One Of Star Trek's Worst

Several minutes ago I sat down to a light dinner in front of the tv.  My tv has the Pluto app, and one of the channels on Pluto is a Star Trek channel.  Decision made.

This is not an "on demand" channel.  You watch what Pluto is showing, like the old-fashioned tv channels of my childhood!  A minute or so into the episode I realized which one I was watching, and I switched it off immediately.  It was the third (or fourth, depending on how you count) episode of the entire series, called Code of Honor.  It is perhaps one of the most racist, or at least stereotypical of Africans, episodes of modern tv ever made.

IMDB delivers this synopsis:

When the leader of an alien culture takes a romantic interest in Lt. Yar, he claims her for his own, to the dismay of his own wife, who, in turn, challenges Tasha in a fight to the death.

They conveniently leave out that the leader is a large, black man, and that Tasha is a well-built white woman.  No stereotype there.  The attire that these space aliens wear looks more than a little "African", and shows off lots of skin.  No stereotype there.  They speak in what we Americans would consider an "African" accent.  No stereotype there.  The society is tribal, ritualistic.  No stereotype there.  While the aliens have more technology than we do today, the Enterprise crew regard them as primitive.  No stereotype there.  Physical combat to settle grievances.  No stereotype there.

Just to get a visual image of what the show is like, take a look at the few pictures shown at the IMDB link above. 

According to Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge and wisdom:

Powers and Baron pitched a story based on a reptilian race following a code of honor similar to the bushido code of the Samurai. This was developed into the final story, which was described as having a "1940s tribal Africa" theme by staff writer Tracy Tormé. The episode was received negatively amongst cast, crew, fans and reviewers and has been called "quite possibly the worst piece of Star Trek ever made".

To be honest, I'm surprised that Paramount hasn't pulled that episode and blackholed it as Disney did with Song of the South.  I'm not advocating blackholing it, any more than I like Disney's action, I'm just surprised they haven't (yet) done so.  It's bad.  It's difficult to watch.  I've heard it derisively called "Wakanda In Space", with none of the Wakanda's attractive attributes.  Michael Dorn, the black actor who played Lt. Worf, has said that he was happy not to be in that episode at all.

Again, it's so painful to watch that I just couldn't.  I came into my library and wrote this post instead!

Fascism and Free Speech

This is a satisfactory definition of fascism:

a political philosophy, movement, or regime...that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

The "economic and social regimentation" requires that business and industry, while still nominally in private hands, serve the interests of the state (or Party). 

Having established that, I present to you the following:

(Not exactly sure who created this, but a friend saw it online and forwarded it to me.  I hope the creator doesn't mind that I've reposted it here.)

Should He Be Fired For Shooting His Mouth Off?

You don't have to have been a reader of this blog for very long to know my longstanding views on a topic like this--the fact that the idiot involved is a teacher does not mean he should necessarily be fired for his foul posting:

In case you missed it, the funeral for slain NYPD Detective Jason Rivera was held on Friday. The procession route for the funeral was lined with thousands upon thousands of police officers and other first responders...

Unfortunately, not everyone was feeling the spirit of paying tribute to the life of the officer who was murdered during a cowardly ambush. One New York City public school teacher took to Instagram and posted a suggestion that someone might want to take a vehicle and plow into the sea of police officers.

He didn't incite anyone, he merely let his own idiocy overwhelm his humanity and common sense:

The post was captioned, “5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity.”

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  we teachers are not required to be saints.  We're allowed to have our own opinions, and even to express those opinions outside of school--both of which seem to be the case here.  That the guy is a worthless turd seems, at least to me, to be obvious, but if being a worthless turd were a disqualification for a government job, then government (including government education centers) would be much smaller indeed!

The loser is free to express his worthless opinion, and the rest of us are free to criticize him for having such a worthless opinion.  That's how free speech is supposed to work.  It might feel good to play the lefties' game and try to get this guy fired, but doing so would be at the expense of one of the most precious parts of conservatism--venerating the Constitution, especially the First Amendment.  No, we must attack what he posted, and perhaps even the man himself for being so stupid as to entertain the thought of what he posted, but trying to get him fired is a bridge too far.  If he's to be fired it should be for something related to his teaching, not merely for expressing a gross opinion.

When we talk about firing teachers, there are all sorts of "what ifs".  I used to be against those rare firings of a (usually woman) teacher who was subsequently found to have had nude pictures published to make a little money back in the college days; I've since come to the realization that such firings are reasonable, because we can't have students checking out their naked teacher.  It's just not good for classroom management or decorum.  So there's one example of where a teacher's out-of-classroom actions can be cause for firing, but that cause is because it directly relates to the ability to maintain order in a classroom.  Other outside causes--untreated drug or alcohol abuse, for example--are probably statutory.

My point is that, with the fewest of exceptions, we should be firing teachers for what goes on at work and not what goes on their Instagram pages.  In fact, here is a post from last September summarizing four stories about teachers, and you can see that such a view is consistent in each of them.  So let the teacher above spout off--and face the social opprobrium that comes with his views.  And make no mistake, social opprobrium is as far as I'm willing to go in such circumstances.  Anything above that is harassment and worse.

Update, 1/31/22:  That didn't take long:

“We do not condone or promote violence of any sort. As of this afternoon, Mr. Flanigan is no longer employed at Coney Island Prep,” Coney Island Prep CEO Leslie-Bernard Joseph said in a statement.

“The teachers and staff of Coney Island Prep are public servants; and like all public servants we hold ourselves to a much higher standard,” Joseph said. “We work hard to serve the young people in our community, and we know our police officers do as well, taking innumerable risks, to keep our city safe.”

The teacher also tried to "explain" his comment: 

He claimed his message was “misconstrued” and that he was merely commenting on the “vulnerability” of the crowd of cops.

“I respect the NYPD. I do not condone violence,” he insisted on Sunday. “A 22-year-old police officer murdered in the line of duty is reprehensible. I’m devastated by that.”

Apparently the school didn't buy that explanation. 

While I expected this outcome, I don't support it.

Can One Of These Be The Right Thing, and The Other Wrong?

First, Virginia:

A tip line set up by new Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin for parents to report the teaching of "inherently divisive concepts" in the commonwealth’s public schools is triggering teachers and Democrats, according to a report...

The victory by Youngkin was fueled in part by his pledge to prevent critical race theory (CRT) from being taught in the schools. He appeared to make good on that pledge by including a CRT ban among a series of executive orders he issued soon after taking office.

Now, Colorado: 

Are they both wrong?  If one of them is right, which one, and why?  I'd really like to solicit comments on this one.

I've Been Busy On Joanne's Site

I've left comments here, here, here, here, here, and here recently.  If at least part of the reason you come to Right on the Left Coast is for my views on K-12 education, you might read Joanne's posts and accompanying comments, too.

This Is What Today's Left Stands For

Comic and pundit Bill Maher bragged that he’s “a hero at Fox these days” because he’s willing to call out liberals whom he says “have their head up their ass"...

Maher went on to cite some of his favorite targets: “Canceling Lincoln and Dr. Seuss. Teaching children they’re oppressors. And math is racist, making Mr. Potato Head gender-neutral, and now an emoji for pregnant men"....

When he's right, he's right. 

Anyway, today's lefties are so ridiculous that they wouldn't be taken seriously by normal people if they didn't hold the levers of power.

When Will I Be Able To Breathe At School?

I'll be able to breathe at school when the commissars determine they can't milk any more benefit out of their kabuki theater:

In an Atlantic article published this week, Margery Smelkinson, an infectious disease scientist who works for the National Institutes of Health, highlights the lack of evidence in favor of school mask mandates. "Two years into this pandemic, keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable," she and her co-authors write. "We reviewed a variety of studies—some conducted by the CDC itself, some cited by the CDC as evidence of masking effectiveness in a school setting, and others touted by media to the same end—to try to find evidence that would justify the CDC's no-end-in-sight mask guidance for the very-low-risk pediatric population, particularly post-vaccination. We came up empty-handed."

Vinay Prasad, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, makes the same point more emphatically in a recent Tablet article. Forcing students to wear face masks "isn't a matter of protecting children, their teachers, or their grandparents," he says. "It's delusional and dangerous cultlike behavior."

If Dr. Prasad is right, it will be even longer for me.

Educators Should Rejoice When Students Are Able To Accelerate Their Learning

Leftie educators like to talk about “educating all students”—until someone gets ahead. Then we have to hold those students back, in the name of so-called equity.  Good on Governor Youngkin for doing what's best for kids:

The Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI), an equity-focused educational program that would have eliminated all accelerated math courses before 11th grade, is no longer.

The initiative was removed from the Virginia Department of Education's website after newly inaugurated Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Jan. 15 issued Executive Order 1 to, among other things, "restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education."

"This is just another instance of Governor Youngkin delivering on his promises to Virginia’s students and parents," Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for the governor, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The governor pledged to remove the initiative, which would move away from advanced math courses, to restore academic excellence in Virginia and ensure our curriculum is preparing students to excel"...

"…The Youngkin administration with Superintendent Jillian Balow and Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Schultz have eliminated the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative, which was going to deny students advanced math in middle school," she (Asra Nomani of Parents Defending Education) said. "This war on merit must end. Our schools must be places for all children to be challenged academically and grow. We expect this is just the first step in rolling back the damage that has been done by the insidious ideology of critical race theory and its destruction of education in the name of ‘equity.’"

Must Be All Those Republicans/White Supremacists In San Francisco

The article states that there were 8 "anti-AAPI" hate crimes reported in SF in 2019, 9 in 2020, and 60 in 2021.  The SF police chief said that one man was believed to be responsible for fully half of the 2021 numbers.

Oddly enough, the article didn't answer the most obvious question.  For lefties, race/ethnicity is everything, so...what racial group is most at fault for these crimes?  My guess, after a few decades of paying attention to the leftie media:  if they didn't tell you it was white people, then it wasn't white people.

Been Too Long

I need a little get-away, so I've booked Saturday night in Reno.  A little splurge--a hot tub room!

You Probably Wear A Similar Cloth Mask

Those of you who are required to, those of us who must participate in 'Rona Theater, wear masks like these:

Any Media Bias Here?

Earlier today this was the top story on the web site of the major Sacramento newspaper:

Sacramento-area anti-mask conspiracists target elementary school principal at his home

The protest over a student being sent home is the latest concerning attack on non-elected officials. One expert called it “terrorism.”

Kettle, this is Pot.  You're black.

The Insanity of the Left

As a friend said:

That’s because “woke triggered nonbinary” offers a big steaming pile of mentally ill nonsense that adds up to nothing. 

Patriotism

When I was growing up, members of both political parties were proudly patriotic.  That's not the case anymore.  Being patriotic shouldn't be reserved only for conservatives:

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: This Mom Is Helping Parents Discover Pro-America Content for Kids. “We don’t want to do anything that’s political. We merely want to present families and educators with resources that unite us as Americans, that provide the rightful telling of who we are as Americans.”

Systemic Racism and Domestic Terrorism

If what's described below is "systemic racism" and "domestic terrorism", then the definitions of "systemic racism" and "domestic terrorism" have been watered down so as to be meaningless.  Threatening to ruin students' academic futures?  Par for the course for lefties--and a great look for a school district:

Attorney Mark T. Harris is charged with helping district address an incident at West Campus High School in which a vice principal was subjected to racially derogatory statements online, and a separate incident at Kit Carson International Academy in which a teacher used the n-word twice in a discussion with students…

Leone also expressed concerns about a separate incident a year ago at Luther Burbank High School in which a student and teacher had an exchange over the N-word. A subsequent faculty discussion reportedly became hostile…

“The fact that we are still a district that suffers from systemic racism is on us. It’s a responsibility that I take very seriously. I also acknowledge that we have a lot of work to do,” said (Superintendent) Aguilar…

“We’re not accusing you or your kids of anything, but if your kid is found to have committed these atrocities, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that kid gets to wear that jacket,” said Harris. “So your plans for that kid to go to Brown or Harvard or Stanford or Cal? Maybe you need to think twice because that kid’s going to have to deal with the fact that they participated in domestic terrorism as far as I’m concerned some of the things that these young people are accused of, but that’s the end result.”

This story, from the major Sacramento newspaper, involves the Sac City Unified School District.

It's My Blogiversary

On January 23, 2005, this blog went live.  17 years and over 13,000 posts later, here we are.

My, how things have changed!

A CNN Assessment of Biden's First Year

Wow. CNN's Scott Jennings lists several of Biden's failures and asks "Are we any better off on these three issues that we crucified Trump over?"  link, with video

It's been awhile since I agreed with anyone on CNN as much as I agree with Jennings.

There's an old saying in the English language:  don't throw the baby out with the bath water.  A lot of people didn't like mean tweets, and look what we got by replacing President Trump....

The "Socialist Deception"

You can count on those who lived under communism/socialism to be against it, while those who lived with the comforts of capitalism pretend they’re doing everyone a favor by advocating communism/socialism:

OPINION: Living under a communist regime, the last thing you could imagine is that, by coming to the United States, you would be exposed to people who really believe that socialism works

Conservatives Believe In Individuality

Lefties believe in groupthink:

Anti-woke blacks are “erased,” writes Erec Smith, who teaches rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania, in Newsweek. Their words are misconstrued, their characters slandered.

“I want to make individuality cool again,” Smith said in an interview.

His journal, Free Black Thought publishes black writers who go “beyond the relatively narrow spectrum of views promoted by mainstream outlets.”

Read the brief post, and watch Smith's video:

One Month From Today

You know what one month from today is?  Two's Day:  Tuesday, 2/22/22!

Is This Defensible? Is This Really The Role of Government?

The Canadians are more European than they are American, so they're quite happy to let government walk all over them:

The Canadian province of Quebec, which is the most affected by a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant, has introduced new restrictions against unvaccinated people.

From now on, liquor and cannabis stores are only accessible to people who are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Health officials say they hope the order will encourage more people to get vaccinated...

Canada used to be a fun place to visit--yes, their politics are weird, but the Canucks themselves were mostly harmless.  Now even the Canadians are willing to use government to pester their own people--and don't think it will stop with simple pestering.

This isn't securing the rights of the people.  This is trampling on those rights.  This is abusive.  It's punitive.  And it deserves more than just being voted out of office.

You Know Whom They Hate By Whom They Call "Privileged"

This doesn't surprise me at all:

Fairfax County high schoolers were asked to play "privilege bingo" to check their privilege. Some examples of privilege in the game included anyone that is a male, Christian, heterosexual, and anyone from a military family, among other categories.

When The Left Has Lost Jonathan Chait...

I know some die-hards who will disagree with this because they cannot allow their tribe to be attacked, but any objective observer knows this to be true:

The furnace-hot backlash seemed to be triggered by Silver’s assumption that school closings were not only a mistake — a possibility many progressives have quietly begun to accept — but an error of judgment that was sufficiently consequential and foreseeable that we can’t just shrug it off as a bad dice roll. It was a historic blunder that reveals some deeper flaw in the methods that produced it and which demands corrective action.

That unnerving implication has a mounting pile of evidence to support it. It is now indisputable, and almost undisputed, that the year and a quarter of virtual school imposed devastating consequences on the students who endured it. Studies have found that virtual school left students nearly half a year behind pace, on average, with the learning loss falling disproportionately on low-income, Latino, and Black students. Perhaps a million students functionally dropped out of school altogether. The social isolation imposed on kids caused a mental health “state of emergency,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The damage to a generation of children’s social development and educational attainment, and particularly to the social mobility prospects of its most marginalized members, will be irrecoverable.

It is nearly as clear that these measures did little to contain the pandemic. Children face little risk of adverse health effects from contracting COVID, and there’s almost no evidence that towns that kept schools open had more community spread.

In the panicked early week of the pandemic, the initial decision to close schools seemed like a sensible precaution. Authorities drew on the closest example at hand, the 1918 Spanish flu, which was contained by closing schools.

But in relatively short order, growing evidence showed that the century-old precedent did not offer much useful guidance. While the Spanish flu was especially deadly for children, COVID-19 is just the opposite. By the tail end of spring 2020, it was becoming reasonably clear both that remote education was failing badly and that schools could be reopened safely.

What happened next was truly disturbing: The left by and large rejected this evidence.

Read the next few paragraphs if not the whole thing.

We Can't Have An Exchange Of Ideas Here, This Is A University!

This sounds nice, but I won't hold my breath:

Students’ tendency to overvalue perspectives based on experience over knowledge, facts and logic can harm classroom discourse and university culture, according to a new report penned by a group of bipartisan scholars and administrators.

To resolve this, professors should teach students to rely on discipline-based norms of evidence, “so that students are neither unfairly burdened with expectations to speak nor excluded because of their experience and identity.”

The advice was among several suggestions in the report, titled “Campus Free Expression: A New Roadmap,” a guide for college leaders to foster academic freedom and open debate.

The Scale

Until this morning, I hadn't stepped on my scale in over a year.  I didn't want to know what it would tell me.  I know I've put on pounds, a lot of pounds.  And it's not the 'rona's fault or the shutdown's fault or any other fault but my own.

I've been wondering what it would take for me to do something about my weight, what "rock bottom" would be.  I don't know if I've reached it, but last night I came close enough--I saw my profile in the mirror.  The fat roll, the sagging.  It was undeniable.  And devastating.

I'd resisted the scale, even as I began to outgrow my big-boy clothes.  Oh, I had a number in mind, what I probably weighed.  It was enough to be bad, but not bad enough to be outrageous.  But after seeing that profile last night, I knew I needed eat a little better and start doing something besides watching TV when I get home from work each day.  I have a workout app on my phone; it's not much, but at least it would get me moving in the mornings, so I decided to start it this morning.

But to know if I'm making any progress, I'd have to step on the scale.  So I did.  And the number was worse than I thought.  Much worse.

I'm 58 pounds over what I'd like to weigh, and what I'd like to weigh is a few pounds over what I probably should weigh.

Back in 2010 it took me 4 months to lose almost 25 pounds, and I was going hard core back then.  I don't even know if I have it in me to work as hard now as I did then, but I've got to do something.  I spent most of my life either thin or of reasonable weight, I don't want the last third of my life to be spent fat and unhealthy.  I've really let myself go.

The sign goes on the refrigerator today:  Are you hungry or just bored?

You Do You. Don't Expect Others To Do You.

Whose responsibility is it to protect you from the 'rona?  Yours:

The usual sources of outrage are all atwitter over the fact that Justice Sotomayor isn’t a queen with the authority to demand that other justices wear face gags at her behest. Apparently, the overweight and diabetic Sotomayor wants everyone around her to take extra precautions to care for her after she didn’t care for herself, which puts her in a higher risk category for COVID complications. While her Type 1 diabetes was not avoidable, Sotomayor’s weight problem is surely manageable through diet and exercise. She isn’t hiring a personal trainer or going on a diet; oh no, that would require personal responsibility. Instead, she is demanding that everyone around her wear masks or she will stay in her office and zoom into hearings...

Anyone at this point, when there are vaccines and therapeutics available to deal with COVID, who is still demanding that you do something to keep them safe should be given a hard “no.” Justice Gorsuch has done just that and is refusing to wear a mask. Good. Let the hypochondriacs live a life confined inside, alone, separated from all society, and ordering from Grubhub. The rest of us have things to do.

Life is risk, your highness...

Why is the media making a big deal about this, calling it “absolutely shameful” that Gorsuch won’t wear a mask? Why aren’t they asking why Justice Sotomayor won’t go on a diet and start an exercise regimen? Why is it Gorsuch’s problem that Sotomayor doesn’t look after herself?...

The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire makes a good point. “Gorsuch’s refusal to wear a mask didn’t ‘force’ Sotomayor to work remotely. Sotomayor can also: 1. Quit or 2. Have remotely sane risk tolerance practices.” Hear, hear...

Scott Morefield opined, “If triple-vaxxed Sotomayor is still frightened, she has the freedom to wear four masks and a HAZMAT suit. It’s time to stop catering to tyrannical hypochondriacs. Neil Gorsuch is a hero.” 

I cannot disagree with any of this--and I'm several dozen pounds over what I should weigh. 

Update:  An unnamed FoxNews source says the original story is completely bogus, adding:

According to Bream’s source, “there has been no blanket admonition or request from Chief Justice Roberts that the other Justices begin wearing masks to arguments. The source further stated Justice Sotomayor did not make any such request to Justice Gorsuch.”

Thus, “given that fact, there was also no refusal by Justice Gorsuch.”

Bream concluded by pointing out that every justice is vaccinated, boosted, and that they get tested before gathering for arguments.

The original story came from Nina Totenberg, so who knows?  My one encounter with Nina did not show her to be a very fair person.

Update #2, 1/19/22:  FoxNews points out NPR's fake news:

Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor issued a joint statement Wednesday disputing a recent NPR report as "false" after the liberal media organization claimed the conservative justice refused to wear a mask on the bench despite requests to do so. 

"Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask surprised us. It is false. While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends," Gorsuch and Sotomayor said in a joint statement to the media.

"I did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a separate statement...

NPR’s report, which was published on Tuesday morning, was addressed on that evening’s edition of "Special Report with Bret Baier," when Fox News chief legal correspondent and "FOX News @ Night" anchor Shannon Bream’s sources shot down the report before the justices called it false themselves.

How Much Longer Can Democrats Play The Race Card?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed before I was born.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed when I was a few months old.  Let's stop pretending that systemic racism against Black Americans exists today:

Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell ripped Democrats for continuing to promulgate claims that opponents to their election federalization legislation, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, are rooted in racism, and that there is somehow a portion of the population that still lacks the right to vote.

In a Fox News interview on Monday, Terrell referenced the fact the right to vote for all American citizens has been enshrined in federal law for 50 years, despite apparent claims to the contrary.

On "Hannity", host Sean Hannity laid out how several top Democrats, including Sen. Raphael G. Warnock of Georgia – who is the pastor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s former church in Atlanta – claimed some of his fellow Senators "no longer have to ask what we would have done then."

"We're doing whatever we would have done then right now. This is a moral moment. This is a 1965 moment," claimed Warnock, in reference to a landmark year in voting rights legislation.

Elie Mystal, an attorney and writer for "The Nation" magazine, further claimed on MSNBC that critics including moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are "the White people that Martin Luther King warned us about."

I assume this is a reference to the "silence of our friends", but I don't know for sure.  But let's continue:

Terrell ripped those assertions, telling host Sean Hannity that Democrats have "lied to people of color for 50 years" on various fronts including their claims of oppression by the American system:

"They are in a 1965 Time Warp," he said. 

"Let me just give you two areas where they lie: Schools and crime. Look at the democratic cities and they have played the race card for over 50 years… I want to be clear there is no systemic racism in this country."

Terrell said that, contrary to claims by folks like Warnock, systemic racism was eliminated with the passage of the Voting Rights Act and the latter editions of Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, as well as the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

"But the Democrats will keep reinventing the race card," he said. "What it is now is critical race theory."

Parental Input Regarding What's Taught In Schools

Instapundit nailed it with this one, slamming an editorial in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

All your kids are belong to us.

Dr. King Holiday

Four years ago.

It's hard to tell how tall the monument is, no?  Here's some perspective:

In California, We're Still Playing Pandemic!

I haven't heard about this happening in my district yet, but I have to believe it's only a matter of time:

Sacramento City Unified is set to receive a shipment of close to 150,000 N95 respirator masks, which it will begin distributing to teachers and other staff, and expects to receive a shipment of different respirator masks for students next week...

“N95 masks offer the best face covering protection (against COVID-19) that can be provided, blocking 95% of particles when worn properly,” Victoria Flores, a district student support and health services director, said in a statement. “We will be educating our staff on proper fitting and handling of these N95 masks to assure they are used effectively as possible.”

The district said a separate shipment of KF94 masks for students in the district is “expected to arrive as soon as next week.” 

“KF94 masks differ from the N95 masks by using design elements of a cloth mask that contours toward the face with an adjustable band over the nose that filters 94% of particles,” the news release continued.

 The shipments come as the Sacramento region, like the rest of California and most of the nation, sees record-setting COVID-19 transmission due to the highly contagious omicron variant. The California Department of Public Health also recently recommended that people upgrade from cloth masks to surgical masks or respirators in order to provide the best protection.

C.S. Lewis had it right:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Showing Their True Colors, All Right

The following comes from a Salt Lake City Tribune editorial:

(Governor) Cox and others have correctly said that the best tool for fighting the spread of the virus, individually and collectively, was to get two — then three — doses of the vaccine. That is absolutely the correct advice.

But Cox and so many others have not carried the courage of their convictions. Cox, state legislative leaders, our congressional delegation and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes have so proudly stood against the kind of vaccine mandates that civilized society has used for generations to effectively wipe out everything from polio to diphtheria to the measles...

Were Utah a truly civilized place, the governor’s next move would be to find a way to mandate the kind of mass vaccination campaign we should have launched a year ago, going as far as to deploy the National Guard to ensure that people without proof of vaccination would not be allowed, well, anywhere.

There aren't enough National Guardsmen to keep all the unvaccinated in their homes. Maybe it would be easier if we concentrated them all in one place--I don't know, like in a camp or something.

Scratch a leftie, and a totalitarian bleeds.  Every. Single. Time.

Update, 1/18/22:  But wait, there's more! 

While many voters have become skeptical toward the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of Democrats embrace restrictive policies, including punitive measures against those who haven’t gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.

A new Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 48% of voters favor President Joe Biden’s plan to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on the employees of large companies and government agencies. That includes 33% who Strongly Favor the mandate. Forty-eight percent (48%) are opposed to Biden’s vaccine mandate, including 40% who Strongly Oppose the mandate. (To see survey question wording, click here)...

– Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters would oppose a proposal for federal or state governments to fine Americans who choose not to get a COVID-19 vaccine. However, 55% of Democratic voters would support such a proposal, compared to just 19% of Republicans and 25% of unaffiliated voters.

– Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democratic voters would favor a government policy requiring that citizens remain confined to their homes at all times, except for emergencies, if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Such a proposal is opposed by 61% of all likely voters, including 79% of Republicans and 71% of unaffiliated voters.

– Nearly half (48%) of Democratic voters think federal and state governments should be able to fine or imprison individuals who publicly question the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines on social media, television, radio, or in online or digital publications. Only 27% of all voters – including just 14% of Republicans and 18% of unaffiliated voters – favor criminal punishment of vaccine critics.

– Forty-five percent (45%) of Democrats would favor governments requiring citizens to temporarily live in designated facilities or locations if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Such a policy would be opposed by a strong majority (71%) of all voters, with 78% of Republicans and 64% of unaffiliated voters saying they would Strongly Oppose putting the unvaccinated in “designated facilities.”

– While about two-thirds (66%) of likely voters would be against governments using digital devices to track unvaccinated people to ensure that they are quarantined or socially distancing from others, 47% of Democrats favor a government tracking program for those who won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.

How far are Democrats willing to go in punishing the unvaccinated? Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Democratic voters would support temporarily removing parents’ custody of their children if parents refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s much more than twice the level of support in the rest of the electorate – seven percent (7%) of Republicans and 11% of unaffiliated voters – for such a policy.

 Every. Single. Time.

The Left's Redefining of Words

A friend sent this from Twitter:

Don't ever forget that "diversity" has become enforced conformity and political quotas, "inclusion" means speech suppression, and 'equity" the unequal treatment of individuals because of their race.  Once you get this, wokeness ceases to be a riddle.

A Clear Description of the American Left

Reading this comment on a post at New Neo, I couldn't help but copy/paste it here in toto.  It's a perfect description of the American Left today:

Evergreen … from C. S. Lewis:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

This is what we get when a faction is so full of their self-righteous selves that they think they alone are the possessors of the One True Way, and therefore see the world as Normal vs. the Evil Other …

… forgetting the wisdom of one Harry Callahan: a man’s got to know his limitations.

These days, fascism doesn’t come in jackboots and armbands … it comes in academic and judicial robes that drip with such condescending arrogance.

The Progressive Left have become the blind fundamentalists that they sneer at.

In The Parking Lot

I don't have a single student this semester that I actively dislike.  I don't have a single class that causes me anxiety in the minutes leading up to the time they come through the door.  I have smaller classes now than I've ever had teaching.  The bottom line is that I pretty much am living every teacher's dream right now.

So why, when I parked this morning, did I just sit in my truck and not want to go to my classroom?

I'm pretty sure it all goes back to what I wrote in this post.  And we have so many teachers who have tested positive for the 'rona and thus are out for a week or two--even though most show no symptoms--that district staff are showing up as substitutes.  Heck, our former principal has been a science teacher a couple times this week!  There aren't enough substitute teachers, even though in the last year or two our district has raised substitute pay from $100/day to $250/day.  And still, we don't have enough subs.  California has lowered requirements for emergency substitutes--and still, we don't have enough subs.

I heard my principal ask his secretary this afternoon what the trigger was regarding the number of classes without substitute teachers--I was down the hall, but I got the impression he was asking if she had heard the point at which we just can't keep the school open.  We're told there's a plan, but no one seems to know what it is (or they have been told not to share as much as its existence).

In order to do my best as a teacher, I need to ignore those outside issues as much as I can, as I have no control over them at all.  I need to focus my energy as well as my thoughts on my great classes and awesome individual students, whom I genuinely enjoy teaching.  I'm an good teacher, even more so in person than via distance teaching--I need to focus on continuing to be effective as long as I have students in class.  I need to get back to the philosophy I adopted a couple years ago:  The problem isn't usually the problem; the problem is how you react to the problem.  I don't need to worry about those other classes, I need to be the best teacher I can be for the students I have.

Doing that should allow me to open the door as soon as I park the truck, and not just sit there stressing over externalities I can't affect.

Update, 1/13/22:  This morning I parked, shut off the engine, and opened the door.  :-)

We'll See How It Turns Out!

What is it with pillows?  Why can I never find a pillow that I think is comfortable, even when a hotel puts 7 different types of pillows on my bed?  I don't know which one to choose!

I've been seeing My Pillow commercials for years, and for both political and practical reasons, I decided now was the time to order.  Even with a discount, the two pillows I ordered probably cost me more than all the other pillows I've ever ordered in my entire life combined (seriously!), but I can afford a one-time expense under $100.  And My Pillow even asked a couple questions (e.g., do I sleep on my back or side or stomach?), and based on my answers they recommended a specific type of pillow for me.

They were supposed to arrive last Tuesday, but last Tuesday Fedex switched my arrival date from January 4th to "we'll just have to let you know".  It was a few days after that when they finally set today as my date of receipt, and I rushed home after work today to find the small package on my porch.

The pillows were rolled and vacuum-sealed, and the instructions said to put them in the drier for 15 minutes before use.  I'm glad I followed those instructions, as they puffed up much larger than I anticipated!  

I'm looking forward to a wonderful night of sleep.  I'll give the pillows a few nights and then update you on what I think of them.

Update, 1/15/22:  So far I like them a lot!

Are Electric Vehicles A Sham?

Unless the electricity that charges the batteries comes from nuclear power, my answer is yes, if you're claiming to they're "green". They're fun novelties, and my teaching neighbor who has a Tesla--I love riding in it, it's fun.  It may, or may not, be cheaper than a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, I don't know.  But given how electricity is produced right now, it's just as likely that such vehicles are powered by unicorn farts as by "zero emissions" technology:

I’ve never been a big fan of electric vehicles. Oh, I know everybody says they are “the future” but studies now show the yearly cost of operating an EV versus a gas-powered cars is roughly the same. The people I know who drive EVs say they love them. A huge battery plant is opening in Chattanooga and the auto industry is tripped over itself in a quest to build the biggest and brightest but, nope, not me … I am a gasoline guy.

Earlier this week I received a compelling, make-sense story about battery power and normally I would not read such a thing. This time I am glad I did because it makes “going green” sound more like a sham. 

Read the story he received here.

The Unasked Question

Both of my father's parents served in the military in Britain in World War 2.  Grandpa was an aircraft mechanic, nana served in a mixed-sex anti-aircraft artillery unit.  Each in their own way, they were fighting the Nazis.  I don't support Nazis--or any other kind of fascist or socialist, either.

So let's read an excerpt about Nazi symbols from the major Sacramento newspaper from December 23rd:

A rural Northern California high school is investigating student social media posts, a superintendent said this week, after photos showing teenagers with swastikas drawn on their bodies began circulating online over the weekend. 

Wheatland Union High School in Yuba County “is investigating multiple social media posts made by students of our school,” district superintendent Nicole Newman wrote in a statement posted to the school’s website and Facebook Monday morning...

But in an update posted Thursday, Newman described the incident as “a recent social media post depicting students with swastikas painted on their chests.” She also said she can “confirm that the students in the picture are Wheatland Union High School students.” 

“As a result of that confirmation, my team and I are in close communication with district legal counsel, as we take disciplinary action,” Newman continued in a letter sent Thursday to students, family and other stakeholders.

I have a long and consistent history on this blog of being against schools' trying to regulate or penalize student behavior off campus and away from student functions.  Schools have a hard enough job educating California's students--especially now, given the 'rona stupidity--to worry about what kids are doing on their own time.

Nowhere in the article is there any indication that the pictures were taken on campus (in fact, it says they were taken at a party) or that they caused a "disruption in the educational process" (a flimsy, catch-all excuse for school martinets) to merit this so-called investigation.  Did the reporter leave out some important fact that ties the student behavior to the school, or did the reporter not even think to ask about it?  The closest we come is this:

In response to an emailed inquiry from (the major Sacramento newspaper) asking if the incident is being investigated under the district’s policy on “hate-motivated behavior,” Newman responded, “Absolutely.”

Unless something serious is happening at school or at a school-related function, it's not the school's business.  This is overreach by people who are failing at their jobs.  How do I know they're failing?  Because here's Wheatland Union High School's academic "dashboard" linked from the California Dept of Education  web site:

That school and district should improve the academic performance of its high school students, and leave policing social media posts to the parents.

And the major Sacramento newspaper should improve its education reporting by hiring reporters who can ask intelligent questions.

Update, 1/10/22:  The article linked above is a couple weeks old, and today I thought I'd do a follow-up.  The major Sacramento newspaper has the follow-up behind a paywall, so I found another story at what is obviously not a completely disinterested site:

The head of Wheatland High School, north of Sacramento, has confirmed that the school has disciplined students who posted a picture of themselves covered with swastikas and SS symbols on social media.

In a video statement posted to Facebook on Dec. 30, Wheatland Union High School District Superintendent Nicole Newman said while she was “legally precluded from sharing details regarding their disciplinary action, I can share with you that we took immediate action.”

On what authority does a school district generalissimo administrator punish off-campus behavior?   Absent hearing from the honcho herself, I'll tell you why--so she can look tough, like she's doing something.  It doesn't matter if the behavior has anything to do with school (it doesn't), for her it's all about the feeeeelz.  She can feel like she's done something a good person would do.

At least the author of this article put a smidge more effort into writing this that the original article I quoted:

The incident has resurfaced questions about whether and how schools can punish students for out-of-school behavior. Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that a school in Pennsylvania that punished a cheerleader for a vulgar remark made on social media had violated her free speech rights. But the decision did not establish a ban on schools regulating what and how students can say outside school.

The Anti-Defamation League, whose regional director Seth Brysk tweeted about the Wheatland photo, responded following the Supreme Court ruling. “It is noteworthy that the Court also recognized that public schools may have a special interest in regulating some particular types of off-campus student speech,” the ADL said in a press release, “including ‘serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals.’ This appropriately reflects the need to balance free speech protections against the ways in which social media can be used to inflict real harm on others.”

"Speech I don't like" isn't sufficient to allow a government entity--especially a lowly school district--to act.  Nobody in this situation was bullied or harassed.  That doesn't stop Superintendent Karen, though; no, that little authoritarian will do whatever she can get away with.

Here's the crux of the matter in my eyes:

“There is no denying that the choices made by the students in the picture were hurtful and deeply troubling,” she said at the time. “Their actions do not represent who we are as a school district and community.”

She doesn't even indicate how the behavior relates to the school.   She just didn't like it.  It was "hurtful".  What specific school rule did they break?  By what authority can she punish these teenagers, just because she has limited authority over them in a completely unrelated situation?  This is absurd, and I question why there aren't threats of a lawsuit from at least one of the parents due to overreach.

There's no doubt the teenagers did something distasteful.  So did young Brandi Levy, the foul-mouthed teenager who won her Supreme Court case last year.  In both cases, though, the school penalized the students when it was not the school's purview to do so.  In the Bong Hits 4 Jesus case, the Supreme Court correctly decided that student speech could be restricted as the student was at a school-sanctioned activity.  If something happens at school or a school-sanctioned activity, or if something materially affects events at school, then I'm ok with the school's getting involved.  Otherwise, the school administrators should curtail their petty impulses and focus on what they get paid to focus on.

Honesty and Consistency

Lethargy

For many years now, my coworkers and I have met after school on Fridays for happy hour, which we call 7th Period.  In all those years we're only on our 3rd "captain", who takes an informal poll each week--which usually looks something like "Where does everyone want to go this Friday?" at lunchtime--and then sends out an email to the entire staff inviting them to show up.  We have a rotation of restaurants and bars near school.

Today I mentioned to the captain that I just wasn't feeling 7th Period today.  That started a chorus of similar comments, to the point where no 7th Period was even scheduled.  Almost 10% of our teachers, 2 of our 4 administrators, and a sizeable number of students are out (many having tested positive for the 'rona), and the constant drumbeat of 'rona 'rona 'rona emails and requests to cover classes and having to be mask-Nazis and passing out 'rona testing kits for the students to take home and the rumors of shutting down the school--they're all taking a toll.  We're just tired.  Not necessarily physically, but certainly psychologically, tired.

So many of us were too tired to get a drink and a burger after school that we didn't even plan a 7th Period today.  This is almost unheard of for us.

"Insurrection"?

This is all you need to know.

Garbage media, and garbage lefties.

A Crisis

Well, it would be a crisis if the sexes were reversed:

Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels.

At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline.

This education gap, which holds at both two- and four-year colleges, has been slowly widening for 40 years. The divergence increases at graduation: After six years of college, 65% of women in the U.S. who started a four-year university in 2012 received diplomas by 2018 compared with 59% of men during the same period, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

In the next few years, two women will earn a college degree for every man, if the trend continues, said Douglas Shapiro, executive director of the research center at the National Student Clearinghouse.

Crickets.

Inside the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

This does not surprise me at all:

A veteran producer has resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, claiming in a scathing column that the network abandoned journalistic integrity to embrace a "woke" worldview and "a radical political agenda that originated on Ivy League campuses in the United States." 

Tara Henley, a now-former TV and radio producer, penned an entry on Substack on why she left the CBC, detailing a newsroom stifled by far-left ideology that limits critical thinking and obsesses over race.

"For months now, I’ve been getting complaints about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation," she wrote. "People want to know why, for example, non-binary Filipinos concerned about a lack of LGBT terms in Tagalog is an editorial priority for the CBC, when local issues of broad concern go unreported. Or why our pop culture radio show’s coverage of the Dave Chappelle Netflix special failed to include any of the legions of fans, or comics, that did not find it offensive. Or why, exactly, taxpayers should be funding articles that scold Canadians for using words such as ‘brainstorm’ and ‘lame' "...

Henley feels she used to be one of the most liberal staffers at the network, but things changed as her colleagues drifted further to the left. 

"I am now easily the most conservative, frequently sparking tension by questioning identity politics. This happened in the span of about 18 months. My own politics did not change," Henley wrote. "To work at the CBC in the current climate is to embrace cognitive dissonance and to abandon journalistic integrity"...

"To work at the CBC now is to accept the idea that race is the most significant thing about a person, and that some races are more relevant to the public conversation than others. It is, in my newsroom, to fill out racial profile forms for every guest you book; to actively book more people of some races and less of others," Henley continued. "To work at the CBC is to submit to job interviews that are not about qualifications or experience — but instead demand the parroting of orthodoxies, the demonstration of fealty to dogma. It is to become less adversarial to government and corporations and more hostile to ordinary people with ideas that Twitter doesn’t like."

The Canadians are much more European than they are American--thus, very left-leaning--and you should expect to see that reflected in their government and press.

Vaccinations

The above comes from Mark Perry of Carpe Diem.  I got to listen and speak to him at Freedom Fest last summer.

Back To Work

Today was a teacher work day in our district.  We could "work" from home, but many of us were on campus today.

Most of my heavy lifting was completed before I left from work that Friday in December--grades were submitted, and all my planning for all of January was scheduled and in the computer for all to see.  Thus, my workload today was pretty light.  I certainly could have done more copying, taking advantage of the copiers while they're still functional, but I made what few copies I need for this week and next, which came to less than 200 sheets of paper.

I'm pretty darned ready for classes to start tomorrow.  Given, however, that I'm not yet back on my "school night" sleeping schedule, I hope I get plenty of sleep tonight.

Press Standards

I started reading this article because I visited Sandia Peak this past summer and rode on this very tramway:

It's not uncommon to catch a typo or a grammatical error in a news article online, despite the "layers and layers of editors and fact-checkers".  I grew frustrated, however, after finding multiple errors in the above article--what kind of education does this reporter have?

Lt. Robert Arguellas, a Bernalillo County Fire Department spokesperson says the team was able to rescue the first 20 people from one car, The Associated Press reports. The 21st person, who remained stuck on another car by their lonesome, was rescued several hours later. 

"[B]y their lonesome"?  Sure, that's vernacular that even I use on occasion, but I expect news reports to be even just slightly more highbrow.  How about "alone"?

Over several hours, the search and rescue team lowered the employees about 85 feet to the ground, where they were later taken to a nearby landing zone. From there they were taken by a helicopter in smaller groups at a time to the base of the mountains. 

The last sentence is awkwardly worded.  Sure, I know what was meant, but I had to read the sentence a couple times.  What is "a time to the base of the mountains"?  In fact, just eliminating the words "at a time" makes the sentence eminently clearer with no loss of detail.  

The first group of 20 employees were on their way down to end their work shifts when the malfunction occurred. On the other hand, the 21st employee was on their way up for an overnight security shift when the shut-down happened. 

"Group" is singular.  Thus the first group of 20 employees was on their way down.  And the 21st employee is certainly singular and so was on his or her way up.  I know it's popular to use the plurals "they" and "their" for individuals today--and again, in common speech I sometimes use such faulty grammar--but I expect more from the writing of people whose living comes from writing.

The Sandia Peak website issued an alert that they will remain closed on Sunday after shutting down operations on Saturday after people were stuck on the cable cars. The site promises to provide updates once they know more about resuming operations.

The Sandia Peak website will remain closed?  The site will eventually know more about resuming operations?  This is just sloppy writing, the kind which wouldn't earn a very high grade at all from my high school English teachers back in the olden days of the 80s.

Hiding Curriculum

Fairy Tales

Thanks to Powerline's Week in Pictures.

Impressive Incompetence

Let's remember that he accomplished all this in less than a year.  Such an incompetent failure is impressive, but not something to be trumpeted.

The Left does, however, cheer him on.  So does the Right, but by the nickname Brandon. 

Make Them Live Up To Their Own Rules

One of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals is to make the other side live up to their own rules.  Well, consistency is not a strong suit of the left:

YET ANOTHER BIPARTISAN ENDORSEMENT OF RON DESANTIS! AOC pictured dining maskless in Miami Beach as Omicron cases soar.

The Team DeSantis Twitter account was quick to troll Ocasio-Cortez over her visit to the Sunshine State.

​​”​Welcome to Florida, AOC! We hope you’re enjoying a taste of freedom here in the Sunshine State thanks to @RonDeSantisFL’s leadership​,” read a post from late Thursday night.

“​P.S. We recommend the Rock Shrimp Roll and the Aoki Tai the next time you decide to dine in Miami. Cheers!​,” read a follow-up tweet.

In February, Ocasio-Cortez called on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to step down after he took his family on a trip to Cancun while Texas was in the throes of a deadly winter storm that knocked out power to millions.

Curiously, the many MSM-DNC sources who were quick to dunk on Cruz’s escape to Cancun during Texas’ “Snovid-2021” week remain silent on AOC’s departure from her home state.

Teaching Racism In Schools

Knowing that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is unpopular with too many Americans, the Left now claims that CRT isn't taught in schools.  Perhaps the arcane legal theory isn't, but CRT now serves as a useful shorthand for the hate-white-people-style of racism currently in vogue on the Left, and it absolutely is being taught in public schools.

Given such facts, the Left moves the goalposts--those of us on the right just don't want to teach "the truth" about racism, they claim.  What truth would that be?  That Democrats have been the party of racism since the party's founding?  That the Republican Party was founded in part as an anti-slavery party?  That the KKK was founded and populated by Democrats?  That Jim Crow was created and implemented by Democrats?  That the 2 presidents who did the most to stop the oppression of American Blacks were Republicans Abraham Lincoln (Civil War) and Dwight Eisenhower (Little Rock)?  That a higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

That's ancient history, let's look at today. How many unarmed black men have police killed in recent years?  Each year for the past several years the answer has been less than 2 dozen, it's been less than half a dozen this year.  The police kill many more unarmed white men each year, without fanfare.  One wonders why we never hear about the killing of unarmed Hispanics--or Asians.

One wonders if so-called ethnic studies classes, or even regular history classes, will teach these facts.  Actually, one doesn't wonder at all.

Let me be blunt.  I do not support the Black Lives Matter movement or organization.  They are admitted Marxists, and as I've said many times, I spent the first several years of my adulthood training to kill communists and I don't see any reason to mollify my beliefs about them now.  I do not support affirmative action, which was introduced by President Kennedy and thus has been in place since before I was born.  I don't support racial set-asides, sex/gender set-asides, or set-asides for other favored groups, either, and that includes veterans.  I don't support teaching that such things are anything other than bad for society.

And while I don't think police in general are out of control in this country, I absolutely support limiting their authority and power.  I even wrote about it several years ago.  And when police make honest mistakes in the line of duty, their departments should rightfully be sued; when police make dishonest mistakes, they should be (and are) subject to trial.  Teaching lies about, or hatred of, police should be considered as disgusting as teaching racial hatred.

Whenever anyone, especially a politician, fans the flames of racial hatred, they should rightly and loudly be denounced.  To teach racial hatred in our public schools?  It should be unthinkable.  That's the direction we're headed, though.  I have 5 1/2 years remaining until I retire, will I make it?  Will I be forced out?  Will I quit early so as not to be part of a system so despicable, considering what else is coming down the pike?

These are the thoughts I have on this New Year's Day 2022.