Klimt’s Idyllic Landscapes

 

From ArtNet:

Gustav Klimt, a Viennese Symbolist painter and co-founder of the Viennese Secession movement, first came to prominence as a mural painter. Later, he became known for his paintings of women, including those prominent in Viennese society around 1901–09. This period in the artist’s career was dubbed the “Golden Phase,” and was characterized by striking portraits adorned with glistening gold leaf, which have captured the public’s imagination for decades. Now however, the Neue Galerie is focusing on a significant part of Klimt’s oeuvre that has been overshadowed by the artist’s famed late portraits, with the exhibition “Klimt Landscapes.”

In the winter of 1903, around 20 landscapes featured in the artist’s only substantial one-man show in Vienna before his death. Known for their innovative square format, which betrayed the artist’s interest in photography, and produced en plein-air (outside), an approach also favoured by the Impressionists, these bucolic works were praised by contemporary critics and were highly sought after by collectors. (Read more.)

A legal heir of a lost Klimt comes forward, HERE. 

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Restorative Discipline: Crippling Children's Mental Maturity And Validating Violence

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

I remember the first time I heard about "restorative discipline." I was in one of my last years of teaching and we were being told that kids no longer needed consequences to correct their behavior but a strategy called restorative discipline. Having been a teacher for almost thirty years, I was suspect of the phrase. You see, education administrations have a way of naming new trends so that they sound really good even when they are really bad. Or worse, ineffective.

When I first heard the term I was mentoring some new teachers at the local high school. The school had just implemented a new strategy that included creating a "ninth grade academy" in our school, a wing dedicated just to 9th grade classes and students. The idea was that 9th graders would adjust better if they were kept out of the 10th, 11th and 12th grade populations and therefore cause fewer incidents and problems. Like most ideas, it didn't work out the way they thought it would. Discipline referrals went up so much that the administrator in charge of the 9th grade academy would hide them in his desk drawer and not log them into our local, state and federal discipline stats. By halfway through the year, his drawer was overflowing. That was a violation of COMAR (State policy).

It was then the onslaught of counselors, psychiatrists, and mental health personnel started showing up to take kids out of class. It was usually the students who were behavior problems. They were glad to leave class because they got free pizza. It didn't matter to administration if these students were missing class time or content because the most important thing was for them to discuss their lives with someone who would then help them learn how to control their emotions. They called it "restorative discipline." (Read more.)

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Antisemitism is the Devil's Flagpole

 Here is a succinct history of antisemitism. I still do not understand Klavan's problem with the title of "Christ the King" since it is very Biblical and one of the most ancient titles of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus was hailed as a king at the Epiphany at the visit of the Magi when still an infant, especially with the mystic gift of gold which symbolized His royalty as a Son of God and Son of David. And on the Cross, Jesus was given the title of "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews." From Andrew Klavan:

Antisemitism is the Devil’s Flagpole. It always marks the place where evil dwells. It adheres to no one political party, no particular race or nation. But wherever and whenever it appears, it is a signal that something is going very badly wrong in that place and time.

There’s a simple reason this is true. The antisemites think they hate the Jew in front of them, but it’s that other Jew they really hate.

Because the soul of the West was indelibly shaped by Christianity, the God of the West is the Jewish God, the God of Abraham made incarnate in Jesus Christ. Western ideas about God — that he made both men and women in his image, that he identifies with the least among us, that his personality is centered on forgiveness and love — these ideas were all gifts of I AM to his Chosen People. So too were the laws carved on the stones of Sinai and etched over slow centuries into the animate substance of the Jewish heart. Ultimately, the ideas underpinning these laws became the ideas of everyone who followed Jesus Christ. (Read more.)

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The Case for the All-Red Room

 From Architectural Digest:

In the mid 1930s, legendary Vogue editor in chief Diana Vreeland began writing a column for Harper’s Bazaar called Why Don’t You? in which she would encourage readers to try something new, almost as an absurdly glamorous dare. Among her suggestions was the idea that readers might decorate their homes entirely in green, with a verdant mix of houseplants and glazed porcelain. But Vreeland’s personal favorite color was red, specifically “the color of a child’s cap in any Renaissance portrait.”In 1955, she asked interior designer Billy Baldwin to create her famed New York apartment, which was completed in 1957 and later featured in the September/October 1975 issue of Architectural Digest. The living room, which Vreeland enthusiastically described as “a garden in hell,” is a master class in the art of monochromatic design. It’s not just that the room is all red: It’s that Baldwin and Vreeland combined red carpet, red upholstery, and red paint with objects that are culturally red, like playing cards and plaid throws. (Vreeland herself made the needlework pillows on the sofa.) (Read more.)

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The New Era Of Race Hoaxes

Matt Walsh reports on how a school principal from Baltimore was almost destroyed by a hoax.

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How Parents Are Slowly Ceding Authority to Children

 From Intellectual Takeout:

I was reminded of both of these episodes when I read Leonard Sax’s recent book, The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups. Sax is a family therapist who has spent a lot of time over the past few years talking to students and parents both in the United States and abroad, trying to find out what is going on with our kids. Sax uncovered some parenting behaviors that are leading to the creation of a generation of fat, entitled, fragile, and unhappy children. “We parents are spending more and more time and money on parenting,” Sax explains, “but when you look at the results, things are getting worse, not better.” Sax lists increased diagnoses of ADHD and bipolar disorder, increased obesity, and lower resilience as evidence of worse outcomes for children.

“Here’s my diagnosis,” Sax writes:

Over the past three decades, there has been a massive transfer of authority from parents to kids. Along with that transfer of authority has come a change in the valuation of kids’ opinions and preferences. . . . what kids think and what kids like and what kids want now matters as much, or more, than what their parents think and like and want. . . . These well-intentioned changes have been profoundly harmful to kids.

The first negative result of this transfer of authority is the “culture of disrespect” that Sax argues has blossomed as a result. He chronicles how and why some basic rules of behavior, such as apologizing for hurting someone else, are no longer taught to kids. Sax says kindergarten and first grade educators used to teach these basic rules—clean up your own mess, don’t take things that aren’t yours, say sorry when you hurt somebody, play fair, don’t hit—but that such behavioral instruction has been supplanted by phonics and other academic lessons. With schools no longer inculcating these important and basic rules of behavior, parents are really on the hook. Instead, he argues, parents have abdicated their authority.

Sax isn’t the only fan of parental authority. Writing in the New York Times, psychologist  Lisa Damour extols the virtues of enforcing family dining, especially for teenagers. She says that demanding that children sit and eat together with their parents is not only better for the family unit as a whole, but also proves beneficial to teenagers later in life. Family mealtime ritualizes the two main components of successful authoritative parenting—structure and warmth. “Decades of research have documented that teenagers raised by authoritative parents are the ones most likely to do well at school, enjoy abundant psychological health and stay out of trouble,” writes Damour. (Read more.)

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Barnwell Manor

 From House and Garden:

The property went on the market in the latter stages of 2022 and has taken some time to sell, but the Duke himself has not lived there since 1995, due to the cost of maintaining the estate. Instead, he gave it over to Windsor antiques for tenancy and moved back to Kensington Palace, which has been the Gloucester's primary residence ever since. Barnwell Manor itself has 40 rooms, including a wood-panelled study, jolly green reception room, complete with ornate cornicing and intricately pelmeted curtains, and a glorious library with chintz curtains that suit the mood of the house. The decorative plasterwork throughout is a marvel, as are the beautifully mullioned windows and perfect country house interiors that are in excellent condition. While nothing is currently known about the new owners, they join a long line of illustrious names, from Prince Philip's private secretary Sir Brian McGrath to Prince Henry, the custodian who brought it into the royal family's tenure. It is a considerable property with a long line of history and immaculately restored interiors, so the hope is that whoever is next to take it on retains that same charm and period character. (Read more.)

 

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We’re in a Violent Crime Spike

 Glenn Loury & Charles Fain Lehman on The Glenn Show

 

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Meanwhile, In Talbot County...(Part2)

 From The Easton Gazette:

People send me text messages and emails throughout the week about matters of note, and this week I was perturbed to receive notice of "Big A*s Drag Bunch" at the Talbot County Community Center on May 12, 2024 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm. Now if such an event were occurring from 10:00 pm to 12:00 am at an adult venue in downtown Easton, I would not care. But why is a Drag Queen show occurring in the afternoon at a building surrounded by corn fields that belongs to Talbot Parks and Recreation and therefore is a place for the benefit of families? According to the EventBrite page:

Get ready for a fabulous time at the Big A*s Drag Brunch! Join us at Talbot County Parks & Recreation for a morning [?] filled with entertainment, delicious food, and unforgettable performances. Our talented drag queens will dazzle you with their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. Bring your friends and family for a fun-filled event that you won't want to miss!

Bottomless mimosas are also being offered as well. (Read more.)

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15th-century Heart-shaped Brooch

 

From the Victoria and Albert Museum:

This heart-shaped brooch with its romantic inscription was given as a token of love. It would have been used to fasten a tunic, gown or cloak. Gold was the most costly of metals, generally used only by royalty and the nobility. It is inscribed and would have formerly been enamelled on the reverse in French, in black letter script, ‘Ourselves and all things at your whim’ ('Nostre et tout ditz a vostre desier'). The design on the front of the brooch, possibly stylised leaves and flowers or feathers, would also have been colourfully enamelled.

Ring brooches often fastened garments with a slit at the neck. Both men and women used them. They first pulled the fabric through the ring. They then pushed the pin horizontally through the fabric. When they pulled the fabric back through the ring, it held the pin in place. (Read more.)

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Can Ignorant, Anti-Israel College Students Even Find Gaza on a Map?

Megyn Kelly is joined by Heather Mac Donald, author of "When Race Trumps Merit,” to discuss uneducated students unsure of what they’re even protesting, the ignorance of our next generation, and more.

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The 49th Parallel (1941)

 From Word and Song by Anthony Esolen:

Our Film of the Week, The 49th Parallel, was intended as a plea for help, from one friend to another. That is, the English, who of course had all the nations of the Commonwealth on their side, including that grand and unique nation of Canada, wanted the Americans to enter the war against the Nazi regime. Goebbels, misunderstanding quite badly both American feelings and American affection for our cousins across the ocean, thought that he could win the United States over to the German side.

By the time The 49th Parallel had made its way to the screen, however, the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States was in the war on both fronts. So the immediate political use to which the director, Michael Powell, and the screenplay writer Emeric Pressburger wished to put the film had already been accomplished. And yet the film is quite moving and powerful as a tribute to the kind of nation that the Canadians wanted to be, at their best, and also as a gesture of gratitude and appreciation for their southern neighbor. For, as the voice-over says at the beginning of the film, the forty-ninth parallel is unique in the world. It is merely a line on the map, well over a thousand miles long. It marks no river or mountain range. It is undefended. It requires no defense. And my family and I speak now from over twenty years of experience: we love Canada, and though we see that the people of each nation think they know more about their neighbors than they really do, we are always struck by the welcome we receive there, and the good cheer of the people, especially of the common folk who live far from the cosmopolitan cities. (Read more.)

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Debauve & Gallais

 A  200-year-old French chocolatier. Chocolate was once seen as medicinal. From Atlas Obscura:

WHEN SULPICE DEBAUVE STARTED SELLING chocolate in 18th century Paris, he touted the exotic import as medicinal. Debauve was a trained pharmacist, and, not incidentally, a “lumière,” one of Voltaire’s enlightened who saw science as the future. He used the utile dulci (useful sweet) to help the French Queen, Marie-Antoinette, cure her headaches.

In the process he revolutionized French chocolate. At the time, cacao was largely consumed as a beverage, one which Marie Antoinette had been drinking since her childhood in Vienna. Debauve mixed drinking chocolate with sweet almond milk and the bitter headache powder he concocted for her, then molded the mixture into disks and allowed it to solidify. The queen named these chocolates Pistoles after their resemblance to gold coins. (Read more.)

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The Marxist Roots of DEI

 Session 1: Equity | James Lindsay

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A Room of Her Own

 The Tuileries, which was the part of the Louvre where Marie-Antoinette lived, was destroyed in the 1870's. From Euronews:

France’s Louvre could move the Mona Lisa to her own basement room. Here’s why. She’s the world’s most famous and most visited work of art, with up to ten million admirers per year. Her enigmatic smile has been idolised by art lovers, and even targeted by thieves, soup-loving protesters, and even a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair who threw cake in her face. But now, a new project may prove the last queen of France Marie Antoinette right, as she found her “too small, too dark.”

Leonardo da Vinci’s painting "Mona Lisa" is about to be moved, in order to give La Gioconda more space. And appease visitors. Indeed, with Louvre visitors getting an average of 50 seconds to admire the "Mona Lisa", which is displayed behind a barrier and bullet-proof glass in the centre of the Salle des Etats (glass installed in the 1950s to protect it after an acid attack), many have dubbed it the world's most disappointing masterpiece. Understandable really, as the huge crowds and limited space in the gallery means it’s difficult to see Mona Lisa. (Read more.)

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The Real Jeanne du Barry

 From Tatler:

Born Jeanne Becú in 1743, the identity of du Barry’s father is lost to history. There are rumours that he was a monk, rather ironically known as Frére Ange – Brother Angel. Her mother Anne was a seamstress, who raised her daughter in the home of her own aristocratic lover, Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux. After the family was ousted from the Dumonceaux household, Jeanne worked on the streets of Paris, selling trinkets to passers-by to raise money for her family.

And so she would have remained, were it not for her unparalleled beauty. Known for her blonde ringlets and almond-shaped eyes, Jeanne’s face launched her into the courtesan intrigues of the French aristocracy. ‘Madame du Barry was the incarnation of beauty,’ historian Evelyne Lever told the documentary Secretes d’Histoire three years ago, ‘she was a veritable goddess.’ After being fired from her role caring for an elderly widow – whose two sons reportedly fell in love with the young Jeanne – she found herself preforming sex work in the gambling dens of Paris. It was here that she met Jean-Baptiste du Barry, a nobleman whose character is probably best summarised by his unfortunate nickname: Le Roué, or ‘The Old Lech’. (Read more.)

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Why the Centrists Changed Their Trans Tune

 From Mary Harrington at UnHerd:

So, now the winds have changed, we find Allsopp also back-pedalling. It was never true, she asserts, that there was “no debate” on the issue of medical experiments on gender-confused children. Puberty blockers, Kirstie informs us, were bad all along. But we could always talk about it: “it is, and always has been possible to debate these things and those saying there was no debate are wrong”. All the people (mostly women) unfairly fired or bullied out of jobs, all the grannies punched in Hyde Park by men with special identities, the no-platforming, the intimidation, the threats, and the censorship — that wasn’t actually a thing.

Allsopp is the clearest indicator yet that at least where child gender vivisection is concerned, at least some of the grandes dames of Truth Universally Acknowledged may have paused broadcasting a TUA in order to convince themselves, in the light of a new emerging groupthink, that the new consensus is what they believed all along. And because moral consensus precedes its “expert” rationalisation, so we also find that those who purport to stand for science and reason are also curiously quiet.

On Sunday, for example, Sex Matters founder Maya Forstater (herself notoriously a victim of the “No Debate” consensus Kirstie Allsopp says never existed) called on science communicator and Humanists UK president Adam Rutherford to defend systematic scientific reviews, against the trans activists spreading misinformation about the Cass Review. Did he come out swinging for science and reason over gender ideology? Reader, he flunked it: “It’s not something I know much about.” (Read more.)

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The Despair of the Philosophes

 From Catholic Exchange:

The period known as the Enlightenment (c. 1685-1815) was a critical moment in the history of Christendom, as it saw the emergence of a system of thought hostile to Christianity and the rise of systematic atheism. Many thinkers of the Enlightenment considered revealed religion offensive to reason, for revealed religion insisted that we give our assent on faith, which was considered antithetical to human reason. Consider the thought of Denis Diderot: Diderot (1713-1784) was a French writer and philosopher, best known as the editor of the monumental Encyclopédie, the world’s first general encyclopedia. Diderot began his life as a Roman Catholic, embraced Deism, and later devolved to full-blown atheism. In Diderot’s 1770 tract Thoughts on Religion, we see faith and reason posited as irreconcilable antagonists:

To admit any conformity between the reason of man and the eternal reason of God, and to pretend that God demands the sacrifice of human reason, is to maintain that God wills one thing and demands the other thing at the same time…If reason is a gift from heaven, and the same thing can be said of faith, then heaven has given us two presents not only incompatible, but in direct contradiction with each other. In order to solve this difficulty, we are compelled to say either that faith is a chimera or that reason is useless.1

Diderot considered the faith the Church asks of believers tantamount to an extinction of reason. We see this in his parable of the candle: “Bewildered in an immense forest during the night, and having only one small torch for my guide, a stranger approaches and thus addresses me: ‘Friend, blow out your light if you would be sure of the right path.’ This stranger is the priest.”2 (Read more.)

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Royal Portrait Exhibition at Buckingham Palace

 

From The Court Jeweller:

In May, Buckingham Palace will open the doors of The King’s Gallery to visitors for their annual summer exhibition. This year’s Royal Collection display, Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, includes some truly iconic royal images. Curator Alessandro Nasini explains, “This is the first exhibition from the Royal Collection entirely dedicated to modern portrait photography, an artistic medium that has helped to shape how the world views the British monarchy. We are excited for visitors to discover the beauty and materiality of these original prints, many on display for the first time, and we hope they will also enjoy a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative process behind some of these iconic royal images.”

The exhibition features work from some of the great royal portrait photographers of the 20th century, including Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding, and (former royal spouse) Lord Snowdon. Delightfully, the vintage prints are also accompanied by some fascinating ephemera–unreleased proof sheets, handwritten annotations, and even correspondence with members of the royal family. You’ll recognize some of Beaton’s work from his famous 1939 sitting with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother , shown on the proofs above. (Read more.)

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The Underground Government: Volunteer Committees and Commissions In Small Towns

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

If you know anything about living in a small town, you know about volunteers, committees and commissions. Most small towns don't have the population or the money to run all town operations with paid employees, so volunteers often fill the gap. These people are mostly wonderful people who want to give back to the community. Many are retirees or stay at home spouses. Sadly, sometimes they work to get favors from town government.

Having been what someone once called a "professional volunteer" throughout my life, I know how important volunteers are. I was a volunteer coach, a volunteer state, regional and national chairman for a sports organization, and a volunteer for other projects. If you think about it, most of what happens in our country would not happen without volunteers.

So, when I started to look into volunteers in some of our local communities, I looked beyond charitable organizations and instead looked at what I call "government volunteers." In other words, these are people who help in quasi-official government committees and commissions. Many are sworn in to office by local officials. (Read more.)

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Women in the Days of the Cathedrals

While researching my novel set in medieval France, I was recommended  Women in the Days of the Cathedrals by Régine Pernoud. Written in a scholarly but uncomplicated prose, the book is a response to the recurring modern accusation that the Roman Catholic Church suppressed women. Although the facts of history prove the reverse to be true, the myth continues to be promoted, which is why the work of Madame Pernoud is invaluable. The book opens with a discussion of how women had virtually no legal status in pagan Rome; girl babies were routinely murdered at birth. (p.19) Daughters were rarely given a first name but usually were called by a feminine form of the family name. When Christian virgins such as Agnes and Cecilia asserted their personalities and their chosen vocations of being Brides of Christ, preferring death to unchastity or faithlessness, then the Roman world was shaken to its core. (pp. 18-20) The fact that the Church recognized the dignity of the immortal soul regardless of gender gave women certain rights and protections under ecclesiastical laws, increasing the dignity of women in the civil sphere as well.

Madame Pernoud demonstrates how repeatedly throughout the West the Faith was introduced to a country through the efforts and perseverance of devout queens, from Bertha in England to Clotilda in France to Olga in Kiev. (pp. 15-16) Monasteries of nuns were founded throughout Europe where women from all walks of life were educated. (p.61) The monastery at Fontevrault received both genders although a widow was always chosen to govern. (p. 113)

Improvements in the construction of chimneys and fireplaces made the hearth a central place for the family to congregate, strengthening family life. As the author states:

The advent of the chimney and hearth has certainly played its part in the renewed role that women held within the family. It meant that they were integrated in communal life. This was the reverse of life in the former women's quarters or present day harems, which confine women in a place apart and are symbols of exclusion. The fireplace also obviously simplified domestic tasks and consequently lightened the workload of women....

Family solidarity, already paramount in Northern and Celtic cultures, took on its full expression at that point. It was forged around the fireplace.... there was one place that a woman could feel to be her own domain and where she was the lady, the domina: it was the hearth. (pp.69-70)

Particularly fascinating is the exploration of women and political power. It is known how heiresses such as Eleanor of Aquitaine wielded great authority in their lands but other women as well, including Adela of Blois, Anne of the Ruthenians, Queen of France, and Mathilda of Tuscany. There is much we can learn from them, as the author explains:

The exercise of supreme political power did not impede them from being women to the full. They had no desire to imitate or copy masculine models. In their behavior, they remained essentially women even when they acted in a military or political field. They did not renounce being admired or loved. Furthermore, they brought to their activity a certain quality of attention to people and even essentially feminine solutions which would have escaped a lord or captain. (pp. 185-186)

How did society come to change? Madame Pernoud describe how certain factors, such as the Black Death in the fourteenth century, caused the monasteries to decline. Women were not permitted to study at the rising universities, which replaced the monasteries as centers of higher learning, thus gradually altering the educational level of women in general. (p.231)

The book concludes by discussing the lives of Catherine of Siena and St. Joan of Arc and how the medieval culture made possible such phenomena which would have been unthinkable at any other time.

But about Joan, we cannot conclude without remarking on a feature of the mentality prevalent in the nineteenth century, which still lingers nowadays among a few obstinate people. At that time, the question was asked and that surprised people was how could this peasant's daughter be received by the king or how could this girl be allowed to lead an army?...But after completing this study on the status of women in the period that preceded her, we may think this problem has already been resolved....The Order of Fontevrault, which still existed in the fifteenth century, bears witness to a time when women were trusted and when the memory of Eleanor, Blanche, and so many others was far from having disappeared. (p.247)

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Columbia President After 9/11 Said Terrorism Is ‘A Form Of Protesting’

 From The Daily Wire:

Just two months after the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States, Columbia University’s president Minouche Shafik remarked that terrorism was a “form of protesting against a system,” according to a video unearthed by The Daily Wire.

Shafik, who was a vice president at the World Bank at the time, was asked about the economic roots of terrorism in developing countries during an event with the University of California-Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies. While she condemned “extreme views” held by terrorist groups, she said the reason they are popular is because terrorism is a “protest.”

“You’ll always have individuals who will have extreme views,” Shafik said at the November 2001 event, “but what’s really troubling in the region is that there’s actually quite a broad base of society which has some sympathy for the terrorists, not so much because they approve of their methods, but it’s a form of protesting against a system which is not delivering for them on the economic or the political front.” (Read more.)

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Divine Right and the Petition of Right

 From The History Jar:

Divine right is the belief in the God given right of a monarch to rule. The idea was established in the reign of James (1603-25) who believed that the king was subject to no other earthly authority and could only be judged by God. Any attempt to depose or even to restrict the powers of the king went against God’s will. In 1598 he had published a book called The True Law of Free Monarchies. He claimed that ‘Kings are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power on earth’. The Basilikon Doron written by the king as a set of instructions for his eldest son, Prince Henry, in 1599 identified his ideology more clearly.

The book is divided into three parts:

I) how to be a Christian king

2) practical aspects of kingship

3) the king’s behaviour in everyday life.

James’ belief in the divine right of kings had a negative impact on his relationship with the English Parliament. During the reign of his successor, Charles who inherited the throne following the deaths of his elder brother in 1612 and James in 1625 also believed in the divine right of kings. Charles I also believed that because he was God’s representative only he had the right to make laws and that to oppose him was a sin. He believed that he was above the law and had to govern according to his conscience.

By the time James died in 1625 Parliament was suspicious of the Stuart kings, by 1628 the tension turned to Parliamentary demands known as the Petition of Right. Charles lacked both experience and confidence and relied upon the advice of his favourite, the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham advocated a raid on Cadiz which was a disaster. Parliament demanded that she should be impeached – so Charles dissolved parliament before it granted him any funds. Buckingham arranged for the king to marry a French Catholic bride (Henrietta Maria) and then went to war with the French in 1627 in support of the Huguenots of La Rochelle – the whole thing was a disaster because of poor planning. By 1628 Charles was at war, without any money and was trying to extract forced loans. He had no choice but to call Parliament. (Read more.)

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Are There Furries In Your Child's School?

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

What in the heck is a "furry? " This is a question I was asked recently by a parent who was totally confused when they saw a story about students walking out of a middle school in Utah because the Administration of their school, Mt. Nebo Middle School, allows students who claim to be animals to act and dress up like animals during school. Other students claim to be spit on, sprayed on, clawed at, barked at etc. by these "furries." The administration allegedly set up a litter box in the girls' bathroom.

So what are "furries"? I mean it sounds so cute, right? Can this be real?

Yes, it is.

"Furries" can be defined in many different ways, but the bottom line is that they are people who dress up and portray animals in their everyday lives. It's sort of like a Halloween costume but worn more, even during the day when one might be on the job or in school. The fad started in the 1980's as an off shoot of events like Comic Con where people dress up like their favorite comic book and/or science fiction characters. Rod Stansfield and his partner Mark Merlino saw hundreds, sometimes thousands, attended the Comic Con events, and decided to start one for people who wanted to take on the appearance of animals. They suddenly had a following as big as Comic Con. The furry culture grew after several popular TV series such as CSI devoted episodes to it.

Over the decades, the concept of "furries" has started creeping into society and has morphed into a haven for some adolescents and adults who are dealing with bullying or some form of disability. Others want attention and this is a way to get it. Many associate overly committed "furries" with transgenderism and point to body dysphoria as the mental state that brings on the behavior. Some associate the behavior with sexual fetishes. Many trace the practice back to anthropomorphic animals portrayed in movies, video games, and televisions.

Not all "furries" are disruptive. Some just participate in the practice during their lives outside of work or school. Like the attendees at a Comin Con, they dress up for the weekend, have a blast, and then go home to reality. (Read more.)

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Harriet Tubman's Cabin

 From The Easton Gazette:

I once heard a mainstream news personality describe Harriet Tubman as someone who had led "millions" of enslaved persons to freedom during the days of legal chattel slavery in America. Such an individual clearly has no concept of how difficult it was to lead a mere ten people out of Dorchester County, Maryland, through the swamps in the middle of the night, being chased by bloodhounds. Maybe it was just her personality, or maybe it was the head injury she suffered as a teenager, but Harriet knew no fear. She had an uncompromising faith in God, and was comforted and guided by dreams and visions. Plus she made it a point to be always well-armed. She was not going down without a fight.

In the last three years or so there has been the discovery and archaeological excavation of Harriet's father's cabin in what is now known as Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge outside of Cambridge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Harriet, who was then known as Araminta Ross, or "Minty" was one of the many children of the freeman Benjamin Ross and his enslaved wife Harriet Ross. Because their father Benjamin Ross was free and married to their mother, Minty, her mother and her siblings went by the Ross name rather than the last name of their enslaver, as was usually the custom. Their enslaver was Edward Brodess who owned several properties in Dorchester County. Minty, her mother and siblings worked at a farm in Bucktown, Maryland. It was in the general store in Bucktown that thirteen-year-old Minty tried to protect an escaped slave but the white overseer threw a lead weight at her head, causing a brain injury. Minty afterwards suffered from headaches, seizures and narcolepsy but she also began to have prophetic dreams and visions. The Bucktown General Store where she was attacked and injured is now a museum. (Read more.)

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A Habsburg Archduke on Mexico’s Throne

 From The Hungarian Conservative:

Mexican conservatives approached Maximilian as early as in 1859 with the proposal of making him ruler of their country. He seemed like an ideal candidate: he was unlikely to ever rule Austria, was proven to be a competent administrator of Lombardy, and furthermore, was a royalty from a European nation that was neutral in the conflict between Mexico and the intervening powers. This scheme could finally materialize in 1863, when the French Empire and its Mexican conservative allies gained a foothold in Mexico, after Napoleon III invaded the country in 1861. To lend legitimacy to his enterprise, the French emperor allowed his Mexican allies to invite Maximilian to the throne.

Maximilian arrived at Mexico in 1864 and was subsequently crowned emperor. Despite his title and the name of the new state, Mexican Empire, Maximilian was not in charge of the whole country. Republican rebels, led by Benito Juárez still ruled many regions, especially in the northern areas, along the border with the United States.

As emperor, Maximilian continued his programme of reforms just where he had left off in Lombardy. He affirmed many of Juarez’s reform laws, including freedom of religion, and the secularization of the church landholdings. Maximilian was supported by a small, but influential group of Mexican scientists and scholars, referred to by historians as ‘los imperialistas’. Influenced by Positivist ideas, these progressive minds sought to use the monarchical framework to implement reforms. Their vision was of a centralized liberal autocracy; therefore, these intellectuals strived to reform the administration, the municipality structure, and the legal code of the country. The ‘imperialists’ also supported Maximilian in his quest to expand education and uplift the Indians. (Read more.)

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Meanwhile, In Talbot County….

 In Maryland just like everywhere else the people formerly known as "liberals" are showing themselves to be quite rigid and tyrannical. From The Easton Gazette:

At 215 Bay St., Suite 7 in Easton, MD on April 17, 2024 the Board of Elections met in a meeting open to the public. They included in their agenda a time for “Public Comment” in which members of the community may speak. On their website, the Board of Elections has the following cryptic statement:

Public comment is not a Debate. It is not a question and answer session. It is not a discussion. It is not a conversation. If, after a public comment, a member of the BOE wishes to clarify by question, that is possible. With that in mind, the BOE thanks the public for your interest, welcomes the public to speak and requests that anyone who would like to speak please state your name for the record.

So it appears that public comments are welcomed as long as they are innocuous statements and do not demand too much information from the Board. At any rate, several citizens were present with questions and comments which they began to respectfully submit during the time set aside for “Public Comment.”

One citizen asked about the cameras above the two ballot drop boxes, which both appear to be attached to the buildings and are actually the buildings’ front door monitoring system. She asked if those were the cameras used to monitor the drop boxes as required by COMAR, and if so, were they retaining the videos for the required 22 months so they could be reviewed. The same person asked if the Board had addressed the issue of official emails going only to the Executive Director of the Board and not to the other members. (Read more.)

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On Fair Rosamund

 I could never understand the fascination over Rosamund Clifford, especially with Eleanor of Aquitaine around. I never knew that Blenheim Palace is where Woodstock used to be. From History...the Interesting Bits:

In the same year as Eleanor’s imprisonment, Henry’s relationship with Rosamund became common knowledge. She resided at the royal palace of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, which was extensively refurbished in the early 1170s. It was said that ‘King Henry had made for her a house of wonderful workmanship, a labyrinth of Daedelian design.’¹ There was said to be a labyrinth, a secret bower where Henry and Rosamund met and a well where Rosamund bathed. Rosamund’s Well can still be seen today in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, which now stands where Woodstock once stood.

Although it has come down through legend as a great love story, nothing is known of Rosamund’s feelings towards Henry, nor whether she any any say in her position as the king’s mistress. The chroniclers of the time, of course, painted her as the fallen woman, a seductress and adulteress. They created puns derived from her name; Rosamund, or rosa mundi meaning the rose of the world became rosa immunda – the unclean rose – and rosa immundi – the unchaste rose.

 That poor Rosamund was blamed for Henry’s infidelity was a sign of the times; women were the daughters of Eve, temptation for honourable men who had no power to resist them. Rosamund’s early death was seen as a just punishment for her lascivious lifestyle. Rosamund ended her relationship with Henry in 1175/6 and withdrew to Godstow Abbey. It seems likely that she was already ill when she entered the priory and she died in 1176. Henry paid for a lavish tomb within the convent church, at which the nuns left floral tributes on a daily basis. In the years following Rosamund’s death, Henry endowed the convent with 2 churches at Wycombe and Bloxham, new buildings and substantial amounts of building materials. Rosamund’s father, Walter, granted the abbey mills and a meadow, for the souls of his wife and daughter. (Read more.)

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The Tragic Life of Marie-Thérèse of France

From Salon Privé Magazine:

As Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France grew older, the French Revolution threatened. Because the country supported the American Revolution, funds were very low and France was borderline bankrupt. Attacks on the royal family became more vicious and the monarchy’s popularity plummeted. Within the Court of Versailles, xenophobia and jealousy were the primary causes of resentment towards Marie Antoinette, and due to her unpopularity with high-ranking officials within the court, she became the target of a vicious smear campaign. Pamphlets and leaflets were printed accusing her of a wide range of sexual deviancies and of sending France into financial ruin. Now, experts agree that Marie Antoinette was unfairly victimised and did little to deserve such treatment. At the time, however, this smear campaign worked and the public turned on her. (Read more.)

Madame Royale is one of the only novels about the life of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte.


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Most Americans Stand by Trump

 From MxM:

The first criminal trial facing a former president is also the one Trump case in which Americans are least convinced committed a crime, according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Only about one-third of U.S. adults say Trump did something illegal in the hush money case for which jury selection began Monday, while close to half think he did something illegal in the other three criminal cases pending against him.

Trump enters a rematch with President Joe Biden as the first presumptive nominee of a major party — and the first former president — to be under indictment. A verdict is expected in roughly six weeks, well before the Republican National Convention, at which he will accept the GOP nomination. Trump has made the prosecutions against him a centerpiece of his campaign and argued without evidence that Biden, a Democrat, engineered the cases.

However, a cloud of doubt hangs over all the proceedings. Only about 3 in 10 Americans feel that any of the prosecutors who have brought charges against Trump are treating the former president fairly. And only about 2 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the judges and jurors in the cases against him can be fair and impartial. (Read more.)

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Teens 'Begging to Have Body Parts Put Back On'

 From The Western Journal:

Gender clinics are committing the worst atrocities against children, and history will judge us harshly if it doesn’t stop. At these houses of horror, radical transgender theory becomes gruesome practices, leaving bodies mutilated and children “begging to have body parts put back on within months of having surgeries.”

This stomach-churning revelation came from Jamie Reed, a whistleblower from the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, whose exposé last February blew the lid off of this scandal, Fox News reported.

Speaking to Dr. Phil McGraw Thursday on his “Dr. Phil Primetime” program, Reed expounded on her experience in the “morally and medically appalling” industry. It’s not that Reed is a right-wing ideologue — she is, in fact, married to a transgender individual and identifies as “queer” — but rather that she witnessed a “number of things” that compelled her to speak out. (Read more.)

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The Gift of the Château de Rambouillet

Neither the dairy at Rambouillet nor the one at Trianon were for "playing milkmaid." Both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette embraced the practical view of generating food, income, and employment by having dairies, as well as giving an example to other nobles of investing in agriculture. From France Today:

Back to Louis XVI and his desperation to bring Marie-Antoinette to the castle he loved so much. Along with an experimental farm, which he populated with merino sheep imported from Spain, and a nursery garden, in which he had exotic species planted following botanic exploration trips abroad, he wooed Marie-Antoinette with a rather astonishing gift. 

He ordered the construction of an ornamental creamery, which was designed for the sole purpose of tasting and enjoying dairy products, a fashionable hobby at the end of the 18th century. The king commissioned the best artists of the time: painter Hubert Robert and sculptor Pierre Julien, who crafted the building to resemble a Greek temple. A small zoo was also built just outside the creamery. The project was completed by 1787 and the king planned a spectacular unveiling for the queen who, despite the monumental grotto, finely sculpted detailing, mahogany furniture and finest porcelain set…still preferred Versailles’ Trianon palace! (Read more.)

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Biden Admin Issues New Title IX Ruling

 From The Easton Gazette:

On Friday, April 19, 2024 the Biden Administration issued its Title IX guidance and policy that will force school districts to investigate any and all sexual harassment complaints, even those that occur off school grounds. The ruling extends protections to LGBTQ students. The policy will go into effect in August 2024.

Key parts of the ruling are:

1. Training for all employees about the school's processes to address sex discrimination and how to report to the Title IX Coordinator.
2. Require schools to provide support to any complainant and respondent to any conduct that may constitute sex discrimination, including sexual violence and other forms of sex-based harassment.
3. Require schools to respond promptly and effectively to any and all complaints of sexual harassment in a fair, transparent, and unbiased way that include trained decisionmakers to evaluate all relevant and not otherwise impermissible evidence.

This policy will also require that Title IX Coordinators investigators, et al. may not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against complainant students.

According to the chair of House Education committee the ruling " undermines existing due process rights, placing students and institutions in legal jeopardy and again undermining the protections Title IX is intended to provide." She also stated that the inclusion of transgender students rolls back protections for women.

What is missing from this policy is the proposed rule concerning trans students' participation in sports. In 2023 the proposed rule would have addressed the controversial issue. However, the possibility elicited hundreds of thousands of comments from the public. Some claim that the unpopularity of this part of the law has caused the administration to push its implementation to after the 2024 election. The rules published today will take effect in August 2024. (Read more.)

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Lincoln Center Cancels Mozart

 From The New York Post:

When Black Lives Matter becomes a marketing strategy, facts offer little impediment to speaking “one’s truth.” Take the case of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which banked its pandemic recovery on a narrative of its own abhorrence. In 2020, the center began promoting a story that a vibrant black community known as San Juan Hill had been deliberately snuffed out in the 1950s to make way for its creation.

“The displacement of Indigenous, Black, and Latinx families that took place prior to the construction of our campus is abhorrent,” declares the center’s “Message on Our Commitment to Change.”

“We may never know its full impact on those dispossessed of the land on which Lincoln Center sits. But only by acknowledging this history can we begin to confront the racism from which our institution has benefited.” (Read more.)

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The Face of Tragedy

Marie-Antoinette with Her Children

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin, Madame Royale, and Princess Elisabeth are insulted by the mob on their road back to Paris after their interception at Varennes by the postmaster Drouet. Via Le Boudoir de Marie-Antoinette.

The Return from Varennes by Edward Matthew Ward

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Trump Supporters in Harlem

 

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Time and Christianity

 From Catholic Exchange:

In Confessions, Augustine provided a model of personal time that provides each person with a model of the individual experience of the life and significance of Christ that has little to do with formal chronologies, history, and public events. It depends upon the old Greek idea of the Logos as developed by Philo Judaeus of Alexandria and the Apostle John. Philo wrote of the Logos: God creates “at once, not merely by uttering a command, but by even thinking of it” (Philo, n.d., III.13). And John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1).

Logos simply exists at all times but by taking on flesh enters into time, interacts with time, bringing light into time, whereas before there was only darkness. Darkness, time, yields to lightness, eternity. Ignorance yields to knowledge. Time is darkness because we cannot see what lies ahead. The future is unknown, and the past a memory. The present is a brief momentary anticipation of what might be. But if light enters darkness, if timeless enters time, then the path forward is brightened, made aware to us, lighting the way in the darkness. The future, always dark, is opened to light, and complete ignorance gives way to some knowledge of what will be. Not what might be. Because the night implies ignorance, implies that we are still guessing based on experience. No, now we know what will be thanks to the light.

All cultures have struggled to know the Logos. Polytheistic peoples conceived of a divinity that was inherent in nature, controlling all things, encompassing past, present, and future. The Hebrews identified it as Yahweh. The Greeks as the mind, the infinite, the good—the Logos. Asian philosophy called it the Way, the source, the Brahma. Christianity offers a unique perspective, that of a Transcendent Being that acts in time without being confined by it, acting subtly upon the self, connecting the self to the transcendent—a direct physical and spiritual connection. (Read more.)

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"Those Who Love" by Sara Teasdale

Those who love the most,
Do not talk of their love,
Francesca, Guinevere,
Deirdre, Iseult, Heloise,
In the fragrant gardens of heaven
Are silent, or speak if at all
Of fragile inconsequent things.

And a woman I used to know
Who loved one man from her youth,
Against the strength of the fates
Fighting in somber pride
Never spoke of this thing,
But hearing his name by chance,
A light would pass over her face.

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Former Philadelphia Judge of Elections Convicted of Conspiring to Violate Civil Rights and Bribery

 From the DOJ:

A former Judge of Elections has been convicted for his role in accepting bribes to cast fraudulent ballots and certifying false voting results during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections in Philadelphia. Domenick J. Demuro, 73, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty during a sealed proceeding on March 16, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond to conspiring to deprive persons of civil rights, and using interstate facilities in aid of bribery. The court unsealed the matter today. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30, 2020.

During his guilty plea hearing, Demuro admitted that while serving as an elected municipal Judge of Elections, he accepted bribes in the form of money and other things of value in exchange for adding ballots to increase the vote totals for certain candidates on the voting machines in his jurisdiction and for certifying tallies of all the ballots, including the fraudulent ballots. Demuro further admitted that a local political consultant gave him directions and paid him money to add votes for candidates supported by the consultant, including candidates for judicial office whose campaigns actually hired the consultant, and other candidates for various federal, state and local elective offices preferred by that consultant for a variety of reasons. Demuro also admitted that the votes he added in exchange for payments by the political consultant increased the number of votes fraudulently recorded and tallied for the consultant’s clients and preferred candidates, thereby diluting the ballots cast by actual voters.

“This defendant abused his office by engaging in election fraud for profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s conviction makes it clear that the Department of Justice will do all in its power to protect the integrity of elections and maintain public confidence in all levels of elected government.” (Read more.)

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Queen Victoria's Memorial to Princess Elizabeth Stuart

"To the memory of The Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I, who died at Carisbrooke Castle on 8 September 1650, and is interred beneath the chancel of this church, this monument is erected as a token of respect for her virtues and of sympathy for her misfortunes, by Victoria R., 1856."

Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria who died in prison with her head cushioned on her father's Bible. From The Victorian Web:

The daughter of Charles I of England, Princess Elizabeth (1635-1650) was imprisoned, together with her young brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, after the execution of their father. From Penshurst Place, the children were sent in August 1650 to Carisbrooke Castle, where Elizabeth immediately fell ill and died on the 8 September. She was buried in the old St Thomas Church, Newport. A plain stone engraved with her initials, E. S., was the only indication of her burial place beneath the chancel. In 1793, workers, who were digging a grave, discovered her vault with her coffin bearing the following inscription: "ELIZABETH, 2nd daughter of the late King CHARLES, deceased September 8th, MDCL." A brass plaque was then placed on the stone covering the vault below the main altar. On the rebuilding of the church, Queen Victoria signified to the Mayor that she would erect a monument to the memory of the Princess Elizabeth "if an appropriate place could be found in the new Church" (Isle of Wight Observer, 5 August 1854: 4). (Read more.)

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, saying farewell to their father Charles I

 More HERE.

Death of  Princess Elizabeth

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What Does Maryland Legislation Mean To YOUR Child?

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

As the Maryland General Assembly ended Monday, many of the bills passed dealt with education. Most people don't know which bills were passed, much less how these bills will impact them and their children.

House Bill 945/SB 771-Initial Teacher Certification: Almost everyone knows that Maryland is suffering a teacher shortage. In many jurisdictions, classes are crowded, teachers are teaching out of area, or classes are simply not offered or covered. This bill attempts to alleviate that problem by allowing more people to get certified. It will allow more people to move from another career into teaching. One of the problems of the bill is that it will also allow the State of Maryland to make certain changes to the skills needed to be a teacher. This might mean that your child's teacher will be trained in counseling but may not have basic academic skills.

2024 Regular Session - House Bill 945 Third Reader (maryland.gov)

House Bill 1493-Public and Nonpublic Schools – Child Sex Offenders – Prohibition on In–Person Attendance: This bill, passed last minute by the Maryland Legislature, will be a plus for any child in a public or private school. The text of the bill prohibits a child from in–person attendance at a public school or a nonpublic school that receives State funds if the child has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses; requiring each local school system to provide alternative educational options for children prohibited from in–person attendance in a certain manner; and generally relating to the prohibition of in–school attendance by children convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses. (Read more.)

 

And at the end of the Session:

Maryland House Bill 558 is dead. Again.

For people in education in Maryland, it may seem like deja vu. Last year at this time, education organizations were celebrating the block they put in front of a house bill that was the precursor to the above bill. It was a bill that would force local school systems to teach ALL sections of the State's Health and Sex Education Framework or be faced with a fine from the Maryland State Superintendent.

The effort is part of what got the State Superintendent at the time, Mohammed Choudhury, released from his duties.

Many school boards, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, and even MSDE itself protested the bill, as the drastic overreach it was. So, the bill went down in flames.

Not one to be deterred, Vanessa Atterbeary of Howard County, who was the sponsor of last year's bill, brought an almost identical bill back this year. The only difference was this year, she wanted systems to disallow parental opt outs for the units on "Gender Identity and Sexual Preferences." These opt outs would keep a child from participating in these units. We reported on her effort here:

Maryland Once Again Votes Against Parental Rights; Arikan's Bill Provides Glimmer Of Hope - Easton Gazette

Atterbeary was denied once again Monday when the legislature voted HB 558 into oblivion. Maybe SHE should be told, like Republican Kathy Szeliga was regarding her "Save Girls Sports," bill, to "not bring that bill back again next year. "

Yes, that was mean girl Atterbeary who said that to Szeliga.

Karma exists. At least in this case. (Read more.)

 

 

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