Growing up in the 70s in my little NJ town, you went to school where you lived. Sure, there was some choice if you were Catholic or wanted private, but I didn’t know anyone who chose the private route. We didn’t even have a middle school. It was K-8, then shipped off to the high school.
When we were raising our children in Brooklyn in the aughts and teens, it was different. You did send them to the local elementary school for your area, but middle and high school was a ranked system, and then you were assigned to the school of your choice (assuming all the stars lined up). So, back a million years ago, I did my part and went to some school fairs where the middle schools all gathered together to try to convince you that their school was the best. Some schools sent administrators, and some sent PA representatives. But Park Slope Collegiate was represented by their principal, Jill Bloomberg.
Within about a minute of her speaking, it was clear she was the smartest one in the room. It wasn’t even close. We ended up sending our son to PSC for middle school and he had a really good experience.
What the DOE has done to her is a shame, of course, but it’s even worse for the students, parents, and fellow teachers who haven’t been able to learn from her leadership. I hope she gets the results she is looking for; she deserves it.
We recently went to our new favorite local joint, but we got there a little too late and the kitchen was closed. The pizza oven was off and there wasn’t time to restart it even if there was a will to do it (there wasn’t). Sometimes you just can’t restart things after you’ve turned them off.
I sure hope, when the time comes, Trump is throwing some paper towels my way.
There’s a pretty smug fifth dentist walking around right now.
I am old enough to remember that the GOP wants to privatize Social Security, which would have put all our retirement money into the stock market.
Amber Ruffin makes me laugh. I’ve really only known her from her writing and her segment on Late Night with Seth Meyers, but she’s never failed to make me laugh.
I see she’s been booted from the White House Correspondents Association’s bullshit dinner show event. An event where journalists get together to celebrate one another and have a good time is perfectly fine, but to include anyone from the government is absolutely gross (and always has been).
The press and the people they cover are not friends. The press knows better than most (because the press doesn’t print everything they know) how awful some of these people are. Stop yucking it up with them. And talk about obeying in advance, sheesh.
Now, with that out of the way, if Amber has a set to perform of this material, I’d pay to go see that.
How long before other countries see the U.S. as a threat to contend with?
Ha! Schumer cancels (“postpones”) his book tour. Just like the GOP, he doesn’t want to have to face voters for his actions.
Most fast and break things Cut wildly and hurt many.
I find it interesting that “everyone is welcome” is divisive. I mean, I know it’s because people want to be racist, but don’t want to have to say it out loud.
I can’t imagine being a public school teacher. I know folks who say, over and over again, “Pretty good pay, actually” when they themselves have never worn those shoes. Shoes that have to deal with constant budget cuts, be blamed for society’s ills, and are literally in the line of gunfire because our legislative body won’t do a single thing to reduce access to weapons made solely for killing others.
If you want good school lunches, the superintendent should be eating them. If you want good public transportation, the mayor and their entire department should be taking the bus and the train to work. If you want good, safe bike lanes, the head of the roads department should ride a bike to work.
For the vast, vast majority of those scenarios, they aren’t happening. Yet we subject our children to them. I’m amazed the kids haven’t risen up and ended all the people making these decisions.
Instead, we get: USDA cuts over $1 billion in funding for schools, local food purchases.
That poor child. At least the parents chose freedom.
When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we went interviewing pediatricians. I am aware writing “interviewing pediatricians” makes it seem like I’m from some elitist society, but that’s what it was (is?) called.
Anyway, we knew the first doctor we met with, and that we stayed with, was the right one when he said, “We are a practice that uses vaccines, and if that isn’t something you agree to, we shouldn’t continue.”
I remember thinking how odd the statement was. It didn’t even occur to me that folks were shunning vaccines. Religious reasons? What does that even mean? That’s not how science works. And it’s most definitely not how viruses work. I’m not even a doctor.
I want to shout, “More of this!” in response to DOGE staffers resigning, but it’s not like many folks can quit their jobs and still survive. So I guess I just say, “I like this.”
I guess I will go to my grave not understanding why old, rich people don’t simply enjoy their remaining days. Heck, I don’t understand why really, really rich people, regardless of age, just don’t enjoy themselves. Make room for others to do the (whatever)!
I really don’t want to think about the idea that causing problems is what the rich do to enjoy themselves. And, yes, this has to do with Musk. And with Ellerson. And with Trump. And with…
I’m less interested in voters who might be regretting their vote for Trump (because, no duh) and more interested in the folks who see this all as “Hell, yeah! This is working out great.” What’s that brain situation like?
I was going to link to the positive effects of NYC’s Congestion Pricing.
But then King Cheeto got involved. I don’t even know why since he doesn’t even live here. Perhaps it’s purely because he hates NYC for hating him and that translates to making it worse for folks living here. So much for States’ Rights, I guess.
And, man, I don’t understand my governor Kathy Hochul. She delayed this and even lowered the fee (forget the part where she totally made up the part where diner owners in NYC were worried folks from NJ weren’t going to go from NJ to NYC to go to a diner). But now that John Barron is getting all pushy Hochul is now in favor of it? Yeah, I know it’s working as intended and that’s why she is in favor of it, but not for lack of trying to make it not work.
I am seriously wondering how long before Trump dissolves the Congress, seeing as he and the US AG now decide what laws mean.
The media will be our downfall, normalization edition: Stop Analyzing Trump’s Unhinged Ideas Like They’re Normal Policy Proposals.
Think of how many folks you know who use The New York Times as a reference point to form their opinions. That’s why we will never, ever move forward (by that I mean, to the left) as a country.
My library has a small exhibit about James Baldwin. One quote from Baldwin stood out to me:
The greatest danger is “when the loveless come to power.”
That is the perfect description of what is happening now in the United States of America.
Since everyone is up in arms about it, I would like to go on the record that I did not donate to Trump’s inauguration. And I find it ever more distasteful to learn of those that did.
For a long time one of the activities we’ve done during supper (as a family and now as just a couple, since the kiddos are off at college) is to watch the “news” with Late Night with Seth Meyers or Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue.
Since the election, however, we’ve bascally stopped. It’s simply too depressing.
My suggesion to Mr. Meyers is to have a weekly bit where Bernie Sanders won the election and do a fake news segment about that. Each week I’d like to hear some funny quips about what upset President Sanders and how the right (and, frankly, most of the Dems) are fighting his administration’s good ideas. Soup!
I have never been so wrong about anything than the way I told my family and all my friends to not be so anxious about the election, Harris was going to win. Both of my children were eligible to vote in this election and I was (and am) proud they both did vote, but wow was I wrong.
I was wrong about:
I’m going to be doing a lot of reflecting on what I didn’t see.