December 30, 2019

This Has Been the Best Year Ever

If you’re depressed by the state of the world, let me toss out an idea: In the long arc of human history, 2019 has been the best year ever.

The bad things that you fret about are true. But it’s also true that since modern humans emerged about 200,000 years ago, 2019 was probably the year in which children were least likely to die, adults were least likely to be illiterate and people were least likely to suffer excruciating and disfiguring diseases.

Every single day in recent years, another 325,000 people got their first access to electricity. Each day, more than 200,000 got piped water for the first time. And some 650,000 went online for the first time, every single day.

Perhaps the greatest calamity for anyone is to lose a child. That used to be common: Historically, almost half of all humans died in childhood. As recently as 1950, 27 percent of all children still died by age 15. Now that figure has dropped to about 4 percent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/opinion/sunday/2019-best-year-poverty.html#commentsContainer


Too bad that, given the impending global catastrophes to be wrought from climate change, this temporary blip is unsustainable.

December 13, 2019

BREAKING: Antifa protests in London following Conservative landslide win

Source: Post Millenial

“Tory scum off our streets, Nazi scum off our streets!” shouted left-wing protesters in central London.

Around a thousand demonstrators, many masked and holding antifa symbols, poured onto the streets of the British capital to protest the U.K.’s election results. The Conservatives won in a landslide election the day before, likely guaranteeing Britain’s withdrawal from the EU at the end of next month.

The British capital descended into chaos as the Met Police struggled to contain protesters connected to antifa, socialist and communist groups. They had shut down the streets in and around Westminster. They demanded a “revolution” and the ousting of the Conservatives.

Protesters disobeyed police orders and shoved officers who attempted to block them from certain routes. At one point, officers brandished batons at the crowd to get them to comply.

Read more: https://www.thepostmillennial.com/breaking-antifa-protests-in-london-following-conservative-landslide-win/

December 9, 2019

Democrats and the Trump administration reach a tentative North American trade deal

Source: CNBC

House Democrats and the Trump administration have reached a tentative deal on replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement after months of deliberations, sources told CNBC.

If the White House sends ratifying legislation to Congress by Dec. 15 to kick off the approval process, the Democratic-held House could vote on ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by Dec. 18, the sources said.

Earlier Monday, a senior Democratic aide said the sides had nothing to announce yet. The Trump administration delivered proposed changes to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on Saturday, and House leaders were still studying it.

The White House has pushed for USMCA’s approval in Congress before the end of the year as President Donald Trump seeks an economic and political win before the 2020 election. Democrats, who have sought tougher enforcement of labor rules to ensure U.S. companies do not move jobs to Mexico, have tried to show they can legislate even as they move forward with an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/09/house-democrats-and-trump-administration-close-in-on-usmca-trade-deal.html

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Not sure what to think about this..... Why should we be agreeing on ANYTHING with Trump while he's being impeached?

December 4, 2019

Beacon High School Is Half White. That's Why Students Walked Out.

Source: New York Times

Roughly 300 students walked out of Beacon on Monday to protest its high-stakes admissions process, which they said has exacerbated segregation in the nation’s largest school system.

The protest at Beacon, one of New York City’s most selective public schools, illustrates the widening scope of the push for school integration. It has shifted away from the narrow issue of how few black and Hispanic students are admitted to the city’s eight specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant.

Beacon’s student population is about half white, a striking anomaly in a public school system that is nearly 70 percent black and Hispanic. Beacon is not a specialized high school — it has no admissions test — but its highly competitive admissions process requires students to assemble a portfolio of middle school work, admissions essays and high standardized test scores and grades. It is one of the most selective schools in New York: Last year, there were over 5,800 applications for 360 ninth-grade seats.

Beacon has a higher percentage of black and Hispanic students than Stuyvesant — about 32 percent compared to 4 percent at the specialized school — but also a higher percentage of white students, fewer Asian students and a lower percentage of students living in poverty. The school’s parent-teacher organization raised over $685,000 for the school last year, according to data released on Monday.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/nyregion/nyc-beacon-high-school-walkout.html

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These kids are heroes in my estimation. I've never understood the logic of "selective" public schools. They just seem to be another way to segregate, and appear to do that quite well, even in a place as supposedly progressive as NYC. Mayor DeBlassio has recommended the city eliminate academic screens for middle school admissions, and I think thats a fantastic first start.