May 30, 2016

A Thousand Rivers-

WHAT THE MODERN WORLD HAS FORGOTTEN ABOUT CHILDREN AND LEARNING

The following statement somehow showed up on my Twitter feed the other day:

“Spontaneous reading happens for a few kids. The vast majority
need (and all can benefit from) explicit instruction in phonics.”
This 127-character edict issued, as it turned out, from a young woman who is the “author of the forthcoming book Brilliant: The Science of How We Get Smarter” and a “journalist, consultant and speaker who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better.”

It got under my skin, and not just because I personally had proven in the first grade that it is possible to be bad at phonics even if you already know how to read. It was her tone; that tone of sublime assurance on the point, which, further tweets revealed, is derived from “research” and “data” which demonstrate it to be true.

http://carolblack.org/a-thousand-rivers/#.V0uNIF00C48.facebook

really interesting read. really rang my bells. the son i homeschooled is getting a phd in theoretical math. the son i sent to school is sitting in my basement, unable to start his own life. damaged, angry and confused.

sigh. i hated sending them to school. it just got to be too much and my now ex husband was no help. when he took a promotion i didnt want him to take, i gave up.
oh how i regret that now.

May 29, 2016

i just posted this in a thread, but i thought i would post it here.

i wish there was a mirt alert button. so many good members are former mods, or mirt alums who have the spidey sense about these clowns. but right now all you can do is alert and try to get a hide so mirt will see them. i have seen more than a few, alerted, explaining that if they hide the post, mirt will be notified.
very few have been successful.
altho good mirters watch those first few posts, they dont usually see more than the first few. but by the time they get to 100, most have shown their hand in what they think are very crafty ways.

it could be limited to the first 100 posts. and i know it there would be plenty of false alarms, but....

May 28, 2016

i just want to say thanks

i am really glad you guys are gonna take control of the site once the primaries are over. i think i am almost as disappointed as you guys are that the jury system has been such a failure.
on a website dedicated to democrats, you would think people could take some responsibility. but no.

i am sure you will wield the ban hammer w both sadness and fairness.

good luck to you all.

May 28, 2016

GOP Lawmakers Capitalize on Zika Threat to Pass Bill Dubbed 'Making Pesticides Great Again' Act

(crossposted from e&e)

The Republican-controlled U.S. House on Tuesday passed legislation—newly rebranded with the word “Zika” in it—that Democrats say is in fact not at all about the addressing the threat of the virus but making it easier for pesticides to contaminate the nation’s waterways.

Previously called the “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act,” the “Zika Vector Control Act” passed the House 258-156.

According to House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (Md), H.R. 897 “is nothing but a Trojan horse, with practically nothing to do with Zika.”

It was sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), who, as Cleveland.com reported last week, “For years has tried to get Congress to change permitting requirements for pesticides sprayed near water.”



The Obama administration issued a statement earlier this week saying (pdf) that it “strongly opposes” the legislation, as it “would weaken environmental protections under the Clean Water Act.” Indeed, the Act’s summary states that it

establishes exemptions for the following discharges containing a pesticide or pesticide residue: (1) a discharge resulting from the application of a pesticide in violation of FIFRA that is relevant to protecting water quality, if the discharge would not have occurred but for the violation or the amount of pesticide or pesticide residue contained in the discharge is greater than would have occurred without the violation; (2) stormwater discharges regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES); and (3) discharges regulated under NPDES of manufacturing or industrial effluent or treatment works effluent and discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel, including a discharge resulting from operations concerning ballast water held in ships to increase stability or vessel biofouling prevention.

Gibbs, The Hill notes, “said it would help to eliminate a ‘duplicative and unnecessary permitting regulation’ that has made it more difficult for some local governments to spread for mosquitoes.”

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Leighton Woodhouse, for his part, referred to the bill as “Straight up #disastercapitalism.”

Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.)., meanwhile, said it “is a sham.”

“It is nothing but trying to weaken the environmental regulations. It exempts, a broad exemption, of toxic pesticides from the Clean Water Act,” she said to PBS Newshour Monday, adding that the bill stands to “pollute our rivers and contaminate our water.”

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.) spoke out against the measure on the House floor Tuesday, calling it “misguided” and “harmful.”

“I am very concerned about the effect of these pesticides on the health of our rivers, on our streams, and especially the drinking water supplies of all our citizens, including pregnant women,” Napolitano added.

Slamming the repeated iterations of the bill that threatens “to undo protections that safeguard our environment and public health,” Hoyer said that to “bring the same bill back to the Floor last week and again today, renamed with ‘Zika‘ in the title, is one of the most egregious displays of dishonesty I’ve seen while serving in the House.”

“It is an act that seeks to provide political cover for Republicans who refused to act on President Obama’s urgent request for funding to address the Zika outbreak in a serious way. House Republicans might as well bring this bill to the Floor and rename it the ‘Making Pesticides Great Again’ Act, because in truth it would remove virtually all federal oversight concerning the use of chemical pesticides to ensure they do not end up in our water supply,” he charged.


http://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/top-news/gop-lawmakers-capitalize-zika-threat-pass-bill-dubbed-making-pesticides-great-act/





Creative Commons License
This work by The Last American Vagabond is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, and may be reposted as is, with attribution to the author and TheLastAmericanVagabond.com. P

May 22, 2016

a foaf bernie story.

my friend kelly westlund, who ran for congress last cycle in wis told me this about bernie-
she got zip support from the party. the d-trip wanted to replace her campaign manager. when she said no, they left her high and dry.
she got support from tammy baldwin, but that was about it.

she did, however, get a phone call from bernie. he told her he called all dem candidates to see who he wanted to support. she said they had a fairly long talk, in which he quizzed her on her policy aims, etc.

he came to wis a couple times to campaign w her. not sure if there was any money involved.

but srsly, this is the guy who isnt a dem?

May 19, 2016

How to clean up Illinois’ voter registration rolls

David Orr

As Cook County clerk — an office whose responsibilities include elections administration for suburban Cook County, I have championed a voter registration renaissance, driven by technology, for modernization of voter registration records, year-round registration, and more accurate voter rolls.

There is a presidential election in six months and though we’ve made tremendous strides in improving the accuracy of voter registration records in recent years, the Illinois voter rolls remain lousy and incomplete.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/how-to-clean-up-illinois-voter-registration-rolls/

david orr is one of the good guy in election protection. not to be confused w the chicago boe.