The co-founder of a fundraising group linked to Steve Bannon that promised to help Donald Trump construct a wall along the southern U.S. border has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison. Brian Kolfage was sentenced Wednesday for defrauding donors to the We Build the Wall effort. He previously pleaded guilty. A co-defendant, financier Andrew Badolato, was also sentenced to three years for aiding the effort. Former Trump adviser Bannon was also charged but received a pardon hours before Trump left office. Bannon now faces fresh charges in state court. He says he’s innocent.
— Read on apnews.com/article/border-wall-donald-trump-steve-bannon-15db1e18f3cd46a87bc395b14b2bcf15
Category Archives: News to use
Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works
Bannon ally handed four-year prison term over Trump border-wall fraud | US-Mexico border | The Guardian
US air force veteran Brian Kolfage admitted to conspiring to defraud donors to campaign to build wall along US-Mexico border
— Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/26/brian-kolfage-steve-bannon-ally-border-wall-fraud
Montana House Votes to Discipline Transgender Lawmaker – The New York Times
Legislators voted to bar Representative Zooey Zephyr, the state’s only transgender legislator, from the House chamber for the remainder of the legislative session.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/us/zooey-zephyr-transgender-montana-house.html
GOP goes totally autocratic denying citizens representation.
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified trustees OK creepy plan to censor books – Orange County Register
It’s ironic that a novel about the Iranian revolution initially drew the ire of conservative school-board members at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. That debate – and concern about some language used by the author – sparked the district’s passage of a new plan that makes the elected trustees the final arbiter of books that the district uses in its curriculum.
The board ultimately approved the use of “Persepolis: The Story of Childhood,” which documents the oppressive tactics of the Islamic Republic. Unlike in Iran, the United States champions the widest freedom of speech and thought – and Americans generally frown upon elected officials who try to set themselves as “culture ministers” who vet reading material.
By a 3-2 vote, the board gave initial approval to a policy that requires a full board vote before the district pilots a new book. The ringleader, Trustee Todd Frazier, argues it’s not actually a book ban. He’s technically correct. Yes, someone has to make these choices. But schools typically set up a process, such as the district’s Literature Review Committee, to vet teachers’ proposals.
This approach turns every mundane choice into a hot-button political issue. It will dumb down students’ reading material by assuring that educators propose only the least-controversial books – lest it set off controversy at a board meeting. The policy encourages ideologically driven board members to grandstand. Trustees have more pressing issues (e.g., finances, hiring practices, etc.) to handle.
Source: Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified trustees OK creepy plan to censor books – Orange County Register
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly … Again — Filosofa’s Word

Much happening these days … it seems that we cannot even come up for air between ‘breaking news’ stories. I don’t know about you guys, but some days I feel like I’m living inside a fictional novel, a dystopian one at that! The good … Congratulations are in order to the state of Washington this […]
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly … Again — Filosofa’s Word
♫ Harry Belafonte — A Tribute ♫ — Filosofa’s Word

I was truly saddened by the news of Harry Belafonte’s death for he was a great musician, but more than that, he was a great human being, one of a kind. I know I can’t possibly cover all the things Mr. Belafonte did in his lifetime in a single post, but let me hit just […]
♫ Harry Belafonte — A Tribute ♫ — Filosofa’s Word
Streetart – K-Lina + Victor García Repo @ Castaño del Robledo, Spain — Barbara Picci

K-Lina + Victor García Repo @ Castaño del Robledo, Spain K-Lina + Victor García Repo @ Castaño del Robledo, Spain Title: A juego lento Location: Castaño del Robledo, Spain Artists: K-Lina + Victor García Repo (Spain) Year: 2023 USEFUL LINKS K-LINA: K-Lina in this blog | Website | Instagram USEFUL LINKS VICTOR GARCIA REPO: Victor […]
Streetart – K-Lina + Victor García Repo @ Castaño del Robledo, Spain — Barbara Picci
Harry Belafonte (RIP), James Baldwin, Marlon Brando & Sidney Poitier Talk About Civil Rights, 1963 | Open Culture
Download Free Coloring Books from Nearly 100 Museums & Libraries | Open Culture
We here at Open Culture heartily endorse the practice of viewing art, whether in a physical museum, in the pages of a book, or online. For some, however, it tends to have one serious shortcoming: all the colors are already filled in. If you’re itching to use your own colored pencils, crayons, watercolors, or other tools of choice on drawings, paintings, and a variety of other works besides in the possession of well-known art institutions, these past few months are a time of year to savor thanks to the initiative Color Our Collections.
Source: Download Free Coloring Books from Nearly 100 Museums & Libraries | Open Culture
Not Only For The Birds (Murisopsis Scavenger Hunt)
No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.
Bob Dylan
I am moved to great heights, oh woe is me
Persuaded in the pursuit of a thrill
My racing mind soon comes to realise
This is not where sane people should be
Coursing bone deep I feel a sudden chill
I focus elsewhere, happier in lies
Surveying the grandeur of all I see
Totaling the cost of the obscene bill
Pox on the idiom, ‘reach for the skies’
I skydived and all I got was dizzy
Dizzy by murisopsis – a poem of 10 lines with 10 syllables per line with a rhyme scheme of: a/b/c/a/b/c/a/b/c/a. Requires words of motion be included in the poem. BONUS: Use the word dizzy.
The first recorded parachute jump was made by André-Jacques Garnerin on October 22, 1797. He jumped from a hydrogen balloon, more than 3,000 feet above Paris.
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