#DM7 Article: 2014: Let It Go

Posted on January 4, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

This is a reposting of my weekly column at Da Tech Guy: 2014: Let It Go

 

By A.P. Dillon

2015 is here. This is by no means a comprehensive list of happenings in 2014, but here’s a look at a bit of the year behind us and perhaps we can ‘let it go‘.

We saw an airplane vanish.

An outbreak of the Ebola virus ravaged several countries in Western Africa; Sierra Leone garnering the worst of it.  The outbreak continues with 19,497 cases and 7,588 deaths as of December 21st according to the Economist. The death toll is expected to rise.

We saw a comedic genius, Robin Williams, leave us by his own hand and his death became the top Google search in 2014.  2014 was a year we lost a lot of great personalities and talents, including Richard Attenborough, Lauren Becall, James Garner and Eli Wallach. I’ve kept track a bit of these passings and, sadly, many others over at my pet project, The ConMom blog.

Germany won the World Cup.

Moms (and dads, students, grandparents, teachers from all walks of life) across the country declared war on Common Core and the result was over 30 states introducing or considering repeal of the fundamentally flawed and experimental set of standards. Yours truly has been involved in this fight for three years now and over the summer, I joined a hot of others as part of Glenn Beck’s nationwide Common Core event, We Will Not Conform.

We saw Occupy 2.0 (fast food strikes organized by big labor) in full swing.

Then there was Ferguson where a white officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed an unarmed black man, Michael Brown. As it turned out, the Grand Jury found the officer acted in self-defense and eye-witness accounts seem to back that ruling. Cue the rioting, looting and arson — all in the name of ‘justice’.  For good measure, a school also was attacked by those seeking ‘justice’.

The protests that began in Ferguson continued in multiple states, prompting the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and was followed by the tag #IcantBreathe when the video of the arrest that employed an unsanctioned use of a chokehold which lead to the subsequent death of Eric Garner went viral. Protests in various cities continue and police have become targets of assassination attempts coast to coast.  Two officers in NYC lost their lives after a man shot them execution style allegedly as ‘revenge’ for Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

Obamacare’s roll-out was plagued with problems, only to be compounded by architect Jonathan Gruber’s boasting that the American public was lied to and that they were lied to because they are “stupid“.  Katheleen Sebelius ended up resigning over issues tied to the website and roll-out.

US debt continued to climb, but apparently people are too happy about the drop of prices at the pump to really notice.

James O’Keefe and Project Veritas continued to do what the mainstream media can’t or won’t.  So did Dana Loesch.

The NFL became the new centerpiece for the so-called ‘war on women’ crowd, particularly involving the case of Ray Rice.  The NFL’s Washington Redskins was also on the receiving end of the ‘that’s racist’ crowd’s ire. The FCC didn’t see it their way, but that doesn’t matter because South Park weighed in.

The ‘war on women’ mantra, however, did not play out very well with voters as Republicans swept into power in the US Senate, added to their seats in the US House of Representatives and took over majorities many places on the state level as well. As Hot Air noted, this rejection of the war on women was abundantly apparent in California where Sandra Fluke lost in spectacular fashion.  One of the most expensive races was right in my own state of North Carolina, where Thom Tillis unseated Kay Hagan.

Then there was the Great Campus Rape Hoax.  Add to that pile Lena Dunham and her autobiographical train wreck.

The Flu is running rampant through the states. Unfortunately, my family and I have first-hand experience with it this year. Awful.

Obama continued to rule by Executive Order in 2014.  To date, after 6 years in office he has 198 official executive orders, but you need to factor in his Memoranda list too. George Bush had 223 Executive Order by his sixth year but Obama buries Bush and all other presidents in terms of Memoranda. Obama will likely continue to issue his Executive orders Memoranda after admitting Harry Reid had been running interference for him for the last six years:

“I haven’t used the veto pen very often since I’ve been in office, partly because legislation that I objected to was typically blocked in the Senate,” (Source: LA Times)

Gee, who is the ‘party of no’ now?

Sony was hacked by N. Korea. Or maybe not. Either way, the studio caved to threats and pulled the movie from theaters but then turned around and released it anyway. Wag the Dog, anyone?

HAPPY 2015, EVERYONE!

If you enjoyed this article, you should really check out other pieces written by Da Tech Guy’s Magnificent Seven writers and maybe hit that tip jar!

AP DillonA.P. Dillon (Lady Liberty 1885), is a Conservative minded wife and mother living in the Triangle area of North Carolina. A.P. Dillon founded the blog LadyLiberty1885.com in 2009. After the 2012 election, she added an Instapundit style blog called The ConMom Blog. Mrs. Dillon recently participated in Glenn Beck’sWe Will Not Conform. Mrs. Dillon’s writing, in addition to Da Tech Guy’s Magnificent 7, can also be found at StopCommonCoreNC.org, WatchdogWireNC and WizBang. Non-political writing projects include science fiction novellas that are, as of yet, unpublished. Her current writing project is a children’s book series.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885) | Comments Off on #DM7 Article: 2014: Let It Go

The Common Core Weekend Reads – 1-4-15

Posted on January 4, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

NOJEBThese are the Common Core Weekend Reads for January 4th, 2015.

This is a review of the past week of news on Common Core nationwide and in North Carolina.

Articles are organized by category.

Prior Edition of Weekend Reads: 12-28-14
Weekend Reads archive at StopCommonCoreNC HERE.

NC UPDATES:
The next meeting of the ASRC is January 19, 2015, 1:00-5:00 PM
Let’s hope the live stream/video is present at this one as it was absent at the December one. This is important to transparency and also for those with kids who cannot attend since there is no school on the 19th.

APUSH UPDATES:

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

“If you connected all of the practice tests I’ve taken over the past three years,” he told me with a bitter laugh, “they would wrap all the way around the world.”
-NY Times, Inside a Chinese Test Prep Factory
Related:  Jeb Bush Wants Opposition to Can It, Be More Like China.

 

LEGISLATIVE/LEGAL:

POLITICAL/PROTESTS:

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES:

THE WEEKEND READS:

TESTING UPDATES:

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

David Coleman speech to SDP Education Data Meeting (edited for Gwinnet County School Board meeting) Full video of SDP Speech.
* Related article and text at Truth in American Education

TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

Posted in Common Core | Tagged | 2 Comments

The 2016 PR Campaigns To Rehab Common Core Begin

Posted on January 2, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Government here to help common coreThe PR campaigns to rehab Common Core before 2016 have begun. Having said that,
this is the most hilarious, talking point laden puff piece I’ve seen in a while:

Former Romney spokesman: Common Core popular in many quarters
The thrust of this article repeats the biggest talking point out there, that Common Core allows for ‘local control’. What’s more that McCoy’s assertion of ‘local control’ is somehow tied to how ‘popular’ Common Core is. We’ll get to the latter of that, first let’s talk ‘local control’.

Was Mr. McCoy intending to insult the intelligence of the reader?

To say that Common Core is about local control of any kind is to tell a whopper.

Standards that were created by a select few, funded by non-governmental organizations and belong, by copyright, to two D.C. trade organizations is not local control.

Standards that have no mechanism for change in them is not local control.

Standards that were put into Race To The Top applications as a condition for receiving grant money is not local control, that’s the Fed dangling a cash carrot in front of a starving state.

Standards that are tied to high stakes testing which will ultimately dictate all materials, books, resources and more is not local control.

Common Core represents a consolidation of power and a drive towards nationalizing our education system, as such Common Core is the opposite of local control.

Duncan State LedIf Common Core is about local control, then why has it been such an ugly fight to try and get rid of it?

If Common Core is about local control, then why are unelected, non-governmental organizations such as big corporations and private foundations the ones who are having to spend millions to defend it… from citizens and parents.

Common Core is about control alright, but not local control. Control by big business, by politicians wanting to look like they’re doing something ‘real’ about education and by those who stand to gain a windfall in profits from it. This is corporate education reform and it is not locally controlled.

Food for thought there, GOP establishment.

The other theme in McCoy’s piece is that Common Core is also widely popular.

No, again.

The only place that Common Core is popular is with those who stand to gain financially from it in some fashion or politicians who are eating up the spoonfuls thoroughly debunked talking points from the Core supporters like Jeb Bush, Bill Gates, the CCSSO, the NGA and the Chamber of Commerce.

Ok, to wrap this up, I found the most hilarious line to be this one:

Why are the standards so popular? Ford argues that parents “came to understand there were big gains being made in classrooms across the country.”

Um… No.
As more parents learn about Common Core, they tend to reject it.  The polls are not showing it as popular, but support in 2014 was dropping off – big time.  The campaign to ‘rebrand’ or rename the standards in the states hadn’t really worked to stem the rejection either.  Neither did calling parents stupid by mocking an elderly vet. [Flashback:  Six One Seven Scrubs All Accounts Of ‘Grandpa’ Common Core Video]

Remember, supporters like the Chamber, CCSSO and NGA recognized about a year ago that when they polled people and described the standards without the name Common Core attached, people agreed we need ‘high standards’. They found that a lot of parents still didn’t know about the Core, but that wasn’t going to last. Supporters of the Core had to get to the unknowing parents and public — fast.

Why are we seeing articles like this one from people who run or have run political campaigns? Because the GOP effectively owns Common Core and they need to do their prep for 2016.

 

Related Reads:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, ELECTIONS | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Happy 2015 From LL1885 & Company

Posted on January 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Happy 2015 to all our readers out there!

We at Lady Liberty 1885 wanted to take a moment to kick off the New Year by thanking our readers, friends and referrers as well as taking a look at the top rated stories here on the blog in 2014.

First, Thank you to our readers. We’re constantly humbled at the emails of thanks we receive and the letters supporting the work done here. Thank you for reading and commenting here at Lady Liberty 1885.

Second, we’d like to thank our tip jar hitters. This past Fall, we put a tip jar up on the site to help cover some of the fees associated with the blog and also for LL1885 (me) to make up for the gas/travel money I’ve spent out of my own pocket motoring all over  the area speaking on Common Core and other issues in the last year. The goal is to use some of these funds to attend CPAC this year, so Hit The Lady’s Tip Jar!

Third, while posts to Facebook and search engines brought in tens of thousands of clicks, it was referrers and friends who brought constant traffic.
Our top referrers this year in order:

  1. Carolina Plott Hound
  2. Doug Ross
  3. Stop Common Core NC
  4. The Pirates Cove
  5. Agent Pierce Said

On Twitter, our biggest Retweeters included Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah and Pete Kaliner.

Many thanks go out to the noted and constant Twitter engagement by @TBradleyNC,  @TaggertGirl, @EliPTweet, @JenHall, @YoungBlkRepub, @zanbunn, @DaveCarterNC, @BillGoltz, @WrightBrunoS and@TheMorningSpew.
f I have left someone off the list, know that I appreciate all my followers.

Of course, my co-blogger @ImLibertySpeaks and admin on our Facebook page, @DDog31 both get huge shout outs and my deepest thanks. This site and the Facebook presence would not be the same without their involvement.

In order of popularity, of the 748 articles published, these were the top stories for 2014:

  1. North Carolina Dumps Common Core
  2. NC Supreme Court Races: Beasley/ Robinson Race
  3. NC Supreme Court Races: Associate Justice Race
  4. NC Supreme Court Races: Chief Justice Race
  5. Open Letter to NC Gov. McCrory On Common Core

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Lena Dunham And A Tale Of Two “Rapists”

Posted on December 31, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Bear with me here, but this article at Gawker is a spectacular kind of sad comedy gold.

In one paragraph Gawker chastises those who questioned Lena Dunham’s ‘rape’ claim in her ‘autobiography’ by calling them ‘distasteful’ and asserts, “They were wrong”.  Oh and by the way, Gawker uses the characterization of said ‘rape’ as a “night of unwanted unprotected sex”. Someone ask Whoopi if that qualifies as “rape-rape”.

The author, J.K. Trotter, then turns around and tells the audience it was actual the son of an NPR host, who is a Democrat, who ‘raped’ her. Trotter then tears a hole in his own piece. He says in one of the summary paragraphs at the end that even that description might be wrong and that Ungar looks to have gone into hiding.

Got that?

Those who pretty much nailed Dunham as a liar were wrong, but Gawker is right because… just because.

This author is right because… well, because Trotter dug up a name to go with the proposal description. Gawker had her original proposal for the book, which described ‘Barry the Republican rapist’ as really a Democrat, who is the son of an NPR host:

“Dunham didn’t invent a rapist character out of thin air, as the conservative writers have implied. The 2012 proposal for Not That Kind of Girl recounted the same night of unwanted unprotected sex—and supplied enough specific biographical detail to identify the man being described.

His name is Philip Samuel Ungar, a 2006 graduate of Oberlin. Now 30, he’s the son of former All Things Considered host and retired Goucher College president Sanford J. Ungar. Dunham has never explicitly named him, but his biography closely aligns with her characterization of her alleged rapist—“His father was actually the former host of NPR’s All Things Considered”—in an early draft of the chapter where she describes being assaulted.”

Gawker mentioned that Dunham claims the final version was meant to conceal her alleged attacker:

In a recent essay for BuzzFeed, Dunham argued that these details were intended to conceal, not reveal, her alleged rapist’s identity: “Reporters have attempted to uncover the identity of my attacker despite my sincerest attempts to protect this information.”

“Sincerest attempts to protect”?

Did she say that with a straight face? She basically made up a white, male, Republican ‘rapist’ and gave him the name Barry and didn’t identify this description as altered or the name as a pseudonym. Better to smear a Republican guy than the actual Democrat guy involved, right? You know, because Republicans are eeeevil anyway. Dunham’s description seems  pretty clearly a  ‘sincere attempt’ to mislead, not conceal.

Is there any reason we should be believing the book proposal account versus the soundly debunked final draft?

Yes and No.
No.
According to Gawker, even the book proposal identification might be wrong:

It’s possible, also, that Ungar is not the person who raped Dunham—that, for reasons unknown, she used certain details of Ungar’s life in her description of her sexual assault, and decided to remove them upon publication of the memoir.

Yes.
A second man’s life is about to be turned upside down by Ms. Dunham.

Kevin Williamson is right. Arguably, she’s already libeled “Barry”, who has had to go into hiding and lawyer up.  Now, Mr. Ungar may also have a suit.

No telling if Dunham ever been sued before. Maybe this will be her ‘first time‘.

earlyoftenlrg

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Just A Reminder, Opportunity Scholarships Are Not Out Of The Woods

Posted on December 29, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

North Carolina has an ongoing lawsuit over the General Assembly’s Opportunity Scholarships. The idea behind these scholarships is that the parents of children who meet a particular income threshold can apply for a grant or scholarship to spend at the school of their choice.

The suit that was launched by various people and groups in the state, which include the NCAE and the Left leaning NC Justice Center.  According to the NC Justice Center page on this suit, these plaintiffs see supplying low-income children with scholarship money as part of the “growing alarm at the legislature’s attacks on public education.”

The thrust of the case is that public funds being used to fund these scholarships for low-income children violates the state’s constitution.  The main complaint is tax dollars being used by parents to choose a private or charter school for their child instead of the money going to a public school.  The unspoken question here seems to be, ‘why are these parents seeking these scholarships in the first place?’ Clearly, there’s an issue with the child’s current public school situation, but you likely won’t hear the plaintiffs address that.

The case has been elevated to the North Carolina Supreme Court after an appeal was filed when a lower court judge ruled against the scholarships.  These scholarships are not out of the woods yet, nor is North Carolina the only state fighting for school choice.

In Florida, a similar suit has been going on but the Save Our Scholarships Coalition is fighting back. The coalition has an ongoing campaign on social media with the hashtag #DropTheSuit and in October put a video out.  The video’s description is as follows:

“Former Florida Tax Credit Scholarship recipient and proud college graduate Denisha Merriweather shares her story about the scholarship’s importance to children from low-income, mainly minority families. She explains how a lawsuit filed by the teachers’ union and the Florida School Boards Association threatens to evict 68,000 children from their schools.”

This past month, a judge dealt a blow to those bringing the suit in Florida.  The Daily Signal reported that the judge came in on the side of parents:

But there is some good news: Last week, Leon County Circuit Court Judge George S. Reynolds III granted parents of these children the right to interveneon behalf of their children’s scholarships, which are awarded through the corporate tuition tax credit scholarship program.

Related: NC Supreme Court Allows Opportunity Scholarship Fall 2015 Applications to Move Forward

Related Read:

Voucher Pushback And Protectionism

NC Opportunity Scholarship

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, Opportunity Scholarships (OSP) | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Just A Reminder, Opportunity Scholarships Are Not Out Of The Woods