STEPHANIE SIMON, - Reuters
Stephan: There are certain Theocratic Rightist states that are so benighted they constitute virtually other countries when compared to Northwest or Northeastern U.S.
Year after year, decade after decade the policies of the Rightists grind down the mass of citizens in these states. This is not a partisan comment, it can be seen in the social outcomes. (See Social Values, Social Wellness http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307%2811%2900346-6/fulltext) Louisiana is one of these backward states, and it is about to get much worse. We are going to get to see exactly what the conservative educational voucher model produces.
One would think that citizens in other states would look at what the policies of the Right produce, but it doesn't seem to happen -- witness the current Presidential race, or the Wisconsin recall election. It may be that Americans just aren't up to democracy anymore.
Louisiana is embarking on the nation’s boldest experiment in privatizing public education, with the state preparing to shift tens of millions in tax dollars out of the public schools to pay private industry, businesses owners and church pastors to educate children.
Starting this fall, thousands of poor and middle-class kids will get vouchers covering the full cost of tuition at more than 120 private schools across Louisiana, including small, Bible-based church schools.
The following year, students of any income will be eligible for mini-vouchers that they can use to pay a range of private-sector vendors for classes and apprenticeships not offered in traditional public schools. The money can go to industry trade groups, businesses, online schools and tutors, among others.
Every time a student receives a voucher of either type, his local public school will lose a chunk of state funding.
‘We are changing the way we deliver education,’ said Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican who muscled the plan through the legislature this spring over fierce objections from Democrats and teachers unions. ‘We are letting parents decide what’s best for their children, not government.’
BIBLE-BASED MATH BOOKS
The concept of opening public schools to competition from the private sector has been widely promoted in recent years […]
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Stephan: This is a teaching story showing citizen choice affecting a major business change in a life-affirming way. Yes, I know, the pigs still get eaten, but I do not think people are going to stop eating pigs. At least in this scenario the pigs have a better life. And the people eating the pork will be healthier as well.
Ronlyn and I go to Costco about once a month for a number of basics -- their organic virgin oil is amongst the best available. Over the months we have noticed how many organic eco-sensitive options are appearing. Everything from soaps to organic chicken breasts locally grown. What we buy, the choices we make, if focused properly can make change happen.
It’s no longer just foodies at farm markets or Whole Foods buying antibiotic-free, pasture-raised meats.
Increased demand is coming from lots of big players, including Hyatt Hotels; institutional food providers such as Bon Appetit Management Co., which caters to schools and companies; and the fast-food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. And it’s changing the game.
In fact, this year, Chipotle, which is growing so quickly that it’s opening about three new locations each week, will slowly braise and sell about 120 million pounds of naturally raised pork, chicken and beef that meets its antibiotic-free standards.
The company’s transition to antibiotic-free meat began more than a decade ago when Chipotle realized its pork wasn’t selling very well. And Steve Ells, the founder, wanted to make some changes.
He stumbled upon an article called ‘The Lost Taste of Pork’ in The Art of Eating, a boutiquey, food-lover’s journal, which detailed the practices of Paul Willis, a family farmer in Iowa. Willis raises pigs on pasture, the old-fashioned way. At the time, Willis’ methods were a radical departure from the large, industrial operations that confine pigs indoors and feed them regular doses of antibiotics.
In the article, published back in 1999, writer Edward Behr described a thick pork chop […]
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JENNIFER CHAMBERS, - The Detroit News
Stephan: This marijuana trend has become fascinating. At the state level legislatures, and even courts, are clearly seeking to contrive a rational policy in this area. Meanwhile for reasons that are not truly clear, at least to me, the Obama Administration is creating havoc in what was an emerging non-criminal partially medical -- different kinds of grass do different things (See the SR archive) -- partially wine industry agri business.
These two trends, the federal and the states, are basically on a collusion course. Have already collided. And they are intertwined with the emerging prison privatization movement.
In a major ruling on Michigan’s controversial medical marijuana act, the Michigan Supreme Court said Thursday the 2008 voter-approved law provides legal protection from prosecution, even for users who did not obtain state-issued medical marijuana cards.
In a 34-page ruling, the court said the law provides an affirmative defense to ‘individuals who are not registered cardholding patients to assert the affirmative defense’ in any criminal prosecution involving marijuana.
‘Because the MMMA (Michigan Medical Marijuana Act) was the result of a voter initiative, our goal is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the electorate, rather than the Legislature, as reflected in the language of the law itself. We must give the words of the MMMA their ordinary and plain meaning as would have been understood by the electorate,’ the opinion said.
Michael Komorn, an attorney specializing in medical marijuana cases and the president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, said the ruling from Michigan’s high court now means that defendants in criminal cases will be allowed to present a defense to a jury that their use of marijuana was for medical purposes.
‘Up to this point the Court of Appeals decisions have eliminated and eradicated the right of the people to present […]
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COLLEEN CURRY, - ABC News
Stephan: There just is no bottom to this story. You just can't make this up. And remember to place this revelation in the context of the bishops attacks on the nuns for spending too much time doing was Jesus said to do, and not enough on the bishops' anti-gay, anti-choice agenda; as well as their inquisition of the Girl Scouts.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the archdiocese of New York is keeping quiet today after his old diocese, the archdiocese of Milwaukee, confirmed that under his leadership the church paid individual sums of $20,000 to priests accused of molesting children.
Dolan, who became a cardinal in February and serves as the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is recorded discussing the payments in the minutes of financial committee meetings in 2003, documents released as the Milwaukee archdioecese goes through bankruptcy court in Wisconsin.
The archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed to the Associated Press Wednesday that the church paid the priests money to voluntarily sign papers to leave the priesthood because it was cheaper and faster than removing them by other administrative routes, which would have included going through the Vatican.
‘In 2002, the Church affirmed that priest offenders should no longer be functioning as priests in any capacity and having someone seek laicization voluntarily is faster and less expensive and it made sense to try and move these men out of the priesthood as quickly as possible,’ Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf told local news station WTMJ-TV.
The Milwaukee diocese did not return calls from ABC News today seeking comment.
Priest’s ‘Son’ Claims Sex […]
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GREG ROSALSKY, - The Huffington Post
Stephan: Eleven hundred -- 1,100 -- bills limiting women's reproductive rights have been introduced into the Congress and state legislators. I have read about 200 of them; you can get them from the various legislative websites. Most are modeled, sometimes word for word, on example legislative drafts written by ALEC. You cannot read these bills without concluding they are a coordinated, intentioned, purposeful attempt to limit not just the right to abortion, but to have access to contraception.
Yet conservatives have understood what social progressives have not. It you tell a lie often enough, and loudly enough, a lot of people will believe you, and another large group will be confused. Here is the evidence.
Only three in ten women believe there is currently a broad-based campaign to limit their access to reproductive health care, a new poll shows.
The survey, conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care research organization, found that 31 percent of women believe there is an ongoing and ‘wide scale effort to limit women’s reproductive health choices and services.’ A larger portion, 45 percent, believe that some groups are actively working against female health services, but that the effort is not quite ‘wide scale.’
The Kaiser poll follows months of controversy over recent legislative maneuvers at the federal and state levels to limit access to and funding for reproductive services for women, as well as broader spending cuts that disproportionately affect women. The poll’s findings could be an indication of the difficulty that women’s rights organizations are having in sounding an alarm about their concerns.
Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, told The Huffington Post that since the 2010 midterm elections — when House Republicans, led by new Speaker John Boehner, began to pursue policies she characterized as against women’s interests — it has been ‘like pushing a very large rock up a very steep hill […]
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