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08 Jan 2012 11:44

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Politics: “No Child Left Behind” turns 10, education experts want to leave it behind

  • It is time to acknowledge this failure and adopt a more effective course for the federal role in education. Policymakers must abandon their faith-based embrace of test-and-punish strategies and, instead, pursue proven alternatives to guide and support the nation’s neediest schools and students.
  • A policy assessment written by Lisa Guisbond, Monty Neill and Bob Schaeffer • Suggesting that No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era education law passed under bipartisan circumstances, should go the way of the dodo. The policy, now seen as an example of ineffective government overreach by many, celebrates its 10th birthday today, and politicians who once supported the law — including Rick Santorum, who voted for it and tried to push an intelligent design amendment into the bill — no longer do. Guisbond, Neill and Schaeffer’s report, which suggests revisiting the law based on the lessons learned from the past decade, is available to read over here. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 10:54

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U.S.: World AIDS Day: Obama boosts U.S. stake in the battle against AIDS

  • $50 million in new funding to continue to fight AIDS source
  • » How that money would help: The Obama administration has a couple of goals for that money. First, they plan to get antiretroviral drugs to 2 million more people by 2013. Second, they plan to give the drugs to 1.5 million more HIV-positive pregnant women, in an effort to prevent the disease from getting passed on to their children. The president, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush by his side, is announcing the renewed anti-AIDS initiatives (as a part of World AIDS Day) as we write this.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:23

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Politics: Barney Frank’s legacy: Three major achievements beyond Dodd-Frank

  • one Barney Frank is one of the most prominent gay U.S. representatives, and as a result, he’s long been a champion of gay rights; he long opposed the recently-repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
  • two Frank was a lead Democrat who helped to build and implement the $700 billion bailout passed in 2008 under George W. Bush; he became a key figure of the financial crisis.
  • three He also worked to end the practice of redlining, a process that banks used to place difficult lending conditions on people and businesses located in low-income neighborhoods. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 23:35

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Politics: Guess who said this

  • You are not going to see a great philosophical difference between Rick Perry and George Bush.
  • Rick Perry • In a 2000 interview that could seriously hurt his chances at becoming president in 2012. Many people forget that, prior to becoming president, George W. Bush was a moderate Republican governor known for compromising with Democrats in his state. This could have been what Perry was referring to when he made the comparison; however, most people probably won’t make that distinction. If he runs, expect to see this quote repeated ad nauseam by Democrats. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2011 21:51

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U.S.: Silver lining: Financial meltdown saved marriages!

  • 5% of married couples were considering a divorce prior to the recession
  • 38% of those couples put their plans on hold once the recession hit source
  • » Follow our logic here: George W. Bush fancied himself a man of family values, right? And surely, there’s no greater family value than the institution of marriage. The economic policies put forth by Bush plunged our country into a recession, at which point couples that may have gotten divorced stayed together due to lack of funds. So in a weird way, Bush accomplished his goal. He saved marriage! Yay! This theory is perfect!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Apr 2011 21:32

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Politics: Obama’s getting blamed for gas prices — and he doesn’t like it

  • Every time gas prices go up like this, like clockwork, suddenly politicians look around and they discover high gas prices. And they’re shocked. And they get in front of TV and say we’ve got a three-point plan to bring gas prices down to $2 a gallon. Then when gas prices go down, nothing ever happens.
  • President Obama • Complaining about the drama that seems to follow every time gas prices go up — particularly in terms of how it affects him. Bro’s pretty upset about the fact that he’s getting the short end of the gas-price stick in the polls (which have drooped significantly since March), but he’s not afraid to shift the blame. “That’s $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they’re making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump,” he said in his weekly radio/interwebs address. “It has to stop.” Of note here: George W. Bush went through a similar bit of drama halfway through his presidency. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 12:41

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Culture: Upcoming HBO slogan: It’s not TV. It’s Dick Cheney!

  • And now, ladies and gentlemen: Dick Cheney will soon be returning to the American limelight in the form of an HBO miniseries. The polarizing (and I think even the most hardened pro-Cheney partisan would admit, oft-glowering) former Veep’s entire career is said to be the focus of the series, from his rise in the Nixon administration, to the House of Representatives, to his roles in both Bush administrations. The series will be based on a Frontline documentary called “The Dark Side,” as well as a book called “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” by Barton Gellman. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Feb 2011 00:33

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World: Shoe-throwing journalist arrested in Iraq

Muntazer Alzaidi
Remember the guy who threw his shoe at G.W. Bush? He was arrested today in for encouraging protestors in Baghdad. Frankly, we’re surprised he’s not in a detainment cell somewhere. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 13:45

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U.S.: Saudi citizen in Lubbock, Texas charged for bomb, terror plans

  • The would-be jihadist? Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi citizen attending community college in Texas, was arrested today on charges of attempting to build a bomb for terrorist purposes. He allegedly purchased bomb components, as well as chemical components, and kept a journal detailing his dedication to jihadist philosophy. He is accused of plotting to kill former President George W. Bush, as well as attack reservoirs and hydroelectric plants in Colorado and California. He’s also said to have collected names and addresses of three U.S. military officers who’d been stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 23:53

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Politics: Obama vulnerable against imaginary candidate

  • good newsConservatives rejoice: The latest Public Policy Poll shows Obama running dead even against a generic Republican candidate in 2012.
  • bad newsRepublicans have to nominate an actual human being, not just a theoretical blank slate, and Obama leads against every one of them by several points. source
  • » Some more odd bits from the poll: PPP took the interesting step of asking respondents to rate the Brothers Bush, Jeb and George W. both, against Obama in a hypothetical 2012 race. The results? Jeb would get trounced by fourteen points (paging Rich Lowry!), while the Constitutionally-ineligible former President would only lose by four, meaning he’s actually a more formidable candidate than Mitt Romney. In addition, the GOP could defeat Obama by two points if they nominated a “moderate Republican candidate,” so all they’ve got to do now is set their time machine to 1952 and they’ll have a slew of strong contenders to choose from.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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