Important and true news and stories about our world
Search by Zip Code, Politician or Company on Dirty Energy Money to find out how much money the fossil fuel industry is spending to influence federal politicians.
Data provided by opensecrets.org (Center for Responsive Politics) with additional analysis by Oil Change International.
Hat tip to Barbara Conover for the great find!
At the Georgetown University #PovertySummit President Obama made some very real comments, tying his own background to modern society’s challenges in the areas of education and social investment; access to jobs, internet, transportation; mentoring, youth, fatherhood, families and community:
I am a black man who grew up without a father, and I know the cost that I paid for that. And I also know that I have the capacity to break that cycle, and as a consequence I think that my daughters are better off … For me to have that conversation does not negate my conversation about the need for early childhood education, or the need for job training, or the need for investment in infrastructure or jobs in low-income communities…
Sen. Ted Cruz is an elitist Cuban-American, representative of Cuban plantation owners who imported and exploited African slaves for generations. A lesson plan from PBS’ Black in Latin America feature shows that by persecuting Haitians the Dominican Republic is simply following Cuba’s tradition of persecuting dark-skinned workers once the workers have been exploited to breaking point. This is the Cuban history:
When revolution broke out in the French colony of Saint Domingue (later known as Haiti), sugar production there came to a virtual halt. This caused a sudden demand for sugar. Cuban plantation owners quickly stepped in to fill the gap created by neighboring Haiti, placing Cubans in a position to profit immensely. By the mid-1800’s, Cuba replaced Haiti as the world’s leading producer of sugar, making Cuban plantation owners very wealthy. Sugar is a very labor intensive and the increased pressure to fill market demand for this lucrative crop resulted in a high death rate among slaves. Plantation owners responded to the labor shortage by purchasing more slaves thereby reinvigorating the Transatlantic slave trade even after the British sought to curtail it.
Chris Cerf planned to replace Cami Anderson as Newark Public Schools’ state-appointed superintendent, but following his attempted return to New Jersey schools the Feds are scrutinizing his record, and they aren’t pleased with him. Let’s take a look at who this man is:
In many ways, Cerf is the prototypical education “reformer”: he never taught in a public school, never earned a degree in education, and never ran a school building. More accurately, perhaps, Cerf is the prototype of a new sort of reformer, one who leaves a groundswell of resistance in his wake.
Happy belated Juneteenth! This little known holiday celebrates the announcement in Texas by Major-Gen. Granger’s statement on 19 June 1865 that slavery had come to an end.
On 20 June 2006, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee made a statement to Congress about the importance of recognizing and celebrating this holiday. This is the text of her speech:
JUNETEENTH
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the World Refugee Day as we keep the flame of hope alive, showing some 20.8 million internally displaced refugees fleeing persecution who are now looking to the world to ask for relief.
Christie has assaulted vulnerable New Jersey residents and labor rights all the years of his governorship. Next City shares the low-down on what Christie’s gotten away with, and how he’s done it.
Take public education: having promised when he was campaigning to take care of New Jersey’s teachers, after getting into office Christie proceeded to systematically destroy public ed, along with teachers’ and students lives and the bloodshed is far from over. Newark and Camden have been among the communities hardest hit.
It’s more than laughable that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is suddenly trying to show the nation that he cares about public education and the teachers whose lives, finances and careers he’s been systematically destroying ever since taking office two elections ago. It should be next to impossible to show something that isn’t real, but we’re talking about a public relations genius who got elected in 2013 on the strength of mistruth whoppers, namely:
The facts are that Christie has no love for the President. He hasn’t “done a good enough job distributing the (Sandy recovery funds) New Jersey has already received” and he refuses to release $500 million of federal recovery funds to applicants that have been qualified as eligible for help. Christie’s political grandstanding also arguably cost New Jersey schools hundreds of millions of dollars.
It isn’t just the George Washington Bridge that Christie has obstructed in his home state. Here’s an excellent list from One New Jersey showing many of the ways Gov. Chris Christie has failed to do his job. Sections include:
It’s an embarrassment to the search giant that Google Maps produced highly inappropriate racist results, even though it happened because racist terms are often shared on the internet. A Wired reporter explains:
It was discovered that when searching for “n***a house” and “n***a king,” Maps returned a surprising location: the White House. A search for “slut’s house” led to an Indiana women’s dorm. Initially, you may have suspected this to be the work of a lone vandal, or even a coordinated campaign. But Google Maps gave racist, degrading results not because it was compromised, but because the internet itself is racist and degrading … It … means that if enough people online refer to a specific place using vile epithets, even one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States can be reduced to racist garbage.
I always shoved it to the back of my mind when my friends in Baltimore – I live about 45 minutes from the city – almost uniformly would tell me they either did not like or would not watch the show. People were hostile toward The Wire for a multiplicity of reasons. Some felt it was like gangster rap for a more sophisticated audience, glorifying black-on-black hyper-masculine street violence while selling itself as somehow more literate and ennobling to consume. My friend Mark once pissed me off fiercely when he told me that my favorite show was “NWA for people who read The New Yorker.”
Stand With Us reports on the transformation of Jordanian born Abe Haak from Jew hater to ardent Zionist and shares excerpts from an interview with him. Mr. Haak gives this explanation for why Jews are increasingly becoming targets of hate in the world today:
Having failed five times to defeat Israel on the battle field, the Arab world is now intent on tarnishing Israel’s name globally, he said. Muslims and others who hate Israel are working together under “an umbrella coalition known as BDS, boycott, divest and sanctions,” and the movement is targeting Jewish youths on college campuses, “the softest part” of our society.
The White House launched its new Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) portal to serve as a one-stop shop for Native youth.
The Gen-I initiative focuses on improving the lives of Native youth through new investments and increased engagement. This initiative takes a comprehensive, culturally appropriate approach to ensure all young Native people can reach their full potential. Gen-I will help improve the lives of Native youth by promoting a national dialogue and policies and programs to mobilize and cultivate the next generation of Native leaders. Key programs address: education, health and nutrition, juvenile justice, housing, and youth engagement.
6 links that will show you what Google knows about you. You can manage some of the information and other stuff you can find out about.
Facebook is 0 for 2 today. Doing a great job suppressing the progressive voice, which is not surprising given its founder is a great friend of conservative darling @corybooker and heavily supports the conservative agenda.
A few minutes ago I reported that Facebook wouldn’t let me share news about Newark’s new civilian police review board. Now they won’t let me share a Bernie Sanders quote either…
Most Americans, their reality is that they’re working longer hours and for lower wages ~ Bernie Sanders
I don’t know why this important US Department of State document is housed on a Taiwanese website. but I like how it lays out the Citizen Responsibilities in a Democracy. Some of the juicier exerpts are:
Citizenship in a democracy requires participation, civility, and even patience.
Democratic citizens recognize that they not only have rights, they have responsibilities. They recognize that democracy requires an investment of time and hard work — a government of the people demands constant vigilance and support by the people.
