Friday, July 13, 2018





University of Kansas flies defaced American flag on campus (on purpose!)

Todd Starnes

Patriots in the Heartland are furious after the University of Kansas raised a defaced American flag on campus. And it was intentional.

The flag, defaced with what looks like black paints and the incongruous image of a sock, is part of an art installation hosted by the Spencer Museum of Art called, “Pledges of Allegiance.”

One of my readers passed along photos of the red, white, blue and black flag flapping in the breeze. And like any right-thinking, red-blooded American patriot he was enraged.

“I’m ashamed to be a Jayhawk,” he told me. “Wake up, America.”

The defaced and desecrated flag is the work of Josephine Meckseper, according to Creative Time, a public arts organization.

“The flag is a collage of an American flag and one of my dripped paintings which resembles the contours of the United States,” Meckseper said in a post on Creative Time’s website. “I divided the shape of the country in two for the flag design to reflect a deeply polarized country in which a president has openly bragged about harassing women and is withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol and UN Human Rights Council.”

So she defaced Old Glory to take a cheap shot at President Trump? How avant-garde.

But that still doesn’t explain the black and white sock printed onto the side of the Star-Spangled Banner. Static cling, perhaps? Maybe she ran out of Bounce?

“The black and white sock on my flag takes on a new symbolic meaning in light of the recent imprisonment of immigrant children at the border,” she said.

I’m not sure I follow the symbolism unless the illegal immigrants are crossing the border sockless.

“Let’s not forget that we all came from somewhere and are only recent occupants of this country – native cultures knew to (take) care of this continent much better for thousands of years before us,” she said. “It’s about time for our differences to unite us rather than divide us.”

Speak for yourself, Ms. Meckseper.

A university spokesperson said the photo is of a display from the nationwide "Pledges of Allegiance" public arts project that went up July 5 and is at 13 locations nationwide.

The university said the exhibit is being funded by private donations.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach tells me he is outraged by the exhibit.

"It's outrageous that you would see a public university displaying a desecrated flag," said Kobach, a Republican who is running for governor. "The fact they call it art does not make it any less of a desecration of our flag."

Kobach said it was "doubly outrageous" that the flag is being flown at a university supported by taxpayer funds.

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Britain must stop pressuring young people to go university to expert warns

Government’s candidate to head the social mobility commission says a lot of kids are forced down the academic route when vocational education would suit them better

TOO many children are being forced into a university education that does not suit them, says the Government’s candidate to head the social mobility commission.

Dame Martina Milburn told MPs she wants more vocational education to ensure children from all walks of life get the same opportunity.

She said: “There are a lot of kids forced down an academic route that doesn’t suit them and doesn’t play to their strengths.

“I don’t think, as a country, we kind of need everyone to have a degree from Oxford.

“If I’m using a carpenter to build me a new cupboard, I want someone who loves what they do and can do it. I don’t really care whether they’ve got a degree or not.”

Dame Martina was announced in May as the Government's preferred candidate to become the next chairwoman of the commission.

At a pre-appointment hearing before the Commons education committee yesterday she was asked what she will “challenge the Government on first”.

She said: “I would like to really look at vocational education. That, for me, is a huge key to making a real difference in social mobility.”

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Australian parents selecting a school for their children are shunning those with low vaccination rates after it is revealed two children per class are unprotected

Parents choosing a school for their children are being swayed by vaccination rates. One-in-three parents claim they would not send their child to a school they thought was ideal if it did not have a high rate of vaccinations.

About 28 per cent of parents are concerned about their children catching a contagious disease at a school with a low immunisation rate, the Courier-Mail reported.

Up to two children per class are unprotected, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data.

One in every 15 five-year-old children have not been immunised in south Brisbane, and the Gold Coast has the lowest vaccination rate in Queensland at 92.2 per cent.

Of 2,000 parents surveyed by finder.com.au, 28 per cent considered a lack of vaccinated children one of their biggest concerns when choosing a school. It was found to be of more concern for mothers than for fathers.

'Alongside vaccination rates, things such as academic performance, distance from home and canteen ­hygiene are also influencers,' Bessie Hassan from finder.com.au said.

Vaccines for many preventable diseases are provided free by the National Immunisation Program Schedule in Australia for children under 10-years-old.

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