What the hell are you trying to say about NYC public school teachers? Are they automatically racist idiots because they decided not to become judgmental asshole lawyers? And to which "local politicians" are you referring? I certainly don't read a lot about city councilmen bashing teachers. What could possibly qualify you to pontificate on the subject of education? You obviously haven't read about the amazing test gains that NYC kids made this year, and your whole attitude smacks of d-bag private school privilege.

I did TFA here, and I found my fellow teachers intelligent, caring and effective.

I agree with Heather. I can't tell if ATL is just spewing obnoxious stereotypes in an attempt to sound interesting, or if you all are just that clueless. Congratulations on hitting a new high of inanity.

If anything, NYC teachers have a rep of being uber-liberal union socialists. That being said, Staten Island schools are also known as having lots of resistance to central DOE authority. But hardly should be. I agree that if the kid was teased by teachers, it sucks, but I think its LESS likely from NYC teachers than say some teacher in .
And NYC schools are still some of the best urban public schools in the country. If charter schools dont siphon away all the top kids, they'll stay that way.

Uh...the atheist donating to the archdiocese has nothing to do with the quality of NYC schools. Did you even read it before you linked to it?

Are you trying to imply parochial schools are more tolerant than NYC public schools?

Do you even have a point?

As a resident of Chicago, I support the foie gras ban. I think it is in line with anti-animal cruelty statutes and attempts to ban cockfighting - both of which I also support. The manner in which veal is made is pretty mean, too. I don't think the immobile cows are suffering quite as much as the ducks that are force-fed until their livers are next to exploding. But still, pretty mean; if a veal ban came up in Chicago, I'd support it. There are lots of non-cruel, delicious meat products out there. No need to keep the superlatively mean ones around.

I can only assume that you don't know how foie gras is produced. Surely you don't mean to say that the torture of animals is justified because it's your family's tradition? (And yes, my family eats turkey. The difference is that it's possible to find ordinary meat from animals raised and slaughtered in humane conditions and to (someday, hopefully) make that process humane for all food animals. That's not possible for products like foie gras and veal, whichsimply cannot be made humanely.)

I'd happily direct my anger at you. Fois gras is absolutely disgusting, the people who eat it either purposefully ignorant, incredibly selfish and self-centered, or both and I would be over the moon if veal were banned as well. Turkey, chicken and lamb too while we're at it. Sorry you lost your hateful tradition.

The the stupidest thing of all about the foie gras ban is that while you can't order it in a restaurant, you can still buy it in the grocery stores. Makes a lot of sense, huh?

Obviously the folks commenting do not know how foie gras is produced. They are only force fed up to 2-4 weeks before their demise. It is painless, and the ducks are allowed to walk around more so than any chicken in a coop is allowed. For that matter, have you tasted foie? It is one of life's pleasures. The whole bird is also used in cooking so as not to be wasteful.

Mandy, while you're right that the force feeding is only for a short time before their death, your conclusion that it's "painless" is unsupported. At BEST, scientists are 50/50, and even the most ardest foie gras supporters concede that all that room to roam is virtually irrelevant to a duck with a swollen liver.

"They are only force fed up to 2-4 weeks before their demise. " Really, a month, that's it? And here I was thinking that the problem is that they are force fed AT ALL for no reason other than our pleasure.

I love foie gras, perhaps now better known as faux grasse at some establishments (who also happen to frame their citation from the city for serving it...).

I can't think of a dish that involves both veal and foie gras, but I would certainly eat it. And if you don't want to that is fine, all the more delicious-ness for me.