Monday Open Thread [10.13.14]

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This ought to be the talk of everyone today -- with the Texas Ebola problem, we are seeing how the US Public Health system has been deliberately broken: That chart is from a great piece in the Scientific American, showing how Public Health spending has been on the decline. The author, Judy Stone, provides some context for how Public Health considerations have been undermined over the past few years. Read the entire thing, then take a look at some of the material she provides in the links at the end of the article:
QOD — How Can An Accountability Testing Scheme Produce Such Low SAT Scores?

QOD — How Can An Accountability Testing Scheme Produce Such Low SAT Scores?

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We found out this week that approximately 25% of Delaware's High school students are college-ready, in terms of their SAT scores. Leaving aside that SAT scoring is not the most reliable measure of college-readiness, what is the correlation between the SATs and the DCAS testing regime in Delaware's schools? It seems to me that if DCAS measures what a kid is learning (yes, I know that is a BIG IF), and the kids are taking a curriculum that makes them ready for college, how can the SAT scores be so out of line with all of this testing? It is pretty remarkable to me that DCAS is used as an accountability test, but that it apparently all of that learning it measures doesn't translate to better SAT scores.
I am voting against John Carney’s bipartisanship idiocy by voting for Bernie August

I am voting against John Carney’s bipartisanship idiocy by voting for Bernie August

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In spite of how brazenly Republicans have decided to undermine the economy for their own narrow political ends, and in spite of the fact that even the so-called "moderate" Republican friends of John Carney never break with their leadership and reciprocate his affections - John Carney can't shut up about how great it is to "work with" Republicans" and he even considers "sitting down with Republicans" his greatest accomplishment in congress. With "accomplishments" like that, who needs failures? The upshot is that Carney has not given Democrats any reasons to vote for him. That is why I'm voting for the Green Party candidate Bernie August. I may even give money to the guy. But make no mistake - I am a Democrat. I want Democrats to win elections because at the Party's core, we are is still the party of the American working man. Also, when Democrats lose elections, that means Republicans win. And yet, in this case there is no downside to voting for the Green Party candidate. Rose Izzo cannot win. John Carney cannot lose. The only question is the margin of victory. If Carney wins by one fewer vote this election, that's fine with me. If two years from now he wins by 10 fewer...great. If, in some great and glorious future, Democratic voters eventually decide that their votes needs to be EARNED then eventually, John Carney will get the picture.