Alternative Reality Site Lets Liberals Imagine Hillary Clinton is President
Teachers In Trouble After Post Over Day Without Immigrants’ In California
Several teachers in Jurupa Valley, California, have reportedly been placed on paid leave while the school district investigates controversial social media posts made during the nationwide “A Day Without Immigrants” strike.
In the now-deleted Facebook comments, at least five teachers and one counselor from Rubidoux High School reveled in the fact that their classes were smaller and more productive without the striking students, The Press-Enterprise reported. The comments were captured in screenshots posted by Rubidoux High alumna Guadalupe Lopez.
Science teacher Geoffrey Greer started the thread Thursday afternoon by saying the nationwide strike only proved “how much better things might be without all this overcrowding.”
“That’s what you get when you jump on some sort of bandwagon cause as an excuse to be lazy and/or get drunk,” Mr. Greer wrote. “Best school day ever.”
Art teacher Robin Riggle responded by saying the 50 absences in her classes made it “a very pleasant day.”
Science teacher Allen Umbarger wrote: “Unfortunately, statistically my cumulative GPA increased today. Mostly failing students were missing.”
Science teacher Chuck Baugh added: “Quieter classes, more productive – let’s do this more often.”
Agriculture teacher Rhonda Fuller wrote: “Same here! Small classes, trouble makers were gone fantastic day!”
Guidance counselor Patricia Crawford declared “more, please” after stating that the cafeteria was much cleaner after lunch and that there were less disciplinary issues than on a normal school day.
Facing backlash from the district and community members, Mr. Greer deleted the original post and issued an apology.
“While I stand by my assertion that skipping school is no way to demonstrate one’s value to society, I do apologize for the harsh tone and hurtful structure of the previous message,” he wrote, KTLA reported.
Jurupa Unified School District Superintendent Elliott Duchon said the teachers’ posts don’t reflect the “beliefs and core values of the district or staff.”
“We want to express that we are deeply concerned and distressed about the postings,” Mr. Duchon said in a statement posted on the district’s website. “We will investigate further and will take appropriate action in this matter.”
He didn’t say how many teachers were placed on leave and declined to elaborate on what further action might be taken against them, The Press-Enterprise reported.
Rubidoux students walked out of their classes about noon Friday to protest the controversial posts, The Press-Enterprise reported.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/17/teachers-on-leave-for-day-without-immigrants-posts/
FOUND: Obama’s Activists’ Training Manual For Protesting Trump
An Obama-tied activist group training tens of thousands of agitators to protest President Trump’s policies plans to hit Republican lawmakers supporting those policies even harder this week, when they return home for the congressional recess and hold town hall meetings and other functions.
Organizing for Action, a group founded by Obama and featured prominently on his new post-presidency website, is distributing a training manual to anti-Trump activists that advises them to bully GOP lawmakers into backing off support for repealing ObamaCare, curbing immigration from high-risk Islamic nations, and building a border wall.
In a new Facebook post, OFA calls on activists to mobilize against Republicans from now until Feb. 26, when “representatives are going to be in their home districts.”
The protesters disrupted town halls earlier this month, including one held in Utah by House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who was confronted by hundreds of angry demonstrators claiming to be his constituents.
The manual, published with OFA partner “Indivisible,” advises protesters to go into halls quietly so as not to raise alarms, and “grab seats at the front of the room but do not all sit together.” Rather, spread out in pairs to make it seem like the whole room opposes the Republican host’s positions. “This will help reinforce the impression of broad consensus.” It also urges them to ask “hostile” questions — while keeping “a firm hold on the mic” — and loudly boo the the GOP politician if he isn’t “giving you real answers.”
“Express your concern [to the event’s hosts] they are giving a platform to pro-Trump authoritarianism, racism, and corruption,” it says.
The goal is to make Republicans, even from safe districts, second-guess their support for the Trump agenda, and to prime “the ground for the 2018 midterms when Democrats retake power.”
“Even the safest [Republican] will be deeply alarmed by signs of organized opposition,” the document states, “because these actions create the impression that they’re not connected to their district and not listening to their constituents.”
After the event, protesters are advised to feed video footage to local and national media.
“Unfavorable exchanges caught on video can be devastating” for Republican lawmakers, it says, when “shared through social media and picked up by local and national media.” After protesters gave MSNBC, CNN and the networks footage of their dust-up with Chaffetz, for example, the outlets ran them continuously, forcing Chaffetz to issue statements defending himself.
The manual also advises protesters to flood “Trump-friendly” lawmakers’ Hill offices with angry phone calls and emails demanding the resignation of top White House adviser Steve Bannon.
A script advises callers to complain: “I’m honestly scared that a known racist and anti-Semite will be working just feet from the Oval Office … It is everyone’s business if a man who promoted white supremacy is serving as an adviser to the president.”
The document provides no evidence to support such accusations.
Protesters, who may or may not be affiliated with OFA, are also storming district offices. Last week, GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher blamed a “mob” of anti-Trump activists for knocking unconscious a 71-year-old female staffer at his Southern California office. A video of the incident, showing a small crowd around an opening door, was less conclusive.
Separately, OFA, which is run by ex-Obama officials and staffers, plans to stage 400 rallies across 42 states this year to attack Trump and Republicans over ObamaCare’s repeal.
“This is a fight we can win,” OFA recently told its foot soldiers. “They’re starting to waver.”
On Thursday, Trump insisted he’s moving ahead with plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which has ballooned health-insurance premiums and deductibles. “Obamacare is a disaster, folks,” he said, adding that activists protesting its repeal are hijacking GOP town halls and other events.
“They fill up our rallies with people that you wonder how they get there,” the president said. “But they’re not the Republican people that our representatives are representing.”
As The Post reported, OFA boasts more than 250 offices nationwide and more than 32,000 organizers, with another 25,000 actively under training. Since November, it’s beefed up staff and fundraising, though as a “social welfare” non-profit, it does not have to reveal its donors.
These aren’t typical Black Lives Matter or Occupy Wall Street marchers, but rather professionally trained organizers who go through a six-week training program similar to the training — steeped in Alinsky agitation tactics — Obama received in Chicago when he was a community organizer.
Chicago socialist Saul Alinsky, known by the left as “the father of community organizing,” taught radicals to “rub raw the sores of discontent” and create the conditions for a “revolution.” He dedicated his book, “Rules for Radicals,” to “Lucifer.” Michelle Obama quoted from the book when she helped launch OFA in 2013.
Obama appears to be behind the anti-Trump protests. He praised recent demonstrations against Trump’s travel ban. And last year, after Trump’s upset victory, he personally rallied OFA troops to “protect” his legacy in a conference call. “Now is the time for some organizing,” he said. “So don’t mope” over the election results.
He promised OFA activists he would soon join them in the fray.
“Understand that I’m going to be constrained in what I do with all of you until I am again a private citizen, but that’s not so far off,” he said. “You’re going to see me early next year, and we’re going to be in a position where we can start cooking up all kinds of great stuff.”
Added the ex-president: “I promise you that next year Michelle and I are going to be right there with you, and the clouds are going to start parting, and we’re going to be busy. I’ve got all kinds of thoughts and ideas about it, but this isn’t the best time to share them.
“Point is, I’m still fired up and ready to go, and I hope that all of you are, as well.”
http://nypost.com/2017/02/18/obama-linked-activists-have-a-training-manual-for-protesting-trump/
Angela Merkel Welcomes More Muslim Refugees, “Islam Not Source of Terror’
Angela Merkel says Europe must take MORE refugees and Islam ‘isn’t source of terror’
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has launched a staunch defence of her refugee policy.
The embattled leader says Europe has an obligation to take displaced people from Syria and Iraq.
She also said Islam “is not the cause of terrorism” and that combatting extremism needs the cooperation of Muslim countries.
In a wide-ranging speech at a Munich security conference, the German chief also vowed to work closely with Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the fight with ISIS in the Middle East.
Mrs Merkel has come under fire for taking in up to one million refugees amid security concerns and a string of migrant sex attacks across Germany.
After the Berlin lorry attack at a Christmas market in December, ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said events such as that will be “Merkel’s legacy”.
Mrs Merkel had been a strong critic of Brexit, saying she had “deep regrets” about it.
She will go to the polls in September against Social Democrat candidate Martin Schulz, the former European Parliament President.
On Putin, she said Europe’s ties with Russia remained challenging, but it was important to work with them in the fight against Islamist terrorism.
She said: “The joint fight against Islamic terrorism is one area where we have the same interests and we can work together.”
Her comments about Islam and refugees follow her criticism of Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
New US Vice-President Mike Pence was in the audience and reaffirmed the US’ commitment to NATO in a speech of his own.
Germany is under increasing pressure to increase military spending, would do “everything possible” meet a NATO target for spending two percent of economic output on defence by 2024, Merkel told the conference.
Only last week, a student was dragged into woods and raped by a migrant who spoke no English near the campus of Bochum University.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/589410/Angela-Merkel-more-refugees-Syria-Iraq-German-chancellor-terrorism-ISIS
140 More Somali Mooslims Settled in US After Travel Ban Halted by Courts
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Fellow refugees say at least 140 Somalis have been settled in the United States after being blocked for days by President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The refugees spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about their safety. They remain at the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, which hosts more than 200,000 Somalis.
The group of 140 which had been vetted by U.S. authorities had been on the brink of traveling to the United States, but Trump’s ban left them in limbo at a transit camp in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. They then were sent back to refugee camps.
But a U.S. court later suspended Trump’s ban.
The refugees were brought back to Nairobi in the past week before leaving for the U.S.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_KENYA_TRUMP_TRAVEL_BAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-18-10-06-35
Half of the Families Text One Another While In the Same House
Now HALF of families text each other in the same house: Experts say tech craze could have a ‘catastrophic’ effect on family life
- 45 per cent of people message somebody under the same roof on their phones
- In a third of households, people use their mobiles during their mealtimes
- More than four in ten parents complain their children have ignored them
Some will find it depressing. Others will recognise an all-too familiar snapshot of tech-obsessed modern life.
But nearly half of families with children now text each other when they are in the same house.
Just under a third of us (32 per cent) are guilty of tapping out messages on mobiles when we want to talk to someone under the same roof, according to research.
That figure rises to 45 per cent for households with children – suggesting the phenomenon is only set to get worse.
It’s not the only way mobiles get in the way of family time at home.
In a third of households, people use their mobiles during their mealtimes.
More than four in ten parents complain their children have ignored them at the table because they were so distracted by their phones. In fact, tablets and mobiles are so prevalent at home, they are also depriving us of rest.
A quarter of the 2,800 adults surveyed by Aviva admitted at least one person in their household was losing sleep because they were staying up too late on their phone, and one in five said that there was someone at home who just couldn’t ‘switch off’.
Last night campaigners warned the surge in mobile phone usage could be ‘catastrophic’ for family life. Dr Richard House, a psychologist, said: ‘These communication technologies are almost certainly having long-term and possibly dramatic impacts on family life.
‘It is potentially catastrophic for the human relational values that underpin family life at its best, with real, face-to-face communication being increasingly displaced and sidelined by the machine.’
However, it is not always the youngsters of the household who are to blame.
Last night campaigners warned the surge in mobile phone usage could be ‘catastrophic’ for family life. Dr Richard House, a psychologist, said: ‘These communication technologies are almost certainly having long-term and possibly dramatic impacts on family life.
‘It is potentially catastrophic for the human relational values that underpin family life at its best, with real, face-to-face communication being increasingly displaced and sidelined by the machine.’
However, it is not always the youngsters of the household who are to blame.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4233404/HALF-families-text-house.html