Incredible. And should be legal.
Realy Big Joint
// March 11th, 2010St. Charles County Council bill would make fake marijuana illegal
// March 6th, 2010I’m confident that this is not true:
St. Charles County Sheriff Tom Neer, who requested the bill, said in a statement that he was concerned about studies showing the synthetic cannabinoids in the herb mixtures are more powerful than THC in marijuana.
I bet cash those teachers had never heard of it before being asked by the reporter/don’t know a single student who uses…
via St. Charles County Council bill would make fake marijuana illegal | Chas Beat | STLtoday.
Pope denounces use of body scanners at airports
// February 21st, 2010U.S. tax money spent on exclusive clubs
// February 1st, 2010World Vision is an organization that has fought poverty and famine. Critics fault the organization for refusing to hire non-Christians to staff its $250 million in annual programs funded by U.S. taxpayers.
via World Vision | Employment Discrimination | Foreign Aid.
Obama Weighs Paring Goals for Health Bill – NYTimes.com
// January 24th, 2010President Obama signaled on Wednesday that he might be willing to scale back his proposed health care overhaul to a version that could attract bipartisan support, as the White House and Congressional Democrats grappled with a political landscape transformed by the Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race.
via Obama Weighs Paring Goals for Health Bill – NYTimes.com.
I’ve said before that my decision as to whether I will return to America, or try to live abroad and get paid in American dollars, hinges on health care and the economy. Funny how something as small as a special election in the liberal bastion of Massachusetts could drive me away…
Bio: Annise Parker, Newly Elected Mayor of Houston
// December 16th, 2009Bio: Annise Parker, Newly Elected Mayor of Houston – TIME
Awesome:
Her sexual orientation did not emerge as a campaign issue before the Nov. 3 mayoral election among four candidates. But it did prompt attacks before the runoff against Gene Locke, a former city attorney. A group of African-American pastors criticized her supposed “gay agenda,” and a conservative activist distributed flyers featuring her and her partner and asking, “Is this the image Houston wants to portray?” But the attacks did not find traction; a Houston Chronicle/Zogby poll found that Parker’s sexuality mattered to just 18% of likely voters.
Responding to criticism of Teach For America
// October 18th, 2009Dear Akeli (and Mike and Noah):
I’m just as ready to identify weaknesses in the work we do, but I think there are some glaring problems with this criticism:
1) Comparing TFA teachers with teachers in the general population would generate numbers like these – but teachers in the general population don’t jump at opportunities to teach in low-income school districts, and there results are not only an apples-and-oranges comparison, thus, it actually highlights the need for new blood to actively recruit individuals who would be willing to work in these difficult classrooms. That TFA teachers have been repeatedly found to outperform their peers in these schools, to me, is a much more telling statistic. Obviously, the best solution would be to incentivize (monetarily) our nation’s best teachers to work in our nation’s most under-performing schools. I’d venture to guess that TFA would perform worse in such a scenario, but not by much, and I’m actually not convinced that “the best teachers” would still be the best in such contexts.
2) As to leaving the profession, I’d again ask that a comparison be made of ALL new teachers. It continues to be my steadfast opinion that teacher union’s in NYC enable veteran teachers to get their own room, with the best kids, with more access to administration and (thus) funding, while getting paid on the same step-and-ladder as younger teachers who garner none of these advantages. I think this rotating door in education is incredibly problematic – but not the fault of TFA. For what it is worth, however, TFA always does note that the goal is not to keep Corps Members in education forever – when corps members leave classrooms to become principals, content area coaches, school board members, donators, etc., I hesitate to entirely dismiss their commitment to educational reform.
I’m actually a bit upset that someone would publish such data, given that the observations I have made above are pretty common knowledge, and her point seems a bit trite in the case of such a glaring omissions. Perhaps someone can point out where my thinking may have gone wrong?
Obama to visit Indonesia next year
// October 10th, 2009Sweet – Obama is going to Indo next year. I may have to as well, then…
Also…
The childhood connection and his knowledge of a few words of the Indonesian language have made him hugely popular in the country of 234 million people, 90 percent of whom are Muslim.
**of a few words** – thanks, AFP, for noting that.
via AFP: Obama to visit Indonesia next year: embassy.
Stormtroopers’ 9/11
// September 29th, 2009Stormtroopers’ 9/11 – CollegeHumor video
Clever. The political punch lays in about halfway through and then gets deep.
Associated Press: McDonald’s loses trademark fight against McCurry
// September 12th, 2009Associated Press: McDonald’s loses trademark fight against McCurry
It’s good to see a MNC like McDonald’s lose for once…