AMERIKA seems within reach and I see right-wing media having played an enormous role in this…….how do we ever get it to disappear? Oh,and abolishing the Dept. of Education…..that ought to be helpful! And, and, and……
You're right. It's awful. If you haven't already, download and preserve personal key documentation like this as part of your grab bag contents. You may want to print a copy or two and store separately. Get other affairs in order, e.g. power of attorney, advance directives, other legal and financial instruments needed to avoid probate.
I know this sounds like doom-mongering and I'm sorry. But, if needed, your survivors will appreciate you even more. It's also good to build up some key household supplies since price instability may be growing. Hurricanes and runs on toilet paper are paired this way!
States set the education standards on what needs to be covered in public schools. The individual school districts in the state choose the curriculum that will be taught in their district schools. What math & science programs will be used &@which level: Pre-K thru High School. What reading & writing program will be used @ which grade level. The federal government does not choose those things.
What you don’t seem to understand is that the Department of Education provides funding for Title I schools and for students with disabilities. In addition to funding, they also provide oversight to make sure that these schools and students are treated equitably. I taught, by choice, for 38 years in Title I schools and was proud that students with IEPs were often placed in my classroom because of the teaching methods I used. I know firsthand how much difference this federal funding and oversight make. I also taught children of migrant workers, and my goodness, the success stories I could tell you because of the special programs funded by the DoEd.
Thank you. Teachers are the cornerstone of our very foundation. It's sad and outrageously unfair how badly they are treated and disrespected in this country. And to now have a president leading the assault is an absolute abomination.
My daughter is very disabled (ASD, Schizoaffective Disorder, severe ADHD, a 30% lag in her temporal lobe so executive decision making is both to zero, language processing disorder (probably from her brain lag)…so I’m all too familiar. Our state stinks when it comes to helping children/adults with disabilities. It’ll stink more, now. Plus, she’ll lose her disability and getting her meds will be terribly difficult.
Oh, no! That is terrible. Luckily, I moved to Switzerland 50 years ago and my grandchild who is high on the autism spectrum has good medical support and attends a wonderful special school. Later, he will probably move into a home with professional care. BUT That is what you get if you move to a rotten Marxist country like Switzerland. Ha, ha! I wish my irony was funny, but it is sad.
I did a student work/live in Switzerland many years ago. what a progressive and wonderful country! The educational system was remarkable. The US is beginning to loo like a third-world country, compared to educational and social standards of Switzerland and most European nations.
I’m sorry that Texas does things different than WI, but your response is frankly rude & inappropriate!! Education is DONE BY STATES, they choose how Public Education will be run! I am happy to be born, raised in WI, as my husband & I plus our kids/ grandkids got a great education, as we choose a great school district for them to live in. My grandkids that are in Michigan & their parents chose an area w/ great schools! If Texas schools are ALL so bad, I WOULD MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE OR @ least ANOTHER CITY!!
Texas’ choice of textbooks dictates what textbooks are bought by all the states. Texas is the biggest buyer of textbooks so it controls the market of what is printed and sold throughout the country. I don’t live in TX. I’m willing to bet that textbooks in WI are the same ones sold in TX. And if they’re not, many, many other states and school districts by what Texas buys.
I ‘m not sure why all states would have to buy the textbooks that Texas chooses to print. But as I’m retired & was an elementary teacher, other than the 3 yrs I taught 5th grade we didn’t
I was an elementary school teacher, not the purchaser of textbooks. Elementary children don’t have TEXTBOOKS! The teachers choose paperback reading books for their classroom libraries & to use in reading groups. Our science program was hands on activities - that did NOT REQUIRE TEXTBOOKS! Grades 1-3 had hands on science experiments & we did not teach social studies. That was taught in 4th & 5th grade. And the 3-4 yrs I taught 4th & 5th grade we did have Math, Science & Soc St Textbooks.
I didn’t teach middle or high school so have no idea what textbooks they may or may have not used!!
Scroll back up to Betty's comment to see JUST ONE example of what DOE does. Her grandchild deserves the best education , despite her disabilities. Fuck your "rude" remark.
...but on the federal level the education department does much more than that. Do your own homework on that one. The Space NAZI sweeping in and decimating ANY government agency based on some bullshit made-up number is NOT the answer to anything. I WATCHED THE MEETING WHERE ORANGE HITLER TOLD HIS CABINET THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WILL DETERMINE WHERE THE COST SAVINGS WILL COME.. But of course, he turned to E-Don Muskratshit and in his net breath told him he's doing a great job.
The democrats should have intervened in broadcast licenses a lkng time ago, simply passing a law that you can’t call yourself a “news” channel if you put forth constant untrue statements. It also would help all around if they required “news” channels to be at least 60% actual reporting of events and no more than 30% commentary. Ie faux and friends and hegseth and company wouldn’t be allowed to just opine meaningless bs all day. When CNN started, and for years after, it was largely headline news, sports news, international news, etc, with a handful of prominent analysts and commentators like wolf blitzer … I like MSNBC myself, but they rarely cover day to day non political events, unless some regular presenter show brings them up, usually as part of a general argument on their position. Like Modi is doing bad things in India- that might be covered when he climbs into bed with Trump, but it’s ignored the rest of the time, as a story of its own. It’s messed up that Americans increasingly look at Al Jazera or English sources like the Guardian, BBC, or Canadian news outlets for world general news and information. All the anger around Trump administration security violations- has there been any reporting on the terrible earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand? Almost none.
The Destructionists are picking off the media, one by one. Soon it will be whole clumps, by threat and appeasement or by direct assault. CNN is already Fox Lite. MSNBC is sliding (staff cuts, program changes, guest times cut to nothing, long redundant monologues, blah, blah, blah. And, yes, this is not new, they've been chipping away for a very long time. It's the topic of my latest post https://redslider.substack.com/p/they-are-coming-for-the-truth-tellers
Dept of Ed is what helps provides special help paying for specialized teachers, therapists, etc for students w/disabilities both physical & cognitive- & teacher’s aides for autistic students that are integrated into the regular classroom. Some autistic students are quiet & some are very studious like Baron. Others can be quite disruptive & can even physically attack classmates & teachers without provocation. I was an elementary teacher for 25 yrs teaching 1st, 3rd & 5th grade in WI. And over those yrs. my classroom was the placement for autistic students. One of my autistic student’s mother was a classroom aide for many yrs in my classroom, after her son was no longer in my class. She was very open w/ things to try to help students adapt to being in regular education classes.
Keep your eye on the ball, folks. The Dept. of Ed, is just a small obstacle being removed from the field of play. The real game is to take over and privatize all of American education. The even larger game is to hollow out the minds of our children and replace them with compliant clones filled with the nonsense of fascist, white supremacist, Christian nationalist hogwash. That makes the dynasties of fascist kings and the Axis of Despots a permanent feature of the American landscape, as each corrupted child's mind grows up and teaches their own children the same. That's how racism has endured for 160 years after the civil war. It's no secret. Blueprints right there in the text of Project 2025. Keep your eyes on Hillsdale College, Patriot Mobile and Academica Educational Mgmt Co. They are the little noticed spearheads of the takeover, already fairly far along in their plans to capture and destroy our public education system.
You've got that right, PRIVATIZE EVERYTHING! That is the essence of Project 2025. Privatize it all, our fire departments, police, prisons, public health, welfare, you name it. Anything that has a name and they can put a $-sign on. Even those little notices of "compassion" in those drug ads that say "If you can't afford this medication, so-and-so can make special arrangements to...blah, blah, blah." That is just a step away from taking over welfare and privatizing decisions about who qualifies and is worthy of special medical support. It leaves a public responsibility in the hands of private individuals, and their profit motives, to decide who qualifies to live, or who will be left to die.
Yep of some States like Texas, Ohio are really push it as well. Trump first crack pot Secretary Of DOE was pushing for Profit schools DeVoes billionaires from Charter Schools. I find it Disgusting they only think of the upper echelons of society. Take that to states like Mississippi, South Carolina etc there will be No Schools. These people are nothing but greedy self centered asses.
Not quite. They are also thinking of the lower echelons in their schemes to dismantle education and destroy the public education system. The lower echelons are the graduates of their ideological cloning factories which they plan to (have been) stuffing into civil service, legal, medical, teaching and other professions to change the entire character of the country into an extremist, anti-democratic landscape. Vouchers and Charter Schools are just part of that agenda for bleeding public schools of needed funds and capturing or dismantling them. www.poems4change.org/essays/education-end-of-evolution.pdf
People always have the right to send their children to private or parochial schools if that’s what they want to do, although the state is not required to pay for that schooling, the FAMILY pays their child’s tuition!
The voucher , and later 'charter schools', ideas were schemes developed by the far-right after they had hijacked the private religious schools' archipelago and turned it into cloning factories for their extremist ideology. It was a design intended to divert educational funds to their own agenda and bleed the public school systems of badly needed money. It was an effective tactic and still is. www.poems4change.org/essays/education-end-of-evolution.pdf
Ironically, now that the capture and dismantling of public education by the Destructionists appears to be succeeding it may be Progressives and the more enlightened who will need to turn to 'home schooling' and their handful of private schools (Montessori, et al) to protect the minds of their children. We ignored what the Destructionists were doing, and never bothered to really build a private liberal education system.
Could be, we have some knucklehead in WI that’s running for state Superintendent of schools… doesn’t have a WI Teaching License, and wants to change everything to charter schools. For those who want that or parochial schools that’s fine to make that choice, but taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for that!
When I 1st went to college, I chose a state college & in the end didn’t graduate from there as I could never get the classes I needed to become a teacher- so I dropped out & got a job working …. Fast forward after getting married & having 4 kids I chose to go back to college 25 yrs. later, only this time chose a private college - graduated, became a teacher & 10 yrs later went afterschool & weekends & got my Master’s Degree!
Not just education. We are moving at record pace for project 2025. Next phase remove dissent. The military parade will be to flex his dictatorship as war with foreign places and us here at home is used to invoke fear. It will be the goerge Floyd protests x1000 as he sends the proud boys again to tear up the cities and mobilize the use of military, prison us as if we were the ones causing stir. Hes done this all before. He knows it will work.. It may be too late to stop. But we must slow and mobilize together, be ready for the war.
Agreed. handing over unlimited power to a Mad King means exactly that. Taking complete control of dissent and the flow of information is at the top of an autocrat’s priorities. That was the topic of a recent @Thom Hartmann report, and my last substack post: https://redslider.substack.com/p/they-are-coming-for-the-truth-tellers . State-run, controlled media is its primary mission. Once achieved, it’s pretty much game-over.
Anna is now 38 yo. There was no autistic support in our district
when she was little and in all these years I’ve been her primary teacher and guide. We were told she’d never speak in full sentences, grad high school, or attend college. She communicates fairly well, got her GED, and attended college but it just wasn’t for her. There’s no help. I get no respite. I’ve not had a day off in over 15 yrs and I’m
exhausted. If we could afford to move out we would.
So glad to hear that she is able to communicate now & wish you both the best. In the community that I live in ( West Bend, WI) we have an organization called “The Threshold”. It was started by a number of moms, many years ago that were looking for a respite for family members that were challenged. They have a center for people that are both physically, mentally & verbally challenged. A handicapped bus picks up & takes home those who need assistance, so that their caregiver can have a respite when needed. Not sure where you live, but wondering if there’s something like that in your area.
You are a hero! Do you have the energy to ask online Autism support groups to rally and lobby Congress? Some already do that. Perhaps you already have done so, or are too exhausted. Your story has power and could add significantly to the fight for Autism Awareness and services. Hang in there!
Yep. We have to stop this craziness I know some read state Gov are love this but many aren’t but their scared of this weak man one day confrontation he’d run. As most people like TRUMP THEIR WEAK. MUSK HAS MONEY SO HE HIRES BULLIES. I met these type of people weak have no re
People like you and that mom you spoke of have saved many lives from being blighted by autism. Thank you for all you have done for these very special students.
I keep waiting for him to choke on a hot dog, be hit by lightening on his golf course, or since he doesn’t walk the course, & gets very little physical exercise other than walking to the table/car prolly a massive heart attack!
Then Jay Dee YEHAWW Couchpoker is presuhdint abd the country collapses because he can't threaten anyone on the same level. Best wish the next Big Mac Attack occurs when they are all on the same plane.
As a public school teacher I served on a district committee to choose or replace textbooks. Sat through many sales meetings from companies whose actual knowledge and textbook writing seemed a manipulation, distortion, or selective weak construction of questionable purpose or direction of our country's education. And that's the pile from which we could choose. This was decades before the political and national mess in which our country now finds itself. We're in trouble, folks. Maybe we have been... for a very long time.
Our elder child (adult) created quite the dust up when she was in kindergarten. She was a prodigy so keeping up with her was challenging. We taught her the truth. No dumbing down and no skirting issues. So, when Columbus Day rolled around, we received a call from her kindergarten teacher. She asked if what S said was true. It was. The teacher had been fed all the lies and none of the truth. S told her what Columbus and his men did. I was so proud of her. 😉
In that same district, my late father was THE (best, most knowledgeable) U.S.- World - Russian -European history and government teacher for over thirty years. He didn't need a textbook. From his extensive reading he WAS the textbook and taught every class at an A.P. level. He passed away in 2013, but I'm sure his analysis of how things have evolved would have been enlightening....
I do understand that. I’m not discussing all aspects of education! It’s a FB Post, not a book!That would take up lots more than what people want to read on their phone! As u can see many people added more educational info.
Oh of course he did , Russian assets are allowed to get angry , even when they are an asset. Let’s see what happens when your idiot uncle tries to take Greenland and fails. His handler’s reaction should be priceless
Trump's handlers are the GOP leadership and Heritage Foundation as they want a totalitarian USA rather than a democracy..It would give them the power to make decisions for us and make them wealthy at our expense. So, Putin isn't our major concern at this moment however he is being used as a distraction for what is really going on. This chaos is also a planned distraction, or so I believe, to redirect our attenton. Musk is high on ketamine, so he is going insane while Trump is a narcissist i.e. two menta;;y ill men being used for a power grab, Mary Trump has been warning us about her uncle for years; she is a hero in my eyes as she has made herself a target for those who do not want the truth to be known.
Shadow of diplomacy. Stephen Miller is in the shadow making the rules. He's the one with no soul. I listen to Mary everyday. Lev Parnas. You need to listen to him. He was in the inner circle 1st term, he's on our side. You must hear him. Lev remembers is his channel.
I do not use that kind of language and I have no clue what you mean.. There are better words in the dictionary and more appropriate. Increase you vocabulary and sound intelligent.
it’s alarming when people in a democracy start talking about watching the spectacle of authoritarian political disasters, as if our only role is as audience to a comic version the Manchurian Candidate….
Press seems to always go to a rational justification for Donald’s “strategies” and execution—Greenland’s rare earth minerals and arctic location. Truth is, Dumb Donald is simply impressed by Greenland’s apparent size on a flat Mercator map.
Has anybody noticed the increase in the darkness of peoples minds ? Let us remember who is the Light of the world. He said we fight not against flesh and blood but against the dark spirits who are at work in the world.
Has anyone *not* noticed the increased darkness of people’s minds?
Minds cognizant of the current suspension of democratic life *would* be darkened, unless they were also enthralled to an imagined transcendent being who convinced them that a spike in cruelty and corruption in this world didn’t mattered very much.
It's a con! He's going to use Russia to jack up gas prices. I'm sure Putin is all for it. If you think they're high now just wait. They've already been getting higher. I have a question, why does Trump look so weak in every photo with Putin? He looks like he needs to be petted.
Only problem is Obama did zip to stop Putin's annexation of Crimea, which is vital to Ukraine's long term economic success. So in my book stares don't achieve much; it requires appropriate ACTION!
Chuck, not an expert, let alone a big expert, just an observer. The single most important thing he could have done was send arms to Ukraine, as we did after the invasion. He could have called a NATO meeting to help the EU determine an appropriate response, but instead he said that Ukraine would always be vulnerable to Russian invasion, therefore giving a big green light to Putin for the 2022 invasion. Weakness always encourages aggression and his failure set the stage for the current war and the mess we're in.
I agree on what Obama could have done. But Obama didn't suck up to Pootie and make promises without Ukraine input, call Zelenskyy an unelected dictator, call for Ukraine elections, try to extort profit by demanding half of their resources in exchange for our help (because it is all about the money), snub our NATO allies and threaten to pull out, or ambush Z in front of the cameras while the world watched a stupid political stunt. Keep in mind Russia hasn't honored any of the treaties it signed.
The US is rapidly losing its international influence as a powerful nation. Trump is destroying our reputation. He is owned by Russia and the greatest threat to our country in a very, very long time. This treasonous man is on a vengeance tour and it was so obvious to so many of us but here we are. I still believe that truth and love and connection will prevail but the road is going to be rocky.
It's an embarrassment to be an American right now. The US is no longer a beacon of hope!
Four years of this 💩. It’s going to be long, but I can’t wait until this is over. Meanwhile I will be wearing these kinds of shirts everyday 👇
Our weakness is showing. It's called lack of Education. If you compare us to the rest of the world yes it's really embarrassing and they're going to make us more uneducated. It's a very strange way to compete in the world isn't it? We will lose and that's how you make America great again!
Lack of? No, just another kind of. As I said in another comment,
Keep your eye on the ball, folks. The Dept. of Ed, is just a small obstacle being removed from the field of play. The real game is to take over and privatize all of American education. The even larger game is to hollow out the minds of our children and replace them with compliant clones filled with the nonsense of fascist, white supremacist, Christian nationalist hogwash. That makes the dynasties of fascist kings and the Axis of Despots a permanent feature of the American landscape, as each corrupted child's mind grows up and teaches their own children the same. That's how racism has endured for 160 years after the civil war. It's no secret. Blueprints right there in the text of Project 2025. Keep your eyes on Hillsdale College, Patriot Mobile and Academica Educational Mgmt Co. They are the little noticed spearheads of the takeover, already fairly far along in their plans to capture and destroy our public education system.
Hollowing out kids minds and filling it with crap is exactly what I was talking about. That is a lack of Education. That's exactly what religion does and all the institutions by which we live
yes. I was just extending your own point. But it's really not much about religion. It's about the extremist ideologies of the right. That's the stuff they are really stuffing. Religion and religious schools were just a handy device to help them do that. They were simply able to hijack the religious school archipelago and graft themselves onto it. A convenient implement for their schemes. Before that happened, those religious schools pretty much kept to themselves and minded their own business. In many cases, they were important contributors to broader humanitarian and progressive agenda.
When Hillsdale College started out as a small religious college, it was abolitionist and the first university to admit black students, the second in the country to graduate women. It had generals who fought for the Union army. After it was hijacked in the 70's it became one of the architects of the educational agenda of Project 2025, and now is a leading spearhead of the right-wing takeover of public education.
Religion is a good thing. Forcing anyone's religion on anyone else is a bad thing. Operating like (fill in the blank) religion is a basis for government is worse.
a good thing for adults, perhaps. Putting it in the defenseless minds of young children who cannot comprehend or decide for themselves is a form of child abuse. A recruiting tool used by organized religions to insure themselves of new members. Nothing more.
I sort of disagree. Close-minded education is not a type of education. Teaching children about God Is Not An Education, especially since no one knows anything about him. If you read the Bible as if God was somebody's name, which can easily be spelled out in Hebrew, it's a totally different story. After all, we too can make people.
Not sure which comment you're responding to. My own view is that any religious training/conditioning in early childhood is a serious form of child abuse. One's choice of religious belief (or none) is a matter that can have lifetime consequences, positive and negative. A choice to be made only by adults who can comprehend what they are being told , not something to be fed into the defenseless minds of young children. In reality, it is nothing more than a recruiting tool used by organized religions to insure they will have new members. A completely dishonest and disingenuous method of creating captive audiences.
I don’t know how other countries run their educational programs, as I’ve never taught in a school that wasn’t a US Education of students is done on the STATE/ LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT LEVEL, States determine what students should know at each grade level. Individual school districts determine what programs/ books/ hands on science programs, etc. will be used for teaching all subjects & what grade they’ll be taught… in WISCONSIN 4th grade is usually the grade that covers Wisconsin history. Classes take field trips to local historical places: preserved old one room school houses, & whole day trip/ tour to the state Capital in Madison, WI. Sometimes the kids get a chance to meet the Governor.
The Federal Government is where states get funding for speech, & language teachers, guidance counselors, classroom aides for both physically disabled children & mentally challenged students including children w/ various degrees of autism.
Maybe it's something that should be looked into. I hear Singapore is the most educated and also highest in math. The way I see it if your highest in math you should be the most educated
I don’t think it’s correct to make such a blanket statement on education unless you have actually seen test results for every school in the nation. And I doubt that most people have that type of access. As a retired elementary school teacher for the last 9 yrs., I don’t look up my former colleagues yearly testing scores! They are working & while we may text each other sometimes, it’s usually wishing each other HBD, it sharing &/or some photos. I know that made some curriculum changes.
Not @ all a tRUMP fan, never have & would never vote for the insurrectionist, but he’s obviously in the throes of dementia, his butt buddy VP is even worse than him! However I believe that he will not be around 4ever!!
Heather.B: If Trump avoids a stroke it will be 8 years. Or, consider if he does have a stroke, then Vance gets re-elected to 2 more terms!! Then a Vance executive order suspends the 2 term limit citing emergency powers. With all the red voting shenanigans, this could last 20+ years.
Follow your own trajectory. Dark Ages typically run about a thousand years. Given the unlimited powers and modern weaponry and tools this one has at its disposal, it could last considerably longer. Might be better to think in terms of Isaac Azimov's "We can't prevent the Dark Ages from happening, but perhaps we can shorten its length by a little."
He follows no rules. He is invoke to stay in power. Get ready for the battle. We must flip the house now. 2026 is far too late. The war within is almost upon us. Military parade june 14th will be to flex his powers and silence all he can to remain in power.
Trump and his maga party wants his supporters to focus on culture wars while he is robbing them blind with massive tax cuts to the rich and making money from selling merchandise made in China, this guy is a hypocrite and conman!!
Trump level of education is similar to a his supporters, these conservative religious people have gays and trans children in their families. Homosexuality and transgender are common in the animal kingdom and certainly in the human race, they are not freaks they are humans.
This whole issue is a source of distraction. No trans person is allowed to compete with women if they don’t meet certain medical requirement of the level of testosterone and musculature and they have every right to compete in sports with women or men depending on their musculature and testosterone levels.
Glad we bought a Prius a few years back. It's going to be hard on folks who chose/are stuck with non hybrids. Transportation will be hit VERY hard, as well energy producers and other industries that are heavy petroleum users. It also gives more strength to Trump's stupid idea of trying to invade Canada and Mexico. Both produce good amounts of oil. (As far as I know, there's no known oil in Greenland. I could be wrong).
I'm still side eyeing the stock and bond markets warily for signs of a deep recession or even a depression. 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬
I bought a gas guzzler in 2021 (Kia Stinger GT2) - the thing drinks more gas than my ZR1 Corvette did. As a high earner I didn't care ( keep my emission controls in place btw and will keep them in place when I tune it - so many folks who tune their cars take the cats off but there's no reason to, and every reason not to. At 500whp, who cares about the 5HP the cats cost?) I now suddenly care because the oil we produce here, is heavy crude that we normally don't refine into gasoline, and because of Donald's stupid trade war and his evident boner to initiate WWIII, I worry about gasoline _availability_ due to trade sanctions and blockades, more so than the cost. :(
Yeah, we're producing something more like tar. 🛢 🛢
My wife and I are retired and do some investing. We just want to be able to make it to the end of our lives, and maybe help out our kids and grandkids. What's going on eerily reminds me of the late 20s, and I think it's deliberate. With the current gutting of the FDIC and centralizing all banking (FDIC, OCC, CFPB, FSOC, and more) under the Executive Branch (not to mention the obsession with f--king Bitcoin), we're scrambling to find ways to protect our family.
We also have a Grand Voyager we use for Sheltie Rescue or hauling big loads. Otherwise, the Prius is the go-to car.
The long lines were an artificial shortage the companies used to drive up prices. This time Biden squared off with them to get the prices back from $7-$8 and they HAVE BEEN THE SAME SINCE. There won't be long lines but the price will be up around $5-$6 a galklon because of those wonderful tariffs.
I was blissfully unaware sucking my bottle but I am aware of the events that led to the malaise era of automobiles. That was also due in large part to conservative politicking.
As a low-earner with an economy car, I would love it if you could just throw some cash my way! (I retired from community mental health counseling, so I never earned a decent salary, even with a PhD!) Glad you had fab rich-kid cars. Sorry they will be costing you more.
It's a freaking kia, and the new ZR1 is priced out of reach in light of the fact that I want to own my own home in my lifetime (my ZR1 was "only" $65K). Even with my salary it's difficult to get ahead as we reach our 50s and are just paying off legacy debt. My wife only just now recently paying hers (student loans) and I've got another ~2yr on my legacy debt. Oh yeah, and when adjusted for inflation, even though my salary was half as much when I bought the ZR1 as it is now, I'm actually earning less when adjusting for inflation. It fraking bites.
Yeah. It bites. Welcome to the reality for most of us. If I had money to pay $65,000 for a car, I would definitely feel wealthy. Ever ride the local bus to work? Or walk, for that matter.
Welcome to my reality - Even as a high earner, due to legacy debt I'm still paying down, I had to finance my car and if I lose my job, I'll be as poor as the welfare collectors in red states within a couple months.
I've been saying for awhile, at least since he walked down the ramp ... he has the early signs of dementia/Alzheimer's. His arms hang down, like dead weights by his sides. Check out everyone else's stance. I think he shuffles some. His rt leg swings out a little, semi circle as if he can't flex his foot easily. A typical move taught post stroke. I hadn't thought of hip replacement, especially since he's really not been real active. But in he almost fell getting out of a golf cart a few weeks ago, you might have hit the nail on the head.
In order for gas to be at an all-time low it would have to be under 25 cents a gallon and a can of Chef Boyardee pasta would be about the same and they'd still be using olive oil with other natural ingredients instead of the crap they put in there now. He's so full of s***. Why does anybody listen to him?
Yes, thank you. I so appreciate your depth of analysis rendered by your personal family history and your advanced education. Only you can provide it. Many, many thanks.
Can be symptomatic of dementia as well; fits with the fatigue, non-answers to questions, etc. He’s being propped up by his handlers. Doubt he makes it to midterms if there are any. What stimulants are they feeding him before appearances? Still Adderall?
I think he’s lying. I think he is pretending to be pissed off because more and more Americans are seeing his sellout and his gaslighting. So he and Putin probably arranged this Faux disagreement, so his base can say “ see.. he will stand up to Putin” and he can keep wielding his power.
I have thought so since his first term. For the most part, Trump will do whatever Putin wants, but when it becomes too obvious, Trump will conspicuously do something that appears to harm Putin, to which Putin will uncharacteristically make no more than a meek objection. In fact, it's likely Putin makes the suggestion just to keep up appearances.
All the world loves a strongman.Well, the Destructionist part of it does. Don't think we need a 'Faux disagreement' to explain it. Our Commander in Tweets is now a junior member of the Axis of Despots, pretending he is a full partner. Putin doesn't have to do anything but sit on the sidelines and watch the fool getting played by himself. Oil Tariff? Hell, Putin's fine with that. One more self-inflicted wound of the American economy, and he didn't have to do a thing to arrange it. Putin has only one thing to say about all of , "You know, my job is getting too easy."
Uncle Donnie is an idiot. He really has no idea of how to negotiate, because his "negotiating" style is straight out of the Mafia and Zelenskyy and others refuse to be bullied by him.
Trump rules by intimidation and threats. Typical of a tyrant but in his case, there’s no intelligence, rhyme or reason behind it. Just rants, word salad, insults, tantrums. If he could only see how ridiculous he looks to us and the rest of the sane world!
A delusional, narcissist, bullying, ignorant, racist, criminal, self-absorbed (fill in the numerous blanks here) Napoleon complex addled shitstain on humanity will NEVER see how he differs from the world.
Trump’s cognitive decline was glaringly obvious during his presidential campaign. His inconsistency has only become more pronounced. He needs memory care.
I always say he looks like a guy who would do a time-share presentation during a eulogy. I can't believe anyone sees and hears him and then believes him.
Trump is insane he better be careful thinking he owns the world and these other countries and telling them what to do. Because They might just come after him and put him somewhere.
Probably not. They will just leave him, one by one, like Canada has done, and let the senior members of the Axis of Despots eat this new junior member. Like other countries they gobble up, America is just another meal.
Mary, instead of referring to them as handlers, in the pursuit of Trump Trolls Trump, would you consider labeling them his “babysitters” because after all Cokehead Donald IS an overgrown man baby and even wears diapers. Also Q: How tall is your uncle, really? We can all see he wears high heels in addition to his drag-style-garishly-overdone orange makeup.
Speaking of Shitstain's makeup, why doesn't it ever get on his shirt collar? Or does he change his shirts several times a day when he changes his XXL Depends?
I call them all 'Destructionists', what they do/believe in is 'destructionism' and their Party, the Destructionists Party. I have been for some time. They have nothing to do with "conservatism" or the extinct 'Republican Party'. Nothing whatsoever.
So, Putin’s Pinocchio is very angry, huh? Wow, I bet Vlad is shaking in his boots. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. Always appreciate your analysis, Mary.
I’m so sick of him I could spit fire.
AMERIKA seems within reach and I see right-wing media having played an enormous role in this…….how do we ever get it to disappear? Oh,and abolishing the Dept. of Education…..that ought to be helpful! And, and, and……
I'm terrified, and it's not just because I am worried that Social Security may disappear.
You're right. It's awful. If you haven't already, download and preserve personal key documentation like this as part of your grab bag contents. You may want to print a copy or two and store separately. Get other affairs in order, e.g. power of attorney, advance directives, other legal and financial instruments needed to avoid probate.
I know this sounds like doom-mongering and I'm sorry. But, if needed, your survivors will appreciate you even more. It's also good to build up some key household supplies since price instability may be growing. Hurricanes and runs on toilet paper are paired this way!
States set the education standards on what needs to be covered in public schools. The individual school districts in the state choose the curriculum that will be taught in their district schools. What math & science programs will be used &@which level: Pre-K thru High School. What reading & writing program will be used @ which grade level. The federal government does not choose those things.
What you don’t seem to understand is that the Department of Education provides funding for Title I schools and for students with disabilities. In addition to funding, they also provide oversight to make sure that these schools and students are treated equitably. I taught, by choice, for 38 years in Title I schools and was proud that students with IEPs were often placed in my classroom because of the teaching methods I used. I know firsthand how much difference this federal funding and oversight make. I also taught children of migrant workers, and my goodness, the success stories I could tell you because of the special programs funded by the DoEd.
Thank you. Teachers are the cornerstone of our very foundation. It's sad and outrageously unfair how badly they are treated and disrespected in this country. And to now have a president leading the assault is an absolute abomination.
My daughter is very disabled (ASD, Schizoaffective Disorder, severe ADHD, a 30% lag in her temporal lobe so executive decision making is both to zero, language processing disorder (probably from her brain lag)…so I’m all too familiar. Our state stinks when it comes to helping children/adults with disabilities. It’ll stink more, now. Plus, she’ll lose her disability and getting her meds will be terribly difficult.
Oh, no! That is terrible. Luckily, I moved to Switzerland 50 years ago and my grandchild who is high on the autism spectrum has good medical support and attends a wonderful special school. Later, he will probably move into a home with professional care. BUT That is what you get if you move to a rotten Marxist country like Switzerland. Ha, ha! I wish my irony was funny, but it is sad.
I did a student work/live in Switzerland many years ago. what a progressive and wonderful country! The educational system was remarkable. The US is beginning to loo like a third-world country, compared to educational and social standards of Switzerland and most European nations.
Not sure what state ur in, but why would your state now say she’s not disabled & why would have trouble getting her meds now?
Except that Texas dictates which text books to use - in ALL subjects, including math. Listen to the podcast, “Teaching Texas”.
AND the DOE provides a LOT to the states, especially the poor ones. Please do some research.
$ is provided to the states but the states dictate what’s taught. Texas legislators are idiots so that’s the education Texans get.
I’m sorry that Texas does things different than WI, but your response is frankly rude & inappropriate!! Education is DONE BY STATES, they choose how Public Education will be run! I am happy to be born, raised in WI, as my husband & I plus our kids/ grandkids got a great education, as we choose a great school district for them to live in. My grandkids that are in Michigan & their parents chose an area w/ great schools! If Texas schools are ALL so bad, I WOULD MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE OR @ least ANOTHER CITY!!
Texas’ choice of textbooks dictates what textbooks are bought by all the states. Texas is the biggest buyer of textbooks so it controls the market of what is printed and sold throughout the country. I don’t live in TX. I’m willing to bet that textbooks in WI are the same ones sold in TX. And if they’re not, many, many other states and school districts by what Texas buys.
Not Ca Texas doesn’t Dictate where we get our Books for our School District.
Where did you get this Type information? I find that as odd Statement.
I ‘m not sure why all states would have to buy the textbooks that Texas chooses to print. But as I’m retired & was an elementary teacher, other than the 3 yrs I taught 5th grade we didn’t
I was an elementary school teacher, not the purchaser of textbooks. Elementary children don’t have TEXTBOOKS! The teachers choose paperback reading books for their classroom libraries & to use in reading groups. Our science program was hands on activities - that did NOT REQUIRE TEXTBOOKS! Grades 1-3 had hands on science experiments & we did not teach social studies. That was taught in 4th & 5th grade. And the 3-4 yrs I taught 4th & 5th grade we did have Math, Science & Soc St Textbooks.
I didn’t teach middle or high school so have no idea what textbooks they may or may have not used!!
Scroll back up to Betty's comment to see JUST ONE example of what DOE does. Her grandchild deserves the best education , despite her disabilities. Fuck your "rude" remark.
Right back @ yah, only person on the Thread to use the “f” word- surprised they didn’t bump
U off as they’ve been doing that lately👋
Good for you! You win!
yeah, I've been following that shit for about 2 decades. This is a little paper I did on their textbook shenanigans in 2011,
www.poems4change.org/essays/texas-schoolboard-slavery.pdf
...but on the federal level the education department does much more than that. Do your own homework on that one. The Space NAZI sweeping in and decimating ANY government agency based on some bullshit made-up number is NOT the answer to anything. I WATCHED THE MEETING WHERE ORANGE HITLER TOLD HIS CABINET THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WILL DETERMINE WHERE THE COST SAVINGS WILL COME.. But of course, he turned to E-Don Muskratshit and in his net breath told him he's doing a great job.
So true. The states do in fact set the rules for their schools.
That's why we need to get involved in the school boards. No more MAGA in there.
Exactly.
what about how limited funding is dispersed?
The democrats should have intervened in broadcast licenses a lkng time ago, simply passing a law that you can’t call yourself a “news” channel if you put forth constant untrue statements. It also would help all around if they required “news” channels to be at least 60% actual reporting of events and no more than 30% commentary. Ie faux and friends and hegseth and company wouldn’t be allowed to just opine meaningless bs all day. When CNN started, and for years after, it was largely headline news, sports news, international news, etc, with a handful of prominent analysts and commentators like wolf blitzer … I like MSNBC myself, but they rarely cover day to day non political events, unless some regular presenter show brings them up, usually as part of a general argument on their position. Like Modi is doing bad things in India- that might be covered when he climbs into bed with Trump, but it’s ignored the rest of the time, as a story of its own. It’s messed up that Americans increasingly look at Al Jazera or English sources like the Guardian, BBC, or Canadian news outlets for world general news and information. All the anger around Trump administration security violations- has there been any reporting on the terrible earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand? Almost none.
The Destructionists are picking off the media, one by one. Soon it will be whole clumps, by threat and appeasement or by direct assault. CNN is already Fox Lite. MSNBC is sliding (staff cuts, program changes, guest times cut to nothing, long redundant monologues, blah, blah, blah. And, yes, this is not new, they've been chipping away for a very long time. It's the topic of my latest post https://redslider.substack.com/p/they-are-coming-for-the-truth-tellers
here, a little uplift & focus? www.poems4change.org/public/lets-get-tactical.html
You're not alone in that.
Dept of Ed is what helps provides special help paying for specialized teachers, therapists, etc for students w/disabilities both physical & cognitive- & teacher’s aides for autistic students that are integrated into the regular classroom. Some autistic students are quiet & some are very studious like Baron. Others can be quite disruptive & can even physically attack classmates & teachers without provocation. I was an elementary teacher for 25 yrs teaching 1st, 3rd & 5th grade in WI. And over those yrs. my classroom was the placement for autistic students. One of my autistic student’s mother was a classroom aide for many yrs in my classroom, after her son was no longer in my class. She was very open w/ things to try to help students adapt to being in regular education classes.
Keep your eye on the ball, folks. The Dept. of Ed, is just a small obstacle being removed from the field of play. The real game is to take over and privatize all of American education. The even larger game is to hollow out the minds of our children and replace them with compliant clones filled with the nonsense of fascist, white supremacist, Christian nationalist hogwash. That makes the dynasties of fascist kings and the Axis of Despots a permanent feature of the American landscape, as each corrupted child's mind grows up and teaches their own children the same. That's how racism has endured for 160 years after the civil war. It's no secret. Blueprints right there in the text of Project 2025. Keep your eyes on Hillsdale College, Patriot Mobile and Academica Educational Mgmt Co. They are the little noticed spearheads of the takeover, already fairly far along in their plans to capture and destroy our public education system.
The goal is to privatize everything they can so they can get richer off the backs of the poor and middle class
You've got that right, PRIVATIZE EVERYTHING! That is the essence of Project 2025. Privatize it all, our fire departments, police, prisons, public health, welfare, you name it. Anything that has a name and they can put a $-sign on. Even those little notices of "compassion" in those drug ads that say "If you can't afford this medication, so-and-so can make special arrangements to...blah, blah, blah." That is just a step away from taking over welfare and privatizing decisions about who qualifies and is worthy of special medical support. It leaves a public responsibility in the hands of private individuals, and their profit motives, to decide who qualifies to live, or who will be left to die.
Yep of some States like Texas, Ohio are really push it as well. Trump first crack pot Secretary Of DOE was pushing for Profit schools DeVoes billionaires from Charter Schools. I find it Disgusting they only think of the upper echelons of society. Take that to states like Mississippi, South Carolina etc there will be No Schools. These people are nothing but greedy self centered asses.
Not quite. They are also thinking of the lower echelons in their schemes to dismantle education and destroy the public education system. The lower echelons are the graduates of their ideological cloning factories which they plan to (have been) stuffing into civil service, legal, medical, teaching and other professions to change the entire character of the country into an extremist, anti-democratic landscape. Vouchers and Charter Schools are just part of that agenda for bleeding public schools of needed funds and capturing or dismantling them. www.poems4change.org/essays/education-end-of-evolution.pdf
People always have the right to send their children to private or parochial schools if that’s what they want to do, although the state is not required to pay for that schooling, the FAMILY pays their child’s tuition!
That changed some time ago, because of court decisions eroding the separation of church and state.
"Billions in taxpayer dollars now go to religious schools via vouchers."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/03/tax-dollars-religious-schools/
That’s what school vouchers are being used for, at least here in Florida.
The voucher , and later 'charter schools', ideas were schemes developed by the far-right after they had hijacked the private religious schools' archipelago and turned it into cloning factories for their extremist ideology. It was a design intended to divert educational funds to their own agenda and bleed the public school systems of badly needed money. It was an effective tactic and still is. www.poems4change.org/essays/education-end-of-evolution.pdf
Ironically, now that the capture and dismantling of public education by the Destructionists appears to be succeeding it may be Progressives and the more enlightened who will need to turn to 'home schooling' and their handful of private schools (Montessori, et al) to protect the minds of their children. We ignored what the Destructionists were doing, and never bothered to really build a private liberal education system.
Could be, we have some knucklehead in WI that’s running for state Superintendent of schools… doesn’t have a WI Teaching License, and wants to change everything to charter schools. For those who want that or parochial schools that’s fine to make that choice, but taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for that!
When I 1st went to college, I chose a state college & in the end didn’t graduate from there as I could never get the classes I needed to become a teacher- so I dropped out & got a job working …. Fast forward after getting married & having 4 kids I chose to go back to college 25 yrs. later, only this time chose a private college - graduated, became a teacher & 10 yrs later went afterschool & weekends & got my Master’s Degree!
Not just education. We are moving at record pace for project 2025. Next phase remove dissent. The military parade will be to flex his dictatorship as war with foreign places and us here at home is used to invoke fear. It will be the goerge Floyd protests x1000 as he sends the proud boys again to tear up the cities and mobilize the use of military, prison us as if we were the ones causing stir. Hes done this all before. He knows it will work.. It may be too late to stop. But we must slow and mobilize together, be ready for the war.
Agreed. handing over unlimited power to a Mad King means exactly that. Taking complete control of dissent and the flow of information is at the top of an autocrat’s priorities. That was the topic of a recent @Thom Hartmann report, and my last substack post: https://redslider.substack.com/p/they-are-coming-for-the-truth-tellers . State-run, controlled media is its primary mission. Once achieved, it’s pretty much game-over.
Exactly
Anna is now 38 yo. There was no autistic support in our district
when she was little and in all these years I’ve been her primary teacher and guide. We were told she’d never speak in full sentences, grad high school, or attend college. She communicates fairly well, got her GED, and attended college but it just wasn’t for her. There’s no help. I get no respite. I’ve not had a day off in over 15 yrs and I’m
exhausted. If we could afford to move out we would.
So glad to hear that she is able to communicate now & wish you both the best. In the community that I live in ( West Bend, WI) we have an organization called “The Threshold”. It was started by a number of moms, many years ago that were looking for a respite for family members that were challenged. They have a center for people that are both physically, mentally & verbally challenged. A handicapped bus picks up & takes home those who need assistance, so that their caregiver can have a respite when needed. Not sure where you live, but wondering if there’s something like that in your area.
Oh Chaiah🙏
You are a hero! Do you have the energy to ask online Autism support groups to rally and lobby Congress? Some already do that. Perhaps you already have done so, or are too exhausted. Your story has power and could add significantly to the fight for Autism Awareness and services. Hang in there!
This makes America Great Again?😬
Threshold is here but it’s terrible.
Alot of people that I know will lose their jobs and parents of special needs students will be left holding an empty bag!😥😡💩💩💩💩💩
Yep. We have to stop this craziness I know some read state Gov are love this but many aren’t but their scared of this weak man one day confrontation he’d run. As most people like TRUMP THEIR WEAK. MUSK HAS MONEY SO HE HIRES BULLIES. I met these type of people weak have no re
People like you and that mom you spoke of have saved many lives from being blighted by autism. Thank you for all you have done for these very special students.
I keep waiting for him to choke on a hot dog, be hit by lightening on his golf course, or since he doesn’t walk the course, & gets very little physical exercise other than walking to the table/car prolly a massive heart attack!
Then Jay Dee YEHAWW Couchpoker is presuhdint abd the country collapses because he can't threaten anyone on the same level. Best wish the next Big Mac Attack occurs when they are all on the same plane.
Then we would get President Vance. He seems even more cruel.
Would like to flip the House so the 3rd in line would be a Democrat!
Vance is an easy idiot. Stephen Miller is in the shadow making the rules. He's the one with no soul you gotta worry about.
Oh I’ve thought something what was it I read someone need to take one for good of America
& then what? A shrewder, smarter, more callous Vance? And then...& then, & then....
Vance is an easy idiot. Stephen Miller is in the shadow making the rules. He's the one with no soul you gotta worry about.
Yes. Thoughts and prayers
make sure you aim that spit at donald and his corrupt republicans please.
Please do so. Just now, we need all the dragons we can get.
and when you go the fire going, you can use this to help aim in the right direction,
www.poems4change.org/public/lets-get-tactical.html
As a public school teacher I served on a district committee to choose or replace textbooks. Sat through many sales meetings from companies whose actual knowledge and textbook writing seemed a manipulation, distortion, or selective weak construction of questionable purpose or direction of our country's education. And that's the pile from which we could choose. This was decades before the political and national mess in which our country now finds itself. We're in trouble, folks. Maybe we have been... for a very long time.
Our elder child (adult) created quite the dust up when she was in kindergarten. She was a prodigy so keeping up with her was challenging. We taught her the truth. No dumbing down and no skirting issues. So, when Columbus Day rolled around, we received a call from her kindergarten teacher. She asked if what S said was true. It was. The teacher had been fed all the lies and none of the truth. S told her what Columbus and his men did. I was so proud of her. 😉
Dropping Civics classes from high school curriculum was one of the dumbest moves ever.
In that same district, my late father was THE (best, most knowledgeable) U.S.- World - Russian -European history and government teacher for over thirty years. He didn't need a textbook. From his extensive reading he WAS the textbook and taught every class at an A.P. level. He passed away in 2013, but I'm sure his analysis of how things have evolved would have been enlightening....
Oh, I’m sure he’d have some things to say! 😂
I do understand that. I’m not discussing all aspects of education! It’s a FB Post, not a book!That would take up lots more than what people want to read on their phone! As u can see many people added more educational info.
Maybe don’t bring a stupid FB post here.
Oh of course he did , Russian assets are allowed to get angry , even when they are an asset. Let’s see what happens when your idiot uncle tries to take Greenland and fails. His handler’s reaction should be priceless
Trump's handlers are the GOP leadership and Heritage Foundation as they want a totalitarian USA rather than a democracy..It would give them the power to make decisions for us and make them wealthy at our expense. So, Putin isn't our major concern at this moment however he is being used as a distraction for what is really going on. This chaos is also a planned distraction, or so I believe, to redirect our attenton. Musk is high on ketamine, so he is going insane while Trump is a narcissist i.e. two menta;;y ill men being used for a power grab, Mary Trump has been warning us about her uncle for years; she is a hero in my eyes as she has made herself a target for those who do not want the truth to be known.
Shadow of diplomacy. Stephen Miller is in the shadow making the rules. He's the one with no soul. I listen to Mary everyday. Lev Parnas. You need to listen to him. He was in the inner circle 1st term, he's on our side. You must hear him. Lev remembers is his channel.
You said it
I keep saying it every day. And my audience is growing. Hopefully that continues.
I have no audience, no megaphone, no juice. But I do keep saying it every day. One of the things I say is www.poems4change.org/public/lets-get-tactical.html
Can you say fucking big ol’ backfire!
I do not use that kind of language and I have no clue what you mean.. There are better words in the dictionary and more appropriate. Increase you vocabulary and sound intelligent.
it’s alarming when people in a democracy start talking about watching the spectacle of authoritarian political disasters, as if our only role is as audience to a comic version the Manchurian Candidate….
Press seems to always go to a rational justification for Donald’s “strategies” and execution—Greenland’s rare earth minerals and arctic location. Truth is, Dumb Donald is simply impressed by Greenland’s apparent size on a flat Mercator map.
Has anybody noticed the increase in the darkness of peoples minds ? Let us remember who is the Light of the world. He said we fight not against flesh and blood but against the dark spirits who are at work in the world.
Has anyone *not* noticed the increased darkness of people’s minds?
Minds cognizant of the current suspension of democratic life *would* be darkened, unless they were also enthralled to an imagined transcendent being who convinced them that a spike in cruelty and corruption in this world didn’t mattered very much.
It's a con! He's going to use Russia to jack up gas prices. I'm sure Putin is all for it. If you think they're high now just wait. They've already been getting higher. I have a question, why does Trump look so weak in every photo with Putin? He looks like he needs to be petted.
I love when Obama stared Putin down. :) THAT was a Presidential POTUS!
Only problem is Obama did zip to stop Putin's annexation of Crimea, which is vital to Ukraine's long term economic success. So in my book stares don't achieve much; it requires appropriate ACTION!
Since you are such a big expert on this, let's hear what your idea of action should be.
Chuck, not an expert, let alone a big expert, just an observer. The single most important thing he could have done was send arms to Ukraine, as we did after the invasion. He could have called a NATO meeting to help the EU determine an appropriate response, but instead he said that Ukraine would always be vulnerable to Russian invasion, therefore giving a big green light to Putin for the 2022 invasion. Weakness always encourages aggression and his failure set the stage for the current war and the mess we're in.
I agree on what Obama could have done. But Obama didn't suck up to Pootie and make promises without Ukraine input, call Zelenskyy an unelected dictator, call for Ukraine elections, try to extort profit by demanding half of their resources in exchange for our help (because it is all about the money), snub our NATO allies and threaten to pull out, or ambush Z in front of the cameras while the world watched a stupid political stunt. Keep in mind Russia hasn't honored any of the treaties it signed.
We're watching The Truman Show and it's 24/7 insanity
Trump has never been on America’s side.
The US is rapidly losing its international influence as a powerful nation. Trump is destroying our reputation. He is owned by Russia and the greatest threat to our country in a very, very long time. This treasonous man is on a vengeance tour and it was so obvious to so many of us but here we are. I still believe that truth and love and connection will prevail but the road is going to be rocky.
It's an embarrassment to be an American right now. The US is no longer a beacon of hope!
Four years of this 💩. It’s going to be long, but I can’t wait until this is over. Meanwhile I will be wearing these kinds of shirts everyday 👇
https://libtees-2.creator-spring.com
Our weakness is showing. It's called lack of Education. If you compare us to the rest of the world yes it's really embarrassing and they're going to make us more uneducated. It's a very strange way to compete in the world isn't it? We will lose and that's how you make America great again!
No one can "make America great again" by making it stupid.
Lack of? No, just another kind of. As I said in another comment,
Keep your eye on the ball, folks. The Dept. of Ed, is just a small obstacle being removed from the field of play. The real game is to take over and privatize all of American education. The even larger game is to hollow out the minds of our children and replace them with compliant clones filled with the nonsense of fascist, white supremacist, Christian nationalist hogwash. That makes the dynasties of fascist kings and the Axis of Despots a permanent feature of the American landscape, as each corrupted child's mind grows up and teaches their own children the same. That's how racism has endured for 160 years after the civil war. It's no secret. Blueprints right there in the text of Project 2025. Keep your eyes on Hillsdale College, Patriot Mobile and Academica Educational Mgmt Co. They are the little noticed spearheads of the takeover, already fairly far along in their plans to capture and destroy our public education system.
Hollowing out kids minds and filling it with crap is exactly what I was talking about. That is a lack of Education. That's exactly what religion does and all the institutions by which we live
yes. I was just extending your own point. But it's really not much about religion. It's about the extremist ideologies of the right. That's the stuff they are really stuffing. Religion and religious schools were just a handy device to help them do that. They were simply able to hijack the religious school archipelago and graft themselves onto it. A convenient implement for their schemes. Before that happened, those religious schools pretty much kept to themselves and minded their own business. In many cases, they were important contributors to broader humanitarian and progressive agenda.
When Hillsdale College started out as a small religious college, it was abolitionist and the first university to admit black students, the second in the country to graduate women. It had generals who fought for the Union army. After it was hijacked in the 70's it became one of the architects of the educational agenda of Project 2025, and now is a leading spearhead of the right-wing takeover of public education.
I wrote a little history of how that all happened, www.poems4change.org/essays/education-end-of-evolution.pdf
Religion is a good thing. Forcing anyone's religion on anyone else is a bad thing. Operating like (fill in the blank) religion is a basis for government is worse.
a good thing for adults, perhaps. Putting it in the defenseless minds of young children who cannot comprehend or decide for themselves is a form of child abuse. A recruiting tool used by organized religions to insure themselves of new members. Nothing more.
I sort of disagree. Close-minded education is not a type of education. Teaching children about God Is Not An Education, especially since no one knows anything about him. If you read the Bible as if God was somebody's name, which can easily be spelled out in Hebrew, it's a totally different story. After all, we too can make people.
Not sure which comment you're responding to. My own view is that any religious training/conditioning in early childhood is a serious form of child abuse. One's choice of religious belief (or none) is a matter that can have lifetime consequences, positive and negative. A choice to be made only by adults who can comprehend what they are being told , not something to be fed into the defenseless minds of young children. In reality, it is nothing more than a recruiting tool used by organized religions to insure they will have new members. A completely dishonest and disingenuous method of creating captive audiences.
And create universes
I don’t know how other countries run their educational programs, as I’ve never taught in a school that wasn’t a US Education of students is done on the STATE/ LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT LEVEL, States determine what students should know at each grade level. Individual school districts determine what programs/ books/ hands on science programs, etc. will be used for teaching all subjects & what grade they’ll be taught… in WISCONSIN 4th grade is usually the grade that covers Wisconsin history. Classes take field trips to local historical places: preserved old one room school houses, & whole day trip/ tour to the state Capital in Madison, WI. Sometimes the kids get a chance to meet the Governor.
The Federal Government is where states get funding for speech, & language teachers, guidance counselors, classroom aides for both physically disabled children & mentally challenged students including children w/ various degrees of autism.
Maybe it's something that should be looked into. I hear Singapore is the most educated and also highest in math. The way I see it if your highest in math you should be the most educated
I don’t think it’s correct to make such a blanket statement on education unless you have actually seen test results for every school in the nation. And I doubt that most people have that type of access. As a retired elementary school teacher for the last 9 yrs., I don’t look up my former colleagues yearly testing scores! They are working & while we may text each other sometimes, it’s usually wishing each other HBD, it sharing &/or some photos. I know that made some curriculum changes.
Not @ all a tRUMP fan, never have & would never vote for the insurrectionist, but he’s obviously in the throes of dementia, his butt buddy VP is even worse than him! However I believe that he will not be around 4ever!!
Heather.B: If Trump avoids a stroke it will be 8 years. Or, consider if he does have a stroke, then Vance gets re-elected to 2 more terms!! Then a Vance executive order suspends the 2 term limit citing emergency powers. With all the red voting shenanigans, this could last 20+ years.
Said it before and will say it again. Those two assclowns and E-Don Muskratshit need to share the fatal Big Mac Attack.
Follow your own trajectory. Dark Ages typically run about a thousand years. Given the unlimited powers and modern weaponry and tools this one has at its disposal, it could last considerably longer. Might be better to think in terms of Isaac Azimov's "We can't prevent the Dark Ages from happening, but perhaps we can shorten its length by a little."
...this could last 20+ years." Remember our climate crisis. We don't <have> 20+ years.
I LOVE ALL THE SHIRTS!
😉
He follows no rules. He is invoke to stay in power. Get ready for the battle. We must flip the house now. 2026 is far too late. The war within is almost upon us. Military parade june 14th will be to flex his powers and silence all he can to remain in power.
https://youtu.be/u4P8gPdVHj4
Trump and his maga party wants his supporters to focus on culture wars while he is robbing them blind with massive tax cuts to the rich and making money from selling merchandise made in China, this guy is a hypocrite and conman!!
Trump level of education is similar to a his supporters, these conservative religious people have gays and trans children in their families. Homosexuality and transgender are common in the animal kingdom and certainly in the human race, they are not freaks they are humans.
This whole issue is a source of distraction. No trans person is allowed to compete with women if they don’t meet certain medical requirement of the level of testosterone and musculature and they have every right to compete in sports with women or men depending on their musculature and testosterone levels.
Trash is only concerned about Trash
Glad we bought a Prius a few years back. It's going to be hard on folks who chose/are stuck with non hybrids. Transportation will be hit VERY hard, as well energy producers and other industries that are heavy petroleum users. It also gives more strength to Trump's stupid idea of trying to invade Canada and Mexico. Both produce good amounts of oil. (As far as I know, there's no known oil in Greenland. I could be wrong).
I'm still side eyeing the stock and bond markets warily for signs of a deep recession or even a depression. 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬
I bought a gas guzzler in 2021 (Kia Stinger GT2) - the thing drinks more gas than my ZR1 Corvette did. As a high earner I didn't care ( keep my emission controls in place btw and will keep them in place when I tune it - so many folks who tune their cars take the cats off but there's no reason to, and every reason not to. At 500whp, who cares about the 5HP the cats cost?) I now suddenly care because the oil we produce here, is heavy crude that we normally don't refine into gasoline, and because of Donald's stupid trade war and his evident boner to initiate WWIII, I worry about gasoline _availability_ due to trade sanctions and blockades, more so than the cost. :(
Yeah, we're producing something more like tar. 🛢 🛢
My wife and I are retired and do some investing. We just want to be able to make it to the end of our lives, and maybe help out our kids and grandkids. What's going on eerily reminds me of the late 20s, and I think it's deliberate. With the current gutting of the FDIC and centralizing all banking (FDIC, OCC, CFPB, FSOC, and more) under the Executive Branch (not to mention the obsession with f--king Bitcoin), we're scrambling to find ways to protect our family.
We also have a Grand Voyager we use for Sheltie Rescue or hauling big loads. Otherwise, the Prius is the go-to car.
I'm guessing you weren't around in 74, with the long gas lines and s***
I was 24 and queuing up just like everyone else. I had a 1970 Buick Skylark. I was a single mom and did hair for a living at the time.
The long lines were an artificial shortage the companies used to drive up prices. This time Biden squared off with them to get the prices back from $7-$8 and they HAVE BEEN THE SAME SINCE. There won't be long lines but the price will be up around $5-$6 a galklon because of those wonderful tariffs.
I was blissfully unaware sucking my bottle but I am aware of the events that led to the malaise era of automobiles. That was also due in large part to conservative politicking.
Yep, Americans never learned their lesson. I'm starting to think Americans don't learn anything
As a low-earner with an economy car, I would love it if you could just throw some cash my way! (I retired from community mental health counseling, so I never earned a decent salary, even with a PhD!) Glad you had fab rich-kid cars. Sorry they will be costing you more.
It's a freaking kia, and the new ZR1 is priced out of reach in light of the fact that I want to own my own home in my lifetime (my ZR1 was "only" $65K). Even with my salary it's difficult to get ahead as we reach our 50s and are just paying off legacy debt. My wife only just now recently paying hers (student loans) and I've got another ~2yr on my legacy debt. Oh yeah, and when adjusted for inflation, even though my salary was half as much when I bought the ZR1 as it is now, I'm actually earning less when adjusting for inflation. It fraking bites.
Yeah. It bites. Welcome to the reality for most of us. If I had money to pay $65,000 for a car, I would definitely feel wealthy. Ever ride the local bus to work? Or walk, for that matter.
Welcome to my reality - Even as a high earner, due to legacy debt I'm still paying down, I had to finance my car and if I lose my job, I'll be as poor as the welfare collectors in red states within a couple months.
He is dragging his right leg..hip needs replacing soon
I've been saying for awhile, at least since he walked down the ramp ... he has the early signs of dementia/Alzheimer's. His arms hang down, like dead weights by his sides. Check out everyone else's stance. I think he shuffles some. His rt leg swings out a little, semi circle as if he can't flex his foot easily. A typical move taught post stroke. I hadn't thought of hip replacement, especially since he's really not been real active. But in he almost fell getting out of a golf cart a few weeks ago, you might have hit the nail on the head.
Also his stance is wide... balance problems? He seems to be hitting the rug more square than the rest of them. As easier to judge how to approach it.
His brain needs replacing!
If you want a good look at our Mad King and his inner world, try,
www.poems4change.org/madking/mk-gallery.html
Same as when a beta dog is in the company of the alpha dog
I thought he told his maga clowns the gas and food is all time low under his watch ?
In order for gas to be at an all-time low it would have to be under 25 cents a gallon and a can of Chef Boyardee pasta would be about the same and they'd still be using olive oil with other natural ingredients instead of the crap they put in there now. He's so full of s***. Why does anybody listen to him?
Being a psychologist helps us all see how mentally ill Donald is. Thank you Mary.
Yes, thank you. I so appreciate your depth of analysis rendered by your personal family history and your advanced education. Only you can provide it. Many, many thanks.
I saw it when getting into a golf cart looked like a knee failure to me.
Can be symptomatic of dementia as well; fits with the fatigue, non-answers to questions, etc. He’s being propped up by his handlers. Doubt he makes it to midterms if there are any. What stimulants are they feeding him before appearances? Still Adderall?
And again a few steps later.
I think he’s lying. I think he is pretending to be pissed off because more and more Americans are seeing his sellout and his gaslighting. So he and Putin probably arranged this Faux disagreement, so his base can say “ see.. he will stand up to Putin” and he can keep wielding his power.
I have thought so since his first term. For the most part, Trump will do whatever Putin wants, but when it becomes too obvious, Trump will conspicuously do something that appears to harm Putin, to which Putin will uncharacteristically make no more than a meek objection. In fact, it's likely Putin makes the suggestion just to keep up appearances.
Exactly. 2 conniving cons
It wouldn't surprise me, that's for sure.
All the world loves a strongman.Well, the Destructionist part of it does. Don't think we need a 'Faux disagreement' to explain it. Our Commander in Tweets is now a junior member of the Axis of Despots, pretending he is a full partner. Putin doesn't have to do anything but sit on the sidelines and watch the fool getting played by himself. Oil Tariff? Hell, Putin's fine with that. One more self-inflicted wound of the American economy, and he didn't have to do a thing to arrange it. Putin has only one thing to say about all of , "You know, my job is getting too easy."
Lying? HIM? YA THINK!!!!!!! When has he ever lied before????
Anytime he opened his mouth?
Yep!
It’s always probable gaslighting (lying).
A dangerously ignorant putz. Stupidity is boundless with him.
All the marks of a very stable genius. He said so himself.
LOL LOL LOL!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Uncle Donnie is an idiot. He really has no idea of how to negotiate, because his "negotiating" style is straight out of the Mafia and Zelenskyy and others refuse to be bullied by him.
Trump rules by intimidation and threats. Typical of a tyrant but in his case, there’s no intelligence, rhyme or reason behind it. Just rants, word salad, insults, tantrums. If he could only see how ridiculous he looks to us and the rest of the sane world!
A delusional, narcissist, bullying, ignorant, racist, criminal, self-absorbed (fill in the numerous blanks here) Napoleon complex addled shitstain on humanity will NEVER see how he differs from the world.
Putin’s puppet
Trump’s cognitive decline was glaringly obvious during his presidential campaign. His inconsistency has only become more pronounced. He needs memory care.
Mary's uncle is an idiot. That is all.
I always say he looks like a guy who would do a time-share presentation during a eulogy. I can't believe anyone sees and hears him and then believes him.
He did. He held a dealership rally forTesla on the White House Lawn (in violation of the Comstock Act) as starving, sick kids overseas were dying.
Trump is insane he better be careful thinking he owns the world and these other countries and telling them what to do. Because They might just come after him and put him somewhere.
We can only hope!
I know right I’m sick of this
Yep!
Let’s hope. All of this could have been avoided had the assassin shot an inch further to the right
The bullet was on the mark. Chumptard turned his head a couple of seconds before the bullet hit. Damned fine shot from 242 yards.
I didn’t realize that. I’m truly sorry the orange fuck turned his mentally deranged head☹️
Do you remember Maxwell Smart? "missed it by that much." 1/4 inch from a perfect shot.
I remember now🤣The meme is fitting
...but he has words, lots of them, and they are the best words! Everybody's favorite president!
In his narcissist mind he really believes that
Probably not. They will just leave him, one by one, like Canada has done, and let the senior members of the Axis of Despots eat this new junior member. Like other countries they gobble up, America is just another meal.
Mary, instead of referring to them as handlers, in the pursuit of Trump Trolls Trump, would you consider labeling them his “babysitters” because after all Cokehead Donald IS an overgrown man baby and even wears diapers. Also Q: How tall is your uncle, really? We can all see he wears high heels in addition to his drag-style-garishly-overdone orange makeup.
Can you imagine what the washcloths must look like getting those coats of orange shellac off his mug!
Speaking of Shitstain's makeup, why doesn't it ever get on his shirt collar? Or does he change his shirts several times a day when he changes his XXL Depends?
I'm guessing he gets a clear coat after his makeup is done? :D
Alternate theory: not a problem; dust from his rumored blow + crushed adderall habit covers up the orange ring around the collar.
😂😂😂
I call them all 'Destructionists', what they do/believe in is 'destructionism' and their Party, the Destructionists Party. I have been for some time. They have nothing to do with "conservatism" or the extinct 'Republican Party'. Nothing whatsoever.
And his oversize broad- shouldered suit jackets. And the overlong neckties pointing, er…
Anyone remember the New Yorker cartoon where the Thought Police are about to arrest the guy because his tie is pointing at his, er… ?
This is going to be remembered the way Woodstock was remembered. And YOU have a chance to be there.
Democracy is NOT a spectator sport.
💥💥💥 DONT MISS THIS!!! “Hands Off” 🧨🧨🧨
🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️ Gigantic nationwide demonstration! 🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️
Saturday April 5 National “Hands Off” Day of Action
on the National Mall and 657 local demonstrations
Click this link to find a “Hands Off” demonstration near you.
https://handsoff2025.com/
I hope April 5 morning will be similar to when everyone was unsure what the turnout would before Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
It always brings tears to my eyes when I watch film footage of those buses appearring on the horizon and pouring into DC from all over the country.
So, Putin’s Pinocchio is very angry, huh? Wow, I bet Vlad is shaking in his boots. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. Always appreciate your analysis, Mary.