Friday, December 10, 2021
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Schools Confront Wave of Student Misbehavior, Driven by Months of Remote Learning
It was practically guaranteed to happen.
At WSJ, "Districts respond with more counseling, increased patrols and fewer suspensions":
School districts across the U.S. say they are seeing a surge of student misbehavior in the return to in-person learning, after months of closures and disruptions due to the pandemic. In the hallway between classes one afternoon this fall at Southwood High School in Shreveport, La., two boys exchanged words. All at once, they jumped at each other, witnesses said. Dozens of other students joined and they all fell into a heap, kicking and punching, until teachers pulled them apart. The fight was one in a series of brawls in Southwood’s courtyards and hallways on three subsequent days that led to 23 students being arrested and expelled. School officials say they had never seen anything like it before at Southwood, known for its Cowboys football team, its biotechnology program and its scenic location on a former cattle ranch. The academically strong school has a 99% graduation rate for its student body of more than 1,600. “We knew it was going to be a problem with kids transitioning back from virtual, because they haven’t been in school for a couple of years,” said Southwood’s principal, Kim Pendleton. “You have eighth-graders that are now 10th-graders or seventh-graders that are now ninth-graders, and no time to really acclimate.” Schools have seen an increase in both minor incidents, like students talking in class, and more serious issues, such as fights and gun possession. In Dallas, disruptive classroom incidents have tripled this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, school officials said. The Albuquerque, N.M., superintendent sent a letter to parents warning of a “rise in violence and unacceptable behaviors posted to social media” that have disrupted classes. The National Association of School Resource Officers said it has seen a rise in gun-related incidents in schools. Some schools are responding to the disciplinary problems by dispatching more staffers to patrol school grounds or by hiring more counselors. Others are reducing student suspensions, or in Dallas, eliminating them altogether in favor of counseling. Some districts have enacted what they call mental-health days, closing schools around holidays to give students and administrators a break. Peoria, Ill., is planning a special school that would be dedicated to students with issues caused by the pandemic. Educators at disadvantaged schools, often in low-income neighborhoods, said they had anticipated students would return to in-person learning with mental-health scars from Covid-19. The issues are also coming up at schools that previously had few serious incidents, such as Southwood. Schools have seen an increase in both minor incidents, like students talking in class, and more serious issues, such as fights and gun possession. In Dallas, disruptive classroom incidents have tripled this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, school officials said. The Albuquerque, N.M., superintendent sent a letter to parents warning of a “rise in violence and unacceptable behaviors posted to social media” that have disrupted classes. The National Association of School Resource Officers said it has seen a rise in gun-related incidents in schools. Some schools are responding to the disciplinary problems by dispatching more staffers to patrol school grounds or by hiring more counselors. Others are reducing student suspensions, or in Dallas, eliminating them altogether in favor of counseling. Some districts have enacted what they call mental-health days, closing schools around holidays to give students and administrators a break. Peoria, Ill., is planning a special school that would be dedicated to students with issues caused by the pandemic. Educators at disadvantaged schools, often in low-income neighborhoods, said they had anticipated students would return to in-person learning with mental-health scars from Covid-19. The issues are also coming up at schools that previously had few serious incidents, such as Southwood...
So they expel students down in Louisiana? I guess all that leftists "restorative justice" hasn't oozed all the down south.
Abigail Shrier
She's wonderful.
See, "What I told the students of Princeton."
What I told the students of @princeton tonight:
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) December 9, 2021
Show some self-respect and reclaim your freedom.https://t.co/he3Um6oSjQ pic.twitter.com/JFJce3ImWP
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack (VIDEO)
Yesteryear's heroes are slipping away.
We have not too many of them left to tell the stories of the history of World War II.
At Reuters, "U.S. observes 80th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor," and "Pearl Harbor Day 2021: 80th anniversary of ‘date which will live in infamy’."
Here's Jerry Yellin at the video. He's reported to have flown the final combat mission of World War II in a North American P-51 Mustang against a military airfield near Tokyo on August 14, 1945.
Melting Away the Symbols of the Capital of the Confederate States of America, and Our Country's History (VIDEO)
Leftists attack the slogan "heritage not hate," and that's because they hate our heritage and are destroying it, steadily ever more, piece by piece, into oblivion.
It makes me sad. We know this eliminationist process doesn't stop with statues of Confederate Generals. Last month, President Thomas Jefferson's statue was removed from the chamber's of City Hall in New York City.
Now the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, on behalf of the Charlottesville City Council, will have Robert E. Lee's statue melted down and "repurposed." A sign of the times.
At the New York Times, "Charlottesville’s Statue of Robert E. Lee Will Be Melted Down":
The City Council of Charlottesville, Va., voted on Tuesday to donate a statue of Robert E. Lee to an African American heritage center that plans to melt the monument, the focus of a deadly white nationalist rally in 2017, into bronze for a new piece of public artwork. The 4-0 vote by the council followed years of debate over the fate of the statue. Four years ago, a plan to remove the statue drew scores of white nationalists to Charlottesville for a “Unite the Right” rally that led to violence, including the killing of a counterprotester by an Ohio man who plowed a car into a crowd. The statue’s fate was left to a prolonged fight in court that concluded in April, when Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled that the city could take down two statues of Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee’s. Over the summer, workers hoisted it off its granite base. After taking it down, the city accepted proposals from bidders who wanted the statue. But the council on Tuesday decided to give it to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, which submitted a proposal under the name “Swords Into Plowshares.” An Indiegogo campaign page for Swords Into Plowshares said that its leaders wanted to “transform a national symbol of white supremacy into a new work of art that will reflect racial justice and inclusion.” The project’s leaders have not decided what the new artwork will look like. The campaign page said the decision would be “informed by a six-month community engagement process where residents of Charlottesville can participate in forums to help determine how the social value of inclusion can be represented through art and public space.” Andrea Douglas, the center’s executive director, said in a video that Swords Into Plowshares “is a community-based project.” Residents, she said, “will be able to articulate what we want in our public spaces, as opposed to objects that were given to our community that highlighted a particular ideology that we no longer share.” The council’s decision followed an announcement from Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, on Sunday that the pedestal where a Robert E. Lee statue had stood in Richmond would be removed soon. Mr. Northam said that the removal process of that pedestal would be “substantially complete” by Dec. 31. “This land is in the middle of Richmond, and Richmonders will determine the future of this space,” Mr. Northam said. “The Commonwealth will remove the pedestal and we anticipate a safe removal and a successful conclusion to this project.”...
Richard B. Frank Tower of Skulls
Richard Frank is stupendous. His earlier work, Guacalcanal, is essential reading for the Pacific War.
At Amazon, Richard B. Frank Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Volume I: July 1937-May 1942.
.
Monday, December 6, 2021
Democrats Plot Escape From Biden's Poll Woes
At Politico, "The party’s own polling has the president in the red. Lawmakers know they need to get better at selling his agenda to avert midterm disaster":
Rep. Jared Golden is facing one of the toughest reelection battles in the country. One thing he says doesn’t keep him up at night, though, is President Joe Biden’s sinking approval rating. “I really don't care at all. I've got my own approach to doing things,” the Maine Democrat said, adding that he handily outran Biden in Trump country. “What I know about his approval ratings right now versus my own is that I'm outpacing him by about 30 points." Golden's nonchalance is rare. Most Democrats are worried that Biden’s flagging polling numbers — with an approval hovering in the low 40s — will lead to a thrashing at the ballot box. With historical headwinds and a GOP-dominated redistricting process already working against them, they fear that unless Biden pulls out of his current slide, Congress will be handed to the Republicans in next year's midterms. Even the party's own polling has the president in the red. A poll from House Democrats’ campaign arm earlier this month showed the president down in battleground districts across the country, with 52 percent of voters disapproving of the job he’s doing, according to three party members briefed on the data. Of course, the election is 11 months away, an eternity in politics. Democrats say once they finally clinch their full agenda, Biden will recover and so too will their prospects for keeping their slim majorities. But there’s plenty of handwringing about where Biden stands. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), for one, said Biden’s recent numbers are “scary.” “We’re in a difficult period now. One of the challenges we have is, we’ve been legislating this year, as he has,” said Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, whose state represents Democrats’ best chance of picking up a GOP-held Senate seat. “While you’re legislating, you’re not communicating.” Just three years ago, former President Donald Trump's unpopularity sank the GOP House majority, though a favorable map helped Republicans keep the Senate. Biden and Democrats in Congress may face a similar dynamic next year. They have only a handful of vulnerable Senate seats, but a veritable cavalcade of at-risk House seats. But even a favorable Senate map might not be enough. Morning Consult found Biden underwater in the battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada and Arizona. Democratic senators are generally running ahead of the president, according to the House Democratic campaign arm's poll — the question is, how much they need to do so in order to win. Democrats acknowledge they have a big problem. Their proposed antidote: Finish the battles over legislating as quickly as possible, then spend their next few months talking up their infrastructure and coronavirus relief laws, as well as their forthcoming social spending bill. “Maybe it would be the first time that the Democratic Party has ever been disciplined on message,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “But theoretically we could finish a historic year of legislating for the middle class in the next month and spend all of our next year talking about what we did.” Still, some fret that even if they do pass Biden’s marquee agenda item — the $1.7 trillion climate and social policy bill — it won’t bring the big bump at the polls that Democrats are hoping for. House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) advised his party to focus on “seizing credit.” “The messaging challenge is pretty apparent. When you look at the individual parts of what we’ve done, they’re all not just marginally popular, but they’re wildly popular with the American electorate,” Neal said...
New York City to Impose Vaccination Mandates for Private Employers (VIDEO)
New York is literally the fucking worst. DeBlasio's insane.
At the New York Times, "Covid Live Updates: New York City Announces Vaccine Mandate for Private Employers":
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate for all private employers in New York City on Monday morning to combat the spread of the Omicron variant. Mr. de Blasio said the aggressive measure, which takes effect Dec. 27 and which he described as the first of its kind in the nation, was needed as a “pre-emptive strike” to stall another wave of coronavirus cases and help reduce transmission during the winter months and holiday gatherings. “Omicron is here, and it looks like it’s very transmissible,” he said in an interview on MSNBC. “The timing is horrible with the winter months.” New York City has already put vaccine mandates in place for city workers and for employees and customers at indoor dining, entertainment and gyms. Nearly 90 percent of adult New York City residents now have at least one dose of the vaccine. But Mr. de Blasio said the city must go further to combat another wave of the virus in New York City, once the center of the pandemic. Some private employers have required employees to get vaccinated, but many others have not. Mr. de Blasio said the new measure would apply to about 184,000 businesses. Employees who work in-person at private companies must have one dose of the vaccine by Dec. 27; remote workers will not be required to get the vaccine. There is no testing option as an alternative. The city plans to offer exemptions for valid medical or religious reasons, Mr. de Blasio said. City officials will release detailed guidelines about issues like enforcement by Dec. 15 after consulting with business leaders. The mayor also announced that the rules for dining and entertainment would apply to children ages 5 to 11, who must have one dose to enter restaurants and theaters starting on Dec. 14, and that the requirement for adults would increase from one dose of a vaccine to two starting on Dec. 27, except for those who initially received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Kathy Hochul held a news conference last Thursday to announce New York State’s first five cases of the Omicron variant, and several more have been announced in New York City since then. The number of coronavirus cases in the city has increased rapidly in recent weeks; daily case counts have increased more than 75 percent since Nov. 1. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat with less than a month left in office, said he was confident the new mandate would survive any legal challenges and he noted that past city mandates had been upheld. “They have won in court — state court, federal court — every single time,” the mayor said on MSNBC. “And it’s because they’re universal and consistent.” Eric Adams, the mayor-elect who takes office on Jan. 1, is on vacation in Ghana this week. His spokesman, Evan Thies, said in a statement that Mr. Adams would evaluate the measure once he is mayor...
White 'Antiracist' Teacher Fired in Tennessee
This is a the Washington Post, via Memeorandum, "A White teacher taught White students about White privilege. It cost him his job."
The guy's employed was terminated in 2020. He lost his appeal in October -- and the dude was tenured.
Here's the story at Education Week, "Teacher Fired for Lesson on White Privilege Loses Appeal":
A Tennessee teacher was fired justifiably last school year for teaching his students that white privilege is a fact of liferather than a theory, an outside hearing officer overseeing his appeal process ruled late last week. Matthew Hawn, a Sullivan County, Tenn., contemporary issues high school teacher, was insubordinate and unprofessional and violated the teacher code of ethics when he failed to provide students “varying viewpoints” on the existence of white privilege during a lesson on police brutality against Black men, hearing officer Dale Conder said in his decision. “Despite knowing he was to provide varying viewpoints, Mr. Hawn did not provide a viewpoint contrary to the concept of white privilege,” Conder wrote in his decision. Hawn, reached by Education Week over the weekend after the ruling, has not yet decided whether to appeal Conder’s ruling. “I really thought that I was going to be teaching in Sullivan County. I thought we made a great case,” said Hawn, 43, who grew up in the county and had been teaching in the district for 16 years. “I’m just extremely disappointed and defeated.” The ruling comes amid a raucous national debate over whether districts and states should censure the ways teachers talk to students about America’s racist past. As his case gained national attention, Hawn, who was tenured, decided to appeal the firing, asking for a hearing to determine whether the district acted legally. Hawn taught a contemporary issues class at Sullivan Central High School for more than a decade, where he brought up current events in his classroom for students to debate and discuss. In September 2020, Hawn told his contemporary issues students, “white privilege is a fact,” while juxtaposing the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, and the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who walked away unharmed after fatally shooting two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wis. On Sept. 10, Hawn was told by his principal in an email to allow room for classroom discussion and not make declarative statements about the topics he brought up in class. Undeterred, he later that year assigned a Ta-Nehisi Coates essay called “The First White President” about Donald Trump, which calls the former president a white supremacist. After a parent complained, Assistant Director of Schools Ingrid Deloach issued Hawn a reprimand for failing to provide varying perspectives, which is a requirement under Tennessee’s Teacher Code of Ethics. When Hawn wanted to discuss former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s verdict for killing George Floyd with his class in June, he chose to show a video of Black poet Kyla Jenee Lacey reciting her poem, “White Privilege.” This time, he also assigned students to read Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking an invisible knapsack” and CNN writer John Blake’s opinion piece, “It’s time to talk about Black privilege.” Conder did not consider any of these to be a “varying perspective” to the poem, because they did not question the existence of white privilege. “These articles do not challenge the concept of ‘white privilege,’” he said in his decision...
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Democrats Have Problems in Rural America
It's Steve Bullock, the former governor of Minnesota.
I actually disagree with the specifics of how he governed his state over the last decade, before this year, but his larger, "structural" analysis (that is, "systemic," to borrow from the radical left), is fundamentally sound.
At NYT, "I Was the Governor of Montana. My Fellow Democrats, You Need to Get Out of the City More":
I take no joy in sounding the alarm, but I do so as a proud Democrat who has won three statewide races in a rural, red state — the Democrats are in trouble in rural America, and their struggles there could doom the party in 2022. The warning signs were already there in 2020 when Democrats fell short in congressional and state races despite electing Joe Biden president. I know because I was on the ballot for U.S. Senate and lost. In the last decade and a half, we’ve seen Senate seats flip red in Arkansas, Indiana, North Dakota, and more. Democrats have lost more than 900 state legislative seats around the country since 2008. And in this year’s governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, we saw the Democratic vote in rural areas plummet, costing the party one seat and nearly losing us the other. It was even worse for Democrats down ballot, as Democrats lost state legislative, county, and municipal seats. The core problem is a familiar one — Democrats are out of touch with the needs of the ordinary voter. In 2021, voters watched Congress debate for months the cost of an infrastructure bill while holding a social spending bill hostage. Both measures contain policies that address the challenges Americans across the country face. Yet to anyone outside the Beltway, the infighting and procedural brinkmanship haven’t done a lick to meet their needs at a moment of health challenges, inflation and economic struggles. You had Democrats fighting Democrats, letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and desperately needed progress was delayed. It’s no wonder rural voters think Democrats are not focused on helping them. I was re-elected as Montana’s governor in 2016 at the same time Donald Trump took our state by more than 20 points. It’s never easy for Democrats to get elected in Montana, because Democrats here are running against not only the opponent on the ballot, but also against conservative media’s (and at times our own) typecast of the national Democratic brand: coastal, overly educated, elitist, judgmental, socialist — a bundle of identity groups and interests lacking any shared principles. The problem isn’t the candidates we nominate. It’s the perception of the party we belong to. To overcome these obstacles, Democrats need to show up, listen, and respect voters in rural America by finding common ground instead of talking down to them. Eliminating student loans isn’t a top-of-mind matter for the two-thirds of Americans lacking a college degree. Being told that climate change is the most critical issue our nation faces rings hollow if you’re struggling to make it to the end of the month. And the most insulting thing is being told what your self-interest should be. Get out of the cities and you will learn we have a libertarian streak, with a healthy distrust of government. We listen when folks talk about opportunity and fairness, not entitlements. We expect government to play a role in our having a fair shot at a better life, not solve all our problems. We need to frame our policies, not in terms of grand ideological narratives, but around the material concerns of voters. Despite our differences and no matter where we live, we generally all want the same things: a decent job, a safe place to call home, good schools, clean air and water, and the promise of a better life for our kids and grandkids. For me, that meant talking about Obamacare not as an entitlement, but as a way to save rural hospitals and keep local communities and small businesses afloat. It meant talking about expanding apprenticeships, not just lowering the costs of college. It meant framing public lands as a great equalizer and as a driver for small business. It meant talking about universal pre-K not as an abstract policy goal, but being essential for our children and for keeping parents in the work force. It meant talking about climate change not just as a crisis, but as an opportunity to create good jobs, preserve our outdoor heritage, and as a promise not to leave communities behind. These lessons apply broadly, not just to swing states. We need to do the hard work of convincing voters that we are fighting for every American, regardless of party or where they live, or it’ll only get worse for us in the 2022 midterms and beyond...
Still more.
Protesters at Arizona State Hold 'DEATH 2 AMERICA' Sign at Kyle Rittenhouse Protest
Arizona State's in Tempe, just outside of Phoenix. It's a really university, but I wouldn't want to go there.
See, "Arizona State University Defends ‘Death 2 America’ Sign at Anti-Rittenhouse Rally."
The Fiercest Animal on Earth?
Well, I don't know, but this fucker is pissed, dang.
Tigers are the largest cats in the world, even bigger than African lions. I don't know if they're fiercest, but I sure wouldn't want to be around one when he's this riled up.
On Twitter:
THAT is what was in the box Young Paul https://t.co/veDl358smy
— PollySolipsism🏴 (@PollySpin) December 5, 2021
Putin Troop Buildup Near Ukraine Raises Concerns of Potential 2022 Invasion, U.S. Officials Say (VIDEO)
Following-up from last month, "U.S. Looks to NATO to Deter Russian Aggression as Ukraine Warns of Possible Coup (VIDEO)."
At WSJ, "Expected Russian force of 175,000 would dwarf troop levels from earlier massing in the spring":
WASHINGTON—Russian President Vladimir Putin is amassing a force expected to total 175,000 troops near Russia’s border with Ukraine, giving him the capability for a potential invasion of his neighbor by early 2022, administration officials said Friday. The officials, citing new intelligence reports that include images from spy satellites, said the Russian military buildup differs markedly from an earlier massing of troops in the spring. When completed, they said, it will be twice the size of that previous buildup. In addition, Russia has embarked on a rapid mobilization of reservists The officials cautioned that U.S. intelligence agencies don’t know whether Russia will in fact invade Ukraine, whose ties with the West have been opposed by Mr. Putin. The intelligence reporting, while containing new details, echoes concerns raised earlier by the U.S. and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Russian military moves in recent weeks have sharply heightened tensions with the U.S., which has warned of serious reprisals, and with the NATO alliance. “If Russia decides to pursue confrontation, there will be serious consequences,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday before meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm. The Washington Post earlier reported the new U.S. assessment, publishing what it said was an unclassified intelligence report that included images of troop concentrations in four locations on Russian soil along its Ukraine border. The Wall Street Journal hasn’t seen the unclassified document, but U.S. officials confirmed its authenticity. “The Russian plans call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon as early 2022 with a scale of forces twice what we saw this past spring during Russia’s rapid military buildup near Ukraine’s borders,” one of the administration officials said. “The plans involve extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery, and equipment.” “We estimate half of these units are already near Ukraine’s border,” the official said. Russia has denied that it is preparing to invade its smaller neighbor and has accused NATO of providing Ukraine with sophisticated weaponry, fomenting tension and destabilizing the region. Russian officials have said they don’t want any conflicts and Moscow wants a balance of interests in the region. U.S. officials have been attempting to approach Russia’s military deployments diplomatically. Russia’s Mr. Putin and U.S. President Biden will hold talks on Tuesday, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The White also confirmed Mr. Biden is speaking Tuesday with Mr. Putin. “President Biden will underscore U.S. concerns with Russian military activities on the border with Ukraine and reaffirm the United States’ support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Saturday. On Friday, Yury Ushakov, Russian presidential aide, told Russian state media and independent Russian news outlets that the meeting between the two presidents will address legal obligations on no eastward expansion by NATO and an agreement not to deploy threatening weapons in Russia’s neighboring countries, including Ukraine. They will also touch on the “unsatisfactory state” of bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia, Ukraine’s internal crisis and the situation in Afghanistan, according to the Russian state media report. Mr. Biden also said Friday his administration is putting together a plan “to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do.” Later, when asked about what the U.S. can do to prevent an invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Biden said, “We’ve been aware of Russia’s actions for a long time and my expectation is we’re going to have a long discussion.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley on Thursday said the activity near Ukraine had triggered “a lot of concern.” “There’s significant national security interests of the United States and of NATO member states at stake here if there was an overt act of aggressive action militarily by the Russians into a nation state that has been independent since 1991,” he told reporters on a military jet Friday. Gen. Milley didn’t elaborate on options open to the U.S. if Russia did take action. Mr. Blinken suggested earlier this week that if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S. would deploy harsh economic sanctions of a type it has held back from using so far. Mr. Blinken didn’t provide specifics. The White House is conducting a review of U.S. options to respond to Russia, and they range from more military support for Ukraine to stepped-up diplomacy to de-escalate the conflict, according to U.S. officials...
Em Dash
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