Is someone trying to tell me that parents are prevented from knowing what their children are being taught in school?

Ridiculous.

Both my kids went through the local public high school, and I became thoroughly familiar with the curriculum by helping them with their homework, and speaking with their teachers.  On top of that, I’ve tutored dozens of kids in that same institution, using textbooks that are available for anyone to examine.

This is simply an alarmist right-wing lie.

 

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What this gentleman needs to understand is that:

1) The MAGA crowd / Trump base is overtly racist; they openly applaud garbage like this.

and

2) The rest of us are overwhelmed by the torrent of outrageous behavior from Trump and Musk. The latter’s statement about Alternative for Germany is indefensible, but not any more so than any of the other crap that comes out of his mouth.

 

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It would be great if we could pull off what Harrison Ford is suggesting i.e., that our leaders believe in science and create policy that is informed accordingly.  The problem is that our elections here in the United States are bought with extreme sums of money that are directed towards convincing massive numbers of poorly informed Americans that a certain candidate offers them solutions to their main concerns in life.

In 2024, hordes of people believed that runaway inflation was ruining the economy, that immigrants were taking their jobs, and that the crime rate was skyrocketing.  Of course, none of these assertions was true, but that was hardly relevant.

Trump promised to bring down the cost of groceries and deport many millions of immigrants.  He won every state and territory but nine.

Is climate change a hoax?  No.  Are vaccinations safe and effective?  Yes.

Is any of this important? Not on your life.

 

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The drawing here reminds me of a kid I tutored who introduced himself as follows, “Hi, Mr. Shields.  I’m Andy.  I hate math and it hates me.”

Of course, I chuckled amiably and tried to reassure him that we were about to change all that.

What makes this story worth telling is that things got worse before they got better.  What really sent him through the roof was when he learned that some problems have more than one solution.  He thought this is positively demonic.

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I could be wrong, but I believe that Trump has made at least some of his picks simply to create outrage.

Attorney General?  How about an alleged statutory rapist and sex trafficker? Couldn’t get any more insane than that, right?

Secretary of Health and Human Services?  Let’s see.  Got it!  Long-time heroin user with brain worms.  Perfecto.

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A reader asks: We seem to overuse the word “very.” Can you comment on that?

Sure.  Excellent point.  It’s because most people’s vocabularies are limited and they’re too lazy to look for the proper word. For most adjectives, say “large,” there is another, perhaps “gargantuan,” that intensifies it without the need for “very.”

I try to use what I believe to be the right word, while not coming off as pompous.

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The problem is that it doesn’t matter what you would rather have.

Because of things like the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United, the most powerful entities in this nation can spend as much as they wish influencing our elections.

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Is the fast-food franchisee here improving his relationship with his community / customer base with this sign?

If I were writing it, the sign would read, “Wednesday Night Running Group: Please feel free to use our bathrooms. At Chipotle, we believe that health is cool, and we fully support you folks.  Go for the gold!”

I know we live in tense times, but maybe a bit more courtesy and less face-slapping is called for.

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Seriously?  The author of the meme here must be putting me on.  He “can’t explain it?”  “Things just don’t feel right?”

The United States is facing four more years of leadership by a sociopath–one who has nothing to lose from implementing policies that will a) nullify the justice system’s attempt to prosecute him for his crimes, b) use that same justice system to punish his enemies, c) further enrich himself and his billionaire friends by looting the U.S. treasury, d) cripple our nation’s efforts to mitigate environmental collapse, e) further destroy American education, f) remove women’s rights, and g) kick tens of millions of Americans off of healthcare.

I’m not sure how observant and intuitive you need to be to see all this.

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I had to laugh when I came across the meme here.

A few weeks ago, I ran into two ladies who had been friends since they were children.  One said, “Gosh we’ve known one another for a long time.  We’re 40 now, and we met when were what, eight?” She pulled out her phone and after a few seconds said, “That’s 32 years!”

 

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