Empires Eat Children -- Change My Mind

This is a really depressing post, so let's get to it before the longest, darkest day of the year is upon us a week from now.

What got me started down this dark path is the news that presumed CIA spook Anne Sacoolas failed to appear for trial in the UK after she killed teenager Harry Dunn. The victim was doing nothing wrong, simply riding his motorcycle along on the road near RAF Croughton, used by the Pentagon as a spying outpost. 

Sacoolas, with typical imperial hubris, was driving on the wrong side of the road. 

Probably a simple tragic accident but Sacoolas turned it to a real crime by fleeing the country. It has taken Dunn's family three years to have their day in court but they were denied the opportunity to see justice: Sacoolas was acquitted of driving dangerously, convicted of driving carelessly, and received a paltry 8 month sentence which she will not have to serve if she kills no other kids in the coming year. Even if she did, the UK appears unable and/or unwilling to have her extradited to face charges.

Left to right: Anne Sacoolas & Harry Dunn

Her attorney's explanation for Sacoolas' failure to appear in court and hasty departure from the country following the accident: "diplomatic immunity." According to Sky News:

The court heard that she had been advised by American officials not to fly to the UK, as her return "could place significant US interests at risk".

If one of Sacoolas' own three children is murdered someday, I'm sure she will understand that U.S. interests will receive higher priority than bringing the family some justice.

Okay, so one evil lady and her enabling government. What's the other evidence for my claim?

JROTC students on parade

How about the news -- being treated as a blockbuster exposé  -- that teenagers in places like Detroit, Michigan (i.e. low income with a high proportion of students who are Black or otherwise of color) are enrolled in JROTC programs without their consent. Told if they ask that this Pentagon program requiring them to wear military uniforms and be shouted at by military personnel posing as "teachers" is mandatory. Which is a lie, but if your guidance counselor in 9th grade won't change your schedule after you request it, becomes a de facto truth.

I know you will be shocked to learn that the textbooks used in middle school and high school JROTC programs paint a rosy picture of the U.S. worldwide empire of military bases. And the intentions behind them.

If I'm not shocked it's because as a high school teacher for many years I organized against the presence of military recruiters in the lunch room, their access to students during the school day, and the allegedly mandatory ASFAB test harvesting demographic and knowledge base info on teenagers without parental consent. My state does have JROTC programs also though I never taught at a school that had one.

When you look up groomers in the dictionary what you should see is a military recruiter handing a teenager the gift of a cell phone. But, this word has been hijacked by right-wingers claiming teachers are trying to turn students gay or trans.

Left to right: Prince Andrew, American teen Virginia Giufrre at age 17, & Ghislaine Maxwell

Speaking of groomers, let's talk about Jeffrey Epstein's little black book of contacts none of whom have been outed or charged for actual pedophile crimes. Grooming is a key component of convincing teen girls to have sex with old, powerful men and the currently incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell was in charge of that operation.

It's generally understood that Epstein (who supposedly committed suicide in prison when the guards fell asleep and the security cameras malfunctioned) and Maxwell worked for Mossad. Israel's international spy agency functions as an integral if secretive part of the U.S. imperial system of coercion. (Though NATO's war against Russia may be weakening this alliance.)

The black book names we do know about, most prominently Prince Andrew of the UK royal family, were only revealed because individual victims like the immensely brave Virginia Giuffre pursued legal action against her rapist. Before Queen Elizabeth II died the monarch had stripped Andrew of his honors and titles, and had UK taxpayers shell out a settlement presumed to be enormous.

Of course teenage girls in nations invaded by imperial troops do not even need to be groomed.

 They can be raped at will, then murdered along with their families to cover up the crimes.

My final piece of evidence: 

the U.S. Congress just voted $858 BILLION for next year's military budget.

Actual figures for 2021. The $858 billion is budgeted for 2023.

Meanwhile, 1 in 6 children in the U.S. are growing up in poverty. 

This makes them the poorest age group of any here in the heart of an empire hungry for cannon fodder.

Shut Down Firing Ranges In U.S. Public Schools #Parkland #Enough

The Parkland shooter Nik Cruz was taught to fire an assault rifle at school.

Let me repeat that.

Nik Cruz, who murdered 17 people at the high school that expelled him, was taught at school to fire the weapon he used. That's because his Junior ROTC program had a firing range that he used at age 14 to learn to be an excellent murderer.

Most every state in the U.S. has JROTC infesting its schools, and many of these programs have firing ranges.

This is in schools that lack current textbooks, or enough staff to keep math class sizes below 40 students. This is in schools that offer academic credit for courses taught by uncertified instructors, courses that teach a warped view of war history (for example, that the Gulf of Tonkin incident actually occurred). In the U.S., our spending priorities indicate our moral priorities.

In Maine where I live there appear to be four schools with Army JROTC marksmanship programs: Bangor HS, Hermon HS, Old Town HS and Sacoppee Valley HS.

I need to do some research to find out the details, but these are the four schools listed in my state in the database maintained by the Civilian Marksmanship Program Tracker.

Pat Elder has worked for years opposing the militarization of youth. He wrote this month for Common Dreams:

Militarism is deeply entrenched in the American experience. The depth of military indoctrination in this country separates us from the rest of the world. Militarism is a powerful root cause behind America’s gun violence epidemic. It’s time to connect the dots.

His dream for a win in the wake of Parkland: close down JROTC programs everywhere.

Start with closing firing ranges in our public schools.

Thanks, Pat, for the communication tool and the information base I'm sharing in this blog post. Let's make this happen!

Please sign the petition to shut down firing ranges in our schools! Your message will be sent to your state legislators.

In case any right wingers want to Photoshop a picture of me shredding the Constitution

as they have targeted Emma Gonzalez with a fake photo based on a real one of her ripping up a paper target, I'll make it easy for you.

I'm a big fan of our Constitution. I'm  only interested in shredding the 2nd Amendment.

Troops To Teachers Is What They're Gearing Up For As Proposal To Arm Teachers Floods The Airwaves

Display at a national education conference in Washington DC March, 2016

The distraction machine I call the demagogue with bad hair ventured into new territory this week by claiming that teachers could ward off assault weapons if they themselves were adept at using firearms.

Teachers unions and prominent educators immediately denounced the idea of arming teachers.

Experienced teachers pointed out that teenage students could be expected to access teachers' guns, dedicated teachers said they would resign rather than be trained for concealed carry, and jokesters responded with a dose of reality about school budgets:

"We should arm teachers."

Really? You guys are gonna start paying for the entire English department to have Glocks? You fuckers won't buy them toner.

— Adam Burke (@atpburke) February 15, 2018

But here's the thing. The so-called "troops to teachers" movement has been around for a while, and I think this latest use of school mass killings is intended to hasten its progress.

Troops to teachers tabling at the Teaching and Learning Conference 2016 in Washington DC

Public school teachers come in all kinds. Some throw desks when students don't get the answer right. Some teach real history and connect it to current events, and they leave the textbook full of lies gathering dust on the shelves. Many have anger management and substance abuse issues. Some are not really school employees but function as such without being subject to the same certification requirements as actual teachers (for example, Jobs for Maine's Graduates instructors).

Then there's Junior ROTC like they have at Marjorie Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Ad created by David Swanson, World Beyond War

A leading organizer against the militarization of public school, Pat Elder, wrote this excellent analysis of how JROTC functions to replace curriculum and teaching staff for students as young as middle school. Elder reported that, "There are 1,600 American high schools that enroll students in military-run marksmanship programs, teaching children as young as 13 to shoot lethal weapons." He found that the state of Florida 

"allows students enrolled in JROTC to satisfy the curricular requirements of physical education, biology, physical science, art, and life management. JROTC is regarded as an Advanced Placement course...Many of these courses are taught by retired enlisted soldiers with no teaching credentials and little or no college education. "

Elder subsequently reported on his research about school militarization in an interview with Democracy Now! which you can listen to here.

As a teacher I feel sad about this creeping takeover of the promise once offered by free public education. I don't think it will affect my career much since I'm at the end anyway and the day a pistol packing colleague arrives is the day I head out the door. (Yup, I've had to put up with armed law enforcement in schools from the day I started teaching and no, it really isn't that much different.)

But I worry about how my grandchildren and the other young ones will be affected by public schools that become an arm of the Pentagon, a branch of government that is already gobbling up most available federal funding.

The kids whose parents can afford to send them to progressive private schools will be insulated from the risks of armed teachers if not from armed lunatics who strike regularly at every sort of location.

The kids whose parents are Native people accustomed to a very different model of educating youngsters may be unschooled in greater numbers.

The kids whose parents don't care much for material things may be homeschooled in greater numbers. I may yet get my dream of bartering literacy education for health care in a cooperative arrangement with doctors and dentists who opt out of the public schools. Because I've seen some great homeschooling results -- but I've also seen a homeschooled eight year old that still couldn't read.

My husband, not an educator, has another concern. He points out that veterans have an extremely high rate of attempted and completed suicide, often with a gun. Who will protect our children from that?