Parents outraged after AISD staff allegedly suggests tracking students’ menstrual cycles

Students at Clack Middle School were allegedly told by a staff member that they would begin tracking menstrual cycles for female students.

Parents have expressed that they are outraged that this comment was made to their kids.

“This is a violation of their first amendment rights,” one parent said. “This needs to be exposed and stopped. Parents are mad as hell!”

Parents were told to email the vice principal with their complaints and concerns. (KTXS/Jesse Smith)

Parents were told to email the vice principal with their complaints and concerns. (KTXS/Jesse Smith)

The comment was allegedly made to the students in a classroom setting and several parents have contacted the school. They were told to email the assistant principal with their concerns and complaints.

Source: Parents outraged after AISD staff allegedly suggests tracking students’ menstrual cycles

CIA boss floats 28-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, Axios reports | Reuters

CIA Director Bill Burns floated a deal for a 28-day Gaza ceasefire, the freeing of around eight hostages by Hamas and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, Axios reported on Monday, citing three Israeli officials.

Source: CIA boss floats 28-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, Axios reports | Reuters

Obama bats for Harris at Philadelphia rally: ‘She will have your back, every single day’ | US elections 2024 | The Guardian

Barack Obama made an impassioned pitch for Kamala Harris at a Philadelphia rally with Bruce Springsteen on Monday, telling voters: “It’s not just policies that are on the ballot, it’s who we are.

“Whether this election is making you feel excited or scared, or hopeful, or frustrated, or anything in between: do not sit back,” the former president said. “Put down your phone and vote.”

Speaking in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania as Democrats make a final push for support, Obama – sleeves rolled up and relaxed – ripped into Donald Trump with a blend of criticism and humor. “We have to reject the kind of politics of division and hatred that we saw represented” at Sunday’s Madison Square Garden rally, where a comedian opening for Trump made a series of racist jokes.

Source: Obama bats for Harris at Philadelphia rally: ‘She will have your back, every single day’ | US elections 2024 | The Guardian

Las flores – Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

SANTIAGO GALICIA ROJON SERRALLONGA

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Hace algunos años me preguntaba qué es una flor y contestaba que es un bello suspiro, una ilusión, un detalle, un fragmento del paraíso. Ahora entiendo que una flor es una criatura delicada y tierna, fragante y de intensa policromía, de textura agradable, poseedora de fortaleza que le permite recibir y coexistir ante las inclemencias del tiempo, con sus fríos, calores, lluvias y vientos. Comprendo que la delicadeza y la ternura son atributos propios de seres maravillosos, cualidades que no se oponen a los deseos de vivir, a la energía, a la sencillez, a la vitalidad. Hay quienes, a veces, se refieren a las flores como ejemplo de la hermosura y la brevedad de la existencia, e incluso, por añadidura, juzgan la presunción por la apariencia física; sin embargo, entiendo que se trata de seres maravillosos que crecen ufanas en los paisajes abruptos de la naturaleza, en los jardines y en las macetas, y acompañan a la gente desde su aurora hasta su ocaso, en los diferentes acontecimientos de su existencia, alegres y tristes. He descubierto flores en los cuneros y en los sepulcros. Las flores me parecen, igual que siempre, pedazos sublimes del paraíso.

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Source: Las flores – Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

Ein Dienstagslächeln / … A Tuesday smile – Stella, oh, Stella

Es gibt bessere Lösungen als Schikane … dieses Mal ein Film aus Indonesien.

… There is a better way than bullying … this time a movie from Indonesia.

Es ist doch unglaublich, dass ich ausgerechnet die Szene für ein Bild gewählt habe, die auch im Link auftaucht. Aber es ist jetzt zu spät, das noch zu ändern, ich muss schlafen gehen 😉 (02.00 Uhr)
Habt eine angenehme Woche und seid nett zueinander 😉

… Incredible that I chose exactly the scene for my picture that also appears in the link. But, it is too late now to change that, I have to go to bed 😉 ( 2 a.m.)
Have a pleasant week and be good 😉

Source: Ein Dienstagslächeln / … A Tuesday smile – Stella, oh, Stella

Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history | RNZ News

Donald Trump anchored his bid to win a second White House term next week on searing anti-migrant fear at a rally at Madison Square Garden, doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation program on Day 1 to reverse an “immigrant invasion.”

As the ex-president’s allies defend him against Democratic claims he is a “fascist” and an authoritarian in waiting, based in part on warnings by his ex-chief of staff John Kelly, Trump on Sunday delivered a screed that may augur the most extreme presidency in modern history if he beats Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on 5 November.

“The United States is an occupied country,” Trump said, as Democrats projected messages on the exterior of the storied New York City arena, reading “Trump is Unhinged” and “Trump praised Hitler.”

The huge rally was billed as the launch of the final stage of Trump’s bid to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in American political history after trying to overturn the result of the last election and leaving office in disgrace in 2021.

Source: Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history | RNZ News

Lost Mayan city found in Mexico jungle by accident

An illustration showing a map of Valeriana and its location in Mexico.

Valeriana has the “hallmarks of a capital city” and was second only in density of buildings to the spectacular Calakmul site, around 100km away (62 miles).

It is “hidden in plain sight”, the archaeologists say, as it is just 15 minutes hike from a major road near Xhipul where mostly Mayan people now live.

There are no known pictures of the lost city because “no-one has ever been there”, the researchers say, although local people may have suspected there were ruins under the mounds of earth.

The city, which was about 16.6 sq km, had two major centres with large buildings around 2km (1.2 miles) apart, linked by dense houses and causeways.

It has two plazas with temple pyramids, where Mayans would have worshipped, hidden treasures like jade masks and buried their dead.

It also had a court where people would have played an ancient ball game.

There was also evidence of a reservoir, indicating that people used the landscape to support a large population.

In total, Mr Auld-Thomas and Prof Canuto surveyed three different sites in the jungle. They found 6,764 buildings of various sizes.

Professor Elizabeth Graham from University College London, who was not involved in the research, says it supports claims that Mayans lived in complex cities or towns, not in isolated villages.

“The point is that the landscape is definitely settled – that is, settled in the past – and not, as it appears to the naked eye, uninhabited or ‘wild’,” she says.

The research suggests that when Mayan civilisations collapsed from 800AD onwards, it was partly because they were so densely populated and could not survive climate problems.

“It’s suggesting that the landscape was just completely full of people at the onset of drought conditions and it didn’t have a lot of flexibility left. And so maybe the entire system basically unravelled as people moved farther away,” says Mr Auld-Thomas.

Warfare and the conquest of the region by Spanish invaders in the 16th century also contributed to eradication of Mayan city states…

Source: Lost Mayan city found in Mexico jungle by accident

Trump doubles down on hate at Madison Square Garden – Los Angeles Times

…Trump Republicans do, as Trump and his running mate JD Vance love to say, welcome anyone. That’s anyone willing to fall in line, cheer for his hate and vote in his favor. So yes, there were Latinos, Black people, Jewish people and probably even a couple LGBTQ+ people in attendance.

But Trump and his entourage made clear Sunday night that inclusion is not the same as respect. Welcoming anyone to vote for him is a far cry from welcoming them to be equals.

For all those who still believe that if a first Trump term wasn’t catastrophic for democracy, a second one is survivable if not ideal, I remind you of the wise words of Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time…

Source: Trump doubles down on hate at Madison Square Garden – Los Angeles Times