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John, thank you. Again, there’s so much here that it’s hard to respond to.

There’s the usual factor of politicians trying to manufacture trouble where there is none, to look like a Great Protector of the People. I suppose that’s a constant—it’s the nature of our broken politics these days.

The quote from the Denver Post is disturbing. Some folks think inquiry-based learning is bad? Project-based learning is bad? (They’d better avoid graduate school and research! Nothing to be learned there!) Civic engagement is bad? Media literacy is bad? Really? [The reality is that teaching to the standardized test is a poor way to educate, and our test-focused system has failed us. … And inquiry-based learning is what drew me into science. Thank the Good Lord my science teacher was free to let us experiment when I was in high school!]

Your statement: “My favorite part is about insuring student safety, not by doing anything about guns and school shootings, but by making sure parents know of misdemeanors committed by school personnel.” It’s all about freedom John—the troubled kid down the street needs to be free to buy the assault rifle when he’s 18 (that’s what the Framers wanted!). Why not a bazooka? Why not a rocket launcher? Freedom, we have the freedom to bear arms! (These words are shouted by those who claim to follow the Prince of Peace.)

I am depressed. Let me vent.

Our rivers are drying up, many of our aquifers are at dangerously low levels, and there are locales out west that are at threat that nothing will come out of the tap. More dead zones in the oceans, record artic melts and monstrous hurricanes. … We don’t fish the oceans, we rape them and leave literally miles of plastic behind that further chokes the life out of the aquatic ecosystem. … The WWF report released recently indicates that in the last 50 years wildlife has plummeted by about 70%. We are in the midst of a mass extinction event largely of our own creation. People all over the world need to come together under serious, committed leadership that prioritizes peace, ratchets down consumerism, and overhauls our destructive economies. Our way of life must change (and change quickly), or it’s game over in the next decade or two. Congress has no power to change the laws of nature. … And the best we can do is “MAGA” and fight CRT. Right now, our politicians see no further than November and so they concern themselves with how they have to play the game for their party to be successful in the next election and for their power to be maintained.

I’d better do some work John. Thank you again for helping to keep a weak, tired old man (namely me) better informed. God bless you.

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