Mindless Underfunding Of Schools Continues, Doing Harm To Kids


Jeff Bryant

Mindless Underfunding Of Schools Continues, Doing Harm To KidsAs states wrap up their budget seasons, many lawmakers are proving they simply aren’t up to the task of adequately funding schools. State spending, which accounts for about half of most public school districts’ budgets, has been in steep decline for a number of years … Many of these lawmakers say the problem with the nation’s education system is lack of accountability, but school kids and their teachers are being hurt by government officials not being accountable to adequately and equitably fund our schools.

PARTY LEADERS RALLY AROUND CLINTON

Endorsement for Clinton by President and Vice-President sends signal to Sanders. W. Post:“Shortly after Sanders emerged from his meeting with Obama, word got out that the president was going to trumpet an endorsement of his former secretary of state in a video … The theme of the day soon became Democratic unity, drowning out the conversation about what policy changes and other concessions Sanders might exact in exchange for exiting the race.”

Sen. Warren endorses Clinton, praises Sanders. NBC:“Warren called the long primary ‘constructive’ … She said Sanders ‘took these issues and he really thrust them into the spotlight’ and brought millions in to the Democratic Party … she believes Sanders supporters will support Clinton. ‘The way I see this is that there is a very big and important home here,’ Warren said.”

Warren meets Clinton today. W. Post:“The sit-down … will fuel speculation about her prospects as a potential vice presidential pick … The two women do not have a particularly deep relationship, but that could change…”

Sanders holds boisterous rally in DC before final Tuesday primary. NYT:“[Sanders] showed no signs of slowing down [but] did not utter Mrs. Clinton’s name at aThursday night rally … Cornel West, the scholar and Sanders surrogate, alluded to the idea that voters might be choosing between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump … ‘we know the difference between a neo-liberal and a neo-fascist, so you make your own decision.’”

Hillary to give speech on women’s issues. W. Post:“As she has on other issues — most notably in a major foreign policy speech last week — Clinton will highlight Trump’s own words as evidence … during a speech at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund membership event in Washington on Friday.”

Clinton hires key Sanders staffer. Politico:“…the campaign has hired Bernie Sanders’ director of student organizing to serve as her national campus and student organizing director … Kunoor Ojha is the Clinton campaign’s first major hire from the Sanders campaign … a significant step in the former secretary of state’s outreach to the Vermont senator’s most ardent backers.”

Republican senator may vote Clinton. The Hill quotes:“If she’s elected as president, I’m sure we would work very well together. It is unlikely that I would vote for her. I’m not ruling anything out, but it’s very unlikely.”

“Democrats Will Learn All the Wrong Lessons From Brush With Bernie” argues Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi:“Democratic voters tried to express these frustrations through the Sanders campaign, but the party leaders have been and probably will continue to be too dense to listen. Instead, they’ll convince themselves that, as [James] Hohmann’s [Washington] Post article put it, Hillary’s latest victories mean any ‘pressure’ they might have felt to change has now been ‘ameliorated.’”

TRUMP IS A DEADBEAT

Trump has a history of wage theft, finds USA Today:“…he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans … who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them … Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage…”

Some Republicans still want to deny Trump the nomination. NYT:“Stopping Mr. Trump at this point could prove additionally difficult … Trump can now count on about half the seats on the platform and rules committees … [Hugh] Hewitt advocated opening the convention to let the delegates decide the nominee because ignoring Mr. Trump’s flaws, he said, was like ‘ignoring Stage IV cancer.’”

HuffPost explores why Speaker Ryan endorsed Trump:“According to those sources close to Ryan, a big part of the endorsement was the effect that the speaker not endorsing would have on Republicans down-the-ballot … Ryan’s calculation was that it’s better to get behind Trump and try to motivate Republicans to get to the polls than to create a rift, give the reality TV personality an excuse for his loss and simultaneously create a Democratic wave…”

Climate-Friendly Gardening in Action … a repost


Picture UPDATED INFORMATION

Become a shareholder in Eden Place Farms and receive 20 weekly boxes of organic produce grown by local farmers right in Fuller Park. Half and full shares available.
Learn more.

A repost

Are you interested in creating a climate-friendly garden? These videos can help get you started. Follow UCS analyst Karen Perry Stillerman on her visit to Eden Place Nature Center in Chicago to see how the same practices used to create this urban oasis can transform the American agricultural landscape.

Composting

Use yard waste and table scraps to turn your garden into a global warming mitigation machine.

Urban Trees

They provide shade, lower air conditioning use, and store carbon.

Today the Backyard, Tomorrow the World

What we do in our gardens, farmers can do in their fields.

On this day …history.com


Apache Chief Cochise dies »

King assassination suspect arrested

Hannibal by Thomas Harris hits bookstores »

Ghostbusters released »

Founder of Islam dies »

Robert Kennedy buried »

 

First Porsche completed »

FBI report names Hollywood figures as communists »

Tropical Storm Allison wreaks havoc »

You Put WHAT in My Ice Cream??


You Put WHAT in My Ice Cream??

 

by Justin Gammill
After all of the research that has gone into the food articles I’ve been writing, I have to admit that there are more things on my “List of Stuff to Never Put in my Mouth” than there has ever been. Razor blades, small woodland creatures, marbles, and burning embers are now joined by anything from McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, or Arby’s. Admittedly, that’s probably a good thing, but one such item that got added to the list recently really hurt.

 

See, out there in the food universe, there is a fun little ingredient called Castoreum. A seemingly innocent enough looking word since there is no questionable “-izine” at the end of it. “Hey can you pass the Castoreum?” sounds perfectly normal. Well, take it from me, you don’t want to pass the Castoreum, you want to throw it out the nearest window … possibly after lighting it on fire.

Castoreum is literally a secretion from the anal glands of a mature North American beaver. For the sake of conversation, we’ll just go ahead and call it Beaver Butt Juice, because that makes me giggle. I wish I was making this up, because the idea of putting beaver butt juice on anything other than a beaver recliner or beaver toilet paper is pretty disgusting. Unfortunately it’s a common ingredient whose most common use is for vanilla flavoring. Normally you’d expect people to try to prevent the anal secretions from a beaver from getting into your food, but not in this case. Beaver butt juice is FDA approved, and is listed as “natural flavoring” on most food labels. I can respect that, “natural flavoring” sounds better than “exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver”. But wait, my beloved Blue Bell has “Natural flavoring” listed in its ingredients … Have I been Beaver Butt Juiced? I’ll never know!

Well, It’s official Blue Bell Ice Cream, you’ve broken my heart…

I guess I shouldn’t single you out Blue Bell, you might not be the only one. Those crazy creamers Ben and Jerry might use it. Those silly Danish-sounding guys over at Häagen-Dazs might use it. Heck, even the weirdo’s over at Breyers might be slinging beaver butt juice around like Columbian drug lords. But I thought we had something special Blue Bell. You were always there in my childhood; at birthdays, holidays, school functions, everything. You covered my brownie. You accompanied my cake. You cooled me on hot days. Only for me to discover that after all these years you may have been beaver butt juiced up.

This is one of those rare chances in life where I will take the synthetic man-made alternative, Vanillin in this case, over the “All Natural” approach. Even with this being said, I guarantee you that there is some hippy out there that will read this and say “Wow, I’m only eating Blue Bell now because it’s all natural”. Have at it, buddy, the Vegans and I will pass. Well, the vegan is going to pass no matter what unless it’s soy ice cream; because heaven forbid we torture the poor cows by milking them. I don’t know if the beavers enjoy being “juiced”, I haven’t heard back from their press agent, but the vegans usually don’t think anything is good. Ever. And I’m pretty sure they hate puppies, freedom, and roller coasters too.

Random Side Note: Next time you think you hate your job, at that very moment there is a guy squeezing juice out of a beaver’s butt so that your ice cream is extra vanilla-y. All the sudden being the head cashier at the Dollar Store isn’t so bad…

more from Writer Justin Gammill … “natural flavorings”


Remember the Beaver Butt Juice? Don’t Shoot the Messenger… Again.

Writer Justin Gammill recently spilled the beans (not the vanilla kind) on where some of your “natural flavorings” for say, vanilla ice cream, may come from. This is round two of the findings and let’s just say, you may be surprised to know what may be included in your favorite Easter treats.

for complete article …click on graphicbeever-sac-400x400

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