Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Continue resisting the patrimonial government of Project 2025, President 47, and his evil Rasputin henchman, Elon Musk. Signs show it’s working.
Youth Advocacy
Year 4, Week 03 (245 total reports)
19.02.20245-25.12.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Continue resisting the patrimonial government of Project 2025, President 47, and his evil Rasputin henchman, Elon Musk. Signs show it’s working.
NEW FEATURE: Visual Stories!
Visual Stories is my YouTube account which shares presentations based on original music and designed to inspire parents, foster parents, educators, and youth workers. You can find it by going to YouTube and searching for “Jerry Goebel.” Please subscribe while you’re there. These presentation/slide shows are perfect for continuing education but also for assisting individuals dealing with online bullying, grief, or striving to be more resilient.
Top Links of the Week
25.02.2025
Uncle Sam Goes Rogue
The US, under President 47 and his authoritarian advisors, has just voted to side with authoritarian countries around the world or, as the Council on Foreign Relations states, they just “went rogue.” Under this administration, the US no longer stands for democracy or supports democratic efforts around the world. This is sickening to watch, but not unexpected. Project 2025, President 47, and his very own “Rasputin,” Elon Musk, are not believers in democracy. Their plan is to undermine it in the US and apparently, globally, as well. The sacrifices of Ukraine—even the truth of the narrative—mean nothing to them. It was embarrassing, but also enjoyable, to watch 47 be fact-checked live yesterday in a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, when 47 attempted to say that Ukraine initiated the war with Russia and that the US is footing the bill while France and other countries only supply loans. Good job, Macron. We can all stand up for truth by supporting economic blackouts like the one this Friday: no purchases on Friday across the US. The resistance is taking hold, and 47’s administration is starting to crack. Keep it up.
24.02.205
One Word Describes Trump
This article by Jonathon Rausch, senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution, was well worth the time it took to read it. In it, he reminds us of the concept introduced by Max Weber (1864-1920), German sociologist, of patrimonialism. Patrimonialists claim to be the symbolic father and protector of the people. This was exemplified in 47’s statement of Feb. 15th declaration on Truth Social, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Of course, the too-lazy president (who apparently can’t be bothered by legality) has broken many laws, some of which are already backfiring on him. But patrimonialists see those who follow the law or support the bureaucracy as enemies because they are loyal to the law (the constitution) which might conflict with their loyalty to him. This is behind the purge undertaken by—what another publication/podcast, “Who, What, Why,” refers to as 47’s “very own Rasputin,” Elon Musk. Musk, like classic patrimonialists, wraps himself in democratic rhetoric by declaring himself and the purpose of his extralegal actions as, the “unelected fourth unconstitutional branch of government” so as to be “responsive to the people.” Rausch goes on to challenge Democrats to confront this administration’s actions by borrowing from the playbook of Newt Gingrich and pursuing a “relentless, strategic, and thematic campaign branding Trump as America’s most corrupt president.” Gingrich is, of course, a despicable character, responsible for much of what is wrong with today’s GOP, the rise of Project 2025, and their puppet, President 47. But there can be no doubt that his relentless attacks on Democratic House Speaker, Jim Wright, were sadly effective. Rausch points out that Democrats are too punch-drunk in response mode to congeal themselves around a central plan, but they will need to do it—and soon—if they are going to prevent this administration from solidifying their patrimony.
23.02.2025
How to teach hope when democracy is retreating
Astra Taylor, who wrote, “The People’s Platform,” winning the American Book Award, says we are living in a time of the “deliberate manufacturing of insecurity.” In this article, democracy and education professor, Joel Westheimer of the University of Ottawa, reminds us what we need to teach to young people in order for them to remain committed to democracy. Manufacturing fear is done primarily by organizations (like Project 2025) and authoritarians, like Putin and Trump, for the purpose of sowing chaos to frighten people into wanting autocratic rule. It has worked in many countries—including the United States—and if we have an interest in seeing the demise of dictatorships, then teaching civics, history, and democracy is critical for our children. As education in the US becomes less about facts and more about ideology, this role will fall less to schools and more to small communities of parents who believe it is important for their young people to learn. Home-based learning may have to become home-based resilience, even, home-based resistance.
22.02.2025
The DOGE Project Will Backfire
As with everything else he does, 47’s quest to gut federal agencies is not based upon research or facts. In fact, if you read this important article (please do), it will illustrate the truths that President Musk and self-claimed King 47 are ignoring, like: the federal workforce has actually been decreasing in recent years, and putting USAID workers on leave does not decrease expenditures; it just means the government is still paying them while they do not work. There are many more important notes in this examination. For example, an organization that focuses on using terror for motivation never thrives, and any government actually needs a viable workforce to function. These would seem obvious truths to anyone who has run a successful business, but isn’t that the point? King 47 certainly has never run a functional business, and the owner of X certainly doesn’t have high marks either. The sad part for all of us is how long do we have before the government finally comes to a grinding and complete halt? This administration is doing irreparable damage to the workings and reputation of the US government. People like Putin couldn’t be more gleeful than to watch this administration do to undermine the US what he would be unable to do from the outside. Our role is to keep resisting; there are signs that the plan we read about from Senator Elizabeth Warren yesterday is working. What can you do this week to increase your resilience?
21.02.2025
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Here’s the Plan to Fight Back
Senator Warren has been a consistent and clear voice opposing government by billionaires for years. Her own campaigns reflect her commitment to public funding, rather than the dark money funding that has cursed the US since the passing of the so-called “Citizens United” (certainly an Orwellian name given the power it gives to behind-the-scenes billionaires like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos). In this article, Warren lays out a multi-tiered, multi-year plan to stall 47 and his cronies while Democrats rebuild trust with the American people. The plan begins—as it should—with what went wrong in the last election and how the Democrats lost the trust of the working class. This is an important article for those who want to retain a democracy in the United States of America and not just hand over the country to authoritarians like 47 or oligarchs like Musk.
20.02.2025
Trump’s Latest Executive Order Is a Big Step Toward Authoritarian Control
We must not lose focus with all the distractions. The primary aim of Project 2025 and their puppet President 47 is to prevent future elections so they can retain their power and solidify it. Tariffs, border protection, all of it is in support of one aim: remaining in power. The hardest part for the press (and those of us not enraptured by his constant stream of lies) is keeping up with whom 47 owes his allegiance. Putin? Musk? Project 2025? The list goes on. President 47 is their front man. They needed him to win the election, but they would just as soon ditch him if he got in the way of what they wanted. Don’t take your eye off the ball. It’s power they want, and they want it permanently.
19.02.2025
It’s Going to Take Years to Train Another Generation of Federal Workers
I watched with bated breath this morning to see if my Social Security check would arrive. I put money into that account every month for decades; it does not belong to the government—and certainly not to Elon Musk. However, the GOP has been trying to tell Americans for years that the account they paid into is really a government handout and could be used for other purposes. The truth is that they have been seeking ways to take those funds and destroy the solvency of Social Security for years. They want to spend it just as they’ve spent so many other taxpayer dollars, on tax cuts for themselves and rich supporters, as well as defense contracts—now going to people like Elon Musk. Many of us, including federal workers who are being illegally fired, feel we must find ways to protect ourselves against our own government. How did that come to pass? Quite simply, the US voted for an oligarchy. Musk and other oligarchs bought and paid for 47’s election, and now they want a return on investment. They want to turn off the spigot to those who have diligently poured their lives into the jobs and into their savings. They want to abuse allies that have built a relationship with the US over decades since WWII. They are passionate about turning that spigot into their own pockets so they will have unrequited power and money. Federal workers and others are rising up all around the United States, and a lot of their protests are focused on Tesla plants. Yesterday’s President’s Day protests were just a start. As those who voted for this administration begin to see how 47 crassly lied about what he would deliver, they will see their funding cutoffs, their favorite programs overseen by Musk’s incompetent technicians (like those who absentmindedly fired the staff overseeing the country’s nuclear codes), they will see their Medicare cut off, and the price of drugs skyrocket. Eggs won’t be the only item whose price becomes unaffordable. The US won’t be Great Again; it will be the Depression again, leading to eventual national confrontation. My advice to you: keep resisting, show up at posted events, and participate in the blackouts that are being scheduled. I will post them on here regularly. Someday your children will ask what you did to stop fascism in the US; have something positive to share with them.
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Are yo the kind of person that wants to share a message of hope and resilience with others? Subscribe to my YouTube Page and find multiple videos to empower, calm down, and educate those around you. Go to You Tube and type Jerry Goebel in your search. Thank you.
Youth Advocacy
Year 4, Week 02 (244 total reports)
13.02.20245-18.12.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Are you the kind of person that wants to share a message of hope and resilience with others? Subscribe to my YouTube page and find multiple videos to empower, relax, and educate those around you.
NEW FEATURE: Visual Stories!
Visual Stories is my YouTube account which shares presentations based on original music and designed to inspire parents, foster parents, educators, and youth workers. Topics vary from dealing with grief to songs about historic female resistors. Songs can be customized to fit your group. Tell me the details of what you’d like, and share pre-approved pictures with me, and I’ll create a custom-made presentation for your group from the songs in my compilations.
Top Links of the Week
18.02.2025
Presidents Day protests: See photos from demonstrations across the nation
People are taking action all across the United States, turning out for demonstrations at a level that rivals the protests during the Vietnam War. There is nothing this administration would like more than for you to remain isolated in your home, thumbing through the daily disasters and feeling helpless. In fact, that was the plan as crafted by Steve Bannon and Project 2025 long before the election. Their playbook was to take so many egregious actions as rapidly as possible that the press and the public would feel unable to respond. But always remember, even a small response is empowering. Read about the boycotts of oligarch products and commit to them; read about the protests and join them. Don’t let their strategy of “shock and awe” keep you from being involved.
17.02.2025
The Death of Government Expertise
There is a difference between being an expert and having expertise. Someone who has expertise is likely the first one to tell you they are not an expert; they may have studied an area—perhaps even for a lifetime—but they still explore life with curiosity and are open to learning more. An expert believes they have already garnered as much information as possible and no one else can match their knowledge. President Musk and his 47th minion both believe they are experts and do not want to be surrounded by expertise because their “expert” opinions are often false and based on misinformation that they want to be true (as opposed to actually being true). This administration is making a conscious effort to surround themselves with people who will not disagree with them. That type of hubris is part of what makes them so dangerous. In our modeling of knowledge with young people, let us make sure that we always reveal our expertise and shun the title “expert.”
16.02.2025
European leaders set to hold emergency summit on Ukraine
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04nw1pg3k2o?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
President 47 has a full agenda to achieve for the ones who pull his strings (almost too many people to mention at this point; Putin, Musk, Project 2025, the list is almost overwhelming regarding who he owes favors to), but the primary two goals of his campaign remain the same—sow chaos, seek revenge. Those are the bookends of 47’s life. His whole being is fueled by four insatiable motivations: hatred, greed, lust, and revenge. Many of us are seeking ways to protect ourselves from our own government (federal employees or those like me, dependent on the money I put into Social Security over decades of hard work), and now those abroad are gathering to ask, “How do we defend ourselves against the American people and the idiots they continue to elect? It would be convenient to blame this disaster solely on 47 and his actions, but we must never forget how many people voted for this horrible person and the others who didn’t even show up to cast their vote.
15.02.2025
Robert Reich: Profiles In Courage – OpEd
I have respected Robert Reich since he first worked for Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, long before he became the Secretary of Labor under Clinton. His insights into who has been a Profile in Courage during the first terrible days of 47’s reign of chaos are a good read. It helps set a standard for what courage looks like today. And—he can’t help himself—he also points out a few profiles in cowardice.
14.02.2025
60 years of progress in expanding rights is being rolled back by Trump − a pattern that’s all too familiar in US history
The plethora of policies dumped on the US by Project 2025, Elon Musk, and their orange-haired buffoon is designed to roll back the rights of Americans, not just certain Americans, but all Americans. Because indeed, when the rights of anyone in a democracy are rolled back, the rights of all are rolled back, and if these three entities have their way, democracy itself will be rolled back. This historic look at America’s pursuit of “Liberty, Justice, and Freedom for all” compares the latest attempts by 47’s administration to the rollback of rights during the Jim Crow era. It is evident that 47 is NOT in charge, that his strings are being pulled by a myriad of backstage players, but the intent is singular: tear down democracy and replace it with authoritarian rule.
13.02.2025
America Is Its Own Worst Enemy
This historical perspective into powerful countries undermining themselves is so apropos while watching the implosion of the Elon Musk and Project 2025 government under the amateurish figurehead of 47. Comparisons to Mao Zedong in the late 1950s and Nikita Khrushchev (also in the 1950s) are intriguing and accurate. So are the comparisons to Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, rapacious autocrats who ruined their economies and caused the death (and emigration) of thousands. Will America survive this oligarchy as a democratic government? I think the jury is still out. It certainly won’t be the America promised by George H.W. W. Bush, as a “ kinder and gentler nation.” What nation we leave future generations will largely depend on our daily acts of “good trouble” and “civil disobedience.” How can you use your one, small voice (Carole King in her 1982 song, based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”) to alert others of the danger we are facing?
Youth Advocacy
Are you the kind of person that wants toRacism share a message of hope and resilience with others? Subscribe to my YouTube page and find multiple videos to empower, relax, and educate those around you.
Youth Advocacy
Year 4, Week 01 (243 total reports)
05.01.20245-04.12.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Are you the kind of person that wants to share a message of hope and resilience with others? Subscribe to my YouTube page and find multiple videos to empower, relax, and educate those around you.
NEW FEATURE: Visual Stories!
Visual Stories shared in presentations to inspire parents, foster parents, educators, and youth workers. Topics vary from dealing with grief to learning to be quiet. Songs can be customized to fit your group. Tell me the details of what you’d like, and share pre-approved pictures with me, and I’ll create a custom-made presentation for your group from the songs in my compilations.
Top Links of the Week
12.02.2025
Women This Week: Trump Administration Restricts Scientific Research Aimed at Improving Lives of Women and Minorities
Grants to scientific organizations and universities from the US Government are being screened and removed from funding if they carry any words like, “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion.” But also words like, “Women,” and “Race.” Meanwhile, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency)—the unilaterally appointed empire of non-elected Elon Musk—moved its Sauron-like eye to start cutting the DOE (Department of Education), while simultaneously walking away with a $38.8 million contract from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Is there any doubt left that Musk’s $277 million dollar “campaign package” to buy 47’s election was a minor investment compared to what he is going to reap from this administration? Who owns the presidency? It is certainly not the voters of the United States. Many of them were willing to sell the democracy of their country for a decrease in the price of eggs (that they will, of course, never see; egg prices are now the “worst they’ve ever been in history,” and expected to increase). Judges are slowly reacting to the more radical actions of Musk and his puppet, 47, but the two have already begun hinting that they will just ignore the judges that don’t back their programs. If the democracy makes it to 2026, mid-terms might provide an opportunity to impair some of the most reviling changes caused by this unholy duo, but only if people show up to vote. It’s never too early to start rallying the troops.
11.02.2025
What the judicial branch can do when a president refuses to comply with a court order
Should we really be surprised when President Elon Musk and his minions, 47, start making noises about ignoring court rulings when the rulings aren’t in their favor? Why not just avoid those laws too? They’ve avoided so many others. The hallmark of this administration is picking and choosing: picking and choosing what laws they will follow, picking and choosing what the public wants, picking and choosing what people (and especially women) tell them is acceptable to do with their bodies. Apparently, this is what the majority of US citizens have chosen as their authentic government. What a disgrace. Is this really the leadership we want to pass on to our children?
10.02.2025
Legal experts warn of 'constitutional crisis' as JD Vance and Elon Musk question judges' authority over Trump
Those of us who did NOT vote for President 47 and did NOT stay home during the voting process knew this day was coming. Like anything else, this administration (and all its proprietors) believe in the rule of law until… Until it affects them… Until it confronts their plans… Until it finds them guilty of the crimes they are committing. This administration is not an administration of values; it is an administration of convenience. Whatever is convenient for them, they will most assuredly do. Is this the type of government we really want for our children and grandchildren? Whatever you can do to resist it, do it. And if you voted for them—or didn’t show up to vote, don’t act surprised that this is occurring; these are the people and the policies you voted for, and this is what they promised they would do.
09.02.2025
Remember What Audre Lorde Told Us: The Oppressor Doesn’t Determine What’s True
Project 2025, President Elon Musk, and their rag doll carnie-man, T-Rump, are trying to dismantle any references to the richness of diversity in US history. An insightful article I read this week suggested asking MAGA-cult followers: “Exactly, which part of D.E.I. are you against? Are you against diversity? Are you against equality? Are you against including others?” In the writings of Audre Lorde—especially now during Black History Month—this administration would find a reason to be against all that she has said. Lorde defined herself as, “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” This interview is a longer, but engaging read on a voice that is essential today. So please, take a moment to put down other things and learn from the article. Lorde’s words are important to history, her words are important to our future. These are the very words that Project 2025 and their cult following long to erase. Which is exactly why we should read them and pass them on.
08.02.2025
Trump and Musk Are Destroying the Basics of a Healthy Democracy
Tom Nichols, of The Atlantic, tells us about the high achievement accomplished when a government is able to staff itself with thousands of highly trained and educated employees. Such a feat takes years to attain and—apparently—weeks to undermine. This despicable dismantling is being done (mostly illegally) by President 47 and someone not even elected to the government. Elon Musk’s sole legitimacy in the US Government was granted because he paid for President 47’s election, in short, he bought the election and he bought the president. As Nichols states, “The president has a solipsistic and binary view of the world in which everything revolves around him, and other people either support him or oppose him.” In short, 47 doesn’t trust what he doesn’t know and he doesn’t know a LOT, nor is he interested in learning. He’s only interested in a vengeful purging. What Musk, 47, and Project 2025, are tearing down may never be rebuilt in our lifetime. High quality employees are difficult to hire and retain (especially in an environment of distrust). This is the case as well with the international friendships that 47 and his cult are disassembling. Former close friends are distancing themselves from the US and international governments are seeking out China to fill the voids left by the ruination of USAID. The government of the next generation will not be a government of fair-minded, intelligent, people hired for their expertise. The US Government will experience a brain drain staffed by cultic loyalists and relatives.
07.02.2025
The Cost of the Trump Administration’s Foreign Aid Debacle
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is well-positioned to examine the tragic cost of 47’s massacre of aid to other countries through the USAID (United States Agency for International Development). First, I must write a disclaimer because my father worked for USAID in multiple countries around the world. His expertise and scholarship aided in the long term development of countries in dire need of reversing desertification and preventing erosion. 47’s dismantling of the critical international aid and knowledge sharing system will be devastating, it will also be another opportunity for China to fill the gap his administration leaves in international development. This will not be a short-term crisis; reducing a workforce from more than 10,000 to less than 300 in a two-week span is ludicrous and the kind of idiocy we have grown to expect from 47, Musk, and Project 2025 in this raging wildfire of his first 100 days.
06.02.2025
The MAGA Coalition Provisional Authority Has Plunged The Country Into A Constitutional Crisis
It was J.D. Vance himself that created the concept that he now tries to conceal (but Vance has never had a value that couldn’t be swayed by the promise of power), he was the one originally calling for the De-Ba’athification of the Federal Government (referring to purges by the Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party in post-Iraq war). Now, he is the heir apparent to the same type of Saddam Authoritarianism government in the form of President 47 and his non-elected patron, Elon Musk. While pretending to start a trade war with Canada, Mexico, and China (and then immediately backing down in the face of US’s neighbors) 47 is creating constitutional crises after crises while Vance, MAGA, and the spineless GOP giddily play along. This is nothing short of a coup d’etat and the undermining of the US constitution. Protests are finally springing up in cities all across America; some even in Red States. As people begin to understand that consequences of the dictates developed by Project 2025 and enacted by their presidential stooge, the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago. What kind of government will be left for our children? Unless congress takes urgent action now, it will certainly not be a democracy.
05.02.3035
Protests against Trump and Project 2025 are planned in cities across the US
If you’re tiring of the mindless insanity and outright cruelty of 47’s chaos, this is a good website to review. There are demonstrations and protests being scheduled all across the US to protest, not just 47, but one of his puppet-masters, (he has many) Project 2025. Most protests are scheduled at State Capitals, but the list is comprehensive with links to additional information. Find out where you can stand up, speak out, and join the resistance.
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The Bluffs-at-the-Borders are smokescreens for the real damage that is being inflicted by Elon Musk and Project 2025. Don’t be distracted. If we don’t want our children to grow up in an oligarchy, we need to stay focused.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 52 (242 total reports)
25.01.20245-04.02.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The Bluffs-at-the-Borders are smokescreens for the real damage that is being inflicted by Elon Musk and Project 2025. Don’t be distracted. If we don’t want our children to grow up in an oligarchy, we need to stay focused.
Song of the Week
Songs with inspiring, true, stories about people, like Harriett Tubman, Louis Riehl, and Congressman John Lewis, who have risen to defend human rights at pivotal times.
Top Links of the Week
04.02.2025
Elon Musk Is President
If anything should be clear following 47’s Bluffs-at-the-Borders escapades, it is that this administration is using a smokescreen to block the real agenda as defined by Project 2025 and Elon Musk. 47 is simply a tool to pursue their real agendas, the agenda of Project 2025 has been—for decades—the dismantling of the Federal Government and the US Constitution, the agenda of Elon Musk is to use his immense fortune to take over governments around the world (beginning with his purchase of the US government and using his all-too-compliant carnie, the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago). The “department” that Musk oversees (DOGE), is not federally approved, he has no governmental authority except what T-Rump grants and the sycophants in the GOP allow him. Musk and Project 2025 want to divert our attention elsewhere so we cannot see the real catastrophe the US has in store if congress does not check Musk’s growing power.
03.02.2025
It’s Easier to Destroy
This is an administration of smokescreens, and we should always ask what 47 and his cronies are trying to hide. They play a global shell game with economies and human beings as their pieces coldly oblivious to the suffering they are causing while golfing weekends at Mar-a-Lago. While distracting us with the most insane economic policies of this century, there is a more insidious agenda being pursued. This is the dark underbelly of a long-term conservative strategy designed by Project 2025 many Republican administrations ago. Their true goal is to sow chaos while they dismantle the Federal Government. Many long term political watchdogs, like Robert Reich, tell us to keep our eye on the ball. 47 and his oligarch friends want to undermine the constitution. While the president is distracting us on one hand, his unelected puppet-masters (Putin and Musk) are dismantling the government with the other. Most of the Executive Actions that 47 is rapidly passing, will be easy to repeal—if there is a constitutional process to do so, but don’t be deceived, Candidate 47 made it clear in his campaigning, he does not want US Citizens to “ever have to” vote again.
02.02.2025
Trump Unveils Ingenious Plan to Raise Prices, Harm American Consumers
A sane person would listen to experts on issues they obviously didn’t understand. A sane person would not attempt to start trade wars with consistent, time-honored allies. A sane person would not seek to undermine the government of those his/her electorate. But President 47 is none of those things, because he is not tied to sanity. He is tied to self, what will promote him, and what will curry favor with the oligarchs who give into his self-pleasuring. This president has gone out of his way to harm American consumers. This president has gone out of his way to undermine the constitution. This president has gone out of his way to tear the very fabric of his own nation. This President is not sane, this president is a malignant narcissist, an indicted felon, a twice-impeached incompetent leader responsible for the deaths of 100’s of thousands. And yet, he is America’s choice. We shall see how long that lasts as almost every action he takes undermines the well-being of the very people who ignorantly supported him (or allowed him to be elected by caring so little that they wouldn’t even get off their couches to vote). The theme of this administration should not be MAGA (Make America Great Again), but MCGA (Make China Great Again) as his policies are driving former allies of the United States into the welcoming economic and (by comparison) stable arms of that Asian Global Super-Power.
01.02.2025
How to Cultivate Meaning When Life Feels Absurd
Life seems extremely chaotic and many people are feeling both hopeless and helpless. Enter Professor Steven Heine professor of social and cultural psychology at the University of British Columbia. Heine has written a book, “Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times,” that seems perfectly suited to the current situation. He presents us with a roadmap, including many useful exercises, for regaining homeostasis when our sense of meaning has lost equilibrium. Reflecting on many existential thought leaders such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others, Professor Heine offers sound advice to help you build (or rebuild) a meaningful life and to coach others to do the same. If you are a thought-leader in your own community, at home, or at work, this book can help you and those around you. We could all use a sense of meaning and purpose right now and the outer chaos is only going to increase (that is 47’s trademark; sow confusion and fear to maintain power). Grow your own inner meaning to help build resilience to maintain balance with the outer pandemonium.
31.01.2025
Alabama teachers seek to halt state law limiting lessons on Black history and civil rights
Good Trouble (as John Lewis would say) always seems to start in the most oppressed places, and few places are more oppressive to quality education these days than Red States like Alabama. These teachers are seeking “Good Trouble” as they seek to prevent education from becoming GOP Indoctrination. As mentioned yesterday, it is the goal of 47 and Project 2025 to whitewash history in education, to fabricate stories and hide difficult truths from students. What good is education if it can’t stand the test of time, or be useful in the world? Thank you to these educators, let’s hope they become a source of hope to others who seek truth in education and not the racist lies of this administration and it’s racist, fascist, biases.
30.01.2025
Trump signs sweeping executive orders that overhaul U.S. education system
What is the difference between indoctrination and education? We are about to find out. If you are involved in the lives of young people and children in the United States (or other autocratic countries), the sweeping changes brought by the Executive Action of 47 yesterday and designed (of course) by Project 2025, will soon sanction such policies as tax-payer funding of Private Education, fundamental Christian proselytization in classrooms, the rewriting of history (to exalt the role of white colonialism and diminish the impact of women, minorities, and the complete eradication of any contributions made by non-heterosexual persons. It will feature a new “patriotic admiration” (no doubt admiring the administration of the 45th and 47th president and justifying the January 6th insurrection. In short, these changes will not seek to educate children; but to brainwash them into the Project 2025 cult. How will this help make young people competitive in the world? In short, that’s no longer the goal for Project 2025’s education platform. There is going to have to be a growing emphasis on home-based learning and instruction in small community collectives. How will you prepare for this with the children you impact? What will you do to ensure our children will have accurate access to history and an education that will make them competitive in the job market of the future?
29.01.2025
‘Elections Have Consequences’: Trump and Rubio’s Foreign Aid Halt Will Hit the World’s Most Vulnerable
Heartless and cruel, these are the words I would use to describe the kickoff of the presidency designed by Project 2025, Elon Musk, and 47. As oligarchs garner more money than they could ever possibly spend, the most vulnerable in both the United States—and the world—are immediately suffering the consequences. People who voted for a reduction in the “price of eggs” are seeing the opposite occur; there is no agenda for lowering the cost of living for either the poor or the middle class. Acting surprised and feigning ignorance while watching the vulnerable around the world starve, disease increase, and education diminish, and immigrants were the first-to-blame (the whipping post) for all the political injustices, doesn’t work anymore. The people of the US have spoken, they wanted a racist, rapist, felon president who would promise to return America to a day when whites didn’t have to share public spaces with those of color, when women were silenced and kept at home. The tepid apathetic who stayed home rather than voting bear the brunt of this as well—if not more so. There is nothing worse than lukewarm. If you’re into scripture, remember this one, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [Rev. 3:16].” This is what they voted for, now these are the consequences you are reaping. The cost in human lives will be staggering, especially if there is another pandemic on 47’s watch. This time, it will be far worse as he has already dismantled the agencies designed to keep the public informed about disease.
28.01.2025
Public schools try to protect undocumented students from Trump immigration raids
Under 47 and with direction from Project 2025 and tech oligarchs, ICE has become the new Gestapo. As the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago attempts to militarize immigration, he is now sending ICE to raid public schools. But some schools are standing firm against their agenda, declaring that, “education is for every child regardless of their immigration status.” Only valueless, vile, adults would attempt to prevent a child from being educated; any child, anywhere. Yet, that is exactly what this administration is attempting to do. This is the same administration that made it a policy to separate children from their parents without keeping an account of what prison camp either party was forced into. This is criminal, and those accepting, supporting, or enacting these policies will one day have to stand up to the raw lens of history as surely as the Nazi supporters (and deniers) of Hitler’s Germany. I’m so very grateful for these brave educators willing to put their livelihoods and careers on the line for the children they have sworn to teach. Another reason why, in a future time, we must remember that teaching is a sacred profession and deserves to be rewarded with the highest respect and recompense.
27.01.2025
How The US Became So Dysfunctional, Oligarchic, And Corrupt – OpEd
It should be noted, prior to reading this article, that the author, Finn Andreen, is a Swedish libertarian living in France. With that understanding, Mr. Andreen provides an engaging historic summary of the rise of Federalism in the US, particularly since President Lincoln. The continued power of the Federal Government over the States has—in Andreen’s opinion, led to the issues we have today with the centralized oligarchy of 47’s government under the direction of Elon Musk and Project 2025. This has become increasingly evident this week with the President’s blustery blowup (and backdown) of sending Colombian migrants to Colombia handcuffed in military planes. It is also apparent in the bellicose rants of the President about Greenland, Panama, and Canada. Despite the will of the American people, this President is recklessly pursuing a course that alienates long-time global allies. Thankfully, as we have seen in the terse showdown with President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian President, 47 is unable to sustain any whim longer than a day and has to back down when it comes to actually pursuing a policy that takes more focus than an afternoon. Apparently, no one is also around to help the President spell-check his tariff announcements as he even misspelled the name of the country he was addressing. Let’s hope this lack of focus continues.
26.01.2025
The Ungovernable Economy
This brilliant review by Trevor Jackson, of the Martin Wolf’s book, “The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism,” is perfectly timed to the political situation in which we currently find ourselves under 47’s, Project 2025-mandated economy. Jackson points out that economies that have historically led to collapse included; “policies (that) have privatized gains and socialized losses,” in which those running the government, “remove themselves from communities of obligation,” then blame immigrants, women, and minorities for the distress experienced by the economic “losers.” Besides being insightful about current economic issues from a historic perspective, Wolf goes on to present creative solutions that have stabilized countries and led to economic fairness in the past. As I read this article, additional alarm bells went off for me about the policies that 47 is trying to execute as he proceeds—through presidential fiat—the rapacious mandates of Project 2025 and the shadow president, Elon Musk. This is well-worth the read, though not exactly an easy piece.
25.01.2025
One Analysis to Rule Them All
This is a very important reminder of basic psychological principles; we become what gets rewarded or what doesn’t get punished. As the article points out, in 1957, famed Behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skinner said, “Men act upon the world, and change it, and are changed in turn by the consequences of their action.” It’s obvious why this remains important today when we look at the monster that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago has become. He has been emboldened in his racist and fascist views by both his supporters and the apathy of others who don’t seem to care about the policies he is enacting. With the release of seditious criminals who tried to take over the capital at his direction, their criminal behavior will be reinforced and will become criterion for future criminal behavior as courts rally to cite this as a precedent. On a personal/educational/fundamental level, how will we explain to young people that consequences matter when they obviously don’t if you are rich and powerful?
24.01.2025
Noam Chomsky Defines What It Means to Be a Truly Educated Person
Professor Chomsky would not be appreciated in most school board discussions today, especially in the Red States—seats of MAGA cult thinking. The MIT scholar has pointed to an all-out attack on public institutions by corporations for years now. Those who support oligarchies would not want his ideas repeated in their boardrooms or public school gatherings. In this article, the author points to what Chomsky would define as the goal of education. Not the retention of knowledge, and certainly not the repetition of political propaganda, but (in his own words); “to be truly educated means to be resourceful, to be able to ‘formulate serious questions’ and ‘question standard doctrine, if that’s appropriate’… It means to ‘find your own way.’”
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
As 47 sends his Gestapo to raid schools and prevent children from being educated. It is a time for all of us to ask, “Which side of history will we be on?”
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 51 (241 total reports)
24.01.20245-28.01.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
As 47 sends his Gestapo to raid schools and prevent children from being educated. It is a time for all of us to ask, “Which side of history will we be on?”
Song of the Week
Songs with inspiring, true, stories about people who have risen to defend human rights at pivotal times.
Top Links of the Week
28.01.2025
Public schools try to protect undocumented students from Trump immigration raids
Under 47 and with direction from Project 2025 and tech oligarchs, ICE has become the new Gestapo. As the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago attempts to militarize immigration, he is now sending ICE to raid public schools. But some schools are standing firm against their agenda, declaring that, “education is for every child regardless of their immigration status.” Only valueless, vile, adults would attempt to prevent a child from being educated; any child, anywhere. Yet, that is exactly what this administration is attempting to do. This is the same administration that made it a policy to separate children from their parents without keeping an account of what prison camp either party was forced into. This is criminal, and those accepting, supporting, or enacting these policies will one day have to stand up to the raw lens of history as surely as the Nazi supporters (and deniers) of Hitler’s Germany. I’m so very grateful for these brave educators willing to put their livelihoods and careers on the line for the children they have sworn to teach. Another reason why, in a future time, we must remember that teaching is a sacred profession and deserves to be rewarded with the highest respect and recompense.
27.01.2025
How The US Became So Dysfunctional, Oligarchic, And Corrupt – OpEd
It should be noted, prior to reading this article, that the author, Finn Andreen, is a Swedish libertarian living in France. With that understanding, Mr. Andreen provides an engaging historic summary of the rise of Federalism in the US, particularly since President Lincoln. The continued power of the Federal Government over the States has—in Andreen’s opinion, led to the issues we have today with the centralized oligarchy of 47’s government under the direction of Elon Musk and Project 2025. This has become increasingly evident this week with the President’s blustery blowup (and backdown) of sending Colombian migrants to Colombia handcuffed in military planes. It is also apparent in the bellicose rants of the President about Greenland, Panama, and Canada. Despite the will of the American people, this President is recklessly pursuing a course that alienates long-time global allies. Thankfully, as we have seen in the terse showdown with President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian President, 47 is unable to sustain any whim longer than a day and has to back down when it comes to actually pursuing a policy that takes more focus than an afternoon. Apparently, no one is also around to help the President spell-check his tariff announcements as he even misspelled the name of the country he was addressing. Let’s hope this lack of focus continues.
26.01.2025
The Ungovernable Economy
This brilliant review by Trevor Jackson, of the Martin Wolf’s book, “The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism,” is perfectly timed to the political situation in which we currently find ourselves under 47’s, Project 2025-mandated economy. Jackson points out that economies that have historically led to collapse included; “policies (that) have privatized gains and socialized losses,” in which those running the government, “remove themselves from communities of obligation,” then blame immigrants, women, and minorities for the distress experienced by the economic “losers.” Besides being insightful about current economic issues from a historic perspective, Wolf goes on to present creative solutions that have stabilized countries and led to economic fairness in the past. As I read this article, additional alarm bells went off for me about the policies that 47 is trying to execute as he proceeds—through presidential fiat—the rapacious mandates of Project 2025 and the shadow president, Elon Musk. This is well-worth the read, though not exactly an easy piece.
25.01.2025
One Analysis to Rule Them All
This is a very important reminder of basic psychological principles; we become what gets rewarded or what doesn’t get punished. As the article points out, in 1957, famed Behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skinner said, “Men act upon the world, and change it, and are changed in turn by the consequences of their action.” It’s obvious why this remains important today when we look at the monster that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago has become. He has been emboldened in his racist and fascist views by both his supporters and the apathy of others who don’t seem to care about the policies he is enacting. With the release of seditious criminals who tried to take over the capital at his direction, their criminal behavior will be reinforced and will become criterion for future criminal behavior as courts rally to cite this as a precedent. On a personal/educational/fundamental level, how will we explain to young people that consequences matter when they obviously don’t if you are rich and powerful?
24.01.2025
Noam Chomsky Defines What It Means to Be a Truly Educated Person
Professor Chomsky would not be appreciated in most school board discussions today, especially in the Red States—seats of MAGA cult thinking. The MIT scholar has pointed to an all-out attack on public institutions by corporations for years now. Those who support oligarchies would not want his ideas repeated in their boardrooms or public school gatherings. In this article, the author points to what Chomsky would define as the goal of education. Not the retention of knowledge, and certainly not the repetition of political propaganda, but (in his own words); “to be truly educated means to be resourceful, to be able to ‘formulate serious questions’ and ‘question standard doctrine, if that’s appropriate’… It means to ‘find your own way.’”
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
There is no doubt that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago has started an authoritarian regime, but he is surrounded by sycophants, not advisors. Though the policies he has already decreed are damaging, he probably has no ability to sustain the plan (or concept of a plan) he promised.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 50 (240 total reports)
15.01.20245-23.01.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
There is no doubt that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago has started an authoritarian regime, but he is surrounded by sycophants, not advisors. Though the policies he has already decreed are damaging, he probably has no ability to sustain the plan (or concept of a plan) he promised.
Song of the Week
This compilation is filled with songs about dissenters like MLK, Rosa Parks, John Lewis and others. Please take a moment to listen to the 10 songs that are biopics of human rights activists.
Top Links of the Week
23.01.2025
Trump’s Second Term Might Have Already Peaked
This is an excellent article in the tradition of Atlantic’s excellence in journalism. The Atlantic is a news source I trust and subscribe to and find it worth the investment almost daily. In this article, the author, Jonathon Chait, points out that 47 has not surrounded himself with expertise, but with sycophants, so yes, there are many short-term, executive actions that 47 can take that will be damaging, but governance by Executive Action can be easily reversed. Also, Chait points out, the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago came to power—not with plans—but “concepts” of plans. He has no real idea how to carry out the long-term commitments he made to voters and he—especially—has no advisors to turn to help him achieve true policy change. The GOP will do whatever he says, but there is no one to tell him what to do or how to do it. For that reason, Chait suggests that 47’s administration may have already peaked.
20.01.2025
How the US is destroying young people's future
I love TED Talks and this one is exceptional. For those of us who work with young people (or have them in your family), this talk is very important. Also, I think it applies beyond the border of the US, to other consumerist countries that see success from the perspective of a financial litmus test. There are many alternatives to measures of success including, happiness, purpose, kindness, and service. What could you do to help fortify young people’s futures so they don’t get trapped into degrading consumerist viewpoints that measure a person’s value by how much they have or what they do?
19.01.2025
What MLK knew that today’s progressives keep forgetting
Nonviolent Resistance, or satyagraha, comes from the Sanskrit words satya, meaning "truth", and āgraha, meaning "insistence" or "holding firmly to.” MLK studied this technique and philosophy as applied by Gandhi both in South Africa and then in India. Over the next years, understanding the methods and techniques of MLK and Gandhi will become increasingly important. This week especially, let us focus our thoughts on MLK’s birthday (actually on January 15, but celebrated in US on January 20) rather than the inauguration of the Orange Felon and the current victory lap of Project 2025.
18.01.2025
Focus Your Attention On These 11 Things People Can't Take Away From You
With the inauguration of the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago about to occur, I can’t think of a more appropriate article to help us through the next “whatever” years. As we battle government-by-oligarchy, it’s important to remember there are battles we don’t have to fight—and that we can already claim. The traits in this article are critical for healthy thinking. Please read them through and pass them on.
17.01.2025
Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity
Biden said it and Bernie Sanders agrees, “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms.” This will undoubtedly be the primary issue—not just in the US—but in the world, for this decade (and perhaps longer). It is not just redefining the map of American prosperity, but indeed, global prosperity. This WILL affect our children and grandchildren’s generation and we must equip ourselves—and them—to resist.
16.01.2025
US barrels ahead with school smartphone bans — despite weak evidence that they help
Nothing prompts a faster knee-jerk response among North American educators than students being distracted in their classroom. Rather than address the deeper issue (lack of student engagement. The US is seeking a total back. In Finland, teachers and students learn how to incorporate Smartphones into daily life. The problem with banning smartphones is that they are rapidly becoming a part of all of our everyday lives—positive or negative. Banning is guaranteed to be negative if our young people graduate with no concept of how to use AI (read Augmented Intelligence, nor Artificial Intelligence) or how to recognize fake news and disinformation.
15.01.2025
Pete Hegseth Declines to Answer
This is how it starts, folks. The razzle-dazzle, spin-em-fast demise of democracy brought to you by Project 2025 and the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago. Nominees for some of the most powerful positions in the world, filled by people who support the Orange Man and his revenge-focused agenda. Being qualified—doesn’t matter, leadership experience, —doesn’t matter, national security—doesn’t matter, character—doesn’t matter, so what does matter? Kissing the Orange Clown shoes… The GOP, in their continued dereliction of duty, refused to ask any difficult or job-related questions of Hegseth for fear of being “taken behind the wood shed,” by the cult following. But this is just how it starts. Way to go, supporters of MAGA cult, you now have a front-row seat watching our country be sold to the highest builders and most acquiescent.
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
John Lewis, the former congressman from Georgia, who was badly injured on Bloody Sunday, tells us to get in “Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble. As the Felon from Mar-A-Lago prepares to take office, we each need to examine what kind of “Good Trouble,” will be necessary to uphold our fragile democracy.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 49 (239 total reports)
09.01.20245-14.01.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
John Lewis, the former congressman from Georgia, who was badly injured on Bloody Sunday, tells us to get in “Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble. As the Felon from Mar-A-Lago prepares to take office, we each need to examine what kind of “Good Trouble,” will be necessary to uphold our fragile democracy.
Song of the Week
This compilation is filled with songs about dissenters like John Lewis. Please take a moment to listen to the 10 songs that are biopics of human rights activists.
Top Links of the Week
14.01.2025
Jack Smith in Jan. 6 report says Trump would have been convicted if he hadn't won in November
The First Felon to serve as President got his wish. He didn’t really run FOR office as much as he ran FROM prosecution. Jack Smith’s report, that was held in court for years by a Trump-appointed Judge in Florida, was released in part today and it is damning. So this is the US now? I side with Adam Cohen, who said in his Bluesky account this morning, ““The sorrow I feel is that not only did Donald Trump attempt a violent coup, wherein 140 police officers were injured and 5 died as a result, but millions of people ignored it for the chance to save a buck or two on eggs and gas-even as prices on consumer goods were starting to fall.”
13.01.2025
Why the Christian Right Demonizes Discourse
The surest sign that a parent lacks confidence in themselves is that they attempt to prevent their children from asking, “Why?” It is not different from paternalistic organizations like religion. The Christian Right is similar to the Taliban and wants to justify their misogyny, rather than have people question their injustices. Like the Taliban, the Religious Right seeks control over women and their bodies. They objectify women instead of honor them. Also like the Taliban, the Religious Right wants to control the government and use them towards their own ends. They would be overjoyed to undermine the constitutional separation of Church and State by becoming a theocracy. With little insight, they are not seeing that—when the pendulum swings back to sanity—people are finally going to tax churches as crass lobbyists and political organizations.
12.01.2025
Brooks and Capehart on Trump’s sentencing and what’s coming in his 2nd term
The balanced reporting of the actually “sane” conservative, David Brooks, and the liberal counterpoint of Jonathon Capehart, always engages me. In this rational look at the irrational President-Elect, we are reminded that so many of the completely brainless meanderings of the First Felon of Mar-A-Lago are a total distraction to keep us from focusing on the real actions that Project 2025 and he are taking to undermine the US democracy and constitution. The Far Right loves it when they get under the skin of Liberals, but we mustn’t let our guard down and should continually ask, “What is the deception?” “What are they trying to keep us from seeing?”
11.01.2025
Malala Yousafzai Honored for Her Efforts to Combat Gender Apartheid Ten Years After Receiving the Noble Peace Prize
Religious fundamentalists in Pakistan tried to silence Malala Yousafzai by shooting her in the face. As the religious right fundamentalists try to establish their own Christian Taliban in the United States in relationship with the GOP and their Orange Leader, it is important to remember Molala’s story and her consistent resistance to undermining women’s rights around the globe. Please take a moment to read about the history of her struggle and immense courage. I think you will find it inspiring and a platform for your own resilience. I have dedicated a song to Malala on my upcoming compilation, “Say Her Name,” you can find it at this link: Malala Yousafzai; Tell Her Story.
10.01.2025
Emperor Trump Has No Train of Thought
Be prepared for an era of promises unkept, projects unfinished, and alliances destroyed. This will be the legacy of the next President and the egomaniacal Oligarchs with whom he has surrounded himself. Promises will be unkept, because they were never based upon honest commitments to begin with and because it takes truly strong resilience and values to push an agenda through the government system today. 47 has neither of those values and has surrounded himself with egocentric children who are more proficient at throwing tantrums than leading teams, delegation, or actual governance. Unfortunately, Project 2025 has the stamina that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago lacks and are patiently waiting for him to either die or be replaced through the 25th Amendment.
09.01.2025
Why Poor American Kids Are So Likely to Become Poor Adults
Poor children in America are more likely to become poor adults than a similar grouping of children in other wealthy countries. This well-researched article points out that this is largely due to how we treat impoverished adults in America rather than how we treat impoverished children. Despite what the GOP will tell you, this is not a genealogical issue (people aren’t born lazy and less desirous of meaningful employment), it is a matter of wealth distribution and taxes. As the US increasingly becomes an oligarchy, governed by an extremely wealthy small minority, poverty will increase over the years of the GOP’s budgetary decision-making. The Expanded Child Tax Credit (which ended in 2022) significantly decreased poverty in the US. We are unlikely to see it—or any similar policy—return while E. Musk and his cronies direct the government of 45 and his GOP puppets.
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
In the midst of the obvious cacophony that 45 and his minions are going to introduce into the world, we are all going to need strategies for sustaining our own sanity. This week’s blog focuses on creating resistance strategies.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 48 (238 total reports)
01.01.20245-08.01.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
In the midst of the obvious cacophony that 45 and his minions are going to introduce into the world, we are all going to need strategies for sustaining our own sanity. This week’s blog focuses on creating resistance strategies.
Song of the Week
Rosa Parks was no stranger to the Civil Rights movement when she was asked to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to make room for white passengers. Her refusal to move led to her arrest, and her arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Strike from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. 381 days! Why didn’t she move? She was tired; tired of being pushed around. Her “stand” for justice by sitting down, is one example of non-accommodation. I feature Rosa in my new compilation of people who have not cooperated with injustice and were known as dissidents. If you’re interested in this new compilation, click here: Good Trouble.
Top Links of the Week
08.01.2025
The Surgeon General just wrote you a prescription for happiness. Here's what it says
There are so many things I’m going to miss about the Biden administration, but a primary one will certainly be the professionalism and knowledge of its public servants. Biden did not appoint political hacks or billionaires to his cabinet and one example is his Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy. Murthy has been a leader in confronting the epidemic of loneliness in the US. In his closing recommendation, he gives a prescription for happiness. Something we’re all going to need to make it through the upcoming years of political shenanigans and outright lunacy. Murthy’s formula is simple, yet profound. He suggests three characteristics of happiness that include: 1) Relationships, 2) Service, and 3) Purpose. These are not three qualities he pulled from the air, they’re heavily supported by research. People who grow these habits (and indeed, they can be grown), are proven to be happier and have a higher sense of well-being. What can you do to begin to grow these habits in your life and the lives of those around you? How can you incorporate them in your dealings with others, your teaching, or raising of young people?
07.01.2025
Did Maslow Get Self-Actualization Wrong?
The points made in this article are enlightening, but I think it is based on incomplete information. Maslow scholars know that Maslow spent time in his latter years doing research with the Blackfoot Peoples in Northern Alberta (six weeks with the Skisika Nation, in 1938) and was in the process of amending some of his own work given what he learned about their concepts of self-actualization. However, he didn’t live long enough to publish these findings. In his latter (unpublished) papers, Maslow spoke of a stage beyond Self-Actualization, that of Self-Transcendence, meaning the final stage of our growth is not focused on self, but ultimately, on community. This is in keeping with the findings the author draws out in her article. This article is well worth the read for its many points about how the Blackfoot Tribe differed in their concept of “flourishing.” Please take time to look over it. I’m sure we can all use more hints on flourishing and perhaps we can help mentor others. Given yesterday’s article about, “The Decade of Discontent,” is there a more important time to teach people to flourish and embrace self-transcendence?
06.01.2025
Welcome to the Decade of Discontent.
This article reviews the data showing the deep unrest in our social structure today. It shows the result of super-elites hoarding resources to themselves while increasingly larger classes of people are unable to even start their life. Already indications of the next administration show that these super-elites are going to do more to use power to secure their own fortunes and take resources from the middle and lower classes. Our own contemporary history shows that we have not reached the “pain point” where people realize they are being lied to and their meager resources are being stripped away. The USA just fired the administration that focused on infrastructure and building the middle class while voting in a huckster who is already saying he “won’t be able to deliver” on some of his most basis promises. This article points to the hard evidence of an economic and societal collapse that is just beginning, leading to what the author is calling a “decade of discontent.”
05.01.2025
As Trump's election is certified, Americans should declare war on stupidity | Opinion
As the results of this last election become clear, one of the things becoming apparent is that 45 (and his handlers) have normalized public stupidity. Whether it’s the attempted appointment of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General or the development of a new department of Government Efficiency headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the elevation of the non-intelligent in favor of those with an agenda to complete 45’s revenge is in plain view. The dumbing down of American politics seems to be apparent everywhere in the world—except the United States itself—where being stupid is being elevated to an elite class.
04.01.2025
“There is no morality right now”: Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Donald Trump's GOP
I admire former Republican Representative Kinzinger deeply (despite being a supply-side, Reaganomics believer). His track record and commitment to honesty speak for itself. If you are unaware of this man’s bona fides, take a moment to read through this article. I believe he captures the lost respect of the GOP and their 45 leader in this article. His argument is our argument if you see the election of a criminal, rapist, authoritarian to the White House as a disgrace to this nation and its values. If you don’t, maybe some of Kinzinger’s insights will spur you to examine your own beliefs.
03.01.2025
In 2025 and beyond, schools need to teach more than just ‘the basics’
Schools that focus on teaching the “basics” are basing their “basics” on a Prussian model that is hundreds of years old. Imagine if we allowed other sectors of society to follow this standard; we’d have no airplanes, certainly no technology, and medicine would still involve no anesthetics. While such archaic guidelines would be unthinkable in the rest of our economy, we seem to accommodate such thinking in education and religion (even worse when they combine). Even our definition of “the Basics” must change. The idea that only teaching readin’, ‘ritin’, and ‘rithmetic or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) can adequately prepare young people to live in our world today is unsustainable. As this article points out, schools need to be prepared to teach cognitive skills and—what the author calls—non-cognitive skills. Emotional Quotient is one such skill and a far better indicator of how well one will do in their career. This will only become increasingly true as AI (think “Augmented Intelligence”, not, “Artificial Intelligence”) becomes increasing incorporated into our lives (outside of dysfunctional school divisions). In yesterday’s review, we saw how the advanced school system of Finland is teaching students how to spot Disinformation. Such knowledge will become increasingly important in our world as authoritarians take over education. Will we demand that this becomes part of the “Basics” that schools teach or will it also be thrown into the Project 2025 dung heap along with DEI (learning about people’s difference) and “Being Woke (learning compassion and kindness)?”
02.01.2025
How Finnish Youth Learn To Spot Disinformation
The education system of Finland ranks among the top in the world. One of the primary reasons is that they focus on educating as opposed to indoctrinating. They even teach young people how to spot disinformation in their schools. This will definitely NOT be a part of GOP’s agenda for education during the era of 45 and Project 2025. In fact, if our children are going to be able to recognize disinformation, they are going to need to learn these critical skills at home or in small community-based schools. This article highlights the importance of this curriculum and what it has provided to the youth who have participated in these classes. Perhaps you have a way to influence the information young people will be receiving in an era of intentional government deceit. Or, perhaps you know adults who could benefit from this information. Either way, this article is a great primer for accumulating some of the basic necessities for arming yourself against mass, global, disinformation.
01.01.2025
Gratitude, a Road to Lasting Happiness
Our resilience will be more important than ever in this coming year and the best path to resilience is the habit of gratitude. This article looks at building a habit of gratitude into your daily life and the long-term effects on you and yours. How will you grow gratitude this year and how can you teach it to others?
Youth Advocacy
The death of Jimmy Carter is significant to the world. A man of quiet action and dignity, consistent service and dignity.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 347 (237 total reports)
25.12.2024-31.12.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The death of Jimmy Carter is significant to the world. A man of quiet action and compassion, consistent service and dignity.
Song of the Week
Jimmy Carter; The Measure of This Man
The newest compilation that I am completing is about people who have consistently stood for human rights around the world. Please take a moment to listen to this song about President Jimmy Carter and reflect upon what we are missing in politics today; the quiet actions that led towards peace, human voting rights, global health, and environmental awareness. There was no braggadocio in this man of quiet action. Unlike many politicians today, President Carter showed that, “if you have to tell people you are the leader—you are not!”
Top Links of the Week
31.12.2024
A timeline of former President Jimmy Carter’s life and career
Yes he was a President, a Governor, and won the Nobel Peace Prize, but Jimmy Carter will probably be most remembered for his life of humble service after his presidency.
30.12.2024
Resolve to resist
This pro-LGBTQ+ magazine discusses the trials all of us will face in an administration more concerned about gender-specific bathrooms than about children’s deaths in schools. It points out ten things we can all do to resist the Christian Taliban’s efforts to undermine human rights in the US and elsewhere.
29.12.2024
Historian Reveals The 3 Signs A Political Revolution Is About To Happen — And The Ones We’ve Already Seen In America
This is a history lesson the Far Right is definitely NOT going to want you to see. An excellent examination at what—historically—leads to a revolution and if the “Rebumblecons” don’t come to their senses, this is what they will usher in. Please take a moment to look at the three primary precursors to a revolution that this historian highlights and her explanations why the USofA is so ripe for one.
28.12.2024
The Power of Resilience
Resilience is a learned trait and (as this article points out) it is the result of failure turned into growth. Resilience is a learned response—not an automatic response. Do you know someone who is good at turning failure into resilience? Ask them to coach you… and, if this is something you are adept at, coach and mentor others. Young people, especially, need to know that making mistakes does not equal failure, we only fail when we cease to learn and draw knowledge from our shortcomings. It is natural to want to quit when you’ve fallen down, to withdraw, or cease striving. But, it is at those moments of disappointment in our lives that we are also at the point of optimal growth. Creating a practice of growing from defeat is self-perpetuating.
27.12.2024
60 Comics Exaggerating Modern-Day Issues That Highlight Their Absurdity By Domien Delforge (New Pics)
Many of these comics nail the contemporary situation in which we all live, they are worth scrolling through for a smile and some serious reflection.
26.12.2024
The California Job-Killer That Wasn’t
As a number of States look at raising the minimum wage this coming year and the GOP continues its war on economic fairness. It is important to look at the numbers of what results a higher minimum wage actually has on a State’s economy. Conservative economists predicted the rise in wages in California would result in a loss of businesses and jobs, in reality, the opposite was true. Higher minimum wages resulted in a broad-based rise in worker retention, which lowered hiring and training costs for companies allowing them to put money elsewhere and increase profit margins. Actual reviews of numbers like this needs to be shouted from the rooftops because, be assured, conservatives are shouting their non-research based theories as loudly as they can. Fairness in the workplace is an economic springboard and economic policy should be based on fact, not opinion and conjecture.
25.12.2024
The New Ugly American
This article gives a succinct history into the term, “Ugly American,” and the changes the term is experiencing as the blowhard Regime of 45 and his minions start laying out their plans for taking over Greenland, Panama, Canada, and Mexico. As an ex-pat who lived in Canada and now in Mexico, I’m very aware of the bad reputation the people from the US have abroad. I’m concerned how this will only worsen with the mindless words of the “Rebumblecons” and the authoritarian they blissfully adore (45 or Musk—you pick which one you want to insert there).
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The puppet government E. Musk bought is revealing the chaos it plans to inflict on the US over the next four years. What is your strategy for resistance and resilience?
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 346 (236 total reports)
18.12.2024-24.12.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The puppet government E. Musk bought is revealing the chaos it plans to inflict on the US over the next four years. What is your strategy for resistance and resilience?
Song of the Week
Who makes money when the world doesn’t work? Who becomes rich off poverty, guns, and war? If we follow the money, we will begin the see the Oligarchs who are the source of most of the world’s “unsolvable” issues.
Compilation: Resistance, Resilience
Top Links of the Week
24.12,2024
American Idiots
This week’s near-collapse of the House is but a harbinger of things to come under the GOP and 45’s administration. Nearly 100 last minute posts by E. Musk (many outright lies) stirred up the GOP faithful and nearly brought the House to a standstill that would have undermined multiple government functions over the holidays. Only a last minute effort between Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson temporarily averted the crisis. This article focuses on what to expect under the shadow presidency of Musk and 45.
23.12.2024
Revolutionizing Education: Exploring the Latest Trends in Learning
A revolution in learning is long past needed and rather than fear the use of technology (or only using technology for the administration of education), the people at Google Labs are looking for vibrant ways technology can complement educators and students in classrooms and at home. The suggestions in this article are a great guide to anyone who is working in the field of education or human development. These are exciting suggestions and could lead to huge leaps in student development. I hope that if you are involved in the development of children you will read and share this article. It’s well worth it. These ideas will be especially important in light of the onset of global authoritarianism where schools will be seen by oligarchs, religions, and political leaders as opportunities for indoctrination instead of instruction. Increasingly, vital aspects of education will need to be supplemented at home, or in small learning communities, these suggestions will assist in making that possible.
22.12.2024
If We Hate, Trump Wins
MLK’s sermon on hate is a primer for those who lost the presidential election (which, essentially, is all of us—unless you’re a multi-millionaire of billionaire) this year. This article examines some of King’s most well-known sermons for practical applications today. I’m also including a past by King’s daughter with suggestions for responding to those of us grieving the decline of the American democracy.
21.12.2024
Why the ERA Needs Congressional Action—And How We Can Win
Equality needs to be enshrined in our constitution and it needs to be done before the Rebumblecons have consolidated their power under 45 and his puppet-master, Elon Musk. This is not a fight for President Biden or, as the author points out, the Archivist of the US. We cannot underestimate the anti-female focus of the Republican Congress and their leadership. This article has many technical subtleties in it, but it’s worth reading and remembering what is at stake in this groundswell movement needing state ratification.
20.12.2024
Paul Krugman on the government shutdown: "The Chaos Monkeys Have Already Taken Over the Zoo"
Krugman is already calling this “The Musk Administration,” after the billionaire bought his way as close as he can possibly get (as an immigrant) to the presidency. 45 is merely a puppet that does Musk’s bidding and Vance is nowhere to be seen. Behind this week’s budget freeze crises were major changes Musk wanted to push through that Congress (not just the Democrats—Mike Johnson could not even get a majority to approve his budget shenanigans—the response was not just a “Hard No!” but a “Hell No!”). 45 and his Republican patsies are already revealing they are going to be the “Chaos Congress” once again. Krugman is not surprised the “Chaos Monkeys” have taken over the zoo, he is merely alerting us as to how quickly it has happened. This is just a start as 45 is not even president yet and Musk is already taking over the Republican Party he bought and paid for.
19.12.2024
Scientists Tracked 1,000 Kids for 40 Years. This Was the No. 1 Predictor of Financial Success
This groundbreaking study from Dunedin, New Zealand, is a treasure trove of critical information for those who work with human beings (isn’t that all of us). It tells us such things as children generally grow out of delinquency and—as in the case of this article—the importance of Emotional Intelligence in raising healthy, balanced, young people with thriving lives. There is plenty of information in this short article that highlights Emotional Intelligence, what it is, who is credited with “popularizing” it (Psychologist Daniel Goleman), and an important fact that—unlike intelligence quotient (IQ)—Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a learned trait. We can raise our EQ at any age in a supportive environment. If we want mentally and emotionally healthy children, teach them kindness and empathy. I’m including a link to a song about teaching kindness for those of you interested in passing on this information in a musical fashion. Teach Them Anyway.
18.12.2024
150 Years Ago, Thomas Edison Discovered the Secret to Exceptional Creativity. It Still Works Today
Thomas Edison is known as one of the most prolific inventors in the history of the North America, his “Edison Labs” (in West Orange, New Jersey) were famous for sometimes producing over 1,000 patents a year. However, when we think of Edison’s “Labs,” we should not picture sterile, working environments with all the experimenters isolated at individual work sites. Instead, we are told in this article, that his labs were more like playgrounds than high school or college laboratories. This writer also tells us that the primary quality promoted at the labs was, “fun.” Edison apparently believed that fun was the root of creativity. It was not unusual for the experimenters to take breaks and go to a local stream for a group swim or use other extended breaks to play group games. In an atmosphere of fun, the brain is far more open to learning than in an environment of fear and control. Indeed, in controlling environments, the creative functions of the brain shut down. What does that mean for our classrooms and family gathering times? How can we add fun to our learning environments and increase the development of creativity over the retention (or memorization) of knowledge. Creativity is not the accumulation of existing knowledge, it is using existing knowledge to create novel connections and innovative possibilities. Is your classroom fun? Is your workplace fun? Is your home fun? If you want to increase creativity, ask how you can make time together more enjoyable.
Youth Advocacy
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Keeping your moral compass and becoming a dissident
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 345 (235 total reports)
11.12.2024-17.12.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Keeping your moral compass and becoming a dissident
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Song of the Week
The article below this week, “How To Keep Your Moral Compass,” takes a look at the people called “Dissidents.” The qualities listed there are important to review. Dissidents don’t seek the title, they don’t seek leadership, they just live true to their “moral compass.” Another important aspect of Dissidents is that they often speak through the language of the arts: Music, poetry (spoken word) the physical arts.
Compilation 01: Resistance, Resilience
Top Links of the Week
17.12.2024
How to Keep Your Moral Compass
Dissidents; this article examines them from across the world, pointing out that—with a rise of global authoritarianism—we also need a rise in dissidents. As this article, points out, dissidents don’t necessarily start out looking for the title; they wind up with the title for being themselves. Small acts of dissent tied to uncompromising values are the central key to their lives—even when it costs them external freedom such as being jailed for their actions. Do you have any small acts of dissent that you can commit to or do you know anyone whose values result in them being called a dissident? How can you support them?
16.12.2024
The Commons: Washington’s Nightmare
This article is really a compilation of responses to a previous article written by Tom Nichols about George Washington and how Nichols thinks the General/President/“Man-Who-Could’ve-Been-King” would view Trump and his presidency. Three words sum up Nichols’s thoughts on Washington: “He Went Home.” As Nichols points out in his article, DonOLD is the president that was indeed “Washington’s Nightmare.” It is worth taking time to read these responses and link to the article (which was originally written in November).
15.12.2024
It’s Remarkably Hard to Catch the Master Manipulator
Now that T-Rump is admitting that lowering the price of eggs may be hard; are the people who voted for him acting amazed and revealing themselves as thoroughly gullible (aka “suckers”)? The President-Elect is not just a liar and felon, he is a Master Manipulator. This article does a great job of revealing the personality traits of a Master Manipulator or (as some would confirm) a Machiavellian. Traits of Machiavellianism include a “Dark Triad” of personalities which, in addition to being a Machiavellian, also include psychopathy and narcissism, some believe that cynicism should also be included in these traits. All told, they create a framework for many of the billionaires that are now running the global economy. Some might go as far as to say that a Machiavellian, Dark Triad, personality is a key ingredient to being a billionaire.
14.12.2024
Why Losing Sight Of The ‘Learning Value’ Of Work Has Been A Disaster For Students
This insightful analysis into the inherent problems of the US Education system is spot-on. Similar to allowing Airline CEO’s to evaluate their own safety, the US has allowed Academics to design their own metrics. What metrics should we expect from academics who have excelled in their own world, but that to be outstanding in academics, one must also be an academic. What has been missing from education metrics for decades is real-world work experiences. In many circles, I have heard these things, “poo-pooed” for measuring a students ability to fit into the world of business and global economics/community development. It is past time for “outsiders” to be brought into the metric measuring equation. What makes a graduate a “good citizen?” A “contributing member of a business team?” A “good citizen?” Certainly, not that they can individually stand out on an achievement test like the SAT or even the current ACT (designed largely by Iowa professor of education, Everett Franklin Lindquist, in 1959).
13.12.2024
4 Surprising Benefits of Curiosity
This article examines why we all need to foster curiosity in our lives and make it a fundamental component of those we are helping to mature. Imagine raising a generation that saw curiosity and exploration as a greater strength in their leadership than pat answers and intellectual bravado. Take time to review this short article and ask “How many of these benefits can I use? How about the young people in my life?” The four “surprising” benefits noted in this article are an absolute necessity in raising a generation that will be concerned about and caring towards others.
12.12.2024
The Crisis Neither Party Is Equipped to Handle
Trump’s cabinet pick has already shown that he has a singular objective regarding for US Schools and that is to close the Department of Education (which requires support from congress). Congress will likely not support his goal, even though they obviously have no alternative plan for improving education. The sole aim of the GOP is to use education to fight culture wars. While the country is in deep need of addressing multiple S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) issues, the GOP has largely focused on making sure congressional bathrooms are not transgender and yet almost all congresspersons fly to DC in planes that have transgender bathrooms. This article looks at the historic decline of US Education pre and post COVID and attempts in the past to fix a system that remains obstinately broken because lawmakers focus largely on tinkering with test scores while the real issue lies in the terrible underfunding of educators.
11.12.2024
You Did A Good Job Raising Your Kids If They Have These 11 Skills As Adults
This is an excellent article about raising young people to be healthy adults. It is filled with goals to keep in mind as you watch your children grow. My suggestion would be to post these goals on a wall to remind yourself (and either those you with whom you parent or work with) what is important to focus upon while raising young people.
Youth Advocacy
Adversity does NOT equal trauma, this week focuses on overcoming the negative in our lives to grow more resilient.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 344 (234 total reports)
06.12.2024-10.12.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Adversity does NOT equal trauma, this week focuses on overcoming the negative in our lives to grow more resilient.
Song of the Week
What words did you learn to use inside your head? Are they uplifting? Do they encourage you? Or did you come from a home where mistakes were punished with harsh words and now you use them on yourself? This song examines the messages we have been given AND the messages we can grow.
Link to the entire Compilation: Resistance, Resilience:
Top Links of the Week
10.12.2024
Breaking the Cycle of Adverse Childhood Experiences
Not all childhood adversity leads to trauma, people who have someone in their lives that can help identify the source of adversity, name it, and replace it, are able to live fuller and more meaningful lives. The key here is that Adversity does NOT = Trauma. The cycle can be broken and doesn’t need to be passed on to a new generation.
09.12.2024
Mom teaches son to pick up the 'invisible load' at home and it's something every parent should do
I’ve been saving this article for a week because I knew I would eventually want to share it with you. This mother’s brilliant parenting tip could be applied to all relationships; in the workplace, with a partner, in our communities, as well as in parenting. What is the “invisible load” that often slips through the cracks in our lives? How do we train ourselves to look for it and seek to complete it without being asked or prompted? Are you a person who seeks out the ‘invisible load’ in your relationships and responds, without pressure, without praise, and without prompting?
08.12.2024
4 Ways to Free Your Child From Crushing Self-Doubt
We become the words we hear as children, if we hear harsh words, our own internal message becomes harsh as well. Self-Doubt, the product of harsh words, undermines children’s (our) resiliency. It reminds us again, the way we parent ourselves (internally), is often the way we parent our children. One of the most important tasks of adulthood is to examine the inner conversations passed on to us and that we use when we make mistakes or run into obstacles in our lives. This article speaks deeply to examining how we speak to our children, but definitely can also be applied to how we speak to our inner child. The next time you are angry with yourself, write down some of the words or phrases you use in your own inner conversations. See if those words are helpful, like, “It’s okay to fail when you’re trying to grow,” or, “making mistakes means I am trying new things.” It is fairly certain that if you use these phrases for yourself, you will use them with others around you.
07.12.2024
If You Have These 11 Things, You're Better Off Than An Average Person
Many people I know are struggling to find things to be grateful for following the election of an autocrat to the presidency of the United States. If you are someone (or know someone), that fits that definition, this is a great list to start with—and those things on the list that you do NOT have are things that you can focus on growing. As you read through the list keep in mind the phrase, “Have It or Grow It.” Because gratitude is the most important attribute you can have to improve your well-being, health, and relationships.
06.12.2024
Supercharging Human Curiosity
Listen to some of the exciting phrases in this article; “Augmented Intelligence,” “Return the Joy to Learning,” “Increase Engagement.” These are a few of the goals leaders like Ben Gomes, the SVP (Senior Vice President of Learning & Sustainability at Google are using as guidelines for developing tools to combine AI and learning. While most approaches to AI and Education are between the dichotomy of (as The Atlantic puts it) “uncritical optimism or dystopian fear.” The reasoned approaches by Gomes and people like Sal Khan, of The Khan Academy and Khanmigo, are dedicated to a future where AI (‘Augmented Intelligence’ as differentiated from ‘Artificial Intelligence’) helps foster the creativity of teachers and students alike.
05.12.2024
Complaining Won't Change the World, But Your Actions Can
Michelle Obama, addressing the DNC in August said, "Don't just sit around and complain. Do something!” This article highlights that exhortation. Complaining makes you feel less resilient, doing something increases your strength and positivity. It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering action, simple acts of kindness and courtesy are often all that’s needed are often all that’s needed to bolster your sense of hope and positivity. If this note rings true for you, perhaps you’ll also like my new song, “Act!” Please click the link and have a listen.
Youth Advocacy
The US has determined it would prefer a government of rulers, not leaders. How can we prepare our children for the consequences of Project 2025 and the years following?
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 343 (233 total reports)
28.11.2024-04.12.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The US has determined it would prefer a government of rulers, not leaders. How can we prepare our children for the consequences of Project 2025 and the years following?
Song of the Week
What is the difference between a government of Rulers and a government of Leaders? That is examined in this song. Of course the style had to be Hip-Hop. Here’s a sample lyric; “If laws don’t apply to the political ones they’re rulers, not leaders.”
Top Links of the Week
04.12.2024
South Korea’s Warning for Washington
A critically important event has been unfolding in one of the US’s allies on the Pacific, it has immense connotations for how their pending new Authoritarian Administration under Project 2025 could play out. That nation, of course, is South Korea, and this article goes into some depth about why we all need to be aware of how that fledgling democracy’s current martial law situation developed and how it is playing out. It could indeed present a roadmap of how to save a democracy from tyranny.
03.12.2024
How to Tell Stories That Move Mountains
Storytelling is the key to leadership. According to Yuval Noah Harari (and this is a very reductive appraisal of his amazing book, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”) the person (group) with the most prevalent myth wins. Every religion, every political movement, every war, every civilization, is built on myth. Storytelling is the way that myth is conveyed. Influential leaders know this fact and incorporate it. Many organizations that recognize this are now substituting the term, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) with CNO (Chief Narrating Officer). Can you turn your business plan into a compelling story? Your budget? This article will give you key insights into using storytelling to motivate and move your people. In the last election, the Democratic Party failed to tell a story that compelled a significant majority to vote for their party, it cost them the election.
02.12.2024
Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now it's the Oxford Word of 2024
Oxford’s Word of the Year is not new to thinkers like Thoreau. Henry David used the term to warn against “oversimpilification,” in his book “Walden.” Articles like this are important because they analyze how we got here and identify what it means. Our next step is to chart a way back—for ourselves—for our children. Most people would blame our compulsion to social media for our current mind-decaying situation, but—like money—social media is value-neutral. Our usage and the way it has come to dominate our dopamine-starved, reward cycle is what we need to analyze and address. Banning young people from social media is not the answer; teaching people (of all ages) to develop the discipline of rigidly verifying their sources is a beginning. “Who said that?” “What was the context?” “Where did they get their information?” “Where’s the proof of their results?” This should become standard questions for all our educational efforts. Teaching children to think critically—and the best teaching is always modeling—begins at home, but must be included in our schools. However, the chances of an authoritarian regime, like Project 2025, encouraging voters to “check their sources,” is slim to nil. Acceptance, not examination, is their end-goal.
02.12.2024
The End of Democratic Delusions
It’s going to take years to unravel what happened in the last election, even to understand what to call the age of politics that has begun under the “Trump Reaction”—yes, sadly, as this article points out, D-Trump has loomed over American politics now for as long as FDR was president. What made DonOLD attractive to so many voters and what made Democrats so unelectable? We need more insightful articles like this to understand and respond.
01.12.2024
How to Love Yourself, With All Your Flaws
This link inspired me to write a new song, “The Words We Use Inside…” about the words and phrases often passed down by those guiding us as children. Often (usually) those words become our own words that we speak internally as we “raise ourselves.” Left unexamined, these words can prevent us from taking risks that could lead to growth and accepting that perfection—as opposed to failure—is the superior indicator of measuring our propensity for growth.
30.11.2024
Lessons from Civil Rights Activism for Today’s Social Divide
The history of Civil Rights Activism (or Social Resistance) is a topic that we can be sure won’t be taught in schools under the new Project 2025 administration. Indeed, “Civil Rights” will probably be mocked in much the same way as DEI and being “Woke (compassionate).” It will become increasingly important to re-establish alternative ways of educating ourselves and our children. What do you need to teach at home, that kids will NOT be learning in a Christian Nationalist education system? This book may be an important one to put on the shelves in your home or institution, to aid those around you in teaching the history of Civil Rights Activism. Check out the song, “Teach It Anyway,” for an example of how we can raise children who will be compassionate and caring in a society that often sees winning and domination as preferred values.
29.11.2024
The True Threat to Democracy Is Our Unelected Oligarchy
It would be easy to see Trump as the primary threat to democracy, but what is easy is often deceptive and our brains inherently oversimplify due to the way we have evolved. What’s important to remember is that the Orange Clown is merely a deception, the true threat is Project 2025 and its propensity for an unelected oligarchy. They want to elect someone they can control and that can fascinate the masses. At the time of the election, J.D. Vance was not that meme. Now, the true powers behind Donny OLD, have time on their side, perhaps two years—longer if they can create ways to interrupt the interim election in 2026.
28.11.2024
How AI Will Impact the Future of Teaching—a Conversation With Sal Khan
Sal Khan is the brilliant founder of “The Khan Academy” and “Kahnmigo.” I believe he is one of the most respected names in education today, and, I’m not alone, so when Khan speaks about the future of AI and Education combined, I am all ears. If you are connected to any child that is getting an education (or going to get one), this is a must-read. There needs to be a way forward for the two (AI and Education) to collaborate, because children who cannot compete in a world infused with AI will be at a complete disadvantage and we can’t leave technology up to the people at Project 2025 and Elon Musk.
Youth Advocacy
Looking for resources to grow resilience in your life and the lives of the young people around you?
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 342 (232 total reports)
21.11.2024-27.11.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
Looking for resources to grow resilience in your life and the lives of the young people around you?
Song of the Week
This song examines the aspects of mature hope; a hope that is founded in acts of service, a hope that leads to resilience.
Top Links of the Week
27.11.2024
Teaching Students How to Debunk Myths About Misinformation
Social Media is a major part of young people’s lives today and we are fooling ourselves if we think that is going to decrease. Good education prepares young people for the future that THEY will live in, not the past that educators (or administrators, or school boards) USED to live in. Taking phones out of schools does not prepare young people for their future. Creative educators find ways to include technology into their daily activities, rather than acting as if they are competing against it. That includes teaching young people to recognize and “debunk” the misinformation they receive—and are going to continue to receive—as they become adults. I’m old enough to remember when math teachers protested the use of calculators in classrooms, because those teachers had been trained in using the slide rule. Obviously, educators were on the wrong side of that argument. They are just as likely to be on the wrong side of this argument if they don’t find ways to utilize technology, instead of running from it.
26.11.2024
It’s Not the Economy, Stupid
There’s a lot of simplistic, singular, theories about why the Democrats lost this last election, each of them might have a part of the truth, this article takes a deeper dive into a combination of causes that had rippling effects on the whole.
25.11.2024
These US cities scored top marks for commitment to LGBTQ+ rights – is yours one of them?
Will there be safe havens for those people whom the right seems to love to hate? Already the Project 2025 minions are suggesting that cities not supportive of their policies will lose financial assistance. Trump suggested doing this when he was president by not providing disaster relief to States that did not support him. We can surely expect him to take those principles further in the future. If you have LGBTQ+ people in your relationships (as I do), this list of cities might be essential.
24.11.2024
The Virtual Gratitude Visit
Gratitude is a life-enhancing habit and intentional decision. A Gratitude-Visit was a therapy tool suggested by Martin Seligman (one of my favorite psychologists) in his book, “Authentic Happiness.” This article elaborates upon the practice of gratitude and the components of a Gratitude Visit, then further applies them to helping deal with grief. The grieving process is neither linear nor simple. Practices like this assist people in narrating the new story that needs to be created following loss.
23.11.2024
Reclaim Your Playful, Courageous Self with This Fear-Busting Life Advice
This brief review, is well-worth the short read and you might even want to invest in the book. What holds us back from the life we inwardly believe we are supposed to live? According to this author, it is our fears. Also, according to this author, those fears can be addressed and relocated to a place they can’t prevent you from maximizing the joy (and potential) in your life. It’s a brief read, and well-worth it.
22.11.2024
Three Ways to Become a Deeper Thinker
Taking us on a journey from Zen Buddhism to Carl Jung, Arthur Brooks hints that we have become “spiritually flabby” and it has negative affected our well-being. Citing research, Brooks points out that young people who are encouraged to study life’s “unanswerable questions,” have better cognitive health than those that do not. He also refers to neurological research as to why this occurs. In the article, he raises a few of the questions that are difficult to answer, which allows us the chance for a timely mental workout. Take a look through the article, let your brain work through some of the questions, if you know a young person, let them explore them with you—even if it is frustrating—it is a critical cognitive exercise that we could all use, especially now as so many unanswerable questions face us.
21.11.2024
The Gettysburg Address Really Holds Up
At times (like these), it is particularly important to remember what greatness sounds like. In this article, Charles R. Pierce, reminds us of the power of 269 words. Lincoln’s 269 words shared at Gettysburg, also during a time of great upheaval. All the greatest leaders in the world have one thing in common, they rose to influence in times of great stress. Many of them, did not seek power, most did not seek notoriety. Behind their great accomplishments, most were very humble people. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address stands as a testament to strength in adversity. Take time to read them again (they are contained in this article) and reflect on their pertinence today.
Youth Advocacy
Curiosity… that’s the primary theme this week, how do you awaken it? How do you pass it on to a new generation?
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 341 (231 total reports)
12.11.2024-20.11.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Curiosity… that’s the primary theme this week, how do you awaken it? How do you pass it on to a new generation?
Song of the Week
If you haven’t had the time, I hope you will take a moment to review my latest musical compilation, “Resistance, Resilience.” The songs are designed to build hope, and yes… to fortify resistance to the election results we have just witnessed. Many of the songs are designed to help co-regulate young people negotiating their emotions, others were made to offer an emotional support for those feeling down or oppressed at this time.
You can get the compilation for free at the following link:
Top Links of the Week
20.11.2024
How the Science of Curiosity Boosts Learning
Imagine the goal of education to be “creating wonder.” How would that change the entire system? The way we hire and evaluate teachers—and students? It’s important to remember that healthy children come to us full of wonder—that is their gift to us. It should be the goal of every school to graduate students that say, “I’ve learned a lot, but there’s so much more to find out!!!”
19.11.2024
Traffic on Bluesky, an X competitor, is up 500% since the election. How will it handle the surge?
If, post-election, you are looking for an alternative to X (formerly—and still really known as—Twitter) try Bluesky. I have found it is an exceptional alternative without the messy fingerprints of E. Musk on every link. If you want to connect with me on there, my username is @docjerr.bsky.social. Hope to see you.
18.11.2024
Why Simon Sinek Is Obsessed With Friendship
Isolation and loneliness, the upcoming administration has reveled in these twin weapons—and yes, they are weapons. The more isolated we feel, the more helpless we feel and the less we want to involve ourselves in true acts of justice, or even simple acts (like voting). Simon Sinek has a credible answer, form communities. Communities of compassion, not built upon the “likes” of social media, but upon the deep intimacy of sharing. This is a critical time to seek out Givers of Hope and bond to them. Who will be in your community? Sadly, churches used to fulfill this role, but they chose dogma over community and lost their relevance. However, we still need to gather, not to trade myths, but to deepen hope and compassion.
17.11.2024
Trump’s New York Sentencing Must Proceed
Is a criminal above the law because he has money? Is a criminal above the law because he has power? We are about to see. Will the charges against Trump be dropped because he is President-Elect? How would that make the US Government any different than a dictatorship? It wasn’t Democrats who found Trump guilty, it was a jury of his peers. The rest of Americans would be sentenced for the crimes he committed. Is this man different? Is he indeed above-the-law?
16.11.2024
Get Ready for Higher Food Prices
Apparently, a lot of people—when they voted for T-Rump—didn’t understand the deceptions of his economic policies, if not the outright “kindergarten” approaches to economics and international relationships. Given that, we need to prepare for an economy where food prices are going sky high, as well as prices for other necessities—housing, automobiles, taxes. A trade war will soon be ignited, medicare and social security will go bankrupt. Most people will lose their health care and education will become Christian Nationalist dogma. The GOP will have no one to blame because they control the administrative, congressional, and judicial branches of congress. Tighten your belts folks, this ain’t gonna be pretty.
15.11.2024
The Benefits of Dopamine
Short-Term dopamine rushes are what keep people glued to their social media. The ability to substitute these rushes is essential to a healthy life. This article looks at how to help yourself and others replace the compulsive need to keep “clicking.” Notice the words I’m using here, Substitute and Replace, not cease and desist. Compulsive or addictive behaviors are not terminated without a substitution. This article looks at long-term solutions (replacement therapy) to the constant nagging demands of dopamine rushes.
14.11.2024
Steve Jobs Said Great Ideas and the Success That Follows Come Down to 2 Simple Words
I wont ruin the surprise “Two Words” the author quotes, but they are timeless and applicable to all learners and leaders. A great read…
13.11.2024
Storytelling, Not Stages, to Combat Grief
The work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross provided a watershed for understanding the process of grieving. The key was that the stages were never meant to be concretized and some people interpreted them that way believing, “You must go through this stage to get to the next stage.” The messy reality of grieving is that it is not that simple, people may wander from stage to stage as if they were permeable and nothing in human behavior is truly linear. It doesn’t account for outside forces that can send shockwaves into the pretty patterns of stages in which we would like people to fit and thus some see those grieving from a lens of “how do I move this person to the next stage—and finally out through the final stage of Acceptance. The research in this article reveals that the key to helping those grieving is storytelling. In truth, all of life is a narration—including and especially—our own self-concepts. Helping someone grieve is helping them narrate a new story of life without the object of their grief. What is my new story going to be? What will my life look like now? How do I cope with this loss? All of these questions are answered in story form before living them. Our role (if we are assisting) is to co-narrate the story through patient and focused listening. It is not pretty, it is not linear. It takes time and attention to help someone narrate a new story that encompasses their loss.
Youth Advocacy
If you work with young people who are trying to form their cognitive skills, I hope you will listen to this compilation. It is my first release in decades.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 340 (230 total reports)
06.11.2024-12.11.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
This marks the first time I’ve released a musical compilation in decades. The compilation is called, “Resistence, Resilience” and the details are below.
NEW RELEASE of MUSIC!
This week marks the debut of my newest music compilation focused on youth advocacy and especially building Resilience and Resistance (the name of the compilation). Because I’m unable to play instruments like I used to, I used Suno (an AI tool) to assist in making the lyrics come to life. I’m so impressed with that app, it allowed me to be much more eclectic in my writing and save me tens of thousands of dollars in recording costs. That’s very important to me as I do not charge for my music and proceeds from past albums and books are donated to various causes. Please enjoy and share…
You can get the compilation at the following link:
Top Links of the Week
12.11.2024
What Trump's first 100 days in office could look like
https://apple.news/AZg8wixDnS6-o_MSmQ381lg
It’s important to know what to prepare for and what to expect if we are going to offer resistance and resilience for the next years under Project 2025. We can’t resist if we’re unaware and can’t be resilient if we stand alone. Seek out givers of hope.
11.11.2024
Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy
Bertrand Russell is an essential voice in building healthy democracies (small “d”). These ten “commandments” are a primer for his thoughts. Worth a read.
10.11.2024
The United States of Selfishness Won Trump the Presidency
As we have been examining this week, the loss of the Presidency and Senate to a convicted felon and his party, is not an exterior issue, fixed by a technical tweak, but an existential one, that must force us to look deep into our relationships and the way we raise humans today. This article points out that the US has become the “ME” Nation. A nation about “ME,” not “WE.” What’s most concerning is this is condoned, it is an acceptable viewpoint to think about self first, second, and last. Over the next years, we are going to see how that plays out nationally and internationally; in economic terms and immigration terms. It is not going to be pretty, but in the words of the voters today—as long as it doesn’t affect, “Me, I’m okay with that.”
09.11.2024
It's About Our Identity, Stupid!
The writer of this article has an extremely valid point; the election wasn’t about the economy, “stupid…” it was about “identity.” People didn’t want to be woke, they wanted to be affirmed. For many of us, the affirmation was for values we cannot comprehend. But our comprehension must now go underground. It must become the basis of resistance and resilience. This article is worth a read to understand the Democrat’s loss, both electorally and by popular vote. This is no surface fix, no “tweak” there’s a deep, abiding rupture in the way two Americas think.
08.11.2024
Kamala Harris’s Concession Was a Masterclass in Resilience
Yesterday we looked at the difference between regret and depression, today we look at the difference between hope and optimism and its impact on resilience. The author uses Vice President Harris’ concession speech to lead us in the process of growing resilience in the face of defeat. Hope more than optimism (according to research by this author) is the key to facing the difficult challenges that will lie ahead of us as we both foster our own resilience and become a beacon to others.
07.11.2024
How to Deal With Disappointment
Thank you to Arthur Brooks for this wonderful article. This is an in-depth study of disappointment looking at the epigenetic history of the experience. Contrasting is with regret and depression (anhedonia—dysregulated dopamine levels associated with clinical depression). I hope that you will find it as helpful as I did, if you are feeling “disappointed” over the results of the US election.
06.11.2024
Trump Won. Now What?
This morning, many of us might be in shock. Since very early this morning, I’ve been considering my long-term strategy for resilience and resistance. What will be your plan for mental health? What will be your plan for relationships? Economics? How will you support those you know who will be targeted by the policies of white, christian, nationalism? This is no short-term turnover. Once Project 2025 gets in, they are not going to let go and they are going to do everything they can to crush opposition. They are not going to want an election in 2028. Despite all his victory dances, T-Rump is not long for this world. Not only is he old, but 2025 doesn’t need him now that he’s secured the White House, Senate, and a potential House win. I expect a purging; both in the US and abroad. I also expect a mass exodus from the US (from people who do not want to live under a dictatorship, but also people who don’t want the Far Right to decide their immigration, relational status. or bodily autonomy).
Youth Advocacy Training Link of the Week
How Different Forms of Cognitive Distortion Can Lead to a Continuous Cycle of Negativity
https://laughingsquid.com/cognitive-distortion/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic/lifesciences
This chart gives excellent graphics for types of cognitive disorders often experienced by people who have experienced childhood adversity (sometimes leading to Trauma). It’s really worth a look and if you work with those recovering from painful pasts or trying to build a whole life. Hint: You might want to post this in the staff room.
Youth Advocacy
Turn off your social media tonight, the vote won’t be counted and concluded this evening. Expect the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago to declare victory early and plenty of fake news and social media posts to follow.
Youth Advocacy 2024 05.11.24
Year 3, Week 39 (229 total reports)
29.11.2024-05.11.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Turn off your social media tonight, the vote won’t be counted and concluded this evening. Expect the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago to declare victory early and plenty of fake news and social media posts to follow.
Song of the Week
There was a good thoughtful this week (that I’ll include) that said, “It depressed the hell out of me, that people I grew up with or I am related to have turned into people that I wouldn’t tell where Anne Frank was hiding.” This farcical song captures the painful meaning of that phrase.
Top Links of the Week
05.11.2024
Imagine What One Year Of A Kamala Harris Presidency Could Be
Please VOTE today. This hope-filled article imagines what the US will look like on its Quarter Millennial if we elect Kamala Harris for President this week. It’s just the type of hope needed to steel ourselves for tonight. PBS advises, “turn off your social media” while watching tonight. Expect the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago to declare victory early and a hailstorm of fake news and posts to follow. Chances are the true results of the Presidential election will not be resolved tonight, Biden’s win wasn’t official until the Saturday after the booths had closed. But like, then, Trump will declare himself the winner and everything after that, he will call fake. Then he will use the courts to press his false claims (again)...
04.11.2024
'Traitors within': How one group tried to radicalize the American right in the '60s
The term “enemies from within” is not just a term historically used by dictators abroad, it has a US history as well, back to Barry Goldwater (in his loss to perhaps the last true Republican, Dwight Eisenhower), and crafted by the infamous, John Birch Society. In 1958, the John Birch Society, under the guidance of ultra-conservative, Robert Welch, wanted Goldwater to attack members of the GOP who did not support their agenda, he called them, “Traitors within…” This article does a good job of reflecting on the US history of that terminology and it’s usage as hate speech by the far right radicals of the GOP.
03.11.2024
Trump Needs Help
This article puts the issue as gently as possible. Yesterday, the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago, in front of a group including children, simulated performing fellatio on a microphone during a rally. The article points out that if this were a grandfather or an elderly father, we would seriously seek medical attention for him. We would make sure he was not put under any psychological stress, and—most of all—until he had sought help, we would find ways to prevent him from being in public venues, especially when children are around. Have all the years of living without boundaries on any of his most basic impulses finally caught up and overwhelmed DonOLD? Given his increasing fascination with female AND male genitalia, as well as this shocking display in a public venue, we would think that he is deeply entrenched in a state of what famed psychosocial psychoanalyst, Erik Erikson, would call disintegration. We certainly would not want this person controlling the largest military in the world. Yet, this article points out, that even this might not dissuade his cultic followers to re-consider their votes. How very sad—and, at the same time—terrifying.
02.11.2024
How Does Immigration Affect the U.S. Economy?
If you want to understand the numbers beyond the Republican rhetoric of immigration, this article is a great place to start. It reveals the amount of taxes that immigrants pay in the US, the industries that would be devastated under T-Rump’s massive deportation schemes (which gives a bit of insight into how the economy would be on the brink of collapse with such idiotic policies). If you know people who “think” they understand immigration issues, but still believe in DonOLD’s/the Far Right’s policies, then this article is for you. Sadly, the people who support the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago’s policies on immigration and most other areas, are not basing their opinions upon fact, but upon fear. It’s been in authoritarian’s playbooks to stoke fear about immigration in multiple countries and multiple campaigns throughout history. Fascists need tangible enemies to succeed and the Far Right is no different. They have chosen to create hatred and fear rather than offer constructive solutions. The Orange Dictator-for-a-Day even told his minions to vote against an Immigration Policy that Republicans help draft because the policy would help resolve issues at the border and that would be bad for the Orange Clown’s campaign. If we want true reform at the US Border that results in humane policies that don’t involve separating families, detaining children in prison camps, and mass deportation, then we need to get rid of this generation of T-Rump cult followers.
01.11.2024
Two dead, another arrested for miscarriage — this is how Trump plans to "protect" women
T-Rump says that he will protect women, “whether they like it or not.” This article points out how DonOLD and his Far Right Minions plan on “protecting” women—by controlling them, to the death if necessary. Let’s shut this group of American Fascists out, teach them they have no right to make choices for other people’s bodies. Vote them—and their policies of death—out!
31.10.2024
A tale of two closing messages: Harris offers patriotism, rejects Trump’s ‘chaos’
The future of America is either very bright and full of economic opportunity for all classes of people or a “garbage heap” filled with racist hate and Christian nationalism. It depends on which candidate YOU vote for. Please vote for hope and “not going back” to the 1800’s.
30.10.2024
Mass Deportation Won’t Solve U.S. Immigration Policy. Here Are Three Things That Will.
I spent a great deal of time in Central America and currently live in Mexico. I abhor what the Far Right is doing to the issue of immigration, but mostly what they are doing to people who are trying to legally immigrate to the United States or have already immigrated. The GOP playbook is straight from every fascist government seeking authoritarian rulle for the last 100 years. Distract people from their real problems (and your inability to address them) by creating an enemy they can hate. Make that group of people less-than-human and generate an us/them mentality. Sadly, because there are so many people choosing to be ignorant about immigration glabally, it continually works. Like a teenager feeling angst about growing up, it is easier to hate something tangible (parents, teachers, authority figures in general), than it is to deal with the deeper issues of growth and development. In order to grow, immature minds create tangible enemies. This effort to externalize blame and push it outward would be comical if the consequences weren’t so serious. Frank Herbert states repeatedly in Dune, “Fear is the mind-killer,” and it is. It prevents people from using their rational mind to look at interior issues. It shuts down empathy and all paths to a compassionate solution. In its stead, it leaves hatred and vilification. Whether it is creating glaringly false stories about immigrants eating cats, dogs… and geese, calling Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage or lies about how schools are doing sex changes on children in the middle of the day; the lies are not stopping—even worse—the blatant abandonment of cognitive reality checking and the addiction for more absurdity on a daily basis is growing. That’s why I found this article so refreshing, the solutions it presents to the immigration issues the world is facing today are applicable and practical. They make common sense and would produce long-term solutions indigenous to the areas where emigration is growing. Please read this article and pass it along to people who do not understand the underlying issues of global immigration.
Youth Advocacy Training Link of the Week
How to Carry the Burden of Grief
Grief is never linear and the stages of grief can come and go like tsunamis on our heart. This poignant article talks about strategies for bearing the burden of our losses. It can also help you assist others experiencing similar waves of pain.
Youth Advocacy 2024
As we finally turn the corner into the last week of the most decisive election in modern American democracy, we are faced with two visions for our children’s future: one bleak, racist, anti-immigrant and hate-filled; the other filled with possibilities, economic policies to support the middle-class, and opportunities for diverse groups of people.
Youth Advocacy 2024
Year 3, Week 38 (228 total reports)
23.10.2024-28.10.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
As we finally turn the corner into the last week of the most decisive election in modern American democracy, we are faced with two visions for our children’s future: one bleak, racist, anti-immigrant and hate-filled; the other filled with possibilities, economic policies to support the middle-class, and opportunities for diverse groups of people.
Song of the Week
Project 2025 is coming to “25” the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago. “Watch your back Old Donny, Poor Donny…” Peppy funk beat, a tongue-in-cheek primer of Project 2025’s real agenda for T-Rump. Is it only DonOLD who doesn’t realize he’s just a patsy for Project 2025 to get the real president they want? Vance will do to T-Rump, what T-Rump did to Pence.
Top Links of the Week
29.10.2024
Ending Christian Nationalism
Voting out the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago not only means an absolute route at the polls of the obscene man himself, but also the cronies that support him. Among them are billionaires that need to be taxed, GOP lackeys that have been spineless during this whole takeover, and churches that need to be taxed because they are political patsies of the far right. Christian Nationalism has fueled the T-Rump surge and continues to do so. Somehow, their leaders have convinced them that only studying the most racist and angry parts of the Old Testament as well as Paul’s writings allows them to silence the messages of unconditional love found in the Gospel. These pastors are political players that hide in the shade of tax breaks and accumulate vast amounts of wealth while endangering democracy in favor of views that make them no less than an American Taliban.
28.10.2024
Off-color jokes, vitriol take over Trump Madison Square Garden rally
DonOld’s image of America was on full display last night at Madison Square Garden as he held his closing message rally to set off the last week of legitimate campaigning. It included blatant racism, and multiple references to America (and Puerto Rico) as garbage cans. This is funny?!! The only way to stop the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago’s vision of America from becoming a manifested reality is to beat him at the ballots and in the following weeks in expensive court case after court case.
27.10.2024
For Trump, November 5 Is When the Election Starts
For those, like me, watching and concerned with the direction of the polls, please keep in mind our greatest defense against a Putin/GOP/T-Rump dictatorship is to vote. Also, to understand, the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago’s redundant playbook. He will declare victory early, so that he can claim everything thereafter is illegitimate. It’s a tired page from his past, but it has worked for him and he will use it again. His supporters and attorneys are already using money amassed from traitorous tech giants like Musk and Bezos, to file endless lawsuits in multiple states to hinder election results. Sadly, this may be the pattern we see ad infinitum until the old Orange rap(c)ist finally dies and Project 2025 is stuck with its unelectable true candidate, JD Vance (or whatever name he will call himself by then).
26.10.2024
Tucker Carlson’s ‘daddy’ comments speak volumes about the far right
If you want to be grossed out by a misogynist’s ranting, read the text of Carlson’s commentary about how DonOLD is going to spank America because she is a “Very bad girl.” This diatribe is exemplary of the type of paternalistic and perverted thinking the far right “American Taliban” is pushing these days.
25.10.2024
'Imminent catastrophic public danger': Hundreds of doctors sound new alarm about Trump
An urgent warning by a panel of doctors tells us that the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago is rapidly losing his mental capacities. Anyone who watches his interviews and rants will see that he cannot stay linear in conversations anymore, instead he is continually moving tangentially from topic to topic in a pattern he calls “the weave.” He says his followers (good people) understand it and Trump/GOP Networks like Fox and X do everything they can to pretend they understand him. Of course, those around him know he is losing his mental capacities, but they can’t run someone else this late in the election. What is beginning to clarify itself is a plan to run DonOLD in this election, hopefully gain a win, and then use the 25th Amendment to replace him with the true favorite of Putin, Musk, Thiel, and the other Project 2025 disciples; VP candidate, J.D. Vance.
24.10.2024
The future if Trump wins
Do not let anything keep you from voting whether you send in your ballot, vote early, or show up in person on November 5. Don’t let the polls, the pundits, the politicians, or even a devious republican poll worker stop you from making your voice count this year. No one is exaggerating when they say, “This is the most important election of our fledgling democracy.” Vote, Vote, VOTE!!! If you need additional incentive, contrast the two visions for America’s future that the candidates (and their parties) put forward. Only one candidate (party) is actually putting offering a vision that is forward-facing. The other wants to take us back. Back to a time when minorities couldn’t vote, when abortions were done in a back room with a coat hanger, when LGBTQ+ people were afraid of openly showing their love, and when immigrants made this country great with their hard work ethic and desire to see a better life for their children. Only one candidate wants a future that capitalizes on America’s greatness; our diversity, our commitment to the Constitution and democracy, to religious freedom and equality. To a secure middle-class and an economy based upon fairness; fairness in taxes, fairness in representation. The choice is clear. A staggering fall backwards or a joyful leap forward; vote, Vote, VOTE!!!
23.10.2024
23 Nobel Prize-winning economists call Harris’ economic plan ‘vastly superior’ to Trump’s
The point where we can look for a rational reason that anyone would vote for the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago has long gone. With Trump himself telling us that he would be a dictator, that he wants the type of generals that supported Hitler, and that he will not accept the results of this election (again) if he does not win. With his former aides refusing to vote for him and rational Republicans like Liz Cheney coming out against him. The only reason to vote for this man who is fixated on genitalia (male and female) is because you support his brand of racism and misogyny. A quick read of this article would tell any rational person voting for the long-term stability of the country and the world would run—not walk—to vote for Harris/Walz. Trump’s plan and his healthcare “concept of a plan” would bankrupt social security, raise taxes for middle-income Americans, and send the country spiraling into a recession, perhaps even a depression. If you are continuing to support this man, you have somehow justified in your heart that his morals are worth guiding this country and making decisions for your grandchildren and their children on down the line.
Youth Advocacy Training Link of the Week
Rapid Relief: Calm Your Child's Emotional Storms in Minutes
This is a good article about the basics regarding affirming anyone—of any age—who is working on growing their cognitive functions and emotional stability. It is simple, but clear, reducing the major steps to three actions by emotional coaches. Give it a read, and give it a try.
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people as Harris/Walz paint a picture of hope and joy while the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago projects civil war and a bloodbath if he loses.
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 37 (227 total reports)
04.09.2024-08.09.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as Harris/Walz paint a picture of hope and joy while the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago projects civil war and a bloodbath if he loses.
(Friends, I know I’m posting early this week. My wife and I are getting ready for a vacation, I’ll be back at the end of September and hope you will check in then).
Songs to Enjoy
Thoughts and Prayers with Trump telling us we should “just get over it,” and JD Vance saying that school shootings are just a “fact of life.” We need to say LOUDLY that the problem is GUNS and the only thing preventing sane legistlation are the Republican Congressman deeply in the pockets of the NRA.
Past Songs
He’s a Dangerous Man don’t underestimate those around the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago. Although he is obviously losing his mental capacities, he is desperately running for one reason—to stay out of jail. Those around him are supporting him because they want a tool for their ends in the White House.
There’s an Orange Clown in Mar-A-Lago Don’t say his name, it just gives the media more hits on his counter.
It’s Just Donny A song for all the complicit racists that support the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago
We’re the GOP and Proud For those who’ve given up their dignity to follow the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago
They’re Weird and Creepy What makes the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago and his current running mate, so weird and creepy? Have a listen and a good laugh.
Sakes Alive, It’s Project 2025 These people want to take away your thoughts, their plan is for a White, Christian, Fascist, Nation. Don’t underestimate them.
White Evangelination If you’re not white, Christian or unwilling to give up the rights to the female body, you won’t belong in this group’s nation.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
How to Feel Joy During Life’s Unexpected Challenges
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/feel-joy-lifes-unexpected-challenges-bookbite/51554/
This is an excellent book for any of us who experience challenges in life, which is, all of us. Unexpected challenges, the author points out, don’t have to sidetrack our joy, in fact, with the proper mindset, they can become a source of joy. The adept mind has to find a way to hold both suffering and joy in balance for a life of well-being. Like so many other cognitive steps in life, it is a learned response, this book presents a roadmap for learning (and teaching) the components of a joyful response to the unexpected challenges of life.
Best Links of The Week
08.09.2024
'This pig': Observers erupt as ex-president caught 'threatening the voters' at his rally
https://www.alternet.org/trump-threatening-voters-rally/
We all know that the closer we get to the election and the more it looks like the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago is going to lose, the more desperate he will become and the worse his diatribes will sound. At this point, he is threatening a civil war and blood bath if he is not put into office. That shouldn’t surprise us as he is the only President in US history who has tried to disrupt a peaceful transition of power. The Orange Monster is facing prison if not elected, he’s not going to go quietly. The only way to stop him is to make sure he loses resoundingly. So soundly that no one can question results of either the popular election (which he’s lost before, two times) or the electoral college (rigged to magnify white votes).
07.09.2024
A New Level of Incoherence From Trump
When asked a fundamental campaign question about financing childcare, no one could understand the word salad that came from the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago’s mouth. He meandered about tariffs and China, occasionally saying the word “childcare” as if his cobwebbed mind intermittently remembered that he was asked a question. Of course, the Orange Elephant in the room quaintly calls these lapses, “The Weave,” and—he says—no one does it better than him. Only Fox News says that his answers make sense, but Fox News long ago gave up being news when it had to settle the $1.6 billion dollar lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. Fox doesn’t report the news, it makes far right commentaries and then reports on its own commentaries. The Old Orange Man is derelict. Not just hateful and spiteful, but also mentally incompetent for office. Thank you, The Atlantic, for finally reporting what the rest of us have been seeing for months.
06.09.2024
Kamala Harris is showing that joy can be a strategy
https://19thnews.org/2024/09/kamala-harris-campaign-strategy-joy/
We’ve already seen that hate and alienation can be a campaign strategy. Among the many contrasts this election will reveal is whether hope and joy can be as effective. I hope so. Many people I know are also tired of hearing how immigrants are rapists and murderers, how women are too irresponsible to control their own bodies, how transexuals are a greater threat to our school children than guns, that we need to ban books to prevent our children from being WOKE (ie. aware of their country’s honest history). The constant name-calling, the frequent lewdness, the misogynist and racist rhetoric. Let’s move forward. This is the contract that the Harris/Walz ticket offers instead of what we’ve been constantly fed by the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago and his Orange Cult-Aides for almost a decade now. Let’s go forward, not back. Let’s silence these weirdos and tell them their playbook is old and tired. In a landslide, let’s show them it won’t work anymore.
05.09.2024
Finally: Top Journo Erupts at Media for Ignoring Trump’s Mental State
https://newrepublic.com/article/185622/finally-top-journo-erupts-media-ignoring-trumps-mental-state
Finally a well-known journalist is addressing the “Orange Elephant in the GOP Room.” After months (maybe years) of racist and misogynist remarks, and now the months of gibberish coming out of his mouth during interviews and speeches, a well-known journalist is using the same litmus test on DonOLD as was used on Joe Biden when he was a candidate. Some of us wondered if the Orange Elephant ever had the mental capacity to be given the nuclear codes, but his behavior of late has begun to reveal that he’s not just a hateful, lying, spiteful, felon, and sexual predator, but he looks well into cognitive decline as well. What will it take for his GOP hardliners to realize how decrepit he is? Fortunately, more lifelong Republicans are putting their country’s interest ahead of their party on a daily basis. This week, heavyweights like Jon McCain’s son (Jimmy) and Liz Cheney, pledged their support to the Harris/Walz campaign. When are the rest going to admit to the “Orange Elephant in the Room?”
04.09.2024
What Trump Doesn’t Understand About the Military
Understanding the military is impossible for the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago because he doesn’t understand service or sacrifice. There is not a thought in his brain that isn’t focused on his own ends and what others can do for him. Every relationship in the Orange Blob’s life is transactional—including those in his own family. He was raised to be self-focused and mentored to believe that is life’s true purpose. His recent antics at ANC (Arlington National Cemetary) but also previous statements he has made about veterans and active duty members highlight what kind of relationships he will forge with America’s military, they will serve his agenda of revenge and making America white-er. He will need the military to carry out Project 2025’s plan of arresting tens of thousands of immigrants, putting them into concentration camps, and deporting them. As well as rounding up all the people that (in the Orange Clown’s mind) harassed him. The Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago will need the military, but he won’t understand the military. It will be a toy of his degenerating mind; his dangerous mind. The Orange Clown is a dangerous man surrounded by very dangerous people who will not act as guardrails against his worst instincts. Orange Donny is losing in the polls, but winning in the electoral college. US Voters need to realize that is how Republicans have won the presidency in multiple elections—including all of DonOLD’s elections. The Orange Clown has to lose by a landslide. Harris/Walz and everyone down ballot can’t run for a slight majority win. they have to dominate the upcoming election.
This Week’s Links
08.09.2024
'This pig': Observers erupt as ex-president caught 'threatening the voters' at his rally
https://www.alternet.org/trump-threatening-voters-rally/
Trump threatens lawyers, donors and election officials with prison for 'unscrupulous behavior'
'I lied.' A teacher describes protecting her students during Apalachee HS shooting
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/07/nx-s1-5104200/georgia-apalachee-high-school-shooting
Tim Walz Stings GOP With Blunt 'Fact of Life' After JD Vance's School Shooting Remarks
How the GOP Got From Reagan to Trump
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/reagan-trump-republicans/679746/
Does Hopefulness Outshine Mindfulness? New Study Says Yes
07.09.2024
A New Level of Incoherence From Trump
The Electoral College bias has returned with a vengeance
https://www.natesilver.net/p/the-electoral-college-bias-has-returned
The Fairest Way to Keep Cognitively Declining People From Being Elected
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/09/age-limits-president/679726/
Liz Cheney says Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/liz-cheney-dick-cheney-kamala-harris/
WATCH: Vance says school shootings are ‘the reality we live in’ at campaign rally in Phoenix
Florida Goes Full Police State Over Abortion Ballot Initiative
https://newrepublic.com/post/185704/florida-police-state-abortion-ballot-initiative
The Cases Against Trump: A Guide
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/09/donald-trump-legal-cases-charges/675531/
How to Feel Joy During Life’s Unexpected Challenges
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/feel-joy-lifes-unexpected-challenges-bookbite/51554/
06.09.2024
Kamala Harris is showing that joy can be a strategy
https://19thnews.org/2024/09/kamala-harris-campaign-strategy-joy/
Colin Gray, father of US school shooting suspect, charged with murder
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wj0vyl8xko
Robert Reich: What Will Kamala Harris Do About America’s Soaring Inequality And Shameful Tax System? – OpEd
The End of Democracy Has Already Begun
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2024/09/start-with-a-lie/679625/
The Paradox of "Trump Derangement Syndrome"
05.09.2024
Finally: Top Journo Erupts at Media for Ignoring Trump’s Mental State
https://newrepublic.com/article/185622/finally-top-journo-erupts-media-ignoring-trumps-mental-state
U.S. accuses Russia of sophisticated influence campaigns against U.S. voters
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/04/nx-s1-5100329/us-russia-election-interference-bots-2024
Former Rep. Liz Cheney crosses party lines to endorse Kamala Harris, who is 'proud' to have her vote
04.09.2024
What Trump Doesn’t Understand About the Military
The GOP Is Actually Better Off if Kamala Harris Wins
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/09/04/kamala-harris-republicans-after-trump-00177194
Donald Trump’s Incredible ‘Transgender Thing’
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/donald-trump-schools-sex-change/679690/
Republicans pushing Christianity into public schools are hitting resistance — even in red states
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/04/republicans-religion-schools-resistance-00177181
Youth Advocacy
Advocating for young people as two very different campaigns define gender roles in our society.
Year 3, Week 36 (226 total reports)
28.08.2024-03.09.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as two very different campaigns define gender roles in our society.
Songs to Enjoy
He’s a Dangerous Man don’t underestimate those around the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago. Although he is obviously losing his mental capacities, he is desperately running for one reason—to stay out of jail. Those around him are supporting him because they want a tool for their ends in the White House.
Past Songs
There’s an Orange Clown in Mar-A-Lago Don’t say his name, it just gives the media more hits on his counter.
It’s Just Donny A song for all the complicit racists that support the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago
We’re the GOP and Proud For those who’ve given up their dignity to follow the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago
They’re Weird and Creepy What makes the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago and his current running mate, so weird and creepy? Have a listen and a good laugh.
Sakes Alive, It’s Project 2025 These people want to take away your thoughts, their plan is for a White, Christian, Fascist, Nation. Don’t underestimate them.
White Evangelination If you’re not white, Christian or unwilling to give up the rights to the female body, you won’t belong in this group’s nation.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
Where do different ideas of masculinity fit into the presidential election?
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/29/nx-s1-5086473/richard-reeves-boys-men-masculinity-2024-elections
This read articulates important distinctions in ideas of masculinity between the Harris/Walz ticket and the Trump/Vance ticket. One of the phrases I especially appreciated in this Steve Inskeep/Christopher Thomas interview was the quote about Melinda French Gates’ billion dollar donation to causes supporting women and girls; “What she's come to realize is that a world of floundering men is not likely to be a world of flourishing women…” I understand the concept of “floundering men” and hope that we have many more conversations like this before the election. Policies of the Far Right will set women (and men) back for decades—perhaps centuries. Kudos to Kamala Harris and her slogan “We are NOT going back…”
Best Links of The Week
03.09.2024
When Gus Walz cried at the DNC, his tears helped free us all from toxic gender roles - LGBTQ Nation
As true to their character, the far right (and particularly Anne Coulter), took to mocking the neurodiverse son of Tim Walz, following his intense show of love at the DNC. Because of the way Gus Walz’s brain is formed, he has a hard time with regulating his emotions in public. While the right, finds this fodder for snarky humor, everyone—who is not weird—sees this as a sign of a son’s adoration of his father. Perhaps that’s what the Far Right truly hates, true emotional attachment based upon deep familial bonds. As with many articles this week, it reveals the toxicity of the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago and his Far Right Orange-aids when it comes to gender roles. It is past time to put the weirdness of the Orange Clown and his Female-Hating accomplice aside and—as a political party—grow up. There are multiple articles below of former Republicans who are choosing democracy over party. Like so many others, they have tired of the Mar-A-Lago Monster’s creepy antics. If you’re still stuck supporting these escapades, then either you’re choosing to be blind or choosing to support White, Fascist, Misogynist, Racists.
02.09.2024
Republicans’ misogynistic attacks on Kamala Harris aren’t even the worst part
Thanks to MSNBC and Molly Jong-Fast for this overview of misogynist attacks by the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago. It’s deeper than just the Orange Clown, but his Orange-Aides are involved in this too. Ms. Jong-Fast lays out their sexist attacks back to the Mar-A-Lago Monster’s first public appearances, and none of his cultic followers have the least desire to rein him in; in fact, just the opposite, they encourage and join him in his attacks. Why would the sadly demented man of Mar-A-Lago stop when he’s getting so much support from his closest advisors and admirers—in short, he won’t. Signs are it is just going to get uglier the closer we get to the election and today (Labor Day), traditionally begins the last sprint to the finish line. Expect more wackiness, weirdness, and women’s attacks from the Right and their Orange Cultic DemiGod. In one word: “Yuck.”
01.09.2024
The Women Trump Is Winning
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/donald-trump-moms-for-liberty/679683/
This is such an anomaly to me, how a woman can vote for the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago—or in this case—ask him to be a keynote speaker at their annual event. But then, read the deets. These women are for abolishing women’s rights to their own bodies, they want to ban books about racism, diversity, gender development, and yes, support misogynist men who will take over their lives. External control is always preferred when one lacks internal boundaries. For some reason, these women lack internal boundaries and prefer to live in a land controlled by men like Mike Johnson, J.D. Vance, and the Orange Clown. Yet… even in the environment where they invited the Make-Up Monster to keynote their convention, they kept him on a lease and at a distance. They limited his talking time and responses to questions asked by the host. It was not one of the OrangeMan’s typical rambling speeches. It was a question/limited answer event, eventually cutoff by the interviewer when the time limit had been reached. The very man they want controlling their bodies and the bodies of other women and children; they tried themselves to control.
31.08.2024
Six Degrees of Trump and Bacon
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trump-bacon-wind-speech-gibberish/679667/
After giving him a pass for far too long, the media that brutally attacked Biden for his age and embarrassing debate performance is finally turning their sights on the other “Old Guy” in the presidential runoff, the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago. For months, if not years, Orangmeister has been mentally declining. But now that he is in the final stretch of this campaign (and starting to lose in the polls), his imbecility is becoming even more clear. The last week has been a real circus for his aides and him; Orange’s use of sexual slurs to attack both Harris and Hillary, his aimless speeches—like the one above—about bacon and wind power, his waffling on core Republican issues like abortion and IVF (any lie to get a vote), and his campaign’s despicable desecration of Arlington National Cemetary—giving a “Thumbs Up” at the graveside of a soldier. If you’re still voting for this guy, there can only be one reason… you are trapped in your cognitive mindset defending him and are too embarrassed to admit how wrong you have been. Embrace the truth, be like the 100’s of former aides and other Republicans who have bravely chosen to embrace democracy over party. This guy is mentally unstable and should not be anywhere near the nuclear codes.
30.08.2024
6 takeaways from Harris' interview on CNN
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/30/nx-s1-5095227/kamala-harris-interview-cnn-analysis
My wife and I support NPR as we have found it to be the most balanced news feed globally. It regularly avoids “gutter reporting” and, instead of personal commentaries by partisan, biased reporters, you get a fair and accurate assessment of the daily news. This review of the Harris interview by Dana Bash on CNN is no exception. It’s important to remember that CNN itself is not an unbiased source and like many other news sources, it is owned by a Republican billionaire. Remember, when you find an ongoing problem in politics, always follow the money and find out who benefits from the way policies currently stand. Who owns the Republicans? Who owns Trump? Who owns the NRA? Who owns Netanyahu? Who owns immigration issues? Go down the list of global problems and find the “ownership” of those issues. All that said, if you want to know the highlights of the Harris/Walz interview from an unbiased source—have a read of this review.
29.08.2024
Donald Trump went on a fascist posting spree on Truth Social after receiving news of his latest indictment.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/185393/trump-fascist-violent-posts-truth-social-death-enemies
As the election nears and the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago continues to sink in the polls while facing huge hurdles over the next few weeks (a debate with Kamala Harris, his sentencing in the illegal use of campaign funds trial, plus the recent news of Jack Smith’s superseding investigation addressing the Orange Man’s Supreme Court “immunity”), the meltdowns will only worsen. This week’s antics, including a potentially illegal foray into Arlington Cemetary for a photoshoot in a restricted area, and wishing Jesus would return and count votes in the upcoming election, this Truth Social tirade by Trump is nothing short of lewd. There’s no way I can repeat his thoughts in my blog. Suffice it to say, that whatever guardrails his staff have tried to set up to keep him from revealing just how far his cognitive abilities have diminished—is not working. Once again, Republicans are asking that his phone be taken away (how long have we heard that request)? The question is similar to the “mute issue” his staff is arguing about for the upcoming debate. Harris and her staff want the mute off—so they can hear his mutterings live, his staff wants the mute on so people don’t see how deranged and incompetent he really is. I lean towards; “The more he talks, the more he loses.”
28.08.2024
Jack Smith Isn’t Backing Down
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/jack-smith-isnt-backing-down/679635/
I’m so thankful for people like Jack Smith whose commitment to the constitution results in his tireless prosecution of a man who thinks he should be king and the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of Trump US) who would shield him for personal power and gain. Who has the most to lose here? Well, the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago for sure, but the Court (under Justice”?” Roberts) has garnered quite a bit of sovereignty for themselves. They have already set themselves up to supersede all branches of government and decide who will be the US’s future presidents. There’s no doubt that if the Orange One loses, they will also lose power and have ethical guardrails put on their positions. Of course, the Orange Toddler is melting down over this—and so is the far right. In the last couple of days, Orange-y’s entourage has fought their way into a photo op at the Arlington Cemetery, he’s declared that if Jesus were to return he would be a vote-counter and declare the Orange Wonder winner in all 50 states. Simultaneously, the Republicans are actively trying to steal the election in Georgia—even before its been held—and Ken Paxton, AG of Texas, is arresting Hispanic voting activists who are unlikely to support the Far Right’s agenda. Do not expect the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago to win a fair election, but also do not expect him to bow out gracefully. There is only one way this election needs to go; a landslide for Harris/Walz. It is the only way the US Democracy will survive.
This Week’s Links
03.09.2024
When Gus Walz cried at the DNC, his tears helped free us all from toxic gender roles - LGBTQ Nation
Questions surrounding Trump's mental acuity are a real 2024 story
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-age-harris-ramble-rcna168979
I Have A Real Problem With Trump's Arlington Visit
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a62034296/trump-arlington-visit-history/
Ex-MAGA Fans Reveal What Finally Made Them Dump 'Disgusting' Trump In Damning Ads
A restoration of the rule of law: Kamala Harris’ “freedom” campaign is coming for Trumpism
Verifying Facts in the Age of AI – Librarians Offer 5 Strategies
https://www.the74million.org/article/verifying-facts-in-the-age-of-ai-librarians-offer-5-strategies/
02.09.2024
Republicans’ misogynistic attacks on Kamala Harris aren’t even the worst part
Robert Reich: Trump’s Cemeterygate – OpEd
https://www.eurasiareview.com/01092024-robert-reich-trumps-cemeterygate-oped/
Critics Call Hilarious BS On Donald Trump's New Brag About His Speeches
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-mocked-speech-explainer_n_66d57fa0e4b078fcd9313143
01.09.2024
The Women Trump Is Winning
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/donald-trump-moms-for-liberty/679683/
'Extremely American' explores the Christian theocracy movement in the U.S.
Texas Newspaper Accuses Greg Abbott of 'Hurting Our Democracy'
Project 2025’s Anti-Trans Agenda Would Endanger Families Across the US
https://truthout.org/articles/project-2025s-anti-trans-agenda-would-endanger-families-across-the-us/
Things That Will Happen If Trump Is Not Elected, According To Him
31.08.2024
Six Degrees of Trump and Bacon
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trump-bacon-wind-speech-gibberish/679667/
Where Are Harris’s Policies? Trapped in the Supreme Court
https://newrepublic.com/post/185462/harris-policy-supreme-court-chevron
The GOP is making false claims about noncitizens voting. It’s affecting real voters
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/30/nx-s1-5091032/noncitizens-voting-election-gop-texas-tennessee-alabama
'There Is No Limit': Trump Resorts To Gross Sexual Slurs As Harris Rises In The Polls
The misogynistic motormouth of JD Vance is the gift that keeps on giving
https://www.advocate.com/voices/jd-vance-misogynistic-motormouth
Gwen Walz Uses Her ‘Teacher Voice’ For Spectacular JD Vance Takedown
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gwen-walz-teacher-voice-jd-vance_n_66d2167ee4b013957161c863
Grieving the dead is complicated. Here's how you can help someone experiencing loss
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/31/nx-s1-5092142/complex-grief-coping-with-the-loss-of-a-sibling
30.08.2024
6 takeaways from Harris' interview on CNN
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/30/nx-s1-5095227/kamala-harris-interview-cnn-analysis
Trump Botches IVF Policy Roll Out With Extremely Weird Speech
https://newrepublic.com/post/185486/donald-trump-kamala-harris-ivf-weird-speech
Why Trump’s Arlington Debacle Is So Serious
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trump-arlington-cemetery/679659/
Donald Trump is warning the Meta founder to help him ahead of November’s election—or else.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/185411/trump-threat-mark-zuckerberg-election-save-america
LULAC Asks DOJ to Protect Latino Voters from Texas Attorney General
I’m a childfree teacher. JD Vance thinks that means I’m ‘brainwashing’ students.
Major publishers sue Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ book ban law
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4854982-major-publishers-sue-florida-book-ban-law/?tbref=hp
Where do different ideas of masculinity fit into the presidential election?
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/29/nx-s1-5086473/richard-reeves-boys-men-masculinity-2024-elections
29.08.2024
Donald Trump went on a fascist posting spree on Truth Social after receiving news of his latest indictment.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/185393/trump-fascist-violent-posts-truth-social-death-enemies
Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60 is a focus of controversy. What is the area?
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5092041/arlington-trump-section60-veterans-altercation
Trump Begs For Jesus: Says He Would Win Even California If Jesus Was Counting Votes In Nov.
JD Vance, Obsessed With Strangers’ Reproductive Decisions, Said Childless Teachers “Disturb” Him
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/jd-vance-childless-teachers-disturb-him
JD Vance Says Kamala Harris 'Can Go To Hell'
Jack Smith Is Back with a New Trump Indictment, and This One Side-Elbows the Supreme Court
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61995662/jack-smith-trump-fraud-revised-indictment/
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson calls out immunity ruling as contrary to a system that 'treated everyone the same'
What a 100-Year-Old Trial Reveals About America
28.08.2024
Jack Smith Isn’t Backing Down
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/jack-smith-isnt-backing-down/679635/
Last week in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton unleashed police raids of the homes of Hispanic voting activists. Get ready for more of this.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/article/185334/ken-paxton-texas-gop-cheat-intimidate-elections
Critics Give Trump Holy Hell After Utterly Bonkers Claim About Jesus
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-california-jesus_n_66cea620e4b0fa7cef5b2e63
Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at Arlington National Cemetery
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/27/nx-s1-5091154/trump-arlington-cemetery