Army General Chris Donahue, the final American soldier to withdraw from Afghanistan, is leaving his post amid an overhaul by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. MS NOW Pentagon Reporter Priya Sridhar has more details. Fmr. Under Secretary of State Richard Stengel and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha join Alicia Menendez with their thoughts.
Category: Questions
Texas poised to approve more Bible stories, history revamp — but changes for high schoolers delayed
Has the state of Texas become a christian theocracy now? It seems every year they change the school curriculum to make it more white and more Christian. Itis clear that the Christian billionaire preacher who basically bought the state legislature and calls the shots has long wanted the state to be a White Christian Male paradise. These new changes basically make the state schools the same as the Jewish Orthodox schools in NY, where the students learn only the Torah but can hardly count to 20 and speak / write very little English. They are getting tax money to educate kids but they don’t. The kids graduate and can’t get jobs and are on state assistance. The new Texas standards emphasize white contributions and minimize any contributions from other races. They push religious stories over facts. This is just the forced religious indoctrination of children regardless of the religious beliefs of the parents. Notice there is no opt out on these religious texts, books, stories but parents much be told and can opt their child out of any lesson that mentions the LGBTQ+ or reading material containing information about it. If you are worried about the white washing race removing Christifying of public schools and the rewriting of history to change what really happened to make white people look better please give this article a read. below are a few quotes from the article. Hugs
The statewide reading list would require, among other literary works, that schools teach Bible material to children as young as 6 years old up to young adults preparing to receive their diplomas. That includes Christian stories about Adam and Eve, the eight Beatitudes and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
On the contrary, Republicans eliminated a standard specifying that students should consider “the perspectives of groups whose voices are less represented in traditional historical accounts.” They added another requirement that introduces the biblical story of Moses alongside the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman — who was nicknamed “Moses” because, similar to the biblical prophet, she helped people escape slavery.
“Let me be very clear: Islam is not a religion,” state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, testified before the education board Monday. “It is a totalitarian theocracy, not unlike totalitarian systems of communism, Nazism and globalism.”
Meanwhile, students, educators and progressive activists spoke out in opposition to the lack of racial, ethnic and gender inclusion in the debated books and lessons, as well as the state’s Christian focus over other religions.
Texas poised to approve more Bible stories, history revamp — but changes for high schoolers delayed
The State Board of Education will hold a final vote Friday on incorporating more Christian stories into classrooms and deemphasizing race and cultural diversity in history lessons.Certified elementary school librarian Sarah Pepin speaks at a State Board of Education meeting in Austin on June 22, 2026. Manoo Sirivelu/The Texas Tribune
Texas elementary and middle school students will likely see redesigned social studies and reading lessons that minimize racial, geographic and cultural diversity while emphasizing the Bible — but changes for high schoolers have suddenly hit a pause.
The Republican-led State Board of Education decided Thursday evening to allow final votes on a rewrite of Texas’ K-8 social studies lessons and a mandatory reading list for all public schools that includes Christian stories. Those votes are expected Friday.
However, the board delayed proposed changes to high school U.S. history, world history, geography and government.
For months, educators, Democrats and public education advocates criticized Texas’ social studies revamp as rushed. Conservative advocates and Republican board members insisted on pushing the process forward. But board chair Aaron Kinsey expressed doubts Thursday about having enough time to cut down the number of lessons packed into each course.
“This is a conundrum we’ve created of our own doing,” Democratic member Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz said. “And I’m very frustrated by it.”
Kinsey rejected an assertion from Pérez-Díaz that he rushed the process and said he was willing to continue working. But he also said board members made mistakes when they pushed through changes during late hours. For example, they eliminated a requirement that students learn about the American Revolution in high school U.S. history before reinserting it Thursday.
The elected board is on track to update what public school students must learn in reading and social studies. This week’s meetings ran as late as 2 a.m., as board members meticulously parsed through changes to lessons in each grade.
Along with Bible stories in reading, the social studies proposal features a dramatic transformation in how Texas schools have long administered lessons on history, geography, economics and government. It eliminates the current sixth-grade world cultures course, deemphasizes world history outside of European tradition and dedicates more focus to Texas and the United States.
Democrats suggested changes they hoped would make lessons more accurate and inclusive of historically underserved groups — most notably people of color — even if they ultimately did not favor the overall plan.
Republicans blamed cherry-picking over what students should learn for the delay.
“We wasted many hours late into the morning,” Republican member Brandon Hall said. “We have worn out and exhausted our staff on trifling amendments coming from people who had no intention of ever working with us or ever actually approving something they wanted to pass.”
Conservative leaders and activists champion the new lessons, which they view as “the final battle” in a push to rid Texas schools of instruction they say paints America in a negative light and trains students to hate the country.
Sociology classes, for example, currently require students to understand “the impact of race and ethnicity on society” and “analyze the varying treatment patterns of minority groups.” But that standard was eliminated in the newly proposed social studies plan.
If approved by the education board Friday, the K-8 social studies changes and the reading lists will take effect during the 2030-31 school year. The board will also decide whether to phase in the social studies changes or introduce them all at once.
Members could take up the high school courses at its next scheduled meeting in September, or the chair could schedule a special meeting before.
Reframing history
Educators criticized how the social studies proposal prioritizes memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy. Historians called attention to factual errors, saying the new standards would set children up for failure post-graduation.
One lesson, for example, had described the forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese families during World War II as one of the “contributions” to America’s military effort. Another proposal noted that high school students should know the significance of leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, specifying Thurgood Marshall, Barbara Jordan and Hector P. Garcia — but not Martin Luther King Jr.
The standards initially approved this week reflect slightly different suggestions, instead describing Japanese incarceration as one of the “changes” during the war and adding King to the list of Civil Rights leaders.
But Democratic board members said the minor tweaks will not fix what they see as a whitewashed social studies plan and a politically influenced approval process.
A panel of nine advisers guided the social studies overhaul, almost all of whom hold no Texas K-12 classroom experience and several of whom are either conservative activists or closely affiliated with them. Educators have described it as a major reversal of previous years when teachers led the way, while Democrats have said they do not feel fairly included in decision-making.
“Our voices are being left off constantly,” Democratic board member Tiffany Clark said.
Republicans clarified that advisers only provide recommendations. Elected members maintain final say in the social studies overhaul, they noted. The GOP members argued that it is Democrats’ own responsibility to ensure they are included in the rewrite.
“I, as well as several of my colleagues, have been in direct contact with our content advisers,” Republican member Audrey Young said. “I have been communicating through my content adviser this entire time.”
But some of the appointed experts also expressed frustrations. Yolanda Chávez Leyva, a historian at the University of Texas at El Paso helping guide the board, said she “didn’t feel that every adviser’s input was treated equally.”
Kate Rogers, a social studies adviser who previously led the Alamo Trust before publicly clashing with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, said the group remained professional but its recommendations did not represent all participants.
For instance, the advisory panel proposed changing a lesson that originally called on students to “identify domestic challenges for the United States following World War I related to racial violence and intolerance, including the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and the Tulsa Race Massacre.”
They instead suggested that students learn about the Klan’s “intolerance” of Catholics, Jews and immigrants but did not specify Black Americans. They also changed the “Tulsa Race Massacre” to the “Tulsa Race Riots.” During the 1921 massacre in Oklahoma, a white mob killed Black residents, destroyed their homes and looted their businesses after a Black teenager was falsely accused of trying to assault a white girl in an elevator.
The appointed group also removed standards that defined racial segregation as “keeping people apart based on the color of their skin” and specified that Africans endured slavery in the U.S. because of their race.
“I want to make it clear to the board members that we did not discuss every item on this document,” Rogers said. “Some of the changes were not reviewed by all of the content advisers.”
Board members adopted many changes proposed by the advisory group but reinserted several others, including how Nat Turner’s Rebellion “heightened sectional tensions and deepened disagreements over slavery” and how the expansion of slavery was the central cause of the Civil War. They also clarified that the Klan sought to intimidate and “limit the rights of African Americans in Texas during Reconstruction.”
Some members initiated changes that would expose students to more positive aspects of Black history, including Republican Keven Ellis’ suggestion that schools teach about Bessie Coleman, a Texan who became the first African American and Native American woman to obtain an international pilot’s license.
On the contrary, Republicans eliminated a standard specifying that students should consider “the perspectives of groups whose voices are less represented in traditional historical accounts.” They added another requirement that introduces the biblical story of Moses alongside the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman — who was nicknamed “Moses” because, similar to the biblical prophet, she helped people escape slavery.
Prior to debating high school social studies, a handful of Republicans on the elected board unsuccessfully attempted to block amendments from members who did not meet an earlier deadline to submit proposed changes.
If successful, the move effectively would have stopped Democrats from proposing on-the-spot tweaks, which was notable because the rule had not been enforced when the board discussed elementary and middle school lessons.
Reading lessons with Christian stories
Some of the nearly 500 speakers at this week’s meetings exchanged heated words about Christianity’s role in the development of the country, and at least one person with a Confederate flag was deemed out of order by the board chair and escorted from the room for verbally interrupting the meeting.
The statewide reading list would require, among other literary works, that schools teach Bible material to children as young as 6 years old up to young adults preparing to receive their diplomas. That includes Christian stories about Adam and Eve, the eight Beatitudes and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Republican leaders across the state often depict Islam as a violent religion they view as incompatible with their conservative Christian American values. During the board’s April meetings, the board eliminated a social studies standard that would have required students to learn about Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy.
“Let me be very clear: Islam is not a religion,” state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, testified before the education board Monday. “It is a totalitarian theocracy, not unlike totalitarian systems of communism, Nazism and globalism.”
Asked if he had ever visited a Muslim-majority country, the senatorHall responded no.
Elizabeth Jensen, who identified herself as a Texas school board trustee but did not specify the district, told the education panel that she believes “slavery was and still is fundamental to Sharia,” referring to the set of moral codes and principles that Muslims follow. Sharia does not have a uniform meaning, as Muslims interpret and act upon it differently.
Muslims have spent months denouncing such Islamophobia at State Board of Education meetings, calling it misinformation and harmful to the hundreds of thousands of Texans who practice the faith.
Meanwhile, students, educators and progressive activists spoke out in opposition to the lack of racial, ethnic and gender inclusion in the debated books and lessons, as well as the state’s Christian focus over other religions.
“These proposed standards actually defy the Constitution and highlight only one group of Americans as the founders who built this country to the exclusion of others — both in the past and in the present,” Ruth Nasrullah, a Muslim speaker, told the board members.
English teachers stressed during the meeting that many of the books on the proposed reading list do not align with what Texas requires them to teach, despite taking up most of roughly 36 weeks of instructional time in an academic year.
Before initial approval of the reading list, the board members — led by Republican Tom Maynard — debated whether they should prohibit teachers from assigning non-state-mandated books without the educators first posting them online for parental review. However, some expressed concerns about micromanaging teachers.
They also considered whether to grant charter schools flexibility in which grades they introduce the required readings, an attempt to appease charter leaders who said they wanted to assign more rigorous books to children in lower grades. But some members said doing so might create the opposite effect, allowing lower-performing campuses to lessen rigor for students in higher grades.
Neither of those passed, but board members have another opportunity to resurface suggestions before the final vote Friday.
Jaden Edison is the public education reporter for The Texas Tribune, where he previously worked as a reporting fellow in summer 2022. Before returning to the Tribune full time, he served as the justice…
Florida Just Handed $15 Million to Catholic Schools
Just remember this is pure pushing the Christian religion and denying that same money to public schools. And if you watch the video the church is hoping this is only a drop in the bucket they can get. Remember these churches don’t pay taxes, and they are not under state laws on what they teach. The don’t allow the general public who pay those taxes including the LGBTQ+. They discriminate against these and other groups due to religious beliefs, and they refuse the enrollment of the disabled because that cuts into their profit. This is a money-making scheme designed to suck public taxpayer money from public schools while not being required to serve all students or pay into the funds they want given to them. This is just an attempt to push religious schools while denying needed funds to public schools. These people want a Christian nationalist nation, and they demand the rest of us pay for it. They have no concern for the truth of history or anyone else’s beliefs; it is their god pushed at your money while you get no services or money for your local schools. Great video I hope you will watch. And I can tell you as an atheist in Florida I am against this hard drive desire of DeathSantis to force his religious views onto me and the children of this state. After all he helped his wife steal a huge amount of money meant for a charity to help sick people and use it for their gain. Hugs
Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan – On “Regime Change” & Inside The Trump Presidency | The Daily Show
New York Times reporters and authors of the new book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, sit down with Jon Stewart to discuss the surprising revelations they uncovered about the Trump administration, like the president being absent from the room when his own team discussed the Epstein files, as well as the motivation behind controversial moves like the tariff policy rollout and the Iran war. They also speak to how Trump controls the terms when reporters reach him on his cell phone and compare his first term to his second, which they describe as a story of hubris, built on gut feelings and belief from his cabinet that he is someone of destiny – because who else can survive four indictments and two assassination attempts to win the presidency a second time?
Conversation Starter: Property Taxes and the GOP
Hello Everyone. One of the things that I’ve struggled with over the years of doing various posts here and elsewhere is that I, quite frankly, am not an expert on anything. This makes me very self-conscious about my posting because I feel like I’m misleading people into making mistakes in their own thoughts and arguments. So, I’m going to try this new approach of calling my posts “conversation starter” with the hope that if I am wrong, or by shock and chance hit the mark a bit, readers can feel free to add opinion or correct me.
Any of us may be wrong by a long stretch or just a little bit, and I think we hold our opinions for fear of being made to look foolish or naïve. I would like to preface this with the reminder that these are my opinions, and much like assholes…., yeah. So… here goes.
One of the current position points for the GOP, and I’ve seen this especially in Indiana, Ohio and Florida, is the idea that property taxes are an unfair burden upon property owners (https://auditor.bcohio.gov/news_detail_T2_R36.php). I’ve heard them use the analogy that it is paramount to buying a meal from the resturant, paying for the meal, and then being required to return yearly to pay more for that original meal purchase.
The human mind is going to immediately gravitate to the idea that the removal of a tax is a good thing. This, of course, is the MAGA and GOP mode of operations: appeal to the unthinking and immature mental reflex of their base towards their own ends.
What the less wealthy MAGA likely hasn’t done, is recognize that this turns a tax burden upon the less wealthy, again. Here is my thinking:
If a wealthy person buys land, say, measuring 100 acres for his own home. Conceivably, a similar 100 acres would house 300-400 middle-class homes, or more if we consider apartments. In a simple math, because I know it doesn’t quite work this way but give me some latitude here, those two 100-acre portions of land would pay give-or-take the same tax. That means, by my simple measure, one family is paying the same tax as 300-400. Now, that doesn’t really seem very fair, and so the GOP/MAGA support the end of that tax.
But, as we all know, the bills never stop. The money for roads, schools, parks, police and fire, etc., has to come from somewhere. A great deal of that comes from property tax. If it doesn’t come from the property tax, where will it come from? I would guess an increase in sales taxes, gas taxes, payroll state taxes. In this case, now the food, gas, entertainment, police and fire and whatever else, is going to be payed by that 3-400 middle-class families at a similar rate as the 1-wealthy family — meaning the tax burden has shifted to the middle-class families. Further, the wealthy person is going to have an even better financial position, which he will likely use to buy more land.
Ok, this is my opinion. What do you think??
Randy
Climate activism is getting a glow-up on Pattie Gonia’s environmental drag tour
In one-of-a-kind performances, drag queens and kings call for the protection of the planet — and all people.
This story was originally reported by Jenae Barnes, Climate Reporter of The 19th. Meet Jenae and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
Under a single spotlight, a tall figure in a hooded robe strutted onto the stage, their back to the audience. After a suspenseful beat, three words in large bolded lettering lit up the screen behind them: “NATURE IS GAY.”
With a twirl to the crowd, Pattie Gonia unveiled their ginger-red hair and matching mustache, dancing in an earthy blue-and-green crop top and skirt barely covering their chiseled body. The crowd of over a thousand broke into roaring applause.A 2019 video of Bill Nye the Science Guy, pulled from his appearance on John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight,” punctuated the dramatic reveal. “By the end of the century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another 4 to 8 degrees,” Nye said. “What I’m saying is, the planet’s on fucking fire.”
These are just the first few seconds of environmental activist and drag queen Pattie Gonia’s “Save Her” tour, a one-of-a-kind show that calls for the protection of the dolls — and the planet. The drag queens and kings who created and star on the tour aim to counter the exclusion of their communities by promoting the inclusion of everyone.
For eight years, Pattie Gonia, who goes by Wyn Wiley out of drag, has amassed an impressive following of over 2 million people across their social channels and through their environmental activism on and off the stage. They’ve pushed boundaries, set records and earned accolades, including being featured as one of TIME’s most influential creators in 2025, named as one of National Geographic’s 33 “agents of change” and invited to speak at TED Talk. They have also raised millions of dollars for environmental and social justice non-profits, co-founded the environmental equity organization Outdoorist Oath and a job board to help the queer community and allies find work in the environmental sector.
Last year, Pattie Gonia completed a 100-mile trek from Point Reyes National Seashore to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in full drag — hair, heels and all — to raise $1 million for non-profit environmental and social justice organizations.
Last month, they did it again, completing a five-day hike at Yosemite.
As show attendee and D.C. drag king Lionel Bitchie said, “She’s not one of the most followed drag queens for no reason.”
But they haven’t done all this work without ruffling a few orange-tinted feathers — and sparking division even among their own fans. During the 2024 presidential campaign season, they were targeted in a Trump campaign ad. Most recently, Pattie Gonia has been in the news for getting sued by the clothing brand Patagonia.
The lawsuit arose after Pattie Gonia filed a trademark application for exclusive rights to use the Pattie Gonia brand on commercial products and events, a move that Patagonia claims would compromise its brand identity. The drag queen responded on social media, posting that suing a climate activist is a “betrayal” of Patagonia’s core mission. Patagonia, for its part, acknowledged their shared goal of caring for the planet and the outdoors, but has held firm on the conditions to end the litigation.
Online, people in Pattie Gonia’s own fanbase have expressed conflict. While some view the lawsuit as harmful to the queer community and stopped using Patagonia’s products as a result, others disagree the clothing brand unfairly sued the drag artist.
Pattie Gonia said the timing of the lawsuit, filed on January 21, hits especially hard because it has come at a time when marginalized communities have been under fire. Several climate, gender and equity-related terms have been erased and banned from federal agencies. The Trump administration has rolled back key protections and visibility for LGBTQ+ communities, including limiting access to gender affirming care, removing mentions of LGBTQ+ history in national parks and banning transgender service members in the military. It also has slashed environmental safeguards for clean air and water, gutted funding for national parks and public lands, and expanded the use of polluting fossil fuel industries.
All the while, Pattie Gonia has embraced their own form of protest in the national “Save Her” tour, focusing it on climate activism and partnering with local drag queens at each of the tour’s stops, in more than 20 cities. At the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. — a historically inclusive space for Black performers steps from U Street’s former Black Broadway and a 20-minute drive from the White House — artists and attendees weren’t afraid to get political.
“A lot of time drag can be escapist, and not confronting the reality of dealing with fascism and climate decline, so I like drag that is a call to action and inspiring,” local drag artist and attendee Brooke N. Hymen said. “Pride month can be a celebration and it should be, but it should also be resistance against the forces that want to see us eliminated. And I feel like climate activism goes hand in hand with trans and queer activism.”
“Drag is political, so in a way this is like a rally,” Lionel Bitchie added.
One by one, each act gave their own climate-themed performance, with the majority of them stripping down to their “Fuck Donald Trump” pasties and underwear. Between acts, a parodied Smokey the Bear logo on stage read: “Only you can prevent fascist liars.”
“It’s a fantastic outlet for joy and rage all in one,” said attendee Kirby Callaway, who works in the environmental space. She said when she saw Pattie Gonia perform at a previous drag show, her “cheeks were hurting because I was smiling so much.”
“It’s so unique, [and] so much of the way that I interact with it in the real world is very doom and gloom,” Callaway said. “I don’t feel like a lot of places get to celebrate and find joy and laugh at these issues.”
Co-headliner and drag queen Sequoia (yes, like the tree) donned an upcycled outfit made of clothing relics from their closeted past and did a performance about the gender fluidity of plants and animals. The screen behind them displayed the words, “Nature is queer, and so am I.”
Going for a wildly humorous take on the issue, drag king Uncle Freak shuffled on stage to perform a striptease as a geriatric man, complete with a fake white mustache and a receding hairline that even NASA couldn’t find on the Hubble telescope. The environmental theme? How climate change worsens the effects of aging.
“Climate change accelerates biological aging in older adults by increasing vulnerability to extreme heat, dehydration and air pollution,” read the screen they pointed at with their cane on the stage.
But the show wasn’t all fun, games and nipple tassels. D.C. drag royalty King Molasses performed to Phil Collins’ ‘80’s hit “In the Air Tonight,” using the tune’s famous crescendo of intensity to parallel the “rising tension” of the climate crisis.
“In the Air felt very correct, in the sense of this urgency that we are now as a people finding ourselves in when it comes to saving the planet. By saving, I mean the impact of technology, of data centers, the climate skewing hotter, the ice caps melting, storms getting more severe,” the inaugural winner of the “King of Drag” reality TV show told The 19th. “There are so many things that are becoming more and more pressing at an alarming rate. And there will be a point where the consequences of our actions will be impossible to ignore.”
Pattie Gonia came on and sang a heartfelt “bird song” about resilience and visibility in times of hardship. “No one can erase us, we’re here and we’re staying, we sing cause we made it, we made it through the night,” they sang as the crowd softened during the piano-accompanied tune and several people melted with tears and hugs.
Co-headliners Sequoia and Vera! joined Pattie at the climax of the show to perform a piece on social justice in front of the backdrop of an American flag. Written on each stripe, a different call to action: “Eat the rich. Protect the dolls. Free Palestine. Black lives still matter. No one is illegal on stolen land.”
Amid rampant erasure, censorship and oppression of the queer community and environmental advocates, the tour is more than a late-night rendezvous; it’s a rallying cry, Molasses said.
“The opportunity that this tour gives all of us artists is that drag allows us to play and show something that feels like entertainment,” Molasses said. “But if we can do it in a particular way, we are able to not only entertain but are able to call our community to action.”
Thank You, On Behalf Of All Kansas & Other Kiddoes Who Watch The Environment’s Weather!
It’s a big help to see things like this; it helps to understand why things are happening that don’t make sense. The other night, we had so much rain, my backyard was a shallow pond. Not a swamp, or rice paddies or whatever, but a literal pond. That hasn’t happened in years, for one thing, but I was mostly looking out and hoping it wasn’t going to turn into a brown ocean (which I learned of in another weather video on this site.)
Joy & Fun & Learning
Yum.
I double-dog dare them, too!
This is one of the ones that has hilarious captions, along with excellent information about the subject.
Happy PRIDE On Wednesday!
Have a bit of bubbly for this one, even, maybe!
Democratic Campaign Ads That Write Themselves
All his campaign needs to do is append Platner’s point of view and what he’d like to do, and it’s an ad.
Scottie's Playtime 