Hearing the Voters

For John, BLUF:  Across the Fruited Plain School Boards (Committees) are being disrespectful toward Parents and other Rate Payers.  The good news is I do not see this arrogance on the part of the Lowell School Committee.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

'Majority Doesn’t Always Dictate':  Fairfax County School Board Ignores 84% Rejection of Gender Ideology

From PJ Media, by Reporter Catherine Salgado, 6 July 2023, 11:33 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Democrats pose as the champions of democracy—except when democracy doesn’t go their way.  After 84% of parents in a Virginia county rejected co-ed sex education and gender ideology in schools, the taxpayer-funded school board dismissively announced that “the majority doesn’t always dictate.”

Fairfax County has been a hotspot of crazy LGBTQ ideology and persecution of concerned parents for quite a while now.  Woke or authoritarian nonsense from Fairfax schools includes pushing pornographic books on kids and suspending maskless students despite Virginia’s governor having lifted COVID-19 restrictions.

Despite being paid by taxpayer funds and thus being employees of the district’s parents, the school board has rejected poll results showing that parents in the county overwhelmingly reject gender ideology in schools and combining sex education for boys and girls from fourth grade onwards.

The only poll that counts is during an election.  In this case the Voters of Fairfax County, Virginia (a Washington suburb), have to stand up for themselves and vote the bums out.  Decisively.

As Voters we need to make sure our voices are heard.  Voters voting send a signal to elected officials.  More voters means a stronger signal.  Thus, it is important to encourage your neighbors to vote.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

What Does the DA Care About

For John, BLUF:  The Cityr of Atlanta seeems to have a District Attorney who is not much interested in Domestic Tranquility.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

District Attorney Recuses Her Office From Prosecuting Atlanta Domestic Terrorists

From PJ Media, by Reporter Chris Queen, 26 June 2023, 2:28 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Authorities have arrested more than 50 domestic terrorists who ravaged metro Atlanta over the past several months trying to stop the construction of a public safety training center just outside the city.  These thugs, who are aligned with Antifa and tied to one of Stacey Abrams’ groups, shot at a Georgia state trooper, did damage to construction equipment, torched a police car, and damaged a historic building in midtown Atlanta.  They also targeted the offices of the contractors in charge of the project and allegedly booby-trapped a popular park, and members have reportedly protested at church services where contract employees were worshiping.

You can read my extensive coverage of the situation here, complete with links to all my articles, but suffice it to say that it’s going to take a while to move these suspects through the court system.  And now, authorities have one less venue to handle the prosecution.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced on Friday that she is recusing her office from the prosecution of these Antifa goons.  WSB-TV reports that Boston released a statement that she will “withdraw her office from the prosecution of all current cases related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.”

If you can't count on your local District Attorney you are in big trouble.  Selective prosecution is a destoryer of civil soociety.  And, if it is like this case, where the DA seems to be siding with the anti-Police faction, one can be excused for wondering if local goveernment has fallen apart.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Parents Strike Back

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

NY Parents Set to Sic the Law on School Board That Insists on Porn in School

From PJ Media, by Reporter Megan Fox, 26 March 2023, 9:45 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

The school board wars are turning up the temperature on porn-pushing administrators.  In Fairport, N.Y., a group of parents has grown tired of asking for the school board to remove explicit books and materials from their schools.  After months of asking nicely, speaking to the board, writing letters, and other efforts, the Fairport Educational Alliance has filed a claim against the board’s insurance bond.

This type of claim has been tried with forced masking in other parts of the country but has been unsuccessful.  However, parents in Fairport say the major difference between those complaints and this one is that the school district is breaking federal and state laws which are tied directly to the complaint.  This was the major flaw in trying to file insurance claims against schools for masking, as there were no laws on the books preventing them from imposing masks.  There are, however, multiple laws against endangering children and distributing child pornography.

Going through the usual channels to remove the material hasn’t worked, as radical board members simply refuse to remove pornographic and obscene material despite months of petitioning.  But filing a claim against the insurance bond could have expensive consequences if the insurance company investigation finds the board has violated its oath of office and put the insurance company at risk.  The Fairport Educational Alliance believes this action will be successful because it is tied to several violations of state and federal law regarding the protection of children from obscenity and harm.

Schoiol Boards, or School Committees are the fundamental political building block.  From there politics flows, up to the White House.  But, all politics is local, per Tip O'Neil, and it starts at the local level.

It is the duty of Parents, and Grandparents, and interested Citizens, to be informed about what is going on in schools.  From there voting can pick the best peoople to sit on the School Committee.  Our goood future is based on a goood education for our children.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Chicago Mayor Loses

For John, BLUF:  Chicago is a democrat party strongehold nd Ms Lightfoot's loss should be a bit of a shock.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Even After a Historic Landslide Defeat, Lori Lightfoot Doesn’t Seem to Realize It Was All About the Crime

From The Truth About Guns, by Mr Larry Keane, 3 March 2023.

Here is the lede plus two:

Chicago’s incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot just lost in a landslide.  She came in third place and barely received 17 percent of the vote from Chicago voters – 83 percent chose someone else.  That means she’ll miss out on a top-two run-off election in April and become the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose reelection.

The mayor has only herself to blame.  Voters were pleading for her to get tough on criminals.  Instead, she spent time and taxpayer dollars making cringeworthy videos on Chinese Communist Party-owned TikTok.

She ignored her employers and now she’s out of a job.

Later the article says:

In the lead up to the election, 44 percent of voters said crime and public safety were their top issues.  The second-place issue, jobs, came in at 13 percent, far behind safety.  Two-thirds of voters said they personally don’t feel safe and half of voters said they were going to cast their ballot for a candidate who would get tough on criminals.  No surprises Mayor Lightfoot lost given those numbers.  A brief history shows why.

While I don't yet know if this is a trend, but if it is, it is bad news for Democrats and the "Defund the Police" movement.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Housing the Poor

For John, BLUF:  Public Housing is a big deal in the United States and represent the efforts of progressive thinkers to provide better housing for the poor.  However there is a question of if the cure is worse than the disease.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Poor Side of Town: And Why We Need It
Author:  Howard A. Husock
Kindle Version:  Pages
Publisher:  Encounter Books
Language:  English
ASIN:  B08SKK7FGP
Publication Date:  21 September 2021

The theme of this book is that Public Housing, as understood in the united States from the 19th Century is not just a failure, but destructive of the individuals caught up in its web.  The author compares Public Housing with the City Slums it was supposed to clean up and concludes that more was lost than gained.

To be clear, those advocating Public Housing down over the decades had the best of intentions.  What they lacked was an understandihg of, and faith in, the working of small scale democracy and capitalism.  An Economist who undertands this is Peru's Hernando De Soto, who wrote about Peru (but could apply what he says to the Great Migration in the united States):

...“surprise revolution”—the movement of millions from the countryside to cities—has been choked in its potential for uplift, not because slum dwellers lack talent or energy but because the legal systems in their new locales don’t allow them to be secure in ownership and accumulate wealth.  New arrivals in slums, de Soto explains, face “an impenetrable wall” of rules that bar them from “legally established social and economic activities.”  Even when they begin to accumulate assets, those assets aren’t safe.  “Poor people save, but they hold these resources in defective forms:  houses built on land whose ownership rights are not adequately recorded and unincorporated businesses with undefined liability.  Without the formal legal institutions that allow one to accumulate wealth and borrow against it to build businesses, wealth cannot be put to full use, maintains de Soto.  It stays locked up, frozen.  It is 'dead capital.'”

Immigrants to the United States from Europe moved into slums and then worked their way into the middle class.  The slums, as inadequate as they were, provided commmunity and a place for small businesses and the chance to accumulate wealth.  This, in turn, allowed those immigrants to move into the Great American Middle Class.

The author mentions Levittown as an example of inexpensive housing providing a chance for people with jobs to move up to home ownership.  In 1955 my Parents moved to Levittown, PA, and it was exactly as the book states.  A mix of people, working to be neighbors and to improve themselves.  A year later, as an Eighth Grader I was angry that we were leaving for Southern California and a promotion for my Father.  But, that starter house, owned for about ten months, was the beginning of family wealth accumulation that, upon the passing of my Father, allowed me to use my one-third inheritance to pay off my own mortgage.

Where this did not work was for Black Americans who were part of the Great Migration.  The Great Migration was from 1910 to 1970.  People left the South, the Old South, and moved North.  But, they didn't get the chance to grow into home owners and independent business people.  Instead, the Do Gooders wished to enure runnning water and adequate toilet facilities, and adequate housing.  Thus the projects.

However, the Publilc Housing Projects did not allow for the accummulation of wealth.  In fact, in many cases rents were tied to inconme.  Further, the arrangements dicouraged co-habitation.  This worked against the building of family units, with its direct effect on child rearing.♠  It also worked against providing living space for family memembers or for renting out a room, which would allow the building of capital.

The author writes:

“Missing middle” housing—privately built and unsubsidized—should be seen as a substitute for the reform projects that have distorted housing markets, skewed the incentives of lower-income families, denied the poor the opportunity to accumulate assets, and leveled historic and vibrant poor sides of town, leaving sterility and despair behind.

One wonders if this analysis can be extended to the homeless problem.  Granted, homelessness is a cover term for a number of issues.  That said, is our approach to homelessness (not connected to mental health or domestic violence) not helping the homeless become productive members of society?

But, beyond Public Housing there is the issue of Zoning in helping or hurting the poor to achieve home ownership.  Zoning is not so much a Federal issue as it is a Local Government issue.  That level of government is thee and me and our influence on our local lawmakers and those they appoint to Boards and Commissions.  That means we need to be informed and we need to vote.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  There seems to be a certain bias against the baby father in these setups.  He was seen as not necessary by the reformers.

Morale

For John, BLUF:  Town employees want to think their civic leaders have their back, are there to support them as they do their job.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Out Of All Patience

From The Chicago Boyz, by Sgt. Mom, 25 July 2022.

Here is the lede plus one:

I read the various news and commentary about the regular police force; five full-time officers and a chief strong, and a couple of other city employees resigning in a body from their jobs in Kenly, North Carolina, in protest over the hostile work atmosphere generated through a new city manager hire.  Details on this are all obscure about the personalities and specific incidences of workplace hostility involved.  One can sort of fill in the empty spaces, just applying what can be deduced from the personal details and past employment record of the city manager involved, and suppositions regarding the civic employees who have resigned.  That and reading the comments appended to the news stories about this interesting happening from those who seem to be familiar. All the parties involved seem to be tight-lipped about what set the whole thing off.  The town council was supposed to have held a closed-door meeting on Friday to resolve the situation, but there has not been anything new in the news media that I can find.

I did not grow up in a small town like Kenly, but in a suburb on the distant outskirts of Los Angeles, a suburb so remote from the urban core when I grew up there, that it might just as well have been a small town.  There was only one high school – a largish one, as semi-urban/suburban consolidated high schools go – but otherwise a semi-isolated, tight, and cohesive community, a community only cracked, dispersed and amalgamated to the larger urban core when the 210 Highway went through, making the place an easy commute to the larger city.  I have since made a study of small towns, doing books about them, visiting such towns regularly, participating in regular celebrations (mostly book-oriented), absorbing local history, gaining a sense of places where everyone knows each other, or is related, even at one or two removes.  Look – these places are tightly-woven with personal and familial ties.  Screw around with them at your peril, as all those folk tales about the country folk and the city slicker will attest.

We need more information on what has been happening in the town of Kenly, North Carolina.  However, the signs point to a leadership problem within Town Government.  It could just be a case of racial prejudice, but I am doubtful.  It could be the introduction of CRT into the workplace.

It could be like Minneapolis School System, which has agreed with the Union to lay off Caucasian teachers first, violating both the Constitution and Title VII.  At best, this is disrespectful to a portion of the employees, both by the Union and by the School System.

Regards  —  Cliff

Occulted Streets

For John, BLUF:  In Twelver Shia Islam, the Twelfth Imam is the hidden, the ocullted, Imam, who comes at the end times.  See Richard Bulliet's book, The Tomb of the Twelfth Imam.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

It appears that I received a parking ticket on Frday, 8 April of this year.  The loction was Francis Street.

I received a letter from the City of Lowell yesterday, telling me I was late in paying my fine.$nbsp; It was a surprise, as I don't recall seeing a parking ticket under the wiper.  I didn't recognize Francis Street and looked for it on my iPad, and then Google Maps.  Zip.  My wife confirmed it.

I then drove to the Election Office, where the Departmnt Head is the Hearing Officer.  But, Shannon, who has the Conn, since Elliott Veloso departed for Cambridge, went for the practical issues.  She too looked for Francis Street and could not find it, even in the database of voters.  At this point I drove to the Parking Office, which noted that there is a Francis Street, off Dutton, where the old Giant used to be (before my time)  I won a Quarter bet on Elliott being in Cambridge, but was told it was too late for an appeal, per the rules.

The important information was that Francis Street is off of Dutton Street.  I drove the area and while there was no street sign for Francis, there was an unsigned street off of Canal, running toward the offices of the National Paark Service and LTC.  I had paid a visit to LTC around that time, so that seems to narrow it down.

I returned to City Hall and the Elections Ofdfice and Shannon escorted me up to where I had to pay, where another very fine City Employee greeted me by name and accepted my $30 in payment and late fees.

So, Francis Street is still occulted, but I did send an EMail off to the Hamilton Canal Innovation District Chief Design Planner.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Free Speech Decision

For John, BLUF:  This seems reasonable.  If "A" can fly their flag, why not "Z", and all those in between.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Supreme Court says Boston was wrong to refuse Christian flag

Here is the sub-headline:

In a unanimous decision, the court said the city created a public forum, open to all comers, when it allowed organizations to use a flagpole in front of City Hall.

From NBC News, by Reporter Pete Williams, 2 May 2022, 1:38 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus three:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that the city of Boston violated the Constitution when it refused to let a local organization fly a Christian flag in front of city hall.

While the case had religious overtones, the decision was fundamentally about free speech rights. The court said the city created a public forum, open to all comers, when it allowed organizations to use a flagpole in front of City Hall for commemorative events.  Denying the same treatment for the Christian flag was a violation of free expression, it said.

"When the government encourages diverse expression — say, by creating a forum for debate — the First Amendment prevents it from discriminating against speakers based on their viewpoint," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the decision.

"The city’s lack of meaning­ful involvement in the selection of flags or the crafting of their messages leads us to classify the flag raisings as pri­vate, not government, speech — though nothing prevents Boston from changing its policies going forward," Breyer added.

I admit to being one of those who is reasonably happy with the US Supreme Court.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Changing of the Guard

For John, BLUF:  Our City Manager, Ms Eileen Donoghue, Esq, is looking to leave her office on 11 April, or the City Council has picked a replacement, whichever is later.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Council, City Manager Eileen Donoghue fail to reach agreement

from The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporter Jacob Vitali, 9 February 2022, 7:43 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

City Manager Eileen Donoghue’s time as the city’s chief executive is coming to an end.

When the City Council met Tuesday, Donoghue initially said she was not seeking to negotiate a new contract. Instead, she was seeking to continue in her role for one year, as provided by the current agreement.

However, after Donoghue and councilors emerged from an executive session in the Mayor’s Reception Room almost an hour and a half later, her message was different.

“After much discussion, with the council and with me, it’s clear that the council would like a longer-term commitment and contract of three years or maybe even more,” Donoghue said.  “I said previously that is not something I wanted to do, other than one year.  So we don’t have an agreement between myself and the council.”

First, thank you to Eileen Donoghue, Esq, for her work as City Manager.  This is on top of her time as Mayor and State Senator.  During this period of danger and confusion she has managed to keep our City on a good course.

With her contract up on 11 April, Ms Donoghue seems to be looking forward to retirement, and well deserved.  Her agreement with the City Council is that she will leave on her contract termintion date, or, if no replacement is in hand, when one is on contract.

Would she be available to head up UMass Lowell?

Regards  —  Cliff

Trusting the Election

For John, BLUF:  There has been controversey about the 2020 election, from President Donald Trump saying it was stolen to Democrats saying it was perfectly clean.  I expect the truth is less absolute.  I also expect the average voter thinks there were some problems, and thinks it is rubbish to deny it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

More believe in cheating in 2020 election, hit ‘Zuckerbucks’

From The Washington Examiner, "Secrets" Column, by Columnist Paul Bedard, 23 December 2021, 10:46 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Angered by growing reports that Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg steered vote-generating donations to pro-Biden counties, more voters believe that cheating occurred in the 2020 elections.

Shoving aside repeated liberal media dismissals of cheating claims, those who believe it occurred increased from 56% in October to 59% in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll previewed for Secrets.

Asked “How likely is it that cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election?” just 36% said unlikely. What’s more, the largest group, at 40%, said that cheating was “very likely.”

To dispose of the background question, I believe that President Biden won sufficient Electoral Votes to become President of the United States.  Or, in an old expression, "Close Enough for Government Work."

At the same time I believe there was hanky-panky, as in Phildelphia and Atlanta.♠  Enough to swing the election?  I am doubtful.

I expect that, in reality, the average voter believes there is a certain level of corruption in voting.  When they are told the voting is totally clean they become doubtul of that claim to purity.  That is what happened in the 2020 November Election. The People reverted to that old Groucho Marks line:  "Who are you going to believe?  Me or your lying eyes?"  The more the Media and the Democratic Party doubled down on the cleanness of the election, the more the average Citizens began to doubt.♥

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  My concern is the way "Poll Watchers" were excluded from the vote counting process.  Why exclude the Poll Watchers?  It could be the vote counters were just irritated with the Poll Watchers.  However, that is petty and looks like the existence of petty dictatorships in some locations, something that brings to mind Tammeny Hall.
♥  I think we see the same thing with regard to COVID-19.  The Federal Government made pronouncements early on that did not pan out.  Rather than acknowleding the early mistakes, "scientists" just changed the story.  However, the average Citizen became a little dubious, and some became very dubious.  This argues for being open and honest and trusting the citizens to understand that things evolve as new information becomes available,

Mass and Cass Crime

For John, BLUF:  When the local news starts reporting on crime in areas where the homeless congregate it is a sign that action needs to be taken.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

‘I’m unnerved by it’:  Attorney calls for change after he says he was attacked while driving through Boston

From WHDH (7 News), by Reporter Nick Emmons, 9 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

BOSTON (WHDH) - A local attorney says he feared for his life after he was attacked while driving in Boston.

After meeting with a client at the South Bay jail, Hassan Williams said he beeped at a man for blocking traffic near an intersection in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard — an area plagued by homelessness and drug use.

That is when he said another man came forward and began swinging a broken piece of a wheelchair at his car.  The discarded footpad shattered Williams’ windshield and passenger side window and ended up on the floorboard among scattered shards of glass.  Another person allegedly threw some food at the car as well.

“I have food and bodily fluids all over my car because I couldn’t get out of the car, because I have a mob sitting outside the car.  I couldn’t stay in the car because I have a guy smashing my car,” he explained.  “I’m like, what the heck am I gonna do?”

The first lesson to be learned is that one should avoid locations where the homeless congregate.

The second lesson to be learned is that if in an area where homeless congregate one should not call attention to oneself, nor should one irritate the homeless milling around.

That said, this is about policing in cities.  There need to be minimum standards of behavior, enforced.  There needs to be mental health help for those who need it.  Open drug markets need to be suppressed.  Safe spaces to walk zre needed.  This is local government.  Stte Government can help, but it is about local government setting and enforcing stndards.  And it is about local residents getting out and voting.  Nothing gets the attention of politicians like a strong voter turnout

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Entertaining Ideas

For John, BLUF:  Smaller municipalities need innovation to grow, or sustain their current populations.  This should not be a shock,  Attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, “Now that we have run out of money we have to think.”  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Cambria County fights population loss in little, big ways

Here is the sub-headline:

The first of three reports on counties with declining populations.

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by Reporter Salena Zito, 21 November 2021, 4:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Reggie Canal began the process of moving from New York City to this Cambria County city this past July. The Queens native is a financial adviser who has spent much of his life working in the five boroughs as well as various places abroad. He was lured here for a number of reasons, including quality of life, affordability and the ability to start his own business in the main business district of a city, without breaking the bank.

The kicker, though, was the remote worker incentive, a pilot program that offered a cash motivation — $2,500 to be exact — to attract people to move to the county and take up residence.

The brainchild of local civic and business leaders with a boost from the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, the program required applicants to agree to live here for a year.

I applaud the County of my birth.  Those of us in smaller governmental units need to think smarter.

In Lowell we don't need more residents, per se, but se do need more and better jobs, and less homelessness.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

CRT Again

For John, BLUF:  One has the sense that US Public Schools, by and large, embrace Critical Race Theory (CRT).  On the other hand, they deny all.  Where is the truth?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

CRT:  IT DOESN’T EXIST…AND IT’S AWESOME!  [WITH COMMENT BY PAUL]

From Power Line Blog, by John Hinderaker, 31 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Critical Race Theory has become the number one political issue in the U.S.  So, needless to say, it is the top issue in school board elections that are taking place across the country.  Thus, in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts, the administration emailed talking points to school board members, telling them how to answer questions about CRT from concerned parents.  No doubt many other districts have done the same.  Remarkably, this particular email included no fewer than six attachments with talking points on CRT.

These six pro-CRT missives are pretty much interchangeable, although they come from a variety of sources: the school district itself; Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union (this one includes an attack on American Experiment); the Minnesota School Boards Association; the University of Minnesota; the Minnesota Association of School Administrators; and the Council of the Great City Schools.

I like the title for this blog post.  It captures what I have picked up from the various news sources I consume.

I am all for looking at all of our history,  However, as a believer in evolution, I believe the same happens in history.  Most of our progress toward a freer and fairer society is based upon the actions of those who have gone before us.  While the Magna Carta wasn't the Declaration of Independence, it was a big step forward in helpinig define the Rights of Englishmen. 

What I don't see is where we are going.  Remember the line from General David Patraeus, "Tell me how this ends"?  I hear a lot of talk about how Caucasians from Europe have made the world a worse place,♠ but I don't hear much about how others are going to make it better.  I am sure there are folks who think General Secretary Xi Jinping is offering a better path, but I am not sold.  I thought South Africa might be a model of integration and freedom, but it doesn't seem to be working out.  Look at their Gini.  I wouldn't pick Venezuala and their Bolivarian Revolution.

This kind of issue is why voting in your local School Committee (School Board) is so important.  Even if you aren't sure who to vote for tomorrow, the fact that you vote will send the signal that folks are paying attention and the Committee Members and the school leadership needs to be aware of public sentiment.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  One of their worst acts was the elimintion of human sacrifice as a public ritual in North America.

Diversity in Unity

For John, BLUF:  The linked blog post is about the fact that we are a diverse nation and there is no one answer to all problems for all People.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

IT’S ALL RELATIVE

From the Blog According to Hoyt, by Blogger Sarah Hooyt, 22 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

It’s all relative. For instance one of my relatives asked me how I planned to survive if I wouldn’t take the vaccine, and I didn’t snort giggle.  Well, not audibly.  Because she lives in another country and I know how terrified they are.

Then there was the friend skedaddling from NYC to whom I said I was likewise skedaddling from Prison-Colorado and he — audibly!  Rude! — snort giggled, because he said compared to NYC Colorado looked wide open and free.

And that’s part of what I want you guys to realize.  It’s important.

It’s all relative.

There are two important assumptions not to make: Don’t assume the rest of the country is like your little corner of it.  AND don’t assume that the US is just bending over for this.  Not relative to the rest of the world.

Oh, yeah as a third assumption not to make (should I come in again?) don’t assume that the rest of the world is taking it lying down.  Just more than the US from those I know in the rest of the world. And there’s a reason for that.  And it’s important.

Yes, there are folks out there who think the Government (pick your level) has moved beyond the level of believability to the level of "Do as you are told."  We have gone from persuaision to direction.

I thought this was an important paragraph:

Actually that’s the big difference between us and the rest of the world.  The anglosphere is a small caveat either (and I’d like to know how big the resistance actually IS in Australia.  There are leaks around the edges) as they are somewhere between say Europe and us.

Getting vaccination is a decision.  I got vaccinationed as soon as I could, based on my health situation and the situation of those around me.  You should make a thoughtful decision based on your circumstances.  However, while your friends may shun you for not getting the jab, your Government should not be bullying you.  If they can't sell you on the value of the Vaccination they should go back and examine the trail of arguements they are using.

Sadly, President Joe Biden seems to follow the old Navy axiom, "If it doesn't fit, don't forvce it.  You need a bigger hammer."

Remember, Tuesday is election day, not just in Maine and New York City and New Jersey and Virginia, but also here in Lowell.  Send a message to the politicians and the Civil Servants and vote.  If the number of voters goes up then folks in Government wonder why and become more alert and responsive.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

You and Your Local School Committee

For John, BLUF:  The people involved in public education, from teachers to School Committee Members are becoming an isolated clerisy, not subject to the will of the voters.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Florida Mom Calls for ‘Mass Exodus’ from Public Schools on Heels of Merrick Garland’s Crusade Against Anti-CRT Parents

Here is the sub-headline:

A Florida mother has called for parents to lead a “mass exodus” from public schools in the wake of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement that the FBI will investigate “intimidation” and “threats of violence” at school board meetings across the country.

From Breitbart, by Reporter Nick Gilbertson, 8 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Florida Mother Quisha King spoke during the panel “Fighting Indoctrination on a National Scale” at the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand Summit” in Virginia on October 7.

“You’re at home trying to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kids, and the FBI could be knocking at your door because you might have said the wrong thing at a school board meeting,” King stated.

“I really think at this point the only thing to do is have a mass exodus from the public school system – that’s it,” King said.  The crowd responded to King’s suggestion with resounding applause as some audience members even stood up to cheer.

King added that a message will truly be sent when school districts lose funding once children are taken out of their schools.

To be clear, I do not favor parents doing a wholesale withdrawal of their students from public schools.  On the other hand, I fully support the right of Parents to pick the best education modality they see fit.

However, the issue isn't how you choose to educate your child.  After all, this isn't Germany.  The issue is the right of Voters (and even resident aliens) to speak before a School Committe, or a City Council.  If the Citizenry feels intimidated, then we face tyranny.  Yes, these presentations can be heated, but the presenters, if voters, have the ability to vote the rascals out.  Yes, physical threats are verboten, as is violence, but forceful argument is part of the process.  Just ask President Joseph Biden.

UPDATE:  As I went to sleep I reviewed this in my mind and decided I needed to point out that I have never thought of our Lowell School Committee as one of those closed mind clerisy types.  Mistakes?  Yes.  But, they have been an open group, by and large, and have listened to some inane questions by me and others and responded in a respectful manner.  Kudos to them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Homeless Problem

For John, BLUF:  We know there is a homeless issue, but many don't understand it, and the different factors that have gone into creating it, from mental health to drug addiction to domestic violence to lack of affordable housing.  We need a broader look and ore comprehensive solution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

It’s mental health, stupid:  How Team Biden misunderstands homeless crisis

Here is the sub-headline:

From The New York Post, by Howard Husock September 20, 2021, 6:48pm.

Here is the lede plus four:

Team Biden is asking mayors, governors and tribal leaders to pledge to reduce homelessness in exchange for new federal rental assistance and support for new housing construction.  The initiative is called House America, but it should be dubbed Misunderstand America.

Yes, housing prices are up post-pandemic: Demand is growing, supply stalled.  But that isn’t why there are massive homeless encampments plaguing cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle — and even New York, where the de Blasio administration is forced to play whack-a-mole with tent encampments.

Some rough-sleepers would relish permanent housing, yes.  But many would also choose to stay on the streets.  That’s because untreated mental illness, not a housing shortage, is the real source of the problem for a significant share of the homeless.

In 2015 (the most recent such survey), the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that at least 25 percent of the US homeless, or 140,000 people, were seriously mentally ill; 45 percent suffered from mental illness of some kind.  Serious mental illness isn’t garden-variety anxiety or melancholy.  It’s the sort of paranoid schizophrenia that can involve voices instructing the patient to push a young woman toward an oncoming subway train.

Others are haunted by the demon of addiction.  As the Substance Abuse and Treatment Center has reported, “tragically, homelessness and substance abuse go hand-in-hand.  The end result of homelessness is often substance abuse, and substance abuse often contributes to homelessness.”  The National Coalition for the Homeless has found that 38 percent of homeless people are alcohol-dependent, while 26 percent are dependent on other harmful chemicals.

Across the nation our homeless programs are, by and large, a mess.  Yes, San Francisco is much worse than Lowell, but we all have problems, both in understand the breadth and depth of the proble and in executing solutions.

And here is a key point:

What links all these troubled populations is a desperate need for treatment.  There was a time not long ago when we understood this — and every state maintained an extensive network of residential psychiatric hospitals to provide care, or at least try to do so.

So, going for the dollar quote:

Now tent encampments (and jails and prisons) have replaced those inpatient facilities.

We need to bring back mental hospitals.  We need to train more mental health workers.  We can't build our way out of the homeless crisis.

That said, some current COVID-19 fighting economic policies will make affordable shelter less available and action will be neeeded in that direction as well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Preliminary Election

For John, BLUF:  As Pericles once said, "You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

PLEASE VOTE

If you live in Lowell, Massachusetts
Districts 2, 3, 4 or 7

It is time for a preliminary election, to get us ready for the big City Wide election in November.

The Voting locations are listed here.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Schools Are Watching

For John, BLUF:  Schools can be abusive of their students and the parents.  This is why a School Committee, elected by the People, is so important.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

A Year After Sending Cops To A Kid’s Home, A Colorado Springs School District Apologizes

From Colorado Public Radio, by Reporter Ryan Warner, 10 September 2021.

Here is the lede plus five:

A year after two officers went to a Black seventh-grader’s home in Colorado Springs over a toy gun, the school district apologized to the family.

Widefield School District 3 handed the apology letter last month to the parents of 13-year-old Isaiah Elliott.  CPR News obtained a copy.

It says, in part, “The District deeply regrets the impact this incident had on the Elliotts, and apologizes to Isaiah for any embarrassment or discomfort he may have experienced.”

On Aug. 27, 2020, as students, educators and parents across the state adjusted to pandemic remote learning, an art teacher spotted what she believed to be a toy gun on Isaiah Elliott’s screen.

The incident led to his suspension — which has since been reversed — and to school leaders sending two school resource officers to the boy’s home.  Fearing for his son’s safety, Isaiah’s father Curtis Elliott rushed home and called his wife Danielle Elliott, who was at work.

“Our number one concern is Isaiah could have been the next Tamir Rice,” Danielle Elliott said.  “Being shot over having a toy in the privacy of his own home.  Being 12 years old, but being perceived as a threat.”

This calls to mind the question, "What were they thinking?"

Apparently, the teacher and the teacher's supervisors are easily trigged by toy guns.

Shouldn't the School District organize some training with regard to the limits of teacher prying into the life of their students?  Should there be training with regard to the limits of authority of School Resource Officers?

On the other hand, I have read about schools objecting to Parents watch their children as they were learning.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Secession

For John, BLUF:  When I was growing up the concept of succession was one that was looked down on.  It is what Southern States did in 1860.  I was taught it was a bad thing.  Now I have to rethink my understanding of the dynamics.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Small Secessions of the New Civil War

Here is the sub-headline:

Neighborhoods secede from cities, cities from counties, and counties from states.

From Front Page Magazine, by Mr Daniel Greenfield, 21 June 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

That a battle over Atlanta would play nearly as pivotal a role in the country’s second civil war as it did in the first might have surprised few historians.  What might have surprised them is that the battle would involve civic meetings rather than bullets.  There are plenty of bullets in Buckhead, a part of Atlanta coping with runaway crime under the pro-crime rule of Mayor Keisha Bottoms, and those bullets have inspired local residents to secede and form their own police force.

Buckhead is not the first part of Atlanta to try and secede.  Sandy Springs had already successfully seceded from Atlanta and a number of cities in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, have tried to break away to form Milton County.  These efforts to escape the blight and corruption of Atlanta aren’t new, but Buckhead’s fight to escape Atlanta’s pro-crime government has captured the imagination of millions of Americans from one coast of the country to the other.

The cold civil war is being shaped not by national, but local secessions like the one in Buckhead as neighborhoods try to secede from cities, cities from counties, and counties from states in a powerful struggle by conservative and centrist communities to define their own way of life.

The issue of big cities, or big governments, exerting their will on the smaller governmental entities has a long history.  The idea of groups of people breaking away from the larger group, to strike out on their own also has a long history.  Groups breaking away is an opportunity for new ideas and new growth.  While it shouldn't be too easy, it should not be forbidden.  Those breaking away should have to do some work, but should be allowed room to succeed.

The City of Lowell is one that was created by a series of secessions, from Dracut, Chelmsford and Tewksbury.  I subsequently learned that once upon a time the City of Cambridge had extended up to my neighborhood, including a small cemetary. This I learned thanks to Intrepid Reporter Jennifer Myers.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Interests of the Voters

For John, BLUF:  I think one of the consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic handling will be that the Common Man may be unhappy with the way local government has handled the situation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Unlawful assembly?  Arrests in Northern Virginia school board meeting after parents erupt over CRT

From Hot Air, by Blogger Ed Morrissey, 23 June 2021, 8:21 AM ET.

Here are the exceprts at The InstaPundit:

How does a public comment period at a school board turn into an unlawful assembly, and then into an ugly scrum?  The Loudoun County school board apparently got tired of getting lectured over critical race theory by angry parents, who already were upset over the suspension of a teacher from a previous public-comment session.  The school superintendent suddenly declared the meeting closed and told police to start arresting people who refused to leave, and … we have this great moment in woke representative government. . . .  Bear in mind that this took place at a public comment session — whose explicit purpose is to hear points of view from the community on proposed regulation and policy.

Plus

In that sense, it’s not even about critical race theory or transgender pronouns.  This conflict is about the definition of representative governance in local school systems, the First Amendment, and abuses of authority.  Its eventual resolution will show whether accountability actually exists for politicians in Northern Virginia, and perhaps in many other places as well.  Speaking of which, accountability takes more than one form.

While the Democrats in Congress are thinking about "Court Packing" the Common People are thinking about voting out the autocrats on local school boards.  I wonder if that kind of thing could ripple up the levels of elected office all the way to the Halls of Congresss?

Local elections tend not to pull many voters, but if the people are aroused that little bit of wisdom might be found to be wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff