Monday, May 27, 2013

More on privatizing education

I've written/posted about the cost to America as we increasingly privatize education. Here's even more proof of the inherent evils of the process.

From Daily Kos
(Click on the link to read more)

Nashville charter schools 'lose' problem students to public schools-just in time for testing

If all you care about are test scores, one of the big advantages charter schools have over traditional public schools is that they don't have to take every kid who shows up. Charters can push out the weak students, leaving them for someone else to deal with. That certainly looks like what's happening in Nashville, Tennessee, where the eight schools with the highest net loss of students are all charter schools, WSMV's Dennis Ferrier reports. The only schools losing more than 10 percent of their students are charters, which are losing up to 33 percent.

The road to religious states

Religion - anti-intellect

Religious leaders so NOT want you to think - you might forsake religion if you do.

Atheism is fighting back

Daily shooting report

Still no new gun control laws.

How's that "self-protection" thingie working out for you?

It's a part of being intelligent.

Congress fixed the sequester (for themselves)

Not very balanced

Where the hate resides

Just like the religion itself...

Decaying biblical theme park complete with Bethlehem replica could be yours for just $350,000

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Poorest states hurt themselves.

From Daily Kos
(It is tragic, but the Republican philosophy is that, "if you are poor, we don't care if you die nedlessly.")

States that rejected Medicaid [expansion] also have most uninsured, poorest health

Sadly, the states that have the greatest need to expand Medicaid also have the Republican leaders who are refusing to participate. That's according to an analysis from the Los Angeles Times, which states health data to determine levels of coverage and overall health status in the states.

    Colon cancer deaths in states opposing Medicaid expansion, for example, are an average of 16% higher than in pro-expansion states, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of state health data.

    Deaths from breast cancer are 8% higher on average in anti-expansion states. And adults under 65 are 40% more likely on average to have lost six or more teeth from decay, infection or gum disease. [...]

    Yet most state leaders who are fighting the Medicaid expansion have advanced few alternative plans to tackle their states' health shortfalls. That means that, at least in the short term, America's unhealthiest states could fall even further behind as the Affordable Care Act is implemented.

Asleep at the wheel.

Hey, kids! God has had his eye on you!

The body of Christ

Human - the other white meat.

Daily shooting report...

Still no new gun laws.

It's really some sort of fetish.

Honestly, the guns are some sort of freaky sex toy for right-wingers.

Getting directly to the point.

Hey, gun manufacturers - the NRA needs more money to do your dirty work.

TSA - the loss of American freedom...

Who built that?

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Those pesky little Republicans

10 Crazy Things the Right Did This Week

May 24, 2013 | By ThinkProgress War Room

It's been another week of the insane, inane, and outright offensive. Here's your top ten:

Pennsylvania governor can't find any Latinos to work for him. Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) told a Spanish-language newspaper this week that he didn't have any Latinos working for him. There are approximately 18,000 Latinos just in the Harrisburg, PA area alone.
Pennsylvania governor remembers single Latino who works for him. A day after saying he didn't have any Latinos working for him, Corbett suddenly remembered a single Latino appointee working in his administration.
Conservatives freak out over Boy Scouts decision to admit gays. Here's the ten best conservative freak-outs over the group's decision to admit gay scouts while maintaining a ban on gay leaders.
Tea Party congressman mansplains his anti-abortion views. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), speaking at a hearing about an unconstitutional ban on abortion after 20 weeks that House Republicans are championing, told a witness that she should've been forced to wait and give birth rather than have an abortion even though her fetus had no brain function.
Top Republican called Obama's national security speech "a victory for terrorists." The comments were made by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Chambliss defeated a decorated, triple amputee veteran in 2002 by running an ad juxtaposing his opponent with images of Osama bin Laden.
Texas GOP continued its obsession with limiting women's rights. The Texas GOP introduced another 24 anti-abortion bills this year, but thankfully none of them advanced.
This man could be the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Virginia Republicans nominated an extremely anti-gay, anti-abortion minister who has a long history of making insensitive and inflammatory comments. Here's his 20 craziest tweets.
RNC chair melts down. In an effort to attack the president, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus threw out attacks so over the top that the Morning Joe crew called him out.
GOP senator says implementing Obamacare is just like an illegal coverup. Because of her efforts to implement Obamcare, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) likened Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to convicted criminal Oliver North.
GOP senator defends Apple's efforts to avoid billions of dollars in U.S. taxes. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), in a move reminiscent of Rep. Joe Barton's infamous apology to BP in the wake of its disastrous oil spill, apologized to top Apple officials for being called in front of the Senate to explain how they use complex structures and gimmicks to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

More proof of the assertion that Republicans are hypocrites - level 10.

From Think Progress

Congressman Who Gets Millions In Farm Subsidies Denounces Food Stamps As Stealing 'Other People's Money'

By Aviva Shen on May 21, 2013 at 1:29 pm

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) agitated against food aid for poor Americans included in the Farm Bill during last week's House Agricultural Committee debate, accusing the government of stealing "other people's money." Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has already been decimated in both the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill, cutting off nearly 2 million working families, children, and seniors from food assistance.

Fincher invoked the Bible in his defense of the devastating cuts, quoting, "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."

At a Holiday Inn in Memphis over the weekend, Fincher expanded on his version of the Christian social gospel: "The role of citizens, of Christians, of humanity is to take care of each other, but not for Washington to steal from those in the country and give to others in the country."

While Fincher interprets food assistance for the needy as "stealing," he has not similarly condemned the Farm Bill's massive agricultural subsidies. In fact, he supported a proposal to expand crop insurance by $9 billion over the next 10 years. Fincher has a great personal stake in maintaining these particular government handouts, as the second most heavily subsidized farmer in Congress and one of the largest subsidy recipients in Tennessee history:

USDA data collected in EWG's 2013 farm subsidy database update - going live tomorrow -shows that Fincher collected a staggering $3.48 million in "our" money from 1999 to 2012. In 2012 alone, the congressman was cut a government check for a $70,000 direct payment. Direct payments are issued automatically, regardless of need, and go predominantly to the largest, most profitable farm operations in the country.

Fincher's $70,000 farm subsidy haul in 2012 dwarfs the average 2012 SNAP benefit in Tennessee of $1,586.40, and it is nearly double of Tennessee's median household income. After voting to cut SNAP by more than $20 billion, Fincher joined his colleagues to support a proposal to expand crop insurance subsidies by $9 billion over the next 10 years.