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The NY Times covered Campbell Brown's assault on teachers unions tonight.
They do mention how her husband Dan Senor sits on the board of the New York chapter of Michelle Rhee's group, StudentsFirst.
But they fail to mention how Michelle Rhee has been accused of helping a sex abuse case against her husband, former NBA star and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, go away when he was running a charter school.
Far from being an immaterial part of the story, how does Brown come off declaring the unions protectors of perverts and sex criminals when her husband sits on the board of a group run by a woman who has been accused in a Congressional committee report of helping to cover up alleged sexual misconduct by her then boyfriend and now husband?
And how can the Times cover the story without bringing this up? After all, they covered the allegations against Rhee back on November 20, 2009.
I have said it before, I will say it again - if Campbell Brown wants to go after people who protect sex criminals and perverts, she needs to look no further than Michelle Rhee.
Too bad the corporate media doesn't seem to want to connect the Rhee/Johnson sexual abuse cover-up to the Campbell Brown story.
But that's par for the course.
The media rarely have a problem dragging teachers through the mud but Michelle Rhee seems to consistently get treated with kid gloves over her alleged ethical lapses - from the widespread cheating that took place when she was chancellor of the DCPS to the allegations that she lied about her own record as a teacher to the allegations that she helped KJ cover up his sexual misconduct when he was a charter school head.
14 Ağustos 2012 Salı
Cops Execute Knife-Wielding Man On Seventh Avenue
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Another day in New York, another dramatic NYPD shooting.
Cops shot a knife-wielding man in Times Square yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. Police claim he had been stopped for smoking marijuana on the street when he pulled out a knife and began running away from them while swinging the knife.
They followed him through Times Square, eventually shooting and killing him on 38th Street and 7th Avenue. The Daily News reports at least fifteen bullet casings on the street, though there may have been more shots fired by the NYPD than that.
Was this guy a danger and a menace?
Absolutely.
According to the media accounts, they'd sprayed him with six blasts of mace and he still hadn't dropped the knife.
The cops claim he lunged at them with the knife right before he was shot.
The NY Post reports he was shouting "Shoot me! Shoot me!" before he "lunged" at them with the knife.
Some people say the knife-wielding man was trying to commit "suicide by cop".
Dunno how much of that to believe and the videos that have surfaced are quite jumpy - it's hard to see what's going on.
That said, the first photo with the man backing away from cops, hands behind his head, as they advance in preparation to shoot him, sure makes you wonder if there was another way to get him down without killing him in a flood of bullets.
But in Bloomberg's New York, this is actually the perfect emblem.
Get rid of the Big Apple symbol and put the photo of the guy with the knife backing away from a dozen armed cops getting ready to execute him in its place.
You don't have to be wielding a knife to get shot by gun-toting NYPD goons.
You can just be trying to flush marijuana down the toilet when they kill you - like in February when police followed 18-year-old Ramarley Graham into his home and executed him, NYPD-style, for trying to flush a small amount of marijuana before they arrested him.
Graham was unarmed when he was executed by police.
Graham's grandmother witnessed the shooting and was brought down to the precinct and worked over for hours as cops tried to get her to change her account of what happened.
One officer has since been charged with manslaughter in the case.
But we know how the justice system works in New York, don't we?
Another day in New York, another dramatic NYPD shooting.
Cops shot a knife-wielding man in Times Square yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. Police claim he had been stopped for smoking marijuana on the street when he pulled out a knife and began running away from them while swinging the knife.
They followed him through Times Square, eventually shooting and killing him on 38th Street and 7th Avenue. The Daily News reports at least fifteen bullet casings on the street, though there may have been more shots fired by the NYPD than that.
Was this guy a danger and a menace?
Absolutely.
According to the media accounts, they'd sprayed him with six blasts of mace and he still hadn't dropped the knife.
The cops claim he lunged at them with the knife right before he was shot.
The NY Post reports he was shouting "Shoot me! Shoot me!" before he "lunged" at them with the knife.
Some people say the knife-wielding man was trying to commit "suicide by cop".
Dunno how much of that to believe and the videos that have surfaced are quite jumpy - it's hard to see what's going on.
That said, the first photo with the man backing away from cops, hands behind his head, as they advance in preparation to shoot him, sure makes you wonder if there was another way to get him down without killing him in a flood of bullets.
But in Bloomberg's New York, this is actually the perfect emblem.
Get rid of the Big Apple symbol and put the photo of the guy with the knife backing away from a dozen armed cops getting ready to execute him in its place.
You don't have to be wielding a knife to get shot by gun-toting NYPD goons.
You can just be trying to flush marijuana down the toilet when they kill you - like in February when police followed 18-year-old Ramarley Graham into his home and executed him, NYPD-style, for trying to flush a small amount of marijuana before they arrested him.
Graham was unarmed when he was executed by police.
Graham's grandmother witnessed the shooting and was brought down to the precinct and worked over for hours as cops tried to get her to change her account of what happened.
One officer has since been charged with manslaughter in the case.
But we know how the justice system works in New York, don't we?
NY Post And NY Daily News Slap At Andrew Cuomo Over Teacher Evaluations
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Ooh, lookee here - Rupert Murdoch just slapped Cuomo across the face with today's editorial on teacher evaluations and the Daily News made matters worse by comparing him unfavorably (at least in their minds) to the behemoth across the Hudson, Chris Christie (who happens to be Cuomo's rival, perhaps, for the 2016 WH race.)
Cuomo never likes to be criticized by any news outlets, but he especially hates to be taken to task publicly by his patron, Rupert Murdoch, or Murdoch's proxy in Albany, Fred Dicker.
You can bet Cuomo will respond the way he always responds when slapped by Murdoch - he'll act as fast as he can to make Uncle Rupert happy.
Remember, that's what he did the last time Murdoch slapped at him by calling him "Chicken Cuomo" on Twitter over teacher evaluations.
Within hours, Cuomo responded by giving Uncle Rupert everything he wanted (at least at that time) on evaluations.
But now it turns out it wasn't enough.
How long will it take for Cuomo to give Murdoch what he wants once again?
Oh, and one last thing - are the DN and Post coordinating editorials?
Funny how they ran the same one on the same day.
Daily News editor Colin Myler of course is a former criminal, er, employee of News Corporation, so perhaps there is some coordination there.
Or perhaps somebody in the education reform/hedge fundie world pushed to have the editorial pages run the editorials so close together.
More likely it's the second choice.
With the start of school just a few weeks away, I suspect we are about to get a very heavy-handed push from the education reform world and their media mouthpieces to get a punitive, test-centric teacher evaluation deal here in NYC that will give the DOE the right to impose dozens of local standardized tests in every subject in every grade on top of the state tests and use the scores from both to evaluate and fire teachers.
Who cares if adding dozens of high stakes standardized tests a year to every grade in every subject makes sense?
Who cares if this so-called accountability movement is actually doing much more harm than good to kids?
After all, there is money to be made by Uncle Rupert and the rest of the reformers on all the testing, the test prep and the accountability and data tracking tools, and there is money to be saved by firing all those expensive veteran teachers and replacing them with cheaper (and disposable) newbies.
Cuomo never likes to be criticized by any news outlets, but he especially hates to be taken to task publicly by his patron, Rupert Murdoch, or Murdoch's proxy in Albany, Fred Dicker.
You can bet Cuomo will respond the way he always responds when slapped by Murdoch - he'll act as fast as he can to make Uncle Rupert happy.
Remember, that's what he did the last time Murdoch slapped at him by calling him "Chicken Cuomo" on Twitter over teacher evaluations.
Within hours, Cuomo responded by giving Uncle Rupert everything he wanted (at least at that time) on evaluations.
But now it turns out it wasn't enough.
How long will it take for Cuomo to give Murdoch what he wants once again?
Oh, and one last thing - are the DN and Post coordinating editorials?
Funny how they ran the same one on the same day.
Daily News editor Colin Myler of course is a former criminal, er, employee of News Corporation, so perhaps there is some coordination there.
Or perhaps somebody in the education reform/hedge fundie world pushed to have the editorial pages run the editorials so close together.
More likely it's the second choice.
With the start of school just a few weeks away, I suspect we are about to get a very heavy-handed push from the education reform world and their media mouthpieces to get a punitive, test-centric teacher evaluation deal here in NYC that will give the DOE the right to impose dozens of local standardized tests in every subject in every grade on top of the state tests and use the scores from both to evaluate and fire teachers.
Who cares if adding dozens of high stakes standardized tests a year to every grade in every subject makes sense?
Who cares if this so-called accountability movement is actually doing much more harm than good to kids?
After all, there is money to be made by Uncle Rupert and the rest of the reformers on all the testing, the test prep and the accountability and data tracking tools, and there is money to be saved by firing all those expensive veteran teachers and replacing them with cheaper (and disposable) newbies.
Spitzer Aide Accuses Cuomo Of Troopergate Investigation Cover-Up
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What's the reason that Andrew Cuomo is having his staff scrub his papers and documents from his tenure as attorney general of the state of New York?
Former aide to disgraced Governor Spitzer, Lloyd Constantine, says it's to cover up his role in the investigation of Troopergate and hide his misuse of government aircraft as both HUD secretary and when he was working for his father, Governor Mario Cuomo:
Cuomo has been quite successful at hiding his corruption and right now he's getting help from the current attorney general, Eric Scheniderman, on hiding his role in the Troopergate investigation.
But this is the kind of stuff that will come out eventually, no matter how Cuomo tries to hide it.
This is especially so if he tries to run for president in 2016.
Light will be shone on his entire political career and he'll have to be really adept at hiding this stuff from opposition researchers in other campaigns.
Former aide to disgraced Governor Spitzer, Lloyd Constantine, says it's to cover up his role in the investigation of Troopergate and hide his misuse of government aircraft as both HUD secretary and when he was working for his father, Governor Mario Cuomo:
Troopergate — which many would like to forget, foremost my former boss, Eliot Spitzer, and the current governor as well — will continue to haunt us all. I was Spitzer's senior adviser and one of five senior lawyers conscripted to represent the governor and the Executive Chamber in the many Troopergate investigations in 2007 and 2008.
Troopergate began July 1, 2007, when this newspaper reported that then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno had been using state aircraft for travel to meetings and events whose purpose was primarily personal and political. Almost as soon as Cuomo heeded Spitzer's call to investigate Bruno, the tables turned. Cuomo was also investigating whether the governor and his aides had improperly enlisted the State Police in spying on Bruno.
In a sloppy three-week rush to judgment and race for press primacy over competing investigations being conducted by Albany County District Attorney David Soares and then-Inspector General Kris Hamann, Cuomo's Troopergate report superficially addressed the Spitzer administration's sins and ignored and whitewashed Bruno's blatant misuse of the state fleet.
On the Bruno side of Cuomo's probe, neither the majority leader, nor anyone else was questioned under oath. No documents were subpoenaed. Cuomo exonerated Bruno, concluding that if a day of private and political events included any amount of time when Bruno arguably was doing the state's work, the massively expensive use of the state's airplanes was lawful.
The omissions and superficiality of the Cuomo Troopergate probe and the resulting lack of confidence in its findings spawned eight additional Troopergate investigations by Soares, the inspector general, the Senate's Investigation Committee, the State Investigation Commission and two now-defunct state commissions for ethics and public integrity.
The reason for the whitewash was obvious. Any finding of state aircraft misuse by Bruno would have instantly evoked comparison with far more serious and pervasive patterns of misuse by both Gov. Mario Cuomo and allegedly by Andrew himself when he was secretary of housing and urban development.
"Air Cuomo" was the name given to the reports and records showing that during just four of Mario Cuomo's twelve years as governor, Cuomo family members (including Andrew) took 729 trips on the state's aircraft. After leaving office, he reimbursed the state $29,000 for a small number of these trips.
During the planning stages of Andrew Cuomo's unsuccessful bid to become governor in 2002, he flew on the federal taxpayers' tab to New York 24 times, purportedly on HUD business. During that same period, Andrew Cuomo visited no other state within his jurisdiction more than four times, not even California with twice the population and housing of New York.
Cuomo has been quite successful at hiding his corruption and right now he's getting help from the current attorney general, Eric Scheniderman, on hiding his role in the Troopergate investigation.
But this is the kind of stuff that will come out eventually, no matter how Cuomo tries to hide it.
This is especially so if he tries to run for president in 2016.
Light will be shone on his entire political career and he'll have to be really adept at hiding this stuff from opposition researchers in other campaigns.
Dave Grohl Joins TEACHERS ROCK, The Pro-Privatization/Anti-Teachers Union Show On CBS
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I found out Dave Grohl signed onto TEACHERS ROCK, the union-bashing, pro-privatization CBS TV special sponsored by Walmart and the makers of union-busting movie "Won't Back Down," Walden Media, that is masquerading as a "celebration" of teachers.
Many of the other names on the list of performers who are there to" honor" teachers - like Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Garth Brooks, and a couple of American Idol winners - I didn't bat an eye at.
Most of these celebrities probably have no idea who or what is backing this "celebration" of teachers. They're probably thinking this is just a nice way to honor people who teach. They're most likely unaware of the politics behind this.
At least one of these celebrities, Meryl Streep, has publicly supported charter schools in the past (see here and here), so she may perhaps know a little more about the politics of charter vs. public school.
After all, when she chose to donate money to a school in Central Falls, Rhode Island in honor of actress Viola Davis (who coincidentally stars in the movie "Won't Back Down"), she chose a charter school, not a traditional public school.
That's an interesting choice she made and says at least a little something about where she's coming from.
But as I say, most of these people probably have no idea how odious this show is to real working teachers, how insulting it is to raise money for Teach for America, an organization that trains people for five weeks to work a couple of years as teachers before moving on to their "real jobs" and call that a "celebration" of teachers, how awful it makes most teachers feel to see celebrities promoting a movie that pushes for private takeovers of public schools.
I am surprised that Grohl is showing up to this thing.
Perhaps I am giving him more credit than he deserves, but he should know better than to support a "celebration" of teachers sponsored by right wing outfits like Walden Media and Walmart.
He didn't just fall off a turnip truck - he should know anything sponsored by Walmart and Walden Media is going to have an anti-union and/or right wing agenda (Jersey Jazzman connects those dots here.)
But since he's signed on to appear at TEACHERS ROCK, it's possible he doesn't.
You can register here at the Foo Fighters forum to express your displeasure with Grohl's decision to appear on a teachers union bashing show masking itself as an appreciation of teachers.
You can also call his manager here: 323-856-8222
Perhaps he is unaware of the politics underlying this "celebration" of teachers that it is meant to highlight TFA, charter school teachers, school choice, and public school privatization in the form of parent trigger laws.
Or perhaps he is totally aware of this and supports these things.
Either way, time to let him know how you feel about it.
Grohl is known as the "nicest guy in rock" - but there's nothing nice about lending his voice to a sham celebration of teachers that is really meant to publicize Walden Media's anti-union, pro-privatization movie.
Many of the other names on the list of performers who are there to" honor" teachers - like Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Garth Brooks, and a couple of American Idol winners - I didn't bat an eye at.
Most of these celebrities probably have no idea who or what is backing this "celebration" of teachers. They're probably thinking this is just a nice way to honor people who teach. They're most likely unaware of the politics behind this.
At least one of these celebrities, Meryl Streep, has publicly supported charter schools in the past (see here and here), so she may perhaps know a little more about the politics of charter vs. public school.
After all, when she chose to donate money to a school in Central Falls, Rhode Island in honor of actress Viola Davis (who coincidentally stars in the movie "Won't Back Down"), she chose a charter school, not a traditional public school.
That's an interesting choice she made and says at least a little something about where she's coming from.
But as I say, most of these people probably have no idea how odious this show is to real working teachers, how insulting it is to raise money for Teach for America, an organization that trains people for five weeks to work a couple of years as teachers before moving on to their "real jobs" and call that a "celebration" of teachers, how awful it makes most teachers feel to see celebrities promoting a movie that pushes for private takeovers of public schools.
I am surprised that Grohl is showing up to this thing.
Perhaps I am giving him more credit than he deserves, but he should know better than to support a "celebration" of teachers sponsored by right wing outfits like Walden Media and Walmart.
He didn't just fall off a turnip truck - he should know anything sponsored by Walmart and Walden Media is going to have an anti-union and/or right wing agenda (Jersey Jazzman connects those dots here.)
But since he's signed on to appear at TEACHERS ROCK, it's possible he doesn't.
You can register here at the Foo Fighters forum to express your displeasure with Grohl's decision to appear on a teachers union bashing show masking itself as an appreciation of teachers.
You can also call his manager here: 323-856-8222
Perhaps he is unaware of the politics underlying this "celebration" of teachers that it is meant to highlight TFA, charter school teachers, school choice, and public school privatization in the form of parent trigger laws.
Or perhaps he is totally aware of this and supports these things.
Either way, time to let him know how you feel about it.
Grohl is known as the "nicest guy in rock" - but there's nothing nice about lending his voice to a sham celebration of teachers that is really meant to publicize Walden Media's anti-union, pro-privatization movie.
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