Yesterday I managed to get off of the back of my lap long enough to fill my car’s gas tank, so that if I have to idle it for 20 or 30 minutes from time to time to make sure the battery stays charged, I won’t need to worry about running out. I was gobsmacked by the changes in the landscape since I last drove by the gas station I used – there used to be about a two-block-long strip mall and now there’s just tall grass. This is not the south, where if you park your car in the wrong place on Friday you can’t find it for the kudzu on Sunday – instead we are high desert – so it must have been gone for at least a few months.
Cartoon – 7/19 “pinkframe”
Short Takes – I don’t generally double up (and certainly not triple up) on sources on any given day … but this combination of stories was just too – colorful – to resist. Think of it as a break from serious news.
Yesterday I drafted and sent an emeil to the visiation staff to ask what I need to do to plan a visit. Yes, there are instructions on line, but they don’t answer everything. I don’t expect a reply until sometime Monday. I do know they can see a jpg file because in the past I’ve attached jpgs to express thanks and they’ve told me they can see them.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Reuters – Death toll rises to 170 in Germany and Belgium floods
Quote – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Erftstadt in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the disaster killed at least 45 people. “We mourn with those that have lost friends, acquaintances, family members,” he said. “Their fate is ripping our hearts apart.” Steinmeier said it would take weeks before the full damage, expected to require several billions of euros in reconstruction funds, could be assessed. Click through for details, including video. well, there you have it. The US is not exceptonal. Every part of the world is sufferiung consequences.
APNews – Biden pledges appeal of ‘deeply disappointing’ DACA ruling
Quote – In his statement, Biden urged Congress to move forward with legislation to permanently protect those covered by the program. “Only Congress can ensure a permanent solution by granting a path to citizenship for Dreamers that will provide the certainty and stability that these young people need and deserve,” the president said. “I have repeatedly called on Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act, and I now renew that call with the greatest urgency,” he said. “It is my fervent hope that through reconciliation or other means, Congress will finally provide security to all Dreamers, who have lived too long in fear.” Click through for story. This is heartbreaking, and it shows – again – why it is so important to have qualified and humane judges in our courts.
Common Dreams – Florida-Based Doctor Arrested on Suspicion of Plotting Assassination of Haiti’s President
Quote – Haitian authorities said that 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon worked with a Miami-based private security firm to recruit the mercenaries who carried out the assassination last Wednesday. According to video footage of the scene, a group of heavily armed assailants posed as officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as they moved in on Moïse’s private residence on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Click through for information and speculation. I’ve always maintained that some conspiracies are real. I must say this one boggles the mind.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
I had bookmarked an article on critical race theory as a possible source for the Furies, but on looking at it more closely, I found it too vague and generalized to be very effective – and, really, that’s as it should be. Critical race theory was designed to be studied in law school, after having completed a regular bachelor’s degree and pre-law, and while in pursuit of a Doctorate of Jurisprudence. It shouldn’t be possible to boil it down or make it crystal clear in a single short article. So I turned instead to the following article, which does address how children, including young children, can learn the darker sides of our actual history.
================================================================
Here’s what I tell teachers about how to teach young students about slavery
This is how middle and high school teachers have told me they have felt over the past few years when it comes to teaching the troublesome topic of slavery.
Although I work with teachers in Massachusetts, their reaction to teaching about slavery is common among teachers throughout the U.S.
Fortunately, in recent years there have been a growing number of individuals who have weighed in with useful advice.
Some, such as history professors Hasan Kwame Jeffries and Kenneth Greenberg, have advocated for helping students see the ways in which enslaved people fought back against the brutality of slavery. Whether through a focus on the fight to maintain family and culture, resistance at work, running away, physical confrontation or revolt, students get a deeper understanding of slavery when the lessons include the various ways that enslaved people courageously fought against their bondage.
Heeding some of these recommendations, in my work with teachers we have sought to come up with lessons that students like Ailany Rivas, a junior at Claremont Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts, say have helped them to become “more informed and educated about the brutal history of slavery and its legacy.” These lessons that I have developed take a variety of approaches but are all rooted in taking a look at the realities of slavery using historical evidence.
Many students have echoed Ailany in feedback that I have collected from nine different classes where I have helped design lessons about slavery.
And the teachers whom I have worked with have all shared informally that they are now confident in taking on the challenge of teaching the complex history of slavery.
Much of this confidence, in my opinion, is due to four things that I believe are mandatory for any teacher who plans to deal with slavery.
1. Explore actual records
Few things shine the light on the harsh realities of slavery like historical documents. I’m talking about things such as plantation records, slave diaries and letters penned by plantation owners and their mistresses.
It also pays to examine wanted advertisements for runaway slaves. These ads provided details about those who managed to escape slavery. In some cases, the ads contain drawings of slaves.
These materials can help teachers guide students to better understand the historical context in which slavery existed. Educators may also wish to look at how people such as historian Cynthia Lynn Lyerly, who wrote a chapter in “Understanding and Teaching American Slavery,” have used historical documents to teach about slavery.
2. Examine historical arguments
In order to better understand different perspectives on slavery, it pays to examine historical arguments about how slavery developed, expanded and ended.
Students can read texts that were written by abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and pro-slavery advocates like George Fitzhugh.
They should wade through the newspaper advertisements that provided details about those who managed to escape slavery.
Looking at these different arguments will show students that history is filled with disagreement, debate and interpretations based on different goals.
For instance, in examining arguments about slavery, teachers can show students how early 20th-century historians like Ulrich Bonnell Phillips
sought to put forth ideas about kind masters and contented slaves, while others from the 1990s, such as John Hope Franklin, co-author of “Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation,” focused on how Black people resisted slavery.
Seeing these starkly different portrayals of slavery gives students a chance to examine how things such as choice, context, racism and bias might affect the way slavery is seen or viewed.
3. Highlight lived experiences
In my 11 years of teaching history, many students entered my classes with a great deal of misinformation about what life was like for those who lived under slavery. In pre-unit surveys, some stated that the enslaved worked only in the cotton fields and were not treated that badly. We know the historical records tell a different story. While many worked as field hands, there were others who were put into service as blacksmiths, carpenters, gunsmiths, maids and tailors.
To combat misconceptions like this, I advise teachers to use historical sources that feature details about the lived experiences of enslaved people.
For instance, teachers should have students read Harriet Jacobs’ memoir – “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” – alongside diaries written by white plantation owners.
Ask students to examine various historical sources to gain a better understanding of how people lived through their bondage over time.
4. Consider the relevance
It is also crucial for teachers to consider the various ways in which slavery is relevant to the present with their students. I advise them to ask questions like: How has the history of slavery influenced the status of Black people in the United States today? Why are there so many movies about slavery?
We asked students to draw on what they had learned about slavery to consider and then share their perspectives about the historical accuracy, classroom appropriateness and relevance of a selected picture book. Students always have much to say about all three.
[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.Sign up today.]
Teaching slavery has been and will continue to be challenging. To teachers who are asked or required to take on this challenge, the four things discussed above can serve as strong guideposts for creating lessons that should make the challenge easier to navigate.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, “there were others who were put into service as blacksmiths, carpenters, gunsmiths, maids and tailors.” Yeah. And artists and musicians and other fine craftspeople. If a slave could do something, an owner could find a way to exploit it. Regular viewers of Antiques Roadshow will recall episodes featuring slave-produced arts and crafts. Regular listeners of Performance Today (produced by American Public Media and often carried by NPR but can also be streamed free) will remember having heard about a piano-playing slave who toured and gave concerts, from which his master received every penny. Viewers of Finding Your Roots will have seen many a slave schedule, slave auction announcement, runaway slave advertisement, census record or inventory or probate list with no names.
The historical documents and other resources exist. Getting them into the hands of teachers and assisting them to use them effectively is another matter. May everything possible be done to make it happen.
Yesterday I scanned my vaccination card and saved the jpg in my health records file so I can easily find it if I need to. I also lookup up whether any visitation is being allowed, and yes, there is some – limited, but some. I will qualify after my 14 days since the second shot are up, so i’ll be working on an email to ask about paperwork, How handy that I have my vaccination card already scanned.
The Hill – Pro-impeachment Republicans outpace GOP rivals in second-quarter fundraising
Quote – Now the 10 House Republicans who broke party lines in the chamber’s January impeachment vote are heading into the second half of 2021 flush with cash, financial reports filed on Thursday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show. Click through for numbers and some names. This is encouraging, as far as it goes. It doesn’t mean we can rest, though.
Mother Jones – How a Three-Word Phrase Sabotaged Black Voting Rights, and How They Can Be Reconstructed
Quote – Or other crime. Three small words that continue to shape America today. It is a great irony of our history that the 14th Amendment, which enshrined in the Constitution the promise of equal protection under the law, is today the principal source of Black disenfranchisement. But there’s no reason to accept this fate. At a time when the public is increasingly aware of modern attempts at suppression, the tools for resurrecting the fundamental right to vote are waiting to be put to use. Our future could depend on how seriously we decide to take the rest of the words in Section 2. Click through and consider bookmarking. Without the votes of people of color, democracy is already dead. It shouldn’t be, and doesn’t have to be, this way.
Throughout history, civilizations and societies have fallen into ruin, and often time and tide have obliterated nearly all traces. The lore, literature, music, philosophy and art of these bygone peoples may be completely erased so that all archaeologists can find are tantalizing scraps such as building foundations and shards of pottery, but nothing providing any clues to how and what the vanished people spoke or sang or thought. A great deal of culture and learning has vanished forever when libraries and other depositories of human achievement fell victim to disaster, war or ignorance.
Anybody who has made more than a cursory study of history is aware that, many times in the past, valuable knowledge has been lost so later generations had to rediscover it. The Library of Alexandria is the poster child for the irretrievable loss of accumulated literature and science. It is not the only library that has been lost forever – the Grand Library of Baghdad and the Royal Library of Antioch are just two more of the many that have been demolished and their books and scrolls destroyed, thus denying their contents to posterity.
What if some calamity wiped out our present civilization, and much of our accumulated learning and art vanished? What if descendants of the survivors knew nothing of Stephen Hawking, Giuseppi Verdi, or the Bronte Sisters? What if millennia of history and scientific discoveries were forgotten? If the generations that come after a global catastrophe seek to rebuild, it would be a shame if they had to start from scratch.
Our current civilization may seem robust, but it is actually vulnerable to many threats, both natural and man-made. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how fragile our society actually is, and already the effects of climate change are causing widespread destruction and disruptions. Other calamities that could easily end civilization as we know it include an asteroid or comet hitting the planet, a war involving nuclear weapons, a supervolcano eruption, and a coronal mass ejection that scores a bullseye on Earth.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently moved the hands of the “Doomsday Clock” to 100 seconds to midnight because, according to them, world leaders have failed to address the largest threats to humanity. This is the closest the Doomsday Clock has ever been to midnight – even closer than it was at the height of the Cold War. Granted, this does not mean we are doomed; however, we should still be concerned about the possibility of an apocalyptic disaster.
The World One program, a computer simulation created in 1973, predicted the end of civilization in 2040; some of its predictions have been frighteningly spot-on. Though we are making progress in a variety of fields, we are not doing enough to curb climate change, and it may be too late to avoid the worst effects. Changing weather patterns will lead to droughts, causing crop failures and famine. Nations will make war over increasingly scarce resources. Millions of refugees will flee violence and hunger, possibly bringing emerging diseases with them and inadvertently causing deadly pandemics.
Because modern civilization faces many threats, we need some way to preserve our accumulated artistic and scientific achievements. Even if our civilization survives, even if we manage to slog through the worst effects of climate change and confrontations between world leaders, it is better to have that backup available just for the peace of mind.
So, why should we create preserves for our achievements? Imagine if the generations that came after some great calamity knew nothing of Shakespeare or Star Trek. Imagine if they had to rediscover nearly all of what we know today about medicine, engineering, mathematics, astronomy, geology and the like. Imagine if thousands of years worth of history was forgotten, and thus all the important lessons of the past.
If you question the necessity of squirreling away our accumulated knowledge, think of all the precautions you take in your personal life, such as locking your front door and wearing a seat belt. Do you back up the data on your computer, whether on a special device or in the Cloud using a service such as Carbonite® or SugarSync®? Do you keep important documents – or copies of them – such as the deed to your house, the title to your car, your birth certificate, and the like in a safe deposit box? If so, you have a mini-ark for your personal matters. A Knowledge Ark is essentially a safe deposit box for civilization.
A lot of our important knowledge today is on paper – or worse, in electronic form, which is even more vulnerable and ephemeral. Too many people disdain reference books because they can whip out their phones and get the answers they need. Much of humanity’s collective achievement is stored on such volatile media. Computers, tablets and mobile phones are good only as long as the electricity is on or the batteries last. Take away the power, and a great deal could be lost forever.
This is why we need to construct Knowledge Arks using low-tech materials. A disaster that is sufficiently devastating will deprive us of nearly all, if not all, information that is in electronic format. We need hardcopy backups so that we can preserve and eventually recover our accumulated learning and culture. There will be little, if any, power for fancy equipment in the post-apocalyptic world because bare survival will consume the lion’s share of resources as bands of people struggle to stay alive and fight off marauders. Thus, any materials will need to be rugged enough to last until the societies that arise after the doo-doo hits the fan can afford to divert resources from just plain staying alive towards rebuilding and restoration.
Don’t laugh at the idea of civilization collapsing. History is filled with examples of societies and groups that found themselves facing unexpected circumstances. Such a calamity may never happen, but it never hurts to prepare. Better to have the supplies for riding out a disaster – and preserving civilization – but never need them, than to need those supplies but not have them.
[EDITOR”S NOTE: While I don’t think this posting is “Fun” in the usual sense – I do think it has some satisfying qualities.]
WOW! This week has been one revelation after another documenting what we all knew all along: Trump is Batsh!t Crazy Demagogue! However, it’s hard to believe that Donnie’s final days as Oval Office occupier were far worse than we ever imagined!
One book after another has come out to show just how unhinged Donnie was during his final days. Starting with “I Alone Can Fix It” by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker. From it we learn that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley and his allies were so distraught about Donnie spreading the Big Lie about the election that they thought there was a distinct possibility that he might try a coup when he lost. As a precaution to save the country they devised contingency plans to prevent any Trump illegal power grab.
One was that they would all sequentially resign, one after the other, rather than carry out a clearly unconstitutional order from The Former Guy. Sort of like Richard Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre – but in reverse.
Gen. Milley shared his concerns about a possible coup with his military colleagues, legislators and friends:
General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likened Donald Trump’s effort to hold on to power after the 2020 election to Adolf Hitler, saying the president was preaching “the gospel of the Führer” with his lies about the election being stolen.
“They may try, but they’re not going to f\/cking succeed,” Milley told his officers. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.”
Milley was disturbed by the sight of Trump supporters rallying to his cause in November, calling them “Brownshirts in the streets….” Milley “believed Trump was stoking unrest, possibly in hopes of an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and call out the military.” The general likened the U.S. to Germany’s fragile Weimar Republic in the early 1930s. “This is a Reichstag moment,” he said, referring to the arson attack on Germany’s Parliament that Hitler used as a pretext to assume absolute power and destroy democracy.
But what I find fascinating is The Former Guy’s inability to just keep his yap shut, let things settle down and NOT make matters worse.
But no – he always has to have the last word. And so we now have what will be two of his Top Ten Punchlines: “If I Was Going To Do a Coup …”and“I’m Not Into Coups”
It comes from a statement he released on 7/15/21:
Despite massive Voter Fraud and Irregularities during the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, that we are now seeing play out in very big and important States, I never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government. So ridiculous! Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of “coup,” and if I was [sic] going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.
[NOTE: It would be too time-consuming to markup all his juvenile random capitalizations and insertion of commas haphazardly. But one of my pet peeves is using “were” when writing in the subjunctive mood – and his was an appalling abrogation of the subjunctive. It should be: “If I WERE going to do a coup.”
[Here endeth today’s pedantic grammar lesson.]
The Former Guy trying to deny he would ever do a coup (but failing) is the exact same defense he used in trying to deny his sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll by claiming “She’s not my type.”
But let’s note that Trump did NOT say “I would never have raped Ms. Carroll because I think it’s a despicable act, and I’m opposed to all violence against women.” It was simply “She’s not my type.”
So he virtually confesses that he would have raped her … IF she were his type. So he would have led a coup … IF he were able to find someone other than Gen. Milley. Damned by his own words.
And of course the Twitterverse was not going to pass on the chance to weigh-in on Former Guy’s “confession”.
Former Guy’s actions since his loss on 11/3/2020 were actually all part of a multi-faceted Coup attempt:
1. Lost the election by a pretty sizable margin despite efforts to sabotage the USPS 2. Spent the time between election and certification trying to strongarm officials into changing the vote totals 3. Tried to recruit "alternate" electors to override the states' votes https://t.co/Xrx7G4o6T1
4. Installed loyalists at DOD and State 5. Filed all manner of absurd lawsuits hoping that judges he appointed would award him the election in return 6. Called on his supporters to go to DC on 1/6 to urge Congress to throw out the votes
It wasn't just 1/6. It never was. And it wasn't just Trump. It was the entire GOP. Why do you think so many were hesitant to say Biden won? Because they wanted to see if Trump's coup attempt was successful.
