The Sun State Activist

RECENT HEADLINES:

AFGHANISTAN: IN A WAR OF PERCEPTIONS, MISINFORMATION IS YOUR WEAPON AND THE MEDIA ARE YOUR ALLY. Gareth Porter makes this observation about NATO's capture of the "city" of Marja (pop 80,000) in the "largest operation" of the Afghan conflict. In fact Marja is nothing like the city or the town that the military's press releases indicated, but rather a collection of agricultural clusterings spread over 80 square miles with only one farmer' market in the area even called "Marja." The hyping of the assault was apparently a propaganda operation, orchestrated at the highest level of military command, to portray the much wished-for "progress" in the country; and the world's mainstream collaborated in this "perception management" by persistent references to Marja as a "city" or a "town."

GRANDPA IS TAKING HIS PENSION MONEY TO LAS VEGAS TO PLAY DOUBLE OR NOTHING. Actually, according to an article in the New York Times, U.S. states are so playing "Grandpa's" money, resorting to more risky investments by their pension funds to try to make up for losses sustained in earlier investments in a real estate bubble which is now broken. The "nothing" of a deflated bubble may be as serious as the much-toted shortfall in Social Security funds as the "baby boomers" come of retirement age.

MICHELLE ALEXANDER: THE NEW JIM CROW, MASS INCARCERATION IN AN AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS. The title of this new book tells the story, a story of willful public refusal to recognize the overwhelming frequency of people of "color" in prisons and the connection of this fact to the escalated "war on drugs." While defenders of the policy point to an alleged increase in drug-related crimes in areas of heavy minority population, the facts belie the belief as this "war" involves an "enemy" of decreasing strength even as the effort to combat it is increased

"TAX THE RICH TO FUND PUBLIC EDUCATION." This sign seen at a San Francisco demonstration of teachers, parents and students on March 4 provides the text for labor acvtivist Shamus Cooke's article on the "war on public education" in America. This war began with the "No Child Left Behind" educational policy in the Bush administration and intensified in the "Race to the Top" approach in the Obama one. The way school systems reach "the top" (are granted federal funding) is by engaging in anti-union policies, blaming teachers for the "failure" of schools that cannot succeed in a situation in which education is severely under-funded, as demanded by the political agenda of "starving" public services and blaming the employees for their failure. If it is happening with teachers in schools, it will happen with other public service workers elsewhere. The San Francisco event merely suggested a preliminary awakening of the "sleeping giant" of union power in America. How many times will it hit the snooze button?

FLORIDA PUTS ON ITS "RACE TO THE TOP" RUNNING SHOES AND HOLDS GUN TO THE HEAD OF RELUCTANT TEACHERS' UNIONS. Now a "finalist" in the national competition for federal stimulus funding, Florida's application gained the signature of teachers unions in only 5 of the state's 64 counties. The unions object especially to imposing on school districts the requirement of making teacher retention and pay based on student performance on comprehensive assessment tests. This seems not to matter to the state, which will use the power of the withholding funds from those districts that do not "cooperate" with the terms of the state plan for which federal funding is sought.

OTHER RECENT STORIES:

Head of oceanographic service in Chile fired over failure to issue tsunami warning following earthquake

Canadian government moves toward establishing "corporate accountability" for human effects of Canadian mining operations in Latin America.

Monsanto admits that a brand of genetically modified cotton seed has failed to, as advertised, protect cotton crops against devastation by a pest of the cotton plant.

Court in Houston is examining charges of conflict of interest in an official of the Metro Transit Authority being married to a woman with a business relationship with a California firm granted a large contract for a light rail construction project.

Effort underway in Washington legislature to join the 43 other U.S. states that have income taxes, with a 4.5% levy on top incomes and a penny deduction the state sales tax.

Clerk court in Baltimore spearheading effort to have Maryland legislature act to reform the jury selection system in the state that has allowed many people to escape ever having to serve on jury duty.

McDonalds in Florida offers free breakfast for Florida children taking FCAT test this week: egg mcmuffin, apple dipper, orange juice, milk---no substitutes.

Sharp rise in produce prices will follow frigid conditions in Florida fields.

End may be approaching of Disney World's program of offering a free theme park pass in exchange for people doing a day of community service.

Florida TaxWatch has 88 suggestions for spending and taxation by Florida government that, were they all to be implemented, they say would wipe out the state's $3.2 billion budget deficit.