Month: June 2023

College Board says it won’t alter AP courses to comply with Florida’s laws

College Board says it won’t alter AP courses to comply with Florida’s laws

The pushback is beginning.   The public is not going to accept nor tolerate the bigotry and racism of a small minority of fundamentalist conservatives who demand that only history that shall be taught is propaganda that shows the US is the best light, shows the greatness of white people, and minimizes any injustice or harm to black people.   I cannot understand how DeathSantis got as much racism and bigotry passed into law as he did.   I remember a few years ago in a Texas state education board meeting, the leader of the board said basically it was much better that students learn the made up history and believe it than that they learn the true history and act on it.   The LGBTQ+ community exists and always has, even before we had the words we now use to describe it.  There are LGBTQ+ kids in every school, most families, and history is full of contributions from gay people that the fundamentalist Christian nationalists want never mentioned, never taught, and deleted forever.  But what is worse is that these laws as written would also prevent the use of heterosexual sexual orientation and heterosexual gender roles.   The laws don’t just ban gay sexual orientation or gender identity different from assigned at birth as they are written but that is how they are being used.    But the bigots that wrote them just wink it away.  Look to separate bathrooms for boys from girls is gender.   Miss teacher or Mr teacher is gender.   Mrs teacher who is married to Mr teacher is OK to show pictures and talk about family which pushes heterosexual orientation, but Mrs teacher married to Mrs teacher is totally banned.   But the law is written to ban all mention of gender or orientation.   That is why they are called don’t say gay bills.   Hugs  

 

The College Board released a letter Thursday putting its foot down on further demands from Florida to change any of its Advanced Placement (AP) classes, the latest development in the ongoing feud between the company and the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

“[College Board] will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics,” the company told the Florida Department of Education Office of Articulation.

“Doing so would break the fundamental promise of AP: colleges wouldn’t broadly accept that course for credit and that course wouldn’t prepare students for careers in the discipline,” it added. 

The College Board says the Florida office recently asked it to modify any courses that conflict with the new Florida rule restricting teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom through 12th grade.

In a May 19 letter to College Board, Florida demanded the company do an audit of its courses and relay which ones would need to be modified to comply with the new rule by June 16. 

DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, had said in January that the AP African American Studies course would not be allowed in his state. Although the company says changes were in the works before the governor’s comment on the class, the course was regardless amended, causing outrage from those who believe the College Board bowed to DeSantis’s demands. 

“We have learned from our mistakes in the recent rollout of AP African American Studies and know that we must be clear from the outset where we stand,” the College Board said.

Although Florida did not directly mention the AP Psychology course, that is the one the company focused on in its rebuttal Thursday. 

It noted the American Psychological Association says college-level courses need to have a foundation on topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity. 

“We don’t know if the state of Florida will ban this course. To AP teachers in Florida, we are heartbroken by the possibility of Florida students being denied the opportunity to participate in this or any AP course. To AP teachers everywhere, please know we will not modify any of the 40 AP courses—from art to history to science—in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness,” the College Board said. 

The Hill has reached out to the Florida Department of Education for a response.

 

 

America’s New #1 Beer Does Pro-LGBTQ Marketing. From JMG

America’s New #1 Beer Does Pro-LGBTQ Marketing

I love the website Joe.My.God and the work they do.  Right now I still have open tabs from the news articles he posted on Monday that I have not gotten to yet.   I know many of my viewers never follow the links I post.  There is far more over at the website than I ever post here and I strongly recommend everyone visit the site.  Hugs

These knuckle draggers can not even google the name of their new best beer.   The same people that scream of how evil support of the LGBTQ+ is have not figured out a lot of the products / companies they spend their money on are big LGBTQ+ supporters.   But more important, this is a new drummed up outrage / fear campaign by the right wing media along with their fundamentalist nationalist who want the base to hate but not notice the party leaders are robbing them blind.   Here is a clip from the link in the article.   Hugs

 

LGBTQ support among beer brands is still widespread

All US leading light beer brands have a history of supporting LGBTQ rights, often in the form of sponsorship to pride events. Constellation Brands partners with Stonewall Sports, for instance, an organization promoting LGBTQ representation in sports. It was also listed as a top place to work for LGBTQ people several times over the years, and most recently in 2022, scoring 100/100 in workforce protection, inclusive benefits, and inclusive culture, in the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index.

Similarly, Molson Coors has sponsored several pride events, and so has Budweiser, also an AB InBev brand. Bud Light is far from being the only ally among beers—in fact, its handling of the Mulvaney boycott drove criticism for not being explicit in its support of the actress or the trans community.

Quartz reports:

Modelo Especial, a Mexican beer, is now officially America’s favorite. The beverage, marketed by Constellation Brands, was the top-selling beer for May, with 8.6% of all beer sales in the US, overtaking the long-time market leader Bud Light, an Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev) brand.

But if anti-LGBTQ activists think they were successful in making their point, they may be sorry to learn Constellation Brands has shown its support for LGBTQ rights even more than AB InBev. And so has Molson Coors, the maker of Coors Light, and Miller Lite.

Constellation Brands partners with Stonewall Sports, for instance, an organization promoting LGBTQ representation in sports. It was also listed as a top place to work for LGBTQ people several times over the years, and most recently in 2022, scoring 100/100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index.

Read the full article.

 

 

Silverwynde 🌻🇺🇦🌻 16 hours ago
Thumbnail
 
Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo 16 hours ago

Standby for FOX, Newsmax, OAN & their compatriots screeching: “THEM MEXICANS ARE BRINGING DRUGS AND GAY BEER INTO THE COUNTRY !!”

 

Is it because …

2000 years

The Simpsons – Evolution vs Creationism

The Nixon Papers: The Latest Ugly Turn in an Old Story

http://hnn.us/articles/1788.html

This is what trump is referring to when he says the government had to buy Nixon’s papers and they should be buying his.  I did not know of this and had to look it up and I figured maybe others might not know of this also.   Hugs

by Stanley I. Kutler

Mr. Kutler is the author of The Wars of Watergate.

Reports circulated recently that Congress is considering a proposal to give former President Richard M. Nixon’s Yorba Linda museum possession of his presidential materials, including some 46 million pages, hundreds of video tapes, and the unique cache of 4000 hours of taped conversations. Such legislation could close off public access, and allow for the destruction of millions of valuable, still-unprocessed, primary sources.

After Nixon resigned in August 1974, the Ford Administration acknowledged his ownership of the materials — including the right to destroy them. Congress objected, however, and passed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Act in 1974, taking control of the materials, insuring their deposit in the Washington area, and providing that the records be opened and made available to the public.

During his lifetime, Nixon successfully resisted various efforts to implement the law. He devised a maze of delaying tactics, and even secured the cooperation of the National Archives to keep the tapes sealed. When the Archives was sued to force compliance with the law, Nixon intervened. His death in 1994 seemingly ended the matter, as his family and estate no longer could afford the expense of further challenges. The lawsuit was settled, with the tapes opened, access secured, and matters of ownership, possession, and control finally resolved. Or so we thought.

Now, Nixon’s heirs and designees have resorted to stealth tactics to reverse settled laws and practices of thirty years and have his papers and tapes shipped to California. The proposed legislation has been promoted by a “bi-partisan,” well-connected, firm of lobbyists, which contends that “it’s in everyone’s interest to get all the records in one place, and in the hands of the archivist.” They are in one place, in “his hands,” in College Park, Maryland. If the Nixon people want the material in Yorba Linda, they can copy it, and do what they want with it, including maintaining their own peculiar vision of the Nixon presidency. That undoubtedly would be a lot cheaper than sending everything to California.

Richard Nixon’s heirs and friends continue to battle for control of his presidential records, just as vigorously as he did. The victory they seek would enable them to determine what may or may not be seen by historians and the public. And not incidentally, they would gain the considerable advantage of having the government provide housing for the material and maintaining their museum.

The Nixon Museum has not proven worthy of our trust. Listen to the so-called “smoking gun” tape on display at Yorba Linda. As played there, it is virtually impossible to understand the subject of discussion, and the extent of Nixon’s criminal actions. Will the curators play any new tapes, ones in which Nixon bluntly and openly speaks of his hush money payments to the burglars? Not likely. At Yorba Linda materials are used to resurrect Nixon’s familiar ploy of re-writing his own history, as he wished it to be. Only open, unbiased access to documents will get us closer to historical truth.

Why is this being done so secretly and swiftly? Where is the input by other interested parties, particularly archivists and historians? Important public policy decisions should be made with public scrutiny and participation. History is too important to be left to the Nixon Foundation, their lobbyists, and friends.

This issue should not be settled behind closed doors by lobbyists and fixers. The public is entitled to open hearings, hearings that will consider the financial costs and the sanctity of historical records for the proposed move.

Let the National Archives complete the processing of the President’s papers and tapes. The Archives is our national repository for national records, records that speak for themselves to our history and our understanding of the past. We need no political intervention to determine such matters.

Several years ago, the Nixon Foundation received $18 million as a payment for the government’s alleged “taking” of the Nixon Papers. That was a questionable concession — one largely arranged in a manner similar to the present undertaking. But all agree that the $18 million was a form of compensation for the papers. Now, the Nixon people want control of the papers. Can we at least have the $18 million paid back to the government?

A quarter century ago, during one of President Nixon’s periodic battles to gain control of his presidential papers and tapes, the Supreme Court rejected his claim. Justice John Paul Stevens noted that after three years it already was clear that the President had proven to be an “unreliable custodian” of his papers. Nothing has changed.

I cried also

RWAlex 3 hours ago edited

..this is perhaps off topic: but I have a thread at Talking Points Memo, in “the Hive”: “Pride is Every Day”, and a friend shared this, by ‘anonymous author K’:

Ruminations on the death of Pat Robertson

I don’t like to think
About Pat Robertson going to hell.
That lets him off too easy.
I like to think about
Pat Robertson finding himself
In a heaven he never believed
Would exist.
Where Divine is reading in drag
To the children murdered at
Sandy Hook and Ulvalde.
While Edie Windsor
And Gertrude Stein drink coffee
In the breakfast nook
talking politics with Harvey Milk.
Where Matthew Shepard relaxes by
A stream, reading poetry to
a nameless young man whose family
Never claimed his body
when he died
Of AIDS.
Where the music plays loudly
Welcoming dancers from the Pulse
and Club Q to the floor where they
Twirl and vogue with
All the murdered trans women of color
Whose names we never knew.
Where Jesus puts his arm around
Pat Robertson’s shoulders and
Drapes them with a rainbow feather boa.
And, gesturing around him says
Come, meet my disciples

I’m not a believer.
But I cried.

Yes, Bill Clinton kept tapes in his sock drawer. Here’s why Trump’s case is different

https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/jun/12/why-the-bill-clinton-sock-drawer-case-is-not-compa/

President Bill Clinton gestures while giving his State of the Union address Jan. 19, 1999, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

President Bill Clinton gestures while giving his State of the Union address Jan. 19, 1999, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

  • President Bill Clinton was interviewed by a historian while he was in office. Clinton kept the audiotapes in his sock drawer.

  • Judicial Watch, a conservative group, asked the court in 2010 to declare the tapes presidential records under the Presidential Records Act. The group wanted the National Archives to assume custody of the tapes and put them in the Clinton presidential library.

  • U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled against Judicial Watch. She wrote that the act distinguishes official presidential records from personal records. 

 

As former President Donald Trump defended himself against federal charges involving classified documents, he described what sounded like a case of political hypocrisy. 

President Bill Clinton kept audiotapes in a sock drawer and a court said it was OK, Trump said a day after being indicted on federal charges that he mishandled classified documents.

“They also don’t mention the defining lawsuit brought against Bill Clinton,” he told a Columbus, Georgia, crowd June 10, “and it was lost by the government — the famous socks case that says he can keep his documents. They don’t mention that. These are minor details. And that’s the ruling law.”

Trump has commented about the so-called Clinton socks case for months, recently writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, “Under the Presidential Records Act, I’m allowed to do all this. Under the Clinton socks case, the decision is clear.”

Trump’s description distorts the facts. The case was not “lost by the government” — the government didn’t file the case — it was filed by a private group, Judicial Watch.

But Trump is making a faulty comparison. The judicial ruling in the Clinton socks case does not give Trump permission to keep hundreds of classified documents after his presidency ended at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump was indicted on 37 counts June 9, including the “willful retention of national defense information” relating to his unauthorized possession and storage of federal documents, including classified documents.

Judge ruled against group seeking access to audiotapes of Clinton

When Clinton was president, he was interviewed dozens of times by historian Taylor Branch to create an oral history of his presidency from 1993 to 2001. 

CBS, GQ and USA Today wrote that Clinton kept the audiotapes in his sock drawer. In 2009, Branch published a book titled, “The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President.” 

Judicial Watch, a conservative group, sued the National Archives and Records Administration in 2010, asking the court to declare the audiotapes presidential records under the Presidential Records Act. The group wanted the court to order the National Archives to assume custody of the tapes and deposit them in the Clinton Presidential Library. Clinton left office in January 2001.

The National Archives had told Judicial Watch that the materials were personal records that did not fall within the Presidential Records Act’s purview.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, dismissed the case in 2012. Jackson said the law distinguished the tapes as “personal records,” distinct from “official” records. She wrote that the National Archives does not have the authority to designate materials as presidential records and lacked authority to seize control of them.

The Presidential Records Act requires that all “official” documents be returned to the National Archives upon a president’s departure. Former President Jimmy Carter signed the act in 1978, building upon legislation by Congress to stop former President Richard Nixon from destroying tapes linked to the Watergate scandal.

But Jackson wrote that the act described “personal records” as including documentary materials, diaries or journals that don’t relate to carrying out official duties.

The act requires that materials produced or received by the president “to the extent practicable, be categorized as Presidential records or personal records upon their creation or receipt and be filed separately.” Jackson wrote that the act “assigns the Archivist no role with respect to personal records once the Presidency concludes.”

The Presidential Records Act “does not confer any mandatory or even discretionary authority on the Archivist to classify records. Under the statute, this responsibility is left solely to the President,” Jackson wrote.

Trump and his allies point to the judge’s ruling

Bradley Moss, a Washington-based lawyer who works on national security cases, said Trump’s allies have misconstrued the Clinton socks case.

The socks ruling addressed whether a private party — Judicial Watch — could get a court to order the archivist to determine whether Clinton had improperly designated the audiotapes recorded during his presidency as personal.

​​”The court concluded that the Presidential Records Act did not give the judiciary that authority to require that of the Archivist,” Moss said in an email to PolitiFact. “This alternate dimension Mr. Trump thinks exists because of the case in which he can do whatever he wants with records from his presidency insulated from other statutory provisions like the Espionage Act is the stuff of lunacy.”

Trump was indicted under a provision of the Espionage Act that prohibits unauthorized possession of information related to national defense that could be used to injure the U.S. 

Jason R. Baron, former litigation director at the National Archives and Records Administration, also told PolitiFact that the Clinton recordings fit the definition of a “personal record.” 

“In contrast, the boxes of records taken to Mar-a-Lago appear to overwhelmingly contain records pertaining to the official business of the White House, and therefore should have been transferred immediately into the legal custody of NARA as presidential records,” Baron said.

Baron said, “No prior case has held that a president has absolute discretion to designate official government records — classified or unclassified — as his own personal records.”

Jackson’s ruling cited a prior appeals court opinion that said, “We did not hold (in a prior case) that the President could designate any material he wishes as presidential records, and thereby exercise virtually complete control over it notwithstanding the fact that the material does not meet the definition of ‘presidential records.’” 

Baron said, “it would contravene the very reason Congress created the Presidential Records Act were a court to allow a president to designate official records as his own personal records to do with what he pleases.”

There is no requirement that a subsequent federal district court judge must follow Jackson’s socks ruling. District court opinions are not binding on other district courts.

PolitiFact Senior Correspondent Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.

Anyone got something like this?

For years I had a simple form we printed off when we went for groceries, and I was able to alter it for our needs.  This is the last version I have of it.   I have looked repeatedly for a new version and I can not find it.   I just tried to send it to Randy, who has been helping me with trying to start some kind of menu / shopping method to save money.  I ended up have to save it to my hard drive another 12 or 20 times until I realized how to save it as a format I can show it to others.   Yes my mind is not as clear as it used to be.  Here is the form I have after I edited it for years for Ron and me.   Does anyone know of a similar form that will help us older folk go grocery shopping.  Damn it, I can not find a way to put it into the post.   Thank you all so much.   I will try several screen clips.    Sorry.  Hugs

Grocery list screen shot 1Grocery list screen shot 2

GROCERY LIST reworked

GROCERY LIST reworked

GROCERY LIST

GROCERY LIST

By Aisle

CANNED FOODS

  • Soups___________
  • Corn ____________
  • Canned Potatoes
  • Beans___________
  • Beef Broth_______
  • Chicken Broth____
  • Chili_____________
  • Stew____________
  • Crushed Tomatoes

Tomato Juice_____

Whole Tomatoes__

SNACKS

  • Chips____________
  • Dips_____________
  • Candies_________
  • Pretzels__________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________

PERSONAL HYGIENE

  • Sensodyne ______
  • Mouthwash______
  • Bath wash_______
  • Razor Blades______
  • ________________
  • Deodorant ______
  • Shampoo________
  • Shaving cream __

PHARMACY

  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________

PRODUCE

  • Lettuce__________
  • Potatoes ________
  • Carrots__________
  • Broccoli_________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________

CEREALS/GRAINS

  • _________________
  • Bread___________
  • Breakfast Muffins_
  • Elbows__________
  • Spaghetti________
  • Hot dog rolls ____
  • Hamburger rolls __
  • Rolls for subs_____
  • Rolls for gravy ____
  • _________________

SPICES/CONDIMENTS

  • Chicken Bullion___
  • Peanut butter____
  • Ketchup_________
  • Mustard_________
  • Jelly_____________
  • Beef Bullion______
  • Hot Sauce_______
  • Garlic___________
  • _________________

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

  • Lotto tickets______
  • Air fresheners_____
  • Napkins_________
  • Paper towels_____
  • Toilet paper______
  • Cleaners_________
  • Liquid hand soap_
  • Kleenex _________
  • Dishwashing soap
  • Glass Cleaner____

MEAT/SEAFOOD

  • Hamburger______
  • Steak____________
  • Ham____________
  • Deli meats_______
  • Hot Dogs
  • Fry chicken______

DAIRY

  • Margarine_______
  • Eggs____________
  • Milk_____________
  • Bacon___________
  • Sausage Patties__
  • Sausage Links____
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Hard Cheese_____
  • Sliced Cheese____

HEALTH/ETHNIC

  • Tacos___________
  • Frozen Pizzas_____
  • Burritos__________
  • TV Dinners_______
  • Sour Cream _____
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________
  • _________________

BEVERAGES

  • Rum ____________
  • Wines___________
  • Beer / fuzzy drinks_
  • Coffee__________
  • Bottled Water____
  • Ice Tea__________
  • Drink Mixes_______
  • Soda____________
  • Coffee Filters_____

FROZEN FOODS

  • French fries______
  • Ice cream_______
  • Hash browns_____
  • Home fries _______
  • Onions __________
  • Green Peppers___
  • Meat Balls_______
  • Chicken_________

PET FOOD

  • Fancy Feast______
  • Treaties__________
  • Cat Toys_________
  • Kitty Litter________
  • Flea Drops_______

Our new rescued outside cat came in with this, I think there is something in his skin, Ron says he will lance it if I can hold him still

Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie