RandySF
RandySF's JournalThanks, everyone, for the hearts.
In this anonymous virtual world, it's nice to know people are thinking of me.
Bush foundation writing state laws to benefit corporate funders.
A nonprofit group released thousands of e-mails today and said they show how a foundation begun by Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and national education reform leader, is working with public officials in states to write education laws that could benefit some of its corporate funders.
A call to the foundation has not been returned.
The e-mails are between the Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) and a group Bush set up called Chiefs for Change, whose members are current and former state education commissioners who support Bush’s agenda of school reform, which includes school choice, online education, retention of third-graders who can’t read and school accountability systems based on standardized tests. That includes evaluating teachers based on student test scores and grading schools A-F based on test scores. John White of Louisiana is a current member, as is Tony Bennett, the new commissioner of Florida who got the job after Indiana voters rejected his Bush-style reforms last November and tossed him out of office.
Donald Cohen, chair of the nonprofit In the Public Interest, a resource center on privatization and responsible for contracting in the public sector, said the e-mails show how education companies that have been known to contribute to the foundation are using the organization “to move an education agenda that may or not be in our interests but are in theirs.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/30/e-mails-link-bush-foundation-corporations-and-education-officials/
Terri Schiavo's husband vows to campaign against Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush was preparing to release the emails he sent and received as Florida governor when he was excoriated by a letter-writer to The Miami Herald.
The headline: "Don't trust Jeb Bush with the power of the presidency."
The subject of many of the emails was Terri Schiavo. The letter-writer was her husband, Michael.
Bush's effort to stop Michael Schiavo from removing his brain-damaged wife's feeding tube was a defining moment of Bush's time in office.
Bush, a devout Catholic, sided with Terri Schiavo's parents in the end-of-life dispute and reached for unprecedented authority to intervene. Michael Schiavo said his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.
As Bush moves toward a run for president in 2016, Michael Schiavo has reemerged, promising to campaign against Bush and remind voters about the ex-governor's role in the matter.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/sfl-jeb-bush-terri-schiavo-2016-20150215-story.html
Finished my first season as a youth sports dad: A few observations.
1. Sports, put in the right context, can help some kids develop better classroom habits.
2. No school has one bad parent. They're either all nice or they're all assholes.
3. Kids learn to play dirty early.
4. Some referees love being the center of attention.
5. Kids don't mind strict coaches if they're being encouraged along the way.
6. Shuttling your athlete from one game to another can be just as tiring a playing.
*whew*
'He was sawing me in half:' Ireland's gruesome era of symphysiotomy
(CNN)Rita McCann still remembers the day when her joy at the prospect of giving birth to her first child turned into sheer terror.
It was December 15th, 1957 when she went into labor at a hospital in Dublin, Ireland. As she floated in and out of consciousness, she remembers being taken into a room with a single bed.
"I was pulled to the bottom of the bed. My legs were strapped into stirrups. I was nine months pregnant, flat on my back," she says. "I was helpless and I did not know what was going to happen."
"[Then] I got a local anesthetic and the torture began."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/europe/ireland-symphysiotomy/
If you support Hillary, God Bless You. If you don't, God Bless You.
Let's have a civil primary season and, please, get together and keep Jeb! Bush out of the White House.
Daily Beast: Don’t Be Fooled By The Claims of ‘Cleanse’ Diets
This is the language of infomercials, but Sakara’s superfoods are sexier and more exotic than stain removal. Many of them come from exotic places or were eaten in ancient cultures, so marketers and consumers assign them magical powers and rhapsodize about their high “antioxidant” concentration.
While there have been some studies supporting the health benefits of consuming antioxidant-rich blueberries and other superfoods, most of them are “in vitro” studies—in test-tubes, rather than tested on animals, including humans.
“You can get really sophisticated with your biochemistry, but the evidence that this stuff is good for us is grossly oversimplified,” says Wilhelmina Kalt, a researcher with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture). There’s a lot of verbiage out there, but only a tiny fraction of it can be substantiated. If these foods helped us live until we were 100, we would know that by know.”
The bottom line, she says, is to eat a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you want to pay more money for Sakara Life’s fruits and vegetables and tell yourself you’re “eating the rainbow” while doing it, you’re only draining your wallet.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/15/don-t-be-fooled-by-the-claims-of-cleanse-diets.html
Facebook discriminates against Native American names
If you’re Native American, Facebook might think your name is fake.
The social network has a history of telling its users that the names they’re attempting to use aren’t real. Drag queens and overseas human rights activists, for example, have experienced error messages and problems logging in in the past.
The latest flap involves Native Americans, including Dana Lone Hill, who is Lakota. Lone Hill recently wrote in a blog post that Facebook told her her name was not “authentic” when she attempted to log in.
Facebook barred Lone Hill from signing in and asked for identification to verify her name. Lone Hill writes that she has sent Facebook three forms of ID so far. Her mother’s name is Lone Hill and her father’s name is Lone Elk.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/facebook-thinks-some-native-american-names-are-inauthentic/ar-AA9pfDZ?ocid=mailsignout
As Dynasty’s Son, Jeb Bush Used His Connections Freely
The stream of requests to the White House from Jeb Bush, a young but well-connected Republican leader in South Florida, ranged from the weighty and urgent to the parochial and mundane.
In 1985, he sent an emotional letter pressing his father, Vice President George Bush, to investigate the detention of Cuban children in Texas, asking, “Shouldn’t there be some compassion?” (The vice president’s reply: “Heartbreaking.”)
In 1989, after his father became president, Mr. Bush offered his recommendation for the next Supreme Court opening. (“Your suggestion will be given thoughtful consideration,” a senior aide responded.)
In 1990, Mr. Bush lobbied the White House to meet with executives of the telecommunications giant Motorola — fostering a relationship that would later aid his own political ambitions. (The chief of staff did meet with Motorola, as did President Bush.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/us/politics/as-dynastys-son-jeb-bush-used-his-connections-freely.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1
Daily Beast: A Dominatrix Reviews ‘50 Shades of Grey'
From the point of view of a dominatrix, I wouldn't describe Fifty Shades of Grey as a realistic depiction of the relationship between two BDSM play partners. I've worked as a professional dominatrix and submissive for three years, and currently run a small fetish studio in Manhattan. I have worked in a commercial dungeon as well as independently, have had personal slaves, and have attended fetish/suspension parties. I would, however describe Fifty Shades of Grey as E.L. James’s watered-down BDSM-related fantasy that’s been translated into a Hollywood movie targeting the general population; a populist bondage film.
n reality, the characters Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey probably wouldn’t have met during a professional interview. The majority of dominant/submissive relationships begin online or after meeting at a fetish event. Because how would someone know if the person he or she is into shares similar views or kink interests? Although I could see why Grey is drawn to Anastasia Steele—she is young, reserved, and inexperienced sexually, or the perfect clay for a natural dominant to mold into his obedient, devoted submissive. But the odds of someone like Anastasia Steele considering a dom-sub relationship are slim. I would compare it to BDSM Cinderella; you're probably not going to meet your prince charming after losing your ball gag at a fancy ball.
Considering the audience Fifty Shades of Grey was made for—that is, the BDSM-illiterate but sexually semi-curious—I tried my best to keep an open mind. But there were some parts of the movie that made me laugh and shake my head in disdain.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/14/a-dominatrix-reviews-50-shades-of-grey.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 59,414
