44th-ranked Alabama, tied with Mississippi as the most devout state in the country, is ranked 45th in Education. It shows.
Also ranked 44th in Health Care, but prayer was more important for them to concntrate on, am I right? Ditto for their 47th-ranked Natural Environment, 36th-ranked Infrastructure, 32nd-ranked Economy and 31st-ranked Opportunity. Alabama really has their priorities straight, don't they?
No idea what YMMV stands for, but I’m really hoping you don’t think having a great NASCAR track is a redeeming quality. Racing hardly impacts the majority of citizens positively or negatively, IMO.
Don't forget killing IVF, because they are ignorant of biology, and human reproduction. Who could forget their ignorance in calling fertilized eggs in Cryogenic storage "extra-uterine children?
Rednecks are ignorant about everything, because knowledge and expertise are considered woke and anti-Christian. The rednecks are proud of their ignorance and consider it as a sign of being a good and proper Christian.
Martin Luther is known for damning reason and advising the flock to just believe what the “Good Book” says, ignoring all the genocide, misogyny, slavery and made up “miracles”.
"Health care" - For goodness sake, thats the thin end of the wedge for a socialist state.
Better just to turn a blind eye to all the corporate welfare & corporate socialism in the form of tax concessions, government grants & favorable government contracts, privatisation, outsourcing, grifting of public assets & resources. Think critically 🤔
Socialism is probably the most misunderstood concept among US citizens. It is about a planned economy that will take care of basic human needs, food, health care, housing, education, meaningful employment, our environment, etc. Socialism would not allow three men to accumulate as much wealth as 170,000,000 citizens, while children starve, who can then bully politicians and destroy what is left of our democracy. Corporate socialism is a misnomer purposely designed to miseducate people.
They're implementing this fascist sh*t because they know that people are turning away from their Jackboot Jesus. Time for atheists to write their own anti-prayer atheist pledge to be recited in schools. Get writing..
Just strike the "under God" and return the pledge to its original form as written by Francis Bellamy, before the Red Scare crowd decided to monkey around with it in the 1950s.
THAT was their response to quell Cold War anxiety in America. An extraneous clause that has done nothing but sow discord in the interim by excluding non-Christians and the non-religious.
IOW, nothing that was practical or useful, or of any conceivable benefit to anyone.
(a) Legislating what 5 year olds must do isn't going to fix low recruitment for the national guard. You could legislate boot camp and gun training, you're still not getting any new guards out of it.
(b) I'm guessing a decently educated 1st grader could describe more about the flag's meaning and history than this guy could. That's exactly the sort of stuff that gets taught in elementary school and then forgotten by us adults.
It's already too late. Lawsuits take years to resolve. As time goes by, people will get numb to the insanity and just focus on getting through the day. A SCOTUS ruling in 2030 will not save us.
““Our recruiting is down for the National Guard,” Ingram said. “It’s down in every branch of the military. A lot of these kids don’t understand what the flag is.””
Two things:
One, as a veteran (even if this administration won’t acknowledge my service) I did not volunteer to serve because I said the pledge daily. More like it was in spite of it. Repeating the pledge didn’t teach me about the flag, or even patriotism. The full truth, and this is what the GOP is banking on regarding military recruitment, is that the only reason I volunteered was because I had no other options to become educated. I couldn’t pay for college any other way. I didn’t have the grades to get a scholarship. My family made too much to get assistance and too little to qualify for student loans. There was no savings to put toward college. I was stuck with a decision to work minimum wage for the rest of my life or join the military to pay for school. The pledge had no bearing on my decision to serve, and being forced to recite prayers in school probably would have turned me away rather than toward being any sort of patriotic.
Two, he’s using this as a way to defund the schools, if they do it they waste time on nonsense and the students’ curiosity is dampened by religion. If they don’t, he gets to steal their money. So, he gets to dumb down the poors in the state, forcing them into the same position I was in at that age, military or continued poverty with no hope. (My husband was in the same position as was a huge percentage of those I served with) The students nowadays not joining the military are actually smart enough to understand the meaning of the flag, and more importantly the constitution. And they’re not so easily tricked into the jingoism he’s promoting.
And as a side note, even MAGAts don’t want to serve under Trump with the way he turns on his biggest supporters.
I did not serve in the military. Had I been young enough to enlist in the first Iraq war or the last one, I would not have enlisted. I would not risk my only life fighting to benefit wealthy men who are using the military to protect their own interests, not the nation’s. Had I fought in the Vietnam war, I cannot imagine the degree of vitriol I would feel toward my government upon realizing that that war, like those that followed, were built on lies. The idea that any intelligent American would willingly go to war against friendly neighbors like Canadians, Mexicans, Greenlanders, or Panamanians, is unimaginable to me.
Since soldiers may refuse to execute illegal orders, to the best of my knowledge, and since acts of aggression against friendly nations are also illegal, I would hope currently serving US soldiers would refuse to participate in any attempt by the current Administration to usurp the rights of any friendly nations or territories.
When I served, there waas nO college, no real career advancement. It was do as we demand. OR ELSE. All I really got was the promise of health care in the future. Now twumpco is threatening to take tht away so musk, bezos and others pay NO taxes.
I think a lot of people join up simply for the reasons you mentioned. And other purely practical ones as well. My 7 great-uncles all joined the army in the 1930s out of the desire for regular pay and decent food. Of course they didn't foresee 2 world wars but ...
“After all, what are they supposed to do if they don’t want to play along? Stand outside the classroom? Draw more negative attention to themselves? Get ostracized by their classmates?“
Don’t forget being assaulted by their teachers is within the realm of possibility, and more likely to happen to the minority students.
About a week ago, I had a customer buying all kinds of stuff to give out to the families of her poor students, which I thought was great, until she mentioned that as a teacher, she had "a hard time getting the word of god out" to her class.
She didn't elaborate on how the stuff she was buying played into that (a bribe? listen to her proselytizing or you don't get anything?) and I didn't ask. I was thinking about mentioning that even Jesus didn't put conditions on those who came to him seeking help (see the healing of the ten lepers, although only one ever came back to thank him) but when I get into these types of conversations I often end up getting snarky.
I just have no patience with these creeps anymore.
Of course, this doesn't rise to the level of assault as in pinning a student against a wall and forcing them to listen, but in a way, it's far more insidious. This teacher's actions are most likely going to fly under the radar and no one is going to stop her.
Why! Just why are republicans, christians, and conservatives so fucking dumb? They're just reinforcing themselves as synonymous with stupidity.
Why don't "kids" join the military?
Maybe "kids" have looked at what is said versus what is actually happening and figured out that:
1. The military industrial complex doesn't defend the idealized "American way of life" we are sold everyday by the Hatriots.
2. Muslims don't hate our freedom, they hate what we do to them.
3. The real American way of life is benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else.
4. War is militarized economics.
5. All of the benefits of serving don't mean shit when you're dead.
6. You could die ensuring that wealthy kids don't.
7. Wealthy kids truly benefit the most from not serving.
8. If you survive, you have to fight tooth and nail to get compensated for life-long injuries obtained from serving. (I know.)
9. Joining now means serving in Gaza to displace the Palestinians from their homeland to make room for the Israelis who have continually stole their land. It also means defending wealthy condo owners and resort visitors.
Yes. Language is extremely important. It shapes the way we think. I hadn't realized the difference until I was listening to the SGU podcast and Steve Novella mentioned the distinction. The revelation was like "Holy shit!"
This is one of the tricks conservative thank tanks use in their arsenal of tools to manipulate gov't policy and public perception. It's very subtle and insidious.
That's one. I think after WWII, they were all economic in some fashion. In numerous other instances, the military was used to enforce the bank's economic desires, like stationing the Marines in the Haitian capital 1915. They got all uppity and refused to go back to the bank's plantations and work for a pittance. Ending slavery was setting a bad precedent, so we took over in 1859 and only left after 1957.
I remember this being taught in school, but I think American Exceptionalism means history had to be rewritten to polish America's knob.
We kind of left it a mess, and blamed them for the outcome. Yaaaayyyy, America!
I never realized after their overthrow of the slavers there, no white country would do business with them, further hampering their efforts to legitimacy.
Yes. Slavery as an institution was collapsing in the Americas. Mexico had abolished the slave trade in 1824, and outlawed slavery in 1829, which is why slaves in FL would flee through TX to reach Mexico. I often wonder if the TX independence (1836) and subsequent induction into the US (1845) was instigated by the US in order to stop the flow of slaves into Mexico.
With slavery collapsing like dominoes, entreating with Haiti (and any country they didn't have to) would set a bad precedence, and encourage a similar revolt in the US. Plus Haiti was small, so the bank moved in to continue the institution sans the actual expense of having to take care of slaves. Revolts were put down by the US gov't.
An African American and Latinx History of the United States (REVISIONING HISTORY) is a good read.
“Our recruiting is down for the National Guard,” Ingram said. “It’s down in every branch of the military. A lot of these kids don’t understand what the flag is.”
What rank is/was State Rep. Reed Ingram? What branch of service? What MOS/AFSC/SFSC/rating? Where did he deploy? I'd also be curious to hear what his beliefs are with regard to "the flag".
A quick reading of the bill (it isn’t long and all your readers should give it a look) indicates that participation in the PLEDGE is voluntary; no such language is used in requiring the prayer. Were I a parent in AL (and thank the forces of the universe I never was) I would encourage my child, should they choose not to participate, to vote with their butt and stay seated during such an observance - and I would send a note to the teacher stating such.
The only good thing about Gilead was the actress who played the "Martha" in Joseph Fiennes' house...I had an immediate crush on her. I can't remember her name, though.
I read the book well before the series began airing. It was more terrifying to me than Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’, and I read that when I was 11 and had several sleepless nights as a result.
If I understand the situation correctly, the UK has just passed a new law that allows Christians to dehumanise and invalidate LGBT+ people as a protected belief. So a Christian can say whatever they want to an LGBT+ person but if the victim responds and calls the Christian a bigot or a fascist they will have committed a hate crime. Imagine the KKK obtaining the same protected beliefs status.
OT - About those 150 year-olds collecting Social Security
More DOGE hijinks: In yesterday’s post I noted that the whole condoms-for-Hamas thing came from DOGE staffers who confused Gaza province in Mozambique with the Gaza Strip. Well, as one commenter pointed out, the thing about 150-year-old Social Security beneficiaries may be another comical error. Apparently in COBOL — obsolete in the business world but still used in government — a missing date of birth is registered as 1875. Commenters on X and Threads say the same. So the only “fraud” here is the pretense that Musk’s child programmers have any idea what they’re doing.
I learned COBOL in high school. Although I dabbled with other languages, it was the only one I could use to write programs with hundreds of lines of code.
BASIC in Jr. High. Pascal in High School, C from the base library, Fortran (college), Korn Shell, Perl, COBOL, S/370 Assembly, Tcl/Tk, Haskell, Java, and now Python.
I will borrow a page from Ericc's book. judeo-christian prayers, right ? What's more judeo-christian than Satan ? If talibama's constitution is amended, Satanists will have a field day.
44th-ranked Alabama, tied with Mississippi as the most devout state in the country, is ranked 45th in Education. It shows.
Also ranked 44th in Health Care, but prayer was more important for them to concntrate on, am I right? Ditto for their 47th-ranked Natural Environment, 36th-ranked Infrastructure, 32nd-ranked Economy and 31st-ranked Opportunity. Alabama really has their priorities straight, don't they?
First in best NASCAR tracks, Talladega. YMMV.
And how ‘bout that Crimson Tide, eh?
High Tide! High Tide!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfJnJv3s_Vc
Green Grass! Green Grass!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2CAtExXgQ
Seen them live a couple of times. Would have been one more time but I got busted for peeing in the parking lot and missed that one.
Green grass, you say?
youtu.be/knj9FE0dsQ4
Why does the pic for that song feature a bunch of daffodils and very little grass?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmT1ptv3VEc
The movie or the team?
The latter.
No idea what YMMV stands for, but I’m really hoping you don’t think having a great NASCAR track is a redeeming quality. Racing hardly impacts the majority of citizens positively or negatively, IMO.
Your milage may very.
BFD
Don't forget killing IVF, because they are ignorant of biology, and human reproduction. Who could forget their ignorance in calling fertilized eggs in Cryogenic storage "extra-uterine children?
Rednecks are ignorant about everything, because knowledge and expertise are considered woke and anti-Christian. The rednecks are proud of their ignorance and consider it as a sign of being a good and proper Christian.
Martin Luther is known for damning reason and advising the flock to just believe what the “Good Book” says, ignoring all the genocide, misogyny, slavery and made up “miracles”.
"Health care" - For goodness sake, thats the thin end of the wedge for a socialist state.
Better just to turn a blind eye to all the corporate welfare & corporate socialism in the form of tax concessions, government grants & favorable government contracts, privatisation, outsourcing, grifting of public assets & resources. Think critically 🤔
Socialism is probably the most misunderstood concept among US citizens. It is about a planned economy that will take care of basic human needs, food, health care, housing, education, meaningful employment, our environment, etc. Socialism would not allow three men to accumulate as much wealth as 170,000,000 citizens, while children starve, who can then bully politicians and destroy what is left of our democracy. Corporate socialism is a misnomer purposely designed to miseducate people.
They also have a pronounced tendency to blame the 'Yankees' for all their problems. They use that word like a racial slur.
They love spouting off about how awful Yankees are. Pretty much everything is their fault.
State Rep. Reed Ingram looks and sounds like a potato left in the pantry for far too long.
At least, his eyes haven't sprouted, yet.
That visual made me snort laugh
Given how much money Alabama and its residence are about to lose with the massive musk trump cuts occurring, their wont be any money to withhold.
That part. Wagging their fingers while the bank burns behind them.
They're implementing this fascist sh*t because they know that people are turning away from their Jackboot Jesus. Time for atheists to write their own anti-prayer atheist pledge to be recited in schools. Get writing..
I'm partial to Zelazny's "Agnostic's prayer," myself.
𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑖𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦, 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒, 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒, 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡. 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦. 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑛.
Just strike the "under God" and return the pledge to its original form as written by Francis Bellamy, before the Red Scare crowd decided to monkey around with it in the 1950s.
THAT was their response to quell Cold War anxiety in America. An extraneous clause that has done nothing but sow discord in the interim by excluding non-Christians and the non-religious.
IOW, nothing that was practical or useful, or of any conceivable benefit to anyone.
And maybe, just maybe, provide liberty and justice for ALL.
Say what? Alabama. Oh, never mind.
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." ~ F.B., 1892
“𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑,” 𝐼𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. “𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦. 𝐴 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑔 𝑖𝑠.”
"We need cannon fodder for the holy wars we are about to fight."
(a) Legislating what 5 year olds must do isn't going to fix low recruitment for the national guard. You could legislate boot camp and gun training, you're still not getting any new guards out of it.
(b) I'm guessing a decently educated 1st grader could describe more about the flag's meaning and history than this guy could. That's exactly the sort of stuff that gets taught in elementary school and then forgotten by us adults.
More importantly, American kids do NOT want to invade peaceful democratic neighbors or machine-gun residents of neighborhoods they grew up in.
Unless they are unfortunate enough to be the brainwashed children MAGAt Christian Nationalists.
That's why they want ban anything that might teach them critical thinking, or have empathy for anyone not lacking in melanin.
Do we have enough troops to fortify both Northern and Southern borders?
I fear that World War III may just be a repeat of WW2 with the US playing Germany's part.
Look at the bright side...we'll lose and become a better democracy.
If there's a world left. Climate change plus nuclear fallout/winter might do us in. Our force is back to a level like the Romans, if that.
I don’t think this planet will survive the Bloated Yam’s third term.
Maybe State Rep. Ingram was referring to the confederate battle flag.
"A lot of these kids don't understand what the flag is"
That's because they are indoctrinated with US capitalism and consumerism every minute of the day you dullard.
Much easier to bring up superficial issues than take on corporates and big money that undermine any degree of civic and community spirit and loyalty.
I expect the draft to come back soon. We're overextended as it is.
This is how the Nazis began in Germany. And everyone in Germany turned a blind eye until it was too late.
It's already too late. Lawsuits take years to resolve. As time goes by, people will get numb to the insanity and just focus on getting through the day. A SCOTUS ruling in 2030 will not save us.
Besides, SCOTUS is made of six sock puppets....
““Our recruiting is down for the National Guard,” Ingram said. “It’s down in every branch of the military. A lot of these kids don’t understand what the flag is.””
Two things:
One, as a veteran (even if this administration won’t acknowledge my service) I did not volunteer to serve because I said the pledge daily. More like it was in spite of it. Repeating the pledge didn’t teach me about the flag, or even patriotism. The full truth, and this is what the GOP is banking on regarding military recruitment, is that the only reason I volunteered was because I had no other options to become educated. I couldn’t pay for college any other way. I didn’t have the grades to get a scholarship. My family made too much to get assistance and too little to qualify for student loans. There was no savings to put toward college. I was stuck with a decision to work minimum wage for the rest of my life or join the military to pay for school. The pledge had no bearing on my decision to serve, and being forced to recite prayers in school probably would have turned me away rather than toward being any sort of patriotic.
Two, he’s using this as a way to defund the schools, if they do it they waste time on nonsense and the students’ curiosity is dampened by religion. If they don’t, he gets to steal their money. So, he gets to dumb down the poors in the state, forcing them into the same position I was in at that age, military or continued poverty with no hope. (My husband was in the same position as was a huge percentage of those I served with) The students nowadays not joining the military are actually smart enough to understand the meaning of the flag, and more importantly the constitution. And they’re not so easily tricked into the jingoism he’s promoting.
And as a side note, even MAGAts don’t want to serve under Trump with the way he turns on his biggest supporters.
How is a "Judeo"-Christian prayer going to teach kids what the flag is? Hell, how is the PoA?
What does he think the flag is? A strip of cloth? A symbol? They don't need to know what the symbol is, they need to know what it represents.
I'm pretty sure minority children of 6-7 years old know this country doesn't provide justice and liberty for all.
PoA requires a country worth pledging loyalty to.
The only loyalty oath that means anything to me is the oath I took to defend the Constitution when I joined the Navy.
I did not serve in the military. Had I been young enough to enlist in the first Iraq war or the last one, I would not have enlisted. I would not risk my only life fighting to benefit wealthy men who are using the military to protect their own interests, not the nation’s. Had I fought in the Vietnam war, I cannot imagine the degree of vitriol I would feel toward my government upon realizing that that war, like those that followed, were built on lies. The idea that any intelligent American would willingly go to war against friendly neighbors like Canadians, Mexicans, Greenlanders, or Panamanians, is unimaginable to me.
Since soldiers may refuse to execute illegal orders, to the best of my knowledge, and since acts of aggression against friendly nations are also illegal, I would hope currently serving US soldiers would refuse to participate in any attempt by the current Administration to usurp the rights of any friendly nations or territories.
When I served, there waas nO college, no real career advancement. It was do as we demand. OR ELSE. All I really got was the promise of health care in the future. Now twumpco is threatening to take tht away so musk, bezos and others pay NO taxes.
I think a lot of people join up simply for the reasons you mentioned. And other purely practical ones as well. My 7 great-uncles all joined the army in the 1930s out of the desire for regular pay and decent food. Of course they didn't foresee 2 world wars but ...
Nice school you have there, be a shame if funding got cut.
Most of those schools aren't very nice, I hear.
“After all, what are they supposed to do if they don’t want to play along? Stand outside the classroom? Draw more negative attention to themselves? Get ostracized by their classmates?“
Don’t forget being assaulted by their teachers is within the realm of possibility, and more likely to happen to the minority students.
I think I see a motive.
About a week ago, I had a customer buying all kinds of stuff to give out to the families of her poor students, which I thought was great, until she mentioned that as a teacher, she had "a hard time getting the word of god out" to her class.
She didn't elaborate on how the stuff she was buying played into that (a bribe? listen to her proselytizing or you don't get anything?) and I didn't ask. I was thinking about mentioning that even Jesus didn't put conditions on those who came to him seeking help (see the healing of the ten lepers, although only one ever came back to thank him) but when I get into these types of conversations I often end up getting snarky.
I just have no patience with these creeps anymore.
Of course, this doesn't rise to the level of assault as in pinning a student against a wall and forcing them to listen, but in a way, it's far more insidious. This teacher's actions are most likely going to fly under the radar and no one is going to stop her.
Obligatory
god's love is UNCONDITIONAL. **
** Conditions apply.
Yeah, it's unconditional but you have to swear allegiance to Jesus. Anyone else see the problem here?
Exactly. If rules don't work, social pressure and faculty assault might at least get outward compliance.
Why! Just why are republicans, christians, and conservatives so fucking dumb? They're just reinforcing themselves as synonymous with stupidity.
Why don't "kids" join the military?
Maybe "kids" have looked at what is said versus what is actually happening and figured out that:
1. The military industrial complex doesn't defend the idealized "American way of life" we are sold everyday by the Hatriots.
2. Muslims don't hate our freedom, they hate what we do to them.
3. The real American way of life is benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else.
4. War is militarized economics.
5. All of the benefits of serving don't mean shit when you're dead.
6. You could die ensuring that wealthy kids don't.
7. Wealthy kids truly benefit the most from not serving.
8. If you survive, you have to fight tooth and nail to get compensated for life-long injuries obtained from serving. (I know.)
9. Joining now means serving in Gaza to displace the Palestinians from their homeland to make room for the Israelis who have continually stole their land. It also means defending wealthy condo owners and resort visitors.
Just started Phil Zuckerman's book on morality without any gods. He paints scamvangelicals as hatriots.
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/477808588_1872352456884441_3865530610528124302_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=bd9a62&_nc_ohc=FeIFBta0TYgQ7kNvgHe57Yz&_nc_oc=AdiYy08-xUxRcWm0QR6uymYeWsYlKEW7Rl0K_1lfvlFvUvO_w8yAhTT72S57u06gBU4&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&_nc_gid=AhgWU0nsHG9tOmp9AlbNGLQ&oh=00_AYBdzJQKuLkZ7P_cHC8Xd4Ugn-LthBVhfGhFlHYatcHOQA&oe=67B564DD
I have one book by him, Living the Secular LIie.
Hatriots...
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/479565988_1872331180219902_6575381152885567401_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p600x600_tt6&_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=dTv248ir07UQ7kNvgHoj5zM&_nc_oc=AdiR_Ib1MceApxXMQBgVoB-3SdItZZrfkz66ihg3Q-oWVAdBq3ZuPKsjTy4NLuFVdi0&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&_nc_gid=A2Epq5urkraqHWtnLvHljJl&oh=00_AYC5UsUjiPqMlyxY2IvJFZH-1EGPrR_bXxiUHs4hnK1qNQ&oe=67B562CC
Thanks. The term just came to me a day ago. I didn't think there was anyway no one else thought of it.
During the MAGAt's messiah-god-king's 1st term, I did joke that he was going to replace Obamacare with DonTcare
https://scontent-man2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/464411388_8544732152284762_208624769492650224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=ds0N6BHysZMQ7kNvgEBRunx&_nc_oc=Adia0nyKe_dds4QzJA7hSQ1yHPKZdvVIddUlx8JPHc6GbNuySQf7Pxl3YSuzjJ_RXcU&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-man2-1.xx&_nc_gid=AcnsXZ-TQ8uT5c9WXa2Jq0J&oh=00_AYBQZyeMWUNK8-LEJ6G_CzbugUtprM1CtthZMwsMt787Sg&oe=67B59BEF
And defending the crazed illegal settlers there.
Just a small adjustment, colonizers. Settlers move into land where no one lives, while colonizers occupy already settled lands.
But, yes. That would be an early purpose of the army. But since land = power, economics would be an underlying layer.
You are of course correct.
:)
Sadly, it takes a massive amount of effort to fact-check my brain, and I could still get it wrong.
I have always heard them called "settlers" and I used the term as a result, but you are correct, using the apologist's language is inaccurate.
Yes. Language is extremely important. It shapes the way we think. I hadn't realized the difference until I was listening to the SGU podcast and Steve Novella mentioned the distinction. The revelation was like "Holy shit!"
This is one of the tricks conservative thank tanks use in their arsenal of tools to manipulate gov't policy and public perception. It's very subtle and insidious.
Re: 6. You mean like in Nam?
That's one. I think after WWII, they were all economic in some fashion. In numerous other instances, the military was used to enforce the bank's economic desires, like stationing the Marines in the Haitian capital 1915. They got all uppity and refused to go back to the bank's plantations and work for a pittance. Ending slavery was setting a bad precedent, so we took over in 1859 and only left after 1957.
I remember this being taught in school, but I think American Exceptionalism means history had to be rewritten to polish America's knob.
We kind of left it a mess, and blamed them for the outcome. Yaaaayyyy, America!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti
I never realized after their overthrow of the slavers there, no white country would do business with them, further hampering their efforts to legitimacy.
Yes. Slavery as an institution was collapsing in the Americas. Mexico had abolished the slave trade in 1824, and outlawed slavery in 1829, which is why slaves in FL would flee through TX to reach Mexico. I often wonder if the TX independence (1836) and subsequent induction into the US (1845) was instigated by the US in order to stop the flow of slaves into Mexico.
With slavery collapsing like dominoes, entreating with Haiti (and any country they didn't have to) would set a bad precedence, and encourage a similar revolt in the US. Plus Haiti was small, so the bank moved in to continue the institution sans the actual expense of having to take care of slaves. Revolts were put down by the US gov't.
An African American and Latinx History of the United States (REVISIONING HISTORY) is a good read.
CRT!!!!! You're hurting little Johnny's fee-fees.
Sounds like something I probably should read, but won't. I rarely read non-fiction.
“Our recruiting is down for the National Guard,” Ingram said. “It’s down in every branch of the military. A lot of these kids don’t understand what the flag is.”
What rank is/was State Rep. Reed Ingram? What branch of service? What MOS/AFSC/SFSC/rating? Where did he deploy? I'd also be curious to hear what his beliefs are with regard to "the flag".
Not much bio on him, but he was/is a used car salesman.
I looked before ask the questions. I couldn't find anything of relevance.
Implied Stolen Valor, my guess.
Seriously? The punchline just wrote itself. 😅
Ah paid professional bullshitter, then.
https://youtu.be/tl4VD8uvgec?t=48
Figures.
Molesting it like his true god ?
There's that idiotic "Judeo-Christian" thing again. Will students be forced to say prayers based on the Jewish faith? Somehow I doubt it.
Once again: "Judeo-Christian" is a purely Christian conceit. Rabbis and Jewish scholars say it's rubbish and has no meaning to them.
Thanks for mentioning that. "Judeo-Christian" is a nonsense concept.
"Judeo-Christian" is code for "Please don't call us Nazis."
Bet Hitler didn't use the term "Judeo-Christian" in his writings and speeches.
It needs to be repeated often.
We all know what most xtians, especially the fundies, want for persons of the Jewish faith.
Saving a remnant of a remnant. Or was that just the Aiel?
A quick reading of the bill (it isn’t long and all your readers should give it a look) indicates that participation in the PLEDGE is voluntary; no such language is used in requiring the prayer. Were I a parent in AL (and thank the forces of the universe I never was) I would encourage my child, should they choose not to participate, to vote with their butt and stay seated during such an observance - and I would send a note to the teacher stating such.
The only problem with opting out is it shows the Gilead authorities who isn't sufficiently loyal.
We are looking Gilead in the eyes and it is going to be a frightening transition. We are going back to a feudal society.
The only good thing about Gilead was the actress who played the "Martha" in Joseph Fiennes' house...I had an immediate crush on her. I can't remember her name, though.
I read the book well before the series began airing. It was more terrifying to me than Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’, and I read that when I was 11 and had several sleepless nights as a result.
I couldn't finish it. I couldn't finish The Road, either. They're both too close to reality for me.
I couldn't even start "the Handmaid's Tale" because as a reproductive rights proponent of many decades, I knew it was what the Fundies wanted.
If I understand the situation correctly, the UK has just passed a new law that allows Christians to dehumanise and invalidate LGBT+ people as a protected belief. So a Christian can say whatever they want to an LGBT+ person but if the victim responds and calls the Christian a bigot or a fascist they will have committed a hate crime. Imagine the KKK obtaining the same protected beliefs status.
Sounds like they have, they all claim to be xtians. So did the Nazis.
It’s unfortunate that you’re not wrong, but if (when?) Gilead arises, acquiescence won’t protect the dissenters either.
OT : I will be offline today, and at each anniversary too.
Take care! To quote a Vulcan: We grieve with you!!!!!
We'll miss you today/tomorrow.
OT - About those 150 year-olds collecting Social Security
More DOGE hijinks: In yesterday’s post I noted that the whole condoms-for-Hamas thing came from DOGE staffers who confused Gaza province in Mozambique with the Gaza Strip. Well, as one commenter pointed out, the thing about 150-year-old Social Security beneficiaries may be another comical error. Apparently in COBOL — obsolete in the business world but still used in government — a missing date of birth is registered as 1875. Commenters on X and Threads say the same. So the only “fraud” here is the pretense that Musk’s child programmers have any idea what they’re doing.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/lies-damned-lies-and-trumpflation
I wish COBOL was actually obsolete in the business world, but you can command a pretty good salary if you're actually competent to program in it.
ADD 1 TO X GIVING X as compared to x++ (C language)
Fun Fact: COBOL was mostly responsible for the Y2K computer scare.
COBOL was the first computer language I learned.
I'm trying to remember the order, but I think COBOL was the 6th or 7th.
I learned COBOL in high school. Although I dabbled with other languages, it was the only one I could use to write programs with hundreds of lines of code.
BASIC in Jr. High. Pascal in High School, C from the base library, Fortran (college), Korn Shell, Perl, COBOL, S/370 Assembly, Tcl/Tk, Haskell, Java, and now Python.
Wow...I had no idea so many existed. I, who can barely use a laptop properly, am quite impressed!
I will borrow a page from Ericc's book. judeo-christian prayers, right ? What's more judeo-christian than Satan ? If talibama's constitution is amended, Satanists will have a field day.
Who are these Satanists you refer to? I’m over 70, & I’ve never met one.
Lucien Grieves and the Satanic Temple.