Karen Francisco, of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, made a comment on Diane Ravitch’s blog that was outstanding.
It pretty much outlines what these creeps are getting away with–robbing the public schools of funds while laughing all the way to the bank:
Bakke’s company to operate two underperforming schools. In addition, an out-of-state real estate investment trust — EPT Properties — will continue to collect about $1 million a year for the charter school lease.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Report here.
Republican leaders said food stamps, traditionally part of the farm bill, would be handled later and that, for now, they needed a way to start negotiations with the Senate over a compromise bill.
~~~~~~~~~~~
If you believe that, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Indiana I want to sell you….
No doubt these members of Congress will go to church Sunday and puff their chests out at what good Christians they are…
I’m not going to comment any further because I’m too upset and I’ll say something I’ll regret later.
Janet Napolitano is leaving the Dept. of Hysterical Security to head up….wait for it…the University of California, including Berkeley.…
While reading the article, I again ask myself, “why is one person head over natural disasters, the CDC, as well as security?”
Judge Jeffrey White is allowing the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to move forward. Don’t fly in any small air craft, judge. Or drive a car...
From the EFF website:
“The court rightly found that the traditional legal system can determine the legality of the mass, dragnet surveillance of innocent Americans and rejected the government’s invocation of the state secrets privilege to have the case dismissed,” said Cindy Cohn, EFF’s Legal Director. “Over the last month, we came face-to-face with new details of mass, untargeted collection of phone and Internet records, substantially confirmed by the Director of National Intelligence. Today’s decision sets the stage for finally getting a ruling that can stop the dragnet surveillance and restore Americans’ constitutional rights.”
Diane Ravitch has a blog up on the Indiana Charter schools playing the shell game of accountability. Now you see it, now you don’t…well, you never really did see accountability…
The financial profits aspect turns my stomach to no end…
And Gates Foundation being involved….well, there’s a red flag if there ever were a red flag. My blogs on Gates here and here and here and here, on the Gates Foundation and Brookings Institute that tossed Diane Ravitch aside when she began to question what was happening to public education.
A Saudi princess has been arrested for what basically amounts to slavery. Good Grief, these people have money out the wazoo, and they’re still not happy with that…have to have it all and if they can force someone to work for them for nothing….well, then, more for them….
….they and the Kochs must be on a first name basis….
A lawsuit has been filed alleging that millions of dollars have been withheld from affordable housing funds.
More from Housing Authorities around the country:
New York. Okay, I’m a little confused, because the folks in Fort Wayne were having budget cuts even before sequestration….some forty percent was reported. It was supposed to be nationwide, so I’m wondering why NY wasn’t cut previously?
Seattle, Washington. This report is more in line with what Fort Wayne is going through–they have had to close the Section 8 (Voucher) program many times because they are just flooded every time they open it up. They have had as many as 4,000 people on the waiting list (If I recall correctly, that was for both Voucher and Public Housing).
From the report:
At the same time, the waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers remains closed, and the agency is unable to issue new vouchers at all. Nearly all vouchers are in use (99.6 percent), and the 1,552 households still on the waiting list remain stuck there. Total waiting lists exceed 25,000, and 884 new households were added in January alone. At a time when need is growing dramatically, the Seattle Housing Authority is unable to expand to meet that need.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s a good article from The Nation on the stupidity and callousness of cutting a housing budget when there is so much need.
From the article:
Although housing assistance takes only one penny of every federal budget dollar, right-wing ideologues since at least the Reagan years have long used “deficit reduction” as a pretext for achieving their dream of eliminating government housing aid. Reagan infamously slashed the housing budget at a time of recession and the emergence of modern homelessness, while the deficit exploded. There’s no question that when it comes to housing assistance, the Reagan legacy lives on. This year the Cato Institute outlined a plan to tackle the budget deficit that would, among other things, “terminate” the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And Reagan’s Tea Party descendants in Congress promise further chops of the budget ax for housing and other safety net programs.
common dreams has this link up on the octopus of GMO corn and the emerging super bugs that are resistant to the pesticides….
…and of course, their answer is to….throw more pesticides after them.
We all saw this coming, so why are Monsanto and Syngenta still allowed to market this monster?
Congress, can you hear the American public that you love to *quote* all the time? Can you hear us above the *clink* of money in your pocket? (Be sure to click on the media link and its pathetic and sometimes belittling coverage).
Vilsack, can you cut your ties with Monsanto and do what is right for the environment and our health?
Here’s a report about GMO’s in the waterways in my own backyard. This is a freaking nightmare.
As a side note, here’s an article on aerial spraying and untested chemicals. Gees-o-pete, does anyone stand up to the chemical industry??
Is what seems to be happening in the last few weeks of the “George Love In”….with the *cough* George W. Bush library that re-programs, er I mean, explains to the public how it really was when he was president…
This is such a hard subject for me, because I’ve been from one extreme to the other with my feelings on it. And feminists marginalize those women who believe in equality but have reservations about abortion. It’s probably one of the biggest reasons that the women’s movement lost steam in the 70s.
When I was younger, before I had my children, I thought abortion was okay. But when I had my children, I thought that it was wrong. But I have seen the horrible picture of the woman who was so desperate that she had her boyfriend use a coat hangar on her to abort her pregnancy. She died of an embolism. I don’t want us to go back to that, but at the same time, I feel that there needs to be restrictions. The heart starts beating at six weeks.
I learned something from Bill Moyers’ book published in the 80s–it stated that Europe is not as lenient about abortion as America is. This shocked me–thinking that Europe has always been more open and “liberal’ about stuff, I presumed that they were of the mind that a woman could have an abortion at any time. Nope. Here is a list of the countries and their abortion policy. Most of them cut off abortion at 12 weeks, even for rape. They only make exceptions for the physical and mental health of the mother, but even then, there are some cut-off dates. The book stressed that the Europeans have a much more supportive structure in that they educate women and men on contraceptives. And if a woman has the baby, she is supported the first five years of life. Amazing, isn’t it??
In the not too distant past, women were not informed on how to prevent a pregnancy (Comstock laws) . They were having five and six kids and desperate not to have another when they became pregnant again. They were too poor and uneducated to provide for the children they did have….what were they to do?
We’ve had politicians who want to deny women the means to prevent pregnancy, but then they also want to deny them abortion. It makes absolutely no sense. And when those children arrive, they will deny them food stamps and decent housing.
Educating women and men is key.
Providing safe contraceptives is also key. (Despite the popular idea that birth control pills are safe, there are many, many problems with them. I have read that gluten intolerance is linked to them, but now can’t find the reference. )
Spermicidal foam had been found to have mercury in it. More here on other issues with it. As far as I know, sponges are safe, but since they also contain N-9 there are issues.
Some women use the natural sea sponge for menstruation as well as a contraceptive. I had heard that the ladies of days past used the sea sponges.
Here’s a report from a lady who had issues with chemically treated sponges. On another site, a poster said she had heard that honey was a natural spermicide. Interesting. Here’s another site that had a brand of spermicide that is non-chemical. It’s made in the UK, however, and I don’t know whether it’s available here. I looked on their website, and it says there is an extra charge for shipping outside of Europe. If one is interested, probably best to contact them and ask.
So…a complicated subject with emotions running high and no quick, easy answers.
It’s not easy for women to prevent a pregnancy in a safe way. Why is that?
Eagle 
You must be logged in to post a comment.