Mark Stegeman’s op ed on Ethnic Studies
March 21, 2011
by David Safier Mark Stegeman, TUSD's governing board president, has a wide-ranging op ed about his vision for the future of ethnic studies in today's Star. I want to make some general comments, which I may expand on at another time. Full disclosure: Stegeman is a friend, and he and I have talked recently about
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
March 21, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Friday, March 25 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, New York’s landmark industrial disaster that killed 146 of the factory's 500 employees, most of them young immigrant women and girls of Italian and European Jewish descent. The tragedy sparked a nationwide debate about workers rights, representation and
The Devil’s Workshop For The Corporatocracy
March 21, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Ever wonder where all that radical conservative legislation comes from? (Hint: Russell Pearce doesn't write his own bills). There really is a devil's workshop that produces "model legislation" for anti-democratic, pro-plutocratic corporatocracy legislation that does not receive nearly enough public scrutiny from our "lamestream" corporate media. And average Americans are completely unaware that it
Teachers
March 20, 2011
by David Safier We need stories like this to remind us of what teachers are worth, and the gifts they give to their students which simply can't be tested or quantified. Jennifer Johnson, Communications Director for the Arizona Democratic Party wrote this for Organizing for America's community blog as a guest blogger. Take the time
The coming week – legislative edition
March 20, 2011
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings As usual, all info gathered from online sources such as the website of the Arizona Legislature, and subject to change without notice. This is likely the last week with a full committee schedule, though committees will still meet on occasion with permission of the leadership of the appropriate
Star editorial slams Obama as weak on gun regulation
March 20, 2011
by David Safier We're at an interesting moment in the gun regulation battles. Obama chooses to place an exclusive op ed in the Star about preventing gun violence last week, and today's editorial slams Obama for his "no stance" stance. When the Star and public opinion are both out ahead of what a Democratic president
Arizona Legislature week in review –
March 19, 2011
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… OK, so that's a little overwrought, and more than a little unoriginal. 🙂 It was definitely a "mixed bag" sort of week, with some genuinely horrible legislation moving forward while some equally horrible legislation was (surprisingly)
Utah, the Sutherland Institute and the non-monolithic conservative movement
March 19, 2011
by David Safier It's heartening to see cracks in the Republican Party. John Boehner is having trouble holding his troops together. Some of Arizona's Republican state legislators are beginning to rebel a bit against Pearce's iron-fisted rule. And then there's Utah. As I posted the other day, Utah passed some less-than-awful immigration legislation with the
