G.I.: More education cuts on the horizon
by David Safier Call this a red letter day. I'm going to quote something written by one of the high paid folks at the Goldwater Institute as a source, rather than ripping it to shreds. Advertisement Byron Schlomach, director of G.I.'s Center for Economic Prosperity (Don't you love the straight-out-of-"1984" name of the Center?), says … Read more
SB1070 Update: They can’t handle the [racial profiling] truth
by David Safier We need more of this. ABC's Channel 15 in Phoenix approached the question of SB1070 and racial profiling head on. In a news story, UA law professor Gabriel Jackson Chin said racial profiling is built into SB1070. Chin has written at length on the topic many times before, as I've posted here. … Read more
Republican Primary Mudslinging: New 2nd Favorite Website
Posted by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings As a Democrat, I'm proud that most, if not all, of the D primary races have been run clean and on the issues. The personal and ad hominem attacks have been all but nonexistent. As a writer, I'm bored by the Democratic races. Civility and professionalism are … Read more
Senate vote for cloture on the Disclose Act today
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Disclose Act is the response of Congress to the conservative activist U.S. Supreme Court that greenlighted the ability of corporations (including foreign-owned corporations) to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections in Citizens United v. FEC, overturning a century of federal law and judicial precedents. On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate … Read more
If paying students can affect their test scores . . .
by David Safier Standardized tests are fine, so long as the results are kept in perspective. But when they're made the gold standard for assessing student achievement, things get weird, and measurements of achievement become badly skewed. Here's one of the many problems with high stakes tests. If motivated test takers do better than an … Read more
Back from vacation: a few bits and (amusing to me) pieces
by David Safier My wanderings, with erratic and occasional postings, are over for awhile. I promise to return to seriousness soon — maybe even today. But first I need to unburden myself of a few amusing tidbits. Here's the first: The best — as in most enjoyable — headline I've seen recently: Boys Trail Girls … Read more
The end of the line for journalism
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Republic today has an amazingly lame editorial opinion about the Shirley Sherrod smear that consumed the attention span of the mainstream media last week to the exclusion of all else. Truth is the other victim in Shirley Sherrod case. Longtime residents of Arizona are familiar with the long sordid history … Read more
