Jobs of Thousands of Special Education Teachers At Risk

A new report from Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee says that those looming automatic cuts to federal spending will take an especially big bite out of special education.

The?report?issued last week says 12,000 special education teachers and aides could lose their jobs if automatic cuts in federal special education grants to states go through. These automatic cuts, the wonky term for which is?sequestration, are set to take effect Jan. 2. They stem from Congress' disagreement over raising the federal debt ceiling last summer. Lawmakers decided they needed to cut $1.2 trillion out of the federal budget over the next 10 years. The plan was to work on a bipartisan agreement to figure out what those cuts should be, but since they didn't figure out a compromise, across-the-board budget cuts go into effect automatically. (For schools, the single silver lining is that the cuts wouldn't really be felt until the 2013-14 school year.) The White House?had already warned?that cuts to special education and other education spending would be steep: an 8.2 percent cut to almost every U.S. Department of Education program. That would mean special education programs, funded at about $12.6 billion, would be cut by about $1 billion. Read more of Nirvi Shah's On Special Education article HERE.

Source: http://mtdiablosped.blogspot.com/2012/10/jobs-of-thousands-of-special-education.html

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Why I?m Vibe-Watching American Horror Story

Jenna Dewan-Tatum as Teresa in the premiere episode of American Horror Story: Asylum.

Photo by Michael Yarish/FX.

Remember that scene in Cabin in the Woods where (spoiler alert) the camera zooms out to show hundreds of nightmarish creatures thrashing about in subterranean cells, waiting to terrorize this or that unsuspecting human with the push of a button? Ryan Murphy must have an ultra-premium membership with that monster-manifestation service; without some sort of bulk discount, his ghoul- and goblin-packed American Horror Story would presumably go broke in a matter of episodes, if not minutes.

In the first episode of the show?s second season, Asylum (which premieres tonight), we already have masked serial killers, malevolent aliens, and mad scientists, not to mention the less horror-genre-specific (but no less frightening) presence of unhinged nuns and an undulating mass of the generally insane. If the series continues apace, the hellish catalog will make last season?s ghostly boarding house?in which a century?s worth of restless souls rubbed shoulders and genitals with an ever more spectral family of mortals?seem merely cozy.

Indeed, American Horror Story?s freewheeling tour through the attic of our culture?s collective haunted house, while delighting some, has vexed many others. Critics have described the show as ?confounded,? ?a jumble,? and ?one-stop shopping for horror tropes.? Slate?s own Troy Patterson called it a ?fever dream? and a cook-top crowded with ?various cast-iron pots steadily boiling with a mixture of fear and desire.? By many accounts, Murphy and his co-creater Brad Falchuk?simply have too many cauldrons going, and plenty of critics seem to be waiting eagerly for the whole thing to boil over.

But maybe viewers are looking for the wrong things in American Horror Story. There?s a way to enjoy a series that values different things from the criteria we typically use to ascribe ?success? to a show: aesthetic, not plot; mood, not emotion; sensory serendipity, not rigorous story structure. Coherence still matters, of course, but in terms of an artistic vision instead of (or even at the expense of) traditional narrative. It?s the way to best enjoy American Horror Story, just as it was the way to best enjoy Twin Peaks, Damages, and Six Feet Under. Let?s call it ?vibe-watching.?

In his fascinating exploration of AHS?s status as an anthology show?each season telling a brand new story with common actors and themes?Phillip Maciak notes that Murphy and Falchuck ?are attempting to codify an aesthetic that will bring viewers back.? What?s important about this recognition is that watching or reviewing the show in terms of plot, character development, or that most tyrannical of notions, originality, completely misses the point. AHS is designed to provide a world in which viewers can immerse themselves, not a set of characters to relate to or a story to emotionally invest in. You either get into its vibe, or you don?t.

That?s why it doesn?t matter how transparently the show borrows from the cache of horror clich?s. Last year Patterson offhandedly accused AHS of aping music from Bernard Herrmann?s classic scores to Psycho and Vertigo, only to be informed by the production team that the actual music was being licensed from Herrman?s estate. Clearly, AHS doesn?t care if you notice its source material, because it?s not really about presenting a novel take on ghosts or demonic possession per se. Rather, the show packs a critical mass of combustible materials into a suitably volatile container?a creepy house with a family in crisis, say, or a rickety asylum?and tossing in a match .

Of course, if this procedure isn?t guided by a strong and compelling artistic vision, it?s liable to fail terrifically. Much of the success of the ?vibe? approach depends on the viewer being able and willing to enter the world and find enough glittery stuff there to, in the absence of a domineering narrative, make up a personal show out of what catches her fancy. It is the vibe that matters, the vibe you must tune yourself to and from which you must extract your pleasure, for no Aristotelian catharsis is forthcoming.

Campiness, as a style, almost always invites vibe-watching, for as Wayne Koestenbaum has written, the camp experience involves making a ?private airlift of lost cultural matter, [of] fragments held hostage by everyone else?s indifference,? of living for the sublimity of ?this gesture, this pattern, this figure.? I bet you can tell that the bottle from which Jessica Lange dabs perfume onto her chest is the container in which my own personal sublime resides. Camp, not horror, is the soul and motivating force of AHS, and if don?t delight in the fate that befalls Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine in the season premiere, you are not resonating at AHS?s frequency.

But don?t worry if Murphy?s campy charnel house still doesn?t seem all that inviting; American Horror Story just may not be the right vibe for you. Chances are, you?re already vibe-watching something else without even realizing it?like, say, reality television. Many a critical aneurism has been brought on by trying to understand the appeal of housewives milling about through cocktail parties and manufactured dramas (nothing happens! It?s not Reality!). But when that batty, Muppet-faced old lady in The Real Housewives of Miami mumbles something incomprehensible in Spanglish and then falls down at a party, it justifies every Bravo dollar, every minute of my time, and possibly the continued existence of a universe in which such a thing exists. In the company of such a wonderful vibe, it seems tacky to bring up something as pedestrian as coherence.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1d129237065ee87d77479ded43c2d5f8

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LoonWatch.com Does Hate Jews And Israel

Posted by mah29001 on October 7, 2012

But we should be concerned about ?Islamophobia? right?

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This entry was posted on October 7, 2012 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Annoy Jew-Hating Trolls, Anti-Semitic Propaganda, Islamic terrorists, Islamofascists, LoonWatch.com Watch, Palestine Firster, Red World Order, Soviet propaganda, Useful Idiots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://mah29001.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/loonwatch-com-does-hate-jews-and-israel/

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Bob's Brew and Liquor Reviews: Steel Reserve High Gravity Lager

Steel Reserve

Steel Brewing Company

High Gravity Lager Beer (Malt Liquor?)

Alcohol Content: 8.1%

Who drinks Steel Reserve out of a fancy glass?

This guy.

Okay, so more than anything I thought it was funny pouring a cheap beer into a fancy glass, kind of like when I tasted Tilt Blue Raspberry out of a stemless wine glass.? But with its boozy 8.1% alcohol, it is kind of fitting in a weird, sinful way.

Steel Reserve is one of those bottom shelf beers you always see in gas stations and supermarkets.??

It's cheap.

??

Like ridiculously cheap.

??

Like as cheap as Olympia and Natural Light, and cheaper than Keystone.??

But the one thing Steel Reserve has going for it is alcohol content.? It's a respectable 8.1%.? And while, yes, that's not necessarily a ton compared to a lot of craft beers, this stuff is a fraction of the cost.? Literally.? Like 50-60 cents a can here.? That's cheaper than soda and a lot more fun.

Steel Reserve calls their beer a "High Gravity Lager," although it could technically be called a malt liquor since it's obviously made with adjunct ingredients (e.g. corn, rice, etc.) instead of just barley.? They report that it is slow brewed for 28 days and with extra barley.? I don't know if that really makes it any better, but whatever.? Let's taste this brew...

Steel Reserve pours a light golden amber with a thin, bubbly and quickly disappearing head.? It smells of sweet malts, corn, hints of wheat bread, and harsh alcohol.? Tasting brings flavors of sweet fermented corn, lightly toasted malts, sourdough bread, memories of high school drunkenness, and a big hit of harsh booziness. ?

While this is one of the more drinkable malt liquor-type beers (considerably better than Olde English), it still isn't great in the grand scheme of things.? It's a bit too sweet and harsh, but hey it's cheap and it succeeds in what it's meant for: getting you a cheap buzz.??

And for that, Steel Reserve, I commend you.

Drink This: if you want a a strong, above-average, cheap ass beer.

Don't Drink This: if you don't like a sweet, funky, trashy malt liquor.

Cheers! ? ? ? ?

?? ? ?

Source: http://bobsbrewandliquorreviews.blogspot.com/2012/10/steel-reserve-high-gravity-lager.html

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Ann Romney: People got to see husband as she does

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and wife Ann campaign at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and wife Ann campaign at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pauses as he tells a personal story while he campaigns at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, kisses his wife Ann during a campaign rally, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A man holds a sign before a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, waves as he arrives with his wife Ann at a campaign rally, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) ? Ann Romney says she's glad people watching the first presidential debate have finally been able to see her husband, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, as she does: "A good and decent person."

Speaking Sunday before she introduced her husband, Mrs. Romney says people got to see the former Massachusetts governor as someone who cares for others ? and that Americans will be able to see him display that quality again when he gets people back to work.

The campaign wants to soften Romney's image in the final weeks of the campaign and maintain his focus on the middle class.

At the same event, Romney promised he would "not raise taxes on middle class families!"

Romney's campaign said that 12,000 people attended the event, including 3,000 in an overflow area.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-07-Romney/id-a46c08100d954cd58774af0a489d6b60

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Fatal shooting mars Venezuela election campaign

Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles speaks to a member of his campaign team during a news conference with foreign correspondents in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Venezuela's presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles speaks to a member of his campaign team during a news conference with foreign correspondents in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Venezuela's presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles speaks during a news conference with foreign correspondents in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Venezuela's presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles holds a campaign brochure explaining the platform of President Hugo Chavez during a news conference with foreign correspondents in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Venezuela's presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Jason Valero was so excited about the possibility that Henrique Capriles could unseat President Hugo Chavez that he took a few weeks off from his job as a dump truck driver to work on the opposition presidential candidate's campaign.

Valero also planned to volunteer during the Oct. 7 election at a polling station. On Saturday, he joined a campaign caravan in his native rural state of Barinas, driving his Mitsubishi Montero with his wife and 15-year-old daughter.

Chavez supporters blocked the road in the western state, and Valero and others got out of their cars in an attempt to persuade the protesters to let them pass.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out and Valero was bleeding on the pavement.

Valero's younger brother, Ramon, riding in another car, rushed to his side. Jason Valero later died, one of two Capriles supporters slain in a shooting that has inflamed tensions ahead of Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday.

"He died fighting for a change," Ramon Valero told The Associated Press on Monday in a phone interview from Barinas, while the family prepared for the funeral.

Capriles demanded that the authorities carry out a "serious investigation" to determine those responsible.

"Why does a Venezuelan have to fall because of intolerance? Why does a campaign event have to be attacked... presumably by government sympathizers?" Capriles said at a news conference on Monday in Caracas.

One suspect has been arrested in the killings, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said on Sunday. His name has not been released.

Chavez lamented the violence at a rally on Sunday in western Zulia state. "It's not with violence that we're going to face each other. It's vote against vote. It's with ideas, it's with peace," Chavez said.

Capriles later questioned Chavez's stance, saying the president has long vilified his opponents using "a violent, aggressive discourse."

Chavez and his justice minster described the violence as a "confrontation," but opposition supporters denied that, saying they were simply attacked. A video posted on YouTube, which circulated in Venezuelan media, showed the two groups arguing in the street, and then people scattering as shots rang out.

Capriles noted that those who had blocked the road wore red pro-government T-shirts, and that those who had gotten out of their cars to talk "were attacked with gunfire."

Another opposition supporter, Omar Fernandez, was shot in the neck and later died at a hospital. A third man, local campaign photographer Hector Rojas, was hospitalized with serious wounds, opposition politician Pedro Castillo said.

People in the caravan had simply wanted to make a swing through the area and had tried to tell the Chavez supporters "we didn't want any sort of problems," said opposition politician Rafael Riera, who also witnessed the shooting. Some people had gotten out of a truck nearby and fired shots, Riera said.

"Justice should be done," Valero's 24-year-old brother said. He recalled playing baseball and in the rivers of Barinas with his elder sibling when they were children.

Jason Valero, an athletic man who wore a goatee, was a car aficionado and until recently his pride and joy was a 1969 Mustang with red flames painted on the front. Before selling the car, Valero posed with it in a photo that he posted on his Facebook page, wearing sunglasses and smiling.

Valero had been working in Caracas driving his truck but returned to his home state in the past month to help with the Capriles campaign, his brother said. Their father is also active in the party Primero Justicia, or Justice First, and has been a candidate for local mayor.

Recently, Valero's brother said they had been talking hopefully about the future. Valero told him "that he had come back to dedicate himself 100 percent to politics, to see if we can get out of this," the brother said, referring to Chavez's nearly 14 years as president.

___

Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-01-LT-Venezuela-Election-Fatal-Clash/id-c48ed085b8ab4e8398d24317cb7c56d5

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LG Intuition Gallery

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/VKwuC_3yHpM/story01.htm

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