The Wire: The Video Game

The Wire would never work as a video game. McNulty and Omar ended up losing during the last season. Marlo got a slap on the wrist, after killing dozens of people in Baltimore. In the video game parody, the heroes don't win.

Eric Holder: The Wire Fanboy

Attorney General Eric Holder was at the "Drug Endangered Children Public Awareness Campaign" with former The Wire stars Wendell Pierce, Sonja Sohn and Jim True-Frost. Holder jokingly gave this decree to the show's creators David Simon and Ed Burns.

"I want to speak directly to Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon: Do another season of ‘The Wire'," Holder said, drawing laughter and applause from the audience. "That's actually at a minimum. … If you don't do a season, do a movie. We've done HBO movies, this is a series that deserves a movie. I want another season or I want a movie. I have a lot of power Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon."

Mr. Simon and Mr. Burns, you have been given your orders. The Attorney General and fans have spoken. Unfortunately, another season of The Wire would not have Omar Little or Jimmy McNulty.

The New Segregation

The Orlando Sentinel has a fascinating article on how one of every eight charter schools in Florida has a 90 percent or more student body of a single ethnicity. For instance, if the charter school is located in a black or Hispanic community the student body will largely reflect that. School busing was used to integrate public schools. Republican presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater campaigned against school busing in the sixties. The idea of blacks and whites going to the same schools was radical to many Americans of that era.

Now the trend is moving back towards creating separate charter schools from regular public schools. Many of these learning institutions were started with good intentions. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks started a charter school in the high crime area of Hillsborough County nicknamed Suitcase City. Some of the charter schools are targeting ethnic children.

Principal Jennifer Porter-Smith says the Nap Ford charter in the shadow of the old Amway Arena in downtown Orlando serves as a focal point for the historically black Parramore neighborhood.

Porter-Smith acknowledges that "my population is not diverse." It is 92 percent black, with a handful of Hispanics and a couple of white kids.

"We are a neighborhood school, so we give preference to children who live in the neighborhood," Porter-Smith said. "But we are open to anyone in the county."

But the curriculum is geared toward black students living in poverty and is designed to "address some real historical societal ills," said Porter-Smith, who along with others defends targeting racial or ethnic groups.

Ed Burns, co-creator of the television show The Wire worked as a teacher in Baltimore. Burns and educators started a program to create less disruptive classrooms. Burns and other teachers separated the corner kids (children with behavior and criminal problems) from the better adjusted children. The program was part of the season 4 storyline of The Wire. Burns said that the program had some success with teaching disruptive kids to behave better. Other students would benefit from having the disruptive students removed from the classrooms.

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Juking the Stats: Florida Style

According to the Editorial Projects in Education, Florida high schools had a graduating rate of 57.5 percent. EPiE determined Florida is well below the national average of 69.2 percent. Florida's State Department of Education rate was 71 percent. Florida counts GED graduates to pad the stats.

Education Commissioner Eric Smith didn't dispute the EPiE findings.

Smith said his department is making changes to the high school accountability program, which will take graduation rates and advanced coursework offerings into account. The state is also increasing support for struggling schools and using new reading assessments and education standards that will "ensure that students are learning what they need to know so they not only earn a diploma, but leave school fully prepared for college or a career."

Jeb Bush preached the FCAT test would improve schools. Bush himself was stumped by a student on a FCAT question. State Sen. Les Miller and Skip Campbell discovered the FCAT was being graded by unqualified temps from Kelly Services. Former Education Sec. Charlie Crist couldn't answer when the FACT is given. This lack of curiousity on education by policymakers explains Florida's poor graduation standards. That is why politicians keep "juking the stats."

The Wire showed the madness of teaching the test and passing it off as education reform.

It's America Man

The first scene from the brilliant television show The Wire explains the stupidity of the government bailout out AIG. AIG in turn used the money to reward bonuses to the executives that helped sink the company.

Det. Jimmy McNulty questions a young black man about the murder of Snot Boogie.

McNulty: Every Friday night your boys would shot crap, right? And every Friday night you pal Snot Boogie, he'll wait until there was cash on the ground and then he would grab the money and run away?

Young black man shakes his head yes.

McNulty: You let him do that?

Black male: I mean we catch him and beat his ass but ain't nobody ever go past that.

McNulty: I got to ask you. If every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away why did you even let him in the game.

Black male: What?

McNulty: If Snot Boogie always stole the money why you let him play?

Black male: Got to. This America man.

AIG waited until the federal government gave out $170 million in bailout money. AIG rewarded executives with $165 million in bonuses. It's America man.

The Federal Reserve owns 80 percent of AIG's stock. I haven't heard anyone about using the majority stock ownership to leverage AIG. That is a better option than Harry Reid's idea of taxing AIG bonus money.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D) and Olympia Snowe (R) wrote an amendment to the TARP bill that would "clawback" any bonus money over $100,000. CEOs voiced their disapproval. Republicans backed the business community and Democrats backed out down under the pretense of "legal concerns." The clawback amendment was killed. It's America man.

David Simon on the State of Journalism

"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Thomas Jefferson

The Wire creator and former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon talks about how media layoffs and the internet are affecting journalism. Simon said the theme of season five, of The Wire, was The Sun missing the major stories and running on fabricated.

Simon contends deadwood circulation is dead. According to Simon, newspapers need to charge their online readers. Online traffic is not going to impress advertisors.

The video is must-viewing for people that are passionate about quality journalism.

CBS Poll of Second Presidential Debate

A CBS News poll shows uncommitted voters say Barack Obama won the debate.

Forty percent of the 516 uncommitted voters surveyed identified Barack Obama as tonight's winner; 26 percent said John McCain won, while 34 percent saw the debate as a draw.

After the debate, 68 percent of uncommitted voters said that they think Obama will make the right decisions on the economy, compared to 55 percent who said that before the debate. Fewer thought McCain would do so – 48 percent after the debate, and 41 percent before.

Before the debate, 59 percent thought Obama understands voters’ needs and problems; that rose to 80 percent after the debate. For McCain, 33 percent felt he understands voters’ needs before the debate, and 44 percent thought so afterwards.

I missed the debate. I watched episodes of the second season of The Wire. I'm still pissed that McNulty and Daniels got screwed, after putting away Avon Barksdale.

As for the debate itself, it's all in the game.

The Wire - the Fucking Crime Scene

McNulty and Bunk show off their unique communication and investigative skills.