Dr. Scientist Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I have to say, New York City is in a really bad place right now with our current, billionaire Mayor who has zero grasp on reality. How can someone who doesn't even know what it's like to live like a millionaire, know what it's like to live like a middle class New Yorker making $60k a year? How could this man possibly know the needs of the people he represents? Easily, he doesn't represent 99% of the struggling, working class in NYC. . . he represents the 1% of the wealthy and his goal for the span of his term has been to cater to those people, attempting to turn Manhattan into an Island Oasis for The Rich, while the outer boros self destruct. In NYC a Mayor is only allowed to be elected for two terms. . . at the end of his second term he used his wealth and influence to have the laws changed so that he could run for a third term! I'm getting away from myself here in the anger that this man causes me. . . . . . Last night, the Department of Education (a panel appointed by the mayor) voted to close 23 schools here in NYC. Let me shed some light into the DOE panel. When they were first assembled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg they were given the task to vote on closing a school. The vote ended in favor of keeping the school open, and those who voted in favor were promptly fired the next day and replaced. The school went back to a second vote and was voted to be closed. Why are these schools being closed? Because according to "statistics", they are failing. Anyone with the intelligence of a house cat knows that "statistics" are a tool to drive an agenda and can be rigged to represent whatever you want. Example: in 2010, 50 people were punched in the face, so the stats say that there were 50 violent crimes reported. So we change the criteria for what is a "violent crime", now in order for it to go down as a "violent crime" the victim needs to be hospitalized. So in 2011, 100 people are punched in the face, only 10 of them go to the hospital and the statistics are: "Violent crime is down 80% from 2010". . . when actually it's up 100%, complete and utter bullshit. Back to New York City and it's problems. . . The DOE has been shrinking the budget of all non charter schools in NYC by as much as 30%, while increasing the budget of Private, Charter Schools, cause non charter schools to fail, thus being closed. The problem is that Michael Bloomberg is opening Charter Schools run by his friends in their place. . . ok so what's the problem? The problem is that "Charter Schools" are run privately, for a profit, with public funds. In a normal, NYC public school 100% of the budget goes towards education, in a charter school 50% goes towards education, and 50% goes into the pocket of a private company. . . NYC is privatizing the school system, putting hard working, educated professionals out of work, and putting the children's education and future in jeopardy for the sake of turning a profit. How do you maximize profits? By getting rid of all of the high paid professionals who have many years of experience and replace them with low paid lackies who have no experience, no education, and who will work for a fraction of what someone who's qualified for the job deserves. Is that who you want teaching your children? What scares me is that in my opinion, no public service should be run by a private company who only has an interest in making a profit, not an interest in what's best for the people it's serving. If they can successfully privatize the public school system what's next? The Fire Department? The Police Department? Sanitation?. . you get the idea. Who wants their local government run by a private corporation? Not me. . . NYC is a model that most smaller cities look to for ideas and inspiration. . . once it happens here it will happen else where and we'll be living in some hyper corrupt, "Robocop-esque" future world that we once only saw in movies. It scares me that the wealthy can has so much power. . . /end rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltrailer77 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 This sounds like some of the most blatant cronyism I have heard of in recent years. On a side note lots of cities/counties have private contractors handle trash collection/landfill management. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I have to say, New York City is in a really bad place right now with our current, billionaire Mayor who has zero grasp on reality. How can someone who doesn't even know what it's like to live like a millionaire, know what it's like to live like a middle class New Yorker making $60k a year? How could this man possibly know the needs of the people he represents? I got this far. The idea that you have to live like some one two understand anything and everything about them is misguided. Does Bill Gates have to be an African AIDS victim to know that they need adequate medical facilities and retroviral medicine? Do Christian reach out programs in the ghettos need to be an abused Child themselves to know that kids on the street running from sexual abuse in the home require some one they can trust and some where safe to stay at night? Do I have to be anorexic to know that half the catwalk models in the world are fucking famished? Of course not. The decisions that get made regarding public policy are often done with a very good understanding of what people want and need. That doesn't mean that the policy maker is a generous person, a people person or isn't corrupt. People like that don't make it that far without being sharp mother fuckers. George Bush was that 0.05% unexplainable anomaly. I sincerely hope that I took this statement out of context and that it was clarified further along in the passage of writing that I will never read. Fuck sneezing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Scientist Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 This sounds like some of the most blatant cronyism I have heard of in recent years. On a side note lots of cities/counties have private contractors handle trash collection/landfill management. Bloomberg appoints all of his friends and family to run different branches of government within the city, most of them completely unqualified for the job. It's cronyism at it's finest, and it's scary. The first School Chancellor he hired was his friend Joel Klein, the man had zero experience in education. . . he was a Lawyer who owned his own Law Firm and was looking for a second job cause the Law Firm pretty much ran itself. The second school chancellor he hired was another friend, Cathy Black. Cathy Black had zero experience, she was a magazine publisher. . . so to make up for her lack of experience, Bloomberg hired a "Co-Chancellor" to work beside her. So they're cutting school budgets, yet hiring two chancellors to do the job of one. Another thing they did was close down all large public schools and open several smaller schools inside. Each school requires a principal, and several assistant principals. So where you had a building with one large school and one principal and several AP's making $100K a year, you now have ten schools within that new building, with an administrative payroll into the millions, while cutting the budget. They successfully dwindled the resources by redirecting the budgets. I have friends who are teachers that when they give a test, they have to buy their own paper, go to staples and pay to make copies. When they need to mail a letter home to a parent, they need to buy their own stamps and envelopes. So the schools are strained financially, and are forced to fail and be replaced by a private charter school run with federal money. If you think this sounds far fetched, or think I'm being some sort of a conspiracy theorist, just look up the concept of "Planned Shrinkage" in urban areas. . . Shit blew my mind when I first learned about it. Class warfare at it's finest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Scientist Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I got this far. The idea that you have to live like some one two understand anything and everything about them is misguided. Does Bill Gates have to be an African AIDS victim to know that they need adequate medical facilities and retroviral medicine? Do Christian reach out programs in the ghettos need to be an abused Child themselves to know that kids on the street running from sexual abuse in the home require some one they can trust and some where safe to stay at night? Do I have to be anorexic to know that half the catwalk models in the world are fucking famished? Of course not. The decisions that get made regarding public policy are often done with a very good understanding of what people want and need. That doesn't mean that the policy maker is a generous person, a people person or isn't corrupt. People like that don't make it that far without being sharp mother fuckers. George Bush was that 0.05% unexplainable anomaly. I sincerely hope that I took this statement out of context and that it was clarified further along in the passage of writing that I will never read. Fuck sneezing. Yes, I think that a multi-billionaire can never understand the needs of a Construction worker who makes $60k a year and is trying to support a family in NYC. I think that someone who shits on a gold toilet could never understand what it's like to have to budget for necessities like feeding and clothing their family over deciding what luxury goods to purchase this week. I think that someone who has a hired driver, and just rides in the back of a Town Car while reading the news paper could never understand the needs of a daily commuter. I think that someone who sends their kids to the best private school in the city couldn't understand the needs of the poorest kids in a public school. Would you hire Donald Trump to work as a detective in The South Bronx? No, because he is far too removed from the daily routines of that situation, he could never be successful cause he could never really understand their needs. The wealth and class gap is far too big. . . he could never be a successful Mayor and is constantly proving that fact to the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I'm not supporting BBerg or this particular policy but I am saying that you don't have to be able to understand how everyone feels to be able to make effective policy. I mean how people feel is about the last fucking concern in policy making unless its an election period. Most of the time concerns are budgetry and demographic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Scientist Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I'm not supporting BBerg or this particular policy but I am saying that you don't have to be able to understand how everyone feels to be able to make effective policy. I mean how people feel is about the last fucking concern in policy making unless its an election period. Most of the time concerns are budgetry and demographic. You can read a demographic on paper, but if you've never interacted with that demographic, and have zero understanding of what their actual needs are you'll never put an effective policy in place. . . . and handing out sandwiches in the ghetto during election time isn't "interacting". Welfare in New York City is a perfect example of a continually failing system put in place based on what the wealthy perceives the needs of the poor are. Many things are good in theory, but don't work in practice. Bloomberg payed millions of dollars to an outside consulting firm from Burlington, VT to help identify the needs of "inner city" public school students in NYC. I don't care how many reports they read on demographics, no one in Burlington Vermont knows what the needs of a kid in Brownsville, Brooklyn are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 So therefore only a school kid from Brownsville Brooklyn could formulate education policy for that area. Don't mind me, I'm just being argumentative for the sake of it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Scientist Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 So therefore only a school kid from Brownsville Brooklyn could formulate education policy for that area? Don't mind me, I'm just being argumentative for the sake of it.... I know that you're playing Devil's Advocate. . . but I would think that someone who works in a NYC public school in a lower class neighborhood would be better inclined to give you an idea of what those student's needs are as opposed to someone in an upper class city 300 miles away with a population of less than 50k people. The worlds are just too far apart. Someone who's never turned a screw driver shouldn't be designing professional grade tools for auto mechanics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walid Jumblat Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 How do you know that the consulting group he hired didn't survey a bunch of teachers and school administrators? In saying that, I did just skim over your rant and I am DEFINITELY not in favour of private school systems. That option should be there for parents who want that for their kids (religious, high standard for high fees, etc) but privatising the public system creates new agendas and goals that get in the way of providing education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Bloomberg is not a good mayor he's not even a lousy mayor.. he's awful. nepotism at it's worst. i'm not finding this to be rocket science. now, back to my western blotting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOOGLE? Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 all i read was handing out sammiches in the ghetto durring election.. ny has it like that? i mean like are they good sammiches or are they the halfassed one slice of bologna between two dry ass pieces of white bread and a centimeter of mayo dobbed in som random part of the bread crust? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_gacy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 DID NOT READ LONG RANT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earl broclo ESQ Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 If we kill all the children we don't have to worry about this problem, and I don't have to see hood rats making out on the train. Win/Win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weapon X Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Good rant. It seems that every city will eventually be like this. I never liked Bloomberg, anyway. I always have to see him on TV and movies, and he annoys the heck out of me. Get off my Project Runway, Bloomberg! Is this getting a lot of play in the New York papers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPS Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.crooked Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 You'd be hard pressed to find any New Yorker who likes Bloomberg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkae Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLfApKRxTn0 check my boy out.fuck bloomberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 It appears the neocons have finally decided that schools are a bad investment. BTW, last October the city of Oakland voted to shut down five schools at the end of the school year under very similar circumstances. So....this looks like something that's going to start happening more and more unless people speak up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asthma al Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 DID NOT READ LONG RANT .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_gooch Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Privatization seems to be a trend. I'm sure in the next 10-20 years this whole country will be much different. It scares me that the wealthy can has so much power. . . Well, there seems only one logical thing to do when the shit hits the fan: So, when the cops start looking more like the military and stricter gun laws clamp down on Joe Q Citizen's right to own firearms...you can only wonder what they are anticipating and hoping to avoid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_gooch Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 DID NOT READ LONG RANT They want you to stay dumb and not read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Bueller Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 we need to tax the rich so we can save the economy and to help us out it will halp immensely i have $50k in student debtg and $6k in credit card det how am i sposed to pay for this if i cant gat the jab i stuudied for in colage? i work one part time job in retale im not sure if i want to work too tho i dont want to be too tired i am 99% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOOGLE? Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 cant gat the jab i stuudied for in colage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toiletseat Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Doodles Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 ^ That is fascinating... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gat Bush Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Not to be that hippie asshole, but if NY meant so much to BBerg he could donate some of his billions to what seems like a worthwhile cause (ie: education) It would improve his public image and help ensure his (illegal) position as mayor. Buuut he won't do that. There seems to be no accountability in respect to his (numerous) overreaching grabs for unchecked power. So yeah, not a fan of this guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleazeside Heights Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Remember when he hired this woman: NO previous experience in schools at all, and then screws up like this.... "GREAT MOMENTS IN DERP HISTORY" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Scientist Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Good rant. It seems that every city will eventually be like this. I never liked Bloomberg, anyway. I always have to see him on TV and movies, and he annoys the heck out of me. Get off my Project Runway, Bloomberg! Is this getting a lot of play in the New York papers? Not at all, Bloomberg runs "Bloomberg L.P." which provides news stories (mostly business and financial) to about 300 news papers around the world, including just about all of the newspapers here in NY. So it's pretty rare that any "Anti-Bloomberg" stories are run. Some slip through here and there, but they are very few and far between. He's also run a pretty good propaganda campaign targeted towards the poor to help push Charter Schools in shitty neighborhoods. He played to what ghetto parents wanted a few years ago, but it seems that people are starting to see through the bull shit, but it's reaching the point where it's almost too late to turn things around. I hate this man with a passion and will surely throw a party on the day that he dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickos Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Was is this not in cross fire :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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