Vaccines are deadly. 🙄

First fonts, now this. https://apnews.com/article/american-sign-language-trump-white-house-7ac33c635cdefd22154d6eb7e47d3d55

The US is no longer a serious country: "The DOJ drew criticism Thursday after posting an image of Franklin the Turtle, the well-known children’s book character, dressed as a 'deportation judge' as part of a recruitment pitch for immigration court positions." newsfactsnetwork.com/news/doj-moc...

“Perhaps all of this is proof that Oklahoma should be focusing less on ridding classrooms of ‘woke’ and more on teaching its students basic grammar and research skills.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/04/university-oklahoma-student-essay-bible-discrimination/87583265007/

It’s happening in Ireland, too. "If teachers are to be retained in the system, we need to see smaller class sizes and a reduction in the administrative burdens that deflect from the core duties of teaching and learning.”

“Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken well and spread my tidings Of the golden future time.” G. Orwell, “Animal Farm”

Hypocrisy, defined: “GOP-dominated congressional delegation urging Trump administration to drop a plan that would allow new oil drilling for the first time in decades off the state’s coast.” https://apnews.com/article/offshore-drilling-florida-trump-tourism-beaches-f9e19190599552dfb3f172d0aad945bb

“Students are responding to structure that is built on consistency and care. You can feel that people want to be here, and that makes a huge difference.” https://www.courant.com/2025/12/05/ct-school-gets-off-states-turnaround-list-principal-says-staff-changed-response-to-student-behavior/

“Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as ‘Napoleon.’ He was always referred to in formal style as ‘our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,’ and this pigs liked to invent for him such titles as Father of All Animals, Terror of Mankind…” G. Orwell, “Animal Farm”

“Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness, and availability.”

“A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself.”

Professor Nyhan shares this 100% outstanding essay: "I suppose you’ve come to say you’re sorry? I hope so, given your years of sneering and hand-wringing about how I was ruining knowledge. Meanwhile, you turned your information environment into a hypercapitalist post-truth digital snuff film."

My latest op-ed: “My students’ overall interest in reading and writing has declined dramatically. The emergence of large language models like ChatGPT has only exacerbated that indifference.” https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/12/02/opinion-artificial-intelligence-threatens-student-learning-and-more/

My latest chapter of "The Football Chronicles," the most challenging one to write this season: "What do you say to a group of high school football players who had just lost the last football game they will ever play in an extremely heartbreaking fashion?" medium.com/@barthkeck/f...

“Ocean winds in the Northeast are at their strongest and steadiest in winter months, making turbines there a way to boost the reliability of power grids connected to underperforming gas plants.” https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/offshore-wind/grid-reliability-east-coast-trump-study

The latest in my Football Chronicles: "The finer details of the game have evolved to the point where certain elements admittedly annoy 'old-school coaches' who last played football decades ago — you know, guys like me." medium.com/@barthkeck/f...

Treat yourself and watch this absolutely joyful presentation of “Fooling Yourself.” A huge thank you to Tommy Shaw and the kids. Amazing! https://youtu.be/xpYHgbjOIq0

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” -G. Orwell, 1984

Further proof that Trump’s narrative about immigrant-related crime is false: “Homicides are down nearly 20 percent this year in the 52 major U.S. cities that report such data monthly, according to a WaPo analysis.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2025/homicide-rates-us-cities/

“Every record destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - G. Orwell, 1984

“He announced that from now on the Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end… all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself.” - George Orwell, Animal Farm

We're going "old-school" in this week's Football Chronicles: "This past week reminded me that while 'old-school' means 'out of touch' to some people, it remains a good thing to be in many situations." medium.com/@barthkeck/f...

Didn’t they make a movie about this? https://youtu.be/5KFwXDYhG3w?si=ijqXWxeLfcQ7rV69

The proverbial smoking gun: “In one of the messages, Mr. Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage.”

My latest op-ed: “It seems Trump is providing as much evidence as possible for Oscar Wilde’s thesis that ‘Life imitates art more than art imitates life.’ How else to describe the opulent Great Gatsby party [at Mar-a-Lago]?” https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/11/11/opinion-make-authors-germane-again/

“American farmers have faced an undue strain [as] the price of farm production, including land costs, seed, and fertilizer, have skyrocketed while agriculture margins continue to fall.”

Another knee-jerk idea meant to placate the masses. Aside from the fact that he won’t ever do it, it’s an asinine idea: “A round of Trump's tariff dividend checks would cost about $600 billion. However, the new tariffs imposed this year are projected to generate only about $300 billion a year.”

My latest "Football Chronicles": "We had just finished what I thought was the most relaxed practice week of the season. It wasn’t as if the kids weren’t focused; they were simply laid-back in their approach." medium.com/@barthkeck/3...

"Millions of people are fed up with screen-staring and app-driven life. They want an exit. It’s a real movement and it’s growing. So bring people along on your journey. That might even be part of your new vocation." www.honest-broker.com/p/a-young-re...

"That’s the AI story. It’s not about making workers more productive or creative. The only way to recoup the $700 billion in capital expenditure to date is by displacing workers — a lot of workers." doctorow.medium.com/https-plural...

This is what happens when a president has an impulsive, ever-changing tariff "policy." “We’re sort of like itinerant refugees in how we make our products. We go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and no matter what we guess, it seems like it’s wrong.” finance.yahoo.com/news/toymake...

Extortion, anyone? “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter,” [GOP spokesperson] Mercer said in his email. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”

My latest "Football Chronicles" installment: "You might say the Cromwell/Portland Panthers football team enjoys a 'curse-infused advantage' over the Cougars, having defeated HK every time they have squared off since C/P first formed the co-op in 2015." medium.com/@barthkeck/f...

The definition of an oligarchy: “Mr. Powell said, the largest companies behind the [AI] transformation are highly valued and largely funding their expansions from their own businesses, rather than loose lending.”

A friendly reminder: “Social media is not real life.” “Unfortunately, too many people today have fallen under the Svengali spell of social media, interpreting the accounts of their preferred influencers as absolute truth.” https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/09/15/opinion-social-media-is-not-real-life/

“Research-backed services like after-school programs and mental health supports help to create a positive school climate. Some states, like Connecticut and Maryland, have invested millions of dollars in wrap-around services like mental health support and at-home visits.”

“The fate of the country rests on the recovery of republican virtue, cultivation of active passion for public interest, and a willingness to sacrifice individual interests for the common good.” Not very reassuring. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/10/trump-authoritarianism/684773/

THIS! 👇

“Other than lack of funds, perhaps the only thing holding us back is rising health disinformation that blocks our ability to effectively communicate with the populations at risk or their health-care providers.”

“Trump remains an unstable leader in a world far more unstable than it was during his first term. No president has been anything close to a perfect steward of America’s national security and its nuclear arsenal, but Trump is less qualified than almost any previous leader to manage a nuclear crisis.”

“In the space of one short announcement, he managed to get a lot wrong, which is worrisome, because he’s the only person in America who has the authority to order the use of nuclear arms.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/trump-nuclear/684758/

My latest "Football Chronicles" installment: "Friday was all about 'family' for Chase, a popular, soft-spoken young man among peers at Haddam-Killingworth High School." medium.com/@barthkeck/f...

Such a small, petty man — changes a U.S. trade policy because he feels slighted by an advertisement (which is factually correct). https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/25/trump-canada-tariffs-reagan-ad/

The NBA gambling scandal reminds me of this op-ed I wrote four years ago: https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2021/11/01/op-ed-its-a-good-bet-that-app-based-gambling-will-cause-problems/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR55El5UyXy4lL84XKFK34MAhtdRfivRkiZLyPk_O_ChoAdg2uWQZ2U24S71aw_aem_2I9k5JvYbdXKEKpANJWirQ

Are we winning yet? 🙄

The so-called “Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act,” proposed legislation in Ohio, lists 25 religious topics for the classroom, “with no religions other than Christianity mentioned.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2025/10/21/in-ohio-a-bill-to-put-christianity-in-the-classroom/

A true symbol of the occupant. So sad, so wrong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/20/white-house-begins-demolishing-east-wing-facade-build-trumps-ballroom/

My latest Football Chronicles: "Bye week. Time to slow down. Take a breath. Relax. It will pass before you know it." medium.com/@barthkeck/f...