All in the family: Campaigns offer source of income for candidates and their relatives

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) and Rashida Tlaib (left) were two successful congressional candidates that took a salary from their campaign in line with FEC rules. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

• By Raymond Arke
• February 4, 2019

Several of the new members of Congress who aren’t independently wealthy took used an FEC rule which allows them to give themselves a paycheck.

Family members are also allowed to be paid with campaign funds, as long as they provide a “bona fide service” to the campaign.

Learn more here – 

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/campaigns-offer-income-for-new-members-of-congress

Oil and mining lobbyist David Bernhardt nominated to be Secretary of Interior

US President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence (L) and acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

• By Raymond Arke
• February 5, 2019

David Bernhardt, President Trump’s nominee to serve as Secretary of the Interior, has taken mulitple trips through the revolving door – alternating between lobbying gigs and jobs in the Interior Department since 1998.

Learn more here – https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/oil-mining-lobbyist-david-bernhardt-nomed-to-be-secretary-of-interior

Democratic presidential hopefuls flock to Facebook for campaign cash

Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris are already spending large sums of money on Facebook. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

• By Karl Evers-Hillstrom
• February 4, 2019

Following President Donald Trump’s unprecedented success in using Facebook ads to attract small donors, Democratic 2020 hopefuls including Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren are spending large sums to advertise on the social media platform.

Most expensive midterm ever: Cost of 2018 election surpasses $5.7 billion

Via flickr – 201(K)2012

• By OpenSecrets.org
• February 6, 2019

It’s official: the 2018 election was the most expensive midterm ever by a large margin, with total spending surpassing $5.7 billion.

“Just as the 2018 elections brought historic wins for a more diverse group of candidates, they also saw greater spending than we’ve ever seen or anticipated for a midterm election, capitalizing on years of loosened campaign finance regulation and oversight,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Learn more here – https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/cost-of-2018-election-5pnt7bil

 

 

6 years after he taught himself using YouTube, this Wisconsin 11-year-old is the king of crochet

Jonah Larson’s craftiness has led to a successful business and a burgeoning social following. The profits from his creations go toward investments, more yarn, and the Ethiopian orphanage where he was adopted as a baby. Larson, who hopes to trade in his crochet hooks for a surgeon’s scalpel when he’s older, says the hobby provides psychological benefits too:

Learn more at this link –

“After a very hard, busy, chaotic day in this busy world with school, it’s just nice to know that I can come home and crochet in my little corner of the house.”

Guns in America, through the eyes of the next generation

A year ago, a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Afterward, students at that school set off an unprecedented wave of youth activism for gun control — and eventually against it as well. NPR interviewed teens across the country to document their relationship with guns — including sport shooters, aspiring soldiers, gun control activists, those who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence and those who live with the threat of it every day.

What emerged were portraits of the budding political consciousness of the next generation, and of America’s complex relationship with firearms

Learn more here – https://www.npr.org/2019/02/07/688761215/watch-in-a-post-parkland-america-teens-talk-about-gun-culture

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‘All great American programs … started with a vision’: Ambitious Green New Deal generates enthusiasm, skepticism

 

Environmental activists occupy the office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi this past December. They plan more sit-ins to push for support of a sweeping resolution to address climate change.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

February 8, 20195:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

Outlined by Rep. Alexandra Ocasia-Cortez on NPR this week, the Green New Deal legislative framework aims fight climate change by making the U.S. carbon-neutral by 2030. The restructuring and upgrading that would require of the U.S. economy is extensive — and “impractical,” an Obama-era Energy Secretary says.

But environmental advocates say a problem as overwhelming as climate change requires an equally massive effort, and the proposal is energizing activists.

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/692508990/despite-few-details-and-much-doubt-the-green-new-deal-generates-enthusiasm

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The Privatization of Teaching Teachers How to Teach Reading: Cashing In on Kids!

Wondering about all the recent articles claiming teachers don’t know how to teach reading, and their education schools are failing them?

It appears to be about nonprofits! These groups are competing with universities. They promise to better prepare teachers to teach reading, for a fee, of course!

But there’s no proof they will do teacher preparation better. It’s unclear why nonprofits are considered experts.

The goal along with making money appears to be to place children on digital devices for most of their learning.

Here are some examples. Click the titles for the links.

https://nancyebailey.com/2019/02/07/the-privatization-of-teaching-teachers-how-to-teach-reading-cashing-in-on-kids/

Tinker at 50: Historic Student Rights Case | NewseumED

The Supreme Court ruled on the landmark student rights case, Tinker v. Des Moines, 50 years ago this month. Use our resources, including virtual classes and videos with Mary Beth Tinker, to explore the importance of the court ruling then and now.

Learn more about this here…

https://newseumed.org/news/tinker-50-historic-student-rights-case