If y'all are looking for something interesting to listen to that is outside your wheelhouse (I feel confident saying that for every single person who might possibly read this on this site), this episode of Return the Key on Simone Weil is really interesting.
Hezbollah no longer has any legitimate grievance with Israel.
Except, you know, them committing genocide, which should be a grievance we all have with Israel.
If I sound like a broken record, it's because I'm just blown away at the extent to which people either dance around this, or in many cases, outright deny it, or even worse still, as we've seen on this blog, support it.
I mean, in one case it's genocide (in Gaza), and in the other terrorism (Mossad in Lebanon). Or rather, this is what we would call these two things were anyone else doing it. When Israel or the U.S. does it, it's "war," and "bad things happen in war."
Killing Israeli children is wrong. If only you recognized that was true in reverse. That you don't, and clearly never have, should greatly disturb you, and watching you do mental gymnastics in order to not face that fact, in this thread and any thread on the subject, is nausea-inducing.
When the first info was that Hamas had broken out of Gaza, some. When the concert info came out, none.
But if you're still cheering at the murder of children at this point, over some people you don't even know cheering on October 7, then you're at least as sick as the sickest of them.
Finding the actual numbers, it looks like Baltimore was in fact 11th among the largest 100 in 2019. Still pretty highly ranked, but not top 4, or top 10.
This per-student spending unfortunately does not make up for what looks like hundreds of millions of dollars in underspending on capital projects (building schools, renovating schools, etc.), and spending on students can't solve the biggest issue in Baltimore: poverty (75% served with Title 1 funds, almost all students eligible for free or reduced lunch).
Obviously, throwing money at schools isn't the only solution: if you want to make schools better, you need a lot of money in the schools both for regular school functions and for capital projects, but you also need to seriously address poverty and its symptoms in a district. Throwing money at schools without addressing poverty is easier, though.
The 2022 link discusses the top 100. Again, no Baltimore near the top. Perhaps they're using other criteria to determine the top, or just looking at a particular kind of school?
I do believe the extra hundred plus million that Baltimore got at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year (so FY23) would have put them closer to the top, but they're still outspent by the real big guns (NY, LA, Boston, DC, etc.). I can't imagine there's been any time in the last century in which Baltimore has beat out NY, LA, and Boston.
$15,000 is around the national average per student in FY22. I'm skeptical that it was in the top 3 3 years earlier. It certainly wouldn't have been in FY22, when the top large school districts were spending well over $20k per student. This article looking at 2021 spending doesn;t put them in the top 25. I find a bunch of sources that put Baltimore slightly above average before the 2022-2023 school year (a year in which they're still not in the top 3), but I can't find anything that puts them in the top 3. Not saying it's not possible; I'm just deeply skeptical, and your link doesn't link to any source.
In fairness, that spending was the result of a massive increase in funding 2 years ago (so we're at the beginning of the 3rd school year). So the interesting question is whether performance has gone up over the last two school years. Unfortunately, we only have the first year (2022-2023) data, and there was some improvement over the previous year, but as pretty much anyone from that district will tell you, a big part of what they need is capital improvements, so that'll take even longer.
I'm not saying that the school district doesn't have a problem with misuse of funds, but I am saying we don't have enough data after the large increase in funding to say whether the funding is helping.
Looking at the unemployment rate won't tell you much about the economy of the former industrial towns of the rustbelt, except perhaps during economic downturns, during which they're less resilient than average (their unemployment rate will tend to drop lower and take longer to recover than the country as a whole). You have to look at population decline (something like 30% since the 70s, in Springfield), the median income (Springfield's has dropped dramatically since the 90s), the average age of the population since young people leave decaying towns (Springfield's is significantly older than the national average), etc.
I remember visiting Springfield from the mid-90s, when it already had the look of a dying rust belt town. My sister went to college there in the first years of this century, and the couple times I visited then, it looked even worse. I haven't been in about 20 years, and apparently after hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, thee downtown area looks and feels nicer than it did even back in the early 90s, but the population is still older, less educated, and poorer than it was, and they're not bringing in jobs that keep young people there, so the workforce, when they do add jobs, has to come from elsewhere.
I read the article, and I know the group it focuses on. Obviously I think any pro-life person should be excluded from any tent in which women's rights are taken seriously, in precisely the same way that racists should be excluded from any tent in which ethnic and racial minority rights are taken seriously, and to its credit, the Democratic Party at least tries to take women's rights and reproductive justice seriously, even if it doesn't try very hard to actually do anything when those rights are threatened or taken away. But I also don't think Dick Cheney should be in any political tent whatsoever, but rather in a prison after being convicted and sentenced in The Hague.
In short, I hope the Democrats tell the Democrats for Life where they can stick their misogyny.
Oh, I get her logic, but that doesn't make me think it's any less disgusting. Also, it's exactly what you would expect based on the general left critique of the two-party system.
I did not watch the debate, so this is the first time I'm hearing about this, and damn. I'm not a liberal, and I'm not going to vote for her, but if I were, the Cheney endorsement would cause some serious reflection, and her bragging about it even more.
And to be clear, that reflection should be the exact opposite of the reflection in KenB's link: instead of wondering, "How can we include more bad people in this tent," they should be thinking, "How did we let any bad people into our tent?"
Obviously the Democrats didn't choose to include one of the worst people in the history of this country, Dick Cheney, in their tent, but they rightly exclude pro-lifers, who are much closer to Cheney than they are to anyone the Democrats should choose to include in their tent.
Or are you, instead, of the position that there are some things that are more important than Democracy?
Obviously some things are. I'd be extremely wary of anyone who says otherwise.
I assume that you’re not on board with Phil’s take that everyone but a small racist minority seems ok with it?
I don't know how such a vote would turn out. I don't know how a vote to exclude anyone with certain religious beliefs, or politics, or racial heritage regardless of citizenship, etc., would turn out. I'd like to hope people are enlightened enough not to exclude anyone from their cities and towns, but I'm cynical enough not to assume they are.
As I've learned working first on an effort to decriminalize homelessness in Austin, and then on a campaign to prevent its recriminalization, is that if there's one thing liberals and conservatives share, it's a deep fear and hatred for people experiencing homelessness.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Open Mic for the week of 9/16/2024”
If y'all are looking for something interesting to listen to that is outside your wheelhouse (I feel confident saying that for every single person who might possibly read this on this site), this episode of Return the Key on Simone Weil is really interesting.
"
Hezbollah no longer has any legitimate grievance with Israel.
Except, you know, them committing genocide, which should be a grievance we all have with Israel.
If I sound like a broken record, it's because I'm just blown away at the extent to which people either dance around this, or in many cases, outright deny it, or even worse still, as we've seen on this blog, support it.
"
I mean, in one case it's genocide (in Gaza), and in the other terrorism (Mossad in Lebanon). Or rather, this is what we would call these two things were anyone else doing it. When Israel or the U.S. does it, it's "war," and "bad things happen in war."
"
Killing Israeli children is wrong. If only you recognized that was true in reverse. That you don't, and clearly never have, should greatly disturb you, and watching you do mental gymnastics in order to not face that fact, in this thread and any thread on the subject, is nausea-inducing.
"
Then you should probably imagine harder.
"
When the first info was that Hamas had broken out of Gaza, some. When the concert info came out, none.
But if you're still cheering at the murder of children at this point, over some people you don't even know cheering on October 7, then you're at least as sick as the sickest of them.
"
I'll never get used to seeing ghoulish Americans celebrating a terrorist attack that killed an 8-year old.
"
Ah, glad they're making it more accurate.
"
Finding the actual numbers, it looks like Baltimore was in fact 11th among the largest 100 in 2019. Still pretty highly ranked, but not top 4, or top 10.
This per-student spending unfortunately does not make up for what looks like hundreds of millions of dollars in underspending on capital projects (building schools, renovating schools, etc.), and spending on students can't solve the biggest issue in Baltimore: poverty (75% served with Title 1 funds, almost all students eligible for free or reduced lunch).
Obviously, throwing money at schools isn't the only solution: if you want to make schools better, you need a lot of money in the schools both for regular school functions and for capital projects, but you also need to seriously address poverty and its symptoms in a district. Throwing money at schools without addressing poverty is easier, though.
"
The 2022 link discusses the top 100. Again, no Baltimore near the top. Perhaps they're using other criteria to determine the top, or just looking at a particular kind of school?
I do believe the extra hundred plus million that Baltimore got at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year (so FY23) would have put them closer to the top, but they're still outspent by the real big guns (NY, LA, Boston, DC, etc.). I can't imagine there's been any time in the last century in which Baltimore has beat out NY, LA, and Boston.
"
$15,000 is around the national average per student in FY22. I'm skeptical that it was in the top 3 3 years earlier. It certainly wouldn't have been in FY22, when the top large school districts were spending well over $20k per student. This article looking at 2021 spending doesn;t put them in the top 25. I find a bunch of sources that put Baltimore slightly above average before the 2022-2023 school year (a year in which they're still not in the top 3), but I can't find anything that puts them in the top 3. Not saying it's not possible; I'm just deeply skeptical, and your link doesn't link to any source.
"
In fairness, that spending was the result of a massive increase in funding 2 years ago (so we're at the beginning of the 3rd school year). So the interesting question is whether performance has gone up over the last two school years. Unfortunately, we only have the first year (2022-2023) data, and there was some improvement over the previous year, but as pretty much anyone from that district will tell you, a big part of what they need is capital improvements, so that'll take even longer.
I'm not saying that the school district doesn't have a problem with misuse of funds, but I am saying we don't have enough data after the large increase in funding to say whether the funding is helping.
On “Missing the Forest for the Trees on Springfield”
Looking at the unemployment rate won't tell you much about the economy of the former industrial towns of the rustbelt, except perhaps during economic downturns, during which they're less resilient than average (their unemployment rate will tend to drop lower and take longer to recover than the country as a whole). You have to look at population decline (something like 30% since the 70s, in Springfield), the median income (Springfield's has dropped dramatically since the 90s), the average age of the population since young people leave decaying towns (Springfield's is significantly older than the national average), etc.
I remember visiting Springfield from the mid-90s, when it already had the look of a dying rust belt town. My sister went to college there in the first years of this century, and the couple times I visited then, it looked even worse. I haven't been in about 20 years, and apparently after hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, thee downtown area looks and feels nicer than it did even back in the early 90s, but the population is still older, less educated, and poorer than it was, and they're not bringing in jobs that keep young people there, so the workforce, when they do add jobs, has to come from elsewhere.
On “Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory”
Your experience with that Hell App couldn't be more different from mine.
"
It was a Facebook group (you can see the screenshot in the Snopes link). So basically NextDoor for Boomers who have never learned how to use NextDoor.
On “Open Mic for the week of 9/9/2024”
I read the article, and I know the group it focuses on. Obviously I think any pro-life person should be excluded from any tent in which women's rights are taken seriously, in precisely the same way that racists should be excluded from any tent in which ethnic and racial minority rights are taken seriously, and to its credit, the Democratic Party at least tries to take women's rights and reproductive justice seriously, even if it doesn't try very hard to actually do anything when those rights are threatened or taken away. But I also don't think Dick Cheney should be in any political tent whatsoever, but rather in a prison after being convicted and sentenced in The Hague.
In short, I hope the Democrats tell the Democrats for Life where they can stick their misogyny.
"
Must have said some pro-Israel stuff back in last '23 or early this year. I was blocking extremely liberally then.
Unblocked.
"
Oh, I get her logic, but that doesn't make me think it's any less disgusting. Also, it's exactly what you would expect based on the general left critique of the two-party system.
"
Is Cheney still popular among non-Trumpy Republicans? That doesn't speak well for them.
"
Yeah, I get what she's doing, but I still find it gross. Here's my contribution:
https://x.com/MixingChris/status/1832946578044141943?t=_IPYZLWPMwHW5jz4t1v9XA&s=19
I'm not going to vote for her, but if she'd said, "And Dick Cheney, who can rot in hell," I might for a moment have considered it.
"
I did not watch the debate, so this is the first time I'm hearing about this, and damn. I'm not a liberal, and I'm not going to vote for her, but if I were, the Cheney endorsement would cause some serious reflection, and her bragging about it even more.
And to be clear, that reflection should be the exact opposite of the reflection in KenB's link: instead of wondering, "How can we include more bad people in this tent," they should be thinking, "How did we let any bad people into our tent?"
"
Obviously the Democrats didn't choose to include one of the worst people in the history of this country, Dick Cheney, in their tent, but they rightly exclude pro-lifers, who are much closer to Cheney than they are to anyone the Democrats should choose to include in their tent.
"
Or are you, instead, of the position that there are some things that are more important than Democracy?
Obviously some things are. I'd be extremely wary of anyone who says otherwise.
I assume that you’re not on board with Phil’s take that everyone but a small racist minority seems ok with it?
I don't know how such a vote would turn out. I don't know how a vote to exclude anyone with certain religious beliefs, or politics, or racial heritage regardless of citizenship, etc., would turn out. I'd like to hope people are enlightened enough not to exclude anyone from their cities and towns, but I'm cynical enough not to assume they are.
"
People get to vote on who can live in their town? What could possibly go wrong with such a system?
"
As I've learned working first on an effort to decriminalize homelessness in Austin, and then on a campaign to prevent its recriminalization, is that if there's one thing liberals and conservatives share, it's a deep fear and hatred for people experiencing homelessness.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.