Date: July 2013
Purpose: to support teachers to be leaders in policy development and implementation.
Amount: $3,000,695
Term: 36
Topic: College-Ready
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: New York, New York
Grantee Website: http://www.educators4excellence.org
“You’re a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?” Ms. Green asked..... FOX Newsreaders of a fundamentalist/Evangelical persuasion are furious that a Muslim published a book about Christianity’s origins.”... NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/business/media/odd-fox-news-interview-lifts-reza-aslans-biography-on-jesus.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
Odd Fox News Interview Lifts Reza Aslan’s Biography on Jesus
By JULIE BOSMAN
Reza Aslan, the author of “Zealot,” a provocative new biography of Jesus, has found an inadvertent ally in generating book publicity: Fox News.In an interview on Friday that was by turns bizarre and uncomfortable, Lauren Green, a host from “Spirited Debate,” a weekly Fox News webcast, pressed Mr. Aslan on the question of why, as a Muslim, he would choose Jesus as his subject.“You’re a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?” Ms. Green asked.“Well, to be clear,” Mr. Aslan said, his eyebrows lifting up in surprise, “I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim.”The nearly 10-minute video clip quickly entered the Internet bloodstream on Saturday after it was posted on Buzzfeed with the irresistibly clickable headline, “Is This The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?”Since then, the Buzzfeed page featuring the video has been viewed nearly four million times. Mr. Aslan quickly amassed an additional 5,000 Twitter followers. On Monday, Random House, Mr. Aslan’s publisher, said the interview had clearly helped the book: in two days, sales increased 35 percent.On Friday, “Zealot” was in the No. 8 spot on Amazon.com, the nation’s biggest seller of books; by Sunday, it had hit No. 1.Random House is rushing to meet the surge in demand for the book. On Monday, the publisher ordered 50,000 copies, bringing the total to 150,000 copies in print by the end of the week.An investigation of the historical Jesus, “Zealot” has been praised by many reviewers since its publication on July 16. In a review in Tablet magazine, Adam Kirsch called “Zealot” a “coherent and often convincing portrait of who Jesus was and what he wanted.”But some conservative critics have suggested that the book is not a work of scholarship, but merely “an educated Muslim’s opinions about Jesus and the ancient Near East,” as John S. Dickerson, an opinion columnist, wrote on FoxNews.com last week.The reaction to the book has spread to Mr. Aslan’s Amazon page: on The Atlantic Wire, Alexander Nazaryan pointed out that browsing through dozens of one-star reviews on Amazon revealed that “plenty of readers of what seems to be a fundamentalist/Evangelical persuasion are furious that a Muslim published a book about Christianity’s origins.”The book was already selling steadily before the FoxNews.com interview on Friday. Since the release of “Zealot,” Mr. Aslan has hit the publicity circuit, discussing the book on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and “Weekend Edition” on NPR. “Zealot” had its debut at No. 4 on the New York Times print hardcover best-seller list that will appear in print on Aug. 4.In a telephone interview, Mr. Aslan said that in three weeks of his book tour, he had received an “overwhelmingly positive” response to his work, and that it was anything but an attack on Christianity.“I hope that people recognize that your faith, as Jesus said, is supposed to be built on a rock, not on sand,” he said. “I guess my message is: Relax.”Mr. Aslan was born in Iran, moved to the United States with his family as a child and later earned degrees from Santa Clara University, Harvard and the University of Iowa. He is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.Book Passage, a bookstore with two outlets in the Bay Area, hosted Mr. Aslan for a signing last week. Karen West, the director of events, said more than 250 people attended it. But the Fox News interview, she said, has exposed the book to consumers who aren’t regular book buyers.“It’s moved now out of the NPR realm and it’s gotten into the broader culture,” she said.A spokeswoman for Fox News did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.Mr. Aslan said that after reading Mr. Dickerson’s essay on FoxNews.com, he was prepared for a similar line of attack from Ms. Green.He was so eager to promote the book on Fox News that his publisher tried — in vain — to secure an interview spot on “Fox & Friends,” a morning show.“I’ll be perfectly honest — I’m thrilled at the response that people have had to the interview,” Mr. Aslan said. “You can’t buy this kind of publicity.”
After a closer look at Thompson's political record and associations, he is no less a crook and a hack than Quinn herself. And to be honest, I'm not so sure he isn't worse than Quinn. .... RBE
Councilman Jumaane Williams explained mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson‘s race relations speech by musing about his poll numbers among black voters. “I think he originally felt that certain segments of the population were going to go with him automatically. He started looking at polls and seeing that wasn’t happening,” he said. “Thompson’s trying to have it both ways without putting any skin in the game.”
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Bill Thompson - Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest
With the Anthony Weiner poll plummet made official by yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release (Weiner dropped to fourth in the race; 53% of New Yorkers say he should drop out), I am starting to turn my attention back to the candidate whose policies I can live with who will be most effective at taking on Christine Quinn in a runoff.
The Marist poll from last week and yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release show us that the two candidates with a good chance to make the runoff against Quinn are Bill Thompson, the former NYC comptroller, and Bill de Blasio, the current Public Advocate.
UPDATED with links:Rockaway Theatre Company Update
By Norm ScottFor The Wave, to be published Friday, August 2, 2013
The little theater company that could came roaring back to life over the past two weeks, bringing a good chunk of Rockaway comeback spirit with it with its opening production “Rockaway Café – The Comeback” at its refurbished theater which sustained serious Sandy damage. Susan Hartenstein in last week’s Wave (Hallelujah Rockaway Theatre Company! http://www.rockawave.com/news/2013-07-26/Columnists/From_The_Artists_Studio.html ) captured the spirit of the RTC and its unique Fort Tilden WWII vintage theater. “Rockaway Café is our story,” Hartenstein wrote. “A story told with great humor and poignancy. Cleverly weaving contemporary rock and pop songs and standards with original choreography, and based on an original concept by Susan Jasper and John Gilleece, we are taken from disaster to aftermath to daunting struggles to hard-fought triumphs and exuberant hope for the future. Opening night the waves of emotion and pleasure flowing back and forth between the talented cast and the highly receptive audience and the bonds within those groups were palpable.”For an all-volunteer operation - from carpentry, set design, costumes, music, acting, dancing, singing, management, creativity – just think of an applicable word and apply to RTC – to not only come back so soon, but to do it with such verve and vigor while also rebuilding the theater is beyond remarkable. And the great band lead by Jeff Arsberger does not get mentioned often enough. They can play at my Bar Mitzvah in my next life anytime. Never forget the amazing local talent we have here in Rockaway and our extension in South Brooklyn where between the areas most performers seem to come from.Nancy Re Cregan in a letter last week said, “The show features great "storm" songs like "Umbrella," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Let the River Run" just to name a few. There is also an original version of "I Will Survive" that recaps the strong character of Rockaway, Breezy, and Broad Channel.” The words were written by RTC stalwart Susan Jasper.Here are links to some video I shot at the Friday and Saturday performances last weekend featuring some of the dynamic talent (young, teen, young adult, adult, and my generation – old.)I dare you to watch them and not come to one of the 3 performances left this weekend: Fri., Sat at 8PM, Sunday at 3PM.Reserve tickets at: www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org.Soon after Sunday’s performance, new sets will be built and rehearsals will begin for the next show, Boeing, Boeing, opening September 20.
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—One day after his campaign manager quit, the mayoral candidate Anthony D. Weiner named his penis to the post, telling reporters, “He was already making most of the major decisions, anyway.”More:
In announcing the new appointment, Mr. Weiner lavished praise upon his penis, calling him “a tough hombre” who “cares about the struggles of ordinary, middle-class New Yorkers.”
[We] knew that at the May 22 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, we were going to witness one of the greatest anti-democratic and racist attacks on public schools since Alabama Governor George Wallace declared "segregation now and segregation forever" while trying to block the integration of the public schools of Alabama more than a decade after the Brown decision. Wallace was there along with several other Southern governors -- from Virginia to Texas -- who were following the same course, but less flamboyantly. Remember: The attacks on desegregation in the Southern schools were also an attack on public education. ... George SchmidtI'm inspired just reading this.
July 27, 2013
Colleagues, comrades, friends, and others...
1. REASONS FOR SUBSTANCE PRIDE... As your proud editor, I spent half the night working editing the two great reporting jobs by Marybeth Foley and Susan Zupan that are now on the top of the Home Page at substancenews.net -- and I'm still not finished because I want to add a dozen more photographs to help our readers understand each in context.
As the summer of 2013 began, just about everyone who had experienced the 2012 - 2013 school year in Chicago was either tired, exhausted or more than "all of the above." We had all achieved a great deal, from the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012 through the fights against the school closings. But after CORE won the great victories in the May 17 Chicago Teachers Union election, it was soon clear that the ruling class was not going to lighten up in their struggle to privatize as many of Chicago's real public schools as possible as soon as possible. Virtually all of us knew that at the May 22 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, we were going to witness one of the greatest anti-democratic and racist attacks on public schools since Alabama Governor George Wallace declared "segregation now and segregation forever" while trying to block the integration of the public schools of Alabama more than a decade after the Brown decision. Wallace was there along with several other Southern governors -- from Virginia to Texas -- who were following the same course, but less flamboyantly. Remember: The attacks on desegregation in the Southern schools were also an attack on public education. So the hypocritical votes of the six members of the Chicago Board of Education at the May 22 meeting to close 49 schools and "co-locate," "turnaround," and screw more than a dozen others (while simultaneously adding more to the charter schools) was no surprise.
At the same time, we began hearing from people in Connecticut after a court there ruled that Paul Vallas didn't have the credentials to be a school superintendent in that state. And that's what I want to remind us of today...
2. SUBSART AS A 'FIRST ROUGH DRAFT OF HISTORY.' One of the reasons why it has become so important for those of us who report for Substance to do our jobs quickly, thoroughly, and with lots of graphics within a day or two of the event we are reporting (or analyzing) is that we are forced to move on quickly. Tomorrow we have new stories to report. We are covering the most important "beat" in the struggle for democracy and public education in the USA today: Chicago. The integrity of our reporting enables people to go "back" and find information they can't get anywhere else. The Vallas situation is one case in point I'd like to share (again). We began out presence on the Web (at the "old" site, substancenews.com) in early 2002 with our special issue, "The Paul Vallas Hoax" at the time Vallas was trying to get the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Illinois. We were just learning to use the Web, and had to make major revisions in our web site to fully utilize the capacity of the Web to do graphics. We didn't get that capacity until 2007. Since then, we have all learned almost as fast as we need to keep up with the technology. Over time, most of us have mastered digital photography (remember when we used to share those one-use Fuji cameras, and when Kodak was King?) as well as honed our reporting skills. At the same time, I've learned how to edit better, especially how to maximize the "search" tagging for all of our stories. As a result, over time we are contacted more and more as people across the USA (and some from elsewhere on Earth) look for the alternative history of "school reform" in Chicago. The latest is Bridgeport, where the Vallas Hoax is in a new iteration.
But the key is that every day our reporting, tedious as it may be, brings in the latest chapters. We miss more stories nowadays than we can cover, but that's a tribute to the organizing in Chicago (and elsewhere in some cases). We might have covered more of the dozens of school closing hearings, and recent protests, but we are still covering as much as anyone.
Which brings us to...
3. THE FEDERAL COURT CASE AGAINST SOME OF THE CLOSINGS. The current federal court case against some of the school closings (because they are a violation of the ADA and IDEA) is just the latest in the court cases we have had to cover (or miss) going all the way back to our landmark 1980 case (S.U.B.S. v. Rohter) which established our right to sell Substance in Chicago's public schools. Susan Zupan's coverage of that case was doubtless stressful, but the fact is we are now the only news organization that has complete coverage (to date) of that very very important case. Reading the reporting (and virtually having a front row seat to the testimony, which the reporting "brings alive"), I knew that over time, despite its length, our reports would be central to people's understanding of the case. I had heard from others in addition to Susan that the Board's witnesses were weak and duplicitous, but only after reading the report on Markay Winston's doubletalk did I fully realize what that means. And as you can see from the way I've shared graphics to highlight the history of Winston's ascension to the "cabinet" in Chicago from her Cincinnati roots, we are the only news organization that can tell a story in context as well as with the facts.
4. THE BOARD MEETINGS UNDER RAHM'S REGIME.
Never underestimate the willingness of tyrants to expand their tyranny. As Marybeth Foley is reporting this month, for the first time I know of, fewer than half the total number of speakers signed up to speak at a monthly meeting of the Chicago Board of Education actually got to speak. As we've reported, almost exclusively, under David Vitale the Board has worked overtime, and sneakily, to undermine every aspect of public participation. At the same time, they rehearse their talking points and smiles proclaiming over and over and over that they want more "transparency." Etc. BlahBlahBlah...
Thanks for making this a wonderful summer, despite the nastiness we are organizing against and reporting about...
George Schmidt, Editor
DON'T GET DISCOURAGED.
Sometimes people take off their shirts, and I don't personally see anything awfully wrong with that. It's certainly not grounds for dismissal... NYC Educator.Paranoia will destroya.
Apparently a teacher in Merrick, Long Island appeared shirtless in some stupid reality show, and resigned under pressure from administration. The News appears sympathetic to his cause, as am I. Sometimes people take off their shirts, and I don't personally see anything awfully wrong with that. It's certainly not grounds for dismissal.
One new attendee chapter leader said she wishes school was on now so she could share this with her chapter. The presenters really explained the different viewpoints of how to view union leadership so well...They just kept coming and coming last night to see our UFT: Friend or Foe event on the lower east side. To such an extent that some of the MORE crew went out to the bar to make room for newcomers attending a MORE event for the first time. Well over 60 people I hear. I won't go into the details -- MORE will post text of the presentations while I process the video -- I had some audio problems and will see how it comes out.
How do we connect our members to our union and help them to understand its importance and galvanize them to get involved-- how do we overcome the disenfranchisement and disconnectedness and instead convince people our union is actually a force for good and justice locally, nationally, and globally?My thoughts are how do we do the above with a union leadership that at best can be considered ineffective and at worst collusive with our enemies? I won't get into the whys and wherefores of this time but maybe some answers will emerge later today.
What strategies and tactics should an opposition caucus use in relating to the union leadership? Should the opposition work with the leadership? If so, when, how and under what terms? If it's going to be critical, what kind of tone should be maintained? If the decision is to criticize/attack the leadership, then how should it be done, while making it clear to all that The Union is always to be supported? In other words, how can the leadership be separated from the Union in the eyes of the rank and file? And should it?Given the power balances in the UFT do you attempt to lobby the leadership towards better policies? That's pretty much what New Action does. They have no grassroots and they play the role of a loyal opposition -- not even an opposition given that they could not win one position in an election without Unity support.
Unfortunately the union movement has spent too much time fighting internally rather than concentrating on their enemies...This is the constant Unity line to kill internal criticism for 50 years.
It serves no purpose for those of us opposed to teacher-bashing and corporate reform to fight among ourselves. We must stand together so that we will one day prevail over those who want to destroy public education and the teaching profession. We can’t win if we are divided. I will do nothing to help those who pursue a strategy of divide and conquer. They want us to fight among ourselves. I won’t help them.There is no little irony in that this very post served to unleash a storm of comments critical of Randi. But some still seem to think deserves to be classified as someone we must stand together with given the enormous attacks on teachers and their unions. And by the way, I don't separate Mulgrew from Randi no matter how hard Unity people say they are different (style over substance in my view) -- watch what they do, not what they say.
Dear friends of Jersey Jazzman,
I promise I'll keep it short, and I promise this will be the only time you will hear from me about this:My good friend, Marie Corfield, is running for Assembly here in New Jersey. I don't have to tell any of you what a slog we've had here going up against Chris Christie and his war on public education. Marie is a teacher, a mother, and our best hope of having a real educator's voice be heard in the fight to save New Jersey's public school system. She is in a competitive district, and there is no doubt she can win this election - IF she has enough money.I know you are all in different positions and capable of different levels of support. I'd ask you to consider the following:1) Marie is having an on-line fundraiser this Thursday, July 25: a "money bomb," where she hopes to raise sorely needed revenues for her campaign. Please consider contributing:I wrote a blog post about the "money bomb" here:2) If you are in a position to do so, please consider sharing the details of this fundraiser with your audience (I understand many of you cannot, but Marie would still appreciate your personal support). The Facebook page for the "money bomb" is here:Any social media traffic you can contribute would help: blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, etc.Believe me when I say I have never written an email like this before. But this is a special circumstance, and Marie is a special person. When she wins, she will make us all proud.Many thanks,Mark (aka JJ)
...new organizations like Educators for Excellence are increasingly giving voice to teachers who have a totally different framework for social justice...... 18% of active teachers who actually voted, one out of five of those teachers voted for someone other than Mulgrew to be president... Joe Williams, DFER, in DN.Message to Joe Williams: Those one in five voted for MORE whose members mock and despise E4E as your astro-turf creation. In case you missed it E4E didn't have the chops to put itself out there in the UFT elections even with their millions of dollars to run a campaign. They would have been exposed as the joke they are. In fact they barely have a presence left here in NYC with their events dwindling to nothing. Hey Joe, I have an idea. Why doesn't DFER sponsor a debate between MORE and E4E and watch them run for the hills. Or rather they have already run for the hills -- the Beverly Hills.
Many of us in the UFT rank and file despise the UFT leadership because they cave to much to the DFER/hedge fund/Bloomberg/Gates/Obama agenda, not because they don't cave enough to it.
Once upon a time, city teachers were united in a social justice battle for better pay, benefits and working conditions. They fought hard and they fought together, because the benefits of doing so were obvious.
The internal dynamics of the UFT expose the stark disconnect.
Inside the union, the old guard is still holding on strong – and that has become a nightmare for Mulgrew. The men and women who made the UFT, now retired, still serve as the most active voting bloc within the union. (Retirees are allowed to vote in UFT elections.) The problem is: Most of them left NYC long ago, for warmer environs down south and a lower cost of living.
In union elections this spring, for example, only 18% of the city’s teaching force cared enough about what the UFT was doing that they even bothered to vote. (And of the 18% of active teachers who actually voted, one out of five of those teachers voted for someone other than Mulgrew to be president.)
It has gotten so bad that the UFT is considering launching an internal task force to find out why the overwhelming majority of active classroom teachers are disconnected from the union.
Some of them were union activists, trying to make their public schools and their union better.... NEW CaucusThe Chicago layoff story while hiring Teach For America scabs (Mark Naison: Teach for America-Our Modern Day Pinkertons) is a declaration of nuclear war.
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| Mighty Max: 7 weeks old |
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| Brother, sister love |
Hampton for a few days. That entire process takes almost 8-10 hours and they get in Monday night. (Love this week's NY Jitney cover.) |
| David, Gloria, Liza, Lisa, Moi, Pat |
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| Liza can make anyone feel happy- even me |
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| Vanessa and Liza |
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| at the ice cream stand minutes before downpour |
