Trump's Department of Education Orders Schools to Certify That All DEI Programs Are Defunded, As a Precondition of Receiving Any Future Federal Funding

The big question is: will lying on these forms be prosecuted as felony fraud on the US government?

Because all of the leftwing school administrators are already lying, renaming DEI officers as just "Officers" while keeping them on the payroll (yes, the Air Force did that).

As a condition for receiving federal money, the Trump administration is ordering K-12 schools to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws and ending any discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
A notice sent Thursday by the Education Department gives states and schools 10 days to sign and return the certification. It's the latest escalation against DEI policies, apparently giving the Republican administration a new lever for terminating federal money.
"Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right," Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. He said many schools have flouted their legal obligations, "including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another."
The certification asks state and school leaders to sign a "reminder of legal obligations" acknowledging their federal money is conditioned on compliance with federal civil rights laws. It also demands compliance with several pages of legal analysis written by the administration.
"The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law," the administration wrote in the certification, adding that it is illegal for programs to advantage one race over another.
Schools and states that use illegal DEI practices can face a loss of federal money, including grants and contracts, and can be held liable under the False Claims Act, according to the certification. It specifically threatens Title I funding, which sends billions of dollars a year to America's schools and targets low-income areas.

That hints that maybe prosecution is in the offing for those who fraudulently sign the certifications while keeping renamed DEI policies and departments in place.

...
It follows a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any school policy that treats students or staff differently because of their race is illegal. It aimed to fight what the memo described as widespread discrimination in education, often against white and Asian American students.

It wouldn't be an AP "news" article without now giving the left, and only the left, the chance to attack the policy, with zero comment from anyone supporting the position that Racism Is Bad.

The certification letter drew blowback from critics who said it conflicts with Trump's promise to return education to schools and states.
"Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

And of course it wouldn't be an AP "News" article without giving Randi "Shutdown" Weingarten the last word, to let everyone know what they're supposed to think:

The union's president called the certification requirement illegal, saying federal law prohibits the White House from telling schools and colleges what to teach, and that federal money cannot be withheld without due process.
"He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.

I need this rancid bitch in jail.

Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...

Posted by: Ace at 06:56 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Not defunded. Destroyed, burned to the ground, salted, and salted again.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at April 03, 2025 06:58 PM (VNX3d)

2 "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

You're the piper and the feds are paying.

Time to play the right tune, bitch.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at April 03, 2025 06:58 PM (hB7mE)

3

they morphed it in the past, they'll do it again.

too much cash at stake. gotta have the blacks in their role of cash cow.

Posted by: Dr.Rev. Senator Your Highness E Buzz Miller, Esq PhD MA MS at April 03, 2025 06:58 PM (et1vG)

4 >> Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...

Narrator: She was not locked up.

Posted by: Disinterested FDA Director at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (l3YAf)

5 (W)ill lying on these forms be prosecuted as felony fraud on the US government?

I think that's the point.

Posted by: exdeadhead at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (SKRmg)

6 Tariffs stole my baby.

Posted by: fd at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (vFG9F)

7 I need this rancid bitch in jail.

I'm thinking jail is too good for her.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (/U5Yz)

8 Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...

*********

Weingarten is many things

“Her” is not one of them

Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (HYKHz)

9 Who will we get to do a shitty job teaching the children? Won’t somebody please think of the children?

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (b4o9z)

10 Name one thing more important than diversity.

Ability.

Especially when it comes to your heart surgeon.

Posted by: rickb223 at April 03, 2025 07:00 PM (8HZkO)

11 What makes you think we want Randi?

Posted by: Jail at April 03, 2025 07:00 PM (tT6L1)

12 Willowed, Harmeet Dollon confirmed as AG for Civil Rights. She'll clean out that hive of scum and villainy

Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 03, 2025 07:00 PM (MxsNV)

13 Dems:

Its not discrimination when WE do it!

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 03, 2025 07:00 PM (QAkQ3)

14 The Biden Junta jailed people for having fake clot shot forms. The argument was that it was a crime to lie on a federal from so...same logic applies here

Posted by: 18-1 at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (t0Rmr)

15 Hey, don't be looking at me, either!

Posted by: Barrel at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (tT6L1)

16 Well, ma'am, you were welding that cudgel pretty wide during covid. How well did that work?

Let someone else at bat.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (8HNt+)

17 >> "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

I’m okay with cutting all Federal funding for education, returning control to states, returning Federal funds to taxpayers, eliminating the Department of Education, firing all Federal education employees, dynamiting the Ed Dept building, and salting the ground where it stood.

Posted by: Disinterested FDA Director at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (l3YAf)

18 Diversity, Equity, Idiocracy.

Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (i0F8b)

19 Dear Schools,

Did you know that if you don't take federal money for your school, you don't have to follow the federal requirements associated with that federal money?

Private and Christian schools have been doing exactly that for decades.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (hB7mE)

20 "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

Federal money has always come with strings. Always.

Posted by: rickb223 at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (8HZkO)

21 The enforcement issue seems to be one of our latest problems.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at April 03, 2025 07:02 PM (/U5Yz)

22 The argument was that it was a crime to lie on a federal from so...same logic applies here
Posted by: 18-1 at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (t0Rmr)

Um, no it’s not.

Posted by: Hunter Biden at April 03, 2025 07:02 PM (b4o9z)

23 She'll clean out that hive of scum and villainy

**************

Nope, I was reliably informed by Matt Walsh that Dhillon will sell us out because she sung a Hindu song at the RNC convention

Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger at April 03, 2025 07:02 PM (HYKHz)

24 6 Tariffs stole my baby.
Posted by: fd at April 03, 2025 06:59 PM (vFG9F)

Tariffs, from the Planet Tariffidia?

Tariffs are well known for Anal Probing!

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 03, 2025 07:02 PM (QAkQ3)

25 We no longer have DEI.
We now have IDE. Totally different.
Where’s my money?

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at April 03, 2025 07:02 PM (O9qIg)

26 Every now and then you have to kill an admiral pour encourager les autres.

Send one $300,000/year school superintendent from a major blue city to jail for 10 years, and the hidden DEI programs would end immediately.

Posted by: Pillage Idiot at April 03, 2025 07:03 PM (Q4Dc6)

27 The Biden Junta jailed people for having fake clot shot forms. The argument was that it was a crime to lie on a federal from so...same logic applies here
Posted by: 18-1

Lying on a 4473 will get you jail time, unless your Hunter Biden.

Posted by: rickb223 at April 03, 2025 07:03 PM (8HZkO)

28 Weingarten sits on at least 6 corporate boards. She probably clears $1 million/year. She doesn't give a shit about kids, she cares about money.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:03 PM (LkLld)

29
Federal money has always come with strings. Always.
Posted by: rickb223 at April 03, 2025 07:01 PM (8HZkO)
------------

Yeah, that's a bizarre take by Keri. She knows there are always reams of documents telling schools what they can and can't spend money on.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at April 03, 2025 07:03 PM (tT6L1)

30 >> Nope, I was reliably informed by Matt Walsh that Dhillon will sell us out because she sung a Hindu song at the RNC convention

I’ve only just heard about this, and I’m now 100% sure Matt Walsh is correct.

Posted by: Disinterested FDA Director at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (l3YAf)

31 >>> I need this rancid bitch in jail.

>>> Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...

In a men's prison. Because diversity über alles, right?

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (i24o9)

32 I will risk violating the 100 comment rule because I know Ace is vulnerable to cinema, and we are all starved for something worth watching in a theater.

Don't know whether it will work out, but the trailer for the Naked Gun remake made me laugh from a deep place in the same way the original did.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (ju/6W)

33 Not defunded. Destroyed, burned to the ground, salted, and salted again.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf

I’m okay with cutting all Federal funding for education, returning control to states, returning Federal funds to taxpayers, eliminating the Department of Education, firing all Federal education employees, dynamiting the Ed Dept building, and salting the ground where it stood.
Posted by: Disinterested FDA Director

We'll put you down as "undecided."

Posted by: mikeski at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (DgGvY)

34 My wife… a teacher of math to America’s youth…and a scathing critic of the educational system… her stories would be disbelieved by many about the abject brokenness of the system…

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (eOT8t)

35 In a men's prison. Because diversity über alles, right?
Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (i24o9)
-----------

Good grief, talk about cruel and unusual punishment for the men!

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at April 03, 2025 07:05 PM (tT6L1)

36 26 Every now and then you have to kill an admiral pour encourager les autres.

Send one $300,000/year school superintendent from a major blue city to jail for 10 years, and the hidden DEI programs would end immediately.
Posted by: Pillage Idiot at April 03, 2025 07:03 PM (Q4Dc6)

Yup, and send on Mayor to Jail for 18 USC 1324 Aiding and Abetting Illegal Aliens... for their sanctuary crap...

/channels Gump
And suddenly.... just like that, sanctuary cities were not a problem anymore...

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 03, 2025 07:05 PM (QAkQ3)

37 My wife… a teacher of math to America’s youth…and a scathing critic of the educational system… her stories would be disbelieved by many about the abject brokenness of the system…
Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:04 PM (eOT8t)
--------------

I would. But, I was employed in that system.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at April 03, 2025 07:06 PM (tT6L1)

38 tubal, I wouldn't doubt them in the least.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:06 PM (XNkRi)

39 Trump did great things in his first term, but I don't remember this kind of man-on-a-mission absolute determination to make America, and the world, fix all their problems.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:07 PM (ju/6W)

40 If you want Federal money you have to comply with Federal regulations. Asked the 18 year olds who can no longer legally drink but can vote and go to war.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:08 PM (VofaG)

41 Trump did great things in his first term, but I don't remember this kind of man-on-a-mission absolute determination to make America, and the world, fix all their problems.
Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:07 PM (ju/6W)

-----------------

The world is finding out they made a mistake going after President Trump.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at April 03, 2025 07:08 PM (tT6L1)

42 "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

But he's not dictating how you run your school.
He's putting conditions on the money he sends so you can run your school.

Don't take the money, and do what you want.

But don't come crying to Daddy Fed when you get sued for racism and lose, and then you don't have the money to run your school.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:08 PM (6ydKt)

43 ALL of the organizations in any way connected to education have been infiltrated and suborned by the most extreme ideologies of the Left.. do not doubt this.

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:10 PM (eOT8t)

44 Subverted would have been a better choice of word…. apologies..

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:11 PM (eOT8t)

45 Education in this nation is a joke. I’d be embarrassed to say I worked at a place with their record of failure.

Posted by: President Autopen at April 03, 2025 07:12 PM (gRiue)

46 ALL of the organizations in any way connected to education have been infiltrated and suborned by the most extreme ideologies of the Left.. do not doubt this.
Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:10 PM (eOT8t)

I don’t doubt it. Conquest’s Second Law was too naive and optimistic: even explicitly right-leaning orgs become left-wing and gay over time.

Cthulhu only swims left.

Posted by: Disinterested FDA Director at April 03, 2025 07:13 PM (l3YAf)

47 Home schooling has not become a thing for no reason… perhaps a bit blackly cynical, but public education is pretty commonly a case of child abuse…

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (eOT8t)

48 When education in rural schools in the late 1800's had a higher level of literacy than there is now, government hasn't helped.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (XNkRi)

49 I need this rancid bitch in jail.

Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up...
---------
And get the priest as well...

Posted by: Geoff Tate at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (TN0g+)

50 Which has done more damage to the US education system, laziness or ideology?

Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (i0F8b)

51 If only congress would stop giving ANY federal money to schools....

Also on my wishlist - eliminate ethanol mandates and subsidies. (This is a peeve of mine - lots of conservatives are very vocal about those damned solar projects and windmills, but ethanol is much worse.)

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:16 PM (ynQ9y)

52 >>>"He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.

This lady has to work for an intel agency, right? She's not even pretending to do what is in the best interest of her union members.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:16 PM (uCjyK)

53 50 Which has done more damage to the US education system, laziness or ideology?
Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (i0F8b)

Oh ideology, by far, IMO…. some of the worst teachers can be very zealous…

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:16 PM (eOT8t)

54 Education in this nation is a joke. I’d be embarrassed to say I worked at a place with their record of failure.

Posted by: President Autopen at April 03, 2025 07:12 PM (gRiue)

Let's stop calling it education, for starters. It is glorified, overpaid baby sitting, and a jobs program for high-functioning retards.

Any learning or education going is in spite of those realities.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:17 PM (i24o9)

55 Which has done more damage to the US education system, laziness or ideology?
Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (i0F

Having 'Acting White' be an insult.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:17 PM (VofaG)

56 False Claims Act is huge. Whistleblowers can sue under the FCA in the name of the United States and get a piece of the recovery.

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (r5tfK)

57 >> Trump did great things in his first term, but I don't remember this kind of man-on-a-mission absolute determination to make America, and the world, fix all their problems.

They tried to destroy Trump starting before he even took office in 2016 and he spent the first 3 years of his term under the cloud of impeachment. Then they tried to throw him in prison, bankrupt him and when all else failed murder him.

When you try to kill the king, don't miss.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (LkLld)

58 We need to declare public schooling a national security emergency.

War against public schooling. Turn them all into prisons or apartments or startup incubators. Maker's spaces. Anything but what they are.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (ynQ9y)

59 Also on my wishlist - eliminate ethanol mandates and subsidies. (This is a peeve of mine - lots of conservatives are very vocal about those damned solar projects and windmills, but ethanol is much worse.)
Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:16 PM (ynQ9y)

My libertarian side agrees with you. My more nationalist side says ... we gotta do something with the excess corn we grow due to the government policy of over growing food so we don't all starve to death in a bad crop year.

Better to burn it as fuel then put it in the food supply. So I'd rather high fructose corn syrup disappear, and deal with the shittiness of burning ethanol fuel. Unless we can think of a better use for the excess corn...

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (uCjyK)

60 The world is finding out they made a mistake going after President Trump. Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at April 03, 2025 07:08 PM (tT6L1)

Getting shot tends to focus one's mind.

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at April 03, 2025 07:19 PM (r5tfK)

61 Which has done more damage to the US education system, laziness or ideology?
Posted by: davidt

Unionization

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 03, 2025 07:19 PM (OEuiW)

62 Oh I see the quick hits and Cafe threads haven't posted yet. This place runs like a clock. You know what else runs like a clock ? Old peoples homes. Where's my pudding?

Posted by: I was Gumby Damn It! at April 03, 2025 07:20 PM (HN1FN)

63 libertarian side agrees with you. My more nationalist side says ... we gotta do something with the excess corn we grow due to the government policy of over growing food so we don't all starve to death in a bad crop year.

Better to burn it as fuel then put it in the food supply. So I'd rather high fructose corn syrup disappear, and deal with the shittiness of burning ethanol fuel. Unless we can think of a better use for the excess corn...
Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (uCjyK
Feed that corn to beautiful animals made of meat. It is the way.

Posted by: Eromero at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (p4vtc)

64 Better to burn it as fuel then put it in the food supply. So I'd rather high fructose corn syrup disappear, and deal with the shittiness of burning ethanol fuel. Unless we can think of a better use for the excess corn...

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (uCjyK)

You know what would eat excess corn? Bacon.

It is time to restore the national corn to bacon pipeline.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (i24o9)

65 racial DEI is bad, but the most woke outfits really loved LBG and especially T diversity and the killer Inclusion. Yeah, if you had some mentally ill dude in a dress or gal that decided no she is not just lesbian she is transgender you had better include them nicely in any coffee breaks and whatnot. And of course the racial diversity goals. So toxic, a minority could have a Thomas Sowell level intellect but people would think they were hired mostly to get that DEI checkbox filled for the org.

Posted by: PaleRider at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (CKOCg)

66 Even conservative areas will inevitably get left thinking school board members insinuated into the decision making process… the process is insidious… they appear as Angels of Light, often, to misuse a Biblical passage…

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (eOT8t)

67 Randi "Shutdown" Weingarten is the Nancy Pelosi of Lizzy Warrens.

Posted by: Rev Wishbone at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (fY84s)

68 PDT is trying to reform a corrupt dead end status quo system on the limited time that he has.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (XNkRi)

69 You know what would eat excess corn? Bacon.

It is time to restore the national corn to bacon pipeline.
Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (i24o9)

That I could get on board with.

Okay, I'm sold. Moar corn = moar pigs = moar bacon.

Ethanol is gone.

I'm easy to convince on some issues.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (uCjyK)

70 My libertarian side agrees with you. My more nationalist side says ... we gotta do something with the excess corn we grow due to the government policy of over growing food so we don't all starve to death in a bad crop year.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes

------
In these hypothetical "bad crop years" do they suspend the mandates and rejigger the refineries and formulations so that the ethanol corn (not fit for anything else) is diverted to feed corn? Or no.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (ynQ9y)

71 It is up to YOU ALL to help enforce this. Pay attention to what is going on in your schools.

Posted by: Danimal28 at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (nT4HF)

72 Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (uCjyK)

And yet somehow we became a net importer of food in 2023.

Biden and Gates. Or Bidens handlers and Gates.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (zZu0s)

73
"He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology,"

================

Of course Randi misses the point.

It's not about politics and ideology. It's about federal law. In fact, it's about the Constitution. You can't discriminate on the basis of race or sex. DEI is illegal.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:23 PM (lCaJd)

74 IMO the entire problem is the ROE with the juvenile delinquent trouble makers.

We used to not tolerate the crap that goes on now. At least not as much ( Blackboard Jungle) Suspension and Reform school are almost nonexistent.

That said, they need to reform the system and divide high school into two paths. College Prep or Trade School.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:23 PM (VofaG)

75 Ideology, yes.
Lazyness, yes.

But credentialism has destroyed not just teaching but many professions by banning good talent just because they don't have the right piece of paper.

A lot of older, wiser, experienced people could teach kids during their retirement.

We don't do that though.
Instead we expect brainwashed twenty-something, mostly women, to teach everything, and they are not doing a good job... for decades.

The unions bear a lot of the blame, as well.

That documentary from about 20 years ago called Waiting for Superman about the abysmal state of public education is one of them most eye-opening docs I've ever seen.
I recommend it highly.

Things have only gotten worse since then.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:23 PM (6ydKt)

76 "Trump did great things in his first term, but I don't remember this kind of man-on-a-mission absolute determination to make America, and the world, fix all their problems."

PDT has nothing to lose this time around. He's going for the whole enchilada.

Posted by: fd at April 03, 2025 07:24 PM (vFG9F)

77 Even conservative areas will inevitably get left thinking school board members insinuated into the decision making process… the process is insidious… they appear as Angels of Light, often, to misuse a Biblical passage…
----------
One of the things Rush Limbaugh used to say was "Any organization that isn't *explicitly* conservative will eventually become liberal."

Posted by: Geoff Tate at April 03, 2025 07:24 PM (TN0g+)

78 >> It is up to YOU ALL to help enforce this. Pay attention to what is going on in your schools.

I try but I always get distracted after gym class.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:24 PM (LkLld)

79
"Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

==============

Numbskull fails to realize that this isn't "how you run your skoolz." It's whether you're following federal law, which bans the type of discrimination that DEI perpetrates.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:24 PM (lCaJd)

80 Also on my wishlist - eliminate ethanol mandates and subsidies. (This is a peeve of mine - lots of conservatives are very vocal about those damned solar projects and windmills, but ethanol is much worse.)
Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:16 PM (ynQ9y)

My libertarian side agrees with you. My more nationalist side says ... we gotta do something with the excess corn we grow due to the government policy of over growing food so we don't all starve to death in a bad crop year.

Better to burn it as fuel then put it in the food supply. So I'd rather high fructose corn syrup disappear, and deal with the shittiness of burning ethanol fuel. Unless we can think of a better use for the excess corn...
Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:18 PM (uCjyK)

Make it into hard liquor.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (n7h9X)

81 71 It is up to YOU ALL to help enforce this. Pay attention to what is going on in your schools.
Posted by: Danimal28 at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (nT4HF)

Sadly, much of the parenting in America is done by stupid and lazy people… a bunch of self aabsorbed narcissists who dump the kids off every day and are indifferent about the poisonous bullshit the kids are being indoctrinated with… I better stop ranting… apologies.

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (eOT8t)

82 In these hypothetical "bad crop years" do they suspend the mandates and rejigger the refineries and formulations so that the ethanol corn (not fit for anything else) is diverted to feed corn? Or no.
Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (ynQ9y)

Our agg subsidies became what they were from the dust bowl / great depression / world war two years.

Now, I don't know if you're a history buff or not, but there were massive food supply / shortage issues periodically over several decades.

So our government decided to start subsidizing farms to over-produce food. So much show, that we dump our excess food in the third world as "charity" (which destroys their farming industries).

I'm not saying this is the right solution to the potential problem, but I'm saying I understand why it exists, it was borne from experience, and I'm comfortable going against my principles to say "yeah, makes sense."

Obviously the entire program is laughably corrupt, but the underlying premise is logical.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (uCjyK)

83 "Is this what the Trump administration calls local control? You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

==============

Numbskull fails to realize that this isn't "how you run your skoolz." It's whether you're following federal law, which bans the type of discrimination that DEI perpetrates.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:24 PM (lCaJd)

What the hell is a Parents Union?

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (n7h9X)

84 Of course Randi misses the point.

It's not about politics and ideology. It's about federal law. In fact, it's about the Constitution. You can't discriminate on the basis of race or sex. DEI is illegal.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:23 PM (lCaJd)

This grifter thief knows what she is doing. To the left, not allowing them to enforce their ideology with your tax dollars is enforcing YOUR ideology on them, the three Rs and educational performance standards be damned.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (i24o9)

85 Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:26 PM (2UnvF)

86 47 Home schooling has not become a thing for no reason… perhaps a bit blackly cynical, but public education is pretty commonly a case of child abuse…
Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (eOT8t)

48 When education in rural schools in the late 1800's had a higher level of literacy than there is now, government hasn't helped.
Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (XNkRi)
This is the truth, when teachers were respected members of society who cared about education.

Posted by: Eromero at April 03, 2025 07:26 PM (p4vtc)

87 When is the last time Randi Weingarten taught a class?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at April 03, 2025 07:27 PM (a3Q+t)

88 He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.
----------

Well make the government less powerful then fagfuck

Posted by: ... at April 03, 2025 07:27 PM (E0p3T)

89 Make it into hard liquor.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (n7h9X)

Another excellent idea. I could even get behind a strategic liquor reserve.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:27 PM (uCjyK)

90 And yet somehow we became a net importer of food in 2023.

Biden and Gates. Or Bidens handlers and Gates.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 03, 2025 07:22 PM (zZu0s)

Yeah, well, lots of money to be made outsourcing crop production to our third world neighbors.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:28 PM (uCjyK)

91 "He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.

Yes! How dare the Trump Administration a) force kids back to school and b) teach them not to be racists. It's appalling!

Weingarten : Education :: Fauci : Health

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel at April 03, 2025 07:28 PM (gLikB)

92 >>When is the last time Randi Weingarten taught a class?

1997.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:28 PM (LkLld)

93 When is the last time Randi Weingarten taught a class?
Posted by: Duncanthrax at April 03, 2025 07:27 PM (a3Q+t)

---------------

If memory serves, she's never held a full time position as a teacher. She was a substitute for a bit I think.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:29 PM (2UnvF)

94 Importing tomatoes from Canada… Tomatoes.

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:29 PM (eOT8t)

95
What the hell is a Parents Union?
Posted by: Oldcat

=============

No idea except what I can deduce: it's the wink-wink adversary of the Teacher's Union.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:29 PM (lCaJd)

96 Randi Weingarten is a lesbian who has no children.

Posted by: Piper at April 03, 2025 07:29 PM (QzINz)

97 Ethanol subsidies. I like Chuck Grassley due to the fact he has hung on to most of his marbles over the many years. My pet peeve with him is his support for ethanol, but then I have to remind myself he is representing his state. If there's a surplus of corn after food needs are met, go for it but no subsidies. A partnership with Kentucky and makers of oak barrels would be a solution.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 07:30 PM (gm9Sb)

98 Even conservative areas will inevitably get left thinking school board members insinuated into the decision making process… the process is insidious… they appear as Angels of Light, often, to misuse a Biblical passage…
Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:21 PM (eOT8t)

Gavin Newsome's recall was triggered by liberal rich parents finding out that they were paying 50-100K a year in private schools to get the same woke education that the proles were getting in the city.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:30 PM (n7h9X)

99 There are plenty of qualified people that have never set foot in a "teachers college" that would make incredible teachers. I had a high school teacher, running for Congress, tell me that he would help me with a civics 101 class. Dude, why didn't you promote this in your own school?

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:30 PM (XNkRi)

100 >>If memory serves, she's never held a full time position as a teacher. She was a substitute for a bit I think.

She was a substitute for a couple years and then full time for 3 years.

She's a full time board member, lawyer and activist.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:31 PM (LkLld)

101 What due process? Virtually nothing the DOE does is proscribed by congress by statute, all congress does is give the executive agency a crapton of money that it then doles out in the form of grants.

Shrink it's functions down to nothing then role it into the department of the interior.

Also, I'm tired of that sick, childless freak, Randi, running her filthy whore mouth.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at April 03, 2025 07:31 PM (XV/Pl)

102 What the hell is a Parents Union?
Posted by: Oldcat

=============

No idea except what I can deduce: it's the wink-wink adversary of the Teacher's Union.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:29 PM (lCaJd)

So the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:31 PM (n7h9X)

103 You got to respect Cruz for going into the lion's den and stating flat out that subsidies should be stopped. He laid out the reasons why and respectfully told those that disagreed why they were wrong .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:31 PM (VofaG)

104 I think I know the final objective.

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 03, 2025 07:32 PM (pBnSW)

105 She was a substitute for a couple years and then full time for 3 years.

She's a full time board member, lawyer and activist.
Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:31 PM (LkLld)

--------------

I stand corrected. She's still a full time asshole though.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:32 PM (2UnvF)

106 Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.
Posted by: Duke Lowell

Good. I hope her first round of prosecutions is the employees of the Civil Wrongs division with maximum penalties.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at April 03, 2025 07:32 PM (mlg/3)

107 He's wielding a cudgel of billions in federal aid to tens of millions of children, of all races and ethnicities, to force educators to kowtow to his politics and ideology," said Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT.

What a fucking bitch.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at April 03, 2025 07:33 PM (1OlgD)

108 94 Canadian tomatoes. Living down here for some years, I still amaze the locals when I tell them that Ohio is a leading tomato producer, and PA and New York up there in grape production.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 07:33 PM (gm9Sb)

109 What is Randi's monetary net worth? My guess it's large.

Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:33 PM (i0F8b)

110 Splunge: "Trump did great things in his first term, but I don't remember this kind of man-on-a-mission absolute determination to make America, and the world, fix all their problems."

1) He tried being nice; he got sand-bagged
2) He's on a Mission from God
3) He has no more F***s to give

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel at April 03, 2025 07:33 PM (gLikB)

111 I am in favor of the Corn Likker Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:34 PM (ju/6W)

112
there were massive food supply / shortage issues periodically over several decades.

So our government decided to start subsidizing farms to over-produce food. So much show, that we dump our excess food in the third world as "charity" (which destroys their farming industries).

Posted by: Harry Paratestes

===============

You mean well-thought-out plans for what to do with surpluses wasn't part of the program? Well, I guess it's too late for that and it can never be done. Also, do we have a Secretary of Agriculture? Obviously, these questions are merely rhetorical. Compost the surpluses.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:34 PM (lCaJd)

113 Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:26 PM (2UnvF)
====
Out of all of Trump's picks, this one is the best.

I have placed a lot of my hope on her.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (RIvkX)

114 So our government decided to start subsidizing farms to over-produce food. So much show, that we dump our excess food in the third world as "charity" (which destroys their farming industries).

Posted by: Harry Paratestes

-----------
I understand that problem of volatility in Ag, but that is mostly solved through the same mechanisms at work everywhere - futures markets, secondary markets, imports and exports, etc.
FDR preferred burning food to raise prices so you have him on your team, but that does not convince me.

But ethanol is a whole different issue. *That* was pushed as a form of "energy independence" following the Brazilian model. Lots of analysis showed it actually uses more energy (fertilizer, tractor fuel,...) than it produces but it does wonders for political contributions so it continues.

We could argue about the value of gov. ag policies, but don't conflate ethanol with food security. If anything, it harms food security.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (ynQ9y)

115 criminal prosecution for lying to feds is for little people

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (/Ghsb)

116 >>I stand corrected. She's still a full time asshole though.

Her salary is over $500,000/year. And that's just one of her jobs.

She's a complete asshole. Under her watch school achievement has plummeted but teacher's and administrator's pay has skyrocketed.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (LkLld)

117 * raises a glass with Splunge*

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (XNkRi)

118 Will there be a tariff on Canadian Fentanyl and Heroin?

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (pBnSW)

119 We should stop subsidizing tobacco producers. Its rather stupid to declare tobacco a poison and then send checks to the producers of it.

Posted by: Crusader at April 03, 2025 07:36 PM (TN0g+)

120 Make fed funds contingent upon standardized testing of students.

Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:36 PM (i0F8b)

121 You mean well-thought-out plans for what to do with surpluses wasn't part of the program? Well, I guess it's too late for that and it can never be done. Also, do we have a Secretary of Agriculture? Obviously, these questions are merely rhetorical. Compost the surpluses.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:34 PM (lCaJd)

I'm sure the level of incompetence, corruption, grift, and thievery in the Dept of Agriculture is breath taking, and I doubt it will be fixed.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:36 PM (uCjyK)

122 About other fencing thread, is fencing so hard that a chick could not parry and thrust against some guy,I mean what's the point of women in the services if even when armed women are of no use?

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:36 PM (uZsmZ)

123 Arne Duncan paved the way for Weingarten. Barky did more to hurt education than anyone alive.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (XNkRi)

124 Tomatoes are the easiest crop to grow. They ruined them though with hybridization to make them tougher to be able to ship without damage.

Maybe someone can tell me if you can get seeds or tomato plants that aren't industrialized farming seeds/plants. I remember my grandfathers tomato garden. I've not tasted a tomato like them since.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (VofaG)

125 Make it into hard liquor.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:25 PM (n7h9X)

Another excellent idea. I could even get behind a strategic liquor reserve.
Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:27 PM (uCjyK)

I got that from H Beam Piper SF. One story is about an Emperor of an empire so stable that nothing changes and he's starting to secretly stir the pot. One of his planet sends a mission to be allowed to export a grain surplus but the advisers say no, it would make too much trouble. The Emperor has the liquor idea in the midst of the story.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (n7h9X)

126 Someone has to make the sammiches.

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (pBnSW)

127 About other fencing thread, is fencing so hard that a chick could not parry and thrust against some guy,I mean what's the point of women in the services if even when armed women are of no use?
---------
There's not a *single* track and field record in place where the women's time or weight lifted or distance thrown is BETTER than the men's record in the same event.

Posted by: Crusader at April 03, 2025 07:38 PM (TN0g+)

128 She's a complete asshole. Under her watch school achievement has plummeted but teacher's and administrator's pay has skyrocketed.
Posted by: JackS

In defense of nearly everything no top level study of anything is fair now, thanks to diversity and not having any standards anywhere.

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:38 PM (uZsmZ)

129 Heirloom tomatoes. Are prone to viruses and fungal infections in regular soil… like the old days… delicious tomatoes.

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:38 PM (eOT8t)

130 117 * raises a glass with Splunge*
Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (XNkRi)

Hi Ben Had! Hope you are keeping well.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:39 PM (ju/6W)

131 113 113 Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:26 PM (2UnvF)
====
Out of all of Trump's picks, this one is the best.

I have placed a lot of my hope on her.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (RIvkX)

-- --

She's a brainy one, for sure.
And being from SF she knows all the tricks from the left very well.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:39 PM (6ydKt)

132 Just a man's arm length gives them an advantage over a woman.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:39 PM (VofaG)

133
I'm sure the level of incompetence, corruption, grift, and thievery in the Dept of Agriculture is breath taking, and I doubt it will be fixed.
Posted by: Harry Paratestes

=============

There's something about farmers everywhere all over the world. Farmers and miners. They'd flip the switch to start World War III if that's what it took to keep them in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:39 PM (lCaJd)

134 Maybe someone can tell me if you can get seeds or tomato plants that aren't industrialized farming seeds/plants. I remember my grandfathers tomato garden. I've not tasted a tomato like them since.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (VofaG)

Yes, they do, Heirloom Tomatoes are from seeds from decades back found in odd places and have non standard colors and shapes.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:40 PM (n7h9X)

135 122 About other fencing thread, is fencing so hard that a chick could not parry and thrust against some guy
Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:36 PM (uZsmZ)

I know nothing about fencing, but I'm going to guess that longer arms and legs would be an advantage. Also fast-twitch muscle mass.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2025 07:40 PM (ju/6W)

136 Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:37 PM (VofaG)

Absolutely. Many resources. Search for heirloom tomato seeds. Baker Creek is my go to, but there are plenty of places.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at April 03, 2025 07:40 PM (Vvh2V)

137 But ethanol is a whole different issue. *That* was pushed as a form of "energy independence" following the Brazilian model. Lots of analysis showed it actually uses more energy (fertilizer, tractor fuel,...) than it produces but it does wonders for political contributions so it continues.

We could argue about the value of gov. ag policies, but don't conflate ethanol with food security. If anything, it harms food security.
Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM (ynQ9y)

It's the same issue. It's about what to do with excess corn, regardless of how various schemes were marketed.

There are alternatives -- bacon, liquor, compost, high fructose corn syrup -- but mostly our government settled on ethanol.

We could also dump it on our own market or foreign markets, but because it's subsidized by the government, it will fuck up the supply and demand curve and cause all kinds of issues.

Plus, there's lots of grift, graft, corruption, and thievery to be done on the money / commodities flowing around.

So here we are.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:41 PM (uCjyK)

138 There's not a *single* track and field record in place where the women's time or weight lifted or distance thrown is BETTER than the men's record in the same event.
Posted by: Crusader

I am fine with that but hiw much disadvantage does slashing, cutting, and such have from those things? I was thinking if there was something where there was even catching between the sexes it might be fencing.

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:41 PM (uZsmZ)

139 He's going for the fences. The IRS and even the Feral Reserve.

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 03, 2025 07:41 PM (pBnSW)

140 See I have some fellow tomato growers here.

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:41 PM (eOT8t)

141
Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.
Posted by: Duke Lowell

This is big, I think.

Now she can prosecute all these "protestorrists" for violating Civil Rights and committing Hate Crimes.

Posted by: Soothsayer at April 03, 2025 07:42 PM (U87Q7)

142 Isn't excess corn a consequence of subsidies?

Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:42 PM (i0F8b)

143 124 I do not have a green thumb. Terrible gardener. Tried growing tomatoes one year, and it wasn't working out. Pulled them up and dumped them behind the garage figuring they would just compost. Damn things took root and I had bunches of tomatoes without even staking them (or maybe it was my kiss of death staying away).

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 07:42 PM (gm9Sb)

144 Thanks. Heirloom tomatoes. I do recall that now.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:43 PM (VofaG)

145
I know nothing about fencing, but I'm going to guess that longer arms and legs would be an advantage. Also fast-twitch muscle mass.
Posted by: Splunge

I a not so much arguing as wondering, it would seem that agility, strength and s precision would have equation heights here.

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:43 PM (uZsmZ)

146 See I have some fellow tomato growers here.
Posted by: tuba

Yep

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at April 03, 2025 07:43 PM (1OlgD)

147 davidt: "Make fed funds contingent upon standardized testing of students."

Fatal flaw: The Borg will be setting the "Standard"

It's like today's fencing "controversy". One board member has bastardized the standards to his whim, so now a dude can fence a chick in a women's tournament.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel at April 03, 2025 07:43 PM (gLikB)

148 My favorite tomato is the Roma though…

Posted by: tubal at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (eOT8t)

149 There's something about farmers everywhere all over the world. Farmers and miners. They'd flip the switch to start World War III if that's what it took to keep them in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at April 03, 2025 07:39 PM (lCaJd)

I don't really blame the farmers. They carry a lot of risk, do the hard work, and ultimately without them, we'd all starve to death.

That said, I do my best to buy from local farmers that I know, but also I don't live in a place that's conducive to that. So most of my food comes from factory farming, and I have a lot of issues with that whole system.

That said, it's government policy that forces most of that system.

But like I said upthread, the underlying idea behind the government policy (pay to overproduce food so that we don't ever have shortages wherein millions will die from starvation) is not something I can really argue with, especially knowing the back drop of all of this policy was the dust bowl and great depression followed by the war shortages and rationing.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (uCjyK)

150 But ethanol is a whole different issue. *That* was pushed as a form of "energy independence" following the Brazilian model. Lots of analysis showed it actually uses more energy (fertilizer, tractor fuel,...) than it produces but it does wonders for political contributions so it continues.

-- --

The Brazilians started making ethanol after the oil crisis of the 70s.

They've been at it a long time.

Then they found their own oil fields offshore, so they really are independent if they need to be (if they don't run Petorbras into the ground one day).

They've got a lot of nice rivers, like China, that can make cheap hydroelectric, as well.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (6ydKt)

151 Not one dime of my money until all proofs are met. Then you still aren't getting my money.

Posted by: TalkyTalk at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (9INg6)

152 No, there are federal “clean air” mandates that require oxygenation of gasoline. I think it is mostly a “dilution solution”. Formerly MTBE was used, but found to be highly toxic and migrated to groundwater. Corn ethanol is the replacement for MTBE.

Ordinarily the corn was fed as silage to hogs and cattle. Distiller’s dried grains is still fed to hogs and cattle, but the starch and or alcohol is stripped off as a result.

In that sense, there is simply an added value to growing corn. No food is being diverted from the mouths of babes to gasoline tanks in SUVs. It might be stupid, and destroying habitat, but it isn’t an either or kind of thing as portrayed by detractors.

Corn has been at times, $2 a bushel, every decade since the 1930s. Every decade.

Posted by: Common Tater at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (q3N/z)

153

I am so looking forward to growing tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash this summer.

Wyoming, so I have to wait a while to plant stuff.

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:45 PM (3ek7K)

154 I don't profess to be a legal scholar and haven't yet seen the text but hoping Bondi, et al are legalezing the crap out of every EO to crush any Obama idiot-gymnastics the Dems will pull to circumvent by simply rephrasing, redefining, etc the positions and force Trump to sue thereby dragging these out for 4 years under a TRO. Trump Restraining Order

Posted by: Gary R at April 03, 2025 07:45 PM (AN+ve)

155 Heirloom tomatoes are the apple cobbler of gardening

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:45 PM (uZsmZ)

156 142 Isn't excess corn a consequence of subsidies?
Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:42 PM (i0F8b)

Yes, 100%.

Well, it's the point of the subsidies. The government wanted to protect against a famine, especially after the dust bowl (and holodomor in ukraine), which scared the shit out of people.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:46 PM (uCjyK)

157 Splunge nails it with fast muscle response. Quickness of response seperates the wheat from the chaff.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:46 PM (XNkRi)

158
N,

yes they are!

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:46 PM (3ek7K)

159 am so looking forward to growing tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash this summer.

Wyoming, so I have to wait a while to plant stuff.
Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:45 PM (3ek7K)

You can put them in the ground around July 4th. 😏

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at April 03, 2025 07:46 PM (1OlgD)

160 All I know is you used to be able to get tomatoes without 50% being what I call the white heart spokes . I hate that .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:46 PM (VofaG)

161 153 I miss the corner bars back north where the gardeners would start bringing in the tomatoes, corn, zucchini and other stuff for freebies. Two booths looking like the corner fruit stand.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 07:47 PM (gm9Sb)

162
Mr Aspirin Factory,

yep, lol.

There is nothing like a tomato sandwich. White bread, mayo salt and pepper. Yum yum.

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (3ek7K)

163 Isn't excess corn a consequence of subsidies?
Posted by: davidt at April 03, 2025 07:42 PM (i0F8b)

They are subsidized to develop extra cropland to cover a crop failure in part of the country. If you do that, you need to plant it even when there is no crop failure.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (n7h9X)

164 "......a chick could not parry and thrust against some guy..."

*******

I've seen gals give it their best.

Posted by: Gary R at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (AN+ve)

165 The Brazilians started making ethanol after the oil crisis of the 70s.

They've been at it a long time.

Then they found their own oil fields offshore, so they really are independent if they need to be (if they don't run Petorbras into the ground one day).

They've got a lot of nice rivers, like China, that can make cheap hydroelectric, as well.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:44 PM (6ydKt)

They make theirs from sugar cane though right?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (VofaG)

166 It si not very fair to evaluate the education institutions because the same biases that impact murder is affecting schools

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (uZsmZ)

167 Education is the cornerstone of civilization

These freakazoids treat the system like pansexual romper room.

Posted by: TalkyTalk at April 03, 2025 07:49 PM (9INg6)

168 Tomatoes require fencing.

Or at least a trellis.

Posted by: The Streams are Crossed at April 03, 2025 07:49 PM (RgW1J)

169 "......a chick could not parry and thrust against some guy..."

*******

I've seen gals give it their best.
Posted by: G

Not even a moron with "phrasing'

Posted by: N at April 03, 2025 07:50 PM (uZsmZ)

170 "48 When education in rural schools in the late 1800's had a higher level of literacy than there is now, government hasn't helped.
Posted by: Ben Had at April 03, 2025 07:15 PM (XNkRi) "

exactly correct
every federal penny has gone to reduce performance on reality and promote bs; this must end.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 03, 2025 07:50 PM (/Ghsb)

171
Grandsons do almost everything on computers in school.

Remember, Show Your Work??

How the hell do you do that on a computer?

You can't.

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:50 PM (3ek7K)

172 They are subsidized to develop extra cropland to cover a crop failure in part of the country. If you do that, you need to plant it even when there is no crop failure.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (n7h9X)

Yes, exactly.

They make theirs from sugar cane though right?
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (VofaG)

Yes, they do the same thing with their sugar crop (a major export for them) that we do with our corn crop. The government policy is to subsidize to overproduce so that in a bad harvest year, there isn't a huge shortage.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:50 PM (uCjyK)

173 Tomatoes require fencing.

Or at least a trellis.
---------
What were those sold-on-TV items where you could hang tomatoes from the back patio to grow them?

Posted by: Crusader at April 03, 2025 07:50 PM (TN0g+)

174 It's the same issue. It's about what to do with excess corn, regardless of how various schemes were marketed.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes

-------
My initial point (poorly made) was that it is not excess if it is required through formulation mandates for gasoline.
So they did not create a market for those off years when there is too much corn, they created a parallel market -- with lots of land and capital dedicated to only serving that new market.

Now maybe having a bigger market for corn is a stabilizing force and there is some back and forth between the two markets, but there are plenty of other mechanisms to accomplish that, especially in this hyper-global, low shipping cost, world market.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:51 PM (ynQ9y)

175 They make theirs from sugar cane though right?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 03, 2025 07:48 PM (VofaG)

-- --

Yes.
They have lots and lots of sugar cane.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:51 PM (6ydKt)

176 162, oh how very YES!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 03, 2025 07:51 PM (/Ghsb)

177 There's a documentary film about ethanol production I really like. Stars Robert Mitchum. Something something Road.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 07:52 PM (gm9Sb)

178
Crusader,

I tried those. They fell apart, I think because of the weight.

Probably I did something wrong.

We grow our tomatoes in big pots. Have done that for years and have had good results.

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:53 PM (3ek7K)

179 Topsy Turvy?

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 03, 2025 07:53 PM (pBnSW)

180 Nood Ladyhawks

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 07:53 PM (6ydKt)

181 & 161, yeah, bill, still going strong here ... libraries, too, for the non-bar-attending crowd

gotta love it!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 03, 2025 07:54 PM (/Ghsb)

182 And of course it wouldn't be an AP "News" article without giving Randi "Shutdown" Weingarten the last word, to let everyone know what they're supposed to think:

She was born in '57. She's pretty typical of her kind. Of her - dare I say it, generations.

She's that mix of Silent and Early Boomer that feel entitled - desperately - yet affluent all at the same time.

Posted by: How It Is at April 03, 2025 07:55 PM (bF/Zr)

183 Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:51 PM (ynQ9y)

Like I said, I'm sure the Dept of Agg is up to it's eyeballs in corruption, grift, and thievery.

But the underlying policy of overproducing corn is something that makes sense, especially in the historic context of the time.

Which is the aggravating issue here. What do we do? We can't outsource all farming and manufacturing. We just cant. It kills the middle class, it destroys the culture, it makes us completely reliant on other countries, as was evident during COVID.

Same story with immigration. Libertarians would say the free flow of labor is a true free market, and we should do it. But then what about the Americans who already live here? What happens to them when some immigrant from Guatemala or India is willing to break all employment and labor laws and undercut them? Or do we get rid of all employment laws and have unlimited immigration, keeping the natural minimum wage at about $5 an hour and watching people starve to death on the streets?

I'm coming at this as a former libertarian who has re-evaluated a lot of my assumptions in the last 5 years or so.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at April 03, 2025 07:56 PM (uCjyK)

184 Crusader,

I tried those. They fell apart, I think because of the weight.

Probably I did something wrong.

We grow our tomatoes in big pots. Have done that for years and have had good results.

Posted by: four seasons at April 03, 2025 07:53 PM (3ek7K)

I used to get a catalog (back when they existed) that had many many tomato planter and support options to grow them on patios, inside, other tight spaces.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 03, 2025 07:56 PM (n7h9X)

185 182, affluent af

*spit*

*twice*

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 03, 2025 07:58 PM (/Ghsb)

186 Corn isn't coffee of cocoa that only grows in certain places and takes years to produce a new crop.

Corn is a very versatile crop and has many uses, and it also has many countries that can produce it. There is no risk of a massive famine due to a crop failure in one region of one country. Zero risk.

Stop using that justification. The world market is so big that unless a supervolcano hits and wipes out worldwide production for a few years, we do not need a subsidized artificial market for corn.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 07:59 PM (ynQ9y)

187 Education is the cornerstone of civilization.

Find me an era that doesn't fight, hammer and tongs, to define what Education means. The Enlightenment was, in no small part, an effort to push the Classical Sciences ... such as Basic Math ... rather than the ability to recite scripture.

Now find me today, anything different than those willing to recite Global Warming and Covid and Food Deserts. The new scripture.

Posted by: How It Is at April 03, 2025 07:59 PM (bF/Zr)

188 Vegetable seeds are an authorized food stamp/EBT item. Show of hands, store owners. How many packs of seeds have you sold with payment in food stamps? That's what I thought.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at April 03, 2025 08:00 PM (gm9Sb)

189 You know it's bad when even your dog is mocking you for your limp.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 03, 2025 08:00 PM (6ydKt)

190 Which is the aggravating issue here. What do we do? We can't outsource all farming and manufacturing. We just cant. It kills the middle class, it destroys the culture, it makes us completely reliant on other countries, as was evident during COVID.

Harry ... its easy. So easy it's pissed me off for a few decades.

Yes, we can't grow bananas as well as some. And yes, they can't make trucks like we can.

When the currency value of bananas to trucks isn't even ? That's a trade deficit. Worthy of a tariff. Just like every other country in the world charges us.

Its not hard to understand.

Posted by: How It Is at April 03, 2025 08:03 PM (bF/Zr)

191 Harmeet Dillon was just sworn is as Deputy AG for the Civil Rights division.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 03, 2025 07:26 PM (2UnvF)
====
Out of all of Trump's picks, this one is the best.

I have placed a lot of my hope on her.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2025 07:35 PM

-----------------

Prayers for Harmeet. She is stepping into an absolute snakepit of hardcore leftist activism and villiany, filled with staff that revel in subverting conservative leadership at every turn. She's gonna have to have eyes on the back of her head and do a LOT of firing.

Posted by: Bigsmith at April 03, 2025 08:04 PM (1Au9i)

192 I'll give you credit Harry -- I never thought I would get into an argument over ethanol subsidies at the HQ.

I understand your points and I agree on food security, but I completely disagree that ethanol is helping in any way on that front.

It is a boondoggle and needs to go. And it was never about food security, it was justified as energy security. (which it isn't because it burns more than it uses) and the food justification is post-hoc BS.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Thanks for the interesting discussion.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at April 03, 2025 08:04 PM (ynQ9y)

193 I'll give you credit Harry -- I never thought I would get into an argument over ethanol subsidies at the HQ.

I'll argue it. Just like everyone on the Great Lakes and Pittsburgh wanted Steel subsidized. Every farmer wants a subsidy. And a subsidy is only a buck taken - at the end of a gun barrel - from one to another.

Inside our Republic ? No. Outside our Republic ? Tariff as you wish. Its that simple.

Posted by: How It Is at April 03, 2025 08:08 PM (bF/Zr)

194 Weingarten is the face of the New Jim Crow.

Posted by: torabora at April 03, 2025 08:10 PM (8A9X8)

195 I don't think the commies are actually against tariffs because they don't understand them. They're actually against anything Trump.

Posted by: torabora at April 03, 2025 08:13 PM (8A9X8)

196 I a not so much arguing as wondering, it would seem that agility, strength and s precision would have equation heights here.
Posted by: N

Reach, speed, and skillful aggression.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at April 03, 2025 08:14 PM (mlg/3)

197 A wise man once said 'If you want to end discrimination, stop discriminating.'

Posted by: Grump928(C) at April 03, 2025 08:44 PM (jc0TO)

198 My annual training was moved up 5 months just so they could get everyone to sign TWICE that they are involved in NO illegal DEI activities.

Posted by: Ette from Tex at April 03, 2025 08:47 PM (SNf74)

199
You can't say you're giving control back to states and then dictate how they run their schools," said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.

---------

The National Parents Union appears to be an odd organization. They promote charter schools and claim to push back against the teachers unions. But they also endorse communist nonsense like critical race theory, capitalism is bad, we're on stolen land, etc.

And there's the moronic quote above.

I think they're lying about being pro charter schools and anti teachers unions.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at April 03, 2025 09:02 PM (biznJ)

Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.04 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0098 seconds, 207 records returned.
Page size 119 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.