{"id":14664,"date":"2014-10-11T23:37:17","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T07:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=14664"},"modified":"2014-10-11T23:46:05","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T07:46:05","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-how-about-mayday-a-nationwide-strike-on-capitals-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-how-about-mayday-a-nationwide-strike-on-capitals-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: How about Mayday? A Nation-Wide Strike on Capital’s Schools?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rescue Education from the ruling classes! \u00a0Mayday is a Friday! Perfect?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"MAYDA<\/a>May 2015 Holidays:<\/p>\n

\n
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<\/td>\nUS Holidays & Common<\/td>\n<\/td>\nInternational Holidays<\/td>\n<\/td>\nChristian & Catholic Holidays<\/td>\n<\/td>\nJewish Holidays<\/td>\n<\/td>\nMuslim Holidays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"WordApr 2015<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n\n

May 2015 Calendar<\/h1>\n<\/td>\n

Jun 2015<\/span>\"Next<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"teacher-strike\"<\/a>Waukegan on Strike \u00a0<\/strong>will be no school again Monday for Waukegan students as negotiators for striking teachers and District 60 head back to the bargaining table.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued Friday, the Waukegan District 60 board apologized for the inconvenience caused by the strike, which began Thursday. The board also said the union\u2019s demands would bankrupt the district.
\nShow Captionx<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake here \u2013- the financial solvency of the Waukegan school system,\u201d the release stated. \u201cWhile the union has spent much time talking about a surplus, the 9 percent salary increase the teachers propose this coming year and the 7 percent increases they have asked for next year and the following year would bankrupt the district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike McGue, president of Lake County Federation of Teachers Local 504, said warnings of bankruptcy are “just not true.”<\/p>\n

McGue said that the school district has gone from a $2.7 million deficit four years ago to a $37 million surplus today. \u00a0http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/local\/breaking\/chi-waukegan-teachers-strike-20141005-story.html<\/p>\n

After Uproar, School Board in Colorado Scraps Anti-Protest Curriculum \u00a0<\/strong>After two weeks of student protests and a fierce backlash across Colorado and beyond, the Jefferson County School Board backed away from a proposal to teach students the \u201cbenefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights,\u201d while avoiding lessons that condoned \u201ccivil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.\u201d But the board did vote 3-to-2 to reorganize its curriculum-review committee to include students, teachers and board-appointed community members. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/10\/04\/us\/after-uproar-colorado-school-board-retreats-on-curriculum-review-plan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0<\/p>\n

San Ysidro on Strike\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/a><\/p>\n

San Ysidro Elementary School District teachers will strike Wedneday after last-minute negotations between the district and teacher’s union failed Tuesday night, a teacher confirmed to NBC 7.<\/p>\n

The meeting ended shortly after 7 p.m. after the two sides could not come to an agreement.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we are running out of time, and we can’t walk out of that room without something signed,\u201d said Judith Crespo, a teacher at Smythe Elementary. \u201cThen there will be a strike tomorrow in San Ysidro, and it\u2019s a tragic day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teachers rallied outside every school in the district Tuesday morning, handing out neon-colored fliers to parents and holding signs that read, \u201cI don\u2019t\u2019 want to strike, but I will.\u201d \u00a0San Ysidro teachers say they\u2019re facing a 6.5 percent pay cut and some of the worst health benefits in the county. They’re also calling for smaller class sizes and more manageable workloads. \u00a0Source: www.nbcsandiego.com\/news\/local\/Last-Step-Before-Picket-Line-for-San-Ysidro-Teachers-278417121.html#ixzz3FWkibVy7<\/a><\/p>\n

\"San<\/a><\/p>\n

Teacher strike takes over schools’ HQ<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As a teachers strike entered its third day, angry parents supporting the instructors took over the San Ysidro School District\u2019s headquarters Friday morning demanding to speak with the administration.<\/p>\n

District officials were behind closed doors all day, talking with the teachers union. Interim Superintendent George Cameron said parents made it clear they want a resolution, and said he is hopeful one can be reached soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in contact with union leadership since the morning,\u201d Cameron said Friday afternoon. \u201cWe\u2019ve been discussing ways to amicably reach a settlement. From our point of view, it\u2019s important that we recognize the district faces a serious financial struggle \u2014 any resolutions need to take that into account.\u201dTeachers are striking for increases to salary and health care benefits. \u00a0…a<\/p>\n

group of mothers organized the morning\u2019s protest so parents, students and teachers could show they were uniting against the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to show unity and protest against this continual barrage of lies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Teachers contend the substitutes hired by the district are unqualified, and the district maintains they are substitutes from the same pool from which it always hires. Scarlett said that\u2019s untrue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a solidarity between teachers and subs,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they know not to cross the picket line.\u201d \u00a0http:\/\/www.utsandiego.com\/news\/2014\/oct\/10\/san-ysidro-parents-teachers-strike-hq\/2\/?#article-copy<\/p>\n

\"Philly<\/a>Philly Students take to the streets to protest termination of teachers’ contract \u00a0<\/strong>Philadelphia students refused to attend classes at two District high schools Wednesday morning to express solidarity with teachers who they think have been mistreated by the School Reform Commission. \u00a0http:\/\/thenotebook.org\/<\/p>\n

Mexico:\u00a0Thousands demonstrate in cities over disappearance of 43 student teachers who went missing after police arrested them \u00a0<\/strong>Tens of thousands of demonstrators have blocked roads across Mexico in protest at the disappearance of 43 student teachers from the southern state of Guerrero, with many of them going missing after being arrested by police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took them alive. We want them alive,\u201d demonstrators chanted as they marched through the centre of Mexico City, nearly two weeks after the students disappeared in the city of Iguala about 120 miles south of the capital.<\/p>\n

Relatives of the missing students led the march. They walked, mostly in silence, beside a banner with photographs of the disappeared, greeted by chants of \u201cyou are not alone\u201d from onlookers lining the streets.<\/p>\n

Protesters also included contingents from universities and colleges around the capital as well as teachers, union members, activists and empathetic citizens.<\/p>\n

Police said around 15,000 people participated in the march in the capital. Thousands more joined a protest in Chilpancingo, Guerrero\u2019s state capital, which included a temporary blockade of the main highway linking Mexico City to Acapulco.<\/p>\n

According to Milenio TV the day of action also included protests in 19 more of Mexico\u2019s 32 states, as well as in nine other countries, including a group gathered outside the Mexican embassy in London. \u00a0http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/oct\/09\/mexico-protests-student-teachers-missing<\/p>\n

\"Aztec<\/a>SDSU students seek to rid the campus of the racist Aztec programs \u00a0<\/strong>Filed Oct. 2, a formal resolution from the SDSU Queer People of Color Collective asks the student body to abandon all Aztecs references and eliminate the school mascot, the Aztec Warrior, because the words and costumed cheerleading “perpetuate harmful stereotypes of Native Americans, including the notion that Native Americans are innately violent, dangerous, and ‘savage,’ which is demonstrated by the Aztec Warrior\u2019s aggressive body language, the Aztec Warrior\u2019s use of a spear at special events, the use of a spear on the SDSU Athletics Logo which is printed on uniforms and SDSU memorabilia, and the slogan ‘fear the spear.'” \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.utsandiego.com\/news\/2014\/oct\/09\/sdsu-aztec-warrior\/<\/p>\n

NYC Principal Quits as there’s no plan!\u00a0<\/strong>The principal of a long-struggling high school in Brooklyn handed in his resignation this week \u2014 and offered Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s Education Department one of its sternest public rebukes yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is, there is no plan,\u201d the principal, Bernard Gassaway of Boys and Girls High School, said of the city\u2019s approach to struggling schools. \u201cThey\u2019re making it up as they go along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. de Blasio and the schools chancellor, Carmen Fari\u00f1a, have distanced themselves aggressively from the approach taken by the administration of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to the city\u2019s worst performing schools, which rested primarily on closing them and replacing them with new, generally smaller ones. But Mr. Gassaway\u2019s critique, perhaps the first of Ms. Fari\u00f1a\u2019s tenure to be made so loudly by an insider, comes amid growing questions about what the city plans to do instead.
\nContinue reading the main story
\nRelated Coverage
\nDe Blasio Plans Revised Code for Discipline in SchoolsSEPT. 28, 2014
\nThe Education Issue: The Battle for New York Schools: Eva Moskowitz vs. Mayor Bill de BlasioSEPT. 3, 2014
\nCity Hall Memo: De Blasio\u2019s Transparency Is Turning Opaque Under FireOCT. 9, 2014
\nAs de Blasio Aids Bid for Democratic Senate, Cuomo Is a Nearly Invisible ManOCT. 9, 2014<\/p>\n

Boys and Girls, which has existed in some form since 1878 and is Bedford-Stuyvesant\u2019s main high school, has a long list of distinguished alumni, including Shirley Chisholm, Norman Mailer and Aaron Copland. But in recent years, its reputation has become checkered.<\/p>\n

In 2005, a class-action lawsuit against the city alleged that some students at Boys and Girls were essentially warehoused in an auditorium for large portions of the day www.nytimes.com\/2014\/10\/11\/nyregion\/principal-of-failing-school-quits-saying-city-lacks-an-education-plan.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region%C2%AEion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1<\/a><\/p>\n

The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"capitalist<\/a>Philly revokes teachers’ contract, changes health benefits, redirects $44 million to schools \u00a0<\/strong>After 21 months of fruitless labor talks, the School District made a bold move Monday to unilaterally restructure teachers’ health benefits and send $44 million in savings directly back to schools.<\/p>\n

At a special meeting that was barely publicized until hours before its 9:30 a.m. start, with no public testimony before acting, the School Reform Commission unanimously voted to cancel the contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers in order to rework its health-care provisions. The District also filed a legal action in Commonwealth Court to establish its right to rewrite the contract based on special powers granted to the SRC. \u00a0http:\/\/thenotebook.org\/blog\/147781\/src-revokes-contract-changes-health-benefits<\/p>\n

\"chicken<\/a>History Demonstrates the Billion Dollar Capitalist School Lunch Agenda is a War Agenda\u00a0<\/strong>The federal school-lunch program has always invited martial metaphors, and not without reason: It was the U.S. military that first advanced the national-security implications of a healthful lunch. In the spring of 1945, at the dawn of the Cold War, Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, a former school principal who joined the armed forces before World War I, went in front of the House Agriculture Committee to deliver a stern warning. Hershey headed the Selective Service System \u2014 the draft \u2014 and he told the lawmakers that as many as 40 percent of rejected draftees had been turned away owing to poor diets. \u201cWhether we are going to have war or not, I do think that we have got to have health if we are going to survive,\u201d he testified.
\nContinue reading the main story<\/p>\n

Within a year, a majority of lawmakers from both parties had voted for the National School Lunch Act. The act declared it \u201cthe policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation\u2019s children.\u201d In the way of many programs inspired by the Department of Defense, the School Lunch Program grew in large part because it offered something to everyone. Over the coming decades, the Department of Agriculture would send billions of dollars to states and school districts to help cover the costs of school meals and spend billions more to purchase surplus farm products for the schools. The program was expanded significantly under Richard Nixon, who sought to ensure that poor children got their school lunches free, and by the mid-1970s it fed 25 million kids. \u00a0…<\/p>\n

In one sense, the school-lunch program was all too successful. No longer was the military having trouble finding well-fed young American men and women. By 2009, according to the Department of Defense, more recruits were being turned away for obesity than for any other medical reason. The recruits, as a letter signed by dozens of retired generals and admirals put it, were \u201ctoo fat to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

www.nytimes.com\/2014\/10\/12\/magazine\/how-school-lunch-became-the-latest-political-battleground.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone&_r=3<\/a><\/p>\n

Deasy’s inaction on Jefferson High fiasco is shocking \u00a0<\/strong>Jefferson was thrown into turmoil in August by the failure of a new computerized system the district relied upon to schedule the school’s 1,500 students. Hundreds of students have gone without schedules, been assigned to courses they’ve already taken or been locked out of classes they need for graduation.<\/p>\n

Eight weeks into the semester, their schedules are loaded with space-fillers \u2014 periods labeled Service, Adult Class or Home, that offer no instruction and waste the time of teenagers already at risk of falling academically behind.<\/p>\n

Those “content-less” classes are the target of a Northern California lawsuit alleging the state has ignored its obligation to ensure that all students have access to an adequate education.<\/p>\n

Jefferson became a focal point because its troubles illustrate the issues at stake: Students hanging out in the auditorium or performing clerical tasks, or simply being assigned to go home because their schools don’t have the will, the resources or the leadership to engage and educate them.l Related
\n“We have kids at Jefferson with four of those classes in a day,” \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/education\/la-me-1011-banks-deasy-lawsuit-20141011-column.html#navtype=outfit<\/p>\n

\"SAT\"<\/a>NCLB to RaTT–SAT Scores Flat <\/strong>SAT scores among the nation\u2019s high school seniors remain stubbornly stagnant.<\/p>\n

The College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the test, reported scores Tuesday from the Class of 2014 that were similar to other recent senior classes.<\/p>\n

Overall, the mean score in reading was 497. It was 513 in math and 487 in writing. The top score in each category is 800, and 583 of the 1.7 million students from the class who took the test achieved the perfect score of 2,400.<\/p>\n

About 43 percent of test takers met a benchmark that indicated they were likely ready for credit-bearing, college-level work \u2014 a figure that has also remained about the same.<\/p>\n

The benchmark was met by nearly 53 percent of white and nearly 61 percent of Asian test-takers. Nearly 16 percent of African-American test-takers met the college-ready benchmark, as did nearly a quarter of Hispanic test-takers and about a third of Native Americans.<\/p>\n

The SAT is undergoing major revisions, but the new exam won\u2019t come out until 2016. \u00a0http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2014\/10\/07\/us-sat-scores-remain-stagnant\/16847831\/<\/p>\n

L.A. school board, Deasy again at odds over involvement in lawsuit \u00a0<\/strong>beleaguered Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy finds himself at the center of another dispute with his bosses, this time over his involvement in a lawsuit that criticizes district schools and policies.<\/p>\n

Deasy’s sworn declaration in the case places him at odds with members of the school board, which did not authorize his action.<\/p>\n

The goal of the litigation is to compel the state to eliminate non-academic periods that have hindered students from fulfilling graduation and college requirements. Those periods include “service classes,” which involve answering the phones and running errands, and “home periods,” during which unsupervised students are allowed to leave campus. \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/education\/la-me-lausd-deasy-20141007-story.html<\/p>\n

From Cory Wright Mallot –-Jobs<\/em>! \u00a0<\/strong>Hi Folks,We have two tenure track positions in elementary education in curriculum (math, English, science, or literacy) and one in educational foundations (classroom management, ed psych, assessment). Calgary is a great town. Very family friendly, close to the mountains, lots of parks and green spaces within the city. St. Mary’s is open and inclusive of faculty from different \/ no faith traditions, and has a deep interest in social justice. Our graduating teachers are often the first to be snapped up owing to the strength of our program. Our program is growing and we need good candidates to fill these new lines. Please post widely to your networks, as Canadian positions are sometimes overlooked by people who would otherwise be a good fit. \u00a0http:\/\/www.stmu.ab.ca\/\u2026\/STMU-Tenure-Track-Position-in-Educa\u2026<\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Obama<\/a><\/p>\n

above, Rouge guest Konapacki\u00a0http:\/\/huckkonopackicartoons.com\/mike-konopacki-cartoons\/labor-cartoons\/konopacki-labor-cartoons-for-may-2013\/<\/p>\n

US Yells at Turkey for not fighting the war the US Initiated\u00a0<\/strong>While Turkish troops watched the fighting in Kobani through a chicken-wire fence, Turkey\u2019s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the town was about to fall and Kurdish fighters warned of an impending blood bath if they were not reinforced \u2014 fears the United States shares.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey would not get more deeply involved in the conflict with the Islamic State unless the United States agreed to give greater support to rebels trying to unseat the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. That has deepened tensions with President Obama, who would like Turkey to take stronger action against the Islamic State and to leave the fight against Mr. Assad out of it.
\nMr. Erdogan has also resisted pleas to send his troops across the border in the absence of a no-fly zone to ward off the Syrian Air Force. \u00a0Even as it stepped up airstrikes against the militants Tuesday, the Obama administration was frustrated by what it regards as Turkey\u2019s excuses for not doing more militarily. \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/10\/08\/world\/middleeast\/isis-syria-coalition-strikes.html<\/p>\n

Who Is Losing Anbar?\u00a0Islamic State fighters are threatening to overrun Iraq\u2019s Anbar province \u00a0<\/strong>Islamic State militants are threatening to overrun a key province in western Iraq in what would be a major victory for the jihadists and an embarrassing setback for the U.S.-led coalition targeting the group.<\/p>\n

A win for the Islamic State in Anbar province would give the militants control of one of the country\u2019s most important dams and several large army installations, potentially adding to their abundant stockpile of weapons. It would also allow them to establish a supply line from Syria almost to Baghdad, and give them a valuable position from which to launch attacks on the Iraqi capital. \u00a0http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/islamic-state-fighters-are-threatening-to-overrun-iraqs-anbar-province\/2014\/10\/09\/34b302f0-84e4-4d73-b220-2d91161363e5_story.html?hpid=z1<\/p>\n

Pakistan Taliban vow support for IS in Syria and Iraq \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The Pakistani Taliban have expressed their support for Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq.In a statement marking the Muslim festival of Eid, the group appealed to Islamists there to unite against the “enemy” – the US-led alliance.<\/p>\n

IS has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq, but has also been battling al-Qaeda-linked rival militant groups.The Pakistani Taliban has been waging its own insurgency against the Islamabad government since 1997. \u00a0http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-29494772<\/p>\n

\"war-is-hell-cartoon\"<\/a>Rashid on the ISIS Pakistan Taliban Hookup <\/strong>For now, the statement\u2014issued as Muslims worldwide celebrated the Eid holidays and just hours after ISIS announced the beheading of another Western aid worker\u2014seems mostly symbolic. The Pakistani Taliban have not merged with ISIS, nor have they accepted ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as their Caliph. On Monday, the group\u2019s spokesman clarified that it was not a declaration of allegiance to ISIS. But the move by the Pakistani group is a startling indication of how much ISIS\u2019s brutality and ability to control a large swath of territory are changing the jihadist landscape\u2014not only in the Middle East but also in South Asia. For a younger generation of Islamic militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially, it suggests a readiness to bring ISIS-style tactics to their own campaigns at home.<\/p>\n

Numerous Pakistani fighters have gone to fight in Afghanistan, Central Asia, Bosnia, and the Middle East in the past. And in recent years, some factions of the Pakistani Taliban that are based in the mountainous tribal badlands Between Afghanistan and Pakistan, have offered protection to al-Qaeda and its leaders, and helped train foreign militants to carry out bombings in the West. But until now, fighters seeking to take part in international jihad have tended to join al-Qaeda, while the Taliban\u2019s own members\u2014who are dominated by Pashtun tribesmen\u2014have been primarily committed to setting up a shariah state in Pakistan and helping their Afghan brothers do the same in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Over the past few months, however, the stunning military success of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has inspired the Pakistani Taliban to show an interest in a wider jihad. A new generation of militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan\u2014younger, more radicalized, better educated, and deeply committed to war and sacrifice\u2014feel let down by their own militant leaders, who they see as having gone too far to compromise with the existing states and governments. For example, efforts by the Afghan Taliban leaders to enter a dialogue with the US over the last few years and to set up a Taliban office for mediation in Qatar have angered some younger Afghan militants. \u00a0http:\/\/www.ahmedrashid.com\/wp-content\/archives\/pakistan\/articles\/pdf\/the-allure-of-isis.pdf<\/p>\n

After Feigning Love for Egyptian Democracy, U.S. Back To Openly Supporting Tyranny \u00a0<\/strong>It is, of course, very difficult to choose the single most extreme episode of misleading American media propaganda, but if forced to do so, coverage of the February, 2011 Tahrir Square demonstrations in Egypt would be an excellent candidate. For weeks, U.S. media outlets openly positioned themselves on the side of the demonstrators, depicting the upheaval as a Manichean battle between the evil despot Hosni Mubarak\u2019s \u201cthree decades of iron rule\u201d and the hordes of ordinary, oppressed Egyptians inspirationally yearning for American-style freedom and democracy.<\/p>\n

Almost completely missing from this feel-good morality play was the terribly unpleasant fact that Mubarak was one of the U.S. Government\u2019s longest and closest allies and that his \u201dthree decades of iron rule\u201d \u2014 featuring murder, torture and indefinite detention for dissidents \u2014 were enabled in multiple ways by American support. \u00a0https:\/\/firstlook.org\/theintercept\/2014\/10\/02\/feigned-american-support-egyptian-democracy-lasted-roughly-six-weeks\/’<\/p>\n

\"BidenImage20\"<\/a>Blowhard Biden Spoke Truth \u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0\u201cMy constant cry was that our biggest problem is our allies \u2014 our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria,\u201d Biden told his listeners in remarks subsequently posted on the White House YouTube channel (go to 1:32:00 if you want to skip the earlier speech).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Turks were great friends,\u201d he notes, adding that he recently spent considerable time with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and they have \u201ca great relationship.\u201d Ditto the Saudis and the Emiratis. But when it came to Syria and the effort to bring down President Bashar Assad there, those allies\u2019 policies wound up helping to arm and build allies of al Qaeda and eventually the terrorist \u201cIslamic State.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat were they doing?\u201d Biden asked rhetorically. \u201cThey were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad \u2014 except that the people who were being supplied were al Nusra and al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.\u201d \u00a0http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2014\/10\/05\/vp-biden-apologizes-for-telling-truth-about-turkey-saudi-and-isis.html<\/p>\n

Libya\u2019s parliament moves to small port city as dangers in Tripoli increase (that would be “the shores of Tripoli, eh?) \u00a0<\/strong>With armed groups battling for control of Libya, the eastern town of Tobruk \u2014 with its well-protected natural port, close-knit tribal society and the absence of militias \u2014 has become one of the safest places to seek refuge. The city has become the unlikely center for a broad range of politicians, activists and military figures hoping to take back the Libyan state.<\/p>\n

In August, Libya\u2019s parliament moved to Tobruk, with members saying they were facing a constant risk of violence in the capital. Dozens of politicians, journalists and activists in Tripoli have been arrested, kidnapped or killed, a trend that has only intensified since a loose alliance of mainly Islamist militias going under the name of Libya Dawn took control of most of the city several weeks ago.<\/p>\n

This port city of 200,000 was little prepared for its new role as a strategic hub for those in retreat. There are only five hotels, so the authorities initially rented a Greek car ferry to house the overflow, while they tried to find more permanent accommodations.<\/p>\n

The previous Libyan parliament, dominated by members sympathetic to Libya Dawn, continues to meet in Tripoli \u00a0 \u00a0 www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/tripoli-is-so-dangerous-that-even-libyas-parliament-has-moved-out\/2014\/10\/03\/9952b54e-4053-11e4-b03f-de718edeb92f_story.html?hpid=z13<\/a><\/p>\n

The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Children<\/a>Detroit black Infant Mortality<\/strong>: The department’s latest figure for Detroit alone, from 2012, was between 13.6 and 17.4 for every 1,000 babies born in the city.<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong> www.mlive.com\/news\/detroit\/index.ssf\/2014\/10\/one_in_six_detroit_babies_born.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cuba infant Mortality rate: 4.7<\/em> \u00a0http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate<\/strong><\/p>\n

One in 45 children experience homelessness in America each year. That’s over 1.6 million children. <\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>While homeless, they experience high rates of acute and chronic health problems. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experience also has profound effects on their development and ability to learn. (Fact Sheet here\u00a0http:\/\/www.familyhomelessness.org\/children.php?p=ts)<\/p>\n

Forbes: It’s Good to be Really Rich and Get Richer \u00a0<\/strong>Thanks to a buoyant stock market, the richest people in the U.S. just keep getting richer. That has made it harder than ever to join the ranks of the 400 wealthiest Americans. The price of entry to The Forbes 400 this year is $1.55 billion, the highest it\u2019s been since Forbes started tracking American wealth in 1982. Last year it took $1.3 billion to score a spot. Because the bar is so high, 113 U.S. billionaires didn\u2019t make the cut…All together the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a staggering $2.29 trillion, up $270 billion from a year ago. That\u2019s about the same as the gross domestic product of Brazil, a country of 200 million people. The average net worth of list members is $5.7 billion, $700 million more than last year and a record high. An impressive 303 of the 400 saw the value of their fortunes rise compared to a year ago. Only 36 people from last year\u2019s list had lower net worths this year. Twenty-six people fell off the list; another six people died, including businessman and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer. \u00a0http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryadolan\/2014\/09\/29\/inside-the-2014-forbes-400-facts-and-figures-about-americas-wealthiest\/<\/p>\n

\"Depression<\/a>Palm Beach Crows About its Rich Residents (Koch Tops) <\/strong>With a net worth of $42.9 billion, energy magnate David Koch remains the richest Palm Beacher on the latest Forbes 400 list of the nation\u2019s wealthiest residents.His No. 4 rank is unchanged from last year.But plenty of other islanders saw their rankings shift \u2014 often for the better \u2014 on the annual list, which is based on individual net worth as estimated by Forbes researchers. An improving economy and a bullish stock market have been a boon for those whose wealth revolves largely on growth industries and investments.<\/p>\n

Koch is the only one of 28 islanders who earned a spot in the Top 30 on the list, which was released Monday. His net worth, which rose from $36 billion last year, is tied with that of his brother, Charles, who doesn\u2019t own property here. Leading the list \u2014 for the 21st time \u2014 is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose $81.2-billion net worth is nearly double that of each Koch brother.David Koch\u2019s twin brother, Palm Beacher William \u201cBill\u201d Koch, is also on the list, in 178th place. His net worth of $3.2 billion is largely unchanged from last year. As a result, a number of other billionaires elbowed their way past him to higher ranks, dropping him from the No. 122 spot he occupied on the 2013 list. – See more at: www.palmbeachdailynews.com\/news\/news\/local\/palm-beach-fortunes-soar-amid-forbes-400\/nhY56\/#sthash.IlwzTtev.dpuf<\/a><\/p>\n

How the Rich Get Rich by Making people Poorer: Walmart Guts Health benefits for 30,000\u00a0<\/strong>Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that starting Jan. 1, it will no longer offer health insurance to employees who work less than an average of 30 hours a week. The move affects 30,000 employees, or about 5 percent of Wal-Mart’s total part-time workforce, but comes after the company already had scaled back the number of part-time workers who were eligible for health insurance coverage since 2011.<\/p>\n

The announcement follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot and others to completely eliminate health insurance benefits for part-time employees. It also comes a day after Wal-Mart said it is teaming up with an online health insurance agency called DirectHealth.com<\/a> to help customers shop for health insurance plans.<\/p>\n

“We had to make some tough decisions,” Sally Welborn, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of benefits, told The Associated Press. \u00a0http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Business\/wireStory\/wal-mart-cuts-health-benefits-part-timers-26015112<\/p>\n

\"Dow<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dow Is Now In The Red For 2014<\/strong> \u00a0Friday’s 115-point sell-off in the Dow Jones Industrial Average sent the 30-stock index into the red for the year.<\/p>\n

Closing at 16,544, the Dow is now below its Dec. 31, 2013 close of 16,576.<\/p>\n

Some market-watchers think this is just a brief blip in the 5-year old bull market. Others warn this could be the beginning of something much scarier.<\/p>\n

One thing’s for sure: volatility is back in the markets. \u00a0Read more: www.businessinsider.com\/dow-average-negative-for-2014-2014-10#ixzz3FsV94u8O<\/a><\/p>\n

The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n