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Education (General/Chat)

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  • Where does the phrase 'barn burner' come from?

    07/30/2026 9:04:28 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 34 replies
    Merriam-Webster ^ | February 26, 2026 | Staff
    From politics to 'a very exciting event' As March Madness heats up we are more than likely going to encounter a peculiar word that is much beloved by sports writers and political pundits alike: barn burner. barn burner The 'Barnburners' were one of two competing factions in the New York State Democratic Party in the middle of the 19th century. The name was “in allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burning his barns which they infested.” In the modern parlance a barn burner is defined as "a very exciting game, event, etc."...
  • Islamic Academy Acquires Richardson Baptist Church, Plans K‑12 School, Seminary, and Mosque

    07/30/2026 8:16:58 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 32 replies
    Texas Scorecard ^ | 27 Jul, 2026 | Hunter Burney
    The campus is slated to become an Islamic education hub built around an “Islamization of Knowledge” curriculum. A Muslim organization has purchased a Baptist church in Richardson after engaging in a lawsuit with the previous owners over a signing dispute. The organization announced plans to convert the church campus into a Muslim school, seminary, and mosque, in addition to other uses. Salahuddin Future Academy (SAFA), the purchaser of the property, is a K-12 educational entity that states part of its mission is to “connect learning to Islamic principles by integrating the rich texts of the Quran and Hadith into every...
  • Willie Nelson says Americans must fight ‘water thieving’ AI data centers ‘invading’ Texas farmland

    07/29/2026 7:06:05 PM PDT · by Libloather · 35 replies
    Fox News via NY Post ^ | 7/29/26 | Tracy Wright
    Willie Nelson urged Americans to think again when it comes to building the future. Nelson, 93, encouraged followers to “fight against data centers invading our land” in a social media plea shared Tuesday. The country music legend reflected on being able to see “stars at night” in his Texas hometown, but that light pollution and “water thieving” were imminent in a looming industrial climate. “I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night,” Nelson told his followers. “And now our community, like many others, needs to...
  • How Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax is pushing NYC business leaders to the brink — and may spark a war

    07/29/2026 6:32:49 PM PDT · by Libloather · 31 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/29/26 | Charles Gasparino
    New York City business leaders aren’t inclined to go to war with Zohran Mamdani – but his latest stunt surrounding the controversial pied-à-terre tax is forcing them to reconsider, On The Money has learned. This week, our Marxist mayor released the names of taxpayers who are being subjected to his idiotic levy on owners of apartments worth $5 million or more that are not their primary residences. It’s idiotic partly because these wealthy out-of-state residents don’t use our services, but nevertheless already pay plenty of state and city taxes – the lion’s share in fact. They might decide to buy...
  • What to tell a child on the first day of school

    07/29/2026 1:05:44 PM PDT · by CtBigPat · 64 replies
    Me | 7/29/2026 | Me
    The idea of the commencement speaker always seemed silly to me. They wait till the last moments of your education to bring in someone to inspire you. I would think it would be better to bring in someone on the FIRST day of school to get your head straight and on the path to success. What would you tell a student on the first day of school?
  • Boy, 6, who has autism is suspended from school for biting his sandwich into the shape of a GUN

    07/27/2026 3:20:07 PM PDT · by Morgana · 61 replies
    daily mail ^ | July 27,2026 | EMMA RICHTER
    A six-year-old autistic boy was suspended from a school in Georgia after he bit his sandwich into the shape of a gun and pointed it at his classmate, his family said. John Medina, a first-grader at Sara Harp Minter Elementary School in Fayette County, was kicked out last March after administrators saw what happened, according to his parents and school records, Atlanta News First reported. Kristin Medina, the boy's mother, recalled the school calling her and saying her son was not welcome back after the lunchtime incident. 'And you're just like baffled,' Kristin told the outlet, stating that she believes...
  • ‘Really inappropriate’: teachers decry plan for humanoid robot in New York high school

    07/26/2026 9:21:28 AM PDT · by DFG · 26 replies
    The Guardian ^ | 07/25/2026 | Michael Sainato
    A humanoid robot is being introduced as part of a pilot program, along with an AI teaching assistant, at Salamanca high school in Salamanca, New York, located on the Allegany territory of the Seneca nation. Teachers have criticized the program, deeming it “inappropriate” and claiming it dehumanizes the profession with the introduction of human-like robots. Some local Native American residents have also criticized the pilot program, citing its implementation as “culturally tone deaf”. The robot, named Sally, was purchased by the Cattaraugus county school district – which includes Salamanca high school – for $57,590. According to a presentation on the...
  • Man who committed wire fraud and aggravated identity theft to solicit donations from MAGA supporters using the identity of Shiloh Hendrix has been identified

    07/26/2026 6:45:56 AM PDT · by dennisw · 31 replies
    X ^ | 7 25 | Right Angle News Network
    Right Angle News Network @Rightanglenews The black man who committed wire fraud and aggravated identity theft to solicit donations from MAGA supporters using the identity of Shiloh Hendrix has been identified as Jamell Lewis of Indianapolis, Indiana. https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/2081114798796795938
  • DSA targets NYC public school kids in radical takeover

    07/26/2026 4:06:39 AM PDT · by DFG · 24 replies
    NY Post ^ | 07/26/2026 | David Spector
    The Democratic Socialists of America are plotting a radical takeover of NYC public schools, with comrades admitting they want to mold a new generation of baby Bolsheviks, The Post has learned. Maureen Fadem — yet another nutty professor working for a CUNY school — called for kids to be educated in a “democratic socialist frame” and to be taught the Godfathers of Communism Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, despite their writing inspiring some of the most murderous dictators in history, from Stalin to Mao. “We need to overhaul the curriculum in a class consciousness frame. . . . The curriculum...
  • Merriam-Webster delivers patriotic eight-word smackdown (of England) for Fourth of July

    07/25/2026 7:35:14 PM PDT · by DoodleBob · 4 replies
    Yahoo ^ | July 4, 2026 | Katie Jerkovich
    How do you spelling "winning"? US dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster brutally roasted the redcoats in a patriotic post taking aim at the United Kingdom to celebrate America's 250th birthday. "Why is it 'cancelled' in the U.K. but 'canceled' in the U.S.?" the nation's oldest dictionary publisher wrote on X. "Because we gave them that L in 1776." The post had garnered more than 12 million views and over 2,400 replies as of Saturday morning — with many cheering the Independence Day smackdown. "Solid burn from the dictionary!!!" one wrote. "Imagine getting roasted by a book of words. The disrespect is off...
  • Attorney Ben Crump Reading

    07/24/2026 1:49:01 PM PDT · by suthener · 38 replies
    X ^ | July 24, 2026 | Amiri King on X
    This is a short video of Ben Crump attempting, unsuccessfully, to read an autopsy. This is actually the second time he's tried to this. This guy supposedly completed college and law school and then passed the bar while being functionally illiterate. This is the state of our country.
  • Stranded tourists flee for their lives by boat as 'apocalyptic mega-fire' triggers total evacuation of 'French Hamptons' (many photos)

    07/24/2026 5:07:31 AM PDT · by dennisw · 26 replies
    UK Mail ^ | 24 July 2026 | SABRINA PENTY,
    Thousands of tourists have been forced to flee a top French holiday hotspot, with many evacuated by boat to escape a raging wildfire. The area of Lege-Cap Ferret in southwestern France - an upmarket tourist destination known as the French Hamptons - is in the middle of a total evacuation with thousands of hectares of forest burning and villas going up in smoke. French President Emmanuel Macron has already requested help from the European Union as the country's growing battle against wildfires intensifies. Images showed scores of residents boarding boats this morning as they evacuated the area while a French...
  • Hundreds of Howard University freshmen unenrolled over unpaid bills weeks before fall semester

    07/24/2026 3:15:03 AM PDT · by Libloather · 91 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/24/26 | Richard Pollina
    Hundreds of incoming Howard University students from across the country were blindsided just weeks before the start of school after learning they had been unenrolled over unpaid bills. Freshmen were informed this week that they had missed a July 10 payment deadline and would not be allowed to attend the upcoming fall semester at the private HBCU school in Washington, DC. ABC 7 reported. Students were set to start moving into their on-campus housing on August 3 while the Fall semester begins on August 17. Isabella Williams had her truck packed and was gearing up to take the long trip...
  • Dem Rhode Island lawmaker threatens ICE: ‘Your day of reckoning will come mother----‘

    07/23/2026 4:07:35 PM PDT · by Libloather · 19 replies
    Fox News via NY Post ^ | 7/23/26 | Louis Casiano, Peter D'Abrosca
    A Rhode Island lawmaker who previously referred to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers as “Nazi Gestapo thugs” said “your day of reckoning will come mother——” in a charged social media post aimed at the agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. State Rep. Enrique Sanchez, a Democrat, directed his anger at ICE in a post Wednesday on X decrying its enforcement tactics. “Fighting and dealing with ICE since last year has f—– me up in the head after trying to protect and defend hundreds and hundreds of our community members in Providence and...
  • Team Trump’s anti-fraud drive is making more news than anyone can follow

    07/22/2026 5:27:07 PM PDT · by Libloather · 11 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/22/26 | Post Editorial Board
    If Team Trump’s anti-fraud efforts sometimes look a bit all-over-the-map, that’s because the map is so incredibly large. The feds spend over $7 billion a year, and fraudsters look to cash in on every dime; with Vice President JD Vance on point, the White House has organized a full-court press to fight back. One day this week, the Justice Department announced it had finally nabbed a fugitive Medicare fraudster on the lam since 2022, who allegedly stole more than half a billion dollars, even as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare-Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz froze over $1...
  • Distributism (JD Vance)

    07/22/2026 7:48:07 AM PDT · by ProgressingAmerica · 69 replies
    Stay Vigilant ^ | Jul 21, 2026 | Richard Excell
    A Third Way Much like Chesterton and Belloc posited and argued for a third way, a path that did not look like Monopoly Capitalism or State Socialism, we may be some arguing for this now. I came across what I thought was a fascinating interview by Bishop Barron of Vice President JD Vance. I am a big fan of anything Bishop Barron puts out, not just because I agree with him, but because I find him to be one of the top intellectuals of our day. Listen to his debates, discussions and interviews. Watch the speech he gave at America’s...
  • Georgia city’s youngest-ever mayor stripped of duties, access over alleged spending habits (Jayden Williams)

    07/22/2026 4:00:32 AM PDT · by Libloather · 24 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/22/26 | Chris Bradford
    A Georgia city’s youngest-ever mayor was temporarily stripped of his duties and privileges amid an investigation over his alleged spending – less than a year after being elected on a campaign premised around accountability and transparency. Jayden Williams, the 22-year-old mayor of Stockbridge, Ga., was ordered to hand over his city-issued credit cards by Monday at noon due to his spending, but failed to meet the deadline, Atlanta News First reported. Stockbridge city council officials launched a probe into Williams after “information” was presented to finance officials and the city attorney, without divulging further. Lawmakers backed a resolution on a...
  • King Charles visits new ‘eco friendly’ mosque in Cambridge, England (shariah friendly)

    07/21/2026 1:13:10 PM PDT · by dennisw · 17 replies
    x ^ | 3:27 PM · Jul 21, 2026 · 3,480 Views | @OliLondonTV
    Oli London @OliLondonTV King Charles visits new ‘eco friendly’ mosque in Cambridge, England. “The fact that you have a purpose built mosque here with a community center attached, makes a huge contribution, not only to the Muslim community here- but to Cambridge itself.”
  • They’ve taken recess away from American kids…

    07/21/2026 3:16:50 AM PDT · by Adder · 53 replies
    Revolver ^ | 07/20/2026 | Unattributed
    You remember recess, right? Monkey bars, blistering hot metal slides, tetherball, sitting around on a bench chatting with your pals. It was great. And for most of you Gen Xers, baby boomers, and older millennials, it was the best part of school… right up there with “pizza Fridays.” The bell would ring, and the doors couldn’t fly open fast enough… kids would pour onto the playground like they were just released from prison. Recess was a total hodgepodge created by the kids. Sure, there was usually some half-interested teacher keeping an eye on things, but the kids picked teams, made...
  • I want to record my memories for my posterity

    07/20/2026 5:22:39 PM PDT · by knarf · 42 replies
    self ^ | July 20, 2026 | knarf
    When Billy Christal gave his tribute to his friend, Robin Williams, a clip that played shortly after was of him stating that Robin had been up since 1948. I was born in 1948 . . . . February 29th in particular, and as The Dead stated . . . "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been".My 31 year old son and I have become very close in the last couple of years and I find myself remembering little vignettes of my life I relate back to him, and he said; "Dad, you should sit down and youtube all these things"Great...