ABLE SHEPHERD WANTS TO HELP SCHOOLS WITH SECURITY And I've got Jimmy Graham, Founder and CEO of Able Shepherd on right out of the chute today to talk about his program to help students and teachers deal with violent encounters. Find out more by clicking here.
NO, GOOD MANNERS ARE NOT OFFENSIVE I read this article the other day and my heart sank. Children are being PUNISHED for good manners? I have some words on this. They aren't just about not teaching children good manners. It's about fostering a culture where a teacher thinks good manners are somehow a transgression. Our culture is starting to really, really suck.
IF YOU LOVE DAVID BYRNE LIKE I LOVE DAVID BYRNE You're welcome.
IF WE'RE SPENDING A RECORD SUM ON TRANSFER PROGRAMS, WHY IS INCOME INEQUALITY STILL SO HIGH? The Office of Management and Budget has released data since 1940 on just how much government spends sending money to people in one form or another. We will spend 67.9% of OUR TOTAL SPENDING on programs that take money from someone and give it to someone else. What does that include? From the report:
"These are federal government spending programs designed to transfer income (in cash or in kind) to individuals or families," the OMB says in the introduction to its historical spending tables.
"To the extent feasible," says the OMB, "this category does not include reimbursements for current services rendered to the Government (e.g., salaries and interest)."
"The payments may be in the form of cash paid directly to individuals or they may take the form of the provision of services or the payment of bills for activities generally financed from personal income," the OMB says.
"They include outlays for the provision of medical care (in veterans' hospitals, for example) and for the payment of medical bills (e.g., Medicare)," says the OMB.
"They also include subsidies to reduce the cost of housing below market rates and food and nutrition assistance (such as SNAP — formerly food stamps)," the OMB says.
Remember this when someone says the military budget is too high. 67.9% of our budget!! We are done for.
IN A PLACE WITH THE FIRST MASSIVE SCHOOL SHOOTING IS REMOVING SRO'S A VIABLE IDEA? A Denver School Board candidate is running on that idea. Tay Anderson wants to replace SRO's with mental health counselors. Although I am generally supportive of good mental health support for kids, this is just dumb. He's from the "restorative justice" camp where they seem to not believe in holding kids accountable for their actions, so I guess this makes sense to him.
THOSE WHIPPERSNAPPER MILLENNIALS HAVE TAKEN OVER COLORADO! And I must say I think this is good news. There is nothing worse than watching a city or town die because the young people left. We're taking them! Check out this info from 9News and MSU, it's very interesting.
PROP CC IS HOPING TO WIN ON IGNORANCE And Jon Caldara explains why the people behind Prop CC aren't making any noise in this column. Spoiler alert: it's because they want you to be fooled by the language on the ballot.
MATH IS NOW RACIST AND I JUST CAN'T ANYMORE This is like a Simpsons episode gone haywire. No, more like a South Park episode (Matt and Trey, if you're reading, please take this on) making fun of Social Justice Warriors. Seattle Public Schools are offering a MATH curriculum infused with social justice talking points for teachers who want to teach a victimhood curriculum. From the proposal:
Students will be able to "identify the inherent inequities of the standardized testing system used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color," "explain how math has been used to exploit natural resources," and "explain how math dictates economic oppression."
A CEASE FIRE IN SYRIA SEEMS TO CONFIRM AN ARTICLE I POSTED EARLIER THIS WEEK And the cease fire in question has been struck between Turkey, Russia and the Kurds. Turkey is laying claim to the northern corner of Syria while allowing the Kurds to retreat to the southern part of the country. Russia is backing the whole thing up and controlling the northern border almost completely. Turkey wants to resettle the millions of refugees currently in Turkey back in Syria. But there is nothing left for them to come back to, so I sure hope Russia is in a mood to rebuild Syria. I'm glad Russia has forgotten how well it's last incursions into middle eastern wars went so they are willing to do this again. Here is the column I posted earlier this week that says Syria really isn't our problem. They seem to have predicted correctly what might happen.
LIZ WARREN IS PROMISING TO END CHARTER SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL CHOICE And in my mind, she is making a HUGE mistake here. A LOT of African-American families take advantage of school choice to give their kids the best chance for a great education in urban districts. A LOT of white families in urban district take advantage of school choice for their kids too. Now she is launching a full scale attack on charter schools for no other reason than the government doesn't have control over them. Not based on performance, not based on anything more than that. Based on her logic, Harvard should be banned from getting any government loans. I wonder how she'd feel about that?
WE'RE GOING TO MARS, BABY! At least that's what the head of NASA says, and we could be there by 2035!
COULD WE BE BEYOND BED BATH AND BEYOND? I flipping LOVE Bed Bath and Beyond and this story caught my eye because I need them to be around when I need a new comforter. This story outlines some general struggles in retail as well.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT HOW MUCH DOG'S RULE A stray dog returned the spot where he jumped out of his owner's car for four years.
YOU A JEW? NAH, NOT ME A new survey is such a sad commentary on where we are with anti-Semitism in this country. Nearly a third of American Jews don't identify themselves or wear anything that could identify them as Jewish because of anti-semitism. This is shameful. Not on them, on the rest of us for allowing an atmosphere to exist in our country where they feel the need to do that.
IT'S COME TO THIS A new reality show in the UK has a "jury" of people deciding if someone else should undergo plastic surgery. It's called SurJury. No, I am not kidding.
YOU KNOW HOW WE ALL SAY KIDS ARE SMARTER TODAY THAN WHEN WE WERE YOUNG? WE ARE WRONG And this column lays out how IQs, test scores and general knowledge have pretty much cratered in kids born after 1975. This does not bode well for our future. We should probably do something about it.
WOMEN HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS And this is sooooo true and really funny!
THIS PODCAST ON STICKY BRAS AND GUTSY CALLS IS REALLY GOOD AND YOU SHOULD LISTEN. and oh, it's mine.
AND HERE'S A PODCAST ON HAUNTED HOUSES AND PAST LIVES. Spoiler alert, I hate being startled.