Category Archives: equality

A trojan horse…and another part of a horse…on DN

by

Democracy Now had a couple of noteworthy segments up this morning–

Another *cough* fair trade deal that is characterized as NAFTA on steroids.  Great.  /snark

…because Clinton’s NAFTA didn’t do enough to destroy this country….one can only wonder at the forced GMO seeds  upon these countries–forced vaccination–and other unconstitutional actions that will affect us, as well.  We don’t live in a vacuum–what goes around comes around…

See previous post on how much influence corporations have on our government, and the ramifications of that influence.  The public loses its representation….and yet, we’re still taxed.

Max Blumenthal has written an insider’s view of Israel.   Prime Minister Netanyahu asserts he has the U.S. where he wants us.  He is still trying to drum up fear of the Iranians having a nuclear weapon…but methinks it’s more a fear that if the U.S. no longer sees Iran as a threat, they won’t be giving the bucks to Israel.

I’m glad he was on DN–because we get a picture of the rightwingers of Israel who are racist against not only the Palestinians, but Africans as well.  It’s chilling how they think of the Africans as a cancer on their society.   No wonder the rightwingers in America like Israel so much–they have so much in common.

Funny how we don’t hear that from the mainstream media, eh?

A picture flashed in my head when he said the youth march through the streets.  It’s unnerving how much that is like the Nazis.

I’m also glad that Blumenthal makes the point that there are peacemakers amongst the warhawks, as well, who are against what is happening, but perhaps feel powerless to do anything about it.  (sounds familiar, eh?)  I think this is true of every nation–that there are many unheard voices that are against violence and war but never get to speak out.

 

A ruling as damaging as Citizens United?

by

Public Citizen has this up on a case before the U.S. Supreme court that could be as damaging as Citizens United, which made the inane ruling that corporations were people.

Good Grief, we already have the Kochs and Gates of the world whom are buying their kingdoms through crooks masquerading as politicians….and now we have another case of allowing mindboggling sums to campaigns:

In the case, the justices will consider whether to eliminate the limit on the total sum that people can give directly to candidates and political parties in a single election. The current overall limit for an individual making direct contributions to parties, political action committees (PACs) and federal candidates is $123,200 per two-year election cycle, but a win for the challengers in McCutcheon could allow total contributions above $7 million.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A thought just popped in my mind–and this is in general, not just this lawsuit– what if we made it a rule that for every $7.50 (minimum wage) that a politician accepts in donations, they must work an hour in a soup kitchen/homeless shelter.   This would serve two purposes:  the politicians could no longer pretend they don’t know how bad things are for the poor, and they would see how low $7.50 an hour is…and perhaps raise it to $15.

Additionally, the politician would be less likely to accept the mega bucks in donations….they would think twice before allowing corporations to buy them.

Again, I’m wondering how far that money would go if given to more worthy causes–buying food for the hungry, putting up earthships, creating jobs, etc.

I posed that question towards my political science professor and he shrugged his shoulders and said “It’s really not that much…”

Tell that to someone who skips meals, has no home, no job.  Their perspective might be a little different….but they’re poor and don’t have a voice if campaign contributions are the gauge.

This just made me crack up laughing:

A relatively small number of people use contributions to maximize their leverage over elected officials.

~~~~~

…not where I come from….the whole point of giving to campaigns is to wield influence over politicians.  I know of people who give to BOTH sides so they have an edge with whomever is elected.

 

Education under fire

by

It is really hard to read all the news on Education.  It is depressing to no end.

Some of the bad news:

Disability scandal involving a charter school, with a scheme diverting $$$ towards their own pockets.  What is really sad is these mentally challenged children are viewed by these people with $$ in their eyes–just like the medical profession.  These children will receive the minimal of instruction to optimize the profit margin.

The moral and spiritual bankruptcy of corporate reformers.

The magical Michelle Rhee.

Arne Duncan blasts “armchair pundits”….just like John Kerry…a politician that thinks the public’s opinion doesn’t matter.  Duncan degrades the public as no-nothings not worth his time.  He ignores that educators are among the public who are speaking out against corporate profiteering of public schools.

Here’s a post disputing Bill Gates’ *cough* facts.  (hat tip Diane Ravitch)

Does anybody else see the irony of Gates, a college dropout, deliberately being deceptive on the numbers of college graduates in the U.S.?  Not only is he a hypocrite, but a lying one at that….

And again, it bears repeating over and over that a college degree is no guarantee of a job.  And there are those who do not want a degree but still need to be paid a living wage.

Gates’ money torpedoing public education through devious means.  $173 MILLION.   What a creep.

Heckuva job, reformers!

Indianapolis schools ground zero.  Yep.

This is just too, too ridiculous.  We have no toilet paper, but gee whiz, we have a shiny new sports arena!!

Canadians still being held

by

The Egyptian authorities are still holding two Canadians in jail.  They have sent word that they were beaten after asking for directions from police.    They had filmed the carnage of 102 people killed and Tarek offered medical assistance to the injured…and that seems to be why they are being held….but they have yet to go before a court.  Meanwhile, they are forced to sleep on concrete floors with cockroaches.

Poverty and school performance

by

Diane Ravitch mentions a link to Noel Hammitt’s blog on the correlation between poverty and how well a student does in school.  She taught Noel as a student undergrad.

Note:  Noel Hammitt has copyrighted this material, but kindly allows liberal use of it as long as copyright is noted.

The first chart is stunning in how the “F” grade corresponds with the kids in poverty.  Again–they are trying to blame teachers for something that is out of their control–and the biggest factor in how well a child does in school….poverty.

From this chart it appears that there is a powerful pattern in the relationship between the concentrations of poverty in schools and the assigned letter grades for schools. However, we should note that for four years Louisiana put out a report that highlighted High-Poverty High Performing Schools, which suggested that there are, perhaps, many schools that defy this pattern. After carefully examining the lists, which reported higher numbers of schools each succeeding year, with 56 schools in the 2011 release, we noted that many of the schools actually had a lower percentage of students qualifying for free meals than the state average. In addition, most of the schools were magnet schools or schools where Gifted/Talented programs were masking lower test scores for other groups of students in the schools.  Finally, there were schools like Lake Forest Elementary, in New Orleans, that had extensive application and testing procedures that eliminated low-scoring students from the schools.  We also noted that there were no schools that had been on the list every year. Not one school out of over 1300 schools in the state that had overcome the challenges of poverty every year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

We note that although the private schools seem to have an advantage on the scores, they enroll very few special education students, and they get to select their students.

~~~~~~~~~~~

NAEP scores can be useful checks against a natural tendency of states, districts, and schools to focus on teaching to the test, because NAEP assessments are much more difficult to game or teach to than state level tests. An example of this can be found in states where 90 percent or more of students receive passing scores in their state at the basic level, when only 20 or 30 percent of their students are passing NAEP at the Basic Level.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think this last quote is really important for the non-teacher to understand what is going on with testing.  As we have learned, tests can be manipulated in that the teacher is forced to teach so the children can pass the test so the schools will not be penalized either by closing them or denying them their federal tax dollars through programs such as Race to the Bottom…er, I mean, Top….so the assessment is muddied.  The national assessment appears to circumvent that and gives a true picture of how the children are doing.

Noel notes that a child in poverty can also make high grades–he emphasizes that one should understand this and not have low expectations of these children.  I agree.  The problem isn’t that the child is not capable….but they have so many obstacles to overcome every day that get in the way.

Finally, the biggest point of the paper is that just because a school is called “failing” doesn’t necessarily mean that the kids and teachers are stoopid.  Again, parents and the public need to  ask how that school was assessed, is poverty  a huge problem with the students?

Teachers Stand up for their right to be heard

by

…much as they are being silenced in the national discussion, the teachers and parents of Montclair, New Jersey, were going to be heard..

Look— everyone knows you don’t mess with New Jersey.  tough birds…we need some of you here in Indiana…..

 

Blog

by

(PERSONAL BLOG)

I haven’t been blogging the past few days (writing, but not publishing) because the utter depravity of the food stamp fight was more than I could bear.  I was truly wondering whether to stop publishing….

Being poor doesn’t usually bother me to the point where I don’t want to blog–but this hit a little too close to home.  I resent being characterized as a no-good bum by people who are no good bums who get free haircuts, free parking, and coffee and complain because someone asks for food on the table….

More here.

And here.

Being poor has taught me so much,  which I know was the intent.  I have let go of the chains of thinking that my self-worth was wrapped up in what clothing I wore, the kind of car I drove, the house I had, or how much money I made.   Those, I discovered, were empty “calories” for want of a better word…that led to an emptiness of life.  Friends who like you because of your status will desert you when that status is lowered.   This was the second time I had gone through it (my first after my parents’ divorce).

It hit me the other day how badly I was treated after my parents’ divorce and the subsequent poverty I found myself in.  It hit me about the kids in school who may not have known their self-worth because they had not obtained the same status that I had previous to the poverty.  Before the divorce, I had people exclaim with delight, “Oh, you’re [popular doctor’s] daughter!”  After the divorce, these same people would treat me coldly.  Had I not known my previous life of self-worth (even if it was false)…had I not known that their treatment of me had nothing to do with me as a human being, but everything to do with my financial and social status….I perhaps would have felt as I imagine people who are poor their entire childhood (and perhaps life) feel when they don’t realize that they are not dirt because some idiot treats them that way–rather the person who treats them like dirt is the one with the problem.  And I’m not in any way trying to diminish how being treated that way affects one, as my opening statement attests to, but you can feel bad for awhile, but then get your second wind, hold your head up, and take a step forward.

It’s a hard lesson to learn–took me until my forties to realize all of that.  I let others define who I was and what worth I had.  Nobody gets to define who I am, what I am about, or what my soul’s worth is……which is really what you’re left when all the material things are stripped away…

 

 

The reality that you don’t hear about…

by

…that the folks on food stamps can also be adjunct professors.  This has got to be one of the most sobering stories I’ve heard yet.  What the mainstream media won’t tell you is that college educated WORKING people are also in dire straits because the top 1% are taking it all for themselves, as we see in this case.

Note the comment where some administrator in a hospital gave herself a 90k bonus while paying low wages.

And other comments are blasting the university for her extremely low un-livable wages.   Good God.

Many ask why she didn’t have Medicare/Soc. Security at her age?  The article doesn’t tell us, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say she was probably making too much money as a professor for Social Security.  I don’t know about Medicare, but assuming they also have limits on how much they will pay for certain conditions, and if this was the second time that Margaret Mary had cancer, she had probably reached those limits.

They also ask the question of her being on assistance (food stamps, I presume?) .  Ooookay.  Um, let me explain something to those who think that food stamps are some sort of panacea–they’re NOT.  Even if she got food stamps, which we don’t know by this article, it still would not be enough.   Jaysus H., $10,000 a year?  That is less than a $1,000 per month, before taxes.    Who can survive on that??

Here’s the op-ed from Daniel Kovalik, who may have been the last person to talk to her.  What huge indignity for her (and anyone else who has to beg for food or medical care).

And here again we have the fight against unions for teachers…and a glaring point of why we need unionized teachers, because the administrators have their priorities in the wrong places (themselves and athletics):

While adjuncts at Duquesne overwhelmingly voted to join the United Steelworkers union a year ago, Duquesne has fought unionization, claiming that it should have a religious exemption. Duquesne has claimed that the unionization of adjuncts like Margaret Mary would somehow interfere with its mission to inculcate Catholic values among its students.

This would be news to Georgetown University — one of only two Catholic universities to make U.S. News & World Report’s list of top 25 universities — which just recognized its adjunct professors’ union, citing the Catholic Church’s social justice teachings, which favor labor unions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is truly, truly, incredible was the heartless act of the university in calling the police after it was discovered she was sleeping in her office because her electricity was shut off.  Yeah, because Jesus would have tossed her out on her ass, too. /very snarky.
Lastly, let’s take a moment to acknowledge that Margaret Mary was a woman….women are more likely to be in poverty than men.

Statistically, women in America are more likely to be poor than men in all racial and ethnic backgrounds. With over 37 million people living in poverty, over half of them are adult single women. Surprisingly so, women in the U.S. are further behind in comparison to women in other areas of the world. This could be all connected to the gender wage gap, with women earning less money than their male counterparts, and the often expensive responsibility of raising children.

In a report entitled Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity and America’s Families, lead authors Shawn McMahon and Jessica Horning found that 45 percent of American families live on incomes that fail to provide the basic economic security required to support their basic needs. In just four years, the overall financial insecurity rate rose from 38 percent to 45 percent with an increase in poverty of White children and unmarried couples. Children of color were also found at risk of economic security with more than three-quarters of Black children and three-quarters of Hispanic children facing poverty in their households.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Klonskys Rainy Sunday Blog and others **edited

by

Fred Klonsky has an excellent blog covering the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham bombing, the NY Post slam piece on Diane Ravitch, and more.

As I was watching Bill Cosby speak on MSNBC Sunday, I thought of the bombing happening in August….and President Kennedy being killed just a few months later…and Martin Luther King just five years after that…the Kent State and Jackson State shootings…

Dailykos Teacher Ken blog on Diane’s book here.

The end of Clinton/Reagan politics.  We can only hope there will be no more Clintons or Clintonites in the White House after Bush, Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush…and I don’t agree that Barack Obama has been quite as Clintonite as the author believes–maybe at first, but I really feel he has started to break away from that in his second term. …especially within the last year.  And I can do without all the psycho-babble of why people choose political candidates….psychology and sociology theorists would like to put people in packages that suits a scientific measure, when people are much more complex than that.  Take me, for example….I am nothing like they would like to pigeonhole me as….

If a person matures psychologically as they get older, they will make their own choices according to their inner voice–not according to outside influences.  I think this is especially true if they are a spiritual person.

Challenge for Steve Perry.  Wow, it is unbelievable this guy is a Principal!  Really on the outer edge in his tweets, rightwinger for sure.  So glad that NBC and CNN are supporting the destruction of the public school system. /very snarky, indeed

HIs “no excuses” garbage is just that–just look at the statistics for how many of them his school serves.  And making a five year old stand up during lunch period because her mother didn’t send her to school with the proper uniform?  Are you kidding me??

Nobody is making excuses…the teachers and parents fighting for the public schools ARE fighting for kids in poverty and in minority neighborhoods who have multitudes of issues to deal with.  Not getting shot on the way to school is one of them…

Nancy Flanagan why all the snark?

A word about competition and profits

Rhee tells Philly how to solve problems.

Michelle Rhee penned an article about how to fix the public schools of Philadelphia. She says it is time for performance pay, so that there is “a great teacher” in every classroom.

~~~~~~

Great.  let’s start with Michelle Rhee’s performance in D.C.  Fail!  Or…how about her taping the kdis’ mouths shut and then laughing about it when they peeled the tape off and it tore their delicate skin off, too, leaving them crying and bleeding? Fail!  Or…how she is married to a predator??  Not someone I would want in charge of schools.

Be sure to click on the renegade video by an attendee to the *cough* conversation of Michelle Rhee and I think she mentions Steve Perry, too.    I love this–passionate public school advocates standing up against the propaganda.   Notice that they tell her they are “at the end” of the program and they try to hurry her up to quash her statement…but that is only 7 minutes into the program…it goes on for another 20 minutes!

The man talking (Perry) uses a LOT of emotional language–a red flag he doesn’t have facts to back up what he’s saying.  And, as the video asks…who are these “wrong” students Perry is talking about?  Not the dreaded poor, disabled, and minority students…that he says he wants to serve and calls Ravitch, et al, racists for not sending them to charters who will dump their butts for not jumping through hoops…..okay, I’m confused….

Also–as the commenter notes–Rhee mocks Hannah Nguyen.  Um-hmmm….but, yes, of course Rhee sincerely wants a conversation.  bwahahahahaha  *snort*  bwahahaha

**edited to take off the school finance link.  Like I said, I was tired last night, and mistakenly put that up.  After viewing one of the videos, it appears that the blog is pro-charter schools.  Or perhaps I should say anti-public schools.  Sorry for the mistake.

More on Irish Slaves

by

I went back to read the blog again, and this time clicked on the comments section.  I found the comment below about further study of the Irish slave trade.  It is amazing that this went on for 200 years, and nobody knows about it!

Stumbled upon this website doing Irish Genealogy and thought I’d post that I just finished the book To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland by Sean O’Callaghan and am starting White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America by Don Jordan & Michael Walsh.

I highly recommend To Hell or Barbados. It reads a little like a history text but still fascinating none the less to learn about this little talked about portion of history even though it went on for almost 200 years!

-J

~~~~~~~~~~~

I found this blog on Sean O’Callaghan’s book To Hell or Barbados.   She writes a powerful paragraph in which she asks:

What if this story of the Irish and Scots had been exposed and well known; would slavery have had a different complexion and perceived differently today? Would the legacy of slavery, the blight and scourge it has inflicted upon people of African descent in the Americas be the same? Or would slavery have been understood for what it is: a system based on the conrol and subjugation of those who have no power–for economic gain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a short documentary video on the site, as well, but it only covers the African slave trade, so no new information on the Irish/Scots slave trade there.

Something disturbing, though, as I’m trying to find other blogs reviewing the book–one had stamped on it “White Pride World Wide”.  That is the LAST thing I would want to come of this information—we don’t need the KKK (and cohorts) to use this to further its hate agenda.   Good God, it should cause them to pause and reflect on how it was done to the vulnerable whites, as well, and therefore, should be a learning moment on empathy and justice.  It should be a lesson on how once again, those in power create hatred towards a specific group to gain even more power (the Nazi’s flash in my mind as I write that).

Do unto others…