Day Two - PM

Okay. I managed to cook dinner without a meltdown. The food’s put away, and I’m sipping my Smooth Move tea. There’s still a kitchen to clean, but that should be enough of a distraction to set me up for saying good night to Day Two.

Before my first cleanse, I ate everything and anything. Burgers, chips, fries, steak, chicken, ham, cake, pie, brownies, cookies, ice cream mashed potatoes, the whole smorgasbord of bad-for-you food. I remember the waves of cravings that were set off by cooking meat for my daughter or just opening a bag of potato chips for her lunch. It’s funny that this time around, all I really miss are my mung beans, basmati rice and greens, but still, the cravings hit hard. I lose focus sometimes.

Major thanks to jacktripperswife and ashblair for helping keep me focused. I look forward to morning and the SWF, my biggest meal of the day. And, of course, it will be heavenly just typing the subject for tomorrow’s post: Day Three.

Namaste

Day Two

The morning was relatively easy. The SWF gave me something to take my mind off the fact that I woke up hungry. I also woke up earlier than I would like for a Sunday. Still, I tried to turn it into a positive by cleaning the house in preparation of a mother’s day brunch.

The brunch was slightly difficult. The house smelled of bagels, and I had to cling to my LA like a bitter american. I ended up spending much of the time discussing the benefits of the MC to the whole family. I don’t think I won any converts, but I did generate a lot of sympathy. My nephew who is just brand-spanking-new out of Marine boot camp was utterly captivated by my attempt to describe an LA BM in polite company.

The afternoon is sharp but I can feel the cravings lurking in the not too far away corners of my mind. So far I can handle them and each hour I become more committed to the positive aspect of why I’m doing this.

Namaste

SCHOOL PROJECT

City students less likely to graduate than suburban kids

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A new analysis finds that nationally, only 52% of students in urban areas' main school districts finish. The rate is even lower at LAUSD.

By Ben DuBose, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Students in urban public school districts are less likely to graduate from high school than those enrolled in suburban districts in the same metropolitan area, according to research presented Tuesday.

The report by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center found that about 75% of the students in suburban districts received diplomas, but only 58% of students in urban districts did.

Commencement

In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the gap was even wider, with 78% of students in suburban districts and 57% of those in city districts graduating. Just 45% of the students in the Los Angeles Unified School District completed all four years of high school successfully, compared with the national graduation average of 70%.

The analysis of graduates in the 2003-04 school year examined U.S. Department of Education data from metropolitan areas surrounding the country's 50 most populous cities. Of the principal school districts serving those cities, LAUSD's graduation rate was the ninth-lowest, the report found. Nationally, 52% of students in the main school districts of urban areas graduated.

The dropout rate of more than a million students each year "is not just a crisis; this is a catastrophe," said former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the founding chairman of America's Promise Alliance, which presented the research.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said the government would soon require states to use a uniform method to report graduation data, although she did not provide specifics. This would require a change in the No Child Left Behind Act, which allows states to devise their own methods of determining graduation rates and tracking improvements.

"The problem is frequently masked by inconsistent and opaque data-reporting systems," Spellings said. "For example, in some districts, a school only counts a dropout if you register as a dropout. . . . In others, a dropout's promise to get a GED at an unspecified future date is good enough to merit graduate status. With these loose definitions . . . it's no wonder why this epidemic is so silent."

Officials also pointed to the need for community involvement to help urban schools with the problem. Leaders of businesses and faith-based groups were urged to make graduation a priority in discussions with children.

"It is not just a problem for our schools or our teachers," Powell said. "It is a problem for all of us. All these parts have to come together, connected to a superior school system, and we can solve this problem."

To accomplish that, the alliance announced plans for dropout prevention summits in every state over the next two years to bring community, school and business leaders together "to develop workable solutions and action plans for improving our nation's alarming graduation rates."

For the “Cities in Crisis” report, the EPE Research Center, a nonprofit in Bethesda, Md., used a method called the cumulative promotion index to calculate graduation rates. The biggest difference between this index and previous measurements is that it looks at graduation in four steps -- three grade-to-grade promotions and receiving a diploma -- instead of as a single event.

The index counts only students who receive standard high school diplomas as graduates. The promotion rates for each step of the process were multiplied by each other to form a graduation rate for the district. Reported dropout statistics were not used.

Panelists said that open access to information and to problem areas was crucial in addressing the issue.

"This problem is not only manageable; it's solvable in a decade or less," said Robert Balfanz, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University. "We can locate the problem. It's not every school; it's not every student."

Tuesday's report said the main school districts of Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Baltimore had the lowest graduation rates in the country. All were below 40%; Detroit's was 25%.

Baltimore recorded a staggering gap in urban versus suburban performance: 82% of students in suburban districts graduated, but only 35% within the city did.

San Diego was the only California city, and one of just five nationwide, to report a minimal difference in urban and suburban graduation rates; less than 1 percentage point separated the two figures.

Lean to the Left

Lean to the left,
Lean to the right
Don’t confuse what we want
With doing what’s right.

Eli Parser, MoveOn.org’s executive director responds to a reporter what he would say to Hillary supporters who may perceive MoveOn’s campaign to push the super-delegates into line with the popular vote as a power-play in support of Barack Obama: “Well, I actually think the Obama campaign has a very good chance of coming out ahead in super-delegates. But, you know, for us this really isn’t about our support of Barack Obama. I think it’s a open question which one of them will come out ahead on super delegates. What we want to avoid is that situation where lots and lots of people vote and then their votes are essentially overturned. And we’ve said publicly if Hillary comes out ahead with pledged delegates we’d feel the same way.”

Karl Rove couldn’t have said it better.

KENYAN-AMERICAN

clipped from www.salon.com Multiracial man The Obama campaign's deft use of the candidate's mixed heritage is making it harder to read his candidacy in terms of race. By James Hannaham Feb. 2, 2008 | In a campaign marked by firsts, this might be one of the most striking: A photo of a young, radiantly smiling, tan-skinned Barack Obama seated in the lap of his late mother, Ann Dunham, who, while dark-haired, is considerably paler than her son. Another first: Earlier this week, Obama traveled to El Dorado, Kan., the home of his maternal grandfather, and in the course of accepting an endorsement from Gov. Kathleen Sibelius, put special emphasis on his connection to the Midwest through his maternal -- that is to say white -- lineage. In a campaign in which he has struggled early on to win the confidence of black Americans and gradually won endorsements from revered black cultural icons like Oprah Winfrey and Toni Morrison, this is one of the riskiest moves Obama has made -- but also one of the most genuine.

WGA-AMPTP TALKS RESUME

I predicted in my January 1st post that the AMPTP would pressure the WGA to drop its jurisdiction proposals as a condition of resuming talks. I thought the pressure would come before the DGA deal, but coming after still makes sense. Below is part of the WGA press release announcing the resumption of informal talks. Here's the message sent out by the WGA:

"We have responded favorably to the invitation from the AMPTP to enter into informal talks that will help establish a reasonable basis for returning to negotiations. During this period we have agreed to a complete news blackout. We are grateful for this opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with industry leaders that we hope will lead to a contract. We ask that all members exercise restraint in their public statements during this critical period.

 

In order to make absolutely clear our commitment to bringing a speedy conclusion to negotiations we have decided to withdraw our proposals on reality and animation. Our organizing efforts to achieve Guild representation in these genres for writers will continue. You will hear more about this in the next two weeks.


 

On another issue, the Writers Guild, West Board of Directors has voted not to picket the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) face many of the same issues concerning compensation in new media that we do.  In the interest of advancing  our goal of achieving a fair contract, the WGAW Board felt that this gesture should be made on behalf our brothers and sisters in AFM and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)."

From United Hollywood

Potential DGA deal looming

clipped from unitedhollywood.blogspot.com This is still a rumor, but it's definitely gaining steam -- word is spreading that the DGA has finalized a deal with the congloms, and will announce the deal tomorrow. We don't know what the terms of the deal will be, if indeed it does exist. We're not going to speculate because, if it's true, we'll find out the specifics soon enough. But we over at UH will make one suggestion: everyone stay calm. That's the only way we can really be prepared for the unexpected -- is to stop expecting anything. When and if the DGA announces their deal, it will take some time for all of us to analyze the terms of that deal and see if they're acceptable to us as a guild or not. We're inevitably going to argue and disagree; we'll need to do it civilly, and calmly.

1ST SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

AMPTP AND DGA AGREE TO BEGIN FORMAL CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS; Apted Says "Within Shouting Distance"

The AMPTP just made this announcement. Talks begin tomorrow and I'm told this news reflects significant "progress." Indeed, DGA President Michael Apted told members in a letter today "We would not enter negotiations with the AMPTP unless we were within shouting distance of an agreement on our two most important issues: jurisdiction for our members to work in new media and appropriate compensation for the reuse of our work on the Internet and other new media platforms." But Apted also noted: "There are still hurdles to jump."

AMPTP REACHES OUT

CBS Chief Moonves Wants to Get Back to Table With Writers

Says “Steps Being Taken” to Restart Talks

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 1/10/2008 1:27:00 PM

CBS head honcho Les Moonves hinted at an industry conference Thursday that the television giant is trying to restart negotiations with the striking Writers Guild of America, but offered no details as to what that those efforts entail.

Moonves, speaking at the Citigroup Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications conference in Phoenix, stressed that the writers strike is not having an adverse impact on the network so far.

“We sincerely hope that the talks begin shortly and that there is a resolution,” Moonves said. “I can tell you there are some steps that are being taken to push that ahead, and we hope that reasonable people prevail and that we can make a go of it in the near future.”

WGA STRIKE - THE VIEW FROM HERE

I thought I would bring in the new year with my prediction for the next moves in the AMPTP v. WGA chess match. I see the AMPTP waiting for the psychological impact of the returning late shows combined with an initial conversation or two with the DGA to fan the flames of the already substantial anxiety created by their silence before reluctantly suggesting a return to the table through back-channel reduction of their “ultimatum” down to the jurisdiction and sympathy strike issues. They hope the WGA will drop jurisdiction which will help them on the DGA front, but once back at the table they will not make a counter offer to the WGA proposal. They will find a long-winded way of representing their initial offer in different clothes. They will leak significant progress with the DGA while pressing the writers to cave on financial definition issues.

I can't wait to see how reality matches up with my predictions.