Very few people will say this, but this has been a big week for President Obama. The “Big Deal” tax cuts are moving forward, and today’s Senate vote (61 – 35) to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was yet another victory for the Obama administration. Critics of the administration’s slow peddling, DOJ filings against court [...]
Today, DC Public Schools chancellor Michelle Rhee announced her resignation effective at the end of October. Rhee’s deputy chancellor Kaya Henderson will be interim chancellor until the next Mayor (presumably Council Chair Vincent Gray) selects a new chancellor. Below is the text of a DCPS issued letter from Rhee about her resignation. October 13, 2010 [...]
Nothing would be more detrimental to our prospects for success than cutting back on education. It would consign America to second place in our fiercely competitive global economy. But China and India aren’t playing for second. South Korea and Germany aren’t playing for second. They’re playing for first – and so should America. — President [...]
The good news about public education is everyone’s talking about, and fighting over it these days. For a long-long time it was mighty quiet out there. Those were the good old days when the white collar working classes could afford private school and Harvard or Yale too. Not so much now with lay-offs, credit card [...]
Maybe you feel like no one has your back, like you’ve been let down by people so many times that you’ve stopped believing in yourself. Maybe you feel like your destiny was written the day you were born and you ought to just rein in your hopes and scale back your dreams. — Michelle Obama, [...]
Yesterday, in a 9-5 vote, the Texas Board of Education has replaced the “Slave Trade” with the “Atlantic Triangular trade” for its textbooks and social studies standards over the next ten years. And the United States is no longer a “democracy” but a “constitutional republic.” Thomas Jefferson has nothing over John Calvin, a French theologian [...]
Just as the state board of education in Texas takes the final steps to remove the secular Thomas Jefferson from its history text books, the President has set his focus on bringing the next generation up to speed via education standards, where the previous generation apparently failed (were failed). Some of the country’s most important [...]
Seeing red ribbons? Today’s World AIDS Day. Be a Valentine. Wear red. Be aware. Don’t discriminate. No one is immune. http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/ The President’s Address to the Nation on Afghanistan – Live at 8 PM tonight…and even FOX is carrying it. Busboys and Poets is hosting watch events for President Obama’s speech outlining the war strategy [...]
For me origami has been more than just paper folding. Once you get the hang of the basic folds, it’s pretty calming for the head and the hands. I’ve used origami to center myself, to step away from the multi-tasked brain. I’ve also used it to calm tweeners. As I said, once you get the [...]
SYMPOSIUM: Cuba in the World: Literature, Politics, Performance Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Ariel Fernandez at the Future of Music Policy Summit. Ariel’s working on a new documentary “Hip-Hop in Cuba: a Revolution Within the Revolution.” He sent me an email to let me know that he’s in DC this week [...]
