From CURMUDGUCATION blog: … Norms vs. Standards

Norms vs. Standards

Posted Peter Greene: 04 Jun 2016 07:09 AM PDT

I’ve found myself trying to explain the difference between norm and standards reference multiple times in the last few weeks, which means it’s time to write about it. A lot of people get this distinction– but a lot of people don’t. I’m going to try to do this in plain(ish) English, so those of you who are testing experts, please forgive the lack of correct technical terminology.

Read the rest of the post here – CURMUDGUCATION: Norms vs. Standards

Dear Gov. Snyder & Lansing legislators… regarding the Detroit schools… “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum

It’s all so simple… really… just clean up the mess you and your predecessors have made of the Detroit schools since taking them over in 1999… clean up the mess you’ve made of things… put things back the way you found them… then, get out.

Just.

Get.

Out.

Oh, and Flint, get out of there too.

And while you’re at it,  stop telling local governments what they can and cannot do. You have no magic wands. No elixir or tonic.

Just.

Get.

Out.

And when in doubt, consult this list:

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don’t hit people.
4. Put thngs back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life – learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Stryrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first workd you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.”

― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in KindergartenSource: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Quotes by Robert Fulghum

Fueled by unions and secret donors, liberal vets group spends millions boosting Democrats | from the OpenSecrets Blog

New tax documents obtained by OpenSecrets Blog suggest that one of the oldest, most politically active nonprofits in the country, VoteVets Action Fund, devoted most of its activities in 2014 to influencing that year’s midterms.

Vote Vets Action Fund — which last week attacked the presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump, as a “cheap fraud” — is currently the highest spending liberal nonprofit active in federal elections, a perch it is accustomed to holding.

Fueled largely by social welfare organizations aligned with Democrats and millions of dollars given by unions, VoteVets — with just two employees and no volunteers — has spent more on elections since its founding in 2006 than the … read more: Fueled by unions and secret donors, liberal vets group spends millions boosting Democrats | OpenSecrets Blog

Military members salute Sanders, but show little support for Trump! | from OpenSecrets Blog

If campaign contributions are any indication of broader support, members of the military are lining up behind Democrats in the presidential race, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) in the lead. Individuals listing their employer as the U.S. Department of Defense or one of the branches of the military have given $374,600 to Sanders, more than to any other presidential candidate.

Hillary Clinton comes in second behind her Democratic rival at $247,649, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) not far behind and other failed Republican candidates following.

Military support for the GOP’s last man standing, Donald Trump, has been in comparatively short supply — just $15,502.

The figures include gifts from those who identified themselves as retired servicemembers … read more: Military donors salute Sanders, show little support for Trump | OpenSecrets Blog

From the OpenSecrets Blog| Wall Street’s fab five: House members, candidates most reliant on funding from finance industry

Hedge fund and other private equity managers have created a huge imbalance in the campaign finance picture with their massive contributions to super PACs. But as an industry, Wall Street writ large makes its mark in the simplest of ways: by simply giving more, by far, to candidates than any other interest group.

Naturally, though, not all candidates are created equal.

A quintet of House incumbents and challengers are far more reliant on the financial world to fuel their campaigns than most others running for a seat in that body — they’ve received twice as much from the securities and investment industry in the 2016 election cycle as they have from their next highest donor industry, OpenSecrets‘ Anomaly Tracker shows. A bipartisan bunch, they are: Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and David Jolly (R-Fla.) and candidates Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Andrew Heaney (R-N.Y.).

The two non-incumbents have raised the most from the Wall Street-centered industry. That makes sense, considering they’re running to represent two of the country’s most prominent Valleys in the financial realm: Silicon and Hudson.

Khanna, a former Obama administration official headed into a rematch in the California Democratic primary this month with Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), has long projected himself as the new, young face that can represent Silicon Valley better than the Baby Boomer currently occupying the seat and collecting ethics complaints.

Click here to read the full article: Wall Street’s fab five: House members, candidates most reliant on funding from finance industry | OpenSecrets Blog