The Two Faces Of Mike 2

An excerpt from the nycpublicschoolparentsblog

While the administration wants to cut way back on school construction, it also plans to spend $3 billion in capital funds to redevelop contaminated land in Willet’s point, $440 million to reopen and expand the Brooklyn house of detention, and $1 billion to build a 35-acre police academy in Queens.
The cost of the latter two projects alone if invested in schools instead could double the number of new seats in the proposed new capital plan to 50,000.
So what has the Bloomberg administration focused on instead of schools? The city has been busy negotiating itself free food and a free suite at Yankee stadium: According to the Daily News:
The Yankees got the city to write a letter to the IRS so they could obtain $942 million in tax-free bonds. The team plans to request $366 million more, saving them a total of $247 million in lower borrowing costs. In return, Bloomberg's team wanted a free luxury suite and the right to buy at cost 180 of the best seats to all home games, including post-season, the e-mails show.
The NY Times puts it this way:
The Bloomberg administration was so intent on obtaining a free luxury suite for its own use at the new Yankee Stadium, newly released e-mail messages show, that the mayor’s aides pushed for a larger suite and free food, and eventually gave the Yankees 250 additional parking spaces in exchange.

The Two Faces Of Mike

from the bleacher reports

Is there really a genuine reason why New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg had to get in front of the television cameras about Plaxico Burress' accidental gunshot incident?
He's let everyone have a mayoral tongue-lashing—Burress, the New York Giants front office, the National Football League, the hospital, the doctors and nurses that treated Burress' injury, the guy selling roasted nuts in front of City Hall—just about anyone within arm's reach.
Where were Bloomberg and his soap box when his Wall Street pals and cronies were shafting and bankrupting America with their bad mortgage-backed securities?
Bloomberg got in front of the TV cameras to score political brownie points. Nothing speaks louder to John Q. Citizen walking the mean city streets than the big, bad mayor standing up to one of the many out-of-control and spoiled athletes that all the denizens happen to adore.
Burress needs to be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law." Burress is "a sports hero." Burress is "both a public figure and a role model."
"If we don't prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, I don't know who on Earth we would," Bloomberg said.
"It makes a sham, a mockery of the law. And it's pretty hard to argue the guy didn't have a gun and that it wasn't loaded. You've got bullet holes in and out to show that it was there."
Mayor, can we wait for all of the facts to come out before you speak your piece, less than 24 hours after the incident? A little more than 72 hours afterwards, we still don't know all the details.
What's wrong with doing the mayoral thing and calling for reason and for citizens to not hastily rush to judgment?
The New York Giants and the NFL are working with the proper authorities and conducting a fact-finding investigation. Meanwhile, the mayor's office is playing ringleader to the media circus (which of course, includes the mayor's very own Bloomberg media company).
Today, after a moment to reflect, he is not contrite at all. In fact, he's quoted as saying, "I don’t have nothing to apologize for. The law is the law."
The mayor is obviously right about that, and no one deserves special treatment. Still, Burress will have his day in court. This shouldn't be played out on television without all the facts.
Last I heard, people aren't formally tried in the court of public opinion.
Investigators need to do their jobs and not feel pressure from the mayor's office to draw conclusions as they investigate. This isn't just harmless tough-talk from Bloomberg; his verbosity could actually jeopardize the case against Burress.

Psst........

Corporate graft, as usual, gets a bye. From ednotesonline

Crocodile Klein-Dee 5

an excerpt from an article in Australia's The Age

The only qualification that Murdoch has to judge our schools is that he owns about 70 per cent of capital city daily newspaper circulation. When billionaire media magnates speak, the rest of us listen.
The same cannot be said for the other American citizen, New York schools chancellor Joel Klein, who Gillard has brought to Australia, "impressed" by his education reforms, especially school league tables, which had produced "remarkable outcomes".
Rubbish. Internet comments on the test results show the improvement in school performance measurement comes from manipulating the tests by prepping students. Klein also makes claims about the results that cannot be supported by any fair analysis. Statisticians [Eduwonkette] who have examined the results say they can be explained by random error.
Klein, a corporate lawyer and political apparatchik, is here to spruik the virtues of Gillard's wacky plan to publish a rating system for schools. Critics point out that the system, based on experience in Britain and the US, "names and shames" poorly performing schools whose output is predictable based on socio-economic background and lack of funding.
The scheme's great political virtue is that it allows governments without any real commitment to raising the standard of poorer schools to appear to be doing something.

Crocodile Klein-Dee 4

Comments made on the the nycpublicschoolparentsblog

smithsan said...
Klein has employed a huge public relations staff to spin his policies in the media and counter criticism. He apparently has more PR staff than education policy advisors in his office. One of their key functions is to spread misinformation about the success of his policies.
NYC Educator said...While they are not at all effective at improving schools, Tweed excels at PR. One wonders whether, if they were to put their abilities to work toward reasonable class sizes and decent facilities for kids, rather than PR here and in Australia, they could actually accomplish something worthwhile.
It appears, though, as long as the PR is in place, nothing else matters.

Crocodile Klein-Dee 3

More excerpts from the nycpublicschoolparentsblog

Angelo Gavrielatos, of the Australian Education Union, said the US performed 29th in science and 35th in mathematics in OECD assessments. "The New York model is not one Australia should emulate."
ABC News: AEU (Australian teacher union) president Angelo Gavrielatos says it would be counter-productive to take New York as an example. "We shouldn't be looking at importing flawed ideas from overseas. Let's look at importing successful ideas from overseas," he said.
"Australia getting advice from the US on how to do education is like Ian Thorpe getting advice from Eric the Eel." He was referring to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, when a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea took almost two minutes to swim the 100-metres freestyle.
Canberra Times : The federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, claims that reforms such as reporting individual school results are ''working'' and have produced ''remarkable outcomes''. She says that there has been continual improvement in student achievement in New York City under Klein.
These assertions are refuted by test results in reading and mathematics. National tests show that average student achievement in New York City schools has stagnated while state tests show a mixture of increases and declines, with no consistent pattern of improvement.
The National Assessment of Education Progress tests conducted by the US Department of Education show no statistically significant change in average student scores for reading in grades 4 and 8 between 2003 and 2007 in New York City. They show a small improvement in Grade 4 mathematics but no improvement in Grade 8.
They also show that there was no improvement in average reading scores for low income, black and hispanic students in either Grade 4 or 8. There were small improvements in average mathematics scores in Grade 4 for low income, black and hispanic students. In Grade 8 mathematics, there was no improvement for black and hispanic students, but a slight improvement for low income students.

Crocodile Klein-Dee 2

More excerpts from the nycpublicschoolparentsblog

The Australian media continue their refreshingly skeptical coverage of Joel Klein’s promotion of his educational policies during his visit down-under.
Expose bad schools, says US educator (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Education Minister, Julia Gillard, is pushing for states and territories to adopt a similar system of transparency in Australia. On Monday she softened the blow for disadvantaged schools by announcing $500 million in funding to help them to entice good teachers.
But the woman Mr Klein described today as "a bold and fearless leader" should be warned. The US model has come under attack for its narrow measure of what made a school good.
A 2006 study by the US Centre on Education Policy showed that so much emphasis was being put on reading and maths that it caused a decline in teaching of history, science and the arts.
A similar model in Australia could leave little incentive for schools to improve teaching in subjects other than the "basics" measured. Sport, music, art and foreign languages could suffer as schools sweat to meet indicators.

Crocodile Klein-Dee 1

an excerpt from the nycpublicschoolparentsblog

From the Melbourne Age: [In NYC] Students are required to sit standardised tests, schools get an annual report card grading them from A-D and F ...Schools that need help get resources to improve but if they fail to lift their game, they are closed or restructured — and more than 70 have been shut.
His critics argue that the measures are too punitive, that he relies too heavily on standardised testing and that the improvements to his students' results are not significant.
"The only independent check on student achievement in New York City shows a completely different picture from that claimed by Klein," said Save our Schools convener Trevor Cobbold. "The results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress administered by the US Department of Education shows that student achievement in New York City has stagnated since 2003. The achievement gaps between blacks and whites, between Hispanics and whites and between low and high-income students are as large as they were when Klein began to overhaul the system."
Sydney Morning Herald : While Mr Klein says student scores have vastly improved under his watch, analysis by Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Brookings Institution in Washington, shows the scores have been mainly flat or declining.
A former Productivity Commission economist, Trevor Cobbold, the convener of Save Our Schools, said reported improvements in New York schools had been artificially inflated and lacked credibility. "The results of the national assessment of education progress administered by the US Department of Education show the student achievement in New York City has stagnated since 2003," he said. "Adopting such a model in Australia would lead to inaccurate and misleading comparisons of school performance."

I Know A Place

Every day when the work is behind you
And the shop and the store put the lock on the door
Just get away where your worries won't find you
If you like, well I'll tell you more
Don't let the day get the better of you
When the evening comes there's so much to do
You better put on your best and wear a smile
Just come along with me awhile, cuz I tell you
I know a place where the music is fine
And the lights are always low
I know a place where we can go
At the door there's a man who will greet you
Then you go downstairs to some tables and chairs
Soon I'm sure you'll be tappin' your feet
Because the beat is the greatest there
All around there are girls and boys
It's a swingin' place, a cellar full of noise
It's got an atmosphere of its own somehow
You gotta come along right now cuz I tell you
I know a place where the music is fine
And the lights are always low
I know a place where we can go
Well, all around there are girls and boys
It's a swingin' place, a cellar full of noise
It's got an atmosphere of its own somehow
You gotta come along right now cuz I tell you
I know a place where the music is fine
And the lights are always low
I know a place where we can go

Mystic Seaport 2: Moon River

What can I say? I had more pictures. Yes Moon River is lame, but not necessarily in the hands of Nelson Riddle.

Mystic Seaport 1: Into The Mystic

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it
I dont have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home
And when thst fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I dont have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic
Come on girl...

You're A Rich Girl

I doubt whether Mayor Mike is happy about this article.

"My dad has changed a lot since he became mayor seven years ago," she says. "When he was just a businessman, he was pretty egotistical. People were telling him how great he was every day. Politics has humbled him. Now he seems to really want to hear what I have to say, and I wouldn't have said that a few years ago—but I've also become less of a brat."

How does someone make a living (evidently a pretty substantial one) as an equestrian?

"For me, it's about the competition," says Georgina, who had her first riding lesson at 4. "I love horses, but if I couldn't show I wouldn't ride." (Today she spends her summers competing in Germany and touring Europe. In the winters, she's showing in Florida.) As a professional equestrienne, she's sponsored by Audi, the clothing company Ariat, Heritage Gloves and County Saddlery. (Marty Bauman, PR director for the Hampton Classic, notes champion riders can earn as much as $60,000 per event.) And Georgina says she's proud to have her own income.

This strains the limits of credulity unless Mayor Mike is.....

When Georgina was 7, the Bloombergs moved to a townhouse on 79th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, where the mayor still resides today. Mike and Susan divorced in 1993, after 17 years of marriage. "The divorce was the best thing that ever happened," Georgina says with a warm chuckle. "I went from having parents who didn't get along and never wanted to be around each other, to having parents who are friends." The split was so amicable, in fact, that the Bloombergs all continued living under the same roof for a year after the split, until Susan started dating property mogul Richard Chapman and Georgina, then 10, moved with her mom and Emma to his home on 67th Street. When Susan and Richard broke up in 1996, the family moved back in with Mike. "My mom's boyfriends would come and pick her up, but it seemed normal," she recalls.

ATR Rally At City Hall: November 24, 2008

Stills and audio from a portion of Marjorie Stamberg's speech at City Hall 11/24/08
Letter from Marjorie Stamberg and John Powers to UFT President Randi Weingarten and and Executive Board Members that was posted on the ICE blog

We have been informed that the November 24 Rally to Defend ATRs is now to be officially a "candlelight vigil." We strongly object to this change. The motion passed at the UFT delegate assembly October 15 said that "the UFT will organize a mass citywide rally to show our unity and strength." Instead of a show of strength, this turns it into a toothless gesture of "bearing witness" or silently standing by and observing as a travesty is taking place.
Furthermore, we were not consulted on this change, which was made without our knowledge, despite assurances from Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew that we would be included in the planning. The first we heard of this was in a changed rally leaflet we received this morning.
A candlelight vigil is a silent "protest at the suffering of some marginalized group of people, or in memory of lives lost to some disease, disaster, massacre or other tragedy."
We want to make precisely the opposite point -- that ATR teachers are not marginalized, that we stand by them, and the UFT will fight to ensure that they do not become "lost lives," a "massacre," a "disaster" or other "tragedy." We can "bear witness" all we want, but it won't stop Joel Klein from trying to drive out our colleagues. And it won't stop the likes of the New York Post from vilifying them and our union.
We will continue to plan for a mass citywide rally as "a show of our unity and strength" as the motion called for. I think many teachers will feel as we do that we need strong powerful action, and will not stand by in silence.
In the words of Joe Hill, the famous labor organizer, "Don't Mourn For Me--Organize!"
That is what we will continue to do and we encourage the UFT leadership to reconsider its plan.
John Powers
Marjorie Stamberg
for the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend ATRs

Teacher Protest

Signed Sealed Delivered, I'm Yours

Stevie Wonder on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. August 11, 1970.

Like a fool I went and stayed too long
Now I'm wondering if your loves still strong
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Then that time I went and said goodbye
Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Here I am baby
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby,
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours)
Ive done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean
Hey, hey, yea, yea, didn't I, oh baby
Seen a lot of things in this old world
When I touched them they did nothing, girl
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours, oh I'm yours
Oo-wee babe you set my soul on fire
That's why I know you are my only desire
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Here I am baby
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby,
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours)
Ive done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean
I could be a broken man but here I am
With your future, got your future babe (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby, (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby, (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)

You Can't Take It With You 2

The same scene as the previous one except done with stills

You Can't Take It With You

A scene from a school production of the 1930's Kaufman/Hart play I saw recently. "You can't take it with you Sol," was a phrase often said to my father from my mother.

Return To Sender

Hopefully the result of the petition drive will result in such a scene

NYC Suffers For The Betterment Of A Nation

Parents and educators speak out against Joel Klein. Read the passionate letters and statements, and sign the PETITION to stop yet another corporate coup.

Leonie Haimson's letter, a the driving force of a petition drive:
The Department of Education under Joel Klein has been run like a ruthless dictatorship – with no input from parents or educators, and no thought of how the policies he has imposed on our schools have been destructive to our children and their futures.
He has consistently ignored the crisis of overcrowding in our schools, that in many neighborhoods has gotten worse because of rampant residential development, as well as a result of his insistence to insert hundreds of new charter schools and small schools into existing, overcrowded school buildings. In a recent survey, half of all principals say that the overcrowding creates unsafe conditions for students or staff, 29% said that lunch starts at 10:30 AM or earlier, 25% said that they have lost their art or music rooms in recent years, and 18% said they had classrooms with no windows. Thousands of children are being given special services in hallways or in closets.
He has put almost no effort in building new schools, and under this administration, twice as many new seats have been created in new stadiums than schools. The city’s investment in school construction as a percent of its total capital spending is at an historic low, and will drop even more precipitously in the future, if the DOE’s proposed school capital plan goes through.
Joel Klein has refused to reduce class size, despite repeated audits and reports from the State Comptroller’s office and the State Education Department showing how under his administration, hundreds of millions of state dollars meant to provide smaller classes to NYC students have been misused. As a result, 86% of NYC principals in a recent survey have said they are unable to provide a quality education because of excessive class sizes.
Similarly, he has argued that even under Mayoral control, the Department of Education is not subject to city law, and thus he continues to defy laws passed by the City Council over the Mayor’s veto, requiring him to take measures against bias crimes and bullying in schools, to allow students to bring cell phones to school, and to obey the recycling laws required of every household and business in NYC.
The Chancellor has moved to eliminate the authority of school leadership teams –made up of half parents, half staff – to have decision-making authority over school budgets, contrary to the state law that created these teams. He has continued to shut out parents from having any input whatsoever, at the school, district, or citywide level.
He has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts, and rather than decreasing the bureaucracy, the number of highly paid bureaucrats at Tweed continues to grow --- most of whom have no background in education. To counter a recent article by a Daily News reporter pointing out the personal wealth of many of the top education officials, who are former business executives and corporate consultants, the DOE press office responded in defense that two out of twenty of Klein’s top advisers were long-term educators. (This article was killed in the middle of the night, and removed from the Daily News website after complaints from the DOE; but we posted a copy of it on our blog here.)
The only educational philosophy of those running the system is based on trying to improve standardized test results, no matter how much cheating and test prep that involves. Whatever the rise in state test scores that has resulted is not matched by improvements in the more reliable national assessments called the NAEPs. In fact, NYC was 11th out of 12 urban school districts in terms of its gains in the NAEPs over the course of this administration, and there has been no closing of the achievement gap in any subject tested.
Indeed, Joel Klein’s insistence on basing all decisions on high-stakes tests has led to racial disparities growing in many areas – with far fewer children of color admitted to gifted programs and to our selective high schools, and a declining number of Black and Hispanic teachers in our teaching force.
In short, he has been a disaster for our schools, and Barack Obama should be forewarned not to name him to any position of authority in his administration – as much as we would like to get rid of him!

Kleinstoppers: Norm Scott and Leonie Haimson On WBAI

Esther Amah, of WBAI's Wake-Up Call, interviews Norm Scott and Leonie Haimson on the state of public school education in New York and the effort to stop Joel Klein from becoming the Secretary of Education. From 11/13/08

Hopelessly Devoted To Screw (Up)

The original lyrics

Guess mine is not the first heart broken,
my eyes are not the first to cry I'm not the first to know,
there's just no gettin' over you
Hello, I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around
and wait for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you
My head is saying "fool, forget him",
my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you

The Special Joel Klein Edition-btw the "up" is necessary, just Joel Klein and the word screw?-an image too unbearable to consider

Guess yours is not the first school broken,
your eyes are not the first to cry, you're not the first to know,
there's just no gettin' over what I do
Hello, I'm the a fool who's looking for a job
and waiting for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly destroyin your schools
Hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
My head is saying "fool, forget schools",
my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
Hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)

Hopelessly Devoted To Incompetence

from my choice for the next NYC Public Advocate, Leonie Hamison

There have been repeated rumors in the media that Joel Klein is under consideration for Secretary of Education in an Obama administration; see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/obamas-secretary-of-educa_n_139775.html and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110404573.html.
On Monday, The Nation is going to post on their website the observations of NYC parents, advocates and other stakeholders about what they think of this possibility.
This is a rare opportunity to have your voice heard in the national media.
Please email comments ASAP the nation and copy me at leonie hamison
My comments are below.
Have a good weekend,
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
The Department of Education under Joel Klein has been run like a ruthless dictatorship – with no input from parents or educators, and no thought of how the policies he has imposed on our schools have been destructive to our children and their futures.
He has consistently ignored the crisis of overcrowding in our schools, that in many neighborhoods has gotten worse because of rampant residential development, as well his insistence to insert hundreds of new charter schools and small schools into existing, overcrowded school buildings. In a recent survey, half of all principals say that the overcrowding creates unsafe conditions for students or staff, 29% said that lunch starts at 10:30 AM or earlier, 25% said that they have lost their art or music rooms in recent years, and 18% said they had classrooms with no windows. Thousands of children are being given special services in hallways or in closets.
They have put almost no effort in building new schools, and under this administration, twice as many new seats have been created in new stadiums than schools. The city’s investment in school construction as a percent its total capital spending is at a historic low, and will drop even more precipitously in the future, if the DOE’s proposed school capital plan goes through.
Joel Klein has refused to reduce class size, despite repeated audits and reports from the State Comptroller’s office and the State Education Department showing how under his administration, hundreds of millions of state dollars meant to provide smaller classes to NYC students have been misused. As a result, 86% of NYC principals in a recent survey have said they are unable to provide a quality education because of excessive class sizes.
Similarly, he has argued that even under Mayoral control, the Department of Education is not subject to city law, and thus he continues to defy laws passed by the City Council over the Mayor’s veto, requiring him to take measures against bias crimes and bullying in schools, to allow students to bring cell phones to school, and to obey the recycling laws required of every household and business in NYC.
The Chancellor has moved to eliminate the authority of school leadership teams –made up of half parents, half staff – to have decision-making authority over school budgets, contrary to the state law that created these teams. He has continued to shut out parents from having any input whatsoever, at the school, district, or citywide level.
He has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts, and rather than decreasing the bureaucracy, the number of highly paid bureaucrats at Tweed continues to grow --- most of whom have no background in education. To counter a recent article by a Daily News reporter pointing out the personal wealth of many of the top education officials, who are former business executives and corporate consultants, the DOE press office responded in defense that two out of twenty of Klein’s top advisers were long-term educators. (This article was killed in the middle of the night, and removed from the Daily News website after complaints from the DOE; but we posted a copy of it on our blog at) http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
The only educational philosophy of those running the system is based on trying to improve standardized test results, no matter how much cheating and test prep that involves. Whatever the rise in state test scores that has resulted is not matched by improvements in the more reliable national assessments called the NAEPs. In fact, NYC was 11th out of 12 urban school districts in terms of its gains in the NAEPs over the course of this administration, and there has been no closing of the achievement gap in any subject tested.
Indeed, Joel Klein’s insistence on basing all decisions on high-stakes tests has led to racial disparities growing in many areas – with far fewer children of color admitted to gifted programs and to our selective high schools, and a declining number of Black and Hispanic teachers in our teaching force.
In short, he has been a disaster for our schools, and Barack Obama should be forewarned not to name him to any position of authority in his administration – as much as we would like to get rid of him!
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
classsizematters@gmail.com
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/

The Wasila Hillbillies

from newsweek

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

The Party's Over

Above images Zina Sanders (copyright 2008) You can see more of her artistry here.. Audio from Blossom Dearie
I got an email from Zina Saunders about the publication of her new book, "The Party's Over,McCain/Palin Art Book." I promptly bought one.

I've gotten a lot of emails from people wanting to buy a collection of all my McCain/Palin campaign pictures, so I've created a book, "The Party's Over", which is 40 pages in full color: The website offers a preview of the first 15 pages of the book, and the actual book includes 25 more pages featuring 20 of my campaign paintings, all of which you can see in this gallery.

Zina's work is outstanding. I had come across her brilliant "Playing House" caricature previously and knew the illustration had a familiar look. I used one before in a posting at Knickerbocker Village on the Pickle Guy Alan Kaufman of Essex Street Much of her art draws inspiration from the Lower East Side.
from her bio

Zina is the daughter of pulp magazine artist Norman Saunders, who painted some of the most popular bubblegum cards from the 60's and 70's, including Mars Attacks, Batman, and Wacky Packages. As a child, she got her first taste of being a professional illustrator when she would "correct" her father's paintings, when he was away from his drawing board. Many an eyelash on Norm Saunders' damsels in distress was painted by a nine-year-old Zina. Zina lives and works in New York City, where she grew up and attended Music and Art High School and The Cooper Union. She left Manhattan in her 20’s to be a levitating lady with a traveling circus in upstate New York, but eventually returned to her senses and her beloved city.

Pumpkins In New York

Autumn Leaves version by Si Zentner

Our Gang In WW2

An interview with Andrew Marcus at the opening of a new exhibit at Kehila Kedosha Janina honoring congregants who were veteran's of World War II. Andrew and his father Marvin, a JHS 65 graduate and a "distant" Delancey Street fan of Knickerbocker Village's King Heroes, did an excellent job.
From the Kehila Kedosha Janina newsletter, written by Museum Director, Marcia Haddad-Ikonomopoulos.

When the United States officially entered World War II on December 7, 1941, of the 133,402,471 individuals living on the soil of the United States, under 5 million were Jews (less than 3% of the total population), but 550,000 would serve in the armed forces of the United States from 1941 to 1945 (4.3% of the total armed forces). About 11,000 would die in battle and more than 40,000 would return wounded. Among those brave men who served were many of our own. Many would be wounded. Ralph Battino would receive the Purple Heart for his injuries at Okinawa. There would be those who were taken as prisoners of war, including Isaac (Pat) Nachmias of 279 Broome Street (Max Nachmias’ older brother) and there would be those who would not return. Arthur Rubenstein, son of Stella David and Harry Rubenstein, would be shot down in the Pacific in 1944 at the age of 19. His body would never be recovered. Nissim Attas would die in Europe, buried in Henri-Chapelle Permanent Cemetery in Belgium. This exhibit is dedicated to “Our Gang,” Greek Jews, most sons of immigrants from Ioannina, many from the Lower East Side, who proudly fought to defend their country. Jews by faith, Americans by nationality, Greeks by ethnicity, they would make us all proud. Join us for the opening of this exhibit on November 2, 2008 at 1:00pm.

Softball At Coleman Oval

The World Series is over but serious softball is still being played at Coleman Oval on the former site of PS 177.
from Joe Bruno, with his own editorial comment :)

NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW, BUT JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. USED TO PLAY SOFTBALL IN COLEMAN OVAL IN THE LATE 1980'S AND EARLY 1990'S. HE PLAYED FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ON CENTRE STREET. THEY PLAYED WEEKDAY NIGHTS. AND SOMETIMES THEY STOPPED AT PATRICK HENRY'S PUB AT 27 MONROE STREET (FORMERLY RAMOS'), AFTER THE GAME FOR A FEW DRINKS. I KNEW JFK JR. A LITTLE FROM WORKING OUT IN THE SAME GYM WITH HIM AT THE DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB AT 19 WEST STREET. HE USED TO HANG OUT AT THE 3RD FLOOR BAR AT THE DAC, WHICH WAS AT ONE TIME, THE LONGEST BAR IN NY CITY. HE WAS A LOUSY SOFTBALL PLAYER. AND A LIGHT BEER DRINKER. NOT A HARD BOOZER LIKE HIS OLD MAN AND UNCLE TEDDY. HE USED TO JOG ALONE AFTER WORK AT THE DA'S OFFICE PAST MY PARKING LOT AT 31 MONROE STREET, THEN UNDER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE. I TOLD HIM ONCE, 'YOU'RE CRAZY JOGGING UNDER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE. IT'S DANGEROUS THERE." HE JUST SHRUGGED AND LAUGHED. LIKE HE DIDN'T HAVE A CARE IN THE WORLD. TRULY, ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. NOT LIKE THE REST OF THE KENNEDY'S. OBVIOUSLY, HE TOOK AFTER HIS MOTHER.

Wishin And Hopin

Images from the village voice

Spoofing Shepard Fairey's Obama "Hope" Posters
Shepard Fairey's Barack "Hope" design might be 2008’s most seminal image—his nomination in TIME's Top 100 Most Influential People poll is most certainly forthcoming. But the poster's also become a hugely popular design to lampoon. Here're the best 25 parodies out there.

The original Dusty Springfield version

Wishin' and hopin'
And thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin'
Each night of his charms
That won't get you into his arms
So if you're looking
To find love that you can share
All you gotta do is
Hold him and kiss him and love him
And show him that you care
Show him that you care just for him
Do the things that he likes to do
Wear your hair just for him
Cause you won't get him
Thinkin' and prayin',
Wishin' and hopin'
Just
Wishin' and hopin' and
Thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin'
His kisses will start
That won't get you into his heart
So if you're thinkin'
Of how great true love is
All you gotta do is
Hold him, and kiss him
And squeeze him and love him
Just do it
And after you do
You will be his
Show him that you care
And just for him
Do the things that he likes to do
Wear your hair just for him
Cause you won't get him
Thinkin' and prayin'
Wishin' and hopin' just

High Hopes

As we move into the presidential stretch run we have high hopes. Notice that in this early 1960's clip there are no black kids.

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around
Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can’t
Move a rubber tree plant
But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your gettin’ low
’stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant
When troubles call, and your back’s to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall
Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he’d punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin’ that dam
’cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your feelin’ bad
’stead of feelin’ sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam
All problems just a toy balloon
They’ll be bursted soon

Sarah Palin Prank Call

from justiciers.tv

MONTREAL — A Quebec comedy duo notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state has reached Sarah Palin, convincing the Republican vice-presidential nominee she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

I added some images from my Sarah Palin collection