The Duality Of ‘Mooching’
Posted on October 16, 2012 in Political Cartoons
When the poor take advantage of the system, it’s called “mooching”. When the wealthy do, it’s called “creation”.
The ‘State’ Of TV News
Posted on October 16, 2012 in Articles
The Article: CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news by Glenn Greenwald in The Guardian.
The Text: Today I reported on the refusal of CNN International (CNNi) to broadcast an award-winning documentary, “iRevolution”, that was produced in early 2011 as the Arab Spring engulfed the region and which was highly critical of the regime in Bahrain. The documentary, featuring CNN’s on-air correspondent Amber Lyon, viscerally documented the brutality and violence the regime was using against its own citizens who were peacefully protesting for democracy. Commenting on why the documentary did not air on CNNi, CNN’s spokesman cited “purely editorial reasons”.
Even so, the network’s relationships with governments must bear closer examination. CNNi has aggressively pursued a business strategy of extensive, multifaceted financial arrangements between the network and several of the most repressive regimes around the world which the network purports to cover. Its financial dealings with Bahrain are deep and longstanding.
CNNi’s pursuit of sponsorship revenue from the world’s regimes
The Crotchety Grandpa State
Posted on October 15, 2012 in Political Cartoons
I’ll take an overbearing nanny state any day.
Saving Public Education
Posted on October 15, 2012 in Articles
The Article: Selling The Soul Of Public Education by Maya Schenwar in TruthOut.
The Text: As we traipse through these weeks of conventioning, I know that the my-parents-showed-me-what-hard-work-means tales are getting a bit old. Still, please indulge me for a couple of paragraphs.
My dad taught for 34 years in inner-city public high schools in Chicago. For much of my childhood, my mom taught elementary school, also in a Chicago public school. They are two of the most hard-working people I’ve ever met, and I will forever be inspired by their capacity for personal sacrifice to serve the common good.
Growing up, I thought it was normal for adults to spend nights bent over towering stacks of papers, to fill weekends with lesson plans, to jump on the phone after dinner to speak with non-English-speaking parents in Spanish about their kids’ struggles. And there was the ugly side: my dad’s class sizes crept larger, books became scarcer, administrations grew more vicious, the threat of “reconstitution” (kicking out a school’s teachers based on students’ standardized test scores) loomed gigantic. I confess that observing my parents’ challenges and trials up close over the course of 18 years convinced me not to become a teacher. It also convinced me that teaching was one of the most important jobs in the universe.
The Ultimate Campaign Ad
Posted on October 14, 2012 in Images
With such a chach name like “Paul Ryan,” it’s a wonder it was never used in a movie starring Molly Ringwald.
