Category: Education

What is a Democrat? How do we come in from The Wilderness?

Posted on by TL
A Democratic Donkey ready to fight
Are Democrats poised and ready for the battles ahead.

If you haven’t yet listened to Jon Favreau’s documentary podcast The Wilderness, it’s time. The content is engaging, fascinating, and inspirational. Most of all, it explores the question, “What is a Democrat?” Who are we? How did we get here, with Donald Trump as President of the United States, a minority voice in Congress, a minority of Democratic governors, so many Republicans elected at the state and local levels? Yet, Democrats far outnumber Republicans in this country.

Who are we? Where are we? Why aren’t we voting? What do we stand for?

The podcast is excellent.

Start here. Start today.

Illiana Christian To Become “Our Lady of White Flight,” Indiana

Posted on by TL

white flightLet’s not mince words at what’s going on here.

Too many people from Illiana Christian have made comments “on the side” bewailing the “changing demographics” at their current location in Lansing.

Let us pull no punches.

Illiana Christian is currently in the throes of a very expensive expression of white flight, running away to Indiana, close to St. John, Indiana, where the grass is apparently greener, but the faces are much whiter.

From the Chicago Tribune when the move was announced:

A Christian high school hopes to keep its doors open by moving to northwest Indiana, a decision that has upset some parents and alumni who want the school to stay in the south suburbs.

Illiana Christian High School voted last month to leave Lansing and head about 12 miles southeast near St. John, Ind., an area that has seen the most enrollment growth in recent years, Principal Peter Boonstra said.

So, according to Principal Boonstra, the school is moving, building new, in “an area that has seen the most enrollment growth in recent years.”

Let’s take a closer look at the two areas.

Lansing, Illinois, according to the Census Bureau in December 2015, shows a population of 28,486. 57.2% of the people in Lansing are white. 34.6% of the people in Lansing are African American.

St. John, Indiana, according to data released from the Census Bureau in December 2015, has a population of 15,456.

And here’s the rub…

90% of the people in St. John, Indiana are white.

Ninety percent.

1.2% are Asian.

Everyone else falls into the “Other Race” category. And those figures are small.

So, good for them.

Good for them.

As for me and my family, we will choose the Lord, continue to live in the South Suburbs of Chicago, that place that is wonderfully, wonderfully diverse. That place where people of many races, ethnicities, and faiths, get along every day, living side by side, building bridges.

Good luck, Illiana Christian, Our Lady of White Flight, Indiana, where The New Campus page shows three, smiling white children.

We know what you’re up to.

You’re running away, teaching your children to do the same.

Are you really that certain that this is what Jesus would do, that Jesus was white?

Because he wasn’t.

Colorado McDonald’s Goes Mile High Offering Weed Smoking Section

Posted on by TL

mc-weedLooking like the Cone of Silence from Get Smart, two McDonald’s in Colorado have implemented marijuana smoking sections. Thirteen other McDonald’s in the state are working to follow suit.

From Daily Mox:

Colorado continues to blaze major trails when it comes to marijuana.

The first ever marijuana smoking sections will be implemented in 15 of the state’s McDonald’s restaurants. They will use the existing Play Place area’s and convert them over to friendly marijuana smoke zones.

Called “smoking pods”, these area’s will allow joints, bongs and pipes to be smoked, but only marijuana is allowed, not tobacco products or cigarettes.

Read more here.

IHSA Disqualifies H-F Girls Basketball, Says Coach Is A Cheat

Posted on by TL

So it turns out cheaters will not win this year, at least one in particular from H-F.

I especially feel bad for the kids affected, and, again, for those who were honest from the get-go.

From Joe Biesk at the Sun-Times:

Homewood-Flossmoor’s girls basketball team was scheduled to play T.F. North Wednesday. Instead, the Illinois High School Association has disqualified the team from the state playoffs over bylaw violations.

The Homewood-Flossmoor girls basketball team and its acclaimed first-year coach Anthony Smith were top contenders for the state title this season. Now, they won’t even play a game in the tournament. In a decision Wednesday, issued about an hour before H-F was to play its opening game in the tourney, the Illinois High School Association dashed all hopes of the team’s postseason glory. Citing several violations of its bylaws, the IHSA banned H-F from competing and forfeited its 21 victories this season. The Vikings, ranked No. 1 by the Sun-Times, was scheduled to play T.F. North at 6 p.m. in Calumet City.

Read more here.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Just hours before the top-ranked Homewood-Flossmoor girls basketball team was to take the floor to begin its playoff march, the state high school athletic association delivered a bombshell Wednesday, suspending the entire team and its highly regarded coach for rules violations.

The sanctions by the Illinois High School Association come just weeks after a lawsuit rocked the highly touted program, accusing coach Anthony Smith of improperly recruiting star players from other school districts in his first season at H-F. That prompted the school district to conduct an internal investigation that led it to acknowledge it had violated rules, though none for improper recruiting.

More here at the Trib

Video: Texas Sports Anchor Delivers Jaw-Dropping Speech On Gay NFL Players

Posted on by TL


Hat Tip to the Huffington Post:

Sports broadcasts are typically known for their punchy lists of best plays, epic goal countdowns and testosterone-fueled commentary.

Which makes Dale Hansen’s address Monday night all the more remarkable. The Dallas sports anchor for ABC local affiliate WFAA took a break from the standard script to address the issue of Michael Sam, a defensive lineman poised to become the first openly gay player in the NFL.

Palestine: A Land Forgotten; Isreal: The One Forgetting

Posted on by TL
Peace in Palestine!

Palestine.

How much thought have you given Palestine recently?

We live in a country (USA! USA!) where celebrity news trumps news of the suffering in the world. News of the starving in the world. News of those still facing genocide. Still facing abuse. Still lacking basic human rights.

And we thrive to news of celebrity arrests, as if they matter one damn.

At all.

Had lunch with a now old friend, my friend is very young (comparable to my scalp line), but very, very wise.

And very empathetic.

My friend just returned from a half-month trip to Israel and Palestine (notice I’m naming them separately, as the two separate states the are, should be, shall be, Insha’Allah.

God willing, that is.

I will share with you in this space some of the amazing, alarming, and jaw-dropping things I learned from my friend today.

Israel, the state (not all Israelis, not all Jews), but Israel is persecuting the Palestinians.

And this must be stopped.

Did you know, for example, that Israel controls all water and electricity into Palestinian regions?

And, did you know, that Israel frequentlly cuts off all water and electricity if one Palestinian “misbehaves?”

Did you know that it is illegal for an Israeli to enter Palestine? Did you know that, on average, Israel demolishes four Palestinian home a day?

Did you know that Israel will not do trash pick-up in any region inhabited by Muslims, whether in the Old City, or Palestine?

Did you know that the Israeli government then uses that reality to refer to the Palestinians as filthy, dirty animals?

In short, did you know that Israel, to put it mildly, discriminates against the Palestinians, that the officials of the Israeli state refer to all Palestinians as “terrorists.”

Did you know that, at the Dome of the Rock, Israeli soldiers guard the entrance, allowing only a certain number of Muslims to enter each day to pray?

And did you know that Palestinians just want to live?

To own property?

To build homes (which is illegal now)?

To be human?

Thank you to my friend.

More to follow.

Insha’Allah.