This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR

This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR:

This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts'

KXNG CROOKED – “Alternative Facts” | 2DOPEBOYZ - https://2dopeboyz.com/?p=398426 on @2DopeBoyz

Less than 24 hours after White House press secretary had spouted numerous falsehoods about inauguration crowd size and more, Kellyanne Conway went on NBC's "Meet the Press" to defend him. In the process, the counselor to President Donald Trump coined a phrase that's now deigned to follow Trump throughout his presidency — "alternative facts."

The Trump administration's push-back on easily verifiable facts is unprecedented and shows that the Trump we saw on the campaign trail and in debates — who was freewheeling with facts and assertions and often peddled wildly exaggerated claims — had not changed once he took the oath of office. And it's only week one.

Below we've rounded up some of the White House's assertions here that are exaggerated or just flat out false.

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Trump on voting fraud allegations

President Trump told members of Congress during a Monday evening meeting that there were 3 to 5 million illegal votes cast in last November's election.

In an interview with ABC News's David Muir on Wednesday, he repeated those claims, saying that, "You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states. You have people registered in two states. They're registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion."

POLITICS

Trump Still Insists Millions Voted Illegally. (There's Still No Evidence Of That)

THE FACTS: This is not true, no matter how many times Trump and his surrogates repeat it. The administration has never provided proof of this claim, and the studies they have cited do not, in fact, support the claim. Even the authors of those studies have said that the studies are being misused by Trump.

Analyses do show that a tiny bit of voter fraud does happen, but there is no evidence of voter fraud on this scale; that would be a scandal of "astronomical proportions," as NPR's Mara Liasson said to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer this week.

Trump also pointed to a frequently-cited Pew study as evidence, which Muir pushed back on, saying correctly it shown "no evidence of voter fraud." Trump said the author was "groveling again. You know, I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they wanna write something that you wanna hear but not necessarily millions of people wanna hear or have to hear.

THE FACTS: That Pew 2012 report does show that 2.8 million people are registered to vote in more than one state and that 24 million registration records "are estimated to be inaccurate or no longer valid." But that is not evidence of fraud unless people vote in both states. And the author is not "groveling" when he simply pushes back when his report is taken wildly out of context and twisted into falsehoods. It is not a felony to be registered in two states — in fact, several Trump family members and advisers are registered in two states.

Trump on his 2016 victory

"No, no, you have to understand, I had a tremendous victory, one of the great victories ever. In terms of counties, I think the most ever or just This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR:

Big Education Ape: WHY TRUMPLANDIA ALTERNATIVE FACTS ARE BETTER THAN THE TRUTH (A SCIENTIFIC COMPARISON) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/01/why-trumplandia-alternative-facts-are.html

School reform in Michigan: Fake solutions to real problems

School reform in Michigan: Fake solutions to real problems:

School reform in Michigan: Fake solutions to real problems

What do you do when you're a parent in this city struggling to find the best education available for your child? Stick with Detroit Public Schools Community District, which has been on a long, slow decline since the 1980s? Or take a chance on a charter school, which is too often run by for-profit operators, with profoundly mixed results? Or, leave the city altogether, for a school of choice in a suburban district?

It's an array of unsatisfactory choices, and the state's failure to make the city's schools right — yeah, this one is on the state, which created the charter system and has run Detroit's public schools for most of this century — is the biggest stumbling block in Detroit's still-tenuous recovery ... which is a financial argument against what should be a moral question.

How do we tell children in Detroit that they matter, when we can't give them the same basic education their suburban peers claim with no hurdles?

If I thought the state had a plan, maybe I could get behind it.

But take one look at the map of schools — traditional public, charter and those in the state reform district — marked for possible closure by the State Reform Office, and it is absolutely, unmistakably clear that there is still no plan for our kids.

MAP: Possible Detroit school closures by Detroit Free Press on Scribd

Of the 38 schools marked for potential closure, 25 are in Detroit. But none of the 25, almost all in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty, are anywhere near a school that's doing better, whether it be traditional public, charter or a school in the state reform district. Only 20 schools in Detroit rank at or above the 25th percentile, the state's lowest threshold for adequate education. And only four Detroit schools are above the 50th percentile. Four schools, in a city whose publicly funded schools educate more than 100,000 students.

Because there's a dearth of alternatives, State Reform Officer Natasha Baker told the Free Press last week, some of those failing schools — the ones that lack a reasonable, higher-performing replacement — may stay open.

Yes, that's right: It's imperative that failing schools close. Unless all the other schools around them are also failing. Then it's fine.

If you measure a plan by its viability, by its own standards, the State Reform Office's plan isn't a plan at all. It's another in a long line of fake solutions for real problems — but that's essentially the unofficial motto of school reform in Michigan.

►Related: Michigan names 38 schools that could close over academics
►Related: This map shows how few choices parents have if Detroit schools close

There are, at current count, three ways for the state to take over or close a school that's struggling academically or financially, and no evidence to show that any of the three improved academic results. What we've got, instead, is chaos.

Interactive map of public, charter and EAA schools in Detroit and their rankings:

Cannot see the map? Click here to view.

That map, the one that shows how foolhardy the state's school closure list is, should put to rest once and for all the canard that Detroit's wild west charter school system has saved, or even substantively improved, public education in Detroit. The same School reform in Michigan: Fake solutions to real problems:

U.S. colleges rush to help students, scholars affected by Trump’s immigration order - The Washington Post

U.S. colleges rush to help students, scholars affected by Trump’s immigration order - The Washington Post:

U.S. colleges rush to help students, scholars affected by Trump’s immigration order

Protestors rally at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday in New York City. President Trump signed an executive order that enacted a 90-day ban on refugees and immigrants from certain predominantly Muslim countries. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

U.S. colleges and universities are rushing to help students and scholars affected by President Trump’s order restricting all citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States, and academic leaders are warning that the executive action could cause irreparable harm to American higher education.

Trump’s order bars immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days and indefinitely keeps out Syrian refugees. A few federal judges put some limits on the executive order late Saturday but the overall thrust of it remained intact.

[Nobel laureates, thousands of academics sign protest of Trump immigration order]

School officials urged students and scholars in the United States who may be affected by the decree not to travel internationally for any reason as stories emerged about some now stranded overseas, unable to return to their schools or start planned study and research.

At least 21 Nobel laureates and numerous academics signed a petition against the executive order. The Association of American Universities issued a statement by its president, Mary Sue Coleman, saying in part:

[T]he Administration’s new order barring the entry or return of individuals from certain countries is already causing damage and should end as quickly as possible. The order is stranding students who have been approved to study here and are trying to get back to campus, and threatens to disrupt the education and research of many others. We also urge the Administration, as soon as possible, to make clear to the world that the United States continues to welcome the most talented individuals from all countries to study, teach, and carry out research and scholarship at our universities. It is vital to our economy and the national interest that we continue to attract the best students, scientists, engineers, and scholars. That is why we have worked closely with previous administrations, especially in the wake of 9/11, to ensure our visa system prevents entry by those who wish to harm us, while maintaining the inflow of talent that has contributed so much to our nation. Other countries have set the goal of surpassing the United States as the global leader in higher education, research, and innovation. Allowing them to replace this country as the prime destination for the most talented students and researchers would cause irreparable damage, and help them to achieve their goal of global leadership.

Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and other officials also issued a message U.S. colleges rush to help students, scholars affected by Trump’s immigration order - The Washington Post:

Russ on Reading: The Value of Student-Led Parent Conferences

Russ on Reading: The Value of Student-Led Parent Conferences:

The Value of Student-Led Parent Conferences

I am indebted to my colleague, reader, and fellow blogger, Steven Zemelman, for this guest post. As a follow-up to my recent posts on the limits of grading, Steven looks at one very promising alternative to grades for student evaluation

By Steven Zemelman

Ina recent blog post, Russ wrote about the severe limitations of grades in communicating to parents about their child’s learning. It seems that while many teachers consider traditional letter grades to be problematic, they believe parents demand grades as a measure of how their child is doing.

This discussion reminded me of the many teachers and schools around the country using student-led parent conferences to give parents a more in-depth look at how children are doing. To define it briefly, in student-led conferences students show, explain, and sometimes even demonstrate for their parents or guardians the work they’ve been doing in school. This can take place on a parent night or successively scheduled teacher-parent-child meetings. Yes, there’s time and work involved. Effective conferences must be preceded by considerable preparation on the students’ part, but it is preparation that immerses them in review, reflection, and the writing out of explanations. So it’s not an “extra” task but rather a deep learning experience that can substitute for review time that both children and teachers often find tedious. Further, it helps parents understand how the teacher approaches instruction, as well as their child’s strengths and challenges, and how they can help at home. And especially important, it empowers young people to use their voices authentically and authoritatively, something that is all too rare for them.

There are a variety of ways that teachers have structured the conferences. Some set them up as individual meetings with the teacher, parents, and child all involved together. Others prepare “stations” through which the children and their parents rotate to cover each subject. Still others have students each set up a display of materials at a spot in the room so that multiple conferences take place at once, with the teacher circulating to answer questions as needed. Teachers who use student-led conferences have developed a variety of tools to support the process:

• protocols and guide sheets to help students choose and organize their artifacts and draft their goals, explanations, and self-evaluations
•  room arrangements to facilitate the conference process
• lessons to help students prepare their conference presentation.

Some issues do arise with student-led conferences. Not all parents are able to Russ on Reading: The Value of Student-Led Parent Conferences:

The Best Videos For Learning About Civil Disobedience | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The Best Videos For Learning About Civil Disobedience | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

The Best Videos For Learning About Civil Disobedience

Based on what has happened in our country over the past week, I thought that teachers and others might find this list useful.

You might also be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History.

Share this:

The Best Videos For Learning About Civil Disobedience | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

Winter is still coming | Deconstructing Myths

Winter is still coming | Deconstructing Myths:

Winter is still coming

It’s been about 18 months since my last post, and in that time the land of GMO milk and honey has continued to curdle even further. I regret my self-imposed absence due to my law school studies and will do my best not to include words such as tortious interference or condition precedent in any subsequent posts. While I can’t promise to post with the frequency I used to, I will do my darnedest to offer readers yet another alt-reality from which to gather alt-facts so they, too, can come to alt-conclusions along with my fellow alt-Americans. Before discussing the POTUS WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED, I would like to offer the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe my most heartfelt praise for their overwhelmingly peaceful resistance. You know shit’s about to get real when the hippies show up and there’s not a fatty burrito in sight. You might say the government was caught between a standing still rock and a hard place. Alas, those same corporate interests driving the imposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline across sovereign and sacredly held lands have found a new savior in the POTUS WSNBN and the struggle is far from over.

(Photo credit: John Heminger)

Women were also compelled to remind their fellow countrymen that it’s not just corporations who should be considered people, too. In 2017, women must still assert their rights to reproductive choice and autonomy over their own damn bodies. One can almost hear the heavy mouth breathers as they salivate over dismantling Roe v. Wade. The election of the Misogynist-in-Chief has not helped matters. In his first week of office, he has wielded his mighty pen like an overcompensating sword battling stage 4 erectile dysfunction. In one fell swoop, he has dismantled funding to humanitarian groups who advocate for access to abortions, banned refugees from war-torn Muslim countries, bound and gagged Smokey the Bear, and pledged to build a wall along the Mexican border (“We’d like one too,” signed, Canada). All of this while corporate capitalists continue their never-ending quest to privatize education and dismantle environmental regulations put in place so we can all eat, drink, and breathe merrily. Fortunately for us all, the sisters are doing it for themselves because that arc of the moral universe isn’t going to  Winter is still coming | Deconstructing Myths:

(Photo Credit: Annie Russell/VPR)

Badass Teachers Association: A Tale Of Two Marches by Dr. Michael Flanagan

Badass Teachers Association: A Tale Of Two Marches by Dr. Michael Flanagan:

A Tale Of Two Marches 

by Dr. Michael Flanagan

On Thursday night I went with some of my colleagues to Washington DC in order to meet with the staffs of Senator Sanders and Senator Hassan and advocate for public education. It is important in this time of upheaval in American politics to advocate for public school students. The DeVos confirmation vote is scheduled for Monday and my fellow members of BATs and I wanted to make sure the voices of real teachers and parents were heard by at least two of the key members of the Health Education Pensions and Labor committee.

Our meetings with both staffs went well, in addition to pushing back on DeVos, we spoke about the threats to IDEA, the concerns of ESSA, a call for a Congressional conference in which real teachers and actual experts could show that the public schools are not “failing”, but that we are intentionally being failed in order for astroturf organizations like Students First, corporations like Pearson Publishing and Charter schools like Success Academy to siphon off public school tax dollars. We brought up the dilapidated working conditions of so many public schools, especially for those students and teachers in Detroit, the home of Betsy DeVos. We also brought up the fact that BATs has created an action group with a large social media reach that we could use to push progressive issues and target specific concerns of the HELP Committee members. BATs may not have the millions of dollars of the Eli Broad, Walton and Fordham foundations, but we have networks of intelligent, concerned and dedicated public school activists who are mobilized and ready to support actions. The meetings went well, and we will continue to cultivate those connections while making more appointments with politicians.

However, the reason I write this piece is not to discuss our efforts to advocate on the behalf of our teachers and their students. It is to describe a rather ironic circumstance. My friends in BATs and I usually stay at the Holiday Inn when we are in DC. It is right across the street from the Department of Education and we have organized several protests from that hotel. When we arrived there Thursday night, we were focused on our meetings with the Senators. So much so that we did not realize how many people, especially young high school aged kids, were walking around the hotel hallways and lobby. As we were in the elevator going down to dinner, three of us looked at each other, questioningly as we noticed the people riding down with us in the elevator carrying Bibles and wearing Christian themed T-Shirts. When we got to the lobby it became clear that the hotel was filled with Badass Teachers Association: A Tale Of Two Marches by Dr. Michael Flanagan:

Dignity for my Yemeni Students & the Inhumanity of Trump’s Anti-Muslim Immigration Ban | Critical Classrooms, Critical Kids

Dignity for my Yemeni Students & the Inhumanity of Trump’s Anti-Muslim Immigration Ban | Critical Classrooms, Critical Kids:

Dignity for my Yemeni Students & the Inhumanity of Trump’s Anti-Muslim Immigration Ban

The majority of U.S. citizens do not support the current predator-in-chief.* He does not speak for us or represent our views.  We condemn his racist and xenophobic actions, most recently the executive order he signed yesterday that temporarily bans citizens – including refugees –  of Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Iran from entering the United States.

In the past seven years, I have had the privilege of working with a growing number of English-language learners from Yemen.  Their families are not terrorists.  My current students – aged five to ten – trade Pokémon cards and read Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  They play soccer and make drawings of purple horses and flowers.  They cry when they fall on the ice and bleed.  Last year, one student broke my heart when she regularly interrupted me to tell me that her cousins in Yemen had no food and were starving.  And in November, a truly perplexed fourth grader asked me, “Why does Trump think we are terrorists?”

While the horrors in Syria have been widely reported, mainstream media barely makes a peep about the bloodshed in Yemen.  According to UNICEF, one child dies every 10 minutes in Yemen.  Children there are severely malnourished and lack access to clean water, food and medical care.  This is due – in large part – to a civil war that has been raging in Yemen since 2015.  Not surprisingly, the United States is involved in the Dignity for my Yemeni Students & the Inhumanity of Trump’s Anti-Muslim Immigration Ban | Critical Classrooms, Critical Kids:

Choosing Democracy: Trump Signs Executive Orders Calling For Deportations and Exclusions of Refugees

Choosing Democracy: Trump Signs Executive Orders Calling For Deportations and Exclusions of Refugees:

 Trump Signs Executive Orders Calling For Deportations and Exclusions of Refugees

“

First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

”

Rev. Martin Niemoller, after surviving a Nazi concentration camp.

 Choosing Democracy: Trump Signs Executive Orders Calling For Deportations and Exclusions of Refugees:

FAQ: The Trump Executive Order On Immigration

FAQ: The Trump Executive Order On Immigration:

FAQ: The Trump Executive Order On Immigration

FAQ:  The Trump Executive Order on Immigration

By:  Joshua Adam Engel

It is impossible to overate how bad Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration is for America and the world.

• The Executive Order undermines some fundamental American Constitutional values and brings us closer to authoritarianism.
• The Executive Order is a rejection of decades of American leadership in humanitarian and rejects the lessons of the holocaust.
• The Executive Order will only embolden and strengthen our enemies.

What is the Executive Order?

The Executive Order makes a number of important changes to our immigration policy.  The two most important are:  (1) a suspension of the admission of all refugees for 120 days; and (2) the suspension of immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, for 90 days.

Why is Trump doing this?

The Executive Order claims that that the changes are necessary to protect America from another terrorist attack.  But that is a lie.   There is no real evidence that the procedures previously had resulted in any terrorism in the United States. It is hard to draw any conclusion other than that the Executive Order is motivated by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim animus.  Proof: the Executive Order specifically mentions September 11, 2001. Even though September 11, 2001 is mentioned, the Executive Order does not restrict immigration from the nations where the 9/11 attackers were from, such as Saudi Arabia.  More proof: Trump told the Christian Broadcast Network that “persecuted Christians will be given priority over other refugees seeking to enter the United States.”

Really, anyone who paid attention to the campaign throughout 2016 should not be surprised that Trumps and his supporters – who trafficked in White Supremacist rhetoric during the campaign – would adopt a policy that is blatantly discriminatory.  This is, after all, the same Trump show shortly after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, told Fox News that the U.S. government should close mosques where “some bad things are happening.”

Can you tell me something even worse?

1. The Executive Order was released on Holocaust Remembrance Day. If you want to feel terrible, follow the St. Louis Manifest on Twitter.  @Stl_Manifest,

   My name is Horst-Martin Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/Xh1oZCtJak

   — St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017

The St. Louis was a ship with approximately 900 Jewish refugees who came to Miami.  Our government turned them away, in part because of a belief that the Nazis might smuggle spies and saboteurs in among the Jewish refugees.  254 of the passengers were later killed in the Holocaust.

Is it totally fair to connect these things.  My first day as a prosecutor I was taught to “never believe in coincidences.”  The White House put out a statement on the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, but failed to mention the 6 million Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis.  Is an inference of hostility to non-Christian religions fair from this omission?  Perhaps only if you consider that Trump’s campaign was criticized as especially anti-Semitic.

What about people who are legally allowed to enter the country?

Even permanent U.S. residents – who have lived in this country and have green cards – are subject to the Executive Order.  The New York Times reports that students and professors from countries on the banned list have been prohibited entry. “Human rights groups reported that legal permanent residents of the United States who hold green cards were being stopped in foreign airports as they sought to return from funerals, vacations or study abroad — a clear indication that Mr. Trump’s directive is being applied broadly.”  To be clear:  these are people who have been legally living in, or cleared to enter, the United States; these people are being denied entry in the complete absence of any evidence that they are terrorists.

Is this Constitutional?

In a word:  no.

Start with the fact that those seeking to immigrate to the United States are protected by the Constitution.  This is settled law despite the fact that suggesting otherwise is a favorite talking point of the right.  [And, no, I am not linking to Glenn Beck or Laura Ingraham; Google this yourself.]  The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 held that the 14th Amendment’s due process guarantees applies to all aliens in the United States whose presence maybe or is “unlawful, involuntary or transitory.”  Zadvydas v. Davis.  The Zadvydas case built on prior decisions holding that undocumented persons, for example, are entitled to the Equal Protection guarantees of the Constitution.

A ban on Muslims entering the United States violates the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of religion and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of Equal Protection and Due Process.  Simply:  the Constitution prohibits the government from favoring or not favoring a person or group of people based on religion or other innate characteristics.  (Note, this is distinct from taking religion into account, such as considering whether someone is facing religious persecution in their home country as part of an asylum request.  This is perfectly acceptable so long as all religions are treated equally.)

Doesn’t the President have special powers to control immigration?

Trump seems to think that he can avoid the Constitutional problems by saying he is not banning the entry of Muslims, just people from certain nations.  Of course, a Court will have to decide if this is a mere pretext.   The law often recognizes that non-discriminatory actions are often a cover from real discriminatory motives or effects.  There is good evidence to suggest that that Trump has effectively barred Muslims from entering the United States, while favoring the entry of Christians.

The President’s does have significant powers to control immigration, but those are constrained by the Constitution and, in particular, certain statutes.  One of the restrictions specifically prohibits restrictions on the entry of immigrants based on their country of origin.  David Bier from the Cato Institute published a great piece on how various immigration laws prohibit the Trump Executive Order.  It is totally worth a read.  The basic idea is that Congress outlawed such discrimination against immigrants because there has been a “long and shameful history in this country of barring immigrants based on where they came from.”  Bier explains that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 banned all discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin

Why is this bad for America? 

We often speak of fundamental American values.  So often that the term can lose meaning.  But not here.  No value is more fundamental to America than the FAQ: The Trump Executive Order On Immigration: