Accountable Talk

As an homage to the newly crowned Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, I thought I'd update the lyrics to one of his most famous songs. Sing along if you like. And remember that Dylan's odds of winning th...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/10/mr-tangerine-man.html

There's been much talk these days about voting for the "lesser evil" between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Even Noam Chomsky has come out in favor of so-called LEV (lesser evil voting) in c...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/voting-for-greater-good.html

I've been hearing a lot lately about ad hominem arguments. The election has been rife with them. Often, the people shouting "ad hominem" seem to have been recently introduced to the concept, as t...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/ad-hominem-ad-nauseum.html

In light of Melania Trump's plagiarism fiasco, it was certain that the remaining Republican speeches would be heavily scrutinized for similar transgressions. Donald Trump gave his written accept...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/breaking-trumps-acceptance-speech-leaks.html

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/trumppence-unveil-new-logo.html

I never thought I would write a blog post with such a title, except sarcastically. But this time, you have to hand it to Randi. She played a large role in modifying the Democratic platform on e...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/in-praise-of-randi.html

In response to Hillary Clinton's address to the NEA, Donald Trump decided that he would seize the opportunity to promote his ideas on education to the AFT and Randi Weingarten. Below is the tex...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/donald-trump-addresses-aft.html

If you haven't seen it, there a Change.org petition asking Hillary Clinton to meet with Diane Ravitch to discuss education policy. It's a great idea, and it only takes a minute. Personally, I ...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/ask-hillary-to-meet-with-diane-ravitch.html

Pop Quiz: Who is more likely to say each phrase, a Berner or a Trumpeter? 1. Hillary's crooked! 2. Hillary's a criminal! 3. The primaries were rigged! 4. The FBI doesn't understand the law...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/07/who-said-it-best-berners-or-trumpeters.html

I spend a lot of time reading and writing about the primary. Although I've written a few blog posts here, I devote much of my commenting to places like Reddit and Facebook, which are lousy with...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/06/you-dont-like-hillary-well-voters-dont.html

If you care about education, you should vote for the Democratic nominee. If you care about the future of the United States, you should vote for the Democratic nominee. If you care about children,...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/05/diane-ravitch-brings-sanity-to-clinton.html

My Theory, by A. Talk (brackets, Mr. brackets] My theory that belongs to me is as follows. This is how it goes. The next thing I'm going to say is my theory. Ready? This theory goes as follows and begins now. All children can learn. That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too.

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/04/votebluenomatterwho.html

Let's face facts: The primaries are all over but the shouting. In dark corners of the internet , you can still find, even after Clinton has pulled ahead by some 302 pledged delegates , some die...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/04/as-bernies-ship-sinks-please-dont-pull.html

First let me say this: I love Bernie Sanders. I love his whole crotchety-grandpa-who's-gonna-yell-until-you-listen vibe. I love his politics--I am a democratic socialist at heart. But I am sti...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/02/yes-im-voting-for-hillary-and-no-im-not.html

I am not going to explain all the nuances in the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association , because frankly, I don't know them all myself. What I do know is that a group of ten teach...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2016/01/some-thoughts-on-friedrichs.html

Nothing for me to say here. Just watch. (if you can't stand the blather, skip to the 1:20 mark).

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/08/les-miserables-on-going-back-to-work.html

Arne Duncan was the first to say it . He said that Hurricane Katrina was the "best thing that happened" to education in New Orleans. So what, he seemed to be implying, if a bunch of people died...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/08/the-worst-person-on-planet.html

It appears that Chris Christie got booed as he tried to present an award to the winner of a horse race. Apparently, the crowd was confused as to why there were two horses' asses in the winner'...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/08/christie-gets-booed.html

Would you buy a used pension from this man? We just recently purchased new vehicles for my wife and daughter. We went to a total of five dealerships for those two cars. We found that two of ...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/06/of-pensions-and-christie.html

You might have heard, if you live on this planet, that Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was found guilty of cheating because his people deflated footballs before the AFC Championship Game...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/05/deflategate-vs-inflategate.html

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."--George Orwell, Animal Farm SPOILER ALERT...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/04/by-georges-truth-about-teaching-and-uft.html

Governor Cuomo and Michael Mulrew have been waging a war of words in the Daily News, each accusing the other of not caring about the kids of NY. Here's what they've said: Cuomo referred to the ...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/01/why-cuomo-and-mulgrew-are-both-wrong.html

It's no secret that Andrew Cuomo seeks to crush his political foes. If you run afoul of him, watch out. The Working Families Party buckled under to him, as did the UFT by choosing not to endors...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/01/political-theater-cuomo-style.html

Some comments my blog post about how Mulgrew and other municipal union leaders have turned their back on de Blasio got me to thinking. Before I even delve into that, however, there is an importa...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/01/nypd-being-attacked-or-on-attack.html

How many of you remember the last 20 years when teachers were under the boot of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg? I know I do. I could make a very long list of the ways they degraded the teac...

http://www.accountabletalk.com/2015/01/mulgrew-turns-his-back-on-mayor.html