No more Texas governors for president

GET OUT THE VOTE BY PHONE-BANKING!

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:10:08 -0400

Coastal Bend Young Democrats, we need you ALL to get involved and do some phone-banking! Help out the Democratic candidates by asking to help them get out the vote. Contact them through Facebook or ask US and we’ll put you in touch with a campaign that needs volunteers…there can never be enough!

DO IT. Your city, your state and your country needs you.

Kid's book confirms plot point of The Dark Knight Rises

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:10:02 -0400

dcwomenkickingass:

Remember how I brought you the first look the set of children’s books based on The Dark Knight Rises?

The books are going to be released on June 5 and Harper Collins, the publisher, already has some of the descriptions up for the book and it confirms a plot point.

Spoilers follow:

Read More

quickhits: Stand-your-ground laws make it easier to ‘get away...

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:08:43 -0400

quickhits:

Stand-your-ground laws make it easier to ‘get away with murder.’

USA Today:

By now, the scene is familiar: Two men get into an altercation — one black, one Hispanic. One is armed with a handgun and shoots the other dead.

The victim is unarmed; the shooter claims self-defense and walks free.

For more than a month, the victim’s family waits to see whether authorities will file charges against the shooter.

Except this tragedy did not play out in Sanford, Fla., where an unarmed black teen was shot and killed by a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer. It occurred in a Taco Bell parking lot in Phoenix on April 3, when a black driver and an Hispanic pedestrian got into a shouting match and the driver shot the pedestrian dead.

As in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, where police did not arrest George Zimmerman for 45 days, a stand-your-ground law is influencing law enforcement action in the Phoenix shooting. Since Trayvon’s death, these laws — and how they are applied by police and prosecutors — are under renewed scrutiny.

Here’s the terrifying part:

If there are no witnesses and the victim is dead, or if the evidence is conflicting, the chances are greater that someone can “get away with murder,” Savannah Law School professor Elizabeth Megale.

“The statute can be used and distorted by hard-core criminals or someone who has committed a crime,” she says. “Most times, someone will get arrested if the other person does not die. … It’s ironic. If someone dies, the other person is less likely to get arrested.”

John Roman, a fellow with the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, analyzed homicides in the U.S. from 2005 to 2009. He found that homicides are twice as likely to be ruled justifiable in stand-your-ground states than in those without such laws.

Stand-your-ground is not only a license to kill, but there’s a legal incentive to kill. Supporters of these laws say they keep citizens safe, but if you get into an argument with some jackass and he shoots you, the smartest thing to do from a legal perspective is make sure you’re dead.

Feel safer now? If so, you’re a complete idiot.

amprog: Often the most conservative states are the least...

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:06:41 -0400

amprog:

Often the most conservative states are the least family-friendly. The National Partnership for Women and Families made this map report card to show which states have the worst policies for families and new parents. So much for “traditional family values”!

(Source: nationalpartnership.org)

The Power of Tumblr. The Beauty of Strangers.

Sun, 27 May 2012 01:30:48 -0400

detroitsomething:

My name is Ray Stoeser. I am a high school teacher living and working in Detroit. Below is a testament to the power of Tumblr and social networking. Most importantly it is about how 554 complete strangers helped change the lives of my Detroit students.

The Power of Tumblr. The Beauty of Strangers.

Read More

Diane Tran isn’t like most seventeen-year-old girls her...

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:54:00 -0400

Diane Tran isn’t like most seventeen-year-old girls her age. Sure, there are many honors students taking dual credit U.S. History, dual credit English Literacy, College Algebra, Spanish Language AP. Sure there are some who work part time and full time jobs like Diane does at a dry cleaners and a wedding venue. But Diane does all of this to support herself and her two siblings.

Diane Tran’s parents divorced and abandoned her family, leaving her the responsibility of providing for them. She is a victim of numerous failures and disappointments by the adults around her. A teacher or authority figure should have reached out to her and made sure she didn’t slip through the cracks, but no one did. Somehow she’s not just an extraordinary worker and student, she’s an extraordinary human being with a fighting spirit.

The reason why we should care about her is this: The state of Texas is sentencing a young girl to a night of jail for being too emotionally and physically exhausted to go to school. The institutions that are to provide resources to youth and ensure justice are punishing her with a $100 fine and a criminal record.

Please tell Judge Lanny Moriarty, the State of Texas, and the U.S.A. to make sure that the future leaders of our nation are looked after and taken care of.

Thank you.

demnewswire: Nevadans are fired up and ready to go! Get more on...

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:17:49 -0400

demnewswire:

Nevadans are fired up and ready to go!

Get more on how you can volunteer in the Silver State and join the campaign here.

Twitter: @OFA_NV

Facebook: facebook.com/ofa.nevada

nv.barackobama.com

obamaeatingburgers: Dude. My eyes are up here. Jeez!

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:53:42 -0400

obamaeatingburgers:

Dude. My eyes are up here. Jeez!

Honoring Justice Sonia Sotomayor Justice Sotomayor rose from...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:53:00 -0400

Honoring Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Justice Sotomayor rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to take a seat in the highest court in the United States.

By nominating her to the Supreme Court, President Obama demonstrated his commitment to diversifying the federal judiciary in terms of race, gender, and life experiences — under President Obama, more women, African Americans, and Hispanics have been confirmed as judges than under Presidents Bush and Clinton.

President Obama is ready to fight for our community, and make sure our children can grow up to be the next Supreme Court justices if they want to be, regardless of their background.

Join us in honoring the anniversary of Justice Sotomayor’s nomination. Watch this video, and share your story on why you’re a Latino for Obama:https://my.barackobama.com/justicesotomayorvid

dcwomenkickingass: Barbara Gordon Will Call You Out On Your...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:51:45 -0400

dcwomenkickingass:

Barbara Gordon Will Call You Out On Your Sexist Crap

In today’s Young Justice Batgirl has some thoughts about Nightwing having to explain why all female team is being deployed.

A nice brief overview of where the Wisconsin recall stands right now

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:37:57 -0400

A nice brief overview of where the Wisconsin recall stands right now

motherjones: Half of Scott Walker’s Cash Comes From...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:37:28 -0400

motherjones:

Half of Scott Walker’s Cash Comes From Out-of-State Dark-Money Donors

The latest from Andy Kroll in Wisconsin, where out-of-state campaign donations in the Walker recall election make up a staggeringly high 57% of all donations.

quickhits: The conservative PC zombie clone herd. Paul...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:32:48 -0400

quickhits:

The conservative PC zombie clone herd.

Paul Krugman:

Remember the furor over liberal political correctness? Yes, some of it was over the top — but it was mainly silly, not something that actually warped our national discussion.

Today, however, the big threat to our discourse is right-wing political correctness, which — unlike the liberal version — has lots of power and money behind it. And the goal is very much the kind of thing Orwell tried to convey with his notion of Newspeak: to make it impossible to talk, and possibly even think, about ideas that challenge the established order.

Thus, even talking about “the wealthy” brings angry denunciations; we’re supposed to call them “job creators”. Even talking about inequality is “class warfare”.

Krugman goes on to describe how this is most visible in attacks on education; “even talking about ‘immigration and ethnicity’ or ‘environmental history’ becomes part of a left-wing conspiracy.” It’s a Soviet-style rewriting of history, where “counter-revolutionary” (i.e., contrary to party doctrine) facts are airbrushed out of textbooks. He uses attacks on higher ed as an example, but let’s not forget the Texas textbook controversy, where the state of Texas decided it would be a good idea to produce the most poorly informed high school students in the nation. Or the Tennessee Tea Party demanding that kids stop being taught about slavery.

The idea is simple; remove all inconvenient facts from American life and rhetoric. And leave only those facts (or “facts”) that make conservatives look good. One people, one mind, one hive.

think-progress: The austerity survival guide. “In the event of...

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:21:39 -0400

think-progress:

The austerity survival guide. “In the event of economic collapse…”

via the NYT

BLOGGING via TYPEWRITER.: Help one of my students pay for their AP exam! Thank you!!

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:19:00 -0400

BLOGGING via TYPEWRITER.: Help one of my students pay for their AP exam! Thank you!!:

inothernews:

Fellow Tumblrers — please feel free to help Ray and his students out, if you can!

detroitsomething:

Dear followers, teachers, and the Tumblr #education community,

My name is Ray Stoeser and I am a second year English teacher at Crockett Technical High School in Detroit, MI. This year I had the amazing opportunity to be the AP Language and Composition instructor for our school. I work with some of the most amazing students you could meet. Their hunger, passion, and dedication to their education is truly special.

At the beginning of the year, the school told me they would be covering the cost of the AP exams. We are a high poverty school and even the reduced $57 fee per exam is hefty for some of our students’ families. When the time came to order the exams, I was informed that the school was out of funds and would be unable to pay for the exams. I was heartbroken. How was I going to tell my 22 students that they were not going to take the exam for which they had worked so hard to prepare?

I couldn’t.

With less than 24 hours before we had to order the exams, I told the administration to order all 22 exams. College Board wasn’t going to send the bill until mid-June so that gave me some time to find some donations.

On May 16th the students took their exams and returned to my class excited and confident about their results!

That being said, we still need to pay the bill. My class and I are accepting donations and/or sponsors for the exams. I have 22 students and the exams are $57 each. We would graciously accept any denomination. Also, if you would like to pick one of the 22 students and sponsor their individual exam with a $57 donation that student would be happy to send you a personalized “thank you.”

Here are some of the students you would be helping!

To donate please click here.

Class Roster

Demetria

Charles

Davina

Tyquan

Derek

Andrea

Curtia

Paula

Dakharia

Khalid

Khalil

Leon

Desmond

Taja

Equan

Ariel

Shayla

Capri

Deshont’A

Tara

D’Nika

Mack

Thank you for helping these students take one step closer to college!!!

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

raymond.stoeser@detroitk12.org

raystoeser@gmail.com

To donate please click here.

demnewswire: This campaign will be only as strong as our...

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:01:48 -0400

demnewswire:

This campaign will be only as strong as our volunteers—folks like you from all 50 states who are willing to lend their time and their talents to keep changing our country for the better.

Are you ready to help shape the campaign in your community?

Take the first step by signing up now.

http://bit.ly/volunteer12

Racebending.com: Dear "Colorblind" people,

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:40:00 -0400

Racebending.com: Dear "Colorblind" people,:

ladyatheist:

Sciences says you’re probably racist:

http://news.illinois.edu/news/10/0421online.html

“If you subscribe to a color-blind racial ideology, you don’t think that race or racism exists, or that it should exist,” Tynes said. “You are more likely to think that people who talk about race and racism are the ones who perpetuate it. You think that racial problems are just isolated incidents and that people need to get over it and move on. You’re also not very likely to support affirmative action, and probably have a lower multi-cultural competence.”

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cou/47/1/59/

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a conceptually grounded scale to assess cognitive aspects of color-blind racial attitudes. Five studies on the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS) with over 1,100 observations provide initial reliability and validity data. Specifically, results from an exploratory factor analysis suggest a 3-factor solution: Unawareness of Racial Privilege, Institutional Discrimination, and Blatant Racial Issues. A confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the 3-factor model is a good fit of the data and is the best of the competing models. The CoBRAS was positively related to other indexes of racial attitudes as well as 2 measures of belief in a just world, indicating that greater endorsement of color-blind racial attitudes was related to greater levels of racial prejudice and a belief that society is just and fair. Self-reported CoBRAS attitudes were sensitive to diversity training.

If you really don’t want don’t want to be racist, you should actively discuss race and racial privilege. It is especially important that you discuss race if you’re a parent or work with kids, because it will help children to be more aware of social issues.

Obama Eating Burgers mentioned on Serious Eats. Thanks for the love, guys!

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:37:39 -0400

Obama Eating Burgers mentioned on Serious Eats. Thanks for the love, guys!:

obamaeatingburgers:

Thanks to rzaplayingchess for following me!...

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:15:16 -0400

Thanks to rzaplayingchess for following me! :)

jsmooth995:

rzaplayingchess:

“i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, god. the brotha jay smooth has the most funny, insightful, and educational chess commentary in the game, nahmsayin’? the way he deconstructs the complexities of chess in our society in a way that is accessible to both novice player and grandmaster alike - it’s something to be admired, son. word is bond.”

LOL. I was actually supposed to play RZA at this event! But he had to leave early. BTW the woman next to me is Irina Krush, one of the best players in the world and winner of the 2012 US Women’s Chess Championship.

"Progress is not the practice of those in the business of sweeping success. Progress overawes—but its..."

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:12:00 -0400

“

Progress is not the practice of those in the business of sweeping success. Progress overawes—but its work is slow and grim. Progress waits on people to die, and more enlightened people to take their place. Progress works even as the unenlightened abound, but find their ranks thinned and their positions exposed.

Specifically, democratic progress is not revolution and can never be the gospel of people who measures success by complete victories achieved in singular life-times. Instead it is reserved for those who are unrelenting in struggle, patient beyond their mortal coil, and willing to wage wars across generations.

… If you will allow me to express this by analogy, I would say it like this: Moving from the “marrying your daughters” phase of the struggle to the “how come there’s no white history month?” portion is exactly how progress works.

”

- Ta-Nehisi Coates, explaining how 50 Cent’s ambiguous support of marriage equality still denotes a major advance for gay rights. (via theatlantic)