Free Republic

Jodie Foster is on point. Mere minutes into conversation and she’s talking politics, specifically as they pertain to “Money Monster,” a timely thriller she’s directed. It’s impossible to watch “Money Monster,” which stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts and opens May 13, and not be reminded of the indeterminate rage of the Trump phenomenon. She’s eager to talk about “Money Monster,” in which Clooney plays Lee Gates, the swaggering, superficial star of a cable financial show who’s taken hostage by a young man, played by Jack O’Connell, whose savings have been wiped out by one of Gates’s stock tips. Foster...

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that “Unbroken” had been directed by somebody who wasn’t Angelina Jolie. It easily could have been. This tale of wartime adventure and survival, adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction bestseller, definitely called for a big-name Hollywood director, but it would have been highly plausible – maybe more plausible – as a project for Ron Howard or Ridley Scott or Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood than as the second film for the star-turned-director best known as the female half of the world’s most famous celebrity couple. Would it be getting less attention if one of those guys...

YES ON 8 CHALLENGES SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION JACK O’CONNELL TO LIVE DEBATE Yes on 8 Says Debate Will Make It Clear: If we do not Pass Proposition 8, Gay Marriage Will Be Taught in California Public Schools, and that is Already Happening October 28, 2008 SACRAMENTO – The Protectmarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign today challenged Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and the No on 8 campaign to a live, televised debate this weekend so voters can learn the truth about the issue of gay marriage being taught in California public schools. The Yes on 8 Campaign, in...

Watch our latest TV ad to learn the truth about teaching gay marriage in public schools if Proposition 8 fails http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61Pd5_jHQw

The ProtectMarriage.com—Yes on 8 campaign today criticized the "No on 8" campaign’s new television ad, released yesterday, which features California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. The ad raises a new standard for using a small, cleverly worded kernel of truth to foster the Big Lie. Specifically, the discussed whether schools are "required" to teach anything about marriage, and states that they are not. By this logic, presumably, they would argue that no one in California is required to have a drivers’ license, only the people who want to drive cars are. The real fact, as stated clearly in the...

By Jack O’Connell’s count, Phil Angelides has called 10 times to ask for his help since winning the primary and 10 times O’Connell has said yes. O’Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction who lives in San Luis Obispo, has appeared alongside the Democratic gubernatorial candidate at events to highlight Angelides’ education platform. He traveled around the state with Angelides on his Labor Day campaign blitz. He also organized a successful Central Coast fund-raiser. Between now and November, O’Connell says, he intends to do everything he can to help Angelides get elected because having him as governor "would make my...

CARMEL VALLEY ---- The state Department of Education is working to place an initiative for a $50 parcel tax on the November ballot as a way to pump an additional $500 million a year into public school education, State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell said Monday. The tax, an annual assessment of $50 on every property in California, could generate an additional $500 million that would be earmarked specifically for California schools. EdVoice, described by its leaders as an organization of reform-minded philanthropists who support greater student achievement through investment, is backing the measure, said EdVoice president Christopher Cabaldon. The...

SACRAMENTO - Proposition 54 would make it nearly impossible to study why more white women are diagnosed with breast cancer but more African-American women die from it, say opponents in health care. The initiative, which would ban the collection of racial data in California, would also hinder efforts to gather information on hate crimes, say those in law enforcement. And it would hamstring efforts to close the educational performance gaps between Latino and white students, say those in education.