Category Archives: bullying

Syria, Syria, Syria

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Coming from a military officer in Canada–“we should learn from history…”  and try diplomatic avenues.

The title of the piece is misleading, because from what I’m hearing, the UN has not been shown evidence of chemical weapons being used….why not?

Timeline of Syria’s uprising here.

From the timeline:

February 4, 2012

UN resolution vetoed

Russia and China veto a UN resolution backing calls for Assad’s resignation as president of Syria. The veto prompted international outrage, coming hours after the regime’s bloodiest crackdown in the 10-month old conflict, which the UN had already characterized as a civil war. At least 200 people were reported killed in heavy shelling in Homs. Read more

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May 26, 2012

Alleged Houla massacre

Activists say Syrian regime forces have killed more than 90 people in the Houla area, many of them women and children. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Arab nations and the international community were “partners” in the killing “because of their silence about the massacre that the Syrian regime has committed.” Read more

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June 16, 2012

UN suspends observer mission

International efforts to stop the violence is Syria are disintegrating after the U.N. suspends its observer mission. Major Gen. Robert Mood said rising bloodshed over the past 10 days was posing significant risks to the lives of the 300 unarmed observers in the country, and was impeding their ability to carry out their mandate. Read more

(the UN does go back within a short time period)

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June 25, 2012

Military defections

Dozens of military personnel defect to Turkey overnight. A total of 33 soldiers – including a general and two colonels – slip across the border in the largest defection of members of the military since the uprising began. It comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries after Syria shot down a Turkish

warplane.

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July 23, 2012

Chemical weapons threat

The Syrian regime threatens to use its chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, in its first ever acknowledgement that it possesses weapons of mass destruction. Read more

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May 3, 2013

Israeli air strikes

Israel launches air strikes into Syria over 48 hours. One appears to target a military complex. An Israeli official says they were targeting missile shipments bound for Hezbollah. Read more

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Well…this is disturbing.  Jim White writes that the Kerry tried to interfere with the UN gathering evidence for an independent report on whether chemical weapons are being used. And if you follow the NYTimes link, it states that if Sarin was used, the chemical would linger for a long time, and therefore it could be detected long after it was used.  Kind of like DDT, eh?

IF there were chemical weapons used…I wonder who sold either the chemicals or the technology to them?  Gah, it wouldn’t be Monsanto, now would it?  /snark

 

 

Education News

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A Chicago Alderman has proposed drones in Rahm Emanuel’s Safe Passage routes.  I kid you not.  If you continue with the next blog of Fred Klonsky, he questions the “none of your business” attitude of CPS on emergency preparedness plans.  At the end, there is another link “continuing the story” which has this:

In a written statement, CPS officials insisted that every school in the district does, in fact, have a plan but said they were limited to “management level staff within the Office of Safety and Security,” building principals and assistant principals, and officials of the Chicago Police and Fire Departments.

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This is ridiculous.  The schools that I have taught at had plans the teachers knew and the children went through drills so they would know what to do.  It is important because their teacher may be incapacitated, so the children all the way up to the principals need to know the plan.    I found it highly ironic one year when we had a small earthquake while I was teaching.  I asked the kids if they knew what to do in case of an earthquake, which they didn’t, so I told them to stay under their desks until the shaking stopped, and then we would leave the building in the usual emergency route.  One of the regular instructors thought that I had needlessly worried the children….all the while they have been  put in “lockdowns” for some terrorist going to attack the school.  <sigh>
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The Indignant Teacher has a post up on a petition to remove David Koch from the board of WGBH Boston’s PBS station.  I have always admired WGBH and WTTW PBS stations, and now that Kochs are trying to control the media, it is even more imperative to get them out.
More moneyed influence on campaigns of the anti-public school crowd.  Good God, this guy is a liar.  A bold-faced one at that.
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More here on John Pelto’s blog that Diane links to:
The evidence is clear that income inequality is a major factor in educational inequality. Children living in poverty experience prolonged stress that affects their brain development in the regions associated with learning. There is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and standardized test scores. As proven by Stanford’s Sean Reardon, the widening of the achievement gap results from additional opportunities affluent parents provide their children out of the K-12 environment: high-quality pre-K, tutoring, and after-school and summer enrichment. Reardon demonstrated that the test score disparity between low-income and high-income children is not the result of schools.
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See, the pro-Charter $$ folks would prefer to ignore this important fact that impacts learning….it’s much more fun to blame unionized teachers…and watch them scramble to put out fires the Charter proponents deliberately set.
This is pretty powerful.  He puts it so well–that every child develops in different ways and at different speeds and those differences should be honored, not ridiculed by failure of a “skills” test.  (hat tip to Diane Ravitch)
Finally, a wonderful history lesson here by Diane.  She was there on the March on Washington.

Go Virginia!

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Virginia has had enough of dismissive politicians who circumvent the people whom they represent and they have filed suit against what is basically taxation without representation.

 

In other education news,  Diane reposts about the Gesell Institute’s take on Common Core…waay back in 2010.

From the statement:

We urge the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to respect the individual developmental differences of children and revise the K-3 standards based on research and the advice of experts in the field of early childhood.

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In the comments, someone provided a link to Bill Moyers’ program on Glitz and Greed in D.C.  I haven’t viewed it yet, but knowing Bill Moyers, it will be eye-opening.

This is why I love teachers

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Diane Ravitch has this up on the last day of a First Grade teacher.

As I said in the comments section:

This is why a child sitting in front of a computer to “learn” is a fallacy. A stone cold computer could never teach the powerful lesson this wonderful teacher taught. A stone cold computer would not allow the kids to “make a mess” and express their creative talents as well as analytical skills.

God Bless and please write that book someone else suggested.

A Charter Founder Indicted

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I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not.  These folks are greedy opportunists who look at schools and our children with $$ in their eyes. 

I AM surprised and disappointed that more of them aren’t indicted….if not for these schemes, but for seeking to get rich and destroy public education. 

First Graders expected to know 6th through 12th grade levels **edited

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This is outrageous.  There is no way a first grader, who can barely tie their shoes, can be expected to understand subjects that are more geared towards 6th through 12th grades.

I mean just look at the complexity:

Explain the
importance of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the use of
canals to support farming and the development
of the city of Babylon;

Explain the significance of the
Code of Hammurabi;

Describe the city of
Babylon and the Hanging Gardens;Describe how a civilization evolves
and changes over time;

Explain that much of what we know about ancient
Egypt is because of the work of archaeologists;

Identify Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as major monotheistic world
religions;

Answer questions that require making interpretations, judgments, or
giving opinions about what is heard in a nonfiction/informational read-aloud,
including answering why questions that require recognizing cause/effect relationships;

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This is but a glimpse of it–see more on Diane’s website.

Unreal.  I didn’t even learn about the code of Hammurabi until I was in college studying ancient Greek history!!  As you can see by the link, this is complicated material–too complicated for a first grader to know!  OMG. As others commented, this is child abuse.

And let’s touch on the elephant in the room–the teaching of religion in a public school.  It does not belong there.  If one wants their child to have religious instruction, they can enroll them in a parochial school.    After all the bloodshed throughout the centuries over who had the “right” religion, it is stunning that people continue to try to force religion upon others…the lesson lost is that we have no right to push our religion upon others–everyone has the right to find their own spiritual path.

And what is glaringly omitted from the religious instruction, as seen here, are what Jesus taught–he provided loaves and fishes when people were hungry; he healed the sick and touched those with leprosy when no one else would (much like AIDS); he overturned the tables of the moneychangers (bankers) whom had set up shop in the temple–something the religious leaders had allowed.   He had a woman as a trusted companion, in a time when women were not respected nor regarded as equals.  He lived the golden rule of doing unto others as one would have done to you (this is also noticeably absent from the requirements–they fail to mention that all religions have that belief.)

Jesus promoted things that the conservatives rail against….

Anyway, these requirements are not psychologically sound.   No one in their right mind would think these requirements are in line with the brain and social development of a seven year old.

Hey, I know what–let’s drive these poor children into depression and low self-esteem so that Big Pharma can make more $$ drugging them up with antidepressants and happy pills…./snark

**edited to correct psychology