Thursday, November 21, 2013

The wife………………………..


*    I've just installed strobe lights in the bedroom. It makes the wife look
like she's moving during sex.
________________________________________________________________________
*    The wife's back on the warpath again. Last night she said she wanted to make a sex movie, and all I did was suggest we should hold auditions for her
part.
________________________________________________________________________

*   My sister-in-law sat on my glasses and broke them. It was my own fault. I
should have taken them off.
________________________________________________________________________

*    I spent a couple of hours defrosting the fridge last night, or "foreplay" as
she likes to call it.
________________________________________________________________________

*    After both suffering from depression for a while, the wife and I were going
to commit suicide yesterday. But strangely enough, once she killed herself,
 I started to feel a lot better. So I thought, screw it, I'll soldier on!
________________________________________________________________________
 
*    I woke up this morning at 8 and just felt that something was wrong. I got
downstairs and found the wife face down on the kitchen floor, not breathing!
 I panicked. I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered McDonald's serves breakfast until 11:30.
________________________________________________________________________

*    The other night, my wife asked me how many women I'd slept with. I told her, "Only you. All the others kept me awake all night!"
________________________________________________________________________

*    My wife packed my bags and said "GET OUT!!  As I walked out the front
door, she screamed, "I wish you a slow and painful death, you bastard!"
 "Oh," I replied, "so now you want me to stay!"
________________________________________________________________________


The International Disabilities Treaty

A lofty and noble cause, surely, but I have to ask, “What’s this going to cost us?” If you read between the lines just a little bit, you start hearing the alarm bells going off and the red flags popping up. Is this really something our Government needs to be doing right now? The best way to help disabled people the World over is to stop producing them!

21 November 2013





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
November 21, 2013

Statement from Secretary Shinseki on the Disabilities Treaty

WASHINGTON -- Ratification of the Disabilities Treaty is important to our Nation's 5.5 million disabled Veterans.





Ratification of the Disabilities Treaty is not about changing America.  It’s about helping the rest of the world raise their accessibility standards to the gold standard the United States has set through our ADA.  Ratification will help reinforce America’s global leadership role and reputation, putting us in the strongest position to advance disability rights worldwide.

By joining the treaty, we will be helping the 5.5 million Veterans with disabilities and the 50 million Americans with disabilities study and work with dignity and pursue greater opportunity abroad with the same access they enjoy at home.

I served for roughly 10 years in Europe as a disabled Soldier following my tours in Vietnam.  During that time, I had to learn to walk and run again.  I had to convince the Army that I could continue to serve, and learn to adjust to a new reality.  I recall the absence of aids for the disabled in many places where I served-ramps, lifts, automatic door openers, among other devices that are commonly available in this country.

Our disabled Veterans and service members have put their trust in our country.  Now, it’s time for our country to put its trust in them.  It’s time to ratify the Disabilities Treaty.
I urge the Senate to approve the Treaty this year.

Contact Us
Phone: 703-642-5360 || Email: Adjutant@purpleheart.org || Web: http://www.purpleheart.org


Monday, November 18, 2013

Readin', Writin', and 'Rithmetic........

                                                                                                             11/18/2013
The “dumbing” of America has just about reached its goal!

I have been writing about this very subject now for about five years. My first stab at it was an article concerning Michelle Rhee and her attempt to transform our Nation’s school system. The more I
researched this woman, the more skeptical I became about her motives and her process. It soon 
became clear to me that she was off on the wrong track. She neglected to link Corporate America 
and its money and power to the Public Education System in this Country. If I didn’t feel that this 
phenomenon was unremarkable, I wouldn’t have given it much ink. I could make a long story of it, 
here, but I will spare you the drudgery.
In a nutshell, my first-hand experience with this problem 
happened when I was able to continue my “higher” education at the ripe old age of forty three. I had 
always felt that I had received a better than average education throughout my youth. It wasn’t until I encountered students at the college level that were about half my age that I realized just how good my childhood education was.

I swear on a stack of cheeseburgers that none of these “kids” could put a complete thought down on paper. They couldn’t do Mathematics without a calculator. They had absolutely no idea what was happening socially, economically, or politically in this Country, not to mention the rest of the World. And, so it was that from that point on I was very aware that something sinister and counterproductive was going on with our Public School System. Whenever I see the likes of this “dumbing” of America, I have to ask who’s pulling the strings; 
who’s spending the money; and, who are the Power Brokers behind the scenes.
The article, below, comes to much the same conclusion as I did. Corporate 
America has had their sleazy little fingers in the pie for some forty years. 
They have executed the old “divide and conquer” theory by creating a Nation 
of numbskulls who will drink their Kool-Aide, and toe the line. What better 
Labor Force could any CEO want?


Monday, 18 November 2013 08:50
The Fraudulent 1% Campaign to Stigmatize Public Schools as "Socialist Failures"
PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Right Wing Heartland Institute President Joseph Bast called the public school system a "socialist regime." Michelle Rhee cautions us against commending students for their 'participation' in sports and other activities.Privatizers believe that any form of working together as a community is anti-American. To them, individual achievement is all that matters. They're now applying their winner-take-all profit motive to our children.

We're Sliding Backwards, Towards "Separate and Unequal"
In 1954, the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education seemed to place our country on the right track. Chief Justice Earl Warren said that education "is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms." Thurgood Marshall insisted on "the right of every American to an equal start in life."

But then we got derailed. We've become a nation of inequality, worse than ever before, worse than during the racist "separate but equal" policy of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896. The 
Civil Rights Project at UCLA shows that "segregated schools are systematically linked to unequal educational opportunities." The Economic Policy Institute tells us that "African American students are more isolated than they were 40 years ago."

The privatizers clamor for vouchers and charters to improve education, but such methods generally don't serve those who need it most. According to a 
Center on Education Policy report, private schools serve 12 percent of the nation's elementary and secondary students, but only one percent of disabled students. Forty-three percent of public school students are from minority families, compared to 24% of private school students.

Meanwhile, as teachers continue to get blamed, the 
Census Bureau tells us that an incredible 38 percent of black children live in poverty.

The Underprivileged Have Been Cheated Out Of Taxes
A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) report revealed that total K-12 education cuts for fiscal 2012 were about $12.7 billion.

Almost 
90 percent of K-12 funding comes from state and local taxes. But in 2011 and 2012, 155 of the largest U.S. corporations paid only about half of their required state taxes. That comes to $14 billion per year in unpaid taxes, more than the K-12 cuts.

Untaxed and Unqualified Foundations Want To "Save Our Schools"
The "starve the beast" mentality allows the privatizers to claim that our "Soviet-style" schools don't work, and that a business approach must be used instead. Philanthropists like Bill Gates and Eli Broad and Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family, who have   little Educational experience among them, and who have little accountability to the public, are promoting "education reform" with lots of standardized testing.

But according to the 
National Research Council, "The tests that are typically used to measure performance in education fall short of providing a complete measure of desired educational outcomes in many ways." Diane Ravitch notes that the test-based Common Core standards were developed by a Gates-funded organization with almost no public input. Desperate states had to adopt the standards to get funding.
Bill Gates may be well-intentioned, but he's a tech guy, and his programming of children into educational objects is disturbing. One of his ideas is to videotape teachers and then analyze their performances. The means of choosing 'analysts' is unclear. Another Gates idea is the Galvanic Skin Response bracelet, which would be attached to a child to measure classroom engagement, and ultimately gauge teacher performance. It all sounds like a drug company's test lab.
As noted by Ravitch and others, philanthropic organizations tend to contribute to "like-minded entities," which are likely to exclude representatives of the neediest community organizations. They are also tax-exempt. And when educational experiments go wrong, they can just leave their mess behind and move on to their next project.

Getting Past Our "Exceptionalism"
If we're willing to look beyond our borders for help, we will see the short-sightedness of our educational "reforms." Finland's schools were considered mediocre 30 years ago, but they've achieved a remarkable turnaround by essentially challenging their teachers before they're entrusted with the welfare of the children. Most Finnish teachers are unionized, and they undergo rigorous masters-level training to ensure proficiency in the teaching profession, which is held in the same high esteem as law and medicine. In keeping with this respect for learning, government funding is applied equally to all schools, classes in the arts are available to all students, and tuition is free.

As a result, Finnish students, who are 
not subjected to standardized testing, finish at or near the top of international comparisons for reading, math, and science.

It's not just Finland with such impressive results. Research at the National Center on Education and the Economy has
confirmed that educational systems in Japan, Shanghai, and Ontario, Canada have prospered with an emphasis on the preparation of teachers for the essential task of instructing their young people.

A Strong Community Leads To Individual Success
George Lakoff summarizes: "The Public provides freedom...Individualism begins after the roads are built, after individualists have had an education, after medical research has cured their diseases...

Public education is vital to the promise of equal opportunity for all. But it will only succeed if we work together as a community, and stop listening to the voices of profit and inexperience.

Paul Buchheit
7355 W Ibsen
Chicago IL 60631
Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, a writer for progressive publications, and the founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org).paul@UsAgainstGreed.org

Source:






CALLING ALL VETERANS AND ACTIVE DUTY PERSONNEL
Army veteran banned from Old Navy store over
teen employee in Marine uniform

Army veteran Aaron Bennett says he was banned from an Old Navy store in Jacksonville, Florida, after he pointed out a teen employee improperly wearing a Marine Corps uniform dress jacket complete with rank insignia, ribbons and a weapons badge, News4Jax.com reported Wednesday.
Bennett, who comes from a military family, knows that United States Code makes it illegal "to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal." The law making that illegal is known as the Stolen Valor Act.
According to Bennett, when he informed the store manager, he was approached by a deputy and mall security, who said he was banned from the store.
Bennett said he was trying to honor the uniform, especially considering that Jacksonville is a Navy town.
"It's disgraceful, men have worked hard trying to earn that uniform and have died wearing that uniform," he said.
The story has also made it to the Stolen Valor website and Facebook page as well as Old Navy's Facebook page, where a number of people have expressed disgust with the company.
"My 'Marine Family' will no longer shop at your stores. Our veterans deserve better than the way Aaron Bennett was treated," wrote Susan Howell Parsons.
"Shame, shame Old Navy. I'm so sad your company would ban a veteran who was only pointing out YOUR mistake! Your staff needs to be educated!" exclaimed Judy Yoder.
According to New4Jax.com, Old Navy's corporate parent, Gap, Inc., released an apology:
"Old Navy has the utmost respect for the military and we're proud of our longstanding tradition of supporting American troops, including our own employees and their family members who serve. We believe there was a misunderstanding between a customer and a store employee and are looking into the matter. We're truly sorry for any misunderstanding or offense caused by this incident."
Bennett, however, says he doesn't accept the apology.
"It wasn't about the jacket. I was willing to let it go. I was done with it," he said. "The fact that they wanted to ban me from the store because I pointed out a total discrepancy, this being a Navy town, it dishonors a lot of people."
Visitors to Old Navy's Facebook page also rejected the apology.
"This so called 'apology' is nowhere near enough to make up for a former service member to be kicked out and banned for stating a Federal Law to a store manager so they could take the matter up with the employee," wrote Kevin Goff, who said that his wife would no longer shop at Old Navy.
"As an Army Combat Vet also if I had seen this employee and his so called 'fashionable coat' you would have had a completely different and much more public display," he added.
"Banning a VET for calling attention to inappropriate attire is unacceptable. I won't be shopping with them anymore. Nor Gap, Banana Republic, & Piperlime. You know they're owned by the SAME Corporation," added Tacinta Connor.
Old Navy customer service representatives were busy responding to the messages, claiming to have "the utmost respect for the military."
"We believe there was a misunderstanding between a customer and a store employee and are looking into the matter. We’re truly sorry for any misunderstanding or offense caused by this incident," Old Navy said.
Source:

I guess it’s time to boycott this store. I know the Holidays are coming soon, but I feel that the above story is totally unacceptable from anyone, or anything. At least, can I get all the Veterans and Active Duty Personnel out there to boycott these jack-holes?