Education

For Discussion: Where Are the Plumbers of Tomorrow?

by Anne Laurie| July 13, 20218:53 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Education, Excellent Links, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

maybe it was a bad idea to spend so much time from, say, the mid-90s until the late 10's for us, collectively, as a country, from left to right, to act as if trade and labor jobs were where you ended up if you had no other skills or value https://t.co/5nzHATUHIM

— ANTI-HUSTLE MACHINE (@golikehellmachi) July 12, 2021

My old man always told us: Any job you can do indoors, sitting down, is not a ‘bad job’. But then…

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. – John W. Gardner

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For Discussion: Where Are the Plumbers of Tomorrow?Post + Comments (122)

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Eat Audit the Rich!

by Anne Laurie| March 3, 20216:15 pm| 184 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Education, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

Elizabeth Warren's plan isn't just Tax the Rich.

It's also Audit the Rich.

She wants wealthiest ~100,000 to have an audit once every ~3 years, and to nearly double the budget for the IRS, she tells @kevcirilli https://t.co/1S0fXgAtc5

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) March 3, 2021

One of my senior Senator’s campaign proposals that I’m glad to see revived, because she’s proposing to spend those new taxes on educational services that really need to be implemented.

It will, doubters insist, lead to a proliferation of cryptocurrency and money-laundering schemes. On the other hand, I’m seeing a lot of stories about new & creative methods in grey-area finance already (GameStonks! Non-Fungible Tokens!), along with hand-wringing that such schemes usually indicate the end of a ‘bubble’, so…

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: <del>Eat</del> Audit the Rich!Post + Comments (184)

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: In Its Way, Quite Educational!

by Anne Laurie| August 12, 20206:40 pm| 101 Comments

This post is in: Education, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Sports

Part of me thinks there’s a very real chance that the cancellation of college football might actually drive the President’s approval rating below 40%.

— Bear Braumoeller (@Prof_BearB) August 11, 2020

GO FORTH TO DIE, YOUNG GLADIATORS! WE NEED THE ENTERTAINMENT!

Coach Lou out here sacrificing the youngins to Touchdown Jesus https://t.co/SnLHtqCj3n

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) August 11, 2020

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The Big Ten and Pac-12, two of the five wealthiest U.S. college sports conferences, postponed the fall football season, along with other fall sports https://t.co/IkKIdHzSeb pic.twitter.com/YEXiB4uQsp

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 12, 2020

Two of the five wealthiest U.S. college sports conferences postponed the fall football season on Tuesday because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical blow to both an iconic American cultural tradition and a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry…

The move leaves the future of college football being played at all this fall in significant doubt as college officials grow ever more wary of their ability to have thousands of unpaid players practice and compete without jeopardizing their safety and contributing to the spread of a highly communicable disease.

“We know that this is a difficult day for our student-athletes, and our hearts go out to them and their families,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “We have made clear that all of their scholarships will be guaranteed.” …

U.S. President Donald Trump advocated for college football to be played this year and suggested that student athletes are strong enough to withstand the novel coronavirus.

“We want to get football in colleges. These are young, strong people. They won’t have a big problem with the China virus. So we want to see college football start,” Trump said during a news conference at the White House…

I for one support Mike Pence's wish to play college football. Let's get him in there returning some punts. Maybe put him in the slot and have him run some routes over the middle. Honestly there's no wrong way to use him. https://t.co/sYOowfiuZ9

— David Roth (@david_j_roth) August 11, 2020

Last time you went to a football game, you walked out as a PR stunt.

Fuck off, you obsequious prick. https://t.co/mRYvEi4HsQ

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 11, 2020

Ah yes, a little more time. If only the pandemic had exploded earlier. Like, say, in March https://t.co/IcNeab15DY

— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) August 11, 2020

buddy do you know what the word “college” in “college football” means https://t.co/QgtUGd9ATt

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 11, 2020

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: In Its Way, Quite Educational!Post + Comments (101)

Late Night Open Thread: Trump’s Malign Pandemic Neglect Kills College Football; GOP Complains Indignantly About the Corpse

by Anne Laurie| August 11, 202012:15 am| 71 Comments

This post is in: Education, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Sports

In order to own the libs, Trump voters elected a moronic despot who got college football cancelled. https://t.co/sUH5agXDjk

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 10, 2020

Why did the Big Ten seem to abruptly change course over the weekend, you ask?

"Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences." https://t.co/xsFUhXkoXy

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 10, 2020

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JUST IN: Big Ten votes to cancel football season: report https://t.co/qYrvaxbC09 pic.twitter.com/WkNorkqaLR

— The Hill (@thehill) August 10, 2020

The GOP Death Cult doesn’t give a shite about the unpaid gladiators; they just want their Base to stay diverted. Per the Washington Post:

… Trump is widely popular in many states where college football is a cultural touchstone, including the Deep South and parts of the Midwest, and he has called for the on-time and in-person reopening of schools throughout the pandemic. The president on Monday joined other congressmen in supporting players’ calls to play on, though they did not initially address the players’ other message, in support of forming a union…

america needs a functional government https://t.co/uKJkSgnVpI

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020

Jim Jordan demands Ohio State reopen its showers. https://t.co/SKWY5wMCQb

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 10, 2020

America needs the USPS; football meh https://t.co/UH4iiFXP8e

— julie ingersoll (@julieingersoll) August 10, 2020

probably shoulda done your goddamn job five goddamn months ago then https://t.co/LsEeUTNO8A

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020

*spends five months doing dick-all about covid and shooting college football in the head*

WHO WOULD DO THIS https://t.co/4t26yHaHor

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020

this is like vegas closing the casinos – you don’t voluntarily walk away from billions of dollars for a virus that’s “under control” and “being contained” and “going to disappear” https://t.co/hgKICiX2yY

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020

Hillary wouldn’t have had to cancel football.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 10, 2020

https://t.co/es4dU5W9F5 pic.twitter.com/EQ0wk4VBzl

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 11, 2020

but now today it must be retconned into some STUNNING NEW LIB TREACHERY as if just last night george soros punched the button to EXECUTE PROTOCOL NO BALL

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020

“Donald Trump screwed up our pandemic response and now we don’t get college football.

If we re-elect him we won’t get college football next year either.

I’m joe Biden and I approve of this message”

put on every tv

400 electoral vote margin

the end

— bdodgy (@bdodgy3) August 10, 2020

Late Night Open Thread: Trump’s Malign Pandemic Neglect Kills College Football; GOP Complains Indignantly About the CorpsePost + Comments (71)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Bad News for the GOP, Good News for the Rest of Us

by Anne Laurie| July 15, 20207:48 am| 166 Comments

This post is in: Biden For President, Education, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

Huge loss for Republicans. One of their signature issues for the year was punishing international students. Thoughts and prayers to them. https://t.co/yIqGyEsjsu

— AdotSad (@AdotSad) July 14, 2020

Standard demurral: Better informed front pagers (Hi, Tom!) will no doubt write about this later, but seriously, it’s good news for the students, for the American universities that serve those students, and for the very concept of FREEDOM that the opponents of these students claim to support…

BREAKING: The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have forced international students to leave the country if their colleges hold classes online this fall. The administration was sued over the new policy by Harvard and MIT. https://t.co/5kqSNY7r2C

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 14, 2020

BOSTON (AP) — Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universities, the Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was announced at the start of a hearing in a federal lawsuit in Boston brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities agreed to pull the July 6 directive and “return to the status quo.”

A lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said only that the judge’s characterization was correct.

The announcement brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy. With the policy rescinded, ICE will revert to a directive from March that suspended typical limits around online education for foreign students…

.
Elsewhere, the same day…

"No. We are down to Kool-Aid drinkers and next of kin," said @acosta in response to question from @andersoncooper about whether there is anyone in the White House who could tell the President to not say/do what he did today. ??

— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) July 15, 2020

Media: @Acosta to @wolfblitzer: "I've never seen a president turn the #RoseGarden into a campaign rally the way @realDonaldTrump did over the last hour. This was the campaign rally he wanted to have in #NewHampshire last weekend. The myths, the lies, the stretching of the truth." pic.twitter.com/8o2vEanoz8

— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) July 14, 2020

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Per the paper of record in the company town whose monopoly industry is politics, the Washington Post:

President Trump on Tuesday held a Rose Garden event under the guise of punishing China over its crackdown on Hong Kong, delivering a lengthy diatribe against Democratic rival Joe Biden in a display that resembled a campaign speech at the White House…

White House aides had announced the Rose Garden event, which was not initially on Trump’s public schedule, as a news conference, and the president fielded a handful of questions from reporters. But his real motive appeared to be his attacks on Joe Biden — a stunning display of partisanship in an exquisitely manicured setting that presidents have traditionally considered off-limits for direct and extended political attacks…

I'm no longer "live"-tweeting, rather five-minutes-behind tweeting, because Trump is lying so much I keep having to stop

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 14, 2020

definitely a new trump and not the guy who stopped doing these things after suggesting people inject lysol https://t.co/qYZ6HX4K7a

— kilgore trout, suburban female understander (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 14, 2020

Trump dumped almost an hour’s worth of opposition research against his Democratic rival with less than four months to go before the election, hitting him over immigration, energy policy and the environment.

“There’s probably never been a time when candidates are so different,” Trump said. “We want law and order. They don’t want law and order.”…

*biden instantly gains two points in polls* https://t.co/3JS4cR0izo

— kilgore trout, suburban female understander (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 14, 2020

Our Very Serious Media is offended — the Oval Office Occupant is treating them like a bunch of Flavoraide-drunk MAGAt rubes! Up with this, they shall not put!

I have covered 7 Presidents. I have never seen a POTUS use the Rose Garden or any White House platform to launch a political attack against his opponent for reelection, a campaign rally barely disguised as a faux news conference. All during a pandemic and a recession

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) July 15, 2020

In this story, it appears as if @peterbakernyt is suggesting that the president is not well:https://t.co/MGF9RYMVTH

— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) July 15, 2020

Media: @JohnJHarwood to @wolfblitzer on @realDonaldTrump's newser: "He's obviously the underdog in the race, no matter what he says. He was rambling all over the place, not expressing coherent thoughts. And he avoided the issue convulsing the country right now: the #coronavirus." pic.twitter.com/oEzEAmwn84

— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) July 14, 2020

Well, this will be a challenge for the political pess, won't it? Whether to cooperate with that. https://t.co/bA1aUp13M9

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) July 15, 2020

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Bad News for the GOP, Good News for the Rest of UsPost + Comments (166)

GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Sorry, But Schools Are Not Gonna Be Ready to Reopen

by Anne Laurie| July 8, 20205:02 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Education, GOP Death Cult, Republican Venality, Repubs in Disarray!, Trumpery

Asked yesterday what specifically his administration is doing to help schools reopen, Trump did not say anything. Instead, he demanded that schools reopen and claimed “the fall” is a long way away: “Well, we have a long time to think about the school stuff. Because, you know.” pic.twitter.com/owbeFKHA9l

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020

Maybe it’s just different for parents who love their kids

— JIM (@JimDoran) July 8, 2020

In the first place, during a normal year, many schools would be reopening sometime in August, just a few weeks from now.

In the second place, even in a non-pandemic season, getting the infrastructure ready to do so takes more time than that.

In the third place, the GOP’s Dear Leader can demand schools open up, and no doubt some of his death cultists governors will do their best to schedule some kind of official reopening… but no parent with any other options is going to send their kid(s) off to a plague pit just because it would make the Oval Office Occupant’s marketing campaign look better. And those unfortunate or misguided parents who do send their kids back will inevitably spark new coronavirus hotspots, for the teachers and school staff and relatives if not the kids themselves. Even schools in functional democracies, like South Korea and Denmark, have run into problems despite rigorous efforts. And that’s assuming that enough teachers & staff are willing or desperate enough to play ‘rona roulette in the first place.

You’d think someone in the Republican administration would step up to explain these basics, but I guess the Trump Purge has advanced to the point where even those individuals whose careers are most at risk can’t even muster that much of an effort.

Absolutely, kids need to be in school! And parents need the ‘free child care’ that too many Americans assume is the only reason for public schools to exist, too. But this ain’t a tv show, and firmly announcing Make It So! at the imaginary machinery behind the stage sets isn’t gonna make it happen.

Asked what the administration’s specific plan is to support schools, re testing, tracing, PPE, etc., Pence says, “The plan is to continue to do what we have done from the very beginning.” He claims that is providing governors “whatever support they need.”

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020

.@kaitlancollins asks why Trump is threatening to cut funding at a time schools need more. Pence: “First and foremost, it’s – what you heard from the president is just his determination to provide the kind of leadership…that says that we’re gonna get our kids back to school.”

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020

Authentic Heartland^(tm) gobbledygook, from the Emergency Backup Dear Leader. It’s a death cult, all the way down.

GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Sorry, But Schools Are *Not* Gonna Be Ready to ReopenPost + Comments (98)

‘Blue tsunami,’ she says…

by Betty Cracker| July 8, 20201:03 pm| 235 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Education, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery

With the usual preamble about counting chickens, hatchery, etc., this advisory from the Cook Political Report is amaze-balls:*

This election is looking more like a Democratic tsunami than simply a Blue wave. President Trump, mired in some of the lowest job approval ratings of his presidency, is trailing Biden by significant margins in key battleground states like Pennsylvania (8 points), Michigan (9 points), and Wisconsin (9 points). He’s even running behind Biden in his firewall states of Florida and North Carolina.

We’ve made changes to our Electoral College ratings to reflect this reality.

Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska’s 2nd district move from Toss Up to Lean Democrat.

Maine, once in Lean Democrat, moves to the safer Likely Democratic category.

Georgia has joined Arizona, North Carolina and Florida in the Toss Up column, although, at this point, Biden would be slightly favored to win at least Arizona and Florida.

Maine’s 2nd district has moved from Likely Republican to a more competitive Lean Republican.

These moves alone push Biden over the 270 electoral vote threshold (to 279).

Georgia a toss up? Jeebus, Mary and Joseph! And Trump has negative coattails too!

Republican strategists we’ve spoken with this week think Trump is close to the point of no return. A couple of others wondered if Trump had reached his “Katrina” moment: a permanent loss of trust and faith of the majority of voters.

In talking with strategists on both sides this last week, it’s also clear that Trump is dragging Republican congressional candidates with him as well.

Speaking of the no-coattailed orange carbuncle, his concern for America’s children is touching:

I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2020

It’s July. Schools open NEXT MONTH, and the CDC just issued guidelines, which Trump will now bully them into abandoning.

The school situation is serious. But speaking of “permanent loss of trust and faith,” we all know Trump wants to open schools (and on the cheap!) so they can function as daycare centers to goose parental productivity. He thinks if he can resurrect the economy from the smoking crater left by the massive impact of his pandemic mismanagement, he’ll have a chance in November. That’s what this is all about, period. And governors like DeSantis will follow him right off a goddamn cliff.

Open thread.

H/T: Valued commenter Marcopolo

‘Blue tsunami,’ she says…Post + Comments (235)

All your base are belong to Tunch.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Tick tock motherfuckers!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

No one could have predicted…

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

We still have time to mess this up!

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Reality always wins in the end.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

They are all Michael Cohen now.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

For Discussion: Where Are the Plumbers of Tomorrow?

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Eat Audit the Rich!

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: In Its Way, Quite Educational!

Late Night Open Thread: Trump’s Malign Pandemic Neglect Kills College Football; GOP Complains Indignantly About the Corpse

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Bad News for the GOP, Good News for the Rest of Us

GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Sorry, But Schools Are Not Gonna Be Ready to Reopen

‘Blue tsunami,’ she says…