Leaving Children Behind
"At the state and local level, however, there’s no doubt about it: big spending cuts are coming. And who will bear the brunt of these cuts? America’s children. Today, advocates of big spending cuts often claim that their greatest concern is the burden of debt our children will face. "
"But here’s the thing: While low spending may sound good in the abstract, what it amounts to in practice is low spending on children, who account directly or indirectly for a large part of government outlays at the state and local level."
"The really striking thing about all this isn’t the cruelty — at this point you expect that — but the shortsightedness. What’s supposed to happen when today’s neglected children become tomorrow’s work force?
"Anyway, the next time some self-proclaimed deficit hawk tells you how much he worries about the debt we’re leaving our children, remember what’s happening in Texas, a state whose slogan right now might as well be “Lose the future.” "
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
About Us | WeAreTeachers Online Teacher Forum
About Us | WeAreTeachers Online Teacher Forum
WeAreTeachers provides a powerful online community for teachers, combining the expertise of our member community, the resources and knowledge base of our partners and the momentum of social media to recognize and reward innovative teaching ideas. With thousands of teaching ideas submitted for cash and prizes, WeAreTeachers offers a unique forum for innovation and collaboration.
WNET/Channel 13 | Connect all Schools
WNET/Channel 13 | Connect all Schools
The WIDE ANGLE Discussion Guide offers you an exciting way to use public television programs to enrich political science, journalism, economics, and AP social studies courses. It includes video segments from the programs Dishing Democracy, Gold Futures, Brazil in Black and White, and The People's Court. Also included are program themes, essays by experts, maps, and discussion questions that are intended to help students learn more about the meaning of the events examined in each of the programs.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
MoveOn.org Political Action
MoveOn.org Political Action
"New Yorkers Stand with Wisconsin Workers!
In Wisconsin and around our country, the fundamental right to collectively bargain is under fierce attack. The Governor of Wisconsin has used the excuse of a budget crisis to eliminate workers rights to negotiate. The people of Wisconsin are fighting back by the tens of thousands. Wisconsinites are serving as an inspiration for the rest of the country facing Republicans more concerned with giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich and cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services than creating jobs."
"We demand an end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share."
"New Yorkers Stand with Wisconsin Workers!
In Wisconsin and around our country, the fundamental right to collectively bargain is under fierce attack. The Governor of Wisconsin has used the excuse of a budget crisis to eliminate workers rights to negotiate. The people of Wisconsin are fighting back by the tens of thousands. Wisconsinites are serving as an inspiration for the rest of the country facing Republicans more concerned with giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich and cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services than creating jobs."
Blogroll
- Campaign for America's Future
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Eliza Kern
Dean Barker
Karen Liot Hill
Thirteen/WNET Educational Services Advisory Committee | Celebration of Teaching & Learning
Thirteen/WNET Educational Services Advisory Committee
Lafayette Retooled by Mayor’s Education Reform
Brooklyn Eagle, Bay Ridge Eagle Brooklyn, NY :: daily paper in Brooklyn
The famed Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, which has produced such celebrity alumni as Larry King and Sandy Koufax, will open its doors on Sept. 4 to three smaller, specialized schools that will dwell under the same roof.
After Lafayette and several other schools in the city were deemed “failing” in late 2006, the mayor closed off those larger institutions and replaced them with a melange of smaller, more finely tuned schools in an effort to improve the city’s graduation rate.
The Lafayette High School Education Complex will be another of the city’s testing grounds for this initiative, called the “campus movement.”
However, statistics argue the “small schools movement” has made positive headway. Over the course of four years, the graduation rate has doubled from 35 percent in 2002, when schools were still in the larger format, to 70 percent last school year, after schools had been broken into smaller entities, according to DOE Chancellor Joel Klein.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Julie Burstein: Spark - Spark Blog - How Creativity Works
Julie Burstein: Spark - Spark Blog - The Four O'clock Problem
Biography
I'm a writer, media producer and host with a passion for creativity in everyday life. In 2000 I created Studio 360, public radio's premiere program about pop culture and the arts, hosted by Kurt Andersen (www.studio360.org). We won a Peabody Award for our American Icons show about Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, which you can listen to here: http://www.studio360.org/americanicons/episodes/2006/08/18. Studio 360 is produced by Public Radio Internatonal and WNYC.
Over the years, I've also worked as a producer and arts reporter at National Public Radio and with Terry Gross at WHYY, I often… Read more
Spark: How Creativity Works In the book, scores of America's greatest filmmakers, writers, musicians and artists give readers an inside look at their creative processes and inspiration.
This week Kurt and Julie look at the methods artists have for actually getting to work and getting that work done. They revisit Kurt's conversations with novelist Isabel Allende, painter Chuck Close, playwright Tony Kushner, and sculptor Richard Serra.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wisconsin Power Play - NYTimes.com
Wisconsin Power Play - NYTimes.com
By PAUL KRUGMAN
In principle, every American citizen has an equal say in our political process. In practice, of course, some of us are more equal than others. Billionaires can field armies of lobbyists; they can finance think tanks that put the desired spin on policy issues; they can funnel cash to politicians with sympathetic views (as the Koch brothers did in the case of Mr. Walker). On paper, we’re a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we’re more than a bit of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate."You don’t have to love unions, you don’t have to believe that their policy positions are always right, to recognize that they’re among the few influential players in our political system representing the interests of middle- and working-class Americans, as opposed to the wealthy. "
"... Wisconsin’s new union-busting governor, Scott Walker"
"Mr. Walker’s pretense that he’s just trying to be fiscally responsible. It is, instead, about power. What Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy. And that’s why anyone who believes that we need some counterweight to the political power of big money should be on the demonstrators’ side."
"Why bust the unions? As I said, it has nothing to do with helping Wisconsin deal with its current fiscal crisis. Nor is it likely to help the state’s budget prospects even in the long run: contrary to what you may have heard, public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are paid somewhat less than private-sector workers with comparable qualifications, so there’s not much room for further pay squeezes. "
But Mr. Walker isn’t interested in making a deal. Partly that’s because he doesn’t want to share the sacrifice: even as he proclaims that Wisconsin faces a terrible fiscal crisis, he has been pushing through tax cuts that make the deficit worse. Mainly, however, he has made it clear that rather than bargaining with workers, he wants to end workers’ ability to bargain.So it’s not about the budget; it’s about the power.
"Why bust the unions? As I said, it has nothing to do with helping Wisconsin deal with its current fiscal crisis. Nor is it likely to help the state’s budget prospects even in the long run: contrary to what you may have heard, public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are paid somewhat less than private-sector workers with comparable qualifications, so there’s not much room for further pay squeezes. "
“It’s like Cairo has moved to Madison.” Representative Paul Ryan
Monday, February 21, 2011
Jackson 5 "Can You Feel It" ---An Uplifting Song
Artist: Michael Jackson
Song: www.Mp4.Ma .:::. Can You Feel
Album: The Essential Michael Jackson
Year: 2005
Lyrics
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it
If you look around
The whole world is coming togheter now, baby
All the colors of the world should be
Lovin' each other wholeheartedly
Yes, it's all right
Take my message to your brother
And tell him twice
Spread the word and try to teach the man
Who's hating his brother,
When hate won't do, ooh
Take the news to the marching men
Who are killing their brothers
When death won't do, ooh
Yes we're all the same
Yes, the blood inside of my vain is inside of you
Now, tell me
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it
Song: www.Mp4.Ma .:::. Can You Feel
Album: The Essential Michael Jackson
Year: 2005
Lyrics
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it
If you look around
The whole world is coming togheter now, baby
All the colors of the world should be
Lovin' each other wholeheartedly
Yes, it's all right
Take my message to your brother
And tell him twice
Spread the word and try to teach the man
Who's hating his brother,
When hate won't do, ooh
Take the news to the marching men
Who are killing their brothers
When death won't do, ooh
Yes we're all the same
Yes, the blood inside of my vain is inside of you
Now, tell me
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it,
Can you feel it
| Michael Jackson - www.Mp4.Ma .:::. Can You Feel .mp3 | ||
 | ||
 | Found at bee mp3 search engine |  |
Saturday, February 19, 2011
clive crook's blog | News on US politics
clive crook's blog | News on US politics from the Financial Times – FT.com
Clive Crook’s blog
I have been the FT's Washington Columnist since April 2007. I moved from Britain to the US in 2005 to write for the Atlantic Monthly and the National Journal after 20 years working at the Economist, most recently as deputy editor. I write mainly about the intersection of politics and economics
Obama accused Scott Walker, the state’s new Republican governor, of unleashing an “assault” on unions in pushing emergency legislation that would nullify collective-bargaining agreements that affect most public employees, including teachers.
The president’s political machine worked in close coordination Thursday with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.
"Can he really think that Chait is the first to come up with this? For a start, it's the letter of current policy. Here's a new idea: call me crazy, but let's do what we're already doing. Unfair, you might say: up to now, nobody has actually advocated leaving current law in place. Not so. The idea of reversing all the Bush tax cuts after a temporary extension has been in the air for ages."
It's ridiculous to think, as Chait and Dionne both seem to, that Obama will be able to campaign in 2012 without committing himself one way or the other on this. If a tax reform hasn't already been done by then, would he be willing to campaign on the pledge to let all the Bush tax cuts expire?
Clive Crook’s blog
I have been the FT's Washington Columnist since April 2007. I moved from Britain to the US in 2005 to write for the Atlantic Monthly and the National Journal after 20 years working at the Economist, most recently as deputy editor. I write mainly about the intersection of politics and economics
Obama accused Scott Walker, the state’s new Republican governor, of unleashing an “assault” on unions in pushing emergency legislation that would nullify collective-bargaining agreements that affect most public employees, including teachers.
The president’s political machine worked in close coordination Thursday with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.
"Can he really think that Chait is the first to come up with this? For a start, it's the letter of current policy. Here's a new idea: call me crazy, but let's do what we're already doing. Unfair, you might say: up to now, nobody has actually advocated leaving current law in place. Not so. The idea of reversing all the Bush tax cuts after a temporary extension has been in the air for ages."
It's ridiculous to think, as Chait and Dionne both seem to, that Obama will be able to campaign in 2012 without committing himself one way or the other on this. If a tax reform hasn't already been done by then, would he be willing to campaign on the pledge to let all the Bush tax cuts expire?
The real budget solution, revisited--By E.J. Dionne and What is actually being proposed in Wisconsin? by Ezra Klein
The real budget solution, revisited
"can campaign on maintaining the Bush tax cuts on income below $250,000. All he has to do is refuse to sign an extension of the tax cuts for income over $250,000. If he does that, Republicans will block the whole thing, and we'll revert to Clinton-era rates. Obama can turn the GOP's fanatical attachment to tax cuts for the rich against them. He can be in favor of middle-class tax cuts, and he can let Republicans block those cuts for him."
Jonathan Chait
What is actually being proposed in Wisconsin? by Ezra Klein
"Walker tries to sell the change in collective bargaining as modest. "State and local employees could continue to bargain for base pay, they would not be able to bargain over other compensation measures." But that's not really true. Read down a bit further and you'll find that "total wage increases could not exceed a cap based on the consumer price index (CPI) unless approved by referendum." In other words, they couldn't bargain for wages to rise faster than inflation. So, in reality, they can't bargain for wages and they can't bargain over other forms of compensation. They just can't bargain."
"The proposal doesn't stop there, though. "Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until the new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units are required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues." These rules have nothing to do with pension costs or even bargaining. They're just about weakening unions: They make it harder for unions to collect dues from members, to negotiate stable contracts or to survive a bad year." notes
By Harold Meyerson
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Day the Movies Died: Movies Mark Harris
The Day the Movies Died: Movies
Mark Harris-Author, top-notch pop culture thinker and Oscar-addict Mark Harris—author of the excellent history of the 1968 Academy Awards race Pictures at a Revolution
Read More http://www.gq.com/about/mark-harris#ixzz1ENAodIuC
Mark Harris-Author, top-notch pop culture thinker and Oscar-addict Mark Harris—author of the excellent history of the 1968 Academy Awards race Pictures at a Revolution
Read More http://www.gq.com/about/mark-harris#ixzz1ENAodIuC
You want to understand how bad things are in Hollywood right now—how stifling and airless and cautious the atmosphere is, how little nourishment or encouragement a good new idea receives, and how devoid of ambition the horizon currently appears
...but that it has never been harder for an intelligent, moderately budgeted, original movie aimed at adults to get onto movie screens nationwide. "It's true at every studio," says producer Dan Jinks, whose credits include the Oscar winners American Beauty and Milk. "Everyone has cut back on not just 'Oscar-worthy' movies, but on dramas, period. Caution has made them pull away. It's infected the entire business."
With that in mind, let's look ahead to what's on the menu for this year: four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children's book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title. One sequel that, if it were inclined to use numbers, would have to have a 7 1/2 in the title.1
1. Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, Green Lantern, and Thor; X-Men: First Class; Transformers 3; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Rise of the Apes; Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2; The Hangover Part II; Winnie the Pooh; The Smurfs in 3D; Spy Kids 4; Fast Five and Final Destination 5; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
It might feel like deja vu at the Hollywood box office: 27 sequels arrive in theaters this year, a new record. For writer Mark Harris, it's just another sign that Hollywood is making fewer original adult dramas. Harris writes about this in his article for the February issue of GQ, "The Day the Movies Died."
With that in mind, let's look ahead to what's on the menu for this year: four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children's book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title. One sequel that, if it were inclined to use numbers, would have to have a 7 1/2 in the title.1
1. Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, Green Lantern, and Thor; X-Men: First Class; Transformers 3; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Rise of the Apes; Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2; The Hangover Part II; Winnie the Pooh; The Smurfs in 3D; Spy Kids 4; Fast Five and Final Destination 5; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
It might feel like deja vu at the Hollywood box office: 27 sequels arrive in theaters this year, a new record. For writer Mark Harris, it's just another sign that Hollywood is making fewer original adult dramas. Harris writes about this in his article for the February issue of GQ, "The Day the Movies Died."
God's Politics Blog
God's Politics Blog
Our mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.
...We believe that unity in diversity is not only desirable, but essential to fulfilling God's ultimate desire for God's people, as expressed in scripture (Acts 2, Revelation 7:9), and thus an essential element of seeking God's will on earth as it is in heaven. »read more»read more
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Earth Science or Living Environment---Preparing For Sea Level Rise, Islanders Leave Home
At the age of 20, Tiibea Baure had never seen a stoplight. She'd never been anywhere where she couldn't walk to the ocean in less than four minutes. She'd never slept in a bed before — just on the floor, with her extended family in the same room.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133681251/preparing-for-sea-level-rise-islanders-leave-home
...more than 80 students studying nursing in Australia, as part of a program to help people leave Kiribati because of worries about climate change and overpopulation
Environmental Migrants
More than 80 people from Kiribati, including Baure and Ariera, are studying nursing at Australia's Griffith University on a special scholarship called the Kiribati Australia Nursing Initiative, or KANI.
It's a response to two major problems: climate change and overpopulation. Even though there are 33 islands in Kiribati, nearly half of the population lives on just one of them, the capital, South Tarawa. Already that puts a lot of pressure on the environment; drinking water can be in short supply, and land is scarce.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133681251/preparing-for-sea-level-rise-islanders-leave-home
...more than 80 students studying nursing in Australia, as part of a program to help people leave Kiribati because of worries about climate change and overpopulation
Environmental Migrants
More than 80 people from Kiribati, including Baure and Ariera, are studying nursing at Australia's Griffith University on a special scholarship called the Kiribati Australia Nursing Initiative, or KANI.
It's a response to two major problems: climate change and overpopulation. Even though there are 33 islands in Kiribati, nearly half of the population lives on just one of them, the capital, South Tarawa. Already that puts a lot of pressure on the environment; drinking water can be in short supply, and land is scarce.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone
The co-founder of Twitter talks about how the service was used in Egypt to help organize the protests, and about the rumors that the popular microblogging service could be purchased by Google or Facebook.
"Twitter is not for sale. We don't have a shingle out on our front that says 'Twitter. For Sale.' We're not for sale and we haven't been. We're very, very interested in building an independent company."
"Yeah, we're not we're not valued at $10 billion. That's just what people are writing in the newspapers, which unfortunately has the negative aspect of my friends thinking I must have $10 billion. So hey, I just read in the Wall Street Journal that you have $10 billion."
"When Obama tweeted that he had won the presidency. And that was just, you know, sort of a mind-blowing thing because it was this historic presidential election and here we had the man himself tweeting and acknowledging it, and for us that was just a big acknowledgment of our work."
Transcript
Twitter's Biz Stone
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
"There are always ways around shutting down technology. People do find ways," Stone says. "Together with Google we allowed for the phone lines to become a way for allowing people to get their voices out. It is important for us to remain a neutral technology provider, but we do believe that the open exchange of information is very important and can have a positive impact on the world. That's a mission that we subscribe to and that we are committed to."
"Twitter is not for sale. We don't have a shingle out on our front that says 'Twitter. For Sale.' We're not for sale and we haven't been. We're very, very interested in building an independent company."
"Yeah, we're not we're not valued at $10 billion. That's just what people are writing in the newspapers, which unfortunately has the negative aspect of my friends thinking I must have $10 billion. So hey, I just read in the Wall Street Journal that you have $10 billion."
"When Obama tweeted that he had won the presidency. And that was just, you know, sort of a mind-blowing thing because it was this historic presidential election and here we had the man himself tweeting and acknowledging it, and for us that was just a big acknowledgment of our work."
Transcript
Twitter's Biz Stone
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
"There are always ways around shutting down technology. People do find ways," Stone says. "Together with Google we allowed for the phone lines to become a way for allowing people to get their voices out. It is important for us to remain a neutral technology provider, but we do believe that the open exchange of information is very important and can have a positive impact on the world. That's a mission that we subscribe to and that we are committed to."
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
V.S. Ramachandran's Tales Of The 'Tell-Tale Brain'
Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is a neurologist and professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the neural mechanisms underlying human behaviors. He has written several books about unlocking the mysteries of the human brain. In his latest, The Tell-Tale Brain, Ramachandran describes several neurological case studies that illustrate how people see, speak, conceive beauty and perceive themselves and their bodies in 3-D space.
Even basic sensory maps in the brain can be remapped in a matter of months, says neurologist V.S. Ramachandran.
Ramachandran suspected that once an arm was amputated, the area in the brain mapped to that arm was deprived of sensory inputs it was used to receiving — and became hungry for new sensations.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133026897/v-s-ramachandrans-tales-of-the-tell-tale-brain
Transcript
Even basic sensory maps in the brain can be remapped in a matter of months, says neurologist V.S. Ramachandran.
Ramachandran suspected that once an arm was amputated, the area in the brain mapped to that arm was deprived of sensory inputs it was used to receiving — and became hungry for new sensations.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133026897/v-s-ramachandrans-tales-of-the-tell-tale-brain
Transcript
Monday, February 14, 2011
Italian Women Demand Berlusconi's Resignation
Italian Women Demand Berlusconi's Resignation : NPR
An estimated 1 million women took to the streets of Italy on Sunday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. They denounced a political culture of sleaze in Italy and an end to Berlusconi's habit of promoting scantily dressed showgirls to fill seats in Parliament and even posts in his government.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133756344/Italian-Women-Demand-Berlusconis-Resignation
An estimated 1 million women took to the streets of Italy on Sunday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. They denounced a political culture of sleaze in Italy and an end to Berlusconi's habit of promoting scantily dressed showgirls to fill seats in Parliament and even posts in his government.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133756344/Italian-Women-Demand-Berlusconis-Resignation
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Home | EF Foundation for Foreign Study
Home EF Foundation for Foreign Study
When you welcome an international exchange student into your home, community, or high school, you make a global impact simply by sharing your America.
When you welcome an international exchange student into your home, community, or high school, you make a global impact simply by sharing your America.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thomson Reuters - The Knowledge Effect
Thomson Reuters - The Knowledge Effect
There's a principle some call the Butterfly Effect. It says that when a butterfly flaps its wings in New York, you get rain instead of sunshine in Beijing. The effects of a random event can create a ripple felt around the world.
We believe in a different principle. One built on order, not chance. One that says we can steer the course of events in the world because we have the knowledge to do so. The right information in the right hands leads to amazing things. That's The Knowledge Effect.
There's a principle some call the Butterfly Effect. It says that when a butterfly flaps its wings in New York, you get rain instead of sunshine in Beijing. The effects of a random event can create a ripple felt around the world.
We believe in a different principle. One built on order, not chance. One that says we can steer the course of events in the world because we have the knowledge to do so. The right information in the right hands leads to amazing things. That's The Knowledge Effect.
Project Syndicate - A World of Ideas - the highest quality opinion editorial ( op-ed ) commentaries
Project Syndicate - A World of Ideas - the highest quality opinion editorial ( op-ed ) commentaries
Project Syndicate: the world's pre-eminent source of original op-ed commentaries. A unique collaboration of distinguished opinion makers from every corner of the globe, Project Syndicate provides incisive perspectives on our changing world by those who are shaping its politics, economics, science, and culture. Exclusive, trenchant, unparalleled in scope and depth: Project Syndicate is truly A World of Ideas. Project Syndicate is a voluntary, member-based institution. Its mission is to: bring the highest quality commentaries and analysis by the world’s most distinguished voices to local audiences everywhere; and strengthen the independence of printed and electronic media in transition and developing countries.
As of February 2011, Project Syndicate membership included 451 leading newspapers in 150 countries. Financial contributions from member papers in advanced countries support the services provided by Project Syndicate free of charge or at reduced rates to members in developing countries. Additional support comes from Politiken Foundation
and-->the Open Society Institute
Project Syndicate: the world's pre-eminent source of original op-ed commentaries. A unique collaboration of distinguished opinion makers from every corner of the globe, Project Syndicate provides incisive perspectives on our changing world by those who are shaping its politics, economics, science, and culture. Exclusive, trenchant, unparalleled in scope and depth: Project Syndicate is truly A World of Ideas. Project Syndicate is a voluntary, member-based institution. Its mission is to: bring the highest quality commentaries and analysis by the world’s most distinguished voices to local audiences everywhere; and strengthen the independence of printed and electronic media in transition and developing countries.
As of February 2011, Project Syndicate membership included 451 leading newspapers in 150 countries. Financial contributions from member papers in advanced countries support the services provided by Project Syndicate free of charge or at reduced rates to members in developing countries. Additional support comes from Politiken Foundation
and-->the Open Society Institute
Poverty fuels protests in the Middle East
In countries such as Egypt and Jordan, the poor are locked out and frustrated because a corrupt elite hogs opportunities and assets.
how the wealthy in countries like Egypt and Jordan have laid claim to virtually all the power and opportunity.
Here in Jordan, as in Egypt and many other countries in the Middle East, there is a large gap between rich and poor. Here, families living below the poverty line, like Taher's, make up more than 13 percent of the population. And there's not much chance for them to escape.He [Hani Hourani is director of the New Jordan Research Center, which is a think tank in Amman. He says there used to be more mobility in Jordan.]says the disadvantages start early: There's a big difference in the quality of education in public and private schools. And the curricula need to be revamped completely, so that students get the kinds of skills they need to work in a global economy -- whether its training on computers or learning foreign languages.
This system is enabling the elites only and ignoring or isolating the majority of the people. In the long run, it will be a disaster for the country and for the stability.
...families in his community know the importance of education. And some even manage to graduate from high school and go on to the university. But many others end up dropping out of secondary or even primary school. And many children born into poor families grow up to be poor themselves, because it's hard to break the cycle of poverty. It's nearly impossible for kids who start life in a poor family without connections to be accepted into the monied elite.
*******************************************************************************************
Jordan: The Fire Next Door Hani Hourani
At the economic level, Jordan's ties with Iraq are very close. Nearly all of our oil comes from Iraq at highly subsidized rates. Replacing this oil at market prices could cost more than $600 million a year.
Former Minister of Trade and Industry Mohammad al-Samadi estimates that Iraqis buy more than $500 million of Jordanian goods annually. Our trucking industry - 5000 mostly family-owned trucks - is largely dependent on this trade. How much of it will be lost, particularly if a new regime in Baghdad punishes Jordan for its close ties with the Iraqi government, is a worrying question. Fahed al-Fanek, a leading Jordanian economist, estimates that the war could cost Jordan as much as 25% of its GDP, about $2 billion.
how the wealthy in countries like Egypt and Jordan have laid claim to virtually all the power and opportunity.
Here in Jordan, as in Egypt and many other countries in the Middle East, there is a large gap between rich and poor. Here, families living below the poverty line, like Taher's, make up more than 13 percent of the population. And there's not much chance for them to escape.He [Hani Hourani is director of the New Jordan Research Center, which is a think tank in Amman. He says there used to be more mobility in Jordan.]says the disadvantages start early: There's a big difference in the quality of education in public and private schools. And the curricula need to be revamped completely, so that students get the kinds of skills they need to work in a global economy -- whether its training on computers or learning foreign languages.
This system is enabling the elites only and ignoring or isolating the majority of the people. In the long run, it will be a disaster for the country and for the stability.
...families in his community know the importance of education. And some even manage to graduate from high school and go on to the university. But many others end up dropping out of secondary or even primary school. And many children born into poor families grow up to be poor themselves, because it's hard to break the cycle of poverty. It's nearly impossible for kids who start life in a poor family without connections to be accepted into the monied elite.
*******************************************************************************************
Jordan: The Fire Next Door Hani Hourani
At the economic level, Jordan's ties with Iraq are very close. Nearly all of our oil comes from Iraq at highly subsidized rates. Replacing this oil at market prices could cost more than $600 million a year.
Former Minister of Trade and Industry Mohammad al-Samadi estimates that Iraqis buy more than $500 million of Jordanian goods annually. Our trucking industry - 5000 mostly family-owned trucks - is largely dependent on this trade. How much of it will be lost, particularly if a new regime in Baghdad punishes Jordan for its close ties with the Iraqi government, is a worrying question. Fahed al-Fanek, a leading Jordanian economist, estimates that the war could cost Jordan as much as 25% of its GDP, about $2 billion.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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Hello And Welcome To 'The Two-Way'
Meet The Host: Frank James
The Two-Way is written by veteran journalists Mark Memmott and Frank James. But it's really a team effort.
Diplomatic Reality: As In Egypt, U.S. Often Relies On 'Useful Autocrats'
The Two-Way: Diplomatic Reality
US Often Relies on Useful Autocrats
National Public Radio®. Heard on All Things Considered (Transcript)
Guest: Mr. Joshua Keating (Associate Editor, Foreign Policy Magazine)
"And the interesting thing now is how the sort of old logic of supporting anti-communist authoritarian regimes has been replaced by supporting regimes in places like, say, Ethiopia, who are providing support to us in the name of counterterrorism efforts."
"So, you know, in this delicate balancing game of U.S. foreign policy, often it's necessary to make alliances with autocratic regimes. The problem is, as we're seeing in Egypt, that these guys don't last forever. And often, when they face major challenges to their influence, the people on the streets remember who's been supporting these governments and providing them with weapons for years and years."
"And I think that, you know, if you look at especially the Cold War experience, that many of these regimes that we supported - look at Iran, for instance. For years, the U.S. was supporting the shah's regime and in 1953, the CIA even backed a coup against a democratically elected leftist government there."
Haiti and Social Media
US Often Relies on Useful Autocrats
National Public Radio®. Heard on All Things Considered (Transcript)
Guest: Mr. Joshua Keating (Associate Editor, Foreign Policy Magazine)
"And the interesting thing now is how the sort of old logic of supporting anti-communist authoritarian regimes has been replaced by supporting regimes in places like, say, Ethiopia, who are providing support to us in the name of counterterrorism efforts."
"So, you know, in this delicate balancing game of U.S. foreign policy, often it's necessary to make alliances with autocratic regimes. The problem is, as we're seeing in Egypt, that these guys don't last forever. And often, when they face major challenges to their influence, the people on the streets remember who's been supporting these governments and providing them with weapons for years and years."
"And I think that, you know, if you look at especially the Cold War experience, that many of these regimes that we supported - look at Iran, for instance. For years, the U.S. was supporting the shah's regime and in 1953, the CIA even backed a coup against a democratically elected leftist government there."
Haiti and Social Media
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