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The Only Way to Save Public Education Is to Turn Every Single School in America into High-End Condos

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-only-way-to-save-public-education-is-to…
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 03:30

I hear a lot of pie-in-the-sky utopian BS about education and equity and having an actual building that shields children from the elements. But when will parents and bleeding-heart liberals realize that the only way to save public education in this country is to turn every elementary, middle, and high school from Portland to San Francisco, from Pittsburgh to Iowa City, into high-end condos?

How else can we be expected to handle HVAC upgrades, remove asbestos tiles and lead water lines, and make much-needed improvements to accessibility? The sooner you realize the only way to make school buildings ADA-compliant is to turn them into 8K-per-month luxury apartments, the faster we can all move forward.

A Little Bit Of Good News

https://digbysblog.net/2024/04/02/a-little-bit-of-good-news-2/
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 03:00
That you should take with the usual grain of salt Scott Simon Rosenberg says, “with this new track there are now 12 polls taken since late February showing Biden leads (via 538)”: As I have pointed out many times. none of this counts with the media until the big boys at the NY Times, WaPo, WSJ, ABC etc weigh in and we haven’t seen any polling from them in a month or so. In fact, it’s really the NYT that sets the agenda. But for the moment it does appear that Biden has started to edge up in the polls. Let’s just wait and see, I’ve been watching the media for the last few days insist that abortion isn’t a top line issue for anyone according to the polls so the Democrats are really in trouble because the public believes the nation is suffering economically even though their own finances have improved tremendously. Having said that the news out of Florida could make a difference. Marc Caputo reports: On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a ballot initiative for a state constitutional amendment protecting access to the procedure can go to a vote this fall.

Et Tu, Florida?

https://digbysblog.net/2024/04/02/et-tu-florida/
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 01:30
Trump now must spend even more he does not have Donald Trump’s campaign got a kick in the teeth on Monday courtesy of Florida Republicans (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate): The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s right to ban abortion on Monday, with devastating consequences for the women of Florida who will live under one of the most draconian abortion bans in the country. With this ruling and two others issued on Monday, however, the court turbocharged the state’s 2024 election, centering the upcoming vote around abortion rights and other personal freedoms. First, by a 6–1 vote, the conservative supermajority abolished the right to abortion under the state constitution, overruling decades of precedent in the process. Its decision greenlights the six-week ban championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislators, effectively ending legal abortion access throughout the entire South when the ban goes into effect on May 1.

The Palestinian Surgeon Burying Balfour’s Legacy

https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/04/the-palestinian-surgeon-burying-balfours-legac…
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 00:40

Three decades before his forty-six-word declaration announcing the British government’s support for the settler colonisation of Palestine, Arthur Balfour was appointed Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. ‘A survey of the world… shows us a vast number of savage communities, apparently at a stage of culture not profoundly different from that which prevailed among […]

Epic Fail

https://tomdispatch.com/epic-fail/
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 00:32

Dressed in green military fatigues and a blue garrison cap, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for Niger’s ruling junta, took to local television last month to criticize the United States and sever the long-standing military partnership between the two countries. “The government of Niger, taking into account the aspirations and interests of its people, revokes, with immediate effect, the agreement concerning the status of United States military personnel and civilian Defense Department employees,” he said, insisting that their 12-year-old security pact violated Niger’s constitution. Another sometime Nigerien spokesperson, Insa Garba Saidou, put it in blunter terms: “The American bases and civilian personnel cannot stay on Nigerien soil any longer.” The announcements came as terrorism in the West African Sahel... Read more

Source: Epic Fail appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

May You Live In Interesting Campaigns

https://digbysblog.net/2024/04/02/may-you-live-in-interesting-campaigns/
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 00:00
RFK Jr. claims he’ll make North Carolina’s presidential ballot Claiming you have enough signatures to get onto the ballot by petition is not the same as an official determination by the state Board of Elections. Still, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign on Monday announced it had what it needed in North Carolina. WRAL: Kennedy’s We The People Party must collect 13,865 valid signatures before May 17 to be on the ballot under North Carolina election law. The campaign said it has collected more than 23,000 signatures, giving them a buffer in case some of the signatures are not counted. The signatures have to be validated by elections officials before they become official. If validated, North Carolina would be the largest state that Kennedy has gained access. Kennedy is already on the ballot in Utah and has collected the needed signatures in New Hampshire, Nevada and Hawaii. An individual candidate must collect more than 83,000 signatures to be on the ballot in North Carolina.

Letters to Moms: A Letter to Daenerys Targaryen

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-letter-to-daenerys-targaryen
Created
Wed, 03/04/2024 - 00:00

In this column, Kristen Mulrooney writes letters to famous mothers from literature, TV, and film whom she finds herself relating to on a different level now that she’s a mom herself.

- - -

Dear Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen,

Let me start by saying I would never doubt most of your claims to fame. First of her name? The records can prove it. The Unburnt Queen of Meereen? I saw it with my own eyes! Breaker of chains? Absolutely, it was some of your best work.

If I’m being honest, though, for a while, I wasn’t so sure about the whole “Mother of Dragons” thing. Even considering your plans for world domination, I still thought you were at your most delusional when you unironically declared that three fire-breathing dragons were your babies. I’m writing now to say I was wrong.

How to Prepare for Feet Season

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how-to-prepare-for-feet-season
Created
Tue, 02/04/2024 - 23:00

The temperature is climbing, the flowers are poking their little heads out of the dirt, and soon the sidewalk will be riddled with nothing but exposed feet. Yes, feet season is coming. It’s time to prepare.

It’s likely been a while since you’ve seen any feet up close, including your own, so it’s best to begin your preparations gradually. You can start by looking at hands. Hands are a bit like feet, except much more beautiful.

After familiarizing yourself with hands, let’s move on to toes. Not actual toes. God no. We’re not ready for that yet. But a baby carrot is shaped like a toe. Try looking at one of those. No, don’t eat it. It’s for demonstration purposes only. Do. Not. Eat—oh, fine, but just that one.

Now that you’ve looked at some hands and had a snack, you’re ready to look at some feet. Specifically, your own feet. Start by locating your toes. How do they look? Not so good? Stop, don’t shove them back inside your boots. It’s not boot season anymore. It’s feet season, and we’ll get through this together.