Hopefully is our children will learned.

Children lose?

It should be obvious to every American that this is really getting out of hand. Seriously, people can mock Occupy Wall Street all they want, but at least they're trying-- for better or worse-- to address this exact issue.

I sincerely hope that OWS can coalesce and emerge mainly around the issues of serious campaign finance reform and ending corporate personhood. They are the root cause of so many of this country's problems.

Mr. Coffee Nerves: He sends a carrier task force to flatten the high school in a county a thousand miles away?

And now I've got nothing.

what_now: Tip O'Neil once said "all politics are local"

For those of you who think you're so knowledgeable about world events, those of you Fark politics junkies, those of you who are Occupying your various towns, I have a question for you:

Do you know who is on your school board? How about your selectmen? I bet you don't. I bet you don't vote in local or statewide elections.

This is a HUGE problem in my circle of smart, well educated, socially conscience yuppies. We're all raring to vote for Elizabeth Warren and campaign for Obama, but we haven't a clue about our own town/city.

Hey, I just moved here, give me some time to learn. Hell, I haven't even registered to vote yet, I need to get on that. But, yes, I can't wait to vote for Elizabeth Warren.

make me some tea: In case anyone's still wondering what people are #Occupying about, this is a perfect example.

Yep, and this article was the most depressing piece I've read in a long time.

We all end up dumber?

what_now: Tip O'Neil once said "all politics are local"

For those of you who think you're so knowledgeable about world events, those of you Fark politics junkies, those of you who are Occupying your various towns, I have a question for you:

Do you know who is on your school board? How about your selectmen? I bet you don't. I bet you don't vote in local or statewide elections.

This is a HUGE problem in my circle of smart, well educated, socially conscience yuppies. We're all raring to vote for Elizabeth Warren and campaign for Obama, but we haven't a clue about our own town/city.

I try to pay close attention to such races. Last election for the school board was frustrating. Although, I only vote for two of the slots due to districting, I read up on all the candidates. In many districts, you had two choices and one of them was a convicted felon or had criminal charges pending against him/her.

This is somehow so much sadder than big money in national elections.

what_now: For those of you who think you're so knowledgeable about world events, those of you Fark politics junkies, those of you who are Occupying your various towns, I have a question for you:

Do you know who is on your school board? How about your selectmen? I bet you don't. I bet you don't vote in local or statewide elections.

School board? No, my public schools suck so my kid goes to a private school. What the hell is a selectman? State Rep is about as low as my interests go.

You wanna know who I wanna vote for? A new teachers union president. I know who that chick is and she's a crazy biatch.

That article said nothing about who, just an oil-CEO-financed flier.
Baby Oil, Olive Oil, Cooking Oil, Vegetable Oil, Crude, which or what Oil and what CEO?

Jackson Herring: what_now: Do you know who is on your school board? How about your selectmen? I bet you don't. I bet you don't vote in local or statewide elections.

I gave it a shot in the most recent round of local elections, but when the ballgargler with the giant TOUGH ON CRIME billboard on the side of 195 ended up winning county sheriff, I pretty much face-palmed any interest in local elections right out of my head

I always write in John Madden on my local elections. He placed second last year for county commissioner.

farking insane.

No YOU'RE a Towel: Wasn't this a shiatty movie with Ray Romano?

Hah! Just saw it the other day, so I got kick.

pjbreeze: That article said nothing about who, just an oil-CEO-financed flier.
Baby Oil, Olive Oil, Cooking Oil, Vegetable Oil, Crude, which or what Oil and what CEO?

Probably crude, since all the others are finished products you can buy at retail and none of them are in the futures market.

When was the last time you heard of a billionaire who got rich though baby oil? (Not including Big Pharma, since they sell a bunch of other stuff)

Likewise, nobody except Big Agra got rich from olive, cooking or vegetable oils, and they get a stupidly huge amount of money from other endeavors.

King Something:
Likewise, nobody except Big Agra got rich from olive, cooking or vegetable oils, and they get a stupidly huge amount of money from other endeavors.

What Big Agra might look like:

Lunaville
In many districts, you had two choices and one of them was a convicted felon or had criminal charges pending against him/her.

You're in WV too?

Around me, the League of Women Voters puts out a pretty good summary of who's running in local elections. It's pretty much just a name and a statement from the candidate, so they're not telling me who to vote for. Last time around, it really wasn't that hard to eliminate the clearly crazy and/or disagreeable and vote for the rest.

It's not great, but it pretty much works for most of the ballot.

what_now: Siiiiigh. You realize that you're part of the problem, right? Your schools will CONTINUE to suck because 1) you don't support them and 2) you don't care what is taught there.

I'm not a part of the problem at all. It's impossible for me to be a part of the solution. My pubic schools will continue to suck until the teachers union realizes they need to change something. Maybe they'll care as more private/charter schools pop up and their numbers decline. Unions as a whole are terrific and great. Nationally I love teachers unions. But the teachers union in Chicago is run by a super biatch who has lost sight of what matters. She's in it for the money and the fight. No joke.

1) My tax dollars go to them even though I don't use them. I decreased a class size by 1. They're welcome. More money, slightly smaller classes. I am a part of the solution.

2) I do care what is taught there. I had a meeting with a teacher and the principal once. The school went through 5th grade. In talking with them, I was agreeing with them that it's probably hard to teach 30 kids math and English, especially when they have to get all the other subjects in like science and history. And I got "we don't do really do that here, we just do math and english." I'm a scientist. Why don't we skip the conversation and instead you just kick me in the nuts next time and be done with it?

Seriously, I vote, I'm involved. But at some point after stamping your feet and demanding change all day long you gotta realize it's not going to change any day soon. Why should my kid suffer and miss out on a broader education because I want to get societal change? You can't honestly tell me you believe if I was involved more in PTA, or voted in school board elections or if everyone was involved, educated and voted in school board elections that suddenly science would be taught in schools. What matters is funding and meeting No Child Left Behind. What's in the way in Chicago is the teachers union. Parents can biatch about science being taught all day long, but when math scores are what funds the school, asking for them to stop focusing on math is incredibly stupid.

But I'll tell you what, I voted for Rahm Emmanuel because I hope to god he starts going after the Chicago teachers union. If anyone will, it's him.

Would you be less likely to vote for Billy Jones for class treasuer if you knew he had a black baby out of wedlock?

No YOU'RE a Towel: Wasn't this a shiatty movie with Ray Romano?

And if I recall, the guy won only because Romano took pity on him. And immediately went from total humiliation and political ruin to suffering zero consequences whatsoever. Because he won.