Why Are Things As They Are?

We Say Fight Back!

Education and Empire: Education for Class Consciousness  If we are to face the crises of our day we must connect cause and effect, the whole with the parts, past-present-future. The task means connecting war with imperialism; economic collapse with capitalism; and the imperial project to designs on schools, what people know and how they come to know it. It means connecting solutions, that is, recognizing that fights in health care are necessarily fights in education; that the battles about immigration are also battles about wages, hours, and benefits. It means recognizing what is afoot: class war, an international war of the rich on the poor: the social relations of capitalism. The economic restructuring through massive job losses in almost every sector going on now will result in either a horrific defeat for the North American and world working class, or be mark as an awakening when people recognized the many boots on their throats. Last, making connections means transformation, overcoming the system of capital. Without that North Star, any social movement is directionless, recreating injustice in slightly new ways.    richgibson.com/educationempire.htm

South Asian University Summer School on Marxism www.sau.ac.in/marxistschool/ 

Students pepper sprayed, arrested at City College protest  Student protesters were pepper sprayed, hit with batons, tackled, and arrested today at the City College of San Francisco’s main campus. The students were protesting the presence of Special Trustee Robert Agrella, tasked by the state authorities with saving the college, usurping the authority of its locally elected Board of Trustees.
Early reports from the scene say two were detained. Alex Emslie of KQED, who was at the scene, reported one of those detained was a student named Dimitrious Philliou.
“Some students were pepper sprayed, some were clubbed,” City College Student Trustee Shanell Williams told the Guardian. “This is unacceptable, and really fucked up.”
City College faculty and union president Alisa Messer told us there are now over a dozen students in Conlan Hall, the administrative building in City College’s main campus, which also houses Argella’s office. The students intend on camping all night if they have to, they said.    www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/03/13/students-pepper-sprayed-arrested-city-college-protest

Modesto EA Fights CTA/NEA  The Modesto Teachers Association will vote on breaking away from its statewide affiliate in April, President Doug Burton announced. The Modesto City Schools union will hold a series of meetings for its members before the vote.
A California Teachers Association representative will be available at a meeting set for Wednesday, Burton said after a teachers meeting held at Downey High School on Thursday. The MTA Representative Assembly decided March 5 to pursue the split through an amendment of the MTA bylaws and constitution, Burton said.
If successful, the break would make Modesto one of only about three chapters out of 1,000 to disaffiliate in the past 15 years, CTA spokesman Jonathan Goldman said Thursday.
Goldman said the dispute boils down to the MTA not following the rules of an annual grant. The local union receives $275,000 a year from the UniServ Program to pay for staff to help the local union.
Modesto City Schools, however, pays Executive Director Megan Gowans’ salary and is reimbursed by the union. The arrangement allows Gowans, a credentialed teacher, to continue to receive retirement credit as if she were still in the classroom.
Read more here: www.modbee.com/2014/03/13/3238788/modesto-teachers-association-weighs.html#storylink=cpy

Sweetwater CA district votes YES to Strike  Teachers in the Sweetwater Union High School District have voted to authorize their board to call a strike, despite the district’s protests that a strike would be against the law.
Sweetwater Education Association (SEA) President Roberto Rodriguez said 92 percent of Sweetwater teachers voted “yes” on a possible strike. There is no word on when that strike may actually take place.
“We really don’t want to go on strike, but we will if the district continues to refuse to negotiate in good faith,” said Rodriguez.
In a letter to parents and teachers, the superintendent explained that the SEA and the district have not been able to resolve differences.
Because of that, they have brought in the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) as a mediator.
Under mediation guidelines, the SEA is required to participate in good faith, which to the district means no strike or even threats of a strike during this time.
Rodriguez says the union’s contract was violated when the school district lowered health benefits for the teachers and kept large class sizes after saying it would only be temporary.
“There’s no need to impact classes with large numbers of students. It’s time that class sizes go back down to what our original contract agreed,” Rodriguez said.
The district has imposed a healthcare contribution much lower than was negotiated a year ago, he said.
“We’re asking for a fairly modest 3-percent raise,” he added. “We haven’t seen a raise in almost seven years in this district.”
The association says the two groups have been negotiating a new contract for over a year now.
Teacher Linda Bennett said she doesn’t want to go on strike but feels strongly about the issues facing the union.
“I’ve been teaching for 22 years, I’ve never seen such corruption in a district. And I just want to go back to where we get to teach in our classrooms and be there for our children,” Bennett said.
Her colleague Linda Tuttle agreed.
“I believe that if we are supposed to have integrity and if our students are supposed to have integrity, everyone in the disctrict should have integrity,” Tuttle said.  Source: www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Sweetwater-Union-High-School-Teachers-Strike-Vote-Contract-San-Diego-250349471.html#ixzz2w0RPdWhv

Portland State–YES on Strike Vote Votes, which were cast over the last two days and counted Wednesday night, show 94 per cent of faculty who voted, members of the American Association of University Professors union, voted for a strike. More than 29,000 students attend PSU — the largest university in Oregon — and many are concerned.
The vote authorizes the union’s bargaining team to call for a strike if the school’s administration refuses what the union calls faculty stability, educator lead higher education and student-centered budget priorities.
The union, PSU-AAUP, can now strike anytime after April 3, when the official 30-day “cooling off period” comes to an end, so long as PSU administrators are given 10 days notice.  “We are willing to strike for stability, shared governance, and better working conditions,” said PSU-AAUP President Mary King.
“Educators must have a role in leading higher education, for us, this is about the future of PSU.”
Other issues include faculty stability, such as multi-year contract for non-tenured full time faculty, over current, less secure, year-to-year contracts.
Faculty members are also pushing to have greater governance in workplace changes and university decisions.
“Quality classroom conditions, educator-led higher education and a student-centered budget are critical issues, said assistant professor of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Jamie Ross.
“Striking is a serious decision, but these issues are worth fighting for to resolve fairly.”
A statement from PSU’s student union, ASPSU, indicates support for a faculty strike.  http://koin.com/2014/03/13/psu-faculty-vote-94-favor-strike-2/

The Fascist Origins of the SAT www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~rgibson/SATFascistOrigins.htm

The Little Red Schoolhouse

DEFENDERS OF THE COMMON CORE: Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will unveil a new partnership this morning between the Bipartisan Policy Center at the Governors’ Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that will champion the Common Core. The Partnership for Higher Standards is meant to counter opposition to the standards, provide best practices for implementation, answer educators’ questions and help states as they transition in the classroom. The partnership was previewed in an op-ed written by Markell for Bloomberg, titled “Common Core Isn’t a Government Conspiracy”    www.politico.com/morningeducation/0314/morningeducation13243.html

Why There is No History in the Common Core   If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.    www.bartleby.com/364/202.html

Search the Gates Foundation Web Site for Influence in Education www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database#q/k=national%20education%20association and NOTE THE AFT HERE  www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database#q/k=american%20federation%20of%20teachers

Map: 199+ Detroit Public (capitalist) Schools inventory of for-sale properties
From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com/article/20140312/SPECIAL01/140311002#ixzz2vmXbZkrl

In the Segregated School System of Detroit, at least 70% of Kids have no internet Detroit Public Schools educates the largest number of children in the state — nearly 50,000 — yet outside school, its students are among the most disconnected, with 70 percent lacking Internet access at home. From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com/article/20140309/SCHOOLS/303090009#ixzz2vVCCJ4qh

Missionaries for capitalism are happy, autonomous and paid pretty well, eh? “The data suggest much different than the conventional wisdom. In fact, teachers are far more autonomous – and far more satisfied – than most people believe,” the authors write.    neatoday.org/2014/02/26/wait-what-educators-highly-satisfied-with-classroom-autonomy-morale

Bourgie Mom Lawyer vs Testistos –I Opted My Kids Out of Standardized Tests, Then I learned a thing or two.   Deciding to opt my two daughters out of Colorado standardized testing seemed like a no-brainer. We aren’t permanent Colorado residents—we’re just here for one academic year while I’m a visiting professor at the University of Denver. My daughters, ages 13 and 14, are strong students. My husband and I see no educational benefit to the tests. My younger daughter experienced some serious test anxiety a couple of years back when taking Pennsylvania’s standardized tests.
And honestly, given three things—that, according to what a school administrator told me, Colorado law allows parents to refuse the testing on behalf of their children; that the testing enrollment forms include an option to “refuse testing”; and that we currently live in Boulder, one of the most liberal, individualistic towns in America—we truly didn’t think this would be a big deal. Boy, were we wrong.     www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/03/standardized_testing_i_opted_my_kids_out_the_schools_freaked_out_now_i_know.html

LA School Board gives Deasy (of the fake degree) a raise Los Angeles Unified schools Supt. John Deasy has a newly modified contract that includes an annual buyout of unused vacation days and new performance measures that require him to bring in revenue and enroll more students. He will also pay his own pension deduction for the first time, a cost offset by an increase of $20,000 to his annual salary. www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lausd-deasy-20140313,0,579241.story#ixzz2w0ze704c

above, Detroit school rotting–with Rouger Bill Boyer and Blue Dog

San Diego State Benefactor Stays in Jail–No new trial for Brent Wilkes  Disgraced defense contractor Brent Wilkes, currently serving a 12-year sentence for his role in the Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal, will not get the new trial he seeks, a federal appeals court ruled March 10.
Wilkes, who was convicted of funneling cash and other perks to Cunningham in order to secure $90 million in defense contracts for computer software and scanning business ADCS, argued that “new evidence” had come to light, including a statement from Cunningham that he had not taken bribe money from Wilkes, according to a Courthouse News Service report.   www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2014/mar/11/ticker-no-new-trial-brent-wilkes

The Barack Obamagogue Charter School Mission 2. Rigorous Data Driven Instruction: We are delving deeper into data analysis to assure surgery like precision when we work with our students. We are moving towards performance task that allows our students to apply the skills they are learning to real life, contextual projects. Our goal is to increase our proficiency rates by 15% in each core subject; hence ELA will rise to at least 50% and Math to 70%.   www.barackobamacharter.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=208881&type=d&pREC_ID=463306

Hail Colombia!  About a month ago, The New York Times’s Nicholas Kristof wrote a much-discussed column calling for academics to take on a greater role in public life. Most professors, he lamented, “just don’t matter in today’s great debates,” having instead burrowed into rabbit holes of hyper-specialization. PhD programs, he wrote, “have fostered a culture that glorifies arcane unintelligibility while disdaining impact and audience.” Professors, Kristof pleaded, “don’t cloister yourselves like medieval monks—we need you!”
Shortly before his column came out, Carole Vance and Kim Hopper, longtime professors at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, learned that they were losing their jobs because they hadn’t brought in enough grant money. Both, ironically, are models for the sort of publicly engaged intellectual Kristof wants to see more of. Vance has done pioneering work on the intersection of gender, health and human rights. “She has been a mentor and a leading influence on generations of scholars as well as activists and practitioners,” says Rebecca Schleifer, the former advocacy director for the health and human rights division at Human Rights Watch. Hopper, who divides his time between Columbia and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, is both an advocate for the homeless and one of the nation’s foremost scholars on homelessness. Last year, American Anthropologist ran a piece highlighting his work beyond academia, noting that Hopper “has long urged anthropologists to take part in public debates, to translate ethnographic findings into policy proposals.”
His termination, along with Vance’s, suggests that scholars have good reason not to take this advice. Kristof is right that universities have become inhospitable places for public intellectuals, but he misses the ultimate cause. The real problem isn’t culture. It’s money.    www.thenation.com/article/178821/columbia-university-fired-two-eminent-public-intellectuals-heres-why-it-matters#

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor

Ukraine’s threat from within (fascists) It’s become popular to dismiss Russian President Vladimir Putin as paranoid and out of touch with reality. But his denunciation of “neofascist extremists” within the movement that toppled the old Ukrainian government, and in the ranks of the new one, is worth heeding. The empowerment of extreme Ukrainian nationalists is no less a menace to the country’s future than Putin’s maneuvers in Crimea. These are odious people with a repugnant ideology.
Take the Svoboda party, which gained five key positions in the new Ukrainian government, including deputy prime minister, minister of defense and prosecutor general. Svoboda’s call to abolish the autonomy that protects Crimea’s Russian heritage, and its push for a parliamentary vote that downgraded the status of the Russian language, are flagrantly provocative to Ukraine’s millions of ethnic Russians and incredibly stupid as the first steps of a new government in a divided country.
These moves, more than Russian propaganda, prompted broad Crimean unease. Recall that this crisis began when Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovich retreated on a deal toward European integration. Are the Europe-aspiring Ukrainians who now vote to restrict Russians’ cultural-language rights even dimly aware that, as part of the European Union, such minority rights would have to be expanded, not curtailed?
www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-english-ukraine-neofascists-20140313,0,7664312.story#ixzz2vuFVWmsX

RTV–5 very important answers to 5 very important answers    rt.com/op-edge/ukraine-ambassador-smith-answers-662/

Russia says intercepted US drone over Crimea: arms group A United States surveillance drone has been intercepted above the Ukranian region of Crimea, a Russian state arms and technology group said Friday.
“The drone was flying at about 4,000 metres (12,000 feet) and was virtually invisible from the ground. It was possible to break the link with US operators with complex radio-electronic” technology, said Rostec in a statement.
The drone fell “almost intact into the hands of self-defence forces” added Rostec, which said it had manufactured the equipment used to down the aircraft, but did not specify who was operating it.
“Judging by its identification number, UAV MQ-5B belonged to the 66th American Reconnaissance Brigade, based in Bavaria,” Rostec said on its website, which also carried a picture of what it said was the captured drone.
The photograph appeared to show an apparently armed drone in flight, rather than debris.
The Crimean port of Sevastopol is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is believed to be equipped with detection equipment.
Crimea, where pro-Kremlin forces have control, is to hold a referendum on Sunday on the peninsula joining Russia, in what Moscow says is a fair expression of self identity but the West views as an illegal annexation of sovereign territory.    news.yahoo.com/russia-says-intercepted-us-drone-over-crimea-arms-180430584.html

In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave Ukraine a gift: Crimea. At the time, it seemed like a routine move, but six decades later, that gift is having consequences for both countries.  “Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet transferring Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic, taking into account the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic ties between Crimea Province and the Ukraine Republic, and approving the joint presentation of the Presidium of the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet and the Presidium of the Ukraine Republic Supreme Soviet on the transfer of Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic.”
And with that, a region that had been part of Russia for centuries was “gifted” to Ukraine.    www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/02/27/283481587/crimea-a-gift-to-ukraine-becomes-a-political-flash-point

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SXBeMhIgFo

Zbig’s Voice on Ukraine from 1997  Why would the United States run the risk of siding with anti-Semitic, neo-Nazis in Ukraine?
One of the keys may be found by looking back at Zbigniew Brzezinski’s 1997 book, The Grand Chessboard in which he wrote, “Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.”
“However, if Moscow regains control over Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.”
The former national security advisor to Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981 and top foreign policy advisor to Barack Obama, Brzezinski wrote that US policy should be “unapologetic” in perpetuating “America’s own dominant position for at least a generation and preferably longer still.”
Brzezinski delved into the importance of little known Ukraine by explaining in his 1997 book, “Geopolitical pivots are the states whose importance is derived not from their power and motivation but rather from their sensitive location… which in some cases gives them a special role in either defining access to important areas or in denying resources to a significant player.”
“Ukraine, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Turkey and Iran play the role of critically important geopolitical pivots,” he wrote in The Grand Chessboard, a book viewed by many as a blueprint for US world domination.
Brzezinski wrote that Eurasia is “the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played,” and that “it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America.”
Understanding Brzezinski’s long-term view of Ukraine makes it easier to comprehend why the US has given $5 billion to Ukraine since 1991, and why today it is hyper-concerned about having Ukraine remain in its sphere of influence.    original.antiwar.com/Chris_Ernesto/2014/03/14/brzezinski-mapped-out-the-battle-for-ukraine-in-1997/

Crimea votes on Sunday.  Of course, voting is illegal, but for Sudan, Scotland, Kosovo, and Iraquis had no vote, nor did Libyans, nor Vietnamese, etc.

Join the Army and Get Raped Senators block bill to remove sex assault cases from military chain of command– The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation that would have stripped military commanders of the power to prosecute sexual assaults and other major crimes.
The bill, proposed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had the support of 55 of the chamber’s 100 members, including 10 Republicans. But it was blocked by fellow Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri and other lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, who used procedural tactics to prevent an up-or-down vote on the measure.
The Senate instead moved unanimously toward approval of an alternative bill championed by McCaskill that would preserve commanders’ authority to convene courts-martial but give victims a formal say in whether their cases go before military or civilian courts. That version awaits final passage next week.
Read more here: www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/03/06/220417/senators-block-bill-to-remove.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter#storylink=cpy

Syria and the Fake Arab Spring, 3 years on  After three years of war in Syria, one of the things we have learnt is that al-Qaeda’s followers don’t really want to live in the seventh century. Their favoured social medium is Twitter, and they often use the modern vernacular when they tweet.
Here is what one jihadist wrote recently as a caption to a photograph of some blindfolded captives: “Got these criminals today. Insha’Allah will be killed tomorrow. Cant wait for that feeling when U just killed some1.” www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10695217/Syria-anniversary-the-psychopaths-are-unstoppable.html

The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor

www.youtube.com/watch?v=naRA62P_ioA

“In interest-bearing capital, therefore, this automatic fetish, self-expanding value, money generating money, are brought out in their pure state and in this form it no longer bears the birth-marks of its origin. The social relation is consummated in the relation of a thing, of money, to itself. Instead of the actual transformation of money into capital, we see here only form without content. As in the case of labour-power, the use-value of money here is its capacity of creating value — a value greater than it contains. Money as money is potentially self-expanding value and is loaned out as such — which is the form of sale for this singular commodity. It becomes a property of money to generate value and yield interest, much as it is an attribute of pear-trees to bear pears. And the money-lender sells his money as just such an interest-bearing thing. But that is not all. The actually functioning capital, as we have seen, presents itself in such a light, that it seems to yield interest not as a functioning capital, but as capital in itself, as money-capital.” Marx www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894-c3/ch24.htm

Wall Street cash bonuses highest since 2008 crash  The average bonus on Wall Street jumped 15 percent last year to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis and was the third largest on record, New York State’s budget watchdog said on Wednesday.
The cash bonus pool swelled to $26.7 billion in 2013, pushing the average cash bonus to $164,530, a post-2008 high in a industry shrunk by the financial crisis, according to the New York state comptroller’s annual estimate.
The increased payouts came as Wall Street posted a fifth consecutive year of profits after record losses during the crisis. Profits for broker-dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange member firms, however, fell 30 percent to $16.7 billion in 2013, the report said.    www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-usa-bonuses-idUSBREA2B0WA20140312

US regulator sues 16 banks for alleged Libor rigging  A US regulator has sued 16 banks for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate (Libor).
The Libor rate is used to set trillions of dollars of financial contracts, including mortgages and financial transactions around the world.
The regulator said the manipulation caused substantial losses to 38 US banks which were shut down during and after the 2008 financial crisis.
The sued banks include Barclays, HSBC, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has also been sued by the regulator – the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“BBA participated in the alleged scheme to protect the revenue stream it generated from selling Libor licenses and to appease the Panel Bank Defendants that were members of the BBA,” it was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
The FDIC alleged that the banks mentioned in its lawsuit rigged the rate from August 2007 to at least mid-2011.
Other banks named in the lawsuit include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Rabobank.    www.bbc.com/news/business-26584942

WorldWide Stagnation in Industry and Finance—11 ugly signs that confirm China’s dramatic slowdown  Industrial production growth slowed to 8.6% in the Jan-Feb period, from 9.7% in December, the lowest reading since April 2009.    business.financialpost.com/2014/03/14/11-ugly-signs-that-confirm-chinas-dramatic-slowdown/

303 Deaths Seen in G.M. Cars With Failed Air Bags  As lawmakers press General Motors and regulators over their decade-long failure to correct a defective ignition switch, a new review of federal crash data shows that 303 people died after the air bags failed to deploy on two of the models that were recalled last month.
The review of the air bag failures from 2003 to 2012, by the Friedman Research Corporation, adds to the mounting reports of problems that went unheeded before General Motors announced last month that it was recalling more than 1.6 million cars worldwide because of the defective switch. G.M. has linked 12 deaths to the faulty switch in the two models analyzed, the 2005-7 Chevrolet Cobalts and 2003-7 Saturn Ions, as well as four other models.    www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/business/gm-air-bag-failures-linked-to-303-deaths.html?hp&_r=0

Does Government Motors Bankruptcy Deal Offer a Shield vs Wrongful Death Suits? The tragic deaths of two teenage girls from Wisconsin in a 2006 crash left their families reeling and feeling they had no legal recourse against General Motors, even though the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in which they died is now the subject of a highly publicized recall.
More than seven years after concluding they could not afford to take on GM with the evidence they had at the time, the families of the girls have new lawyers and new evidence. They will be part of a legal challenge to GM’s shield from liability for deaths or injuries occurring in accidents before it exited bankruptcy in July 2009.
The families of Natasha Weigel, 18, and Amy Rademaker, 15, are part of a personal injury lawsuit that could be filed as early as Monday alleging that GM fraudulently kept information about defective ignition switches from bankruptcy court. Earlier this week, GM documents filed with federal safety regulators show the company knew of a problem with ignition switches on early Saturn Ions as early as 2001.    www.freep.com/article/20140314/BUSINESS0101/303140142/General-Motors-recall-lawsuits-investigation-GM-auto

Shocker! Study shows huge income, education gaps among races in metro Detroit  A report released today by New Detroit showed there are significant racial gaps in education and income across metro Detroit, with Latinos and African-Americans lagging behind whites and Asian-Americans.
In the city of Detroit, 56% of Latino adults don’t have a high school degree, the highest percentage among racial and ethnic groups in the tri-county region. In contrast, 76% of Asian-American adults in Oakland County have a college degree, the highest rate in the region.
There’s also an income gap across racial lines. In Oakland County, 25% of Asian-Americans make more than $150,000 a year, the highest among all groups in the region. An additional 22% of Asian-Americans in the county make between $100,00 to $150,000. Whites in Oakland Countywere the second wealthiest group in the region, with 16% of them making more than $150,000.
In contrast, 44% of African-Americans in the city of Detroit make less than $25,000, the highest percentage among racial groups in Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties. About 40% of Native Americans and 32% of Latinos in Wayne County make less than $25,000.   www.freep.com/article/20140312/NEWS05/303120124/huge-income-education-gaps-among-races-in-metro-Detroit

Those sharp Rouge Forum Posters are on sale–and some others too!  http://www.rougeforum.org/posters.html

What Comes of those Former Obamagogue Appointees? New court filings show that the former Obama administration official pulled down $3.1 million in “taxable income” last year at Citigroup. Orszag expects to make nearly $4 million this year, he said in the filing. (Orszag has been trying mightily to keep these figures out of the public records.)….Orszag’s personal life has been complicated. In addition to his two children with Kennedy, he has a daughter with an ex-girlfriend, N.Y.C.-based venture capitalist Claire Milonas. That child was born just a few weeks before he got engaged to his now-wife, ABC correspondent Bianna Golodryga, with whom he has an infant son.      www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/03/12/peter-orszag-and-ex-wife-in-contentious-court-fight-over-child-support/

A Small fine and No Jail For Convicted Bankster (no remorse) Ex-Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre has been fined $650,000 (£391,000) and told to hand back a $175,000 bonus for defrauding investors.The civil fines and pay claw-back, plus interest, amount to $825,000.
Last year, jurors concluded that the trader, who nicknamed himself ‘Fabulous Fab’, had misled investors in the run up to the global financial crisis in 2008.
But the payout falls below the $1.15m penalty regulators had been seeking.
US District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan, New York, said Mr Tourre had “shown no remorse or contrition”.  At last year’s civil court hearing Mr Tourre, who resigned from Goldman Sachs in 2012, was described by the regulator as the “face of Wall Street greed”.    www.bbc.com/news/business-26552995

Hillbillary adviser Minyon Moore sought funds for illegal campaign, court papers allege  A longtime adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton personally sought and secured the funding for what prosecutors say was an illegal shadow operation to boost Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, according to court papers released as part of a wide-ranging campaign finance investigation.
Washington businessman Jeffrey E. Thompson, who pleaded guilty Monday to federal conspiracy charges in a case that has focused largely on D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s (D) 2010 campaign, told federal prosecutors that Clinton aide Minyon Moore asked him to fund pro-Clinton efforts in four states and Puerto Rico costing $608,750 during the hard-fought 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, the documents show.  Thompson financed the operation through his accounting firm, at times funneling funds through a company owned by a longtime associate. A spokeswoman said Moore did not know that Thompson was funding the project off the books, adding that Moore had asked Thompson to raise money directly for the campaign.
Prosecutors said they had no evidence showing Clinton was aware of the efforts.
But Thompson, in his discussions with authorities, depicted Moore as playing a far more intimate role in the off-the-books campaign than was previously indicated — securing the money and helping guide the strategy by feeding internal campaign documents and receiving messages about the media coverage.    www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-adviser-minyon-moore-sought-funds-for-illegal-campaign-court-papers-say/2014/03/11/753dcfc2-a931-11e3-8d62-419db477a0e6_story.html?hpid=z4

The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement

What did the Europeans Say about the Fascists who are now their pals in the Ukraine?

“7a. Is concerned about the rising
nationalistic sentiment in Ukraine,
expressed in support for the Svoboda
Party, which, as a result, is one of the two
new parties to enter the Verkhovna Rada;
recalls that racist, anti-Semitic and
xenophobic views go against the EU’s
fundamental values and principles and
therefore appeals to pro-democratic
parties in the Verkhovna Rada not to
associate with, endorse or form coalitions
with this party;” www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+AMD+P7-RC-2012-0544+001-001+DOC+PDF+V0//EN

Ukraine’s Neo-Fascist Right Sector Leader Dmytro Yarosh ‘Wanted’ in Russia  The charges of terrorism and extremism relate to a document published on the Right Sector website called “Appeal of Right Sector Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh to Doku Umarov” which called on the “leader of the terrorist organisation to step up extremist and terrorist operations against Russia”….In an interview with Time magazine, Yarosh revealed that the ultra-nationalist movement had amassed a lethal arsenal of weapons.
The movement’s ideology, which rejects any foreign influence over Ukraine, borders on fascism, according to reports.    www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraines-neo-fascist-right-sector-leader-dmytro-yarosh-wanted-arrest-russia-1439958

Dedicated to those who didn’t recognize Danny Ortega as a Rat the first time around, to those who wonder Who Lost Nicaragua? To those who think the Feckless Obamagogue will enforce the Monroe Doctrine–And to those who think a Chinese “Panama” Canal would be pretty funny in a strange sort of way Last June 15th, Daniel Ortega, the President of Nicaragua, held a ceremony in Managua to announce his newest and most audacious plan to help the country’s poor: a transoceanic canal, stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific, a few hundred miles north of the Panama Canal. “This is a project,” he promised, “that will bring well-being, prosperity, and happiness to the Nicaraguan people.”   www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/03/10/140310fa_fact_anderson

After WWII there were tens of thousands of Japanese Communists in the areas around Fukishima (happy anniversary). What came of them? Hint: check the CPUSA.  www.dw.de/japan-marks-the-third-anniversary-of-the-fukushima-tsunami-quake-disaster/a-17486882

Solidarity for Never

“I think it’s really not helpful for the Democrats to turn this into an attack on the one percent,” former SEIU president Andy Stern told the Post reporters. “I don’t think it’s in the American spirit, or at least the Democratic Party’s future spirit. As Republicans attack immigration, we attack rich people? If you learned anything from the president, selling hope is better than selling hate.”

AFT Quislings Sup At Gates’ Trough and only Choke a little (and plan a dues hike) EXCLUSIVE: AFT SHUNS GATES FUNDING: The American Federation of Teachers ended a five-year relationship with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after rank-and-file union members expressed deep distrust of the foundation’s approach to education reform. AFT President Randi Weingarten told Morning Education the union will no longer accept Gates money for its Innovation Fund, which was founded in 2009 and has received up to $1 million a year in Gates grants ever since. The Innovation Fund has sponsored AFT efforts to help teachers implement the Common Core standards — a Gates priority — among other initiatives.
— Weingarten said she didn’t believe Gates funding influenced the Innovation Fund’s direction, but still had to sever the relationship. “I got convinced by the level of distrust I was seeing — not simply on Twitter, but in listening to members and local leaders — that it was important to find a way to replace Gates funding,” she said. Weingarten plans to ask members to vote this summer on a dues hike of 5 cents per month, which she said would raise $500,000 a year for the Innovation Fund.
— The Innovation Fund isn’t the only AFT initiative funded by the Gates Foundation. Since 2010, the union has received more than $10 million. The AFT’s executive council hasn’t formally voted to reject Gates funding for other projects, but Weingarten said she would be very cautious about taking such grants. “I don’t want to say ‘never never ever ever,’” she said, but “this is a matter of making common bond with our members and really listening to the level of distrust they have in the philanthropies and the people on high who are not listening to them.”
— Vicki Phillips, who runs the Gates Foundation’s education division, said her team is “disappointed by Randi’s decision.” She called the AFT “an important thought partner” for the foundation. “We continue to applaud the work of the Innovation Fund grantees to engage teachers in improving teaching and learning in their local communities,” Phillips said.    www.politico.com/morningeducation/0314/morningeducation13243.html

Who Will Mislead the Ranks of UTLA Next? One candidate to head the Los Angeles teachers union was laid off. Another was removed from the classroom for alleged misconduct. A third lost his position when his school was restructured with new staff because of low test scores. A fourth is an elementary school counselor who must shuttle between two campuses.
Ten candidates are vying to be the next president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest teachers union. Their misfortunes run the gamut of what can go wrong for teachers, especially in recent times.
They seek to lead a teacher corps that is substantially dispirited and divided, with common grievances, but lacking consensus on how to move forward. Candidate ideas include becoming more — or less — adversarial with the district and changing the color of union T-shirts from red to pink or orange to seem less aggressive.
The leader of the union not only affects its 31,552 members but also half a million students.
“UTLA is a major stakeholder in the fight for quality education,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of Community Coalition, a local social action group. “The quality of their leadership — or the lack thereof — looms large.”
Incumbent Warren Fletcher seeks a second and final term for a three-year position that pays $101,000 annually. The ballots were mailed out in late February and will be tallied March 20.
The L.A. Unified School District is slowly recovering from years of budget cuts that forced thousands of layoffs of teachers, counselors, nurses and others. UTLA, other unions and the district are battling over how best to use moderate increases in funding. There’s also contention over the growth of charter schools, most of which are non-union, and a new teacher evaluation system that relies, in part, on student test scores.
www.latimes.com/local/la-me-utla-20140310,0,7014213.story#ixzz2vcrXJSBs

above, dullard DFT president Johnson who thinks the ruin of the school system and the union is swell, for him. 

The Detroit Federation of Teachers Lost nearly 85% of their membership,(bought a nice big building)  let every member be fired and did nothing, and declares this a “good day.” (perhaps because those staff salaries are still over $110,000 After a three-year process, the
DFT sold its building at 2875 W.Grand Blvd. The DFT moved its offices in February to 7700 Second Avenue,Suite 427. The closing on the sale of the old building is scheduled for March 12.DFT staff spent two years purging records and downsizing contents to take to the new office. That involved 13,860
gallons of recycling bins and many dumpster loads.”There’s a lot to get rid of when you move from 40,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet,” said Mark O’Keefe, DFT controller. O’Keefe oversaw the sale and
the move to the new location. Excess paper and office supplies were given to members during the last two
years at membership meetings. More supplies will be available at upcoming membership meetings, now at the IBEW Hall, 1358 Abbott, in Detroit. Meetings are at 4:30 p.m. “Instead of spending money on a building that’s too big for us, we can use our resources to pay down our outstanding debts,” O’Keefe said. He said the new offices, albeit smaller, are more conducive to a productive union. All eight employees are within shouting distance of each otherand the computer server, which used to be on a different floor. Beyond downsizing office space, the DFT has dramatically reduced staff, from 16 full-time employees five years ago to five full-time and three part-time employees today. “This right-sizing has been in the works for years,” he said. “It’s a good day for the DFT.”    dft231.mi.aft.org/files/march2014.pdf

Union City teachers union finds financial ‘irregularities’ with own records   The city teachers union’s financial ledgers don’t add up, and records — some dating back 25 years — are missing, according to the union’s website.
The Union City Education Association has uncovered “significant discrepancies and irregularities” in its financial records, according to a message to members on the website.
The union’s attorneys have sent a letter to the former treasurer, Joseph Cheung, who resigned in December, threatening to sue him if he does not return 25 years of ledgers and UCEA meeting minutes, and UCEA account bank statements and receipts from expenses incurred by the union from June 2013 to the present, the website states.
Cheung teaches chemistry at Union City High School. He did not return calls for comment.
Two other union officers, Third Vice President Rica Constantinides and Recording Secretary Blanca Cardona also resigned in December. They also could not be reached for comment.

Guilderland teachers union reports missing funds to police  The school district’s teachers union filed a complaint with police about embezzlement of its funds, President Maceo Dubose said Monday.
“I’ve reported it to the Guilderland police, and they are investigating the case,” he said.
Dubose said how much money was taken has not yet been determined.
“That’s why the police are investigating it,” he said.
He declined to say who is responsible for any missing funds, saying only that the person suspected is a member of the local.    www.timesunion.com/local/article/Guilderland-teachers-union-reports-missing-funds-5304427.php

The Service Employees International Union will pay almost $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot proposal seeking collective bargaining rights for home health workers.
The settlement was announced Monday by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office investigated a complaint that the union skirted campaign finance laws. The complaint was filed by political advocacy group Michigan Freedom Fund
The complaint accused the principals behind Home Care First and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care of intentionally delaying required filings with Johnson’s office to conceal that SEIU had made substantial contributions to support the proposal.
“Michigan law requires all organizations, including 501(c)4 nonprofit corporations, to file complete campaign finance reports when spending directly in support of a ballot question,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the settlement. “These organizations cannot be used as a means to conceal the identity of the true contributors. This agreement reflects our commitment to transparency and accountability in the campaign finance process, especially in an election year.”    www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2014/03/michigan_campaign_finance_viol.html#incart_river_default

Aussie Airline Union Rationalizes Member Layoffs QANTAS says it has not changed its timetable to lay-off up to 5000 workers despite union claims a month’s reprieve had been won for some staff.
Australian Services Union (ASU) NSW/ACT secretary Sally McManus said on Wednesday the airline’s agreement to delay sackings until April 14 will give a “small amount of dignity” to the workforce.
She described talks between the airline and the union before the Fair Work Commission on Wednesday as “tough” but said the delay was unlikely to save jobs long term.
But Qantas says the timeframes for lay-offs have not changed.
An airline spokeswoman said the FWC hearing on Wednesday only applied to Sydney International Terminal (SIT) ASU employees.
There are about 230 full time employees at SIT who are eligible to apply for a voluntary redundancy package or convert to a part-time role.
The changes were to better align staffing levels with peak periods at the airport, the spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to consult with our employees and the NSW branch of the ASU throughout this process.
“While the timeframe has not altered, we have agreed to provide greater detail on timings to our employees.”
The spokeswoman said Qantas would continue to consult with all unions on matters relevant to their members.
The airline’s proposed sacking of up to 5000 workers is scheduled to take place over the next three years.    www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/qantas-firing-timetable-stays/story-fn3dxiwe-1226853958364

Spy versus Spy

White House withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe, despite vows of help   The White House has been withholding for five years more than 9,000 top-secret documents sought by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for its investigation into the now-defunct CIA detention and interrogation program, even though President Barack Obama hasn’t exercised a claim of executive privilege.
In contrast to public assertions that it supports the committee’s work, the White House has ignored or rejected offers in multiple meetings and in letters to find ways for the committee to review the records, a McClatchy investigation has found.
Read more here: www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/03/12/221033/despite-vows-of-help-white-house.html#storylink=cpy

How a Court Secretly Evolved, Extending U.S. Spies’ Reach    Ten months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the nation’s surveillance court delivered a ruling that intelligence officials consider a milestone in the secret history of American spying and privacy law. Called the “Raw Take” order — classified docket No. 02-431 — it weakened restrictions on sharing private information about Americans, according to documents and interviews.
The administration of President George W. Bush, intent on not overlooking clues about Al Qaeda, had sought the July 22, 2002, order. It is one of several still-classified rulings by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court described in documents provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.
Previously, with narrow exceptions, an intelligence agency was permitted to disseminate information gathered from court-approved wiretaps only after deleting irrelevant private details and masking the names of innocent Americans who came into contact with a terrorism suspect. The Raw Take order significantly changed that system, documents show, allowing counterterrorism analysts at the N.S.A., the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. to share unfiltered personal information.      www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/us/how-a-courts-secret-evolution-extended-spies-reach.html?hp&_r=0

CIA Implicated in Distribution of Arms to Syria   The CIA is heavily involved in the distribution of weapons to known extremist groups in Libya and Syria. Beginning with the conflict in Libya during Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, and more recently in the Syrian conflict, the United States and Qatar have been involved in moving weapons from rebel forces in Libya to rebel forces in Syria through the port of Benghazi as well as other ports in that area. Multiple sources confirm that President Obama is fully aware of the situation. He has given his permission to the CIA to “…arm and fund the rebels” and has employed other covert tactics that are in direct violation of international law and the U.S. Constitution.
The CIA is not only involved in this illegal arms trade but is also going to great lengths to ensure that its involvement remains a secret. Operatives in the Benghazi area are subjected to regular intimidation including, but not limited to, regular polygraph testing to “…find out if anyone is talking to the media or Congress.”   www.projectcensored.org/cia-implicated-distribution-arms-syria/

N.S.A. Nominee Promotes Cyberwar Units   All of the major combat commands in the United States military will soon have dedicated forces to conduct cyberattacks alongside their air, naval and ground capabilities, Vice Adm. Michael S. Rogers, President Obama’s nominee to run the National Security Agency, told the Senate on Tuesday. He said the activation of the long-discussed combat units would help counter the perception around the world that the United States is “an easier mark” for cyberattacks because it did not “have the will to respond.”  www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/world/europe/nsa-nominee-reports-cyberattacks-on-ukraine-government.html?hp&_r=0

Shattering Empire: Warhawk Feinstein accuses CIA of ‘intimidating’ Senate staff over torture report–Intelligence committee chair accuses CIA of smear campaign–
Feinstein alleges CIA broke law and violated constitution  The chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, Dianne Feinstein, on Tuesday accused the Central Intelligence Agency of a catalogue of cover-ups, intimidation and smears aimed at investigators probing its role in an “un-American and brutal” programme of post-9/11 detention and interrogation.
In a bombshell statement on the floor of the US Senate, Feinstein, normally an administration loyalist, accused the CIA of potentially violating the US constitution and of criminal activity in its attempts to obstruct her committee’s investigations into the agency’s use of torture. She described the crisis as a “defining moment” for political oversight of the US intelligence service.
Her unprecedented public assault on the CIA represented an intensification of the row between the committee and the agency over a still-secret report on the torture of terrorist suspects after 9/11.
Feinstein, who said she was making her statement “reluctantly”, confirmed recent reports that CIA officials had been accused of monitoring computer networks used by Senate staff investigators. Going further than previously, she referred openly to recent attempts by the CIA to remove documents from the network detailing evidence of torture that would incriminate intelligence officers.
She also alleged that anonymous CIA officials were effectively conducting a smear campaign in the media to discredit and “intimidate” Senate staff by suggesting they had hacked into the agency’s computers to obtain a separate, critical internal report on the detention and interrogation programme.    www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/feinstein-accuses-cia-intimidation-torture-report

Feinstein: CIA searched Intelligence Committee computers  A behind-the-scenes battle between the CIA and Congress erupted in public Tuesday as the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee accused the agency of breaking laws and breaching constitutional principles in an alleged effort to undermine the panel’s multi-year investigation of a controversial interrogation program.
Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accused the CIA of secretly removing documents, searching computers used by the committee and attempting to intimidate congressional investigators by requesting an FBI inquiry of their conduct — charges that CIA Director John Brennan disputed within hours of her appearance on the Senate floor.     www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/feinstein-cia-searched-intelligence-committee-computers/2014/03/11/982cbc2c-a923-11e3-8599-ce7295b6851c_story.html?hpid=z1

The National Endowment for Democracy (CIA) in Russia  Part of SOVA’s routine work includes monitoring of the press. In the absence of clearly defined libel laws in Russia, the state and business interest controlled media tend to reflect the authoritarian tendencies of the owners. In a country where the media is still regarded by the ruling elite as an instrument of propaganda, nationalistic and populist messages undermine any nascent democratic developments. SOVA has been particularly active in an area fraught with misunderstandings and deliberate manipulations—the definition of “extremism.” In its analysis of Russian federal laws on combating extremism, SOVA has provided expert analysis highlighting areas of legitimate concern for potential terrorist activity, but also showing how the legislation has been written for use as an instrument of political pressure and manipulation, particularly against nongovernmental organizations and individuals who are not sanctioned by the government.   www.ned.org/publications/newsletter-archive/sova-center-combats-hate-crimes-and-extremism-in-russia

The Magical Mystery Tour

Meet the New God of Rapist Priests–Same as the old god during most of the 14 years that Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rights advocates say, he did not take decisive action to protect children or act swiftly when molestation charges surfaced; nor did he extend apologies to the victims of abusive priests after their misconduct came to light.
“He has been totally silent,” said Ernesto Moreau, a member of Argentina’s U.N.-affiliated Permanent Assembly for Human Rights and a lawyer who has represented victims in a clergy sexual-abuse case. Victims asked to meet with Bergoglio but were turned down, Moreau said. “In that regard, Bergoglio was no different from most of the other bishops in Argentina, or the Vatican itself.”
The Catholic Church has paid out at least $2 billion in the United States alone to settle abuse claims, according to monitoring groups. In many Latin American countries, though, the scope of crimes has only begun to surface, and in Argentina, no victims have received restitution in public settlements, rights groups and lawyers said.    www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/pope-francis-was-often-quiet-on-argentine-sex-abuse-cases-as-archbishop/2013/03/18/26e7eca4-8ff6-11e2-9cfd-36d6c9b5d7ad_story.html

The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World

Fire Destroys Another Part Of The Heidelberg Project — The Iconic Party Animal House  (no more water; the fire next time)  Fire has destroyed another house in Tyree Guyton’s world-famous Heidelberg Project art installation on Detroit’s east side.
Flames that broke out shortly before 3 a.m. Friday quickly engulfed the signature Party Animal House on Mt. Elliott Avenue at Elba. It was one of Guyton’s iconic features, with stuffed animals nailed to its sides and roof. It was also known as the Doll House.
The fire was the ninth blaze at the site since May; the house was the sixth to be destroyed by the fires.    www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/8634/fire_destroys_another_heidelberg_project_building_–_the_party_animal_house

BBC best images of the week! www.bbc.com/future/story/20140314-most-stunning-images-of-the-week

Two Faced Man Rosetta Crawford – See more at: www.20sjazz.com/videos/singers/two-faced-man.html#sthash.zPshaYUd.dpuf

When You’re Smiling Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra – See more at: www.20sjazz.com/videos/new-orleans/when-youre-smiling.html#sthash.JEuMTvrR.dpuf

Hyena Stomp Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers – See more at: www.20sjazz.com/videos/new-orleans/hyena-stomp.html#sthash.JkKX887o.dpuf

So Long

after the plane, what’s America’s next favorite spectacle?