Donald Trump has announced an executive order to mandate voter identification, restrict mail-in voting, and allow paper ballots only Read Full Article at RT.com

A cartoon by Jack Ohman. Related | Republican has infuriating response to Minneapolis shooting

Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 275 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new. With Labor Day weekend upon us once again, my musical thoughts turn to the wealth of Black music that has dealt with labor, jobs, and work, as well as Black workers. I admit I get annoyed with political speech-makers who talk about “the working class” as if it is only white. According to data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS), the current working class largely works in services, particularly retail, health care, food service and accommodation, and building services, though manufacturing and construction remain large employers as well. Black, Hispanic, and other workers of color make up 45 percent of the working class, while non-Hispanic white workers comprise the remaining 55 percent. Nearly half of the working class is women, and 8 percent have disabilities. I get more than annoyed (I’m actually furious) at the efforts of the current racist-in-chief and his minions to erase enslavement history from our institutions, museums, and schools, given that some of our earliest music came from enslaved people, a subject I covered in “Black people have labored hard since we were dragged here in chains. Here's the music that proves it,” back in 2021. Carnegie Hall’s “Timeline of African-American Music” opens with work songs sung during enslavement, and highlights that segment with a quote from Frederick Douglass: “Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as work. A silent slave is not liked by masters or overseers.” Since the earliest days of slavery, singing has accompanied all kinds of group and individual work activities of African Americans. These improvised songs, known as work songs, field calls (also field hollers) and street calls (also street cries) served many functions. Singing passed the time, coordinated the movements of workers and offered encouragement. They also communicated human emotions and provided a forum for criticizing whites in positions of authority. The Ballad of America website features “Pick a Bale of Cotton: About the Song”: During the time of slavery and beyond, work on the Southern plantation was often enlivened by the singing of work songs. Singing moved the work along faster and made the physical labor and drudgery a little easier to bear. A bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds, which is more than anyone could really pick in a single day. They chose the great Huddie Ledbetter’s rendition. We know him as Lead Belly. x YouTube Video For a deep dive into Black song history, this 50-minute documentary, “Songs of Slavery and Emancipation,” is an excellent starting point. x YouTube Video Songs of Slavery and Emancipation – 2024 Tour This project is more than just a musical endeavor; it’s a vital historical record. It seeks to educate audiences about the deep roots of African American music and its intrinsic link to the struggle for freedom. As author and scholar Robin D. G. Kelley poignantly asks in his essay that opens the book: “What are we to make of the fact that human beings held as property are responsible for America’s greatest cultural and artistic gift to the world?” Understanding the impact of slavery and its abolition is crucial to grasping the formation of the United States and its lasting influence on today’s world. Kali Akuno, executive director of Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi, underscores the significance of this project, stating, “‘Songs of Slavery and Emancipation’ conveys important history that enlivens our collective memory and helps to keep the spirit of resistance strong and moving forward.” Historical documentaries can sometimes feel dry, but Songs of Slavery and Emancipation brings history to life by centering the film around the powerful recordings made for the CD. The documentary not only showcases moving vocal performances but also weaves in personal stories, historical documents, and images. This approach creates a deeply engaging narrative, told through music that resonates with emotion and meaning. In “A professional song selector shares 15 songs of Black women’s empowerment and freedom,” one of the songs that author Korie Enyard selected was “Driva’ Man” by Abbey Lincoln. “Choppin’ cotton don’t be slow Better finish out your row” “This song is a reminder that Black women bore the brunt of the whip just like Black men. Being a woman was irrelevant. Despite being raped, birthing the master’s children, or watching her kids be sold off to other plantations, she still had to finish the work and fulfill her quota.” Here she is performing it with her husband, drummer Max Roach, as part of the «Freedom Now Suite» on Belgian TV in 1964. x YouTube Video Many Black women found employment as domestic workers after Emancipation. The History Matters website states, in “Sadie’s Servant Room Blues”: 1920s Domestic Work in Song: Domestic service was the most common category of employment for women before World War II; it was particularly important for black women, who were excluded from most other occupations. By 1920 some 40 percent of all domestic workers were African American—and more than 70 percent of all wage-earning African-American women worked as servants or laundresses. The struggles of domestic workers were sometimes recorded in songs like Hattie Burleson’s 1928 “Sadie’s Servant Room Blues,” a musical version of common complaints of domestic workers about long hours, low pay, and lack of privacy.         Here she is singing “Sadie Servant Room Blues”: Missus Jarvis don't pay me much They give me just what they think I'm worth I'm gonna change my mind, yes change my mind Cause I keep the servant room blues all the time I receive my company in the rear Still these folks don't want to see them here Gonna change my mind, yes change my mind Cause I keep the servant room blues all the time I'm gonna change this here room for a nice big flat Gonna let my friends know where I'm livin' at Gonna change my mind, yes change my mind Cause I keep the servant room blues all the time They have a party at noon, a party at night The midnight parties don't ever break up right Gonna change my mind, yes change my mind Cause I keep the servant room blues all the time x YouTube Video Burleson had a rather notorious history, detailed by Texas music critic and journalist Michael Corcoran on his website.  A blues singer who recorded for Brunswick and Paramount and owned the Green Parrot dancehall, Bastrop-born Hattie Burleson was the queen of Deep Ellum in Dallas in the 1920’s. But on Aug. 20, 1919, she looked headed to prison after shooting to death one of Dallas’ most prominent black citizens, Dallas Express founder and editor William Elisha King. According to a front page story in the Aug. 22, 1919 Express, Burleson was driven to the house at 2811 Flora Street where King was recuperating from a streetcar fall. “The lady of the house” was preparing lunch while King, 51, and Burleson talked in the other room. “As their conversation became intensed, the woman drew a .38 calibre pistol from her handbag and shot Mr. King in the chest,” it was reported. The 29-year-old Burleson was identified as King’s former secretary who owned a rooming house at 2516 Swiss Avenue on the same block as the Express offices. There also may have been a romantic relationship. In a May 5, 1942 history of the African-American newspaper, Burleson was described as King’s “female admirer,” but there’s no mention that the killer walked. A recently discovered death certificate indicates that the Hattie C. Burleson who shot King was the future blues singer, who also had the middle initial C. The Express reported that Burleson was from Kaufman County, which is where the singer is buried. Her occupation on the death certificate was “show business.” That’s the career she pursued with passion after she was exonerated in the homicide of King. It’s unknown why she was acquitted, as an arrest affidavit request for the Dallas Police Department found “no responsive documents to your request.” But we can assume the grand jury sided with a claim of self defense by the woman who stood only four and a half feet tall. Another option for women and some men was sex work. Lucille Bogan was an early blues singer who was known for her risque lyrics. Her Blues Foundation bio details her history: Lucille Bogan recorded some of the most memorable blues songs of the pre-World War II era, including some that were landmarks in blues and some that continue to sensationalize her reputation decades after her death. She was the first African-American singer to record blues at a session outside of New York or Chicago when she sang at sessions for OKeh Records set up in a warehouse in Atlanta in 1923, and several of her records were later covered or adapted by various artists who preceded her into the Blues Hall of Fame. But by far the predominant association now made with Bogan is the lewdness of two unexpurgated songs she recorded in 1935 that were not intended for public release. Sexual references were common in blues recording but the proprieties of the day called for them to be disguised in double entendre form. Bogan made a number of those, but presumably, for the entertainment of the recording staff and friends, she used explicit language in “Till the Cows Come Home” and an alternate take of “Shave ’Em Dry” that makes most hardcore rap lyrics seem tame. Though these were “private” recordings, bootleg pressings made their way into circulation and eventually were transferred to legitimate albums in more permissive modern times. Bogan, however, had already long been a favorite among blues collectors and historians for the depth of her talent and recorded repertoire, and was a significant artist in the blues market of the 1920s and ‘30s. She lacked the name recognition of some of her contemporaries because most of her records were released under the pseudonym, Bessie Jackson. Some of her songs embodied controversial themes including prostitution, lesbianism, and—since most were recorded during prohibition—drinking. Some veteran researchers doubt that she lived the rough street life she sometimes sang about, but her lyrics did reflect a familiarity with the underside of polite society. Bogan’s 1923-1935 recordings for OKeh, Paramount, Brunswick, Banner, Melotone, and other labels featured various notable accompanists including Will Ezell, Tampa Red, and Walter Roland. Among her influential records that survived via later artists were the first version of “Black Angel Blues” (later recorded by Tampa Red and Robert Nighthawk, and by B.B. King as “Sweet Little Angel”), “Sloppy Drunk Blues” (Leroy Carr, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, Jimmy Rogers, and others), and “Tricks Ain’t Walking No More” (Memphis Minnie). Here’s her recording of “Tricks Ain’t Walking No More”: Times done got hard, money's done got scarce Stealin' an' robbin' is goin' to take place 'Cos tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more I said tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more An' I'm goin' to rob somebody if I don't make me some dough I'm goin' to learn these walkin' tricks what it's all about I'm goin' to get them in my house and ain't gonna let them out 'Cos tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more I said tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more An' I can't make no money, don't care where I go I got up this mornin', with the risin' sun Bin walkin' all day an' I ain't caught a one 'Cos tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain't walkin' no more I said tricks ain't walkin', tricks ain 't walkin' no more x YouTube Video Interestingly enough, Donna Summer’s disco hit about working hard for her money was not about sex work. It was inspired by an encounter with a Black woman who was a restroom attendant. x YouTube Video ‘She Works Hard For The Money’: The Story Behind Donna Summer’s Hit The 1983 single was inspired by an encounter in an unlikely location. “I went to the ladies’ room with my manager [Susan Muneo], and there was a little woman [in there],” Summer explained on US TV show You Write The Songs in 1986. “We peeked around the corner, and there was a little lady sitting there with her head tilted to the side, and she was just gone – she was asleep […] I looked at her, and my heart just filled up with compassion for this lady, and I thought to myself, ‘God, she works hard for the money, cooped up in this stinky little room all night.’” Summer quickly realized she was onto something with that observation, wrote down the future title, and took it to producer Michael Omartian the next day. Together, they came up with the song – the final track to be written for Summer’s 11th studio album. “She works hard for the money, so you’d better treat her right,” the star sang in the chorus and paid tribute to that restroom attendant, Onetta Johnson, in its line: “Onetta there in the corner stand.” Johnson would also be photographed with Summer for the album’s back cover, with both wearing matching waitress outfits. When thinking about Black work songs, one area that has always interested me is the songs about street vendors and their sales cries. This clip is from the Voices in Time channel, which “celebrates the history of American music and culture by presenting archival musical and photographic materials housed in the Library of Congress.” “African American Folk Music (FL): Watermelon Vendor's Street Call” x YouTube Video Labor Day weekend is also a time that folks get together for one last family outdoor gathering and barbecue, and fresh watermelon is always on my Black family’s menu. Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” has an interesting backstory, detailed in this video from Dave Wave, “The Real Story Behind Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man” (which can’t be embedded here, so see YouTube). Los Angeles KCRK radio host Tyler Boudreaux talks about her memories of watermelon men in the Black community and Herbie Hancock’s inspiration, in “Chasing the Watermelon Man.” In the summer of 2023, the jazz-funk groove of Herbie Hancock’s 1973 recording of “Watermelon Man” bounced into my ears and fixed itself on a loop. And it’s actually a reimagination of Herbie’s original version, a hard bop standard from 1962 which you may recognize. Both versions of “Watermelon Man” are highly influential jazz recordings, and they sent ripples of change throughout American music in the 20th century. As a music lover and a DJ, they’re timeless sounds that visit me often, popping up in the hot summertime or when I accidentally blow into an empty beer bottle. It's a rhythm that comes and goes often, like a passing breeze … but this time around, I just couldn’t shake “Watermelon Man.” I was deep in my feelings when I went to Chicago. While I was in town, I paid a visit to my long-distance cousins who live on the South Side. My Chicago family hadn’t seen me since I was a little girl they called Button Nose, and they wanted to host me and celebrate the nomination of my fruit story. I went over to my cousin Sherai Troxler’s house, where all my cousins gathered. And while catching up over cake and mimosas, we captivated each other with fruitful fascinations. Sherai shared that during the long and brutal Chicago winters, she looked forward to the summertime when the family could get together and enjoy a refreshing watermelon. Here's how she recounted it recently: SHERAI TROXLER: Summertime in Chicago is so fleeting that you kinda want to take in everything that's summertime: the heat, the longer days, time out in the park with your family, and watermelon. It just kinda all goes together: barbecues, watermelon, family. Always in the back of my mind is, in July, I'm going to look for the watermelon man, and I'm going to make sure I get watermelons from him all summer. There's something about just getting the watermelons from the watermelon man during that short window of time when we are just enjoying and making the most of that season. I was intrigued by this annual anticipation of the watermelon man, and the needle in my head dropped on Herbie’s “Watermelon Man groove.” I asked her what was so special about the watermelons from the watermelon man, and she shared that it was mainly the nostalgia. Every watermelon season growing up, Sherai remembers going to a watermelon man truck in Chicago with her mother. Here’s Herbie Hancock’s original: x YouTube Video Mongo Santamaria performs it live: x YouTube Video And here’s Jon Hendricks’ version, with his lyrics. x YouTube Video Join me in the comments section below for more, and please post some of your favorites. Enjoy your weekend. 

When President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to build and operate what it says will become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex, it didn’t turn to a large government contractor or even a firm that specializes in private prisons. Instead, it handed the project on a military base to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small business that has no listed experience running a correction facility and had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million. The company also lacks a functioning website and lists as its address a modest home in suburban Virginia owned by a 77-year-old retired Navy flight officer. The mystery over the award only deepened last week as the new facility began to accept its first detainees. The Pentagon has refused to release the contract or explain why it selected Acquisition Logistics over a dozen other bidders to build the massive tent camp at Fort Bliss in west Texas. At least one competitor has filed a complaint. The secretive — and brisk — contracting process is emblematic, experts said, of the government’s broader rush to fulfill the Republican president's pledge to arrest and deport an estimated 10 million migrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status. As part of that push, the government is turning increasingly to the military to handle tasks that had traditionally been left to civilian agencies. A member of Congress who recently toured the camp said she was concerned that such a small and inexperienced firm had been entrusted to build and run a facility expected to house up to 5,000 migrants. “It’s far too easy for standards to slip,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes Fort Bliss. “Private facilities far too frequently operate with a profit margin in mind as opposed to a governmental facility.” Attorney Joshua Schnell, who specializes in federal contracting law, said he was troubled that the Trump administration has provided so little information about the facility. “The lack of transparency about this contract leads to legitimate questions about why the Army would award such a large contract to a company without a website or any other publicly available information demonstrating its ability to perform such a complicated project,” he said. Ken A. Wagner, the president and CEO of Acquisition Logistics, did not respond to phone messages or emails. No one answered the door at his three-bedroom house listed as his company’s headquarters. Virginia records list Wagner as an owner of the business, though it's unclear whether he might have partners. Army declines to release contract Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved using Fort Bliss for the new detention center, and the administration has hopes to build more at other bases. A spokesperson for the Army declined to discuss its deal with Acquisition Logistics or reveal details about the camp’s construction, citing the litigation over the company’s qualifications. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to answer questions about the detention camp it oversees. Named Camp East Montana for the closest road, the facility is being built in the sand and scrub Chihuahuan Desert, where summertime temperatures can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and heat-related deaths are common. The 60-acre (24-hectare) site is near the U.S.-Mexico border and the El Paso International Airport, a key hub for deportation flights. The camp has drawn comparisons to “Alligator Alcatraz,” a $245 million tent complex erected to hold ICE detainees in the Florida Everglades. That facility has been the subject of complaints about unsanitary conditions and lawsuits. A federal judge recently ordered that facility to be shut down. The vast majority of the roughly 57,000 migrants detained by ICE are housed at private prisons operated by companies like Florida’s Geo Group and Tennessee-based CoreCivic. As those facilities fill up, ICE is also exploring temporary options at military bases in California, New York and Utah. At Fort Bliss, construction began within days of the Army issuing the contract on July 18. Site work began months earlier, before Congress had passed Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill, which includes a record $45 billion for immigration enforcement. The Defense Department announcement specified only that the Army was financing the initial $232 million for the first 1,000 beds at the complex. Three white tents, each about 810 feet long, have been erected, according to satellite imagery examined by The Associated Press. A half dozen smaller buildings surround them. Related | Alligator Alcatraz 0, Environment 1—for now Setareh Ghandehari, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Detention Watch, said the use of military bases hearkens back to World War II, when Japanese Americans were imprisoned at Army camps including Fort Bliss. She said military facilities are especially prone to abuse and neglect because families and loved ones have difficulty accessing them. “Conditions at all detention facilities are inherently awful,” Ghandehari said. “But when there’s less access and oversight, it creates the potential for even more abuse.” Company will be responsible for security A June 9 solicitation notice for the Fort Bliss project specified the contractor will be responsible for building and operating the detention center, including providing security and medical care. The document also requires strict secrecy, ordering the contractor inform ICE to respond to any calls from members of Congress or the news media. The bidding was open only to small firms such as Acquisition Logistics, which receives preferential status because it's classified as a veteran and Hispanic-owned small disadvantaged business. Though Trump's administration has fought to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs, federal contracting rules include set-asides for small businesses owned by women or minorities. For a firm to compete for such contracts, at least 51% of it must be owned by people belonging to a federally designated disadvantaged racial or ethnic group. Related | Trump says he wants other states to build migrant detention centers after Florida tour One of the losing bidders, Texas-based Gemini Tech Services, filed a protest challenging the award and the Army’s rushed construction timeline with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’ independent oversight arm that resolves such disputes. Gemini alleges Acquisition Logistics lacks the experience, staffing and resources to perform the work, according to a person familiar with the complaint who wasn't authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Acquisition Logistics' past jobs include repairing small boats for the Air Force, providing information technology support to the Defense Department and building temporary offices to aid with immigration enforcement, federal records show. Gemini and its lawyer didn't respond to messages seeking comment. A ruling by the GAO on whether to sustain, dismiss or require corrective action is not expected before November. A legal appeal is also pending with a U.S. federal court in Washington. Schnell, the contracting lawyer, said Acquisitions Logistics may be working with a larger company. Geo Group Inc. and CoreCivic Corp., the nation’s biggest for-profit prison operators, have expressed interest in contracting with the Pentagon to house migrants. In an earnings call this month, Geo Group CEO George Zoley said his company had teamed up with an established Pentagon contractor. Zoley didn't name the company, and Geo Group didn’t respond to repeated requests asking with whom it had partnered. A spokesperson for CoreCivic said it wasn't partnering with Acquisition Logistics or Gemini.

The numbers may grow as the state collects more data. Some districts adopted the plan not for its religious emphasis but for more funding and to better align with teaching requirements. By Jaden Edison for The Texas Tribune More than 300 Texas school districts and charter schools have signaled plans to use a state-developed reading and language arts curriculum that attracted national attention last year for its heavy references to the Bible and Christianity, according to data obtained by The Texas Tribune. That number represents about a quarter of Texas’ 1,207 districts and charters and could still grow before the state publishes official data in the early fall. But the preliminary numbers offer an early glimpse into demand for the elementary school materials narrowly approved by the Republican-dominated State Board of Education in November. The Texas Education Agency asks schools to submit information on the instructional materials they plan to use each year to ensure their compliance with state learning standards. The Tribune obtained data through an open records request on the schools planning to use the TEA’s new Bluebonnet curriculum, which includes the religion-infused reading lessons as well as phonics and math materials. According to the data, about 595 districts and charters signed up as of late June to use at least some parts of the curriculum, and about 317 said they would use the reading lessons. Adoption of the reading curriculum was most prevalent in the Kilgore, Amarillo and Victoria regions; it was least prevalent around Beaumont, Austin and El Paso. The Tribune reached out to over a dozen district officials and school board members to ask them about their decision on whether to adopt the curriculum. Of the districts that do plan to use the reading materials, many said the religious components did not factor into their choice. Their reasons included accessing the additional funding districts qualify for when they opt in; aligning their instruction with what the state expects children to learn; and avoiding punitive measures from the state if students do not perform up to par on Texas’ standardized exams, which could include removal of a district’s superintendent and elected board members. “We struggle financially to meet the needs of our people,” said Stacey Brister, superintendent of the Little Cypress-Mauriceville school district, in rural Southeast Texas. “If they're going to give you additional monies to buy resources that you might not be able to have, then you have to take a serious look at stuff like that.” At least one charter school that the TEA data indicated was planning to use the reading lessons told the Tribune it will not. That charter and another district said they decided against it because they believed the state’s curriculum lacked academic rigor. Related | Separation of church and state keeps getting muddled in MAGAland Switching from one curriculum to another is a significant undertaking, and other schools could be taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding whether to use the state-designed materials. “We wouldn't expect universal uptake within the first few years for any kind of massive shift in policy like this,” said Mary Lynn Pruneda, director of education and workforce policy for the research and advocacy group Texas 2036. The state education agency did not comment on whether the current demand for Bluebonnet’s reading portion matched its expectations. In a statement, it expressed a commitment to supporting any district using instructional materials “aligned to state standards and built based on the best cognitive science” and noted that Bluebonnet successfully went through the State Board of Education’s exhaustive vetting process. “Evidence clearly indicates that high-quality instructional materials lead to increased learning for students and, ultimately, success in the classroom and beyond,” said TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky. Bluebonnet was approved by a narrow 8-7 majority of the State Board of Education last year, overcoming concerns from religious scholars that the reading lessons favored Christianity over other faith traditions, pushback from advocacy groups that the materials inappropriately prioritized preaching over teaching, and worries from Texans that the curriculum would isolate some students and grant the state too much say in how children learn about religion. As first reported by the Tribune, many had also criticized how the reading materials — which include social studies and historical topics — watered down America’s history of civil rights, racism and slavery. For example, one lesson instructs teachers to tell students that Founding Fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson “realized that slavery was wrong and founded the country so that Americans could be free,” without mentioning they enslaved people. On the religion front, another activity requests that children memorize the order in which the Bible says God created the universe. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other organizations sent a letter to districts earlier this year urging them to avoid the reading materials, saying they would «unlawfully impose a set of religious beliefs upon your students and violate their constitutionally guaranteed right to be free from religious coercion.» The groups suggested a willingness to pursue legal action to stop schools from teaching the curriculum. The Tribune could not reach the ACLU of Texas’ legal team for comment before publication. Supporters of Bluebonnet say the biblical references will provide students with an enhanced understanding of U.S. and world history. They say the materials cover a broad range of faiths and only make references to religion when appropriate. And TEA officials say the curriculum offers students an in-depth, age-appropriate understanding of the abolition of slavery, events like Juneteenth and the Civil Rights Movement, and the contributions of Black Texans. A granite Ten Commandments monument at the Texas Capitol in Austin on May 29. Bluebonnet is free to use. The state believes its scripted teaching format will help ensure educators can spend more time focusing on instruction and less time on planning. It offers an incentive of $60 per student to districts that choose to use it, which can help cover printing costs. The religious references only make up a fraction of the reading curriculum, and using Bluebonnet does not necessarily mean a school plans to teach biblical lessons in their classrooms. They could, for example, ignore any chapters that reference Christianity and other religions. Or they could choose to heavily lean on the biblical lessons while using another curriculum for other teachings. Some districts said their decision to use Bluebonnet had nothing to do with religion. ​​“We don't make it an issue,” said Michael Lee, superintendent of the Booker Independent School District, located in a conservative Christian community in the Texas Panhandle. “If students ask questions, we'll answer them. We're not going to push our own values and beliefs on them in the classroom.” The Booker district instead said it adopted the curriculum because its leaders wanted learning materials that directly aligned with what the state requires students to know — similar to what the district had when it used CSCOPE, a curriculum delivery system that provided lesson plans to Texas schools over a decade ago before lawmakers complained that it contained a so-called anti-American agenda. The roughly 330-student rural district hopes Bluebonnet will offer that alignment and help students perform better on standardized tests. As a school community with a predominantly low-income student body, it also does not want to leave the money that comes with the state curriculum on the table. Bluebonnet is Texas’ version of a curriculum developed by a New York-based publishing company called Amplify, which did not include the biblical materials. Hundreds of districts used Amplify before the state awarded an $84 million contract to another company for revisions to the program, as first reported by the education news organization The 74. The Little Cypress-Mauriceville school district in rural East Texas was one of them. District leaders see Bluebonnet as “just a continuation” of the curriculum they started using about three years ago, with the added bonus of more state funding and an opportunity to align their teachings with state requirements and improve their rating in Texas’ academic accountability system. The schools’ largely conservative community has not raised any concerns with Bluebonnet’s religious components, said Brister, the superintendent. Texas has recently endeavored to expose public school students to more religion, specifically Christianity. In the last legislative session, Republican lawmakers passed bills allowing districts to establish a policy providing students and staff a daily period of prayer or time to read a religious text, requiring that every public school classroom display a poster of the Ten Commandments, and providing $243 million to the state education agency to support schools adopting Bluebonnet. Some districts using Bluebonnet acknowledge that the presence of religion in schools can present difficulties to the teachers wanting to ensure every child in their classroom feels included and represented. Jessica Parker, the K-12 principal and curriculum director in rural West Texas’ Irion County Independent School District, appreciates the funding the district gets for using Bluebonnet and how it helps keep teachers aligned with state requirements. She believes it will be important that teachers review their lessons and identify any aspects that may not resonate well with children. She also encourages her educators to actively inform parents about what’s happening in the classroom. “We don't want to cut things out,” Parker said. “But we will if it is what’s absolutely necessary to avoid trying to portray that we fall in a certain religious line or we fall in a certain political line.” For now, most of the state’s schools will likely continue on without Bluebonnet’s reading lessons. Sandy Denning, an associate superintendent who oversees curriculum for the Keene Independent School District, told the Tribune that Bluebonnet’s reading materials currently do not meet the level of rigor the district wants. She did not point to any specific parts but described the problem as “across the board.” Related | Majority of US adults support religious chaplains in public schools Mackee Mason, chief academic officer for Austin Achieve Public Schools, a charter school network, identified the same concern, adding that the curriculum does not do a good job incorporating phonics or the science of reading, a widely used body of research that focuses on how children learn to read. Both Keene ISD and Austin Achieve plan to use the math portion of the curriculum. Aside from that, Mason said his schools’ predominantly Black and Hispanic parents do not necessarily rely on the state to present history or other important lessons accurately. “If it had some things that were a little ‘meh,’ but it was super rigorous, alright, cool. Let's adopt that and see how we do it,” Mason said, referring to the Bluebonnet reading materials. “But you're doing that, and it's not rigorous enough? We're not going to go that direction.” Disclosure: ACLU Texas and Texas 2036 have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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After 60 years funding NPR, PBS and local stations, CPB will shut down, erasing news and culture for millions

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | Republican has infuriating response to Minneapolis shooting

Injustice for All is a weekly series about how the Trump administration is trying to weaponize the justice system—and the people who are fighting back. Hell yeah, Hunter Biden keeps winning Remember the Hunter Biden laptop guy? John Paul Mac Isaac is the computer repairman who handed a copy of Biden’s hard drive over to Rudy Giuliani, kicking off years of GOP accusations and investigations. Nearly three years ago, in a Trumpy little move, Mac Isaac sued Biden, Sen. Adam Schiff, CNN, and Politico for defaming him, whining that he was falsely smeared as a Russian agent.  But Mac Isaac’s feelings festival came to an end earlier this week when the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of Mac Isaac’s claims.  Mac Isaac was irate over the following comment Biden made as the laptop story exploded in 2020: There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be that I was hacked. It could be that it was the – that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me. Or that there was a laptop stolen from me. You’ll note that the statement doesn’t name Mac Isaac. It doesn’t mention his store. It doesn’t say a thing about him, but nonetheless, Mac Isaac was pretty sure he was the real victim here. Sure, he’s made a career out of his Hunter Biden notoriety, writing a book about it, going on Fox News podcasts, selling thumb drives of the laptop’s contents, but just imagine his heartbreak at hearing Biden say literally nothing about him at all? Mac Isaac will have to content himself with making money on the right-wing grift circuit instead. Next stop for Hunter? Continuing to laugh at Melania Trump’s threat of a billion-dollar lawsuit. Half a billion dollars in treats is still not enough for Trump Donald Trump ended last week with a $500 billion gift from a New York state appellate court ruling which wiped out his civil fraud penalty for his cute little habit of lying to banks—a thing which is fine and cool and good when Trump does it, but for anyone else is allegedly grounds for termination and prosecution. So Trump and his crime family are appealing his … win. He wants the sanctions in the judgment gone, because he should never ever suffer any consequences. Of course, Trump declared TOTAL VICTORY when the penalty was tossed, which makes slinking off to the court to ask if they’d pretty please also say he didn’t actually commit any fraud even more hilarious.  Jack Smith to Tom Cotton: lol nope Sen. Tom Cotton has always taken his cues from Trump, and makes a vicious little ferret of a sidekick. That’s why the Arkansas lawmaker filed an absolutely unhinged ethics complaint against former special counsel Jack Smith, alleging that Smith violated the Hatch Act by investigating and prosecuting Trump.  It’s so cute when Republicans pretend to care about the Hatch Act, which limits the sort of partisan political activities federal employees may engage in. Here’s a report about 13 senior Trump officials violating the Act during his first term. Here’s a whole congressional hearing about all the violations. Here’s the administration loosening the Hatch Act rules during Trump’s second term so all the goons he’s stuffed into government can wear MAGA hats. Really. Neither Trump nor Cotton can conceive that anyone’s actions are taken honestly, rather than in the cynical, weaselly, bullying way they act. So, Cotton’s ethics complaint framed the totally normal actions Smith took as a prosecutor, such as asking the court for permission to file a longer brief or requesting a trial date, as somehow instead an attempt to influence the 2024 election.  The letter Smith’s attorneys filed in response is blistering, and points out that Cotton’s view of the Hatch Act would mean any politician could avoid prosecution simply by announcing they were running for office—which, come to think of it, is pretty much exactly how it ended up working out for Trump after all. But the mere fact that anyone ever investigated Trump’s open and obvious crimes is, as far as crony Cotton is concerned, the real crime.  Third Circuit to Republicans: lol nope On Tuesday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state of Pennsylvania to toss mail-in ballots when voters don’t include the correct date on the return envelope. Republicans have been desperately trying to suppress voting in the swing state and are fully-aligned with Trump’s unhinged war on mail-in ballots.  Judge D. Brooks Smith, a George W. Bush appointee, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, wrote that the date requirement “imposes a burden on Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to vote” and “culminates in county election boards discarding thousands of ballots each time an election is held. The date requirement will not protect against the vast majority of attempts at voter fraud.” Tell that to the weirdo election denier from Pennsylvania who just landed an administration job thanks to her election conspiracy bona fides. She’s gotta be incandescent with rage.  Trump judge lets Trump do what Trump wants, as per usual U.S. District Judge Lance Walker, a Trump appointee, helped the administration kick in the teeth of a network of Maine clinics that provide health care to low-income residents in the state. The clinics are a casualty of the GOP’s war on Planned Parenthood, with the One Big Beautiful Bill blocking all Medicaid funding to any clinic that provides abortions—despite, of course, the fact that the Hyde Amendment has barred federal Medicaid funding for abortions for decades. So, too bad, low-income people in Maine who need other health care services like birth control. It’s not so much that Walker ruled against the clinics, but what he said when he did it. He declared that it would be a “special kind of judicial hubris” to defy the “big beautiful bill.” Man, show some dignity and at least pretend you understand your role in the ever-eroding system of checks and balances. Caping like this is just embarrassing. 

As President Donald Trump continues to play fantasy dictator, ruining lives and threatening U.S. democracy, Democratic leaders have finally started hitting back—hard.  And it’s all on video! Watch Newsom troll the sh-t out of Trump with real crime statistics x x YouTube Video California Gov. Gavin Newsom will not stop trolling Trump—with facts. During a press conference on public safety last week, Newsom offered the president some important crime statistics he seems to have overlooked. 'A bunch of sh-t': Walz spits fire against Trump's petty tyranny x x YouTube Video Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz didn’t mince words on Aug. 25 at the Democratic National Convention’s summer meeting in Minneapolis, taking aim at the deterioration of the country under Trump.  Trump gets a ridiculous badge for turning DC into a police state x x YouTube Video Trump received a made-for-TV honorific for turning Washington into a police state on Aug. 25, with U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta presenting him with an honorary marshal’s badge.  Watch this Trump Cabinet meeting devolve into ass-kissing assembly x x YouTube Video Trump held one of his cult-of-personality Cabinet meetings on Aug. 26, which quickly devolved into a session of his minions lathering him up with obsequious praise. Trump says he can do 'anything' he wants x x YouTube Video Trump went full dictator on Aug. 26 when he was asked about Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's rejection of federal troops that are set to be deployed to Chicago. Republican has infuriating response to Minneapolis shooting x x YouTube Video Fox News pundit and former GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, whose time in Congress was spent shilling for the pro-gun National Rifle Association, continues making excuses for a gun-obsessed society following the Aug. 27 mass shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Another week, another ceaseless attack on U.S. democracy from Republicans. At least democrats are finally starting to fight back. For more video content, check out Daily Kos on YouTube.

A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Related | Republican has infuriating response to Minneapolis shooting

The past few weeks of conservative politics have been jam-packed with demonstrations of fear and cowardice, poking holes in their facade as tough guys (and gals). For instance, senior White House aide Stephen Miller took a break from creating policies meant to hurt immigrants and appeared in the Oval Office, alongside President Donald Trump, to inform the world how afraid he is of parks in Washington, D.C. Praising Trump’s installation of federal law enforcement and National Guard members in the nation’s capital, Miller explained, “For the first time in their lives, they can use the parks, they can walk on the streets. You have people who can walk freely at night without having to worry about being robbed or mugged. They are wearing their watches again.” x x YouTube Video Every year, millions of people visit Washington and have no problem with the parks. Little babies are fine there. People wear watches. Trump’s deployment to the city has been a serious affront to locals, particularly the city’s large Black population, but it has also exposed a falsehood at the center of Republican fearmongering. The National Guard on the ground is largely focusing on trash pickup and responding to traffic accidents, despite the administration’s apocalyptic rhetoric. The most high-profile crime the deployment has handled so far is a sandwich thrower they couldn’t convince a grand jury to indict. The right has a lot invested in their image as the strongest people in American politics. From MAGA red hats to George W. Bush fanboys wearing cowboy hats, the conservative movement has embraced “macho” as its aesthetic for decades. But more often than not they have been utter cowards, displaying weakness on a host of issues facing Americans. Then-President Ronald Reagan, shown in 1987. For instance, when the AIDS/HIV crisis began to haunt the country in the 1980s, then-President Ronald Reagan did not confront the problem directly. Because the disease first surfaced in the LGBTQ+ community, and that was where a majority of the deaths initially occurred, Reagan ignored the problem. Behind closed doors, his team laughed at the tragedy. In public, he would barely say a word, refusing to have the courage to exhibit basic compassion and humanity for his fellow Americans because they were gay. The religious right also embraced homophobia, attacking LGBTQ+ people for the purported sin of their existence. One of the most prominent bigots in the movement was Rev. Jerry Falwell, a key ally of the Republican Party who whipped up a homophobic frenzy while pushing to deliver votes for the party. But Falwell was a coward. In 1991, after being confronted by counterprotesters, Falwell whined to the Los Angeles Times, “Everyone in the hotel was frightened. I think they intended to do me harm.” A decade later, Falwell (and fellow coward Pat Robertson) was busy blaming the 9/11 terrorist attacks on gay people, abortion, and feminists. Former President George W. Bush, on whose watch 9/11 happened, loved to embrace the tough-guy aesthetic. He posed in a cowboy hat on his ranch and described al-Qaida terrorists as “evildoers.” But same-sex marriage terrified him. Bush was so afraid of people entering into matrimony that, in 2004, he backed a constitutional amendment that would restrict marriage rights to opposite-sex couples. He described it as a “serious matter of national concern.” In right-wing media, Bill O’Reilly, then a host on Fox News, issued serious warnings to his viewers that legal same sex marriage would lead to weddings with dolphins, goats, turtles, and other animals. Then-candidate George W. Bush tries on a cowboy hat in St. Louis, in October 2000. Years later, when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the only “serious matter” has been the size and scope of wedding cakes. Bush was also at the forefront of sharing his fear with the public. His administration pushed a color-coded terrorism alert system. It was a manifestation of cowardice that permeated his administration, leaving the capture of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden to his successor, President Barack Obama. Bush’s signature policy—the disastrous invasion of Iraq—was about fear of al-Qaida and their nonexistent alliance with the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. The conservative National Rifle Association echoed Bush-style cowardice more than a decade later, telling their supporters in 2014 that they needed guns because militants from the Islamic State group, commonly known as ISIS, could be outside their homes. Trump’s cowardice has been on display for his entire career as a political figure. He launched his first presidential campaign by talking about his fear of Mexican immigrants, citing the absurd need for a border wall to protect against them. There seems to be nothing Trump is more afraid of than brown-skinned people, especially if that person is former President Barack Obama. Trump still invokes Obama as a boogeyman more than eight years after the Democrat left office. More recently, attempting to bolster Trump’s actions against D.C., Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee claimed he sleeps in his office because he’s so afraid of Washington residents. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin bragged that he breaks local laws and doesn’t drive with a seatbelt in D.C., because he’s supposedly living in constant terror of being carjacked. Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard talk with a man outside of Union Station in Washington on Aug. 24. Conservatism is about tearing things down, not building them up. The movement would rather spread wild fantasies about American cities as urban hellscapes instead of admitting that cities have been at the forefront of American innovation on several community-oriented issues. The right could look at these policies and leaders and come up with ways to implement them in rural and suburban areas, but they’re too afraid to admit that their ideas simply haven’t worked. This is a big reason why they embrace fear and cowardice. Demonizing the other has always been the easy way out. Denigrating human beings, using the power of the state to shut down outside ideas and voices—that’s what cowards do. And that’s what the conservative movement, from Trump at the top and all the way down, does every day of its existence.

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