Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Wisky labor history (2:56 pm)
So ITT may or may not reach Dave Hansen’s Green Bay home, but we’re on the same page nontheless.
The three Rs would be joined by mandatory instruction on collective bargaining and the history of unions in America under a proposal being considered in the Wisconsin Legislature.
Labor unions are all for it. School groups aren’t.
The bill, by Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, would require every school board to incorporate the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process into its curriculum.
A few months back, I wrote about the need for such a policy, so I hope this moves forward. The critiques from a Republican aide are pretty weak.
“We could do organized labor today and the history of the Republican Party tomorrow,” Murray said. “In a time when we’re having trouble teaching our kids the basic of history, is this really the time to be putting another mandate on when we’re not even doing the current stuff well?”
For one, labor is not a partisan issue. It’s an issue central to American life that few have taken the time to teach. And secondly, labor can be woven into lots of academic subjects without sacrificing other content. It’s not a zero-sum game, it just takes some creativity. Way to demonize your teachers and students, though.
posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion
Monday, December 10, 2007
Thanks, Democrats! We Couldn’t Have Tortured ‘Em Without You! (12:53 pm)
posted by Jarrett | 1 comment
Friday, December 7, 2007
Highly Terrified About Contraceptives… (2:53 pm)
…And Therefore Became Pregnant.
Teen pregnancies are on the rise for the first time since 1991. Here’s the link to the New York Times report on the matter. A Heritage fellow, Valerie Huber, stated this teen pregnancy business is not a-cuz of abstinence-only education, dammit, “this is all part of a coordinated plan by historic opponents of abstinence education.” An impressively swift reply to the report transmitted to us here on Earth via satellite from Amalthea, the third-closest moon to Jupiter, where Huber’s recently taken up residence.
Speaking of teen pregnancy, did you ever see The Education of Shelby Knox on PBS?
posted by Jarrett | 1 comment
Thursday, December 6, 2007
DoJ on prison stats (8:51 am)
The Justice Dept. released new data yesterday on the state of our prison system, and it’s unsurprisingly depressing.
A few highlights:
“The number of people held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities grew 43 percent”
“In several states, incarceration rates for blacks were more than 10 times the rate of whites.”
“The female jail and prison population has grown at double the rate for men since 1980; in 2006 it increased 4.5 percent, its fastest clip in five years.”
One of these days, we’re all going to release how inhumane this is. I hope.
posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Jena Six update: Mychal Bell Plead Guilty (9:14 am)
Mychal Bell, 17, originally was charged as an adult with attempted murder in the beating of Justin Barker in December 2006. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. An appeals court threw that verdict out in September and ordered Bell retried as a juvenile.
Under his deal, Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for an 18-month sentence, with credit for 10 months he already has served. Bell had faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.
Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 to Barker’s family, testify should his co-defendants in the Barker attack stand trial, undergo counseling and be reintegrated into the school system, his lawyers said. (via RawStory)
To read In These Times’ interview with Mychal Bell’s mother, Tina Jones, click here.
And for Salim Muwakkil’s take on the Jena Six, click here.
posted by Erin Polgreen | 7 comments
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