Teachers have been accused of underestimating the abilities of black Caribbean students.
Black Caribbean pupils are being subjected to institutional racism in English schools which can dramatically undermine their chances of academic success, according to a new study.
Researchers have uncovered evidence that teachers are routinely under-estimating the abilities of some black pupils, suggesting that assumptions about behavioural problems are overshadowing their academic talents.
The findings, based on a survey which tracked 15,000 pupils through their education, add weight to the theory that low achievement among some black students is made worse because teachers don't expect them to succeed.
Black education groups welcomed the evidence, calling for urgent measures to be taken to stamp out any covert racism in schools. But other experts said the study was evidence that there needed to be new efforts to tackle behavioural problems among young black Caribbean pupils.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Education: Black Caribbean children held back by institutional racism in schools, says study
Florida man nabbed for violating city's new baggy trouser ordinance
SEPTEMBER 3--Meet Kenneth Smith. The Florida man, 29, was arrested yesterday for wearing baggy pants. Smith was busted by Riviera Beach cops for violating a city ordinance governing low-slung trousers (or, legally speaking, "exposure of undergarment in public"). According to a Riviera Beach Police Department affidavit, cops were investigating a report of a man selling drugs from a parked Chevy Impala when they spotted Smith standing beside the vehicle. As Officer B. Jackson noted in the report, Smith's brown and white plaid shorts "were so low that it exposed his blue and white boxer shorts approximately two inches below his waist."
Smith, who was also charged with disorderly conduct, could be fined up to $150 on the pants charge. In a bid to criminalize a fashion style popularized by urban youth and hip-hop fans, Riviera Beach voters approved the new ordinance earlier this year. While first offenders like Smith only face a monetary hit, if a baggy pants devotee gets nabbed more than once, he/she could face up to 30 days in jail. (3 pages)
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview
Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.
Her speech in June provides as much insight into her policy leanings as anything uncovered since she was asked to be John McCain's running mate.
Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.
"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."
Religion, however, was not strictly a thread in Palin's foreign policy. It was part of her energy proposals as well. Just prior to discussing Iraq, Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
Alan Maass looks at the Religious Right zealot who the Republicans are nominating for vice president.
"A LADY who's a leader," gushed the Weekly Standard's William Kristol. "I would pull that lever," declared James Dobson of Focus on the Family. "[P]icking Sarah Palin may go down in political history as a masterful stroke of genius by John McCain," predicted the Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody.
After months of grumbling about their party's nominee and even threatening to sit out the election, leaders of the Republican right were over the moon about John McCain's choice for a running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The pick was evidence of the hold that the Christian Right still has over the Republicans, in spite of McCain, who is viewed as dangerously "liberal" by conservatives, winning the presidential nomination. "The two constituencies who are most energized by Palin," wrote Jonathan Martin in the D.C.-based Politico newspaper, "just happen to be the twin grassroots pillars of the GOP: anti-abortion activists and pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts and sportsmen."
Boot Print on the Back of a Teenager
According to an article by his mother in the Minnesota Independent, Keith Smith (17) wasn't allowed to call her while in police custody, was beaten, and was denied medical treatment for the injuries you see in this photo. Excerpt:
To our horror, despite his medical
needs, he was released from the Juvenile Detention Center, into the
darkness of night, alone, without a parent ever having been contacted,
to a city that was unfamiliar to him, by the Ramsey County Juvenile
Division. He was forced to borrow a stranger’s cell phone to call
home. After much confusion about his location, his father found him and
brought him into our hometown hospital for medical treatment. They
treated his multiple wounds, bruises and scrapes, took pictures, wound
measurements and after hearing the story, stated that they would record
the incident as a criminal assault.
Levi Johnston: Bristol Palin's Baby Daddy is a self-defined "Redneck"
People magazine is reporting that Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin's boyfriend, will be attending the GOP convention to be with the Palin family.Levi Johnston, the boyfriend of Sarah Palin's 17-year-old pregnant
daughter Bristol, is going to join the Palin family at the Republican
National Convention, according to his mother. Sherry Johnston told reporters that Levi left Alaska on Tuesday to fly to St. Paul, Minn., according to the Associated Press.
The New York Post has excerpts from Johnston's MySpace page:
On his MySpace page, Johnston boasts, "I'm a f - - -in' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes."But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with
the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in'
chillin' I guess.""Ya f - - - with me I'll kick [your] ass," he added.
He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."
PALIN MEETS WITH AIPAC
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
MINNEAPOLIS -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin today met with the board of directors of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, NBC/NJ has confirmed.
The meeting took place inside Palin's hotel, sources said.
A campaign official would not say who asked for the meeting, but said it was geared towards putting the American Jewish community at ease over her understanding of US-Middle East relations.
"That's obviously going to be an issue," the aide said. "It's not like being the senator from New York, obviously. But these aren't issues that are off her radar."
Palin, joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman, expressed her "heartfelt support for Israel" and spoke of the threats it faces from Iran and others, the campaign official said.
Why did the FBI raid Long Haul Infoshop?
On August 27, the FBI, Alameda Country sheriff's department and University of California (UC) police raided the Long Haul Infoshop, a community center and anarchist meeting place in south Berkeley. With guns drawn, the officers broke doors, cut locks, searched the lending library logs and seized a dozen computers and other equipment. The FBI and police claim they were looking for evidence of threatening e-mails sent to animal researchers at UC-Berkeley.
Sid Patel spoke to Paul B., a member of the Long Haul, about the significance of the raid.
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Come to a demonstration to protest the
raid on the Long Haul Infoshop on September 4, at 11 a.m., in Sproul
Plaza on the campus of UC-Berkeley.
Check out the Long Haul Infoshop Web site
for updates and more information about what you can do to help, or to
send messages of solidarity. Long Haul is requesting donations to help
with legal expenses. Send checks, payable to "Long Haul," to: Long
Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705.
Obama support climbs to 50% in poll
Barack Obama has reached the 50% mark in polling of US voting intentions, giving him a clear lead in the race for the presidency.
A well-received acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Denver last week, coupled with the fallout from John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate, helped Obama gain five percentage points in yesterday's Gallup tracking poll.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The invisible pregnancies of presidential daughters.
Is Sarah Palin the first nominee on a major-party presidential ticket whose daughter got pregnant out of wedlock? Or is she just the first whose daughter didn't get an abortion?
The reason you're reading about Bristol Palin's pregnancy is that she's taking it to term. If she had aborted it, you'd never have known. Which raises the question: How many other daughters of nominees have gotten knocked up without your knowledge?
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