Teacher

Writer, activist, philosopher, and teacher Angela Davis said, “ I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. Her twist on the 12-step recovery mantra would be good advice for the would-be Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy has...

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  • January 4, 2023

I am a black man living in an urban city. Being in this skin, one must think about chance encounters with police going horribly wrong and street crime. To my chagrin, it is not unusual to hear gunshots at least once a month, but things are getting better. Homicides are...

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  • December 14, 2022

Yet another mass shooting happened overnight near my sister’s home in Virginia. After the body counts, the gnashing of teeth, and the solemn looks of talking heads interviewing the survivors and grieving family members, the right-wingers will step in and victim blame. The Alex Jones(s), Marjorie Taylor Greene(s), and Lauren...

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  • November 23, 2022

Florida bans its schools from teaching critical race theory On Thursday, Florida’s State Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of an amendment banning the teaching of critical race theory in schools throughout the state. The theory, according to PolitiFact, is a collection of ideas about systemic bias and privilege...

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  • June 12, 2021

These are days fraught with political battles over cultural histories abjuring complexity. Today it’s The Wall Street Journal and the reactionary path to critical race theory, the latest bit of Trumpist ignorance now projected into personnel policies and the larger revisionist history project that would deny the historical relevance of slavery...

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  • May 27, 2021

Oklahoma’s right-wing politicians would like to erase history because that’s what they do, whether it’s the omission of facts or rewriting them to favor those in power. Historical guilt and its associated media effects cooties can’t be part of public school curricula. H.B. 1775  implies that the past prior to 1776...

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  • May 24, 2021

I step back to reflect on many things, including this strangest year of my more than 2 ½ decades as a classroom teacher.  It is also as I approach what I suppose is a milestone of sorts, my 75th birthday on May 23. And of course since my major course...

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  • May 2, 2021

Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D. TX) organization, Powered By People: Don’t miss your chance to join Beto and other Powered by People volunteers for a virtual phone bank tonight! Sign up here if you’re able to volunteer a couple hours of your time to...

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  • April 27, 2021

Whether it’s soccer teams or sandwich shops, financialization was there before the pandemic, only making some of its supply-chain hijacking yet another example of an impending capitalist disaster. Re-regulation must remain important as crises loom in the post-pandemic recovery.  A 2017 interview with UMass’s Gerald Epstein points to the need to...

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  • April 25, 2021

Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D. TX), and his organization, Powered By People: I'm personally inviting you to join Beto and Powered by People volunteers next Tuesday, April 27, at a virtual phone bank to call voters in Webb County. I've joined Beto on...

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  • April 20, 2021

As far as I’m concerned, allowing Newsmax reporters into the White House briefing room is a little like High Times asking Mitt Romney to write a guest column on how to score weed at Burning Man, but then the Biden administration is nothing if not fair (Peter Doocy’s Vesuvian whining...

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  • April 5, 2021

Well, actually, he’s a Badger, not a duck. I was born in Wisconsin and currently live in Oregon. Believe me, I know the difference. And I can assure you, this guy is one enormous Johnson. I’m really not sure what Republicans’ strategy is vis-à-vis the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that’s...

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  • March 3, 2021

Here’s the first big campaign of 2021: A white candidate to be Wisconsin's top education official deleted her Twitter account and apologized after posting a message that she had been called a racial slur for Black people when she was 16 because “my lips were bigger than most and that...

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  • February 18, 2021

since 1995 I have been a secondary social studies teacher, most of the time teaching US Government in some form or another, especially since I first began teaching in a high school in August of 1998.  I have been a “classroom” teacher of government for 3 of the 4 Presidential...

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  • February 14, 2021

No one wants to hear about GameStop(gate) even if it’s not really a scandal or a flaw in capitalism. Slavoj “we must end capitalism but won't” Žižek on GameStop is like imposing a libidinal economy on Sudetenland when you take it over. Was the appeasement good for you too? There’s a market...

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  • February 2, 2021

Here’s the latest news out of Virginia: Former governor Terry McAuliffe has released his plan for reforming the state’s criminal justice system, focusing on parole, marijuana legalization and the restoration of voting rights. The Plan of Action for a Fairer Commonwealth prioritizes rehabilitation and second chances, fighting to achieve justice in...

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  • January 25, 2021

I live in Virginia, where we have now entered phase 1b for vaccination. On Sunday  notices were sent out as to who was eligible. As a teacher in the Pre-K through 12 range, I was included. Our medical care is through Virginia Hospital Center, where my wife’s cancer was largely...

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  • January 15, 2021

Oregon will push teachers to the front of the line for the next round of the vaccine.  Schools can re-open.  Children can return to school, and Workers can return to work. Politically, this defuses the biggest right wing talking point; the closed schools. http://www.oregonlive.com/… Personally, having a science teacher son, I...

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  • December 24, 2020

A young boy goes to the school nurse’s office, complaining of a sore throat.  The nurse gives him a cup of ice and sends him back to class. My son is teaching science to a socially distanced class room, but the sick kid was often within 6 feet of him,...

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  • December 9, 2020

In the first week of April this year, the first quantifiable effects of the Covid-19 virus on people of color were released in the press. April 17, 2020, Donald Trump tweeted out ‘Liberate Michigan!’ I am sure many of you think black and brown people are just paranoid when we...

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  • December 2, 2020

When this is all over — hopefully very soon — the number of lives Trump managed to destroy will be truly mind-boggling. But while I have nothing but sympathy for most of Trump’s victims, the fate of those who willingly threw their lot in with the Abominable Showman makes me decidedly...

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  • October 30, 2020

Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords tweeted a video of a special needs child, the son of a murdered teacher at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida,  meeting the former vice president in Washington DC during the March for Life protests. Gabbards herself is a gun violence survivor. The video is...

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  • October 27, 2020

The GOP Senate mischief continues, as the GOP’s rush to endanger the women’s health of at least 17 states and 30 million people also continues. x Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris will not in person attend the SCOTUS confirmation hearing as COVID runs through the Senate GOP.https://t.co/AD6Q5ulw4T via @politicususa—...

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  • October 11, 2020
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So this bull shit just happened: The Michigan Supreme Court issued a split decision late Friday that ruled against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a battle over her power to extend emergency declarations used to mandate COVID-19 restrictions. The court's decision throws in to question orders issued by Whitmer related to...

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  • October 3, 2020

Some big news today out of Mississippi: x .@JoeBiden unites and heals. He has dignity and empathy. He is the leader our country needs right now to move forward. I am deeply honored to receive his official endorsement today. pic.twitter.com/EQwUIlk4cq— Mike Espy (@MikeEspyMS) September 30, 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe...

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  • September 30, 2020

just so you know how they are going about it you can see it here: x Well that was quick — the Biden team just released their first ad on the reporting released today on Trump’s taxes in the @nytimes pic.twitter.com/Cw51FUof8g— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) September 28, 2020 Oh, and I...

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  • September 28, 2020

Oh, tell us more about Dear Leader, Kayleigh. The tales of his rugged exploits are riveting! x “It keeps him up at night, thinking of even one life lost.” pic.twitter.com/u8kkn2C3ry— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) September 22, 2020 < p class=”is-empty-p”> Kayleigh McEnany: “He has said before that it keeps him up at night...

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  • September 22, 2020

I was at the Bryn Mawr PA train station waiting for a train to take me into Philadelphia for a party I was going to attend.  Someone I knew slightly walked by me without noticing me, so I called after her. We chatted as we waited for the train. She...

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  • September 21, 2020

put out just in time for the day on which most students head back to school lots of quick powerful images and words including images to remind us of the multiple failures of our Secretary of Education including a teacher saying “I do not want to go to another funeral...

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  • August 31, 2020

Back to 1954 is the desperate place that Trump is going to spread disinformation. The GOP has tried to make Democrats “godless”, because how else could you win an election. Trump even brought his brother’s funeral to the White House to counter the spiritual expressions at the DNC. Trump got his...

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  • August 22, 2020

Received this e-mail just now form former presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA), in support of the Biden-Harris ticket: I was honored to address the Democratic National Convention last night from the Early Childhood Education Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. In case you didn’t get a chance to watch...

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  • August 20, 2020

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) got just over a 60sec window to say her piece. She was able to fit the entire Progressive movement within that time. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) did it. x x YouTube Video Watch the full episode When AOC was concerned that she only got a minute or so...

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  • August 19, 2020

The Huffington Post reports that U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R. CO) has been boosting a new Facebook ad touting his record being Trump lapdog. But as the article points out that the only place you won’t see it popping up is in Colorado: In theory, the campaign may not have...

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  • August 17, 2020

MJ Hegar (D. TX) Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D. NJ), in support of MJ Hegar’s (D. TX) U.S. Senate campaign: MJ Hegar is Texas tough: she's a U.S. Air Force veteran, a mother, a teacher, a fighter for the people in every...

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  • August 13, 2020

A video of an eight-year-old boy arrested at Gerald Adams Elementary School in Key West, Florida, for allegedly punching a teacher in the chest has recently emerged. The child’s arrest occurred in 2018 but has just now become public. Attorney Ben Crump posted the video on Twitter. He will be representing...

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  • August 11, 2020

There is a diary on here which is very good about Betsy No nothing and it is good. http://www.dailykos.com/&#8230; I am a parent, grandparent and great grandparent.  I know kids.   I have raised enough of them to know them. We know we have a shortage of teachers and we do...

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  • August 2, 2020

Part of my preparation for becoming a teacher, at my MAT program at Johns Hopkins, was to take time to reflect on what I was doing. Further, since my mid-teens, I have rarely been without a small pocket notebook in which to jot down observations and reflections.  In addition, I...

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  • July 25, 2020

Donald Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have been threatening schools to coerce them into fully opening. New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza's response ridiculed Trump. NYC Schools Chancellor ridicules Trump x x YouTube Video Watch complete episodes here. This is how one deals with an incompetent...

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  • July 16, 2020

to finish my doctorate. I abandoned my previous attempt almost 20 years ago with a dissertation almost half written for a variety of reasons I choose not to revisit now.  In the meantime, my interests had changed greatly and I was no longer excited by the topic on which I...

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  • July 15, 2020

Some good news today out of Arizona: Retired astronaut Mark Kelly (D) holds a 9-point lead over Sen. Martha McSally (R) in Arizona, a state critical to Democrats' hopes of reclaiming control of the U.S. Senate. Kelly leads McSally by a 52 percent to 43 percent margin, according to a new survey...

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  • July 14, 2020

Ron DeSantis, who’s doing a fantastic job as the Joker’s top henchman but a horrible job as governor of Florida, has OD’d on his crazy pills again. The man who’s currently presiding over one of coronavirus’ favorite summer vacation spots wants to open the schools posthaste because … wait for it!...

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  • July 9, 2020

from the perspective of someone who has taught every grade from 7 through 12, in public, charter, and private (both religious and secular) schools.  CLASSROOMS —  It is impossible in most schools to have 6 foot between students. Last year I had up to 30 seniors in a room at...

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  • July 9, 2020

Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA): Texas has a special place in my heart. It's where I got my second chance at college, for $50 a semester at the University of Houston (go Cougars!). It's where my Aunt Bee rescued me by...

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  • July 9, 2020

< p class=”is-empty-p”> # Country, Other Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths World 11,630,451 +79,909 538,161 +1,716 1 USA 3,000,469 +17,541 132,665 +96 And of course, we only have data today from a few of the states from yesterday. As the infection number is going up, we need...

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  • July 6, 2020

Some very big news today out of Texas courtesy of PPP’s latest poll done on behalf of EMILY’s List: x TEXASBiden 48% (+2)Trump 46%@ppppolls/@emilyslist (D) 6/24-25https://t.co/Qmoaz481Fd— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) July 2, 2020 x Texas Senate GE:Cornyn (R-inc) 42%Hegar (D) 35%@ppppolls/@emilyslist (D) 6/24-25https://t.co/Qmoaz481Fd #TXsen — Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) July 2, 2020...

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  • July 2, 2020

Former presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA), endorsed a whole slate of down ballot Democrats today. Two of them are for the U.S. Senate: x .@MikeEspyMS will fight his heart out for the people of Mississippi with empathy and determination. I’m proud to endorse him and his historic...

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  • June 20, 2020

Patrick & Delvon Carolan, father & son discuss their American experience. Delvon’s police encounters & discrimination at school was met by no-holds-barred dad. Patrick & Delvon Carolan tells their story x x YouTube Video Watch the full episode here. Patrick Carolan, the Director of Catholic Outreach for Vote Common Good and former Executive...

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  • June 20, 2020