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First, the Tea Party wingnuts call John Boehner a RINO. Now, they send a vicious letter to Iran, undermining the constitution and the authority of the President. Their actions--in addition to being political and stupid--border on treason.
Our country has become a failed state. Our children's future is bleak. Rank-and-file liberals don't have much to say. Obama has been a god-send to the corporate oligarchy. He has kept his base in check. Hillary Clinton would do the same.
There is far more self-evident misconduct to censure 47 GOP senators than even this regressive House would dare place at Obama's door. Like patriotism for Mark Twain, this cowardly war of party nullification is the last refuse of scoundrels.
The Germans for the first time in 70 years now are sort of coming out of adolescence into adulthood and are willing to stand up to the US and say: "Look, our interests are not the same as yours. We don't want a war in Central Europe, and we're going to prevent it!" That translates into intelligence cooperation, as well.
The United States and Venezuela right now don't like each other. We are engaged in a name calling battle. In the "Yo Mama" style that characterizes relations, Venezuela revoked visas for former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney due to earlier visa restrictions of Venezuelan leaders by the U.S. It's time to stop the grade school mudslinging. If we can do it for Cuba, why not Venezuela?
American combat troops deployed in Ukraine will soon number in the hundreds, at least, but US officials claim they're there only as "advisors" or "trainers," not as an in-place threat to Russia. Whatever advising or training they may do, they are also an in-place threat to Russia. US officials are also lobbying to arm Ukraine with "defensive" anti-tank rockets and other lethal weapons in hopes of escalating the fighting, maybe
Members of Congress don't arrive at their positions on issues related to Iran through discussion and debate among themselves. They are given their marching orders by AIPAC lobbyists, and time after time, they sign the letters and vote for legislation or resolution that they are given, as former AIPAC lobbyist M. J. Rosenberg has recalled.
The story would be comical -- if it wasn't criminal child abuse. Imagine those poor traumatized little girls. First assaulted in their birth homes, then tortured by this cretin. Can you imagine being sexually asaulted, then turned over to this religious nutjob who locks you up in his personal asylum, then turned over to the custody of a rapist.
ISIS desperately needs to draw the U.S. in, to provide a rallying cry "against the foreign invader." Why should America put our troops in harm's way to provide this terrorist organization with new life, especially since armies in the region are stepping up to take the fight to ISIS? ISIS wants to draw the U.S. into a religious war, to secure its role as the self-proclaimed defender of Islam against crusading foreign invaders.
The Georgia legislature is attempting to legalize no-knock searches for the first time in history while the American public is clamoring for more law enforcement accountability. This is the inside story of why
A personal look at redefining the Divine, via Unified Theory, Greek mythology and indigenous beliefs.
Once again NASA has announced that life must have had at least a shot at getting going on an astral body other than Earth. "A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth," said NASA in a news release. How do they know there's just such an ocean under the miles of ice crust? Basically, Ganymede is the only moon in our solar system with a magnetic field. And it's those magnetic fields on Earth that cause the pretty green aurora near our polar regions that dazzles us. So, when looking at Ganymede's auroral belts, scientists could see they were not fluctuating as much as they would if there wasn't an ocean under the ice. The results of their studies have led them to believe that not only is there an ocean under the ice, but that "subterranean ocean is thought to have more water than all water on Earth's surface," the agency said.
Laura Chapman: The Federal Marketing Campaign for Common Core; by Diane Ravitch
You have probably read many times that the Common Core standards are not related in any way to the federal Department of Education. Don't believe it. Reader Laura H. Chapman investigated the marketing campaign paid for by the U.S. Department of Education:
Before I Go: A Stanford neurosurgeon's parting wisdom about life and time - The Washington Post
Stricken by lung cancer, Dr. Paul Kalanithi, chief resident in neurological surgery at at Stanford University, shared his thoughts about what's important in life.
Say you're a medical researcher interested in a rare chemical produced in the roots of a little-known Peruvian flower. It's called ratanhine, and it's valuable because it has some fascinating anti-fungal properties that might make for great medicines. Getting your hands on the rare plant is hard, and no chemical supplier is or has ever sold it. But maybe, thanks to the work of University of Illinois chemist Martin Burke, you could print it right in the lab. In a new study published in the journal Science today, Burke has announced the specs of a chemistry's own version of the 3D printer--a machine that can systematically synthesize thousands of different molecules (including the ratanhine molecular family) from a handful of starting chemicals. Such a machine could not only make ratanhine step-by-step, but also could custom-create a dozen other closely-related chemicals--some never...
Jeb Bush at the top of the ticket would hurt Republicans' chances in 2016.
When House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress just a few weeks ahead of an Israeli election, he was criticized for giving Netanyahu a platform to boost his campaign. Netanyahu is using his speech as a prop in a campaign commercial back in Israel, where the prime minister is shown basking in the applause of members of Congress who did not boycott his speech. With five days left until the Israeli elections, Netanyahu launched the campaign ad featuring his controversial address along with footage of rockets being launched. Netanyahu's speech sparked controversy in Israel as well, where his political opponents filed a petition to the Israel Broadcasting Authority claiming that the speech to Congress violated election propaganda rules.
Major world powers have begun talks about a United Nations Security Council resolution to lift U.N. sanctions on Iran if a nuclear agreement is struck with Tehran, a step that could make it harder for the U.S. Congress to undo a deal, Western officials said. The talks between Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the five permanent members of the Security Council -- plus Germany and Iran, are taking place ahead of difficult negotiations that resume next week over constricting Iran's nuclear ability.
a questioning of Netanyahu's control over our Congress and the presentation of substantiated proof of the Iraq Army shooting down 2 British Supply planes and 2 American helicopters bringing arms supplies to our supposed most hated terrorists, ISIS. And news of our Israeli and Turkish allies allowing wounded ISIS combatants to use their hospitals before sending them back into the war against Syria
By David Corn
Cruz the Politician Champions the Death Penalty. Cruz the Private Lawyer Did Something Else. 
As a private lawyer, Cruz questioned the credibility of the criminal-justice system. Yet Cruz's belief in the capital-punishment system appears unshaken; that is, when he is talking about it as a politician.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered up the lamest Republican excuse possible for the GOP's treasonous letter to Iran. McCain admitted that he didn't read the letter carefully because he was in a hurry to leave Washington before a snowstorm arrived. McCain wants the American people to believe that the 47 senators who signed this letter were more worried about getting out of D.C. ahead of a snowstorm than doing their jobs.If McCain is more worried about the weather than doing his job, he shouldn't be a United States Senator. If what McCain said is true, the Republicans who signed the letter didn't read it carefully, those 47 Republicans don't deserve to be United States Senators.
Venezuela seems to be following Ukraine on the neocon hit list for "regime change" as Washington punishes Caracas for acting against a perceived coup threat. But a broader problem is how the U.S. conflates "free markets" with "democracy," giving "democracy" a bad name, writes Robert Parry.
"European allies are joining the Obama administration in criticizing Republican congressional interjection into nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying that an open letter from Republican senators to Iranian leaders has been counterproductive and come at a particularly sensitive time in the talks."
Edwards has often made the connection between grassroots activism and congressional action. After the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, when most Democrats were talking about tepid reforms, Edwards proposed a constitutional amendment to restore the ability of citizens and their elected representatives to enact meaningful campaign finance laws--and to prevent the bartering off of elections to the highest corporate bidder.
The modern Republican party has become an authentic mechanism for political subversion, and it's not just unknown crazy people from Texas who are driving the train. A rookie meathead submarines the president's foreign policy. Rick Perry is currently running for president on a platform more suited to a campaign conducted under the Articles of Confederation. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader of the United States Senate, has suggested that governors out in the several states ignore the Environmental Protection Agency. At every conservative gathering, from CPAC on down, there at least is one panel touting the benefits of nullification and old-school states rights politics. Yes, a lot of it is about how states rights got whipped over civil rights in the 1960's, but it's not all about race. It's about a deliberate, calculated attempt by one of the only two political parties we allow ourselves to dismantle the federal union. They want the country to come apart so they can sell off the pieces to the people who run their campaigns.
Secretary of State Kerry emphasized the administration's opposition to any limitation on the geographic scope of the war. "What a mistake it would be," he declared, "to send a message to [ISIS] that there are safe havens, that there is somehow just a two-country limitation..." No senator in either party is opposed to another imperialist war.
The U.S. should end the blockade of Cuba, restore normal diplomatic relations, permit travel to Cuba, close GITMO prison and torture site, return Guantanamo Bay to its rightful owner Cuba and take Cuba off the list of state-sponsored terrorist countries.
By Bob Burnett
What Do Republicans Stand For? 20 months before the 2016 presidential election, the Republican Party is floundering. Unlike the Democrats, where Hillary Clinton is the clear presidential favorite, there's no frontrunner for the GOP nomination. More important, it's unclear what Republicans stand for -- other than hatred of President Obama. Latest Articles
How will voters be able to choose between Hilary or JEB?
Are you ready for some good times and real change? Check out this detailed, inspiring article on upcoming astrology--including the intense, final Uranus square Pluto alignment--to see why the dark times are coming to an end.
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Fountas & Pinnell Create More Rigorous Common Core Guided Reading Guidelines
How to create failure -- the Common Core continues to place greater demands on our youngest students with little to no regard to years of research on child development. For example, take the Fountas and Pinnell research based guiding reading levels that have stood the test of time. They spent years creating a system that matched students with just right books. They even warned, "through detailed coding of thousands of readings, showed that when a text is too difficult for the child the process breaks down and the child does not develop inner control of effective actions for processing texts." When Common Core was introduced, Fountas and Pinnell decided it was time to put research aside and go against their own advice in order create more rigorous thresholds for their guided reading levels. For kindergartners in the pre Common Core days, F&P recommended students reach guided reading levels of A-C. With the introduction of Common Core, F& P raised the expectation to A-D. The shift continued for first graders. Pre Common Core students were expected to reach levels B-I in the past. Now, F&P raised the expectations to C-J for the grade level. Why would F&P change the criteria after all of these years? They claim kindergartners are entering school more ready than before. This claim isn't based on research, but a hunch that only helps to grow their profits.
Millions of Americans are outraged by the Republican attempt to sabotage diplomacy while engaging in the ultimate act of disrespect towards the nation's Commander in Chief, but there is a global consequence to the Republican behavior. The forty-seven Republican senators were not only undermining the president. They were also undermining world peace.
8 things you need to know about Bill C-51 | BC Civil Liberties Association At over 60 pages, Bill C-51 -- the Anti-Terrorism Act -- is both literally and figuratively a heavy read. It proposes a myriad of radical changes to Canadian law and to Canada's national security apparatus, many of which seriously jeopardize the rights and freedoms of Canadians while promising little improvement to public safety. Lawyers at the BC Civil Liberties Association have gone over the bill paragraph by paragraph, and we've outlined the parts of this massive document that concern us most.
LAUSD and UTLA Complicity Kills Collective Bargaining and Civil Rights for LA's Teachers; by Lenny Isenberg
LAUSD and UTLA Complicity Kills Collective Bargaining and Civil Rights for LA's Teachers! By merely adding a gratuitous morals charge under California Education Code (44939.odt), a teacher can even be stripped of their Collective Bargaining rights to grievance and arbitration. This war against teachers started in 2006 when present chief LAUSD attorney David Holmquist was director of the LAUSD Office of Risk Management and Insurance Services. With 2006 Retiree Health Actuarial info.pdf, it became open season on older high-seniority and better paid teachers who either suffer from good teaching or honesty in the face of endemic LAUSD/UTLA corruption.In the case of thousands of media-made-invisible LAUSD teachers who have been removed from their livelihood without honest cause, they are put through a series of pro forma meetings, where the results are predetermined and those representing LAUSD will admit that they have never even read the responses to the knowingly false charges being brought against you, since LAUSD's sole motives are to get rid of teachers at the top of the salary, about to vest in lifetime health, or who are disabled.Furthermore, there will have been no investigation- other than talking to the principal who was encouraged by their superiors at LAUSD to bring the charges against you in the first place. The truth of charges is really never at issue, since your responses are never read and the finds of your "due process hearing" is written prior to the hearing. More.... |
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