philly

Resegregation in Omaha

Okay, I've had a large glass of wine tonight and I'm up late reading the NY Times. Am I seeing things or does this article actually say that the Omaha, NE school districts have been resegregated to white, black and hispanic and that the measure has been signed into law by the governor.

The law, which opponents are calling state-sponsored segregation, has thrown Nebraska into an uproar, prompting fierce debate about the value of integration versus what Mr. Chambers [Nebraska's only black state senator] calls a desire by blacks to control a school district in which their children are a majority.

Civil rights scholars call the legislation the most blatant recent effort in the nation to create segregated school systems or, as in Omaha, to resegregate districts that had been integrated by court order. Omaha ran a mandatory busing program from 1976 to 1999.

Yes, this can be seen as blacks and hispanics taking back control over their school districts in a predominantly white city. But I see this with national reprecussions where it will be used as a tool to resegregate.

Remember in 1948 when Strom Thurmond was nominated by the States Right Democratic Party standing on the platform that:

We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race...

The same Thurmond who gave a rousing speech during that 1948 campaign stating

I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.

The same Thurmond who spoke for over twenty-four hours in the longest filibuster [the old school way of just blowing hot air] ever on the Senate floor to try to derail the Civil Rights Act. Who will use this Omaha school districting to be our generation's Strom Thurmond? Will it be Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel?

And as a side note, did anyone know that former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach Tom Osborne is a Republican Congressman from NE-03?

SUNY Albany in the Big Dance

Ah SUNY @ Albany. That's State University of New York at Albany for those not in the know. Some how, some way, they've squeaked into the 2006 NCAA tournament and you know there's a release about it linked right off the front page of their homepage.

UAlbany isn't exactly a sports powerhouse. I didn't even knew they played sports at the D1 level to tell you the truth. More known for being the borough of Staten Island's home away from home, UAlbany was ranked Playboy's #1 party school in 2001 or so. Crazy, I know.

One of my best friends from high school went to UAlbany. He told me not to bother to visit him. One of my best friends from college had a bunch of friends who went there [guess which borough of NY he's from!]. He had been up to visit a few times and I think he described it as almost warzone like. Windows smashed out. Hallways littered with crap. Weird smells. Well, I guess like most dorms, but he said they were worse.

Getting back to the NCAA...

So they're the #16 seed. Going up against powerhouse UConn. Aaaaand, they're playing at the Wachovia Center on Friday night! Nutso. The two days of games here in Philly are all sold out though. And apparently, UAlbany is Jim's alma mater!

Aaaand, UConn is Lady's hometown team. She was more into the women's team, but we'll see if she get's excited for it. I'm kinda excited for it. Albany is a ways from where I grew up. Philly is actually closer to my hometown than Albany is.

Penn Kids and the Chip on their Shoulders

And so begins a post that will likely piss the fuck out of a bunch of people this being a blog based in the city of Philadelphia...

So the whiny kids at UPenn [not to be confused with this whiny blogger] are all in a huff over their 2006 Commencement speaker Jodie Foster, a two-time Academy Award winner who just happened to have GRADUATED MAGNA CUM LAUDE FROM YALE UNIVERSITY back in 1985, you know, before the SATs became more of a joke.

The whiny kids are upset over the choice and how she's not good enough which I think translates from whiny-ese to "waaaa, she went to a better school than we're graduating from" and so far sixty students who pay some $40K a year for their schooling have signed a petition expressing their outrage. Where's the bonfire of VHS tapes of Fosters' films? Hill field, 10p!

Also on the list that was submitted to the advisory committee: Oprah, PM Tony Blair, Jon Stewart and Steve Jobs.

University President Amy Gutmann said she hopes Foster will be able to inspire students with her speech.

"She's an Ivy League graduate who has really taken on very courageous roles since she was very young," Gutmann said. "I think she is a great role model."

And by "a great role model" does she mean she hopes the UPenn kids will go on to a more prestigious Ivy like Yale? [hint hint, nudge nudge]

For a teensy bit of background into my personal insight on Ivy League schools, let me say this. I went to a pretty posh high school back in NY, a little bubble in precious Westchester County called Scarsdale [insert your "heh" here]. For all intents and purposes, it was a private school with school taxes being what they were, but it was technically a public school. I can't count on my two hands how many kids I knew in my senior class who got 1600s on their SATs in my class of ~330. I think we sent 10% of the class to Harvard and Yale alone. Another ten or so to Princeton, a few to Dartmouth. We also had an "A[lternative]-School" with evaluative grading [no As, Bs and such, but rather, evaluations] like Brown, a shitload of kids in the A-School went on to Brown [you dirty hippies! :) ]. The safety school for the top tier kids in my school were Cornell and UPenn [most kids wanted out of NY and didn't go to NYU and Columbia]. I'm confident in saying that between a quarter to a third of my class went to Ivy League schools or a very top tier equivalent like Amherst, UChicago, Emory, Duke, Williams and the like. Chroist. Isn't that a little nuts?

To add to the madness, the final edition of the snooty/snotty award-winning school newspaper, The Maroon [the school colors are maroon and white] had, as it's center spread, every student's name and the school s/he would be attending the following Fall semester. It was a final outing for all who didn't get into such and such school. I think I recall a few kids who didn't come to school that day because they didn't get into the school they wanted and didn't want to be "humiliated" in front of the rest of the crowd. I know firsthand, and by firsthand I mean knew many kids who were disheartened by their [non-] admittance to certain schools, how UPenn was/is looked down upon by the snobs and the patting on the backs that goes on in those schools in general all the time. It seemed that UPenn's second-class citizen stature provides a setting for the self-aggrandizing to thrive.

So this whole tiff over an accomplished / award-winning / critically acclaimed / box office draw thespian who has taken on social roles with an Ivy League background and prestigious prep school pedigree is pretty fucking hilarious to me.

And for full disclosure, I was a B+ student who got [I think] 1360 on the SATs who played at a fairly high level of soccer about 300 days a year and graduated from a NY State school [SUNY Purchase] after fucking around at [private] American University down in DC for a few years. I had no desire to overachieve and push myself to go to an Ivy, much to the chagrin of my parents, although you're all free to assume that I have a chip on my shoulder if you'd like or if it makes you feel better. I have nothing against my peers at UPenn, but I do think that they have a chip on their shoulders.

That is all.

Postes sine moribus vanae
[Posts without morals are useless]

8th Grade Math!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Stupid whole numbers.

I recall getting somewhere around a 710 on my SAT Math score. I got a 4 on my AP Calculus test in high school, didn't have to take a wink of math in college. Yay for me! I did this in about 60 seconds.

Via Susie via Duncan.

Birth Control and Emergency Contraception

According to this WaPo article, there have already been more than sixty bills filed in state legislatures this year in regards to emergency contraception.

Many of the state bills intended to expand access give specially trained pharmacists in states including Maryland, New York, Kentucky and Illinois the right to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription. Other bills require pharmacies to stock and distribute the drug, and to ensure that the pill is made available to women who come into emergency rooms after a sexual assault.

But some bills would make it more difficult for many women to get emergency contraception, which is effective for only 72 hours after a woman experiences a contraceptive failure or unprotected sex. Legislation in New Hampshire, for instance, would require parental notification before the drug is dispensed, and more than 20 other states will consider bills that give pharmacies the right not to stock the drug and pharmacists the right not to dispense it, even to women with valid prescriptions.

Access to emergency contractptive pills [ECPs] is a good thing. To claim that it's some kind of Lefty form of everyday contraceptive is a fucking joke. Who in their right minds would take ECPs as a normal form of contraception?

And then there's an interesting article from Nerve.com [I used to work there] via AlterNet on access to birth control in general and Planned Parenthood. The writer of the piece describes the troubles of several young adults who have had problems in obtaining birth control from Planned Parenthood as a result of high cost.

Dems use The Force

No surprise that George Lucasthis is the first time I can recall him on Capitol Hill with a politician in a town hall meeting.

"Star Wars" filmmaker George Lucas joined House Democratic leaders at a town hall meeting on Capitol Hill to roll out an "innovation agenda" that aims to prepare the next generation of technological entrepreneurs.

But the more than 100 college students in attendance had other questions for the writer-director — such as the meaning of this line from "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith": "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."

"That really came from an original concept written 30 years ago," he said, explaining that the "Star Wars" series was inspired by ancient Rome, the French Revolution and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany. "In all of those countries, a democracy fell through nefarious manipulations behind the scenes, and the people didn't seem to mind."

We have the force on our side. But what episode are we in?

Sell Forests for Education Dollars?

Last week, W announced his new budget plan of $2.77 Trillion. Included in that new budget was a 6.9% increase in military spending. That translates into a $28.35B increase to $439.3B in the military's discretionary budget. Where did that extra money come from? Well one of the programs that took a huge hit was... Education, duh.

Last year's budget called for $56.54B in Education spending. It was downgraded 3.8% to $54.4B, barely double the budget increase the Military got. It will continue to fund the failing Every Child Left Behind at All Costs initiative. Laura must be a hit in all those inner city schools she visits. Maybe she's relieved, there will be less money with which to cart her around.

And another place that almost $30B will come from? W wants to sell the fucking forests off!!!!!

The Bush administration Friday laid out plans to sell off more than $1 billion in public lands over the next decade, including 85,000 acres of national forest land in California.

Most of the proceeds would help pay for rural schools and roads, making up for a federal subsidy that has been eliminated from President Bush's 2007 budget.

Congress must approve the plans, which several experts said would amount to the largest land sale of its kind since President Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service in 1905 and created the modern national forest system.

...

The Forest Service's proposed budget for 2007 is $4.1 billion, down about $160 million from 2006. The public will have 30 days to comment after maps of the lands proposed for sale are published, which the agency expects to do by the end of the month. Some parcels might be removed if they are deemed too valuable to lose.

Some more info on this bullshit via the USDA Forest Service.

Nation Student Writing Contest

Keeping on the theme of the children are our future... I just got an email informing me of The Nation's Student Writing Contest.

We're looking for original, thoughtful, provocative student voices to tell us what issue is of most concern to their generation. Essays should not exceed 800 words and should be original, unpublished work that demonstrates fresh, clear thinking and superior quality of expression and craftsmanship.

Five finalists will be chosen and all five essays will be published. Each of them will receive $100 and a subscription to The Nation. A winner will be announced at the end of May and will recieve an additional $500. Noyce.

The contest is open to all high school students and undergrads at American schools, colleges and universities. The contest is sponsored by the BIL Charitable Trust.

NYE Weather

So the weather is supposed to be pretty shitty here in Philly for NYE. Arg. But I'm supposed to be at a house party, so that shouldn't matter much as we should be indoors for the night. But I still don't know where this par-tay is supposed to be and I expect to start drinking somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve to eighteen hours from now. I guess it won't matter much where I'll be. I just don't want to get wet.

What's the NYE tradition here in Philly? NYC is Times Square, I think DC was on the Mall. I'm assuming Philly is on the Parkway by the PMA? I was sick last NYE so Lady and I didn't go out, we stayed in for a Law & Order marathon. I feel good as of right now, so drinking and getting ingnorant must continue as originally planned. Oh man, let's get ignorant.

Hopefully I won't be too sloshed to lose my camera or something. I'll have enough sense of mind to leave it at home if I feel I may become too sloshed... hopefully. But I don't think I should be getting that sloshed, I haven't been in quite awhile.

Santorum: Flip Flopper

The last paragraph of this Inky article on the flip floppiness of Dick $antorum on the issue of Intelligent Design is just too much:

"I'm a little disappointed," said [Jim] Cashman, one of eight pro-intelligent design board members who were ousted in the November election. "He's trying to come to the center more, and that bothers me. He used to be more conservative."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. He used to be more conservative.

On a side note, the Democratic party used to have balls.