May 3, 2015

Oakland May Day Protests Marred By Vandalism To Businesses, Cars On Auto Row

Personal Not: It's worthier mentioning that most of the damage done in Oakland over the past few years has been inflicted by a group of kids from Berkeley, NOT Oakland.

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A May Day protest and march through the streets of Downtown Oakland turned violent Friday evening, with some businesses and cars being vandalized.

Friday’s protest began peacefully. About 500 people protesting several issues, from police brutality to capitalism, marched from Frank Ogawa Plaza and eventually up Broadway. Later on, vandals went on a rampage. They broke windows of business and vehicles and set a car on fire on the Broadway Auto Row.

One of the marchers said she was okay with vandalism that targeted big business.

“I see it like a game of chess and if one day we can throw rocks at police, right or wrong, however you feel about it, then that’s a day we took a stand. And that, in my mind, to some extent, is a win against the system,” Melissa Crosby said.


http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/05/01/oakland-protests-may-day/

May 3, 2015

S.F. school board divided on using interns as teachers

With 500 teaching jobs to fill by the first day of school this fall, San Francisco’s superintendent has asked the school board to let him hire more Teach for America interns for hard-to-staff schools. But some board members are balking, saying students in those schools deserve experienced teachers.

Superintendent Richard Carranza wants 24 teachers, up from 15 this year, from Teach for America, a national nonprofit that places new college graduates in low-income communities for a two-year teaching stint.

“We are facing a teacher shortage crisis, not only in San Francisco, but in the state of California,” Carranza told the board at a recent meeting. “I am asking, I am pleading with the board: Don’t take away this option that we have to guarantee 24 slots.”

But instead of voting on the request, the board put off a decision and sent the issue to committee. A vote is now expected Tuesday.

At least three of the seven school board members have said they outright oppose the idea of Teach for America, which was created to help put teachers — albeit not credentialed ones — in classrooms that have had a hard time attracting teachers. Other board members expressed concern about increasing the number in the district.


http://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/S-F-grapples-with-adding-uncredentialed-teachers-6227392.php

May 3, 2015

Saw Avengers 2 yesterday. (No Spoilers)

Much darker than the first movie and has an ending that I would not call "happy". The final scenes definately foreshadow Captan America 3. However, there was so much happening so fast, that I need to see it a second time. Side note: Audience reaction to Ant Man tralier indicated to me that it should hold its own at the July box office.

May 2, 2015

Child Finds A Loaded Second Amendment In John Boehner's Capitol Bathroom

A 7- or 8-year-old boy found a loaded gun in House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) Capitol suite bathroom a little more than a month ago, Roll Call reported on Friday.

The gun, which Roll Call only referred to as a Glock, was reportedly left there on March 24 by a dignitary protection officer.

The incident, however, was not isolated, according to Roll Call. The publication reported that Capitol police have a tendency to leave their guns in the building's restrooms.

On Jan. 29, according to Roll Call, one of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) security guards left a Glock and its magazine jammed into a toilet seat cover holder in a restroom stall at the Capitol's visitor center, where it was found by an employee.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-gun-bathroom-capitol

May 1, 2015

The Avengers’ Black Widow Problem: How Marvel Slut-Shamed Their Most Badass Superheroine

The thing nobody wants to admit about Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, and the Great Superhero Slut-Shaming of 2015 is that, PR crisis aside, the BroVengers were right.

Not for calling Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow a “slut” and a “whore” in the most casually offensive way possible; Renner also managed to sneak in a “prosthetic leg” comment that earned him a side of ableist complaints to go with those heaping cries of sexism. What was lost in the outrage over their feminist-baiting fratty misogyny is that Avengers: Age of Ultron’s macho twosome hit the nail on the head regarding Marvel’s persistent problem with women.

Namely, that even Marvel’s most badass female characters keep getting exploited—and utterly wasted—just to prop up the men around them. And it’s Marvel that keeps fortifying that glass ceiling.

In 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe films thus far, strong female co-leads have only appeared in larger ensemble team-ups, primarily as lethal and emotionally impenetrable femme fatales who double as love interests (shout out to Guardians of the Galaxy’s Gamora).

Meanwhile, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America have fronted multiple stand-alones as complex superheroes with their own extended individual journeys to explore, but it’ll be another nine movies before Marvel finally rolls the dice on its first female-led superhero movie.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/28/the-avengers-black-widow-problem-how-marvel-slut-shamed-their-most-badass-superheroine.html