Day: January 24, 2023

Is DeSantis A Racist?

Easy answer for me….yes he is!

Every time Florida’s gov opens his mouth or puts plans into action he proves to me that he is a racist.

His action show a serious dislike for brown and black people.

His newest attempt is to ban Afro-American studies from Florida’s high schools….

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, has rejected a new advanced placement course in African American studies from being taught on high school campuses. He argues that the course violates state law and “lacks educational value”.

This move is the latest in a series of actions to keep conversations and lessons about race, sexuality and gender identity off the state’s school campuses.

DeSantis officially banned the course in a letter from the state education department to the College Board, the organization that administers college readiness exams like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). They also oversee advanced placement (AP) courses, which allow students to earn college credits in subjects like English and chemistry.

In a 12 January letter to the College Board, the Florida education department said the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value”.

In the summer of 2022, the College Board announced a pilot program to “offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies” would be launching in 60 high schools across the country during the 2022-23 school year and will be set to expand to other campuses the following year.

“Like all new AP courses, AP African American Studies is undergoing a rigorous, multiyear pilot phase, collecting feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers,” the College Board said in a statement.

“The process of piloting and revising course frameworks is a standard part of any new AP course and frameworks often change significantly as a result,” the statement continued.

DeSantis, a one-time Donald Trump ally, plays an active role in stoking social and political anxieties, primarily among white Americans, that stem from conversations about race and gender that occur on K-12 public school campuses. In April 2022, he signed the Stop Woke Act, which severely limits “race-based” discussions at schools.

(theguardian.com)

I think this action answers the question originally asked.

Please I would like to hear from any Floridian reader on this subject.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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Poverty–Oh SNAP!

There are a few programs that try to help the poor with their struggle with hunger….one of those programs is the SNAP.

SNAP provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency.

Now that the Repubs are in control of most state houses there is a movement to end this program….

Republicans in the Iowa House introduced legislation this month that would impose a slew of fresh restrictions on the kinds of food people can purchase using SNAP benefits, sparking outrage among local groups who say the measure would exacerbate hunger in the GOP-dominated state.

The Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), an interfaith group that operates the largest food pantry network in Iowa, noted in a statement earlier this week that if the bill passes, “Iowans could no longer use their SNAP benefits to purchase meat, nuts, and seeds; flour, butter, cooking oil, soup, canned fruits, and vegetables; frozen prepared foods, snack foods, herbs, spices—not even salt or pepper.”

“This is a punitive policy that will do nothing to improve the health and nutrition of Iowans, but rather be a detriment,” the group said.

The Iowa Hunger Coalition (IHC) also condemned the bill, voicing opposition to its proposed food restrictions as well as new asset limits that would make it more difficult for families to qualify for SNAP, a program funded by the federal government and administered by states.

According to Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the U.S., roughly 229,500 people—including 80,160 children—are facing food insecurity in Iowa.

The details of the new legislation—which is sponsored by 39 Iowa House Republicans, including Speaker Pat Grassley—were met with national anger.

“This is so profoundly cruel and petty,” said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible.

Sarah Bowen, a sociologist who studies food and inequality, noted in a tweet on Thursday that “Republicans have tried to destroy SNAP for years,” animated by the lie that “SNAP recipients are all stocking up on lobster and steak.”

“This is the most ridiculous proposal I’ve seen though,” Bowen added. “No chicken or ground beef. No chili beans. No American cheese?!”

SNAP recipients are already limited in what they can purchase at the grocery store using their benefits, but Iowa Republicans are seeking to dramatically expand those restrictions.

As Todd Dorman of the Iowa Gazetteexplained in a column on Thursday, the legislation “would require the Department of Health and Human Services to seek a federal waiver allowing Iowa to scrap an already restrictive federal list of approved foods and replace it with a list of food available to recipients of aid to Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC.”

“The bill would also, for the first time, create an asset test, limiting household assets to $2,750 or $4,250 if one member of the household is over 60. It exempts just one vehicle, potentially making households with two cars ineligible,” Dorman wrote. “Beyond all of that draconian wisdom, the bill would force recipients to jump through far more regulatory hoops to become eligible and stay on SNAP, wrapping recipients tightly in red tape and likely costing the state millions more to administer the program.”

“Only two groups support the bill,” Dorman added. “One is the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project, which sends its minions across the country to cut holes in the social safety net and oppose policies such as Medicaid expansion. The group is part of a web of conservative think tanks and bill mills bankrolled by rich donors who think if you just make poor people hungry and sick enough, they’ll utilize their bootstraps.”

(commondreams.org.

Read on….https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-republicans-bill-ban-snap-recipients-meat-sliced-cheese-2023-1

How long will it be before this kind of cruelty expands into other red controlled Houses?

And yet they get votes from the very people they are screwing….where’s the logic in that?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Capital Riot Has Consequences

I have reported on the fines and penalties handed out by the courts on those that participated in the 06 January insurrection…..and now there is a new consequence possible.

Democratic lawmakers in a handful of states are trying to send a message two years after the violent attack on the US Capitol: Those who engage in an attempted overthrow of the government shouldn’t be allowed to run it. New York, Connecticut, and Virginia are among states where proposed legislation would prohibit anyone convicted of participating in an insurrection from holding public office or a position of public trust, such as becoming a police officer, per the AP. While the bills vary in scope, their aim is similar. “If you’ve tried to take down our government through violent means, in no way should you be part of it,” New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal said.

  • New York: Hoylman-Sigal is sponsoring a bill that would bar people convicted of engaging in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States from holding civil office, meaning they would not be able to serve as a judge or member of the Legislature.
  • Virginia: A state lawmaker introduced a bill this month, on the second anniversary of the Capitol riot, that would prohibit anyone convicted of a felony related to an attempted insurrection or riot from serving in positions of public trust—including those involving policymaking, law enforcement, safety, education, or health.
  • Connecticut: A proposed bill would prohibit people convicted of sedition, rebellion, insurrection or a felony related to one of those acts from running for or holding public office. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, who introduced the measure, said he wants the legislation eventually to bar them from holding state or municipal jobs.

Some Republicans say the legislation is unnecessary. In New York, Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay, the minority leader, called the bill there a “political statement,” saying it is “more political than it is a concern about public policy.” He said existing rules already apply to people in certain positions who are convicted of crimes and that those laws “should be sufficient.” The legislation is another example of how the Capitol riot has become a political Rorschach test in the country.

Stellar ideas in my book…..there has to be consequences for their actions….this should include anyone convicted of any charge pertaining to the riot.

Is there more news about the others involved?

More “Oath Keepers’ learn their fate….

A federal jury on Monday convicted four members of the Oath Keepers militia of seditious conspiracy, deciding they’d plotted to use force to keep former President Donald Trump in office. Roberto Minuta, 38; Joseph Hackett, 52; David Moerschel, 45; and Edward Vallejo, 64, also were found guilty of obstructing and conspiring to obstruct lawmakers and Congress in general, the Washington Post reports. “They claimed to wrap themselves in the Constitution, but they trampled it,” said prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler in the trial’s closing arguments. “They ignored the will of the people” while having “the audacity to claim to be oath-keepers.”

The four men’s case was split from the trial of Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, and others because of limited space in the courtroom. In November, Rhodes also was found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors said these four ranked lower in the far-right militia group than those in the other trial, more like troops than organizers. Hackett and Moerschel forced their way into the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with a dozen others, the government said. Minuta came behind them with another group that fought officers inside, and Vallejo, an Army veteran, stayed with a stash of guns in a hotel in Virginia. Prosecutors said he repeatedly texted fellow conspirators that he was ready to join them at the Capitol but received no response.

When officers pushed Minuta and others out of the building, prosecutors said, he shouted “All that’s left is the Second Amendment!” The Oath Keepers met for dinner after the riot at an Olive Garden in Virginia and began planning their next move, per the Post. But they scattered, one member said, when they heard federal agents were looking for them. The jury deliberated for about 15 hours over three days before returning its verdict Monday, per the New York Times. Hackett and Moerschel were acquitted of damaging Capitol doors. US District Judge Amit Mehta allowed all four to await sentencing while under house arrest.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”