rich v. poor – Page 4

2014010220140102

Like Jobs and Winfrey, Suli Breaks will not let exam results decide his fate

Young people around the world are speaking up about education and careers. We need to listen to them because – this is their age. The age of information. And they know, much more than we give them credit for.

No dejaré que el resultado de un examen decida mi destino (subtitulado en Español)

Lyrics

Right now, there is a kid finishing parents evening in a heated discussion with his mother,
Saying why does he have subject subjects he will never ever use in his life…
And she will look at him blank eyed, stifle a sigh, think for a second,
And then lie.
She will say something along the lines of,
“You to get a good job you need a good degree and these subjects help you get a degree.
We never had this opportunity when I was younger”
And he will reply, “but you were young a long time ago weren’t you mum?” read more

2014010220140102

Bob Braun explores relationship between Christie and NJ violence

Lots of things Bob Braun says are way too important to only be seen on Facebook. Like his thoughts on the relationship between Christie’s ranting/abuse and youth shootings motivated by a desire for “respect”:

If the governor of the state can suggest that someone should “take a bat” to a woman, why should we be surprised that a child shoots people because they “disrespected” him?

We live in a state in which the governor prides himself in bullying, misogynistic behavior, someone who shows his displeasure with threatening gestures and who refuses to defend gun restrictions in court. We live in a state whose voters re-elected this bully and elected as US senator a man who, as Newark mayor, laid off cops and presided over the worst carnage in almost a decade. We live in a state where the busiest interstate crossing can be held for political ransom despite the threat to public safety. read more

2013122420131224

WSJ Op-Ed laments the waning of white supremacy

Alternet author Adam Peck does a good job of showing the humour in Joseph Epstein’s massively egotistical and racist WSJ Op-Ed in which Epstein proposes, “we need more rich white men in power, preferably WASPs,” and goes on to say,

There are a lot of problems in Washington, D.C these days, but not many solutions to them. Inefficiency, an allergy to cooperation, and stiff resistance to pragmatism have all ground the federal government to a stand-still. But one op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal knows what the real problem is: not enough rich, white men. read more

20131223

Film: American Violet

Film: American Violet

American Violet is a film that shows us the criminal justice system being used as a tool to disenfranchise target communities from housing, jobs and social services – with no regard for whether detainees have ever committed a crime, or how the arrest of one member will impact the stability of an entire family.

People who are falsely detained and have children or parents at home who rely on them for support, are likely to succumb to coercion and plead guilty to crimes they did not commit in order to get released from jail and back to their families. But afterwards, they will face the consequences of being branded as convicts and the immediate loss of social support services their families rely on, including their family’s home if they live in public – or publicly supported – housing. read more

20131223

Book: Reign of Error by Diane Ravitch

Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools by Diane Ravitch
Category: Social Justice, Education

In the days that Diane Ravitch was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of George H. W. Bush, she drank lots of Kool Aide and believed strenuously that destroying public education was good for students of color and poor kids. But one day the veil was lifted from her eyes. She understood the error of her previous thinking, and did a complete about face to become the country’s most visible and high-profile champion of public education. I’m a Diane fan and now, you can be too! Read her book and her blog. read more

2013122320160404

Book: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Category: Social Justice

Author Michelle Alexander-West is the wife of a United States federal prosecutor and an attorney in her own right. In this book, she does a truly remarkable job of drilling down through levels of strategy, policy and procedure that form the complex web of injustice that has brought the United States to the terrible point of imprisoning over 1% of our adult population and detaining 25% of all prisoners everywhere in the world … many of whom have been jailed for minor offenses, such as carrying a couple of marijuana cigarettes. Over 3200 non-violent offenders have been jailed for life for non-violent offenses like that, or for stealing an item of clothing worth $150. Unjust imprisonment is part of the intentional destruction of the lives of people of color. read more

2013121320131213

The federal budget deal will be death for many Americans

Richard Eskow reviews the federal budget deal in the Huffington Post. He finds it seriously lacking, both in compassion and solutions to prevent today’s vulnerable from being completely consumed by the wealthy.

Man’s inhumanity to man.

I know, I know. That’s a pretty depressing thing to say. But let’s look at the facts: Federal workers will be expected to subsidize this deal with an increase in their out-of-pocket pension costs. There will be cuts to Medicare. Airline passengers will pay a new tax. Military retirees — military retirees — will see their benefits cut. read more

2013120220131213

Christie’s people won’t honor OPRA request about conditions in 4 schools

The Schools Development Authority (SDA) is denying the public information on the facility conditions at Camden High School, Thomas G. Connors Elementary School (Hoboken), Cleveland Elementary School (Orange), and Orange High School.

The Education Law Center made an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to obtain the SDA’s reports on the facility conditions at these four schools which are badly in need of repair. The SDA said no. This is unacceptable! Communities have a right to know what the facility conditions are at their schools. This is another example of the SDA stalling on urgent repairs. read more

2013111620131213

Detroit suburb police terrorize & demean African American men

Police are harassing African American men in a Detroit suburb, and investigative journalist Steve Neavling has video clips and a photo of the abuse. Neavling reports in his blog, Motor City Muckraker.

“Most of the videos are shot from squad cars while African American men are told to sing or “dance like a chimp.”

The Huffington Post received a statement from Grosse Pointe Park Police Captain David Loch:

On Thursday, November 14 2013, the Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department was contacted by an individual who said that he was in possession of video clips and a photo of African American males. The video clips and photo are allegedly made by an officer of this department. The department has begun an internal investigation of this matter. The Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department does not tolerate unprofessional conduct by its officers when interacting with any citizen they may come in contact with. read more

2013090820221207

Philly is closing down public schools – and building jails

Why Philly schools are in crisis

Yes, it’s true Philadelphia schools are in crisis, one so severe the district is scheduled to be completely shut down in two years. Salon tells us

To be clear, the schools are in crisis because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refuses to fund them adequately. The state Constitution mandates that the Legislature “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education,” but that language appears to be considered some kind of sick joke at the state capital in Harrisburg. read more

2013082520131213

Websites that may benefit people with criminal backgrounds

Websites with resources that may help people with criminal backgrounds get back to work and on their feet.
hard2hire.com/ex_offenders
xamire.com/felony-friendly/new-jersey
hirenetwork.org/content/new-jersey
nationalreentryresourcecenter.org

2013080920221207

“School reform” aka diverting school funds to the rich

David Sirota helps us see that the true mission of the corporate backed charter school initiative is to bust unions and divert public funds earmarked for student education. The goal is to remove barriers to corporate control of society and for rich guys to get all the money in the world (or at least the US). These people didn’t get the memo that you can’t take it with you.

The bottom line is clear: In attempting to change the mission of public education from one focused on educating kids to one focused on generating private profit, corporate leaders in the “reform” movement are pursuing a shrewd investment strategy. Millions of dollars go into campaign contributions and propaganda outfits that push “reform,” and, if successful, those “reforms” guarantee Wall Street and their investment vehicles much bigger returns for the long haul. read more

2013080420131213

Nike continues a long tradition of youth exploitation

Some kids buy Nikes. Others kids make them.

When I shared this graphic on Facebook, friend Leen de Weerd-Mosley commented that Nike’s long history of youth exploitation,

… all started with their logo. They held a competition, and paid 50 euros to the student who designed it. Nope, no royalties … Paid $35 in 1971; offered 500 shares worth $150 when it really became public in 1983

The Daily Mail tells us

At the party in her honour in 1983, an early Nike employee joked, ‘As everyone here knows, (Carol Davidson) invented the Nike swoosh and got paid the outrageous sum of $35 bucks for it’ read more

2013062920160321

Early voting will help Cory Booker

The New Jersey primary to elect party candidates for the Wed Oct 16 2013 special Senatorial election will be held on Tues Aug 13 and voting is set to begin as early as next week, with counties getting ready to sending out vote by mail ballots early to the 15,000+ voters registered to receive them for the year. People who vote early may not have enough time to learn about the Real Cory Booker.

The buzz is just starting to build about Cory Booker’s sellout of the people of Newark he is pledged to serve in favor of the big money financiers he’s so in love with. They want to run the voters who elected Cory out of Newark and destroy Newark public education for children so departing residents will have nothing to come back to. We’re talking financiers like Mitt Romney, whom Cory lavishly praised on public television during the last presidential election. sneich reacts with comments and a hard-hitting question on the Daily Kos: read more

2013061820131213

This cartoon shows us where we DON’T want to be – in a place of hate

My friend David Meza sent me this anti-Nazi propaganda cartoon created by Disney during WWII to stimulate United States citizen’s hatred for Germans. I’m a Jew who lost family in Hitler’s holocaust, so I’m far from being a Nazi sympathizer. But, I like to remember that not everything that reinforces my experiential and cultural judgments is factual or true. And I am a lover of truth. So, please, when watching this disturbing 10 minute cartoon portraying how Nazis killed love and hope in their young men to make them into the optimal fighting machines they wanted them to be, keep in mind that this is the American propaganda version of Germany. What really went on there may have been quite different from what this film portrays.

The cartoon disturbed me for another reason. In the militaristic, unfeeling youth mindlessly pledging obedience to the heartless Nazi philosophy, I see too many parallels with American society today. Which makes sense, right …. as this film is an American brainchild. Today in America, there are too many parents and children taking an approach to education and career preparation that embraces arrogance, elitism and a willingness to hurt anyone who blocks a student’s path to academic success, job security and the acquisition of material goods. In today’s education system, financially stable parents want their children to be separate from those who are not; standardized tests which are culturally skewed to favor middle class children over others and are used as leverage for separating students by economic class or ethnicity. And Blacks, Latinos and other students who struggle with the challenges poverty exerts on their school performance – and their lives overall – are ruthlessly deemed by financially secure student families to be worthy only of condemnation, and neither of inclusion nor assistance. read more