Republicans need to win this election cycle so they can "control the voting mechanisms"
Will Duncan Raise the Stakes for Schools of Education?; by Diane Ravitch
Arne Duncan wants to drive the "bad" schools out of business. Did you know that was part of his job as Secretary of Education? The question is how he will determine which schools of education are "bad" school Will he grade these colleges by the test scores of students taught by graduates of schools of education? That will certainly make the stakes even higher for high-stakes testing. Oh, and did you hear that Duncan is modifying his fervent support for testing. But does he mean it? Watch for the regulations governing schools of education. Politico.com reports on the pending announcement of new federal regulations governing schools of education.
Arne Duncan wants to drive the "bad" schools out of business. Did you know that was part of his job as Secretary of Education? The question is how he will determine which schools of education are "bad" school Will he grade these colleges by the test scores of students taught by graduates of schools of education? That will certainly make the stakes even higher for high-stakes testing. Oh, and did you hear that Duncan is modifying his fervent support for testing. But does he mean it? Watch for the regulations governing schools of education. Politico.com reports on the pending announcement of new federal regulations governing schools of education.
Late $$$$$ for Marshall Tuck;by Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch asks important questions about the California election: "Think of having a charter advocate running the State Department of Education. Their guy!! Do the voters know about this? Are they informed? Will they allow the billionaires to buy this job? Marshall Tuck, running against educator Tom Torlakson, got a late infusion of huge campaign contributions. Former Mayor Michael Blomberg sent $250,000. Eli Broad sent two checks totaling $1,000,000. Alice Walton of the Walmart family sent two gifts totaling $450,000. Carrie Penner (of the same Walton family) sent $500,000. Doris Fisher of the family that owns The Gap sent two gifts totaling $950,000. There are many other very large contributions, plus earlier contributions made by many of the same people. The 'reformers' really, really, really want to elect Tuck." California is the target for the expansion of privatization
Diane Ravitch asks important questions about the California election: "Think of having a charter advocate running the State Department of Education. Their guy!! Do the voters know about this? Are they informed? Will they allow the billionaires to buy this job? Marshall Tuck, running against educator Tom Torlakson, got a late infusion of huge campaign contributions. Former Mayor Michael Blomberg sent $250,000. Eli Broad sent two checks totaling $1,000,000. Alice Walton of the Walmart family sent two gifts totaling $450,000. Carrie Penner (of the same Walton family) sent $500,000. Doris Fisher of the family that owns The Gap sent two gifts totaling $950,000. There are many other very large contributions, plus earlier contributions made by many of the same people. The 'reformers' really, really, really want to elect Tuck." California is the target for the expansion of privatization
Christian conservatives will probably vote in greater numbers on Nov. 4 than others, giving them an outsized say in who runs Congress. Forty-nine percent of evangelicals say they have a great deal of interest or quite a bit of interest in news about the elections, compared to 38 percent of non-evangelicals. "It strongly shows that the evangelical population is very engaged, very interested in what's happening and much easier to turn out for an election than the population as a whole," said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson. Almost 40 percent of Republicans said they were born-again or evangelical Christians, according to the online survey.
We've heard a lot of opinion regarding the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine. There is enough evidence to draw rational conclusions. The RT documentary at the link provides some first rate analysis of the available data and conclusions to date. As you review the tape, remember, RT is the network Secretary of State John Kerry loves to hate.
Republicans are launching a new round of robo-calls against Senate candidate Michelle Nunn this weekend, seizing on President Obama's recent comment that if the Georgia Democrat wins her race, he and the party "can keep doing some good work." Using the president's words has an obvious incentive for Republicans: He is unpopular in the state, and Nunn has repeatedly told voters that she would be an independent-minded lawmaker in the Senate.
OP control of the House and Senate could be catastrophic for the environment, for workers, for women and for minorities. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, has already promised the Koch brothers that "we're not going to be debating all these gosh-darn proposals"like raising the minimum wage"extending unemployment"the student loan package." And it won't just be progressive proposals that are stymied. Consider the judges who will never make it to the bench, including the highest, if Chuck Grassley, not Pat Leahy, is in charge of the Judiciary Committee. Consider the destabilizing political circus Republicans will create if Darrell Issa's hyperpartisan investigations into fake scandals spread from the House to the Senate.
British troops ended their combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday as they and U.S. Marines handed over two huge adjacent bases to the Afghan military, 13 years after a U.S.-led invasion launched the long and costly war against the Taliban. Their coming departure leaves Afghanistan and its newly installed president, Ashraf Ghani, to deal almost unaided with an emboldened Taliban insurgency after the last foreign combat troops withdraw by year-end. At the U.S. Camp Leatherneck and Britain's Camp Bastion, which lie next to each other in the southwestern province of Helmand, troops lowered the American and British flags for the final time on Sunday and folded them away.
Attorney Ryan Lister told the Milwaikee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel that the Marathon County Sheriff's Department overreacted when it sent 24 armed officers and the Marathon County Response Vehicle (MARV) to 75-year-old Roger Hoeppner's home earlier this month. Lister said that his client contacted him as soon as he noticed the deputies arrive on the property, but roadblocks prevented the attorney from reaching the home until Hoeppner had been taken away in handcuffs.
The Obama administration has been pushing the governors of New York and New Jersey to reverse their decision ordering all medical workers returning from West Africa who had contact with Ebola patients to be quarantined, an administration official said. But on Sunday both governors, Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Chris Christie of New Jersey, stood by their decision, saying that the federal guidelines did not go far enough. At the same time, the first person to be forced into isolation under the new protocols, Kaci Hickox, a nurse returning from Sierra Leone, planned to mount a legal challenge to the quarantine order. Despite having no symptoms and testing negative for Ebola, she has been kept under quarantine at a hospital in New Jersey.
Joseph A. Ricciotti: Politics, Profits, and the Common Core; BY DIANE RAVITCH
One of the most alarming reports concerning the corporate education reform movement and the growth of Common Core in the country was published by Lee Fang in the Nation magazine: how public education is now considered as the last "honeypot" for venture capitalists and Wall Street investors.This is what is happening today with accountability- based reform or a better term is corporate education reform. These policies throughout the country and especially with the less affluent children in urban schools, we find that parents are seething with discontent as they observe and witness the massive failure rate of their children on Common Core tests. Unfortunately, teachers cannot be a part of the Common Core revolt as any dissatisfaction or criticism on their part could be construed as insubordination with possible loss of employment. READ THE TRUTH...
One of the most alarming reports concerning the corporate education reform movement and the growth of Common Core in the country was published by Lee Fang in the Nation magazine: how public education is now considered as the last "honeypot" for venture capitalists and Wall Street investors.This is what is happening today with accountability- based reform or a better term is corporate education reform. These policies throughout the country and especially with the less affluent children in urban schools, we find that parents are seething with discontent as they observe and witness the massive failure rate of their children on Common Core tests. Unfortunately, teachers cannot be a part of the Common Core revolt as any dissatisfaction or criticism on their part could be construed as insubordination with possible loss of employment. READ THE TRUTH...
Public Education Advocates Rally For Change; by by Jaime Franchi
IMPORTANT: "Changing the Conversation," the brainchild of the Network for Public Education, held its first-ever Public Education Nation broadcast. Attendees packed the venue despite heavy rainfall for the opportunity to hear speakers take on subjects like "Authentic Reform," testing and the Common Core, and charter schools in the wider context of a complete public education overhaul. he panelists presented a united front in depicting the roots of the problems in education: wealthy benefactors, with little to no education experience, leading "reform" without the input of seasoned professionals. Teachers, principals, professors count themselves as troops on the ground, with significant insight into the issues within public education. They have no shortage of ideas as to how to fix them. However, it seems no one is asking them, these professionals say. Hence, Public Education Nation...
IMPORTANT: "Changing the Conversation," the brainchild of the Network for Public Education, held its first-ever Public Education Nation broadcast. Attendees packed the venue despite heavy rainfall for the opportunity to hear speakers take on subjects like "Authentic Reform," testing and the Common Core, and charter schools in the wider context of a complete public education overhaul. he panelists presented a united front in depicting the roots of the problems in education: wealthy benefactors, with little to no education experience, leading "reform" without the input of seasoned professionals. Teachers, principals, professors count themselves as troops on the ground, with significant insight into the issues within public education. They have no shortage of ideas as to how to fix them. However, it seems no one is asking them, these professionals say. Hence, Public Education Nation...
The technology in the computer cartridges used to program touch-screen voting machines-known as "prom pacs" or memory cards-is considered "proprietary information" and the public is not allowed to examine them. With no verifiable paper trail, we cannot know if our votes are being accurately counted. In 2004, a computer programmer named Clint Curtis who worked for NASA testified before a House Judiciary Committee that he had been hired by Florida Republican Tom Feeney to write a program to steal votes by inserting fraudulent code into touch-screen voting systems. Since then, evidence has accumulated demonstrating that voting machines can be and in fact have been hacked. The Vulnerability Assessment Team (VAT) at the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois hacked into a Diebold Accuvote touch-screen voting machine with just $26 and an 8th grade education.
A top Israeli minister said on Saturday there was a "crisis" in the country's relations with the United States that must be fixed. The White House and the State Department rejected Israeli proposals for meetings with vice-president Joe Biden, national security adviser Susan Rice and secretary of state John Kerry on his five-day trip to the US. The administration is still angered by negative comments Yaalon made about Kerry's peace efforts in the middle east and nuclear negotiations with Iran.
An executive from Google has set a new skydiving record by jumping successfully from near the top of the stratosphere - about 135,000 feet, or 41,000 metres high, breaking the 2012 record by Austrian Felix Baumgartner. The record dive by 57-year-old Alan Eustace, who is a "senior vice president of knowledge" at Google, was conducted as part of a project allowing manned exploration of the stratosphere above 100,000 feet.
BBC News - Cancer-killing stem cells engineered in lab
Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer. They used genetic engineering to make stem cells that spewed out cancer-killing toxins, but, crucially, were also able to resist the effects of the poison they were producing. They also posed no risk to normal, healthy cells.
Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer. They used genetic engineering to make stem cells that spewed out cancer-killing toxins, but, crucially, were also able to resist the effects of the poison they were producing. They also posed no risk to normal, healthy cells.
The president is hitting Republicans, and the Ebola hysterical media with some hard science based Ebola truth. He said "The only way you can get this disease is by coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone with symptoms. That's the science. Those are the facts." Obama is smacking down the Republican generated Ebola hysteria with the powerful weapons of truth and science. Those who are spreading Ebola fears for profit or political gain should be ashamed of the panic that they are causing.
In 1938, L.A. woman defied a judge's order and wore slacks in court, earning her a five-day jail sentence Kindergarten teacher Helen Hulick made Los Angeles court history -- and struck a blow for women's fashion . Hulick arrived in downtown L.A. court to testify against two burglary suspects. But the courtroom drama immediately shifted to the slacks she was wearing. Judge Arthur S. Guerin rescheduled her testimony and ordered her to wear a dress next time. Hulick was quoted in the Nov. 10, 1938, Los Angeles Times saying, "You tell the judge I will stand on my rights. If he orders me to change into a dress I won't do it. I like slacks. They're comfortable."
Legal Scholar: Eliminating Teachers' Job Security Will Damage the Profession without Helping Children; by Diane Ravitch
Ewin Chemerinsky, Dean of the School of Law at the University of California in Irvine, wrote this compelling article about the Vergara decision and teachers' due process rights. He writes, in part: American public education desperately needs to be improved, especially for the most disadvantaged children. But eliminating teachers' job security and due-process rights is not going to attract better educators -- or do much to improve school quality. In recent months, several respected progressive scholars and politicians have endorsed litigation, like a successful case in California, to weaken the protections afforded public school teachers. Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown is spearheading a suit in New York. Their goals are laudable, but their means are misguided. The problem of inner-city schools is not that the dedicated teachers who work in them have too many rights, but that ...READ
Ewin Chemerinsky, Dean of the School of Law at the University of California in Irvine, wrote this compelling article about the Vergara decision and teachers' due process rights. He writes, in part: American public education desperately needs to be improved, especially for the most disadvantaged children. But eliminating teachers' job security and due-process rights is not going to attract better educators -- or do much to improve school quality. In recent months, several respected progressive scholars and politicians have endorsed litigation, like a successful case in California, to weaken the protections afforded public school teachers. Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown is spearheading a suit in New York. Their goals are laudable, but their means are misguided. The problem of inner-city schools is not that the dedicated teachers who work in them have too many rights, but that ...READ
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to counter the influx of Democratic spending aimed at defeating him by writing a big personal check. The Republican leader is loaning his campaign $1.8 million out of his own bank account, exceeding a $1.5 million investment by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Senate Majority PAC to bolster the prospects of Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Without swift influx of substantial aid, Ebola epidemic in Africa poised to explode -- ScienceDaily
The Ebola virus disease epidemic already devastating swaths of West Africa will likely get far worse in the coming weeks and months unless international commitments are significantly and immediately increased, new research predicts. [I read "The Hot Zone" over a decade ago and got my first intro to Ebola, a relatively mild disease compared to related viruses out there--and yet an absolutely horrifying death in and of itself. On our hot and crowded planet, with dying ecosystems and rapid international transport, we are more than ripe for a "small bug," such as a virus or bacterium, take us all out. I'm no expert, but I doubt this one has mutated much since the book was printed (I was seriously bent out of shape that my copy, and I believe others, was not collated right, half of it being upside down and evidently missing. Still, an incredible read, well written and researched.)
The Ebola virus disease epidemic already devastating swaths of West Africa will likely get far worse in the coming weeks and months unless international commitments are significantly and immediately increased, new research predicts. [I read "The Hot Zone" over a decade ago and got my first intro to Ebola, a relatively mild disease compared to related viruses out there--and yet an absolutely horrifying death in and of itself. On our hot and crowded planet, with dying ecosystems and rapid international transport, we are more than ripe for a "small bug," such as a virus or bacterium, take us all out. I'm no expert, but I doubt this one has mutated much since the book was printed (I was seriously bent out of shape that my copy, and I believe others, was not collated right, half of it being upside down and evidently missing. Still, an incredible read, well written and researched.)
Australian doctors transplant first circulatory death human heart -- ScienceDaily
The St Vincent's Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Unit has carried out the world's first distant procurement of hearts donated after circulatory death (DCD). These hearts were subsequently resuscitated and then successfully transplanted into patients with end-stage heart failure.
The St Vincent's Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Unit has carried out the world's first distant procurement of hearts donated after circulatory death (DCD). These hearts were subsequently resuscitated and then successfully transplanted into patients with end-stage heart failure.
Money transferred between the Florida-based mining company Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) Gogebic, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and political campaigning were accidentally made public by a federal appeals court in Chicago as part of the secret John Doe investigation surrounding Gov. Scott Walker. The ProPublica-Daily Beast article highlights how so-called dark money groups helped Cline's Gogebic Taconite company get what it wanted in Wisconsin. Gogebic gave $700,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011 and 2012, according to documents sited in the article. Wisconsin Club for Growth, in turn, passed the money along to other groups. In all, the two groups spent $3 million Together, the two groups played a critical role in defeating King, who had voted against the initial
TEXTBOOKS THAT ARE NEVER OBSOLETE- A SCARY THOUGHT FOR SCHOOL BOOK PUBLISHERS - by Lenny Isenberg,Perdaily.com
What a great idea! TEXTBOOKS THAT ARE NEVER OBSOLETE- A SCARY THOUGHT FOR SCHOOL BOOK PUBLISHERS - If iPads were anything more than a billion dollar scam to inappropriately allow Apple or some other technology or textbook company to get their hands on what the voters earmark as school bond construction money, then they might be used for something that would save money in the long run like a Living Textbook and Curricular Materials Program that would easily obviate the necessity and outrageous expense of getting rid of and revising all school textbooks and related materials every 7 years.Not so long ago, when an expensive new textbook came out, the frugal student could find an older and less expensive supposedly obsolete edition to use, which in fact had very few changes from the newer edition. But now textbook publisher use computers to unnecessarily scramble the replacement textbook's
What a great idea! TEXTBOOKS THAT ARE NEVER OBSOLETE- A SCARY THOUGHT FOR SCHOOL BOOK PUBLISHERS - If iPads were anything more than a billion dollar scam to inappropriately allow Apple or some other technology or textbook company to get their hands on what the voters earmark as school bond construction money, then they might be used for something that would save money in the long run like a Living Textbook and Curricular Materials Program that would easily obviate the necessity and outrageous expense of getting rid of and revising all school textbooks and related materials every 7 years.Not so long ago, when an expensive new textbook came out, the frugal student could find an older and less expensive supposedly obsolete edition to use, which in fact had very few changes from the newer edition. But now textbook publisher use computers to unnecessarily scramble the replacement textbook's
In a newly released video from a 2012 National Rifle Association event, Iowa Republican senate candidate Joni Ernst said that she would use a gun to defend herself from the government. "I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family -- whether it's from an intruder, or whether it's from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important," Ernst said at the rally.
With Election Day less than two weeks away it seems each day brings new polls and new predictions about which party will control the Senate. Ultimately control of the upper chamber hinges on a few races that are still too close to call. So perhaps a more productive question than who will prevail after Election Day, is what will they do? From that perspective, there is a lot at stake for progressives. A new CAP Action report released today takes a look at ten things to expect next year if Republicans take control of the Senate.
A man was taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of knocking over a Ten Commandments monument with a car on the grounds of the Oklahoma statehouse and then fleeing the scene, law enforcement officials said on Friday. The man told agents he urinated on the monument and ran it over with a car, said David Allison, the assistant special agent in charge. The man said the devil told him to knock down the monument, local broadcaster KOCO quoted law enforcement officials as saying.
The United States is destabilizing the global order by trying to impose its will on other nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Friday, warning that the world will face new wars if Washington fails to respect the interests of other countries. With visible emotion, he said Washington and its allies have been "fighting against the results of its own policy" in those countries. "They are throwing their might to remove the risks they have created themselves, and they are paying an increasing price," Putin said.
Charter Schools: An Experiment Gone Awry - Living in Dialogue; by Wendy Lecker
Charter schools have brought us further from achieving the fundamental democratic goals of public schools.In terms of their promises, charter schools have failed. They have no better academic outcomes than public schools, rather than sharing do anything to avoid scrutiny, and they don't cost less. Charter schools on the whole have failed in helping us accomplish the goal of public education; there is this whole other world where public education is really being examined, that education reformers choose to ignore: courts in school funding cases.Courts in these cases start with state constitution- every state has an education article guaranteeing free public education- and from there they interpret what the goal of education is. Every court that has ruled on this,, has reached the same conclusion. The goal of public education " ..Read the truth in this important article and video...
Charter schools have brought us further from achieving the fundamental democratic goals of public schools.In terms of their promises, charter schools have failed. They have no better academic outcomes than public schools, rather than sharing do anything to avoid scrutiny, and they don't cost less. Charter schools on the whole have failed in helping us accomplish the goal of public education; there is this whole other world where public education is really being examined, that education reformers choose to ignore: courts in school funding cases.Courts in these cases start with state constitution- every state has an education article guaranteeing free public education- and from there they interpret what the goal of education is. Every court that has ruled on this,, has reached the same conclusion. The goal of public education " ..Read the truth in this important article and video...
CURMUDGUCATION: Time's Tenure Story; by Peter Greene
"Time's cover story by Haley Sweetland Edwards is the tale of David Welch's crusade to provide school CEO's with more power to control their workforce.You'll want to read the whole thing for yourself, but But the Real Big Story here is not the tenure wars. The real big story here is that a bunch of unelected amateurs with large piles of money have decided that they should go ahead and take over previously-democratic portions of the public sector. Perhaps the editors at Time lack the balls to pick that angle, or perhaps they simply judged that the angle would not generate the kind of clicks and sales that a tenure wars angle would. Time
"Time's cover story by Haley Sweetland Edwards is the tale of David Welch's crusade to provide school CEO's with more power to control their workforce.You'll want to read the whole thing for yourself, but But the Real Big Story here is not the tenure wars. The real big story here is that a bunch of unelected amateurs with large piles of money have decided that they should go ahead and take over previously-democratic portions of the public sector. Perhaps the editors at Time lack the balls to pick that angle, or perhaps they simply judged that the angle would not generate the kind of clicks and sales that a tenure wars angle would. Time
