Archives
Archive for the ‘Society & Politics’ Category
007.25.12 Lincoln on pragmatic idealism
I really like these quotes from his debate with Douglass: “This they said and this they meant (the equality of those certain unalienable rights). They did not mean to assert the obvious untruth, that all were then actually enjoying that equality, nor yet, that they were about to confer it immediately upon them. In fact they had no power to confer such a boon. They meant simply to declare the right, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit. They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated….the assertion that “all men are created equal” was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use.” — quoted in Stephen Prothero’s The American Bible p.80
I think this is a key point, that declaring what is right or just describing an idea has power even though the writer doesn’t have the ability to enforce or implement it, and may not in their lifetime.
006.12.12 Learning Communities Online
Just found P2PU – Peer to Peer University – on a list at reddit of online learning resources
This looks really cool. The ones I’m most excited about so far are
BOINC for citizen scientists
tools for content curation
107.04.11 American History Quiz: Which founding father leaked documents that triggered the start of the American Revolution?
From 1773 to 2011, leaking incriminating documents into the public eye has been a powerful mechanism to galvanize revolutions.
Nothing quite like reading in black and white the recommendation for “abridgement of what are called English liberties”.
Benjamin Franklin leaked Royal Governor Hutchinson’s letters to the press back in 1773, triggering the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. (Franklin was actually trying to focus anger on a local governor instead of Britain – but once the truth is out, people act on it in their own way. After this affair and the British response to it Franklin gave up on reconciliation with England and became a revolutionary himself.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchinson_Letters_Affair
The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin by Cheryl Harness is available in the Pima County Library – its a children’s book but with some excellent information. I learn most things by reading books to my kids!
Article originally posted to bTucson.com under Politics and Government
006.29.11 Benefit Corporations spreading – not in Arizona yet
Most companies are legally required to be selfish. That is, to put shareholder value over all other considerations including worker health, dangers to consumers, damage to the environment, or anything else.
Enter the “B Corp” – a kind of company that can legally pay attention to what most of us call values. Arizona doesn’t yet recognize “B” Corps, but five states now do: Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, New Jersey and now New York.
Arizona? What does your legislator say?
see bcorporation.net
New law fosters benefit corporations
Background reading: The Corporation by Joel Bakan, available at the library.
Originally published at bTucson.com/193476
106.20.11 Huppenthal barefaced lie?
Read it for yourself – the Tucson Weekly has posted a full PDF of the ethnic studies audit online
The audit appears to be a thorough review including unannounced classroom observations, student interviews and curriculum analysis. The audit firm, Cambium Learning, was chosen by Huppenthal’s department to conduct the audit.
read more at bTucson.com under Schools
006.06.11 Randy Parraz Interview
The cool thing about citizen journalism is you get to talk to really neat people.
I talked to Randy Parraz, who led the Pearce recall effort, back in June. His voice was a little raspy after talking to thousands of voters, and the day after turning in the petitions he sounded a little tired, but took time to talk to me bright and early and explain how this turnaround came about.
So this was a big day for Arizona?
read more at Tucson Politics and Government
005.03.11 Recall Pearce campaign – no, campaigns!
I didn’t even know there is a strong effort out to recall Russell Pearce, the Arizona State Senator who has perhaps done the most harm to Arizona and to Tucson.
** Update – There were actually TWO efforts to recall pearce, and the first one posted, Arizonans for Better Government, is now focused on finding a decent Mormon Republican to replace him.
The second effort, Citizens for a Better Arizona, is about to reach its signature quota, see recallpearce.com – Arizonans for Better Govt is asking people to donate to the Citizens group since they need the money to complete their recall effort.
The deadline is May 31, help energize this campaign!
Citizens for a Better Government also has a facebook page
The Arizonans for Better Government recallrussellpearce.wordpress.com/ took a smart tactic of having some Mormon leaders run fireside chats to educate Mormon voters about the position of the LDS church, which is actually pretty humane and not at all in line with Pearce’s brand of vitriol.
Some background info: crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/karmic-update-recall-campaign-agains
005.02.11 Tucson’s Future Mayor?
Quite a bit, according to Jonathan Rothschild, the Democratic candidate apparent. Rothschild, currently a $295/hr attorney, intends to drop out of his law practice and dedicate his 12-hour workdays to ‘doing whatever it takes’ to make Tucson thrive.
We (myself and two of my daughters) interviewed Rothschild from broad strokes to brass tacks. He’s articulate, well-researched, and can think on his feet. My kids also thought he was genuinely decent, and they are pretty tough on fakes.
read the full interview here: What can a Mayor do for Tucson?
004.04.11 Moderate Republicans support Jan Brewer campaign
Walking through Military Plaza park this afternoon, a small rally was in progress and I had a chance to talk to one of the volunteers for the campaign to Recall Jan Brewer. It seems the campaign was started by a Republican! And when the volunteer was making her calls asking for support, she mentioned this fact. The woman on the other end started laughing – “I’m a republican too, and I can’t stand that woman. I’m going to tell all my republican friends!”
Perhaps there is some hope for the Moderate Middle after all. Moderates of Arizona, unite!
Originally published at bTucson.com/190720
003.09.11 Judy Burns defends TUSD schools
TUSD board member Judy Burns came out strongly last night in opposition to closing any more schools for a year, and instead spending the time to redraw boundaries and work with parents and communities. Adelita Grijalva supported Burns and Hicks voted to at least vote on it; but Stegeman and Cuevas argued that if closure needs to be considered it should be done sooner rather than later. read more