How did I miss this...

So I actually read the Opus email this morning, and discovered a hilarious video at the end. I've been really into these bad lip-reading videos since the primaries, and this one may be my new favorite...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwilbVYvUg

Ex-Marine turned teacher: 'Stop demonizing me and my profession'/ The Washington Post

“I got tired of seeing kids as victims or criminals and went back to a school to try and help them from the other side of life. I became a teacher. I took a $24k per year pay cut for this privilege. I saddled myself with 20 years of student loans. I spend in excess of $1000 a year of my own money to provide equipment and student supplies so I can do my job effectively. I take every student in my class, whether it was the year I am doing inclusion teaching or the year I have the AP kids. I turn none away nor should I. As an American citizen, It’s my task and privilege to educate everyone who comes through my school’s door. I make progress with every student but that progress cannot always be measured by a standardized test. I feed some of my kids. I’ve bought them clothing. I’ve visited them in juvie, hospitals, hospices, and at the graveside. I’ve been praised, cussed, disrespected, honored and ignored by parents and administration.

Please help me do my job for your child and community. Stop demonizing me, my profession, and my fellow teachers.” The Washington Post

Voter ID laws disenfranchise transgender voters

Reason #243,981 why fixing a nonexistent problem with voter suppression (sorry, ID) laws makes no sense: 

“‘Gender incongruent identification exposes people to a range of negative outcomes, from denial of employment, housing, and public benefits to harassment and physical violence’… This year, with the new wave of voter ID laws, problems with that atavistic M/F box may disenfranchise up to 25,000 transpeople, according to a recent study by UCLA’s Williams Institute.”

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/21/voting_while_trans/

For more information on transgender voting rights, visit http://www.votingwhiletrans.org/.

Joe Biden as a Waiter

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2012/10/01/121001sh_shouts_barol

This is a little out-dated, but its based off the DNC speech Biden made and its fantastic.

Binders upon binders

Hey guys!

To add to Katrina's post I also found some good memes that related to the "binders" comment. I think they are all pretty funny. Enjoy!

http://politicalhumor.about.com/b/2012/10/17/binders-full-of-women.htm

Binders full of women

I missed the majority of the debate last night, but looking at the responses this morning, it seems like things were different than the first time around... A more humorous part of the debate was apparently when Romney said that after Massachusetts was looking for women to fill cabinet positions, women's groups brought him "binders full of women" candidates. This remark sparked a Tumblr... A lot of the posts aren't funny, but some are, like this one.

Charlie LeDuff Eats Cat Food

If you need a good laugh.  He is a real reporter believe it or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDqu8tXrQWU

Romney Blood in England

Hey guys! I thought this was interesting and I for one didn't know that Romney's ancestors converted to Morminism in England and then later moved to the United States to follow their faith and find the "promised land". After looking at the photos, I think I would like his relatives. They all seem pretty down to Earth, maybe a little more so than their distant cousin...

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/08/14289471-mitt-romneys-english-roots-surprise-long-lost-cousins

iTunes U

Came across this app when I was updating my phone, not sure if others have seen it, but it's really interesting to see the classes that are offered and it's relevant to our class. The next thing in online education: taking classes from your cell phone...

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/

What if all debates were like this?

Democracy is alive and well in Vermont!

http://video.pbs.org/video/2287529580

Looking Ahead to Thursday

Politico: A Veep Debate That Could Really Matter

Who will come out ahead this time?

Romney Admits Pushing Misinformation In Debate

Romney Admits Pushing Misinformation In Debate

During Wednesday night’s president debate, Mitt Romney claimed that “half” of the green firms Obama invested “have gone out of business” and noted that “a number of them happened to be owned by people who were contributors to your campaigns.”

Fact checkers — including this blog — quickly pounced on the claim, explaining that only a tiny percentage of firms that received grants or loans from the Recovery Act have actually filed for bankruptcy. And now, the Romney campaign itself is walking back the GOP presidential candidate’s claim. From Michael Grunwald, author of The New New Deal: The Hidden History of Change in the Obama Era:

ICYMI: Romney camp told me (after my tweet-rants) Mitt didn’t mean to say half the #stimulus-funded green firms failed. Probably <1% so far.

Important post-debate material

Borderline inappropriate but..

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-gangnam-style-parody

This is clearly why Romney is failing.

Once again, we hear of the great advantages for people of color in presidential elections:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-romney-running-out-of-clock/2012/10/01/55922ea4-0bec-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html?hpid=z7
 

Where else have we heard this recently..?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/opinion/navarrette-romney-latino/index.html
 

 Won't someone think of the rich white men who want to be President? 

Liberal Arts vs. Internships

Came across this article when I was looking for one for Wednesday's class. Thought it was interesting both because of the discussion we've been having about internships and credit, and the article actually focuses on NESCAC schools.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/20/study-finds-liberal-arts-colleges-hesitant-about-awarding-credit-internships

Debate Questions

Hey guys! I found this article and thought it was interesting, especially since the debate is this week! Hope you all find it interesting too!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/spitzer/2012/09/28/presidential_debate_the_four_questions_obama_and_romney_must_answer_.html

 

Out of the mouths of babes.....profanity and political discourse...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/09/27/samuel_l_jackson_to_obama_supporters_wake_the_f_ck_up_.html

Stay Nonpartisan, My Friends

People in my office were looking at this and I thought it was pretty funny!!! Enjoy!\

The Politics of Beer: Stay Nonpartisan, My Friends

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/09/the-politics-of-3.php

F*** Prison I'm a Party Rapper

It's hard to explain, but it works.

This is a little odd to read in the 21st century

Mom angry that male vice principal spanked child

"While paddling in public schools has been outlawed by 31 states, as well as by Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that it was legal unless it has abolished by local authorities, according to the web site Corpun.com.

It is legal in 19 states; efforts to ban it in Wyoming, North Carolina, Louisiana and Texas failed. However, in 2011 laws were introduced in both Texas and North Carolina giving parents the right to exempt their students from paddling." 

On the 47%--a comic smack down, like shooting fish in a barrel....it's too easy....you almost feel sorry for him, but he did say all those things....http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/19/13963038-romneys-47-percent-tape-is-comedy-gold-for-jon-stewart-stephen-colbert

FiveThirtyEight

Just throwing this out there. I don't know if anyone else reads 538 blog, but I subscribe to it religiously. Their election forecasts are updated daily to reflect the current state of the race.

Believe it or Not...

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/mittromney/ig/Mitt-Romney-Pictures/Romney-and-Bush.htm

I thought this was kind of funny, also kind of scary. Enjoy!

U Didn't Build That

U Didn't Build That: A rap by President Barack Obama

Mitt Romney on the 47%

Here’s a fun clip of Mitt Romney sharing his thoughts about Obama voters at a private fundraiser earlier this year. He says, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them…My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

I'm not at all surprised by his comments, but I am curious to see if/how he responds to this video. My guess is he'll call it a petty distraction from "serious, economic issues."

I came by this by way of a friend.  Thought it was fitting to the semester's topic of study. 

In honor of this week's debate...

As many of you probably know, this week's debate is on the Affordable Care Act. This summer, when the SCOTUS decision came out, I was working in a campaign field office shared by Organizing for America (AKA Obama's peeps). Everyone was quite excited by the ruling, and we sent around this blog:
http://whenscotusupheldobamacare.tumblr.com/
I think there are a few funny posts, so check it out if you want...

Military Members Involved in Shooting Rampage

This article reminded me of the discussion about whether or not the government should implement more extensive background checks on people who would like to have a gun... "Are Military Hate Groups on the Rise?"

“In early August, two National Guardsmen on trial said that they joined the military for the specific purpose of receiving training that they could use for skinhead activities. The same month, a shooting rampage at a SikhTemple in Wisconsin that killed six was allegedly committed by an Army veteran with a long history of white supremacist involvement."

 

 

 

Interesting social experiment for k-12 education and the effects on a community

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/magazine/kalamazoo-mich-the-city-that-pays-for-college.html?pagewanted=1

iPhone 5 and Keynesian Economics

Analysts at JP Morgan released a report that argues that Apple's release of the iPhone 5 could potentially increase GDP growth in Q4 by 1/4-1/2 percentage points.

How?!?
1. The report projected that, given last year's 4S sales, Apple will sell an enormous amount of phones in the 4th quarter, given the fact that the iPhone 5 launch is expected to be bigger.
2. Although iPhones are manufactured overseas, the majority of the price you pay is domestic value-added (retail, advertising, profits).

Is the JP Morgan report convincing? If so, what does it say about the state of the U.S. economy?

Krugman is calling it "The iPhone Stimulus"

The Truth?

The Romney/Ryan campaign strategy seems to involve laying out broad principles and telling the American people they'll worry about the details after the election. Can they win the race without talking specifics? This short video mashup says it all.

The Words They Used

The Words They Used

Pretty cool interactive feature on the NYTimes website that tracked the most used words at both conventions. Click on any word find excerpts from speeches!

#whenindc

If anyone hasn't seen this yet, it's pretty funny (what I can relate to of it, anyways)

#whenindc

The lack of teachers reflects students' productivity

Florida Schools In Session, But Teachers Absent



Thousands of students in Florida are starting the school year without permanent teachers.

"math tutor Ronnie Padilla is filling in as the French teacher. There's only one problem: He doesn't speak any French. Across from his classroom, Alma Cendejas — the school's front-desk receptionist — is filling in as the Spanish teacher until the school can find one."

And yet Florida expects for students to get good grades, be motivated to go to school, and even better... graduate and make the state proud? 

With out teacher how are students going to learn? If they don't see any progress, how are they going to be motivated? What makes the government believe that students are not going to just "wing it," if that's what the subs due?

Steve Bridges = the man

Unfortunately I only heard about this guy after he died a few months ago. His videos are seriously funny though: how many people (ever) have shared the stage with a sitting president with the sole purpose of making fun of said president? Steve did just that with Bush a couple years back, and did a great job too.

Steve also did a great Obama impersonation, proving that it's possible to make fun of the chief and still be funny. 

It's really too bad he isn't around, I'm sure he'd do a great Romney impression too.

"Wow. Does anybody ever ask that question?"

Apparently it's still necessary to ask women if they can handle simultaneous political careers and motherhood since, you know, it's 1950. Props to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for her calm demeanor and quality responses after a reporter asked her questions of this incredibly sexist nature not just once, but three times. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/chicago-sun-times-pursues-politician-who-dares-to-be-a-mom/2012/09/07/f76732e6-f928-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_blog.html

Heard on "Wait, wait, don't tell me":  "Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention was probably the only gun show those delegates had ever attended."

Polling the twitter-verse

While it's too early to tell the effects of President Obama's convention speech, at least we know the speech garnered 52,757 tweets per minute! 

This is what Obama might have been saying (and thinking) last Thursday night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv7k2_lc0M&fb_source=message