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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14874
Location: on earth
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 Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| techno900 wrote: | I find the school lunch issue fascinating and see the parallel between the quality of education / overweight kids and the deteriorating home environment.
I reflect back to the days I was in school, where I actually worked in the school cafeterias in grades 5-8. I washed dishes in elementary and sold food at "nutrition period" in Jr. Hi and ran a cash register at lunch. "Nutrition" was giant cookies, sweet roles and milk. Lunch was a plate lunch, but I don't recall what was served, but I never brown bagged it to school. Whatever was served, the kids ate it. I earned free lunches for working, and I got to keep the lunch money given to me by my parents, so as I recall, I made 35 cents a day for a half hour of work.
In high school, I distinctly remember buying a Nestles Crunch bar after every lunch, plus after swimming practice, I routinely had two or three NEHI Orange sodas (got hooked on those suckers). "Junk" food was readily available. However, in my Winter of '63 class with over 600, there were few if any "fat" kids (I have the class photo). Same in Jr. Hi and Elementary. Yes, I was in the L.A. City school system. There was also a McDonalds within walking distance of my house during my High School years.
So what is different now? The Independent schools where I worked for 32 years had only a handful of obese kids and they tended to be financial aid students.
As I have said before, it seems to be the disintegration of the family unit, which now too often spits out undisciplined, unmotivated and unhealthy kids. How one fixes this I don't know, but I do believe that throwing a ton of money at it will have little if any impact. Free lunches that kids wont eat is not a solution. Now, it unfortunately seems that schools are being mandated into a parental role, which so far appears to be failure.
I don't have the answers. |
Seems your thesis is very lacking. IE free lunch... For yours to be wholly true the disintegraion of family you can look at other nations that are hitting US obesity rates. Europe has the entire free lunch all the way to college and obesity rates are very low in those countries that have free education and food and housing till the day they become doctors.
Mexico passed up the USA child obesity rate just a few years ago, there are NO free junk lunches in Mexico. Their family separation rate seems to me to be much lower than the USA. (I did not check for stats on that) If you are in the poverty rate they provide lunch items like milk, dried fruits and nuts and things like that, no sugar fortified lunch there. Mexico did immediately step in and then stopped parents from sending sugar foods and drinks with kids to lunch, they are no longer allowed. I can tell you it has made a huge impact in our town. As mentioned have been taking kids to school for 3 years now. In that time I would give an estimate it has dropped our local rate by 50%. (I have to say I hate their pinata tradition, I hate the candy it puts in their hands. Seems like there is a birthday pinata every week.)
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when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Time to repeat this:
| Quote: | | The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. |
From the same piece: | Quote: | Mike Lofgren, a veteran Republican congressional staffer, wrote an anguished diatribe last year about why he was ending his career on the Hill after nearly three decades. “The Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe,” he wrote on the Truthout Web site.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:09 am Post subject: |
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I don't know what is most ironic about this. Here are the candidates:
1. Right wingers somehow think that billionaire Tea Party Congressmen with questionable ethics speak for the little people;
2) Billionaire Tea Party Congressmen with questionable ethics are trying to make money on solar stocks--while the getting is good;
3. Anyone expects Boehner to do something about the ethical lapses here.
Vote early and often.
| Quote: | ByJEFF HORWITZPublishedMAY 7, 2015, 6:14 PM EDT 4032 Views
WASHINGTON (AP) — A multimillionaire, first-term Florida congressman flipped shares in a solar company the same day he acquired them in an initial public offering, despite a federal law that generally prohibits members of Congress from participating in IPOs.
Republican Rep. Curt Clawson, who gave the tea party's response to the president's State of the Union address earlier this year, earned less than $700 profit on the sale of less than $15,000 in shares of SolarEdge Technologies Inc. of Fremont, California, according to financial records and Clawson's spokesman, David James.
And James says the trade on March 26 was lawful. "We feel like every requirement of the law was met," he said Thursday.
Despite the small stakes, however, the trade may test a provision of a 2012 law, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act. Known as the Stock Act, it was intended to prevent members of Congress and legislative employees from using inside information or profiting in unseemly ways. One provision bans lawmakers and staff members from buying stock during initial offerings unless the same opportunity is "available to members of the public generally."
The House Ethics Committee has twice formally reminded lawmakers that the general public is rarely allowed to participate in IPOs, and it advises members of Congress to ask its advice in advance to determine whether such a purchase by them would be permissible.
Investment banks and brokerages traditionally reserve IPOs for their favored customers. |
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mrgybe
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 5180
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| A "billionaire Tea Party Congressman" risked his seat and his reputation to make $700 on solar stocks "while the getting is good"! Hillary's multimillion dollars action? Fake scandals. Could the barrel scrapers get any more ridiculous. Ironic indeed. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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Pretty funny. I mistook multi-millionaire for billionaire--and the Archbishop granted him absolution. See no evil of fellow tea baggers. Ethics only matter when you are attacking Hillary.
Hint--honest people don't break laws. Dishonest people don't distinguish how much they get. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 10:43 am Post subject: |
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For those of you who missed EJ dionne's column about the latest outbreak of e-crazy in Texas:
| Quote: | So it is, depending upon your religious outlook, a fortuitous coincidence or superfluous evidence of God’s puckish sense of humor that a few days later comes news of conservatives accusing the federal government of trying to take over the state of Texas. It seems the four branches of the U.S. military are gearing up for Operation Jade Helm 15, an eight-week training exercise across seven states. Right-wing conspiracy theorists online and on radio are claiming the exercise is actually a pretext for a federal takeover of the Lone Star State, with — get this — abandoned Walmarts to be used for the processing of prisoners!
Nor is this being laughed off by conservatives in positions of authority. To the contrary, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the state guard to monitor the exercise to safeguard Texan’s “civil liberties.” Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert has asked the military to change the exercise. Senator and presidential wannabe Ted Cruz said he checked with the Pentagon and while he accepts that it has no plans to conquer Texas — how magnanimous of him — “I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty” because the Obama administration “has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy.”
Forgive me if I don’t spend a lot of space pointing out that this is stupid, though I can’t resist asking: If the Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force were, indeed, planning to take over Texas, just what does Gov. Abbott think the state guard would be able to do about it?
There is, however, a more pressing observation to be made. After all, chances are good you’ve never heard about any of this — the story hasn’t garnered major headlines — and that, hearing of it now, you are not terribly surprised. That speaks pointedly of how inured we have become to the insane, paranoiac, anti-government prattle flowing like sewage from the political right. Duly elected leaders, putatively responsible people, give credence to the crazy idea that the federal government is about to attack its second most populous state and we shrug because it’s just another Tuesday in the lunatic asylum of American politics. |
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14874
Location: on earth
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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| mac wrote: | For those of you who missed EJ dionne's column about the latest outbreak of e-crazy in Texas:
| Quote: | So it is, depending upon your religious outlook, a fortuitous coincidence or superfluous evidence of God’s puckish sense of humor that a few days later comes news of conservatives accusing the federal government of trying to take over the state of Texas. It seems the four branches of the U.S. military are gearing up for Operation Jade Helm 15, an eight-week training exercise across seven states. Right-wing conspiracy theorists online and on radio are claiming the exercise is actually a pretext for a federal takeover of the Lone Star State, with — get this — abandoned Walmarts to be used for the processing of prisoners!
Nor is this being laughed off by conservatives in positions of authority. To the contrary, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the state guard to monitor the exercise to safeguard Texan’s “civil liberties.” Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert has asked the military to change the exercise. Senator and presidential wannabe Ted Cruz said he checked with the Pentagon and while he accepts that it has no plans to conquer Texas — how magnanimous of him — “I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty” because the Obama administration “has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy.”
Forgive me if I don’t spend a lot of space pointing out that this is stupid, though I can’t resist asking: If the Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force were, indeed, planning to take over Texas, just what does Gov. Abbott think the state guard would be able to do about it?
There is, however, a more pressing observation to be made. After all, chances are good you’ve never heard about any of this — the story hasn’t garnered major headlines — and that, hearing of it now, you are not terribly surprised. That speaks pointedly of how inured we have become to the insane, paranoiac, anti-government prattle flowing like sewage from the political right. Duly elected leaders, putatively responsible people, give credence to the crazy idea that the federal government is about to attack its second most populous state and we shrug because it’s just another Tuesday in the lunatic asylum of American politics. |
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i get it it is the liberal media.... that is why no-one has heard about what the right wing loonies are doing in Texas... again if a liberal owned the media this would be headlines for years... no conspiracy, we have the loonies words... the government was going to take over texas.... the right wing top contenders all fanned this hate the fed government issue for their hating base to do another waco or blow up a federal building..
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when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 10:42 am Post subject: |
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Republican policies at work--and then needing bail-out:
| Quote: | By Bryan Lowry, The Wichita Eagle (TNS), June 12, 2015
WICHITA, Kan. — A tax plan crawled to passage in the Kansas House in the early hours Friday morning, after Gov. Sam Brownback warned lawmakers that massive budget cuts would occur Monday if they failed to act on taxes.
The House began debate on a pair of bills at 1:30 a.m. meant to plug the state’s nearly $400 million budget hole. It did not pass until after 4 a.m.
Democrats castigated Republican leaders for holding the debate at such an hour when lawmakers are weary and most of the public are asleep.
But Republican lawmakers stressed the urgency of passing a bill now rather than later with the state staring down massive cuts if lawmakers failed to act. |
In case you might wonder why Kansas has to raise taxes by nearly $400 million at the last minutes, you might look at what the Republican governor and legislature did to create this problem.
From the Kansas City Star, December 28, 2014. More of Saint Ronnie's voodoo economics. What the Republicans have in mind for the whole country. Be afraid. Be especially afraid of those fools who tout the benefits of amateur politicians. Like those in KANSAS.
| Quote: | Forced on the defensive in a close re-election campaign because of his expensive tax cuts, lackluster job growth and warnings of a looming financial crisis, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback still insisted the state was headed in the right direction.
“The sun is shining on Kansas,” he said. “And don’t let anybody tell you any different.”
Six days after the election, someone did. With authority.
A group of state government officials and university economists released the latest consensus revenue estimate, an updated projection of how much the state can expect to receive in tax receipts and other income to meet its budgeted expenses.
The news was even worse than Brownback’s critics had suggested during the campaign. Bottom line: Kansas finances are in such bad shape the state will collect $1 billion less in revenues this budget year and the next than its projected expenditures.
That sets the stage for perhaps the state’s most significant legislative session in years.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article5016273.html#storylink=cpy |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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This is why the GOP has lost the women's vote, and it convinces me that the social conservatives who dominate the party in policy setting are far more interested in controlling women than in preventing abortion:
| Quote: | What if there were something that simultaneously cut the unintended-pregnancy rate and the abortion rate, while saving a bundle of taxpayer money? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Turns out there is. In 2009, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation donated over $23 million to the Colorado Family Planning Initiative, a five-year experimental program that offered low-income teenage girls and young women in the state long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs)—IUDs or hormonal implants—at no cost. These devices, which require no further action once inserted and remain effective for years, are by far the best method of birth control available, with less than a 1 percent failure rate. (The real-use failure rate for the Pill is 10 times higher.) One reason more women don’t use LARCs is cost: While they save the patient money over time, the up-front price can be as high as $1,200. (Even when insurance covers them, many teens fear the claim forms sent to their parents would reveal they are sexually active.) Another reason is that women simply don’t know about LARCs and assume the cheaper pills available at clinics are their only option.
Given the opportunity to make an informed decision at no cost, around 30,000 participants in Colorado chose LARCs. The results were staggering: a 40 percent decline in teen births, and a 34 percent decline in teen abortions. And for every dollar spent on the program, the state saved $5.85 in short-term Medicaid costs, in addition to other cost reductions and the enormous social benefit of freeing low-income teens from unwanted pregnancies and what too often follows: dropping out of school, unready motherhood, and poverty.
You would think Colorado had found the holy grail of compromise in the abortion wars: a plan that would unite Democrats and Republicans, pro-choicers and anti-choicers, social liberals and fiscal conservatives. A plan that was, moreover, well-run, backed by evidence, supported by the state’s health department—and, to repeat, worked astonishingly well. You would think that when the state legislature had to decide whether to pass a bill funding the program after the private money runs out in June, the choice would be, in the pungent words of its Republican cosponsor, Don Coram, “a no-brainer.”
But you would be wrong. When the program began, Colorado’s state government was in Democratic hands, and the initiative enjoyed some bipartisan support. This was one reason the foundation picked Colorado for its pilot program: Chances were good that if it showed positive results, the state would take it over. But last November, Republicans won control of the State Senate and are on a kind of victory lap. Optimists predicted that the bill would sail through the legislature; instead, after it passed the Democrat-controlled House, Senate Republicans maneuvered the bill into a budget committee, where GOP lawmakers killed it. |
by Katha Pollitt |
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coboardhead
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
Posts: 4303
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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Saves money...check
Saves lives...check
Reduces abortions...check
Bipartison support...check
Popular...check
Failed because a couple of GOP State Senators on the committee argue that IUD's are abortion and, therefore, public funds cannot be used....
(banging head slowly against wall......) |
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