Mary DeCamp

Citizens United: 7 brides marry 7 corporations on steps on NY Stock Exchange (video)

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Corp brideby Pamela Powers Hannley

January 21, 2010 is a date that will go down in infamy. It is the date the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United and declared that corporations are people, money equals speech, and campaign finance reform that limits the amount of money a corporation can donate to political campaigns is unconstitutional.

This decision paved the way for the obscene amounts of money that were spent in the 2010 and 2012 elections and emboldened groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to write "model" laws for their elected minions to pass.

Happy peasants nationwide celebrated the third anniversary of corporate personhood on Friday, with the biggest celebration being a mass wedding on the steps of the New York Stock Exchange. With the Devil and hundreds of Occupiers as witnesses and Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping officiating, seven brides pledged their allegiance to seven corporate persons, and in turn, the corporate grooms promised to dominate and "own" them for the rest of their lives. Watch the wedding ceremony after the jump.

Thinking ‘outside the box’ on school closures & community education

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Creative28-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Tonight Tucson Unified School District's lame duck governing board will vote on closing up to 14 schools around the district: Brichta, Corbett, Cragin, Lyons, Manzo, Menlo Park, Schumaker and Sewell elementary schools; Carson, Hohokam, Maxwell and Wakefield middle schools; Fort Lowell/Townsend K-8; and Howenstine High School.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, the schools will be voted on individually at the meeting to be held at Catalina High School, beginning at 6:30 p.m.  

Public schools are the backbone of our community. This is a sad day for Tucson. In multiple stories about the public forums on school closures, dozens of parents and activitists have spoken out in favor of saving particular schools. "This side of town needs those schools. You can close all of them." "This school has wonderfully creative programs. You can't close it." "This is a top-rated school with full enrollment. You can't close it." And on…

Unfortunately, these reasons won't be enough to save most of the schools. With a $17 million budget deficit and 13,000 empty seats (the equivalent of 26 schools) TUSD is looking at data, expenditures, and enrollment— how can taxpayers get the most bang for their buck– not emotion, not program specifics, and not community cohesion. 

In a recent Star article, TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone admitted that the district won't realize the projected full $5 million from the school closures because the district has to maintain the closed schools until they are closed or leased. Of the nine schools closed in 2010, three remain vacant and a deal to level a fourth recently fell through. 

Allowing as many as 18 public schools to sit empty is a dramatic waste of resources. Tucson needs out-of-the-box thinking on this issue. For some ideas, read on.