Why Are Things As They Are?

We Say Fight Back!

Next?

This is the one song everyone

would like to learn: the song 

that is irresistible 

the song that forces men

to leap overboard in squadrons

even though they see the bleached skulls.

Margaret Atwood

Coppers attack protesters in Punjab  Teachers in Bathinda, in the Punjab region of India, have once again been attacked by police.  The teachers, most of them women, were lathi charged by police causing three of them to jump into the canal in terror, from which they had to be rescued. The rescued teachers were then beaten up by police as they were taken to the police station, according to reports. Teachers who tried to take shelter in houses were dragged out and assaulted and women teachers were dragged by the hair.

The teachers, who are all on temporary contracts, were demanding a salary increase on their present $79 a month and permanent contracts. Their organisation is named after Kiranjit Kaur, a 27 year old woman who set fire to herself 5 years ago, and died, in protest at the treatment of contract teachers in the state.

11 teachers are in police custody, a situation which is causing protest to spread throughout the state, with teachers sitting on top of a water tower (the place where Kiranjit killed herself) and other teachers forming human chains to block highways. Teachers have threatened more action across Punjab if the teachers are not released.

This is just the latest chapter in the long struggle of teachers in India for permanent contracts. Earlier this year hundreds of thousands of teachers closed schools all over the same state on the same issue, and were supported by their permanent colleagues. More often than not such struggles are met with police brutality.- See more at: www.teachersolidarity.com/blog/police-attack-protesting-teachers-in-punjab#sthash.zQ4EmQ5w.dpuf

London Tube Strike  Londoners have faced huge queues, cramped buses and long walks home on the day of the biggest strike on the London Underground for 13 years.

• Transport bosses said extra boat services and 200 more buses had been provided to cope with the demand from passengers, but commuters still faced long waits at taxi ranks and bus stops across the capital. One traveller said police had been called to a bus stop after the driver refused to move the bus because it was too full. London’s roads were also heavily congested.

• Uber, the app-based taxi-booking business, has been accused of exploiting customers by tripling fares during London’s tube strike. It wasn’t the only business trying to make money out of commuters’ misery, as companies and PR types used the tube strikes as an opportunity for some shameless advertising.  http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2015/jul/09/tube-strike-london-underground-live-updates

 

Fourth Anniversary of Tent Encampment Protest of Workers at US Embassy in Colombia allevents.in/bogota/4th-anniversary-of-asotrecol-tent-encampment-at-us-embassy/1665115517056197#  (See Hammer video below)

The Marxists Fighting the Sellout in Greece Persistently, the Communist Tendency of Syriza has warned that the Troika will not present the Greek people with an “honourable compromise” but the only deal on the table will be one of more austerity and cuts to the living conditions of the masses. And at the moment, it appears that the Syriza government is accepting precisely such a deal, in spite of the massive victory of the No in the recent referendum. The comrades have consistently argued that the only way out is to break with capitalism. Only with socialist measures can Syriza protect the interests of the Greek workers.

This idea is winning more and more support among the youth and the workers after five months of Syriza government. The Communist Tendency is still small but it is now well known after being repeatedly attacked in the bourgeois press. During the mass rallies for the No in the referendum campaign on Friday last week, the comrades sold out of their paper Epanastasi (Revolution), in spite of many people being short of cash. This shows the potential for the ideas of Marxism in this situation.  www.marxist.com/support-the-marxists-of-greece.htm

The Little Red Schoolhouse

LAUSD: Deasy’s Legacy–MISIS Blows up Student records  Problems with Los Angeles Unified’s student data tracking system known as MiSiS continue to haunt the district and the latest issue is plaguing graduating seniors.

The $133 million MiSiS system is still coughing out transcripts that inaccurately report whether students have met their graduation requirements, according to officials familiar with the district’s recent problems.

UTLA Secondary Vice President Colleen Schwab said up to 7,500 students may be affected.

“I understand that they have been working diligently day in and day out to try and fix the problem, but the result is that kids culminated [graduated] that may or may not really have qualified,” she said.

Schwab said she spoke with counselors who report that they are being unfairly blamed for signing off on graduating students who hadn’t met the requirements needed to graduate.

Jefferson High School and Hamilton High School are among the schools whose students are affected by transcript problems. Other schools may also be impacted.

LAUSD acknowledged the latest problems with MiSiS, but declined to comment on the number of students affected or the scope of the issues.

In a written statement issued to KPCC on Tuesday, Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the district was taking steps to solve the problems:

The District’s My Integrated Student Information System (MiSiS) recently identified reporting issues with graduation requirements for students in the Class of 2015.   http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/07/09/52968/lausd-misis-problems-persist-some-graduating-senio/

Arne Duncan Kids To Go to Private Chicago Schools Like many political figures who advocate for higher standards and better funding for public schools, private schools is the ultimate choice for their own children.

For the past few months, Duncan has been advocating for changes to the federal No Child Left Behind law, which drives billions in public dollars to thousands of schools. He denounced passage of a partisan House bill passed Wednesday that would eliminate dozens of requirements for public schools but still allow them to draw federal dollars.

“Instead of supporting the schools and educators that need it most, this bill shifts resources away from them. Instead of ensuring states and districts improve struggling schools and serve all students, it makes that optional,” he said after the bill passed by a narrow margin.

Duncan’s wife, Karen, recently moved back to Chicago to work at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where tuition for middle and high school is nearly $30,000 a year. Duncan is an alumnus. The University of Chicago pays 50 percent of tuition for children of employees. Read more: www.politico.com/story/2015/07/education-secretary-arne-duncan-children-private-school-chicago-119913.html#ixzz3fTFyTMbw http://www.politicopro.com/login/

EduCrook Covington Headed to KY? Former Education Achievement Authority Chancellor John Covington has left a trail of scandal and disarray in both Kansas City and Detroit after abruptly quitting leadership positions in both cities. Yet, over the past week, we’ve learned that he’s in the final four being considered to head up the Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Once Nashville officials learned about his sordid past, things began to fall apart with the local teachers union asking for a refund of at least some of the money spent with the search firm Hazard Young Attea & Associates. “I really thought that when the board of education entered into a contract with the search firm, they were hiring a search firm that would do appropriate vetting, or at least, call up all of the references to find out what they knew about the individual,” said Erik Huth, president-elect of the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association.

So how is it, exactly, that Covington could even be considered to run a school district, much less be one of the final four candidates? To answer that, you need to look at the connections between Covington, the Broad Foundation, and the search firm Hazard Young Attea & Associates (HYA).

Covington himself is a graduate of the Broad Superintendent’s Academy (BSA). Since leaving the EAA, he has become a consultant for the Broad Foundation and, according to his job application, he has a $300,000 contract with them to start the National Institute for Student-Centered Teaching and Learning.  www.eclectablog.com/2015/07/how-is-former-eaa-chief-john-covington-still-being-considered-to-run-schools-two-words-broad-foundation.html

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor

More than 33,000 U.S. and Australian troops are taking part in Talisman Sabre 2015, a massive exercise in Australia that involves air assaults, amphibious landings and other challenging events.

The exercise, which lasts until July 19, involves soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and includes several U.S. Navy ships, including the aircraft carrier George Washington.

As part of the exercise, the Marines launched an amphibious assault to capture Fog Bay.

The Marine Corps commandant thought to be taking over the Joint Chiefs of Staff told lawmakers Russia was the “greatest threat” to US national security, echoing claims made by Air Force’s civilian chief and the recently published US military strategy.

In a pre-confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Joseph Dunford called Russian actions “nothing short of alarming,” backed weapons deliveries to the Ukrainian government and warned that budget sequestration will hurt the US military’s capabilities.

“Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security,” Dunford said. “If you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russia.”

Top 20 Military Contractors  and the winner is: 1. Lockheed Martin Corp. — $22 billion, Our employees are the core of our business here at Lockheed Martin. As the leading global security & aerospace company—and the #1 IT provider to the U.S. government—Lockheed Martin is a 113,000 person-strong team working to support the U.S. and its allies in the research, development and sustainment of advanced technology systems & services worldwide. – See more at: www.your-poc.com/top-20-defense-contractors-2015/#sthash.KcgSQ44F.dpuf

Veterans used as test subjects for chemical and biological tests during the Cold War won a small victory in court recently when appellate judges ruled the Army must keep them apprised of developments related to their health.

In its June 30 decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also said the Army, not the Veterans Affairs Department, should provide medical care to those vets.

The ruling came on a class-action lawsuit filed by Vietnam Veterans of America, Swords to Plowshares and individual veterans over medical care for troops who participated in research programs at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Maryland, from the early 1950s through the mid-1970s.

The judges ruled the Army is obligated to provide the vets updated information on issues pertaining to their health. They also rejected a district court’s earlier argument that even though the Army should have furnished medical care for the veterans under its own regulations, it didn’t have to to because the VA provides care to some of the affected personnel.  www.militarytimes.com/story/military/benefits/health-care/2015/07/11/court-finds-in-favor-of-veterans-used-in-secret-experiments/29873199/

The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor

“Buy American,” but Fords Builds in Mexico  Ford said Thursday it will move production of the Focus and C-Max small cars from its Michigan Assembly Plant in 2018, with UAW officials saying they were told the work will leave the U.S..

The company’s decision sets a potentially combative tone just days before contract talks are scheduled to begin and runs counter to Ford’s normal approach to negotiations, which is to emphasize its ability to cooperate with the union. The UAW formally opens negotiations with GM on Monday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Tuesday and Ford the following week.

“It’s very, very unusual,” UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles told the Free Press, adding that workers were upset when they were briefed on the news on Thursday. “You never feel good about that kind of information. But I am very, very confident that there will be a replacement product that we will secure for the plant.”

Industry analyst Dave Sullivan of AutoPacific called it a “a power move before negotiations start … Before today, Ford didn’t really have anything to negotiate on; the UAW had the upper hand. Now Ford has wiggle room to negotiate for jobs and products.”  www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2015/07/09/ford-focus-uaw-contract-mexico/29918345/

Who Lost China?  As the Chinese stock market slumps, the country’s government has stepped in boldly, unveiling a series of measures to prop up shares. But those efforts have done little to stabilize the market, with stocks continuing to slide on Wednesday.

The losses create a political and economic challenge for the nation’s leadership.

Beijing could face social unrest if the sell-off accelerates, since tens of millions of ordinary investors have plowed their savings into the market. The psychological toll on investors, in turn, could erode consumer confidence, dragging down growth in the already slowing economy.

“The stock market is connected to the real economy,” says Fraser Howie, a longtime Asia banker and co-author of “Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise.” “When you see such violent moves, you don’t know what kinds of ripples are going to come down.”http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/business/international/stock-sell-off-unabated-in-china.html

Liberal Capitalist economist Naomi Klein Forgot to say, “people make gods; gods don’t make people” at her triumph at the Vatican she championed the Pope’s message for global action on climate change and made the case for “the beautiful world” beyond fossil fuel addiction.

Klein, who was invited to speak by the Vatican, gave her speech ahead of a two-day conference to discuss the Pope’s recent encyclical, Laudato Si’, on the environment and the threat of the global economic system  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/02/invited-vatican-naomi-klein-makes-moral-case-world-beyond-fossil-fuel

Youth Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 12.20 percent in May of 2015 from 11.60 percent in April of 2015. Youth Unemployment Rate in the United States averaged 12.32 percent from 1955 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 19.50 percent in April of 2010 and a record low of 7.80 percent in September of 1956. Youth Unemployment Rate in the United States is reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Friend of Education Gates’ Microsoft to layoff 7800  Up to 7,800 people will be laid off globally, the company announced Wednesday morning. Most of the jobs are within its smartphone hardware business.  http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/08/technology/microsoft-layoffs-7800/

The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time, security officials announced late Saturday.

Guzman, who headed the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was last seen in the area of the showers in the Altiplano prison outside of Mexico City, the capital.

The National Security Commission said in a statement that Guzman went to the showers shortly before 9 p.m. and wasn’t seen for a while. Upon checking his cell, authorities found that it was empty.
A search operation began immediately in the surrounding area and highways. Flights have also been suspended at Toluca airport near the penitentiary.

Guzman was captured in February 2014 after more than a decade on the run. He faces multiple federal drug trafficking indictments in the U.S. and was on the DEA’s most-wanted list.  www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-drug-lord-escapes-mexico-prison-20150711-story.html

National Corporate Radio via FAIR

The highest honor of the National Education Association was awarded yesterday to leaders in the public broadcasting industry whose networks have made a lasting educational difference in the lives of millions of children. Paula A. Kerger, president and chief executive officer of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and the Honorable Patricia “Pat” de Stacy Harrison, president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), were named recipients of NEA’s 2015 Friend of Education Award. Kerger was in Orlando, Florida, to accept the award in front of more than 7,000 educators gathered for NEA’s Representative Assembly (RA).  ra.nea.org/2015/07/05/nea-honors-leaders-of-pbs-cpb-with-friend-of-education-award/

The Central Intelligence Agency’s health professionals repeatedly criticized the agency’s post-Sept. 11 interrogation program, but their protests were rebuffed by prominent outside psychologists who lent credibility to the program, according to a new report.

The 542-page report, which examines the involvement of the nation’s psychologists and their largest professional organization, the American Psychological Association, with the harsh interrogation programs of the Bush era, raises repeated questions about the collaboration between psychologists and officials at both the C.I.A. and the Pentagon.

The report, completed this month, concludes that some of the association’s top officials, including its ethics director, sought to curry favor with Pentagon officials by seeking to keep the association’s ethics policies in line with the Defense Department’s interrogation policies, while several prominent outside psychologists took actions that aided the C.I.A.’s interrogation program and helped protect it from growing dissent inside the agency.

The association’s ethics office “prioritized the protection of psychologists — even those who might have engaged in unethical behavior — above the protection of the public,” the report said.

Two former presidents of the psychological association were on a C.I.A. advisory committee, the report found. One of them gave the agency an opinion that sleep deprivation did not constitute torture, and later held a small ownership stake in a consulting company founded by two men who oversaw the agency’s interrogation program, it said.

The association’s ethics director, Stephen Behnke, coordinated the group’s public policy statements on interrogations with a top military psychologist, the report said, and then received a Pentagon contract to help train interrogators while he was working at the association, without the knowledge of the association’s board. Mr. Behnke did not respond to a request for comment.

The report, which was obtained by The New York Times and has not previously been made public, is the result of a seven-month investigation by a team led by David Hoffman, a Chicago lawyer with the firm Sidley Austin at the request of the psychology association’s board.

After the Hoffman report was made public on Friday, the American Psychological Association issued an apology.  www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/us/psychologists-shielded-us-torture-program-report-finds.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

Solidarity for Never

above, Hermes, Greek god of tricksters and treachery

American Federation of Teachers Endorse Hillbillary (cops back capital and empire) The American Federation of Teachers is endorsing Hillary Clinton.

The endorsement was expected from the 1.6 million-member union, which represents workers including teachers, nurses and college and university employees.

Below, NEA Rep Assembly dancing for political “action” money.

NEA RA delegates do not want members to see the convention: overwhelmingly defeated “NEA will, through closed social media, broadcast the NEA RA for members to watch in the comfort of their homes, offices, or on their electronic devices.”” Why? Members might see debates (none especially meaningful).

NEA Rep Assembly Update: delegates voted, once again, not to define nea as a “union.” Later they reversed a previous motion and passed “NEA will work within existing infrastructure to engage and leverage our current partnerships with parents and families to support a national opt out/test refusal movement.” There was no discussion about the social and economic reasons for the exams–underlining the opportunism that propels the counterfeit movement. And, in 2014, delegates passed a demand that Duncan resign. A week later the NEA president hugged him and called him a “good man.”

NEA raised nearly $3.5 million for political “action” so far this year.

Below: NEA’s RA “WRAP UP” VIDEO (leaves out the delegate vote to not call NEA a “union”)

2 million Vietnamese died for this form of counterfeit socialism President Obama is facing bipartisan criticism for hosting Vietnam’s Communist Party boss at the White House this week, given the government’s “deplorable” human rights record and “authoritarian” one-party system.

Counterfeit Left Betrayal in Greece ATHENS — Less than a week ago, Greece stood defiant.Thousands of people flooded the square outside Parliament, draping themselves in blue-and-white flags to celebrate the country’s sweeping rejection of the tough austerity measures demanded by its European creditors, which Greece’s fiery young leader had likened to “blackmail.”But by Friday, the euphoria had faded as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s vows to stand up to ­Europe caved to the harsh realization that the birthplace of democracy stood just 48 hours away from financial ruin — and Greeks were poised to swallow what amounted to the same dose of austerity they had refused in a vote Sunday.“Each one of us shall be confronted with his stature and his history. Between a bad choice and a catastrophic one, we are forced to opt for the first one,” Tsipras said in a speech before his party’s lawmakers, according to local media. “It is as if one asks you for your money or your life.”Friday, Tsipras presented members of Parliament with an ­eleventh-hour plea to creditors for more than 50 billion euros in emergency funding, which could carry Greece through the next three years. The money would pave the way for shuttered banks to reopen, return some semblance of normalcy to beleaguered citizens and affirm this Mediterranean nation’s identity as an integral part of Europe.  www.washingtonpost.com/world/european-officials-pore-over-greeces-last-ditch-request-for-a-bailout/2015/07/10/1467a97e-2645-11e5-b621-b55e495e9b78_story.html?hpid=z1

Spy versus Spy

The Magical Mystery Tour

above, Fake Leftists gives torture symbol fetish to counterfeit god. A crucifix sculpted in the shape of a hammer and sickle presented to Pope Francis in Bolivia has caused a stir among Catholic commentators.  www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-33476140

Infallible Head of Vatican Bank Doesn’t Like “Unbridled” Capitalism, prefers superstitious investing Pope Francis has urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land.

In one of the longest, most passionate and sweeping speeches of his pontificate, the Argentine-born pope used his visit to Bolivia to ask forgiveness for the sins committed by the Roman Catholic church in its treatment of native Americans during what he called the “so-called conquest of America”.

The pontiff also demanded an immediate end to what he called the “genocide” of Christians taking place in the Middle East and beyond, describing it as a third world war.

“Today we are dismayed to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus,” Pope Francis said.

“In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end.”  www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/10/poor-must-change-new-colonialism-of-economic-order-says-pope-francis?CMP=share_btn_fb

The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World

The World Overrun by Narcissistic Tourists In recent months, there have been numerous instances in which tourists have insulted local sensibilities — and often caused extensive damage — in the course of taking enormous risks to try to capture themselves in a memorable travel moment that they can post on social media.

Officials in popular tourist destinations from Spain to Malaysia are starting to push back, and are considering tough new measures to control the most destructive behavior. These include imposing fines and jail sentences on unruly visitors, limiting group tourism and even turning the tables on the miscreants by posting photographs of their antics in a bid to publicly shame them.

But the appeal of selfie sticks and picture-taking drones is strong.

“It used to be fine to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower or Mount Everest, but that’s not good enough anymore,” said Jesse Fox, an assistant communications professor at Ohio State University who has studied the impulsive behavior of selfie-takers posting images on social networks. “Now tourists have to put themselves in the picture. It’s about ‘me,’ not about the place that I visit.”

That narcissism, she said, “results in these extreme, stupid behaviors.”

In recent months, there have been plenty of examples.

In March, two California women were arrested in Rome on charges of vandalism after they scratched initials into a wall of the Colosseum and snapped a photograph. In May, two tourists in Cremona, Italy, who had climbed an 18th-century marble sculpture of Hercules to take a photograph of themselves, ended up causing a crown on it to smash to pieces.

In June, three South Korean tourists in Milan crashed a drone into the city’s cathedral while taking aerial photographs.

Some of the incidents go beyond carelessness and show a lack of respect for local mores.  www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/world/europe/selfie-vacation-damage-majorca-paris-ibiza-rome.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

So Long