Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern Michigan
Back in 2011, when an unknown, nerdy former chairman of the board of a former computer giant called Gateway was sworn in as governor of the state of Michigan, his plans for the state set off alarm bells in more than a few state residents. Raising taxes on poor people and old people, cutting over a billion dollars out of the school budget to offset two billion in corporate tax cuts made us cringe. Then we learned of something even worse: A plan to substantially increase the powers and duties of the Emergency Financial Manager.
Governor Blanchard first used emergency managers during his administration. They had no power in any way to overrule the democratically elected local government, their purpose simply included helping that government work on budgeting better and get out of debt. The Nerd changed that. He decided that emergency managers shouldn’t share power, they should have ALL the power. They would strip the local government of all authority, break contracts, fire at will, and privatize any and all services the city, school district, township, or county provided to the residents. The Up North Progressive was one of many who noticed this sounded an awful lot like the plot of RoboCop.
It didn’t take long for those of us who were alarmed by this venture capitalist nerd and his sinister plans to organize and beat the streets. We worked through the summer of 2011 collecting signatures to recall him and hold a new election. We worked hard asking the unions to get involved. They refused. We worked hard to get the Democratic Party behind us. They refused. Michael Moore? Not a peep from him. As it slowly and depressingly sank in that we were stuck with Snyder for four years, we worked on other petition drives, including getting rid of the Nerd’s despicable emergency manager law. We didn’t succeed in collecting enough signatures to recall him, but we did collect enough to put eliminating P.A. 4 a.k.a Rick Snyder’s democracy-killing emergency manager law up to a vote of the people. The referendum went on the ballot in 2012, and the law was repealed.
Then Rick Snyder simply had the state legislature write up and pass a new version of the emergency manager law. Despite promising the city of Detroit there would be no bankruptcy, he secretly worked on finding an emergency manager to do just that. Despite obvious evidence that the Education Achievement Authority was a colossal failure, he threatened the rest of state he would expand his special pet school district to everyone. Despite the Michigan State Constitution banning school vouchers, he had software developers and members of his administration holding secret meetings called ‘skunkworks’ to force illegal school vouchers down Michiganians’ throats.
By the time 2014 came, his emergency managers were entrenched in communities helping Snyder’s corporate friends scoop up the assets and privatize them. Detroit residents had their water shut off. Detroit businesses continued getting all the water they wanted while owing millions to the city. As if cutting off city residents to water wasn’t bad enough, an even more deadly horror silently flowed into the taps of homes of Flint residents.
Resignation that the Nerd won another four years to destroy Michigan gave way to anger when people made noise that Flint was being poisoned by the water they had to drink thanks to Rick Snyder’s emergency manager. There is no way to blame this on the city of Flint, or their elected leaders. The local government had no power. They didn’t make the decision to switch to a water supply that was toxic, the decision was made for them by a Snyder appointee who only had to report to Snyder.
So far, making sure branding the crisis is a priority to helping the people suffering through the crisis:
Good thing we have the logo sorted. How else would anyone know the state is taking proactive steps to solve problems? They’re not taking proactive steps. Mostly the state has been in damage control mode trying to figure out how to deal with what is according to them “apparently going to be a thing now.”
According to FOIA records, we know the Snyder administration knew 6 months ago there was a problem with the water in Flint. The city had already been poisoned with the water for a year by then. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality denied the reports, told the EPA they were wrong. Told specialists from Virginia Tech they were wrong. Told pediatricians testing children’s blood and finding alarming levels of lead they were wrong. None of them were wrong. Lansing was wrong. Rick Snyder was wrong.
What happened in Flint, Detroit, and everywhere else Snyder has touched with his toxic hand is criminal. At the least, he shouldn’t be Governor anymore. His political career should be dead. Ideally, Snyder should have to answer for his crimes. Unfortunately he won’t.
Back in 2011, a small group of people realized the damage Rick Snyder could potentially do to the state and organized a recall campaign to get rid of him. Imagine how different things would be today if we had support from the unions, the Democratic Party, more people who knew what Snyder was doing was wrong, but didn’t get involved. Hate to say it, but we told you so.
Staring At Pictures Without Context Helps Children Read: The Continuing Story of Dr Steve Ingersoll
Monday , 4, January 2016 Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 1 Comment
While the federal circuit court in Bay City gives those of us paying attention to Steve Ingersoll’s sentencing hearing January blue balls, Miss Fortune continues to share what she’s learned from the testimony given during December court proceedings. Bay City Academy’s in debt so bad they sent an unapproved debt reduction plan to the state … but the Michigan Department of Education still doesn’t see any need to cut the failing school’s funding. We also learned that after Ingersoll’s conviction, he tried to secure a loan from a bank to start a new visual learning school program with his business partners, former LSSU Charter School office director Bruce Harger and Grand Traverse Academy board president Brad Habermehl.
But what really caught the Up North Progressive’s eye was the news that Steve Ingersoll and Mark Noss are still peddling their icon mapping software as a tutoring package through the Excel Institute in Traverse City. They’re not calling it Icon Curriculum Mapping anymore, they call it Icon Learning; any opportunity to get a glimpse of this enigmatic and elusive curriculum that’s supposed to revolutionize education, especially for students with learning disabilities can’t be missed!
The description of the method used is sufficiently vague enough to not give any real information on what the method actually is or how it’s going to help children learn, except to assure the reader that they are very successful in teaching children how to learn.
Our Method
The primary step of the icon Learning methodology is to teach students a learning technique that will improve performance across all academic subjects. We have reviewed the state of Michigan education requirements for all grade levels to ensure that our lessons correlate directly with the lessons the student receives at school.
Traditional teaching methods tend to start at the beginning of a subject and continue to introduce basic information details in a linear form. Through the icon Learning method, every time a new factor is introduced (e.g. a new U.S. president) we reference back to the word web so that students can properly place the information they receive into the order it belongs. (What?)
Our learning strategy has repeatedly proven to be successful, no matter what the lesson content has been. By reorganizing course content in ways that encourage visual learning, we have been able to teach children how to learn differently, ultimately correcting insufficiencies in learning habits.
Let’s take a look at the sample Social Studies lesson designed to help children read the US Constitution:
Okay, these symbols are supposed to have something to do with the preamble to the US Constitution? It’s hard to tell when there’s no context. Let’s see the next part:
This image includes a cat – thought bubble – letter U – onion. Oh wait, in order for the struggling reader to better understand the image designed to give him clues about the US Constitution, he has to READ THE WORD IN THE THOUGHT BUBBLE for the images to make sense.
But it doesn’t make any sense. What does purr U onion have to do with the preamble to the constitution? How does going through these mental gymnastics help the child read? Let’s take a look at a science lesson.
Here we have something that’s supposed to teach the student about conductive heat. If you needed more proof that Icon Learning is just repackaged Icon Curriculum Mapping, here it is. This image used to be on the Icon Curriculum Mapping website.
Con duck … get it? Burnt finger hot stove and that’s conductive heat kids. It gets better, what could they possibly do with something more complex, like atomic structures?
So here we have the symbol for American Atheists paired with a half-built outhouse. Below that is a politician, Newt politician, and a cat donut leaning against one of those big weights that falls on Loony Toons characters.
The biggest problem with this so-called curriculum is where is the context? How does a man named Ron who kids may or may not understand is running for election teach a child about atomic structures? A look at Bay City Academy’s science test scores answers that question.
Bonus image just for fun:
AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No comment.
It’s horrifying that even after his conviction, Steve Ingersoll continues to come up with another business model where he can successfully scam desperate parents into paying for this “vision therapy curriculum”. Without context, how does a child really learn from Icon Mapping? Setting up children to fail using untested curriculum is abusive. Where is the evidence that Icon Learning is aligned with state curriculum standards?
Up North Progressive bets the answer to that question is never. If anyone have evidence that Ingersoll aligned Icon Learning to the state standards, pretty please share? Anyone willing to share more examples of IVL or Icon Learning are more than welcome to send an email.
Commit To Vote Blue In 2016 No Matter Who Wins The Primary
Thursday , 24, December 2015 Candidates, Elections, Presidential Primary 2016 2 CommentsComments to the most recent Up North Progressive article was expected. One commenter suggested the article be removed. Another commenter informed me I would have to change the name of the blog if I don’t support Bernie Sanders for president. Then someone did some cheer leading for Bernie Sanders on Up North Progressive’s Facebook page and so on.
Bernie Sanders does not hold any copyright or patent for the word, “progressive.” This blog has always been and will continue to be a voice for progressive issues. My criticism of Bernie Sanders supporters is still spot on, and still the reason why this very progressive blog will not be supporting him in any way. Bernie Sanders is 99.9% right on labor, economic, and civil rights issues. On foreign policy, defense and other issues the next president will have to address he is very weak. I’m glad he’s running for president in the primary. I’m still going to vote for the candidate who has a real chance of winning the White House in 2016. That candidate is Hillary Clinton.
Keep in mind the next president will likely be appointing at least 3 new Supreme Court Justices. Do you really want a Republican doing that? Here in Michigan, we face losing another congressional seat due to declining population caused by slow economic growth – because we’re drowning in Republicans who can’t do anything other than figure out more ways to rig the election to their advantage and poison entire cities with lead.
After the primary is over and you still insist you’re not voting Democratic party because your candidate didn’t win, you will be part of the problem right along with every other person who votes Republican party. We have to work together and put an end to the real problems created by Republicans in Michigan and the nation. Commit to voting blue in 2016.
What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Have In Common
Tuesday , 22, December 2015 Candidates, Elections, Presidential Primary 2016 Leave a comment
Neither one of them will ever be nominated by any party to run for president. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss why.
After 7 years of racism coming from the extreme and not so extreme fringe of the right, it’s no longer necessary to even put up a facade of decency on the campaign trail. On the GOP side, pure Republican Id Donald Trump says so many bigoted things one has to wonder why Jeb Bush even bothered hiding his racism with a Charles Murray dog whistle. Monday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Donald Trump once again jumped on the misogyny bandwagon by saying Hillary Clinton was “schlonged” by Barack Obama in 2008.
Bernie Sanders, like Donald Trump has an established history with misogyny. He also had the help of the NRA in getting elected to the House of Representatives. Sanders voting record on war in the Middle East leaves a lot to be desired too, but his fans don’t seem to care about any of that. They’re convinced Bernie has to be the next nominee, or else. Why are Sanders supporters so militantly demanding that everyone ‘feel the Bern’?
That’s the biggest problem with Bernie Sanders supporters and what they have in common with Donald Trump. It’s the creepy, Ron Paul worship vibe that comes off of the people who insist if The Donald/Bernie’s not the nominee they won’t vote at all. The echo chamber these people live in as they talk about their beloved candidate shields them from the reality of how their candidate is seen by the public. They honestly think their candidate is more popular because they refuse to notice anything else. Any protester who shows up at a Trump rally faces being physically assaulted by the crowd of knuckle-dragging mouth breathers assembled to hear their anointed one bark at them. Bernie Sanders also draws large crowds of people who are likewise fanatical about their candidate.
When the polls don’t validate what they believe to be true because polls have to rely on real data, then it’s the media/political party leader’s fault, and the conspiracy theories fly. Conspiracy theories about how the party chairperson is sabotaging the campaign so the preferred candidate wins is much easier to swallow than their candidate just isn’t as popular as they want to believe. It’s also easier to hate on Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman. The misogyny is just as bad with the Sanders hive mind as it is with Trump.
These are the kind of people who support Bernie Sanders. Just as hateful, bigoted and foul-mouthed as Donald Trump supporters. Trump is a carnival show. Sanders is the progressive Ron Paul. Both supported by the extreme radical edge of their party. The good news about these two is if the general election were today, Hillary Clinton would still win easily.
Until a couple of days ago, the links to both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns were on this blog, after encountering the misogynist Sanders hive mind, that link was removed. This is Up North Progressive, and progressive values will be preserved.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources Announces January Public Land Sale in Eastern Upper and Northern Lower Peninsula
Tuesday , 15, December 2015 DNR, Environment, Upper Peninsula Leave a comment
Today the Michigan DNR announced “surplus” public land for sale by sealed-bid auction beginning January 12 to February 10, 2016. Available land includes parcels in the Eastern Upper Peninsula and the Northern Lower Peninsula.
Due to these parcels being isolated from other land managed by the DNR, they’re considered of little use for public recreation and inconvenient to maintain. Some parcels are as large as 240 acres; some have river or lake frontage. Counties where the land is located include Alpena, Arenac, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Crawford, Gladwin, Mackinac, and St. Clair. Six parcels of land in Adams Township of Arenac County being offered make up over 680 acres.
Information about the land for sale, the procedure for making a bid, conditions of sale, and the minimum bid can be found here. Property listings won’t be available until January 12, 2016. Printable bid forms will also become available at that time. Bids must be submitted by Midnight, February 10, 2016. The bids will be opened on February 22, 2016.
For more information, contact Patricia Harlow at 517-284-5940, or by email at harlowp@michigan.gov
So Far “Classical” Education Not Strong In History or English: Tea Party Charter School
Saturday , 12, December 2015 Section 16, Tea Party Charter School Leave a commentSo if I read this correctly, Islam won’t be a totalitarian theocracy if they have better breathing.
It’s funny when a guy promoting for-profit schools that will teach Americans are better off living in a religious totalitarian theocracy condemns a religious totalitarian theocracy.
Bill Schuette Job Security: Aramark Edition
Thursday , 3, December 2015 Aramark, Bill Schuette, Nerd Problems 6 Comments
Aramark may be long gone, but thanks to the Nerd’s failure at privatizing the state prison food service, the Michigan taxpayers are stuck with the bill of cleaning up Snyder’s mess. Today Bill “I wanna be the next governor” Schuette announced a conviction on one of the former employees of Aramark who tried to pay an inmate in cigarettes to assault another inmate at Kinross Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula.
27 year old Michael Robert Young was a supervisor for Aramark when he approached the inmate and offered him tobacco products in exchange for arranging the attack on another inmate housed in a different prison, serving time for murdering a relative of Young’s. The inmate instead reported Young and he was arrested following an investigation by the Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Corrections.
While Schuette pats himself on the back for Young’s conviction, the real crime is that Aramark received the contract to provide food for Michigan Department of Corrections inmates at all. Since their short time serving up maggots, spoiled food, garbage, sex, drugs and plenty of other specialty items – like contract hits – Aramark built up their reputation as a basement bargain service provider that Snyder touted would save the state millions of dollars, but instead cost taxpayers more as the company violated state regulations and prison policies repeatedly. It took less than two years for the Nerd to kick Aramark to the curb, but instead of being a decent human and admitting he made a mistake, he hired another contractor than have the MDC take control of the food services for Michigan’s prisons again.
Micheal Robert Young faces up to five years in prison, but the person who really needs to answer for his crimes against the taxpayers of Michigan is Rick Snyder. He is the reason the Aramark fiasco happened, he needs to answer for it, as well as an ever growing list of failures since Michigan had the misfortune of electing him governor – twice.