According to a new investigative report, 12 year old Tamir Rice did not have a gun or even a pellet gun in his hand when police pulled up and gunned him down at a recreation center in November 2014. And the various reports that said Rice was killed 2 to 3 seconds after police arrived… Continue reading New Report – Police Could Not See Gun When They Killed Tamir Rice
Category: Domestic Policies
The Swift Fall of Testing – What Comes Next?
I’ve been in the education business for 31 years and I’ve seen many a fad come and go, from Teacher-proof curricula to shared decision-making to Differentiation to Cooperative Learning, Curriculum Mapping, Goals 2000 and various reading programs that focus on inventive spelling, phonics, whole language and learning vocabulary in context. Many of my colleagues didn’t… Continue reading The Swift Fall of Testing – What Comes Next?
Refugees From Reality
Leave it to the GOP (and some uninformed Democrats) to make a frightening situation something to panic over. The Paris attacks were terrible. The threat of more terrorist attacks on Europe is very real. But if you want to stop terrorists from coming into the United States, tampering with the refugee system is exactly the… Continue reading Refugees From Reality
Does This Mean War?
I’m being a bit of a coward by posing my title as a question, but I do firmly believe that the western world is headed towards a much larger, more coordinated and, ultimately, more deadly military conflict. If it sounds like war, smells like war, destroys like war, breeds intolerance like war, then it must… Continue reading Does This Mean War?
Mrs. MacDowell 1 Exxon 0: Why I Knew in 1970 What Big Oil Still Denies
OK, let’s go back to the halcyon days of the 1969-70 school year when I was in fourth grade. My teacher was one of those cool, hip, young people who knew how to reach children, to excite them to learn, and to inject a bit of reality and responsibility into them as they began to… Continue reading Mrs. MacDowell 1 Exxon 0: Why I Knew in 1970 What Big Oil Still Denies
Education’s Dirty Little Secret
The week began with the president saying that there was too much emphasis on testing in schools. In the middle of the week, the New York Times published a story about Success Academy Charter Schools that, among other things, noted the following: The network serves mostly black and Hispanic students and is known for exacting… Continue reading Education’s Dirty Little Secret
Two Year Old Shot and Killed by 20 Gauge Shotgun – Video
This happened in Henderson County, North Carolina on Monday. No conclusion yet on what exactly happened to two-year old Abigail, but as she was being transported to the hospital after being shot by a 20 gauge shotgun, she died. “It’s a very, very traumatic situation for everybody involved,” Maj. Frank Stout with the Henderson County… Continue reading Two Year Old Shot and Killed by 20 Gauge Shotgun – Video
6 Year Old Shoots 3 Year Old in The Face While Playing “Cops and Robbers” – Video
The 3-year-old was pronounced dead at the hospital. According to CBS News, the older boy retrieved the gun from atop the refrigerator Saturday night and a game of “Cops and Robbers” began with his 3-year-old brother and the loaded gun. Shortly after, the bullet struck the infant in the face, killing him. Police spokesman Anthony… Continue reading 6 Year Old Shoots 3 Year Old in The Face While Playing “Cops and Robbers” – Video
The Republican Party is not just the Party of “NO”, It’s the Party of “NEVER”
Later this week the country will celebrate a milestone: the date that Marty McFly used to travel to the future in Back to the Future II, the second movie of the trilogy that represents the greatest expression of Reagan-era optimism that Hollywood has yet produced. If only the remaining GOP candidates would sit down and… Continue reading The Republican Party is not just the Party of “NO”, It’s the Party of “NEVER”
11 Year Old Charged With Murder – Kills his 8 Year Old Neighbor
Don’t be silly, he didn’t buy the guy. He got it from his father – another Responsible gun owner! An 11-year-old boy has been charged with murder after he killed his 8-year-old neighbor, police said, and witnesses say it was because the girl wouldn’t let him see her puppy. Deputies were called to the neighborhood… Continue reading 11 Year Old Charged With Murder – Kills his 8 Year Old Neighbor
Gun Control Australia Calls for Boycott on Travels to America – Video
It’s like anything else you don’t believe in or support – if it goes against your values system, then you hit them in the wallet where it hurts most – you boycott! And that is exactly what Gun Control Australia Director, Samantha Lee, is calling for – ending all unnecessary trips to America until Americans,… Continue reading Gun Control Australia Calls for Boycott on Travels to America – Video
Forget Iran: The GOP Goes Nuclear
Francis comes in, John Boehner bows out. There is a certain symmetry to some world events and this is one of those moments. Here we have a Pope who is speaking forcefully and eloquently about how the issues of the day and all the right wing can do is reject his message as an ill-conceived… Continue reading Forget Iran: The GOP Goes Nuclear