My Fellow Americans! You Have a Right to Free Coffee!

C'mon Patriots!

Starbucks is giving a free cup of coffee to American voters.

Get your free cuppa and then get back in line for more! It's the patriotic thing to do!

I'm pleased to announce Stager's Electoral Coffee Challenge.

The person who produces a web site proffering evidence of the most free Starbucks snagged for free on election day will receive a $20 Starbucks gift card courtesy of Comrade Stager.

Deadline midnight Pacific Time November 4th. One winner will be selected by yours truly.

Don't just sit there! Go get your hanging chad caffeinated!

Dignity for Chickens, Yes! Humans? Not so much!

Elections are a crazy affair in the people's Republic of California where republican democracy has been nearing extinction ever since Proposition 13 was passed in 1977 ensuring that no matter the needs of your neighbor, you will never be asked to reach into your pocket again. It's great to be an educator in a state where the populace has had its most selfish inclinations codified in law.

Voters here in California are besieged by initiatives and referenda since any kook with a clipboard and a willingness to collect signatures outside of the Supercuts can attempt to circumvent the legislature and write new laws. Why elect senators, assembly members or a Governor when Melrose Larry can write laws, even if they will be challenged in court for decades only to be ruled unconstitutional.

In addition to state wide initiatives, there are all sorts of local ones too. That's why the the California Voter Guide is larger, more confusing and less yummy than a menu from the Cheesecake Factory. At least at the Cheesecake Factory you don't tell the waiter, "No, I don't want the Tex-Mex Eggrolls," when you do want this multicultural taste sensation. A "yes" vote often means, "no," and a "no" vote may mean, "Yes, I would love an order of fried macaroni and cheese."

So, on the November 4th Californians will face a number of confusing ballot initiatives heavily funded with special interest money.

Proposition 2 is designed to "fight animal cruelty" by requiring more room for chickens and pigs to move within their enclosures. It turns out that this issue isn't as clear cut as you might think. (arguments against may be found here)

On the very same ballot is Proposition 8. This proposition, referred to by its proponents as "protection of marriage," is intended to outlaw same-sex marriage in California. A year or so ago, the Supreme Court of California found that it was unconstitutional to deprive gay couples of the same rights afforded heterosexual couples. This has no cost to taxpayers and has not caused the earth to stop spinning.

In fact, much of the Yes on 8 campaign (complete with their Obama-like web site), has reduced its argument to a hysterical concern for "our children." In the twisted world of these mean-spirited bigots, children are threatened by knowledge that gay people exist. Many of the commercials obsess over the possibility that teachers will read fairy tales about boys kissing - ironic since in non-election years, many of the same people attempt to ban fairy tales entirely because they feature fantasy and magic. Besides, California's reactionary curriculum and the Federal No Child Left Behind Act killed any interest in reading long ago.

Governor Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, Senator Boxer, Senator Feinstein, Senator Biden and Barack Obama oppose Proposition 8. If passed, and I fear it may (for the children - wahhh), the act will be challenged in court for many years and inflict unnecessary hardship on Americans who wish to quietly enjoy their lives as fully-enfranchised citizens.

Aren't California's consenting adults entitled to the same rights, dignity and freedom as chickens?

When you vote, appeal to your better angels. Vote for hope and change, not discrimination.

Vote NO on Proposition 8!

Frank Rich on Wall-E -- Well worth reading

The New York Time's op-ed columnist and former theatre critic, Frank Rich, wrote a terrific review of the new Pixar hit film, Wall-E.

Indeed, sitting among rapt children mostly under 12, I felt as if I’d stepped through a looking glass. This movie seemed more realistically in touch with what troubles America this year than either the substance or the players of the political food fight beyond the multiplex’s walls.

While the real-life grown-ups on TV were again rebooting Vietnam, the kids at “Wall-E” were in deep contemplation of a world in peril — and of the future that is theirs to make what they will of it. Compare any 10 minutes of the movie with 10 minutes of any cable-news channel, and you’ll soon be asking: Exactly who are the adults in our country and who are the cartoon characters?

Rich makes connections between Wall-e and the current presidential campaign as well.

For me, Mr. Obama showed signs of jumping the shark two weeks back, when he appeared at a podium affixed with his own pompous faux-presidential seal. It could have been a Pixar sight gag. In fact, it is a gag in “Wall-E,” where, in a flashback, we see that the original do-nothing chief executive of Buy N Large (prone to pronouncements like “stay the course”) boasted his own ersatz presidential podium.

I've not yet seen the film, but Rich's column, Wall-E for President, is worth reading.

Charlie Rose Lobotomized by "education" Guest

Last evening, January 2nd, my favorite journalist/talk show host once again demonstrated how his IQ can drop in half when the subject being discussed is education. Rich guy, and probably well-meaning, philanthropist Geoffrey Canada saluted the Bloomberg/Klein cabal, touted merit pay, bashed teacher unions, demanded a longer school day, pretended that the multi-billion dollar disaster of American standardized tests compared our kids to foreign students, supported KIPP Academy and even went so far as to cite the Houston public schools under Rod Paige's leadership despite the documented evidence that the "Houston Miracle" that spawned NCLB was a complete fraud for which only the whistleblower was punished. Mr. Canada also took umbrage with the phony baloney issue of "social promotion" and wishes NCLB were fully-funded.

Canada kept repeating that the reason poor kids are in failing schools is because of politics, Yet, all of his political theories are faith-based free-market schemes with no record of success anywhere and not a single example of actual classroom practice - in other words HIS pitch is 100% political.

I LOVE Charlie Rose. I rarely miss a program. I used to watch his 2-6 AM show, CBS Nightwatch, in the 1980s. There is no better interviewer on science, the arts, culture or politics than Mr. Rose. However, on the rare occasion he covers education, his guests are always conservative drill and kill proponents. The conservatives want vouchers, more testing and longer school days. The liberals want merit pay, more testing and longer school days.

The only guests I've seen on Charlie Rose in recent years have been Chancellor Klein the founder of Teach-for-America and Geoffrey Canada. For some reason the ordinarily remarkable journalist, Rose, completely suspends his disbelief and allows his platform to be used to promote dopey educational theories that are ruining the lives of children.

Perhaps Mr. Rose does not know that other voices exist in public education or that there are successful urban schools where the students are treated as his Upper East Side friends expect their children to be educated.

I offer a partial list of guests who can share their expertise and present a different vision of education for future television programs:

Dennis Littky & Elliot Washor
Jonathan Kozol
Deborah Meier
Herbert Kohl
Theodore Sizer
Alfie Kohn
Susan Ohanian
Etta Kralovek
Roger Schank
Ron Canuel
Stephen Krashen
Constance Kamii
Gerald Coles
Gerald Bracey
Ken Goodman
John Taylor Gatto
Robert Coles
Diane Ravitch
Ted Hamory & Stephanie Lee
George Wood
Lella Gandini
Pedro Noguera
Chris Lehman
me


Related article - Bill Gates and Eli Broad Go Gangsta

A National Priority?

This past Saturday night, lots (perhaps millions) of Americans had the opportunity to see the New England Patriots defeat the New York Giants and become the first NFL team in history to end a season with a 16-0 record. For football fans like myself the game was awfully entertaining.

For Senators John Kerry, Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter the game represented a threat to the United States Constitution and our way of life.

The NFL owns each football game and the right to broadcast them. During the last round of contract negotiations the league kept eight games to broadcast on its embryonic NFL Network. The historic "Giants vs. Patriots" match-up was one of the games selected in the off-season.

The 24/7 NFL Network needs original programming (re: games) to make its network viable. The business model is a combination of commercial ad revenue and cable networks paying a small amount per subscriber for the right to "carry" the NFL Network on their cable system.

I subscribe to the Dish Network, so I get the channel and the games they broadcast. I believe that DirectTV subscribers would get the game as well. Some cable monopolies, including Time Warner and Comcast, refuse to deal with the NFL Network. Therefore, their subscribers would not get to see the football game.

That's when the august group of Senators stepped in to save the day by threatening anti-trust hearings against the NFL if they did not buckle to their strong-arm tactics and broadcast the game over free TV.

It's worth remembering that this is the same Senate Judiciary Committee that cannot subpoena Scooter Libby, Karl Rove or VP Cheney for the role their role in the outing of a CIA operative; the same Committee that cannot find out who destroyed the video tapes of torture at Guantanamo Bay; the Committee that can't stop Presidential signing statements circumventing Congress; the same Committee that can't protect Americans from the Patriot Act, etc... You get the point.

Football? That they can tackle!

Yes, this does have something to do with new technology and how we live our lives

I live in Southern California. That means that every Fall Sunday morning, I have to haul my lazy butt out of bed and go to a local sports bar to watch my mighty New York Jets lose to a more talented football team. If I'm lucky, the Jets game is on the broken TV in the corner where they make me sit with the other loser or two (never more than two) who root for the Jets. The food is mediocre, but the service is even worse. Three times this season I sat through an entire game without being waited on. (Travel tip: Avoid the National Sports Bar and Grill in Torrance, CA) Sometimes the Jets game isn't on any of the bar TVs or the place is full of feces-flinging Raiders fans and I need to drive around for 30 minutes in order to find an alternative venue.

Why do I go to an unclean sports bar at 10 AM for bad food, worse service and no audio to accompany the game? Simple, because I want to watch the New York Jets play football. It's a minor inconvenience and gigantic caloric sacrifice I make to watch my team lose week after week. It costs about $20 per game.

Guess what? Fans without home access to the NFL Network could have gotten out of their Lovesac couch and gone somewhere to watch the Patriots go undefeated. Great boxing matches have been "pay-per-view" since the 1970s. Leaving your house to watch a game with others is actually fun. It's social and good for the economy too!

Digital technology and lifestyle changes make such occasions for large communal experiences increasingly rare. Do you honestly think that fans in Boston, Vermont or Philadelphia would have objected to spending a few hours in a bar watching a great football game?

The Senator's beef should not be with the NFL, but with the cable companies who are denying their customers access to the football game. Forcing the NFL Network to provide their feed of the game to both CBS and NBC screwed a 3rd party - the local television channels who PAY the NFL for the exclusive right to broadcast games. In other words, NY-area and New England viewers get every Giants and Pats game anyway, paid for by the commercials the local affiliates are able to sell. Those stations are now suing the NFL because they were cheated by the NFL due to the Senatorial intervention.

Like in most matters involving media and networked digital content you can't have partial access or partial choice. Either all content is pay-per-view, time-shiftable and subject to viewer choice or the system fails.

Why can't everyone select which game they wish to watch every week? Why are Southern Californians forced to watch the Raiders or Rams play years after the teams abandoned our media market? Those games still appear on Fox and CBS nearly every week. Who makes that decision?

The technology exists to ensure that there is NO reason I cannot watch the Jets play in my pajamas at home. I could get a different satellite receiver and pay a couple hundred bucks for the DirectTV Sunday Home Ticket package. Congress doesn't object to that option. When I first subscribed to the Dish Network in the late 90s, I paid $5/month to receive the local channels from my ancestral homeland of New York. That allowed me to keep up on local NY news and current affairs AND watch NY teams play. I can no longer due so because the United States Congress intervened on behalf of cable companies with some sort of Orwellian nod to "consumer choice" that ultimately eliminated access to what I choose to pay to watch.

Get your hands off my damned remote!