from PDA-IL
Chicago Teachers Union Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle speaks on the current state of Chicago Public Schools and contract negotiations.
August 13, 2012
from PDA-IL
Chicago Teachers Union Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle speaks on the current state of Chicago Public Schools and contract negotiations.
August 13, 2012
The recent stock market volatility could have been restricted by a tax on transactions that would make the small quick score less attractive
TIm A. Wise (Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University): US food reserves at an historic low as biofuels, climate change and speculation exacerbate food crisis.
It’s official. The NOAA says this July is the hottest month on record, and not just the hottest July, though it is that too, but the hottest month. Oh, and also, the last twelve months are not the hottest consecutive twelve months the country has ever experienced.
Here in Kane County it’s still plenty hot and very dry, although temps seem to have moderated a bit, and there have been a few storms dropping some significant rain. It’s cloudy right now in fact. We are still listed as in severe drought however, with much of the country even worse off. As always, I will have my eye on the drought map update tomorrow.
My daughter and I have spent the last week or so planting things in the garden we would never even consider planting at this date – more squash, more beans, more carrots – as they would normally not have a prayer of maturing before the first frost. We did it on purpose, as sort of an experiment, as projections are for exceptionally warm temperatures to persist through October.
We want to start experimenting with what we can grow when in our new climate, as some things we normally grow are performing very poorly this year – the lettuce bolted freakishly early for instance, and the spinach and pea yields were on the pathetic side – while plants that love warmer weather, like tomatoes and peas, have been outperforming.
So we want to play with planting odd things at odd times, and are looking at plant zone maps just to the south of us for clues as to how we might best adjust planting times and varieties that might work here well in future.
If you’re pretty sure about the new reality, might as well plan for the new reality. Denial rarely plays out as an effective solution.
Dogged. Indefatigable. Diligent. Determined. Steadfast. And oh my gosh, just plain heroic. The four-dozen or so Kane County residents who circulated petitions to stop special interest money from buying favors from our politicians are my heroes. They were headed by Kaye Gamble, and were part of the national Move to Amend effort.
For days on end, they endured 90 to 100 degree heat. They asked the same question, “Are you a Kane County registered voter?” hundreds and hundreds of times. And when people were willing to stop and talk with them, they explained the same thing over and over and over again. With enthusiasm and patience. They listened and they responded with accurate information.
When people stopped to hear what the petition was about, most people signed it. But sometimes it was difficult to get peoples’ attention. Some passers- by believed the group was trying to register voters or take an opinion survey and didn’t want to get involved. But when people did stop to hear the issue, just about everybody signed the petitions, Gamble said. Some were so enthusiastic they brought their spouses, friends, and voting age children over to sign. All were thankful of the group’s efforts.
“We’ve never seen this many petitions!” Suzanne Fahnestock, Kane County Director of Elections said with a broad smile as she accepted the tall pile of petitions presented by Kaye Gamble, coordinator of the Kane County Move to Amend effort.
The group of about fifty Kane County citizens spent untold hours standing in record-breaking summer heat collecting signatures in a petition drive to place an advisory question on the ballot this November. Nearly fifteen thousand citizens signed those petitions.
The petition requests this question be placed on the Kane County November ballot– “Should the United States constitution be amended to limit the use of corporate, special interest, and private money in any political activity, including influencing the election of any candidate for public office?”
Gamble’s group is part of the national Move to Amend effort to amend the constitution in order to nullify the 2010 Supreme Court ruling of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This ruling created Super PACs and Hybrid Super PACs, overturning decades of limits to political contributions and opening up unlimited floods of undisclosed corporate, private, special interest and foreign money into politicians’ election campaigns.