#commondreams.org

(via Opinion | Trump's Dreamland for Billionaires Is a Nightmare for America's Working Class | Common Dreams)

In the state of North Carolina, the legislature saw fit to pass House Bill 324 in response to the Critical Race Theory madness set off by a FOX News interview. The bill outlaws teaching that includes the following:

1. "One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex."

2. "An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously."

3. "An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex."

4. "An individual's moral character necessarily determined by his or her race or sex."

5. "An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex."

6. "Any individual solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress."

7. "That the belief that the United States as a meritocracy is an inherently racist or sexist belief, or that the United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex."

An attempt at apolitical language allows the authors to make a strong rightist political argument while attempting a politically neutral stand. This is something that has been done forever, but the authors of this document do this quite well. A reasonable person who is a non-educator could look at the above list and see nothing wrong with it. This is the power and difficulty of HB 324. It uses the moment of anti-Critical Race Theory rhetoric to go after its real target: anti-racist, anti-oppressive, critical civic, and authentic teaching.

…

Neither House Bill 324 nor the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force have an enforcement mechanism. They both make demands. With no evidence they both argue that schools are rife with Critical Race Theory and educators are in the process of indoctrinating students. Both documents to a certain extent attempt to take a neutral or apolitical stance. A reasonable person ignorant of the politics hidden in the language of both documents might be supportive of them and be outraged that educators are engaged in the activities the documents accuse them of. This, I think, is the point. Both HB 324 and the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force are not about education. They are not about student learning, their future, or school outcomes. They are not about the possibility that schools can and might have a positive social impact on society. While all things are inherently political, both HB 324 and the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force seem only to be. They exist to support the larger Trump agenda and the far-right conspiracy theories that argue that schools are not inherently good nor support society's greater good. At a time in which school board meetings and school board members are being targeted and threatened, both HB 324 and the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force serve only to inflame, encourage, and empower the mob.

Neither the attempted legislation nor the task force is concerned about education, or even politics really. What they are concerned with is control. Rather than thinking of school as a desperately necessary public good with educators who have an expertise, a place for difficult but incredibly needed conversations, both the authors of HB 324 and the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force want to engage in acts of historical erasure, avoidance, and advocacy for white supremacy. The weapon the authors and supporters of these measures are using is fear. If the measures themselves don't cow and intimidate educators the hope is that the mob, that people will be so incensed that they begin to threaten educators themselves. This has been and continues to be done at school board meetings and at schools themselves, where they demand that principals or teachers be removed that content not be taught and pedagogy changed. We must encourage and support teachers engaged in the complicated work of teaching our children about the reality of our country's, and the world's racial, misogynistic, homophobic, and violent history. Teachers must do this with care and hope. Teaching authentically must be done thoughtfully and with care. Teachers need our help. The work is necessary, and needed more than ever, teachers must be protected and allowed to educate.

[Emphasis added]

And this one user accused me of being a lazy coward with no loved ones and is ignorant to the suffering in the world just because I wanted to continue protesting peacefully, like I don't know jack shit nor care. I literally had to call congress regarding online surveillance in spite of my phone anxiety, you call that cowardly?

That was the straw the broke the camel's back for me, I'm completely done with Common Dreams, I'm never coming back there again, they're no different than the YT comment section.

The national climate watchdog group Food & Water Watch on Monday unveiled a new interactive multimedia resource where users can learn more about "false narratives" regarding carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology pushed by fossil fuel companies eager to avoid what scientists and energy experts say is the actual solution to the climate emergency: Ending the burning of coal, gas, and oil to bring down carbon emissions.

Visitors to the group's new "resource hub" first encounter a title card reading, "The Carbon Capture Solution" before the last word is crossed out and replaced with "Scam."

The site, titled Carbon Capture Scam, includes video storytelling, expert testimonials, analysis, infographics, and other content that help explain to readers why carbon capture and storage (CCS) is simply "a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry" rather than a real solution that will reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and planetary heating.

(Link to the image above....)

NaPoWriMo 2020 Day 27 April 27, 2020 The Day Everything Changed, Season Premiere 2020

  Day Twenty-Seven NaPoWriMo On April 27, 2020

Today’s challenge:  “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem in the form of a review. But not a review of a book or a movie of a restaurant. Instead, I challenge you to write a poetic review of something that isn’t normally reviewed. For example, your mother-in-law, the moon, or the year 2020 (I think many of us have some thoughts on that…

By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams Sep 06, 2018

Moving closer to the kind of full-scale revolt progressives have been urgently demanding from Democrats throughout Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday defied Senate rules by unilaterally releasing documents that had been deemed “committee confidential” and hidden from the public.

“As I’ve been saying from the beginning, this process has been a sham,” Booker said in a statement after releasing documents related to Kavanaugh’s views on racial profiling. “The fact that tens of thousands of documents revealing a Supreme Court nominee’s views on key issues were deemed committee confidential and not available to the public reflects the absurdity of this process.”

“The public has a right to access documents about a Supreme Court nominee’s views on issues that are profoundly important, such as race and the law,” Booker added. “This process has demonstrated an unprecedented level of secrecy and opaqueness that undermines the Senate’s constitutional duty to advice and consent.”

...At around the same time Booker released the racial profiling documents—a move that comes on the final day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings—Hirono joined her colleague in disregarding Senate rules by uploading screenshots of documents Republicans “don’t want you to see—because they show that Judge Kavanaugh wrongly believes that Native Hawaiian programs are constitutionally questionable.”

“I defy anyone reading this to be able to conclude that it should be deemed confidential in any way, shape, or form,” Hirono added.