College Board Launches A Revised SAT

The last time I looked, seven people have taken papers to run for Culver City Council and why not, since there are three seats to be filled. Like many whom I have spoken to, I plan to vote for Marcus Tiggs, Megan Sahli-Wells and Thomas Small.

At this time, we are trying to catch up with the U.S. Mail. We spent almost three weeks in Georgia over Christmas and New Year’s, coming home to a ton of letters and magazines. I just read what those mean Texas Republicans are doing to redraw the district lines for Assembly and State Senate. Check out “The Nation” December 14, 2015, page 6: Voting Rights Besieged – A Supreme Court Challenge to “One person, one vote,” by Ari Berman.

According to a 2010 study (the most recent available) 54 percent of the people serving time in U.S. prisons were the parents of children, including more than 120,000 mothers and 1.1 million fathers. Over 2.7 million children in the United States had an incarcerated parent. That’s one in 28 kids compared with one in 125 about 30 years ago. For African American children the odds were much worse. While one out of every 57 white children had an incarcerated parent, one out of every nine black children had a parent behind bars.

In 2013-2014 a record 82 percent of kids graduated from high school in the United States. In the same year Russia graduated 94 percent, Japan 93 percent, Israel 87 percent, Sweden 77 percent and China 65 percent.

I just bet the teachers are all dancing in the aisles. The College Board launches a revised SAT in March that no longer penalizes students for incorrect answers.

Speaking of teachers – I just wonder how many are nervously awaiting the Supreme Court ruling on Friedrichs vs California Teachers Association. This is another right wing ploy to reduce the influence of labor unions.

Israeli scientists discovered that people’s bodies respond differently when they eat the same foods, possibly in part because of variations in their stomach bacteria. This suggests a personalized diet that could soon aid weight loss.

From an infographic in “Mother Jones,” Mike Huckabee, a climate change skeptic and foe of governmental handouts, pulled political strings to build a $3 million, 8,200 square foot Florida pad right on an eroding waterfront – which will be protected by a $43 million federal effort to abate sea level rise.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found yoga may help reduce joint pain from arthritis. Women with rheumatoid arthritis or knee osteoarthritis who went to yoga class twice a week for two months reported a twenty percent improvement in pain after the study compared with women with arthritis who hadn’t done yoga.

For those U.S. Army Veterans who served with America’s oldest unit it’s time to start planning for your reunion. The Society of the 1st Infantry Division or, as it is also known, “The Big Red One,” will gather in Atlanta, Georgia on June 8-12. Contact Jen Sanford (215) 654-1969 or sfidpa@gmail.com.

January 28, 2016 was the 100th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson’s nomination of Boston lawyer Louis D. Brandeis to the United States Supreme Court.

Faced with a mandate to cut nearly 30,000 active and reserve soldiers in the coming year, the Army will have little patience with troopers who cannot deploy or perform their operational duties. While a bulk of the force reductions, 15,000 in the active component, will be achieved through attrition, the Army will convene involuntary boards. Almost 14,000 will be departing from the reserves. With the world in such bad shape, a 30,000 reduction is shameful.

Legislation currently weaving its way through the Florida statehouse would require 20 minutes of unstructured play, preferably outside, for elementary students.

If you have any business with the former president of the Jacksonville police union or the first vice president, they, along with 57 people, were arrested for illegal gambling. Former President Cuba pleaded guilty to charges related to illegal slot machines and running a lottery, and was sentenced to one year of house arrest and four years of probation. Now, if it was you or me . . .

They sure do not mess around in Tifton, Georgia. If you are arrested the Tifton Gazette prints your name, your full address, and the crime you are charged with.

The City of Alexandria, Virginia will suspend enforcement of a rule against displaying “for sale” signs on vehicles parked on the street after resident Scott McLean filed a lawsuit calling the ban a violation of the First Amendment.

An occasional super-duper siesta is normal, but if you’re asleep way more than the recommended seven to eight hours, be careful. A new study in the Journal of Diabetes Care revealed that for every hour beyond seven of subjects’ sleep, their risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 14 percent.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website’s search box.