September 8, 2018

The NEA weighs in on Kavanaugh

especially on his record regarding education and workers' rights.

Who Is Brett Kavanaugh?
The next Supreme Court justice must not be beholden to partisan or corporate interests. But nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation hearing begins September 4, is a Washington insider who has spent his entire life in Washington, DC, and has been tied to anti-public education and anti-labor groups for decades. If appointed, he will advance an agenda that favors the wealthy and powerful over everyday Americans.

The page at the link runs down his decisions and other activities over the past 20 years.

August 30, 2018

Enemies of the American People

These are my friends and colleagues. Rogues, all of us.
(I'm fifth row down, fourth from the right.)

August 24, 2018

John McCain Will No Longer Be Treated for Brain Cancer, Family Says

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain of Arizona, who has been battling brain cancer for more than a year, will no longer be treated for his condition, his family announced on Friday, a sign that the Republican war hero is most likely entering his final days.

“Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict,” the family said in a statement. “With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.”

Mr. McCain had been undergoing treatment since July 2017, and has been absent from Washington since December. Mr. McCain’s family has gathered in Arizona, and people close to him say his death is imminent.

From his ranch in Arizona, Mr. McCain had managed to maintain a voice in key foreign policy and military policy debates, sharply criticizing President Trump after his summit meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, an old adversary of Mr. McCain. At home, he has welcomed close friends to renew ties. But after decades as a fixture in Washington and a larger-than-life character, he had largely retreated from the public eye.



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/us/politics/john-mccain-brain-cancer.html

August 1, 2018

Limerick thread

We started this under a thread about Spanky asking Sessions to fire Mueller. Lots of creativity, so I figured we'd get one going where it was clear what we were doing. Such creativity.

Here's mine from this morning:

There once was a douchebag from Queens
Who sneaked up on near-naked teens
He wasn't elected
But instead was selected
By Putin and other Russian fiends

July 26, 2018

Mueller Examining Trump's Tweets in Wide-Ranging Obstruction Inquiry

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — For years, President Trump has used Twitter as his go-to public relations weapon, mounting a barrage of attacks on celebrities and then political rivals even after advisers warned he could be creating legal problems for himself.

Those concerns now turn out to be well founded. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Several of the remarks came as Mr. Trump was also privately pressuring the men — both key witnesses in the inquiry — about the investigation, and Mr. Mueller is examining whether the actions add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.

Mr. Mueller wants to question the president about the tweets. His interest in them is the latest addition to a range of presidential actions he is investigating as a possible obstruction case: private interactions with Mr. Comey, Mr. Sessions and other senior administration officials about the Russia inquiry; misleading White House statements; public attacks; and possible pardon offers to potential witnesses.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/politics/trump-tweets-mueller-obstruction.html

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Good.

July 4, 2018

Here's to the philosophers and writers

On July 4, it's important to remember that this is not an exclusively military holiday, despite all efforts to make it so.

Our thanks should be equally shared among the philosophers and writers who, even though they didn't live up to their own ideals, at least created a document that carried enough moral weight to energize freedom-seekers around the world.

To the power of thought and to the power of words!

July 2, 2018

Florida private schools' curriculum downplays slavery, says humans and dinosaurs lived together

From the Orlando Sentinel, but published and linked here to the St. Augustine Record

ORLANDO — Some private schools in Florida that rely on public funding teach students that dinosaurs and humans lived together, that God’s intervention prevented Catholics from dominating North America and that slaves who “knew Christ” were better off than free men who did not.

.....

The Florida Department of Education does not track the curriculum used by the 140,000 students who attend private schools on state vouchers. In fact, Florida law prohibits the department from asking about or regulating academics at these schools.

.....


In October, the Sentinel published its “Schools Without Rules” series that documented problems in some scholarship schools, including campuses that hired teachers without degrees and with criminal records, that forged fire and health inspection forms, and faced eviction midyear because they failed to pay their bills. Reporters visited 35 Central Florida private schools for that series and found 65 percent used one of the three Christian curricula.

.....

“Honestly, with our curriculum ... a certified teacher is not required,” Natasha Griffin, district superintendent of Esther’s School, which has seven campuses in Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel last year.

.....

#Floriduh

June 25, 2018

Trump's insults Updated June 2018

I'm on the list, as a any of the following: “FAKE NEWS!” “the enemy of the American People!” “FAKE NEWS” “Totally biased” “bad” “they don't have a clue!” “Dishonest!” and “very dishonest," among his greatest hits.

Where do you fall?

June 21, 2018

Pentagon Asked to Prepare Housing for Up to 20,000 Migrant Children

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday asked the Pentagon to make preparations to house as many as 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children on American military bases, a United States official said.

New, makeshift detention facilities are being envisioned to house thousands of immigrant families that are crossing illegally into the United States following President Trump’s executive order on Wednesday, which called for detaining parents and children together instead of separating them.

The request comes as federal agencies on Thursday offered competing and contradictory explanations of what was happening to immigrant families in the hours after Mr. Trump’s order, leaving it unclear where families were being held and whether they were being prosecuted.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, questioned how such a plan to house 20,000 children could work. “Is it even feasible?” he asked.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/politics/trump-immigration-border-family-separation.html

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Oy.

June 21, 2018

Audio from the future: DJT Jr. calls Hair Twitler

This is taken from a future recording of a phone call from Donald Trump Jr. to his father, Hair Agolf Twitler. A transcript is provided at the bottom for those of you at work.

Transcript:
DJT JR: "Hello, dad, I'm in jail
Hi, dad, I'm calling you from jail
Hi, dad, happy birthday
I'm in jail
Jail, jail
Hi, dad
All those years
I'm in jail now
I'm in jail
I like it here
It's nice, I like it
Hello, dad, I'm in jail
Hello, hello, dad
Hi, I'm in jail
Say hi to mom, from jail
I'm in jail
I'm gonna stay here
I like it here
I like it, yeah
Throw away the key
I'm in jail
Hello, dad, I'm in jail
Jail, jail, jail, jail."