Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Reminder from the Pima County Democratic Party: Sunday, October 27th 9:00am Pima County Democratic Party Headquarters 4639 E. First St. 9:00 am Canvass 12:30 pm “Lunch on the GOTV” with special guest Fred DuVal in solidarity with Council Members Karin Uhlich, Richard Fimbres and Steve Kozachik 1:00pm Canvass 4:00 pm Canvass 5:00 … Read more
by David Safier John Schwarz, a local who is professor emeritus of government and public policy at the University of Arizona and senior distinguished fellow at Demos, has an enlightening op ed in the LA Times about the poverty line. [Full disclosure: John is a friend.] Our definition of poverty, Schwarz says, was calibrated in … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie has called for a Special Session of the Hawaii Legislature beginning on Monday for SB1 – Hawaii Marriage Equity Act.
State Rep. Richard Lee Fale has posted the following information about the Special Session. October Special Session Update:
My office has received a lot of calls about the special session that
the governor has called, beginning October 28. This communication is
going out to answer questions about how you can be involved in the
scheduled special session. I want to be clear, I do not agree with the
Governor's decision to call a special session. I believe it is a
reckless and forced attempt to push major legislation without ample time
for review and public input. That being said, the constitution allows
the governor to call a special session. Therefore, if you want to have
your voice heard on the same gender marriage issue, you will need to
speak up during this special session.
How to Submit Testimony
If you are interested in submitting testimony on SB1- Hawaii Marriage Equity Act here are some guidelines:
- Testimony needs to be submitted BEFORE 10:30AM Sunday, Oct 27.
- Testimony can be submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. You will first need to create an account on the www.capitol.hawaii.gov website.
- Click here to create an account, so that you can submit testimony.
- Click here for hearing notice instructions and links. Testimony may be submitted by email, fax, or on the Internet.
Committees that will hear Senate Bill 1 (SB1)
Senate Bill 1 – SB1 – Hawaii Marriage Equity Act is scheduled to be
heard by the following committees. You can also express your views on
SB1 by contacting the members of the following committees:
- Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor
Clayton Hee, Chair
Click here for the members of this committee.- House Judiciary Committee
Click here for the members of this committee.- House Finance Committee
Click here for the members of this committee.
by David Safier
U.S. education is in the pits compared to other countries, right? Maybe not. Here's another look at our scores that puts many of our states among the top 10 countries in the world in math and science. Five of the states have higher scores than any country in Europe. Looking at individual state scores explains why the U.S. average score looks bad. We're dragged down by low scoring states, which are mainly high poverty states, most of them in the south and southwest.
On the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the U.S. ranks 11th in the world in Math. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has broken our scores down by state (it created a correlation between the TIMSS test and our NAEP test). Massachusetts ranks as the 5th highest "nation" in the world, below Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong — and tied with Japan. Every European country ranks lower than Massachusetts. Vermont, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New Jersey are all in 6th place, just below Japan and above all the European countries. Maine, Wisconsin and North Carolina, in 7th place, are barely edged out by the Russian Federation. Other states in the top 10 are Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Indiana, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia and Oregon.
What brings the U.S. average down are low scoring states. Here are the worst, ranked from lowest to highest, along with their world rankings and the countries whose scores they come closest to: Alabama, 26th, between Armenia and Romania; Mississippi, 24th, between Dubai and Norway; Washington D.C., 22nd, between Sweden and Ukraine; Tennessee, Oklahoma and West Virginia, tied for 19th, between Italy and New Zealand.
(You might be surprised to see countries like Norway, Sweden, Italy and New Zealand scoring below the U.S. average, along with Great Britain and Australia. That's something the "Our schools are failing!" shriekers fail to mention, because it doesn't fit the myth they're perpetrating.)
Below the fold are two maps, one showing the high, middle and lowest scoring states, another showing the percentage of low income students in the states. It should surprise no one, the two are closely related.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Proverb: “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”
Yes, the healthcare.gov web site has had serious problems with its roll out, and criticism is both fair and warranted if it is meant to identify problems and to offer solutions on how to fix them.
But there are those who live in glass houses who are in no position to criticize. Case in point, the Arizona Daily Star which has the least user-friendly absolute worst piece-o'-crap web site I have to use, hands down. Who ever designed and manages the Star's piece-o'-crap web site should have been fired years ago. Can I get an Amen!
So the Star today, like so many other news organizations this week, assigned a reporter to open an account on healthcare.gov to see if they could complete the application. (Here's a thought: maybe if it wasn't for all these reporters signing on to healthcare.gov to do the same damn story, the system would not be so overloaded. Just sayin'.) Reporter among Tucsonans who find insurance sign-up problematic.