This argues strongly that the us congress, well, the us government…all three branches…is illegitimate and needs to be tossed…soon.
Perhaps we can show this little video clip in the classroom…say right after the kids are forced to recite the pledge thing.
Via Talking Points Memo.
Jazz has this Item of Note:
From Pandagon, today’s politics seem to beg the question: Are the two main parties melting down to the point where we wont’ be able to tell them apart?
Gosh, when it get’s down to the bottom line of securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people of the US they’ve been the same for a long time.
Here is a good example of why legislative sessions should be reduced(Free Reg) to, say, a week if not completely eliminated:
Maybe Democrats in the state Assembly should just go ahead and write textbooks for California’s students. They’re so confident they know what constitutes a good one.
For instance, who knew that making a textbook longer than 200 pages was such a bad idea that there needs to be a law against it?
These folks have way too much time on their hands.
The bill’s sponser has been bashed a bunch but remember that 42 (mostly democrat) of the 70 representatives voted for this. That Californians elected 42 such bright people to rule their lives is a pretty good indicator that the eduction system there is broken.
Part of the alleged justification:
Textbooks are too laden with print supplemental materials, and too uninteresting in style. In the 21st century, the information age, information changes more rapidly than books can be printed. Educated, informed citizens of the 21st century will have to rely on technology and media for information. Textbooks should provide an overview of the critical questions and issues of a subject, and then become a roadmap to guide students to other means and sources of information.
To which I say, BS.
I’m long out of school and use the internet extensively to research areas in many subjects. Much, I’d expect, as a K-12 student might do once they’ve reached a certain level of competence. I also buy 2-4 high school/college survey textbooks a year (plus 20-30 volumes of more in depth material) for my own library. No 200 page textbook can cover the breadth and depth needed for any survey course even to provide the minimal requirements noted above.
Even if you reduce the range of focus 200 pages is still rediculous. For instance, if you are studying 13th-14th century world economic systems an excellent overview with references to a lot of primary material (much not available on the net) is Abu-Lughod’s Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. It has just over 450 pages. Sure, you can find this subject reduced to a paragraph, a few pages, or a chapter or two but whatever chunk you prefer will be in a volume that should take more than 200 pages to be meaningful….unless its volume N of a series.
Via The Carnival of Education: Week 17.
Both dems and repubs participate in corporate shakedowns, you know, something that was once called extortion. But that doesn’t make it right.
I suspect that the bushies actions related to Inter-American Telecommunications Commission meeting are not unique:
At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry’s 2004 campaign.
The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush’s second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.
The Left Coaster notes:
Remember, to the Bush White House, unquestioning loyalty to George W. Bush always trumps what’s good for American business.
And I wouldn’t conflate what’s good for American business with what’s good for the American people.
An excellent way to eliminate this kind of administration behavior would be to eliminate all corporate contributions from the election process. The US government is, after all, supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Update (4/26): Mark Kleiman puts a related post in his Corruption in Washington category.
When a whiff of competition appears on the horizon what do bussiness in the American free market economy do? Why, of course, they head over to the nearest government regulative or legislative body to seek some form of protection:
Verizon Communications and SBC Communications’ plans to wire American homes with high-speed fiber connections may encounter regulatory roadblocks, members of Congress suggested Wednesday.
Both companies are spending billions on fiber links that can carry everything from Internet service to voice and video. Verizon’s Fios service already boasts speeds of up to 30 megabits per second with a digital TV package expected later this year……
These forays into digital TV are alarming television broadcasters and some cable companies, which view fiber service as a competitive threat. This week, for instance, Verizon announced that it plans to carry all of NBC Universal’s channels on Fios TV.
…
“Stations would lose audience share and advertising dollars, and these dollars fund local programming that makes broadcasting valuable,” Greg Schmidt, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the influential National Association of Broadcasters, told a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday. The NAB represents local radio and TV broadcasters.
Congress should prohibit SBC and Verizon from offering digital TV unless the companies follow an extensive list of government regulations, Schmidt said.
Now, some of you may find the relatively content free local news valuable but, really, if that stuff is the core value of broadcasting we are in deep trouble.
Read the whole article. It is full of fine whining, groveling and populated by congress critters who, seemingly only too eager to feed their patrons, should be put out to pasture.
Oh, and please don’t get me wrong, Verizon and SBC are not really good players here. They are companies who have drank heavier than most from the protected from competition by regulation trough over the last hundred years.