No Child Left Behind Still Leaves Many Behind

According to the Center for American Progress (or at least this employee) there have been benefits from the NCLB Act, but there are still many problems left to fix.



As the first commenter mentions, why not just scrap it and institute real reform instead of requiring ridiculous tests that only encourage students in an extremely limited capacity?

It's Cold In The Teens

I woke up this morning, slung myself out of bed and away from the warm covers. After a quick shower, some coffee and granola for breakfast I got dressed. This isn't like Southern California people. You gotta get your boots on, sweater, jacket, scarf, gloves and a beanie on top. Then head downstairs and open the front door. The cold wind smacks you in the face and summer is just a distant memory. The cold gets through the cracks in your cotton armor as I hustle to get to the subway. At least I can duck inside and away from the temperature in the teens.

For George Bush, that cold chilly air is all encompassing, inside or out:

George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove.

Ouch!

Of course it brings a smile to my face to see that more and more people are finally waking up to realize what a disgrace our President is. My second thought, as always, who are these _19 _ %?

We Already Know The State Of The MTA

Oh goodie, Elliot Sander is going to give a speech on how great the MTA is and all the ambitious projects it is working on. If you'd like to boo him during this press event, he'll be at Cooper Union on March 3rd at 10:30am. I'm thinking of sending in my RSVP just to get a good laugh in the morning.

From Newsday:

"This is the 40th anniversary of the MTA, so it seemed like an appropriate time to look back and look forward," agency spokesman Jeremy Soffin said. "The speech will assess the current state of the MTA, but it will also provide a vision for the next 40 years."

The speech is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. [...]

Soffin said the speech will address "our accomplishments and challenges, the importance of the capital program and the challenge of funding our capital needs."

I wonder if he'll recognize how many more 'challenges' there are than 'accomplishments.' Things like the rain, fare increases, nasty smells and poor service are just the beginning of what the MTA needs to address. Of course a speech will not solve any of these problems and probably will not be mentioned either. What Sander needs to do is fundamentally transform the system so that it serves New Yorkers....but it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

If only we could transplant D.C.'s subway system to here.....sigh.

P.S. Maybe we can start by making minorities feel more comfortable when riding the subway...*cough* *cough* NYPD.

The Hollow Economy

Under the direction of the Center for American Progress, Lou Dobbs tells his audience about the housing bubble and what is happening as it deflates:

An Inspiring Civil Rights Story Happened Yesterday

When you think of the trials and tribulations of the civil rights era, we generally say this or that happened in the 60s and 70s. Well the fight for equality hasn't been won yet and that means there are plenty of incredible stories that have happened within the last thirty years with more to come in the future. Just yesterday the students at Prairie View A&M got tired of the way their county seat did business down in Texas so they decided to make a statement.

From The Houston Chronicle:

PRAIRIE VIEW — More than 1,000 Prairie View A&M students turned out on Tuesday to march in support of their voting rights.

The marchers said Prairie View student voting rights have been suppressed for decades in Waller County.

The protesters carried "Register to Vote" signs and wore black shirts with the slogan, "It is 2008 and we will vote.

"I was angry after registering to vote in the 2006 election only to be turned away at the voting booth," said sophomore Dee Dee Williams.

The march began at 9 a.m. as the protesters left the campus on the seven-mile journey to the Waller County Courthouse in Hempstead.

Students, local leaders, civil rights activists and elected officials took part in the march. Police estimated the total crowd at about 2,000 people.

"These are wonderful kids. They are making a statement, until they spoke up there was only one early voting place in the entire county. They spoke up but everyone is benefiting from what they are doing,'' said Prairie View Mayor Frank Johnson.

Last week, under pressure from the federal government, Waller County officials added three temporary polling places for early voting, ditching plans to open only one voting site in advance of the March 4 primary.

The Justice Department questioned the county's January decision to cut early-voting sites from a half dozen throughout the county to just one in Hempstead. The county's about-face came on the same day that critics announced a mass march to the polls next week.

Of course this wasn't going to have the violence to resemble some of the skirmishes that were prominent back in the day. Though the reasons for the march remain the same. Similar attitudes from the county leaders still reek up the air in this part of Texas. Disenfranchising these students stem from the same motives that the racists and bigots had thirty or forty years ago. It really is all about power for them but fortunately for us, power travels on a two-way street and a huge march through this rural area makes a big difference.

I See Flames

At first there was a hint of smoke in the air in Iowa, but quickly went away in New Hampshire and Nevada. South Carolina brought a quick whiff of carbon but I didn't see any smoke until Super Tuesday when Clinton had some nice wins but nothing too impressive. Obama did win more states after all. Yet during the rest of this month, the smoke got darker and billowed from her campaign with the ferocity of significant fire. Well now I can see the flames.

From The Huffington Post:

"Tonight I want to talk to you about the choice you have in this election and why that choice matters," the New York Democrat declared. "It is about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work, on hard work to get America back to work. That's our goal!"

Clinton's speech -- which included neither a concession nor a congratulations to Obama -- was cut off only minutes in as all the news networks switched to cover Obama's remarks.

Of the dueling speeches Tim Russert, on MSNBC, said:

"I thought tonight when Hillary Clinton started speaking the Obama people were stepping back saying alright you go first you are the loser. When they heard no concession or no graciousness quote on quote coming from Hillary Clinton they decided why allow her an opportunity to criticize us? We are going to go out there and proclaim victory."

Obama did claim his victory, and rightly so. People are looking for a change in this country and Barack is ready to give it to us. Unfortunately the same can not be said of Hillary. If you caught her speech from Ohio and her "introduction," you might even see the same flames that I'm looking at.

"We can't just have speeches, we've got to have solutions," she declared, "and we need those solutions for America. We've got to get America back in the solutions business. Because while words matter, the best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action."

Those remarks, however, paled in comparison to the criticisms launched by Clinton's introductory speaker, Machinists Union President Tom Buffenbarger. As Ken Vogel reported for Politico, Buffenbarger "compared Obama with 'Janus, the two-faced god' of Roman mythology. He called him 'silver tongued' and a 'thespian' and 'the man in love with the microphone.'"

"He's not just a trained thespian, he's a terrific shadow boxer. You know the type. Outside the ring, he pretends he can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," he said. "But Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois state Senate. He took a walk more than 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves, all the right combinations, all the right footwork, but he never steps into the ring. He walks away from the fight."

If Tom Buffenbarger or Hillary Clinton think that type of attack is going to win any votes, they have another thing coming. Americans in general and Democrats specifically are sick and tired of the negativity in politics. Clinton isn't saying anything new and that is one of the main reasons she is losing so many contests. When the Democrats go up against McCain, we want to see a clear difference in the candidates and having someone with a positive attitude is definitely something we need.

A Fence Runs Through It

Cenk gives us an interesting personal story about that border fence the Bushies are building....lets just say it really does matter who your friends are:

So Much For That Black Gold Respite

Democrats are celebrating in Wisconsin tonight and Obama celebrates within the party. Republicans may be rallying around McCain, but meanwhile the country is still suffering under the tyranny of George Bush. In our oil addicted society, the rise in crude prices forebears that coming of the next surge from our pocketbooks while filling up at the gas station. Just today oil spiked to its highest price on record, $100.10.

From RawStory:

The price of oil in New York spiked to a record 100.10 dollars a barrel Tuesday on supply concerns.

The price for a barrel of light, sweet crude, eclipsed the record set in January of 100.09 dollars a barrel.

The market rallied amid speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies about 40 percent of the world's oil, would cut output at its March 5 meeting in Vienna, analysts said.

"Oil futures surged higher amid technical buying underpinned by the ongoing saga between Venezuela and Exxon and on speculation surrounding OPEC's next move when they meet in March," said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.

Oil may go down again but looking at mean oil prices now and eight years ago doesn't even begin to tell the story of our dependence on what will ultimately destroy the planet we live on. Our current President has increased that addiction with economic policies that encourage us to consume more and more. That includes the oil that gives energy to our economy as we know it. While cities and states try to fight on a local basis throughout the land, only the Federal Government can effect true change....that is...change that we must wait for until January of '09 at the earliest.

I Guess Wisconsin Doesn't Matter Either

My apologies to the people from the great state of Wisconsin in regard to Mark Penn's dismissal of all those that vote against Hillary. Thank you for showing up to vote today despite the frigid temperatures. Tens of thousands came out to vote for their candidate and ended up making McCain and Obama the parties' respective winners. Although the Republicans have their nomination process almost wrapped up at this point, ours is still ongoing and the battle between Hillary and Barack doesn't stop.

Not counting Hawaii (since their polls close three hours from now) Wisconsin makes Obama's streak increase to nine straight victories. Hillary knew February would be tough, so she half-heartedly campaigned in the states of Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington and so on. So far she's lost everyone of them and is staking her campaign's livelihood on two states, namely Texas and Ohio.

While Ohio is still polling favorably for her, the last two measurements from the Lone Star state shows that Obama has pulled within the margin of error and could possibly take the state right from under her. Winning Texas would be a tremendous upset, even if Ohio stays in Clinton's corner. Hopefully she'll heed the advice of the party and for the good of it, bow out following the March 4th contests. McCain and his hordes are already attacking Obama, so we must be united in fighting back.

Deval Patrick Supports Obama

Yep, he endorsed him a few months ago, way before all this crap from the Clinton campaign spewed forth:



And he doesn't care what language Barack uses either.

Who Ya Calling A Plagiarist?

As Hillary Clinton's campaign loses steam and continues to lose caucuses and elections, it is inevitable that the lust to win will bring about dirty tricks. One of the worst so far already surfaced this week when her spokesman Wolfson claimed Obama plagiarized his supporter and Governor Devall Patrick (D-MA). Of course Patrick, being a friend of Obama's called this whole thing nonsense and so are many people outside of the Hillary and Republican camps. As the problem gets stomped out on Barack's side, Hillary better watch out on her end, because starting fires like tend to blow embers everywhere.

From The Huffington Post:

"For six long years, they have all been invisible," she told a crowd in Manchester. "Well, they're not invisible to us. And they're certainly not invisible to me. And when we retake the White House, they will no longer be invisible to the president of the United States. And we will begin to make progress together again."

Clinton's first television advertisement of the race -- titled "Invisible" -- took up the same theme. The line had a provocative and emotional touch and helped the New York Senator find her political legs on the campaign trail.

But was it original? Not entirely.

Clinton's "Invisible Americans" line echoes an anecdote that her husband, Bill Clinton, has included in speeches of his own for years. As far back as October 2002, the former president has repeatedly closed his talks around the world with an anecdote that pivots off his experiences in Africa to highlight the swaths of population that are "invisible" or have gone "ignored" by the governments of the world.

"When people meet each other on trails, one will say 'hello' or 'good morning' or 'how are you?' Bill Clinton said, describing the greeting of a Central African tribe a few months after his wife's Manchester address. "And the answer is not 'hello' or 'I'm fine' or 'how are you?' The answer, translated into English, is simple: 'I see you.' Think of how many people we never see, or we never see fully, because they're part of the Other or they're just invisible. Somebody's going to have to come in here and clean up after us today. Will they be seen? What about the people who are of different faiths and different politics and live in different places? Do we ever really see them?"

In March 2006, Bill Clinton told an audience, "it's obvious that all of us, as we become more diverse, these societies, we have people among us who are invisible to us, we don't have a clue what's in their real heads, what's in their real hearts and whether they feel like they're part of our communities."

Oh my! Hillary is a plagiarist too! Will her husband sue her? Will it end in their divorce?

Why doesn't everyone just drop this plagiarism bullshit and get back to basics and issues. Hillary needs to control her people and stop these childish attacks. It is just as ridiculous to say she plagiarized Bill as Barack did to his friend Devall Patrick. The only difference is that the Obama campaign isn't spreading this crap, it is all on Clinton's side.

So Hillary, wipe those beads of desperation from your brow and start trying to convince people to vote for you based on you and not these baseless character attacks.

And Away We Go!

Yesterday marked the completion of the foundations for towers three and four at the World Trade Center site downtown. The Port Authority was forty-eight days late in delivering the locations to Larry (no relation whatsoever to this blogger) Silverstein and will be paying his company over $14 million in late fees. Considering he pays over $200,000 a day for the lease, the late fees are a drop in the bucket.

From the AP:

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey finished excavating the land for the towers on Sunday, 48 days behind a deadline it set for itself in an agreement with Larry Silverstein. The agency paid $14.4 million in late fees to the developer. It said it partially made up for the cost by not paying the contractor a $10 million bonus it would have received for finishing on time.

The Port Authority worked for more than a year to build 80-foot-deep foundations for two towers that Silverstein will build, removing nearly 400,000 tons of concrete, soil and rock. Silverstein had said that construction would begin on the towers within weeks after the land was turned over.[...]

The skyscrapers, all at least as tall as the Empire State Building, are expected to be built in the next four years. Construction is under way at the site on a 1,776-foot building called the Freedom Tower, a Sept. 11 memorial and a transit hub.

Hmm, the AP might want to do their homework a little better next time. Not all the skyscrapers are going to be as tall as the E.S.B. uptown. Tower 3 is expected to rise 71 stories and tower 4 will be a little shorter at 64 stories. That is a far cry from the 102 stories that the iconic building on 34th St. rises. Regardless, the new buildings will definitely add more substance to the downtown skyline sooner rather than later.