Aaron Mate Responds to TYTs Hatchet Job by Citing Basic Principles of Real Journalism.

It's amazing what passes for journalism these days. Aaron Mate's frustration is also my frustration. Why is it that the "bad" guys like Aaron (and Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi) needs to keep giving Journalism 101 lectures to those who refuse to take the bottom-up (facts first) approach to presenting the "news." Here is an excerpt from Aaron's recent article, "McCarthyite meltdown shows how Russiagate, Syria propaganda captured 'left' mediaIn slandering me, The Young Turks demonstrated how Western chauvinism and careerism have been normalized in progressive media spaces."

If Kasparian and Uygur were really to be "quite honest with you" and with themselves, they'd come clean about my real crime, in their eyes: being a journalist who does my job. One of the tasks that entails is questioning official narratives put forth by the intelligence agencies and foreign-policy wonks that keep US empire running, and examining evidence on its merits, regardless of partisan or careerist utility. Apparently, TYT has made it a policy to perform neither of these tasks, and, far worse, to slander someone who does.

Continue ReadingAaron Mate Responds to TYTs Hatchet Job by Citing Basic Principles of Real Journalism.

Another Courageous Teacher Resigns from a K-12 School Drenched in “Anti-Racism.”

Teacher Dana Stangel-Plowe has resigned from Dwight-Englewood School as a matter of principle. It's becoming a recurring sad story. A dedicated teacher shouldn't have to give up her job of seven years (or potentially, career) to protect students from being steeped in poisonous ideology. Here is an excerpt from Stangel-Plowe's resignation note:

During a recent faculty meeting, teachers were segregated by skin color. Teachers who had light skin were placed into a “white caucus” group and asked to “remember” that we are “White” and “to take responsibility for [our] power and privilege.” D-E’s racial segregation of educators, aimed at leading us to rethink of ourselves as oppressors, was regressive and demeaning to us as individuals with our own moral compass and human agency. Will the school force racial segregation on our students next?

I reject D-E’s essentialist, racialist thinking about myself, my colleagues, and my students. As a humanist educator, I strive to create an inclusive classroom by embracing the dignity and unique personality of each and every student; I want to empower all students with the skills and habits of mind that they need to fulfill their potential as learners and human beings. Neither the color of my skin nor the“group identity” assigned to me by D-E dictates my humanist beliefs or my work as an educator. Being told that it does is offensive and wrong, and it violates my dignity as a human being. My conscience does not have a color.

D-E claims that we teach students how to think, not what to think. But sadly, that is just no longer true. I hope administrators and board members awaken in time to prevent this misguided and absolutist ideology from hollowing out D-E, as it has already hollowed out so many other institutions.

Stangel-Plowe has also offered this video explaining her concerns.

Continue ReadingAnother Courageous Teacher Resigns from a K-12 School Drenched in “Anti-Racism.”

West Coast State Laws Re Transgender Issues Surprise Parents of Troubled Teens Who Enter Youth Shelters

At City Journal, Abigail Shrier has written an article titled: "When the State Comes for Your Kids: Social workers, youth shelters, and the threat to parents’ rights." . She describes the journeys of several families, which are harrowing, given the state laws. What are those state laws? Shrier describes the laws of the state of Washington:

Here, for instance, are the powers granted to a 13-year-old child by the state of Washington. Minors age 13 and up are entitled to admit themselves for inpatientand outpatient mental health treatment without parental consent. Health insurers are forbidden from disclosing to the insured parents’ sensitive medical information of minor children—such as that regarding “gender dysphoria [and] gender affirming care.” Minors aged 13 to 18 can withhold mental health records from parents for “sensitive” conditions, which include both “gender dysphoria” and “gender-affirming care.” Insurers in Washington must cover a wide array of “gender-affirming treatments” from tracheal shaves to double mastectomies.

Put these together, and a seventh grader could be entitled to embark on “gender affirming care”—which may include anything from a provider using the child’s name and pronouns to the kid preparing to receive a course of hormones—without her parents’ permission, against her parents’ wishes, covered by her parents’ insurance, and with the parents kept in the dark by insurance companies and medical providers.

This is a detailed, well-researched article that will surprise and shock many families who thought that youth shelters only had relevant for children from broken homes.

Continue ReadingWest Coast State Laws Re Transgender Issues Surprise Parents of Troubled Teens Who Enter Youth Shelters

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti Are Leaving The Hill, Creating Their Own News Show

The Hill's Rising, featuring Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, has been an impressive change of pace from most legacy media organizations. They are leaving The Hill, to strike out on their own. Why? Start listing to the tales of corporate interference with content that Krystal and Saagar tell to Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper on Useful Idiots, beginning at min 46:

I invite you to join me in supporting Krystal and Saagar at Breaking Point, where you will hear real journalists:

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti are proud to introduce Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar. A fearless anti-establishment Youtube show and podcast debuting MONDAY JUNE 7TH, 2021

CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC are ripping us apart and making millions of dollars doing it. We don't have soulless billionaires or corporations backing our high end TV production, but we do have YOU. We took a big risk going independent and we need your help to fulfill our mission of making everyone hate each other LESS and the corrupt ruling class MORE.

Here's a video from their inaugural show, in which the hosts indicate that their mission is to fight "this empty right that we are constantly fighting over." Krystal comment that most media is aimed at "making us hate each other more and loving the elite":

Continue ReadingKrystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti Are Leaving The Hill, Creating Their Own News Show