Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people as Trump and the Far Right seek to enact archaic laws dating back to the wild west—is this their idea of Making America Great Again?
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 16 (206 total reports)
10.04.2023-16.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as Trump and the Far Right seek to enact archaic laws dating back to the wild west—is this their idea of Making America Great Again?
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
An elementary school in Kansas is combating bad behavior — by putting kids to work
This is an appealing story about engaging children who have a hard time functioning in many of the systems that encompass our young people. If you have any influence on discipline techniques being used with disengaged youth, please read this article and pass it on. Brainstorm about making young people part of a team and giving them meaningful tasks.
Best Links of The Week
16.04.2024
Trump ‘dangerous’ for the LGBTQ+ community and the US, says Jill Biden
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/04/15/jill-biden-donald-trump-2024-election/
If the Trump Republicans had their way (as evidenced in the 1864 bill passed in Arizona), LGBTQ+ orientation would be illegal and abortion would be treated more harshly than rape. Already policies across the US—and those passed this week in Idaho and supported by SCOTUS—prevent gender affirming care for any young person exploring their sexuality. Prevention of such care procedures has led to a marked increased suicide rate among teens. Why would anyone research this topic and still decide to pass those laws? What is to be gained by such cruelty, except political points among close-minded religious voters?
15.04.2024
The Fantasy of a Lily-White America
https://time.com/6966768/fantasy-white-america-eddie-glaude/
The richness of the US has always laid in diversity and plurality. There has never been a Lily-White America and there never can be. The Far Right is trying to sell a dystopian illusion that the US could be—or has ever been—a land of white males ruling over all who are not; including gender, sexual orientation, and/or race. Their delusion would be laughable, if not for so many people buying into it. A grim example of this is the 1864 abortion ban resurrected in Arizona last week. At the time of the law, women were not able to vote, in fact, only white male citizens of Arizona were allowed to vote. Other laws on the books at that time: Slavery, an blanket ban on LGBTQ+ people, age of consent at 10, and interracial marriage was illegal.
14.04.2024
Robert Reich: How To Understand Next Week’s Trump Criminal Felony Trial – OpEd
It is really important to peer behind the veil of both how the press is covering Donald Trump’s criminal trial and the way that the former president tries to portray the event (and himself). Robert Reich does a good job at peering through the fog. One distinction I read this week that I thought important was to remember that “this prosecution did not come in the middle of Trump’s campaign, but that Trump’s campaign came in the middle of this prosecution.” Trump’s crime was committed long before this campaign occurred (26 October, 2016), they have known the dates—and pushed to delay the trial—for almost a year (he was arraigned on April 04, 2023). As Reich points out, this is not a “hush money case” involving a sex worker. This is an Election Interference case. Trump has a pattern of lying to the American electorate and this is part of that pattern.
13.04.2024
Florida blocks heat protections for workers right before summer
Nothing says privilege or inhumanity more than passing a law like this. There can only be one reason for such a law, short-sighted catering to wealthy conservative business interests. The far right seems bent upon undermining its own long-term economic interests for short-term gains in politics. Could anything drive up your long term prices than people dying in your fields and on your construction sites or refusing to work in your state because of draconian practices? This is myopic maliciousness, nothing less.
12.04.2024
Suicide is on the rise for young Americans, with no clear answers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68782177
Last week we explored how happiness scores in North America—and particularly the US—were being inhibited by the melancholy of young adults in those countries. The headline here should come as no surprise given those statistics. Many young people are feeling so helpless that they see suicide as their only way out. This article helps remind us to keep our eyes open and to make extra efforts to reach out to this vulnerable group.
11.04.2024
Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/carl-jung-pillars-life-happiness/678009/
This brief article is a primer into some of Carl Jung’s ideas. It is a good summary for anyone looking for a jumping off point into deeper knowledge about Jung’s principles. I especially appreciate the author’s, Arthur C. Brook, use of the word “happierness” it’s a good prompt to remind us that happiness is not a state of permanence we attain and then remain. But a place we strive for (or even exist in) more often than not. Brooks is one of my favorite writers and I think you’ll enjoy his insights too.
10.04.2024
Minority Rule Is Threatening American Democracy Like Never Before
If you have not read “Tyranny of the Minority” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, it is time to add that book to your must read list. This book points to the ways that the constitution was designed to protect minority opinions, but it also looks at how a small, radically conservative, religious, right wing is using those protections to take away the rights of others and, indeed, undermine democracy itself. This read is a playbook that reveals the power and strategies of the far right, but also give you ideas for confronting and changing the underlying problems. Reading this book (and starting with this article) then passing it on to friends, could be the first part of your stand against authoritarian rule in the world today.
This Week’s Links
16.04.2024
Trump ‘dangerous’ for the LGBTQ+ community and the US, says Jill Biden
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/04/15/jill-biden-donald-trump-2024-election/
The Supreme Court Just Dealt a Massive Blow to the Right to Protest
https://newrepublic.com/post/180705/supreme-court-massive-blow-right-protest
Number of homicides plummets in major U.S. cities
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/16/homicide-rate-us-voters-trump
Debate an Indicted Traitor? No!
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/joe-biden-donald-trump-presidential-debate/678079/
15.04.2024
The Fantasy of a Lily-White America
https://time.com/6966768/fantasy-white-america-eddie-glaude/
Eighty-year-old psychologist reveals the one thing he would do differently if he could re-do life
Isolation: A Common Result of Surviving Family Trauma
Donald Trump isn’t on trial for paying off Stormy Daniels. He’s on trial for being stupid.
I Was a Skeptic of the Stormy Daniels Prosecution. I Was Wrong.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/stormy-daniels-prosecution-stronger-than-i-thought.html
Trump’s Presidential-Immunity Theory Is a Threat to the Chain of Command
14.04.2024
Robert Reich: How To Understand Next Week’s Trump Criminal Felony Trial – OpEd
The history of Arizona’s Civil War-era abortion ban
https://www.vox.com/politics/24128840/arizona-abortion-total-ban-law-roe-court-1864
Newsflash Donald Trump: Every day in America is Christian Visibility Day
Fla. Gov. DeSantis signs controversial laws limiting oversight of police
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/04/13/ron-desantis-signs-police-oversight-bills/7291713027759/
You might want to hold your tongue when watching your kids play sports - new study reveals the massive impact a parent’s sideline behaviour can have on children
How to give kids autonomy? 'Anxious Generation' author says a license to roam helps
13.04.2024
Florida blocks heat protections for workers right before summer
About 1 in 4 U.S. teachers say their school went into 'gun-related lockdown' during last school year
Right-Wing Media Are in Trouble
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/conservative-digital-media-traffic/678055/
Speaker Mike Johnson said noncitizen voting is a 'threat.' The facts say otherwise
12.04.2024
Suicide is on the rise for young Americans, with no clear answers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68782177
An elementary school in Kansas is combating bad behavior — by putting kids to work
The Roots of Evil
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-of-the-darkness/202404/the-roots-of-evil
What happens if Ukraine loses?
https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/04/11/what-happens-if-ukraine-loses
Russia Is Buying Politicians in Europe. Is It Happening Here Too?
https://newrepublic.com/article/180630/russia-corruption-network-europe-buying-politicians-america
Senate Dems Finally Subpoena Supreme Court Puppetmaster
Attempts to ban books are at an all-time high. These librarians are fighting back
Playing With 5 Whole Decks: An Autism Metaphor
6 books that shaped Japanese philosophy
https://bigthink.com/thinking/6-books-that-shaped-japanese-philosophy/
11.04.2024
Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/carl-jung-pillars-life-happiness/678009/
Attacks on election workers by Trump followers drive huge, historic turnover ahead of election
Republican Group Torches Trump With His Own Words In Damning New Video
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-own-words-against-him_n_661794d2e4b00830e9167134
The archaic Comstock laws were named for a man who also fueled the US obsession with book banning
Matt Gaetz’s teen sex scandal is back in the news & we’re thoroughly disgusted all over again
“Five Alarm Fire”: Why Arizona Ruling Is a Disaster for Trump and GOP
https://newrepublic.com/article/180606/five-alarm-fire-arizona-ruling-disaster-trump-gop
The right tried to rain on South Carolina's NCAA victory with transphobia. Dawn Staley won't let up
Biden’s Green Investments Aren’t Just Benefiting Cities
https://progressive.org/op-eds/bidens-green-investments-arent-just-benefiting-cities-money-20240409/
10.04.2024
Minority Rule Is Threatening American Democracy Like Never Before
Billionaire brothers bankroll education programs to feed misinformation to students: 'The goal ... is to gain control of levers of power'
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/wilks-brothers-media-manipulation-billions-percentage/
US Billionaires Have Doubled Their Wealth Since 2017 Trump Tax Overhaul
80 Percent of Global CO2 Emissions Come From Just 57 Companies, Report Shows
Former teachers reveal what made them quit and it explains why there are teacher shortages
Brené Brown on the No. 1 way to combat loneliness: 'It was one of the best things that ever happened to me’
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/09/bren-brown-on-the-no-1-way-to-combat-loneliness.html
Childhood Loneliness Linked to Later Psychosis - Neuroscience News
https://neurosciencenews.com/childhood-loneliness-psychosis-25891/
'Made me smile': Jimmy Carter’s quote about homosexuality and the Bible resurfaces
https://www.upworthy.com/jimmy-carter-homosexuality-bible-viral-quote
15 Things That Scream ‘I’m a Narcissist’ (According to Psychologists)
https://thethriftyapartment.com/things-that-scream-im-a-narcissist-according-to-psychologists/
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people as Trump and the Far Right seek to exhaust rationale people and create a false narrative undermining both the constitution and laws of conscience.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 15 (205 total reports)
03.04.2023-09.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as Trump and the Far Right seek to exhaust rationale people and create a false narrative undermining both the constitution and laws of conscience.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
Why You Should Stop Worrying About Your Parenting
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/parenting-anxiety-happiness-children/677960/
This article is liberating for adults who constantly—or even just often—worry about how children will turn out as adults. It reminds us to focus on the basics and to identify what those basics are.
Best Links of The Week
09.04.2024
None of This Is Normal
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/donald-trump-2024-election-none-of-this-is-normal
Two things that are very important to keep in mind at this time are 1) the political tactics of Trump and the Far Right are NOT normal, and 2) we must continue to challenge the behavior rather than succumb to it. This article does a good job at analyzing what is NOT normal about the political and social landscape today.
08.04.2024
New effort to "inoculate" U.S. voters against AI misinformation
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/08/election-misinformation-ai-ads
With MAGA-Right science deniers like Marjorie Taylor-Greene telling us that earthquakes and eclipses are signs that God is fed up with us, it seems we sadly need more protection for those people that addictively feast upon their unsubstantiated drivel. Once again the Christian Nationalist Right rose up and told us that the eclipse would be the start of the rapture on April 8, there must be a lot of disappointed Christians this morning. Come to think of it, I bet a lot of people wish they were gone.
07.04.2024
Semicolon tattoo: Here's what it means and why it matters.
https://www.upworthy.com/have-you-seen-anyone-with-a-semicolon-tattoo-heres-what-its-about-rp3
I didn’t understand the meaningful roots of this trending tattoo until I read this article, now I’m thinking of getting one myself (it would be my first tattoo). If you’re not familiar with its significance, this is a worthwhile read.
06.04.2024
History Will Judge the Complicit
https://apple.news/Au7VVj2V0QyCgw82B7_34zg
A post I recently read and admired said, “If you wonder what you would have done when the Nazis came to power, just look at what you are doing today.”
05.04.2024
Don’t Let Trump Exhaust You
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/04/dont-let-trump-exhaust-you/677973/
Trump’s behavior is typical of a narcissist’s strategy and that of a toddler in a toy shop. Throwing constant tantrums wears down the adults in the room and gets the toddler what he/she wants. Trump is the two-year-old toddler throwing a tantrum to get all the attention in the room. I find myself wishing he could be carried out of the toy section and placed in time out until he is forced to change his strategy. Unfortunately, this will not happen as long as his cult followers and the GOP continue to support his abhorrent behavior. We must remember, the goal of a toddler is not to get approval, but to get attention.
04.04.2024
Yes, we're divided. But new AP-NORC poll shows Americans still agree on most core American values
It is easy to overlook the core values that hold Americans together (what is the norm and what truly is normal). The research in this article (and graph included) reminds us that—on a number of critical issues—Americans still share key commonalities.
03.04.2024
What Kintsugi Can Teach Us About Our Emotional Health
This article refers to a Japanese concept in healing that has major applications to those who have suffered brokenness in our world today. It has to do with mending broken vessels. Take time to read it and see how it applies to your life and the life of those you impact. Perhaps you can pursue the challenge of growing expertise in Kintsugi healing.
This Week’s Links
09.04.2024
None of This Is Normal
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/donald-trump-2024-election-none-of-this-is-normal
Conservative Christians just lost their scholarly trump card on same-sex relationships
Biden's 'border crisis' is actually an economic success story
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/biden-democrats-immigration-economy-rcna146448
Yikes: See Trump roasted and dunked on by Larry David as 'Curb' ends
This Biden/Harris ad kicks Trump where it hurts (video)
https://boingboing.net/2024/04/08/this-biden-harris-ad-kicks-trump-where-it-hurts-video.html
Star Psychologist Adam Grant Suggests Your Overall Happiness Comes Down to 1 Life-Changing Word
08.04.2024
New effort to "inoculate" U.S. voters against AI misinformation
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/08/election-misinformation-ai-ads
7 Helpful Phrases for Politely Expressing a Different Opinion, According to a Psychologist
https://parade.com/living/phrases-to-politely-express-different-opinion-according-to-psychologist
The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust
https://apple.news/AnzdQAa6DS4OdgKrsNOascA
2 Things Not to Say to a Struggling Adult Child
Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as threats to human dignity
https://apnews.com/article/vatican-gender-surrogacy-abortion-pope-3f84d8eb97f045b0cfb0ec1efa4e614e
07.04.2024
Semicolon tattoo: Here's what it means and why it matters.
https://www.upworthy.com/have-you-seen-anyone-with-a-semicolon-tattoo-heres-what-its-about-rp3
17 Reasons Why Traditional Education Is Being Questioned by the Next Generation
A Ukrainian Exile’s Plea to Congress
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/04/ukraine-aid-russia-congress/677976/
How To Break the Cycle of Rumination
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-now/202404/how-to-break-the-cycle-of-rumination
Mom & son create app to keep LGBTQ+ people safe
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/mom-son-create-app-to-keep-lgbtq-people-safe/
Kids Can’t Read Anymore. Why?
https://www.hercampus.com/school/odu/kids-cant-read-anymore-why/
Trump says going to jail for gag order violation would be a 'great honor,’ compares himself to Mandela
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/06/trump-being-jailed-for-gag-order-violation-would-be-great-honor.html
This innocent question we ask boys is putting more pressure on them than we realize
06.04.2024
History Will Judge the Complicit
https://apple.news/Au7VVj2V0QyCgw82B7_34zg
What Orwell Really Feared
https://apple.news/AJm0sfjFPRRaXlkCRO-z3JA
The Trump Two-Step
https://apple.news/AtEzuSlizQxWj9Wkd0GYHqA
Biden to Baltimore: 'Your nation has your back'
https://www.dw.com/en/biden-to-baltimore-your-nation-has-your-back/a-68755085
3 Common Side Effects of Narcissistic Parenting
Helping Boys Think Things Through Before Acting
Parents who raise successful, resilient kids never do these 5 things, experts say
Why We Need to Be Wild
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/defining-memories/202402/why-we-need-to-be-wild
05.04.2024
Don’t Let Trump Exhaust You
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/04/dont-let-trump-exhaust-you/677973/
Beyond efforts to contain Trump, his radicalized followers pose growing threat
New York state is demanding more information on Trump’s $175 million appeal bond in civil fraud case
Border Patrol must care for migrant children who wait in camps for processing, a judge says
What asylum-seekers face at the U.S. border after a grueling journey through Mexico
Star Psychologist Adam Grant Needed Just 7 Words to Explain How to Avoid Burnout and Still Be Super Successful
Her son came out. She called a gay bar for advice. The delightful conversation went viral.
Is your kid lining up toys and repeating actions? Here are four expert-approved ways to support autistic play
https://www.goodto.com/family/understanding-why-autistic-children-play-differently
New study shows changes in the U.S. Catholic Church over past 50 years
04.04.2024
Yes, we're divided. But new AP-NORC poll shows Americans still agree on most core American values
Why You Should Stop Worrying About Your Parenting
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/parenting-anxiety-happiness-children/677960/
Trump's Ugly Calls For Violence Laid Out In Chilling New Supercut Video
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-violence-supercut-video_n_660e0288e4b09f580bc68a5e
Analyzing Trump’s use of inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail
A National Security Analyst's Warning for a New Era of Great Power Conflict
What Social Neuroscience Says About Narcissism
Skills for Living with People (And Continuing to Like Them)
03.05.2024
What Kintsugi Can Teach Us About Our Emotional Health
A Study in Senate Cowardice
Goodness Is Our Default Mode
1 in 5 Americans think violence may solve U.S. divisions, poll finds
Most Americans say criminalizing abortion is wrong — and are divided on deportation
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1242285012/biden-trump-2024-election-poll
Asking yourself Socratic questions can calm your irrational thoughts
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/health/irrational-thoughts-socratic-questions-anxiety-wellness/
Jim Wallis: What that Bible Trump is selling says about truth
https://religionnews.com/2024/04/02/jim-wallis-what-that-bible-trump-is-selling-says-about-truth/
A 9-year-old goes in on standardized tests and ends with the best mic drop of all time.
The Problem Isn’t Just Netanyahu, It’s Israeli Society
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/02/netanyahu-gaza-palestinians-war-israeli-society/
New Law Allowing Religion into Science Classrooms Is Dangerous for Everyone
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of a leading presidential candidate and his supporters trying to normalize violence.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 14 (204 total reports)
21.04.2023-02.05.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a leading presidential candidate and his supporters trying to normalize violence.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
Ivy League researchers released a huge report on teen sex. It's a must-read for parents.
Teens are looking for more guidance, not just about sex, but about love and relationships. This article has many insights that are critical for us to consider in teaching our young people about sex and sexuality, but it also expands into attitudes our young people have about their own sexuality or other’s sexuality, such as, “Is it right for me to judge you based on your gender?”
Best Links of The Week
02.05.2024
Supporting Trump Means Supporting a Culture of Violence
As Trump seeks to normalize violence and create a culture where violence is an acceptable response to disagreement or disappointment (e.g. losing an election or multiple court cases), it is imperative we ask what kind of world we want to standardize for our children. Is it all right for them to threaten, hurt, or even kill those with whom they disagree? The main point of this article is very clear, to support Donald Trump is to support violence as an acceptable means to being challenged or held accountable.
01.05.2024
Don’t Normalize Trump’s Threats of Violence
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/don-t-normalize-trump-s-threats-of-violence
It’s so tempting to look the other way as Trump and his base continue down a path of cruelty and lunacy. But it would be an error; that is exactly what he wants. The focus of Trump’s depiction of violence (as in his posting this week of President Biden hogtied in the back of a MAGA truck) is to normalize violence. He wants to make violence an acceptable alternative to disagreement. Rational people don’t do this, and a society based on justice and mature decision-making don’t accept this as reasonable. Our children are always watching and internalizing the behavior of the adults around them—they have NO filter but us. So, if we look away and accept this, they will normalize it—and that’s exactly what Trump craves.
31.04.2024
These Comics Capture Society's Ridiculously Unfair Expectations Of Women
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/comics-women-lainey-molnar-ano_l_6605cddfe4b05f4de32838fd
These comics didn’t make me laugh, but they did make me think about the double standards we have for women in our society.
30.04.2024
Trump promises a religious litmus test for citizenship
https://boingboing.net/2024/03/29/trump-promises-a-religious-litmus-test-for-citizenship.html
My primary question is, “Will Trump’s litmus test on religion be the religion he practices or the religion he uses to con people out of money to pay his legal debts?”
29.04.2024
Why Are Americans Not a Very Happy Group of People?
This article offers a good discussion starter for adults and teens about the roots of happiness. The author, Lawrence R. Samuel, Ph.D., makes some engaging points about being happy in a consumer-based society. As you reflect this week, ask those around you why they think the US has fallen out of the top-20 happiest countries in the world. It is worth examining Samuel’s insights in light of your own life and what you want to pass on to those around you. Is your “pursuit” of happiness undermining your actual happiness?
28.04.2024
More and more Americans are feeling unhappy. It doesn’t have to be this way.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/us-world-happiness-report-2024-chris-murphy-rcna145108
The constitution doesn’t insure happiness but it does codify the pursuit of it. With the United States falling out of the Top-20 list of the world’s happiest countries—a figure that is led by disillusioned young adults—it is time we ask more of our representatives. Congress—and the Supreme Court it appoints—has largely become bodies of self-aggrandizing people more intent on remaining in power and kowtowing to the needs of those with sizable fortunes (the two are interrelated) than they are on asking, “What will lead to the well-being and happiness of the majority of my constituents?” In 2024, let’s show congress how unhappy we are with their aberrant inaction and lack of representation and ask if they seem even remotely concerned with our right to the pursuit of happiness.
27.04.2024
How AI could explode the economy
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24108787/ai-economic-growth-explosive-automation
Some of you, like me, who were around at the time the last dinosaurs were roaming the earth (just kidding), might remember when the Internet was just being applied to businesses. You might also remember the many doomsayers that predicted it would be the end of civilization as we know it. Almost everyone uses the Internet today—for positive and negative purposes. Like all scientific advances, the discovery itself is value-neutral. The way people choose to use it is where the question of values arises. Some people want to prevent change from occurring whenever it reveals itself. Others realize that change is a constant and that the pace of change is increasing exponentially. Many in science and technology are saying that the application of AI to our society will be akin to the discovery of the printing press. AI is value-neutral, but, of course, the way in which it is used can be significantly positive or negative for society. The only way to insure that young people will be able to apply technology in a positive manner is to teach them about it in education or any of the places we are tasked to provide care for them. Trying to hide any technology only increases the likelihood our children will be susceptible to those who would use that technology in a negative manner. We owe it to our children to learn about this technology ourselves, understand the influence it can have, and look at both the dangers and possibilities it holds.
This Week’s Links
02.05.2024
Supporting Trump Means Supporting a Culture of Violence
5 Quotes by Socrates Explained
https://www.thecollector.com/socrates-quotes-explained/
World Central Kitchen pauses Gaza operations after workers killed in airstrike
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/01/1242177519/world-central-kitchen-workers-deaths-gaza
Venting Doesn't Reduce Anger, But Something Else Does, Study Finds
https://www.sciencealert.com/venting-doesnt-reduce-anger-but-something-else-does-study-finds
Trump’s Christian nationalist shtick could hurt him bigly
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-bible-christian-nationalism-warnock-rcna145882
01.05.2024
Don’t Normalize Trump’s Threats of Violence
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-01/don-t-normalize-trump-s-threats-of-violence
‘We’ve never had anything like this’: The effect of Trump’s violent rhetoric on his base
Why more Americans are saying religion is losing influence in public life
Banning teens from social media won't help their mental health. Here's what might
https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/01/social-media-teen-ban-mental-health-intervention/
Boomer Dad explains why America is experiencing labor issues and hits the nail on the head
This researcher asked kids what's wrong with U.S. schools. Here are their ideas.
https://www.upworthy.com/school-education-and-tes-rp4
These 50 companies have donated over $23 million to election deniers since Jan. 6
31.04.2024
These Comics Capture Society's Ridiculously Unfair Expectations Of Women
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/comics-women-lainey-molnar-ano_l_6605cddfe4b05f4de32838fd
Ivy League researchers released a huge report on teen sex. It's a must-read for parents.
After Trump posts a video with an image of Biden hogtied, his campaign says he’s the real victim
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-biden-truck-hogtied-video-rcna145727
Why You Should Stop Saying 'Committed Suicide'
30.04.2024
Trump promises a religious litmus test for citizenship
https://boingboing.net/2024/03/29/trump-promises-a-religious-litmus-test-for-citizenship.html
Project 2025: Republicans’ Plan to Ban Abortion Pills Nationwide
Some state lawmakers want school chaplains as part of a 'rescue mission' for public education
Kids in ethnically diverse classrooms exhibit superior theory of mind abilities
Wheeler Parker, eyewitness to Emmett Till’s abduction in 1955, speaks out
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/emmett-till-wheeler-parker-interview-rcna145305
29.04.2024
Why Are Americans Not a Very Happy Group of People?
Supreme Court abortion case brings 19th century chastity law to the forefront
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/29/politics/comstock-act-alito-thomas-abortion/
Nina: A Nonspeaker Who Found Her Voice
Igbo landing: Remembering enslaved Africans who chose death over slavery by walking into the ocean
How to Properly Give and Receive Feedback
https://apple.news/ANWJaxWitTHK-G1bW0uLNwA
Project 2025 partner floats repealing the 22nd Amendment and allowing Trump to serve a third term
28.04.2024
More and more Americans are feeling unhappy. It doesn’t have to be this way.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/us-world-happiness-report-2024-chris-murphy-rcna145108
Legal experts worry about presidential abuse of the Insurrection Act. Here's why
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1241141939/insurrection-act
27.04.2024
How AI could explode the economy
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24108787/ai-economic-growth-explosive-automation
Exploring the roots of stupidity: first understand the psychology of what lies behind irrational opinions
The End of Foreign-Language Education
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/generative-ai-translation-education/677883/
How climate-driven migration could change the face of the U.S.
A teen student delivered a masterclass on the true history of the Confederate flag
https://www.upworthy.com/high-schooler-schooled-his-classmates-on-the-confederate-flag-rp6
Neurodiversity and Exacerbation of the Emotional Reaction
Why Some People Feel Like Outsiders (Even When They're Not)
Justices Thomas and Alito want to use a 'zombie law' to restrict abortion
Jordan Klepper Unleashes Holy Hell On Trump With 1 Truly Burning Question
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jordan-klepper-trump-bible_n_66038a07e4b06c56a1b6895f
Congrats Donald: Notorious golf cheater, brags he won two tournaments at his own club
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of a political and judicial system that is dangerously beholden to a narcissist. Youth Advocacy at this time demands raising awareness and making sure rational people vote in the upcoming US election.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 13 (203 total reports)
20.04.2023-26.04.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a political and judicial system that is dangerously beholden to a narcissist. Youth Advocacy at this time demands raising awareness and making sure rational people vote in the upcoming US election.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
7 Reasons Being An Introvert Is A True Gift To Modern-Day Society
https://www.yourtango.com/self/why-being-introvert-true-gift-modern-day-society
There are so many misconceptions about Introverts and this article does a good job revealing many of them. If you have an Introvert in your life, this article is well-worth your time. If you’re a leader, parent, or work with young people, this article will help you accompany those with introvert tendencies so they can live to their fullest potential without guilt or shame for who they are.
Best Links of The Week
26.04.2024
How to Thrive When Confronting Conflict
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/thrive-confronting-conflict-bookbite/48461/
Everyone who is alive will be faced with conflict. We each see the world on a spectrum that is conflict-positive and conflict-negative. The side of that spectrum we feed will be the side that grows. This book review does a great job of reminding us about the benefits of dealing with conflict in a positive manner and further uncovers what a conflict-positive stance looks like. Take time to read it, to apply and practice some of its invaluable suggestions, and help others in your realm learn these practices too. After all, a healthy person wants to surround themselves with people who can have proactive conversations about any pressing issue. Our young people need this invaluable direction and these invaluable skills.
25.04.2024
The Supreme Court Just Stepped Into Our Country’s Most Fundamental Minefield
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a60281451/supreme-court-texas-immigration/
Thanks to the conservative SCOTUS (Supreme Court of Trump, US) Texas Republican Governor, Greg Abbott, can now make his own foreign policy. Even a major Texas newspaper (see the article below) sees Abbott’s policies as dangerous. This article looks at historical conflicts regarding State and Federal jurisdiction. Given other blatantly political decisions by the compromised and politically biased court, it will be interesting to see where they land on the issue of immigration and Federal borders in states like Texas, Florida, Arizona, and others.
24.04.2024
We have the power to end Christian nationalism’s hold on the United States. Just ask France.
The division between church and state has probably never been more obfuscated or fragile in US history. Christian Nationalist Justices and politicians are not even trying to disguise their efforts to force their beliefs on others in the realms of race, economics, sexuality, and justice. According to former justice, Stephen Breyer (see article below), the actions of this court risk making the constitution irrelevant to a majority of Americans—and particularly young, female, Americans. One need look no further than the outline for Project 2025 or the 2025 GOP budget proposal to see their blatant exertions to dismantle the separation between church and state. Alternatively, France has become an example of a nation committed to freedom from religious domination of their government, going so far as to pass a federal right to abortion on International Women’s Day. Based on the evidence, one could justifiably say the covert agenda of the Far Rights’ policies and budgets is to insure that babies birthed in the future will only be ones that sit in their pews.
23.04.2024
Sojourner Truth's powerful speech standing up for women's rights is still inspiring the world
If you have not learned about Sojourner Truth, this is an opportunity for you to put your toe in the water. Voices like hers (and yesterday’s example of Coretta Scott King) are becoming increasingly relevant as the GOP and MAGA-right seek to attack minorities, women, and the gender diffuse. Sojourner Truth’s journey from slave to civil rights leader is vitalizing. The insights she shares resonate around the world today. Please take time to read this abbreviated article about her ideas—radical in her day and sadly, still in ours.
22.04.2024
A Blueprint for a Stronger America in Coretta Scott King
https://msmagazine.com/2024/03/21/a-blueprint-for-a-stronger-america-in-coretta-scott-king/
On this day, as Republicans call for dismantling many programs that assist the disenfranchised (such a funding school lunches), the words and actions of Coretta Scott King shine like a beacon fueled by historical insight, courage, compassion, and love. When I was studying to receive my Chaplaincy degree, I used to walk the four miles from Emory University to the King Center and sit in Ebenezer Baptist Church listening to recordings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches. I was even privileged one day to meet Scott-King at a speech she gave and was one in a long line to thank her for her untiring commitment and service. Ms. Magazine points out that this is a critical time to remember women like Scott-King and others (like the above article about Sojourner Truth) who have sacrificed so much to remind us of our obligation to those disenfranchised by the politics of the MAGA right and the racist views of people like Donald Trump. Please take a moment to read this article and learn more about the powerful source of enduring support that Scott-King provided her husband.
21.04.2024
Red, white, and feeling blue: Why young Americans are in a ‘mid-life crisis’
Normally, according to the Gallup poll on happiness, it is usually the people in mid-life who are least happy, but this poll is telling us that in Western Europe, United States, and Canada, it is young adults who are now experiencing the lowest happiness scores. This report presents an overview of the reasons, but divided politics, social media, and the inability to afford housing are primary explanations. Some lawmakers are insightful enough to begin addressing this issue of declining happiness among young adults—who also become disillusioned democratic participants—but we are not doing enough to ask the questions and review the research about happiness and why it matters.
20.04.2024
The Ego Has Crash-Landed
https://apple.news/ADi0vCU9eQ9y_DysEIdZtUQ
What an appropriate name for Donald Trump; “The Ego.” This in-depth view focuses on how Trump cannot help but make everything about himself as pathetic victim in order to cover up his transgressions. Somehow, his ego must have all the air in the room, he is addicted to seeing his own name in the news—no matter whether it is positive or negative and he has fostered a generation of politicians who are shamelessly similar (like Marjory Taylor Greene). Trump literally just can’t help himself and sadly, he is surrounded by racist, pandering, people who see a way to their own nefarious ends by using this man as their puppet. Trump will never know what it is like to be loved because all of his relationships—all of them—are transactional. Even Putin has gone as far as to say that he is only tolerated for what he can do for others.
This Week’s Links
26.04.2024
How to Thrive When Confronting Conflict
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/thrive-confronting-conflict-bookbite/48461/
A Supreme Court Justice Sounds a Warning
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/26/stephen-breyer-supreme-court-interview-00148948
The Supreme Court Is Shaming Itself
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/dc-trump-trial-speed/677862/
Why 2024 may be the most consequential election for reproductive rights in 50 years
The Supreme Court Just Stepped Into Our Country’s Most Fundamental Minefield
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a60281451/supreme-court-texas-immigration/
Jeff Yass just bought Trump. Here’s what he stands to gain.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-truth-social-tik-tok-jeff-yass-rcna144951
Donald Trump’s Nine Lives
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/donald-trump-new-york-trial/677877/
What's Wrong with Life Today? Here Are Some Famous Answers
Finding Possibility in Uncertainty
25.04.2024
The Supreme Court Just Stepped Into Our Country’s Most Fundamental Minefield
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a60281451/supreme-court-texas-immigration/
First lady highlights attacks on LGBTQ rights at HRC’s Los Angeles dinner
One year in, Khan Academy’s AI has 65,000 students, and is still learning new skills
24.04.2024
We have the power to end Christian nationalism’s hold on the United States. Just ask France.
7 Reasons Being An Introvert Is A True Gift To Modern-Day Society
https://www.yourtango.com/self/why-being-introvert-true-gift-modern-day-society
America’s first biometric ‘smart gun’ is finally here. Will it work?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/biofire-smart-gun-biometric-safety-rcna143637
Jonathan Haidt's book presents stark data on the negative effects of smartphones on youth
Venting won't help, new study shows—this is the No. 1 way to manage your anger
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/23/the-no-1-way-to-manage-your-anger-.html
How does the U.S. refugee system work?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-does-the-u-s-refugee-system-work
Religion losing its influence in the US: Poll
https://www.newsnationnow.com/religion/religion-losing-influence-in-u-s-poll/
Spurned by the economy, young Americans are feeling so lonely and powerless they plunged the nation’s happiness score
https://fortune.com/2024/03/23/world-happiness-report-genz-american-dream-boomers-financial-future/
23.04.2024
Sojourner Truth's powerful speech standing up for women's rights is still inspiring the world
Parents of LGBTQ Kids Are Struggling to Find a Safe Haven
https://apple.news/ANCT0TCZfSLKSbwQo4cNYDg
Greg Abbott's Border Bill Rebuked by Major Texas Newspaper: 'Fiasco'
https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbotts-border-bill-rebuked-major-texas-newspaper-fiasco-1882514
Independence may be the key to reducing anxiety in childhood, new research shows - but how do you give a child independence?
House Republicans just gave Biden the biggest possible gift
New Indiana law requires professors to promote 'intellectual diversity' to keep tenure
What Is Religion?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-of-knowledge/202403/what-is-religion
I hated history — until I learned about Shirley Chisholm
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/22/1240171159/shirley-chisholm-womens-history-month
22.04.2024
A Blueprint for a Stronger America in Coretta Scott King
https://msmagazine.com/2024/03/21/a-blueprint-for-a-stronger-america-in-coretta-scott-king/
House Republicans Want to Ban Universal Free School Lunches
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/21/house-republicans-ban-universal-school-lunches/
Why Trans Kids Have the Right to Change Their Biological Sex
https://apple.news/A-BgpFquITL-aC_U2ow9-Ig
What Pain Acceptance Really Means
A modest proposal: No smartphones for kids
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/22/kids-childhood-smartphone-ban-social-media
21.04.2024
Red, white, and feeling blue: Why young Americans are in a ‘mid-life crisis’
What Trump Supporters Think When He Mocks People With Disabilities
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/trump-disabilities-supporters-responses/677812/
House Republicans Endorse National Abortion Ban
‘It’s become a joke’: House GOP’s impeachment continues to scam the American people
Trump’s Dangerous January 6–Pardon Promise
Reducing Meltdowns in Children With Autism Spectrum
People Can Overestimate Their Abilities, Something Known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect
Reflective Parenting: Navigating Teen Brains Towards Resilience - Neuroscience News
https://neurosciencenews.com/reflective-parenting-neurodevelopment-25783/
6 Tiny Ways To Emotionally Regulate Yourself, According To Neuroscience
https://www.yourtango.com/self/tiny-ways-emotionally-regulate-yourself-according-neuroscience
20.04.2024
The Ego Has Crash-Landed
https://apple.news/ADi0vCU9eQ9y_DysEIdZtUQ
Five charts compare Democrats and Republicans on job creation
U.S. drops in new global happiness ranking. One age group bucks the trend
Taming the Amygdala in PTSD
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cant-stress-this-enough/202403/taming-the-amygdala-in-ptsd
Hegel’s Master-Slave Dialectic Explained
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of a new gilded age pitting the middle class and poor against each other and everyone against immigrants and the diverse.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 12 (202 total reports)
13.03.2023-19.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a new gilded age pitting the middle class and poor against each other and everyone against immigrants and the diverse.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood
When is someone emotionally mature enough for a cell-phone? As we have witnessed how Facebook and other social media giants have targeted pre-teens and teens—similar to how tobacco companies targeted them in the 50’s—we must raise awareness and generate significant warnings about a “phone-based childhood.” It is apparent that young people at least need critical thinking skills and a budding sense of a healthy personal identity before unmonitored social media is available to them. Building these skills must be a priority for parents, social services, adolescent corrections, and education.
Best Links of The Week
19.04.2024
‘We are essentially in a new Gilded Age’: As workers get laid off, CEOs and shareholders gobble up hundreds of billions in profits
https://fortune.com/2024/03/18/gilded-age-layoffs-ceos-shareholders-corporate-profits-inequality/
The economy is doing great, but the benefits are not trickling down. Those benefits are being gobbled up by a deeply embedded gilded class that has been riding a fallacy of trickle-down economics since Ronald Reagan. No administration did more to institutionalize those gains than the Republicans under Reagan and successive Republican administrations have been deepening them incrementally ever since. Greed has never looked so good or been so subtle. While CEO’s and Corporations enjoy record profits, the politicians and justices they have bribed pit the diminishing middle class against each other promoting beliefs that there is “not enough” to fund Social Security or to feed the nation’s children. As Gandhi said, “There’s enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” It’s time to take off the rose-colored glasses (the false belief that someday we will be the rich ones) and quit worshiping both wealth and the wealthy. The truth is a middle-class person is far closer to being homeless than to ever being a billionaire.
18.04.2024
What Fani Willis’s Pyrrhic Win Teaches All Working Women
This article speaks about the double standard in judging working women with which men are not held accountable. According to this author’s research, working women must be both warm AND competent to be judged effective, men can be one OR the other. The gross dichotomy in standards is exemplified in the lack of judgment regarding Clarence Thomas’ behavior (and bribes) and Fani Willis’ actions and further illustrates the duplicity of the far right.
17.04.2024
An Expert on Trust Says We’re Thinking About It All Wrong
https://time.com/6957741/rachel-botsman-trust-interview/
This article really set my brain to thinking. I’ve always thought the word “trust” was customarily misused. In relationships, we often say we “trust” someone when we really have an expectation of them being perfect—then, when they’re not, we say they ruined our trust. The truth is, we can trust someone to be true to their own character and invite them to grow, but not expect them to meet our standards. In this article the author, Rachel Botsman, says that trust is like energy, the physics of which is that energy never goes away, it is just redistributed. Her examples and insights are worth the short read and, will no doubt challenge you to examine trust in your circle as well. We must ask, “if trust is gone, where did it go?”
16.04.2024
How to Teach the Thrill of Reading
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/03/reading-school-lifelong/677784/
True freedom in life comes with the ability to read. Children learn to read because someone they love read to them and reading brings back those deep emotional memories of being loved. To have a free society, children must learn to become voracious readers, they must have a passion for reading. This is not the scrolling we have become victim to in our society, but a deep-dive into the questions and cultures we often can only understand through the written word. Perhaps we could go as far as saying that the “thrill of reading” is as important to teach as the techniques of reading, but isn’t that true for any subject we learn? Does our emphasis of education include the sharing of the passion as well as the technique?
15.04.2024
The “New Happy”: A much-needed rethink of happiness
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/the-new-happy-movement/
Post-Industrial countries have needed a complete re-set of happiness since we first started measuring it in economic terms shackled to a society of consumption. In a consumer society, happiness is about having and doing. It leads to a life of continual need; to addictively have or do more. There is never contentment, there is only emptiness and possession. The sense of finding happiness-in-being does not exist in a consumer culture. Similarly, motivation becomes swaddled in cultural aspects of domination with the primary drives of motivation being supremacy (of people, tasks, or things) or power--also the ability to subjugate people or things. It is no wonder that this leads to a life of anxiety and fear of losing control. In such societies, the greatest fear is one that is continual and even addictive; that of preventing change and protecting what one has or does. When one focuses on meaning rather than having or doing, possessing is not an integral component. Viktor Frankl tells us that meaning can sustain us when all else is taken away. When being and meaning are the key operatives in your life, fear dissipates and the need to continually control others (or your situation) is relieved. Peace can be found in the moment and not continually sought in what you have and do, or don’t have and do. Relationships become rich in meaning because people are not seen as tools to get you what you really want (more control or more possessions).
14.04.2024
You're Not Imagining It; Shrinkflation Is Real : Consider This from NPR
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1198910739/consider-this-shrinkflation-is-real
President Biden is calling out the underlying cause of the reason we “feel” the economy is so bad. The new economic markers are being driven, not by a competitive marketplace, but by CEO’s and corporations who are giving us less (value or product) while charging more. Appliances don’t last as long, cars are less safe and of poorer quality (more gadgets, less reliability). Even packages containing cereal or snacks have less product, poorer quality ingredients, but a higher price. And the money doesn’t get distributed, it goes back into the hands of CEO and boards who spend significant amounts purchasing lawmakers and justices who will decrease their social contributions—taxes.
13.04.2024
Stuttering advocates have words for Donald Trump
https://apple.news/A2bK6ahooTRma8DFBhiC7mQ
Donald Trump is a sick man, he is mentally unwell and has been most of his life. I’m alarmed to observe he is getting worse as his campaign continues and both his bills and his court appearances continue to mount. Healthy people do not make fun of disabilities, they don’t make fun of other people at all. They don’t need to. The self-esteem of healthy people is not tied up in their domination of others, it is based on how they are doing based upon their own internal sense of well-being and values. Whatever happened to cripple Don J. Trump’s emotional and mental capacity prohibit him from being a healthy model for others. He is not fit to lead. Sadly, many people find him attractive because he hates what they hate and is unconstrained (or unable to constrain himself) from stating his spite in the crudest of terms. His legacy will be one of giving credence to bullies and demeaning others.
This Week’s Links
19.04.2024
‘We are essentially in a new Gilded Age’: As workers get laid off, CEOs and shareholders gobble up hundreds of billions in profits
https://fortune.com/2024/03/18/gilded-age-layoffs-ceos-shareholders-corporate-profits-inequality/
Trump's "bloodbath" threat was literal
Harvard psychologists have been studying what it takes to raise 'good' kids. Here are 6 tips.
New book: Generational rift hits evangelical church
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/19/sarah-mccammon-the-exvangelicals-book
18.04.2024
What Fani Willis’s Pyrrhic Win Teaches All Working Women
Adult MAGA rage makes schools more dangerous for kids
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/18/adult-maga-rage-is-making-schools-more-for-students/
Opinion: The Strongman Fantasy – and Dictatorship in Real Life
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/29660
17.04.2024
An Expert on Trust Says We’re Thinking About It All Wrong
https://time.com/6957741/rachel-botsman-trust-interview/
Why Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Failed
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/oregon-drug-decriminalization-failed/677678/
The Republican agenda to install religious chaplains in schools is appalling
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/chaplains-schools-florida-school-counselor-rcna143575
Trump says some migrants are 'not people', and warns of 'bloodbath' if he loses
The GOP is using lies to defund local LGBTQ+ centers. They’re treating our lives like a game.
‘All We Must Do Is Survive Four Years’
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/trump-second-term-civil-rights/677783/
Alabama IVF Ruling Is About Controlling Who Can Reproduce the Citizenry
Want to Instantly Feel Less Stressed? Science Says a 20-Second Fake Smile Reduces Feelings of Anxiety, Tension, and Even Fear
16.04.2024
How to Teach the Thrill of Reading
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/03/reading-school-lifelong/677784/
Senate Democrats introduce bill to improve mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth
Pixar’s "Inside Out" and Plutchik’s Theory of Emotions
‘Parents need to talk about this’: The best way to teach your kids about AI, according to an education expert
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/15/how-parents-can-teach-their-children-to-use-ai-responsibly.html
15.04.2024
The “New Happy”: A much-needed rethink of happiness
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/the-new-happy-movement/
Beyond The Bridge
https://newsone.com/5077093/selma-civil-rights-movement/
A study has been following 'gifted' kids for 45 years. Here's what we've learned.
Supreme Betrayal
How Capitalism Became a Threat to Democracy
13 Captivating Traits Shared By The Most Successful People
https://www.yourtango.com/self/personality-traits-most-successful-people
14.04.2024
Donald Trump Suggests Cutting Retirement Programs In Incoherent Ramble
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-entitlements-cutting_n_65ef1763e4b0bd5228d4eadd
14.04.2024
You're Not Imagining It; Shrinkflation Is Real : Consider This from NPR
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1198910739/consider-this-shrinkflation-is-real
You can start applying for the American Climate Corps next month
https://grist.org/politics/jobs-portal-american-climate-corps-opens-next-month/
13.04.2024
Stuttering advocates have words for Donald Trump
https://apple.news/A2bK6ahooTRma8DFBhiC7mQ
The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood
Republicans Aren’t Done Threatening the Hungry With Planned Cuts to Food Aid
Must see: Trump v. Biden, in 21 charts
https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/must-see-trump-v-biden-in-21-charts-206399045696
21 viciously anti-LGBTQ+ bills die in Florida as DeSantis influence wanes
In GOP-led states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws, school hate crimes quadruple: report
https://www.advocate.com/news/gop-states-increase-hate-crimes
Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 11 (201 total reports)
06.03.2023-12.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a party ensnared in patterns of the mythomania (pathological lying) of it’s unhinged leader.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
A school replaced detention with meditation. The results are stunning.
https://www.upworthy.com/this-school-replaced-detention-with-meditation-the-results-are-stunning-rp4
If we can remind ourselves that the role of discipline is to give people who are maturing the inner ability to direct (I.e. regulate) their own behavior, then it makes absolute sense to substitute mindless and punishment-focused detention with introspective meditation. With detention, the focus of the detained person is increased anger at the external coercive individual or system that is attempting to regulate behavior. With meditation, the focus of the detained person will be on calming and regulating the emotions that cause most of the unwanted behavior often displayed. The role of s rational person attempting to shape behavior is not to punish and create more anger, but to co-regulate, even share, the emotion until it is reduced and neutralized. Before attempting to correct behavior, ask, “What is my long term goal here?” We cannot regulate others if we, ourselves, are dysregulated. Calm yourself first.
Best Links of The Week
12.04.2024
5 books that shaped 21st-century philosophy
https://bigthink.com/thinking/5-brilliant-books-that-shaped-21st-century-philosophy/
It never hurts—especially when democratic ideals are under threat—to revisit the primary intellectuals that helped shaped the philosophies leading to most of the advances in the 21st century. Review this list of books, if you haven’t had some in your library and highlighted their breadth and scope, this is the time.
11.04.2024
The U.S. prison population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren't built for what's coming
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1234655082/prison-elderly-aging-geriatric-population-care
As the US rapidly became the “Incarceration Nation” following the onset of the drug war, it never thought ahead about holding and improving the record-breaking number of lives it was detaining. Now, as the population ages, the US is once again caught short as that demographic ages. The physical, emotional, and relational needs of older inmates are vastly different from a young adult population and prisons are, again, ill-equipped to respond. The wake up call of detaining people as the primary solution for behavioral correction should have come a long time ago, it didn’t. Now we have a new set of issues to which we must attend. How will a nation that preaches human rights to the rest of the world respond to the human rights abuses inherent in its own system?
10.04.2024
Trump Finds Another Line to Cross
https://apple.news/A4gK3gupIRBSJK-nqADKFAA
Obviously, from his recent Georgia speeches where he once again attacked E. Jean Carroll, financial punishment is not enough to stop this man from his mythomania (habitual lying) and bullying. You would think that making fun of someone’s disability would cross a line, but Trump’s done it before and he will continue to do it. What amazes me are the kind of people that find that behavior admirable or funny or—in any manner—worthy of a presidential candidate. It is sad to see the Far Right succumbing to the same tactics even in their own State of the Union where the primary story that the speaker presents was based upon a lie. Trump has indeed changed the Republican Party. He’s made truth tertiary to getting what you want. Senator Britt lied about the timeline, she lied about individually meeting with the woman who was trafficked, she lied about having permission to share the story, and she lied about who was president when the trafficking occurred.
09.04.2024
Brooks and Capehart on Biden’s State of the Union and what’s next in the 2024 race
Brooks and Capehart on PBS remains my favorite weekly commentary (Friday evenings). Rather than constantly watching the “news” on other channels that are supported by one special interest or another and really seem to be a litany of opinions rather than actual news, I prefer to watch an unbiased one-hour report that is funded by the public, not special interests. David Brooks is a conservative and Jonathon Capeheart presents the viewpoint of liberals and together—moderated by excellent journalists—they present two sides of the week’s major news events that rarely includes sensationalism. Their response to Biden’s SOTU (State of the Union) speech follows in the vein of the best, journalistic principles. For a balanced review of what was said during Biden’s annual review of the nation, it is worth taking the time to review this transcript or to watch it on YouTube where the commentary is posted weekly by PBS.
08.03.2024
International Women's Day is a celebration and call to action. Beware the flowers and candy
International Women’s Day (IWD), grew out of the Labor Movement, beginning in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, and the right to vote. Those rights are still under threat along with the right of a woman to have control over her own body. Male, White Nationalists, from the GOP party and some White Christian Nationalist women like Alabama Senator, Katie Britt are pushing an agenda that would make decisions for women, not just in the US, but their bully pulpit extends around the world. It is no accident that Britt made her SOTU response from an empty kitchen using theatrics and even lies to try and make her point about why the GOP’s nominee should be allowed a second chance to destroy democracy and install a White Christian Nationalist agenda.
07.03.2024
Five Teachings of the Dalai Lama I Try to Live By
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/dalai-lama-wisdom-good-life-happiness/677653/
Arthur Brooks is one of my favorite writers and his life-examining articles in The Atlantic are always worth reviewing. The five teachings of the Dalai Lama that he shares are not only eye-opening, but innovative in how they are identified. In whatever leadership capacity you find yourself (parent, grandparent, teacher, business leader) this article is worth ten minutes of your time.
06.03.2024
‘It felt like something sacred’ Meduza’s Russian readers who attended Navalny’s funeral describe their experiences — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/05/it-felt-like-something-sacred
The statements of these people who risked their freedom to attend Alexandr Navalny’s funeral is heart-rendering. As Trump invited a Dictator to his golden parody of a bastille in Florida, it behooves us to remember the cost of having an unchecked authoritarian lead a country.
This Week’s Links
12.04.2024
5 books that shaped 21st-century philosophy
https://bigthink.com/thinking/5-brilliant-books-that-shaped-21st-century-philosophy/
Journalist who fact-checked Britt on what stood out to him from senator’s GOP response to SOTU
Child therapist urges parents to ‘get curious’ about their kid’s meltdowns and reveals the five things likely causing their big emotions
11.04.2024
The U.S. prison population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren't built for what's coming
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1234655082/prison-elderly-aging-geriatric-population-care
The Supreme Court Rekindled the January 6 Crisis
https://newrepublic.com/article/179700/supreme-court-trump-ballot-democracy
Greg Abbott Gets Scathing Rebuke From Largest Texas Newspaper: 'Disturbing'
https://www.newsweek.com/houston-chronicle-rebukes-greg-abbott-1877654
Conservatives seize counselor shortage to press school chaplains
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/11/chaplains-in-schools-movement-florida-texas
GOP’s Katie Britt in damage-control mode following post-SOTU mess
How Relational Trauma Survivors Acclimate
Chasten Buttigieg calls out Oklahoma superintendent, Libs of TikTok for dangerous school environment
https://www.advocate.com/news/chasten-buttigieg-nex-benedict
10.04.2024
Trump Finds Another Line to Cross
https://apple.news/A4gK3gupIRBSJK-nqADKFAA
09.04.2024
Brooks and Capehart on Biden’s State of the Union and what’s next in the 2024 race
Measles outbreak threatens US status of ‘eliminating’ virus
https://www.newsnationnow.com/the-hill/measles-outbreak-threatens-us-status-of-eliminating-virus/
The Most Unusual State of the Union in Living Memory
https://apple.news/AQaBHBapxSzqyoD6sK9k4oQ
Swing state voter: Rather have Biden with 81 years than Trump with 91 counts
The media’s coverage of Biden’s age needs a rethink
https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24091628/biden-state-of-the-union-age
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans, studies find
Doctors Say Trump Is Displaying Clear Signs of Cognitive Issues
https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-trump-cognitive-issues
08.03.2024
International Women's Day is a celebration and call to action. Beware the flowers and candy
Key moments from Biden's 2024 State of the Union address you may have missed
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1236788387/state-of-the-union-highlights-biden-congress
Republicans underestimated Joe Biden
The Next Big Idea Club’s May 2024 Must-Read Books
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/next-big-idea-clubs-may-2024-must-read-books/48288/
From Africa to Alabama: Stories of survivors of the last slave ship
DeSantis, Book Bans, and Shameful Legacy
https://progressive.org/magazine/desantis-book-bans-and-shameful-legacy/
07.03.2024
Five Teachings of the Dalai Lama I Try to Live By
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/dalai-lama-wisdom-good-life-happiness/677653/
PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow
The Republicans Who Sold Their Souls to Vladimir Putin
https://newrepublic.com/article/179393/republican-vladimir-putin-2024-shift
Opinion: The threat to American hegemony is real
https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-the-threat-to-american-hegemony-is-real/
PragerU is a conservative video giant. Here's why it's trying to get into schools
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1234491074/prageru-schools-videos-growth
The Gray Rock Method Can Liberate You From a Narcissist
7 Genius Phrases To Use Instead Of Automatically Giving Advice
https://www.yourtango.com/self/genius-phrases-use-instead-automatically-giving-advice
06.03.2024
‘It felt like something sacred’ Meduza’s Russian readers who attended Navalny’s funeral describe their experiences — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/05/it-felt-like-something-sacred
20 Futuristic Technologies About To Change the World
https://wealthofgeeks.com/futuristic-technologies/
BBC Verify: How to spot AI fakes in the US election
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-68472248
Watch this Texas Democrat epically shut down anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalists with the bible
https://www.pride.com/politics/james-talarico-calls-out-christian-nationalists
A Moment of Deep Sorrow on the U.S.-Mexican Border | Nieman Reports
https://niemanreports.org/articles/a-moment-of-deep-sorrow-on-the-u-s-mexican-border/
Why Is Gratitude So Good for You?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/flourish-and-thrive/202403/why-is-gratitude-so-good-for-you
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of far right Christian nationalists willing to do anything to force their religion on others. Suddenly, we are all “accidental” politicians.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 10 (200 total reports)
28.02.2023-05.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of far right Christian nationalists willing to do anything to force their religion on others. Suddenly, we are all “accidental” politicians.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
01.03.2024
American Psychological Association takes a stand against bans on gender-affirming care for minors
Gender affirming care is not castration—as far right religious conservatives are trying to get their base to believe. It delays the onset of sexual maturity while the individual (and usually a doctor and parents) determine what gender is most “affirming” for the individual. This is a landmark endorsement by the most reputable psychological organization in the world. Let us listen to reason here, not to the far right religious opinions of a small group of hateful evangelicals and their political minions. The lives of young people is literally at stake and that has been proven. Banning gender affirming care is psychologically damaging to tens of thousands of young people (estimated 42,000). This is not a decision for either politicians or right wing religious fanatics to force down the throats (or onto the bodies) of others. “Why,” some might ask, “are we seeing an increasing number of young people question their gender?” Perhaps it is because—in most States—it is not seen as a threat. In those rational States, gender development is seen as a healthy aspect of human development. When I was young, it was thought to be morally wrong to be left-handed. Being left-handed, I remember having my arm tied to my chair by backward nuns in Catholic institutions. Thank God, we are past that. Perhaps we will get past this hurdle too, if we can stop these right-wing zealots from spreading their spiteful hate and fear.
Best Links of The Week
05.03.2024
The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is Part of a Larger Plan
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/alabama-embryo-parker-new-apos/677642/
A very small minority of far right evangelicals is trying to force their religious views on the rest of America. This group doesn’t care what other people believe, they are willing to force people to do what they want and they will support any politician who will do their bidding—even if that politician is a fraudulent rapist. As always, The Atlantic probes deeply into this issue of IVF and looks at the underlying right wing religious agenda which it promotes.
04.03.2024
The 'accidental' politicians: Meet three women risking everything to fight for democracy
This article made me realize how many of us—but especially women and diverse groups—are being forced to become “accidental” politicians. Most of us do not face the possibility of incarceration or death that some of the women in this article experience, yet, it is the height of privilege to only care about the issues that affect ourselves directly. With the prevalence of a small, hard core, religious minority attempting to take over world politics, every one of us is now an “accidental” politician. Over 52 countries face the loss of democracy this year. Standing by idly, is immoral and will be a historic blunder. I’ve heard it said (and I agree), “If you wonder what you would have done when Hitler came to power, look at what you are doing now.”
03.03.2024
A History of Human Resilience Can Brace Us for Impending Global Changes
This is such a refreshing article and so hopeful. We need it—not so we can relax our endeavors—but so we can solidify our resilience in the face of horrific miscalculation.
02.03.2024
‘Thank you for 26 years of utter happiness’ Yulia Navalnaya’s farewell message to her husband — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/01/thank-you-for-26-years-of-utter-happiness
If this eulogy does not tear at your heart, nothing will. The death of Alexandr Navalny is a grotesque example of what happens when a world dictator (Putin) has no checks and balances. The Prime Minister of Australia (Anthony Albanese) tells us that Putin made Trump “weak in the knees” like an adoring school boy. This is the same immunity that Trump would like to afforded. What the Far Right doesn’t realize is that if Trump wins his Presidential immunity case, that immunity would start with Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.
01.03.2024
Trump and his allies have made over 250 anti-democratic threats — and counting
Make no mistake, the upcoming election isn’t just about choice between Presidential candidates, it’s a choice between democracy and tyranny. Trump himself (and Project 2025) have boldly stated their nefarious purposes and we should take them at their word.
29.02.2024
52 countries saw "severe" declines in freedom last year, report finds
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/freedom-house-rankings-democracy-decline
Here is an extreme warning sign that all of us need to heed. This is why all of us are becoming “accidental” politicians.
28.02.2024
Poll: Most Americans cool to Christian nationalism as its influence grows
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/poll-christian-nationalism-americans-reject
What Christians don’t seem to understand is that nothing is driving people away from Christianity more than Christians themselves. They are becoming the next Taliban, whether they see it or not. A small group of fanatical, conservative Christians want to turn the US into a “Christian Nation.” And don’t mind using force and sabotage—even violence—to get their way. One need look no further than Donald Trump on his campaign trail this week to see how far his backers are willing to go to support someone who will further their agenda. Not only is Trump facing 91 felony charges (and nearly half a billion in debt) but he is losing his mental capacity. Increasingly, his “handlers” are trying to keep him from taking the stage and posting on Truth Social because the man is simply increasingly incoherent.
This Week’s Links
05.03.2024
The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is Part of a Larger Plan
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/alabama-embryo-parker-new-apos/677642/
The Supreme Court Is Not Up to the Challenge
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/trump-v-anderson-unanimous-decision/677635/
Mitch McConnell did more to destroy democracy than Donald Trump
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/03/mitch-mcconnell-did-more-to-destroy-democracy-than-donald-trump/
Judge blocks Texas’s “cruel attempt” to force LGBTQ+ group to out trans families
Maddening New Poll: Voters Are Unaware of Trump “Dictator” Threats
https://newrepublic.com/article/179548/poll-voters-trump-dictator-threats
Trump supporters target black voters with faked AI images
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68440150
“I Don’t Like Prayer/Blessed Language Directed At Me”: Woman Shuts Down Religious Email At Work
https://www.boredpanda.com/atheist-coworker-prayers/
A Moment of Deep Sorrow on the U.S.-Mexican Border | Nieman Reports
https://niemanreports.org/articles/a-moment-of-deep-sorrow-on-the-u-s-mexican-border/
Right-wing group won't condemn Uganda's 'kill the gays' law, enraging queer Democrats
https://www.advocate.com/politics/right-group-wont-condemn-uganda
A Self-Absorbed America Means Disorder for the World
https://www.cfr.org/article/self-absorbed-america-means-disorder-world
Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1233440910/cash-aid-guaranteed-basic-income-social-safety-net-poverty
11 Subtle Signs of Narcissism That Are Easy to Miss, According to Psychologists
https://parade.com/living/subtle-signs-of-narcissism-according-to-psychologists
04.03.2024
The 'accidental' politicians: Meet three women risking everything to fight for democracy
Latest Trump Speeches Highlight Same Cognitive Fears That Republicans Express About Biden
https://newsone.com/5052384/trump-speeches-cognitive-fears/
Why do millions of Americans believe the 2020 presidential election was ‘stolen’ from Donald Trump?
Faith and conspiracy: Study shows religiosity is related to belief in COVID-19 conspiracies
Residents of these 10 states are the most stressed out in America—New York and California didn't make the list
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/03/top-10-states-with-the-most-stressed-out-people-in-america.html
03.03.2024
A History of Human Resilience Can Brace Us for Impending Global Changes
Column: We can’t count on the courts to hold Trump accountable before November. It’s up to us
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-03-03/supreme-court-donald-trump-jack-smith
How to Tackle Truth Decay
https://apple.news/AjWPT_iDpRJimA3Hlbw0HQg
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science
https://apple.news/Acp40st4eSnC06J2ilmqu7Q
Texas Newspaper Issues Warning About Secession
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-newspaper-warns-about-secession-pledge-1875324
A warped version of the Bible killed Nex Benedict
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/03/a-warped-version-of-the-bible-nex-benedict/
Where Did Evangelicals Go Wrong?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/evangelical-support-republican-trump/677610/
Parents underestimate the importance of guided play in education
https://www.psypost.org/parents-underestimate-the-importance-of-guided-play-in-education/
A Psychologist’s Guide To Silencing Your ‘Inner Saboteur’
The science of how to stop saying yes to everything
https://apple.news/AQxo-QDvrT1iUrAXulI0WFQ
02.03.2024
‘Thank you for 26 years of utter happiness’ Yulia Navalnaya’s farewell message to her husband — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/01/thank-you-for-26-years-of-utter-happiness
‘It feels like it’s Russia’s funeral’ Reflections, goodbyes, and eyewitness accounts as Alexey Navalny is laid to rest — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/01/it-feels-like-it-s-russia-s-funeral
Navalny’s legacy and the future of Russian opposition
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/navalnys-legacy-and-the-future-of-russian-opposition
As Tucker bends to Putin, the truth about 'borders,' liberation and history: Ari Melber x Marley
Democracy’s Dark Winter
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/03/democracys-dark-winter/677624/
Anand Giridharadas: America is a country built of the world, from the world, from every part of the world
60 Years After the Civil Rights Act, Equal Opportunity Is Under Attack
https://capitalbnews.org/report-state-of-black-america/
Red-Blooded Republicans
https://progressive.org/latest/red-blooded-republicans-fiore-20240301/
Nobody Wants to Look Stupid: Resources for Teaching About Executive Functions (Opinion)
Child Adversity’s Impact on Cognition and Mental Health
https://neurosciencenews.com/child-adversity-cognition-mental-health-25689/
A helpful chart to explain the difference between support and 'toxic positivity'
How Neurodivergence Can Be a Superpower
https://www.inc.com/tracy-dennis-tiwary/how-neurodivergence-can-be-a-superpower.html
01.03.2024
Trump and his allies have made over 250 anti-democratic threats — and counting
American Psychological Association takes a stand against bans on gender-affirming care for minors
Report: Florida last in public education
During Alexei Navalny’s funeral, I’ll be remembering Medgar Evers
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/-alexei-navalny-funeral-medgar-evers-rcna141262
Highlights from the transcript of Hunter Biden’s closed-door interview with House Republicans
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/politics/takeaways-hunter-biden-transcript/
Opinion: Russia's Republicans
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/28861
GOP's post-Roe peril spreads like wildfire
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/01/republicans-reproductive-rights-2024-election
Arizona Republicans Advance Bill Allowing Property Owners to Kill Migrants
Texas Poised to Lose Billions in Investment if Donald Trump Elected
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-will-lose-billions-investment-donald-trump-elected-2024-1874806
Trans children could be taken from their parents if this shocking new law passes
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/02/29/trans-children-kentucky/
Managing Expectations With Neurodivergent Children
29.02.2024
52 countries saw "severe" declines in freedom last year, report finds
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/freedom-house-rankings-democracy-decline
‘Putin must answer for what he’s done’ Alexey Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, addresses the E.U. Parliament — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/02/28/putin-must-answer-for-what-he-s-done
The ‘Caudillo Syndrome’ is spreading around the world as economic disillusionment pushes voters to bet on populist strongmen
Supreme Court hands Trump a huge win before it even hears his case
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/trump-wins-delay-immunity-case-supreme-court
'Republicans in robes': Supreme Court critics see politics behind action on Trump immunity case
Pax Economica: The forgotten history of the free-trade movement
https://bigthink.com/the-past/free-trade-economics/
A Thousand Little Moments: The Insidious Loss of Women’s Freedom to Christian Nationalism
https://msmagazine.com/2024/02/28/women-choice-freedom-republicans-religion-ivf-fertility/
The Republican assault on sexual freedom is underway
Enabling Trump, distorting the Supreme Court define McConnell legacy as he exits leadership
Coalition of 20 Groups Press Lawmakers to Reject Florida Teacher Training Bill
States offer services for disabled kids, then make their families wait 10 years for them
How To Disarm A Narcissist With The ‘Gray Rock’ Method
28.02.2024
Poll: Most Americans cool to Christian nationalism as its influence grows
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/poll-christian-nationalism-americans-reject
Gavin Newsom slams GOP for giving rapists more rights than families who want IVF
Florida's response to a measles outbreak endangers children, experts say
Over 40 of Nex Benedict's Classmates Walked Out to Protest the School's Bullying Policies
Black Writers Share Their Favorite Books to Honor Black History Month
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-writers-share-favorite-books-to-honor-black-history-month
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of narcissists and theocrats threatening global democracy.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 09 (199 total reports)
21.02.2023-27.02.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of narcissists and theocrats threatening global democracy.
NEW: Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
The Art of Calm Conversations With Reactive Adult Children
Many of us have heard the flight attendant say, “If you’re sitting by a child—or someone acting like one—put your own mask on first.” This is a similar proposition, but for adult communications. If you are with an adult (or older teen) that simply refuses to communicate like an adult, this article will help you share thoughts without being overcome by emotions.
Best Links of The Week
27.02.2024
Putin, Trump, Netanyahu: When Pure Narcissism Triggers Global Catastrophe
https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/putin-trump-netanyahu-narcissist
Putin, Trump, Netanyahu, are but three of the narcissists asserting their damaging, self-aggrandizing, manifestations of leadership today. But they did not come to power in a vacuum. We must face the demons within ourselves that either seek easy answers to the chaos these people promote or the self-centeredness within us that is attracted to their coercive power. The question of why these people wield so much sway over the world is an internal question with which we all must grapple.
26.02.2024
Teachers are tired of the culture wars — and many support LGBTQ+ curricula, Pew survey finds
https://www.advocate.com/news/teachers-lgbtq-race-education-legislation
Most practical people would agree that teaching is a difficult job with the potential for high intrinsic rewards. But remarkable people with years of training for these positions are being driven from the field by culture wars—ideologies only tied to education in ways that restrict the promotion of knowledge; knowledge about history, knowledge about race, and knowledge about sexuality. As the far right seeks to undermine education across the US (see article in 25.02.2024), there is a growing discontent among educators. The far right would like to set the agenda taught in the classroom, but just like in other areas where they want to sow chaos and Christian, White Nationalism, they have no plan—or desire—to lead beyond policy-making. You’ll find them making grand statements in front of their peers, then disappearing when it comes time to implement (or fund) their lunacy.
25.02.2024
Alabama Halts IVF as State Supreme Court Ruling Sparks Fear and Confusion
One of the worst States, when it comes to the treatment of children, wants to expand its definition of children. In this decision, made upon religious grounds by a self-proclaimed Christian, zealot, judge, those seeking assistance procuring in vitro fertilization will now have to flee to other States—and women everywhere must face the continuing dilemma that in a White Christian Theocracy, women’s rights are being undermined.
24.02.2024
Societies that treat women badly are poorer and less stable
This is a landmark study that only makes common sense. As the Far Right seeks to outdo Sharia Law in their fear-mongering policies, we all lose stability, all of us are having our rights undermined. Our one recourse is to vote these White Christian Radicals out of office on all levels of government. Please remember this in ROE-vember!
23.02.2024
‘20 Days in Mariupol’ can win an Oscar. Will it make the world care about Russian war crimes in Ukraine?
https://kyivindependent.com/20-days-in-mariupol-oscar-nomination/
The Far Right, under the tutelage of their idol, Donald Trump (love-stricken and under the tutelage of Vladimir Putin) has completely lost its rudder and drifts in whatever direction the global despot commands. They have completely given up their own minds and wills. Perhaps documentaries such as this one about the horrors of Mariupol, can remind us of just what an unchecked tyrant is capable of doing—as if Alexei Navalny wasn’t enough! Please share this documentary link with others and help the world reawaken to the Hitler-esque world that Putin seeks to advance.
22.02.2024
We endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States in the Democratic Primary (Opinion)
From deep in the heart of the Lone Star State comes this critical endorsement of Joe Biden. The opinion had to be well-researched and deeply crafted to be able to pass muster in Greg Abbott’s backyard. Please read and share with others who might not understand that the 2024 election is a choice between Biden and autocracy. Biden is NOT the perfect candidate, but he is the only candidate that can win at this time against a Trump-Dictatorship.
21.02.2024
Sam Alito Launches Broadside Against Marriage Equality in Homophobic Juror Case
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/sam-alito-marriage-equality-homophobic-juror-scotus.html
SCOTUS is dominated by Trump-Appointed sycophants and white Christian Nationalists who do not have the Constitution, Democracy, or Women’s Rights at heart. The dismantling of Roe vs. Wade was but a “shot across the bow” of where this radical body wants to take the country. Alito, who who laid out the methodical strategy undermining Roe v. Wade is not done—and won’t be—until the US has become his version of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
This Week’s Links
27.02.2024
Putin, Trump, Netanyahu: When Pure Narcissism Triggers Global Catastrophe
https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/putin-trump-netanyahu-narcissist
The Right’s Long Game to End Public Education
Jared Polis has a simple message for making America inclusive for everyone: Go vote
The Alabama IVF Ruling Weaponizes Faith to Harm Families
https://msmagazine.com/2024/02/26/alabama-ivf-fertility-religion-supreme-court-republicans-faith/
Nazis at CPAC is a frog-in-boiling-water moment for the right
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/nazis-cpac-2024-response-rcna140521
Nex Benedict honored by friends at vigil: 'He made everything easier'
https://www.advocate.com/news/nex-benedict-transgender-vigil-friends
What's life like for Russia's political prisoners? Isolation, poor food and arbitrary punishment
Texas Gov. gives curt 6-word reply to proposed U.N. investigation of state’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws
30 Documentaries To Watch During Black History Month
https://wealthofgeeks.com/black-history-month-documentaries/
Knowing how to talk to your kid about feelings isn’t always easy - try these 7 child-therapist-approved ways to get them talking
https://www.goodto.com/family/how-to-talk-to-your-kid-about-feelings
Why You Should Stop Complaining Today, Backed by Neuroscience
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-you-should-stop-complaining-today-backed-by-neuroscience.html
26.02.2024
Teachers are tired of the culture wars — and many support LGBTQ+ curricula, Pew survey finds
https://www.advocate.com/news/teachers-lgbtq-race-education-legislation
Opinion | What Is Christian Nationalism, Exactly?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/opinion/christian-nationalism.html
Pollution Crisis in Mexico Shows Limits of Plastic Bag Bans in Global Capitalism
The Art of Calm Conversations With Reactive Adult Children
7 Ways To Teach Kids To Be Grateful, According To Experts
https://www.yourtango.com/family/how-teach-kids-to-be-grateful-experts
25.02.2024
Alabama Halts IVF as State Supreme Court Ruling Sparks Fear and Confusion
Okla. lawmaker describes LGBTQ people as ‘filth’
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/02/24/okla-lawmaker-describes-lgbtq-people-as-filth/
Thousands Sign Christian Petition Rebuking Mike Johnson
https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-sign-christian-petition-rebuking-mike-johnson-1873076
Chief enforcer of US gun laws fears Americans may become numb to violence with each mass shooting
Shaping Empathy: Adult Brains Can Learn Compassion
https://neurosciencenews.com/empathy-learning-psychology-25657/
From the very beginning, Black women have fought for American democracy
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/fannie-lou-hamer-civil-rights-black-women-rcna139777
24.02.2024
Societies that treat women badly are poorer and less stable
Brooks and Capehart on U.S. aid for Ukraine wavering on partisan battle lines
Alexei Navalny’s Last Laugh
https://apple.news/AoULcSzWGRZiz1p_RXh9gAg
Oklahoma banned trans students from bathrooms. Now a bullied student is dead after a fight
https://apple.news/A1i18FQO5SVKgoiI2O4jeew
Alabama’s Assault on IVF Is Even Worse Than It Sounds
https://apple.news/AyfWz7xRmTJeTkq1cYqwkvQ
The Number-One Reason Conflicts Do Not Resolve
Why People Get Emotionally Triggered
The Return of the John Birch Society
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/02/john-birch-society-cpac-conservatism/677542/
23.02.2024
‘20 Days in Mariupol’ can win an Oscar. Will it make the world care about Russian war crimes in Ukraine?
https://kyivindependent.com/20-days-in-mariupol-oscar-nomination/
World leaders tell Biden they fear for their own democracies if Trump wins
Trump Has Finally Remade Republicans Into Putin’s Playthings
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-republicans-vladimir-putin-puppets.html
Alabama justice who ruled embryos are people says American law should be rooted in the Bible
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-justice-embryos-biblical-seven-mountains-rcna139969
Justice Who Ruled That Embryos Are ‘Children’ Appeared On QAnon Conspiracist's Show
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tom-parker-alabama-ivf-embryo_n_65d7ea34e4b0cc1f2f7b3e26
The Evolution of Oppression: America's Penal System in the Shadow of Historical Slavery
How Curious Are You?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-personal-renaissance/202402/how-curious-are-you
Psychologists have discovered a surprisingly simple technique to reduce political polarization
Harriet Tubman and the Most Important, Understudied Battle of the Civil War
https://newrepublic.com/article/178157/harriet-tubman-important-understudied-battle-civil-war
22.02.2024
We endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States in the Democratic Primary (Opinion)
‘20 Days in Mariupol’ can win an Oscar. Will it make the world care about Russian war crimes in Ukraine?
https://kyivindependent.com/20-days-in-mariupol-oscar-nomination/
IVF in red states under threat as Alabama Supreme Court says embryos are children
Mike Johnson and His Delusions of Religious Grandeur are Making People Very Nervous
Opinion: I watched a Trump rally so you don’t have to. But you need to know what he’s saying
Trump reality check: 'Compare yourself to Putin, not Navalny' former Watergate prosecutor says
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/trump-doubles-down-on-alexei-navalny-comparison-204680261990
We’re Running a Risky Cognitive Experiment on Our Own Kids
“Heed Their Rising Voices”: Annotated
https://daily.jstor.org/heed-their-rising-voices-annotated/
Four Ways to Quit Complaining
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/complaining-grievance-stoicism-happiness/677521/
The Vagus Nerve: Everything Everywhere All at Once
https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a46699843/vagus-nerve-what-to-know/
Accepting Discomfort Could Help You Thrive
https://apple.news/AlvnF-hsFRb2P1z5rpMlMgA
The Complexity of Behavioral Change
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/keeping-it-real/202402/the-complexity-of-behavioral-change
West Virginia GOP wants to jail librarians who provide “obscene” books to minors
Illinois governor's proposed $53B budget includes funds for migrants, quantum computing and schools
https://apnews.com/article/budget-illinois-pritzker-migrants-9a407d280f1861fd666f9ecc2ca39eca
Preschoolers inside a dementia care home have changed the lives of elderly residents for the better
The Psychology of Replacing Religion with Spirituality
21.02.2024
Sam Alito Launches Broadside Against Marriage Equality in Homophobic Juror Case
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/sam-alito-marriage-equality-homophobic-juror-scotus.html
Nonbinary Teen Nex Benedict Dies After Being Attacked By Peers in a School Bathroom
https://www.them.us/story/nex-benedict-nonbinary-teen-oklahoma-died-attacked-at-school
There’s no need for conspiracy theories to explain Trump’s shameful Navalny statement
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/navalny-trump-russia-putin-pelosi-rcna139613
Texas has spent over $148 million busing migrants to other parts of the country
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of authoritarian voices undermining democracy and silencing voices of freedom around the world.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 08 (198 total reports)
14.02.2023-20.02.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of authoritarian voices undermining democracy and silencing voices of freedom around the world.
Best Links of The Week
20.02.2024
Solzhenitsyn’s Warning
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was one of the first dissident voices from Russia that warned the US about the repression of citizens in the Soviet Union. Like Alexei Navalny, Solzhenitsyn was tormented by Russia’s KGB leaders (only that one of those people now happens to be the President of Russia). Solzhenitsyn’s warning to the west about capitulating to Russia (and then, the Soviet Union) are as pertinent today as they were when he was alive. Take time to reflect on them for a historical perspective on the corruption of those that rule that region today and their long term goals—not just for regional domination—but undermining the freedom of the world.
19.02.2024
The GOP Has Crossed an Ominous Threshold on Foreign Policy
Even Nikki Haley has said that “Trump gets ‘weak in the knees’ over Putin.” The Russian assassin’s grasp over ‘Authoritarianophiles’ like Trump and Tucker Carlson and their subsequent sway over doting lackeys like Mike Johnson and the rest of the GOP is undermining democracy and freedom all over the world. Ever since Trump came to office, the GOP has become a tool of his deviant form of totalitarianism. The consequences include the undermining of Ukraine and NATO, the murder of Navalny, and the encouragement of dictatorships all over the world. Their words cause not only the destruction of freedom, but death.
18.02.2024
Alexei Navalny Is With Us Forever Now
https://time.com/6696240/alexei-navalny-death-russia-essay/
Navalny is perhaps the bravest man we have seen since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. Of course, Putin had to silence him.
17.02.2024
Putin must be held accountable - Yulia Navalnaya
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68320466
Yulia Navalnaya shows as much bravery as her husband, will it be long before Putin has to reckon with her too? Putin could not have blatantly acted the way he did without the compliance and adoration of Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson. Carlson said that “Every leader kills people, some kill more than others.” Within a week, Navalny was dead. Just as disgraceful is Citizen Trump who is currently comparing himself to Alexei Navalny. Nothing could be further from the truth. Trump has been rated the worst president in the history of the United States. He is a rapist, a traitor, and hoarder of his own country’s secrets. He has betrayed the constitution to which he took an oath to defend and has duped his followers into paying his exorbitant legal fees for everything from rape to fraud. The only thing more far-fetched than Trump being Navalny-like is Mike Johnson declaring himself to be personally selected by God to be the new Moses. These people are seriously deranged—and hold positions of high leadership in the United States government. Indeed, it is a precarious time and our chance to resoundingly defeat them will come at the polls in November. Please register to vote if you haven’t, and make your vote count this year, no matter what you face at the ballot station.
16.02.2024
The Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Critical Theory
In an age of deep-fake AI and terrorist attacks on voter information from entities like Russian, China, Iran, and the GOP, teaching critical thinking is one of the most—if not THE most—critical skill in education today. Please read this article for how you can apply it in your own work with young people or your own life. We are easily duped—especially when we want to justify our beliefs and today’s deepfakes are hard to spot—even for the discerning mind.
15.02.2024
The growing peril of national conservatism
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/15/the-growing-peril-of-national-conservatism
National Conservatism is not just a US movement. Far right groups around the world are using similar tools of fear and xenophobia to push authoritarian goals in nation’s around the world and states throughout the US. In light of the chaos they are trying to spread by lying about diverse populations and immigrants, they are attempting to control a narrative that proves they are essential. It is a tell-tale sign that they run almost exclusively based upon platforms of chaos and fear.
14.02.2024
First look: Film dives into threats of Christian nationalism
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/14/god-country-film-christian-nationalism-racism
Please put this documentary at the top of your “watch and share” list. Christian Nationalism (which is also White Christian Nationalism) is a very dangerous movement attempting to take away freedoms people have fought decades to gain. Freedoms for the LGBTQI+ community, for non-Anglo people, for women, for non-Christians. In the US, you have the right to be Christian, but you do not have the right to force other people to adapt your religious beliefs.
This Week’s Links
20.02.2024
Solzhenitsyn’s Warning
'So grotesque': Joe slams Trump for comparing himself to Navalny
Opinion: US Republicans Lose Avdiivka
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/28323
'You're Such A Dick': Jon Stewart Tells Tucker Carlson How He 'Really, Truly' Feels
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jon-stewart-tucker-carlson-russia_n_65d4295ae4b0f7fbe7b3cf9e
Trump ranked dead last as worst president ever in U.S. history
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/trump-ranked-worst-president-in-u-s-history-204519493623
The first Black 'Peanuts' character finally gets his origin story in animated special
Statistics That Tell the Story of Family Estrangement
Massachusetts school officials ask for governor to send the National Guard to help with unruly high school
19.02.2024
The GOP Has Crossed an Ominous Threshold on Foreign Policy
Trump compares himself to Navalny, Liz Cheney slams the former president
Disinformation threatens global elections: How to fight back
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-disinformation-threatens-global-elections.html
Schools Are Taking Too Long to Craft AI Policy. Why That's a Problem
Need an AI Policy for Your Schools? This District Used ChatGPT to Craft One
Report highlights anti-immigrant bigotry among Border Patrol agents
Murders of The Civil Rights Era You Must Never Forget
https://www.theroot.com/black-history-month-the-most-grisley-murders-of-the-ci-1851266130
Hermann Hesse on Discovering the Soul Beneath the Self and the Key to Finding Peace
https://www.themarginalian.org/2024/02/18/hesse-soul/
Top 5 Fastest Growing Leadership Skills To Learn In 2024, Per Research
18.02.2024
Alexei Navalny Is With Us Forever Now
https://time.com/6696240/alexei-navalny-death-russia-essay/
Over 400 detained in Russia as country mourns the death of Alexei Navalny, Putin's fiercest foe
https://apnews.com/article/russia-alexei-navalny-death-prison-putin-d0121f49840ee1cd6fbf94f6d7249e1b
To Democratize Finance, We Must Take the Banks Away From the Bankers
https://truthout.org/articles/to-democratize-finance-we-must-take-the-banks-away-from-the-bankers/
Russia investigates Duolingo for spreading “traumatizing” LGBTQ+ content
In wake of mass shootings, some parents hesitate bringing their kids to big events
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/17/1231866948/kansas-city-mass-shooting-parents-children-events
Why some travelers are skipping the US: 'You guys are not afraid of this?'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2024/02/18/travel-to-us-down-gun-violence-fears/72608745007/
'The ABCs of Book Banning' underscores school children being affected by book banning efforts
Who Do You Want to Be?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/self-made/202402/who-do-you-want-to-be
17.02.2024
Putin must be held accountable - Yulia Navalnaya
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68320466
Navalny's legacy: His ceaseless crusade against Putin and corruption
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1231980139/alexei-navalny-who-was-he
Tucker Carlson Days Ago on Navalny and Assassinations: 'Leadership Requires Killing People'
The Power of Hate and Its Consequences
'Performing hope' – how a campaign to spur climate action offers an antidote to apathy
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/performing-hope-nature-and-climate-crisis/
This map shows you where same-sex marriage is legal around the world – and there’s a long way to go
11 Inspiring Places Around the U.S. to Learn More About Black History
https://www.veranda.com/travel/g46822423/black-history-month-trip-ideas/
Trans Adults Are the Next Target in the GOP’s War on Gender-Affirming Health Care
https://www.them.us/story/trans-adults-next-target-gop-war-on-gender-affirming-health-care
The Real Difference Between Trump and Biden
https://apple.news/AN8aEocgtSa-gZ_vDjFp5Fw
Donald Trump’s ‘Fraudulent Ways’ Cost Him $355 Million
https://apple.news/AUYgdWMjSSpusfcx_TLR0Zw
The Billionaire Bully Who Wants to Turn Texas Into a Christian Theocracy
Texas ban on university diversity efforts provides a glimpse of the future across GOP-led states
https://apnews.com/article/texas-university-diversity-ban-dei-46e4b6193abe27b6abbdffcd1945cf38
Democrats question House speaker's invitation of 'radical Christian nationalist' preacher
https://apple.news/A1euHf0DCSkWKcCltg8G4Tg
Universal Basic Income Has Been Tried Over and Over Again. It Works Every Time.
https://gizmodo.com/universal-basic-income-has-been-tried-over-and-over-aga-1851255547
16.02.2024
The Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Critical Theory
Gun violence has claimed the lives of almost 5,000 people so far in 2024
https://abcnews.go.com/US/gun-violence-claimed-lives-5000-people-2024/story?id=107262776
How US gun culture stacks up with the world
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/
Trump tells NRA members 'no one will lay a finger on your firearms' if he returns to the White House
Scoop: N.Y. governor wants to criminalize deceptive AI
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/15/hochul-ai-criminalize-deceptive-ny
‘Massive benefit’: Immigration surge set to boost U.S. economy by $7 trillion
Alexei Navalny, vocal critic of Vladimir Putin and Russian government, dies in prison
15.02.2024
The growing peril of national conservatism
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/15/the-growing-peril-of-national-conservatism
She Was Denied an Abortion After Roe Fell. This Is a Year in Her Family’s Life.
https://projects.propublica.org/the-year-after-a-denied-abortion/
Republicans have delivered a shameful week of wins for Putin
Livid Kansas City congressman rips thoughts-and-prayers Congress for doing 'nothing at all' on guns
Stagnant state funding leaves Texas public schools reeling
Limerence, Love, and Neurodivergent Women
Report: Threats to Federal Judges Have More Than Doubled Since 2020
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/02/federal-judges-prosecutors-trump-threats-double-2020/
Cultivating the Ability to Relate After Relational Trauma
What a Teacher's Letters Reveal About Robert Smalls, Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Secure His Freedom From Slavery
14.02.2024
First look: Film dives into threats of Christian nationalism
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/14/god-country-film-christian-nationalism-racism
Michael Steele: Dictators don't make life better for you; pick up a history book and read it
Biden’s Hidden Economic Success
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/02/biden-keeping-big-economic-promise/677444/
20 Donald Trump Business Ventures That Failed Miserably | Wealth of Geeks
https://wealthofgeeks.com/trump-ventures/
In January, Fox News’ highest rated evening programs spread white nationalist rhetoric in nearly half of their immigration segments
AI Is Disrupting Professions That Require College Degrees. How Should Higher Ed Respond? - EdSurge News
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of the GOP’s dystopian plans to undermine the rights of women.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 07 (197 total reports)
07.02.2023-13.02.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of the GOP’s dystopian plans to undermine the rights of women.
Best Links of The Week
13.02.2024
Billion-dollar ad campaign fueled by anti-LGBTQ+ forces returns to Super Bowl to promote Jesus
Don’t be fooled by these ads about Jesus’ love for all, a quick look behind the scenes reveal they are bankrolled to the tune of a billion dollars over three years by some of the most conservative LGBTQI+ attack goons, like Hobby Lobby’s billionaire owner, David Green. “Jesus gets us…” but would he really partner with hateful billionaires to promote his causes during the Super Bowl?
12.02.2024
Why Incompetent People Think They’re Competent: The Dunning-Kruger Effect, Explained
There is a false floor to our education system that makes us believe that the goal of education is to accumulate knowledge. For the brightest people in the world, the goal of education was to accumulate curiosity. In truth, we only become wise when we realize how little we know and how much there is to learn. The greatest professors do not teach from the front of the class, they teach from the middle of the class, empowering teams for students to inquire and learn themselves. Their hallmark is that instead of answering questions, they encourage more of them.
11.02.2024
The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets
https://www.mother.ly/parenting/social-safety-net/
Children who are hungry or afraid cannot learn, perhaps they can retain data for tests, but that is not learning, that’s reciting. To learn, a child needs a full stomach, a safe space, and an encouraging adult who understands and co-regulates the intense emotions that come with intellectual and physical growth in every mammal.
10.02.2024
LeVar Burton gives cheeky 'Reading Rainbow' segment for banned books
https://www.upworthy.com/levar-burton-gives-cheeky-reading-rainbow-segment-for-banned-books
This is a good read or watch the live version on the link enclosed with the article. I loved watching “Reading Rainbow” with my children and LeVar Burton’s relevance has only become sharpened by attacks on his race and sexuality. Banning a book like Charlotte’s Web because it has a talking pig, discounts that fact that the Bible had talking donkeys, snakes, and other oddities like a whale that ate a human without digesting him.
09.02.2024
Project 2025: The Right’s Dystopian Plan to Dismantle Civil Rights and What It Means for Women
https://msmagazine.com/2024/02/08/project-2025-conservative-right-wing-trump-woke/
If you haven’t read Project 2025 and seen what the MAGA plan is for immigrants, LGBTQI+ people, and women, this should be at the top of your list. The GOP’s attack on woman—in particular intelligent women—is undeniable. If you are a woman and vote for Trump, you are voting for your daughter or granddaughter to be chattel for the far right.
08.02.2024
5 MLK speeches you should know. Spoiler: 'I Have a Dream' isn't on the list
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1228320048/black-history-mlk-speeches-martin-luther-king
Here, mid-stream into Black History month, it is critical to reflect on some of the greatest minds in Black History. For sure, MLK is only a starter for that list, but his speeches reach far beyond civil rights including thoughts on war, capitalism, and other ills of our society.
07.02.2024
The Untold History of the Last Slave Ship to Land on U.S. Soil
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/untold-history-last-slave-ship-land-u-s-soil-bookbite/47830/
This is an important read to understand the history that the Far Right is trying so hard to erase. It is a compelling and inspirational read as well as a tragic one. It highlights the strength of the human spirit in the face of terrible cruelty. Certainly a theme that finds pertinence today.
This Week’s Links
13.02.2024
Billion-dollar ad campaign fueled by anti-LGBTQ+ forces returns to Super Bowl to promote Jesus
House GOP has attacked LGBTQ+ people hundreds of times in just the past year
The U.S. Trans Survey proves the inaccuracy of this right-wing talking point
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trans-survey-gender-affirming-care-rcna138452
A Climate Reckoning Is Coming for the Next President
The Rise of AI in Education: Educators' Perspectives and Strategies for Human-Centric Adoption
https://www.cryptopolitan.com/ai-in-education-educators-perspectives/
More than 2 million people dropped from Medicaid in Texas
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/13/medicaid-enrollment-texas
4 Barriers to Student Success that Educators Need to Be Talking About
12.02.2024
Why Incompetent People Think They’re Competent: The Dunning-Kruger Effect, Explained
Taming the Unruly Voice Within
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theyre-not-coming/202402/taming-the-unruly-voice-within
Authoritarian Parenting: Its Impact, Causes, and Indications
11.02.2024
The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets
https://www.mother.ly/parenting/social-safety-net/
How (and Why) Power Corrupts People
Anger, sadness, boredom, anxiety—emotions that feel bad can be useful
“Stop Trying to Fix It” and What to Do Instead
10.02.2024
LeVar Burton gives cheeky 'Reading Rainbow' segment for banned books
https://www.upworthy.com/levar-burton-gives-cheeky-reading-rainbow-segment-for-banned-books
True African-American Stories for Black History Month: The Best Films
https://wealthofgeeks.com/true-african-american-stories/
11 Famous Black Inventors Who Changed Your Life
https://www.biography.com/inventors/g46697619/famous-black-inventors
"Nothing About Ukraine Without Ukraine" — The New Geopolitics Since Russia's Invasion
https://worldcrunch.com/focus/ukraine-geopolitics-support
Hysteria over Biden’s age is a distraction from Trump’s authoritarianism
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/biden-age-memory-trump-authoritarianism-rcna138144
5 Principles for Raising Good Humans
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/5-principles-raising-good-humans-bookbite/47932/
How to Get Better at ‘Slow Parenting’ (and Why You Should)
https://lifehacker.com/family/how-to-get-better-at-slow-parenting
The 5 Pitfalls of Enabling Adult Children
09.02.2024
Project 2025: The Right’s Dystopian Plan to Dismantle Civil Rights and What It Means for Women
https://msmagazine.com/2024/02/08/project-2025-conservative-right-wing-trump-woke/
Black Historical Fiction to Read in Your Book Club
https://bookriot.com/black-historical-fiction-to-read-in-your-book-club/
Trump’s ‘Knock on the Door’
The border crisis is helping to mainstream a dangerous conspiracy theory
Groundbreaking Research From Yale and Berkeley Finds That the Good Life Isn't About Happiness. It's About This Essential Emotion
Here's a ‘really simple’ way to change people’s minds, says Wharton persuasion expert: It makes people 30% likelier to say yes
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/simple-way-to-change-someones-mind-wharton-persuasion-expert.html
National Center for Transgender Equality releases trans survey
Bullying as the Brain's Response to Anger and Fear
8 expert tips for teaching kids emotional intelligence this Children's Mental Health Week (and #4 sounds like so much fun)
https://www.goodto.com/wellbeing/how-to-teach-kids-emotional-intelligence
Could Artificial Intelligence Replace Psychologists?
08.02.2024
5 MLK speeches you should know. Spoiler: 'I Have a Dream' isn't on the list
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1228320048/black-history-mlk-speeches-martin-luther-king
Warn Voters About the Radicalism Beyond Trump
https://newrepublic.com/article/178442/republicans-rewrite-constitution-radicalism-beyond-trump
Welcome Back to the Chaos of the Trump Era
Congress' epic implosion
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/07/senate-border-deal-mayorkas-impeachment
The reason Vladimir Putin sat down with Tucker Carlson is obvious — and important
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-rcna137713
Baruch Spinoza and the Art of Thinking in Dangerous Times
https://apple.news/A9jkaA_LjQ7WmR_uHP3CiBg
The future is artificial intelligence. Are students ready?
https://www.k12dive.com/news/future-is-ai-are-students-ready/706731/
How to Tame the 'Wanting Mind'
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/turning-straw-into-gold/202402/how-to-tame-the-wanting-mind
A Parent's Discipline May Affect How Kids Internalize Rules
07.02.2024
The Untold History of the Last Slave Ship to Land on U.S. Soil
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/untold-history-last-slave-ship-land-u-s-soil-bookbite/47830/
AI-generated Biden calls came through shady telecom and Texan front ‘Life Corporation’
Three reasons why so many migrants want to cross from Mexico to US
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68208637
10 False Lessons Childhood Emotional Neglect Teaches You
A New Way to See Problems as Fixable, not Insurmountable
Is Montessori education all it’s cracked up to be? What science says
Tucker Carlson confirms he’s interviewing Vladimir Putin
https://www.politico.eu/article/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-confirm/
‘Playing Into Putin’s Hands’– War in Ukraine Update for Feb. 7
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/27706
Trump’s Lawyers Need a New Box of Crayons. The System Is Gearing Up.
The ‘none of these candidates’ option wins Nevada GOP primary, a symbolic rejection of Nikki Haley
Republicans’ Plot to Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas Flops
https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2024/02/alejandro-mayorkas-dhs-secretary-house-impeachment/
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of quislings in politics and the “news” media.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 06 (196 total reports)
31.12.2023-06.02.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of quislings in politics and the “news” media.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
06.02.2024
Opinion: Tucker Carlson and Modern-day Quislings
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/27659
A quisling is someone who collaborates with an enemy force while it is occupying their own country. It is named after Vidkun Quisling, the former Minister of Defense in Norway. Quisling was a Nazi collaborator who had responsibilities for overseeing the government of his country. A quisling can also be known as a quirk, both words are used more frequently in Europe than the United States. That usage should change with the profusion of quislings like Tucker Carlson and Mike Johnson. Carlson, happily on his path to becoming a patsy and spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, just left Canada after meeting with the ultra-conservative Premiere of Alberta, Danielle Smith. Is it any wonder that a week after those meetings she would come out with hateful legislation attacking LGBTQI+ people in her own province?
05.02.2024
How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board—And How Parents Took It Back
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/far-right-pennsylvania-school-board
The actions of parents in this school district could become a road map for taking back the direction of school boards across the US (and soon Canada) in order to keep them from banning books and promoting a revisionist history that would make students into the least informed, most ignorant, misinformed, children in the world.
04.02.2024
'We're terrified': Hundreds rally in support of Alberta trans community, opposition to coming government gender policies
Once again, we should point to Tucker Carlson for visiting Alberta and spewing hatred that will cause the deaths of young people legitimately exploring their personal identity during their adolescence.
03.02.2024
Rep. Jim Clyburn frames election as choice between 'loud noise' and 'quiet diplomacy'
Rep. Jim Clyburn knows a great deal about racism and ‘loud noise.’ Having been a leader of the civil rights movement since the 1960’s. Clyburn, who served as majority whip from 2007 to 2018, knows the people who lead with their actions and the people who confounded with their words. Clyburn was pivotal in saving the campaign of Joe Biden when it was on the ropes during his primary run. Many people believe that it was his “quiet diplomacy” that garnered the black vote for the Biden campaign which put Biden back at the top of the democratic primary pack.
02.02.2024
What is Christian nationalism and why it raises concerns about threats to democracy
PBS is my favorite news channel because of its unbiased reporting and lack of corporate influence. Unlike Fox, it offer news, not opinions, on current world events. This article, by stellar reporters, Laura Barrón-Lopez and Sam Lane, is a wonderful example of their insightful reporting. If, you were unsure of how much Christian Nationalism is trying to take over American politics, this article will help guide your opinion. Thank you, PBS.
01.02.2024
We’re hurting, Elmo: Why so many of us just cried on a Muppet’s shoulder
Who would have thought that such a simple tweet by a Sesame Street character would have made this much of an impact? It truly shows how much American is hurting and seeking respite from the politics of division today.
31.01.2024
It’s time we draft a longer list of “unalienable rights”
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/01/its-time-we-draft-a-longer-list-of-unalienable-rights/
This article made me think and expand my viewpoint on the rights of so many being forgotten and undermined today. Take a look at the author’s longer list of unalienable rights and see what compels you to act.
This Week’s Links
06.02.2024
Opinion: Tucker Carlson and Modern-day Quislings
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/27659
The Art of No Deal
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/republicans-congress-immigration-deal/677357/
How one state is tackling homelessness by turning hotels, motels into shelters
https://apple.news/A_AWYOMyGRZSHbtwFWnnhDA
The Great Paradox of Borderline Personality Disorder
05.02.2024
How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board—And How Parents Took It Back
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/far-right-pennsylvania-school-board
Russian Media Hypes Tucker Carlson Visit: 'Americans Are in Shock'
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-media-hypes-tucker-carlson-visit-americans-are-shock-1866743
Learning How To Say No: Setting Boundaries is Self-Care
https://www.hercampus.com/school/cu-boulder/learning-how-to-say-no-setting-boundaries-is-self-care/
04.02.2024
'We're terrified': Hundreds rally in support of Alberta trans community, opposition to coming government gender policies
The Year Ahead: Education
https://apple.news/A9k6pT-1rTniVXv7irdNDfQ
03.02.2024
Rep. Jim Clyburn frames election as choice between 'loud noise' and 'quiet diplomacy'
Why Trump's Persecution Narrative Resonates With Christian Supporters : Consider This from NPR
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/02/1198910302/consider-this-from-npr-draft-02-02-2024
Groundbreaking map shows which US states are the least safe for LGBTQ+ people
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/02/02/lgbtq-safe-states/
The Real Reasons You Feel Triggered by Your Child’s Behavior
02.02.2024
What is Christian nationalism and why it raises concerns about threats to democracy
The Black history that isn't taught: Historians share lesser known moments in US racial history
What It’s Like to Celebrate Black History in a State Where It’s Banned
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/02/florida-desantis-black-history-month/
Gay lawmaker demands to know extent of U.S. Christian group's ties to Uganda's deadly antigay law
https://www.advocate.com/politics/fellowship-foundation-uganda-antigay-law
Erase Damaging Family Trauma and Reprogram Your Brain
Teachers, Try This: Gamify Instruction to Reduce Math Anxiety and Improve Test Scores
Be mine! (Sort of): Situationships are on the rise
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/02/dating-culture-valentines-day-gen-z-situationships
01.02.2024
We’re hurting, Elmo: Why so many of us just cried on a Muppet’s shoulder
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warns that hackers could cause breakdown in world order, calls for digital Geneva Convention
https://www.techspot.com/news/101709-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-warns-hackers-could-cause.html
Ukraine Needs American Weapons, Not More GOP Drama
8 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have, According to Educators
These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren.
https://19thnews.org/2024/01/climate-grandmothers-environmental-activism/
The Cure for Loneliness Is Solitude
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passion/202401/the-cure-for-loneliness-is-solitude
Why conservatives are melting down over Taylor Swift
https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/1/31/24057448/taylor-swift-conservatives-maga
Video shows Indiana lawmaker showing holstered gun to students who were advocating for gun control
How to Have Impossible Conversations Summary of Key Ideas and Review | Peter Boghossian and James A. Lindsay - Blinkist
https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/how-to-have-impossible-conversations-en
Autistic Boys and Men Camouflage, Too
Alberta to require parental consent for name, pronoun changes at school
31.01.2024
It’s time we draft a longer list of “unalienable rights”
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/01/its-time-we-draft-a-longer-list-of-unalienable-rights/
The Neuroscience of Negotiation
A State Supreme Court Just Issued the Most Devastating Rebuke of Dobbs Yet
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/pennsylvania-supreme-court-dobbs-sam-alito-abortion.html
Resentful Love: The Burden of Adult Children of Neglect
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of the GOP’s desire to campaign instead of lead.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 05 (195 total reports)
24.12.2023-30.01.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of the GOP’s desire to campaign instead of lead.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
30.01.2024
Here’s how right-wing media are attacking America’s education system
Young adults and people with education are leery of the right-wing. The GOP and Republicans recognize that—if they are to have a future—they need to alter the education system from the early years through university. Their playbook is not new and dates back to authoritarian regimes throughout history. If you change what people learn you can change what people think. As Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors.” Let us hope that this far right, authoritarian, movement is not around long enough to pass on their version of history to another generation. One needs not listen any further than Republican candidate, Nikki-Haley to hear how conservative politicians are trying to rewrite history to appease their voters. Saying that slavery was NOT a cause of the Civil War and that racism was never a part of US History.
29.01.2024
Texas could face fines over dysfunctional foster care system
Texas, which leads the US in being unable to supervise its own State, reveals another glaring flaw in the treatment of its own teenagers. Preferring to lock young people up in hotels and treat them like prisoners, it is driving young people into sex trafficking and criminal behavior just to escape the system. When will the people of this State insist that it’s Governor start governing instead of grandstanding?
28.01.2024
Ayman: Hungry children are left to pay the price for GOP partisan games
All over the US, Republican Governors are rejecting school lunch funding for impoverished children, because, as Don Young from Alaska said, “There is no free lunch…” Children without proper nutrition do not learn, it’s that simple. But, perhaps that is what the right wing radicals like Young truly want. If young people learn, they won’t elect cruel people like him. Greg Abbott is the George Wallace of our day. Using racism to generate hatred and continue his grip on power. Like Wallace, he is attempting to force a showdown with the Federal government purely for political ad personal gain.
27.01.2024
The U.S. Should Apologize to Gay People
https://apple.news/Aj68BsBguRfiQNddOIVuMyg
This article chronicles the US Government’s historicattack on homosexuality and how it has become the current conservative evangelical’s pet topic to generate hate and division.
26.01.2024
The Party of Malice
https://apple.news/AMXsvy_qBTmKuHQz-c6NNFQ
Here is my favorite article in truth-telling this week. It echos the article above, revealing the truth behind the right wing’s principles; “If you don’t have any policies to unite people, use hate to foment chaos and dissent.”
25.01.2024
Diversity initiatives are the epitome of patriotism. The GOP’s disdain for them is pure racism.
The premise of this article is that the preamble of our constitution and specifically the second paragraph of the Constitution is written specifically to celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), therefore, celebrating diversity is the most “American” act we can endeavor to pursue.
24.01.2024
My Students Can’t Meet Academic Standards Because the School Model No Longer Fits Them - EdSurge News
This article invites us to look deeper at the reason some young people will never succeed at school. The question we must commit to honestly ask is, “What if it’s not the student that is failing, but what if the system is failing the student?”
This Week’s Links
30.01.2024
Here’s how right-wing media are attacking America’s education system
What a Jim Crow-era asylum can teach us about mental health today
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227498861/antonia-hylton-madness-crownsville-hospital
The fight between Texas and the Feds over immigration enforcement intensifies
State Outlines Guidance for Different Levels of AI Use in Classrooms
29.01.2024
Texas could face fines over dysfunctional foster care system
Teen birth rate in Texas increases for the first time in 15 years
https://scrippsnews.com/stories/teen-birth-rate-in-texas-increases-for-the-first-time-in-15-years/
Deepfakes: How to empower youth to fight the threat of misinformation and disinformation
Homeland Security Blasts GOP's 'Evidence Free' Impeachment Articles Against DHS Chief
Non-religious Americans seek community
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/28/1227487416/non-religious-americans-seek-community
28.01.2024
Ayman: Hungry children are left to pay the price for GOP partisan games
“This is a do-nothing Republican Congress”: Dem Leader Jeffries slams Republicans for pedaling chaos
South Dakota Lawmakers Vote Down Free School Lunches Bill
A Human Behavioural Crisis Threatens Humanity
The Supreme Court Shouldn’t Punt on This One
27.01.2024
The U.S. Should Apologize to Gay People
https://apple.news/Aj68BsBguRfiQNddOIVuMyg
David Wengrow: A new understanding of human history and the roots of inequality
What’s really bothering American teens
https://apple.news/A_zRKQjYWQCWbXv4-c42bTw
An Insider’s Perspective on Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukraine War
Unpacking Emotional Baggage: Adverse Childhood Experiences
Protest Convoy Headed to Southern Border Is Calling Itself an ‘Army of God’
5 simple strategies for changing anyone’s mind
https://www.fastcompany.com/91017005/5-simple-strategies-for-changing-anyones-mind
Iowa promised $75 million for school safety. Two shootings later, the money is largely unspent
https://apnews.com/article/perry-iowa-school-shooting-safety-6f2e8a3bcb78c86ce835ce1618d2c184
Behind the Walls of a Jim Crow Asylum
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/behind-walls-jim-crow-asylum-bookbite/47677/
26.01.2024
The Party of Malice
https://apple.news/AMXsvy_qBTmKuHQz-c6NNFQ
New data shows nearly a third of Gen Zers identify as LGBTQ
Let's Talk About Hope
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hopeful-and-happier/202401/lets-talk-about-hope
Donald Trump vs. American History
https://apple.news/AtVWmvsmvQhuG3NCUKFiHbQ
Trump Demands Total Presidential Immunity -- Even for Acts That 'Cross the Line'
https://apple.news/AeFP2E5v1RTehFIMs90-WTA
Homophobia causes 'crisis of morale' in Montana school system
https://www.advocate.com/news/montana-school-anti-lgbtq-environment
25.01.2024
Diversity initiatives are the epitome of patriotism. The GOP’s disdain for them is pure racism.
Raped, pregnant and in an abortion ban state? Researchers gauge how often it happens
Pew: Over a quarter of U.S. adults don't identify with a religion
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/24/religious-affiliation-protestant-catholic-agnostic
The Plan to Incapacitate the Federal Government
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/chevron-supreme-court-case/677220/
Why Evangelicals Went All In on Trump, Again
https://time.com/6588138/evangelicals-support-donald-trump-2024/
24.01.2024
My Students Can’t Meet Academic Standards Because the School Model No Longer Fits Them - EdSurge News
Memory and Trauma: We Are More than What We Remember
AI in the classroom: Why some teachers are embracing it
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of Greedflation and Authoritarianism.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 04 (194 total reports)
17.12.2023-23.01.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of Greedflation and Authoritarianism.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
23.01.2024
Greedflation Accounts for 53 Cents of Every Dollar of Inflation in Past 6 Months
Who has the most to gain by making sure the GOP retains its stranglehold on the US economy and continues to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations? The answer to that question can be found in this study of Greedflation. Greedflation, not Inflation, is the reason prices on household goods remain so high in spite of a booming economy. Please take time to read this article and examine the CEO’s and corporations that are “robbing the poor to give to the rich.”
22.01.2024
‘It’s embarrassing’: Republicans worry they have no achievements to run on in 2024
There’s only one reason that Republicans are worried they have no achievements to run on in 2024, that is because they actually HAVE NO achievements to run on… Instead of using their majority to lead, they have used their power to divide and create chaos. The GOP has spent more of its time looking for reasons to impeach, despoil, and even attack their own leadership than they have governing. The US Government is being held hostage by a belligerent vocal minority willing to do anything (or in the current example, stand in the way of anything) to get its way.
21.01.2024
A Divided Congress Is About to Let Poor Families Fall Off a Hunger Cliff
https://newrepublic.com/article/178263/wic-congress-funding-chidren-nutrition
While the Republican House spends its time deciding who it will impeach next or whether to elect another new speaker and Republican Governors decide not to feed children over the summer, congress is also willing to let poor families in the US starve. Historically, this is the most do-nothing congress ever assembled. Worried more about pelvic issues than governing, it has done nothing to improve the lives of the middle class and the impoverished in its own country. Their behavior borders on negligence and our best remedy is to vote this party out of office.
20.01.2024
“I Am Because We Are”: Introducing Ubuntu Philosophy
https://www.thecollector.com/ubuntu-philosophy-introduction/
The difference between Western and African philosophy is articulated in this moving article on the Ubuntu Philosophy. It was at the heart of such leaders of Social Justice as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu.
19.01.2024
Biden is Launching the American Climate Corps, a New Era for Eco-Action
Not since the formation of the Peace Corps has a forward-thinking president considered providing other-than-military options for young people to be involved in global service. Many Young Adults have a strong desire to serve and an equally strong desire to be meaningfully involved in climate change.
18.01.2024
‘How Migration Really Works’ brings calm rigor to a heated issue
Greg Abbott declared this week that he would shoot immigrants but he would be charged with murder. Abbott’s inability to lead his State creatively is a reflection of the racist hate and fear underpinnings of the Republican party at this time. Abbott’s policies have caused deaths, what they haven’t done is lead his State or other Americans into truly understanding the real issues behind migration worldwide. Until we understand those issues, we will not be able to offer any real solutions to this global epidemic. People will always seek better opportunities for their families and children—every American (unless you’re Native American)—has done the same thing by immigrating to this country, borders will not stop this basic human need.
17.01.2024
Lincoln Project’s ‘God Made A Dictator’ Is A MUST Watch Ad
https://politizoom.com/lincoln-projects-god-made-a-dictator-is-a-must-watch-ad/
This is the most watched advertisement the Lincoln Project has released and it is in response to Trump declaring that he is “The Chosen One.” Thank you to this group of mostly former Republicans who don’t want to see our Country become an authoritarian, evangelical, dictatorship.
This Week’s Links
23.01.2024
Greedflation Accounts for 53 Cents of Every Dollar of Inflation in Past 6 Months
The power of storytelling in education
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/the-power-of-storytelling-in-education
Music Producer Steve Albini, Director Godfrey Reggio & Actor Fred Armisen Explain Why Creating Is Crucial to Human Existence
Meme-ifying 2024: how some young organizers are working to get their peers engaged
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/22/1226038691/memes-tik-tok-2024-democrats-republicans-social-media
How Do We Get Out of This Mess? Try Mission-Driven Capitalism
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/get-mess-try-mission-driven-capitalism-bookbite/47615/
22.01.2024
‘It’s embarrassing’: Republicans worry they have no achievements to run on in 2024
School shootings in the US: Fast facts
http://www.cnn.com/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/
Study Finds Less Loneliness Among Those With A Sense Of Purpose
Teaching Big Questions to Little Kids
When Your Child Blames You for Their Mental Health Issues
AI isn't the problem — it's the solution
https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_ng_ai_isn_t_the_problem_it_s_the_solution
Sam Altman Says ChatGPT Is Good for Education: Here Are 4 Lessons From My Student
21.01.2024
A Divided Congress Is About to Let Poor Families Fall Off a Hunger Cliff
https://newrepublic.com/article/178263/wic-congress-funding-chidren-nutrition
There are 3 ways to challenge a statement. The one you pick says a lot about your character
https://www.fastcompany.com/91013059/ways-to-challenge-a-statement-your-character
“Wrong Side of History”: NYC Mayor Eric Adams Vetoes Ban on Solitary Confinement
Updating Freud's Psychology
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-of-knowledge/202401/updating-freuds-psychology
20.01.2024
“I Am Because We Are”: Introducing Ubuntu Philosophy
https://www.thecollector.com/ubuntu-philosophy-introduction/
Decoding morality across cultures: Insights from a mega-study of Moral Foundations Theory
E. Jean Carroll is doing what no one else has the guts to do
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-sexual-assault-rcna134594
19.01.2024
Biden is Launching the American Climate Corps, a New Era for Eco-Action
The Overlooked Payoff to Suffering Is Compassion
Kids of color get worse health care across the board in the U.S., research finds
18.01.2024
‘How Migration Really Works’ brings calm rigor to a heated issue
The richest 1 per cent own 43 per cent of global assets, Oxfam study says
Davos 2024: 6 innovative ideas on reskilling, upskilling and building a future-ready workforce
Homophobia causes 'crisis of morale' in Montana school system
https://www.advocate.com/news/montana-school-anti-lgbtq-environment
Psychologist shares a 5-step plan to come up with great ideas: It's a 'game-changer' in any workplace
17.01.2024
Lincoln Project’s ‘God Made A Dictator’ Is A MUST Watch Ad
https://politizoom.com/lincoln-projects-god-made-a-dictator-is-a-must-watch-ad/
Tough New Immigration Rules Risk Empowering the Cartels
https://www.cfr.org/blog/tough-new-immigration-rules-risk-empowering-cartels
Are People Aware of Automatic Attitudes?
This is the one skill we all need in the age of AI
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/01/this-is-the-one-skill-everybody-needs-in-the-age-of-ai/
How to Change Someone's Mind, According to Neuroscience
The Happiest, Most Successful Kids All Have This Rarely Discussed Skill, Research Shows. Here Are 3 Ways Parents Can Teach It
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people as the GOP undermines the health of children and the rights of women and minorities.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 03 (193 total reports)
10.12.2023-16.01.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as the GOP undermines the health of children and the rights of women and minorities.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
16.01.2024
Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/einstein-rules-better-life/
We tend to think of Einstein as someone who gave us insights into how the physical universe worked. Many think he was high on the Aspergers Spectrum and, although a physics and mathematical genius, perhaps a bit inept in social settings. I had the opportunity of meeting someone at Princeton University who worked closely with Einstein and learned many things about the man one might not read in books or magazines. This article, from “Big Think,” also points out he had some key insights into living a life of well-being and happiness. I would suggest reviewing his notes for insights into your own life. Perhaps you, like me, are stymied about the interconnectedness of the universe, still there’s a lot that this genius can teach us about the interconnectedness of other aspects of our lives.
15.01.2024
So far it's a grand decade for billionaires, says new report. As for the masses ...
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/01/14/1224507582/davos-oxfam-rich-poor-inequality
Some people shy away from taxing billionaires—just in case they become one. This is a fallacy purported by the very people who hoard gross amounts of possessions. The vast majority of billionaires were not “self-made,” but born into privilege. Donald Trump is a grand example of this, Forbes says that he inherited around $40 million dollars, lost it all, claimed he was a self-made billionaire, before it was revealed that his billions were largely debt and overinflated assets. Tax these people…
14.01.2024
Here’s What Right-Wing Power Brokers Want Trump to Do in His Second Term
https://www.thedailybeast.com/right-wing-power-brokers-plan-for-trumps-second-term
It’s not hard to miss what a second term for Trump would look like as his power brokers have written it out in black and white. The “Dictator-On-Day-One” would continue his attack on diversity and women’s rights as would revenge politics and, of course, wiping out his own crimes and prosecutions.
13.01.2024
These Republican governors chose to let some kids go hungry this summer
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/summer-ebt-wic-funding-free-school-lunches-rcna133252
These Republican Governors are perfect examples of putting politics ahead of children’s lives. The party that professes they are “Pro-Life” is really nothing more than “Pro-Birth.” After birth, children and women are on their own.
12.01.2024
'God & Country' explores rise of Christian nationalism in America
Perhaps the number one disease in US politics today is Christian Nationalism. Trump won the primary in Iowa largely due to Evangelical support. How can anyone who reads the Gospel possibly support a man who is so obviously egomaniacal and misogynistic? Last week, found Trump declaring he was sent by God to save the United States and, in the same breath, hoping the economy would collapse under Joe Biden so he would not get the blame.
11.01.2024
Four More Years of Unchecked Misogyny
https://apple.news/AEqSoi4PNRvS9MMFTF4E5yg
This article states clearly one of the gravest concerns about a second Trump term, if you’re a woman, a minority, or LGBTQ+, voting for Trump is like selling away your own rights.
10.01.2024
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis
https://popular.info/p/florida-school-district-removes-dictionaries
Similar to the article above about Governor’s voting against children’s food programs, this article points to how outlandish the far right has become in it’s quest to control people’s minds.
This Week’s Links
16.01.2024
Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/einstein-rules-better-life/
LGBTQ+ Iowans feel threatened by Republican candidates' stances
https://www.advocate.com/politics/iowa-caucus-lgbtq-fears-republicans
5 Ways to Connect With Your Friend Experiencing Depression
15.01.2024
So far it's a grand decade for billionaires, says new report. As for the masses ...
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/01/14/1224507582/davos-oxfam-rich-poor-inequality
World’s five richest men double their fortunes as poorest 60 percent lose money, Oxfam says
‘We are becoming numb’: The disturbing reality of three migrants drowning at Texas border
You Should Go to a Trump Rally
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/01/trump-rally-iowa-2024-election/677119/
Dr. Clarence Jones: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would call Donald Trump a 'moral fraud'
We Fact Checked Everything Trump Has Said About Climate Change Since 2021
https://heatmap.news/politics/trump-fact-check-climate-change-wind-solar-electric-vehicles-energy
From Kindergarten To College, Girls Are Outperforming Boys
Neurodiversity Is an Identity, Not a Disorder
Fox Hasn’t Molded Conservative Thought. It’s The Other Way Around
https://politizoom.com/fox-hasnt-molded-conservative-thought-its-the-other-way-around/
14.01.2024
Here’s What Right-Wing Power Brokers Want Trump to Do in His Second Term
https://www.thedailybeast.com/right-wing-power-brokers-plan-for-trumps-second-term
How Historical Trauma Lives in Us All
Opinion | The eerie new Trump ad pushing the boundaries of Christian theology
https://apple.news/A6Ga-lkACQleLsADnaMFpXw
Woman, 2 children die crossing Rio Grande as Border Patrol says it was prevented from intervening
How to navigate an era of disruption, disinformation, and division
13.01.2024
These Republican governors chose to let some kids go hungry this summer
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/summer-ebt-wic-funding-free-school-lunches-rcna133252
Evangelical leaders lose influence as followers find new savior in Trump
Gender dysphoria diagnoses are steadily increasing. Here's what that means
https://www.advocate.com/news/gender-dysphoria-diagnoses-increase
GOP lawmakers are trying to force all therapists to practice conversion therapy on trans people
Sarah Huckabee Sanders keeps upping the ante on her cruelty
https://www.queerty.com/sarah-huckabee-sanders-keeps-upping-the-ante-on-her-cruelty-20240112
Marjorie Taylor Greene Reveals She's 'Truly Interested' in Being Donald Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security
https://okmagazine.com/p/marjorie-taylor-greene-interested-donald-trump-secretary-homeland-security/
Technology's Original Sin is the Theft of Attention
Trump Foil Adam Schiff Would Expand Supreme Court, Abolish Electoral College to ‘Protect Democracy’: Report
Biden Crackdown Hauls In $520 Million In Back Taxes From The Ultrawealthy
Trump Must Return Millions He Got From Foreign Governments, Democrats Say
https://newrepublic.com/post/178052/raskin-demands-trump-return-millions-paid-foreign-governments
12.01.2024
'God & Country' explores rise of Christian nationalism in America
House Republican game-plan: Impeach everyone
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/11/house-republicans-impeach-biden-mayorkas-garland
GOP lawmaker told Uganda to “stand firm” on its “Kill the Gays” bill
American Universities Are Post-truth
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/claudine-gay-harvard-scandal/677096/
January 6 Is Exactly What the Fourteenth Amendment Was Talking About
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/january-6-14th-amendment/677098/
Scholars Aren’t Studying the Questions Education Leaders Care About Most (Opinion)
Harvard's 85-year study reveals the one thing that's the key to happiness and it's pretty simple
https://scoop.upworthy.com/harvards-85-year-study-reveals-the-number-one-key-to-happiness
How Autistic Individuals Adapt to a Neurotypical World
Five Ways to Help Children with Challenging Behaviours
https://www.todaysparent.com/kids/how-to-help-children-with-challenging-behaviour/
11.01.2024
Four More Years of Unchecked Misogyny
https://apple.news/AEqSoi4PNRvS9MMFTF4E5yg
Bertrand Russell & Buckminster Fuller on Why We Should Work Less, and Live and Learn More
Nikki Haley’s refusal to acknowledge America’s racism is exactly why schools need to teach about it
Trump Rally Prayers Have Gotten Dark: ‘Demonic Forces At Play’
https://themessenger.com/politics/trump-rally-prayers-have-gotten-dark-demonic-forces-at-play
Trump is 'proud' about taking away abortion rights. Republicans will keep losing because of it.
Florida Republicans Want to Destroy Restrictions on Teenage Labor
The Proud Boys are collapsing: Surprise! Legal consequences do hurt authoritarian movements
10.01.2024
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis
https://popular.info/p/florida-school-district-removes-dictionaries
Trump’s Lawyer Walked Into a Trap
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/trump-immunity-hearing-2020-election/677072/
Biden Blasts Trump After He Wishes For A Stock Market Collapse
People share the 18 things that are a 'subtle sign' someone is really smart
https://www.upworthy.com/people-share-the-things-that-are-a-subtle-sign-someone-is-really-smart-rp4
AI will unleash the next level of human potential. Here's how it happens - and when
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in a growing climate of systemic fear and totalitarianism.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 02 (192 total reports)
03.12.2023-09.01.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in a growing climate of systemic fear and totalitarianism.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
09.01.2024
Is Dopamine Running Your Life—or Ruining It?
Dopamine is a powerful chemical popularly associated with helping us experience pleasure. Of course, such a powerful molecule will have both positive and negative impacts on our lives. Teens release dopamine when they take risks and twice the amount of dopamine when that risk is taken in front of peers. We also release dopamine when we constantly scroll or see “likes” add up in our social media. Such dopamine “squirts” can be found at the root of many addictive behaviors that risk becoming imbedded into our daily habits. It is important to monitor our own dopamine fixations and to teach young people to do similarly. Healthy releases of dopamine might include laughter, exercise, bonding relationships, engaging conversations, acts of kindness, listening to uplifting music, hearing heroic stories, and experiencing nature. We’re not going to fight the body’s need to release dopamine (in fact, the inability to release dopamine is often linked to depression), so we should, instead, teach ourselves and our young people how to secrete this fundamental hormone in a way that leads to wellness and mental health. As this article indicates, dopamine can either positively run our lives (motivate us) or ruin our lives. How is it impacting your life?
08.01.2024
Why 2024 is shaping up to be the most crucial election year in world history
Purveyors of fear around the world are using their myriad platforms to increase authoritarianism. Elections around the world this year will make multiple decisions about what kind of world we will live in; a world where people have a right to decide who will lead them and what values they choose in their representation or succumbing to power-hungry dictators like Vladimir Putin and his minion, Donald Trump. In the United States, the constitution has built many safeguards into democracy, but not enough to withstand a second attack by Donald Trump and his lackeys in the GOP that fawn all over his every petulant whim and whine. The best way to insure democracy is to vote. That is true for four billion people around the world this year, not just the US.
07.01.2024
Why Some Kids Don't Want to Return to School After a Break
Last week there was a wonderful article about designing schools—not for those who succeed at education—but for those who are failing at it. Lessons learned from such an exercise, could well be used to address the question about why so many young people do not want to return to school, either after COVID, or following any extended break. I’ve been in many schools designed for challenged students where the schools were the safest places in their lives. They were places of learning, yes, but also places of community and well-being. It is not impossible to design such sanctuaries, but they do demand a re-prioritization of learning as a by-product of relationship, rather than the opposite. Of course, we want children to learn in schools, but the deep, curiosity-based, learning needed in the current and upcoming century will only be found if children feel accepted and safe: emotionally and physically. How can these principles be further applied in our Group Homes and Correctional facilities, anyplace where adults are tasked with the maturation of young people?
06.01.2024
Advice From a Therapist on Breaking Free From Intergenerational Trauma
There is no doubt that Intergenerational and Epigenetic Trauma are real. This article points out that the same factors linked to those responses to childhood adversity can also instill the seeds of Intergenerational and Epigenetic Resilience. The primary requirement is adult awareness and training. Resilience is NOT the denial of painful memories, it is the embracing and seeking of deeper responses to the pain of a personal or collective past.
05.01.2024
The Morality Tale of Settler Colonialism
Take some time to dig into the meaning of the phrase, “Settler Colonialism.” How many of the wounds of our present can be found in the seeds of this past? This week, a leading GOP candidate omitted the term “slavery” from a list of causes of the Civil War. It is not that she is stupid and poorly educated, it is that she is conniving and appealing to a base that affirms and supports racism. Supporting Donald Trump and the direction of the GOP doesn’t make you a racist, but it does mean that you will blindly look away while others push a racist, misogynist agenda.
04.01.2024
Use Curiosity to Supercharge Any Resolution
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/use-curiosity-supercharge-resolution-bookbite/47326/
Einstein said, “"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” Also, “Curiosity is the lust of the mind. Curiosity is the one thing invincible in Nature,” and finally, “Curiosity is more important than knowledge.” In your own life, how can you make curiosity more important to you than believing you know the answers to life’s most complicated questions? How can you model the “VALUE of curiosity” to the people you lead or the youth you are assisting? What is the one thing you could do today to challenge any “answers” you have adopted in your life?
03.01.2024
25 Things That AI Will Never Be Able To Do
https://wealthofgeeks.com/things-ai-will-never-do/
In our examination of the structures we build to assist in our children’s growth and well-being, how can we make sure that the 25 values listed in this article are at the forefront? What will make them “AI-Proof” and able to excel when many around them are seeking to diminish creativity and instead enforce compliance?
This Week’s Links
09.01.2024
Is Dopamine Running Your Life—or Ruining It?
Students rally at the Iowa Capitol days after Perry school shooting
The 9 Simple Principles in Physicist Carl Sagan's 'Baloney Detection Kit' Will Make You BS Proof
5 Steps to Not Be a Victim of Your Upbringing or Culture
An Open Border Could Benefit Us All. Instead, Both Parties Want to Build a Wall.
Navigating the Future - Dynamic Trends in Education for 2024 | Cryptopolitan
https://www.cryptopolitan.com/dynamic-trends-in-education-for-2024/
The NRA Under Siege
08.01.2024
Why 2024 is shaping up to be the most crucial election year in world history
A Surprising Way to Stop Bullying
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/a-surprising-way-to-stop-bullying/
Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis
https://www.propublica.org/article/school-absenteeism-truancy-education-students
Iowa's Christian conservatives follow their faith when voting, and some say it leads them to Trump
https://apnews.com/article/iowa-evangelical-voters-trump-2024-22f81caeaec48f5206709d0c67df4be5
1 in 3 people are lonely. Will AI help, or make things worse?
https://theconversation.com/1-in-3-people-are-lonely-will-ai-help-or-make-things-worse-217924
Unveiling the Secrets of Intelligence and Giftedness
Virginia college students are running a thrift store for transgender and nonbinary people
https://www.advocate.com/news/transgender-nonbinary-thrift-fashion-virginia
Biden wants Mexican help to stop the migrant surge. Here's what Mexico wants in return.
The Impact of Servant Leadership in the Workplace
Supermarket Giant Drops Pepsi and Lay’s Over Price Increases
https://apple.news/A0RrOB_k9TJSFdrvSmer-4A
5 Things for Parents to Know About Youth and Technology
07.01.2024
Why Some Kids Don't Want to Return to School After a Break
Trump just promised an authoritarian ‘task force’ to impose Christian ideology
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-2024-christian-right-truth-social-rcna132082
If MAGA Could Just See This the Trump Cult Would Be Gone Overnight
https://politizoom.com/if-maga-could-just-see-this-the-trump-cult-would-be-gone-overnight/
How Trump Taught America to Tolerate Brazen Corruption
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/trump-taught-america-tolerate-corruption/677040/
Trump’s Veiled Threats To SCOTUS Do Not Go Unnoticed
https://politizoom.com/trumps-veiled-threats-to-scotus-do-not-go-unnoticed/
06.01.2024
Advice From a Therapist on Breaking Free From Intergenerational Trauma
Here Are the 7 Most Heinous Things Wayne LaPierre Said As NRA Leader
https://newrepublic.com/post/177904/heinous-things-wayne-lapierre-said-nra-leader
Trump Said 'We Have to Get Over It' About School Shooting in Perry, Iowa, in January 2024?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-perry-school-shooting/
Nearly 300,000 lives could be saved in the next decade if states followed California’s example on gun laws, study says
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/us/everytown-study-us-gun-safety-rankings-2023/
The Next Big Idea Club’s March 2024 Must-Read Books
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/next-big-idea-clubs-march-2024-must-read-books/47375/
School Shootings by State
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/states-with-the-most-school-shootings
Gandhi in South Africa: The Formation of the World-Famous Pacifist
https://www.thecollector.com/gandhi-south-africa/
Creating Sticky Goals to Embrace Success
05.01.2024
The Morality Tale of Settler Colonialism
The GOP Completes Its Surrender
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/gop-complete-surrender-trump/677029/
You thought 2023 was a big year for AI? Buckle up.
https://www.vox.com/technology/2024/1/4/24023025/ai-predictions-2024-election
The Ultrawealthy Are Sitting On $8.5 Trillion In Untaxed 2022 Profits: Report
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/billionaires-tax-biden_n_65971f6ce4b0912833af6d32
Grief: What Is Normal and What Is Prolonged Grief Disorder
U.S. reliability on global stage imperiled as GOP plays politics with Ukraine aid
Who’s Afraid of Calling Donald Trump an Insurrectionist?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/donald-trump-insurrection/677028/
How Walking Fosters Creativity: Stanford Researchers Confirm What Philosophers & Writers Have Always Known
Illinois Judge Closes Juvenile Detention Center After “Facility in Crisis” Fails to Meet New State Standards
04.01.2024
Use Curiosity to Supercharge Any Resolution
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/use-curiosity-supercharge-resolution-bookbite/47326/
Mayorkas: Texas governor’s migrant busing is a ‘failure of governance’
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/03/mayorkas-texas-governors-migrant-busing-00133605
The Real Harvard Scandal
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/claudine-gay-harvard-plagiarism/677007/
Some overlooked good news from 2023: Six countries knock out 'neglected' diseases
The Problem With Control
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unpacking-anxiety/202401/the-problem-with-control
03.01.2024
25 Things That AI Will Never Be Able To Do
https://wealthofgeeks.com/things-ai-will-never-do/
New York Closed Psych Beds for Youth in Crisis. Now, Foster Care Programs and Host Towns Are Being Pushed to the Limit.
https://www.propublica.org/article/pleasantville-cottage-campus-new-york
1949 To 2024? Why The Geneva Conventions May Not Survive Gaza And Ukraine
https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/humanitarian-laws-rules-of-war
“A concerning finding”: New study on fake news detection uncovers a disturbing trend
A librarian was fired after refusing to ban books. She fought back
Schools don't want kids on cellphones. Is banning them the solution?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2024/01/02/should-schools-ban-cellphones/72012262007/
How to Stop Our Triggers From Affecting Our Relationships
Why Therapy Should Be Subversive
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-do-you-know/202401/why-therapy-should-be-subversive
9 Motivating Books That Will Supercharge Your 2024
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/9-motivating-books-will-supercharge-2024/47306/
24 things we think will happen in 2024
The Polls Prove It: Many Republicans Love Fascism
https://newrepublic.com/article/177796/polls-republicans-trump-maga-fascism
How Emotional Neglect Can Cause Lifelong Lonely Feelings
It's Time to Start Taking the 14th Amendment Very Seriously
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a46269061/14-amendment-sections-2-and-3/
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of economic models that are unviable.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 52 (190 total reports)
27.12.2023-02.01.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of economic models that are unviable.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
This marks three years since I began posting this weekly blog. Originally, the purpose of the blog was to assist the Ministry of Social Services in Saskatchewan in informing foster parents and group home staff on helping young people in the midst of COVID. Over time, my focus began assisting those who worked with alienated youth in systems such as education, corrections, social services and ministry. As I became increasingly alarmed by the growth of global authoritarianism—and the impact that it would have on the disenfranchised—the emphasis has slowly shifted to awareness raising. I will continue to write about the issues I see most impactful on the mental healthy and well-being of young people throughout this year, hoping that it is helpful to those interested in advocating for young people—and particularly—disenfranchised young people. Happy New Year, thank you for reading, and I hope it is a meaningful year for you.
02.01.2024
What the legal system owes America in the era of Donald Trump
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-speedy-trial-2024-supreme-court-judges-rcna131646
It would not matter the situation, Donald Trump coalesces his base by making himself look like a victim. This article puts the issue in true context with the American legal system as a victim of Donald Trump and his GOP supporters.
01.01.2024
Economist explains why the current economy is unviable for the average American, sparking debate
It wouldn’t matter what administration was in charge, the reality is that the current economy and its measurements do NOT quanitfy what is most important to humanity. In fact, the better an economy is doing—by current measurements—the more damage it is causing to the climate and society. This is a result of an economy that is built on the accumulation of wealth, primarily through the use of fossil fuels and weapons development. We need new measurements to see how an economy is serving the disenfranchised, providing health care to all, and improving infrastructure (including communications) for ALL of its citizens. I frequently ask the question regarding inequity in our world, “Who profits from this injustice?” As you read this article, you will see those who control those purse strings and those who would have the most to lose by creating an economy that focuses on sustaining human life and well being.
31.12.2023
We Must Reckon With the Most Dangerous System of Extinction Humans Ever Created
This article picks up and deepens the lessons in the article above. I encourage you to take the time to read both for a deeper understanding of who profits from an economy that exacerbates the very qualities that undermine humanity.
30.12.2023
The Psychology Behind What Makes Authoritarianism Appealing
While Donald Trump trolls for pity, the GOP continues to throw smokescreens of fear and prejudice at the American people. Why? Because they have no contributive agenda to offer the American people. It is their fear-mongering that makes Authoritarianism so appealing to so many. The more chaos they sow, the more some people want a “strong leader” to take over their lives. But, don’t be fooled. The GOP is creating these issues, they are exacerbating fears that are largely unsubstantiated and usually irrelevant. This is evident in the horrible job they have done overseeing the GOP-controlled House with the fewest bills introduced by any Congress in US history. Rather than focus on issues that matter to the American people—and indeed, to the world—they have focused on undermining their own leadership and trying to impeach Joe Biden with no evidence to support their procedures. They are convinced that increasing your fears will enhance their chances of taking control and staying in control—permanently. This 2024 election is not about voting Democrat or Republican, it is about a vote for democracy or authoritarianism.
29.12.2023
What Would Schools Look Like If They Were Run By Those Who Didn’t Do Well At School?
Whether you are an educator or community developer, please pay attention to this article. If I were giving a workshop in a school (or school district) tomorrow, this is the article I would send out before I arrived. Then, I would use a white board and sticky notes to have people brainstorm on what a school district would look like if it were designed to help the marginalized. As this article points out, most districts design policies focusing on helping students who already do well in their system to continue succeeding, but this leaves the majority of students out and completely undermines those students who are NOT doing well. What ideas would you have to change policies that would assist those students?
28.12.2023
A school replaced detention with meditation. The results are stunning.
https://www.upworthy.com/this-school-replaced-detention-with-meditation-the-results-are-stunning-rp3
If you remember from last week’s blog, one school division in Texas placed an 11-year-old in solitary confinement for disciplinary action. Building on the information in the above article, examine what happens to students (and educators) who meditation is used instead of detention. What happens when we help each other grow mindfulness instead of anger? This could be applied in any organization that works with young people (and immature adults).
27.12.2023
Want to Solve the Border Crisis? Legalize Immigration.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/want-to-solve-the-border-crisis-legalize-immigration
I LOVED THIS ARTICLE!!! It examines the basic premise of, “What if the problem on the US border is not a lack of laws, but the wrong laws to begin with?” Congress seems intent on expanding existing laws that are NOT working—and even exacerbating the problems. This article helps examine why those current laws are fundamentally flawed and what could be done instead. Remember what Einstein told us? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
This Week’s Links
02.01.2024
What the legal system owes America in the era of Donald Trump
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-speedy-trial-2024-supreme-court-judges-rcna131646
Doctors say voting is critical to improving U.S. health care system
The Most Effective Way to Reduce Hate Crimes
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/hate-crimes-criminals-bias-prosecute/676271/
Psychologists Were Wrong About the Science of Self Control
Limpieza de Sangre: Blood Purity in Spain and Mexico
https://www.thecollector.com/limpieza-de-sangre-spain-mexico/
The History of Social Welfare Programs (& Current Debates)
https://www.thecollector.com/history-social-welfare-programs/
01.01.2024
Economist explains why the current economy is unviable for the average American, sparking debate
What Would Schools Look Like If They Were Run By Those Who Didn’t Do Well At School?
10 States That Passed the Worst Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in 2023
https://www.advocate.com/law/worst-anti-lgbtq-laws-2023
Why some people don't trust science—and how to change their minds
https://phys.org/news/2023-12-people-dont-scienceand-minds.html
Quebec City looks to Finland’s successful approach to ending homelessness
To tackle poverty, more states will offer bigger child tax credits in 2024
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/01/1220874994/child-tax-credit-bigger-states-2024-poverty
Strategies to Help Children Build Resilience
31.12.2023
We Must Reckon With the Most Dangerous System of Extinction Humans Ever Created
What a Collapse Could Look Like
https://apple.news/AXQl2-4dGSGW7o-L0XCVfFw
How Corporate America’s Obsession With Creativity Wrecked the World and Brought Us Elon Musk
https://newrepublic.com/article/177762/corporate-america-creativity-elon-musk
8 classes that should be required for all students before they hit adulthood
https://www.upworthy.com/8-classes-that-should-be-required-for-all-students-but-arent-rp5
More Young Men Are Giving Up On College
https://wealthofgeeks.com/more-young-men-giving-up-college/
30.12.2023
The Psychology Behind What Makes Authoritarianism Appealing
A Psychologist Explains The Power Of A ‘Quiet Ego’ For A Happy Life
It sure looks like phones are making students dumber
https://apple.news/AFm6TFd8BSnqPSPsARoQh4A
GOP Congressman tells Uganda leaders to “stand firm” in support of LGBTQ death penalty
29.12.2023
What Would Schools Look Like If They Were Run By Those Who Didn’t Do Well At School?
Reno Is Beating the Odds in Solving Homelessness
https://apple.news/AQkKgRplPSUCmEe9JY9TJNQ
The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2023
https://www.propublica.org/article/propublica-most-read-stories-2023
2024 elections are ripe targets for foes of democracy
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/29/1220087754/2024-elections-targets-foes-democracy-disinformation
40 Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in 2024
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/40-nonfiction-books-look-2024/47229/
How the Brain Stores Traumatic Memories
28.12.2023
A school replaced detention with meditation. The results are stunning.
https://www.upworthy.com/this-school-replaced-detention-with-meditation-the-results-are-stunning-rp3
2 bitter wars with a long history and no solution in sight
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/29/1219717852/2-bitter-wars-with-a-long-history-and-no-solution-in-sight
Spanking predicts lower cognitive skills in children, study finds
How to Choose Safe People in 2024
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/healing-from-within/202301/how-to-choose-safe-people-in-2024
Understanding and Practicing Gratitude
This researcher asked kids what's wrong with U.S. schools. Here are their ideas.
https://www.upworthy.com/school-education-and-tes-rp3
Homelessness rose sharply in 2023. Congress must act in 2024.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/congress-housing-report-emergency-2024-rcna130529
Why Inclusive Leadership Needs To Be Top Learning Priority For 2024
27.12.2023
Want to Solve the Border Crisis? Legalize Immigration.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/want-to-solve-the-border-crisis-legalize-immigration
The curious joy of being wrong – intellectual humility means being open to new information and willing to change your mind
Larry Ferlazzo's 9 Education Predictions for 2024 (Opinion)
10 Things Software Developers Should Learn about Learning
How to Find the Courage to Get Out of Your Own Way
The Cognitive Revolution: Unlocking the Secrets of the Mind
What You Don’t Know About Grief and Loss
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/soul-console/202312/what-you-dont-know-about-grief-and-loss
The 23 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/23-best-nonfiction-books-2023/47213/
Lincoln Project Distills 2023 Down To 1:20, Take A Sedative Before Viewing
https://politizoom.com/lincoln-project-distills-2023-down-to-120-take-a-sedative-before-viewing/
GOP Lawmakers in 3 States Seek to Dubiously Deem Biden an Insurrectionist
As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections
Elon Musk Is The New Republic’s 2023 Scoundrel of the Year
https://newrepublic.com/article/177695/elon-musk-scoundrel-year-2023-new-republic
Court sees through Ron DeSantis’ lies behind his law banning medical care for trans youth
GOP Biggest Loser of 2023 Moms for Liberty has us asking: How many sex tapes are there?
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of politics and religion driven by fear (the Leviathon).
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 51 (189 total reports)
20.12.2023-26.12.2023
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of politics and religion driven by fear (the Leviathon).
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
26.12.2023
Is Fear Driving Contemporary Politics? Hobbes’ Leviathan Revisited
https://www.thecollector.com/thomas-hobbes-leviathan-fear-politics/
This reflection on the theories of Thomas Hobbes is worth recounting as his theories of a Leviathan feasting on fear is certainly being displayed in right-wing politics and religions around the world. To be an authoritarian, is to constantly find ways to make people so afraid that they concede their democratic (and even human) rights and give them away to a central power (Leviathan) that will take over their decisions. The popularity of authoritarian governments (and authoritarian wannabes) in our world today certainly points to the success of those pseudo-leaders who solidly manifest their ideologies in fear.
25.12.2023
Life Lessons From Eavesdropping on the Taliban
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/life-lessons-eavesdropping-taliban-bookbite/47139/
This book review intrigued me greatly from a former Naval intelligence officer turned physician. His primary insights into how the Taliban developed and established itself certainly has familiar links to the current Christian Nationalistic leaders trying to imbed themselves into US politics, education, and religion. This book offers a great insight into the playbook of religious authoritarianism.
24.12.2023
10 Victories the Working Class Won in 2023
https://truthout.org/articles/10-victories-the-working-class-won-in-2023/
The last three years have held out huge wins for the poor and working class. This January 1st, 22 States will raise their minimum wage for workers moving employees closer to a living wage. If you are not in a State that is raising their minimum wage (or at least considering it) you are in a State controlled by Republicans. There are true examples across the economy of what happens when government serves its tax payers as opposed to its wealthy. Hopefully, this will serve as a framework for what government in service to the people can offer.
23.12.2023
The Colorado Ruling Changed My Mind
https://apple.news/ALLVcOYYuTc6vquXIOseY-A
Like many political scholars today, I am of two minds when I reflect on the Colorado Ruling regarding Trump and Article 14, Section 3 of the US Constitution. I would love to see Trump and his GOP lackeys trounced at the polls, but I also want to see guardrails on who can run for office after being engaged in an insurrection.
22.12.2023
Texas Threw an 11 Year-Old Kid In Solitary
Texas is becoming synonymous with the abuse of human rights, this is but another example of how political bullies (in this case, in a school district) can undermine the human rights of the powerless. Whether it’s about women, immigrants, or children, this State is crawling back into the dark ages.
21.12.2023
Want to Raise Children Who Become Successful Leaders? Try Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Rule of Chaos'
There is a movement afoot in many school districts to ban whatever might make children and teens feel uncomfortable in schools. Of course, the truth is that it is an attempt to ban whatever makes ideological parents feel uncomfortable whether it’s about women’s rights, civil rights, or sexual development. DeGrasse-Tyson makes a great point that children don’t grow from comfort—none of us do—we grow from attempting to resolve chaos. Dealing with our nation’s colonialist, misogynistic, racist history is part and parcel of what will help us NOT repeat those mistakes. Hiding those truths is an attempt to intentionally repeat them. We need to ask ourselves, who is it that wants to repeat this history and what will they profit by doing so?
20.12.2023
Finding Redemption in the World’s Most Heavily Incarcerated Nation
Having served and consulted for decades in the system of the most heavily incarcerated nation, makes me very sensitive and alert to articles like this. Thomas Merton would tell us that our greatest transgression today lies in “what is done in our name.” People can get away with horrendous actions in corrections (or in education as in the Texas case above), only because of a lack of involvement in those systems. Sadly, it becomes increasingly difficult to NOT be involved in those systems when they begin to affect and touch all of our families in some way. Sardonically, I believe the only hope for fairer treatment in our penal system will be the arrest and incarceration of more politicians who have broken laws and need to pay fair consequences. The more time they spend in prisons, the more changes we will see in these institutions.
This Week’s Links
26.12.2023
Is Fear Driving Contemporary Politics? Hobbes’ Leviathan Revisited
https://www.thecollector.com/thomas-hobbes-leviathan-fear-politics/
22 States To Raise Minimum Wage On New Year's Day
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minimum-wage-increase-new-years-day_n_65845315e4b04da9842608dd
COMIC: The year of student loans
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/26/1215836894/student-loan-repayment-debt-relief-fresh-start
Iowa Gov. Puts Coal In Kid’s Christmas Stockings
https://politizoom.com/iowa-gov-puts-coal-in-kids-christmas-stockings/
Mike Johnson declared 2023’s “most disturbing” Christian nationalist
Grandparents for Truth Takes on Book Bans and Censorship in Schools
https://truthout.org/articles/grandparents-for-truth-takes-on-book-bans-and-censorship-in-schools/
‘Latinitas’ teaching coding and engineering to close gaps in tech industry
Activists Link U.S. Nonprofit to Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Across Africa
https://www.advocate.com/news/family-watch-international-uganda-homophobia
The Holidays and the Epidemic of Loneliness
https://www.advocate.com/voices/loneliness-holidays-christmas-lgbtq
25.12.2023
Life Lessons From Eavesdropping on the Taliban
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/life-lessons-eavesdropping-taliban-bookbite/47139/
How to Find Hope and Happiness Amidst Uncertainty
24.12.2023
10 Victories the Working Class Won in 2023
https://truthout.org/articles/10-victories-the-working-class-won-in-2023/
Kentucky's 'Don't Say Gay' Law Brings Misery to LGBTQ+ Students
https://www.advocate.com/news/kentucky-dont-say-gay-bill
LGBTQ+ Population in the U.S. Grows by Over 2 Million
https://www.advocate.com/news/lgbtq-people-america
LGBTQ+ groups band together to challenge school district over Don’t Say Gay policies
A Texas county plans to give low-income residents in the Houston area $500 a month as part of a universal basic income plan
Iowa won't participate in US food assistance program for kids this summer
https://apnews.com/article/iowa-summer-ebt-food-assistance-0e878c5c0fc9dd0dd55622cb22a82561
Most Read Articles of 2023
https://behavioralscientist.org/most-read-articles-of-2023/
11 Phrases That Signal a Person's Lonely, According to Psychologists
https://parade.com/living/phrases-that-signal-a-persons-lonely-according-to-psychologists
23.12.2023
The Colorado Ruling Changed My Mind
https://apple.news/ALLVcOYYuTc6vquXIOseY-A
Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis caps of 2023 with his most embarrassing loss yet
Republican Group Sounds The Alarm On 'Wannabe Dictator' Trump In Scathing Ad
The 10 most read Future Perfect stories of 2023
Understanding Our Stress Response System
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deep-dives/202312/understanding-our-stress-response-system
5 strategic mindsets of exceptional leaders
https://www.fastcompany.com/90996386/strategic-mindsets-of-exceptional-leaders
22.12.2023
Texas Threw an 11 Year-Old Kid In Solitary
The Strange History—and Even Stranger Future—of Digital Deception
The Marriage Plot
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/political-gender-divide-marriage/676906/
How a Group of Grandparents Is Mobilizing to Push Back Against Moms for Liberty
https://www.advocate.com/politics/grandparents-for-truth
House GOP concludes embarrassing 2023, taking almost as many votes for Speaker than bills passed
AI is transforming how science is done. Science education must reflect this change.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm9788
Unintegrated Trauma: How to Improve Communication by Understanding Stress Responses
https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/how-to-improve-communication-by-understanding-stress/466461
5 Gratitude Practices to Try With Your Family Over the Holidays
https://www.mindful.org/5-gratitude-practices-to-try-with-your-family-over-the-holidays/
21.12.2023
Want to Raise Children Who Become Successful Leaders? Try Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Rule of Chaos'
Empower Teens: Reframe Emotions and Embrace Life
It only takes 195 milliseconds for impulse to get ahead of intention. Try these ’emotional agility’ tools to retrain your brain’s response
The Biggest AI Trends in 2024
https://weandthecolor.com/the-biggest-ai-trends-in-2024/182739
7 Ways to Stop Jumping to Catastrophic Conclusions
We sued to keep Trump off the Colorado ballot. Here’s what our critics get wrong.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-colorado-supreme-court-crew-lawsuit-rcna130730
Our Vision of the Future City is Trapped in Old Thinking
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/vision-future-city-trapped-old-thinking-bookbite/47037/
20.12.2023
Finding Redemption in the World’s Most Heavily Incarcerated Nation
Texas’ new border law will hurt children and taxpayers, experts say
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/19/2023/texas-migrant-sb4-law-impact-children-taxpayers
Mike Johnson Is the Christian Nationalist We Should Have Seen Coming
https://newrepublic.com/article/177474/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-seen-coming
(Un)comfortably Numb: 5 Ways to Alleviate Emotional Numbing
We Need Control of Our Cognitive Gaze Now More Than Ever
The Hypocrisy Underlying the Campus-Speech Controversy
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of global, dehumanizing, political tirades.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 50 (188 total reports)
06.12.2023-12.12.2023
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of global, dehumanizing, political tirades.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
19.12.2023
This Is Still Fascism—Only Worse
https://newrepublic.com/article/177649/trump-immigrants-speech-fascism
For people who hate pronouns and like to declare they are against being “woke,” the GOP really loves two pronouns: Them and Us. In order to reject an entire class of people, you must first separate them and then demean them. Once you dehumanize people, you can then attack them and begin to justify beliefs such as fascism. The language IS really important, no matter what many conservatives, like Lindsay Graham, are trying to say. When Trump quotes Hitler, multiple times, he is indicating that he is willing to do to “them” what Hitler did to “them” (Jewish people at the time). Already, Trump is talking about sending troops to the US border to create “detention camps” for immigrants. We should take him at his word and not try to diminish or minimize the language he is using. Dehumanization is at the root of fascism and racism.
18.12.2023
The Right Is Passing Bills That Ban the Teaching of Empathy and Care in Schools
The very skills that education specialists tell us our children will need in an AI-Guided world where anything that CAN be done by a robot WILL be done by a robot are the skills that The Right is attacking. EQ is the skill that separates leaders from the flock and will only become MORE essential in competing on a global scale. It’s apparent that The Right doesn’t want thinking adults, it wants robots that will vote for whatever they say.
17.12.2023
It’s Not Just the Killing. Why Must Israel Dehumanize Palestinians?
https://newrepublic.com/article/177526/israel-defense-forces-dehumanize-palestinians
It’s not just the GOP that is attempting to dehumanize people in order to justify injustice, Putin has been doing the same thing with Ukrainians and used his dehumanizing tactics to kidnap children. Colonialists have used this language all over the world, throughout history, to justify genocide. Language is important and it is crucial we raise a generation that recognizes the terminology of dehumanization, racism, and fascism when they hear it.
16.12.2023
The Teaching Profession in 2023 (in Charts)
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-teaching-profession-in-2023-in-charts/2023/12
Teaching was going through difficult times pre-COVID, post-COVID has shown us that this honorable profession is experiencing a major crisis. These charts are a good start to help us examine where the gaps are in hiring and retaining excellent educators for our children.
15.12.2023
Conservatives have built a vast network of junk science organizations to oppose trans equality
Rather than concentrate on leadership and the needs of the country, Conservatives have been focusing on fake news and conspiracies, developing an extensive network of fake (junk) science to support their gibberish. Don’t be fooled, dig deeper into their numbers—especially regarding issues related to voting, diversity, immigration, and the LGBTQ+ community. A false, narrative is leading to ruinous policies, an eroding judicial system, and fear-mongering that welcomes an influx of authoritarian men and women in all branches of government; local, state, and federal.
14.12.2023
What Is The Critical Pedagogy Movement?
https://www.thecollector.com/critical-pedagogy-movement/
This article looks at the history of the rational and science-based pedagogy which could form the structure of an educational system in which children could thrive in a rapidly developing and sometimes chaotic world. As you examine this history of these pedagogies, you are not going to find names like Moms for Liberty or Liberty University. Read this article, if only to tap into the giants of education that have left their mark among healthy education systems worldwide. We desperately need their guidance to compare to the undermining, pseudo-educational policies being fronted by such pretentious imposters as Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis.
13.12.2023
A Blueprint for a Better Future Based on Cultural Evolution
Michael Muthukrishna, brings us a thought-provoking book that opens new pathways into a future that is inclusive and filled with exciting possibilities. It was definitely a review I needed to read at this time, and I think you will appreciate it as well. His “Theory of Everyone” is just the kind of practical optimism that provides a basis for confronting the Us/Them diatribes of the Far Right. If you want to feel hopeful at the end of a read, scroll through this article and seek out the book.
This Week’s Links
19.12.2023
This Is Still Fascism—Only Worse
https://newrepublic.com/article/177649/trump-immigrants-speech-fascism
Liz Cheney Tells Fox News Viewers Why They Should Not Vote For Donald Trump: “This Isn’t About Policy … It’s About The Republic. It’s About The Constitution”
https://deadline.com/2023/12/liz-cheney-donald-trump-fox-news-1235672046/
Abby Phillip Stunned By GOP Lawmaker's Defense Of Trump's Vile Claim
New study finds Christian nationalists to be more complex than media portrayals
https://religionnews.com/2023/12/18/new-study-paints-complicated-picture-of-christian-nationalists/
Book Bans Are Harming LGBTQ People, Advocates Say. This Online Library Is Fighting Back.
https://www.advocate.com/books/queer-liberation-library
Education and Artificial Intelligence: Navigating the Path to Transformation - EdSurge News
Disadvantaged children's struggles at school have 'little to do' with character, attitude or a lack of 'growth mindset'
https://phys.org/news/2023-12-disadvantaged-children-struggles-school-character.html
The Mind's Four Doors of Perception
18.12.2023
The Right Is Passing Bills That Ban the Teaching of Empathy and Care in Schools
This Machine Kills Fascists: 10 times music fought the regime
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-times-music-fought-the-regime/
21 People With Difficult Childhoods Share Something They Do Now That Is A Direct Result Of Their Trauma
https://www.yourtango.com/self/people-share-adult-behaviors-direct-result-childhood-trauma
The Healing Power of Storytelling
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/un-numb/202312/the-healing-power-of-storytelling
Conservatives move to keep abortion off the 2024 ballot
Texas Becomes an Abortion Dystopia
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/kate-cox-abortion-texas-dobbs/676373/
17.12.2023
It’s Not Just the Killing. Why Must Israel Dehumanize Palestinians?
https://newrepublic.com/article/177526/israel-defense-forces-dehumanize-palestinians
Bored
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2023/12/poem-margaret-atwood-bored/676387/
Texas Companies Say Republicans Are Ruining Their Business
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-companies-abortion-law-republicans-bumble-1853051
US Woman Criminally Charged After Miscarriage
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-woman-criminally-charged-after-miscarriage-/7401364.html
The Youth Who Won Climate Lawsuit in Montana are Setting a Precedent
Billionaire Megayachts are Now Emitting More CO2 Than Some Small Countries
"Smishing" Is The Latest Way Scammers Are Trying To Get Your Info. Here's How To Protect Yourself
https://www.buzzfeed.com/monicatorres2/smishing-phone-scam
16.12.2023
The Teaching Profession in 2023 (in Charts)
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-teaching-profession-in-2023-in-charts/2023/12
Homelessness in the U.S. hit a record high last year as pandemic aid ran out
https://www.npr.org/homelessness-affordable-housing-crisis-rent-assistance
Pete Buttigieg: Mike Johnson Should Focus on His Job and Less on Taking Away LGBTQ+ Rights
https://www.advocate.com/news/pete-buttigieg-university-of-richmond
Gen Z Is the Most-Queer Generation. They Also Want to Be Labeled the Least
https://www.advocate.com/news/gen-z-identity-labels-queer
15.12.2023
Conservatives have built a vast network of junk science organizations to oppose trans equality
Pregnant Texans Continue to Be Pulled Over in Carpool Lane After Abortion Ruling: ‘I Have Two Heartbeats in the Car’
https://themessenger.com/news/pregnant-texans-pulled-over-carpool-lane-abortion-ruling
Reality of women and pregnancy complications leaves GOP flummoxed
Why Trump Won’t Win
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/trump-2024-win-why-unlikely/676354/
Making fossil fuel companies accountable for their products’ emissions would support the clean energy transition
Students and Educators in Idaho Show Us What It’s Like When a State Fails to Fund School Repairs
https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-students-educators-show-us-effects-of-underfunded-schools
14.12.2023
What Is The Critical Pedagogy Movement?
https://www.thecollector.com/critical-pedagogy-movement/
Middle school students call out Moms for Liberty for their homophobia with amazing letters
The Lifelong Journey of Personal Development
Knoxville’s Juvenile Detention Center Says Hundreds of Seclusions Were “Voluntary.” Some Kids Don’t See It That Way.
13.12.2023
A Blueprint for a Better Future Based on Cultural Evolution
How Republicans convinced themselves America was meant to be a "Christian nation"
Texas Republicans drove Kate Cox out of her own state. What her abortion story means for America
Her mother doesn't get why she's depressed. So she explains the best way she knows how.
What to Say (and What Not to Say) to a Grieving Person
Idaho Keeps Some Psychiatric Patients in Prison, Ignoring Decades of Warnings About the Practice
How do you end a conversation with someone who won't stop talking? 19 people share their tricks.
https://www.upworthy.com/how-do-you-stop-a-conversation-with-someone-who-wont-stop-talking-rp6
28-year-old in Norway who gets 5 weeks of vacation: Here, 'your wellbeing is more important than work'
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people in the face of the US’s slow-walk towards a Christian Right-Wing Nationalist Theocracy.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 50 (188 total reports)
06.12.2023-12.12.2023
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of the US’s slow-walk towards a Christian Right-Wing Nationalist Theocracy.
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
12.12.2023
Freedom of speech that starts with listening
The GOP is in an all-out war with education and the recent attacks on University Presidents featuring Senator Sinema reveal their tactics; “Whatever you do, don’t listen and block any nuanced discussion about a topic.” To their detriment, the University President’s came “lawyered up,” naively expecting an open discourse about hate speech. They couldn’t have been more wrong with a congress that, as George Bush once said to Joe Biden, “Joe, I don’t do nuance.”
11.12.2023
“People Have to Wake Up”: From the Front Lines of Idaho’s School Board Battles Against the Far Right
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/idahos-school-board-battles-against-far-right
As Christian Nationalist Right-Wing GOP supporters attempt their total takeover of education, some community groups are shouting out their warning cries; “Do we want children to learn only what a radical fringe government wants them to learn?” School boards and election boards have become a front line for a battle over true history versus revisionist history and actual voting versus rigged elections. Candidates put forth by Moms for Liberty were trounced during the last election, but they are redoubling efforts, even in the face of hypocritical duplicity at their highest level (Bridget Ziegler, co-founder of the organization).
10.12.2023
Want to see what Republicans want for abortion rights nationally? Look at Texas.
Despite having nearly been impeached on 16 counts of corruption and bribery, the Attorney General of Texas, still wants his state to make decisions over a mother’s right to life in his recent abortion ruling. Ken Paxton’s decision to block a court ruling allowing a woman facing sterility or even death if she carries her already dead fetus to term put this state into an unscrupulous classification of stealing women’s rights over their own bodies.
09.12.2023
4 Theocracies That Exist in the World Today
https://www.thecollector.com/theocracies-exist-world-today/
Four theocracies exist in the world today and none of them are stellar examples of healthy governing. It is important to read behind the scenes to understand what the White Right Conservative wing of the GOP is pushing the US towards and how dangerous that will be for US citizens and the world.
08.12.2023
What Will Happen to the American Psyche If Trump Is Reelected?
Chaotocracy, a government feeding on chaos, that’s what Trump brought us in his last term and continues to pursue—even though he has no legitimate authority. Trump’s name should be synonymous with misogynistic and narcissistic chaos. Whatever foul statement or action will increase the attention he is receiving and whatever benefits him personally.
07.12.2023
Mike Johnson Compares Himself to Moses at Christian Nationalist Gala
This is an example of a person who had no recognition suddenly given a position of authority that sends his ego soaring and his inner bully revealed. Johnson’s voluminous ego has him declaring that God has told him to be the “next Moses.” It’s amazing that he even recognizes God as a higher being, except to the extent he can use that belief to support his own conspiracies.
06.12.2023
Speaker Mike Johnson draws scrutiny for ties to far right Christian movements
If Johnson had his way, Gay people would be arrested, children exploring their own sexuality would be removed from their homes, and a Christian Theocracy (overseen by Trump) would trash the constitution and rule the US.
This Week’s Links
12.12.2023
Freedom of speech that starts with listening
The real reason three university presidents embarrassed themselves before Congress
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/penn-harvard-mit-president-congress-stefanik-rcna129064
18 California children are suing the EPA over climate change
4 Approaches to Healing From Family Estrangement
Khan Academy’s founder says AI ‘coaches’ will soon submit essays to teachers instead of students
https://fortune.com/2023/12/11/khan-academy-ai-bots-coach-cheating-guardrails-essays-brainstorm-ai/
New Study Gives an Important Update on Bipolar Disorder
The Top 23 Leadership Books of 2023
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/top-23-leadership-books-2023/46876/
11.12.2023
“People Have to Wake Up”: From the Front Lines of Idaho’s School Board Battles Against the Far Right
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/idahos-school-board-battles-against-far-right
GOP Senator Introduces Bill That Throws LGBTQ+ Foster Children Under the Bus
https://www.advocate.com/law/lgbtq-foster-children-banks-bill
Editorial: Want to protect children? Don't sign this trans-bashing petition:
https://apple.news/AkdGk0CcjT9OtYLzT7lUutQ
What Does the Working Class Really Want?
10.12.2023
Want to see what Republicans want for abortion rights nationally? Look at Texas.
Why some people do not want to heal from deep grief
The most popular TED Talks of 2023 | TED Talks
https://www.ted.com/playlists/839/the_most_popular_ted_talks_of_2023
09.12.2023
4 Theocracies That Exist in the World Today
https://www.thecollector.com/theocracies-exist-world-today/
The Top 50 Science Books of 2023
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/top-50-science-books-2023/46782/
How ancient civilisations dealt with trauma
Federal judge prohibits separating migrant families at the border
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1218336878/immigration-family-separation-judge-settlement-border
Captivating Commencements: 15 Podcasts That Immediately Engage Your Intellect
https://wealthofgeeks.com/podcasts-immediately-engage-intellect/
Transphobic Republican Debate Condemned as 'Failure of Leadership and of Journalism' by GLAAD
https://www.advocate.com/politics/glaad-denounces-republican-transphobia
Republicans Are on the Verge of Delivering Putin a Big Christmas Gift
08.12.2023
What Will Happen to the American Psyche If Trump Is Reelected?
There’s no distinction between faith and politics on the right any more
Texas’s Attorney General Has a Ghoulish New Abortion Stance
https://newrepublic.com/post/177398/texass-attorney-general-ghoulish-new-abortion-stance
Rep. Jim Banks introduces bill to place trans foster kids into abusive homes
Florida is showing red states how to dismantle higher education
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/desantis-florida-universities-aaup-report-rcna128563
The Hidden Inventions that Changed Your Life
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/hidden-inventions-changed-life-bookbite/46859/
Top 10 Inspiring John Wesley Quotes to Guide Your Spiritual Journey
https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/inspiring-john-wesley-quotes-guide-spiritual-journey
Sacred meaning in motion: How spiritual body movements affect our emotions, according to recent study
US touts new era of collaboration with Native American tribes to manage public lands and water
Mary Wollstonecraft
https://www.worldhistory.org/Mary_Wollstonecraft/
Breakthrough Interface Enables AI ChatGPT Access Using Thoughts
07.12.2023
Mike Johnson Compares Himself to Moses at Christian Nationalist Gala
Trump on a possible second term: ‘I’d be a dictator on day one’
Tim Alberta discusses his new book exploring American evangelicals and political extremism
Leonard Leo Tied to 69 Percent of Right Wing Amicus Briefs in Major SCOTUS Cases
Fourth Republican Debate Serves Up Most Transphobia So Far
https://www.advocate.com/politics/reppublican-debate-transphobia
Congressman debuts bill to cover school costs of defending books with LGBTQ+ content
Watch AOC Defend Transgender Americans in Heated Congressional Hearing
https://www.advocate.com/politics/aoc-defends-transgender-americans
School board member sworn in on pile of banned books to troll Moms for Liberty
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/12/07/moms-for-liberty-banned-books/
The Top 23 Happiness Books of 2023
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/top-23-happiness-books-2023/46763/
Small Problems, Big Feelings
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/playful-parenting/202312/small-problems-big-feelings
Childhood Stress Linked to Adult Depression
https://neurosciencenews.com/childhood-stress-adult-depression-25323/
A woman hurled food at a Chipotle worker. A judge sentenced the attacker to work in a fast-food restaurant
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chipotle-bowl-assault-sentence-rosemary-hayne-emily-russell-fast-food/
06.12.2023
Speaker Mike Johnson draws scrutiny for ties to far right Christian movements
How the Next Wave of Tech Can Help Humanity Flourish
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/next-wave-tech-can-help-humanity-flourish-bookbite/46752/
Donald Trump vs. American History
Education should look to the way artists are embracing AI, instead of turning its back on the technology
Did You Mess Up? Use This Astronaut's "30-Second Rule" to Feel Better and Refocus
https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/did-you-mess-up-use-this-astronauts-30-second-rule-to/464146
OPINION: We need more problem solvers and critical thinkers for an increasingly complex world
The Pursuit of More: Seneca’s Wisdom for a Richer Life
https://thetaoist.online/the-pursuit-of-more-senecas-wisdom-for-a-richer-life-44672549b3f9
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people despite the historic and epigenetic trauma of environmental, political, and religious colonialism.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 49 (187 total reports)
29.11.2023-05.12c.2023
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people despite the historic and epigenetic trauma of environmental, political, and religious colonialism.
Best Links of The Week
05.12.2023
What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/12/trump-reelection-2024-second-term/676237/
The Atlantic is one of my favorite magazines, it also abides by a rule of fair reporting believing that a healthy democracy needs at least two healthy political parties. The warning that it is issuing is that one party is not running to support a democracy, but instead to destroy it. This is a very strong stance for a very reputable, seasoned, award-winning, magazine historically committed to journalistic integrity (founded in 1857).
04.12.2023
A Warning
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/warning-second-trump-term/676117/
This week, The Atlantic is dedicating its entire issue to warning about a Trump Presidency. This is a drastic change in The Atlantic’s editorial policy and it comes only because (as indicated above) the current GOP fixation on Donald Trump is not about party politics but about ending democracy. If you’ve ever considered subscribing to the Atlantic (and I am a subscriber), now is the time, and this is the issue.
03.12.2023
Parents and Teachers Agree: Kids Need Strong Public Schools — Not Culture Wars
The vast majority of Americans want their children to have an authentic education unmarred by political or religious bias and have turned out in droves at local elections to nominate School Boards that represent them. However, a small minority of Americans want their personal, evangelical, beliefs to dominate curriculum. This minority is using the courts to force their viewpoint. One article below indicates that the Florida AG submitted an amicus brief this week arguing that the role of education is to teach the beliefs of the government.
02.12.2023
The Hidden Systems All Around Us
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/hidden-systems-around-us-bookbite/46670/
This book review really captivated me, my mind is still turning over the implications of its basic premise that “Energy = Agency.” If you follow that thought process through to its natural conclusion, you will come to the same result as this author. The best measurement of a society’s health is its infrastructure, not its GDP.
01.12.2023
The Bogus Historians Who Teach Evangelicals They Live in a Theocracy
Leaders of the Christian Nationalist movement crave to promote their opinions rather than examine factual history. Leaders of this movement have been unabashedly creating their own revisionist saga to justify their racist viewpoints in their attempts to block everything from immigration to school curricula. But, how sound are their historic foundations? Evidence points out that fundamental leaders of this extremist movement—and, in particular, David Barton—had historic views so flawed that even his publisher, Thomas Nelson, recalled his books.
30.11.2023
Top 10 Diogenes Quotes to Challenge Your Perspective on Life
https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/diogenes-quotes-challenge-perspective-life
Diogenes has long been one of my favorite philosophers. His thoughts founded the Cynic School of Philosophy in what is modern-day Turkey and his thought-provoking, challenging, and at times humorous ideas are just as applicable today as they were during his life in 300 BCE.
29.11.2023
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is building a theory of justice for a warming world
If you read through the featured article from December 3rd, this week, this commentary by Professor Táíwò will make more sense to you. It digs into how our infrastructure has created the climate crisis we are currently experiencing and offers possible strategies for preventing the colonialist policies of the past from dictating racially biased choices in the future.
This Week’s Links
05.12.2023
What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/12/trump-reelection-2024-second-term/676237/
What’s Really Going On With the GOP’s Current School Obsession
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/12/desantis-florida-schools-gop-obsession.html
Legalizing gay marriage has caused a dramatic drop in LGBT suicide rates
FL AG’s Legal Brief Claims Libraries Should Only Convey “Government’s Message”
‘Plain historical falsehoods’: How amicus briefs bolstered Supreme Court conservatives
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/03/supreme-court-amicus-briefs-leonard-leo-00127497
In Uvalde, Students Followed Active Shooter Protocol. The Cops Did Not.
https://www.propublica.org/article/uvalde-officer-student-trainings-mass-shootings
Does the body really “keep the score” of trauma?
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/body-keeps-score-trauma/
Handcuffed and sent to the ER – for misbehavior: Schools are sending more kids to the hospital
04.12.2023
A Warning
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/warning-second-trump-term/676117/
“This Is the Final Compromise”: Donald Trump and the Implosion of the American Evangelical Movement
Narratives and Resilience
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-words/202312/narratives-and-resilience
Defense Secretary Says Israel Risks ‘Strategic Defeat’ If Civilian Lives Not Protected
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lloyd-austin-gaza-civilian-lives-israel_n_656d3576e4b028b0f3d07cd7
Study Reveals Professions Most Likely to Be Replaced by AI
https://www.mensjournal.com/news/study-jobs-most-likely-replaced-ai-chatbots-uk-dept-for-education
Brazil proposes $250 billion “Tropical Forests Forever” fund for rainforests
What Are the Pillars of AI Ethics?
https://ambcrypto.com/blog/what-are-the-pillars-of-ai-ethics/
03.12.2023
Parents and Teachers Agree: Kids Need Strong Public Schools — Not Culture Wars
How a Recent Voting Rights Act Ruling Is a ‘Devastating Blow’ to Black Voters In Several States Ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election
'Moms for Liberty' launch their conservative crusade against American schools
Florida's Republican chair has denied a woman's rape allegation in a case roiling state politics
Trans-led counselling fights to save lives and provide ‘chosen family’ amid anti-LGBTQ+ hate
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/12/03/trans-counselling-mental-health-lgbtq-non-binary-tact/
Police raid gay clubs across Moscow after anti-LGBTQ Supreme Court ruling
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/moscow-gay-bars-raid-lgbtq-supreme-court-ruling-1.7047488
Conservatives use anti-trans hearing to promote conversion therapy over gender-affirming care
25 Things That AI Will Never Be Able To Do
https://wealthofgeeks.com/25-things-that-ai-will-never-be-able-to-do/
The Mandela Effect: How Do Collective False Memories Work?
11 Phrases To Use Instead of Automatically Giving Advice, According to Psychologists
https://parade.com/living/phrases-to-use-instead-of-giving-advice-according-to-psychologists
02.12.2023
The Hidden Systems All Around Us
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/hidden-systems-around-us-bookbite/46670/
James Carville: This is a bigger threat to the US than Al Qaeda
Warren Throckmorton takes on David Barton and 'Christian nationalists' revisionist history'
The lesser-known history of the Monroe doctrine
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/02/the-lesser-known-history-of-the-monroe-doctrine/
The first results from the world’s biggest basic income experiment
Liz Cheney is back and unloading on the current leaders of her ancestral GOP
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/02/1216333620/liz-cheney-book-republicans
Nobel Prize-winning economist who said ChatGPT would result in a four-day workweek says the past 12 months have only further convinced him he’s right
01.12.2023
The Bogus Historians Who Teach Evangelicals They Live in a Theocracy
Merriam-Webster's 2023 Word of the Year Is 'Authentic'
https://apple.news/A03uzfiURQn-8nYNqI3Cxug
The violence is Trump's goal
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/01/the-violence-is-goal/
Watch the DeSantis vs. Newsom debate in 3 minutes
https://flipboard.com/video/politico/074cb3cf0a
How Gun Violence Archive Became Best Source for US Shooting Stats
3 companies you didn’t know were Christian-based, and one you probably did
30.11.2023
Top 10 Diogenes Quotes to Challenge Your Perspective on Life
https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/diogenes-quotes-challenge-perspective-life
Embrace Authenticity and Live Your True Self
The Supreme Court Has Figured Out How to Gut a Bunch of Crucial Federal Laws at Once
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/11/supreme-court-gut-federal-laws-sec.html
Hundreds of Florida Students Staged a Walkout to Support the Rights of Trans Athletes
https://www.them.us/story/florida-students-staged-huge-walkout-support-the-rights-of-trans-athletes
5 Psychologist-Backed Phrases That Make Things Better When Life Feels Hard
https://www.yourtango.com/self/phrases-that-make-things-better-when-life-feels-hard
Top 10 Kurt Vonnegut Quotes That Will Make You Question Everything
https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/kurt-vonnegut-quotes-question-everything
29.11.2023
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is building a theory of justice for a warming world
Democracy Is in Peril, Just Not the Way We Thought
https://newrepublic.com/article/176821/democracy-peril-just-not-way-thought
Opinion | The 3 Fantasies That Keep Congress Dysfunctional
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/29/pearlstein-congress-fantasy-00128949
Top 10 Aristotle Quotes to Inspire and Enlighten Your Mind
https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/aristotle-quotes-inspire-enlighten-mind