StickWithANose

In a weird sort of way, it is comforting to know that I can always count of EdWeek to be a rock steady, consistent and reliably craptastic corporate tool used to pimp the ideological narratives being constructed by venture philanthropists and think tank trolls. Today, the digital rag presents us with a breathless article about [...]

In response to the draft release of Dodd’s proposal for financial regulation, Yves Smith goes all old-school and asks the most fundamental question that is no longer a “thinkable” thought. What on earth is the public purpose of these things?
Banks are set up and supported by government for the further benefit of the macro economy [...]

Sy Hersh: Are nuclear weapons safe in Pakistan?
During my stay in Pakistan—my first in five years—there were undeniable signs that militancy and the influence of fundamentalist Islam had grown. In the past, military officers, politicians, and journalists routinely served Johnnie Walker Black during our talks, and drank it themselves. This time, even the most senior [...]

If you want to know how far down the path we’ve traveled toward the blissful joy of kleptocracy, then you need look no further than this “report” issued by the Center for American Progress, the Chamber of Commerce and the American Enterprise Institute that was “made possible” by funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates [...]

When the old man that once confessed that he didn’t know the difference between a Mac and PC introduced the “Internet Freedom Act” into the Senate to kill the open web, it was met with dismissive laughter, but it is unwise to assume that the wide spread support for an open internet architecture will ensure [...]

In a stunning turn toward journalistic integrity, the New York Times actually gave space to noted political theorist Slavoj Zizek who offers us a thoughtful reflection on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the political trajectories that emerged from the end of the Soviet empire. The entire essay is well worth your time, but [...]

With the ignoble and well-deserved death of Reading First now behind us, Congress appears to be re-visiting federal literacy programs. Sen. Pat Murray is leading a well-intentioned move to encourage adolescent literacy and has introduced a bill to replace the failed literacy initiatives of the Bush debacle era. However, [as with all things] the devil [...]

It is a sad reality that the only way to achieve substantive school reform in the US is through the court system, but it is fraught with dangers. The difference between the civil rights era and today’s educational malaise is that we now face a well-funded machine of venture philanthropists and think tanks poisoning public [...]

The general consensus on today’s unemployment numbers is that they’re bad but improving: NYT
While the pace of job losses has slowed significantly since the peak of the recession last winter, the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking work, continues to climb, and economists do not foresee relief until well into next [...]

Posted without comment: Bloomberg
“The injunction of Jesus to love others as ourselves is an endorsement of self-interest,” Goldman [Sach]’s Brian Griffiths said Oct. 20, his voice echoing around the gold-mosaic walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral, whose 365-feet-high dome towers over the City, London’s financial district. “We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to [...]