http://www.youtube.com/v/yfYbX3LzWik?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Read more - Infowars Complete Boston Bombing Coverage
More than 130 arrested during Chicago schools protest
People carried banners with slogans like ‘Strong Schools, Strong Neighborhoods’ and ‘Protect Our Children,’ calling for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation.”We’re signaling that there is going to be a large and determined movement that will use the tactics of civil disobedience and direct action in order to keep these schools open,” Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey, who was among those arrested, told the Guardian. Emanuel and school chief Barbara Burd-Bennett said that schools are being closed because they are half-empty and failing academically.At a rally before the march, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called the closings “injustices” and vowed to file lawsuits. He addressed the protesters in a speech, urging them not to give up: “On the first day of school you show up at your real school, don’t let these people take your school.”Making a stop in front of the City Hall, the protesters chanted “Save our Schools,” and called for Emanuel’s ouster. More than 100 held a sit-in protest in the middle of the street, and continued chanting until police cleared them from the area.“We need the mayor to invest in our schools, not take them away ,” a grandmother of two students said. “We need our schools for the safety of our children .”A group of Chicago ministers also went to City Hall on Wednesday to deliver a letter asking Emanuel to halt the closings. Chicago officials have claimed that the move will save the budget nearly $560 million over the next 10 years in capital costs, and an additional $43 million per year in operating costs.Nearly 30,000 students, the majority of who range from Kindergarten to 8th grade students, will be affected by the closings.Critics argue that the closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods and will uproot kids who need a stable and familiar learning environment. They also worry that students will have to cross gang lines to get to a new school, and that the vacated buildings will be blight on already-struggling communities.There are also concerns that hundreds of school staffers will be left jobless.Opponents of the plan will get another chance to argue their case at a series of public meetings to be scheduled for the coming weeks, though the Chicago Board of Education, whose members are all appointed by Emanuel, is expected to approve the closings in late May. The closings would take effect beginning at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. Around 100 schools in Chicago have already been closed since 2001; the overwhelming majority of students affected by those closings were black. … Read More
Inside Story Americas – Cutting classes
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‘Harlem Shake’ In Los Angeles: Mayoral Candidate Emanuel Pleitez, Power 106 & UCLA Join The Fun (VIDEO)
Angelenos have been very busy this past week uploading their own takes of the “Harlem Shake” meme to YouTube. Workplaces from Power 106 to mayoral candidate Emanuel Pleitez’s campaign are letting loose to the catchy Baauer tune. University kids are also repping: you’ll find UCLA, USC, Chapman University, Cal Poly Pomona, LA Film School and Cal State Los Angeles in the Harlem Shake slideshow below.
But what exactly is the Harlem Shake? Well, officially it’s a dance move that involves “involves pivoting the shoulder out while popping the other shoulder out at the same time,” according to site Know Your Meme. But these Harlem Shake videos are so much more than that. They all start with someone in a mask dancing alone in a room full of people. But when the beat drops, everyone joins in with their own wacky costumes and dance moves — preferably with a lot of hip thrusts.
Angelenos did it everywhere: on the Metro, on a helicopter landing pad, on fountains, at the gym and in their apartments. And in case you feel a little late to the party, check out these Harlem Shake videos that “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” debuted last night. Yes, Harlem Shake probably already peaked but hey — it’s better than any more “Gangnam Style” parodies.
Watch live: Chicago Mayor Emanuel holds press conference on gun violence
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy hold a news conference to announce 200 police officers will be reassigned from desk duty to the streets to fight gun violence. Watch live, broadcast on Jan. 31. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about…
Tim Geithner: A Good Hire — Who Stayed About Three And A Half Years Too Long
What are we to make of Tim Geithner on his last day as Treasury Secretary? For my money, the story that best gets at his essential Geithner-ness took place in the second half of 2009, when the recently-bailed out banks were back to making staggering profits even though unemployment was 10 percent. The public was furious over this disparity, which naturally caught the attention of Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. And so Emanuel gathered the president’s top political and economic advisers to figure out what to do about it.
Immigration Reform Moves Forward In White House Meeting With Hispanic Caucus
In a discussion Tuesday, talks focused on who would “go first” on immigration reform. “We're in a good place,” says Gutierrez.
U.S. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez met Tuesday with Obama administration officials to discuss the path forward on comprehensive immigration reform.
Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Representative Luis Gutierrez and five other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with White House officials Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room to discuss the administration’s plan to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, the Illinois Congressman, a key figure on the issue, told BuzzFeed.
“It's clear to me from that meeting that they have a plan, they're working, and their team is expanding,” he said.
Gutierrez said the discussion surrounded “who goes first” — the Senate, House, or White House — on the push for immigration legislation. “We talked about what the president wants and what his vision is,” said Gutierrez. “And I gotta tell you, we're in a good place.”
As evidence of the momentum on immigration, Gutierrez compared Tuesday's meeting with one he had in March 2009 — which he found lacking — with the president and White House officials.
“In March 2009, it's like, no, I don't have a plan, I don't have anybody in charge, and I don't have a team of people working on this,” said Gutierrez, who was told at the 2009 meeting that the figure heading up immigration would be then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
“The chief of staff is in charge of everything. It was like being told there was no one in charge,” he said. (Gutierrez declined to the Obama officials present for Wednesday's meeting.)
Cecilia Muñoz, White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council, will likely take a leading role, he said. “Cecilia has been in every meeting I've had with the president. She's been the link,” said Gutierrez.
As discussions continue in the House and Senate — particularly around Sen. Marco Rubio, who laid out his immigration plan in the Wall Street Journal last week — a more solid path forward for Congress and the Obama administration would emerge, said Gutierrez, “by the end of February or early March.”
Immigration reform will also be a central focus of the president's State of the Union address next month, said the Congressman.
“The president has spoken about it in his last three State of the Unions. You can speak about something without it really being remembered. But something tells me you're gonna remember immigration in this State of the Union address,” he said.
The meeting, called Monday, was a show of assurance to immigration advocates in Congress that reform remains a priority despite the administration's recent focus on the fiscal cliff and gun control.
“It's a big priority, and it's gonna be an all-out press,” said Gutierrez. “There's a team of people that the White House is working on this. They made clear to us that the team was evolving and expanding.”
