Felon Is Not A Dirty Word

Guest post today by my friend Jamila Levasseur, seen here testifying in favor of divestment from Israel at the University of Maine Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month. She's an alum of the University of Southern Maine, as am I, but we know each other from standing with the Palestinian resistance, opposing genocide, and waging a "Stop Arming Israel" campaign here in our state.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT FELONIES

By Jamila Levasseur

“Felon” is not a dirty word.

At least it shouldn’t be. But lately I’ve been noticing a disturbing new trend in liberal protest signage. Somebody came up with “F-ELON + FELON” and it’s popping up amidst other signs at rallies calling out disastrous threats to free speech, cuts to healthcare and education, environmental regulation rollbacks and firing of civil service workers.

A “F-ELON + FELON” sign even showed up at the weekly downtown standout I attend where a bunch of us gather every week to protest the Israel/U.S. genocide of Palestinian people. We’ve been doing this since October 2023. Some of us wave Palestinian flags, others carry messages intended to remind folks that guided missile systems made right here in Maine along with our tax dollars and complacency are responsible for incinerating entire families in Gaza.

What’s with these FELON signs? Is this someone’s idea of clever?

Jamila being arrested while protesting at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard July 2024. 

The U.S. locks up more people than any other country in the world, and the latest figures I could find (from 2010) estimated there are 19 million people in this great country who are burdened with the collateral consequences of a felony conviction. This includes both those currently and formerly incarcerated, and the number is undoubtedly even higher today. Black and Brown and poor people are disproportionately represented in these figures.

The staggering rate of felony convictions is the result of our profit-driven industry of mass incarceration, systemic racism, crippling poverty in a country run on capitalist greed, draconian drug laws, and a host of other factors. None of this should be surprising. For too long we’ve been mostly passive, while oligarchs from the two major political parties drag us into further decline.

Genocide-enabler Biden was also the architect behind Clinton-era “criminal justice reform” and therefore responsible for not only the mass carnage in Gaza but the era of mass incarceration in the U.S. He’s an unindicted war criminal, but he’ll get away with it and Democrats will line up to buy his sanitized memoir when it hits Amazon’s warehouse bins.

I’m not plugging Amazon here, quite the contrary. Support your local independent bookstore! There are lots of reasons to boycott Amazon, including the cloud technology it provides to Israel’s military to make apartheid more efficient and deadlier for Palestinians. If that doesn’t bother you, what about Amazon’s abysmal rates of worker injuries in its fast-paced warehouses?

But I digress.

Trump and his billionaire buddy Elon are criminals too, and surely there are plenty of nasty words that could be used to describe them. Surely you can come up with something more creative than FELON.

When you use the word FELON pejoratively, it is a slap in the face to every parent who’s got a child in prison, every son or daughter who only gets to see their mom or dad in the confines of a stifling visiting room with plastic chairs, vending machines and patrolling guards, every spouse who waits for that fifteen-minute monitored phone call to let them know their husband or wife survived another day of hell.  When you use FELON like it was a dirty word, you are pissing on every person in this country whose felony conviction limits their career choices, their housing options, their possibilities of a decent paycheck and maybe their voting rights.

Photo sent to me by Ken Jones of North Carolina in response to my saying recent rallies in opposition to 47's administration lacked pro-Palestine messaging.

While neither Democrat nor Republican war criminals will ever see a day behind bars, there are lots of fine, principled women and men in this country – former political prisoners with felony convictions – who continue to work every day for an end to genocide, militarism, racism, poverty and environmental devastation.  These are people who paid huge prices to try and create a better world. They didn’t wait till Trump got elected to get out there with protest signs. They continue to hit the streets, to educate, to organize.

So please, stop using FELON as a dirty word.

Sourcing Seeds While Boycotting Israel, Part 2

I'm following up on my original Sourcing Seeds While Boycotting Israel post which shared research conducted by my friend Mary Dunn and has 6,000+ views to date. This is clearly a topic of keen interest in the days before spring arrives in the northern hemisphere amidst ongoing genocide in Gaza.

I am thrilled to share that my husband reached out to the farmer who starts our seeds for us -- a necessity for many veggies here in central Maine with its short growing season. She was happy to grow the seeds we provide rather than using seeds from Johnny's, a Maine seed company that has not pledged to boycott Israeli seeds. I am relieved because growing our own starts required a lot of work and still never achieved robust ready-for-planting seedlings that support better harvests.

A somewhat outdated article in the Bangor Daily News caused confusion for some of us as it seemed to contradict what Mary found about Maine seed company Fedco. But her contacts with Fedco are more recent and found this:

Hi Lisa,

Fedco has not pledged to stop carrying Israeli seed and personally, I doubt they will. 

6 months into the genocide they posted on their Insta page that they supported a ceasefire. It took them 6 months to say that. They have said they did not buy Israeli seeds this year. (They had enough in stock). They have not said they will never buy Israeli seed again. 

They have never called for the liberation of Palestinian people. 

I emailed again two weeks ago. No reply.  I call them the worst form of BS. Presenting themselves as a company with a social justice bent when in fact they aren’t. 

Time for an LTE. 

Thanks for sharing.

Mary

PS- Johnny's has never replied to anyone.

 

Finally, I call your attention to a blogger I respect who addresses a burning question of the 21st century: Can We Feed Ourselves Just Out Of Our Vegetable Gardens? Kollibri terre Sonnenblume has returned to this question several times over the years sharing the result of many cooperative attempts to do so. The short answer is "No" but the long answer is fascinating and can be summed up by his subhed: "Anything helps and what you learn will be valuable." I would say this is true of his blog overall as he approaches subjects like climate change and sustainable growing with deep philosophical understanding.

(All garden photos mine. Here are a couple more to say, I'm also very thankful for food crops that don't need replanting each year!)

Zionist Ceasefire = Keep Killing

Mahmoud Sleem, one of the three journalists killed by Israel on March 15, 2025

What is often called "the West" is now, in my mind, the Zionist Empire. One of its chief characteristics is being incapable of making agreements that it actually agrees to, as opposed to pretending to agree to. The current "ceasefire" in Gaza is a case in point. Yesterday Israel used drone strikes to kill eight Palestinians in Beit Lehiya, including Mahmoud Sleem, one of three journalists covering humanitarian relief effort. 

People mourn Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

Israel has killed 200+ journalists to keep the truth of its genocide from reaching the rest of us; it kills doctors and ambulance drivers to keep wounded Palestinians from surviving; and it targets children and their mothers to keep any Palestinians from surviving. It's not so much "mowing the grass" in the odious Zionist euphemism for periodic massacres in Gaza, but more like digging the grass up and then sowing the earth with salt.

Did I mention cutting of aid trucks that are supposed to be allowed in to bring food and other supplies during the so-called ceasefire?

Did I mention cutting off electricity which also has the effect of rendering water desalinization facilities inoperable?

Did I mention it's Ramadan right now when devout Muslims take no food or water from sun up to sundown?

The Yemeni health ministry says 31 people have been killed and 101 wounded, mostly women and children

Ansarallah gave Zionists an ultimatum with five days to comply: either meet the terms of the ceasefire or we will resume our attacks on shipping that supports Israel. So Israel, with full U.S. support, doubled down. After a final warning the Yemenis went back to doing what they do best: shaming other nations by actually supporting Palestinians as opposed to just paying lip service. They've been bombed by the U.S. in retaliation but have vowed to carry on fighting while fasting. Spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement:

The maritime embargo declared by Yemen in support of Gaza is limited only to Israeli navigation until humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of Gaza, according to the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian resistance and the enemy entity.

Confused voters in the U.S. are claiming surprise that 47 is bombing Yemen, and supplying Israel with the weapons to keep bombing Gaza. And Lebanon. And bulldozing villages in the West Bank where it's estimated 20,000 have been displaced this year.

Here's how that particular charade goes:

Campaign for elected office in the U.S. promising to end current wars.

Escalate current wars & restart ones that had been paused.

Rinse and repeat, because U.S. voters are just about as gullible as the corporate press tells them to be.

Voters in the U.S. are pretty damn mad right now, but not about that. They're mad about domestic spending cuts, federal workforce reductions, and how the "opposition" i.e. Democratic Party declines to take effective action on behalf of people's needs.

Go to any one of the many, many anti-47 and anti-elongated muskrat rallies and tell me if you see a single sign objecting to the continuing U.S.-Israel genocide in Gaza.

I certainly haven't. But I did stand this week with three others in front of a factory in Saco, Maine that makes guidance systems for the bombs General Dynamics sends to Israel. One held a sign she'd made that said, RELEASE THE 10,000 PALESTINIAN HOSTAGES.

Not everyone is confused by violent ceasefires and hostage releases followed by re-arrests.

Among those not confused: Jewish Voice for Peace members arrested for occupying 47's flagship hotel in Manhattan. Their message: FREE MAHMOUD (Khalil) FREE PALESTINE.

Blueshift Aerospace 0-2 On Rocket Launch Site Attempts In Maine

Signage displayed near the polls for eight hours on March 11.

A victory for the people of coastal Maine this week as the town of Steuben voted nearly 2 to 1 to ban commercial rocket launches from its beautiful coast. It was the second town to refuse Blueshift's proposal to build an offshore rocket launch site, the first being nearby Jonesport.

The ordinance went into effect immediately and also bans any rocket building, any use by the Maine Space Corporation, and any use by the U.S. Space Force. It also prohibits "retrieval of launch vehicles or payloads within the boundaries of the town."

It prohibits a whole lot more, too, and you can read the ordinance as passed here on the town's website.

Almost seems like someone who knew what they were doing created such a comprehensive ban. That person would be seaweed harvester Larch Hanson who has shared the content of two mass mailings he sent prior to the March 11 referendum. He is also ready and willing to support other towns that may need to defend their coastal waters from for-profit rocket companies in the future.  "Happy to consult with the next town, and refine the message and the process," says Hanson who can be reached at hanson.larch@gmail.com.

Steuben is outlined in red on this map.

Here's text from the mailer sent one month before the referendum:

Dear Neighbors in Steuben, please mark your calendars for two important dates:

1. On Saturday, February 15th, at 1 p.m., there will be an informational meeting about the

proposed Commercial Rocket Launch Ordinance at the Steuben Volunteer Fire Department.

Please share what you know! Many of you have spoken to me in favor of the proposed ordinance.

Some of you have direct life experience with managing and monitoring the handling of explosives at the

federal level, and you’ve shared reports with me that are eye-opening. Some of you have been directly

harmed by the chemicals in flame retardant foams used to fight intense fires. You’ve made me aware of

how hazardous working in the secretive culture of rocketry and the military can be. Please tell your story.

Some of you are hospital workers and EMT’s who recognize the fact that our current health system is

broken, and that we could not adequately respond to poisonings and catastrophic accidents related to

rocket production and launchings, especially given the fact that rocket companies are secretive,

refusing to publicly list all the chemicals and possible hazards involved in their processes. (In

Aroostook County, VALT has concealed the location of their rocket launches to such an extent that even

the sheriff doesn’t know when and where they occur.)

Some of you have worked in aerospace and are bound by nondisclosure agreements. You’ve told me

privately, “I know too much,” and that you would like to share more, but you’re afraid of retribution.

Some of you are aware that bluShiftAerospace will require firefighters to sign nondisclosure agreements.

The company is just a place holder; once established, many more companies will follow, and these

companies won’t even bother pretending to be “green”. (“Biofuel” is just a word used to distract people.)

Many of you are fishermen who understand that marine life is sensitive to chemical pollution and strong

vibrations, and you don’t want to lose your livelihoods. You understand, as I do, that “the greenest

business is the one with the shortest hauling path”. The marketing emphasis here is on LOCALLY

SOURCED CLEAN SEAFOOD. Compare: It’s a long hauling path to Mars, and Mars has vast perchlorate

deserts that are toxic to human life. In 2016, Maine’s CDC set a limit of 0.8 parts per billion for

perchlorate in drinking water. That’s how toxic it is! Perchlorate blocks transport of iodine to the thyroid

which makes regulatory hormones centered on the stable element of iodine. Marine life will

concentrate perchlorate and introduce it into the food web. Perchlorate, a forever chemical, is

associated with the manufacture and use of rocket fuels, munitions, fireworks, and air bag inflators. The

feds refuse to regulate perchlorate; they are the biggest contributors to this problem which robs us all of

our ability to self-regulate, develop strong immune systems, and raise normal healthy smart children.

Some of you have sent me articles describing the failures of federal regulatory agencies to do what they

were created to do. For instance, the E.P.A. and F.A.A. have failed to regulate forever chemicals, and as

a result we are losing more and more soil and water resources. I grew up in southwest Minnesota where

farmers polluted their surface wells with herbicides and pesticides, so the state drilled deep wells and

piped water to all the farms. This is a stopgap solution. The farmers are still spraying toxic herbicides

and pesticides, and it’s just a matter of time before these chemicals reach the deep water table.

In the late 1960’s, I lived in northern Florida where spring fed rivers lush with eel grass attracted

manatees, but now, due to pollution, the eel grass is gone and the manatees are starving to death. For a

while, I lived in Sarasota and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. Due to a leaking oil rig disaster, that body of

water no longer supports fishermen. On the east coast, the estuaries adjacent to Cape Canaveral are

polluted with forever chemicals related to rockets, and one has to travel north to St. Augustine before

one can find locally caught fresh seafood. Don’t let this happen to the downeast coast of Maine!

2. Tuesday, March 11th, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. is the day when we all can vote to pass the

ordinance, and if you can’t be here, you can get an absentee ballot at the town office.

Rest in the Light, abide in the Heart. Larch Hanson

Just before the vote this mailer was sent to registered voters in Steuben:

Once our water is polluted by forever chemicals, there’s no getting it back.

Dear Neighbors,

On Tuesday, March 11th, the polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and

please vote YES to enact an ordinance that bans conventional rocket

launchings in Steuben. Absentee ballots are also available.

Sascha Deri, CEO of bluShift Aerospace and a board member of Maine

Space Corporation, has written in his very own brochure that Maine Space

Corporation’s overall plan could attract “out-of-state competitors using

toxic propellants”. In Aroostook County, as reported by Melissa Lizotte in

the Bangor Daily News, September 11th, 2024, VALT rocket launching

company is secretly launching rockets over Aroostook County……so

secretly, in fact, that not even the sheriff was notified of the location of the

launchings. There’s been no environmental impact study, no community

vote, before proceeding to application for a license to the Federal

Aviation Agency - a process that was promised in Maine Space Complex’s

“Draft Strategic Plan Report” dated 2/11/2022. Welcome to the Wild West!

Mr. Deri and his workers are at risk of exposure to toxic “forever

chemicals” known as PFAS after a malfunction unleashed a staggering

51,540 gallons of firefighting foam in one of the hangars at Brunswick

Landing, home of bluShift Aerospace. It’s the largest accidental spill of

such foam in the state’s history, and the sixth-largest in the U.S. in the past

30 years. See https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2024/08/

massive-brunswick-pfas-spill-maines-largest-ever-firefighting-foam

And guess what? Mr. Deri has signed a contract to launch human and pet

cremains into space. What does this have to do with science? Couldn’t

he find anything better to do with a rocket? It’s wasteful. https://

www.mainebiz.biz/article/in-7m-deal-blushift-signs-shackleton-

descendant-for-unconventional-launches This is not a path with heart.

There’s a video that sums it all up, including interviews with residents of

Brownsville, Texas, about the progressive degradation of the environment

as a result of Elon Musk’s Space X takeover of the town, and since he’s

working with Trump to eliminate regulation, this is a preview of what will

come to Steuben if we don’t assert our right of home rule per Maine state

law. Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cZEZoa8rW0

Rest in the Light, abide in the Heart. Larch hanson.larch@gmail.com

For more information on local resistance to toxic rocket launch sites all over the planet check out my website NoToxicRockets4ME.org.

Fealty To Israel Or To The 1st Amendment?

One branch of the corporate duopoly taunts while bullying. The other wing puts a polite face on bullying tactics.

Which kind of political speech is more dangerous: consistent speech which might lead to illegal activity or inconsistent speech characterized by taking extreme positions that are walked back shortly thereafter? For example, as is being reported widely: "U.S. president says 'nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza,' reversing earlier comments on emptying the war-torn territory of its population," per Al Jazeera.

Put another way, do elected officials have an obligation to uphold the 1st Amendment's constitutional guarantee of free speech even if they don't agree with the speaker? For example, does NO OTHER LAND come under 1st amendment protection even if it angers Zionists? From the Miami Herald:

The mayor of Miami Beach is proposing to terminate a lease agreement and discontinue thousands of dollars in financial support for an independent film theater after it screened an Oscar-winning documentary about the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank.

Most readers of this blog are aware by now that Columbia University student leader Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by ICE, handcuffed, and spirited away in an unmarked car. (See Mint Press News for info on Columbia administration ties to Israel.) His wife, a U.S. citizen, was for days unable to locate her husband, a permanent resident green card holder. After being told her spouse was not being held in New Jersey where she tried to visit him, she learned that he was actually sent to an ICE prison in Louisiana. Cruelty for cruelty's sake?

47's administration admits that Khalil is not accused of any crime.

We're fortunate to have investigative journalists working independent of corporate media risking their own safety by digging into the truth. Matt Taibbi in particular has been on the free speech beat for years, regularly angering partisans on both sides who want to censor and suppress views they don't agree with. That Taibbi believed the freedom of speech talk but now notes that 47 isn't walking the walk isn't too surprising; previously he expressed the belief that the elongated muskrat would defend free speech, too. Naivete aside, Taibbi is consistent in pointing out that if you censor speech you don't like when your side is in power, you should expect to be censored when your side is out of power.

That isn't the way the 1st Amendment has been interpreted by the courts, and that is relevant to Khalil's case because the Supremes ruled back in 1945 that non-citizens residing in the U.S. have the same free speech rights as birthright citizens. Even -- gasp -- communists!

But in 2025 the executive branch of the federal government claims this does not apply if the non-citizen is "aligned with Hamas" whatever the fuck that means.

How about NO OTHER LAND -- is it "aligned" with Hamas? It depicts brutal Israeli occupation that might remind us of Gaza, but it takes place in Masafer Yatta which is in the West Bank. 

It's easy to see what a slippery slope the prosecution of thought crimes and potential thought crimes can be.

From Justin Paladino's Drop Site post on the legal details of Khalil's abduction:

Below is a timeline of Khalil’s contact with his legal team. We will update the story when more information becomes available on the legal team’s phone call with Khalil.

March 7, 6:46 AM: Mahmoud Khalil writes an email to Columbia University’s president describing the doxing campaign and fear he would be targeted by ICE.

March 8, 8:26 PM: Khalil calls his lawyer Amy Greer to inform her he is surrounded by DHS agents. Greer asks the agent, Elvin Hernandez, if he has a warrant, and he eventually hangs up.

March 8, 8:34 PM: Khalil’s wife, Noor, calls a lawyer, says DHS has him in handcuffs. She asks if agents have a warrant, no response. Asks where they are taking him, eventually saying to 26 Federal Plaza, the USCIS District Office.

March 9, 3:20 AM: ICE moves Khalil from New York to Elizabeth Detention Facility in New Jersey

March 9, 4:40 AM: Khalil’s lawyer files habeas petition in New York court, unaware that her client was relocated from New York to New Jersey.

March 9, 8:30 AM: ICE database still shows Khalil’s location as New York, despite him having been transferred hours earlier. Sometime after 9 AM, the locator changes to Elizabeth, New Jersey.

March 9, 11:20 AM: Khalil’s wife, Noor, visits the Elizabeth facility, only to be told he isn’t showing up in the system.

March 9, 11:30 AM: Khalil departs Elizabeth facility en route to airport.

March 9, 1:47 PM: ICE emails Khalil’s lawyer stating he is being transferred to New Orleans

March 9, 5:18 PM: The Assistant United States Attorney emails Khalil’s lawyer saying based on information and belief Khalil is deportable.

March 9-10, overnight: Khalil arrives in Louisiana “late in the evening Sunday night, early Monday morning,” according to AUSA in transcript, and is booked into the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

March 10, 12:33 AM: Khalil is booked into Central Louisiana ICE Processing Facility.

March 10, 9:36 AM: Khalil calls his wife and tells her he is Louisiana, the first time they've let him call since arrest.

March 10, 10:17 AM: Khalil calls his lawyer, confirms he is in Jena, LA. The call gets cut off prematurely.

March 12, 8:30 PM: Khalil has a lengthy call with his legal team. Another is scheduled for Thursday.

I think we all understand that Khalil is the canary in the coal mine. 

Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation released this photo as the spring semester commenced. "Occupation = death" and "Divest from Death" are of course alleged to be antisemitic.

47's Department of Education is still operating doing the important work of investigating 60 U.S. universities for their failure to suppress pro-Palestinian speech also known as the new definition of "antisemitism."

This is clearly intended to instill fear and anticipatory compliance, providing the underpinning for the cowardly behavior of my alma mater this week. An ad hoc committee there responded to the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum -- which passed by super majority last May -- with a shameful declaration that they will not divest from Israel or in weapons used to enact genocide. From the Bowdoin Orient quoting the committee's findings:

“There is understandable curiosity around specific investments and strategies within the endowment, but given the confidentiality restrictions and the endowment’s outsourced manager model [emphasis mine], transparency along these lines is ill-advised and is, in many cases, simply not possible.”

I'm guess having Epstein-aligned finance fat cats on the board of trustees over the years has created this very shield to hide behind.

Thing is, you can't hide from moral obligations in the face of genocide. You can only try to muzzle those who point them out.

Do you still want to point them out in the face of threats to your freedom? Join me and Jewish Voice for Peace in sending messages to your members of Congress demanding Khalil's immediate release.

Insatiable Greed Gutting Public Education

Source: National Priorities Project crunching 2024 data from USASpending.gov, OMB  [emphasis mine]

In my 30's I decided to leave the private sector and become a teacher, and I enrolled in grad school to earn education credits enough for certification. One of my most pragmatic professors shared a fact that seemed doubtful at the time but soon proved to be all too true: most school board directors, he said, are involved because they want to make decisions about school sports.

I think of this when I hear the rationale for 47 and the elongated muskrat firing 50% of the staff at the federal Department of Education: students will benefit from local funding and local control. No, they won't.

In fact, nearly every time I attended a school board meeting in districts where I was employed for 25 years, the insane amount of time spent discussing topics like whether or not the boys basketball team should get new jerseys a year ahead of schedule filled me with dismay. The board would vote to cut a social worker position with NO discussion after spending an hour on sports uniforms, or scoreboards, or coaching positions. And I would drive home thinking, I can't work for these people -- we don't share the same values. I did keep working, though, and mostly I just avoided going to school board meetings.

Here's what I have to say to those who argue that cutting the DOE won't affect teaching positions: you don't know what you're talking about. Yes, Maine pays for about 50% of public school costs via federal/state funds and about 50% locally. This makes the school systems in wealthy areas outperform those in areas with high poverty and unemployment. It's partly about local property values, partly about local poverty levels, and partly about whether or not parents in the community have college degrees. (Standardized testing mostly measures the latter i.e. whether or not your parents are doctors vs. work for minimum wage will largely determine your score.)

Federal funding for education also plays a huge role in equitably educating special needs students. That is a benefit to those students, their peers, and society as a whole. Research suggests the regular ed peers are less likely to turn out like the elongated muskrat, throwing around the slur "r***rd" and citing empathy as a fundamental weakness of Western society.

Federal funding also contributes to improvement plans to shore up schools lagging in reading or math scores. I've helped write and administer three such grants and can attest that some were a boondoggle that wasted taxpayer money e.g. sending a team several thousand miles to study a program they would never faithfully implement, while others funded an entire reading specialist/instructional coach position for several years to support learners in a high poverty area who were struggling with literacy skills.

U.S. federal budget expenditures in 2023 (Koshgarian, Lusuegro, Siddique, 2023)

For context, let's look at the overall federal budget -- as it has been, and as it will be. The temporary funding bill passed by the House this week would cut $13 billion in non-military spending from the levels in the 2024 budget while increasing military spending by $6 billion. To see where we are now, the bar graph at the top of this post shows the first two categories -- contractors who build weapons systems, and Pentagon staff like troops -- dwarfing other categories. According to the National Priorities Project federal budget analysis, "In 2023, the average U.S. taxpayer paid $11 for Musk's SpaceX."

The question of whether a billionaire with extensive federal contracts should be empowered to cut competing federal expenditures is a conflict of interest issue, not an educational issue, so I'll leave that for now. 

FY2023 military spending of $921 billion (easily $1 trillion with hidden budget items like nuclear weapons and CIA black sites) could instead have funded 9.5 million elementary school teachers, or 23.65 million scholarships for university students. Students who might become doctors or teachers themselves. But who needs an educated populace? Not billionaires who will pay to educate their own children privately with other elites while believing that robotics and AI will replace most workers. 

According to NBC News:

Around 3,000 people work in the [DOE]'s Washington headquarters, and roughly 1,000 are in 10 regional offices — making Education one of the smallest Cabinet-level federal departments. Its $268 billion appropriations last year represented 4% of the federal budget.

[Incoming DOE Secretary Linda] McMahon said in an interview Tuesday night that the layoffs were the first step on the road toward shutting down the department.  

Back in Maine, school budgets are being formulated locally to put before voters in late spring. A relatively large, diverse district in South Portland heard from their superintendent this week about how shortfalls in federal funding are likely to affect their school system. Per reporting in the Portland Press Herald:

Matheney unveiled his proposed $73 million budget.., a 5.98% increase over last year. It includes reductions that will impact all seven schools and dozens of other programs and departments. The layoffs include 11 teachers, seven educational technicians and several administrative staff or districtwide employees (including the director of curriculum).. 

In recent years, Matheney said, the district has declined in enrollment but increased in special education students, multilingual learners,.. and homeless students. At the same time, staffing has continued to rise. The district will need to fund more than 10 positions in special education and teaching that were previously supported by outside funding sources. 

Guess which countries fund schools entirely at the local rather than national level?  Not France, not Australia, not China, not Japan, not Russia.. I could go on but you get the picture.

I believe the current administration in the U.S. especially wants to defund schools because teachers unions are powerful. And if there's something that billionaires really hate, it's workers who have organized to bargain collectively for salary, benefits, and working conditions. They are also historically the strongest advocates for student needs. Because nobody goes into teaching as a career to make a bunch of money. Most do it because they care about kids.

Finally, just because I believe in robustly funded schools for everyone doesn't mean that I think all meaningful education takes place in a school setting. When faced with the either-or attitude toward homeschooling often expressed by parents, my question is: Weren't you planning to do both?

No Toxic Rocket Launches For Maine

Today, March 11, voters in tiny Steuben, Maine will go to the polls to determine whether or not to ban rocket launch facilities and construction of rockets in their town. 

If the referendum fails maybe the Gulf of Maine will be renamed Gulf of Blushift Aerospace Debris?

Launches off the coast of Steuben would be visible and probably audible from Acadia National Park and from iconic wealthy enclave Bar Harbor. Probably Jonesport, too, where townspeople already said "no" to a rocket launch site.

The referendum effort in Steuben was organized by Larch Hansen of Maine Seaweed who rejects claims that rocket launches would not disturb the ecosystem of his sustainable harvest. Last month I posted about his efforts and those of us elsewhere in the state who don't want Maine turned into a junkyard for private rocket profiteers.

You can also find more information on the Steuben and Jonesport resistance here at the website NoToxicRockets4ME.

The website includes a compilation of the experiences of other localities like Texas, Alaska, and New Zealand who allowed rocket launch sites to be built on their coastlines. Flora and fauna suffer even when launches go as planned -- and they very often do not go as planned. Just ask the elongated muskrat how his many largely unregulated SpaceX launches have failed and how that affected others around them.

Promises are often made that launch sites will never be used for military purposes. Residents of Kodiak heard such claims when they were being lobbied for permission to build; now, the site is routinely used by the Israeli military. A Maine aerospace CEO told us at the 2023 Common Ground Fair that the U.S. Space Force wants to fill up low Earth orbit before China and Russia can get there. So Maine appears to be heading into the dangerous and destabilizing rush to militarize space.

I'm wishing the best of luck to Steuben today. Hopefully they have noted the experiences of nearby Jonesport and will vote in their own best interests.