Why I Changed My Mind About School ReformFederal testing has narrowed education andcharter schools have failed to live up totheir promise.By Diane RavitchWall Street JournalMarch 9, 2010http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304575109443305343962.html?KEYWORDS=Diane+RavitchI have been a historian of American education since1975, when I received my doctorate from Columbia. Ihave written histories, and I've also writtenextensively about the need to improve students'
Join Us and Make Wall Street PayBy James ParksAFL-CIO blogMarch 15, 2010http://blog.aflcio.org//03/15/join-us-and-make-wall-street-pay/Starting today, the union movement and our allies aretaking our fight for good jobs now to the biggest WallStreet banks whose reckless greed has gone a long wayto wreck the U.S. economy and kill American jobs.From March 15-26, working people will hold rallies anddemonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Streetbanks-Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wachovia-Wells
Offering a critique of the Iraq War drama Green Zone, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat (3/15/10) offers a "narrative of the Iraq invasion, properly told," that ends with:
And you had Saddam Hussein himself, the dictator in his labyrinth, apparently convinced that pretending to have WMD was the best way to keep his grip on power.
Fiction of Marjah as City Was US Information WarBy Gareth PorterInter Press ServiceMarch 9, 2010http://www.truthout.org/fiction-marja-city-was-us-information-war57470For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggestoffensive of the Afghanistan War against what it wastold was a "city of 80,000 people" as well as thelogistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand.That idea was a central element in the overallimpression built up in February that Marja was a majorstrategic objective, more important than other district
New Immigrant Rights Campaign to Mount Largest March ofObama EraBy Randy Shaw Beyond Chron March 15, 2010http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7907"I cannot underscore strongly enough how pissedoff the base is over the lack of action"Gabe Gonzalez, Center for Community ChangeLast week, immigrant rights groups became the firstmajor progressive constituency to issue a releasepublicly denouncing the Obama Administration. Blastingthe White House for "escalating deportations and
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz turns in a profile of Glenn Beck today (3/15/10) that includes a few interesting anecdotes. He reports that "Fox staffers note that veteran producer Gresham Striegel left the network after clashing with Beck and say the host has surrounded himself with loyalists" from his own radio company, and that "a vice president was assigned 'to help keep an eye on that program' and review its content in advance--a full-time job."
New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has not had a chance yet to respond to questions about his commentary on the ACORN hoax (FAIR Action Alert, 3/11/10), instead devoting his Sunday column (3/14/10) to a discussion of political labeling. It included this question:
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove is making the rounds to promote his new book Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight. He landed on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday (3/14/10), interviewed by Tom Brokaw. Brokaw asked him about his book's discussion of the Iraq War:
Fewer Black Firefighters In The Ranks'We are definitely moving backward'By Cynthia DizikesChicago TribuneMarch 12, 2010http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-100312chicago-firefighters,0,3733595.storyMark Townsend joined the Chicago Fire Department in 1988hoping to help pave the way for future blackfirefighters in an agency long plagued by charges ofracism.But as Townsend nears retirement, he faces a troublingfact: Despite years of diversity training and a highlypublicized minority recruitment campaign, the percentage
1. Interview: Venezuela's State TelevisionVenezuela's revolution has often been tied to the slogan"Socialism in the 21st Century." What might that meanconcretely in changes under way in the renationalisedstate telecommunications company, CANTV?Transnational Institute fellow Daniel Chavez has beenpart of a team of international advisers working withVenezuelan researchers and CANTV to review the statetelecommunications company's history and put forwardproposals for converting it into an effective socialistpublic company. [...]
Limbaugh Endorses Socialist ParadiseBy Sara RobinsonCampaign for America's FutureMarch 9, 2010 - 4:41pm EThttp://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010031009/limbaugh-endorses-socialist-paradiseSo Rush Limbaugh has threatened to move to Costa Rica ifhealth care reform passes.As Brian Docksteader wrote, the irony of this is almosttoo rich to believe. Given Rush's well-knownproclivities, you have to wonder: Why Costa Rica? Ifhe's looking for beaches, palm trees, and warm weather,why not head off to Somalia -- that free-market paradise
The Great Prostate MistakeBy RICHARD J. ABLINNew York TimesMarch 9, 2010http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/opinion/10Ablin.htmlEach year some 30 million American men undergo testingfor prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme made by theprostate. Approved by the Food and Drug Administrationin 1994, the P.S.A. test is the most commonly used toolfor detecting prostate cancer.The test's popularity has led to a hugely expensivepublic health disaster. It's an issue I am painfullyfamiliar with - I discovered P.S.A. in 1970. As Congress
The Iranian TsunamiBy Conn HallinanForeign Policy in FocusMarch 12, 2010http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_iranian_tsunamiEarthquakes, like the recent Haitian and Chileanmonsters, are not subtle events: They flatten buildings,crush houses, and turn infrastructures into concrete andsteel confetti. But earthquakes can also generate apower that remains largely unseen, until a huge tsunamirises out of the sea and obliterates a coastline. [...]
By David Swanson
Let me get this straight. The Senate will pass a public option if the House will. And the House will, because it already did. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t allow it. So the mortal enemy of public-option backers is . . . Dennis Kucinich.
Why? Because when Congressman Kucinich said he'd stand for a public option he stupidly thought he was supposed to mean it.
Let's review a brief history of the disease known as "health insurance reform."
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By David Swanson
As long as we're going to dump most of our money into wars and the military and Wall Street and health insurance bailouts, students are going to have to go into debt to afford college. But it would cost the students less and the government less, if private companies were not permitted to act as middlemen profiting off public loans to students.
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We hope to see you at the Left Forum! Held at Pace University in New
York next weekend April 19 - 21, 2010.
REWIND - A Week of Quotes & CartoonsSUNDAYQuote of the DayMarch 7, 2010'As more details surface about how derivatives helpedGreece and perhaps other countries mask their debtloads, let's not forget that the wonders of thesecomplex products aren't on display only overseas.Across our very own country, municipalities, schooldistricts, sewer systems and other tax-exempt debtissuers are ensnared in the derivatives mess. [...]
Job Creation Begins at HomeBy Phaedra Ellis-LamkinsTheRoot.comMarch 10, 2010http://www.theroot.com/views/your-take-job-creation-begins-homeToday the Senate Energy Committee will begin debating aweatherization bill known as Home Star that aims tomake American homes more energy efficient, whilecreating thousands of American jobs in the process.Home Star has the potential to significantly reduceresidential energy consumption, saving consumers almost$10 billion over the next ten years, while cutting
March for California's Future Highlights State ParkClosures at Colonel Allensworth State Historic ParkBy Willie PeloteAmerican Federation of State, Countyand Municipal Employees (AFSCME)California Progress ReportMarch 11, 2010http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/7543Participants in a 260-mile trek from Bakersfield toSacramento attended a rally at Colonel AllensworthState Historic Park as part of the "March forCalifornia's Future" to highlight how budget cuts haveforced the closure of state parks throughout
In these short videos, May First/People Link Co-Director Alfredo Lopez discusses some of the issues our organization has been grappling with and talking about: issues that we believe are of critical importance to both the Internet and the Progressive movement. Each of Alfredo's presentations is about 15 minutes long, using Flash format. Feel free to comment.
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