My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
As Maine goes, so goes the nation – one hopes.
In the wake of the tragedy in which 18 people lost their lives in Lewiston, Maine, the state has passed new gun laws. #common sense.
https://apnews.com/article/maine-legislature-mass-shooting-gun-control-938ed48aa36cfa3ab364a72556e1abd3
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FYI: Very alarming predicament for Brown v Board of Education in these times: https://www.rawstory.com/civil-rights-attorney-legal-action-to-hollow-out-brown-v-board-moves-at-deliberate-spe/
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Oh, oh! This one’s a keeper. Señor Dwayne Swacker would especially appreciate these suggestions:
Opinion How to fix college finances? Eliminate faculty, then students.
https://wapo.st/4aOpFUA
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Christine, I’m going to use that!
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It seems to me this is an important essay. I hope there’s not to much of a paywall.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/06/academic-freedom-under-fire
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This is confusing. How were the atrocities of October 7 “a crisis for American higher education?” I don’t recall any demonstrations on campuses in the weeks after October 7. Even now, students and professors are not protesting October 7. They are protesting the death toll and devastation caused by Israel’s military response. Their actions are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian. If the students wanted to end the violence, they would protest against both Israel and Hamas. If they wanted to advance peace, they would advocate for a two-state solution, not echo terrorists who want to eradicate Israel.
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I think, Diane, this is why he refers to the protests and responses to them as “the phenomenon that goes by the shorthand October 7th”. Like much of what we see play out politically, student protests are being manipulated to other ends. Menand sees higher education and academic freedom as that target, in the same way DeSantis has striven to mold Florida’s colleges and faculty to his purposes.
I agree with you that a two state solution is the realistic means to peace; likely the only one.
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What turns me off the student protests is that they are dividing people by advocating for Hamas. The only path to peace is negotiation. This requires not only an end to the killing but a commitment to a two-state solution. The protestors can’t get past self-righteousness and condemning genocide. How does that advance peace?
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From what I have read, many of the protests have the goal of transparency and divestment from their universities’ endowment in businesses that provide armaments being used – and paid for – by the United States in the war in Gaza. Universities called for similar action during the South Africa apartheid era.
The protests have been peaceful so far, at least until police have been called. I see the GOP making use of the moment to call for “control” of student protestors. For example, Greg Abbott sent in state troopers mounted on horseback at UT Austin. At Emory a female professor was thrown to the ground by officers as she passed by protestors. To me it seems the goal is for those “woke” students and professors to feel the weight of the state.
That elite campuses have been both the scene of protests and of intervention by law enforcement isn’t surprising. Higher education is a target of the right, as we know. Look what happened when Elise Stefanik called university presidents on the carpet: Elizabeth MacGill of Penn and Claudine Gay of Harvard resigned and now she’s targeted Nemat Shafik of Columbia. I read that subtext as women, and especially women of color, should not be running elite institutions.
There’s actually a movement to name Mitt Romney president of Harvard!
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Christine,
It’s highly unlikely that the colleges and universities will divest from firms with ties to Israel or the Israeli military. That includes companies like Google and META.
Even if they were to divest, it would not end the war. The only way the war will end is if Hamas and Israel come to an agreement.
How do the pro-Hamas demonstrations bring Hamas and Israel closer to negotiations? If anything, they encourage Hamas to keep fighting because they are winning the war of public opinion.
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I don’t disagree that the universities are unlikely to divest, or that perhaps the students are naïve or flat out wrong. I just think that opportunist politicians are using the moment to demonstrate that all these young people are woke, out of control and don’t represent “our” values and neither do their universities. All to gin up the culture wars in advance of elections and to distract from felon Trump’s candidacy.
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The student protests are hurting Biden and helping Trump. How many of these young people will not vote? Is it surprising that the usually voluble Trump is silent?
Remember that he wanted to impose a Muslim ban, and he is close to Netanyahu.
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You and I are in agreement on this.
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Hurting Biden may not have been the intention of student organizers, but count on the right wing to amplify any criticism and use it to undermine him. People like Stefanik are angling towards a post-Trump future.
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The WaPo is reporting that Brown will take a vote on divestment. You need to scroll a bit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/04/30/columbia-university-protests-palestine-news/#link-XGIWVMPOT5BFBFYKUATJNO6DEE
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it is disgusting that there is no mention of Oct 7. The tapes of the women. Tied to trees with their legs spread. No mention of the atrocities in that attack. This accusation of genocide applied to what Israel has done,
This is organized mayhem.
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Who is behind the Gaza-Israeli protests causing mayhem and chaos on US college/university campuses?
My guess, the Putin-Trump-MAGARINO alliance.
There are about 6,000 colleges in the US serving 15.9 million undergraduates and 3.1 million graduate students.
Less than one million are foreign students, but less than 500 Palestine foreign students attend US colleges.
I know because I fact checked that a day or two ago for a response to misleading BS propoganda pretending to be a question on Quora.
How many of those less than 500 Palestine foreign students in the United States are protesting?
For every palestine student attending a US college, there are 12 colleges.
12 to 1
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Chaos agents, Lloyd, is my guess.
But the GOP is chanting for protesting students to be deported.
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While many in today’s GOP are willingly ignorant, I think the few at the top that are behind the orchestrated “chanting for protesting students to be deported know the facts/truth. That most of the protestors are probably US citizens, MAGARINOS and/or extremists on the left. Not all liberals believe in the same tropes so most will be peacful.
Eventually, someone will discover that most if not all of the violent protesters are extremists taking advantage of the peaceful protestors to cause violence and chaos while running propoganda campaigns through sites like FOX fake NEWs to blame the peaceful ones.
The violence is staged to make the peaceful protestors look bad.
The same thing happened during some BLM protests. Investigations from reputable sources discovered afterwards that most of the. BLM protesters were peaceful and the violence, damage, and thefts was rare and mostly not by BLM protestors. While this was reported by the media later, it wasn’t promoted as much as the allegations of violence.
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Diane you are spot on! It is frustrating to listen to pundits and the media continuously talk of these protests as if they are driven exclusively by anti-semitism. Many of the students are appalled by the violence and military industrial complex that allows such carnage in Gaza. The Tom Cotton’s of the world don’t want resolution, but an opportunity to promote violent retribution and blame.
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If you teach high school, you know college admissions are fraught, but this is cray-cray.
No paywall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/opinion/college-admissions-applications.html?smid=url-share
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Interesting and topical interview by Mehdi Hasan of Naomi Klein (the good Naomi) on the university protests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjt9M1CS9Qs
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Not satisfied with putting university presidents in the crosshairs, and lacking any evidence to impeach Joe Biden, the House is now calling on the superintendents of public schools in Berkely, New York City, and Montgomery County, Maryland to testify about their teaching on the war in Gaza. The last thing we need in a democracy is for children to grow up into critical thinkers. We need dupes for the burgeoning autocracy.
Why not just focus on governing? Because they’re bad at it.
No paywall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/us/berkeley-schools-israel-hamas-war.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.LrpD.gIZ-u2w1fDrT&smid=url-share
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The House or a committee controlled by a majority of Traitor Trump ditto bobbing heads like Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Those superintendents should ignore those House MAGA cult members behind this dumber than dumb stupidity.
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Bobbing-yes head MAGA House members take their marching orders from Traitor Trump, who is a well know micromanager.
His way is the only way or he throws them under a tank.
If the traitor didn’t think this crap up, he approved it as another attempt to keep the chaos churning.
What the MAGA chaos cult is doing is throwing chaos idea on the wall to see what sticks.
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It’s the ghost of Joe McCarthy, whose chief counsel was Trump’s Roy Cohn.
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Are you a current NYCDOE Teacher of Adolescents (grades 6-12)?
Participants needed for a study to learn more about the perceptions and experiences of New York City teachers in the present COVID-19 endemic era. Please see below (all interviews will take place via Zoom).
https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ZbfIOOOnjzH2gC
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This is appalling. Take the most vulnerable kids and put them in a non-accredited, for profit, private boarding school, paid for by sending public school districts.
What could go wrong?
https://www.propublica.org/article/shrub-oak-school-autism-new-york-education-oversight?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter&utm_content=river-links&utm_term=The%20Daily%20Digest
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OMG. As tRump continues to put his hands into what he knows virtually nothing about, in order to gain votes, he’s now calling for the elimination of ALL required vaccines for students, young children through college age. That may play well with his nutjob base, but I think it will probably alienate a lot of sane voters who truly care about our most precious and vulnerable populations that are dependent upon the thoughtful actions of adults for their well-being, safety and survival: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-vaccines-rfk-jr/
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ECE,
I forgive you for not noticing that I posted a few weeks ago that Trump wants to make vaccines voluntary. Nuts! Unvaccinated people carrying guns.
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Thank you for this, Diane. I’m sorry I missed it. I’ve been dealing with an infection for the past month and when I’m in that kind of pain, I try to avoid reading anything about tRump because he riles my blood & always makes me feel so much worse.
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You are forgiven.
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But here’s the news from March 7:
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Spreading murderous viruses while spewing bullets that kill defines the deplorables in a peanut shell without a diaper.
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Since you posted that over 2 months ago, I didn’t see it for a very different reason. That occurred when I was dealing with the loss of my (25 year old used) car, which was only the 2nd car I’ve ever owned, & I was shut down to the world & mad at it for not helping me to save it. My car couldn’t be given the emissions tests without major repairs that I was saving for on my (poverty level) SSRI, so the state wouldn’t renew my license plates, I wasn’t allowed to drive it & I kept getting parking tickets for expired plates. That ate into my car repair fund, so in March I had to junk it. I spent my time then staying off the Internet & mostly focused on completing a memorial in my home for 3 friends who, not long ago, unexpectedly died too young, each within one month of the other, including my last roommate (who was my best friend).
Staying off the Internet & working on the memorial reminded me that even though I really need my car due to mobility issues (arthritis & osteoporosis causing fractured bones on the bottoms of my feet), those were by far much greater losses to endure, so I could get through this, too. (Plus life is much less stressful on days when I avoid all things related to tRump.)
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My, oh my, ECE! You have been really going through it. I’m sorry for all you’ve been dealing with. Sending strength and healing.
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Thank you so much for your message, Christine. I really appreciate your understanding, kind words and support!
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I’m concerned that the Democratic Party isn’t doing enough to emphasize the insanity Trump is promising to do if he’s re-elected to those who are rational, while the traitor is desperately pandering to lunatics, bribing them with promises that may turn out to be mostly lies, so they’ll vote for him.
The traitor made a lot of campaign promises in 2016, that he never made even an effort to deliver on, which was a good thing. He did enough damage as it was..
Still, he shouldn’t have been elected back then. Maybe if some of the deplorables hadn’t fallen for his lies, he would have lost and Hillary would be president today.
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Looks like there were indeed outsiders trying to shape the response to the protests at Columbia University; just not the outsiders people thought of:
No paywall:
https://wapo.st/3WSF7e2
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On the other hand, a significant number of the protestors arrested at Columbia University were neither students nor faculty.
The Washington Post:
“More than a quarter of protesters arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and 60 percent of those arrested at the City College of New York had no connections to the institutions, according to data from the New York Police Department. Police arrested 282 protesters at the two New York schools on Tuesday. Of the 112 arrested at Columbia, 32 were not affiliated with the school, according to police. At CCNY, police said 102 of the 170 arrested there were not affiliated with that school.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/03/columbia-arrests-not-students-nypd/
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Who funded the groups leading the campus protests? Liberal billionaires, including George Soros.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/05/pro-palestinian-protests-columbia-university-funding-donors-00156135#:~:text=The%20donors%20include%20some%20of,Voice%20for%20Peace%20and%20IfNotNow.
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What most concerns me is the notion that billionaires can call in their chits for a couple of thousand dollars and politicians like Adams hustle to do their bidding. We’ve become accustomed to money being the silent hand in our nation’s life, and now they’re calling the shots in higher education because they are wealthy – Ackman was responsible for pushing out Claudine Gay at Harvard and claimed credit!
Thanks to our Supremes for so much money sloshing around in our civil society – some of those judges feel regular order doesn’t apply to them; just to the little people subject to their unpatriotic whims.
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Agreed.
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A look at the crackdown on campuses:
https://progressive.org/latest/the-new-assault-on-academic-freedom-zunes-20240515/?mc_cid=032b786856&mc_eid=cdfe325207
There’s a reason universities in Latin America are autonomous, for example UNAM in Mexico. The adherents to the on-going coup in our country have our univerisities, private and public, in their sights. Look at Florida.
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The reporting on the protests has been lazy and abhorrent. Although antisemitism is a problem, the motivation for students has not been binary. Meanwhile Tim Scott proposes an antisemitism bill that ignores the breadth of bigotry driving the politics while wealthy interests stoke the issue through misinformation exploited by cynical politicians. Then there are the outside agitators promoting the violence. Our politics are broken because reason is not valued.
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An up close look at the attack on public education in Alaska from More Perfect Union:
https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/are-we-going-to-have-running-water?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1581149&post_id=144705889&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=1cllq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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ProPublica connects the dots from segregation academies to vouchers:
https://www.propublica.org/article/camden-alabama-segregated-schools-brown-v-board
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Great piece. The pictures are magnificent. This is, of course, a major theme of the work of Diane Ravitch, as you know.
Here, though, the piece misses the mark:
We also filtered out schools with certain unique focuses, such as special education, or that were opened around the same time for reasons that may not have primarily been due to desegregation — many Catholic schools, for example, met this criteria.
They should have included this caveat: There are many, many Catholic schools in the Deep South, and one reason why is that the tuition was often too high for Southern blacks to pay, and so there was flight to these as part of the white Southern attempt to flee desegregation of the public schools. In other words, there is a reason why the number of Catholic schools is so high in Southern Evangelical Fundamentalist Protestant Biblelon.
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Whoa; here’s a long, important look at the New Apostolic Reformation:
https://religiondispatches.org/a-reporters-guide-to-the-new-apostolic-reformation/
Since these folks believe they’re on a mission from god to run our country, we all need to pay attention.
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It is striking that the two growing sectors of Christianity are either highly bureaucratic or radically decentralized. This is not different from the reformation where violent forces resulted in inquisitions and violent retribution. Catholics and dominionists have become uneasy allies and we might want to duck when they discover they don’t want the same thing.
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FYI, reported yesterday: “Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaign”
https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-criminal-cases-witnesses-financial-benefits
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Meanwhile, crickets from the NYTimes and Washington Post…
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Still, MSN, ProPublica, and Newsweek did report on it along with many smaller sites on the internet.
That was easy to find all on the first page of the search.
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Good to know! I wonder if anyone will investigate?
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ProPublica may have broke the story. If so, they may also be behind the investigation. It was the first hit in that Google search when i asked Google if the New York Times reported on that story.
“ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.“
Trump Witnesses Have Received Financial Benefits From Trump Businesses, Campaign — ProPublica
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I should have read the entire ProPublica piece before I replied to your comment. Yes, it was ProPublica that investigated and then broke that story.
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A good look at Chicago’s turn to community schools under Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former middle school teacher. Karen Lewis is smiling someplace.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/17/after-years-of-failed-education-reforms-chicago-embraces-community-schools/
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The Texas Observer profiles a small town Texas librarian who stood up for readers.
https://www.texasobserver.org/library-books-censorship-smalltown-texas/
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I know that you’ve taken note of/reported on Pittsburgh Public Schools in the past (some good, some not so good), and here’s something new that we teachers (and students, families, etc.) are dealing with. Sigh. There’s a lot to unpack here, more than this article has the space to comment on. Thought you might want to read… – Josh M Slifkin, Allderdice HS, Pittsburgh PA
https://www.wesa.fm/education/2024-06-18/a-toxic-culture-staff-engagement-survey-reveals-low-morale-at-pittsburgh-public-schools
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Thank you, type40ttc.
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Diane,
Remember, this was Trump’s response to the Iowa school shooting in January 2024:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-tells-supporters-get-iowa-school-shooting-move-forward-rcna132610
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Hi Diane, Have you seen the disinformation being shared about boxer Imane Khelif at the olympics? She is being viciously attacked. People are saying that she is a trans-woman and she is not. She was born a biological woman. Sex change operations are illegal in Algeria, her home country. She has DSD, so her sex development is different from most other people. Imane has become a target for transgender hate and she’s not even trans.
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Word has it that Josh Shapiro is being considered for VP. He’s a big proponent of private school vouchers. Teachers should be contacting Kamala and telling her that they do not support him as a choice for VP.
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ArtsSmart,
I wrote a post urging Kamala not to choose Josh Shapiro because he supports vouchers. I have heard that he may be the choice because he’s very popular in Pennsylvania, which is a must-win state.
I think she should pick Tim Walz, who would be a wonderful VP choice.
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Thanks for clarifying Diane, I didn’t realize that Shapiro was being considered for that reason. Knowing that will soften the blow should he be selected.
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https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-stupidest-candidate-trump-did-not-answer-reporters-questions-216787525948
Thank you Lawerence for calling out the corporate media!
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Betsy DeVos is at it again, “Betsy DeVos would consider working with Trump again — under one condition.” What’s the deal with her? She’s against public education and wants the Department of Education to be eliminated, but people should get education tax credits –for what? Sending their kids to private religious schools??
Just like others in the cult that wants to turn our country into a white Christian nation, what she advocates for is anti-American AND Anti-Christian, since that is very far from being what “walking with Christ” is all about. She’s so much more like an awful witch than a caring Christian. https://www.rawstory.com/betsy-devos-2668949091/
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Diane, have you read or heard about Project 2025’s training videos?
I just learned about them from ProPublica.
“Project 2025, the controversial playbook and policy agenda for a right-wing presidential administration, has lost its director and faced scathing criticism from both Democratic groups and former President Donald Trump. But Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track.
“One centerpiece of that program is dozens of never-before-published videos created for Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy. The vast majority of these videos — 23 in all, totaling more than 14 hours of content — were provided to ProPublica and Documented by a person who had access to them. …
Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos — ProPublica
“The videos are part of an ongoing effort to recruit and train thousands of future conservative appointees. Despite Donald Trump’s efforts to disavow Project 2025, most of the speakers in the videos have previously worked for the former president. …
14 Hours of Videos from Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy — ProPublica
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DC charter closes with virtually no notice. It’s not hard to imagine this at scale across the whole country. No paywall.
https://wapo.st/3MlNto6
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Excellent profile of billionaire school privatizer Jeff Yass:
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2024/08/24/jeff-yass-school-choice/
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Thought you might appreciate this. Biden’s labor record: Historian gives Union Joe a higher grade than any president since FDR. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/05/17/bidens-labor-report-card-historian-gives-union-joe-a-higher-grade-than-any-president-since-fdr/
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Diane, have you watched this from MSNBC from Lawrence O’Donnell? 1.4 million views so far in four days.
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Yes! Lawrence is the best! He doesn’t sane-wash anyone!
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Hi Diane,
I’ve been looking into how non-peer-reviewed self-published research at places like CRESST-UCLA, funded by US Dept of Ed i3 grants, where results are apparently being falsified, and then sent on to the “What Works Clearinghouse,” and in turn used to promote and sell Charter style curriculum products.
I’ve been in contact with the WWC asking about transparency and protocols for handling concerns about problematic research. The resulting communications from them are vague and concerning.
I’ve contacted the authors of the research and cannot get a reasonable explanation for the obvious discrepancies that I’ve found – I wouldn’t be making statements about my concerns if they’d been able to explain why their claims in the introduction of their published i3 Validation Grant report (and briefs) don’t don’t match the data.
I’d like to share my findings and supporting evidence with you.
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It’s official, Trump supporters admit that Kamala clearly won the debate…but how? She didn’t do it on her own, she used bluetooth earrings. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-earpiece-debate-false-claims-laura-loomer/
As Woody Allen once said-“Sure you’d be paranoid too, if everybody was out to get you!”
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The Trump fans said she had earrings with a Biden mic attached to her earrings into which someone gave her answers to questions. Also, ABC allegedly gave her the questions in advance, according to an anonymous whistleblower. The next day the whistleblower “died” in an auto accident. Trump himself may have said these things.
Someone posted a blowup of her earrings. They were not connected to a listening device. All crazy talk.
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Traitor Trump’s MAGA cult may be The Walking Dead.
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Whoa! Ohio has jumped the shark and is funding the expansion of private religious schools.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ohio-taxpayer-money-funding-private-religious-schools
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FYI: “Network of Georgia election officials strategizing to undermine 2024 result
Emails reveal Georgia Election Integrity Coalition, a group of officials and election deniers, coordinating in swing state”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/18/trump-election-georgia
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Scientific American has a handy dandy article detailing all the cases in which the Supreme Court has demonstrated their corruption.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-supreme-courts-contempt-for-facts-is-a-betrayal-of-justice/
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I’m very impressed with the president of the Intl Longshoremen’s Association. He did a great interview with Fox news and when the reporter tried to blame the Longshoremen for shutting down the economy he said “Not us! They are! Don’t spin it cause you’re Fox news!” Come on democrats. You better step up to the plate and make it very clear where you stand.
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I just read this from the NYT. Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s what it’s about from a NYT pull quote.
“Today (10-9-2024), The Times is publishing a multimedia article in which Ian and Ashley break down nine main themes that recur at each rally — including his proposed agenda, his allusions to political violence, his flagrant falsehoods, his increasing verbal stumbles and his ‘hits’ — set pieces on subjects like Hannibal Lecter that his audience has come to expect. The article includes video highlights that let you see these themes for yourself.”
I think what the NYT is doing this late in the game is like “closing the barn door after the horse is already out.” The entire news media should have been doing this at least from January 1, 2021, if not sooner during Traitor Trump’s four years in the White House.
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In Massachusetts, ballot Question 2 would eliminate the use of the MCAS as an exit exam. It would continue as a state test for NCLB. Currently kids who do not pass the exam are denied a high school diploma, even if they have fulfilled all other requirements. The number is relatively low – about 700 students, but 85% of these students are either learning English or have special needs. No diploma means no post secondary access to education; and at present community college is free in the state.
The measure has lots of popular support and is expected to pass. Both Senators Warren and Markey have endorsed it. Yesterday, though, it was revealed that guess who? has tossed in $2.5 million bucks to prevent its passage. That well known educator Michael Bloomberg!
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/10/29/no-on-2-campaign-gets-largest-donation-yet-2-5-million-from-michael-bloomberg/
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I just signed this petition to object to Rahm Emmanuel for DNC chair.
https://go.justicedemocrats.com/signup/petition-20241118-oppose-rahm-emanuel-dnc-chair/?source=em20241118-36160&akid=36160%2E151906%2EMZ8S_h
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I had to look up Rahm Emmanuel. From what I learned, which was a reminder, he’s a Neo-Liberal.
Will the Democratic Party ever learn to stay away from neo-liberals?
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“Will the Democratic Party ever learn to stay away from neo-liberals?”
I remember the battles the Chicago teacher’s union fought with him, so as a retired union teacher, it’s incredibly frustrating.
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I understand. Teachers have enemies in both parties.
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RAHM Emanuel is known for being gross and vile. When he was Mayor of Chicago, he closed 50 public schools in one day, a national record. Big supporter of charters.
When he was running for the-election, he suppressed a video that showed police shooting a black kid in the back as he was running away. It was released after he was re-elected.
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https://trta.org/breaking-news-the-trump-support-statement/
I’m sure Trump wouldn’t support the repeal if it only impacted teachers.
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Call on your Congressperson to OPPOSE HR 9462
https://secure.everyaction.com/C2-8CQ6TNUa6fUNa2F8H_g2
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https://trta.org/wep-and-gpo-repealed-u-s-senate-passes-h-r-82-trta-victory-helps-end-wep-and-gpo/
Great news!!! After 42 years, the WEP and GPO are repealed!
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YES!!!!
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https://www.rawstory.com/regulators-closed-failing-charter-school-it-reopened-as-a-private-religious-sch/
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I’m no fan of King Musk, but his school looks pretty good. No mention of standardized testing at all. Shouldn’t he be worried that the students will learn to think critically and dismantle the oligarchy? https://www.kut.org/education/2025-01-13/elon-musk-ad-astra-school-education-bastrop-austin-texas?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwY2xjawHzZtZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHV0flgUUVarTsB7-m8RcahnbIjXtArRhor7uJAq7kejK95fJhy7wQCFcyA_aem_EDAT6Tix2NPuWtAqQ3G_sQ
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Private schools are not required to give state tests.
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Must be nice.
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Curious, I wanted to learn more about the private school MAD MUSK will launch in Texas sometimes this year in 2025. It’s not even up and running yet.
Elon Musk’s next venture set to launch this year: a private preschool
Ayelet Sheffey
Sat, January 4, 2025 at 12:52 AM PST
Elon Musk’s next venture set to launch this year: a private preschool
AI Overview
Elon Musk’s private school, Ad Astra, is a preschool in Texas that focuses on STEM education and project-based learning. The school’s goal is to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in children.
What’s known about Ad Astra?
A notice from the Texas Health and Human Services Department said the preschool obtained its initial permit on November 14, officially allowing the school to open in 2025. Per the permit, the preschool can admit up to 21 students in its first year of operation. The school’s application materials first obtained by Bloomberg said that the school’s long-term goal is expanding into a university focused on STEM learning.
While Musk’s name does not appear in any of the school’s application materials to the state, his foundation donated $100 million to get the preschool up and running, according to tax filings.
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I was deeply saddened when a Jewish friend of mind told me he had decided to vote for Trump because Harris was calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and was not supportive of Israel. Today I became aware of this article in Haaretz and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Analysis | Trump’s Mideast Envoy Forced Netanyahu to Accept a Gaza Plan He Repeatedly Rejected
Israeli sources say that the involvement of the incoming U.S. administration, led by Trump’s aggressive Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, revived hostage talks with Hamas. While Netanyahu’s propaganda machine claims that Trump has left him no choice, what happens inside his coalition will determine whether the prime minister approves the deal.
Last Friday evening, Steven Witkoff, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, called from Qatar to tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides that he would be coming to Israel the following afternoon. The aides politely explained that was in the middle of the Sabbath but that the prime minister would gladly meet him Saturday night.”
Apparently Witkoff replied with some very salty language that he didn’t care about the Sabbath and that Bibi better be at the meeting. Some of the Israeli hardliners are complaining that Trump is not as supportive as they would thought he would be. I’m curious as to how my friend is going to react to this. If he watches Fox News he’ll probably have no idea that he’s been betrayed.
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FELON47 always makes a lot of noise about getting stuff done and then not a sound when he fails one way or the other, which is often.
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He might fail miserably and move on like you say Lloyd, but who would have expected that he would try to force Bibi into peace talks with Hamas!?
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FELON47 sees himself as a mafia don. A tough guy. He has a history of forcing people to do what he wants. Still, it often backfires and bites him in the ass as he’s running away, while adding another name to his revenge list.
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The best way to understand Trump is to think of him as a mafia Don.
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David,
That’s a sad story, for many reasons. The NY Times had an article about Arabs and Muslims in Michigan who didn’t vote for Harris because she didn’t side with Gaza, or said the word ceasefire but didn’t mean it. Meanwhile your friend voted for Trump because Harris called for a ceasefire.
Trump has chosen hardline pro-Netanyahu people to represent him in the Mideast. Mike Huckabee is his Ambassador to Israel. Also one of his biggest funders was Miriam Adelson, the widow of billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson. She is an Israeli and a doctor. Trump will be very hardline.
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I’m not so sure Trump will take a hardline Diane, although his relationship with Musk has shown that Trump does what his backers want and it would be very strange for him to betray Adelson. Whatever he does, he will do out of self interest, not out of a sense of compassion for the Palestinian people.
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David, that is true. Trump believes is nothing but himself and money. He is transactional. He will cave to the highest bidder.
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Teen Vogue explains how the radical right is targeting public higher education in Idaho.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/north-idaho-college-far-right
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Christine, terrifying. How did you happen across this article? Teen Vogue is not something I see.
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Diane, Teen Vogue does excellent, serious, reporting. You can follow them on Bluesky.
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Thanks, I will.
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Here’s another one:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-administration-undocumented-college-students-limbo
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What we all needed to see and hear; Senator Dayna Polehanki pushing back against Nazi Musk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TRQO71i25gg
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Greg Palast is certain that Trump won through voter suppression. I had no idea that there were groups of non-government officials who could challenge mail-in ballots. What do you think? https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/
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I think it was more than voter suppression. FELON47 did more than just repeat the same old BIG LIEs to win. His MAGA cult also threatened honest, hard working election workers until many quit and were replaced by MAGA thugs or people who caved to threats.
No telling how many ballots they dropped in shredders before they could be counted.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/poll-election-officials-shows-high-turnover-amid-safety-threats-and
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/election-workers-are-being-bombarded-with-death-threats-the-u-s-government-says
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/election-worker-threats-drive-exodus-from-profession.html
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This is so frustrating. MAGA Educators in high poverty areas in Kentucky that rely on federal funding for survival who voted for Trump are now concerned that they are going to lose federal funding for their schools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68iPQvDERuk
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If those MAGA educators voted for FELON47, they reap what they sow.
The only victims will be the educators who refused to vote for the January 6, 2021 Traitor.
The lifelong cheat and liar did not get 100% of the vote from any state or precinct.
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The weird thing about Trump supporters is that they vote for him hoping that he won’t keep his promises. Very strange.
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Why anyone would do that with Felon47’s history going back to when he was an adolescent and maybe earlier, boggles the mind.
Unless those voters didn’t know his history and don’t want to know so they have a built-in excuse. At least for them, to justify voting for a convicted rapist, fraud and felon, who is also the January 6, 2021, Traitor, with thousands of hours of video taken by his MAGA mob during the attack on our capital, as evidence billions have watched around the world.
Even his speech on that day reveals he wanted them to “fight like hell.” He used the word fight almost 20 times while only using the word peaceful once, while adding patriot with the word peaceful. Sounded to me like he meant walk over their peaceful, then fight like hell.
Caught on camera, shown to the world, his mob was chanting “fight for Trump,” while he was still speaking before the mob left.
No mention from the mob that they’d be peaceful once they got there.
Making all that video evidence disappear might be impossible. Probably is impossible.
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My friend’s Church sponsored a refugee family from the Congolese through an org. called Welcome Corps. The church raised over 20 thousand dollars. His life is in danger because of his religion. The church was hoping he would be arriving in the USA by spring, but now everything’s frozen due to Trump’s freeze on immigration.
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As long as FELON47 is in the White House, the United States government the January 6, 2021, TRAITOR leads is going to be unfriendly to anyone who doesn’t fit the white supremacist test for their definition of superior racial purity.
Still, the lifelong cheater and liar is open for bribes. Anyone willing to make a deal and donate to the convicted rapists and fraud’s legal fund or buy stocks in his bitcoin scam or Truth Social failure may easily bribe him to do what they want.
I suspect offers must start at a minimum of one million dollars and go up from there depending on what someone wants this crime family boss to do for them.
You may be interested in this bit of news I just discovered. How white supremacist are getting genetic tests to ensure their purity but when most or all of them they find out their DNA isn’t pure, their hypocrisy kicks in and they do what they can to cover it up and/or justify it.
There were other news sources reporting on this topic. I went with this one.
How white supremacists respond when their DNA says they’re not ‘white’ | PBS News
Nazi racism and their view of racial purity is very much alive and active among white supremacists and their leader FELON47.
I wonder what the malignant narcissist’s DNA test would reveal about how Nazi pure he isn’t.
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It’s a small world. I’ve always wondered what happened to Jaime Aquino, the Broad trained LAUSD administrator who proudly proclaimed at our first arts meeting of the year that he shut down arts schools. He’s now the superintendent of Saisd school district in my home town San Antonio, TX. One of their teachers is under investigation for inviting ICE to come raid his school. I also saw that there was concern from parents about the expense of Jaime’s private coach that is paid for by Saisd. “Come on Jaime, you can do it! Don’t let the haters get you down!” https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/01/27/saisd-educator-under-investigation-for-alleged-support-of-ice-raids-on-tiktok/
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Seymour Hersh has a story in Substack claiming that Trump knew about Covid early and that it came from the Wuhun lab. I don’t subscribe to Substack, so this is the intro to the story. I’m skeptical, but Hersh has done some great journalism in the past. I find it hard to believe that the CIA would expunge the record to protect Trump.
“This is a story about the very early days of what would become a worldwide pandemic that led to more than 7 million deaths and put the United States, and the entire world, on hold for months. It was a crisis that was mismanaged by President Donald Trump in ways not known at the time because the president and his senior aides chose not to listen to the unwanted facts that the American health and intelligence communities had obtained.
I learned this week that a US intelligence asset at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, where the Covid virus was first observed, is safe and out of danger. The asset, highly regarded within the CIA, was recruited while in graduate school in the United States and provided early warning of a laboratory accident at Wuhan that led to a series of infections that was quickly spreading and initially seemed immune to treatment. As is the case today, many senior US officials were reluctant to tell the president what he did not want to hear. But early studies dealing with how to mitigate the oncoming plague, based on information from the Chinese health ministry about the lethal new virus, were completed late in 2019 by experts from America’s National Institutes of Health and other research agencies. Despite their warnings, a series of preventative actions were not taken until the United States was flooded with cases of the virus. All of these studies, I have been told, have been expunged from the official internal records in Washington, including any mention of the CIA’s source inside the Chinese laboratory. It was a cover-up to protect a president who did not do the right thing.”
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It was reported at the time that China warned the world about the virus and shared all of its information about it with the world. So, yes, Trump, who was IQ45 back then had to know.
I think if you Google a timeline for COVID and the pandemic, early on there is an entry that reveals the date China warned the world about the virus and shared all the science they say the knew about it.
Here it is. I found the timeline and copied that entry.
12 January 2020 — China publicly shared the genetic sequence of COVID-19.
https://www.who.int/news/item/27-04-2020-who-timeline—covid-19
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Thanks for that info Lloyd!
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“On Jan. 27, the Environmental Protection Agency quietly removed all information about climate change from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website, burying it deep in sections that are harder to find.”-David Sirota
https://www.levernews.com/trumps-epa-just-deleted-climate-change/
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This is not new. Still, I think it will be worse this time, because TRUMP 2.0 is more organized to destroy the federal government and replace the US Constitution with Project 2025, if successful, we all end up with the ignorant, malignant narcissist, sociopath and meglamancias as a dictator for the rest of his life. He thrives on hate, power, breaking the law, and being mean, so he’ll probably live into his 100s.
During IQ45’s first four years before he became the January 6, 2021 Traitor and then FELON47, his administration, meaning him since he is an extreme micromanager in life, family and business, censored reports about climate change from NASA.
Trump Administration Censored Information on Water Pollution, Climate Change, and Endangered Species
Published Jul 13, 2021
What happened: From 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration made approximately 1,400 changes to agency websites that removed science-based information on environmental issues, such as water pollution, climate change, and endangered species.
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/attacks-on-science/trump-administration-censored-information-climate-change
This was happening throughout his first four years.
I wonder if there is a way to get the original reports before the fascists censor them and have a site that published the originals before the censoring took place.
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Don’t know how accurate this video is, but this video says tariffs will go to the External Revenue Service (a new agency). That money will be funneled to a special sovereign fund and then will be given to Musk. https://youtu.be/44kbve5YRPw
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2025/01/27/trump-and-the-external-revenue-service-what-just-happened/
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This is what I read between the lines. All the money that flows through the External Revenue Service will somehow mostly end up in the bank accounts of the already filthy rich.
The already rich will get the lowest tax cut rate in the world at 15%, with lots of ways to lower that to zero with write off and deductions.
The US National debt will grow faster than Jack’s Beanstalk. When the contry finally crashes, the crooked filthy rich will still be filthy rich but more corrupt.
The working middle class will become poorer with a much smaller ratio of the population.
The numbers of those who live in poverty will compete with Jack’s Beanstalk.
The rich will have the best free healthcare in the world and live longer. Most living more than 100 years.
The working class, with horrible or no healthcare, will see average lifetimes sink like a ton of lead dropped in the ocean until the average lifespan is less than 40. That’s already been happening the last few years.
I won’t live to see any of that because FELON47’s MAGA Gestapo will somehow get rid of me along with millions of other NEVER TRUMPERS.
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Trump is a criminal and has been his entire adult life. Thinking like a criminal he doesn’t want good for anyone or anything. He has no concept of the common good. He has surrounded himself with a criminal cartel with the worst instincts toward humankind. Allowing Musk access to our payroll records while putting goons in charge of the FBI, Intelligence, OMB, Defense, and Justice, means he can send Musk and his fake agency into the Social Security Administration with no one there to stop him. I was glad to see that one federal employees union is taking legal action, but I don’t understand why they all, , along with the Democratic Party, aren’t collaborating to thwart Trump’s momentum. The first two weeks of Trump’s Presidency this time has been more overtly criminal and unconstitutional than his first term. He truly believes that the Supreme Court has given him absolute immunity and so far, with an impotent Congress, his is right. So, if Musk barges into Treasury will that be the moment that Congress realizes that this is truly a grab for their cash? Or will they care while collecting their bounty from unregulated campaign funds or participating in insider trading? When Trump starts ordering troops to shoot at migrants across the Rio Grande will the Senate realize they have been stripped of the two most important powers granted by the Constitution, war powers and the purse? Will it matter?
Whether you believe it is God or simply the way of the universe, Trump and the rest of us will get a comeuppance from an Earth that is aiming at humans through climate change. Climate and the Earth have combined to bring down empires throughout history. From Minoa to Egypt to the Black Plague. In the late Summer we will face a cataclysm in the form of a hurricane, microburst floods, wildfires, or all three. Every storm seems to be costing us more than the previous storms and Trumps dismantling of our emergency infrastructure and economy will keep the government from responding appropriately to these disasters. Trump has already committed high crimes and misdemeanors in the form of his challenge to the 14th amendment and his attempts to hamstring grants and loans. The real question is, will our suffering bring us to the point where we finally kick him out of the White House? Republicans would have to experience a dramatic comeuppance in 2026 and Democrats would have to stop rolling over.
Trumps actions over the past two weeks have been worse than many imagined. How much will the citizenry take? Has this oligarchy taken us beyond the point where anything can stop them?
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Not everyone deserves to suffer. Almost everyone will. Everyone contributes to global warming just by being alive, but some contribute more than others.
I read that the filthy rich contribute the most to climate change.
I’m a vegan who only heats one room in my house when I’m home, my home office, bedroom. During winter when I leave the room, I put on a jacket because it is so cold in all the other rooms. I do that mainly because I can’t afford to pay that big of a heating bill.
When I get up and leave that room, I turned the heat on for two or three hours in the other rooms. Once I finish exercise and eating, I turn the heat off in those rooms.
We all contribute because in winters, we don’t want to freeze so we heat where we live. I just heat a smaller space, by choice. I can’t afford the higher heating bills and the house I live in has 1,350 square feet.
The rich won’t. They can live anywhere they want. If they live in a 10,000 square foot house, they can afford to heat every room.
The only heated room in the house I’m in right now is kept at 68 degrees and lower when I’m sleeping. The other rooms are always in the low 50s in the morning when I wake.
I read that many of the filthy rich have underground homes in New Zealand waiting for them if the world ends. As the world is ending, they will fly their private jets to New Zealand and go underground to live for the rest of their years. Or sail their huge yachts around the world to reach their underground havens.
Pull quotes follow. I only copied and pasted the rest.
According to research by Oxfam, the wealthiest 1% of the global population is responsible for roughly 16% of all carbon emissions, emitting significantly more per capita than the poorest half of humanity, meaning they contribute a disproportionately large amount to climate change compared to their population size; this includes emissions from their lavish lifestyles, private jets, and investments in carbon-intensive industries.
Key points about the wealthy and climate change:
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Although the Inflation Reduction Act represented the largest carbon reduction effort to date, Trump will set us back significantly. My kids’ generation is pissed that we are ignoring the problem. I have no grandkids because mine don’t want to bring children into this world. Trump’s effort to reward high birthrate states may not end up costing too much.
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That generation should learn that we all didn’t ignore what was happening. Some of us did more to cut our individual carbon emissions while others didn’t.
There is no way to force everyone to do it.
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I agree Lloyd. Trump and his secretary of commerce have already said the best economy in US history was when all revenue was raised through tariffs, so I predict Trump will propose a tax cut to offset the spike in prices. Trump supporters won’t have a clue that doing so means they’ll be paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes. I hope and pray he can’t pull it off.
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I’ve read that FELON47 already wants to cut taxes on the rich, like him, to 15%, which will be the lowest in the world.
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Trump will pay for tax cuts for top 1% by cutting Medicaid and other programs for the neediest
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FELON47 will do more than cut Medicare. He’ll increase the national debt more than he did last time, and I read yesterday that he announced a new External Tax Service in addition to the IRS, that he will be cripple by firing many of its workers [so they can’t go after tax cheats like him].
From what I read, the new ETS will collect the money from the tariffs and the January 6, 2021, Traitor said that money will flow into an account controlled by Elon Musk.
Sounds like that is an attempt to take away the power of the purse from Congress. Cut taxes that flow into the IRS while creating an ETS that the Congress has no control over.
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From what I’ve read, most years, FELON47 didn’t pay any taxes. He lies.
Still, New York state is making him pay like $400 million for a few of those lies regarding his property tax and loans.
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This is a MAGA post that’s going around FB arguing the virtues of tariffs.
“In its most basic form a tariff is a tax placed on imported goods.
For instance, China sells widgets in the U.S. A 10% tariff on China would mean that for every widget China sells in the U.S., China must pay the U.S. federal government 10%.
Currently, foreign trade with the U.S. is extremely imbalanced. For example: the U.S. may charge China a 10% tariff BUT, China charges the U.S. a 50% tariff. This means more Chinese goods get sold in the U.S. than U.S. goods sold in China.
These grossly imbalanced tariffs (international tax) have encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move manufacturing OUT of the U.S., eliminating good paying middle class U.S. jobs.
By raising tariffs on imported goods, U.S. companies are incentivized to return manufacturing to the U.S. because it will be more profitable to produce in the U.S. than to pay high import tariffs.
In the short term U.S. pricing will increase. HOWEVER, within 1 year those prices will decrease as manufacturers return to U.S. production.
Not only will prices return to more affordable pricing but, 100’s of millions U.S. middle class jobs will become available hence, raising the standard of living for the American worker.
Prior to 1850 over 90% of all federal revenue came from international tariffs AND income tax did not exist and was deemed unconstitutional.
In 1913, the U.S. federal government implemented the federal income tax scheme upon all U.S. workers. Today only 2% of all federal revenue comes from tariffs. The remaining federal revenue comes from income taxes, state taxes and borrowed money from the Federal Reserve, which weakens the U.S. dollar.
A strong and fair tariff system has the potential to not only reduce federal income taxes but, even eliminate them. Again, providing a higher standard of living for the American worker.”
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The reality is that counter tariffs will hurt American consumers, in addition to the higher prices that tariffs create.
The cost of almost everything will increase, because tariff costs are passed on to the consumer.
Meanwhile, other nations are making trade deals that don’t include U.S.
China is rushing to grab Mexican exports.
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My friend Keith Barber wrote a rebuttal to the pro MAGA tariff essay today. https://keithdb.medium.com/a-point-counterpoint-on-tariffs-c57b26fa1d87
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Brilliant article. I plan to repost it. Would you ask Keith if I may use his full name?
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Yes, I’ll ask him.
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“Trump says he will create an ‘External Revenue Service’ agency to collect tariff income”
https://apnews.com/article/irs-trump-tax-revenues-tariffs-eef2ab6930a8672a418af27f61efaed8
Congress will have no say in how the money collected by the ERS will be spent. DOGE, which means MAD MUSK, will have that power.
I think FELON47 wants to replace the income tax the IRS collects with tariffs, which will be a consumer tax. Higher prices on consumer items will not bother the filthy rich, who will not pay income tax anymore once the switch is done.
The working class will pay the most into this consumer tax labeled Tariffs.
And Congress will not have the power of the purse any longer.
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“Trump says he will create an ‘External Revenue Service’ agency to collect tariff income”-How would the ERS be created? I would think that a bill would have to go through congress right? Or could it be done through and executive order?
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External Revenue Service- to be located on Grand Cayman Island?
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Probably or Switzerland.
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FELON47 and MAD MUSK are moving ahead ignoring the court cases being filed. Ignoring Congress. Ignoring everyone.
Once they’ve taken over the federal government, the next step will be the military, and then the rest of the country until only armed uprising by citizens is the only option left. If it isn’t well organized and armed, that won’t go well.
Once the MAGA fascist regime controls the military, any armed uprising will be a slaughter. The US military is the most advanced, efficient killing machine in world history. Not just the United States.
The Vietnam WAr lasted almost 20 years and the around 3.8 million causted were suffered in total between both sides. The US had less than 60,000 of those deaths
In Afganistan, a war that lasted 20+ years compare”
Military deaths:
Afghanistan
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) estimates that over 46,000 civilians were killed.
With control of the United States and its military, there are few countries that can fight the US military.
China and the EU may be the only ones. Russia would be annihilated no matter how many troops they have as long as they don’t use their hukes.
The January 6, 2021 TRAITOR and his MAGA fascist allies have started a Civil War. If we don’t fight back, they win.
No more protests. Lock and load and be willing to die.
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There already is an Extern Revenue Service. It’s called US Customs.
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FELON47 is into changing names. Will he merge US Customs into another department or come with something new. I’m waiting for him to come up with a new name for the United States. What will it be.
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The aim is pretty obvious: defang all accountability structures like DOJ and the FBI. Then go into every federal department that has money and rob it blind. We’ve spent all these years watching heist movies pulling for the bank robbers. Now we get to experience it in real life.
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I think I’ve posted here that I think the FELON47 January 6, 2021, TRAITOR will be the world’s first trillionaire by the time he leaves the White House.
If he leaves.
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Lloyd,
Trumplandia
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Keith Barber said you can share both his article and his name Diane and thanked you for doing so.
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Thank you! I shall.
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I think many may be interested in what I think is a warning shot meant to blackmail California. A few days ago, the TRAITOROUS sociopath in the White House ordered two California dams to let billions of gallons of water to be released by opening the floodgates.
Most of the news about this seems local but little or nothing from the national mainstream media.
Even then, I only learned about this thanks to a question I was asked on Quora. To answer that question, I read about what happened and then wondered how many reservoirs in California were on Federal land. The traitor has some control over those.
The FELON-TRAITOR was quoted saying he ordered that water released to help fight the fires in LA, but experts and local farmers and communities downriver from those resources were threatened by floods because the release was so massive. Almost 60% of the voters in that California county voted for He Who Should Not be Named.
And, there’s no chance in hell that one drop of that water will reach LA unless someone fills a gallon jug and drives it there.
Here’s why I think it was a warning that worse will happen if the state doesn’t fall into line and bend to the traitor’s will.
California has more than 1300 water storage reservoirs and they are all at capacity because of rain for the last couple of years. Well, were, now that two are almost empty.
On my own, I learned that the federal government, which owns almost half the land in California, controls about 250 of the largest reservoirs that hold 60% of the state’s water supply. I think you can imagine what would happen to California if the malignant narcissist ordered all that water released. Of course, he’d blame it on Newsom and his fascist MAGA cult wouldn’t care if that lie was true or not.
https://www.watereducation.org/aquafornia-news/water-unexpectedly-released-dams-trumps-order-didnt-help-farms-or-la
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I was just about to share this story Lloyd. What’s really scary is that his supporters stick by him him even when he screws them. Trump supporters are dug in deep.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/06/trump-california-water-policy-farmers-00202751
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There skin is as thin or thinner then his.
I’m watching a fantasy series on Amazon Prime called The Outpost. In the third season, one of the villains is planting some bug in other people who turns them into mindless slaves who will think and say anything she wants them to think.
They claim I threw in my personal political views or that it revealed I had TDS, which never happened. After I read those reviews, I ran a global search of the novel for Trump’s name and the word President.
The only thing I found was a minor character who is French in France thinking about an Op-Ed she read in a REAL Irish Newspaper from a REAL Irish writer who wrote it and the names of that newspaper and writer were included. It was about Trump separating children from their parents and having the children locked in cages. And that was the only paragraph in the book like that.
While writing the novel, for that scene, which was about rescuing trafficked children, I used Google to find something real that fit what she was thinking. That’s what I found and her reason not to want those rescued immigrant children staying in Trump’s US. She flies to Idaho to pick the rescued children up and fly them back to France where she thinks they will be safer.
Joe Robinson1.0 out of 5 stars Almost 5 starsReviewed in the United States on December 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
I was really enjoying this book right until the time the author threw his political views into the story and they did not even make sense within the book. I would like to thank the author for his service I will not be reading any more of his books
Jennifer gates1.0 out of 5 stars He obviously leans too far leftReviewed in the United States on November 23, 2024
Got this book after seeing the blurb. It started ok and then he really showed his T.D.S. I’ll just say if you are selling any products you should keep your political opinion to yourself. I’m returning this book. I refuse to ruin a good time reading with stupid political jabs .
Chuck Yarling1.0 out of 5 stars Lloyd Lofthouse’s new book was a gemReviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021
Once you started reading it, this was one book that was absolutely hard to put down. It has great characters, action galore, and about a group whose mission is to preserve the American republic. That made it hard not to put it my top ten books I read this year!
Yes, it was a gem right up to the near-end when Lofthouse wrote totally unneeded and unnecessary personal political comment in just one paragraph. It was definitely a surprise to find it in what should have been a great book!
This brought the whole story to an end for me. If there is a sequel, I am not sure i want to read it.
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I am hoping that Steve Bannon might be able to turn hard core MAGA supporters against Musk. Journalists said Bannon went pretty easy on Musk in this interview, but I thought that Bannon went pretty hard on him. He describes Musk as a technofeudal overlord and the future world that Musk wants was described as a dystopian nightmare.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000009960953/steve-bannon-broligarchs-vs-populism.html
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I’ve read other sources that say Bannon HATES Musk with capital letters. Is he jealous because Mad Musk bought the January 6, 2021, TRAITOR with almost $300 million, and now dominates most of FELON47’s attention span, which isn’t all that long most of the time?
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Bannon predicted that Musk would be out soon. But he’s not.
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Bannon doesn’t have money to give to the January 6, 2021, TRAITOR like MAD MUSK Does.
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Bannon’s hatred of Musk could be due to jealousy, but if you listen to the interview Bannon thinks a world led by technofeudal lords like Musk would be terrible for the country and humanity and not at all what he envisioned for MAGA.
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I agree with Bannon on that point. Still, has he ever explained what he envisioned for MAGA?
I can’t think of any scenario where MAGA could improves the US democracy in any way.
No matter what MAGA does, I think that would be a disaster worse than the COVID pandemic or World War II.
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I’m just worrying about when our social security checks will stop. Although it sounds like some of Trump’s minions within the White House are starting to freak out over Musk, their incompetence means they don’t have a plan to deal with it. The encels Trump sent into the treasury are doing real damage.
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I’m concerned about the VA medical system. My healthcare provider. I’ve read that the sociopath in charge, not MM, who is the other sociopath in charge, wants to privatize the VA [like they want to do with the USPS] and fire everyone that works there, probably giving all of its brick-and-mortar property, that may be worth billions or even trillions, to corporations and turning our health care over to insurance companies, that already operates with death panels that decides who gets lifesaving medical care … or not.
I’ve read that cadet bone spurs thinks that many combat vets like me are faking their mental/physical health challenges and should lose it.
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“I agree with Bannon on that point. Still, has he ever explained what he envisioned for MAGA?”
These are 3 things he said he wanted when he spoke at Oxford.
2. He wants to re-industrialize the US and bring back manufacturing to the US with trade deals that will facilitate that.
3. He wants less military intervention and other nations to share more of the cost intervention.
He said the MAGA movement came out of:
I thought that a crucial moment came during the Q&A when a student asked why Bannon would pick such a hateful demagogue to lead his movement to which Bannon replied: “I’ll take whatever I can get!”
Here’s the link to his speech at Oxford if you’re interested. https://youtu.be/8AtOw-xyMo8
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Bannon is wrong about bringing back the manufacturing sector. It never left. It’s not gone.
It’s a myth, or a lie, that the US doesn’t make anything anymore. The US manufacture sector is still the 2nd largest in the world. Although human job numbers in manufacturing have dropped steadily through the decades, Manufacuring has increased at the same time. Those jobs weren’t lost. They were replaced by robots.
What I’m going to share next, I heard about at a conference in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The speaker shared with us a story about a GM bumper factory that used to employee 500 workers back in the 1950. The day he told us that three to four decades ago, that same planted two humans workers left on the plant’s floor. That factor was still making the same number of parts it did in the 1950s with 500 human workers.
What comes next only talks about the number of jobs lost to robots since 2000.
Since 2000, the United States has lost around 260,000 manufacturing jobs to robots. This represents about 2% of the country’s current manufacturing workforce.
Explanation
Predictions
As for the “failed” wars, I think Bannon is totally wrong. We didn’t fail. The wars in Vietnam and Korea were fought to stop the spread of Soviet Communism. They worked.
And the Soviet Union collapsed.
Germany was reunified.
Eastern European countries were free after the Iron Curtain collapsed. Many are now members of NATO and/or the EU.
There are new threats today and FELON47 and his MAGA cult are one of them.
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I mentioned once before a conversation I had with a retired executive of a big corporation. When he started his career in management, one of the factories he oversaw had 1,000 workers. Currently it has 2. Same output. Automation.
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So I just saw this “Day of thunder” Bannon interview with the WSJ and he’s totally fine with Bannon taking control of the computers.
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/in-depth-features/steve-bannon-on-trump-every-day-is-going-to-be-day-of-thunder/ADA4CD4D-6A16-4EA8-BB63-42C3362D5CC5
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How many computers does Bannon want to control. Mine, your, every corporation, the states, the federal government. One person with all that power.
Or Bannon is okay with MAD MUSK being that one person with all that power.
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At the end of the video Bannon compares Trump to Washington and Lincoln. I almost spit out my wine!
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SUPER bad idea to hand over all of the computers to one man like Musk who is very unstable. Read all you can about his private, public and corporate life. He is an uncontrollable lunatic who only trusts what he thinks. Musk may be more dangerous than FELON47.
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Correction: Musk taking control of the computers
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The top few names from histoyr that we can compare Trump to is:
HITLER
STALIN
I’d put Mao’s name here, but Mao actually delivered on his promises to the working class in China if they supported him during the long civil war between the CCP and the Nationalist Party. That is why today, the majority of Chinese citizens still think of Mao as their George Washington. He liberated them from the wealthiest 1% who ruled China for thousands of years. The Nationalist Party under Chiang kai Shek was no different than being ruled by a FELON47 or MAD Musk holding all the power instead of the three branches of government.
Chiang Kai Shek held power on Taiwan as a brutal dictator using martial law until he died, and the first democratic election didn’t take place until almost 20 years after his death since his family held on to power that long. The only reason Chiang isn’t responsible for killing as many people as Mao gets blamed for is because he had way fewer people on the island to bully and torment.
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Breaking points discussed the 2025 plan for shutting down the dept. of ed. today on Breaking points.
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I’m watching this interview right now. It’s so stupid. Burke has spent years crafting a policy with lots of charts and data that advocate for sending federal dollars to the states in the form of block grants. She believes this will benefit students and parents (That’s the theory anyway!) and then Ryan Grim points out that Musk is just gonna take a wrecking ball to the whole thing. Burke says “that’s good because it needs a wrecking ball”, people hate the dept. of education. Years of work, analysis and data down the drain.
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Who hates the US Department of Education?
ANSWER:
ALEC
Many extreme right, fascist and/or autocratic billionaires
the Christian Nationalist Ku Klux Klan fascist MAGA cult
FELON47
MAD Musk
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Lindsey Burke’s lack of knowledge regarding public education is stunning. Here’s a few things she said.
Teachers are not well paid because the teacher’s union wanted more members so they could collect more dues. (What about right to work states?)
Texas voters are choosing vouchers.
To this date, no Charter School has ever shut down.
Charter schools have not hurt public schools
She says the teacher to pupil ratio in high school is 15 to 1 in High School and slightly higher in elementary school.
Jimmy carter “acquiesced” to the teachers union and created the Dept. of Education in exchange for their votes.
Texas voters support vouchers
She’s a merit pay advocate.
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She is very ignorant !!
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Lindsey Burke from the heritage foundation was interviewed. She wrote the education policy for project 2025.
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I had been receiving this blog for years but it suddenly stopped. I can’t seem to get it back. Any ideas as to why this happened? I miss seeing it in my emails everyday.
marguerite.err1@gmail.com
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Notices of new posts and comments didn’t stop for me, but I updated my operating systems yesterday. Maybe if you reboot your computer and update your operating system, that will fix it.
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I’ve been so caught up in national politics that I forgot to share an important development at LAUSD regarding the misuse of prop 28 money for the arts. A parent is suing the district for misusing the funds. It is absolutely clear that the district misused the funds from the bond. I was a K-5 theatre teacher when the prop 28 money was sent to the district. The money was supposed to be used to hire additional arts teachers, but the district used the money to pay for the current staff. There was zero growth. Now a parent is suing the district for the misuse of funds.
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Here’s a bit of light in these very dark times.
“Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said. Her decision came three days after Justice Department leadership instructed her to drop the criminal corruption case against Adams.”
Seeing someone who puts truth and justice over tribe gives me hope.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5297120/eric-adams-federal-prosecutors-resignations
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Sassoon is a profile in courage.
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This rare set of admissions by a Fordham author escaped me last spring: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/where-teacher-evaluation-went-wrong. Very, very interesting. (Kevin Huffman had a dubious rebuttal.)
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Excellent article in a publication that pushed the ideas dissected there.
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I reject the premise that an intense and complex evaluation for teachers is necessary in order to improve outcomes in public education. I think this idea might have come from CEO Jack Welch, who was highly respected during his reign at GE. He constantly said that the secret to his success was GE’s rigorous performance evaluation system. The real secret to his success was predatory capitalism and leveraged buyouts. GE stopped using his cut throat performance evaluation after he left because it was causing it’s employees incredible stress. LAUSD’s more rigorous evaluation system was a big waste of time and money. It’s a meaningless horse and pony show that adds nothing, except more stress for teachers.
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Totally agree with both of you, David and Diane. David, same for Gates and Microsoft. Diane, I only wanted to add to Tim Daly’s piece that teachers could have told him all of this as soon as these evaluation changes were made.
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The complexity of teacher evaluations in my districts was anther example of resources focused at the wrong end. Instead of developing better preparation programs, states determined it would be better to teach pedagogy while teachers were flying the proverbial plane.
After traveling to China and seeing classrooms with three teachers at differing levels of expertise collaborating for better outcomes I am convinced that our process of administrators observing instruction is far less effective. I once had a good friend who got a Masters of Arts in Teaching and taught at a highly regarded Catholic School. She said she never saw administrators in her classroom. I have a daughter who is the head of her department at an independent school and they focus on improvement through collaboration, not dictate.
As a principal I was required to observe probationary teachers three times a year and then, in its infinite wisdom, the state decided I needed to do that with the entire staff. There was no time left to develop a collaborative professional culture needed to serve our students or build community among all constituents. These observations were more obligatory than instructive because I only had no time to share my report rather than discuss instructional practice.
Meanwhile, I experienced little collaboration with higher ed to communicate the tools needed for young teachers to be successful. We have such low regard for teaching that we don’t effectively prepare them and don’t seem to care if they stay with the job.
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Anyone have any advice on dealing with an obstinate records office at a school district. I put in a PRA request at LAUSD and I received no response after 10 days. I followed up to find out the status of my inquiry and the records office said they did not have to respond in 10 days, but they take great pride in their work. I spoke to a Parent/Teacher activist and they told me that LAUSD’s record office is notorious for not answering questions and that it has gotten worse under our current Superintendent’s leadership. This parent told me that it is even difficult for the school board to get information from them!
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This is the reason that’s it’s taken so long to take any action regarding the misuse of the prop 28 arts money. The parents had to be sleuths to find out the information.
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If your head is spinning in this environment of shock and awe, take a look at Olga Lautman’s Trump Tyranny Tracker. It’s a straightfoward format: what happened, why it matters, and the source of the reporting.
https://open.substack.com/pub/trumptyrannytracker/p/trump-tyranny-tracker-day-26?r=1cllq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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Is Texas State caving to Trump’s illegal anti-DEI policies? My Alma Mater Texas State says they are “rebranding” their Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration to the New American Play Festival. It sounds like more than rebranding to me. I don’t know if this is true but some of my alumni have said that finalists had already been selected. I’ve contacted the Austin Statesmen and the San Antonio Express News for more info.
https://napf.finearts.txst.edu/about.html
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I just found out why the “Black & Latino Playwrights Celebration has been rebranded to “The New American Playwrights”. Texas legislature passed a law that banned any DEI related activities.
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In 2023, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 17 (SB 17), which bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities at public universities. The law went into effect on January 1, 2024.
The law went into effect a year ago. Why did they wait until now to rebrand?
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Update. It seems that the creator of the Black & Latino Celebration at Texas State is endorsing it. But my question is-Why did he decide to “rebrand” at this time
https://napf.finearts.txst.edu/
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I sent Eugene Lee, the creator of the program, asking him why they “rebranded”.
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Texas Republicans are obsessed with ending DEI. Now I understand why my Alma Mata ended the Black & Latino Playwrights Celebration Festival. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/27/dan-patrick-texas-legislature-higher-education-cut-dei/
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This a well sourced article that explains why Musk’s team misunderstood the Social Security software and why their claims about “vampire” recipients are untrue. https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/
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The rule of thumb regarding The Traitorous Felon and Maniac Musk and almost everyone in their regime
If they write or say something, the odds are heavily in favor of it being a lie, cherry-picked facts, hoaxes, misinformation or bat shit crazy.
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Elon Musk is swashing about in billions of dollars. But in Alaska, there’s a school which has been waiting 20 years for a new roof. Now it’s crumbling – one of many such schools in rural Alaska. Bernie’s right about the morbidly wealthy.
https://www.propublica.org/article/rural-alaska-crumbling-schools-state-funding
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We’re definitely on the road to fascism. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ice-arrest-mahmoud-khalil-palestinian-activist-columbia-protests/
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“The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month because the servers were overloaded, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts. In the field, office managers have resorted to answering phones in place of receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. Amid all this, the agency no longer has a system to monitor customer experience because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJP6vRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZ5XZ0EObUJAKoD0p2c6QINZsqZ3WOwdVteLmAXQxQSbylY7i-y1NHP71g_aem_66uiLe-jJlOAqz62GsCP8A
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So far it looks like the tariffs are having the opposite effect and making it harder to build factories. https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/companies-building-new-factories-brace-for-higher-costs-eadf7db6
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When I read this I was sick to my stomach.
“The past three years have seen an explosion of U.S. factory investment, driven in part by billions of dollars in Biden administration subsidies for manufacturers…”
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Hello Diane,
I enjoy your work and just for fun, I wanted to share a “teachable moment” story with you. When my son was in high school a young woman asked him to the prom. She was cute, very smart, and on the gymnastics team. He basically put her on hold for a few weeks until he heard back from a pretty, popular and rather buxom cheerleader, who eventually accepted his offer. The first girl then discovers why he declined her offer, taps him on the shoulder one day when he was at his locker and says, “So….you were just stringing me along, huh? I was not your plan B!” Thwack!! She slapped his face and walked off.
He got no sympathy from this Mom . In fact, I told him to apologize to her, and he did. She is now a successful attorney. I’ve often teased him about choosing the wrong gal. lol!
Interesting little footnote – there was a female teacher whom he knew well who was in the near vicinity when it happened. She walked by in the immediate aftermath, while he was standing there alone, rubbing his cheek and feeling quite embarrassed. She simply stopped for a moment, smiled and said something like, “don’t worry, you’ll work through it”. I thought that was classy. It showed confidence in him to fix things with the young woman. I love the sisterhood component there as well, since the teacher deferred to the girl’s judgement that a slap was fully warranted for this transgression, without the teacher knowing the details. We women have to stick together 🙂
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Thanks, Karen.
He got over his setback.
If only all our problems were easily remedied!
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Indeed! I’m certain he never attempted to juggle women again after that episode.
I can recall one particular instance, long ago, where I administered a crisp slap on the cheek of an obtuse young man, so there is a nostalgic component of this story for me 😁
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The Sound of Silence: My Naïve Faith in LAUSD Transparency
On January 27, 2025, I submitted a public records request to the Los Angeles Unified School District. My goal was simple: to find out what effect, if any, the District’s revised protocols for teacher investigations have had since their implementation.
I assumed this was a routine matter — a parent or citizen requesting information about a major policy shift that affects thousands of educators, many of whom have suffered under vague accusations and opaque investigative processes. I thought the process would be clunky, maybe slow. But I believed the records office would respond. That was my mistake.
Over 70 business days later, I’ve received nothing. No records. No follow-up. Not even a timeline. Just a single boilerplate email citing government code and vaguely promising they’ll get around to it — someday.
I thought LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country, would have a functioning system for public accountability. I thought the California Public Records Act meant something. I thought if I followed the rules and was respectful, the institution would at least pretend to be responsive. That was my lesson in civics. And my lesson in cynicism.
What I’ve learned is this: in LAUSD, public transparency only kicks in under threat of litigation. Even journalists tiptoe around the records office like it’s a sleeping beast. Stakholders like me — people who care, people who ask questions — are not seen as partners in public education. We’re treated like a nuisance.
All I wanted was to understand how teacher investigations have changed. But it turns out, the real investigation is this:
Why does the public have to fight for information that already belongs to us?
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Hi Diane, my name is James Clark, and I’m one of your avid followers here in Portland Oregon.
You may already be familiar with his work, but I want to recommend this book:
“Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America” By Elie Mystal
It’s funny, and insightful. I think it can, and should, serve as part of the blueprint we are forming to return the United States to a functioning democracy that holds to the rule of law.
All the best,
James Clark, Ed.D
Portland Oregon
P.S. My dissertation is about activist teachers and I was asked by my instructors at one point “Does Diane Ravitch have to be in every string of citations…?” I responded with “Well…. Yes.”
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Hi, James,
Thank you for sticking with me all these years. I look forward to reading the book you recommended.
I have a new book out this October and I think you will like it.
Diane
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“Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company” | The Daily Show
I still vividly remember Tim Cook explaining why Apple manufactures iPhones in China — not because of cost, he claimed, but because the U.S. public education system no longer teaches people how to make things.
Patrick McGee’s Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company is a compelling examination of how Apple’s deep entanglement with China transformed both entities. Drawing on over 200 interviews, McGee details how Apple’s pursuit of efficiency and scale led to a massive $275 billion investment in China between 2016 and 2021—surpassing the inflation-adjusted cost of the U.S. Marshall Plan. The Washington PostVanity Fair+1Wikipedia+1
Initially attracted by China’s vast labor pool and manufacturing capabilities, Apple not only outsourced production but also transferred significant technological expertise. This collaboration inadvertently bolstered China’s own tech industry, aiding the rise of companies like Huawei and Xiaomi. Simon & Schuster+1Vanity Fair+1Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert
McGee argues that Apple’s integration into China’s economy has made it susceptible to the country’s authoritarian policies. The company has faced criticism for complying with Chinese regulations, such as removing VPN apps and storing user data locally, raising concerns about privacy and freedom of expression. The Washington Post
The book portrays Apple’s relationship with China as a Faustian bargain—while the company achieved unprecedented growth and profitability, it also became deeply reliant on a regime with contrasting values. McGee’s analysis serves as a cautionary tale about the complexities and risks of globalization in the tech industry.
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I don’t believe for a second that Apple didn’t care about the cost of labor. Chinese workers at Apple are paid wages far below our minimum wage. At their biggest factory, I recall reading years ago in The NY Times, the laborers live on site and are available for long shifts. Apple had to build nets around the factory to prevent suicides.
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The majority of Apple products, including iPhones, are assembled in China by Foxconn. While Apple works with multiple manufacturers in China, Foxconn is the largest and produces a significant portion of iPhones, according to Forbes. Other companies involved in Apple’s manufacturing in China include Pegatron, Wistron, and Luxshare Precision.
Apple does not own the companies that manufacture its products. Apple relies on contract manufacturers like Foxconn (and others) to produce its products. Apple designs its products in California, but the actual manufacturing is outsourced.
Foxconn Technology Group, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., is a publicly traded company. It has been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange since 1991 and is owned by a collective of shareholders. The founder, Terry Gou, is a major shareholder but no longer actively participates in daily management.
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The cost of living and what workers are paid in China cannot be compared to the cost of living and wages in the United States or most developed western countries.
In China, most factory workers come from rural areas and return there for holidays because that is where their families are located and most rural Chinese own their property in partnership with the government and can’t sell or take out loans on their property without approval. They also. do not have property tax like we do in the US.
China uses progressive tax rates for most types of income, meaning the tax rate increases with higher income levels.
During economic down turns in China when factory workers lose their jobs, the government usually gives them a free ticket home to their rural village.
That’s why China built one of the world’s largest and most extensive rail networks, particularly its high-speed rail network. As of 2023, the total length of China’s railway network is estimated to be around 162,000 km. A significant portion of this is dedicated to high-speed rail, with over 45,000 km of lines in service.
During the National Day holiday in China, also known as Golden Week, a massive number of people travel. Over 700 million people typically make trips during this period, including domestic and international travel. In 2024, an estimated 765 million domestic trips were made during the National Day holiday.
That why no one should plan to visit China during its Golden Week unless they to mingle with crowds like they’ve never experienced before.
I know what it’s like. Out of the nine or ten times we visited China between 1999 and 2008, as a family, we traveled extensively all over china.
We were there once for Golden Week. It’s an experience most people outside of China will never want to try again. Not because it’s dangerous, but because its almost impossible to get tickets to fly or take a train anywhere in the country unless you bought them all long before Golden Week.
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Hello Diane,
I have been doing a good bit of writing from two novels to a floundering website, paulabonnerwrites.com. I just found a LinkedIn article I wrote five years ago right as the pandemic began. I thought it was worth sharing: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/school-practitioners-perspective-reform-paul-bonner/?trackingId=VrHBK2fg0OVlqa%2BejGEOfg%3D%3D
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Read it. Great stuff, Paul.
If there is one thing on your list that I would emphasize, it is reducing class size by HALF. One simply cannot properly teach a room full of 30 K-12 students.
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I went to China and observed classrooms around 2016. They had classes of thirty, but also three teachers consisting of a master teacher, what we would call a probationary teacher, and a novice. All were working with the students. I believe, due to our cultural preference for the individual, a small classroom would be ideal. However, multiple teachers would certainly be an improvement.
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The multiple teacher thing was tried and failed before I started teaching in 1975. The high school where I ended up, which was built in the mid 1960s, for my last sixteen years in the classroom was designed for multiple classroom teaching.
When I transferred to that high school in 1989, the classrooms still had the curtain like partitions dividing the rooms, which still could be opened to allow two classrooms to work together, which would have been about 70 students with two teachers. One to teach 70 students while the other teacher was security. Good cop; bad cop.
That experiment failed horribly. A few years later, after I started teaching there, those flimsy partitions were replaced by real wood framed walls with drywall because there was too much noise from other classrooms even with the partitions closed.
Still, I heard the horror stories from teachers who were they’re during that failed experiment.
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I certainly think significantly smaller classes would be more appropriate. I only had one experience where co-teaching worked and it was because the regular ed teachers worked so well with a special ed teacher who did not limit her help in the classroom to just special needs kids. Successful use of multiple teachers in the classroom would take a significant cultural change in how we prepare teachers and operate a school. A collaborative setting with significant time for teacher interaction would be required.
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I agree with Bob. The only way to improve teaching is to reduce class sizes to 20 or less.
For two of the thirty years I was a public-school teacher, the high school where I taught was awarded a grant to try out smaller class sizes. The grant teamed two teachers to work together from different classrooms. I don’t know how many teams there were. Still, I was on one of those teams.
Those were two of the best and most rewarding teaching years I remember.
Each team had a history and English teacher. We each had 20 students. The classes were set up so the students I taught in first period, were in my partner history teacher’s class the next period, and I got his first period in second.
The history teacher’s class was in a different building. The only time we brought our students together; we met in the library. When that happened, we worked as a teacher team. There was no bad cop, good cop. With 20 students each, behavior problems were almost nonexistent.
We worked together to plan the lessons to coordinate the literature I was teaching with the era of history he was teaching.
There was a project with student presentations, that we filmed, at the end of each semester.
It was an incredibly successful experience, but it ended when the grant ran out. After that, class sizes went back to 34 averages.
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Thank you, Paul. I appreciate your sensibility, the product of experience and accumulated wisdom. Liked your comment about Japanese teachers too.
When I visited Japan many years ago–probably late 1980s–there was one teacher and 40 students. Some were attentive, some not
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I was acquainted without a US citizen and certificated teacher who taught in Japan through some sort of teacher exchange program. It may have been only for one year but I’m not sure. That was decades ago.
He said there were no behavior problems to deal with. None. He was the teacher adviser for an archery club for high school age students, who practiced with real hunting arrows at targets.
The students did all the work and monitoring. He didn’t have to go out and chaperone them when they were outside shooting those arrows.
The classrooms he worked out of were not heated during the winters. He said the students showed up dressed according and never complained about the cold. No one stayed home no matter how horrible the weather was outside and how fridge it was in the classroom.
The students were focused and paid attention. No distractions. If someone wanted to ask a question, they raised their hand and waited until they were recognized. Then they stand by their desk and ask.
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I participated in a leadership training program about ten years ago that spent significant time promoting the success of Finland and Singapore. As we sent representatives to those countries it became apparent that none of what was learned would be applied in the US. Perhaps what makes this country “exceptional” is that too often we believe there is nothing to be learned from other countries. Our obsession with individualism makes systemic change hard. The community focus of other countries is as difficult for us to discern as a foreign language.
I have a sister and daughter who work in two highly regarded independent schools. It seems to me that many of the practices they describe would work well in the public schools. Yes, those private schools are expensive and have significant resources, but many of their practices could be applied with little extra expense. Of course, smaller classes would be more expensive, but the payoff would be worth it.
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Is this your Amazon Author Page?
Amazon.com: Paul Bonner: books, biography, latest update
Is seems there’s more than one Paul Bonner author page on Amazon.
This is the other one. maybe they are both yours.
Amazon.com: Paul Bonner: books, biography, latest update
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I am not on Amazon. the manuscripts of my novels are written, but currently I’m navigating beta readers, editors, and such. My website is paulabonnerwrites.com. It’s basically a blog about my encounters with public education. I have discovered my name to be surprisingly common.
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You haven’t launched yet, then, right?
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My website is up. My creative obstinance has been at war with search engine optimization
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Let us now praise creative obstinance!!!
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Adult coloring books!!! What a creative idea!!!
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Do you know about the Kindleprenur?
Meet Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur
Dave is a major resource for indie authors at every stage of publication and marketing. His blog offers tons of free advice. He earns his money mostly from Publisher Rocket and Atticus.
Publisher Rocket is a vital marketing tool for all authors, indie or traditional. Still, I suggest learning what Publisher Rocket does for authors first. Learn how to use it for free from Dave’s blog first.
Publisher Rocket helps authors find the right genres, categories and keywords to use when publishing each book, which helps our books find the right readers.
Don’t let search engine optimization stop you. Most of that takes place after we publish, not before. In other words, search engine optimization.
Still long before Dave’s Publisher Rocket, when I belonged to the 2nd oldest writing club in the US, I took a day-long workshop back in 2009, on blogging and search engine optimization through the South Bay Branch of the California Writing Club, then launched my first blog and did every step we were taught. It took almost a year to build the search engine optimization resulting in hundreds of sales a month for my first published novel. The peak years ran from 2010 through 2013, while I was blogging full time doing what I’d learned from Bill Belew, a pro blogger, author and speaker.
That novel has had almost 60k downloads earning almost $30k over the years. Most of those orders came during the blogging years.
I dramatically slowed up blogging after 2013, so I’d have more time to write new books. To keep the search engine optimization, I had to work full time writing blog posts, posting fresh material daily to the first blog that supported the first book, historical fiction based on a real-life story set in the 19th century. Search engine optimization is a never-ending job. Once you get it, you can lose it unless you keep working on it and doing it properly.
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Thank you for the tip!
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It’s a complex world.
While some components of Apple products are made in the U.S., the majority of Apple’s products are not manufactured in the U.S.. Most Apple products, including iPhones, are assembled in China. However, Apple has been diversifying its manufacturing base and has shifted some production to countries like India and Vietnam, according to The New York Times and BBC.
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This is further evidence that tech bros are forever trying to decouple from governance. People like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are in Trump’s ear promoting the development of cities no longer beholden to the countries they exist in. There is a growing monster in Silicon Valley that is trying to use its wealth to make the rest of us irrelevant. Tim Cook may have jumped into the Chinese briar patch but he and his hubristic brethren are out to end the influence of citizens.
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Tim Cook didn’t jump into China.
That was Steve Jobs.
Jobs made that move in 2001, when Apple partnered with Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacture, to initially produce iPods.
And Foxconn has factories in China, India and the United States, with other facilities, whatever they are, in Mexico, Vietnam and Europe.
Foxconn’s plant in the US is in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin covers about one million square feet. But this facility is part of a larger complex that includes a 296,000 square-foot Smart Manufacuring center and a 34,000 square foot High Performance Computing Data Globe.
Foxconn’s plant in Wisconsin started out producing large, advanced LCD screens. That changed and it’s now producing electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems including battery cells and battery packs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic that facility produced respirators and face masks. How did they go from batteries to face masks?
Currently, Foxconn employees more than, 1,000 people in Wisconsin. That tells me the plant is automated like most factories in the US.
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On the eve of our 250th anniversary of freedom, I received this self-promoting piece of propaganda, which expects us to be grateful for the dictator and celebrate his MAGA government’s decision to stop double-dipping and taxing people on SSI income (for which they were already taxed when they first earned and contributed it to the SSI pot):
“The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.
The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation’s economy.
“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. “For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans. By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned.”
The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries, providing relief to individuals and couples. Additionally, it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, ensuring that retirees can keep more of what they have earned.
Social Security remains committed to providing timely, accurate information to the public and will continue working closely with federal partners to ensure beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them.”
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I often pass road signs that say “Work on this project was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.”
That’s Biden’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure legislation.
His name does not appear.
If Trump had passed it, it would be titled in large letters, the “Trump Infrastructure Act.”
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Yes, exactly. You can easily see how the guy with heaps of hubris, who wants everlasting credit for virtually everything he touches, or looks at, does it all for self-aggrandizement, and how he differs so significantly from people who have humility, genuine empathy and take action truly for the sake of others. Even his own peeps can’t clean that up because it would be defeating the whole point of what he does and why he does it.
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Yeah, I got it too. I almost threw up. We are witnessing the most dramatic generational transfer of wealth in American history. Instead of shoring up Social Security this will lead to its demise. If not already, younger generations will soon see boomers as the enemy and won’t lift a finger to correct this mess. I guess MAGA truly believes money grows on trees.
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This article describes the challenges of getting information from the PRA office at LAUSD. https://laist.com/news/education/los-angeles-unified-school-district-cell-phone-policy-public-records-request
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And once “they,” who support the demon and false prophet in the White House, fulfil all those prophecies, will “they” end the world with a nuclear war so “they” can all go to “their” idea of heaven?
The MAGA cult that worships trump as their “false” messiah are ALL lunatics.
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Hi Lloyd, It’s telling that the Christian Zionists who shipped the five red heifers to Israel have already disqualified them for minor imperfections. It almost seems like they don’t want the prophecy to be fulfilled.
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They fear their own prophecies might come true.
Great recruiting aids, promising total forgiveness and salvation. Even for the January 6, 2021, traitor, a lifelong liar, cheat and convicted rapist, fraud and felon, who cannot be trusted and can’t escape his eternal fait without a fake fix.
The MAGA faithful must be thinking, if he can do it, so can we. Our sins are nothing compared to his.
Trump is the poster child for armageddon.
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This is an insane story about Mike Johnson’s connection to Christian Zionists. In 2022 five red heifer’s from Texas were flown to Shiloh as pets. (The settlement in Gaza that Mike Johnson just visited). They’re trying to find the right Red Heifers so that bible prophecy can be fulfilled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JK6VtA4tag
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In September 2022, five red heifers raised by a Christian farmer in Texas were flown to Israel as part of a joint effort between the Temple Institute and the evangelical group Boneh Israel. The Temple Institute—an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Third Temple in Jerusalem—has long sought red heifers that meet the strict biblical and rabbinical requirements outlined in Numbers 19 and the Mishnah. These include being completely red, without blemish, and having never been yoked or used for labor. The arrival of the heifers sparked excitement among groups who view their appearance as a potential step toward fulfilling end-times prophecy. However, in August 2025, the Temple Institute announced that all five animals had been disqualified due to minor imperfections, such as a few non-red hairs, rendering them unsuitable for the purification ritual required to resume Temple worship.
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David,
I hadn’t heard about the Five red heifers. Truly crazy.
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The location of Ancient Shiloh is in the West Bank, not Gaza.
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Did anyone else get the following email from Gavin Newsom today? I think it’s a great idea (i.e. fighting fire with fire, as in TX gerrymandering and CA doing the same thing in response):
Gavin Newsom
gavinnewsom.com
Redistricting in California
From:info@e.gavinnewsom.com
Fri, Aug 8 at 5:19 PM
I am writing to ask you to make a contribution to help us pass new congressional maps in California. This is an important ask – so I want to explain why it’s so important.
Here is the truth:
Donald Trump knows he’s going to lose in 2026, so he is rigging the election by forcing Republican Governors like Greg Abbott to draw new congressional maps that find him more House seats. We cannot sit idly by while this happens. California is going to fight back.
In California, that requires us to go to the ballot. By doing so, we will neuter Trump’s ability to rig the system. We are getting close to final decision time. But one of the big factors is whether or not we’ll be able to fund this effort.
It’s a vote we can win, but we’re talking about flipping at least 5 House seats and further strengthening currently competitive Democratic seats.
You can imagine what Republicans will spend to stop us.
And we can’t afford to lose. Because if we lose in California, Republicans will feel as if they can redistrict whenever they want, wherever they want without fear.
It is a damn shame it’s come to this. I can’t stand these gerrymandered districts.
But Democrats can’t just sit there and act holier than thou while we watch our democracy be totally degraded.
We’re going to fight fire with fire … but it’s not something I can do alone. This isn’t a fight we can just sit back and witness. We all have a role in shaping its outcome.
So I am asking – directly:
Please make a contribution to my Campaign for Democracy PAC today. (You can do so here): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cfd-website?refcode=homepage-nav
If Greg Abbott and Donald Trump want to find five seats in Texas, then the blue state of California is going to get darker blue.
But only if you’re in this with me.
Gavin Newsom
PAID FOR BY CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY PAC
1787 Tribute Road, Suite K
Sacramento, CA 95815
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I hope Gavin finds 10 seats in CA
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Say what you will about the ethics of gerrymandering, Democratic TX legislators had a great idea and went to the right state to gain support and hide out from the vote on it back home, since gerrymandering always results in “winners and losers”:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2025/08/09/illinois-texas-trump-pritzker-gerrymandering-alden-loury
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Gerrymandering is reality.
“How Gerrymandering Tilts, the 2024 Race for the House – Skewed maps give Republicans big advantages in 11 states, mostly in the South and Midwest”
Source: How Gerrymandering Tilts the 2024 Race for the House | Brennan Center for Justice
I argue that as long as one-party germanders both must germander, which may be why “both major political parties in the United States engage in gerrymandering, which is the practice of drawing district boundaries to favor one party over the other.”
Most Gerrymandered States 2024
Utah
Texas
Lousiana
Arkansas
North Carolina
Kentucky
West Virginia
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Maryland
In the midterms, the party that wins the majority in one or both Houses of Congress will determine if the United States is still a democracy guided by the US Constitution in 2028. If the Republicans hold the majority in both Houses of Congress and Trump is still alive on January 20, 2029, he may stay in the White House, by ignoring the US Constitution with support from his Republican majority of cowards and traitors in Congress and the six fascist justices on the US Supreme Court, until the sadistic sociopath and malignant narcissist dies, which may not happen until he’s in his 90s, and he won’t turn 90 for almost 11 more years.
I’ve heard and read what Gavin says about Gerrymandering California, which isn’t a state on the above list. I understand that California will gerrymander before the 2026 midterms if red states like Texas germander another round before the next official census.
Why is this happening?
The January 6, 2021, Traitor, convicted rapist, fraud and felon, Donald (the porn Star’s John) Trump asked Texas to redistrict (using extreme gerrymandering in a state that is already heavily gerrymandered) and find five more seats for him in Congress, so the Republicans will hold on to the majority after the 2016 midterms
In the United States, redistricting, the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, is primarily governed by state law but influenced by federal requirements and court decisions.
Every 10 years following the Decennial Census: This is the most consistent and fundamental requirement. States must redraw congressional and state legislative districts based on population changes identified in the census to ensure districts have roughly equal populations. This process is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and aims to guarantee fair and proportional representation.
Potentially more frequently under specific circumstances: While the decennial census is the primary trigger, states are not explicitly prohibited from redrawing maps more often.
Court orders: If a court determines that a state’s existing maps violate federal laws, like the Voting Rights Act or constitutional provisions, they may order the state to redraw districts before the next census cycle. This happened in states like Alabama and Louisiana in 2024, according to Bloomberg Government.
State-level adjustments: Some states may choose to update districts between census years based on legislative actions or other factors, though this is less commo
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If Texas gerrymanders again, Republicans will have 30 of 38 Congressuonal districts.
They would represent 75% of the voters, even though Democrats get 45% of the vote.
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If Kash Patel sends the FBI to find the Texas legislators, will they arrest them? What crime did they commit?
If the FBI confronts the Illinois state troopers, who backs down?
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Redistricting in Illinois could soon follow (as well as in other states): https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pritzker-says-redistricting-illinois-could-happen-if-texas-continues-push/ar-AA1JXr75
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I doubt the FBI would win if Illinois Governor Pritzker has much say in the matter, because he’s an extraordinary guy who knows the ropes.
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(Pritzker has a Juris Doctor in law from Northwestern University Law School…)
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Hi Diane,
Were you aware of this? I was in a state of shock when I saw the cartoon on youtube.
Here’s the video: PragerU Kids – Leo & Layla Meet Frederick Douglass
It’s an absurd example of how the right is trying not just to censor but also to rewrite history for younger audiences. The Florida Department of Education approved some of PragerU’s videos for classroom use in 2023, sparking national controversy. I had no idea.
David Pearce
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https://tfn.org/prageru-kids-twisting-black-history/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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Thanks, David. PragerU is the brainchild of a rightwing talk-radio host, Dennis Prager. He’s making a mint selling rightwing videos to red states.
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Their depiction of Frederick Douglass made me sick to my stomach.
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Diane, Did you know that DFER is back with a new leader and agenda? I’m suspicious of this because of their past, as well as the stated intention to get “Executives” involved –as if that wasn’t done before (like with Bill Gates). What do you think?
https://michaelbhorn.substack.com/p/why-this-leader-argues-that-embracing?r=dsqm9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
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I fear we are back to the common belief that anyone (including Executives) who has been a student knows best about what is needed in schools. including the home-schooled –and instead of well trained, experienced educators, as confirmed by my doctoral research.
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BTW, when my college students would admit to having that belief (and there were many), I would tell them, “I’ve been eating food my whole life. That doesn’t mean I am a top chef today.” (They said they understood the matter then.)
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Thanks so much for summarizing the importance of public education again in/and the post by Jennifer Berkshire, today, Diane! All is very much appreciated!!!
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I think Ragnarshbhut has a new sock puppet name, Sally Jo Mae.
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Lloyd, you guessed correctly. Ragsnarbut is constantly trying to break in. He changes his name and even his IP. 98% of the time he fails.
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This troll is obsessive like the Terrible T, who does use sock puppet names. It might be horrid him.
Trump has been known to use several aliases, or “sock puppets,” to speak to the media or for legal matters. The most prominent names are John Miller and John Barron. Why not have other sock puppet names the family crime lord uses to seek revenge against anyone on his long enemies list. I’ve read that people who say “NO” to him end up on those lists. It doesn’t take much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonyms_used_by_Donald_Trump
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I don’t feed trolls.
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