GOP’s Flim-Flam Man 10 year plan to be voted on in House next week
April 7, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The House Republican 2012 budget resolution was reported out of the Budget Committee on Wednesday night after only a day-long markup. It now heads to the House floor for a vote set for next week. Ryan budget advances to House floor: As expected, the budget was approved along party lines, with 22 … Read more
Tea Party in control of Republicans in Congress
April 7, 2011
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by David Safier This from Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), talking about the possible government shutdown: "Speaker Boehner is not in control," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said on a conference call with reporters when asked about the prospects of a shutdown by TPM [Talking Points Memo]. "The tea party caucus has their hands on … Read more
Jon Perr: Party of Lincoln Wages War for Government Shutdown
April 7, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Jon Perr at perrspectives.com has an informative post on the Party of Lincoln Wages War for Government Shutdown (excerpts): As the nation prepares to mark next week's 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, the Party of Lincoln stands on the brink of shutting down the federal government. But whether it comes … Read more
Star headline writers are at it again
April 7, 2011
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by David Safier NOTE: I just read further on BfA (haven't had time to see what others posted today) and found AzBlueMeanie wrote about the same headline. My bad. But what the hell. It deserves another airing. Meanie, you can rap me across the nose with a bag of pixels if you want. [See story … Read more
Tea-Publican Tyranny: ‘Shut ‘er Down!’
April 7, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The chattering class of media villagers and Beltway bloviators only want to speculate about the pending government shutdown. Conflict is what the media sells after all. There is wild speculation about the 'blame game" – who will the public blame for a government shut down? This is what passes for entertainment between … Read more
Arizona Daily Star creative headline writer: doublethink from ‘1984’
April 7, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Blog for Arizona frequently criticizes the creative headline writer(s) at the Arizona Daily Star for misprepesenting and distorting the substance of the story that follows below. (This is important because many readers only scan the headlines and maybe read the first paragraph). Doublethink is a term made famous in George Orwell's novel … Read more
Update: Incorporate your uterus
April 6, 2011
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Last week, Florida Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) suggested that his wife "incorporate her uterus" so that Republicans would stop their relentless attacks on abortion rights. The logic was, of course, that Republicans would never permit similar regulation of Florida businesses. Randolph's comment inspired the Florida American Civil Liberties Union to launch a website, called "Incorporate … Read more
Save Ethnic Studies refuses to meet with MAS audit team
April 6, 2011
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by David Safier
Save Ethnic Studies, the group defending the Mexican American Studies program, is playing hard ball.
If you remember, Ed Supe John Huppenthal hired an audit team to evaluate MAS to help him decide if the program is in violation of A.R.S. § 15-112. The original head of the audit team, Steve Gallon, was removed after complaints from Save Ethnic Studies that he had a checkered past, to put it lightly.
Now, Save Ethnic Studies is refusing to participate in "a focus group discussion" with the reconstituted audit team. The three reasons: (1) It's hard to trust Cambium Learning Group which put together the audit team if its own "audit" of the team members would allow someone like Steve Gallon to head it; (2) The scope and parameters of the audit haven't been spelled out clearly; and (3) The audit team has no demonstrated expertise in the theory behind MAS or the challenges faced by Mexican-American students in the southwest.
This refusal to cooperate will undoubtedly be used against the group, but I think it's a good move. If the audit team is an honest, objective group, it can find all the information it needs without someone explaining it to them. If the deck is stacked, then anything members of the Save Ethnic Studies group say can be used as "evidence" against the program.
You can read the Media Release after the jump. You can read the letter to Superintendent Pedicone here.
