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SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2022

REAL SCHOLARS FIGHTING BACK:  It will be a long fight, but some traditional scholars are fighting back against the wokism that is destroying our educational system.  It would be nice if they got some support from the press, but that may be too much to ask.  From College Fix: 

There’s an effort in California to dumb down math at the K-12 level in the name of equity, but a growing number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math scholars urge officials to reject the plan.

To date, nearly 1,800 STEM scholars have signed on to the “Open Letter on K-12 Mathematics,” stating they are alarmed at the current proposal to fight achievement gaps in math pushed by progressives in the Golden State.

As The College Fix has previously reported, a framework before the California Department of Education would move more advanced math classes from the state’s middle schools to high schools to make math more equitable to students of all levels.

The framework also rebukes student giftedness, alleging the concept creates “considerable inequities in mathematics education.”

But the some 1,800 scholars who have signed the open letter argue that developing students who can perform high-level math is crucial to the nation’s vital information technology infrastructure and economic competitiveness:

College students who need to spend their early years taking introductory math courses may require more time to graduate. They may need to give up other opportunities and are more likely to struggle academically. Such a reform would disadvantage K-12 public school students in the United States compared with their international and private-school peers. It may lead to a de facto privatization of advanced mathematics K-12 education and disproportionately harm students with fewer resources.

Another deeply worrisome trend is devaluing essential mathematical tools such as calculus and algebra in favor of seemingly more modern “data science.” As STEM professionals and educators we should be sympathetic to this approach, and yet, we reject it wholeheartedly. The ability to gather and analyze massive amounts of data is indeed transforming our society. But “data science” – computer science, statistics, and artificial intelligence – is built on the foundations of algebra, calculus, and logical thinking.

… There cannot be a “one size fits all” approach to K-12 mathematical education. Students should be offered multiple pathways and timelines to explore mathematics. But one of these pathways should be the option to obtain the fundamental preparation for college-level STEM, including algebra, calculus, and logical reasoning. Students should have the opportunity to take those classes at varying grade levels of middle and high school when they are ready, so that they acquire the tools to explore other STEM options and can build their proficiency in a balanced pacing, avoiding irresponsible compression late in high school.

COMMENT:  That is called common sense.  It is also called professionalism.  It is also called a striving for excellence.  Unfortunately, the WOKE crowd has little interest in any of these concepts. 

I hope the scholars' letter makes a difference.  But, knowing the radical politics of California, I suspect the original march to mediocrity will be maintained.

September 21-22, 2022       Permalink

AND IRAN BOILS:  This story deserves more attention.  There are major disturbances in Iran, initially triggered by the wrongful death of a woman in police custody.  The trouble is spreading, an indication of just how unpopular the mullahs really are.  This comes just at the time when tensions between the United States and Iran are particularly high, caused by a breakdown in talks over a new nuclear agreement.  From Reuters:

Iranian authorities said on Wednesday three people including a member of the security forces had been killed during unrest sweeping the country, as anger at the death of a woman in police custody fueled protests for a fifth day.

Rights groups reported at least one more person was killed on Tuesday, which would take the death toll to least seven.

The death last week of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for “unsuitable attire," unleashed simmering anger over issues including freedoms in the Islamic Republic and an economy reeling from sanctions.

After beginning on Saturday at Amini’s funeral in Iran‘s Kurdistan province, protests have engulfed much of the country, prompting confrontations as security forces have sought to suppress them.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not mention the protests – some of Iran‘s worst unrest since street clashes last year over water shortages – during a speech on Wednesday commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

A top Khamenei aide paid condolences to Amini’s family this week, promising to follow up on the case and saying the Supreme Leader was affected and pained by her death.

The official IRNA news agency said a “police assistant” died from injuries on Tuesday in the southern city of Shiraz.

“Some people clashed with police officers and as a result one of the police assistants was killed. In this incident, four other police officers were injured,” IRNA said. An official quoted by IRNA said 15 protesters were arrested in Shiraz.

COMMENT:  Instability in both Iran and Russia at the same time is a bad brew.  In 2009 there were large demonstrations in Iran , and it took President Obama, that great champion of liberty, about four days to walk up to a microphone and give the demonstrators a minimal expression of support.  We aren't even seeing that much from the Biden team today.  Appeasement of Iran is in their DNA.  Mustn't get the mullahs too angry while there's still hope they'll agree to some nuclear deal that will look good to a five-year-old.

September 21-22, 2022       Permalink 

THE PUTIN EFFECT:  The UN General Assembly is meeting this week in the barely functioning city of New York, but there was little gossip about King Charles or even about the number of favorite delegate steak joints that have closed.  It's all Putin all the time.  The guy knows how to create a headline, but he'd better watch his back.  From the New York Post: 

Russians took to the streets — and to the sky — Wednesday in opposition to Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order sending reservists to fight in Ukraine as his threats of nuclear warfare intensified.

The order — which would throw 300,000 more troops into the increasingly desperate fight — sparked a wave of protests across Russia and a run on one-way tickets out of the country.

The mobilization came alongside chilling threats to defend Russian territory with nuclear weapons, as the Kremlin planned to call a quarter of Ukraine part of Russia.

“I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction,” Putin said in a Wednesday morning televised address. “When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal.”

With an icy stare at the camera, the Russian strongman added, “It’s not a bluff.”

Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity” comes as his puppet regimes in Ukraine prepare to declare the occupied parts of that country Russian territory.

Four referenda are planned this week for the occupied provinces of Ukraine — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — to declare those provinces part of Russia.

Such a vote would make the territories an “irreversible” addition to the country, allowing Moscow to use “any means” to defend them, Dmitry Medvedev, head of the Kremlin’s Security Council, said this week....

...Over 1,300 people were arrested in Russia Wednesday for protesting Putin’s order to send 300,000 more troops into Ukraine.

Russia’s use of so-called filtration camps to relocate Ukrainians within the occupied territories — and it’s alleged use of torture, captivity and extrajudicial executions against those it suspects of supporting or aiding Kyiv — undercut the notion that any referendum held in occupied territory could reflect the will of the residents...

...Protests started out in the rural regions that have staffed Putin’s army, and made their way to the centers of political power.

Putin’s announcements sparked panic in Russia, with a wave of protests breaking out across the country.

More than 1,300 Russians had been arrested for protesting the mobilization order as of Wednesday night, Russian police watchdog OVD-Info said. Protests against the war are illegal under Russia’s draconian anti-demonstration laws which prohibit the spreading of so-called false information about the military.

The first protests took place in Siberia in the Russian far-east, according to The Moscow Times. Most of the Russian forces sent to Ukraine so far have been pulled from Russia’s far-flung rural regions and satellite states, in an apparent effort to shield the Russian middle class from the costs of the conflict.

A mass mobilization of troops has been considered such a political minefield that Russian Oligarch and Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin has been trying to recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine — with little success...

...Tickets from Moscow to Belgrade, Serbia, sold out, as did flights to locations in Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, according to Belgrade-based anti-war group “Russians, Belarussians, Ukrainians and Serbs Together Against War.”

“All the Russians who wanted to go to war already went,” the group tweeted. “No one else wants to go there!”

COMMENT:  This is serious stuff, with profound dangers.   A dictator challenged from within, equipped with nuclear weapons, could easily launch an irrational attack, all the while claiming that his country has been invaded.  It's a classic way of forcing national unity.  He could also institute internal purges to eliminate enemies, possibly leading to a civil war or a revolt by his own military, with the security of nuclear weapons in doubt.

And we have in the White House a president who can't articulate our policies, and a vice president who can't find her way to the office.  Ronald Reagan, where are you when we need you?

September 21-22, 2022       Permalink

SEPTEMBER 19-20, 2022

BULLETIN:  PUTIN MOBILIZES:  Vladimir Putin has taken a significant step that makes a dangerous situation even more dangerous.  From AP:

"WKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization in Russia as the war in Ukraine reaches nearly seven months and Moscow loses ground on the battlefield. Putin also warned the West that “it’s not a bluff” that Russia would use all the means at its disposal to protect its territory.

The total number of reservists to be called up is 300,000, officials said.

The Russian leader’s televised address to the nation released Wednesday came a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold votes on becoming integral parts of Russia. Putin’s remarks also come against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly in New York at which Moscow was warned about its referendum plans.

The Kremlin-backed efforts to swallow up four regions could set the stage for Moscow to escalate the war following Ukrainian successes. The referendums, which have been expected to take place since the first months of the war, will start Friday in the Luhansk, Kherson and partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

Putin accused the West in engaging in “nuclear blackmail” and noted “statements of some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO states about the possibility of using nuclear weapons of mass destruction against Russia.”

“To those who allow themselves such statements regarding Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and for separate components and more modern than those of NATO countries and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Putin said.

He added: “It’s not a bluff.”

COMMENT:  And I wouldn't take it as a bluff, considering Putin's recklessness in Ukraine.  You get the sense of a lighted match held in your hand, with the fire getting closer and closer to your fingers.

And the Russians see weakness and indecisiveness in Washington.

September 19-20, 2022       Permalink

WISCONSIN DRAMA – RON GAINS.  We must hold the Wisconsin Senate seat currently occupied by Ron Johnson.  The Democrats have nominated a world-class, certified whackjob right out of CRT central casting.  And...he was leading.  Now, though, Ron appears to be making great progress, as voters learn more about his opponent.  From The Hill: 

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has a 4-point lead over Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, according to a new Emerson College poll released on Tuesday.

Forty-eight percent of very likely voters said they support the sitting senator, while 44 percent said they will vote for Barnes, according to the poll.

After winning the Democratic primary last month, Barnes briefly polled ahead of Johnson. However, Johnson has since closed the gap, and recent polling — including a Spectrum News-Siena College poll also released on Tuesday — showed the candidates within 1 percentage point of each other. 

Regardless of who they plan to support, 54 percent of respondents in the Emerson poll said they expect Johnson to win, compared to 46 percent expecting a win for Barnes.

More voters said they view Johnson favorably than said the same of the lieutenant governor. However, more voters also said they view the incumbent senator unfavorably than said the same of Barnes. The difference comes from the 9 percent of voters who said they were unsure of how they viewed Barnes, compared to 3 percent who said they were unsure on Johnson.

The Emerson poll was conducted from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18 with 860 very likely voters and had a margin of error of 3.27 percentage points.

COMMENT:  The fight for control of the U.S. Senate, where judges are confirmed, is tight and bitter.  We cannot afford unforced errors, like losing seats we already have.  Besides Wisconsin, we have a major fight in Pennsylvania, where the seat currently occupied by Republican Pat Toomey, who is retiring, is up for grabs.  And even Florida is close, where the excellent Republican Senator Marco Rubio is fighting off a tough challenge.  Always fight as if you're 20 points behind. 

September 19-20, 2022       Permalink     

NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT:  America's military is deteriorating.  It faces a stunning manpower shortage, with no end in sight.  Morale is being decimated by the injection of "woke" thinking into military training.  The Democratic Party is dominated by those who want to defund the police and the military simultaneously, and that party is currently in power.  Most of the press doesn't care.  But if there is an international crisis, we could wind up in serious trouble.  There is no guarantee the United States will continue.  From Fox: 

The U.S. military’s all-volunteer force (AVF) is slowly dying. In the five decades since conscription ended, the AVF produced the high-quality force it promised. In conflict after conflict, the more-experienced, better-motivated, and professional U.S. troops dominated the battlefield.

Today, however, the armed services are struggling to meet their recruiting goals as rarely before. The Army is the most affected, projected to fall short by up to 15,000 soldiers, with a larger deficit expected next year. Experts point to a variety of reasons, such as insufficient pay and benefits, a difficult work-life environment, "culture war" issues, COVID-19, and a strong job market. Even if each were "fixed," the core issues driving the AVF’s decline still won’t be reversed.

The fact is the pool of Americans aged 17-24 who are qualified and interested in serving continues to shrink. When I was secretary of the Army in 2018, 71% of these 34 million young people could not meet the military’s entry requirements due mostly to obesity, drug use, physical and mental health problems, and criminal misconduct. Four years later, that number is even higher. Further, of the 23% eligible to serve today, another 10% don’t meet the military’s academic standards. Worse, of the 3.5 million young Americans remaining, only 9% (~320,000) have a proclivity to serve. A nation of 332 million people should do better than that.

The numbers are all heading in the wrong direction, driven by broader cultural and lifestyle trends and a population unfamiliar with the less than 1% of the U.S. population in uniform that protects them. When the draft ended in 1973, most young people had a family connection to the armed forces who could explain military life and encourage service to country; today that number is far lower. Major reductions in the size of the U.S. military and in the number of bases across the country after the Cold War’s end contributed to this problem. A "knowledge gap" has grown over time due to civilians’ lack of interaction with those in uniform. This has led to an "identity gap" that inhibits many from considering a stint in the armed forces. It’s no mystery why a military caste has developed in America, with nearly 80% of today’s service members having a family member that served. All of this affects a broader set of civil-military relations with which the nation is wrestling.

The scope and scale of these trends are beyond the ability of the Pentagon to remedy. There are actions the services can and are taking, but these only

address the problem at the margins. Because the ability of the military to defend the country depends directly on a sizable force of top-notch volunteers, this is a national challenge that must be addressed at the highest levels.

COMMENT:  Please read the rest.  It's important.  With the kind of leadership we have today, it's unlikely the main problems will even be addressed.  We are entering a period when foreign enemies will see a weaker American military than they've seen in many years.  Weakness leads to war, never to peace.  Yet, we don't hear the alarm sounded.

September 19-20, 2022       Permalink