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

[Gray Lensman]

Schools need more funding in general.

I benefitted from taking advanced classes from first grade forward -- the vast majority of those classes were anywhere from 3-10 students with an average of six to eight per class. My favorite was an advanced math class in seventh grade that was only three students -- I won more awards in science, literature and math contests (academic decathlons) under that one teacher than almost all the others because he was able to counsel me directly and encourage me to do more than just coast through school on my gifts alone.

The largest classes were always the ones I benefitted from the least.

The biggest benefit I had is probably my 10th grade world history class. The same teacher also taught the 1/2 year 12th grade course in economics. The man came from Pittsburgh, but I am pretty sure his family either fled the Iron Curtain or those nasty events that happened some years earlier (He was fluent in German, and taught it in the Upward Bound summer program despite his own school only offering French and Spanish).

His biggest thing was trying to make sure his students questioned authority and would think for themselves, even going so far as to give out blatantly false information himself or trying to catch students attempting to bedazzle with 'fake it till you make it' bullshit. One of his sets of notes he had us copy mentioned the medieval 'surfs' (yes, it was spelled like that) inventing the boogie board. I was the only person in class not to write that one down. Or, right after explaining the causes of the French Revolution, who supported and opposed and why, asked a girl who was in line to eventually be the class Valedictorian at the time 'Why did the nobility support the Revolution?' and she attempted to fake it - she wasn't anywhere close to her previous position when she escaped from his classroom.

He even offered a points directly to your quarterly average if you would read certain novels and turn in a report - things like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, All Quiet on the Western Front, and other books that led to one questioning the narratives fed to you by those in charge.

[aja_christopher]

The biggest benefit I had is probably my 10th grade world history class. The same teacher also taught the 1/2 year 12th grade course in economics. The man came from Pittsburgh, but I am pretty sure his family either fled the Iron Curtain or those nasty events that happened some years earlier (He was fluent in German, and taught it in the Upward Bound summer program despite his own school only offering French and Spanish).

His biggest thing was trying to make sure his students questioned authority and would think for themselves, even going so far as to give out blatantly false information himself or trying to catch students attempting to bedazzle with 'fake it till you make it' bullshit. One of his sets of notes he had us copy mentioned the medieval 'surfs' (yes, it was spelled like that) inventing the boogie board. I was the only person in class not to write that one down. Or, right after explaining the causes of the French Revolution, who supported and opposed and why, asked a girl who was in line to eventually be the class Valedictorian at the time 'Why did the nobility support the Revolution?' and she attempted to fake it - she wasn't anywhere close to her previous position when she escaped from his classroom.

He even offered a points directly to your quarterly average if you would read certain novels and turn in a report - things like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, All Quiet on the Western Front, and other books that led to one questioning the narratives fed to you by those in charge.

I had an art teacher like that -- I usually clash with art teachers because I don't like being told how to art but he knew how to critique my work.

I had a lot of memorable teachers in grade school -- especially English teachers -- but I saw the exact opposite in college when I started taking classes with anywhere from 50-100 students in them. There were a lot of excellent teachers but without the ability to focus on individual instruction and specific areas of interest their effectiveness was diluted to the point where it felt as if you were just watching them teach more than participating in the educational process.

I expected better from a top-ranked private university but many of those schools are more guilty of packing classes for profit than public schools.

That said, public schools need more funding if only to give many of those teachers the raises and standard of living that they deserve and smaller classes so they can ensure that every student gets the attention that they require, as that is a fundamentally life-changing experience.

A nation that won't invest in it's children -- and those adults who want to continue their education -- is a nation without a future in an increasingly scientific and techonological world.

[4saken1]

Washington mayor christens ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza’ outside White House

trump must be fuming.

video here

What are the odds that Trump will alter his flight path in and out of DC so that he doesn't have to see it?

[ed2962]

Gerry Conway asking for black creators to help him reclaim the appropriation of the Punisher symbol from violent cops

https://twitter.com/gerryconway/stat...53398440652800

[Jack Dracula]

I literally had a woman I've worked with at weekend festivals online warn against defunding the police because "it will certainly lead to Sharia Law taking over like has happened in Minnesota", and when we pointed out that theocracy is why Muslim immigrants in Minnesota fled their own countries to get away from, that the First Amendment assures no religious doctrine can be made law exclusively for that purpose, and that a 5% minority isn't going to take over a state ...

She followed by telling folks that "Muslims aren't to be trusted because they're the ones who assassinated JFK".

Like... was there a Osama bin Laden sighting on the Zapruder film, or...? I have no idea where the f*** she was even coming or going with that stuff. I read a lot of nutty conspiracy theories, but I'd never seen Islamophobia on the JFK assassination until 2 days ago. Also, how the f*** do you even get to Islam destroying America from expecting higher standards and less militarization of police? Like, do you think cops are searching mosques...?

I'm trying to not think about it, but it's so stupid I just keep coming back to it to try to figure out how a woman who seems so reasonable in passing could be such a deranged bigot.

Someone from our local Beer and Philosophy group dropped into our conversation the theory that George Soros is funding Antifa. He's a Conservative whom I've known for years to be level-headed, thoughtful and willing to consider other ideas. I don't know what the heck is happening to people. It's like subliminal brain-washing.

[Tami]

Because President Trump didn't wear a mask when he toured a Puritan Medical Products factory, the company "will have to discard the swabs" it manufactured on the day he visited.

Twitter Link

Where ever trump goes, what ever he does, he destroys everything in his path.

[worstblogever]

She's probably talking about Sirhan Sirhan who killed a Kennedy.

She got her Kennedys crossed. Among other things.

[worstblogever]

Twitter Link

Where ever trump goes, what ever he does, he destroys everything in his path.

He's a BlunderJuggernaut.

[Celgress]

Heartbreaking

[Tami]

In Klamath Falls, Oregon, victory declared over antifa, which never showed up

About 200 protesters came to Sugarman’s Corner, the local hotspot in downtown Klamath Falls, Oregon, last Sunday night to protest the killing of George Floyd.

Like in many of the protests that have recently sprung up in cities across the United States,the group was made up of white, black and Latino people, members of the Native AmericanKlamath Tribes, and the LGBTQ community; a diverse coalition in a county of 68,000 where 9 out of every ten residents are white, according to Census estimates. They held signs, many of which have become common during recent protests: "Black Lives Matter" and "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Though it was a small gathering, they had company.

Just across the street, hundreds of their mostly white neighbors were there for decidedly different reasons. They leaned in front of local businesses The Daily Bagel and Rick's Smoke Shop wearing military fatigues and bulletproof vests, with blue bands tied around their arms. Most everyone seemed to be carrying something: flags, baseball bats, hammers and axes. But mostly, they carried guns.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Twitter Link

Where ever trump goes, what ever he does, he destroys everything in his path.

And even worse....he doesn’t care. Sure, it would’ve been easy for the company to refuse Trump entry unless he wore a mask, but they didn’t have the balls to do that. So far, no one has. Saying no to the president is bad enough from a public relations standpoint, saying no to a thin skinned and petty demagogue who has no compunction against slamming anyone on Twitter who refuses him out of spite would be suicide.

[Robotman]

Gerry Conway asking for black creators to help him reclaim the appropriation of the Punisher symbol from violent cops

https://twitter.com/gerryconway/stat...53398440652800

I think it’s far too late for that. The Punisher symbol has become a favorite of gun nuts and white nationalists. Obviously people who have never read the comic but just like the idea of a white man with a gun cleaning up the streets and taking out “thugs”. It’s like a NRA wet dream.

[InformationGeek]

Hey WBE! I got another jackass for you to profile! Meet Errol Webber, fighting for CA-37. He's going after the greatest enemy right now.... SESAME STREET!!!!!

CNN started these Sesame Street Town Halls to braiwash children during the coronavirus.

Now they’ve moved from health town halls to racism town halls.

Are we cool with CNN brainwashing our kids? https://t.co/DQoq41BlXz

He's also a huge prick elsewhere.

Seriously, Greta?

Now you’re an expert in this subject too?

I wish I had been so accomplished at 17 to be a climatologist, epidemiologist and police policy expert all before graduating high school... https://t.co/dzHvAICieO

Name one positive thing that Barack Obama did for black people!

Seriously, why hasn't @IlhanMN been arrested for immigration fraud?

And this is just from his Twitter within the past 24 hours. I doubt he has a chance at winning but wow is he something.

[sammy_hansen]

I think it’s far too late for that. The Punisher symbol has become a favorite of gun nuts and white nationalists. Obviously people who have never read the comic but just like the idea of a white man with a gun cleaning up the streets and taking out “thugs”. It’s like a NRA wet dream.

My knowledge of the Punisher is limited, going of mostly the Netflix shows. What is his motivation? Is it unreasonable for him to go after racist cops? Or is it time for an anti-Punisher character who takes down Frank Castle?

[aja_christopher]

"The Racist Roots of American Policing: From Slave Patrols to Traffic Stops"

"There are two historical narratives about the origins of American law enforcement.

Policing in southern slave-holding states had roots in slave patrols, squadrons made up of white volunteers empowered to use vigilante tactics to enforce laws related to slavery. They located and returned enslaved people who had escaped, crushed uprisings led by enslaved people and punished enslaved workers found or believed to have violated plantation rules.

The first slave patrols arose in South Carolina in the early 1700s. As University of Georgia social work professor Michael A. Robinson has written, by the time John Adams became the second U.S. president, every state that had not yet abolished slavery had them. Members of slave patrols could forcefully enter anyone’s home, regardless of their race or ethnicity, based on suspicions that they were sheltering people who had escaped bondage.

The more commonly known precursors to modern law enforcement were centralized municipal police departments that began to form in the early 19th century, beginning in Boston and soon cropping up in New York City, Albany, Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

The first police forces were overwhelmingly white, male and more focused on responding to disorder than crime.

As Eastern Kentucky University criminologist Gary Potter explains, officers were expected to control a “dangerous underclass” that included African Americans, immigrants and the poor. Through the early 20th century, there were few standards for hiring or training officers.

Police corruption and violence – particularly against vulnerable people – were commonplace during the early 1900s. Additionally, the few African Americans who joined police forces were often assigned to black neighborhoods and faced discrimination on the job. In my opinion, these factors – controlling disorder, lack of adequate police training, lack of nonwhite officers and slave patrol origins – are among the forerunners of modern-day police brutality against African Americans.

Jim Crow laws

Slave patrols formally dissolved after the Civil War ended. But formerly enslaved people saw little relief from racist government policies as they promptly became subject to Black Codes. For the next three years, these new laws specified how, when and where African Americans could work and how much they would be paid. They also restricted black voting rights, dictated how and where African Americans could travel and limited where they could live.

The ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868 quickly made the Black Codes illegal by giving formerly enslaved blacks equal protection of laws through the Constitution. But within two decades, Jim Crow laws aimed at subjugating African Americans and denying their civil rights were enacted across southern and some northern states, replacing the Black Codes.

For about 80 years, Jim Crow laws mandated separate public spaces for blacks and whites, such as schools, libraries, water fountains and restaurants – and enforcing them was part of the police’s job. Blacks who broke laws or violated social norms often endured police brutality.

Meanwhile, the authorities didn’t punish the perpetrators when African Americans were lynched. Nor did the judicial system hold the police accountable for failing to intervene when black people were being murdered by mobs...."

https://***************.com/the-raci...c-stops-112816