ethnic versus ideological axes of political power

Talking about American elections in Germany lately, I usually said, by way of shorthand, that in the US we have winner-take-all elections, so we make coalitions before elections whereas in parliamentary democracies, as in most of Europe, you make coalitions after elections. In a system of proportional representation, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton would not be in the same party.

this dress makes me look fat...

the onion, not the onion

Charlie Hebdo has a thing or two to teach the Onion about guts.

podcast

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/phlogiston/id1066087803

movement politics

Hillary supporters think Bernistas are pushy and rude. Bernie supporters think Hillarites are blind. I think I understand it.

prosecutions for public corruption by the Albany FBI 2015: 2 cases

Podcast 12 is kind of a companion document to this blog entry.

I used to say that the Albany office of the FBI had not initiated nor had any role in any convictions for political corruption for many years. 2015 changes that. Below the fold, the two cases I found on the FBI website. 

letter to the town of stuyvesant

revised here or if that doesn't work, try this but I think THIS VERSION is the best and now the town has uploaded a pdf...

Basically, after losing in state court twice, the town seems to be trying to re-write the law and start the dog war back up. I think it's a mistake and would prefer peace. Here is my letter to the town:

moody's rating of Columbia County

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-Aa3-to-Columbia-County-NYs-141M-GO-bonds--PR_903067386

points on bernie

Three points.

19th congressional race

This article is an endorsement for congress of the Will Yandik, environmentalist, farmer and writer. Also, check out his facebook page here. 

new episodes of the podcast

Check them out on itunes here. Or stitcher.  Or soundcloud.

meet FRED, an educational philosophy

Private schools often seem to need a philosophy (Montessori, Waldorf, Democratic School, etc.). This is especially true if they have not existed for 100 or more years or if there are several private schools close to each other. Public schools, on the other hand, cannot have a philosophy, at least not in New York, although they can in Oregon. Charter Schools can have a philosophy.

Is the philosophy marketing or does it help with education? Let's consider.