If the Iraqi Government has failed to meet 15 of the 18 benchmarks, yet is considered a success by President Bush . . .
Then why, when schools meet 28 of 29 benchmarks under the No Child Left Behind Act, are they considered failures by this same President?
who loves the I Can Has Cheezeburger site?
(Not to get too English-teacher-y here, but there is an actual grammar on the site.) Mostly, though, it just makes me laugh, and in my line of work that’s always a good thing.
It’s Labor Day. The last day of the Minnesota State Fair.
The stick is important.
Those of you who grew up east of the
Caramel apples on a stick
Chocolate-covered bananas on a stick
Cheesecake on a stick
Sloppy Joe on a stick (it must be really, really sloppy)
Spaghetti on a stick (ditto)
Pretzels on a stick
Reuben on a stick (not sure how the sauerkraut makes it)
Pork chops on a stick
Pancakes and sausage on a stick
Chocolate chip cookie dough dipped in batter and fried, on a stick
Deep-fried Snickers on a stick
Macaroni and cheese on a stick (explain how THAT works)
Walleye on a stick
Frozen grapes on a stick (who wants HEALTHY when you’re eating food on a stick?)
Batter dipped deep fried fruit on-a-stick (that’s more like it)
Puff Daddy on a stick (I wondered what Diddy was doing these days)
And my Scandinavian favorite, Ole and
In a great Salon article, Emory professor Drew Westen sums up what Democrats have to do to win the White House next year. The short version: More Jim Webb, less John Kerry.
“If you look at [Virginia Sen.] Jim Webb‘s response to the State of the Union address this year, Democrats should watch the tape of that over and over and over until they get it in their minds that here is a guy who is as centrist as you can get, I’m not sure that he’s even left of center, but what grabs people in the center about him is that he knows how to throw a punch. He can do it with conviction. When he speaks about national security he can take what is thought of as a left-wing position, which is the most stridently antiwar position anyone really is taking … and enunciate that position with crystal-clear clarity as a values issue: that families like his are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country, but that the flip side of that contract is that their leaders have to be judicious in the ways they call for them to sacrifice. Sending them to the desert in the wrong war into the midst of somebody else’s civil war is not judicious and is betraying the military and is as far from supporting the troops as you can get.”
So today I read about this innovative new company, BookSwim. “Stop buying books when you can borrow new releases and classics,” they say. Sorta like NetFlix for books. You submit a list of books you’d like to read. Then the books arrive at your door. You read them, send them back, and get more books.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like . . . well, like the public library? Where you don’t have to pay $20 a month and you can borrow more than three books at a time?
With studies showing that one in four Americans didn’t read a book last year, I am reluctant to criticize BookSwim. But maybe those subscribers should just get a library card.
Drake, Democratic colleagues tour different Iraqs
Drake says “the surge is working,” while a fellow traveler says “the surge is a failure.”
Could it be that the headline writers at the Daily Press actually didn’t know the origin of the phrase “fellow traveler”?
Go by air. Those are among my mother’s Words to Live By, and the last two weeks have certainly proved them true.
I’ve flown through airports in Washington, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras in the last ten days. (I feel like a contestant on a bad episode of The Amazing Race.)
One thing is clear to me: air travel in this country is a broken system. The air traffic control system is an ancient analog system that is close to collapse. Any untoward event–bad weather on the East Coast springs to mind–and the whole system goes down. The Virginia delegation to NCSL, for example, spent 25 hours trying to fly home from Boston. Had we only chartered a bus, we’d have been here in less than half the time.
Flying through so many airports in such a short time gives you a perspective on the whole TSA screening process. We were told the system is supposed to provide a basic uniform level of security. But rules seem to vary not only from airport to airport, but from screener to screener. In Boston, we were told that “TSA Regulations” prohibited putting shoes in those gray plastic bins. No such rule, say the TSA folks in DC.
Customs in Atlanta? Let’s just say that staff there were less efficient, less polite, and less effective than any customs screeners in any of the (many) Third World countries I have visited. The customs section there is dirty and disorganized, a disgraceful way for citizens and visitors to enter our country.
This is basic government service. It is supposed to have been a priority of the Current Administration. And it is not working.
Thanks to everyone who helped develop the talking points for the session at yesterday’s NCSL conference. I hope we changed some minds.
Perhaps the most interesting/challenging comment came from my co-presenter Steve Urquhart, a Republican rep from Utah who has been blogging since 2004. “As a legislator, you can either do [interactive internet communication] with your voters or they will do it to you.” (Visit his blog. He’s funny and always thought provoking. And, like other online lawmakers, he believes strongly in the power of this new technology to open up democracy.)
So thanks for your thoughts. It was a lively conversation and we only heard one “I’m too busy, I can’t even answer my email, it’s too hard anyway” comment.
So perhaps progress is being made.
Maybe it was the triple latte. Early one morning this week, I began thinking about what I could tell state legislators next week at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting. I’m scheduled to be on a panel called “New Ways to Communicate with Your Constituents.” I’ll be talking about blogging and web dialogues, two great interactive communications strategies.
Thinking about the lively and robust policy conversations we have through our blogs, I found myself wishing I could take all the Virginia bloggers into the room with me. Then I thought, “Well, why couldn’t I?”
So here’s your chance. Between now and Tuesday, think about what you’d like to say to elected officials about the new, interactive technology. Why should Republicans (or Democrats, depending on your leanings) blog? Is live blogging worth it or is it too big a risk? What’s the best blogging success story you’ve seen? Any advice to elected officials on things they should never do?
Two of the real veterans of Virginia blogging, Kenton and Waldo, (think about it–two veterans whose combined age still doesn’t total 50!) caution me that bloggers are an independent lot, and that a lot of bloggers might not want to participate because they don’t like to be told what to write about. But hey, it’s August and frankly we’re all a little tired of writing about abuser fees.
So put your thoughts on paper. Er, electrons. Whatever. I’ll create a post that links to all of you–and share it with legislators across the country.
Democracy began in Virginia 400 years ago. E democracy is starting here now.
According to the AP Newswire, Henrico General District Court Judge Archer L. Yeatts III has ruled the civil abuser fees passed by the General Assembly last session unconstitutional.
I continue to hear daily from people who are furious about these fees. I am already working on legislation that will eliminate the abuser fees but not take money from the General Fund. Which, in view of the report that next year’s budget faces serious revenue shortfalls, is the only responsible action we can take.