You would think that Rahm Emanuel would think twice before messing with Karen Lewis, but he apparently hasn’t been, um…schooled. (sorry, bad pun I know)
She once again delivers a smackdown of the mayor by calling him on the divide-and-conquer politics.
Be sure to click on the links to Fred Klonsky’s blog, which also gives some insight to what is going on in Chicago. What goes on there, is most certainly going on around the country. Bless Karen Lewis.
Diane Ravitch has a post up on the “new” SAT. I haven’t seen the test, so I have to go by what Diane is describing. I do know that I when I first heard of the “new” SAT, I was sure there was some connection to the brainless Common Core. Yep.
It’s troubling that the writing section will be optional. Being able to write well-constructed sentences is an art. It should be a part of the test.
Diane quotes Superintendent Cohen, whom is critical of the “new” SAT:
Nowhere in our new, vaunted Common Core State Standards are teachers told to be concerned with nurturing young people’s imaginations or their original thoughts about the books they read, about the way nature works, about whether our government’s policies are good or bad, about whether the Pythagorean theorem could be used to help design a better bridge over the Hudson river, or whether “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Nor will the “new” and “fairer” SAT ask students to write about such matters.
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Absolutely. Spot on. It’s not enough to be able to repeat what another wrote–but to be able to interpret what they wrote and take it beyond that to expand the dialogue. Or to offer another point of view and facts or theory to back what you’re saying.
As I’m reading the article, I thought about when I took the SAT’s in high school. It was a gamble on my part, because I did not take the college-bound courses offered. That was the time that my Mom was pouring cheese soup over crackers for dinner sometimes….college seemed like an unreachable dream, so I took the easier courses offered. Personally, I don’t think those courses should have been an option–all the students who were capable should have been in the college courses. One really can’t know their potential until they are tested. And when you’re young and unsure of yourself, being tested means taking a risk–putting yourself out there for possible failure. Teenagers would rather die than face what they perceive as humiliation (when in fact it is a growing moment that should be supported, and not humiliated, as some like to do.) And when you’re poor, your options become even more limited because taking a risk could mean consequences for the family (if one risked going to college, and failed, that money spent on tuition is lost.)
I did pass the SAT’s, and was admitted to Indiana University but on a probationary status. I ended up not going because of being unsure of myself (probationary status to me meant “failure”) and interference by someone else. Being supported would have made all the difference at this point in time–maturity, too.
I’m telling this story because I had some rough years in middle school and high school. My grades reflected that. But they didn’t reflect my potential. As you know, I went on to college and graduated much later. It illustrates how badly misguided the Common Core and Race to the Bottom are–we are who we are at any point in time, but who we might grow to be is not measurable by any human tool.
Pando Daily has this up on a technology that takes pictures for advertising numbers…but has much deeper violations of privacy.
It is presented as being innocent…but we all know by now it doesn’t end up that way.
This is outrageous. Plain and simple violation of a person’s right to move about in public without being subjected to an intrusion such as being photographed.
There are so many holes in this guy’s theory it could be Swiss cheese.
For one–just because a person looks at an advertisement does not mean they will purchase that product or service. For instance, I may look at an advertisement on a professional bug killer service, but there is no way that I’m calling that service. The advertisers use bright colors, flashing words or lights, and the usual “grabs” of sex, fear, anger, and love. All of these factors may draw the human eye towards the advertising, but not mean the person will buy it.
It never ceases to amaze me how psychology is used to interpret a person’s thoughts by outward gestures or appearances, when that psychological conclusion is dead wrong.
I went online looking for Rodolfo Saccoman and found this disturbing video:
It is alarming that they are using “feel good” emotions to justify the psychology software program. They’re there to “help” with an impersonal, flawed science (in that psychology has sprouted from misogyny and bullying mindset). Saccoman states that this software will “help” those suffering from PTSD from committing suicide…but methinks that instead it will be used to either label someone as mentally ill who might be having a rough day and just need someone to talk to–not a freaking impersonal computer. Or it will be used as a tool by Big Pharma to force someone to take unproven and unsafe psychotropic drugs. I feel it in my gut that this is what is driving this “help”. I’d like to know if his brother is invested in Big Pharma…it’s not such a big leap when you consider that Saccoman mentions he loves the stocks and even built this software on that model. If they could get more poor souls buying Big Pharma drugs, well, that’s just more money for them.
And then as the video keeps rolling, we get to the *bingo!* moment…when he says he worked for Morgan Stanley. An investment banker who thinks greed is good and screw the public. He claims to hate it, but then goes on to say that he made money…so he couldn’t have hated it too much.
He looks at billboards and says they don’t have any intelligence. You don’t know if anyone is reading them. Really? Because I can think of several instances where folks have become upset at messages on billboards…so obviously people are paying attention to them.
Privacy never comes out of his mouth when speaking about how great this is and how money is being *lost* by not seizing the opportunity for yet more advertising dollars.
He attended a Tony Robbins show, er I mean, inspirational speech, where he claims they “tear you apart, then put you back together” Sounds like psychological abuse to me.
Then he shows commercials for getting people to sign up for this. Note that the target audience is the young, who don’t have the experience to understand how this violates privacy and the ramifications of that. The ignorance of the youth on their right to privacy is appalling.
They have concerns about paying for college (understandable), so this is marketed to them as being a way to pay for college. The subtle play on emotions with their “love story” also reels people in. They also use the “everybody” is doing it schtick with the line “all our awesome friends are also doing it.” Again, invading someone’s privacy and their part in it is never mentioned.
Saccoman repeatedly portrays standard advertising as “old school” dinosaurs. This is another tactic used very successfully by the marketing gurus–nobody wants to be “left behind” so they will buy the latest to be seen as keeping up with the world. This tactic really took hold in the 70s when there was plenty of money in the middle class to buy the “latest”. Thank God I have broken myself of that brainwashing.
Another aspect to this way of advertising is driving around to get the “face” quota. Using gas, spewing fumes into the air, creating more crowded roadways, and possibly causing accidents by distracting people from watching the road and the vehicles around them. Just yesterday, I saw three people talking on cell phones on Indy’s busiest roadways…and they were driving in ways that showed they were distracted and not paying attention to their own driving or those around them.
Again, the emotional tug is used when the fake “son” talks about how his fake “Mom” inspired him. It has nothing to do with the software or the advertising, but is snuck in there to give one the “warm and fuzzy’ feelings.
And the one thing I don’t see when looking at Saccoman’s actual backpack? A sign in big bold letters saying “YOUR FACE IS BEING COLLECTED FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES” on the backpack.
Near the end, he makes an odd statement to “push” for what you want…but then he gets philosophical and says if it flows, it flows…so which is it? Does one push or just let things “flow”?
Lastly, he admires Steve Jobs and Apple. Given their illegal wage-fixing, and this response by Jobs over getting someone fired, well, it kind of speaks of character…why would one admire someone so contemptible?
The Canadian gov’t was vewy vewy skeered of those pesky indigenous whom honor their traditions and refuse to be completely assimilated. Good Grief. They act like these people have tanks, helicopters, drones, etc….like it’s a freaking war. Who…or What are they fighting against…?
And the quote that CSIS would not be involved if there wasn’t sufficient threat…who are they kidding?
My other posts:
Here we have a First Nations woman removed from a public meeting for…well, we don’t know because she wasn’t doing anything. Her mere presence, apparently, made her “guilty” of a crime.
Setback for First Nations protestors.
First Nations continue to stand up
Finally, this celebration on sacred Native American grounds that Mall of America was built on.
Fred Klonsky has this up on the ethnic cleansing of Chicago Public Schools. But I would go a step further and say not just ethnic, but prejudice against the poor in general. They have made it abundantly clear that they don’t believe the poor have any worth or value or potential.
He links to the Chicago Teachers Union website. This just says it all:
Schools slated for “turn around” include McNair, Dvorak and Gresham elementary schools. At McNair, 52 percent of the staff are African American; at Dvorak 70 percent of the teachers are African Americans; and at Gresham 65 percent of educators are African American. Black students are 97.1 percent of the student body and 98 percent of them are low-income.
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They also make note that most of the educators are in their 40s and 50s–a favorite target of the schools-for-fun-and-profit mob. Get rid of the higher paid older folk, and you can a) pay younger ones much, much less, and b) get more compliant employees who are desperate for a job and will subject kids to enforced abusive testing because without a union to help them protest, they’re SOL.
How in the world does one collide with a barge? It’s not like they’re speed boats zipping past one…
…looks like another drunken captain.
The words George Bush I echo the oil man’s empty promises of safety…and clean up…as we have witnessed with every freaking oil spill since then–Kalamazoo and Arkansas and the Gulf are evidence of that. As one of the commenters said, the captain was made the scapegoat while the company escaped blame.
And Tricky Dicks’ comments? “The Alaskan pipeline is on the way…and the environment will be saved…” Priceless.
The proponents of XL pipeline are saying it’s going to create jobs…but as this video illustrates, how many jobs are lost (income lost) by the spills? How does one put a price tag on the oiled soil, water, and dead/impaired wildlife? Why are they even *considering* XL after all that has happened…?
**edited to add link to XL pipeline petition.
Global News has a post up on an SFU (? university isn’t named) professor that has linked autism with Chlordane and flame retardant PBDE-28.
Chlordane was in use in the U.S. until 1988. It has been linked to testicular cancer, lymphoma, and leukemia.
It has more widespread indications of affecting the health, however:
The non-cancer health effects of chlordane compounds, which include migraines, respiratory infections, diabetes, immune-system activation, anxiety, depression, blurry vision, confusion, intractable seizures as well as permanent neurological damage,[13] may affect more people than cancer. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has defined a concentration of chlordane compounds of 20 ng/M3 as the Minimal Risk Level (MRLs). ATSDR defines Minimal Risk Level as an estimate of daily human exposure to a dose of a chemical that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of adverse non-cancerous effects over a specific duration of exposure.[14]
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Good Grief, this stuff is uber toxic! The fact that seizures and migraines are symptoms lends more credibility to it affecting neurological function…as in autism. So…it’s not just mercury and heavy metals that can be linked to autism. And multiple exposures of both just spells disaster, imo.
You know what’s missing from the wikipedia link? The manufacturer(s). I found one of them here. Big surprise, eh? /snark
When does Monsanto start to pay back for all the misery they have caused the world? Anybody?
There’s a much better written article here. Gah,the more I read, the more alarmed I get, as if I wasn’t alarmed enough. It appears to be as persistent for remaining in the environment and not breaking down, just like DDT …
It is not known whether chlordane breaks down in most soils. If breakdown occurs, it is very slow. Chlordane is known to remain in some soils for over 20 years. Persistence is greater in heavy, clayey or organic soil than in sandy soil. Most chlordane is lost from soil by evaporation. Evaporation is more rapid from light, sandy soils than from heavy soils.
Half of the chlordane applied to the soil surface may evaporate in 2 or 3 days. Evaporation is much slower after chlordane penetrates into the soil. In water, some chlordane attaches strongly to sediment and particles in the water column and some is lost by evaporation. It is not known whether much breakdown of chlordane occurs in water or in sediment.
Chlordane breaks down in the atmosphere by reacting with light and with some chemicals in the atmosphere. However, it is sufficiently long lived that it may travel long distances and be deposited on land or in water far from its source.
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More:
Finally, some chlordane may be left over from the pre-ban days. Old containers of material thought to contain chlordane should be disposed of carefully and contact with the skin and breathing vapors should be avoided.
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Here’s what bothers me about this statement–what exactly does “dispose of” mean? How should it be disposed of?
It’s just shuffling it from one area to another. It’s not a solution. It just doesn’t magically disappear. It becomes a problem for the next hapless person who comes in contact with it, unaware of the danger. And that usually means poor people, who don’t know about their toxic environment and if they did, they don’t have the $$$ attention of politicians $$$ who can do something about removing it.
Truly, the only solution is not to allow these toxic substances into the environment to begin with.
First Nations and Greenpeace women stand together against pipeline expansion…
“We’re standing here together to link arms to build the wall of women to say no, we do not want that in our communities, we will not accept this in our communities, we want better,” said Nahanee. “Canada has a responsibility to protect their communities, we have the right to live in healthy environments— healthy environments to raise our children, to take care of our grandparents, to drink healthy water, to eat healthy food. It’s basic human rights.”
– Mandy Nahanee
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Who would have thought that we would actually have to protest keeping our water clean and healthy??
Good on the women standing together, protecting the Earth. She needs us.
Global News has obtained video of the Russian gate crashers at the Ukraine air base in Crimea. The report states they are not sure if they are Russian military or pro-Russia militia in Ukraine.
It’s hard to see the layout, but it does look rather open. I would think with the situation, there would have been more armored vehicles to prevent such an attack. It just looks like they “walked” up to the door and let themselves in.
The second question I thought was why have they not begun to pull back once Crimea voted to join Russia? Are there more people in Crimea wanting them to stay and we aren’t being told this by the lame media? Because if the gate crashers are pro-Russia militia…with obvious military capabilities…that are intimidating the peaceful ones of Crimea…then Houston, we have a problem.
I think I’ve found my answer here.
(hat tip to Jeff Nguyen) A post about Rachel Corrie and what she sacrificed for the Palestinians.
Please keep in mind the blogger is Jewish. This flies in the face of those who claim people who criticize Israel are anti Semites.
Eagle 
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