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| Former CPS art teacher Francisco Mendoza (wearing hat), talks with friends and well-wishers during an auction of donated art items for his benefit held at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago on February 27, 2011 . Mendoza has cancer and was fired last summer by CPS. l Keith Hale~Sun-Times |
Several days ago, I had to laugh to myself when I read an early interview with Gov. Scott Walker in the New York Times.
“I’m not going to be intimidated,” Walker pontificated, “particularly by people from other places.”
He then reiterated that theme when he gave his so-called “fireside chat” a few days later.
The implication, of course, was that many of those pro-union demonstrators who descended on the state Capitol weren’t really from Wisconsin. “People from other places” -- outsiders, if you will -- are to be dismissed by our esteemed governor.
To be sure, people from all parts of the country, appalled by the blatant union-busting that Walker unleashed on the once proud progressive state of Wisconsin, did come to Madison, among them civil rights icon Jesse Jackson and the national president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, and thousands of
A West Virginia community gets wiped off the map.
Read more: Kevin Drum on how screwing unions screws the middle class, and 11 charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.
From a chair on the porch of her home in a hollow deep in the Appalachians, Lora can see the top of Montcoal Mountain being blasted off. The explosions a mile and a half away ruffle her curtains, rattle family photos in her living room, and may be why her walls are laced with cracks. A fine gray dust settles on the steps as fast as she can sweep it off. The noise and "fly rock" raining down have forced her daughter and dozens of neighbors to sell their houses
Hoosiers, Stand Up! | 
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Breaking News: Actor and activist Danny Glover will join the rally today at the the Indiana State Capitol.
Here’s the latest from the Indiana State AFL-CIO.
Over the past week, events at the Indiana Statehouse have been moving at a mile a minute.
Hoosiers from across the state have been mobilizing to fight against the anti-worker agenda being pushed in the General Assembly. More than 25,000 working men and women rallied at the Indiana Statehouse, voicing their opposition to legislation that seeks to limit collective bargaining, lower wages and weaken the voice of workers in their workplace. “The working people of Indiana have shown this week that they demand to be heard,” said Nancy Guyott, president of the Indian
Today we start a week of ISAT testing. I’m just sayin’.
In New York, Bloomberg is threatening to layoff thousands of teachers. Some schools would lose half their faculty.
Union leaders dismissed the layoff document as a scare tactic from Bloomberg, who last year called off planned teacher layoffs.
Teachers union President Michael Mulgrew – who supports the current seniority
"...we've seen our brothers and sisters in the public employees unions willing to give their share, and to negotiate in good faith to help their states get through tough times. But the governors in Wisconsin and Ohio aren't just asking workers to tighten their belts, they're demanding that they give up their uniquely American rights as workers." -- Labor Sec. Hilda SolisWalker can thank Rhee
"But Walker's argument - that greedy teachers are putting their own interests over the interests of
It started with someone praising Donald Trump for saying that the first thing he would do is put a tariff on Chinese goods if he was to be elected President. And I replied…
NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO. The problem with the items from China is not that the jobs are going there. They have a per-capita income that is 1/10 of what ours is. They have the economic advantage and should make the stuff. The problem IS…, when the stuff comes back, that it still cost what it did when it was made here. If it was sold at a price that reflected the actual cost of production, it would cost about 1/10 of what it used to cost. Our standard of living does NOT have to drop. The prices of those goods must drop. The Chinese are not the demons here, it is the CEOs who are selling you $3.00 Nike running shoes for $150. It is GE selling you a Profile gas range that was made in Mexico, for a hundred dollars max, for $1,000. THAT
The standoff in Wisconsin continues this morning, two weeks after it began, and all the weekend news is good for the opponents of Governor Scott Walker’s budget bill.
The Democrats in the state senate remain united in their determination to block passage of the bill, and widespread rumors Sunday claimed that they’d picked up their first defection from the other side. Twitter wasabuzz yesterday evening with claims that Republican state senator Dale Schultz was planning to vote against the bill, though reporters were unable to reach Schultz or anyone from his office last night.
A dramatic showdown was averted yesterday afternoon as police withdrew an order for protesters camped out in the capitol building to vacate the premises. State officials had declared a 4 pm deadline for the building to be cleared, but after that deadline came and went with hundreds of people still peacefully occupying the
Dear Mr. Mayor,
I just wanted to thank you for the welcome back to school you had waiting for me in the papers today. I’m assuming, though, that before that, you’d want to know how my vacation was?
Like many teachers, it wasn’t a vacation at all. I spent the week preparing to teach a new unit on revolutions in global history. I have taught this unit before, but the events in the Middle East are far too relevant to ignore, so I spent hours finding just the right video clips and news articles to show my students that people do have power to change their lives and environments. As I finished up yesterday evening, I was more excited to teach today than I had been in a long time, even though the first day back from break is always one of the most challenging.
But you see, here’s the rub: I am not thinking about teaching today anymore. I’m not really thinking much about my students, either. I’m trying to figure out who the five teachersare at my school are who could be laid off. Our first-year history and math teachers are obvious, but I’m not sure who the other three are. We have Spanish, English, and health teachers who are new to our school, but I can’t remember how many years they have in the system. We have a third-year history teacher who is on the border; could he be in danger? Or maybe it’s the fourth-year P.E. teacher who is about to become a first-time father this month? The doubt is all I can focus on right now.
And if that’s all I’m thinking about this morning, I can only imagine what it’s like for the seven of them. I can’t imagine they will be able to focus on their students this morning,
