Stories like this, from WPRI’s Shannon Hegy, too easily slip under the radar without anybody’s pointing out what, specifically, is happening:
[Cranston Park View Middle School] STEM Coordinator Caitlyn Blankenship tells 12 News she’s seen firsthand the evidence of key skills lost during the pandemic in middle schoolers, who are struggling to problem solve, work together and communicate.
“They lost the ability to work in teams during COVID, so they lost those skills of communicating with each other on very simple tasks,” she said.
The United Way Rhode Island’s Summer Learning Initiative is working to reverse that learning loss.
Marlene Guay, who manages the statewide initiative, said the need for it has grown exponentially.
She said 35 communities have applied to participate, but there is only enough funding for five. Cranston was one of the communities that was accepted.
Not mentioned is that the United Way is a progressive activist organization. Guay is not merely an educator; she’s a radical social justice warrior who is running for elective office with the far-left Political Co-Op, with a nod from Bernie Sanders, who emphasizes not equal treatment and opportunities for all, but making education “the learning agent to even the playing field with equity and representation.” This context becomes crucial when she emphasizes the need for “social emotional support.”
In the mouth of a standard educator, the adjectival phrase, “social emotional,” may mean the strategy of teaching children to regulate their emotions so that they can better interact with others in the social sphere. In the mouth of a radical like Guay, who emphasizes “equity” and “social justice” at every opportunity, the reference is certainly to transformative social emotional learning, which is “a specific form of SEL implementation that concentrates SEL practice on transforming inequitable settings and systems, and promoting justice-oriented civic engagement.”
Promoting this program in 2021, United Way listed the three goals for students of the program: “sharpening their social-emotional skills, tackling service projects to address community needs, and preparing their minds for a return to the classroom.” Notice that the educational is last of the three.
In the context of addressing children and families harmed by our society’s response to the pandemic, progressives’ primary goal is not helping them to regain the skills to interact in our society as it exists. Instead, their primary goal is to ensure that children recover from pandemic harms by becoming progressives. It’s an ideological power grab.
This may all be well and good. After all, until Guay and her comrades have their way, the United States will remain a free country, and communities and parents should be free to center their beliefs. Still, the question (cliché though it may be) answers itself: Is this how school districts and the news media would treat a program sponsored by, say, the Catholic Church and run by a Republican running for General Assembly on an explicitly conservative ticket who uses codewords indicating Christian evangelism when describing his program?
No way. And we should stop this progressive privilege whereby our institutions treat members of the leftist cult as if they’re just ordinary citizens doing objective good work with no ulterior motives.
Featured image by Alex Iby on Unsplash.
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Rhode Island provides an excellent case study in how corruption works. Elections aren’t stolen at the ballot box (except as a last resort). Rather, corruption rigs the game at every opportunity — buying and coercing votes so that they don’t have to be stolen or manufactured. The only way to stop this is to get the money out of politics, and the only way to do that is to get as much power out of politics as feasible.
The reminder for these thoughts was the Providence Journal’s searchable tool for legislative grants, which House and Senate leaders hand out to legislators if they behave so they can buy good will (i.e., votes) in their districts. It looks like the Projo duplicated the data while setting up the tool, so check it against the House and Senate lists, but it’s instructive to look through the grants in your community.
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On WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss:
- Did McKee’s mother help his image?
- What’s with the McKee aid’s arrest in VT?
- Should the McKee-supporter’s DUI keep him out of promotional commercials?
- What does the AG’s stinging criticism of a former McKee aid portend?
- Are there full tickets in the RI Democrat primary?
- Was Kalus right to go after McKee and Biden?
Featured image from Daniel McKee campaign ad.
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John Loughlin talks with Dr. Shafman about bladder cancer, Tim Taylor of the Lost 52 Project, Lori Garver, former Deputy Director of NASA, Tom Lopatosky, owner of LOPCO Contracting, and Joe Bastardi of WeatherBell Analytics.
Featured image by Justin Katz.
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Actually, it’s worse than that. Rhode Island Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wants an American dictator who actively harms our country for the benefit of foreign countries that are mostly hostile to us. Objectively, the malice or mania necessary for a privileged American to make such declarations as the Wall Street Journal describes is something of a puzzle:
Progressives are furious at West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for scuttling a big climate spending bill. “With legislative climate options now closed, it’s now time for executive Beast Mode,” Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse tweeted last week. And now the White House is leaking that the President may declare a national climate emergency as soon as this week.
The Journal likens the proposition to President Trump’s use of military funds to build a border wall. While that was arguably an instance of executive overreach, at least its purpose was to defend the country from a wave of illegal immigration so uncontrolled as to be reasonably called “an invasion.”
In this case, progressives want to harm the U.S. (and global) economy by further restricting energy production, which will all but transfer wealth directly to America’s enemies while, as the Journal notes, making Americans suffer in order to compensate for the disregard for the environment of our greatest international adversary, China.
While it’s natural to wonder why Whitehouse so vehemently hates his own country, one must realize that he has lived his life untouchably wealthy and, no doubt, fancies himself “a global citizen.” Demented fantasies and disregard for human life are, while not excused by that condition, at least explicable.
The real question is why Rhode Islanders hate their country so much as to put Whitehouse in a position of national influence (assuming, of course, that our elections are legitimate).
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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On WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss:
- Mack can do no wrong… or else
- McKee can’t escape the FBI news
- Media can’t get the consequence of voting changes
- Paid abortion activists can’t stop short of infanticide
- Democrats can’t escape Biden’s polls
Featured image by Aaron on Unsplash.
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Anchor Rising received information that a Brown University student had been hospitalized in March, 2021 with myopericarditis after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
This raised a couple of important matters regarding Brown University’s strict vaccine mandate on students, staff and professors. Has the university been tracking adverse COVID-19 vaccine effects, including among the student body? If so, had they publicized this data; in part, for the benefit of students so that they would have informed consent when they considered whether to conform to the vaccine mandate? After all, it was known early in the pandemic that not only did the virus have a sky-high all-age survival rate but it skews significantly by age, making the medical and public health necessity of vaccinating young people quizzical at best.
A search of the internet turned up no such data publicized by Brown University, or any other source. The search did turn up Brown University’s webpage entitled “Vaccine Safety and Effectiveness”, subtitled “Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are both safe and effective at keeping individuals from getting COVID-19”. The webpage includes a partial list of non-life-threatening “Possible Side Effects” of COVID-19 vaccines but contains no data about adverse vaccine effects. The page was last updated over a year ago.
Absent this information online, I contacted Brown University officials directly starting on July 6 and asked them the following questions.
– How many Brown undergraduate and graduate students have been hospitalized or died from myocarditis and/or myopericarditis from January 1, 2021 to the present? If any, had the student received a COVID-19 vaccination?
– How many Brown undergraduate and graduate students have been hospitalized or died from adverse effects of a COVID-19 vaccine from January 1, 2021 to the present?
– How many Brown undergraduate and graduate students have been hospitalized or died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic?
No identification of any student is sought; this is a request for data only.
I e-mailed these questions to Brown President Christina Paxson; Russell Carey, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy; and Dr. Eric Estes, Vice President for Campus Life. When no reply was received to these e-mails, I called each office and left voicemail messages with Mr. Carey and Dr. Estes’ office. (President Paxson’s office number routes to Brown’s main phone number so it was not possible to leave her a message.)
None of these Brown University officials has responded to this outreach.
Anchor Rising is not the first to pose such questions to Brown. Dr. Andrew Bostom did so and also received no response.
And he reports that the concerned parent of a Brown student e-mailed President Paxson similar questions. Dr. Paxson did reply to that person; her response was apparently short, dispassionate and non-responsive to the questions asked.
Brown University’s “Vaccinations” webpage, last updated in January, states [emphasis added]
Brown is committed to providing up-to-date information about COVID-19 vaccination and resources to help the community understand this important next step in addressing the global pandemic.
Yes, please, Brown University. For the sake of properly informed Brown students and for the advancement of vital medical information, your own “up-to-date information about COVID-19 vaccination” is badly needed. Please reconsider your current course and provide it.
[Photo Credit: von Vix via Unsplash]
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Guest: Mike Cerrullo, mental health practitioner
Host: Darlene D’Arezzo
Description: Host and guest are mental health practitioners. They discuss how therapy helps us navigate through life’s challenges and the various approaches therapists, including themselves, use to help people manage their personal lives. Included in this discussion is the reluctance/resistance to seeking help and the barriers associated. Goals of therapy typically include how to remain well and healthy; understanding what factors have contributed to their situation; the troubles and problems they will learn to manage, and much more.
We’ve reached the point in the Northeast that the leaders of Democrat-run states seem to be searching for ways to trample multiple Constitutional rights with a single policy. Consider this new law in New York:
Under the law, applicants have to provide local officials with a list of current and former social media accounts from the previous three years. It will be up to local sheriff’s staff, judges or country clerks to scroll through those profiles as they check whether applicants have made statements suggesting dangerous behavior.
So, not only will the government be applying subjective judgment to determine whether to deprive an American of his or her right to bear arms, but Americans’ right to free speech will be chilled by the expanding practice of government scrutiny. Even in left-leaning parts of the country, enough people used to understand the values at risk, here, that such legislation would have been risky for politicians to propose. At least the leader of New York’s Sheriffs’ Association is still clear-eyed enough to point out that the policy is unconstitutional and local officials will probably ignore the intent of the law. Of course, that might be worse, if the law is applied selectively.
Northeasterners really don’t seem to understand the danger of their complacency. Their attention is so easily focused on rare or imaginary threats that they are eager to give up their rights so as to remove the rights of others.
Whether deliberate or a natural development of public pathology, this trend is a trap, and we’re bound to wind up with neither freedom nor safety.
Featured image by Bo Harvey on Unsplash.
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Anchor Rising has obtained from the Rhode Island State Police the Arrest Record of Jeann Lugo pertaining to the June 24 melee at the State House. Click here to view it.
A couple of interesting items from the record:
> The last page includes a full description of the events that led up to Jeann Lugo striking Jennifer Rourke, including the fact that Rourke laid hands on Lugo prior to his reacting.
In the background of the initial assault, Mr. Lugo is seen lunging towards Mr. Mello. At that time, Mr. Lugo’s right arm is grabbed by Ms. Rourke who was standing behind him.
> The record indicates that Jennifer Rourke explicitly states under oath that she did not touch Lugo.
During the preliminary interview, I asked Ms. Rourke is she said anything to Mr. Lugo or touched him in any way that would instigate a violent response, and she replied, “No.” During the recorded interview, I asked Ms. Rourke if she had or attempted to remove anyone from the altercation and she replied, “No.”
In fact, this is a false statement. So it appears Ms. Rourke has lied under oath – in fact, twice in the above excerpt:
1.) She did touch Lugo “in any way that would instigate a violent response”.
2.) And she states she did not attempt “to remove anyone from the altercation”. Then why did she grab Lugo repeatedly and, a few seconds later, violently shove another man, as can be seen in this video by WPRO’s Tom Quinlan?
Jeann Lugo is being held accountable for his actions. Will Jennifer Rourke – two instances of Battery, two instances of Perjury – be held accountable for hers?
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