Saturday, September 29, 2012

Scott Simon Can't Handle The Truth

Teachers work hard and they deserve to be paid well.  An investment in the education system and educators is an investment in our children and the future of America itself.  Unfortunately NPR's Scott Simon doesn't seem to feel that way.

Here is my letter to NPR's Weekend Edition regarding Simon's comment's during last weekends interview with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.


To Whom It May Concern,

I was shocked and saddened by Scott Simon’s repeated insistence last weekend that teachers do not work hard nor deserve to be paid better or even well for the work that they do (Duncan On Chicago: 'When Adults Fight, Kids Lose' Weekend Edition, 9/22/12).  Not to mention Simon’s ridiculous insinuation that he has as much effect over whether the Cubs win the World Series as the Secretary of Education has over the state of the American public school system.

Mr. Simon’s tone and dismissal of the incredible work that many of our nation’s teachers do was insulting; he owes the nation’s teachers, and his listeners, an apology.

You can read or listen to the interview here.  A recent study from The Gates Foundation determined that American teachers work 10 hours and 40 minutes in an average day, and research conducted by the Economics Policy Institute has found that American teachers are paid 12% less than other professions requiring a comparable amount of education and training. 

Friday, September 28, 2012

Sarah Silverman Is Not Amused With Voter Suppression (NSFW)

Sarah Silverman got a shout out in the last post for her work in the last election cycle and now she's getting her own post complete with video.

Silverman wants to make sure that everyone can vote, even in the face of new voter ID laws.  One thing to do is to go get yourself a gun (only sort of a joke, you'll see)


(this video is NSFW due to all kinds of language, and no there isn't a cleaned up version thank you very much.)

More on voter suppression and supposed voter fraud here and here.

(via NYer)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sam Jackson Thinks You Should Vote For Obama (NSFW)

And he's not messing around...



(this video is NSFW due to f-bombs; edited version here)

This video is from the Jewish Council for Education and Research, who put together The Great Schlep project with Sarah Silverman the last time we elected a President.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

VOTE

In order to exercise the franchise (as none of the kids have probably ever said, but maybe should have) you need to be registered to vote.  Yes, some states will let you register on election day at your polling place, but why wait.  Get it done today - it is National Voter Registration Day after all.

Rock The Vote will help you out as will the NVRD website.  If you live in the DC area you should check out the great new resource that is metrodcvote.org.  The site will help you check your registration status, get yourself registered, and figure out absentee and early voting as well.

Be sure you're ready to get out there and do your thing, it's your chance to participate in your democracy and you should do it.  Too few people vote in the US these days with only about 60% of potential voters in Presidential election years and less than 40% showing up to vote in the midterm elections.

Read This Now - The NFL Refs And Labor Union Struggles

Brad Plummer has a good quick look at how the locked out NFL Refs are just like every other labor union fighting for a better deal for it's members...

In many ways, however, the NFL referee feud is perfectly representative of modern labor battles playing out in Wisconsin and elsewhere. In this case, one of the biggest sticking points, as Dave Jamieson explains, involves pensions. The league wants to replace the defined-benefit pensions for referees that have been in place since the 1970s with riskier and stingier 401(k)s. The referees, by contrast, point out that the NFL hauls in $9 billion per year and can afford to provide generous retirement packages.
If you read the whole thing, and you should, you'll be left wondering if Scott Walker knows the real refs are union guys.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

A Refreshing Campaign Ad

Being in DC and not watching much TV means that I only really see spill over VA campaign ads during the Skins games, so I have it pretty good (friends in Boston say that they're about ready to start throwing things at the screen if they see Scott Brown's truck one more time).  Even if I was on ad overload I think I'd enjoy this one...



Not only is it fun, this ad also brings up an important non-partisan election and voting issue.  You can get the back story on the ad from the WaPo.

Make sure you vote and that you fill out the entire ballot this fall.

I miss the West Wing...

(via all over the place)

Monday, September 17, 2012

Fraggles and Five

Ben Folds got the band back together and threw in some Fraggles, and it was good and the people were happy...



(via Nerdist w/ an assist from LS)