Planet America

[stanky]

In all seriousness, it's true that there are some great coutcomes for people who eschew traditional education for their kids in favor of homeschooling or even more unorthodox ways of raising and educating children. It's also true that there are kids who are homeschooled, and end up ignorant and unemployable at anything beyond menial labor..

The point is, if there was no school, the vast majority of parents would be unable to cope with home schooling and it would be an abject disaster.

2/3 of kids in America have both parents working. The idea that home schooling is an option is simple absurdity.

well, it IS an option.
What i find absurd is that Americans find themselves in this situation...wherein both parents must work to make ends meet.
Somehow, we let this happen, with barely a whisper of regret. Wasn't always so. (Like when i was a kid)
So, what changed?

We got sold a consumerism nightmare, disguised as convienence and more freedom. Even though families got smaller, houses doubled in size. Cars got more efficient, but suddenly, a family needs two or more. For the extra freedom.
Banks played along. Loans for small homes? Not worth it. Zoning laws played along. HOA's drive the spike in deeper.

It's as if we never noticed this happening. And now, even in educated circles (like here?) the consensus seems to be that alternative approaches are ridiculous. One must fall in line; eschew eccentric ambitions; be realistic...

A notable exception to both parents working (in the U.S.) and the flip side of what i'm describing, are single parent households. Absent the fathers, mostly.

We desperately need alternatives like co-parenting of non-married folks; sharing bloated houses with other small families; ways to be less enslaved. We need to make sure that creative people aren't taken out of the equation; that habitat is possible, as if they're an endangered species.

Otherwise, TA's last sentence above could become true, and not simple hyperbole.

[stanky]

We americans are frequently told that this is the wealthiest nation on earth.
It speaks volumes about the nature of wealth.

good thing gen z isn't having it. they (allegedly) are rejecting the 'dream' of marriage; kids; a house; a car...
they see the dream as the nightmare its become.
Meanwhile, we older types defend the billionaire phenomena as if it's reasonable.

Heard a stat the other day; hope it's not true, that the ten wealthiest Americans doubled their wealth in two years (during the pandemic) while most became poorer.

hate to see us all step in line and watch this process play out.

[sparks]

We americans are frequently told that this is the wealthiest nation on earth.
It speaks volumes about the nature of wealth.

good thing gen z isn't having it. they (allegedly) are rejecting the 'dream' of marriage; kids; a house; a car...
they see the dream as the nightmare its become.
Meanwhile, we older types defend the billionaire phenomena as if it's reasonable.

Heard a stat the other day; hope it's not true, that the ten wealthiest Americans doubled their wealth in two years (during the pandemic) while most became poorer.

hate to see us all step in line and watch this process play out.

Well said stank. Wealthiest nation on the planet my bleeding ass! We sure as hell don't act like it! Not with people dying due to a lack of decent food and childhood diseases that had previously been thought to have been eradicated. Goddamnit!

Oh, and I'm so happy the 10 richest doubled their wealth at the expense of everyone else on the planet. Hope the bastards choke to death on it.

[Meadmaker]

It has been about 48 hours since I read anything really new about that middle school. So here's what, in my opinion, makes it worthy as a "Planet America" story.


First and foremost, everything is political. A junior high drama goes national. It turns out the guy who made the protest video is a conservative "media person"....like maybe a youtuber or something. I didn't look him up. His wife is running for the state school board, on a conservative agenda. Before you know it, media outlets on left and right (mostly right) are yapping away on it as if they understood.

I first heard about the story from Megyn Kelly, but lots of other headliner conservatives chimed in. (Including Riley Gaines! She didn't have much to say, though.) The "headliners", i.e. those with a reputation to protect, were a bit cautious and didn't start making bizarre allegations, but the ones that just have a youtube channel had plenty of pictures that look like a furry convention, and comments about the school being "overrun" or "infested" with furries. I think we can safely say the right wing amplified the story beyond what it was worth. They really wanted it to be a slippery slope story about trans things.

However, the left isn't blameless, I don't think. We'll never know, nor should we know, exactly what happened at that school, but based on what I've read, some sort of animalish behavior that included at the very least some unwanted touching was allowed to go on for far too long. Democrats can't help themselves when ti comes to defending downtrodden minorities, and they will make one up if they have to. I think some of that went on here. I am convinced, based on what I've read and viewed, that the animalists were a real problem and that lots of kids complained about them for a long time, only to be told that they had to be nice because those other kids were just different.

If "just different" includes barking, it's not a good thing, and the school really should have put a stop to it sooner. Any time a junior high clicque starts their own identifying clothing, insignia, or accessories, something bad will happen.

And when they finally did do something about it, they botched it. Lying isn't a good look, and is not likely to have a good result. They knew what was going on at the school. They knew it wasn't as bad as the worst things the kids were saying, but they also knew that there were issues related to animal imitation, and they said, "There is no evidence...." They denied "it" was happening, without defining "it". There is a great deal of evidenc that something was happening, and that some of the bullying was coming from the "furries". By refusing to address it, the administration opened the door to the right wingers.

At least, that's my take on the subject.

[arthwollipot]

When you say "everything is political" and then divide the world into The Right and The Left, you are acting as an illustration of your own point.

[arthwollipot]

No evidence of 'furries' in Nebo School District despite allegations, social media firestorm

PAYSON — Allegations of students at Mt. Nebo Junior High School dressing up like animals and biting, barking and pouncing on fellow students created a social media firestorm on Wednesday.

As it turns out, these allegations were "completely unfounded," said Seth Sorensen, spokesman for the Nebo School District.

Last week, "students were not treating each other respectfully and things were occurring that they just did not feel were appropriate and conducive to education," Sorenson said.

A small group of students at the school were wearing headbands with animal ears, which led other students to throw food at them. Kelsey James, spokeswoman for the Utah State Board of Education, said that incident prompted the school to send a letter to students' families.

The letter, which was obtained by KSL.com on Thursday, reminded students of the district's dress code, which says "jewelry, accessories, tattoos, hair, facial hair and other elements of a student's appearance that draw undue attention, distract, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with the learning atmosphere at school or at school activities and events, or that create a health, safety, or welfare issue are prohibited."

After the administration had conversations with the students wearing the headbands — noting that they were a "little bit of a disruption" — the students stopped wearing them, Sorenson said.

The letter also addressed the food throwing targeted at the headband-wearing students, saying that a "written, verbal or a physical act that creates a hostile, threatening, humiliating, or abusive environment is not permitted."

"As that message went out, somehow, parts of that message were, we believe, misunderstood," Sorenson said. "Individuals took to social media to share their interpretations of the message, and it kind of turned into something wild and crazy."

He added that the school hasn't had any incidents of students wearing masks or animal costumes, nor have any students engaged in biting, licking or any other forms of animal-like behavior.

Still, the unfounded allegations of "furries" (people who dress and sometimes act like animals) spread like wildfire across social media, most prominently in conservative circles.

In a post Thursday on the social platform X, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said students "who behave like animals and bite classmates should be expelled" and administrators "who defend such behavior should be fired."

"There's really been no evidence that any of those behaviors ever occurred. The administration has had no reports from students that that happened," Sorenson said. "There's been a lot of things pushed out on social media that are inaccurate and a lot of information that is not factual and is based on hearsay and rumors."

The outrage that ensued over social media led to a group of students and parents staging a protest across the street from the school on Wednesday. Sorenson said that there were about 75 protesters, in total.

"They had signs that were expressing things like they wanted equal rights for everyone, and it was a very peaceful protest, and they behaved appropriately," Sorenson said. "It was not an issue, and in the meantime, our school continued as normal ... and today the situation is kind of gone."

State lawmaker and Utah gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman also chimed in on X, saying, "We The People, not the animals. Each of these children have more courage, conviction, and fortitude than all of our 'Republicans leaders' (RINOS) put together."

Both Lee and Lyman retweeted a post from Libs of TikTok, which the Washington Post says has amassed an audience of millions on X, largely by targeting LGBTQ+ people. In the video, a group of students speaking over each other complain that some students at the school wear masks and pounce on people.

[Meadmaker]

No evidence of 'furries' in Nebo School District despite allegations, social media firestorm

Oh yeah. I read that article.

He (Seth Sorenson) was lying.

There was lots of evidence. There were masks, not just animal ears. There was indeed food thrown, not because of animal ear headbands, but because they were barking. At least, so says the food thrower. (Note: Not to excuse food throwing,, but let's tell the truth.)

Now, we don't have independent evidence that they were barking at the time the food was thrown, but we do have independent evidence of barking. We do have independent evidence that there were masks not just headbands. Sorenson said there were no full body costumes, and he was correct. But there were masks. And, there was one very elaborate, furry style, mask, with brown fur. It was worn by someone who was wearing brown shirt and brown pants.

We have independent evidence of specific conversations with specific teachers. We have independent evidence that there were complaints about animal-related behavior for a long period of time.

[President Bush]

Pretty sure this is where it all started.

[stanky]

Adults screw up everything.
Kids can work it out; duke it out, even.
When the 'grown-ups' get involved, the kids learn how to be just like them.

deceptive, petty, hypocritical, cruel and boring.
good thing they wear reasonable clothes.

something uglier generally emerges from suppressed expression.
doesn't it? we don't sing in the streets or sleep on the beaches or celebrate color, lest it upset someone. Yet, we're the bully of the world.

[arthwollipot]

Oh yeah. I read that article.

He (Seth Sorenson) was lying.

Oh, well that settles that then.