Archive for the ‘news seen elsewhere’ Category
Another veto from Bush
Saturday, March 8th, 2008Here’s another chapter in the ongoing tug-of-war between Bush and Congress over the use of interrogation methods widely considered to be torture. While Congress works to eliminate such tactics from the toolbox of intelligence agents, Bush continues to use fear tactics to shame Congress into relenting: (more…)
NYC charter school will offer teachers $125,000 salary
Friday, March 7th, 2008I read this in today’s New York Times, and all I can say is it’s about time! Finally someone is willing to take a risk to see what happens when we treat teachers as though they actually have one of the most important (and challenging) jobs in this country. A new charter school is set to open in New York City and what makes it different is the salary it will offer in order to attract top notch teachers: (more…)
Entrepreneurs leave the Republican party
Thursday, March 6th, 2008Inc magazine is the bible of entrepreneurs in the U.S. When it was starting out in the 1980s, its readership was a monolithic Republican block. But now, everything has changed: (more…)
Paying kids to raise their grades
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008In public schools throughout New York City an experiment is taking place using
incentive programs to encourage students and teachers to aim for higher scores on standardized tests, reports Jennifer Medina in today’s New York Times. The programs vary in what types of awards are offered, from pizza parties and McDonald gift certificates to teacher bonuses and student monetary awards. The idea was developed by Roland G. Fryer, a Harvard economist, and while it is still in its infancy, there is some indication that these programs are effecting positive changes in the classroom: (more…)
Jewish families and schoolboard reach settlement in Delaware school prayer lawsuit, but families suffer crippling backlash of anti-semitism
Friday, February 29th, 2008Here’s a sad story from the frontlines of the struggle to keep public schools religiously neutral, and an anecdotal reminder that when you complain to your kids’ schoolboard about Jesus prayers, do so anonymously: (more…)
Visual aid to US incarceration rates
Friday, February 29th, 2008For a helpful visual aid on how the US compares to other countries on incarceration rates, check out Pete Guither’s Drug War Rant : (more…)
US reaches record high in number of incarcerated (and other shocking details of our prison system)
Friday, February 29th, 2008 Already the world leader in numbers incarcerated, the US can now boast (or cringe
in horror) that more than 1 in 100 Americans are living in prison, according to a Pew report cited today by the AP: (more…)
Relax…Bush says US is not nearing recession
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Just in case any of you are losing sleep over the economy, here’s some news to cheer you up. While it’s true that Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman, said earlier in the month that the chance of a recession is “50 percent or better,” Bush expressed a much more optimistic view about the economy during a press conference today: (more…)
America is not yet “post-bullshit”
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Here’s a great post from Angry Black Bitch. It has amazed me, though not really surprised me, how much focus there has been on gender and race in this campaign. It is hard to ignore how often they have trumped policy issues in the media coverage of Obama and Clinton as they compete for the nomination. For such a modern country, with an ego way bigger than Texas, we really have not come far from the archaic roots we started from. Ok, that’s an overstatement. It’s true that women were graciously given the right to vote (less than a hundred years ago) , black people are free (to fight it out in courts where the cards are stacked against them) , and sodomy laws were nullified 4 years ago by Lawrence v Texas (which means that now state courts may label homosexuals, among others, felons only at their own risk) . On the surface, things have changed for the better, but, as Shark-fu points out, the fact that a black man and a woman are real contenders for the presidency does not mean that “American society has transcended a damn thing.” (more…)
More concerns over fairness of military tribunals for Gitmo detainees
Thursday, February 28th, 2008As the military presses forward with its plans to try six detainees, the defense assigned to the case faces significant obstacles to providing adequate representation while adhering to the policy framework of the military tribunals. According to an article from the Associated Press, only one military lawyer has been appointed so far to handle the defense for all six cases, with scant support from a small handful of civilian lawyers and paralegals. The following excerpt lists a series of concerns voiced by the defense counsel: (more…)
Supreme Court considers Exxon’s liability for 1989 Alaska oil spill
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday for the Exxon Valdez case. Under question is how much in punitive damages Exxon is liable for, if any, to compensate the “more than 32,000 fishermen and small-business owners who filed this class action suit against Exxon in 1994,” according to Dahlia Lithwick of Slate. Here’s what she has to say about the case: (more…)
Is it a recession?
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Business Week points to the data suggesting a recession may be on the horizon: (more…)