All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[WestPhillyPunisher]

North Korea says it received a letter from Trump

You are not going to believe this....or maybe you will

No, I believe it. Trump is still hoping for his Nobel Prize by making nice with Rocketman in the vain hope he’ll give up his nukes (spoiler alert: he won’t).

[aja_christopher]

Question about privilege here. So at my community college the school promotes itself as a majorly Hispanic serving institution. However when it comes to jobs were supposed to be diversified. Yet, more recently the school has been hiring teachers that are only Hispanic over other POC teachers and teachs that are LGBTQ+, and in a lot of cases either the person they hire are unqualified (does not have a proper degree to teach the class) or is related to one of the higher administrative employees or board members.

A coworker of mine, also Hispanic, was telling me that she's wondering if the whole situation is falling under an issue of privilege. She was on a committee for picking an English teacher and the best qualified was a black teacher that used to teach at UIC, but the administration told them to pick a young lady who is Hispanic and only has a BA in English, and you need a Masters to teach this course. The reason He said to pick her was because He felt that they need teachers that look like the students to fully engage with them. She's worried that by not having a diverse enough teaching staff students won't be exposed to different types of people and it will make it harder for them to deal with non Hispanic people who are above them at work. Also she pointed out that there are a number of black and now middle eastern students who may want to see teachers like them too. Also this new English teacher they hired seems to be giving the Hispanic students an easier time than the non Hispanic students.

So I'm curious if you can have privilege for non white people if the majority of a community is non white?

Barring language barriers, I think it's a balancing act but if the teacher lacks the credentials (Masters Degree) then they shouldn't be hired.

If there is a specific reason why a Hispanic teacher should be hired, then find one with a Masters Degree who is qualified for the job -- otherwise give an opportunity to the person who already is qualified for the job regardless of background and judge them by their results.

Likewise, if said students already have a lot of Hispanic teachers, they might benefit more from having different types of teachers around if only to dispel certain prejudices -- I say that as someone who has taught bilingual Hispanic students and addressed those issues firsthand.

We always found enough common ground in drawing, music, videogames, superheroes (etc) that skin color was never an issue.

[kidfresh512]

Sen. Rand Paul tests positive for coronavirus

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for coronavirus. He is the first known U.S. senator to test positive.

“Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19. He is feeling fine and is in quarantine,” Paul wrote on twitter. “He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.”

Paul was the only senator to vote against the first round of emergency coronavirus funding.

He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends. No staff member has been in contact with Paul since his D.C. office began working remotely 10 days ago, according to the tweet.

[Jack Dracula]

Sen. Rand Paul tests positive for coronavirus

"Oh waiter, I'll have the irony with schadenfreude on the side please."

[trooper_thorn]

Attachment 94737

Twitter Link

You realize the letter says nothing about staying open right? And the tighten our belts remark is said in reference to the need for the company to be able to get up and running again once the current crisis is over.

A bit of advice for life, it's a good idea to actually read what's posted before taking a random Twitter personality's remarks as gospel truth.

[trooper_thorn]

"Oh waiter, I'll have the irony with schadenfreude on the side please."

It could be worse, he could be praising China's actions regarding the current crisis.

[Mister Mets]

As I said: "depending who you ask".

You said "depending who you ask, white privilege doesn't exist."
I'm not claiming that white privilege doesn't exist. I agree that white privilege exists.

It's not enough to focus mainly on that problem to improve overall educational outcomes.

[Malvolio]

"Oh waiter, I'll have the irony with schadenfreude on the side please."

"...and a delicious karma for dessert."

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Sen. Rand Paul tests positive for coronavirus

What goes around, comes around. In other words....KARMA, BABY!

[JackDaw]

So I'm curious if you can have privilege for non white people if the majority of a community is non white?

Far from conversant with the finer points of sociology.

But my gut feeling is “yes, of course”...there will be equivalent of “white privilege” in other societies....the dominant group in any society will very much tend to operate a set of rules that favour themselves above others.

[Mister Mets]

I have to say, it surprises me that as a teacher yourself, you need someone else to explain to you the benefits of increased funding to education. I'd also imagine you'd have a pretty good idea of where the money should be spent.

I'd also have an idea of solutions that don't require spending additional money.

What goes around, comes around. In other words....KARMA, BABY!

Will this be an acceptable response when a bad thing happens to a public figure you do like?

[aja_christopher]

You said "depending who you ask, white privilege doesn't exist."
I'm not claiming that white privilege doesn't exist.

It's not enough to focus mainly on that problem to improve overall educational outcomes.

Removing Republicans like Betsy DeVos and those who support her from power is a good way to do so.

-----
"American Federation of Teachers: Three Years of Betsy DeVos Has Been Bad for Education"

In this op-ed, members of the American Federation of Teachers explain how their union views the tenure of Education Secretary Besty DeVos on the anniversary of her 2017 confirmation.

"Betsy DeVos has been the Secretary of Education for three years, making her one of President Donald Trump’s longest-serving Cabinet members (no small feat in a cabinet with such high turnover). Who can forget her infamous Senate confirmation hearing, where she talked about grizzly bears and was confused about the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which helps special education students, or when Vice President Mike Pence cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm her appointment after she got more “no” votes than any education secretary nominee ever? How the time flies!

But in three short years, the damage she’s done is already legendary. Since her confirmation, DeVos has waged a full-blown crusade against the students and communities that her office should be serving. She has used her position as education secretary to pursue her own political agenda — protecting corporate interests at the expense of the very schools, students and educators she was appointed to protect. Her tenure is marked by repeated efforts to take away rights from teachers, protections from students, and resources from public schools; her pattern of malpractice has put the future of public education and higher education at risk.

Here are a few of the ways we’ve seen DeVos hurt students, educators, and communities during her three years in office so far:

DeVos has actively pushed for slashing the Department of Education’s budget by $9 billion. Through her tenure, she, at various times, has proposed cuts to funding for civil rights investigations, after-school and school lunch programs, and even the Special Olympics...."

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amer...ducation-op-ed

[Mister Mets]

Question about privilege here. So at my community college the school promotes itself as a majorly Hispanic serving institution. However when it comes to jobs were supposed to be diversified. Yet, more recently the school has been hiring teachers that are only Hispanic over other POC teachers and teachs that are LGBTQ+, and in a lot of cases either the person they hire are unqualified (does not have a proper degree to teach the class) or is related to one of the higher administrative employees or board members.

A coworker of mine, also Hispanic, was telling me that she's wondering if the whole situation is falling under an issue of privilege. She was on a committee for picking an English teacher and the best qualified was a black teacher that used to teach at UIC, but the administration told them to pick a young lady who is Hispanic and only has a BA in English, and you need a Masters to teach this course. The reason He said to pick her was because He felt that they need teachers that look like the students to fully engage with them. She's worried that by not having a diverse enough teaching staff students won't be exposed to different types of people and it will make it harder for them to deal with non Hispanic people who are above them at work. Also she pointed out that there are a number of black and now middle eastern students who may want to see teachers like them too. Also this new English teacher they hired seems to be giving the Hispanic students an easier time than the non Hispanic students.

So I'm curious if you can have privilege for non white people if the majority of a community is non white?

White privilege being a nationwide problem doesn't eliminate the possibility of other forms of favoritism within institutions.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Will this be an acceptable response when a bad thing happens to a public figure you do like?

When a public figure I like acts the asswipe like Paul, then yeah, I will. Don’t you DARE think you and your shitstain party can hold the moral high ground.

[Jack Dracula]

"...and a delicious karma for dessert."

Heh. "Just Desserts for Ron Paul."