All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

What pisses me off about this story is the idiot judge. Fellows was repeatedly belligerent and has flouted every rule that was put down before him when he was granted bail, but it took three tries from the Prosecutor before the judge would finally revoke his bail.



Benefit of the doubt. If Fellows had been black, that judge would have thrown him in a hole and buried the hole at his first hearing.

DING DING DING!! White privilege at it's most obscene. A person of color would NEVER have gotten bail, period, full stop, end of story.

[worstblogever]

https://news.yahoo.com/west*********...174541826.html



Oh WBE-Eee, etc.



....west V-i-r-g-i-n-ia is now running afoul of the censor. xD

Clocked Jeffries about a week ago.

[Kirby101]

And we are kept being told the Republicans are not trying to stop the teaching about racial relations and Civil Rights in this country.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/social...n-civil-rights

Among the figures whose works would be dropped: Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King Jr., whose “I Have a Dream"speech and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” would no longer make the curriculum cut.

...

That law included a list of historic figures, events and documents required for inclusion in social studies classes. The Senate-passed bill would remove most mentions of people of color and women from those requirements, along with a requirement that students be taught about the history of white supremacy and “the ways in which it is morally wrong.”

Sounds like they want to go back to the days of history being about a bunch of white men.

[Tami]

And we are kept being told the Republicans are not trying to stop the teaching about racial relations and Civil Rights in this country.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/social...n-civil-rights




Sounds like they want to go back to the days of history being about a bunch of white men.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate, said in a statement after the vote that “Senate Bill 3 will make certain that critical race philosophies including the debunked 1619 founding myth, are removed from our school curriculums statewide.”

“Parents want their students to learn how to think critically, not be indoctrinated by the ridiculous leftist narrative that America and our Constitution are rooted in racism,” Patrick said.

This is mind blowingly Insane. Especially the part about 'think critically' when everything about this bill is all about 'ignore the facts and only think what we want you to think'

[Mister Mets]

Pence really oughta accept that a presidential run isn't going to work for him, and just bring Trump crashing down with him.

Man up and revenge up at the same time

It would probably be the best for his reputation, for the Republican party and for America.

His chances of being President are low. Trump may run again in the primary, and DeSantis is outpolling Pence right now anyway.

He has always been quite disciplined, so that can be useful in making a message against Trump that aims to persuade his fans rather than please the people who were already never going to vote for Trump.

[Malvolio]

This is mind blowingly Insane. Especially the part about 'think critically' when everything about this bill is all about 'ignore the facts and only think what we want you to think'

They used to tell us that we don't need to talk about racism because it's all in the past. Now it seems they want to pretend it didn't even exist in the past, at least not enough to have an effect on American history.

[Tami]

N.J. teacher resigns after student’s Hitler assignment

A New Jersey elementary school teacher will resign and a principal will be reinstated following a school board investigation into an incident involving a student who wrote an essay in Adolf Hitler’s point of view and later dressed as Hitler for an assignment.

On Monday at a school board meeting, the board voted to accept the teacher’s resignation after the unnamed teacher was on leave of absence since May. The board also reinstated Principal Jennifer Ferrara to Maugham Elementary School, reported NorthJersey.com.

The online outrage began when a photo of the student’s report hanging in the school’s hallway was posted on social media in late May. The teacher and principal were put on paid leave during the superintendent’s investigation of the assignment.

Ferrara spoke at the board meeting and expressed her regrets, the website said.

School board President Jocelyn Schwarz said the administration will work with Ferrara to provide an easy transition and “foster a safe and learning environment.”

Hitler assignment: Give N.J. teachers more guidance | Letters

I read the recent article, “N.J. teacher resigns after student’s Hitler assignment,” about an unnamed elementary teacher in Tenafly whose student prepared an essay from Adolf Hitler’s point of view. The essay was posted in a school hallway and later on social media.

As a now-retired history teacher of 60 years in New Jersey parochial and public schools, I can testify to the pressures of teaching the Holocaust and the Black experience. And, I had specialized training in these topics. Still, I faced threats from parents, students and administrators when “touchy” subjects came up in class.

State mandates for teaching the Holocaust and Black history have been in place for decades. Yet, there are no reliable standards, uniform training or widely accepted sources of guidance on how to do this. This is a recipe for more problems and mediocre efforts.

At a minimum, I suggest the state Department of Education design a test for new social studies teachers to gauge their training and knowledge of sensitive topics. There should be another test for students to assess their understanding of the levels of discrimination and its consequences.

A task force of teachers and civil rights advocates should develop these meaningful evaluative tools, which would be very valuable to teachers and students.

[Mister Mets]

And we are kept being told the Republicans are not trying to stop the teaching about racial relations and Civil Rights in this country.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/social...n-civil-rights




Sounds like they want to go back to the days of history being about a bunch of white men.

This is mainly amendments to a bill passed last month, where it wasn't clear if a section was a list of exemplar topics or mandatory topics. There was some pushback because more mandatory material limits teachers of survey classes.

Every teacher is still free to teach the material of Susan B Anthony, Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez.

https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87...pdf#navpanes=0

The question of what's mandatory to cover is a tougher one.

It's obviously not ideal that rushed legislation on sensitive topics was worded in a vague way.

[Tami]

Graham says he'd "leave town" to prevent Democrats from passing their $3.5 trillion reconciliation package

Only thing is

If Graham left town, he couldn’t stop the bill’s passage if all 50 Dems vote for it. He would just be recorded as absent. And Harris wouldn’t have to break the tie.

Then there is this

Lindsey Graham floats Senate GOP leaving Washington, DC to deny a quorum for Democratic infrastructure bill

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday suggested that Senate Republicans could grind the upper chamber to halt to by denying Democrats a quorum to pass a possible $3.5 trillion infrastructure package through the budget reconciliation process.

During an interview with host Maria Bartiromo on the Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures," the South Carolina Republican floated the idea of skipping town to block a Democratic bill, making a reference to Texas House Democrats, who left the state to deny Republicans a quorum on a restrictive voting bill that they fervently oppose.

A bipartisan group of senators last month struck a tentative deal with the White House for a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package that focuses on roads and bridges.

However, Democrats are also seeking to pass a separate infrastructure package, which would feature other infrastructure priorities focused on childcare, clean energy, and education.

[Tami]

‘They Just Left Us’: Greece Is Accused of Setting Migrants Adrift at Sea

ABOARD A TURKISH COAST GUARD VESSEL — Wet and shaken, women and children were pulled aboard the Turkish patrol boat first, then the men and more children.

A 7-year-old girl in striped leggings, Heliah Nazari, shivered uncontrollably as she was set down on the deck. An older woman retched into a plastic bag.

They were two of 20 asylum seekers from Afghanistan who had been drifting in the dark, abandoned in rudderless rafts for four hours before the Turkish Coast Guard reached them.

Just hours earlier they had been resting in a forest on the Greek island of Lesbos when they were caught by Greek police officers who confiscated their documents, money and cellphones and ferried them out to sea.

“They kicked us all, with their feet, even the children, women, men and everyone,” said Ashraf Salih, 21, recounting their story. “They did not say anything, they just left us. They weren’t humane at all.”

The Turkish Coast Guard officials described it as a clear case — rarely witnessed by journalists — of the illegal pushbacks that have now become a regular feature of the dangerous game of cat and mouse between the two countries over thousands of migrants who continue to attempt the sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands as a way into Europe.

Since a mutual agreement broke down last year, Turkey and Greece have been at loggerheads over how to deal with the continuing flow of migrants along one of the most frequented routes used since the mass movement boomed in 2015.

Then, one million migrants, mostly Syrians fleeing the war in their country, led the surge into Europe. The flow is much reduced — 40,000 have arrived by sea into Europe so far this year — but it is now dominated by Afghans, raising fears that the escalating conflict there and the American withdrawal of troops could bring larger numbers.

For more than a year, Turkey has turned a blind eye to the migrants, allowing them to try the sea crossing to Greece. That country has resorted to expelling migrants forcibly, disabling their boats and pushing them back to Turkey when they are caught at sea.

Increasingly, Greece is even removing asylum seekers who have reached its islands, forcing them into life rafts and towing them into Turkish waters, as the compassion many Greeks had shown during earlier waves of migration has given way to anger and exhaustion.

The tactic of so-called pushbacks has been roundly denounced by refugee organizations and European officials as a violation of international law and of fundamental European values. The Greek government denies that it has pushed back any migrants, while insisting on its right to protect its borders.

[Kirby101]

So nothing to see in Texas, no attack on voting, or education or Women's rights. Move along, nothing going on there.

[Tendrin]

So nothing to see in Texas, no attack on voting, or education or Women's rights. Move along, nothing going on there.

They're also definitely not removing native history, and also definitely not striking the need to teach about white supremacy being morally wrong too. <3

https://twitter.com/lindstorian/stat...28739367219202

[Tami]

They're also definitely not removing native history, and also definitely not striking the need to teach about white supremacy being morally wrong too. <3

https://twitter.com/lindstorian/stat...28739367219202

Conservative activists in Texas have shaped the history all American children learn - October 19, 2020

Many Americans believe students directly absorb whatever is written in their textbooks. That makes the stakes over what gets into these books on science, health or history immensely high — an entire generation of Americans stands to be indoctrinated. That perspective, at least, has been the sense of conservative activists in Texas, who for decades have campaigned for more “patriotic” books to ensure the next generation of voters receive, as they see it, the right message.

Since the late 1960s, these activists have become increasingly adept at shaping the character of school history texts. Because of the size of Texas’ textbook market, their activism influenced what was taught to all American children. For publishers, it was not economically viable to write one book to appease campaigners in Texas and a different version to sell elsewhere. The result: Students across the country got books that told U.S. history from the perspective of a small group of White, God-fearing, conservative Texans. Over 20 years, textbook activists shifted the meaning of “patriotic history” from a postwar liberal consensus to a right-wing, colorblind, heteronormative, nationalist retelling of the American story — one that persists today.

[numberthirty]

That one kinda comes with a side of "Tail Chasing..." though.

Guessing at the age of most folks who post in this thread, I'm pretty sure that we can safely assume that each of those folks came up in the "Classic Coke..." era of the "White..." version of history being taught.

Accounting for that reality?

How many of those folks even seem like they have never really second guessed that whole aspect of what they were taught?

[Tami]

That one kinda comes with a side of "Tail Chasing..." though.

Guessing at the age of most folks who post in this thread, I'm pretty sure that we can safely assume that each of those folks came up in the "Classic Coke..." era of the "White..." version of history being taught.

Accounting for that reality?

How many of those folks even seem like they have never really second guessed that whole aspect of what they were taught?

As you inferring that people reconsider/learn differently/critically evaluate what they learned in school as they grow up?

Well, some do, and some don't. It's rare for it to happen in communities entrenched in a single idea and determined to never teach their children otherwise.

Bottom line, we can't always assume that the truth comes out eventually.