Let’s All Enjoy a Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Moment

Friday , 20, October 2017 Up North Progressive Religious Fundamentalism, Sad!, Section 16, Trumpenreich Leave a comment

Alright everyone, play some relaxing meditative music, maybe light a few candles to set the mood. Find a comfy chair to relax in and close your eyes as you begin to visualize what it’s like to be a billionaire who bought her way into a cabinet seat in the United States Federal Government.

You’re sitting in your office in Washington D.C. because you’re no longer just a really rich, sheltered, privileged, religious fundamentalist woman who can afford to buy things like right to work, hijacking Detroit Public Schools, and lifting for-profit charter school caps; you run an entire government department – the Department of Education – and now you can do the damage God commands you inflict on an entire nation’s public school system. Something to do with pig bones, pagans, and those evil government-run schools.

You find out from your people who actually run your department there is an issue that needs to be addressed, and education is one part of that issue. Something about education is important because the issue involves competing with other countries. Of course, you have no idea what the issue is and how you’re supposed to fix it, so what do you do? Likely, one of those staff people who actually do all the work might suggest you contact the government agency who knows all about the issue and request a briefing.

The government agency’s representatives arrive to provide this briefing you requested. They’re smart, knowledgeable, and already aware of something they know but you don’t: They have gained lots of experience briefing complete morons over the past nine months, because they also have to brief that fat guy with the spray tan and gravity-defying comb over currently squatting in the White House between golfing vacations at luxury resorts he owns and the American taxpayers get to pay for.

Introductions are made, everyone gets settled into the conference room, and the agency staffers begin their briefing of how education is a vital component of the work their agency does, and what is needed from the Department of Education to make the United States internationally competitive with the issue at hand. You sit and stare at the staffers as they talk.

And stare.

And stare.

And stare.

The people doing the talking will never tell you this to your face, but they’re very quickly evaluating you and your ability to actually fix any of the problem they’re briefing you about. They’ve seen that glassy, deer in the headlights look before: At the White House. The fat guy with the spray tan and ridiculous gravity-defying comb over gives them the same look whenever they have to brief him too – except there’s one noticeable difference. He tries to hide his lack of intelligence by opening his mouth and speaking, and all that ever accomplishes is solidifying the first assessment of how much of an idiot he really is, and he wouldn’t understand what he’s being told even if they provided a pop-up picture book to illustrate.

You on the other hand, you’re sitting there without so much as an occasional “uhuh” or “okay” tossed into the conversation to hide how much of a moron you are. The briefing has nothing to do with you understanding a problem at all, it’s devolved into a humiliating assessment of your lack of intelligence and causing you so much shame, the only way to try and save your shattering pride is remain mute.

You’ve convinced yourself that your silence will save you, but you’re wrong. The agency staff going through the motions of pretending they’re explaining something to you already know their words are floating high above your head and will never connect. The only difference between briefing you and briefing the fat idiot squatting in the White House is you’re self-aware just enough to know you’re a complete moron, and the briefing is getting pretty weird and annoying for the agency staff. You probably aren’t aware of the fact that if staff from this agency are briefing you on something, it’s because there is an actual problem that you need to fix, and they’ve already figured out you don’t have the intelligence to even understand there is a problem.

The agency staffers end their briefing and leave your office. On the way back to their office, they’re shaking off the weird, annoying, wtf, she’s so dumb moment they endured with you. The complexity of the problem is beyond you, but you shake it off because God wanted you to spend all that money to get the fat idiot into the White House, and controlling the Department of Education is your heavenly reward.

And now, as we drift away from that vision, we open our eyes and refocus on the room we’re currently occupying in the here and now.

Congratulations, you just experienced a day in the life of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Wexford-Missaukee Right to Life is Sexist and Racist

Monday , 9, October 2017 Up North Progressive Michigan Women, Religious Fundamentalism 3 Comments


Drive along any main road in Wexford and Missaukee Counties and you will see wooden billboards covered with rosy-cheeked, Caucasian infants and toddlers looking out to the road accompanied with slogans like “Had an abortion? There is forgiveness in Jesus” or, “Abortion – the ultimate child abuse.” The images and messages are designed to intimidate and victimize women, regardless of whether they are pregnant at the time they see the billboards.

The source of these billboards is Wexford-Missaukee Right to Life; an anti-choice group based out of McBain, Michigan. They operate a crisis pregnancy center and perform elaborate mourning rituals for fetuses on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which guarantees a woman’s Constitutional right to make her own health care decisions.
The messages on the billboards are horrific by themselves. See enough of the images however and it becomes apparent Wexford-Missaukee Right to Life targets victimizing Caucasian women. Not a single billboard image with a black, Hispanic, or Asian child exists in the two-county region. Don’t the lives of those fetuses matter as well?
The racism of Right to Life is well-documented, but recently their message has taken an even more sinister turn with the addition of the image above. “All Lives Matter” is a racist slogan that emerged to diminish the Black Lives Matter movement. Ironically; Black Lives Matter began as a protest against the murder of black people by the police, and works to educate about the value of the lives of black people in the United States. The billboard emphasizes the hypocrisy of Right to Life: They are only concerned for the fetuses of white people, and will erase minorities in their agenda of intimidating women.

Now with the Republicans in Washington working to ban abortions after 20 weeks pregnancy and banning insurance coverage for women’s contraceptive medication, the anti-choice movement works to not only shame women, but risk the lives of women as well. Women who are 20 weeks pregnant made the decision to carry the pregnancy to term. Abortions at this stage happen because the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. Birth control pills are used to treat women’s reproductive disorders like endometriosis and poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. PCOS makes a woman’s menstrual cycle irregular and can lead to infertility. Birth control pills are used to regulate the woman’s cycle so she can ovulate and conceive. The only risky sexual behavior happening with insurance coverage for birth control is from ignorant politicians putting women’s lives at risk, or eliminating their ability to have a baby.

The agenda of Right to Life has always been to shame, intimidate, and victimize women about the choices they make for their own health. If the life of fetuses brought to term were the real purpose, these people would care about actual children outside of the womb as much as when they are fetuses in the womb.

We Celebrate This Day to Remember the Struggle of Workers

Monday , 4, September 2017 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

A Children’s Treasury of Why Convincing Trumptards of the Facts is a Big Waste of Time: Exhibit A

Monday , 28, August 2017 Up North Progressive Sad!, Trumpenreich 2 Comments

While rescue efforts continue in Houston and Hurricane Harvey continues to drop trillions of gallons of water on the city, people do what comes naturally in the 21st Century – head on over to social media to politicize a real-time tragedy. Trumptards, real and bot, are no exception; except as usual they don’t worry about facts or brush up on history before thumbing their rage onto the interwebs.

This is what @MacMaggies deleted:

And finally:

If you expand the tweet threads, you will see well-intentioned people attempting to help these woefully ignorant Trump supporters. Hurricane Katrina made landfall over New Orleans twelve years ago, and they can’t remember who was president. Here’s a few hints.

That last photo happened about four days after the hurricane while people trapped in the city survived on rooftops and stadiums. President Bush was too busy attending birthday parties and being gifted with guitars to even mention anything to the press about what happened in New Orleans on August 30, 2005. This is the same GOP-groomed base who insist President Jefferson sent the Marines to Tripoli to eradicate Muslims instead of the pirates attacking American merchant ships. They can’t remember what happened in the last decade, probably just unfair to expect them to have a clue what happened two centuries ago.

We elected Barack Obama president in 2008.

If you’re still trying to figure out how anyone can be so stupid they think Obama was president in 2005, these people voted for Trump. That’s all the explanation you need.

US Court of Appeals Rules to Keep Michigan Wolves on Endangered Species List

Tuesday , 1, August 2017 Up North Progressive DNR, Upper Peninsula, Wolf Hunt Leave a comment

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled today to keep wolves in the Great Lakes on the endangered species list after U.S. Fish and Wildlife ruled enough animals lived in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota to remove them from the list in 2011. In 2014, a Federal Judge put them back on the endangered species list after state game management in all three states issued licenses to hunt wolves.

The state of Michigan had anticipated wolves would be taken off the list with today’s court ruling because the State Legislature passed laws during the 2016 lame-duck session to allow wolf hunting in the state. On January 4, 2017, Rick Snyder signed a law designating the Gray Wolf a game species in the state. None of those laws can take effect with the ruling today that wolves are still federally protected.

Of the 3,800 wolves living in the Great Lakes region, the Michigan DNR counts 656 living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Dairy farmers and hunters insist the wolves are doing serious damage to the deer herd population and to livestock. This is a common argument used in most states where wolves struggle to make a come back in historical habitats once occupied in much larger numbers.

In their ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals cited that U.S. Fish and Wildlife based their decision to delist without considering all data, and cherry-picking results to justify the decision. What this ruling means today is U.S. Fish and Wildlife must provide more thorough and accurate data proving the wolf population is healthy enough to maintain large enough packs to survive without federal protection.

For now, it is a federal crime to shoot wolves in Michigan. This does not stop some people willing to defy the law with SSS practices in Northern Michigan, however. The Michigan DNR and local law enforcement must do more to ensure wolves are not illegally killed in Michigan.

Democratic Party Primary Election for District 109 State Legislature Seat Set for August 8, 2017

Saturday , 22, July 2017 Up North Progressive Candidates, Elections 2 Comments

The election scheduled for August 8, 2017 will provide voters an opportunity to make their voices heard on local issues in many Michigan counties. In the state house 1st and 109th districts, primary elections for new state representatives will take place. Former District 109 State Representative John Kivela died on May 9, 2017 after committing suicide in Lansing. The candidate who wins the election on November 6, 2017 will finish Kivela’s term until 2018.

Four candidates seek the Democratic nomination in the August primary election.

Marquette City Councilwoman Sara Cambensy lives in Marquette and is the Director of Adult and Community Education for Marquette Area Public Schools. Her public experience comes from working in the Register of Deeds office, as the City of Marquette Zoning Enforcement Officer and the Marquette City Planning Commission. Issues Cambensy wants to address in Lansing are jobs and the economy, The Headlee Amendment and Title A’s damage to state school funding, and energy independence for the Upper Peninsula.

 

Tom Curry of Trenary, Michigan has been a Township Supervisor for 25 years. He and his wife own Rollin’ Smoke Barbecue. Curry moved to Michigan in 1988 and entered public office in 1992. He enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time outdoors with his family. Issues Tom Curry will work in Lansing include repealing right to work, helping small business, supporting veterans, the environment and supporting public schools.

 

Joe Derocha of Marquette is a lifelong resident of the Upper Peninsula. Originally from Ishpeming, he lives in Marquette with his wife and children. Derocha is a small business owner and held public office for over 15 years. Currently, he’s the Vice Chair for the Marquette Board of County Commissioners. Issues he will work on include the “Dark Store” tax issue, illegal drugs, lowering energy costs and promoting economic growth. Derocha is endorsed by Mike Prusi, 110 State District Representative Scott Dianda, Marquette County Prosecutor Matt Wiese, members of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners, members of the Alger County Board of Commissioners, members of the Schoolcraft County Board of Commissioners, and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Council.

 

Jeremy Hosking is an Upper Peninsula native currently living in Negaunee Township. Born in Ishpeming, he attended Negaunee Public Schools and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northern Michigan University. His background is in Public Administration. Currently, he works for United States Senator Debbie Stabenow as the regional manager. He has held this position for over six years. Issues important to Hosking include supporting and funding public schools, updating and strengthening infrastructure in the Upper Peninsula to create jobs and remain competitive in a quickly changing economy, and ensure the social safety net remains strong for the most vulnerable citizens of the 109th District.

The primary election for the 109th District is on August 8, 2017. Make sure you vote and support these Democratic Party candidates.

Kalkaska Village Council Special Meeting Set for July 19, 2017

Saturday , 15, July 2017 Up North Progressive Community, Kalkaska 1 Comment

The Kalkaska Village Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, July 19, 2017, to discuss the economic impact of Village President Jeff Sieting’s social media hate speech on area businesses.

Sieting’s support of Trump and his calls for genocide against a religious faith are not the first time racist speech or actions came to light in Kalkaska. In 2007 a Ku Klux Klan/Confederate flag was raised over a picnic held in Rapid City. The man responsible for raising that flag is currently the chair of the Kalkaska County Board of Commissioners.

Concerned Kalkaska residents are ready to face Sieting, demand he resign from his office and put the economic survival of the town before his irrational racist statements.

Kalkaska Village President Tells His Constituents He Won’t Resign for Hate Speech: Residents Fearful for Reputation of their Town

Friday , 14, July 2017 Up North Progressive Community, Sad! Leave a comment

Recently, Up North Progressive visited the fine town of Kalkaska, Michigan, home of the really big fish – a welcome sign from childhood years signaling we were almost to Grandma’s house. The residents work hard to maintain a positive reputation as a community where people will want to visit as they travel up north. After the demonstrations that happened on June, 23, 2017, many residents of Kalkaska decided something had to be done to save their town from the negative exposure. They’ve organized to demand Jeff Sieting apologize for his hateful rhetoric against Muslims, resign from his office as Village President, and also asked the Village Council to put out an official statement that Sieting’s hate speech is not shared by the rest of the people of Kalkaska. So far, none of those things has happened.

In fact, Sieting defended the hate speech on his social media pages, claiming it was his first amendment right to share his opinions with the world. He’s right, except his hate speech has drawn so much negative attention, it’s reached state and national news. It’s also drawn public attention to Kalkaska from all over the country. Some are asking rude questions and leaving hateful comments on the social media pages of local businesses and village organizations.

A group of residents are now in the process of getting Sieting out of office. If he refuses to resign, a recall petition to remove him could happen in the future. Efforts to elect a new Village President in 2018 are also ongoing. There are efforts underway by the organizers of the Love Not Hate demonstration held in June to organize a boycott of the village.

Like many “up north” towns, Kalkaska relies on tourism to keep their economic base healthy. The village has many events taking place all year welcoming people to visit. It would be a shame to see businesses and residents suffer from negative publicity and attention because one self-centered bigot who insists his personal right to spout hate speech is more important than the wishes and concerns of the people he was elected to represent

The problem in Kalkaska has grown much bigger than one man’s right to display a sign supporting someone even more bigoted than he is, or using social media to share his irrational hate for anyone who isn’t white, male, or Christian to the detriment of an entire town. It’s time for Jeff Sieting to resign. Kalkaska deserves to repair and restore it’s reputation as an up north community with lots to offer.

New Grand Traverse Academy Parent Organization Now Accepting Non-Tax Deductible Donations

Tuesday , 4, July 2017 Up North Progressive Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 1 Comment

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports a new parent organization to help for-profit charter school Grand Traverse Academy formed recently with the mission statement:

To establish and develop a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parental involvement, as well as grow and nurture a close relationship between parents, teachers, and students to support the achievement of excellence in character and academics while ensuring all students are safe, loved, and learning.

The last part of the above run-on sentence contains Dr. Steve Ingersoll’s old catchphrase about “safe, loved, and learning.”

It’s fine that parents want to be more involved with the school their children attend, there’s just one little problem with this new parent organization. They’re asking for donations from the public.

This statement makes it seem like the new family council with their weebly website have been around for years, when in fact they’ve only been active for a couple of weeks. The last part should be read with a great big CAVEAT.

All donations made in cash/check will be tax deductible!

Will be. As in not yet. Grand Traverse Academy Family Council currently has no record of:

  • An EIN.
  • Registry with the state of Michigan as a domestic nonprofit.
  • No filing with the state Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Section.
  • No Grand Traverse County DBA filing.
  • And most of all, no filing with the IRS for 501 (c) (3) status (Spoiler – this is the really important one!).

Is it illegal to accept donations from the public and businesses without these things? No, but the organization must disclose to the donors that their donations are NOT tax-deductible. Sorry, Grand Traverse Pie Company.

On July 3rd, days after the Record-Eagle article, someone finally pointed out to GTA Family Council there was one little problem with their cunning donation plan:

Most of the required filings and registrations with various government agencies to be an actual nonprofit organization don’t take long at all. However, the one that’s difficult and time consuming is the one that makes you an actual nonprofit organization – the 501(c)(3).

Good luck with that.

Spokesperson for the new group, Danielle Mulholland, says it best in this Record-Eagle quote:

“Everyone is facing budget cuts. Public schools in general are having a hard time. This is a way for parents to have some control over our kids and to help make up for where public funding might be lacking.”

Mulholland is right. Public schools are facing huge budget cuts, but keeping failing for-profit charter schools open does not help public schools in any way. Public funding is lacking because malignant tumors like for-profit charter school GTA continues to divert public school funds away from real public schools. If Mulholland and the rest of the parents of GTA want to help public education, they need to enroll their children into a real public school.

The public school districts in your community would appreciate having your children attend their schools. The increased funding would provide for hiring staff, buying books and supplies, and everything else our public schools struggle to provide with the increasing onslaught of for-profit “education” companies opening more schools and diverting more of our tax dollars into their private bank accounts.

Maybe the parents of GTA will read this and go to the meeting on July 10 with some important questions to ask this new parent council.

Fourth of July Greetings

Tuesday , 4, July 2017 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment