mleschmle 💙 📚 ✌🏻

Ghislaine Maxwell is not a victim. She never was.

The Words of the Week - Mar. 28 Dictionary lookups from politics and government

These are your words of the week

oligarchy
annexation
verisimilitude
outrageous
doge
tartuffery

www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/the...

Gray words on a light background that say, "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essentail command."- George Orwell

I guess nobody ever told Pete to leave his phone behind so he can’t drunk text. I learned that lesson back when I had a Blackberry…🥸

The United States lost 172,000 jobs in February.
That’s 245% over January of this year. The last time that many jobs were lost was in July 2020.
It’s the 12th highest number of job losses in a single month in recorded history.

Opinion | How Tyranny Begins (Gift Article) Tyranny doesn’t happen overnight. Take it from the people who missed the first signs.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/o...

The Federal Department of Education accounts for about 4% of the budget.
USAID accounts for about 1.5% of the budget.
The departments that hold contracts with Space X and Tesla (that we know of) make up almost 20% of the federal budget.
To quote Jasmine Crocket, "They are playing in your face."

The states involved are:
Alaska ● Alabama ● Arkansas ● Florida ● Georgia ● Indiana ● Iowa ● Kansas ● Louisiana ● Missouri ● Montana ● Nebraska ● South Carolina ● South Dakota ● Texas ● Utah ● West Virginia

If you live in one of the states involved in the lawsuit, please email or call your state AG and encourage them to drop out.

Texas v. Becerra: What it is and How You Can Help Stop the Attack on Section 504 - DREDF Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund

Please go to dredf.org/protect-504/ for a simple explanation of this lawsuit's purpose and action steps.

If they succeed with this, rest assured IDEA will be next.

If you think this isn’t going to happen, I’d encourage you to pay attention to what HAS happened over the past 22 days.

It ensures that the child who fell off their trampoline and broke their leg can use whatever adaptive equipment they need until they heal while in school.

It ensures the diabetic child can leave class to get juice, take insulin, or check their blood sugar as needed.

It ensures that the child with C-PTSD can leave class to speak to a trusted adult if they are anxious.

It ensures that the student who uses a wheelchair and has different bathroom needs can have their needs accommodated and their privacy protected.

It ensures that the child with a severe peanut allergy is protected as much as possible from exposure while they are at school and that they can access an Epipen if needed.

It ensures that the kids with ADHD can get up and move as needed, have extra time to work on assignments or have a fidget toy or other items to self-regulate at their desks.

The premise of the lawsuit is that there is updated language about trans/questioning youth that these AGs and others have a problem with. However, their lawsuit asks that the entire section be overturned, not just the part(s) they disagree with.

What does Section 504 do?

The states of South Carolina and Georgia, along with 15 other (RED) states, have filed a lawsuit to overturn Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
A thread 🧵

“The historian was the second Black student to graduate from Harvard University with a doctorate degree. His incredible research led to the establishment of Black History Month in 1926. It later became a nationally recognized annual event in 1976.”
-We Are Teachers

Great to know. Thanks again!

Thanks, Heather! I'm exploring options for a contingency plan. I live in a red state and can barely control my facial expressions OR my mouth in the best of conditions. I also teach MLLs. I'm sure you can pick up what I'm laying down here. 💙

Educator friends: west coast state with the easiest process for licensure for an already-licensed teacher?

A black and white photo of Anne Frank. At the bottom, there is a quote. "Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school and find that their parents have disappeared." - Diary of Anne Frank January 13, 1943

The world is watching.

Most immigrants Trump targets have been here 10+ years, paying taxes, raising families, contributing to our communities.

Mass deportation would devastate our economy and tear apart the social fabric of America.

https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-2024/

TIL there are adults who are United States citizens who don't know that nearly 100% of our Constitution applies to everyone, documented or not.

Anyway. I'll be spending more time over here with the good guys.

Women Made Electoral Gains in Statehouses Across the Country in 2024. The Southeast Is a Different Story. All but one state that held legislative elections last fall in the Southeast saw losses of Republican women. In South Carolina, that means the Senate Republican caucus, which will make decisions that ...

"In South Carolina, that means the Senate Republican caucus, which will make decisions that directly affect women, is an all-men’s club." @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/repu...

The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history More than 1,570 people have been federally charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. NPR is tracking each case from the initial charges through sentencing.

There's this, for now.

www.npr.org/2021/02/09/9...

How Trump's executive orders mirror Project 2025 proposals Trump 2.0 is already mirroring the Project 2025 agenda in several ways.

(sings) "Surprise, surpriiiiiise..."

www.axios.com/2025/01/23/t...