The Heritage Foundation released a database last Thursday allowing parents to identify classical schools in their area as an alternative to the deteriorating state of public education.
The Classical Schools Database features over 900 public and charter schools that are committed to “passing down the wisdom of past generations” and teaching students traditional liberal arts as opposed to much of the divisive and unnecessary topics found in many public schools. Parents are choosing to take their children out of publicly-funded education as school choice initiatives gain popularity throughout the country and as public schooling are becoming defined by plummeting test scores and an increased focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology topics.
“Classical education is seeing a resurgence today, demonstrating that parents are looking for alternatives to assigned schools,” Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow in education policy for Heritage, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We used to just use the word ‘education’ to describe what we now call ‘classical education’ because the skills of rhetoric, writing, and rigorous math have been lost in the traditional system. Given the poor academic results on national comparisons in reading and math among U.S. students, we need the new ‘classical’ education more than ever.”
Idaho has banned vaccine mandates in schools and businesses in a first-of-its-kind ‘medical freedom’ bill.
The ‘Idaho Medical Freedom Act’ bars private businesses, schools and government entities from denying admission or services to a person for not having received a ‘medical intervention,’ including a vaccine, procedure or medication.
It makes Idaho the first state to in the nation to outlaw vaccine mandates in both public and private sectors.
The legislation was signed into law last week by Idaho Governor Brad Little, a Republican, and is expected to go into effect July 1.
The police are making more than 30 arrests a day over offensive posts on social media and other platforms.
Thousands of people are being detained and questioned for sending messages that cause “annoyance”, “inconvenience” or “anxiety” to others via the internet, telephone or mail.
Custody data obtained by The Times shows that officers are making about 12,000 arrests a year under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
I posted this video this morning (several posts below) along with an essay on the dangers of an advanced AI surveillance state. I commented on that essay before watching the video because a totalitarian surveillance state is a very real and dangerous possibility and many of us are talking about it. Now that I have watched Vance’s talk, I am posting it alone. In my view it’s a good talk and I agree with the policy directives Vance outlines. As a Buddhist, I am fundamentally an optimist and do not worry too much about things I have no control over. In many comments I have said our best defense against totalitarianism is free speech and platforms that host thriving free speech. Free speech can be thought of as a kind of biological technology that always sifts through the data and eventually finds the best stuff. This process must needs always be ongoing because everything is always changing. ABN
The young Maine child who was given a controversial and experimental Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA injection at a public school without his parents consent may not have immunity from Covid-19. But the doctor who delivered the non-consensual shot and the powerful hospital system that supplied it do. Legal immunity, that is.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court decided on March 4 in Hogan v. Lincoln Medical Partners that the hospital system and its affiliates are fully immune from legal liability after administering an experimental mRNA injection to a five-year-old child without parental consent.
The ruling, issued March 4, affirms a lower court decision that dismissed the case brought by parents Jeremiah Hogan and Siara Jean Harrington, whose child was injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot at a school clinic in November 2021. The couple had sued the healthcare provider, its parent company MaineHealth, and the physician who administered the shot, alleging a litany of offenses, including medical malpractice, battery, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
MaineHealth is the largest hospital operator in the state of Maine and employs more than 24,000 workers, including Dora Mills, the sister of Gov. Janet Mills, who serves as the “Chief Health Improvement Officer.”
Though it was clear at the time the vax was not safe, since then it has been proved the vax is dangerous. The state should never have the right to overrule parents or do medical procedure without their consent. This is basic to USA legal rights and freedoms. In retrospect, the Constitution was right and the doctors and the hospitals and the state and federal governments were wrong. Right there is why you do not interfere with parents rights or anyone’s right to refuse medical treatment, nor do you restrict their freedom to speak about what is going on. The conspiracy theorists were way more right about everything covid while the government and the, now dead, legacy media were way more wrong about everything. This is an example none of us who lived through it should ever forget. Covid illustrates from many angles the fundamental, inalienable importance of individual rights as spelled out in the US Constitution. All culture needs some bedrock upon which to found itself. USA’s is our magnificent Constitution. ABN
This is the approximate proportion, including Republicans, of our population who are fundamentally totalitarian in their thinking. Totalitarianism shows most when we are under pressure, when people are afraid, when real courage is tested. Independents usually lie somewhere between Dems and GOPs, though they tend to be more supportive of individual freedoms and rights. Not a pretty picture however you look at it. The covid years should always be remembered and often recalled. Vast numbers of people in USA and globally completely caved to mind-control so serious they injected extremely dubious gene therapy even into their children. At the same time, dissenting ‘conspiracy theorists’ were right about almost everything, thus proving yet again that freedom of speech is our most important right. ABN
Consider the last time you saw something that needed to be censored. I personally cannot think of a single time, ever. If you don’t like something you see or read, do what almost everyone does without even thinking about it — ignore it. Or maybe reply if you feel like it. People who want censorship always have something to hide, they are always the bad guys. They are always trying to control your mind. As the world continues evolving toward larger empires armed with inescapable surveillance technology, freedom of speech will become even more important. It is the most important way we the plebs have of communicating with each other and influencing those who rule over us. A decent ruling elite will always find it easier and smarter to keep the plebs happy. Empires fall when they run afoul of the masses. ABN
UPDATE: Take this to next level game theory. We the plebs must deeply sensitize ourselves against any infringement on freedom of speech. We should go bananas every time anyone tries to censor us. This is our best hope for a good future. ABN
Jewish Supremacism — a form of universal racism — is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues. For many decades, the covert violence and false narratives of Jewish Supremist culture have all but destroyed our great nation through mind-control and strategic attacks on perceived rivals, often while they are serving our nation in high political office. Making America healthy means building communities of trust and mutual respect, based on freedom of speech, open debate, and identifying Jewish Supremacism wherever we find it. FTFY, ABN
The U.S. Department of Education is asking the public to report practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools, the Trump administration’s latest move to go after schools for what it calls “divisive ideologies” and “indoctrination.”
The agency on Thursday launched a public portal—EndDEI.Ed.Gov—for parents, students, teachers, and the broader community to report practices of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools.
This new effort comes just before the Feb. 28 deadline that the Trump administration set for K-12 schools and universities to end DEI practices or risk losing federal funding.
This is the exact right move because it creates a strong alliance among we the people of the West. It’s a game theory move in that Vance draws a line which all but forces people to choose sides. It is a direct assertion of fundamental American values, calling for ‘free expression’ through reason and peace. To disagree is to marginalize yourself. Free speech is also a European value but it has been codified and emphasized less than in USA. Vance is proposing a very large win-win deal with the entire Western world. He is not wielding a military club, but a thoughtful one that aligns our populations at an elemental level. ABN
I was the last person Gonzalo Lira called before he got arrested and died at the hands of the Ukrainian war regime.
He sent me a direct message and we went into a zoom call. He was in a small room, extremely nervous, smoking one cigarette after the other. I had never seen so directly the mental effect that physical torture and extortion can do to a man.
In the previous months, he had been tortured by his Ukrainian guards, and amounts in the 6 figures were illegally taken from him as they forced him to reveal his passwords through physical torture unto his nails and eyes. One of these amounts was the 6-figure amount that had been dormant in his Patreon account, which his fans had donated to him across the years. Gonzalo was rich enough that he never needed to withdraw it, but I know it was the pride of his life; the idea that a bunch of regular people thought his commentary was worth enough to pay for when they didn’t have to.
Two years before that call, a very intelligent and enlightened version of Gonzalo had called me. He was in the UK, then. He had then told me: “JF I’m about to do something radical. A radical change. I won’t tell you what it is, but things are about to change in my life. I’ll be covering something different.”
This is a sad but important read. Gonzalo pushed the limits of speaking truth to power and deserves the respect we still feel for him. Moral courage in many ways is based on physical courage. He displayed both kinds in abundance. ABN
American Buddhist Net 