I remember how it was -- JR
College Debt & Military Service
An injustice against our military and veterans' communities is being prepared in the halls of Congress at the same time the men and women of the National Guard stand post outside the Capitol building to protect lawmakers from an unexplained threat.
Senator Chuck Schumer is demanding the President forgive up to $50,000 of student debt for some 43 million Americans who borrowed for college beyond their means. More than nine million Americans have defaulted on their education loans, and an estimated one-third of those who borrowed federal money for college never completed their course of study.
President Biden is willing to reward the failures of these students by forgiving up to $10,000 of their loans. He may even up the ante after he and Schumer agree on just how much to put toward this baccalaureate bailout.
It's bad policy, and morally tone deaf considering the sacrifices others have made for federal education assistance. Originally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944, the G.I. Bill was enacted to provide veterans with health care, low-interest mortgages, as well as farm and business loans. But it was the educational benefits that defined the World War II and subsequent versions of the bill.
In short, the G.I. Bill was enacted to help those who served and sacrificed for our country. When the troops returned from World War I – more than half of whom were drafted – little consideration was given to the combat scars they carried in their hearts and minds. Known then as shellshock, today it is referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) which produces anxiety, stress, isolation, and creates an appetite for dangerous vices.
In crafting the G.I. Bill, the American Legion led the effort to ensure the veterans of WWII were better cared for than those who came home from “The War to End All Wars.” Whether it was through persuasion or conscription, the government's call to service produced hardship for veterans. There was a moral obligation to care for those who were seriously injured. But the G.I. Bill also implicitly recognized a "contractual" obligation to compensate veterans for lost opportunity or new adversities that resulted from their service.
In the January 1969 American Legion magazine, R.B. Pitkin wrote a detailed account of how the G.I. Bill came to be and why it was needed.
Upon completion of their military service, Pitkin explained, veterans "found the world changed, while those who hadn't gone to war were ahead of them in wealth, training, careers and social advancement." He noted an account from David Camelon of the Hearst newspapers who described "a shocking, incredible story of disabled men…their minds twisted, bodies torn in battle – shunted out of hospitals, out of the armed forces into a world of callous reality, of heartbreaking delay and neglect." The G.I. Bill attempted to financially reimburse this difficult reality.
Today's average college student, for whom loans may soon be forgiven, has made no such sacrifice.
But Brandi Anderson has. She graduated in 2019 at the top of her class from Stetson University in Florida and qualified for the Post 9-11 G.I. Bill’s Fry Scholarship because her father, Michael, was killed in Al Anbar province in Iraq on May 2, 2004. Brandi was seven years old at the time. The provision is named for John David Fry, a Marine Gunnery Sergeant who died in Iraq as he attempted to disarm an explosive to save the lives of his fellow Marines. It provides education assistance to the children and surviving spouses of service-members who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001.
"I don't think it's fair," Brandi told me referring to Schumer’s proposal to broadly erase college debt. "I lost my father, and my mother lost her husband. I have friends who also lost their fathers. I'm grateful for the assistance I received, but it resulted from a loss that still causes great pain," she said. To ensure she graduated debt-free, Brandi also studied long hours to receive an academic scholarship from Stetson and worked her senior year and summers.
The Post 9-11 G.I. Bill also helps returning veterans, as previous versions did dating back to WWII. To qualify, an individual must have served at least 36 months of active duty; served and been discharged with a service-connected disability; or received a Purple Heart, i.e., been wounded or killed by an enemy action. That is how veterans qualify for the kind of assistance Senator Schumer wants to provide for tens of millions of borrowers who never served.
When he signed the original G.I. Bill, President Franklin Roosevelt said veterans "have been compelled to make greater economic sacrifice and every other kind of sacrifice than the rest of us, and are entitled to definite action to help take care of their special problems."
Chuck Schumer’s proposal insults the sacrifice of millions of veterans and children of fallen heroes.
https://townhall.com/columnists/thomaspkilgannon/2021/03/28/college-debt--military-service-n2587000
***************************************‘It feels very political’: Australian Principals sorry schools rushed to sign plan to tackle consent
One of the state’s longest-serving independent school heads says a cross-sector “statement of intent” to improve consent education was driven by political expediency rather than a desire for change, and she wishes her sector had not signed it.
Several other principals privately agree with her, with one saying “it feels very political”.
The statement, which has been signed by the public, Catholic and independent sectors, commits all schools to taking “concrete actions” to strengthen their students’ ability to form healthy relationships and prevent harmful situations.
However, it does not include parents’ groups as signatories as originally proposed by the Association of Independent Schools NSW, which came up with the concept three weeks ago. Parents’ groups told the Herald they would have signed it.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the statement was intended to be signed by the three school sector heads individually, with further collaboration with other key groups to follow.
“While this is a whole-of-society challenge, the statement signed by the three education heads acknowledges the key role schools and teachers, in partnership with parents and parent organisations, will play in supporting change,” she said.
But Jenny Allum, who has led SCEGGS Darlinghurst since 1996, said while she supported the ideals articulated in the statement – which included hearing the voices of students and basing decisions on evidence – parents should have been signatories even if their involvement delayed the process.
“I am very sorry that we rushed to sign the statement of intent after it had been made clear that some parent groups would also like to sign the statement,” she said. “The signing of the statement in such a rushed fashion has more to do with political expediency than any desire to actually affect change.
“There is no quick fix here, no short-term critical incident to manage and wait for it to go away.
“A better course of action would have been to have a continued dialogue about consent and sexual coercion, as well as sexual assault and abuse, violence against women, gendered stereotypes, sexualisation of girls and women, and so on.”
Ms Allum said parents were the primary educators of their children, and so needed to be involved in conversations about respect, consent and violence towards women.
“Why was it important to sign something by yesterday afternoon, except that either the minister wanted it that way, or the [school] systems could look like they were doing something?” she said. “From what I can tell it’s relatively cosmetic. What practical solution does it offer?
“If you can’t name a practical solution, you’ve got to think it was political.”
Another principal, who did not want to be named, said the problem of sexual assault ran much deeper than students’ understanding of consent. “I don’t think [the statement] is the answer,” she said. “I don’t know how a statement of intent even begins to address it.”
Another said the document was “full of motherhood statements” but signing it did no harm and sent a positive message.
Julie Townsend, from St Catherine’s School, said it was appropriate for schools to work together. “Parents’ organisations can similarly unite with a common intent,” she said. “Both the school sectors and parent organisations can work side by side.”
Other principals, who also did not want to be named, said they would have preferred to wait for guidance from the Australian Human Rights Commission, which consulted with the sector at a roundtable on Friday.
They believe that a firm set of guidelines or recommendations from the commission, which has also helped the university sector and defence force, would be the most likely avenue to create lasting and meaningful change.
The AISNSW board voted to sign the statement after discussing it on Thursday night, AIS chief executive Geoff Newcombe said. “The board noted that this should be seen as a first step in dealing with what is a whole-of-society issue,” he said.
“The association also is currently in discussions with the NSW Parents Council so that we can recognise the critical role that parents will play in trying to resolve this problem.”
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UK: Suspended teacher 'defended his right to freedom of speech in heated phone call with father of Muslim pupil' after showing cartoon of Prophet Muhammad to class - as petition to reinstate him passes 47,000
The RE teacher suspended over a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have ‘defended his right to freedom of speech’ in a heated telephone call with the father of a Muslim pupil at Batley Grammar School, Mail Online can reveal.
The 'burly Yorkshire lad' in his 20s, who has not been named, is also disclosed as saying ‘British values allowed him to present a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to his class of year nine students as part of their course work'.
The suspended teacher, who allegedly showed a caricature widely reported as taken from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, telephoned the irate father after he had called the school and left a message to speak with him.
A petition started by students of the RE teacher has also passed 47,000 signatures today after police whisked him away for his own safety.
Meanwhile, a school governor is backing calls for the teacher to be re-instated, and is said to feel that the teacher is being 'unfairly blamed'.
Protestors gathered outside the school near Bradford, West Yorkshire, for a second day on Friday, with Headteacher Gary Kibble keeping 980 children at home.
It follows Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick saying the protests were 'not right', adding that suggestions the teacher was in hiding are 'very disturbing'.
The Muslim parent demanded to speak to the teacher after his year 9 son returned from school and reported the matter to him.
When the teacher returned the call he told the father that he had warned his pupils that some would find it offensive, but his aim was to pose a question to his class.
He believed he was ‘right’ to show the cartoon which has offended Muslims across the world. He wanted to discuss whether the cartoonist was to blame or the terrorists who had committed murder over it in France after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had published it.
The angry father said the teacher did not appear apologetic when told that showing the cartoon to his son was offensive and instead was ‘arrogant’. The teacher asked the father to voice his concerns to another staff member.
In a group Whatsapp message, shared among Islamic parents and protesters who have demonstrated outside the school and seen by Mail Online, the father said: ‘He should have known better.
‘I expressed I was not happy with his actions and he had caused offence to the community. He should have known better, after all these images caused international outrage.
‘He was not apologetic and was arrogant in his response that what he did was right. He stated that he knew some of the pupils would tell their parents.’
But the suspended teacher, who has apologised, has been forced to leave his home and into hiding with his family.
A source who is related to one of the school's governors told Mail Online: 'Intimidation all round is the feeling why few people are speaking out on the teacher’s behalf and asking not to be identified.
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Graphic Sexual Content Assigned To Texas Students; Dissenting Parents Harassed With Anti-Christian…‘D**ks’
Students as young as 13 in Leander Independent School District, Austin, TX, have been exposed to graphic sexual content as part of their course work, including graphic verbal depictions of gang rape and other sexual acts.
Much of the content is too explicit to post on this site, but a copy of an email sent to The Daily Wire containing extended passages can be found here (fair warning, it is nauseating).
A sample (and comparably “tame”) passage from a book featured on an 11th grade reading list for the district reads: “she reached inside his pants, then into his underwear, and wrapped her hand around him. He bit down hard on his bottom lip, closed his eyes and waited for what came next. He was terrified of what came next.”
You get the picture.
According to parent Emily Long, parents were initially alerted to the problem in August of 2020 when children told their parents how uncomfortable they were in class. Unsurprisingly, parents in the district complained.
According to one parent who spoke to The Daily Wire on condition of anonymity, their concerns were not received with tolerance by some involved in the process. Proponents of the pornographic content, including both teachers and parents, lashed out at the concerned parents, calling them “religious zealots, bigots” and “racists.” The harassment did not end at name-calling. There were also…“d**ks.”
Before we move on to the deranged behavior that ensued next, let’s just pause to appreciate that there are actually activists among us who defend pornography in K-12 schools.
“Some of the people speaking out have received anonymous cardboard penises in the mail with anti-Christian messages calling them names such as c**t,” one concerned parent told The Daily Wire. “Others have received dead animals on their porches.”
Photographs of the phallic cardboard cutouts were provided to The Daily Wire by Long, who has been at the center of the fight. Check out the “d**k pics” below and see if you can identify a theme.
One reads “He has risen” and includes a crown of thorns. “He is risen INDEED. Stay hateful your bigoted c**t” the back of it reads. The postal packaging reads “fondle with care.”
A more intellectually ambitious message accompanying a phallus festooned with glitter reads, “Hope this sparkling d**k calms your fear mongering you book hating philistine.”
The irony of decrying “bigotry” while simultaneously targeting a specific religion hardly requires commentary in 2021. Radical activists have been pioneers on the cutting edge of bigotry for at least a decade, which is why so many have abandoned the left, myself included.
While the mindbending degeneracy of these activists is mildly humorous, the situation in Austin is not. Parents in the district are desperate.
“We don’t know where to turn,” one parent told me. “We are stuck paying tax dollars to a district who refuses to listen and is rolling out their new social studies curriculum in the fall.”
According to one concerned parent, the district made only token efforts to accommodate parental concerns. In November of 2020 the district issued a (pseudo) apology, yet failed to remove the books from the classrooms or curriculum. As of Wednesday, March 23, 2021, the books were still in use in the classrooms, according to teachers at the school who communicated with the PTA.
In their utterly anemic public statement, the district attempted to blame the debacle on, you guessed it, Covid. The blame-shifting statement reads:
In Spring 2020, this review took place when we closed our buildings and all staff worked virtually from home due to COVID. We selected the specific titles after the Board of Trustees approved a framework for the adoption, not including the book titles or themes, during the March 12, 2020 Board of Trustees meeting.
We over-relied on written reviews and recommendations. We chose not to purchase the multiple copies of each title necessary to mail them to teachers. At the time, we were not allowing any non-essential employees in buildings and we were not distributing any supplies. Teachers were not able to thoroughly read each book. Some books containing passages not suitable for students made it through this flawed vetting process. We acknowledge this breakdown in the process and apologize for selecting inappropriate literature for the assigned students’ ages.
According to one parent I spoke to, the school district initially “put together a book vetting process to appease the parents. But the curriculum directors who chose the books are running [the process],” thus creating an evaluation process that is “completely skewed.” The contentious books are either “passing anyway or being moved to a different grade level or to the school library.”
Throughout the review process the books continued to be utilized in class for student assignments, with no changes to curriculum in the intervening 6 months.
According to Long, at the most recent school board meeting on March 25, 2021, it was determined that several of the books would be pulled from classrooms until the vetting process was complete. This was the first “win” for concerned parents in almost 8 months. As of publication, 36 of 140 “book club” books have been vetted, with several slated for removal. According to Long, teachers in the school have confirmed the books have, at long last, been removed from classrooms.
As of publication, the battle over the books in LISD remains contentious, with activist teachers allegedly recruiting students to protest in favor of the books
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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