Naomi Wolf’s Warning About “The End of America”

If you haven’t seen this video, you may want to check it out. Be warned that it’s fairly long and by the end of it, you may find yourself checking your passport.
It’s received over 500,000 views on YouTube, which makes me think there’s hope for us yet.

Satire or Really Poor Taste?

Mother Jones discusses the July 21st cover of The New Yorker which features a “satirical” rendering of Barack and Michelle Obama. The illustration is titled, “The Politics of Fear”, and is apparently meant to satirize the “misinformation” being put out about the two. (Note the portrait of Osama Bin Laden above the fireplace)
Did [...]

Kill ‘Em With Cigarettes

John McCain loves to joke about killing Iranians. Remember the “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran” song? Well, this week he made another funny. In response to a question about the the increase in the export of cigarettes to Iran, he responded, “Maybe thats a way of killing them.”
What a funny guy!

Madonna’s Having an Affair, Christie Brinkley is Getting Divorced, and Oh Yea…Bush Signed A Law To Increase His Surveillance Powers

Whenever a big celebrity story hits the airwaves, I brace myself for something horrible. Lately, we’ve been bombarded by two major stories about celebrity foibles.
I knew we were in for some serious doo-doo.
Sure enough, while we stay distracted by the Madonna/ A-Rod story, Congress has passed a law giving George Bush virtually unchecked power [...]

Educational Reform, the New Hollywood

“You Can Sell Anything If You Package it Right” - Associated Content

As much as we may discredit tabloid magazines, they’ve actually done some positive things. In particular, they’ve shattered the carefully constructed, picture perfect images of celebrities that the film industry used to portray. We know know that celebrities have problems just like [...]

It Can’t Happen to Me

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there [...]

New York City Teaching Fellows-Biting the Hand that Feeds Them

I still have a problem with alternative teacher certification programs; I don’t feel that they address the real problems that face our schools and I have serious concerns about sending people with no training to work with our neediest students.
That being said, I’ve noticed something interesting about the New York City Teaching Fellows Program - [...]

Why is There a Need For Unions?

“Our wages now adjusting for inflation, average wages are lower than they were in the 1970s. Our minimum wage, adjusting for inflation, is lower than it was in the 1950s, and why is it? One of the things going on is that income and wealth inequality have gone back to the 1920s. We are back [...]

Keep Your Puppies and Your Children Away

The curl in her lips
The ice in her stare
The innocent children better beware
She’s like a spider waiting
for the kill
Look out for
Cruella De Vil
Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the DC Public Schools, really likes to shut things down-schools, principals, peoples’ hopes…
The latest victim in her feeding frenzy is Benning Elementary School in Northeast Washington. Parents describe [...]

The Human Touch

I recently attended a faculty meeting that discussed the concept of corporal punishment. I found it deeply upsetting and more than a little bit sad.
Part of the discussion dealt with the obvious-physical force or verbal humiliation. Such conversations are the direct result of the actions of a few knuckleheads who suffer from a [...]