Why We (still) Need Unions

(from David Kalb)

This holiday, along w/ the weekend, holidays, vacation, et al, were not given out of generosity; many before you and me fought the good fight to make it happen. Happy Labor Day--

solidarity forever. 

http://notesonatheory.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/who-will-push-back/

Thursday Night Music Club (Dawes ed.)

(via David Corn)

described as the vocal twin of Jackson Browne, singing a Warren Zevon song he never wrote (yeah, it's pretty good). Enjoy--

John Oliver nails the situation in Ferguson

(via Slate)

John Oliver offers spot-on analysis of the situation in Ferguson (about 15 min long):

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/18/john_oliver_on_ferguson_missouri_and_police_militarization_video.html?wpsrc=fol_tw

Thursday Night Music Club (Excitable Boy ed.)

I know I've posted Warren Zevon stuff here before, but he's been popping up quite a bit--that, and he's just really, really good. Enjoy . . . every sandwich.

the aforementioned "Excitable Boy":

and "Mohammed's Radio" (w/ Jackson Browne):

"Pretend They're Irish or German"--the immigrant crisis @ the border

(via David D. Haynes)

The child of "undocumented immigrants" O. Ricardo Pimental offers his view on how the U.S. should handle the 57k immigrants at the border--clean, concise read:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/my-mother-the-unaccompanied-minor-b99329330z1-270935351.html

Robin Williams, RIP

I know it's cliche to lament the loss of a famous individual because his or her career served as a marker for our own lives, but with Robin Williams, it seems especially true. From my introduction to him as Mork when I was a kid to mediocre movies that I liked more than most other people (The Survivors, e.g.) to his more recognized dramatic work (Good Will Hunting, Fisher King, Dead Again, Dead Poets Society, et al.), he truly was a genius with impressive range. And in another cliche, the glimpses of his dark places is probably what captivated us the most. So sad.

"You start off as a kid seeing Robin Williams as a funny man. You come of age realizing many of his roles are about keeping darkness at bay" (Bilge Ebiri via RogerEbert.com).

"A big tenacious overflowing hyperkinetic eruption of compassion would be best tribute to Williams rembered being so moved by his ..." (John Cusack).

and from Pres. Obama:

Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.
He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalised on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.

Here is the link to his IMDB filmography--more impressive than you remember:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/

ThinkProgess gives seven social issues we think about differently because of Robin Williams:

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2014/08/12/3470260/robin-williams-social-issues/ 


(per Matt V's recommendation--thanks, btw)

Conan's tribute to Robin Williams: 

Cleveland Indians depth chart

(from @LetsGoTribe)

now the dust has settled on several recent trades, here's the organizational depth chart for the Cleveland Indians:

http://www.letsgotribe.com/2014/8/3/5965679/current-tribe-depth-chart

The Geneva Conventions and Obama--no gray area

from The Week (via Glenn Greenwald)

the author argues why the (nearly) always equivocating Obama is wrong about torture. Good contextualized piece--

http://theweek.com/article/index/265780/president-obamas-despicable-whitewashing-of-torture?utm_source=links&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=twitter

Why Toledo doesn't have safe water to drink (that's 400k people)

(from ThinkProgress)

This piece explains what is contaminating the water in Lake Erie (the visuals there make it immediately clear of the contamination). And, yes, it's being caused by human activity.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/03/3467068/toledo-ohio-water-crisis/

Kasich is an Idiot*

Yep. The Governor of Ohio is helping to keep Ohio as laggards in all things that matter by recently signing legislation that would delay the implementation of alternative energies, which were to be phased in later this year. 

Been pretty impressive run--selling of the liquor agency, attempting to do the same w/ the turnpike; making cops, teachers, and firefighters out to be greedy, lazy no accounts, drilling in state parks (where's a Teddy Roosevelt when you need one?); and now, this.

Thanks. Now we just need to restrict women's health care choices to top it off. What's that? Oh, nevermind. Vermont, leave the door unlocked, will ya--we've about had enough.

(from FireDogLake)
http://my.firedoglake.com/williamboardman/2014/07/08/gov-kasich-kisses-planet-byebye/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed


*see here for "idiot" reference: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/ohio_gov_john_kasich_calls_pol.html

A response to Campbell Brown--from an educator (updated 2x)

(via Peter Greene, Curmudgeducation)

a teacher on leave in PA responds in an open letter to Campbell Brown re the latest attack on teachers/tenure/et al. Although I think the author sorta falls into the value-added-as-sole-indicator-of-good-teaching trap, a good take-down on some of the talking points from Brown. Good read.

http://baileyshawley.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/an-open-letter-to-campbell-brown-from-a-teacher-on-leave/

PS--for someone ostensibly so interested in transparency, why is Ms. Brown so reluctant to reveal her funders? B/c she and her group are interested in helping under-served populations, right? Hogwash.


Answer to the above: Diane Ravitch explains in this recent post why Ms. Brown is working hard to hide the identity of her backers (yeah, it involves Iraq, Vultures, & Peru).

http://dianeravitch.net/2014/08/03/why-campbell-brown-is-hiding-the-names-of-her-her-donors/


(via David Sirota)
The best point-by-point analysis of Campbell's claims from Valerie Strauss in today's Washington Post (Alyssa Hadley Dunn, author). From the looks of things, Campbell pretty much has it all wrong. As they say, "pants on fire" (or just willful ignorance). Strong, clear, and specific read--have piece handy if this Campbell stuff starts to pop up in your local school board meetings:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/03/fact-checking-campbell-brown-what-she-said-what-research-really-shows/