Tuesday Open Thread

 A bit of dark place I find myself in. 

Robin Williams, a giant talent who I saw twice live in San Francisco (and once in a little bookstore), killed himself.  Very sad.

Then there's the essay by Joe Williams of DFER who says that "Suburbs Hold Key to Resolving Democratic Party's Tensions over School Choice."

It's hard to know which is worse - the idea that the "school choice" is the REAL issue among Dems (hint: it's not).  Cue violins and wringing of hands - if only we could get the "huge swaths of black and Hispanic families" on the same page as "as the nation's soccer moms" where"no cul-de-sac left behind," why we'd all be singing Kumbaya, no?

(Note to Mr. Williams, you may have missed the World Cup but those of us who watched and who know soccer as the world sport, know there are MILLIONS of black and Hispanic soccer moms.)

  According to Bazaar magazine, we have "the Savior in Seattle." Not "a savior" but "the savior."  That would be one Mrs. Bill Gates, Jr. 

Now an odd thing I find about nearly every article on the Gates Foundation - it seems when they want to look good (and/or not be challenged), their Foundation is all about world health.  But public education in the U.S. and their efforts to mold it just never seems to come up.  And so it is with this article.

She takes a seat in a conference room, wearing black trousers, a tan silk blouse, and a subtle Van Cleef & Arpels flower necklace.

(But she must have changed clothes for the photo.  I was going to put the photo up but the only place you can do that is ...Pinterest. You can't make this stuff up.)

Gates's worst trait, she says, "is being too hard on myself. Bill reminds me often, 'You know way more than you think you know, Melinda. Just be nicer to yourself.' "

That's what big money (and Big Data) will do for you, I guess.  It buys you the power to believe in yourself.

And then there was the C&I meeting.  I'll let others report out but honestly, Director McLaren telling staff to enjoy "this sweet moment" while speaking of getting the Highly Capable report "done" was a little more than I could take.   They really should go back to calling it Highly Capable because pretty soon, that's all that will be left.

What's on your mind?