Category Archives: education

If we lose the media…

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…then we basically lose a huge part of the democratic process.  The Fourth Estate has historically shed light on stuff the politicians would rather you not know…it’s kept the checks and balances needed to keep those in power from abusing that power. Edward Snowden is an example of how the media is no longer serving the public interest by investigating claims on abuse of power.

 

Power corrupts.

                                                         Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

 

Links here and here--note the “feel good” town hall meetings to diffuse the growing voices against media consolidation….we’ll make it look like we care, and then totally ignore the wishes of the American people.  We’ll also ignore that the airwaves belong to the American people and their wishes should take precedence over corporate interests.

 

A scab by any other name

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Diane Ravitch has an excellent link up to Black Agenda’s take on the charter schools takeover.  I am glad there are voices coming from the African American community against charters.  Up until now, I haven’t heard their voice being raised at what is surely a stealth racism of closing public schools in poor and minority neighborhoods and replacing them with deficient charters run by well-paid CEO’s.

I hear plenty against Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel, but I’ve yet to hear any voices raised against Oprah for promoting charters out the wazoo.

All things ALEC

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Center for Media and Democracy has several links up on ALEC:

(most of these are from the week prior to the 40th birthday bash in Chicago)

They long for the bygone era.

ALEC agenda.

More *cough* scholarship funds for those poor, poor legislators…

I, for one, would like to know the reasons that Larry Summers, a hedge fund manager, would be the optimal choice for Federal Reserve.  WTH?

Pissed off at how much you’re taxed….well, how does this grab ya?  You at least expect your taxes to go towards useful things like roads, police, fire, schools….but, no, it is going to subsidize these folks.

This is the latest–the treatment of the protestors by Chicago P.D.  A note in the comments section said that over 900 people were arrested.

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On to other things–

Pandora’s lunchbox. Basically, like Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride tells GAPS patients….nothing processed is good for you–avoid it like the plague.  Try to eat more raw than cooked food.  Cooking destroys the enzymes in food–enzymes are used in all processes in your body.  This includes digestion of proteins and other nutrients so that your body can utilize them.  It won’t do your body any good if it lacks the enzymes to digest the nutrients.

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Lastly, there’s nanotechnology everywhere.  Is anybody regulating it? Well, yes and no.  The FDA is regulating silver nanoparticals, but you know the FDA on the nanotechnology as a whole….throw it out there and hope nobody notices.  Be sure to click on the links for Grist’s take (I knew there was a reason that I felt like I had sludge in my gut after eating M&M’s); also the link for Purdue’s report on the fish; and  the effect on DNA.  Yep.

 

Liberal media, where are you? **edited

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Diane Ravitch has a link up to a daily kos piece on the non-coverage of issues Americans care about…

**edited to add this link.

Cloaking Inequity

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Julian Velasquez Heilig has a post up on the laughable (or not) edumucation mis-counting of school scores…um, yeah, if the Keystone cops could be Keystone Analysts….this is what they would look like–bumbling over themselves.

It’s a miracle…

well, wait a minute…it isn’t…

…yes, yes, it is….

No, no, it isn’t….

Oh, just stop paying attention to facts and think what we tell you to think…!

…oh, and yes, we in Indiana are certainly trying to keep up with Texas….

More letters to Bill and Melinda Gates **edited

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This has got to be one of the most profound letters I’ve read to date.  It is truly a great assessment of the misinformation campaign being run by the Gates Foundation and the others profiting off of our children.    No educators were included in creating Common Core!!   Red flags right there.   Be sure to follow the link that begins “entire body of social science…”  –it leads to a Washington Post article by Valerie Strauss.  In it there is a link to a  protest letter signed by educators and other professionals against Common Core—lots of good information there.

Megalomaniacal Gates seems to think that every child should be manipulated towards a career in the technology field….everyone should be just like himself…?  Probably thinks he’s the new Messiah, too.  God help us.

 

**edited to clarify

New York State Test Outrage

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From Diane Ravitch:  Peter DeWitt Is Outraged by New York State Tests.

This is such a compelling letter–how can anyone claim that teachers are not dedicated?

I’m angry that I continue to have teachers step outside of the box…very brave teachers, and get pummeled because their children did not do well on state tests…that they were never supposed to do well on in the first place.

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Exactly.  The game has been exposed–kids were never supposed to pass these tests.  It was designed to fail them and their schools.

…just so some hedge fund manager, bankers, etc. could make a fast buck.

 

Forty Years of ALEC

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They’re protesting ALEC in Chicago as I type…the tweets are keeping tabs on what is going on.  Badass Teachers Association is there.  Others have reported rough treatment by Chicago Police.

https://twitter.com/aaroncynic/status/365556308516151297/photo/1

Chicago Teachers Union