Krystal Ball from Rising did a broken hearted tribute to Michael:
it again and take notes because he echoed so much about my own experiences with the type of leftists he describes.
Written and edited by Norm Scott: EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!! Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
Hey Norm! My colleague and I wrote this petition to ask to begin the school year as full remote learning here in NYC. We believe if we can get enough people to sign this, show support and get this moving, we will be able to influence the current dangerous trajectory that our city may be placed on. I am not sure where you all stand on the issue, but I hope you will at least read it and consider signing and sharing with your followers if you agree. If you have specific concerns that I can answer or talk out with you, please do tell me and we can discuss. You are able to sign anonymously, but more names = more legitimacy. Please share this with any teachers, parents, students, or community members you believe might support the issue. Thank you so much!https://www.change.org/p/mayor-bill-de-blasio-petition-in-support-of-full-remote-learning-to-begin-the-2020-school-year?
The latest figures from the C.D.C. indicate that for Black women, the maternal mortality rate is 37.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. It’s less than half that, 14.7, for white women and less than one-third that, 11.8, for Hispanic women. Black women make up about 13 percent of the female population but account for nearly 40 percent of maternal deaths.... NYT
The racial differences in maternal mortality are paralleled in racial differences in infant mortality. At 11.4 per 1,000 live births, the Black infant mortality rate is more than twice that of the white infant mortality rate, 4.9.
I had a front row seat to the attacks on public education and teacher unions --- Jamaal Bowman.Bowman called for a national moratorium on charter schools and pushing back against the overuse of standardized testing which has been used as a weapon to close schools and call teachers and schools failing in order to open up charters.
And while US-Israeli relations have not been the main topic of debate in the race, Engel's status as the top House Democrat on foreign policy has attracted pro-Israel special-interest groups to his side.
Political action committees (PACs) associated with the pro-Israel lobby have been among the top donors to Engel's campaign. That includes the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) PAC, NORPAC and Pro-Israel America Pac.
DMFI PAC in particular has stepped up its efforts in the last stretch of the campaign. Since the beginning of June, the group has spent more than $1.1m on campaign material attacking Bowman and promoting Engel.
Omar Baddar, a Palestinian-American analyst, said the massive spending of pro-Israel groups on the primary is not only about Engel, but about the direction of the Democratic Party.
"There is a concerted effort to punish anybody who seems to be somewhat sympathetic to Palestinian human rights, as a way to prove that this is a losing strategy for running for office," Baddar told MEE.
Even though we did not win this time almost 14% of NY-12 voters rejected the two big money candidates from 2018 and decided that our campaign was the one they wanted to represent them. In 2018 NY-12 didn’t have a choice, but this time they did. And they listened to what we had to say. They didn’t want to keep a representative who takes corporate PAC money. They also didn’t trust the other’s values and priorities even after a second run. They chose me because I was unwilling to compromise on the values and needs of people who have been left out of the conversation until I announced my run in March of 2019.
Such discrepancies arise from a fundamental fact about the American health care system: The government does not regulate health care prices.Obama care fixed none of this.
Two Friends in Texas Were Tested for Coronavirus. One Bill Was $199. The Other? $6,408.. NYT - June 30, 2020
these differences aren’t about quality. In all likelihood, the expensive M.R.I.s and the cheap M.R.I.s are done on the same machine. Instead, they reflect different insurers’ market clout. A large insurer with many members can demand lower prices, while small insurers have less negotiating leverage.BERNIE WAS RIGHT!!!!!! I want to see this the next time there is an article like this - but don't hold your breath - the Dem Party Center wants to see this continue - along with Obama care which obviously did nothing to curb this yet they defend it to the max - yes, I mean Biden.
Because health prices in the United States are so opaque, some researchers have turned to their own medical bills to understand this type of price variation. Two health researchers who gave birth at the same hospital with the same insurance compared notes afterward. They found that one received a surprise $1,600 bill while the other one didn’t.The difference? One woman happened to give birth while an out-of-network anesthesiologist was staffing the maternity ward; the other received her epidural from an in-network provider.
Did I say, BERNIE WAS RIGHT?Most Coronavirus Tests Cost About $100. Why Did One Cost $2,315?
How can a simple coronavirus test cost $100 in one lab and 2,200 percent more in another? It comes back to a fundamental fact about the American health care system: The government does not regulate health care prices.This tends to have two major outcomes that health policy experts have seen before, and are seeing again with coronavirus testing.
The first is high prices over all. Most medical care in the United States costs double or triple what it would in a peer country. An appendectomy, for example, costs $3,050 in Britain and $6,710 in New Zealand, two countries that regulate health prices. In the United States, the average price is $13,020.The second outcome is huge price variation, as each doctor’s office and hospital sets its own charges for care. One 2012 study found that hospitals in California charge between $1,529 and $182,955 for uncomplicated appendectomies.“It’s not unheard-of that one hospital can charge 100 times the price of another for the same thing,” said Dr. Renee Hsia, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of the appendectomy study. “There is no other market I can think of where that happens except health care.”
There is little evidence that higher prices correlate with better care. What’s different about the more expensive providers is that they’ve set higher prices for their services.But American patients will eventually bear the costs of these expensive tests in the form of higher insurance premiums. In some cases, they are paying for additional tests, for flu and other respiratory diseases, that doctors tack onto coronavirus orders. Those charges are not exempt from co-payments and can fall into a patient’s deductible.Those kinds of bills could make patients wary of seeking care or testing in the future, which could enable the further spread of coronavirus. In an April poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that most Americans were worried they wouldn’t be able to afford coronavirus testing or treatment if they needed it.
With secret C.I.A. support, Mr. Pastora assembled a large force of guerrilla fighters, calling it the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance. It attacked the Managua airport, the Pacific port of Corinto, the city of San Juan del Norte and other targets. But there was no popular uprising, as he had hoped for. He was branded a traitor and tried in absentia. Sandinista offensives forced his retreat to Costa Rica. As his losses mounted, funds from the United States and elsewhere dried up.
The NYT obit is loaded with example of USA interference in foreign nations. But of course Russian hacking is the crime of the century. Yes they may have hacked. They didn't sent marines, money and hired hands.
A few excerpts:
A hero of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, he later turned on his comrades in arms, mounting an international campaign of political pressure and later guerrilla attacks inside the country.
Along the way he courted sympathizers and bankrollers in the United States, Europe and Latin America; took money and air support secretly from the Central Intelligence Agency; attacked cities in Nicaragua;
The junta took on Cuban advisers and pledged land reforms, equality for women and a nonaligned foreign policy. But critics said the regime was turning Nicaragua into a state modeled on Cuban socialism, with cadres enforcing political discipline and stifling dissent.
In 1981, Mr. Pastora quit the government and disappeared. Ten months later, he surfaced in Costa Rica and, echoing United States charges, denounced the Sandinista government as a betrayal of the revolution, saying that it had imposed censorship, delayed elections and aligned itself with Cuba and the Soviet Union. The Sandinistas dismissed him as a renegade.
Mr. Pastora in 1982 raised funds in Portugal, Italy, West Germany and Spain. He met congressional leaders and White House officials in Washington in 1983, winning pledges of $27 million in aid. American corporations made large contributions as well. Panama gave him a helicopter and $300,000.
After the USA abandoned Pastoria,
(The fight against the Sandinistas was carried on by a right-wing force known as the contras with aid from Washington and secret assistance from a conspiracy, led by the National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North, that sold arms to Iran for funds that were illegally passed to the contras.)
When he was 16, a priest introduced him to the nationalist teachings of Augusto César Sandino, the rebel general who, from 1927 to 1933, led a guerrilla war against American Marines who were enforcing a United States presence in Nicaragua. Murdered on orders by Somoza, who regarded him as a threat, Sandino inspired generations of future Somoza enemies.
He had quite an interesting life:
I've been thinking about the role police and teachers play - and there are some similarities. But I'm also thinking of how differently teachers and police are expected to react to disorder. Teaching required being a creative policeman. Which sometimes bothers teachers who hear stories of cops losing control in the face of recalcitrance and provocation. Cops are given a pass on reacting while teachers are put in the rubber room.
http://wvmetronews.com/2020/06/11/teacher-unions-now-throwing-support-behind-more-republicans/----
Carmichael backed teacher pay raises and additional funding for educational improvements but earned the wrath of teachers for his support of charter schools. He was the target of teacher and service worker anger during two strikes, prompting opponents to push a “Ditch Mitch” movement.
Grady is a schoolteacher, but she does not currently belong to either of the state’s teacher unions—the West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers West Virginia. However, she garnered considerable teacher support during her campaign and credits their backing with contributing to her victory.
The teachers’ support of Grady is the most significant example thus far of the current political strategy by the unions. Historically, the teacher organizations have backed Democratic candidates, especially when Democrats were in the majority.
However, Republicans now control both chambers of the Legislature, which has caused the teacher organizations to seek out candidates who are supportive of their education issues, even if they are Republican.
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/jackson-county- voters-ditch-senate-president- mitch-carmichael/article_ 760220ac-cc37-59c1-b66c- 8572275f1830.html
Jackson County voters ditch Senate President Mitch Carmichael
- By Caity Coyne and Joe Severino Staff writers
Amy Nichole Grady, a teacher from Leon, defeated incumbent Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, in Tuesday’s primary election.Grady, a teacher at Leon Elementary School in Mason County, totaled 6,402 votes to Carmichael’s 5,762 votes. Delegate Jim Butler, R-Mason, finished last in the Republican primary with 4,265 total votes.Inspired by the West Virginia teacher strike, Grady first ran for state Senate in 2018 as an independent, according to 100 Days in Appalachia. She picked up just 4,000 votes in that race.On Tuesday, however, Grady unseated West Virginia’s lieutenant governor.Carmichael congratulated Grady in a tweet late Tuesday night.“Congratulations to my opponent, Amy Nichole Grady, on winning the 2020 GOP nomination for State Senate in WV’s 4th District. I look forward to supporting your campaign this fall to ensure our district continues to have a leader who will always fight for conservative values,” Carmichael wrote.Carmichael grew up in Ripley and worked in technology before coming into politics. He graduated from Marshall University.He was first elected to the state Senate in 2012, and won reelection in 2016. That same year, Carmichael was named the first Republican Senate Majority Leader in more than 83 years when the GOP took over control of the Statehouse. In 2017, he was named Senate President-Lieutenant Governor.In 2018 and 2019, Carmichael drew heavy criticism from educators and school service personnel across the state during teacher strikes. He was a proponent of establishing charter schools in the state, and protesters — regularly chanting “Ditch Mitch” outside chamber doors — accused him of not listening to educators when it came to the legislation.During the 2020 legislative session, Carmichael failed to rally his party behind three pieces of key legislation for Republicans: forming an Intermediate Court of Appeals, eliminating the tax on manufacturing equipment and ending greyhound racing in the state. All bills failed to pass the Legislature, with Republicans crossing party lines for all three.
In November’s general election, Grady will face off against Bruce Ashworth, who won the Democratic nomination unopposed Tuesday.
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations fighting for the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. The war was one of the shaping events on his political outlook and a significant part of what led him to write, in 1946, "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for Democratic Socialism, as I understand it."... Wikipedia
In a time of rising threats of fascism, the memory loss of the early antifas is a political loss.
The Great Filter is a civilization-scale event or circumstance that would prevent a species from colonizing space or ever meeting other species — perhaps of even continuing to exist. The filter could be a chemical bottleneck that prevents the formation of RNA that jump-started evolution, or a geophysical roadblock to the production of oxygen, which enabled multicellular creatures. But the filter could also be nuclear war, or a world-destroying asteroid, or global warming, or a malevolent artificial intelligence gone amok. Or, even, a vicious pandemic. ... NYT
Can you imagine Trump's reaction if he were told a mile long meteor went off course and was headed straight for earth in 60 days? "First I have to finish building the wall" or claiming no problem it will probably hit China - or even sending up a missile to try to steer it to China.
Mass Extinctions Are Accelerating, Scientists Report
Five hundred species are likely to become extinct over the next two decades, according to a new study.
By Rachel Nuwer
Norm: I’m not qualified to say if conditions are better for teachers here – I’ve seen Mulgrew argue yes.
NYC class sizes may be a bit better though not great, and there’s no publicly available reliable class size data in either LA or Chicago on this.
On the other hand, the UFT class size caps that exist are more than 50 years old, negotiated by Al Shanker and I’ve seen no real push by leadership to lower them through contract negotiations since that time.
I believe teacher salaries are higher in NYC than those other two cities, but would have to check.
But there is also a law against public employees including teachers striking in NY which doesn’t exist in Chicago or LA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Law
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/los-angeles-teachers-are-strike-exercising-right-not-enjoyed-most-n958871
Teacher strikes are legal in 12 states and not covered in statutes or case law in three.
California is among the minority of states that do permit teachers’ strikes even though most states allow collective bargaining and wage negotiations for public school teachers.
According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, as of January 2014, 35 states and the District of Columbia outlaw striking. Teacher strikes are legal in 12 states and not covered in statutes or case law in three.
Here are the states where it is illegal for teachers to strike according to this link: https://cepr.net/documents/state-public-cb-2014-03.pdf
My response:Leonie, and Hi Norm
Look at the health care benefits and the pensions. And the almost absolute job security. I don't think the Taylor Law, that forbids public employees from striking, has every resulted in teachers losing salary money. And the elections are not democratic. It is an autocracy.
I'm taking a short break from my posts on the 1975 crisis with Part 4 still being worked on -- I'm going back to 1968 after the weekend death of Rhody McCoy to link 68 to the failures of 75. Check them out: