NOVEMBER 28, 2025
- Shooting Near the White House: Two National Guard members were shot and remain in critical condition after an incident near the White House; the suspect is believed to be an Afghan national who entered the U.S. previously.
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: The 98th parade kicked off in New York City with massive crowds and festive displays, marking a return to pre-pandemic scale.
- End of 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season: The season concluded without any storms making landfall in the continental U.S. for the first time in a decade, providing relief after last year's devastation.
- FEMA's Uncertain Future: The agency faces potential restructuring under the Trump administration amid conflicting signals on disaster response priorities.
- Government Shutdown Ends as Longest in History: The prolonged shutdown concluded, but lingering data gaps from October complicate economic assessments; Democrats notched wins in key 2025 off-year elections, including gubernatorial races.
- Trump's Ukraine Peace Plan Progress: U.S. officials report "tremendous progress" on a revised 28-point plan to end the war, with only minor disagreements remaining after input from both sides.
- California Emerges as Political Battleground: Redistricting and tensions between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Trump have thrust the state into national spotlight, boosting Newsom's approval.
- NYC Mayoral Dynamics with Trump: Incoming mayor's recent cordial meeting with Trump eases prior volatility, though New Yorkers remain wary amid national shifts.
- Deadly Fire in Hong Kong: A massive blaze at a Tai Po housing complex killed several residents; police arrested construction firm executives amid ongoing investigations.
- Floods and Landslides in Sri Lanka: Death toll rises to 56 from severe weather; authorities closed schools and offices nationwide as recovery efforts intensify.
- Sudan Conflict Escalation: Over 28,000 dead since April 2023 as Rapid Support Forces and military clash; millions displaced in worsening humanitarian crisis.
- Typhoon Kalmaegi's Toll in Philippines: At least 142 killed and 127 missing; storm has moved to Vietnam, prompting widespread evacuations.
- Texas Curriculum Adoption Pushback: Publishers face scrutiny over SEL, CRT, and climate topics during the 2025 instructional materials approval; finalized list impacts K-12 market.
- Immigrant Student Anxiety Survey: National poll reveals heightened absences and stress among students from immigrant families due to policy uncertainties.
- Postsecondary Education Priorities: U.S. Department of Education unveils seven FY 2025 focus areas under FIPSE to enhance access and innovation.
- UC Berkeley Protest Review: Federal Student Aid launches investigation into violent disruption at a Turning Point USA event on campus.
- US Wholesale Inflation Rises: September data shows heating up amid shutdown delays; partial October reports paint mixed picture with robust PMI growth.
- China's Investment Decline: Fixed-asset investment down 1.7% in first 10 months; retail and industrial growth slow, prompting domestic stimulus focus.
- Global GDP Forecasts Lifted Slightly: Upward revisions for 2025-2026 driven by China; offsets include Brazil's delayed rate cuts and tough inflation stance.
- Market Volatility and Debt Risks: Unpredictable policies threaten U.S. dollar status; high government debts amplify financial system vulnerabilities.
- Chinese Humanoid Robot Warning: Top planner urges firms to avoid repetitive products that stifle R&D; aims to sustain innovation amid market saturation.
- AI Model Training Shifts Overseas: China's tech giants relocate to access Nvidia chips, navigating U.S. export curbs for advanced development.
- Amazon's Leo Ultra Satellite Terminal: Project Kuiper unveils enterprise-grade device with 1 Gbps speeds for global business connectivity by 2026.
- Spin Loss Boosts Spintronics Efficiency: Discovery repurposes electron spin waste for magnetization switching, potentially tripling device performance.
- Medicare Drug Price Cuts: 15 medications, including Ozempic, lowered after negotiations; targets asthma, cancer, and leukemia treatments.
- Ultra-Processed Foods Global Risk: Linked to 12 major health issues in large review; rapid dietary shift worsens outcomes worldwide.
- Lifelong Activity Lowers Dementia Risk: Framingham study shows middle-age exercise prevents chronic issues, beyond fiber benefits.
- Microglia's Role in Alzheimer's: Lowering specific molecule shifts cells to protective state, reducing brain inflammation per new research.
- Cowboys Edge Chiefs on Thanksgiving: Dak Prescott leads 31-28 upset over Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs in NFL Week 13 thriller.
- Arsenal Tops Bayern in Champions League: Gunners seize group lead with stunning victory over Munich.
- Mbappé's Four-Goal Heroics: Real Madrid rallies 4-3 at Olympiacos in UEFA Champions League.
- Saskatchewan Wins Grey Cup: Roughriders defeat Montreal 25-17 for fifth Canadian football title.
- Sinner Defends ATP Finals: Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz 7-6, 7-5 in tennis championship.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thoughts for 2025, Now https://dianeravitch.net/2025/11/27/happy-thanksgiving-5/ via @dianeravitch
### Key Points
- Diane Ravitch encourages gratitude for family, health, and democracy, while urging action to support those less fortunate.
- The article criticizes the normalization of armed patrols and violence against immigrants, calling for comprehensive immigration reform and rejecting bigotry.
- It highlights the strength of diversity in American society, emphasizing that banning the concept of diversity does not change its reality.
- Historical references underline how diversity contributed to the success of the American Revolution, contrasting it with current resistance to inclusion.
- Comments from readers praise Diane Ravitch’s advocacy for public education and the importance of equity and inclusion policies.
- The discussion touches on immigration limits and the role of Congress in creating a legal path for immigrants while debating border security.
Big Education Ape: A THANKSGIVING FOR THE TRUTH: UNLEARNING THE MYTH, HONORING THE RESISTANCE https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-thanksgiving-for-truth-unlearning.html
### Key Points
The Choices You Can Make on Thanksgiving – Cloaking Inequity https://cloakinginequity.com/2025/11/27/the-choices-you-can-make-on-thanksgiving/
### Key Points
- Thanksgiving highlights both gratitude and the quiet struggles people bring to the day.
- Dr. Rema Reynolds emphasizes the importance of self-understanding and healing to address inequities and personal fractures.
- People often give care to others without acknowledging their own depletion, leading to unsustainable patterns.
- Reflection on personal needs and boundaries allows for more intentional and sustainable giving.
- Honest acknowledgment of limits and needs fosters deeper, more meaningful relationships and care.
Organized Abandonment: How Attacks on Public Systems Are Harming Parents and Children BRUCE LESLEY https://brucelesley.substack.com/p/organized-abandonment-how-attacks
### Key Points
- Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on whether the U.S. is building a nation that cherishes children and supports families or one that isolates them through competitive individualism.
- Public systems supporting families, such as education, health, and environmental safety, are being dismantled, leaving parents to navigate challenges alone.
- Federal policies under the Trump Administration, including proposed cuts to Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP, undermine public health and education infrastructure.
- The Department of Education, a key federal agency supporting children’s rights, is targeted for elimination, threatening equity in education and public responsibility for children.
- Historical patterns of retrenchment, such as post-Reconstruction and resistance to Brown v. Board of Education, show how dismantling federal support worsens inequality.
- The "parental rights" movement isolates families by undermining public institutions and expertise, leaving parents to handle all responsibilities alone.
- The competitive nature of securing preschool spots highlights the erosion of trust in public systems and the growing inequality in access to early education.
- Disinvestment in public systems leads to a cycle where families turn to private solutions, further weakening public infrastructure and increasing inequality.
- Children are politically vulnerable and often invisible in policy decisions, which is exacerbated by the dismantling of institutions like the Department of Education.
- The article calls for protecting public institutions, rejecting the misuse of "parental rights," and reinvesting in public infrastructure to support all children.
A THANKSGIVING FOR THE TRUTH (or, How I Learned to Stop Stuffing Myself with Myth and Start Chewing on Reality) https://ru4people.substack.com/p/a-thanksgiving-for-the-truth
### Key Points
- The traditional Thanksgiving narrative often masks the darker truths of colonial history, including the exploitation and suffering of Native peoples.
- Indigenous perspectives highlight Thanksgiving as a National Day of Mourning, emphasizing the harm caused by colonization and the misrepresentation of historical events.
- Native resilience and activism have led to significant milestones, including self-governance, cultural preservation, and environmental advocacy.
- The clemency granted to Leonard Peltier, a long-held Indigenous political prisoner, symbolizes hope and justice for Native communities.
- The article suggests integrating truth into Thanksgiving celebrations, recognizing both gratitude and grief, and honoring Indigenous voices and traditions.
Public Education: Enlightenment’s Torch or Oligarchy’s Bonfire? https://ru4people.substack.com/p/public-education-enlightenments-torch
### Key Points
- The Founding Fathers, including Jefferson and Adams, prioritized public education as essential for democracy, aiming to create an informed and virtuous electorate.
- Public education is being undermined by privatization, with billionaires and policymakers promoting vouchers and charters at the expense of public schools.
- The Trump administration's redistribution of the Department of Education's functions to other agencies exacerbates inequality and weakens the public school system.
- Vouchers and charters often benefit the privileged while leaving disadvantaged students behind, increasing educational inequality.
- The article calls for grassroots resistance to privatization and a return to fully funded, equitable public education.
glen brown: Happy Thanksgiving https://teacherpoetmusicianglenbrown.blogspot.com/2025/11/happy-thanksgiving.html
### Key Points
- Glen Brown reflects on the role of writers in society, quoting Ambrose Bierce and Albert Camus, emphasizing the writer’s duty to resist oppression and embrace isolation.
- The blog discusses various political and social issues, including Trump’s policies, the Ukrainian conflict, pensions, and social justice.
- Commentary on corruption, inequality, and crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, American racism, and adjunct faculty exploitation is highlighted.
- The blog contains personal notes, poetry, humor, and references to historical events like WWII and the Holodomor in Ukraine.
- Glen Brown’s blog features an extensive archive, showcasing years of posts on diverse topics, reflecting his critical and contrarian perspective.
Teacher Tom: This, Of All Days, Is One to Be Human https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/this-of-all-days-is-one-to-be-human.html
### Key Points
- Starlings mimic sounds from their environment and preserve elements of past soundscapes, akin to a data storage system.
- Human language, like bird mimicry, is deeply metaphorical and rooted in shared experiences, shaping human perception and reality.
- Traditional gatherings like Thanksgiving often reinforce familiar linguistic and cultural patterns, but children offer fresh perspectives through their creative use of language.
- Early literacy education risks stifling the creative essence of language, which should precede structured literacy to maintain its vitality and human connection.
- Language is a dynamic, living force central to human identity, contrasting with the utilitarian nature of literacy.
CURMUDGUCATION: Warding Off Classroom AI https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2025/11/warding-off-classroom-ai.html
### Key Points
- Efforts to prevent AI misuse in classrooms, such as detection bots and strict policies, are ineffective and do not address the root causes of student cheating.
- Cheating often stems from students feeling overwhelmed, fearing failure, or lacking a clear understanding of the purpose of education.
- Education's goal is to help students develop their humanity and individuality, which requires a human-centered approach rather than a product-centered one.
- Current education systems, with their emphasis on data-driven and test-centric methods, make classrooms more vulnerable to AI misuse.
- AI-resistant classrooms focus on human interaction, writing processes, oral testing, and emphasizing the importance of personal effort and growth.
- Teachers should align their methods with the core purpose of education, using AI only when it supports this goal rather than letting technology dictate practices.
- A human-centered approach to education benefits students beyond AI concerns, fostering deeper learning and personal development.
Schools Matter: It’s Happening! http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2025/11/its-happening.html
### Key Points
- A new poll by Emerson College and The Hill reveals a tight race in Tennessee's 7th congressional district, with Republican Matt Van Epps leading Democratic state legislator Aftyn Behn by just two percentage points (48% to 46%).
- The district, historically Republican and won by Donald Trump by 22 points in 2024, could flip to Democrats, potentially reducing the Republican majority in the House.
- Both parties are investing heavily in the race, with Democrats spending over $700,000 on ads, while Trump has endorsed Van Epps, urging his supporters to vote.
- Trump's approval rating in the district has declined, especially among independents, with 59% disapproving of him. This marks a significant shift from his previous stronghold in the area.
- Democrats have been gaining momentum nationally, flipping Republican-held seats and performing well in elections, including gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey.
Thanks? https://www.changethelausd.com/thanks2000
### Key Points
- The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans for a European trip and impacted family traditions, including canceling Thanksgiving gatherings.
- The author expresses gratitude for family members’ health and the opportunity to spend the holiday with immediate family, despite missing extended family.
- Reflection on personal blessings, including the support of the author's wife and the resilience of loved ones during challenging times.
Did You Write This? (P. L. Thomas) https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/did-you-write-this-p-l-thomas/ via @CubanLarry
### Key Points
- P.L. Thomas shares personal anecdotes of detecting plagiarism and highlights the enduring struggle to ensure students produce original work.
- The workshop approach to teaching writing emphasizes learning through process rather than focusing solely on the product, reducing opportunities for cheating.
- Lou LaBrant’s 1953 critique of writing education still resonates, advocating for students to write original texts and engage in meaningful composing processes.
- AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and Turnitin.com are criticized for their limitations and potential harm to student learning, as they can encourage shallow writing and hinder recall.
- The article argues that composing is a critical skill for learning, and AI use in this area constitutes a form of plagiarism when it replaces the student’s role in the learning process.
Choosing Democracy: Support Students : Eat Well
https://choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com/2025/11/support-students-eat-well.html
