Continuing the saga of the Food Stamp *cough* savings….
Here’s another article on it.
The comments are interesting, and someone links to this page on Stephen Fincher, whose family farm received…wait for it…$8.9 million in farm subsidies…
…they must be the farmers Joe Donnelly consulted with for the farm bill. /snark
Oh, and Jesus gave loaves and fishes to the hungry. It’s interesting what portions of the Bible the so-called religious choose to quote to justify their meanness and cruelty.
…must be republicans…and some democrats. Joe Donnelly was on the local radio station this morning, talking about the Farm Bill. I guess the new catch word is “savings” when describing cuts to food stamps. Yep, he actually was promoting the idea of “savings” when taking food away. He stated that farmers helped write the bill….that he was big on farmers having a say in the bill.
….and then, after stating there would be savings in the farm bill, (from food stamps), he ends his talk with the radio host with “Have a Happy Thanksgiving”. I kid you not. Utter callousness and indifference.
Meanwhile, we spend $$$ on overpriced defense suppliers:
Makes you sick, doesn’t it? Republicans, who are always whining about the budget, never mention this. They would much rather take food out of someone’s mouth than hold contractors accountable, and save millions in the process.
Keeping up with the First Nations protests in Canada–
A judge has ruled that indigenous protestors are not to interfere with fracking by SWN….even though it is on Mi’kmaq land.
There are other ways to silence free speech and protests.
A video here on the damage already being done just by exploration. He describes the water from the broken aquifer as having an oily consistency. I hope that he has taken samples of the water for testing. And that he goes back in the Spring to access the damage to the Earth, plants, and wildlife.
From the piece:
Water Flowing from Shotholes or Testholes
Requirements when water comes to surface or flows from shotholes or testholes
1(1)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum while drilling a shothole or testhole and comes to the surface or flows from the shothole or testhole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that all drilling on the flowing hole is discontinued, that no explosive charge is loaded into the shothole and that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.
1(2)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum and comes to the surface or flows from a shothole or testhole following the drilling of the testhole or the drilling or detonation of the shothole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.
1(3)If a shothole is flowing before an explosive charge is detonated, the permittee shall ensure that the charge is detonated.
1(4)Without undue delay, the geophysical licensee shall submit to the Minister a report, on a form provided by the Minister, with respect to each flowing shothole or testhole
(a)after the flow of water has been confined to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and
(2), or (b)after reasonable attempts have been made to confine the flow of water to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and (2).
1(5)If, after reasonable attempts have been made, the flow of water from a shothole or testhole cannot be confined in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule, the geophysical licensee shall, as soon as possible, submit to the Minister for his or her approval a plan for the control and management of the flow of water.
1(6)If water flows from a shothole or testhole when drilling operations are in progress, the permittee shall ensure that the process referred to in subsection 2(2) of this Schedule is complied with when any subsequent shotholes or testholes in the sequence are drilled.”
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Anonymous has this posted on the Warriors being held in solitary confinement.
Parents being arrested for protecting their children’s water….for protecting the future.
Finally, Idle No More has this up for anyone wishing to help the Elsipogtog.
Jan Ressenger has this disturbing link to a Philly.com article on investors buying school building cheaply. She also has this link to a Valerie Strauss report in the Washington Post.
Strauss reprinted a report by Helen Gym:
For more than 10 months, Parents United for Public Education and our lawyers at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia have been fighting to make public the Boston Consulting Group’s list of 60 schools recommended for closure and the criteria it used for developing the list. In 2012, BCG contracted with the William Penn Foundation to provide “contract deliverables,” one of which was identifying 60 public schools for closure. William Penn Foundation solicited donations for this contract, including some from real estate developers and those promoting charter expansion. The “BCG list” was referred to by former Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen in public statements. But District officials refused to release the list, saying that it was an internal document and therefore protected from public review.
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Does anybody else smell ALEC involvement? I mean, the playbook of hiding what should be public information is sooo ALEC.
Gym makes the point that these records, although termed “internal” are shared with philanthropic organizations and stakeholders. I would like a definition of stakeholder—because from where I sit, the public IS a stakeholder.
And she is right on with the query: is Right to Know now Pay to Know?
**edited to correct attribution. Oops.
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Diane Ravitch has a link up to this excellent article by DSWright. Notice how Duncan ignores the racist remark and patronizes people once again by dismissing it as just awkward delivery of the message. He again lies about how our kids are doing in schools–they are not failing, No Child Left a Mind and Race to the Bottom are failing!! Common Core is an outrageous legalized plan of child abuse that requires kids to answer questions that are above their psychological development.
Duncan also slips into the conversation how “partnering” with corporations is being promoted. The lines are being blurred between public and private sectors.
Nowhere in Duncan’s speech does he talk of better educated kids for well-rounded citizens to sustain a democracy. The promotion of the corporate octopus into public education will use schools as their personal training centers (more than they already are)—NOT for democracy. Well educated people ask too many questions. They know too much to take whatever is dished out.
Because young, hopeful, eager teachers need any spare change you can give…. (hat tip to Diane Ravitch).
I wish I could say this is just happening to the teaching profession, but alas…it’s been going on in the private sector, as well, for, oh, at least seven years. It was just understood that you didn’t take breaks. What? You need a lunch? Well, okay, but be quick about it. What? You need a bathroom break? Well, okay, but you’ll have to clean it, too, while you’re in there….
Yep. It’s the dirty little secret nobody talks about. (The above was reference to a store owned by people professing to be progressive Dems, too. Um-hmm..)
Yes, the teaching profession was insulated from this for awhile, but alas, it too, has been sucked into the black hole that was once this magnificent country….bankrupted by bankers who produce nothing and corporate CEO’s who actually think they’re worth the millions paid to them.
I was trying to think of a profession this hasn’t hit–the medical profession and the lawyers, the bankers, and, of course, Congress, who never seem to have to pay their dues with the rest of us; are the only ones I could think of.
Bank tellers, however, have been impacted, along with others.
So…I went looking again for stuff made in the United States of America…in fear that perhaps nothing is made here anymore…only slightly cynical…
I found this very cool fabric manufacturer. I soooo want to buy that fabric!
And this. (Note the theme of organically grown crop)
Here’s one for fleece.
And one for wool.
Another organic cotton manufacturer. Man, my mood has lightened up considerably. 🙂
More here.
Finally, for my newer readers, this website is terrific for finding stuff (Christmas gifts?) still made here. Enjoy.
Here’s a great post on what is happening to the kids. You know….those kids that the reformers say they are concerned about??
G2 put a comment linking to this post. I found this passage especially poignant:
It is imperative, therefore, that we make school a supportive environment free of the extreme stress that can harm healthy development. Some stress is productive and promotes growth. However, especially for children living in poverty, creating an unnecessarily stressful environment has long-term damaging effects.
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To label schools as “just” a place to get an education is a short-sighted, narrow view. Children in poverty are already stressed out by worrying that they won’t have enough to eat that day…that Mom will be crying again because she doesn’t know how she’s going to pay the bills…
…and the one thing that can make that child feel worth something? Knowing the answer to a question the teacher asks. Getting an “A” or even a “B” on a test. Having a teacher provide a treat on his/her birthday….which he/she might not get at home because there just isn’t any extra.
School can be the difference between a poor kid seeing beyond their environment and reaching beyond their little world.
More here:
Child-development experts have decried the age-inappropriateness of the Common Core. In 2010, more than 500 people signed a statement stating that the “standards conflict with compelling new research in cognitive science, neuroscience, child development, and early childhood education about how young children learn, what they need to learn, and how best to teach them in kindergarten and the early grades.”
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A reminder of the nonsensical approach of Common Core.
This just says it all:
The U.S. Department of Education hyped the Common Core as creating a “national market” for “educational entrepreneurs.”
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Makes you sick, doesn’t it??
One of the commenters said that homeschooling is the next step. Yes and No. If you’re wealthy enough that one parent can stay home, you can do that. And we would lose so much of the connectedness that school encourages. We would be further isolated from each other. I just can’t wrap my brain around that–our children and grandchildren will be living in the same neighborhood, but regarding the others as strangers. I see kids out playing in the neighborhood and it makes my heart sing. If this continues, there won’t be the shared experience of discovering new things together, of sharing their personal stories in class discussions (finding common ground or discovering other cultures), of class plays, of singing together, of inspiration…
Bring it on, Arne. She’s referring to this by Duncan. Oh.My.God. Did he really say that?? Did he really just insult a group of women who know their children and know their schools and know their teachers? Is he really that condescending and arrogant? And racist? I mean, really, if it was stated that a group of “angry, black women” were not accepting their failing schools, it would be seen as the racist statement that it is.
There’s another link here, to a report on Common Core playbook, from the Perdido site.
There’s more but this is making me so depressed I need to step away for the moment.
They plastered the sky yesterday with 26+ chemtrails. I woke up this morning with a pale, swollen face–indications of adrenal distress brought on by toxins. Adrenals take a big hit from heavy metals. Getting a migraine. See you in a few.
Karen Silkwood died on this day nearly forty years ago. Her death was ruled an accident, but there was controversy surrounding her. I didn’t want to let this day go by without putting her story out there. Her story highlighted another aspect of the nuclear industry–manufacturing. As always, when there is a profit to be made, corners are cut to obtain the biggest profit.
Karen was asking questions and that is never a popular with manufacturers who cut corners on safety.
I hope she is at peace.
Global News has this up on the poisoning of Yassar Arafat. You might recall my post on that a year ago.
A report on what polonium is here.
Not stuff to mess with, eh?
And speaking of radiation….howz about some radiated water…? Oh, I know the report states it’s not from the radiated side of the plants, but you know, I’m having a hard time trusting nuclear plant operators to tell the truth when that truth could be politically and financially damaging to their interests. Canadians, be on the lookout for three-eyed fish sprouting feet….
First, the bad news. Blessings to you, Diane, for healing. Take care of yourself–your body is telling you to take it easy. Believe me, I understand better than most. Having said that, your contributions to fighting the good fight are truly inspiring…you are needed as never before….but it can wait until you are rested.
This from Seattle Education. Pretty depressing that Wall $t. has turned its eye$ toward$ the school$….how much can we wring out of them?
The sidebar says it all:
Eagle 
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