A first-grade teacher in Wisconsin was ordered by school officials to remove a Dolly Parton song called “Rainbowland” from her students’ spring concert. Contacted by news media, the district superintendent pointed to a policy about controversial issues in classrooms. The teacher sa[...]
Archive for March, 2023
March 28th, 2023 - 3:31 pm § in Schools & Colleges
Wisconsin school officials won’t let first-graders sing about rainbows
March 28th, 2023 - 1:12 am § in Law and Courts
Get this driver off the road
Antonio Michael Lopez, 21, has been charged with vehicular homicide twice. Those are his most serious driving offenses. According to KING 5 News, a Seattle TV station, he’s been cited multiple times over 6 years. His past violations include hit-and-run, speeding, inattentive driving, and multi[...]
March 28th, 2023 - 12:20 am § in News Media
Are conservative media exploiting a school shooting to demonize LGBQT people?
A person named Audrey Elizabeth Hale, age 28, gunned down 3 teachers and 3 children at a private Christian school before being killed by police gunfire. The incident occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, March 27, 2023. That evening, the Fox News headlines blared, Nashville police identify tw[...]
Christian nationalists aren’t Christians
We have free speech in America, and people can call themselves whatever they like. But facts are facts, and calling yourself a “Christian” doesn’t make you one. Many self-described “Christians” aren’t real Christians, especially those immersed in rightwing politic[...]
Florida bans Ruby Bridges movie
A couple days ago, I posted that Florida banned a book about Rosa Parks for school libraries (see posting here). Now, Florida has also banned a Disney movie about Ruby Bridges, the little black girl in the Norman Rockwell painting below (read story here). Why? Because “a parent complained ab[...]
GOP tale of disenfranchised veteran is fake news
I’m for fair, accurate, and transparent elections, and protecting the right to vote; and I have nothing against losing candidates pursuing legal remedies in the courts to straighten out election frauds, irregularities, or mistakes. But when the facts aren’t on your side, you lose. A GOP [...]
Why do Republicans think crazy is a winning election strategy?
Probably because they’ve been around their own voters too long, and need to get out of the barn more. After 3 teachers and 3 kids were murdered by an AK47-wielding woman at a Nashville Christian school on Monday, March 27, 2023 (see story here), a survivor of the July 4, 2022, Highland Park pa[...]
March 27th, 2023 - 2:52 pm § in Politics, Republicans
Florida GOP bill gives racists right to sue if you call them racists
And Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature is poised to give racists a right to sue you for defamation if you call them racists. Does that sound like infringing free speech to you? It does to me, too. And also to Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL), the Republican who represents a district between Daytona B[...]
March 26th, 2023 - 11:37 pm § in Politics
We don’t need a convict president
Joe Exotic (photo, left) is running for president. The ex-reality TV star is a year into a 21-year federal prison sentence “after being convicted on multiple charges, including Endangered Species Act violations and a murder-for-hire scheme targeting animal rights activist Carole Baskin,”[...]
March 25th, 2023 - 8:56 pm § in Law and Courts
What the heck is wrong with some people?
I don’t know why Seth Beavers (photo, left), 33, of Sterling, Illinois, was at the Florida condominium. Maybe he was renting an AirBnB or visiting someone. Anyway, he decided to swim in the pool after hours, but a security guard told him the pool was closed. For that, Beavers allegedly tried t[...]