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“You’ll own nothing and be happy,” is a catchphrase that originated from a 2016 essay by Danish MP Ida Auken which was included in the video, “8 Predictions for the World in 2030,” by the World Economic Forum. As of 2022, the essay has been removed from the WEF’s website. With good reason. It doesn’t sit well with most people that the elite of Davos have decided how the rest of us will live our lives.

I’m changing this quote to describe the current state of schools in our county and probably the rest of the country. “Your kids will be stupid but they will be happy.”

In the Fall of 2021, fifteen percent of Maryland public school students tested proficient on recent state tests in math. Approximately 30% tested proficient in reading. That’s PROFICIENT, which is generally defined as “being able to do something well.” Educators will try to rebrand the word in order to make it seem like proficient is a word that would describe Einstein. Or, they will just weave around it with word salad so that they don’t define it as anything. I wonder if they can define what a “woman” is? Probably not.

Regardless of the definition that ANYONE uses, the test scores indicate that our kids are failing to make educational progress and that we are failing them. If you read the scores another way, 85% of our children are not proficient in math and 70% are not proficient in reading. That means it is likely that YOUR child or grandchild, regardless of grades on a report card, is not able to do grade appropriate math or reading.

One would think that local school systems seeing these scores would be alarmed and go into hyperdrive to find a way to provide more instruction in those areas. To quote Jon Taffer from Bar Rescue when he is screaming at bar owners whose businesses are losing money at astonishing rates, ” Get off your ass and do something!” Of course, John then spends a week creating processes and plans to help the owners make the failing bar successful.

But, like lazy business owners, there seems to be no urgency among our educational leaders to fix this atrocity. The State Superintendent of Maryland, Mohammed Choudhury, had this tepid response in December of 2021: ‘The preliminary data confirms what we anticipated: learning suffered during the pandemic, and we must be innovative, collaborative, and bold to accelerate student achievement and support mental, social and emotional health.”

Let’s dissect that statement. First, one wonders why, if this was anticipated, the state and local schools didn’t get in front of the situation and try to prevent this extreme loss of learning as quickly as possible. If you anticipate your house will burn down, don’t you fix the problem BEFORE it happens? They had almost two years to generate solutions. Nada. Nothing innovative, collaborative, or bold here.

It’s a famous practice in education, “admiring the problem.” It’s where educators create a problem, talk about the problem, pretend to solve the problem, and eventually make the problem worse. And then they ask for more money and control to solve the problem.

They’ve done it for years with minority achievement. Minority achievement became a problem around the time when the Great Society was created. So, after creating the problem, they talked about how to get minority students to achieve more, they pretended to solve the problem, and then they made the problem worse. So, despite all the Superintendents recently discovering the systemic racism of the systems they have worked in for over twenty years, low minority achievement is a construct and a plan of the educational bureaucracy. They make money off of it. If they really cared about the problem, it would be fixed by now.

And now, as our children are falling into a deep chasm of low achievement, they are doing it again. And they know they are doing it.

All one needs to do is look at what is happening with the millions of dollars of ESSR III money that came into the school systems. In our local system alone, ESSR III was over 8 million dollars. This money was given to the system for the grant period of 2020 through 2024. However, the budget was created and approved in August of 2021.

One would expect that a majority of these funds would be spent on academics; books, instructional materials, etc. In reality, it was only 20% or approximately $400,000. And that money is meant to be spent over fiscal years 22, 23, and 24. So, this year the money spent on instructional materials was $99,000. What surprises me about that is the lack of urgency to get materials THIS year to start getting kids back on track THIS year. The longer we wait, the worse the educational gap will grow.

David Grissmer, an education researcher at University of Virginia, addressed the issue of the educational gaps between different groups of children. A gap of one standard deviation in first grade is usually the same at 8th grade. But, the difference in the amount of learning that makes one standard deviation at 8th grade is far greater. (1)

Another theory is that the longer you wait to address gaps in children’s reading ability, the wider the gaps get and the harder they are to narrow. (1) So, imagine how bad the gap is for our children who have had their education interrupted of delayed for up to two years at this point. One would think that the alarms would be sounding and the educators would be calling for “all hands on deck” to address academic gaps. There would be no waiting, not six months, not a year, and certainly not till 2024.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2020/05/17/achievement-gaps-increase-the-longer-kids-stay-in-school-heres-why/

Anecdotally, teachers tell us this is not the case. A look at the budgets and materials and programs purchased proves them right. It’s clear that the drive to get the kids caught up academically is on the back burner.

Instead, the children are having other issues being dealt with to the exclusion of academics. Remember, a school day is approximately 6-8 hours. Take out lunch time, classroom interruptions, non-academic activities, etc. and you can knock two hours off that time. The remaining time is divided between different subjects, and math and reading are just part of the agenda.

So, maybe education administrations, knowing that the gap is there and time is precious, would slash anything off the agenda that doesn’t promote academic learning. Of course, subjects like music, art and physical education must have their time. But, honestly, those subjects are not daily classes. And, many would argue that they augment learning.

What does impact academic time is time spent on social issues and psychological “feel good” programs. In the case of social issues, or CRT, this time divides children and causes them to act out on the racial animus they have been taught. When a child thinks that other children are keeping him from getting what he wants, he gets angry. This could be why behavior problems and violence are increasing exponentially across our state and country. Of course, educators lie and say that CRT doesn’t exist in the classrooms, but a look in school libraries and classroom lessons proves otherwise.

Even more insidious is the overemphasis on counseling, psychological services, and implementation of school programs intended to make kids “feel better” about themselves. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 10.4 percent increase employment growth for school psychologists in the next eight years. And this projection was made before the glut of Federal and State funding to schools for these jobs.

This is why we see a system budgeting over $500,000 for psychological services and $300,000 for student services in their ESSR III budget. That’s twice as much as what was budgeted for instructional materials. And while the instructional materials funding was spread out for three more years, the psychological services were budgeted for RIGHT NOW.

This supports stories teachers share about the glut of psychologists wandering around the public schools, interrupting classes to pull students to play basketball, eat pizza and candy or just sit around and talk. It also explains why, when children act out angrily by throwing furniture, lashing out at others and destroying school property, there’s always a psychologist standing by to justify the behavior.

It also explains why materials such as this book series, “A Little Spot of Emotions” is now a mainstay in classrooms, along with fidget spinners, foam balls and safe space teepees. All purchased through ESSR funding.

To be clear, I’m not against kids getting help dealing with mental issues they are having. What I am against is the full court press to either find or create these issues in order to justify the spending on psychologists, counselors, and books about feelings. Meanwhile, instruction is secondary on the agenda.

They are not solving the problems THEY created with mask mandates and quarantine practices that made children afraid and cost them valuable time in school. In fact, they are making them worse.

This leads me to believe that they WANT it that way. Just like I think they wanted minority achievement to ALWAYS be an issue. Why would they want that?

Go back to the initial statement of this blog. If the goal of the World Economic Forum, the Great Reset, the Davos group, etc. is that we will own nothing and be happy, these educational tactics fit right in.

I’m sure you are questioning the fact that this could be part of a global initiative to destroy our society and that our local school systems are participating. You have to remember that the systems are NOT making the rules. They are merely fulfilling the requirements of the money being sent to them by the Federal and State governments. I don’t believe any teacher, principal, etc. wants their students to lose valuable educational growth. I believe they think they are doing what the “experts” tell them to do. Somewhat like people believing Fauci and the CDC about Covid.

But, like Fauci and the CDC, there are parties who know exactly what is happening. Teachers Unions, many government officials, all will gain in money and power if our children are uneducated, mentally damaged, and stupid. The Unions will be able to keep pushing for more staff, more teachers, more funding, which means more dues for them and more political power to their union. Even local government officials, superintendents, etc. will be able to demand more pay and tax increases under the guise of solving the problem. Look at Maryland’s Blueprint for Education and you will see that happening. (By the way, this also means Superintendents will be able to move from their jobs as Superintendents to OTHER jobs that provide more power and high pay. Always pay attention to which jobs retired superintendents get after they retire. It’s very interesting.)

The only people who don’t gain are the children. But that’s okay for the elites because stupid people are controllable people. If students aren’t adequately educated, they grow up to be stupid people in low level jobs who will believe whatever their government masters tell them. It makes them easier to fool with propaganda, easier to pit them against each other, etc. Ignorant people will follow the worst of dictators. They will never know history (especially as Marxists rewrite it or remove it.) Look at China. Look at North Korea.

Since time began, dictators have wanted the people they rule to be kept poor, dumb, and happy to pick up any crumbs the dictators will give them.

This is what our children are being set up for. The children of the elite won’t miss out on education. They will continue to get the best education money and power can buy. They may not be any smarter than your child, but they will have advantages your child won’t have. They will be sheltered from having to “be happy” with their low station in life and substandard living conditions.

You parents, you are the only ones who can stand up for your children. You are the only ones who want what is best for the children. Yes, there are teachers who feel the same way, but often their hands are tied because they are given an impossible job of taking kids who are two to three years behind academically and bringing them up to grade level in one year. And not just one kid in their class, but ten to twenty kids in their class. And it gets worse as kids are passed through each grade level, because schools won’t hold kids back any more.

It’s time for the public to have a more active role in the creation of these budgets, local and grant funded, as well as opportunities to review how money is spent. By the way, did you know that EACH employee in a local school system got $1200 sent to them this year? I didn’t. I’m not sure where the money came from and why they got it, but it happened. It’s not that they don’t deserve it, but I have to question why this has been kept so quiet.

Most people wouldn’t mind that stipend if they knew that the system was laser focused on academics and making sure our kids aren’t stunted educationally for the rest of their lives. But it’s clear they aren’t, especially when one hears certain administrators bemoaning the fact that they haven’t found enough things to spend the ESSR III money on and if they don’t spend it soon, it will be taken back. Hey, guys, how about some extra math or reading materials? Or some books about the great history of this country?

Again, it’s clear the bottom line is not about getting our children the education they need to become independent, knowledgeable adults who can achieve the life they want, not the life some government bureaucrat allows them to have.

Start getting involved in changing what is going on or in educating your own child.

Happiness is meaningless if you don’t have control of your life and the freedom to make your own way. And, it really isn’t possible to be a slave and be happy. No matter what the group at Davos says.

This is the quote from Danish MP Ida Auken, member of the World Economic Forum:

“I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes,” writes Danish MP Ida Auken. Shopping is a distant memory in the city of 2030, whose inhabitants have cracked clean energy and borrow what they need on demand. It sounds utopian, until she mentions that her every move is tracked and outside the city live swathes of discontents, the ultimate vision of a society split in two.

11/16/2016

Women’s sports started the steep decline toward elimination yesterday.

Yesterday was a red letter day in the United States and the NCAA. For the first time ever, an openly transgender woman won an NCAA championship.

You heard me right. During National Women’s Month or whatever March is called, a TRANSGENDER woman won an NCAA championship. And by transgender woman, I mean a man, one with all his junk intact, who went through puberty and gained all the additional muscle/bone mass from the male hormones of that time. That.

Disregard all the yapping on television channels about Women’s History, supporting female owned businesses, etc. It’s worthless chatter because the people who claim to believe in women’s rights and sports, just ceded both of those to transgenders who will now compete unfairly against women. It’s gender washing. (Like white washing but with gender.)

The name you want to remember is Lia Thomas. Don’t worry, you’ll probably be inundated with her forever. Lia will be championed as a brave pioneer in transgender rights. Lia will be interviewed, feted, given great honors and probably named to a government cabinet post. She’ll be studied in “woke” classrooms as a paragon of bravery and “being who you are.” The women who have had all their hard work, records, opportunities, and scholarships obliterated by Lia and other men competing as women, will remain in oblivion.

They are sacrificed on the altar of absurdity.

The new records won’t even bear an asterisks like the records set by steroid using men in sports like baseball. There will be no footnotes.

There are some who have said that the women should “just work harder.” Problem is that the best female athletes in the world, no matter how hard they work, can’t defeat a man. The second place winner behind Lia in the NCAA Championships is a freaking Olympian. One who won a silver medal at the games. So, please. Stop the BS.

And, by the way, if that was the case, why aren’t women who are trans men flocking over to men’s sports to kick ass in men’s sports? In which sport would a trans man have an advantage over natural, biological men? According to one article, reporters found ONE trans man to quote about Lia Thomas. This person’s name is Schuyler Bailar and is the first trans man to compete on a Division 1 men’s team. According to Schuyler, who attended Harvard, Lia’s win is a “symbol of Lia’s resilience.” He added, “It’s also a symbol that we can be who we are and do what we love.” ( Funny that we don’t know much about Schuyler. That’s because he/she isn’t beating any natural men.)

This is destroying the dreams and goals of natural women athletes.

It seems like a lot of people agree, even though the mainstream media is intent in promoting this travesty. On the Today show, they celebrated it, were giddy about it. For the first time ever, they covered the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. Well, at least as long as it took for Lia’s race.

There are people speaking out. On Twitter, many congratulated Emily Weyant, a swimmer for University of Virginia, who finished behind Thomas. “Second is the new first,” wrote former Department of Education press secretary Angela Morabito. Others lamented that many female athletes won’t speak out against the Thomas’s inclusion in female sports for fear they will be canceled. One parent of a University of Pennsylvania swimmer told how members of the women’s swim team were threatened and coerced to keep quiet about their opposition to her participation in the team. In her interview, the parent had her face hidden like someone testifying against the Mafia would, see link below.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/15/ivy-league-swimmers-mom-female-athletes-frightened/

Even Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner said the NCAA should not allow Thomas to compete in the women’s division. Say what you want about Jenner, but he/she got this right!

I have yet to see one pink pussy hat protester, one #metoo activist, one women’s rights organization speak out. Sports stars like Venus and Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Mia Hamm, Lindsay Vonn, and Katie Ledecky are mysteriously silent. Madonna, Alyssa Milano, etc. seem to have lost their fire. Surely, their fame outweighs their fear of backlash. Weird, especially since it is “International Women’s Month.” Why is that?

Maybe this just hasn’t caught up to them yet. Maybe they have theirs and are moving on.” Tough luck for you women coming behind us!” Or maybe they have bought into the concept.

And that’s something I can’t understand. I understand letting adults become different genders if they want. Live and let live. But I often wonder if there is an ulterior motive behind the whole blending of gender thing. Stick with me for a minute.

Who would find this situation a good thing for anyone?

If we remember that much of what could be a Communist/One World Order “revolution” is about culture, then blending genders in defiance of nature is an attempt to remove any absolute beliefs from those leaders wish to rule. Think about this, if our society can be made to believe that NO belief, gender, sexual mores, truth, law and order, religion, is absolute, then the ruling class can get away with anything they want. This is part of a test to see how fast we will throw away our values and common sense. They start with our most vulnerable, our children.

In our classrooms, children are taught that sex and gender are artificial constructs and that they should question their gender every day. They are also taught that this country is an evil country, full of oppression and racial hatred. It is the ultimate in grooming performed by people who intentionally or unintentionally are teaching them whatever they do is acceptable. You will see Lia Thomas on a poster in your child’s classroom soon. *

There are no absolutes anymore. And when no one believes in anything, even the most heinous of crimes and practices are acceptable. We see Hunter Biden’s laptop FILLED with images of perversion, drug abuse and possible pedophilia, and yet he still walks free and people still defend him. His father, who was part of his criminality, is still installed in the White House.

If one speaks out, they are insulted and called evil. What a strange perversion of the truth. Right is wrong, good is bad, truth is lies.

The bottom line is that we are being groomed. Our children are being groomed. And Lia Thomas is part of that grooming.

While that is happening, our enemies and even our friends in other countries are shaking their heads and laughing at us. We always told everyone and ourselves that we stood for freedom and what is right and moral. Many have said, “If it happens in the United States, the world is doomed.”

It’s happening in the United States.

This is more than just a battle against the unfairness of men competing against women. It’s a battle of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil. And the left has chosen the wrong side. That’s why the pink pussy hats are packed away.

Which side will the rest of us choose?

As Einstein said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

( Links for background on this blog are included.)

*Since apparently every time I talk about what is being taught in the classrooms there are some who believe I am making teachers look like the “bad guys.” It’s not true. I am pointing out that what teachers are being asked to do in classrooms is wrong.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/03/03/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/transgender-swimmers-ncaa-championship-win-just-not-right-competitors-parents-say

I remember the first time I heard the phrase, “virtue signaling.” I was listening to a radio talk show in 2014 and the host was describing the actions of Hollywood actors and the First Lady in connection with a group of 200 young women abducted by a Boko Haram in Nigeria. Ms. Obama had posted a picture on Twitter, and it was a paradigm of what virtue signaling was and would become.

The picture had all the great qualities that a great virtue signal should have. Hashtag to trend on Twitter, emotional slogan to tug at the heart strings of everyone, Michelle’s sad face, everything.

Most important, it was a useless and hypocritical gesture. You see, while Michelle was out there with her pouty sad face, her husband was conducting drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other countries. Human Rights Watch charged that these strikes killed 82 people, 57 of them civilians. People created a counter hashtag in reference to that, #wecantbringbackourdead and showed somber photographs of men and women holding their signs. Not that they did anything to stop the strikes, but at least the people involved in the second hashtag virtue signal were directly impacted by the actions they protested. ( Statistics from Washington Post, Terrence McCoy, May 15, 2014.)

The “official” definition of the phrase virtue signaling is, ” the sharing of one’s point of view on a social or political issue, often on social media, in order to garner praise of acknowledgement of one’s righteousness from others who share that point of view or to passively rebuke those who do not.” ( Dictionary.com)

Of course, virtue signaling as a term was just coined in 2015, but the practice did exist before that. In his 2019 article, “Societal Delusion and Historic Virtue Signaling,” an author who calls himself “Reactionary Edward,” cites how Charles Dickens used a character in his novel “BLEAK HOUSE,” Mrs. Jellyby, as an example of what he called, “telescopic philanthropy.” Mrs. Jellyby is so consumed by her desire to send assistance to a remote African tribe that she neglects her husband, her family, and the poverty stricken people of the London ( her city) slums who beg for food.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Recently, as virtue signaling has become routine on social media with people posting hashtags and profile pictures referencing all kinds of “vicitms” with which they want to show their empathy, they often point their emotional appeals to causes that exist so far away from them that the signal is useless to do anything more than assuage their self imposed guilt and help them sleep at night. All sound and no substance.

They sleep better. The subjects of their signaling get nothing.

For example, look at these recent “virtue signals” regarding Ukraine:

Congress was ALL IN on the Ukranian virtue signaling at the State of the Union.

Not just in D.C. but…

And then there’s this:

https://rumble.com/vx4pbq-nancy-pelosi-sounds-drunk-on-russian-vodka-as-she-attempts-to-give-glory-to.html

Wow. I’ll bet the Ukrainians running for their lives really appreciate all the support. Especially that cool greeting from Pelosi. Nyet!

But, let’s face it. Those ribbons were in the trash the next day. Shoot, McCarthy’s flag, which was probably placed in his pocket as an afterthought, never made it past a trash can that night. The lovely blue and yellow suits? You won’t see that color combination ever again. And Nancy’s appeal? She forgot all about it the next day. But she did have a hangover.

How about Hogan? He decided to distance himself from all Russian companies and investments by the state. At least for now. However, how will we ever know if that really happened? We won’t. Maybe he can shift that money to his wife’s home country of South Korea for more test kits, or something. (By the way, do you remember the vigil he held for all of the businesses he killed with the unnecessary Covid lockdown? Me either.)

The bottom line is that NONE of this does anything for the Ukranians. It also ignores the Russian people who are just as victimized, if not physically, economically. I’ve heard people say, “Well, if we push them hard enough and they are brave they would remove Putin.” Heck, Lindsay Graham wants them to assassinate the man. Do these people understand the meaning of the word, “dictatorship?” I think not. Do they really think it would be easy to remove Putin? Please. And, is it really an answer we should promote?

Remember, these are the same people who want to deny Americans and Canadians the right to protest peacefully against tyranny by their governments. Unless they wear pink pussy hats, burn and loot buildings, and oppose Donald Trump of course.

But, the allure of virtue signaling is that it doesn’t cost the people doing it ANYTHING. They don’t take any brave actions. They don’t risk their homes, their money, their lives, etc. Like my neighbor, they can virtue signal for one group one month, and then ditch that group for another next month. And while they feel self satisfied, they do nothing for any of those groups.

Not only that, but they often selectively choose who they will virtue signal for. We just had an Olympic games in China where ethnic cleansing of the Uyghurs and the imprisonment and torture of millions is carried out DAILY by the CCP. Did you see one lapel ribbon? Speech? Outfit? Flag in a lapel? No? Me either. Did any major corporation withdraw from sponsorship of a Games tainted with blood? No. I wonder why the victims in China don’t get the same gestures. I guess no one wants to insult their sugar daddies.

Only ONE, ONE professional basketball player in the NBA, Enes Kanter, was brave enough to speak publicly about the plight of the Uyghurs. Guess what happened to him? You guessed it. He was “let go” from his team. The NBA loves those Chinese bucks, regardless of the slavery that supports them. No virtue signals from them! Not even Lebron who can’t seem to shut his mouth about ANYTHING.

Some may say that the virtue signaling for the Ukranian people is harmless. Who cares if people want to proclaim their solidarity with a population who is suffering? Who cares if it is shallow and useless? Problem is, it ISN’T harmless.

People need to understand the bigger reality of what is going on in the world. Why has Putin, a man who has stayed quiet for seven years, suddenly decided to go into Ukraine? Why didn’t anyone care when he went into Croatia in 2014? Why has this incursion caused such an emotional response throughout our country and the world while other events in Afghanistan, Africa, in China, in the Middle East, and at our border are virtually ignored? Why aren’t people up in arms over the cartels at our southern border who are bringing in drugs that are killing hundreds of thousands? Why aren’t people seeing pictures of trafficked humans throughout the world? Why aren’t there any virtual signals about that? Why did the World Economic Forum just decide to remove Putin and other Russians from their site? Why do people like Soros, Schwab, Gates, etc. support Ukraine while they say NOTHING about the Uyghurs? Why are they dragging the United States into conflict? Why are the people who protested against other wars suddenly promoting war?

And why are ALL the news outlets, CNN, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, suddenly showing the same war propaganda?

Sounds similar to the whole Covid scam, doesn’t it?

These are questions the virtue signalers don’t even think of, much less answer. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to participate in the sham. Western governments and the mainstream media have done such a great job of promoting the propaganda of war in this case that they have created warmongers among formerly peaceful people.

And we haven’t talked about the biolab issue. If these biolabs in Ukraine were so harmless, why is the U.S. State Department in such an uproar about Putin controlling or destroying them? (search the statement by Victoria Nuland in front of Congress regarding the biolabs. She doesn’t sound like she thinks these are innocent research facilities.)

The virtue signalers will either shut their ears and eyes to this, or they will believe whatever the media and Biden regime tells them. And their cute little memes and social media statements will promote the propaganda the governments and corporations desire. They will be collaborators in spreading the lies and won’t even know it.

Unfortunately, the practice of virtue signaling won’t be going away any time soon. It’s like “cancel culture” and politically “safe” speech. People love being able to “do something” without having to do something. They love mingling at their cocktail parties and competing to see who can signal the most for the politically correct issues. It’s like so much of modern society causes, shallow, meaningless, and a waste of time.

Governments know the usefulness of this practice as well. It looks so organic, so grass roots. And it works. Just check your social media news feeds.

The perfect summary of the situation is this cartoon that I love. This was actually members of Congress on the Capitol steps after the State of the Union altered with the head of a really stupid character from the Simpsons.Not only are they mixing the Ukrainian colors with our flag, which is disrespectful, but they are also supporting a foreign country when most of them don’t support our country by solving the problems here. Remember Mrs. Jellyby? Telescopic philanthropy? They personify that. Except I doubt they will donate any of THEIR money to ANYONE.

I don’t claim to know and understand everything going on in the world. Maybe if I did, I’d virtue signal more. But I doubt it. I don’t like to spend my time on meaningless things. (Although many might say this blog is meaningless in its reach. If nothing else, I spread the word with facts, not posters and ribbons.)

I’ll write about issues. I will pray for all people caught in war zones or are being oppressed. And I will educate myself so that I have some idea of what is going on in the world.

But you virtue signalers out there, get to know the flag and colors of Taiwan. They will be the next set of victims, but of China.

*PS: I support organizations that legitimately take donations to help people in war zones.

PSS: I know many people virtue signal with pure intentions. I know some of them. I hate to see them used.

Here are some excellent resources about Ukraine that give diverse and detailed viewpoints:

Interview with journalist Lara Logan:

https://battleplan.news/watch?id=622e5cdc2e10d76f49b20985

Ukraine on Fire:

https://www.redvoicemedia.com/video/2022/03/ukraine-on-fire-an-oliver-stone-documentary-2016/

https://www.redvoicemedia.com/video/2022/03/ukraine-on-fire-an-oliver-stone-documentary-2016/

And, always CD Media:

https://creativedestructionmedia.com/sections/news/

https://creativedestructionmedia.com/sections/news/

What about Afghanistan?

t.me/Fall_of_the_Cabal/8719http://t.me/Fall_of_the_Cabal /8719

BACKGROUND: This is in regards to a local non-profit theater who banned the unvaccinated from their shows in 2021. The theater is “historic” and is run mainly on donations, but does receive public funds.

Dear Avalon Foundation,

I got an email yesterday that said you have discontinued your requirement for patrons to be vaccinated in order to sit in your theater and watch a show.

Whatever.

You see, I remember when you first required the “vaccine pass” to set foot in your theatre as a patron OR a performer. You gloriously announced the measure while quoting the county Health Department, and their unreliable data about Covid and the vaccines. You hugged each other as you proclaimed yourselves the protectors of the population against those filthy dirty unvaxxed, those people who actually less of a threat to others than the constantly viral shedding vaccinated.

But, no matter. The measure made you feel really good about yourselves as you practiced medical apartheid. Never mind the fact that you violated every precept of human decency or liberty. Never mind the damage you did to those who loved performing in your theater who were no longer able to participate. Don’t believe it? I have friends who have been deeply hurt by your actions.

But, hey, what the hell. They probably didn’t donate to your fundraisers, not significantly anyway. And let’s not even mention the fact that you have considerable support of public funds to keep you operating. It’s not important to you that the very same people who pay taxes that support you were now forbidden from coming to your venue.

Personally, I don’t care. I can’t remember going to the Avalon for anything. I don’t enjoy attending events that cater to the self-proclaimed glitterati of Easton.

Yeah, I know the Avalon is “historic.” However,this is not the first time that the theater has experienced segregation. There was a time not so long ago, when Blacks and other minorities had to sit in the balcony of the theater if they were allowed in at all. In fact, if we were true to our belief in removing reminders of racism in Talbot County a la the Talbot Boys statue, we should probably move the Avalon out of Easton. Many of us, when we see it, are reminded of a very painful time. Maybe our current state comptroller could use the materials for doors to put his polished statue doorknobs on? That’s IF he is elected governor. Maybe someone could LENd him a hand.

So, I guess, when the opportunity for segregation rolled around again, it was just second nature for the Avalon Foundation to implement it. But this time, the unvaxxed weren’t even allowed in the balcony!

Look, I know that people will say this is not the same. I’ve heard the argument before, “People can choose not to get vaccinated, minorities can’t choose their race.” (Except, in today’s world, maybe you can. It HAS been done.) But, if I am concerned about what a vaccine will do to my health, particularly one whose promoters deny the pages and pages of side effects it causes, do I have a choice? Vaccine or health? I don’t think so.

But now, with a magical turn of events, the Avalon Foundation suddenly sees the light. Maybe Dr. McGuire, without Dr. Fauci sending down directives every day, has turned her attention to more pressing matters such as therapy to prevent inappropriate giggling in public. (I hear VP Harris is signed up for that!) Or maybe the word came down from on high that an election was coming up and we’d better get the great unwashed back on the Democrat’s side.

Either way, the Avalon will now graciously allow all of the unvaxxed to sit, side by side, with the vaccinated. What a wonderful day! Is it the way peasants felt when Kings and Lords used to let them watch coronations, weddings, and then let them eat the leftovers from the celebrations? Eventually, though, the peasants had to go home to the lives where they weren’t allowed to even watch royal fun. I wonder if the same will happen to the unvaccinated? After the elections maybe?

I wonder what the exclusive vaccinated will do now if an unvaccinated person sits next to them? Will they question everyone that sits next to them regarding vaccine status? Could be awkward. Imagine a fist fight in the aisles where someone’s fancy cashmere jacket is ripped or a diamond necklace torn off a neck! Oh, the humanity!

Here’s the bad news for the Avalon. Some of us have long memories and we won’t forget the way you treated us. We won’t forget your high handed restrictions. I have some friends who are excited about the fact that “we won” and the Avalon relented. Okay. I’ll accept that.

Based on what they did, however, they will do it again. Who will be discriminated against next time? Certain races? Certain political parties? Certain religions? Who knows.

But I know this. I will never support this foundation or the theater. And I will lobby our county council NEVER to use ANY of our tax dollars for this group again.

Oh, and by the way, Tred Avon Players? Midshore Symphony? That applies to you too because you had this same policy.

How Public Schools lie about what is taught in their classrooms

This title has two meanings today. One is that the Public Schools are actually hiding what they are teaching from the public. The other is that there is a curriculum taught in classrooms that even the schools aren’t aware of.

Let’s tackle the first one.

For the past few years, parents have become increasingly concerned about what is being taught in public school classrooms. While they were worried about the academics, they are even more concerned about topics that are NOT academic, CRT.

So you understand, CRT, or Critical Race Theory, has been around for YEARS. The theory, despite arguments from the left, is about dividing kids by race, sexual orientation, economics, etc. and calling some kids “Oppressors” because of their race and others “Oppressed” because of their race. In our local district it has been funded to the tune of half a million dollars in the last seven years in the guise of teacher workshops. Teach the teachers to be propagandists and you win the war.

How did parents find out? Virtual learning because of the “pandemic.”

But, Progressives faced by angry parents who want to know why their children are being taught this division, Progressives who claim that CRT is about bringing people together and getting rid of racism, will tell you it is NOT in public school curriculums. Which is weird because if CRT is so great, why wouldn’t they admit to teaching it?

They won’t admit it because they know they cannot defend it. No matter how much lipstick they put on the pig, it’s a pig. However, they will not only put lipstick on the pig, but they will rename the pig, declare how wonderful the pig is, and even put the pig in camo.

Parents are fighting back against CRT. They are speaking out at Board meetings, withdrawing their children from the public schools, and asking school systems for copies of the curriculum used in their child’s classroom. But, every time they confront the school bureaucracy with opposition to CRT, the systems go into defense mode. Not only do they proclaim that CRT “isn’t taught here,” they won’t even show parents the curriculum, lesson plans and materials that ARE being taught.

In Maryland, the legislature has been presented with a bill to assure that public schools make all curricular materials and lessons available to the public.

This bill will require public schools to post what they are teaching so that parents/public can access it, view it, and, yes, comment on it.

Transparency, right? You would think that the school systems, Boards, teachers, etc. would be all for it.

Not so much.

For some reason, the educational establishment is scared to death of this bill. They are so afraid that they are creating all kinds of excuses to vote it down.

There are several fallacies and outright lies promoted by unions and other education wonks to support schools and teachers keeping secret curriculum including units, lessons, instructional materials and books used in public school classrooms. Their main arguments are that teachers are way too busy to post that information for parents, parents are too dumb to understand it, and that doing so will repress the freedom of the teacher in the classroom. (Remember that “academic freedom” phrase?)

All three arguments are bull.

First, if we want to talk about the workload of teachers, we need to be realistic. Teachers DO have a lot of paperwork. However, if it was only restricted to the actual instruction IN THEIR CLASSROOMS, it would be more than manageable. Regulations from the Federal Government, State, and Local agencies, require teachers document everything from who is in their classes every day to special paperwork for kids on Individualized Educational Plans, every parent conference and every discipline referral. Most of this is CYA paperwork. (If you don’t know what CYA means, look it up.) If the parties above were actually concerned about the paperwork that teachers do, they could easily get rid of most of the tasks listed above. Yet, when you ask about it they suddenly get a pinched look on their faces and assert that this is part of the job and teachers should get over it.

Paperwork that is useful and necessary for teachers do every day, if they are competent, is to prepare a written lesson plan for their classes. This is something, like grading papers, that organizes and informs teaching strategies and lessons. It is something teachers expect to do. Yet, all of a sudden, POSTING this information online is a terrible workload burden. Funny how that works, especially in a time when all that must be done is a press of the “send” or “post” button.

So, the unions crying over how much more work it would be for a teacher to keep a hard or electronic copy of lessons for parents is disingenuous. It’s even more so for the counties to whine about posting curriculum for the public. Within their bloated middle management, I’m sure there is a six figure employee who could do it and then go back to shopping on Amazon.

The second argument is that parents won’t understand the curriculum, lesson plans, instructional materials and books used. While I’ll admit to being an illiterate when discussing some math and science content, I observed teachers who taught these subjects and was able to detect good, unbiased, well delivered instruction in these areas. Plus, I’m sure most parents aren’t concerned about whether these topics are being taught correctly. They are concerned if they are being taught at all and in the framework of content and not social justice. Besides, they would like to discover content children are being taught, even if it is just to be informed.

Another drawback of this argument is the obvious arrogance toward parents among educational professionals. I recently saw a teacher created meme that said something like this,” I have a degree and certificate in education and now a person who is a plumber wants to examine what I teach his child. I don’t think so!” While most teachers don’t feel this way about parents, this attitude is prevalent among the educational elite that run our school systems and unions.

Honestly, folks, the best teachers I ever saw were people who didn’t have big degrees and in some cases were not certified teachers. That’s not to disregard those who have worked hard to become proficient in an occupation that requires skill, but it shows that ” this ain’t rocket science,” unless you are actually teaching rocket science.

So that argument, which divulges so much about the people running our schools, is not a valid argument against having curriculum available for people to see.

They use one of the favorite slogans, “academic freedom” as their third argument. Sad thing is, this slogan only applies to the “academic freedom” of the teacher and not the student. Ask any Conservative college student.

Let’s admit it, do we really want our teachers to have complete academic freedom to teach whatever they want? I once worked for a Superintendent who said, when talking about teachers who wanted to teach what they wanted and not the curriculum, “When the school is run and paid for solely by them and their name is posted over the entrance, they can teach the curriculum they create.” Point well taken.

By the way, the parents and taxpayers DO pay for the schools either through local, state or federal taxes.

Leftists use the phrase “academic freedom” like so many others, to make something destructive and negative sound reasonable, palatable, acceptable. How could anyone be against “academic freedom” especially if you are courting the unions? It’s like so many other leftist buzz phrases, “culturally responsive teaching,” “Social emotional learning,” etc. Hidden poison surrounded by a sweet outer shell.

With Senate Bill 786, maybe parents will finally get to see what their child is being taught and then make the decision if that is what they want or not. And it will give school administrators a way to hold themselves and the teachers academically accountable. Judging by our recent state scores in Math and Science, accountability is a must.

So, I hope it passes.

But, fair warning. I told you I would write about TWO hidden curriculums. One down.

There is a second one. This hidden curriculum has to do with more than the specific, personal to the teacher, content being taught in the classroom. It has more to do with attitude, beliefs, etc. that are COMMUNICATED in classrooms and schools. For example, look at this poster.

This is just one example. I was once chided when I was an independent contractor observing teachers in schools when I complained publicly about a poster in one local school that listed all of the rules of the school. No big deal, right? Except the last one said, “Be aware of the presence of whiteness in the classroom.” The poster was all over the school. It was created by a media arts class. This kind of racism is overt, yet accepted. I got in trouble for sharing that it was all over the school because “it wasn’t something to share with the public.” Hidden curriculum.

You see the problem? And these two examples don’t even scratch the surface of the hidden curriculum. Everything can teach kids something. A teacher makes a sour face every time a certain President is mentioned. The instructor in an elementary classroom decides to tell students about his/her sexual (and pronoun) preference and then discusses the students sexual preferences with them. (Remember, Megyn Kelly’s two boys were asked on a daily basis if they were sure they were boys.) A teacher conducts spur of the moment lessons on “social justice” and makes sure kids know which of their classmates are oppressors and which are oppressed. Classroom polls are conducted that direct a student to question his/her religious beliefs or the beliefs of his/her parents.

This next picture shows the “hidden curriculum” in plain sight.

What do you think the children in this person’s classroom are learning? Do you even see an American flag? A single conservative Black American?

Every day I get more examples of this hidden curriculum. None of what is in it will be shared on any school district’s website.

Sometimes, though, they will say the true part out loud. I met with a school system administrator about curriculum in 2020. We had a great meeting as we discussed what was and wasn’t in the local curriculum. But then, the administrator made this comment after she said CRT wasn’t in the curriculum.

“Of course, it is possible that an individual teacher might, without our knowledge, have materials or lessons that include CRT or the 1619 Project. We can’t be sure of that.” Even they know it happens. And most of the time they will turn a blind eye to it. I’m not saying this administrator would. I just know most of them will.

I don’t know if Bill 786 will be passed or not. Judging from how the Leftists in our state seem to feel about any kind of parental rights, I don’t give it much of a chance. It will be up to parents to do their own recon on what their kids are learning.

How do you do that?

1. LISTEN to what your kid tells you about schools and classes. It won’t help to ask about it because if your kids are anything like mine, if you ask they will clam up. But, if you listen, they will talk about what is going on.
2. Go to the county school system’s website and look for anything that may be about curriculum. You can also see if there are “curriculum” specialists and talk to them.
3. If your school still allows it, volunteer in the school at least once a week. While you are there OBSERVE. There are schools that have decided to use Covid as an excuse not to let parents or community members in schools as volunteers, etc.
4. Always check your child’s backpack, laptop, etc. for papers, announcements, assignments, etc. I’m shocked at how many parents don’t do this on a daily or weekly basis.
5. During parent conferences, which you should always go to, listen for key phrases like those described earlier in the article. Ask questions about what your child is learning.
6. Often, textbooks used in the school system are online. See if you can find that publisher and read about them and their books. Same with auxiliary books. Some public libraries also have copies. Read the books. Also, if book fairs come to town, look at the books being sold.

Sooner or later, you may have to do something more drastic like send your child to private school or homeschool.

This last picture is one created by a high school student. Let this motivate you to fight for the right of your child to an unbiased education and to fight for the rights of parents and the taxpayers.

This is an amazing graphic. It shows that the kids know they are being exposed to radical indoctrination and that their freedom is at stake. We need to support them.

NOTE: I HAVE ANOTHER BLOG POST COMING OUT IN A DAY OR SO, BUT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS ONE FOR A WHILE.

If you want to write, the best thing you can do is READ. Reading not only educates you, but it helps you see how other people present information so you can learn how to write. Even more important, you LEARN. Period.

I have included images of the books I have read. These books are the ones I have read in the past two years. They are all good for different reasons. All can be purchased at Amazon, but I encourage you to buy from your local small bookseller.

These are not the only books I have read. I read a lot of historical fiction and non-fiction. Without knowledge of history, it is difficult to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes. When you read history, you see how nothing that is happening now is new, it’s just the same old events wrapped up in new technology, new verbiage, etc.

Hope you read, learn and enjoy!

Parents everywhere are celebrating as they send their maskless children off to school this week! Hurrah, hoozah, yippee! Everything is back to normal in our schools.

Except it’s not.

Our children are being destroyed, little by little.

The destruction started in 2020 with closing schools to in person attendance. Kids were sent home, virtual learning was organized, and school became something you did at your kitchen table by yourself or with Mom or Dad looking on. It was better than no school at all, but not much better.

Then 2021 rolled around and local school boards, eventually under the cover of the overreaching State School Board and with the cooperation of the Health Department, implemented mask mandates, testing, quarantine policies, etc. Students who had already fallen behind academically were now experiencing great mental distress due to all these measures. But there was something else, something school systems didn’t want anyone to know.

Because the mental distress was not just about Covid, it was because of the increase in violence in our schools during that same time. Need proof?

Recently, I’ve been given information about what is going on in our local schools. It is shocking.

(All of these events/examples have been corroborated via the press, school and public officials, and various staff.)

• Multiple bomb/gun threats called into both middle and high schools, causing schools to be evacuated and closed.
• High School students attack administrators and send one to the hospital with a head injury.
• Middle school students fight and in one fight, a student is sent to the hospital with a serious injury.
• Middle school students are discovered having oral sex in the stairways.
• Middle school students are bringing “edibles” to school. ( If you don’t know what edibles are, ask someone from Colorado.)
• Elementary student brings a large knife to school planning to hurt someone and the student is taken home by the Principal and the incident is not reported to police/central office for at least two days. Principal does not get fired. The student returns to class with no consequences.
• Students as young as 4 years old run up and down the halls and curse at other students, teachers, and anyone they see with the “F” word and the “N” word. They often knock down other students.
• Elementary students having violent temper tantrums and destroy property including walls, floors, etc. Social workers and administrators stand by and watch and admonish other staff when they suggest something be done. I believe the phrase was something like, “Stay in your lane.” This costs money to the system as they have to repair the damages.
• Elementary students are allowed to run wild in the lunch room and jump onto lunch tables putting themselves and others in danger. In the hallways they are allowed to swing heavy book bags over their heads endangering other students. Again, administrators do NOTHING and the social workers let the kids, “work out their anger.”
• Classrooms are cleared when a student has a violent fit. The children in that class lose class and academic time.
• Students are removed from classes by social workers without proper notification to the teacher. This is a violation of county policy and a potential disaster if a real emergency occurs in the school.
• Students post an Instagram account with videos of different fights in the high school. Administrators know about the site.

Wow. That’s a long list for a county with just two high schools, two middle schools, and five elementary schools. And these occurred in the first six months of school. Again, all of these have been confirmed by reliable sources and, in some cases, the local newspaper.

Is it fair to expect a Superintendent, administration or Board of Education to do anything about all of this? Maybe not. After all, with all they have had to deal with in the last three years, they are stressed and overburdened. It’s difficult to keep your head in the sand while disaster is evident all around you.

Remember, these are experienced, award-winning educators. People who consider themselves competent and who have six figure salaries. And yet, as far as we can tell, they haven’t addressed any of this. How they can pretend all is well with our kids is beyond me. How they can lie to the faces of parents is unforgiveable.

There have been a few emails from schools regarding the incidents that were in the paper. Parents were not notified about all the rest.

We can give them a pass for the events of 2020. The virtual school and all the other crap that happened that year was unexpected and they had no plan for those.

But it’s 2022 and the excuses are off the table.

Administrators in the county had the children and teachers back in school ( albeit masked) and have been given tons of money to operate since the Spring of 2020. That was the reason for the mask mandates after all! Yet, these intolerable acts of violence were going on and for some reason or another, Talbot County Administrators chose to ignore them even when they were told about them specifically by witnesses. In some cases, as in the high school/middle school attacks, they couldn’t hide them from the press. The other incidents got swept under the rug faster than mouse turds in an expensive restaurant.

Why? Because they could. They had political cover.

In the past year or so, many parents were busy fighting the mask mandates and the coercion of their children to get vaccinated. Too busy to question what else was going on in schools. But now the mandates are gone, the vaccine push has been slightly muted, and the bureaucrats are hoping parents won’t notice the other stuff. They might be right.

Many parents have been fooled into thinking things are back to normal in the schools. They are not. Sadly, they are long way away from normal.

The children are being destroyed, academically and mentally. All the indicators show it.

The other day, a parent from another county had a post on social media. It started like this,”Should I/we be concerned?” Then the parent shared the statistic that only 19% of the students in Maryland “met expectations” in English on recent State tests. Only 10% in Math. The parent said, “This just looks very disheartening.”

The usual suspects chimed in that this was just an assessment for teachers to use to aid their teaching and that the test was given in the Fall, so we should ignore it.( It’s funny how they want you to pay attention to test scores when they use them to fuel increased funding to address what THEY consider important)

But please, don’t use test scores to hold them accountable.

After all, they are blaming Covid for those also.

Funny, because some parents have been asking about the loss of academic progress for a while. Some even had suggestions for how the students could get back on track. They were ignored and in some cases, ridiculed.

But with all these extremely skilled educators, no one at a local or state level has provided one single proposal to get the kids “caught up” after the disaster in the public schools for nearly two years. How dare the parents speak up. Damn domestic terrorists.

So now, with the incidents of violence listed above and the dismal test scores, are you getting the picture that masks were just a part of the larger problem in the public schools?

And now let’s go here. Consider these stats:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from April through October of last year, the number of children 5-11 years old visiting hospital emergency departments in 2020 rose 24% from 2019. Among 12 -17 year olds, the number increased by 31%. And those were the kids who went to the ER for mental issues. How many just went to counselors? How many of them got no help?

Boston Children’s Hospital reported a 40 percent increase of children with suicidal thoughts or attempts.

More bad news. Of course, much of the Covid grant money went to provide mental health help for children. However, the effectiveness is debatable if counselors and psychologists in schools are just there to watch children explode, destroy property, and threaten other students.

Don’t look to the legislature either. They just passed this:

If you look at this picture, you may recognize that this is House Bill 84 from the Maryland Legislature. And look whose name is on it. Why, its Delegate Ruth, our good old friend who proposed an advisory board for Homeschooling in Maryland, the lady who told us that this advisory board would only exist to give homeschoolers a voice. Hmmm.

What is this bill that was so happily passed by Democrats?

Basically it’s a bill that PROHIBITS, yes, PROHIBITS kids from being removed from classrooms, etc. if they are being violent. The “rationale” is that this will protect kids who get in fights in classrooms from having a “criminal” record. Or maybe that kid that destroys school property. And we wonder why our kids are in mental distress?

Our children are being destroyed and no one is acting.

They are asking for more money, mainly to do the same ineffective things they have been doing for over thirty years.

A couple of weeks ago I presented information to a group of parents/citizens about the Blueprint for Education in Maryland. I’ve also written about it in a previous blog post. It’s a part of the massive Kirwan educational spending program approved in 2020 that will double the public school costs per pupil by 2032 from approximately $15,000 per student to $30,000. It will also increase county taxes by approximately 24%.

Kirwan funding is nothing new. It’s been around for at least 20 years. And, during that time the millions that were spent brought us to where we are today.

And this new “Blueprint” brings in additional funding that will force counties to increase the tax burden on their citizens to an extent never seen before. If they don’t do it, there will be an unelected oversight board in place to force their hands. Why, each county will even have their own “Blueprint” Coordinator, someone who will ride herd on elected county officials. More middle level management comprised of unelected bureaucrats.

(In a county that is currently short by more than ten employees, some of them teachers, it seems wasteful to have a person hired to do this. I wonder which well- connected relative of a county official might get this job?)

There are all kinds of other really cool, expensive “bells and whistles” in this bill. The opportunity for waste and corruption will be astronomical.

And not one of these are innovative, original, or proven ideas to get students back to where they need to be academically or emotionally. It’s all a deja vu of bad Progressive policies reformatted and reintroduced despite a record of utter failure in the past. Here’s the link: ( https://tcps.k12.md.us/blueprint-for-marylands-future/)

In this document, you’ll see the Head Start, Pre-school for All, Promise Neighborhoods, Teach For America, Race to the Top, College Scorecard, and a variety of other liberal initiatives of the past. It’s like one of those CD’s of one hit wonders they advertise on late night television!

Many of them were in place for decades, some for longer. None of them are successful in anything other than creating bureaucracy, indoctrination, corruption. They are not called by the same names now, but in the “history of now” Progressives hope you won’t recognize those old standards under new, pricier, labels.

Our children won’t be helped by any of it, the destruction will continue.

In the end, it always comes down to what we, the public, the parents, will do to stop it. I wish I could say that I think people will stand up and fight. Unfortunately, since the masks have been removed it seems people are willing to take that small “win” and go home.

I hope they won’t. I hope they sign up for every school board meeting from now on and speak about what is going on. I hope they will seek information about EVERYTHING that goes on in schools and hold the administration and the Board accountable. I hope they ask every single Board, County Council, State and National Rep candidate tough questions about how they will implement real and inspired solutions (yeah, it’s Hannity, I know.).

I hope they won’t mince words and cut right to the point. No threats, no cursing, no name calling, but honest and direct conversations. I hope they will research every bill and proposal, every dime spent, every position added.

Even more, I hope they run for office. They still have time to file.

Our children are being destroyed.

It needs to stop. De-masking is just one small step.

https://www.oann.com/doctors-declare-national-emergency-in-childrens-mental-health/

They made darn sure no parent would get to see what was actually being taught in their child’s classroom. They even banned parents from watching virtual lessons.

Caution: This post may make some of you angry. If so, good, I achieved my goal! Like my Dad used to say, we need to have a “Come to Jesus” talk. His Dad was a preacher and he used that expression to let my Dad know a serious conversation about his disapproval of my Dad’s actions was coming. My Dad had a few of those with me as I was growing up.

This week, the Maryland State Board of Education voted to allow the local agencies to decide their policies on children being forced to wear masks in schools. Parents celebrated as they felt that surely their local Boards would do the right thing and rescind the mask mandate in their districts.

Congratulations everyone! The group of people who have no right to take away your rights as a parent just decided they’d give you back the rights they illegally took from you. What a victory! Sort of like being released by a kidnapper.

The process used to create State mask mandates was created to give our local school boards political cover so they could institute mask mandates to get millions in state funds. The State Board, who was given the right to create this policy by a sub-committee of the State Legislature, the Administrative Executive Legislative Review board, implemented the mandate. Now, they no longer have the right to rescind them without the AELR board’s approval. Does anyone else see the problem here? Does this make any sense? The State Board either has the power or they don’t. If you didn’t want them to have the power to change their minds, why give them any power in the first place? It’s been the good old bait and switch used by con men.

And parents just took the bait.

Of course, we all know why. The parents just want their children to go to school without being tortured by wearing a mask. They want to see their child’s entire face again. They want them to breathe fresh air, smile at each other, hear each other.

I’m assuming that the AELR will vote that the State Board of Education DOES have the right to remove the mandate. How do I know? I know because counties have been given a “heads up” that they should start making plans to take the mandate off. Some locals have already given dates for the end of the mandate in their schools. Many have chosen March 1.

The State now placed the decision back in the hands of the local Boards and Superintendents. Parents are high fiving each other and proclaiming that their fights, their speeches, their emails, they all worked. I understand.

Unfortunately, it’s short sighted, premature and incorrect.

What parents don’t understand is the mask mandates are a very small part of the battle in a long term psychological war against their children and parental rights. If parents stop pushing now, we will end up in a place where their children will be subject to all of the whims and political dictates of those who run the schools with no parental input. It would be like Eisenhower planning to win one battle in World War II and then claiming victory and bringing everyone home.

It would not have won the War.

It’s also premature right now to say that we have won. When you see those statements by the State Board and the local Boards of Education this week, read carefully. Find the exact policy statement and you might find that they give themselves an “on ramp” to reinstitute mask mandates when they want to. Unless they sign a promise that they’ll “never to this again,” they will do it again. And, honestly, even if they sign that promise, they’ll do it again. They saw that they could force compliance.

It’s premature because the Progressive/Marxists/Democrats/RINOs have bigger plans for our children. All you have to do is look at the bills being proposed in the Maryland Legislature. Some are good ones, meant to keep the authoritarians in check, others are bad ones, written to take more control.

I’ve included links to some of these bills so you can see what they are and who sponsored them. I was going to explain them in this blog, but heck, you can read for yourselves.

House Bill 758- Education-Public Schools-Lesson Plans and Instructional Materials– Positive bill!

This bill has to do with giving public access to all the lessons, instructional materials, etc. used in public schools. This is not currently the case. (the link to the bill is below)

Click to access hb0758f.pdf

HB 618-Maryland Parental Rights Act-another good bill

This bill is a way for parents to once again become part of what goes on in schools and to keep totalitarian, control freak boards and administrations from denying public access and impact on the schools.

This is a bill that is being debated right now. It is a huge step in the right direction.

Bill 832- Education-Maryland Homeschool Advisory Council- Establishment – not a good bill.

I addressed this bill in an earlier blog entry. It was proposed by Delegate Ruth who claims to have the best interest of the homeschool community at heart. I said it before and I’ll say it again. Bull.

Here’s a link to that blog:

https://wordpress.com/post/radiofreeoxford.com/5958

And as much as we would love to claim credit for getting the State School Board to change their minds, remember this. The Federal and State funds that demanded the mandates have been fully allocated so there is no longer a need to carry on with the charade. And, with elections coming into view, Progressives hope voters will forget this tyranny and be thankful that they got their rights returned to them by the ruling class.

It will work with some. Not me. And I hope not you.

If tomorrow every local school board lifts the mask mandate, we still have to keep what happened over the past two years in the back of our minds. We have to remember what they did, how they did it, and why they did it. Keep that picture in your brain of your child pathetically muzzled with a mask. Remember the constant testing, coercion, bribery, the harassment by school personnel, the medical conditions, psychological and academic damage, and the segregation of our children in schools by vaccine status.

Remember how they ignored you when you asked them to look at the harm they were doing. How they called the police on some of you. Ridiculed and belittled you.

Please don’t forget.

They want us to forget so everything will go back to “normal.” It can’t. Unless we want it all to happen again. I don’t.

As much as I hate the term ” new normal” I want to show these authoritarians that there is a new normal. It’s a new normal where we watch everything they do, every penny they spend, every lesson they teach, every vote they take, and every overreach they attempt. Parents will no longer be hands off and “let the schools handle it.”

I want to defeat them in every single election they run in.

We need to take our place as the new bosses. Not the same as the old bosses. Better because they are OUR children. #BossesButBetter

So, go ahead, have your short celebration when your district’s mandate is removed. High five, cheer, bake a cake. Whatever.

And then let’s get back to the game plan and win the long game. Yesterday it was masks, today it’s school violence and divisive teaching, tomorrow it will be something much worse. They have it in their plans. Trust me.

Yesterday, a friend sent me this article:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/20/survey-districts-brace-for-mass-exodus-of-school-principals-in-wake-of-coronavirus-pandemic/

The article details how a survey of more than 500 principals conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals found that nearly four in ten school leaders expect to step down within the next three years. An additional 62% said they would be leaving in the next six years.

The same friend asked me, “When are these Principals going to stand up for children?” It’s a good question.

These are people who worked hard to get these principalships, probably putting up with district politics and policies to get there. I know several who had to leave the counties they taught in for many years because the Superintendent wouldn’t give them a shot either due to personal prejudice or artificial quota systems by race and gender. They got jobs in other counties.

In general, I have found there are two types of people who become principals; those who want to make a real difference in a school and those who want to use the job as a stepping stone for something higher up the food chain. I have one friend who took the job because he was tired of the incompetent line of principals in his school and said to the Superintendent at the time, ” I could do it much better than any of them.” The Superintendent handed him the keys and told him the job was his.

You know what? He did a good job despite all the attempts by the Assistant Superintendent to sabotage him. She just didn’t like him because he liked telling the truth. When she ascended to the job of Superintendent, he lasted less than a year with her in charge.

I have also worked with one or two Principals who were using the job to get somewhere else. It was clear from the start that they would do the politically advantageous thing rather than what was right for the students and the school. The only good thing about them is that they usually didn’t stick around long. They moved to higher positions with better pay and better working conditions. Funny thing, they didn’t last long there either. People figured out who they really were.

Being a principal is being between a rock, a hard place, and a whirlpool. They have to answer to the Superintendent and the Board of Education, the parents and students, and the teachers. If something happens at a school, the Principal is first to handle it. They are also the scapegoats for any Board policy that is unpopular or goes wrong. If a teacher screws up, the Principal will get called on the carpet. Covid and the measures government has taken don’t help. That’s why many school leaders make six figures a year.

It’s also not an excuse to do the wrong thing.

I understand that sometimes one has to do what one is told. I was a teacher, a central office employee, a teacher mentor, etc. There were many times I followed what I was told to do, but NEVER anything I felt was unethical, dishonest, or unfair to others.( I did, however, make mistakes!)

With Covid, it seems that Principals are more muzzled than the children. I know there are many who disagree with the mask mandates, the vaccine incentive gift cards, etc. They can’t speak out.

Those who have been around for a while know how to negotiate this dilemma. They know how to do what they know is right while keeping the powers that be happy. Many of them are willing to lose their jobs over principles.

Younger Principals aren’t. For many of them, they are learning on the job. Yes, they have been Assistant Principals in the past, but I’m telling you, it’s not the same. It’s like being the head coach of a pro football team versus being a coach of one position. The head coach gets all the blame, the assistant can blame his failures on the head coach.

Younger Principals will often march to the music the district plays for them. And they will do it with verve, even to the point of violating every core belief they have. Losing the principalship could mean the end of their career.*

This can also depend on what their boss, the Superintendent, will allow. I have worked through five different Superintendents, and I know of only two who would entertain the idea of Principals giving their honest opinions. One of them actually TOLD Principals to speak up, give him an honest opinion.

The others? Well, a Principal better hold his/her tongue or get a job in the Alternative Learning Center.

There were plenty who didn’t give a damn and did whatever they needed to in order to stay on the good side of their boss. Even if it hurt kids.

(By the way, there is no real union for administrators in education. The Association in place negotiates contracts, but htere’s no tenure. An administrator can be fired at any point for any reason. That means they will be demoted to a lesser position or they can leave the district. Both mean at least a partial loss of income.)

This is causing great harm to our children and also to teachers. The reality of principals blindly following senseless upper administration edicts may have been less harmful five or six years ago. But now, when districts are mandating so many destructive measures in the name of “health,” having a principal who cannot stand up for the school and kids is a recipe for disaster. Add to that the willingness of many principals to turn a blind eye to other issues such as student violence, and we have schools that are no longer doing their job. They have violated their duty to the children and the trust of the parents.

As a result, the public schools are losing students to private schools and homeschooling at an astounding rate.

It’s very sad that the Principal of a school used to be the person who was the true leader on the education front lines. This was the person you trusted to make sure your child’s school was not only safe, but that staff was doing what they were supposed to do, teach reading, writing, math, science and social studies. I was blessed to work with some of them. As a teacher, you would go to war for that Principal. You KNEW they had the right motives for what they did. Now it seems that this kind of Principal is rare.

I know a couple that are still around, but even they are beset by Superintendents and School Boards more concerned about optics and virtue signaling than common sense and the needs of kids. How long will these Principals last? Will they be able to maintain their ethics or will they decide that position and politics are more important than doing what is right? I certainly hope not.

It’s a short trip from where we are now in our schools to the point where they are so violent, so chaotic, that most children will not survive either physically or mentally.

So, when we ask why the Principals don’t stand up against all the harmful, unrealistic, and ineffective mandates and rules, it’s a multi-layered answer. However, I think it comes down to one thing. Lack of Courage.

John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death-but saddling up anyway.”

Our Principals are scared and many of them will not “saddle up.”

Want to help them? Here are some ideas:

1.If you have a good Principal, stand behind that person and support him/her when they stand up for what is right even if it means going against the Superintendent. Send letters of support repeatedly even when nothing is going on. Make sure those letters go to the Principal, the Superintendent and the Board.

2. If the Principal of your child’s school is a younger, newer administrator, observe them carefully. If they do something you don’t like, meet with them to discuss. It will help you discover what really happened. Sometimes. If they do something that is good, see #1.

3. If you find your child in a school with a really bad Principal, make sure people know. Document what is going on with dates, conversations, emails, etc. and present that information to the Superintendent and the Board. Make sure this is FIRST HAND info. Do NOT ask for the Principal to be fired. Report the behaviors and/or incidents objectively. Let the Superintendent and the Board make the decision. Usually, they won’t let a toxic Principal stay in their job. However, if nothing happens and the incidents continue, no one can deny that they knew. This could be invaluable later.

It’s important that you keep yourself outside any possible job action. If things happen, report them. That’s it.

If you have to, get your child out of the school. To be clear, sometimes schools have such strong staff and Assistant Principals that they can still operate successfully and safely for kids. This can only last so long. Sooner or later, things deteriorate. A school cannot survive bad leadership.

Just like a country.

Events never happen in a vacuum. There are always connections between what goes on in our world, even if those connections are not obvious at first. We have to remember that those who work in the public arena actively strive to keep the connections hidden.

So, I like to search for those connections. It’s like playing Wordle or solving puzzles. It’s satisfying.

In the last couple of months, interesting things have been happening. On December 15, 2022, Biden’s Build Back Better monstrosity of over $3 trillion dollar addition to the federal debt died a death at the hands of the Senate. Regardless of Biden’s claims that the bill wouldn’t add anything to the debt at all, even third grade math students, the ones who score in the proficient range, saw that was lie. Thanks to Joe Manchin and Kristin Synema for their courage.

In that spending package was all kinds of education pork including new social welfare programs such as universal Pre-k, free community college, and a variety of initiatives.

Let’s go back a couple of years. In 2020, the Maryland State Legislature passed “The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” in order to implement what was originally called the “Kirwan” funding plan. This plan included drastic, state guided and dictated measures for counties to fund education in their own jurisdiction. This was because the previous plans, the Thornton Plan and the first Kirwan plans, were such a complete disaster. They created a bureaucratic nightmare and not educational advancement.

Governor Larry Hogan, in a sudden fit of Conservative conscience, vetoed the Blueprint, but his veto was overturned. All was in place for the Blueprint to move forward.

Then we all know what happened in 2020 and things came to a virtual halt. The Blueprint was still there, but it would be hard to implement when the economy was failing and tax revenues were dead. The Blueprint which was supposed to start in 2022 was pushed to the back burner.

In steps the Federal Government to the rescue. I have written in previous blogs how the Federal Government monetized the children in our schools by giving systems millions of additional funds for “Covid Mitigation.” Suddenly, schools were flush with funds to do all they wanted to do as long as they pushed vaccines and mandated masks. Local school boards who may have leaned toward voluntary masking (or actually implemented it) for the 2021-2022 school year were suddenly told that wouldn’t work. They caved but they didn’t want the responsibility for the unpopular mandates.

The Maryland State Board of Education decided to help, mandating masks until they found out this wasn’t their job. Never fear, the legislature committee called the Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Joint Committee promptly voted to the give the State Board that right. Boom, masks were mandatory. To be fair, the State Board set up “off ramps” for locals. Here is a summary of the off ramps provided by the Talbot County Schools:

And the Boards of Education could throw up their hands and claim no responsibility. (Notice how they announce in a recent meeting that we, the unvaxxed, have kept them from hitting their mark.) But, they had the funds for Covid mitigation and spent it on all kinds of goodies. And, on the horizon was Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan which would funnel millions into Maryland Education coffers.

The State of Maryland had big plans that this money would help them implement the stalled Blueprint for Education. They would be able to create schools as “one stop shopping” service centers for illegal immigrants as well as those families designated as below the federal poverty line. Think mental health facility, medical facility, adult education classes, job training for adults, vision health facility, dental health facility, and anything the state could throw into that. They would be able to hire all those additional staff for whatever. Yes, they would still hit the state and local funding agencies for the money as originally planned, but the BBB funds would make life so much easier.

And then BBB died a quick death.

The brakes screeched and the Blueprint had to be brought to a quick stop. Local school systems were told they could wait a year to present their plans and get the appointed Super Board to approve them.

While all this was going on, county Health Departments and Boards of Education, reading the handwriting on the wall with upcoming election, pushed the Covid testing, vaccinating and masking even harder. They needed to get this done and get it done quickly. Hit the accelerator.

But, once BBB and the Blueprint was put on hold, it must have become evident to those in power that things were not going well. There would be no millions flowing in.

So now what would the Progressives, who had been counting on this money for their Socialist empire, do?

They had to get things back on track. Not only was the money drying up, but public sentiment was changing regarding Covid mandates. They were disgusted at people losing jobs over vaccine status when it was clear the vaccines don’t work. People were seeing 70,000 unmasked fans and celebrities at the Super Bowl. They questioned why our Olympic athletes were travelling to China, the creator of the virus, for the Games. Pfizer postponed its request for approval for a vaccine for babies. And, of course, there were the truckers.

2022 was already looking like a historic loss for the Dems in the Mid-terms. Now it was worse. Biden’s free testing and free masks didn’t help.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the message in the Covid machine started to change. The usual suspects, CNN, Governors in blue states, even big business started to discount the need for masks and drop the mandates. Leana Wen, CNN’s CCP shill, started talking about not wearing masks.

And, there were lawsuits being filed against the Boards of Education, local and state. One group, Coalition of Maryland Parents, filed suit against the Maryland State Department of Education on behalf of 24 locals.

In Maryland, a strange thing started to happen in our schools. All of a sudden, some systems were getting rid of the mask mandates. People were celebrating. What they didn’t realize is that they hadn’t actually won. Look at this graphic about Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the removal of their mask mandates. (By the way, this was put together by a parent, Megan M) via her own diligence.

Look at what was on the web:

The school system hit their mark and lo and behold, masks were gone.

Except, did they hit their target?

This graphic, posted at 10 a.m. on the day the masks were voted out, showed Anne Arundel’s vaccination rate at 75.44%. Now, maybe they got a statistical margin of error, but other counties, including Talbot, were not given that leeway. In fact, according to my sources, on January 14th, Talbot’s rate was 79.4% and no leeway. In fact, their vaccination rate DROPPED to 69.5%.

So, what happened? Did Anne Arundel have a huge walk-in vaccine bump? Or, did someone “fix” it for them. Who knows. More research is required.

(Parents from all over the state are suddenly asking how Anne Arundel’s mandate got dropped and their kids still have to wear masks. What better way for the State Department of Health to coerce more vaccines. “See, if you would do what Anne Arundel did, your kids could be free too.”) One more gasp from the vaxx pushers.

But, again, I said this was all connected. And I believe it is.

First, the 2022 elections are on the horizon. And, whether we will get a legit election is certainly up in the air based on how the Dems defrauded the public in 2020. But, the Dems MUST SEE how their tyrannical and extreme Covid policies have hurt their electability. They have to ease up the one thing that people care most about. Of course, inflation is a huge problem for them as well, as is the senility of their guy in the White House. But, as the Dems do, they are going to be all hands on deck to protect their power.

And that power MUST be protected and increased to assure that Build Back Better 2.0 gets passed. Dems both at the Federal and State level need this funding to make sure their progression to Socialism is alive. They HAVE to get their people elected.

If they can get mandates lifted, particularly in schools, then their odds of getting more Progressives elected are better. If the public can be tricked into thinking that local, state and federal officials listened to them, then maybe the officials can regain our trust and votes. They are hoping our memory is as bad as Joe Biden’s.

( Some politicians have figured out that this isn’t going to happen. That’s why 40 Democrats will not be running for re-election to the House.)

If Build Back Better gets passed, then The Blueprint can be fully implemented. Federal funds will certainly supplement it, but even when the locals have to increase their taxes and education budgets to support it, they might have Federal funds as a safety net.

Trust me, they want that. That safety net will allow them to create their Socialist Utopia and maybe people will not notice the cost.

There may be some of you out there who say, “Whatever. As long as the mandates are gone, who cares?”

I have a saying, “Whoever collects the data can skew the data.” It happens all the time. And, in the case of Covid, it happens with those who create the definitions and the “goals posts” that get constantly changed and moved.

When their political crisis ends, Progressives will return to their deceptive ways. If it’s not Covid vaccines and mask wearing, it will be something else. We’ve already seen Federal agencies enact initiatives calling peaceful protest “terrorism” and alternative opinions “misinformation.” Imagine a country where there is a social credit system like China. Everything you say, post online, do, etc. will count for or against you in your finances, freedoms, etc.

And we will be back where we started in 2020. Except worse.

In Maryland, that will mean the Blueprint for Educational Excellence will be enacted and our taxes both state and local will skyrocket. Our children will be subjected to indoctrination at a much earlier age, our schools will be pulled further away from their actual mission, and we will watch our children sink deeper into mediocrity.

Even if I am way off base and these are not connected, parents, families and taxpayers need to understand what is at stake here. As long as our children are viewed as “data points” and commodified by school boards and government officials as they implement these overreaching programs, parents will never have rights and our children will be in danger.

CREDIT for analysis of Thornton/Kirwan; “Kirwan Education Reforms Are At High Risk of Repeating Historical Disappointments;” Charlie Hayward, 2/1/19

Summary of THE BLUEPRINT: https://dls.maryland.gov/pubs/prod/Educ/BlueprintOverview.pdf