How to (Inadvertently) Argue Against the Public Education System

"The idea that everyone should voluntarily herd themselves into the same crappy authoritarian institution, so that all will have some incentive to make that institution somewhat better, is utterly perverse. The beauty of networked communications technology [..] is that it’s no longer necessary to get everybody on the same page, and coordinate their efforts through some common institution, in order for anyone to do anything. The public schools are built on a mass-production industrial model of moving humans to a central location to be processed with a limited, uniform menu of information. But a near-infinite amount of education can now be moved around instantly at almost zero cost." Continue reading

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Outrage in Missouri: Teacher to be Fired for using Free-Market Materials

"I graduated from Frostburg State way back in 1978 with a degree in history and later a degree in education and a Masters in history. I am in my 21st year as a public high school teacher. I used to teach U.S. Government and advanced studies until I was demoted for being too 'conservative.' Last year the principal 'wrote me up,' the process for firing tenured teachers. My crime? I was divisive and used too many free market sources in the endnotes of articles I used in class. The principal believes my views on Sinclair and the Progressives, especially The Jungle, are shared by no one else in the history or similar fields." Continue reading

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Students and parents boycott Chicago schools to protest new city budget

"WBBM-TV reported that the march was also held to call attention to the city’s planned school budget of $5.58 billion, which includes a cut of about $68 million from classroom services that opponents argue targets schools in communities of color. According to WGN-TV, the protest, part of a group of demonstrations in 25 cities around the country against school budget cuts, was quickly criticized by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 'I do not think it’s appropriate to advocate that children stay out of school,' he said at a press conference on Tuesday. 'You wanna make a statement? Go to the courtroom. Don’t take it to the classroom.'" Continue reading

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Fraternity investigated over Facebook pics of drugs and underage girls

"One of the largest university fraternities in the US was under a new police investigation on Tuesday after the suspension of a Florida chapter whose students set up a Facebook page allegedly advertising drugs and featuring photographs of topless or semi-nude underage girls. The Facebook page has since been taken down, but screen grabs leaked to the Miami Herald and Miami New Times last week show posts from students seeking cocaine or selling Adderall, a popular stimulant 'study drug' that enables users to stay awake. In addition, a caption below one photograph of a topless girl claims she was 17 when the picture was taken." Continue reading

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Bernanke Textbook Royalties

"The textbook business can be very very lucrative. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is co-author (from before he was in government) of 'Principles of Economics' and 'Principles of Macroeconomics' (written with Robert Frank, published by McGraw-Hill) and 'Macroeconomics' (with Andrew B. Abel and Dean Croushore, from Pearson). It appears that the McGraw-Hill books are more lucrative, generating $100,000 to $1 million in income for the chairman, who also made $50,000 to $100,000 from Pearson." Continue reading

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Watch Ron Paul Crush It On His New TV Channel

"As he celebrates his 78th birthday, with a string of ongoing and upcoming projects, Paul’s 'retirement' is looking more and more like a full-time job. While congressional service may have provided the initial platform, Paul is now freed from the hyena’s den, and his work outside of politics will prove to have a real lasting impact on public debate and on spreading an intellectual revolution. Last week, Paul debuted his internet media outlet. The Ron Paul Channel is branded as an alternative to the corporate media, allowing viewers to watch his talk show-style program online, 'When they want, where they want, and on the device they want: internet-connected televisions, computers, tablets, and smart phones.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingWatch Ron Paul Crush It On His New TV Channel

Watch Ron Paul Crush It On His New TV Channel

"As he celebrates his 78th birthday, with a string of ongoing and upcoming projects, Paul’s 'retirement' is looking more and more like a full-time job. While congressional service may have provided the initial platform, Paul is now freed from the hyena’s den, and his work outside of politics will prove to have a real lasting impact on public debate and on spreading an intellectual revolution. Last week, Paul debuted his internet media outlet. The Ron Paul Channel is branded as an alternative to the corporate media, allowing viewers to watch his talk show-style program online, 'When they want, where they want, and on the device they want: internet-connected televisions, computers, tablets, and smart phones.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingWatch Ron Paul Crush It On His New TV Channel

Chicago ‘Safe Passage’ routes put to test amid more shootings

"Six hundred newly hired Safe Passage workers in yellow vests fanned out early Monday along 53 new routes marked with bright yellow 'Safe Passage' signs. The new routes are an expansion of an already existing program that Emanuel has touted as a success. The routes, released less than three weeks ago, are meant to offset any hazards that could arise as children walk unfamiliar sidewalks and, many parents worry, cross gang boundaries to get to their new schools. The program has garnered negative news coverage for what critics say is an ill-thought-out plan that was hatched at the last minute. CPS approved in June the closure of 49 elementary schools and a high school program." Continue reading

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Chicago Braces for the First Day of School; Safe Passage Routes

"Thousands of Chicago children will be walking a different route to school as they begin the new academic year on Monday morning after the city closed about 50 elementary schools to help plug a projected $1bn education budget gap. Most of Chicago’s cuts have taken place in the predominantly poor, African-American and Latino south and west sides, which is also where the majority of the city’s record 506 murders occurred last year. The city has created 600 'safe passage' routes manned by adults and meant to try to ensure the safety of students crossing gang territories. But in recent weeks at least two people have been killed on those paths." Continue reading

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19 Crazy Things That School Children Are Being Arrested For In America

"Unfortunately, we live in a country where paranoia has become standard operating procedure. The American people have become convinced that the only way that we can all be 'safe' is for this country to be run like a militarized totalitarian police state. So our public schools are run like prisons and our public school students are treated like prisoners. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world by far, and our schools are preparing the next generation to either 'do time' in the prison system or to live as good little slaves in the Big Brother prison grid that is being constructed all around us." Continue reading

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