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themostrandomfandom · 6 years

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Hi! I found your blog the TKTD, and that fic and your theories have highkey gotten me back into glee :D your content is so interesting, thank you so much! I haven't read all of your analyses yet, so I may have missed something, but I'm still wondering a couple things 1. why did Brittany fail senior year? You've written a lot about her not being dumb (despite her intelligence being non-normative), and we know she's able to do at least very advanced math. It seems like her primary goal would be...

To move to the next stage of life with Santana, so why wasn’t avoiding failing out a bigger priority for her? Furthermore, as someone who was so involved with extracurriculars (Cheerios, glee), she must’ve needed to maintain reasonable grades to avoid academic suspension. So avoiding failing seems like something that would be on her radar? and 2. do you think brittany dropped the ‘if sex were dating santana and i would be dating’ line on purpose?

Hey, @savealtonrichards!

Sorry it’staken me so long to answer you! I don’t have much internet access these days.:p

If you’re infor a good ramble, it’s under the cut.

(WARNING:Here be griping about Glee writing—as one does.)

___

First thingsfirst:

Theout-of-universe stuff.

Glee is a show that’s difficult to categorize because while it ostensibly takes place withina realistic fictional universe (as opposed to say a fantasy or science fictionone), there are times when it noticeably deviates from reality.

Though thecharacters seemingly live in suburban Ohio in the early 2010s and areregular human beings living “regular lives,” there are certain aspects of theirexistences that absolutely strain credulity (even when one actively tries tosuspend disbelief).

Some ofthese breaches are obvious, like when Lord Tubbington is shown as being capableof using a computer. However, others manifest more as gaps in logic—the typesof minor “glitches” in believability that cause the viewing audience to go,“Wait a minute. That’s not how that plot development would play out in reallife.”

One exampleof this second type of breach is how between S4 and S6, the young charactersliving in New York, most of whom are supposedly tight on money, arenevertheless able to jet set back and forth to Lima seemingly every otherweekend, as if plane and train tickets are free and travel takes no time orenergy at all. Another is that Sue Sylvester could do all of the illegal,immoral, and just flat-out batshit insane things she does without ever being firedor prosecuted. Still another is that nineteen and twenty year-old kids likeBlaine, Finn, and Sam could be hired to coaching positions at their respectivehigh school alma maters, even though none of them holds a college degree orteaching certificate.

The breachin realism that is pertinent to our discussion has to do with Brittany’sacademic history—which as depicted in show canon is replete with gaps and holesand just doesn’t make much sense.

In episode1x07, we are told that for years Sue has been doctoring the grades of herCheerios, including perhaps Brittany’s. However, even after Will puts his footdown and flunks many of their teammates, the Unholy Trinity, including Brittany,continues to attend Cheerios practice. They are the only Cheerios who do.

How theyalone of the whole squad retain their academic eligibility is not clear.Santana may not be taking Spanish, as she’s not shown in the class. However,Quinn and Brittany most definitely are, so either they must be passing (whiletheir teammates are not) or else Will must have decided against giving them thefailing grades they would otherwise deserve, perhaps because he doesn’t want torender them ineligible for glee club.

WillSchuester is nothing if not a hypocrite, so honestly I wouldn’t put it past himto walk that particular low road.

In any case,the show never really clarifies to what extent Brittany may rely on Sue tomaintain a passing GPA.

ThroughoutS1, Brittany is reported to cheat off of Becky’s schoolwork in math class (seeepisode 1x09) and is shown attempting to cheat off of Quinn’s tests in Spanishclass (see episode 1x07), incidents which suggest that she does at timesstruggle with academic performance during her sophomore year.

However, herstruggles are not explored in depth, and her continued eligibility for theCheerios would indicate that either she somehow manages to make passing grades,struggles notwithstanding, or else that interference from Sue renders herstruggles moot.

Kurt alsoreports that Finn sometimes cheats off of Brittany’s math assignments (seeepisode 1x10). We don’t know if this cheating represents an isolatedincident or a pattern of behavior. However, if it’s the second option, then given that Finn maintains his academiceligibility for football even after having cheated off Brittany’s work, andconsidering that, unlike with Brittany, Sue is unlikely to have doctored Finn’sgrades, we can perhaps surmise that Brittany at least occasionally managesto earn passing grades on her own.

Even if Sueis pulling strings to keep Brittany on the field, come S2, the situationchanges, as in episode 2x11 Brittany quits Cheerios, at which point whatever“help” Sue had been giving her is almost certainly rescinded.

Shortlythereafter, in episode 2x13, Brittany remarks that hergrades are bad (“Totally. Most teachers think that by cutting class, I mightimprove my grades”), perhaps suggesting a drop-off due to a cessation in Sue’shelp.

Even so, it would still seem that Brittany isn’t altogether failing, asshe apparently passes the eleventh grade and commences thetwelfth grade with the rest of her class.

The shownever specifies to what extent Brittany and the other glee kids must maintaintheir grades in order to stay in show choir. On the one hand, glee club is notan athletic program, so the rules for eligibility may be different than withcheerleading or football. On the other hand, glee club is seemingly anextracurricular activity in which students may “letter,” and it does have itsown governing board and competition requirements, so perhaps its eligibilityrequirements are similar or even identical to those for prep sports. To whatextent there may be “house rules” specific to WMHS as opposed to district orstatewide rules for all competitive show choirs remains unclear.

My guess isthat there’s got to be some kind of statewide threshold for eligibility,particularly as we’re told, per Jesse St. James, that the Carmel High kids in VocalAdrenaline cheat and doctor their grades in order to maximize their practicetime and minimize their schoolwork.

Whatever thespecific requirements may be, the fact that Brittany remains eligible toparticipate in glee club throughout her junior year is another point that maysuggest that even without Sue’s interference Brittany maintains a passing GPA. ThatBrittany is eligible to rejoin the Cheerios come her senior year also suggeststhat her eligibility remains intact as she finishes out the eleventh grade.

However,things seem to take a sudden downshift from there, both in terms of Brittany’sprospects and in terms of narrative sense-making.

Come S3, we arefinally told that Brittany has a 0.0 GPA, though it’s never specified if that’sher semester, yearlong, or cumulative GPA. My guess is that it’s the secondoption, given that Brittany is told she must repeat the twelfth grade (asopposed to just making up a few credits during summer school or repeating multiplegrades).

That said,the situation surrounding her failure remains murky.

Prior to S3,Brittany has seemingly maintained a passing GPA, as is evidenced by heraforementioned progress through her freshman, sophomore, and junior years ofhigh school and her continued academic eligibility to participate in Cheeriosand glee club.

However, theshow never reveals how she has come by this passing GPA.

Our threemain options for explaining this phenomenon seem to be:

We can infer that Sue hasmanipulated Brittany’s grades in order to keep her academically eligible forvarsity sports.

We can infer that Brittanyhas achieved passing grades through her own efforts.

We can infer that perhaps somecombination of the above two options has taken place (i.e., that Sue hasmanipulated some of her grades, while others she earned through her ownefforts).

On the onehand, the show heavily implies that Brittany is a very poor student who wouldprobably be incapable of passing her classes if not for Sue manipulating thesystem on her behalf. On the other hand, given that Brittany maintains academiceligibility for Cheerios even when Will flunks many of her teammates in hersophomore year AND that she spends a significant portion of her junior year offthe Cheerios and still manages to pass, it would seem that Brittany is able tomake grades even during the times when Sue isn’t propping her up.

The questionsthen become: If Brittany can pass the eleventh grade “on her own,” then whydoes she fail the twelfth grade? Furthermore, how come Brittany is allowed toremain on the Cheerios and in glee club even once her grades start slipping?Why does her failure only come to light after it is essentially too late forher (or anyone else) to do anything about the problem? How come Sue, who hasnever had any qualms about manipulating her cheerleaders’ grades in the past,seemingly “allows” Brittany to fail her senior year? How come not a singleteacher or counselor at WMHS makes any efforts to help Brittany, even thoughshe is obviously struggling?

After all, Brittany’s 0.0 GPA seems to be a reflection of a chronic problem.

The firsttime we hear about said failing GPA is in episode 3x19, which is the sameepisode that features the WMHS senior prom.

For mostAmerican public high schools, prom takes place anywhere between March and June,which means that somehow Brittany is allowed to fail for at least one or two fullsemesters (or, more likely, given that many Midwestern American public schoolstend to run on the quarter system, two or even three full quarters) before Figgins tells her what’s up.

The school thenseemingly takes no action—at least as we see play out on screen—to helpBrittany course-correct for the final semester or two quarters of her senioryear.

She’s notput on academic monitoring or probation. She’s not assigned a tutor. MissPillsbury doesn’t set up any meetings with her to discuss her options or determineher future. No one writes her an IEP. She just crashes and burns until the endof the year, at which point she fails to graduate.

It strainscredulity that in today’s day and age Brittany could flunk out as “quietly” asshe did, without anyone—including her parents, coaches, guidance counselor,and/or girlfriend—realizing she was in trouble at any point along the way.

Where werethe midterm progress reports? The report cards? The summonses to MissPillsbury’s office? The failed tests that required the signature of her parent orguardian? Santana glimpsing an F on her Spanish essay and ripping Mr. Schue agoddamn new one because who is he to tell Brittany she isn’t conjugating verbsright when he can’t tell his own ass from an ñ?

Shouldn’tsomeone somewhere along the way have noticed something was wrong while therewas still time enough left to do something about it—and particularlyconsidering that Brittany is not only a student but a student athlete?

Per the OhioHigh School Athletic Association, a student must earn “passing grades in aminimum of five one-credit courses, or the equivalent, in the immediatelypreceding grading period” of athletic competition in order to be eligible toparticipate in a varsity sport, so in theory, after she fails that first term,Brittany shouldn’t be able to compete as part of the Cheerios squad at all, letalone be one of the senior leaders.

For therecord, the real life school districts in Lima, OH require a minimum GPAbetween 2.5 and 3.0 for student athletes.

One has towonder: Where is Sue in all this? How come she doesn’t intervene once she seesthat first bad report card?

After all,Sue has no qualms concerning academic dishonesty. By her own admission, she’s meddledwith her cheerleaders’ grades for years. Why shouldn’t she simply meddle in this case, too? Wouldn’tit be in her best interest to keep Brittany eligible to compete?

Come S4, Sueherself blames a “haze of pregnancy hormones” for preventing her from noticingBrittany’s S3 academic nosedive (see episode 4x02). Another contributory factor to her negligence may be her vicious congressionalcampaign against Reggie Salazar and Burt Hummel.

However,that Sue would allow Brittany to fail still presents a narrative problem, nomatter what her excuses for doing so may be, because the fact remains that academiceligibility is an issue that extends beyond her sole purview.

OnceBrittany fails the first academic quarter of the 2011-2012 schoolyear, shebecomes ineligible to compete in interscholastic competitions. The issue is outof Sue’s hands and into those of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.Some state official somewhere has the responsibility to mark her fileand bar her from any further participation in state cheer events.

—and yetthat never happens.

Somehow,Brittany remains a cheerleader (and member of the glee club) for the duration of the schoolyear, despite not passing a single class.

It’s one ofthose lapses in believability—those “Wait a minute. That’s not how thatdevelopment would happen in real life” instances—that takes Glee out of the realmof passingly realistic fiction and into the realm of exaggeration and camp.

There’s noway that Brittany could fail an entire year of school without facing anyacademic consequences—that’s just not the way that the American school systemworks, particularly when it comes to athletic eligibility.

How comeFiggins only notes Brittany’s failures in springtime? What is going on during the fall and winter?

For the record, episode 3x19 originally aired on May 8th, 2012. Within the universe of the show, the action of the episode may take place on the same date or at least a proximal one.

By allaccounts, someone somewhere along the way should notice what’s going on—if nota faculty member at Brittany’s own school, then some official on an athleticeligibility committee, or a college cheerleading coach scouting Brittany for anNCAA scholarship, or an auditor working for the superintendent, or a rivalcheerleading coach digging for dirt on Sue Sylvester’s stars.

Someone!

But no onedoes.

I mean,that’s what the show purports.

Figgins knows enough to inform Brittany thatshe’s failing, but he doesn’t do anything to help the situation except to lectureher for neglecting her duties as the senior class president and badger her intoplanning the prom.

Will and Emma, too focused on rescuing Puck from a similarfate, seemingly remain either oblivious to or unconcerned about Brittany’sacademic woes until she’s on the verge of failing her SECOND consecutive senioryear in S4.

And Santana? She’s blindsided. Somehow, even though she andBrittany take classes together and meet up during every passing block and spendall of their spare time in each other’s company outside of school, she has noidea that Brittany is in academic jeopardy—not until Brittany springs the newson her at BreadStix just before what should be their joint graduation.

Not untilit’s too late.

That’s canonas TPTB at Glee wrote it.

It makes nogoddamn sense, but it’s what we’re stuck with.

So.

Onto thesecond order of business, then:

Thein-universe stuff.

Returning toyour original questions: Why does Brittany fail her senior year—from asituational and character perspective? How come she doesn’t work harder not tofail?

Though earlyon, Glee at times tried to play Brittany off as an accidental or even dubiousgenius—such as in the scene in episode 4x22 where she’s first shown solvingcomplex equations for the researchers at MIT—they later fully committed to herprodigy, acknowledging it as the real deal.

By episode5x12, Baby Girl is shown as being capable of tackling the Riemann Hypothesis.Her work at MIT is serious. By S6, she’s doing complex math for fun, albeitwith kitty doodles drawn in the margins. The Brittany of episodes 6x03, 6x06,and 6x08 is able to slip in facts and impressive logical arguments alongsideher usual Brittanyisms and one-liners. Her intelligence is no longer subject todebate.

So what’sthe deal with her flunking out of high school? How can someone capable ofprocessing the most complicated calculus there is fail at high school algebra?

Here’s thething: While Brittany is indeed a certified math genius, there’s not always aneat one-to-one correlation between “raw intelligence” and “academicsuccess.”

Lots offolks who are plenty bright—including many who have impressive naturalaptitudes in certain areas—fail in traditional classroom settings, even inclasses that by all accounts they “should be good at.”

Some havebehavioral tendencies that are incompatible with the classroom culture. Others findthe course materials boring, either because they already know the materialbeing taught or else because the material is being taught in a way that isn’tconducive to their learning style. Still others learn at a different pace thanwhat the curriculum may allow for, working either faster or slower. Many simplytest poorly or have trouble focusing. Organizational issues, language barriers,home circumstances (which may interfere with one’s ability to complete homeworkor come to class rested and ready to learn), individual teacher-studentdynamics, problems with bullying at school, health or disability factors, etc.,etc. may also affect one’s ability to “make grades.”

Many of thesmartest people there are have failed in formalized academic settings. Conversely,many people of average or even below average aptitudes have found ways tosucceed in the classroom. Other factors such as one’s work ethic, connection toteachers and mentors, support networks, accommodations, etc. can also impacteducational success.

In Brittany’scase, there are myriad reasons why, despite her certified genius, she fails herclasses.

For onething, WMHS is a substandard learning environment, just to start out with.

Theatmosphere there is toxic. Bullying runs rampant, with the staff either whollyapathetic toward, powerless to intervene in, or even sometimes party to theperpetuation thereof.

The administration routinely mismanages its resources,spending an inordinate amount of money to support the cheerleading and footballprograms, though lacking certain other necessities—such as a functional specialeducation department, adequate handicap accommodations, and up-to-datetextbooks.

They also hire teachers who are both underqualified (such as Will,who teaches Spanish for years despite not actually speaking the language) andfrequently abusive (such as Sue, who should literally be serving jail time forthe way she treats the student body).

Multiple times, it’s stated that theirstudents test at below average reading levels.

While only a small percentage ofwhat Sue says should ever be believed, her claims that she doctors the gradesof her Cheerios to maintain their academic eligibility to participate in avarsity sport are seemingly accurate, as Will and Principal Figgins aver that such is this case.

Not a single permanentteacher, principal, or guidance counselor at the school, with perhaps theexception of Coach Beiste, appears competent to do their job.

The hijinks ofvarious staff members and students regularly interfere with the learning day.

Rememberthat old post about JennaB. Lacey, the Hogwarts student who just wants to get a proper education but isconstantly prevented from doing so because she has the misfortune of being inthe same year as one Harry Potter, whose adventures and misadventures areconstantly interrupting her lessons and preempting her exams? Just replace “Harry Potter” with “Rachel Berry” or “SueSylvester,” and you’re basically describing the life of your average WMHSstudent.

Though wedon’t spend a lot of time following the New Directions kids through theirregular classes, the few glimpses that we do get suggest that much of thecurriculum they are subjected to is either outdated or else straight upobjectively incorrect.

While theepisode plays the situation for laughs, Holly Holliday’s points about the sexeducation at WMHS being painfully inadequate aren’t at all off the mark. Mrs.Hagberg seems to experience episodes of dementia while teaching (and is aself-admitted painkiller addict). She frequently forgets her spatiotemporallocation and has on occasion been known to teach that the Nazis won WWII. Will speaksSpanglish and buys into racist stereotypes about Latinos. Sue promulgatesconspiracy theories and unsubstantiated revisionist history, purposefullyspreading misinformation as if she were the White House Press Secretary.

Later on, inS6, it’s shown that a complete overhaul is necessary to update the school’stechnology and curriculum in order for the students to start performing up tostandards on their state tests.

—and there’sBrittany, who learns differently than most people do, stuck in the middle ofall of this chaos.

Honestly,it’s a wonder that any of the kids at WMHS achieve any kind of mainstreamacademic success. That Quinn gets into Yale and Tina into Brown is kind of ascholastic miracle, all things considered.

So she’s upagainst a lot of impediments as barriers to her learning just as a baseline.

Then add inher individual difficulties on top of the other stuff.

Brittany’sis a unique mind. It is unclear to what extent book-learning and traditionaleducation work for her. She has a tendency to metaphorize concepts, suggestingthat she is an abstract thinker. Her flair for malapropisms also intimates thather mind is organized in “webs,” with various like-words grouped together byloose strings of associations. Though she is mathematically intelligent, she isalso emotionally intelligent and physically intelligent, as well.

Early on,her genius seems highly intuitive, as she is able to pull numbers out of theair, though she is not always equally able to explain how or by what means she hasdone so. In time, her methods seem to become more examined and deliberate, withtheory underlining what was once a more reflexive capability.

She isperhaps something of an autodidact, able, for instance, to teach herselfSpanish, though she apparently doesn’t fare well in the class in high school.

Though fewpeople on the show, save Santana, realize as much, she frequently runs abouttwo or three steps ahead of everyone else in terms of her conversations andsocial maneuvers. Her zany quips and seemingly innocent demeanor throw peopleoff, to the point where they don’t pick up on just how wily and keen she canbe.

On the onehand, this phenomenon affords her some social leeway—because, after all, she’sjust “Brittany being Brittany.” On the other hand, it sometimes results inthose who fail to understand her talking down to her, infantilizing her, andblowing her off.

Frequently, both Brittany and the people who engage with herwalk away from their interactions frustrated, Brittany because she’s beencondescended to, her conversation partners because they find herincomprehensible and off-putting.

So.

Considerthat many of her teachers—including Will—seem to be confused by the way shetalks and find her irksome to deal with and so tend to be dismissive of herduring classroom discussions.

Because herintelligence is non-normative, a teacher talking about A subject can get her thinkingoff on a tangent about B subject, C subject, and D subject, and pretty soonshe’ll be blurting out a question or comment about Z subject, which from herteacher’s perspective does not relate to the discussion topic at hand and mayeven derail the lesson, distracting the other students. The teacher then eitherreacts to Brittany’s question or comment with annoyance, shutting her down(such as Ms. Hagberg does in episode 3x02); or reacts with bafflement, ignoring her andglossing over what she’s said (such as Will does in episode 1x10). Either way, Brittanydoesn’t get her questions answered or her comments responded to in aconstructive manner, which means that, invariably, she doesn’t get what sheneeds to out of class.

By the timewe first meet her as a sophomore, Brittany’s reputation as a nuisance and“numbskull” precedes her.

Her teachersmake no effort to hide their low opinions of her intelligence.

In episode2x04, everyone ribs Puck for crashing his mom’s car into an ATM and gettingarrested. Brittany joins in the fun, remarking, “He may be the dumbest personon this planet—and that’s coming from me.” Though the moment is generallyjocular, the fact that Brittany’s teacher Will says nothing to defend her toherself speaks volumes. The incident is also not an isolated one, as later inthe season, in episode 2x17, Will directly questions Brittany’s intelligence toher face (“I get the three of you being on [the Brainiacs], but Brittany?”).

Tack on allthe instances when he responds to Brittany’s comments during rehearsals (andeven her later “cries for help” during S4) with bafflement at best and disdainat worst, plus the way he clearly talks down to her as if she were a youngchild rather than a teenager, and there’s no question that he thinks she’s adolt.

And he’s notthe only member of the WMHS faculty who feels that way, either.

SueSylvester is likewise a serial offender when it comes to calling Brittany dumband infantilizing her. Ditto for Hagberg and Figgins. Though we don’t get tosee Brittany interacting with many other members of the staff aside fromSheldon Beiste, Holly Holliday, and Shelby Corcoran—the last two of whom areonly at the school briefly—it stands to reason that there are other teacherswho share the same negative attitude toward her that the featured teachers do.

At onepoint, Brittany even says that her teachers have told her that her grades mightactually improve if she were to slough her classes.

Brittany’s“stupidity” is widely viewed as a given.

Time andtime again, the show depicts people taking her intelligence for granted andassuming the worst of her capabilities. Such attitudes undoubtedly influencethe way that her teachers approach educating her. If a smart kid like Quinn orArtie isn’t grasping a concept, then teachers will try changing their pedagogyup, teaching the lesson in a different, more effective way. The same is trueeven for an average student like Mercedes. If she’s struggling, a teacher’simpulse will be to show her patience because there’s a good chance thateventually (with some hard work and extra credit) she’ll get it. But not so with Brittany, whom most teachers seem to viewas an idiot. Why slow down a class for her? Why assign different readings? Whytutor her after school? Their assumption is that she is a lost cause.

Sue potentiallydoctoring her grades—and those of the other Cheerios—also exacerbates theproblem.

Thoseteachers who are aware of Sue’s meddling, and especially the ones who have beenbullied by her into being complicit, may feel a lessened sense of obligation toreally teach Brittany or attempt to accurately evaluate her learning because,after all, no matter how Brittany performs, she’s going to be handed a passinggrade in their classes anyway.

Conversely,those teachers who remain unaware of Sue’s meddling may believe that givingBrittany a failing grade will result in meaningful academic consequences forher, which will then lead to her getting the help and attention she needsvis-à-vis the systems that are in place to prevent kids from “falling throughthe cracks.”

Of course,because Sue changes Brittany’s grades after the fact, Brittany never receivesany such help.

The systemsdon’t attend to her. Nothing in her file gets flagged. No one pulls her aside.She just gets passed along from year to year and class to class without anyoneever really taking an interest in her learning.

Either way,she’s left ill-equipped to succeed in high school.

On top ofeverything else, Brittany may also have an undiagnosed learning disability,such as ADHD or ASD. Though of course the show never states that she does havea disability (undiagnosed or not), some neurodivergent fans see in Brittany a kindred spirit whose experiences inthe public school system resemble their own.

It’sdefinitely possible that she could benefit from some accommodations.

But as faras we know, they’re never offered to her—not only because, as we learn from Sueregarding Becky Jackson, WMHS doesn’t offer special education classes, but alsobecause everyone thinks that she’s just “Brittany being Brittany,” and she’s a hopelesscase from the get-go.

So howeversmart Brittany may naturally be, she’s got alot stacked against her at WMHS, including antagonistic teachers, theabysmally low expectations people set for her, Sue’s interference with hergrades (and then the sudden cessation of that interference), her non-normativelearning strategies, and other possible factors.

Add in thatduring her senior year, she’s also dealing with some extra pressures outside ofthe classroom, and what we have is a recipe for a disaster.

Note: Ofcourse, the show deprives us of hearing Brittany talk about the aftermath ofSantana’s outing, suspension, and disowning in her own words, but HeatherMorris’s nonverbal cues show that Brittany’s upset during this period is hardfelt. It’s a stressful time in Brittany’s life, and even after the initialwounds have healed somewhat, Brittany still devotes much of mental andemotional energy to trying to ameliorate the situation, to keep Santana in agood place, to help her smile, and carry on. That’s not to say that Brittana’srelationship or Brittany’s efforts to make Santana happy cause Brittany to failher classes. It’s just to say that Brittany’s senior year is one in which shehas a lot on her mind beyond the regular cares of just being a teenager.

Thesituation as it is, it’s perhaps unsurprising that she should struggle.

However, thequestion still remains: Why doesn’t she ask for help?

No one, includingher parents, teachers, or girlfriend, seems to notice she’s academicallydrowning until it’s too late. But just because they don’t notice on their owndoesn’t mean that Brittany can’t alert them to the situation, right? So whydoesn’t she turn to Mr. Schue and say, “I need some extra help on my historyhomework,” or confide in her parents that she’s just bombed another Englishexam, or ask Santana if they can perhaps study for chemistry class together?Wouldn’t it be in her best interest to do so? Shouldn’t she want to graduate sothat she can get on with her life (and follow Santana)? Why not just reach outto someone?

Easier saidthan done.

Brittany hasspent her whole life being disparaged for “not being smart enough.” Is shereally going to admit she’s struggling to many of the same people who are activelycontributing to her struggles?

Sure,ostensibly, Mr. Schue is her teacher, and he’s supposedly an advocate for her.But can she really turn to someone who has routinely made her feel like anidiot and confess to him that she’s not understanding her classes—andespecially when she’s fully aware that, even if she were to ask him for help,he is probably not the best person to offer it, considering that he’s not actuallya qualified teacher?

The samegoes for Sue, who habitually preys upon Brittany’s vulnerabilities and has beenknown to blackmail students whenever she has any sort of leverage over them.Brittany would have to be an even bigger fool than the one people take her forin order to ask a favor of a megalomaniac of Sue’s caliber.

If Brittanywere to turn to her, the best case scenario would be that she would once againresort to doctoring Brittany’s report card—which is not necessarily an outcomethat Brittany wants. The worst case scenario would be that she would find someway to make Brittany’s life hell for having even approached her.

Brittany has to wonder: Is there any good that could come of prompting Sue totake action if she hasn’t already done so (unprompted) yet?

Not evenEmma is a safe bet, considering that she seems completely oblivious toBrittany’s plight, even though it is literally her job to be on top of it.

She doesn’t pushWill to include Brittany in his Saturday Night Fever competition alongsideFinn, Mercedes, and Santana (see episode 3x16). She isn’t present to participatein the “come to Jesus” meeting Figgins calls Brittany in for before the prom (seeepisode 3x19). Nowhere along the line does she show any concern for Brittany’sGPA, even though she has access to Brittany’s records and presumably has aprofessional imperative to counsel with her concerning her future.

If she can’tbe assed to take an interest in Brittany’s academic struggles even though she’sbeing paid to do so, then Brittany’s not going to beg her to get involved.

Her inactionhas already sent the message loud and clear: Brittany is on her own.

As for whyBrittany doesn’t turn to her parents or Santana for help, things arecomplicated on that side, too.

Since wedon’t know much about Brittany’s relationship with her parents aside from thelittle we see of it in S6, it’s difficult to say why she doesn’t approach themfor help. Maybe she fears disappointing them. Maybe she feels that they won’tunderstand why she’s failing. (They might assume she’s being lazy or goofingoff rather than facing legitimate roadblocks to her learning.) Possibly,they’re dealing with some kind of crisis of their own at the same time thatBrittany realizes that she’s failing, so she doesn’t want to “bother them” withwhat she’s going through. Perhaps she does approach them but they either can’t or won’t helpher.

There’s alsothe possibility that Brittany is reluctant to involve her parents in her issuesbecause she fears the consequences if they find out that Sue has been doctoringher grades for years. How can she explain to them why she’s gone from having apassing (and perhaps even impressive) GPA in years past to having a failing(and even abominable) GPA this year? She’d have to admit that Sue’s been fudgingher report cards to preserve her academic eligibility—and doing so might resultin her parents asking her questions that she doesn’t want to answer.

Either shewould have to say that she had gone along with Sue’s meddling (even though sheknew what Sue was doing was wrong) OR she would have to admit that Sue hasbasically been abusing and blackmailing her and the other Cheerios, making herscared to come forward about the academic dishonesty. The first option oversimplifiesthe situation. The second option is the truth but one that’s probably difficultfor her to cop to.

In any case,for whatever reason, Brittany either doesn’t bring her problems to her parents’attention or she does but they can’t (or won’t) help her.

WithSantana, things are different.

Brittanyknows that if she approaches Santana with her problem, Santana will not onlycare but also understand all of the extenuating circumstances. Santana knowsabout the Sue stuff. She also sees how teachers and other staff members tend toreact to Brittany. She’s fully aware of the injustice. She’s also fully awarethat Brittany’s genius is misunderstood—that Brittany is smart, though her smarts don’t necessarily translate to hertopping the Honor Roll every semester. Santana has the full view of thesituation, and there’s no question that she’d be sympathetic to Brittany’sissues and do everything in her power to get Brittany help, if Brittany justsaid the word.

The troubleis that Brittany doesn’t want to say the word—not when Santana has been dealingwith her own troubles, which, on the whole, from Brittany’s perspective, seem so much bigger and moreagonizing than Brittany’s own.

Brittanycan’t bring herself to interject, “Um, excuse me, Santana, but can we take a break fromdealing with you being outed the entire state of Ohio, suspended from school,disowned by your grandmother, and homophobically bullied so that we can talkabout my algebra test?;” not when she knows that if she points out that she isfailing, Santana will pump the brakes on her own plans and ambitions in orderto stand by her side.

She doesn’twant to hold Santana back when Santana is on her way out of their stifling, gay-bashingtown, onto bigger and better things. She doesn’t want to drag Santana herpersonal turmoil, not when Santana is just finally getting clear from theturmoil in her own.

—andespecially not when Brittany views her own failure as inevitable.

Yeah, shecould tell Santana, and, yeah, Santana would try to move heaven and earth tohelp her. But in the end, there’d be nothing Santana could do. Brittany wouldstill fail, not due to any lagging efforts on Santana’s part, but becauseBrittany has never been able to succeed in school no matter how hard she tried,because the whole system is rigged against her and always has been. No matterhow much effort Brittany expends to show people she’s got a fine brain in herhead—by winning a quiz bowl championship, writing for the school newspaper,becoming class president, dishing out wise advice, etc.—no one except for Santanahas ever been willing to give her a chance. They always see her as an imbecileor a child. Even Santana can’t change the status quo. So why drag her into it?

InBrittany’s view, it’s better for her to help Santana pursue her dreams outsideof Lima than to do anything that might cause her to turn back or slow down.

ThoughBrittany often projects confidence, the truth is that just like the other twomembers of the Unholy Trinity, she has some serious and deep-seated self-esteemissues. After so many years of people calling her an idiot and treating herlike a child, part of her wonders if they aren’t perhaps right (see her speech in episode 4x22).

While shedoesn’t want to believe what the haters are saying, she also can’t help butfeel that maybe she is destined for Lima Loserdom. If so, then the last thingshe wants to do is drag Santana down with her—hence why she doesn’t mention herfailure to graduate until she’s sure that Santana leaving town and going toLouisville is already a done deal.

Is refusingto seek help from anyone a wise choice on Brittany’s part? No.

But havingdifficulty asking for help is a character flaw she comes by naturally. That agirl who’s been told “no” her whole life would be scared to ask anyone to takea chance on her and say “yes” makes sense. The behavior pattern is a consistentone that she displays throughout the show, such as, for example, in S4, whenshe stages not one but two separate public meltdowns in situations where sheneeds help but doesn’t know how to ask for it (see episodes 4x02 and 4x22).

Note: Thefact that Brittany actually brings herself to ask Santana if they can seekadult help regarding their relationship troubles in episode 2x15 shows just howmuch the issue means to her. Normally, Brittany would never suggest seekingoutside counsel, but in that case she wants so badly to set things to rightsbetween her and Santana that she petitions Santana to approach Holly Holliday.Her love for Santana outweighs her fear of making herself vulnerable.

Brittanydoes want to graduate high school. She does want to be with Santana andcontinue their relationship. She wants to escape Lima. She wants to prove thenaysayers wrong. She wants to start a new life somewhere where she’s notnegatively stereotyped and looked down on by everyone. She wants to livehappily ever after with the woman she loves. She wants all of these thingsdesperately, more than anyone really knows.

But she alsodoesn’t know how to get what she wants.

She feelsboxed in and like her situation is hopeless.

So she justtailspins until she crashes.

—and thetruly tragic thing is that nobody notices what’s happening with her until it’stoo late, either because they remain oblivious (like Santana) or because theyare apathetic (like Brittany’s teachers, coaches, and guidance counselors).

Per usual,Glee tried to play the situation for laughs, but there’s really nothing allthat funny about Brittany’s academic failures at all.

Like manystudent athletes, Brittany is a kid whose physical abilities have been valuedover her learning. As long as she’s helping the Cheerios to winchampionships—and make no mistake, like Quinn and Santana, Brittany is one ofSue’s superstars, whose dance and choreography talents are one of the main advantagesthat make the squad elite—then nobody cares if she struggles in her classes.It’s all about what she can do for the school and not what the school can dofor her.

Of course,in Brittany’s case, there’s even an added element of administrative apathy atplay beyond the usual “Just pass the girl so she’s competition eligible” bit.

Because ofthe way she thinks and acts, her teachers assume that she incapable of and/ordisinterested in learning. They allow their annoyance and exasperation with herto supersede whatever obligation they might feel to provide her with a realeducation.

The sad reality is that no one’s going to go out of theirway to teach a girl that they consider a) a nuisance to have in class; b)incapable of learning; and c) someone for whom grades don’t really matteranyhow, given that she’s one of the moving parts in Sue Sylvester’schampionship cheerleading machine.

So that’show Brittany makes it through grades nine, ten, and eleven: By being passedfrom hand to hand, with the faculty and administration turning a blind eye towhat’s happening because, ultimately, no one really cares about her educationanyway.

But thenBrittany enters grade twelve, and for whatever reason this system suddenlyfalls apart. Though she has previously made passing grades—some of themostensibly without Sue’s “help”—the coursework in her senior year gets thebetter of her.

Maybe thetwelfth grade material proves substantially more difficult than the eleventhgrade material. Maybe years of inadequate learning finally catch up to her. (Ifone never masters the basics of a given subject, then one can’t very wellnavigate more advanced material, after all.) Maybe the stress in her family andsocial life so distracts her from her schoolwork that she is no longer able to juggle it all, and she ends up dropping the academic ball. Maybe herteachers finally have enough of her antics and decide to grade her punitively. Maybea confluence of issues affects her.

Whatever thecase, she fails.

That no onein the WMHS administration takes an interest in her case is a tragedy. Thatshe doesn’t feel safe enough to ask any of her teachers or coaches for help isutterly heartbreaking. Particularly when we compare her story to Puck’s, thenumerous ways in which the system has failed her become painfully apparent.

No childshould flunk out of school because her teachers find her annoying.

—andespecially not when she is willing to learn, if only given the chance.

Throughouther time at WMHS, we frequently see Brittany taking notes in her classes andvolunteering answers during lectures, incorrect though some of those answerscertainly are. She isn’t a girl who sleeps through her schooldays or cutsclasses or goofs off. She’s trying her best. And as the way she really comesinto her own after she leaves WMHS proves, she isvery much capable of learning, albeit at her own pace and in her own way.

Imagine howvery different Brittany’s story could have been if even one teacher had realizedher potential—or had even just given her a chance of any kind.

Not onlywould it perhaps have been possible for her to graduate with the rest of herclass, but her genius could have been recognized sooner. The entire course of her life could have been changed for the better.

As thingsare, Brittany eventually succeeds inspite of her experiences in the education system, not because of them.

Hers remainsa sobering story.

Anyway.

Then, toanswer your second question:

No, I don’tthink Brittany drops the “—if it were, Santana and I would be dating” line onpurpose. I honestly think it’s a slip on her part.

Here’s thething:

ThoughBrittana don’t get a lot of foreground development during S1, they do have asubtle subtextual, “in the background” storyline that centers on the tension between howSantana thinks they need to be versus how they really are.

Whilethey’re both truly happiest when they’re monogamous with each other, Santanacontinually insists that they maintain publicly visible sexual relationshipswith popular boys at the same time that they’re sleeping with each other—youknow, to project at least the illusion of “straightness.”

However,despite her interest in appearing “heterosexual,” Santana is never able to keepup her sexual relationships with boys for long. Puck inevitably cheats on her.Finn inevitably turns back to Rachel. She invariably ends up back in amonogamous sexual relationship with Brittany, who is more than happy with thearrangement, given that she and Santana are actually in love. The cycle repeatsitself ad nauseum, until eventually, between episodes 1x10 and 1x13, Santanaand Brittany fall into a prolonged period of exclusivity with eachother.

During thistime, they’re sleeping together, plus doing all of their regular “best friend”things—you know, like sharing meals and going out to movies and sittingtogether in the back of the class and writing each other cute notes andcuddling and linking pinkies and generally being, you know, GIRLFRIENDS—whichis why Brittany feels confused about the status of their relationship.

Santana hastold over and over again that just because you’re having sex with someonedoesn’t mean you’re also dating them.

But she andSantana aren’t just having sex. They’re also doing all sorts of relationship-ystuff. Plus, you know, they’re in love with each other.

So doesn’tthat mean that they’re dating?

That’s thequestion that’s in Brittany’s mind going into the infamous party line scene inepisode 1x13.

To quoteextensively from thispost:

During S1,Santana feels secure in her arrangements with Brittany as long as she maintainsa sexual relationship with Puck and he brags about it around school. As long aseveryone knows that Santana has sex with a hot boy and “likes it,” then Santanafeels safe to also have sex with Brittany, per her own druthers. Even afterSantana and Puck officially break up circa episode 1x03, things are cool becausethey still keep having sex and Puck keeps broadcasting the fact that they do totheir peers.

But then circa episode 1x10, somethingshifts.

Though Puck and Santana continue to haveintermittent sex, Puck ceases to boast of their encounters starting around episode1x10, when he begins to woo Quinn in earnest, trying to prove his worthiness asa father and partner to her.

When Puck ceases to brag, Santana getsnervous and feels as if he has rejected her. Is she doing something wrong?Doesn’t he like it anymore? Does he know her secret?

In episode 1x11, Santana sexts Puck in adesperate attempt to rekindle his interest in her, but her efforts don’t panout. Pucktana likely stop sleeping together between episodes 1x11 and 1x13,and, when they do, it likely causes Santana to fear immensely for herreputation.

Ironically, though the thing Santana mostfears in losing Puck as her beard is that people will find out the truth abouther relationship with Brittany, Santana can’t help but run to Brittany when shefeels Puck’s attentions waning. She panics her way right into Brittany’s bed,seeking the approval, affection, acceptance, and validation there that shedoesn’t get from Puck. In so doing, she probably reveals some emotionalvulnerability or even neediness to Brittany.

Considering that Brittany is in love withher, it’s hard for Brittany not to read significance into her actions and thinkthat they signal something big.

Hint: They do.

Brittany starts thinking more and moreabout what’s going on between her and Santana. Since Santana isn’t dating Puckanymore, maybe Santana could date Brittany instead.

It’s because Brittany has the idea ofdating Santana in her mind—and heart—that she blurts it out to the group in1x13.

“Sex isn’t dating.”

“—if it were, Santana and I would bedating.”

It’s Brittany voicing what’s in her heartbefore she can really stop herself.

That she has no premeditated intention ofouting herself and Santana is clear from the look on her face the second thewords leave her mouth and she realizes what she’s just said. She spoke what wasmeant to be a private thought aloud, and she’s scared to death about what theconsequences might be now that she has. She immediately glances to Santana,gauging her reaction, wondering how badly she’s just fucked up theirrelationship. Though the conversation quickly moves on from that point, herheartbeat most likely doesn’t resume a normal pace for minutes afterward.

Anyway, I’ve jabbered for a good, ol’long while now.

Thanks for the questions!

#Crazy Brittanalyst Answers #savealtonrichards #Brittanalyzing #It's been a while kids #I just want queue

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theliberaltony · 6 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

Former Texas congressman and Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke officially entered the presidential race on Thursday. But with every big-name Democrat to get in the race — the field is now more than a dozen Democrats strong — the prospect of a contested convention gets all the more real.

That’s because the Democratic Party changed its nominating rules over the controversial role superdelegates played in Hillary Clinton’s nomination in 2016. Now, only pledged delegates will vote on the first ballot at the national convention in Milwaukee next July — not superdelegates. The Democratic National Committee’s rule change was meant to prevent superdelegates from casting the deciding vote in the first round of voting, but with so many candidates in the race, superdelegates could still play an outsized role. If the results of the primaries and caucuses spread pledged delegates too thin and no one candidate has a majority, it means superdelegates could still swing the nomination when they cast their preference in a second ballot vote. So in this case, O’Rourke’s relatively late entry into the field, and perhaps that of former Vice President Joe Biden soon, may not be good for the party unless some Democratic challengers drop out or a clear front-runner emerges long before next July.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

Mar. 8-14, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D) After first appearing to set aside any immediate presidential ambitions at South by Southwest, Abrams said on Twitter on Monday that “2020 is definitely on the table.”

During an appearance in Austin, Texas, over the weekend, Abrams told the crowd: “In the spreadsheet with all the jobs I wanted to do, 2028 would be the earliest I would be ready to stand for president because I would have done the work I thought necessary to be effective in that job.” Later, Abrams’s former campaign manager pushed back against the idea that Abrams had ruled out a 2020 run, saying in a tweet that Abrams was “taking a look at all options on the table for 2020 and beyond.”

Abrams later explained that her comments at South by Southwest were related to goals she had set for herself earlier in her life but that the circumstances had changed.

Michael Bennet (D) The Colorado senator said last Friday in New Hampshire that he is still a few weeks away from a decision, but he was forceful in a rebuke of President Trump at a Concord house party, calling it a “tragedy” he was elected.

The former Denver schools superintendent previewed where his priorities would lie as the nation’s chief executive. “If I ever made it to the end of this process, I guarantee you there will not have been a president who’s focused more on education,” he said, according to WMUR.

Joe Biden (D) The former vice president dropped perhaps his most obvious hint about his presidential ambitions during a speech to the International Association of Fire Fighters legislative conference Tuesday when he asked those in attendance to save their “energy” because he “may need it in a few weeks.”

At least one source close to Biden told ABC News that he has yet to reach a final decision, but those with knowledge of his thought process have told ABC News that he is “90 percent there” as far as joining the race.

Cory Booker (D) The New Jersey senator offered a critique of the U.S.’s criminal justice system during an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last Friday. “One of my friends says we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent,” Booker said. “And there are people from neighborhoods like mine in America, who get convictions for doing things that two of the last three presidents admitted to doing. We are a nation right that that churns into our criminal justice system the most vulnerable people.”

On Friday, Booker campaigns in New Hampshire, with stops in Upper Valley and Claremont, before continuing on to Iowa, where he will visit Des Moines, Ottumwa and Indianola on Saturday and Ames, Waterloo and Davenport on Sunday.

Steve Bullock (D) WMUR reported Monday that later this month, the Montana governor will make his first trip to New Hampshire this year; he will meet with Democratic Party activists and attend a fundraiser, as well as a reception for Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Pete Buttigieg (D) Buttigieg received a lot of attention this week for his performance at a CNN town hall at South by Southwest, particularly for an answer in which he addressed the character of Vice President Mike Pence, who formerly served as governor of Buttigieg’s home state of Indiana.

The mayor of South Bend said he was not certain Pence would make a better president than Trump, asking rhetorically: “How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader for the porn star presidency? Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started believing Donald Trump?”

In the 24 hours that followed the event, Buttigieg raised $600,000, the largest single day of fundraising for the mayor since he launched his presidential exploratory committee, according to an aide to Buttigieg.

Julian Castro (D) Castro targeted fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders during a CNN town hall event at South by Southwest, questioning the explanation that the Vermont senator recently gave for his opposition to paying reparations to the descendants of slaves. On “The View” earlier this month, Sanders said that he thinks there are better ways to address the issue than “simply writing out a check.”

At South by Southwest, Castro said: “It’s interesting to me that when it comes to Medicare-for-all, health care … the response there has been we need to write a big check, that when it comes to tuition-free or debt-free college, the answer has been we need to write a big check.” And so if the issue is compensating the descendants of slaves, I don’t think that the argument about writing a big check ought to be the argument that you make if you’re making an argument that a big check needs to be written for a whole bunch of other stuff.”

Castro said that if he were elected president, he would establish a group to study the idea of reparations.

Bill de Blasio (D) The New York City mayor will visit New Hampshire this weekend, making stops in Manchester and Claremont, the birthplace of his mother-in-law.

John Delaney (D) Delaney used his appearance at a CNN town hall Sunday to discuss his blue-collar roots, reminiscing about “a time when we had institutions in our society that really supported people,” including his father’s union which provided him with a scholarship to attend college.

During the town hall, the former Maryland congressman outlined his ideas for the nation’s health care system, including a government-run program that Americans could choose to opt-out of; for education, including free community college; and the environment, which he would address by pushing for a carbon tax.

Delaney visits Iowa this weekend with a stop in Churdan on Friday; Fort Dodge, Waterloo and Mason City on Saturday; and Charles City and Decorah on Sunday.

Tulsi Gabbard (D) Gabbard continues to face questions over her personal opinion of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. During a CNN town hall, she refused to say whether she believed Assad was a war criminal and continued to argue on “The Late Show” against U.S. intervention to overthrow regimes such as his.

The Hawaii congresswoman said on CNN that she believes evidence should continue to be gathered and if it points to war crimes, Assad “should be prosecuted as such.” But she was careful with the language she used to describe the Syrian president on “The Late Show,” characterizing him as a “potential adversary” and saying that her 2017 trip to Syria to meet with him was made in the “pursuit of peace and security.”

Kirsten Gillibrand (D) Politico reported on Monday that an aide to the New York senator resigned last summer after a sexual harassment complaint went unaddressed — contrasting with Gillibrand’s publicly forceful advocacy for victims of such misconduct.

The staffer about whom the complaint was made kept his job until Politico presented its reporting to Gillibrand’s office last month, culminating in his dismissal in early March.

Gillibrand defended the actions of her office, telling reporters that it “take[s] these kinds of allegations very seriously” and maintaining in a statement that when such claims of harassment arise, “we must believe women so that serious investigations can actually take place, we can learn the facts, and there can be appropriate accountability.”

“That’s exactly what happened at every step of this case last year,” she continued.

Gillibrand travels to New Hampshire Friday for events in Portsmouth, Merrimack and finally Manchester, where she will participate in an MSNBC town hall on Monday. Next, Gillibrand will visit Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, with stops in Dubuque, Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington, Ottumwa and Des Moines.

Kamala Harris (D) Harris voiced her support for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to impose a statewide moratorium on the death penalty, characterizing capital punishment as “immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars.”

“The symbol of our justice system is a woman with a blindfold. It is supposed to treat all equally, but the application of the death penalty — a final and irreversible punishment — has been proven to be unequally applied,” Harris said. “Black and Latino defendants are far more likely to be executed than their white counterparts. Poor defendants without a team of lawyers are far more likely to enter death row than those with strong representation. Your race or your bank account shouldn’t determine your sentence.”

During a visit to South Carolina last weekend, Harris detailed her plan for a middle class tax cut, including credits for families earning less than $100,000 per year, paid for by a repeal of the recently implemented tax reform plan backed by President Trump.

John Hickenlooper (D) In a Medium post on Tuesday, Hickenlooper wrote that he “may be a capitalist” but was “sure not a Trump capitalist,” criticizing the president for letting “corporations and the wealthy run wild.”

He later said on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that being called a capitalist in the current political environment was akin to being labeled a “nerd” in high school, but his background as the successful owner of a chain of brewpubs made it “hard to argue with.”

Next Wednesday, Hickenlooper will participate in a CNN town hall in Atlanta.

Larry Hogan (R) On Tuesday, the Maryland governor told ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast that he has still not ruled out a Republican primary challenge of Trump and is “excited” for an upcoming trip to New Hampshire for a “Politics and Eggs” breakfast.

Hogan acknowledged that Trump still has a strong base of support among Republicans, but said with regard to his own plans that “if things were to change, and things do have a way of changing in this volatile environment that we’re in, then all bets are off.”

Jay Inslee (D) Inslee called for an end to the Senate filibuster during an MSNBC interview on Tuesday, labeling it “a vestige of an Antebellum era” that would prevent action on his priority: climate change.

“This is absolutely necessary if we’re going to defeat this beast,” he said, “It is time to shake up D.C., and one of the ways to shake it up is to end the filibuster and have majority rule like Americans deserve. Only then can we fight climate change, and that’s job number one to get this thing done.”

Inslee will visit New Hampshire this weekend for events in Bedford, Exeter and Durham.

Amy Klobuchar (D) At South by Southwest last weekend, the Minnesota senator joked about an anecdote included in a New York Times report last month on her treatment of her staff, saying that her choice to use a comb to eat a salad on an airplane after an aide forgot a fork was her “sort of doing a mom thing” and a MacGyver move.”

She did not engage in speculation during the interview about whether the coverage of her interactions with her staff constituted sexism, but did use the appearance to decry the less-than-four-year prison sentence given to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort last week (Manafort was sentenced to additional time this week in a separate case).

“You can’t have two systems of justice, one for the rich and powerful and one for everyone else,” she said.

Klobuchar visits Iowa this weekend for stops in Waterloo, Dubuque and Independence on Saturday, and Cedar Rapids and Davenport on Sunday.

Seth Moulton (D) The Massachusetts congressman, who is reportedly still considering a presidential run, argued for the abolishment of both the Electoral College and the Senate filibuster in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday, writing that such changes were necessary to ensure every vote in the country counts.

Beto O’Rourke (D) O’Rourke’s long-awaited announcement arrived on Thursday morning when the former Texas congressman revealed that he was entering the race.

“This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us,” O’Rourke said in his announcement video. “The challenges that we face right now; the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater.”

O’Rourke is spending his first weekend as an official candidate in Iowa. After stops in Burlington and Muscatine on Thursday, he visits Mount Pleasant and Cedar Rapids on Friday, then North Liberty, Waterloo and Dubuque on Saturday.

Tim Ryan (D) During an event in Akron, Ohio, on Monday, Ryan said that he is “looking very, very closely” at a presidential run and that Sen. Sherrod Brown’s decision not to enter the race led him to examine the possibility more closely.

“I felt like Sherrod was talking about the issues many of us were concerned about,” the Ohio congressman said, adding that his own decision would come in the next few weeks.

Bernie Sanders (D) During a Senate Budget Committee hearing Wednesday, Sanders probed the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget over Trump’s recently revealed 2020 budget proposal, asking “how many thousands … will die because of massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid?” Democrats as a whole have criticized the Trump administration for the budget’s $845 million reduction in Medicare spending over the next 10 years.

One of Sanders’ campaign staffers apologized for a comment she made on a Facebook thread in which she asked whether the “American-Jewish community has a dual allegiance to the state of Israel,” similar to language used by Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. The staffer, Sanders’ national deputy press secretary, told Politico the language was “insensitive” and that such a discussion should occur “with greater care and sensitivity to their historical resonance.”

Sanders will hold a rally in Henderson, Nevada, on Saturday

Howard Schultz (I) Though he continues to face criticism from Democrats who view his potential independent presidential campaign as helpful to Trump’s reelection chances, the former Starbucks CEO himself took aim at Trump during an event in Miami on Wednesday, decrying Trump’s national emergency declaration to secure funds for his proposed southern border wall.

Schultz said that as president, he would “restore the presidency to the proper position as one of three branches of government” and would refuse to sign any legislation that does not have bipartisan support.

A Washington Post story Wednesday examined Schultz’s upbringing and “rags-to-riches” story, interviewing residents of the Brooklyn housing project where he grew up who characterized it as middle-class as opposed to the “poor” and “low income” community Schultz discussed at recent events.

Eric Swalwell (D) While Swalwell himself has yet to say whether he will run for president, he predicted on MSNBC on Monday that “Donald Trump is not going to be the president in 2021.”

Swalwell made some other “news” too: After a San Jose Mercury News story revealed the California congressman dyed his hair in his youth, Swalwell joked on Twitter that “all of us make bad decisions in high school. Sometimes those decisions involve bleach.”

Elizabeth Warren (D) Last weekend, Warren unveiled a proposal to break up large technology companies, such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. She argued that unregulated mergers where decreasing competition in the industry.

“Today’s big tech companies have too much power — too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy,” Warren said in a statement. “They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else.”

The Massachusetts senator visits neighboring New Hampshire on Friday for events in Salem and Exeter, then takes a southern swing to Memphis on Sunday; Jackson, Mississippi, on Monday for a CNN town hall; and Selma and Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday.

Andrew Yang (D) Yang announced this week that he’s surpassed the 65,000 donor threshold necessary to earn a spot in the first Democratic primary debate. Provided the number of candidates who reach the threshold does not surpass 20 — at which point candidates would then be winnowed by poll performance — Yang will become the first Democratic non-politician to earn a spot in a presidential primary debate since Al Sharpton in 2004.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Adam Kelsey

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fredheads · 6 years

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do you perchance have any stories to tell about fred and fp sneaking off to share a dance at one of their proms or homecomings or whatever bc id very much like to cry about it

You must be talking about the year Fred and Hermione were crowned prom king and queen…. a very good year. Riverdale won the statewide baseball championships, and after scoring the winning run Fred handed Hermione the game ball and asked her to prom. Hermione wouldn’t have turned down that attention and social status for the world and said yes on the spot.

(Hiram had to return the jewellery and red roses he was going to use to ask her, and was none too pleased about this development. Why didn’t wrestling ever get the same attention as baseball…)

Mary was on the prom committee (Hermione was constantly trying to use her to sneak in her own ideas) and Hermione decided to run for prom queen immediately, which meant Fred naturally had to be her king. They started a campaign with the full support of all their friends.

FP expected to be resentful of all the prom fever, but the worst part was that Fred was so polite about it. He promised FP they could talk about other stuff when they were alone together, and always changed the subject at lunch when he felt FP getting antsy. But he still included FP in all the preparations, encouraged him to ask his own date or go stag, invited him over for pictures and snacks the night of… and if you think FP was turning down Bunny’s finger sandwiches you were crazy.

It would be so easy if Fred was annoying him to wish Fred wouldn’t win. But he was always considerate, gentlemanly, fun and sweetly Fred-like about all of it. Hiram was no danger to him so Fred’s competitive mania wasn’t there - he admitted to FP that it was more important to him that Hermione win because it meant more to her. He even told FP he wanted to win prom king because of the additional prizes: a small state college scholarship and free admission for the end of year ecology trip. FP couldn’t resent him after that. He tried, but he just couldn’t.

FP went to prom (with a random cheerleader? stag because he’s a glutton for punishment? with gladys only they weren’t dating yet so she ditched him to have sex with some girl in the ladies room ten minutes in? maybe, maybe…) because who was he to deny Fred his perfect night? It meant a lot to Fred. They took pictures in their tuxes at Fred’s house and again inside the venue and then FP left him alone with Hermione and resigned himself to sulking on the sidelines. He put Fred’s name on the ballot when the time came and after a pause, wrote Hermione’s in too.

At fifteen minutes to the time they were supposed to crown prom court, FP needed a breath of fresh air. He was surprised when Fred followed him out the door and onto the football field and asked if he shouldn’t be back inside, but Fred shrugged and said they had time. They took off their suitjackets and laid down in the cool grass side by side and talked about everything but prom - baseball and summer jobs and music and exams and how much Fred’s feet hurt. The gym door was propped open so they could still hear the music, and eventually this song came on (or this one ) and Fred hopped up, offered FP his hand, and asked him to dance.

FP said they couldn’t dance together inside so they had a slow dance out on the grass instead. FP’s heart was beating so hard he was sure Fred could feel it from how close they were pressed together, but Fred just kept his eyes closed. He could feel things passing between them that he wasn’t sure were words. But he felt everything in that moment - everything in the whole world. The night air was cool and Fred’s hand fit in his just right, and it felt bittersweet but also like they were going to be young forever if they just kept dancing.

They had to go back in when they heard them announcing prom court. Prom king was called first, and Fred won, and FP clapped until his hands hurt, and Fred smiled a big goofy grin when they put the crown on his head and he looked so perfect - not a grass stain on him - and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was well deserved. Hermione won prom queen and did her whole fake modest thing, and then they two of them had their own dance and FP walked home.

#fredsythe #prom #fred andrews #fp jones #hermione lodge

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ledenews · 2 years

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Weld on West Virginia Lawmaking – Part 2

It’s always about jobs when population decline is discussed locally and statewide in West Virginia. There were thousands of opportunities every year in the Mountain State’s manufacturing industry in the mill, the mine, or the factory. High school diplomas were welcomed but not mandatory, coal and lumber and steel jobs were most popular, and everyone ate well and received presents for Christmas. Until most of it closed down, that is, between 1990 and 2010, and since then the struggle has been real. According to 2020, the state of West Virginia had close to 1.8 residents, a 3.2 percent decline from 2010, and the No.1 complaint has been the same “Solving population decline in our state needs a multi-faceted solution, I believe,” explained Weld explained. “But, in a way, we’ve already started to reverse those numbers. Last year was the first year in a very long time that we saw a positive net migration, and what that means is that more people move to West Virginia than those who moved away. That was the first time that number was positive for the first time in more than a decade. “We did still see population loss, but that was because we still had a higher death rate than the birth rate, but that is over a 10-year period. One thing I would like to know when the bulk of that loss took place,” he said. “But the fact we saw positive net migration was very good news, and I believe we’ll see more of that in the future, but let’s not forget that it took a lot of blocks to build the pyramids.” Sen. Weld fought hard for the greyhound industry when out-of-state protesters attempted to ban the industry. Beyond Government Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott has made consistent efforts to interact with the city’s residents, and so have members of the City Council. Elliott has formed ad-hoc committees to examine specific issues, welcomed public hearings during official proceedings, and held regular office hours before the pandemic. Wheeling’s mayor, in fact, was just named Mayor of the Year by the W.Va. Municipal League for his leadership with the construction of new headquarters for both the police and fire departments. But the city’s seven elected officials can’t pump the pedals all of the time, Weld warns, and that is why he insists that if cities like Wheeling are going to attract new residents it is going to take concentrated efforts by collected groups. “I think the local level really is where the rubber meets the road, to be completely honest. I believe if local communities get together, and the people establish goals to improve their communities, that means just as much as what we do on the state level,” Weld said. “On the state level, it’s about things like the state’s tax policy, but really I think we have to give each other confidence that we’re all in this together because that makes us want to get involved. “The time for standing on the sidelines is over if we are going to pull our state up to where we think it should be,” he said. “That means people who don’t usually get involved need to right now.” The lawmaker insists more than cheerleaders are now necessary for the Mountain State to become more attractive to prospective employers. “If you live in West Virginia, it’s your state, and you have to decide what you’re going to do for it,” the senator insisted. “It doesn’t matter if it’s on the local level or the state level as long as you’re getting involved to make good things happen. “We’ve seen a lot of residents make the decision to get more involved, and we need more to get to where I believe we can go,” he said. “That’s the way it is with deep holes, but we’re finally starting to climb out.” Sen. Weld serves as the Majority Whip in the state Senate for President Craig Blair. No One Way West Virginia is not a large state. With 55 counties, 24,230 square miles, and about 1.8 million people, the Mountain State ranks 40th in population and does not have a city with more than 50,000 residents. Despite the size – the state of Texas is, after all, 11 times larger – there are differences among the people involving economics, religion, and, of course, political affiliations. In fact, the development of West Virginia’s updated abortion laws has produced striking contrasts between the citizens in the north and south. Some West Virginians, for example, do not believe exceptions should exist for medical reasons or for the victims of rape and incest while those who live in the central and northern regions feel such legal deviations should be included. During his years in the Legislature, Weld has encountered and worked with lawmakers who have different beliefs, and the Brooke County native’s experience, he reported, has been positive overall. “We do have different regions in West Virginia where people believe differently than we do here in the north. We’re not a large state by any means, but the residents differ based on economics and religion, and that’s fine because, in the end, we are all West Virginians,” Weld said. “But, as they say, variety is the spice of life, and we sure do have a lot of variety in West Virginia. “But no matter where you live in our state, you want to hear about success and progress because those things spread from one community to another as long as the people on the local levels are ready to do their part,” the senator added. “We’ve seen a lot of that during the last decade, and hopefully we see even more so we can gain population in the near future.” Read the full article

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livinginlandmarketing · 4 years

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According to the end-of-day totals from California public health websites for Wednesday, March 17, there were 3,247 new cases of the coronavirus statewide, bringing the total number of cases there have been to 3,606,945.

The 14-day average of new cases daily, 3,484, is down 91.8% from the Jan. 1 high of 42,268.

There were 266 new deaths reported Wednesday, for a total of 56,361 people in California who have died from the virus.

California reported 3,456 people in hospitals with coronavirus-related infections.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

California cancels sideline cheerleading, citing coronavirus concerns

These museums are reopening as Riverside, San Bernardino counties move to red tier

Riverside County coronavirus hospitalizations continue to fall

Riverside County supervisors to discuss public health officer’s post in closed session

San Bernardino County still seeing lower coronavirus case, hospitalization numbers

-on March 18, 2021 at 07:46AM by Jeff Goertzen

#riversidenews

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bloomsburgu · 4 years

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How this alumna went from respected business leader and Army veteran to state treasurer

By Tom McGuire Marketing and Communications

To say Stacy Garrity ’86 is not your typical politician is an understatement. She went from political unknown to winning a state row office, a journey that has taken the Bradford County native around the world. Her election victory shocked even the most optimistic of supporters and has suddenly thrust her into the thick of the political world.

So how did the Athens resident and retired Army Reserve colonel make it to Harrisburg as Pennsylvania’s new state treasurer?

The oldest of four daughters of Howard Garrity and Beverly Arbie, “we were raised to be about God, country, and family,” says Garrity. “We went to church every Wednesday and Sunday. In the summer, we attended vacation Bible school, and every morning at school, we recited the Pledge of Allegiance. And on top of everything, no matter what, I had to watch out for my sisters.”

“My parents were very encouraging,” says Garrity. “They always made it a big thing to say that whatever you put your mind to do, you can do it. I grew up just believing it in a naive sort of way.”

Following graduation from Sayre High School, Garrity knew she was going to college. It was something her parents drilled into her and her sisters. However, the first-generation student admits she didn’t put much thought into what school she would attend. “My reason for [first] choosing Lock Haven was simple; my friends were going there.”

“I wasn’t well-traveled and lived a pretty sheltered life, soI figured I could carpool and come back home on the weekends,” Garrity says. “After a year of adjusting to college life, I realized I should look for a school with more of a focus on business, which is what I was interested in. When I looked around, I saw that Bloomsburg had a very good program and so I transferred.”

As a student, Garrity was intrigued by business and economics and how markets function. It was a field dominated by males in the 1980s, which did not worry her in the least. At BU, Garrity studied finance and accounting and was influenced by then chair of the accounting and business law department, the late Bernard Dill.

“Professor Dill was very engaging with his students,” Garrity recalls. “He was funny, he was motivating, and he made me take a strong interest in the major.”

Garrity, a runner in high school, also found time to be a varsity cheerleader, but more importantly, she joined the Army ROTC on the encouragement of her parents, both 20-year Navy Reserve veterans.

“Basic training was an eye-opening experience. I wasn’t mentally prepared for people being in my face and yelling. We weren’t allowed to call home for a few weeks, and when we did, of course, my mom immediately said forget it and to come home. My dad said never quit. So, I stayed so I wouldn’t disappoint my father.”

“My dad supported us and told us ‘whatever your mind believes you can achieve, you can achieve’ and that ‘winners never quit, and quitters never win.’ It stuck with me.”

After graduating from BU, Garrity joined Global Tungsten and Powders Corporation , or GTP, in Towanda and advanced through several positions, becoming vice president of two of GTP’s three business units. She was VP for government affairs and industry liaison before stepping down to assume her elected position.

At the same time, Garrity was a member of the Army Reserve, but certainly had no plans for what would become a 30-year military career.

“My original idea was to do my six years and then get out. Of course, after 9/11, I went to Kuwait. That was my first deployment. Upon returning home, I just could not bring myself to get out. I felt I needed to stay and serve our country.”

GTP management shared Garrity’s commitment to the Reserve. “At some companies, when you return from a deployment, management will try to reorganize you out. But every time I got back from a deployment, GTP would promote me. They are a great company that has been around for more than 100 years. We have many third-generation employees. And, of course, they were always very proud of me and my work.”

“The entire GTP Group organization has deep respect for Stacy,” says Hermann Walser, president and CEO. “She is always looking beyond her direct responsibilities. The well-being of all stakeholders, customers, employees, community, and country, is her priority. Her ability to motivate and convince people, to communicate, and to network are unique. We will desperately miss her in this function, as well as a member of our GTP family.”

During her last overseas deployment in 2008-09, Garrity earned the nickname “Angel of the Desert” while serving as the acting battalion commander of the military police at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.“Our mission was to provide care and custody with dignity and respect to the 7,000 detainees.”

“To make sure all the rules and regulations were being followed, I would walk the camp after midnight because I always said nothing good happens after midnight. I would walk with the senior staff and just check on soldiers. Then we would have meetings and make sure everything was going OK.”

“We also had a deal that as long as the detainees weren’t doing anything to hurt our soldiers, then we would allow family visitation or even some soccer matches. The detainees would also get videos once a week. But, among our staff, we had zero tolerance for abuse. We were the first internment facility to have zero abuse allegations. I’m very proud of that fact.”

Garrity’s outstanding work in Iraq did not go unnoticed. She was twice awarded the Bronze Star and received the Legion of Merit before retiring from the Army Reserve with the rank of colonel. Back in Bradford County, she and her husband Dan Gizzi, married since 2005, kept busy with water skiing, snowmobiling and running. But the desire to serve others was always an itch.

“As I was thinking about what to do, volunteer work and politics were two of my choices. I’ve always liked politics, so I called our state representative Tina Pickett, who I knew from my job in government affairs since my real passion is the industrial base and making sure that we keep jobs in the United States.”

Pickett recommended jumping into the race for Tom Marino’s U.S. Congressional seat after his resignation. “The next day she had me lined up with a political consultant, and they pushed me right into the deep end.” Despite 31 candidates in the race, Stacy finished a respectable sixth. That showing led the state GOP leadership to reach out to her in late 2019 to gauge her interest in running for statewide office.

“I started praying about it, and I thought, OK, Lord, if you want me to do this, then open the doors. And, he did, and then I still was pretty hesitant. When the GOP leadership said they couldn’t find anyone to run for treasurer, I decided, if not me, then who’s going to do it.”

Shortly after making the decision to run and receiving the state Republican Party’s endorsement to challenge incumbent Democrat Joe Torsella, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“Trying to campaign and raise money during a pandemic was hard. I had to go total grassroots with the odds stacked against me. A Republican had not defeated an incumbent Democrat since 1994. Many people told me ‘Stacy, you’re running a great campaign, but there’s no way you can beat this guy.’”

As Election Day grew closer and the polls showed a tight race, Torsella mounted an advertising blitz with a campaign chest of more than $2 million. But on election night, as results showed her in the lead, she was cautiously optimistic. A week later her opponent called to concede. She had pulled off a win no one had expected. “Joe was extremely gracious and very helpful in the transition. I’m sure it was tough for him because he was told there’s no way you’re going to lose to somebody from Bradford County who had never run before.”

At her swearing-in ceremony in January, Garrity did something most unusual. She offered Torsella an opportunity to deliver some remarks. “Joe rose above politics and helped ensure a smooth transition. As we say in the military, thanks for your service.”

In her inaugural address, Garrity touched upon several key points that have been a part of her life. “Service to others, be it in elected office or wearing the uniform of our country, is the highest calling.”

“Getting the job done in good faith and with honest effort is the watchword by which I promise to serve. I say we look ahead to a place of optimism and cooperation.”

Garrity says her goal for the office is to make transparency a top priority and put taxpayers first. “Putting those checks and balances in place is what I want to focus on so that we can make sure that we’re being a good steward of our taxpayers’ money. Taking transparency to the next level is something that I want to do, and then probably further enhancing the savings programs.”

Throughout her journey from rural Pennsylvania to the battlefields of Iraq and then through the rigors of a political campaign, Garrity has never forgotten her roots. Her advice to young girls and women is to remain true to your values.

“I’ve really tried to live my life with integrity, selfless service, honor, loyalty, and duty. If somebody like me from Bradford County, who grew up on the left side of middle-class, can put myself through college, join the military, then work in manufacturing and become the first female vice president in my company, deploy three times overseas, and retire a colonel, then anyone can do it.”

As for the next part of the Stacy Garrity journey, only one person knows for sure.

“People have already called me about running for other offices, and I’ve told them I campaigned on staying in the job for four years and want to be the best treasurer I can for the people of Pennsylvania. And then we’ll see what God has in store for me.”

Spoken like a true non-politician.

#BloomOnward #HuskyNation #WomensHistoryMonth #StateTreasurer #IraqWar #ArmyReserves #Army #MilitaryFriendly #BUClass1986 #FirstGeneration #FirstGen #business #finance #accounting

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orbemnews · 4 years

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Miami Proud: 'They Are Pure Love': Differently-Abled Cheerleaders Are True Inspiration At Plantation Gym MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Hard work, passion, and high-energy are the best way to describe the cheerleading teams at 5 Star Athletics, but there is one team in particular that has crowds cheering for them. They are called The Emeralds, a team made up of differently-abled cheerleaders, who practice their tumbling and floor routines every Saturday at the Plantation gym. READ MORE: Broward Health Medical Center Holds Memorial To Remember Victims Of The Pandemic Owner Cathy Hearn and her volunteer coaches have been nurturing this cheerleading team since 2014. Each member of the Emeralds is inspiring. Whether they are wheelchair bound, have autism or other challenges, they are each having a blast and getting exercise. Michelle Giler, a volunteer coach, says the focus is on ability, not disability. “We see what each athlete is able to do, and we work up their skills and we adopt it, we work into the routine,” said Giler. Christy, a young adult with Down syndrome, has been involved for many years, as she loves the camaraderie and the competition. Her coaches note she is “full of energy and sass, a lot of fun on the floor.” Her father Scott knows how much this experience means to her, sharing that she looks forward to the gym every weekend. Then, there is Eric, who is known for his jumps and getting the crowd pumped up. The young man with autism shines in cheering and his other passions, like art and theater. In addition to the fun and exercise, the Emeralds competed and earned the top place at the 2019 Special Olympics held in Orlando and took home the Gold Medal. They also compete in a big statewide event usually, but not during the pandemic. READ MORE: Smooth Sailing Friday Miami Dade College North Campus Vaccination Site Anytime they take the stage the reaction is “powerful”, said Diane Kanter, whose daughter Sarah benefits significantly from the program. “Go to a competition and see all of the parents crying because of the accomplishments that they have done. Everybody just stands up and yells and screams, it’s beautiful,” said Kanter. Kaylee Frobel is a volunteer coach too. She has been involved in 5 Star for as long as she can remember. It’s clear she loves working with this team and is proud of them too. “We do have spotters on the floor, but our athletes are doing the stunts by themselves. The routine, the tumbling, everything and that opens people’s eyes that they are able, and it’s just an amazing thing to witness,” said Frobel. 5 Star emphasizes building character and confidence in all the athletes. They have seen Sarah grow more self-assured. It is quite significant for a young lady who wasn’t expected to even walk. “She doesn’t use her right side very well, her one leg is longer than the other, she has had many surgeries in her hand, and she does have cerebral palsy, she does have seizures, small ones. She’s a fighter, she really is,” said Kanter. For owner Cathy Hearn, who has raised her five athletic children (hence the name of the organization) providing this experience is not a job, it’s a family. “They are just pure love, everything about them is joy and fun. This is my happy place, this is my happy place,” said Hearn. MORE NEWS: Police: 2 Miami Beach Police Officers Injured; Several Detained, Pepper Balls Used To Disperse Crowd Click here for more information about 5 Star Athletics. Source link Orbem News #brookeshafer #cbsnmiami #Cheerleaders #DifferentlyAbled #gym #Inspiration #local #localtv #Love #Miami #miaminews #miamiproud #news #Plantation #proud #pure #syndicatedlocal #True

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josephbinningyoumatter · 3 years

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HOW TO LIVE AN AUTHENTIC LIFE, ON PURPOSE

We live in a fast-paced, ever developing, and ever-changing world. Full of Tweets, Likes, and shares. In an instant someone’s life can change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. All by hitting send. We decide based on them. What we wear. What we buy. Where we go. How we act and yes, how we show up in life. We decide if we like someone, something, or someplace based on popularity. It is part of our culture now and has become the new social norm, so we all accept it. But are we being authentic? Are we being true to ourselves, or just being marketed and tricked into thinking this is how we should be, act, or show up? You are one decision away from an original life. Only you can decide which way it will turn out. Merriam-Webster defines Authentic as: not false or Imitation: REAL, ACTUAL, and true to one’s personality, spirit, or character. Moving your life in the direction that is not false or Imitation: REAL, ACTUAL, and true to one’s personality, spirit, or character aligns you with the things in life you want and desire and will prevent you from living in fear of thinking “what will happen if I say no?”. Using any method to attain something will NOT work if you do not know what you want as the outcome. The mistake we all make is we focus on the person, place, or thing we think will save us and we focus on something way too big. This creates an enormous gap between where you are verses where you want to be that you think will rescue you from your miserable life right now. That gap can be the thing that can make you feel lost in figuring out what you want, and discovering what your passion or direction is, or should be. Those in life who are genuinely happy in life understand the power of, and vehemently stick to, being their authentic selves. EXAMPLES OF A NON-AUTHENTIC LIFE EXAMPLE 1 Your friends' lives may look more exciting than yours on Facebook, but recent research reveals that is because they might be faking it. A recent survey has found around two-thirds of people on social media post images to their profiles to make their lives seem more adventurous. And over three quarters of those asked said they judged their peers based on what they saw on their Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook profiles. A published British survey, by smartphone maker HTC, found that, to make our own pages and lives appear more exciting, six percent also said they had borrowed items to include in the images to pass them off as their own. More than half of those surveyed said they posted images of items and places purely to cause jealousy among friends and family. 76 percent of those asked also said seeing items on social media influences them to buy them, with men more likely to take style advice and buy what they see. EXAMPLE 2 Over 5,000 people have taken the free online test “Does Your Job Require High or Low Emotional Intelligence?” And after analyzing the data, they made a scary discovery. It was discovered that 51% of people said that they Always or Frequently have to ‘act’ or ‘put on a show’ at work. But they made an even bigger discovery; 51% who must ‘put on a show at work’ are 32% less likely to love their job. Or put another way, if you do not have to fake your emotions at work, you are 32% more likely to love your job. And not only will you be more likely to love your job, you are also much less likely to have negative feelings about your job. People that do not have to put on a show are 59% less likely to dislike or hate their job. This data also suggests that many people would probably enjoy taking a deep look at their own emotional intelligence, particularly to discover whether they must do lots of acting on the job. The more they are forced to act like they have the right attitude, the less happy they will ultimately be. EXAMPLE 3 Another related construct is the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Sociologist Robert K. Merton coined the term to describe a phenomenon that dates to Ancient Greece. Basically, a prediction about the outcome of a situation can invoke a new behavior that leads to the prediction coming true. For example, if I believed that I would fail an exam, that belief may have led me to alter the strategies I used for preparation and taking the test, and I would probably fail it. While I may have had an excellent chance to pass, my belief hindered my performance, and I made this belief become a reality. Psychological research shows that the self-fulfilling prophecy works for both negative and positive predictions, showing again that the beliefs you hold impact what happens to you. EXAMPLE 4 In a yearlong study it was found that those ringing the alarm bells the loudest about climate change are the least likely to change their own behavior. They just want everyone else to. The study divided 600 adults who reported on their climate-change beliefs into three groups: "skeptical," "cautiously worried" and "highly concerned." Then the researchers — from the University of Michigan and Cornell University — tracked how often they reported doing things like recycling, using public transportation, buying environmentally friendly consumer products, and reusing shopping bags. And they asked about support for government mandates like CO2 emission reduction, gasoline taxes and renewable energy subsidies. The Journal of Environmental Psychology published the findings. What they found was very illuminating. The researchers found that the "highly concerned" group was the least likely to take individual action, but they were the most insistent on government action. The "skeptical" group, in contrast, was the most likely to recycle, use public transportation and do other environmentally sound things all on their own. Skeptics were least likely to endorse costly government regulations and mandates. "Belief in climate change," the researchers explained, "predicted support for government policies, but rarely translated to individual-level, self-reported pro-environmental behavior." In plain English: The position of climate-change genuine believers is: Do as I say, not as I do. This study supports a YouGov poll reported on recently, which found that most of those who believe in catastrophic global warming are not doing anything on their own to combat it. More than half said they are not cutting back on their use of fossil fuels or changing their recycling or composting habits. Another study found that "conservation scientists," have carbon footprints that do not differ from those of anyone else. The study found that these scientists "still flew frequently — an average of nine flights a year — ate meat or fish approximately five times a week and rarely purchased carbon offsets for their own emissions." EXAMPLE 5 A study by Deloitte found that 61% of millennial's who rarely or never volunteer still consider a company’s commitment to the community when deciding on a potential job even though 60% of hiring managers see the act of volunteerism as a valuable asset when making recruitment decisions according to a study performed by Career Builder. 92% of human resource executives agree that volunteering can improve an employee’s leadership skills. Only 4% of college graduates, 25 years or older, volunteer each year. Millennial's ages 18 to 30 are more likely to have gone to a protest since the election than any other age group, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted from Feb. 1 to Feb. 3. Millennial's are also more likely than older groups to think protesting is an effective form of political action. In recent days America has seem mass protests and unrest which has in every corner of the country left charred and shattered landscapes in dozens of American cities over the death of George Floyd. They estimate that the damages left behind will total in the billions. Cities who encountered the most loss and damages include: Minneapolis, Minn. Los Angeles California New York, NY Philadelphia, PA Nashville Tenn. San Francisco, CA. Detroit, Mich. Portland, Ore. Chicago, Ill. Atlanta, Ga. Washington, D.C. In a national survey reported by the National Service Knowledge Network of Volunteer Rates by State they ranked the followings states in this order. Minneapolis, Minn. Minnesota #1 with a 43.23% volunteer rate statewide. Portland, Ore. Oregon #13 with a 31.42% volunteer rate statewide. Washington, D.C. District of Columbia #14 with a 31.07% volunteer rate statewide. Philadelphia, PA Pennsylvania #22 with a 28.03% volunteer rate statewide. Detroit, Mich. Michigan #26 with a 26.64% volunteer rate statewide. Chicago, Ill. Illinois #31 with a 24.85% volunteer rate statewide. Nashville Tenn. Tennessee #33 with a 24.12% volunteer rate statewide. Los Angeles CA California #34 with a 23.89% volunteer rate statewide. Atlanta, Ga. Georgia #39 with a 23.00% volunteer rate statewide. New York, NY New York #49 with a 19.61% volunteer rate statewide. This survey points out that except for Minnesota, the cities who had the most people who marched to support the problem, volunteered, and supported in the community the least.They estimate that over one million people will attend a George Floyd protest, yet most have never volunteered in the neighborhoods who need the help the most. Some officials estimate that most still will not. How to Live an Authentic Life, On Purpose Most of us struggle with the need to be seen, heard, respected, and yes, Loved. We all want to stay true to ourselves, but we also want to fit in. Therein lies the dilemma. How do we stay true to ourselves, yet still stay in our Tribe? We were born and created Tribal, a community, a family, and not meant to do this alone. Our Tribe is who we associate with, trust, and allow to influence us. They are that powerful group who are our biggest support system and cheerleaders. They become a family and we can sometimes know them all our lives. They make you feel relevant, seen, heard, important, and valued. But are they the right tribe for you? Are they really your family, or just your influence? Living an Authentic Life will prevent you from joining the wrong tribe and surround yourself with only those who will make you better by being honest with you. Calling you out when you mess up. Praising you on the victories, and yes, walking next to you in the dark valley’s that life will always throw at you. When you do not know WHO you are, someone else will decide it for you and it might or might not be the person you want to be. So how do we do it? How do we keep the passion, yet still be authentic? How do we be REAL, NOT FAKE? Here are some suggestions. - Start with the person in the mirror first. Too many times people seek approval first, and acceptance second. Stop it! Look in the mirror at the person you see and accept them, warts, and all. You are not perfect and need not be, but you are perfect for you. Accept that! - Own your life, do not borrow one. Successful and Happy people need not prove anything to anyone, and they do not need other’s approval. The beautiful thing about life is if you dislike yours, you can always change it. When the haters hate, and they will, let them. And forget them. When you make a mistake, and you will own it 100%, then move on. It's in our mistakes we learn what will and will not work. - Be honest, do not live a lie. Do not pretend to be something or someone you are not, for someone else’s sake. If people do not accept you, as you are, where you are, for WHO you are they should not be in your life, let alone influence you. - Be ALL IN. A living example, more than words, will create action. If you believe in a movement, LIVE the movement 100%. If you believe in a cause, LIVE the cause 100%. Show me how you want me to see you and I will see you. Tell me and it will get lost in the noise. Give 100% every day to everything, especially yourself. Just be All In! - Forgive easily, and often. Successful and Happy people do not hold a grudge, they cannot. It impedes progress. It holds them back. It makes you bitter. Give others the same break you give yourself and forgive yourself, often. Others, and you, will be glad you did. - Put your own oxygen mask on first. We have all heard the warnings on airplanes, “if they deploy the oxygen masks, puts yours on first, then those who are with you next”. Make a habit of taking care of yourself, first. Self-care is the most important care you will ever receive. Make it a regular occurrence and do it often. - Live your life in Service to Humanity. Countless studies have shown that those who put other's needs above their own live longer, happier, more fulfilling lives. Care. Genuinely care. About others, about issues, about people. Then serve them. Do not save them, rescue them, or bail them out. Serve them by allowing your help to be about them, and not you. Do it with no expectations. If you need to be thanked, you did it for the wrong person. - If you have a choice between being right verses being kind, be kind. Successful and happy people can “give others a break”. They do not always need to be right. It is not a reflection on them. Sometimes it is better to lose the battle and win the war. - Pay everything forward. We deserve nothing in life. Life is not fair; it is designed that way. When you receive anything, it is a gift, be thankful, and share it. If you clutch on to life with a clenched fist so nothing can escape, nothing can enter either. Be generous, and life will be generous back. Volunteer, donate, serve, contribute, take part, mentor, and ask nothing in return. Remember, if you need to be thanked, it is a bribe, not a gift. - Life rewards the brave, so be brave. Take a chance, be vulnerable, be approachable, be teachable, take the first step, start the conversation, listen intending to listen and without thinking of what you will say next. Step outside of your comfort zone. That is where you will grow the most. A plant, transplanted from a pot to the ground will grow bigger and stronger, naturally. - Be more understanding. We are a divided world today. Friends lose friends over politics. People are against someone, someplace, or something without ever attempting to understand things from the other people's point of view. Take the time to ask why they believe what they believe, then shut up, do not interrupt, or interject, and just listen. Ask questions, with the desire to learn something and let them believe it even if you do not. People do not care what you know until they know you care. - Be more accepting of others Allow others to coexist around you as they are, not how you think they should be. Successful and Happy people are not threatened by what they do not understand. They attempt to understand it and accept that whatever it might be is the right choice for the other person even though it might not be the right choice for them and is no reflection on them. Accepting others as they are, where they are, for who they are, just as they are is one of the greatest ways to understand others and have a meaningful conversation with them. Do so intending to understand them, not to prove them wrong. If you have enjoyed this article please visit me at www.JosephBinning.com for more helpful tips and articles. You can also get more helpful information in my book You Matter, even if you don’t think so which you can purchase on Amazon here Amazon You Matter, even if you don't think so For my free report Happiness Is A Choice click here: Happiness Is A Choice Free Report Remember: Happiness is a choice, so choose to be happy. Read the full article

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cloudhedges · 4 years

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California High School Athletes Sue Governor Over Indoor Sports Restrictions

by Zero Hedge 3/3/21 Authored by GQ Pan via The Epoch Times, A group of high school athletes in Southern California are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom over the statewide ban on indoor youth sports during the CCP virus pandemic. Five student athletes from Orange County – two volleyball players, a basketball player, a wrestler, and a cheerleader – filed a joint lawsuit against Newsom, seeking a…

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theconservativebrief · 4 years

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Since the start of the mask debate, Democrats have firmly put themselves on the side of mandatory face coverings. The left argues that each American has a duty to “mask up” for the greater good; meanwhile, as health complications like “mask mouth” and acne flareups arise due to regular masking, Democrats are silent.

“9/11 Remembrance – Fairfax, VA – Septemb” (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by Biden For President

In the neverending crusade to force each American into a face mask, Democrats are calling for it at a legislative level. Leftist governors have implemented statewide mask mandates while leftist mayors enact citywide mask requirements. Meanwhile, Democrats in other levels of government urge for policies like a nationwide mask mandate and even mask requirements in airports.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) is on record calling for Americans to be mandated to wear face masks in airports across the nation. However, recent footage of the California Democrat shows her in an airport…without a mask, thus flouting her own recommendation for other Americans, confirms Washington Examiner.

The Reality About Feinstein, Democrats, and the Forced Masking of Americans

Earlier this year, the Democrat senator explained that she wrote letters to the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Aviation Administration in the quest to force travelers into wearing face coverings.

In light of Feinstein’s very strong outlook on masks, Americans might naturally assume that she would don her own face covering while traveling. However, this is not the case; as seen in images revealed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Democrat senator recently traveled without a face mask in a Dulles airport private terminal.

Tucker Carlson reveals a picture of Senator Dianne Feinstein @SenFeinstein in Dulles Airport without at a mask after she wrote a letter to the FAA calling for a mandatory mask policy on airlines back in June pic.twitter.com/JUUHGeKiW2

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 29, 2020

The Fox News host held Feinstein to task for “smiling without a mask on,” notably since she doesn’t believe other Americans should have the same choice on whether or not to wear a mask.

A Pattern for the Left

The irony of the Democrats is that while they are the most outspoken cheerleaders of mandatory masking, they repeatedly get caught in the hot seat by not following their own guidelines.

After incessant calls for masking and federal mask mandates, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo went out walking his dog without a mask on. Likewise, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to receive hair blowout services at a closed-to-the-public California hair salon; during this period, video footage showed Pelosi walking through the salon without a mask.

We can’t backslide on safety precautions over Labor Day weekend. We’re all weary, but we can’t let the fatigue endanger more lives and risk greater harm to the economy. Please continue wearing masks, physical distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 4, 2020

Sen. Feinstein is far from the first — or last — person to demand compulsory masking for others while treating face coverings as voluntary for herself.

What do you think about the California senator flouting her own recommendations on face coverings? Don’t hold back your thoughts in the comments section below!

The post Top Democrat Under Fire for Flouting Own Advice on Masks in Airports appeared first on The Conservative Brief.

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#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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ladytimedramon · 7 years

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A teacher’s take on High School Story: Schools don’t work that way

A whole week no students, so I have time to do a few more things. Since my last two posts were about staffing, let’s look at what’s causing the main bit of drama: funding.

Part One: Staffing

Part Two: School’s Internal Structure

In High School Story, Principal Isa takes the funding from Band and Cheer and gives it to the basketball team.

In reality, a school sets its funding at the previous year. Creating the budget is a long, arduous process between district and school, based on previous years’ funding and predictions for the beginning of the year. First allotments are towards building management, building maintenance, staff salaries, and any other major necessary expenditures. Allotments towards organizations are secondary. They’re also pre-planned like any other allotments based on how much funding they received the previous year and how much is left over.

Naturally sports get the lions’ share of the funding. Sports bring an amount of prestige to schools, especially at the high school level. They’re exciting and they draw big audiences. There is a reason for shows like Friday Night Lights. Football, of course, is at the top of the hierarchy. In Texas, we even have high school sports shows to discuss statewide sports events. Sports bring donations. Sports bring notice. When’s the last time someone saw a news story on how amazing the local band performance was, or how wonderful the cheerleaders did at halftime? If a high school band is lucky enough to land a position at a major parade, you might hear about it, but otherwise nothing.

This is where sponsors come in. A good sponsor is a master of fundraising. The Funky Winkerbean comic strip uses it as a running gag, but their band is off selling something in theme with every holiday (turkeys, chocolate, magazine subscriptions). At my previous school, you knew something major was ahead when the band, orchestra, and choir began stalking the teachers with their catalogs of gift wrap, candles, etc. Our old choir teacher (who retired) was the guru of the fund raiser and any novice sponsor at our school sought his advice.

I was yearbook sponsor at my school for five years. Most of our budget came from yearbook sales, but if we wanted to try to offset the cost of the books, we had to fund raise. Let’s look at how my funding went, just as an example.

At the end of the previous year, there might be $100 left. I know my cost per book, and set the price of the book accordingly so that we meet production costs. Extra funds are nice for glue, paper, etc, and possibly an extra digital camera. The quality camera might cost $250. (I’m just estimating right now, and I know cell phones have great cameras, but bear with me.) At the beginning of the year we don’t have the funds. As yearbook, we don’t get an allotment at all. So to get the camera we have to fund raise. I had to decide how to do this. Not the students. They could make suggestions but in the end mine was the final decision. We went with Dad’s Club’s Pizza Fridays (Dad’s Club bought the pizzas, we sold them by the slice, paid them back for the pizza and kept the rest). The students handled the sales while me and a parent volunteer SUPERVISED. In the end we had enough funds for a camera and a couple of SD cards.

So, as to the problems in High School Story.

1. The budget is set. It was set by the school board and principal the previous year.

Isa can’t just take the funding from cheer and band and give it to basketball. I seriously doubt any district or school board would allow a principal to just take funding from one and give it to the other. If basketball needs more funds, they can fund raise like everyone else (I get at least half a dozen football players at my door every year selling some sort of fund raiser). Local news would eat this up and run their own investigations.

2. Band and Cheer don’t have the funds for their events.

This is where the sponsor comes in. Get out the catalogs and go door to door. Spend a few bucks on the made for fundraising dollar candy bars (or go the big box store, buy a jumbo box of bars, and sell them). If you want to have an event, even just a bake sale, supervise it! One of the best fundraisers I saw was election day. Our school was a polling place. Math club wanted to raise funds for a tournament. They sold coffee and pastries outside of the auditorium so people stopping to vote would buy a quick snack. Math club parents volunteered time to supervise so the kids always had an adult present. They made enough to pay to go to the tournament and buy shirts for the whole team.

3. Luis’ accident and the funds being used to pay for them.

Where were the adults who should have been supervising the carnival? Anything physical should have had an adult present, even if it was a volunteer parent. IOW, the dunk tank, the horse ride, and the sled ride. And just one silly little point - did Luis have that doubloon valued? He could have given it to one of the groups to sell to use, even though it might be only worth $20.

I honestly don’t know if that’s legal or permissible for Isa to make the funds from the fundraiser be used to pay for Luis’ medical bills. Teams don’t pay every time a player is injured. I’m sure the school didn’t pay when Mia was injured.

Schools just don’t work that way.

#schools don't work that way #choices #choices stories you play #playchoices fandom #high school story #choices high school story #choices hss #hss

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oliveratlanta · 5 years

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The Hollywood-DeKalb County land swap debate has reached blockbuster proportions

Southeast of downtown, Blackhall’s studio space today rivals Tyler Perry Studios for the title of second largest in Georgia. Intrenchment Creek is pictured at bottom right. | Photo courtesy of Blackhall Studios

Blackhall Studios is booming and ready to expand, but preservationists fear plans for Atlanta’s greatest urban green space are at stake

They call Pat Culp “the cheerleader” down here. She’s president of the Cedar Grove Neighborhood Association, and for 30 years she’s lived in a section of southwest DeKalb County where tourists don’t venture, unless they’ve gotten lost trying to find East Atlanta Village, just three miles north.

On a recent afternoon Culp says something that could make other underserved, traditionally black communities around ITP Atlanta shudder with gentrification fears: “We’ve been asking for redevelopment for a lot of years, and it just has not come through. We need that growth. We need retail stores, and an open market to service us with fresh vegetables, sandwiches, that kind of thing. And we need residents moving to our area—new housing. It’s not here like it needs to be for young professionals.” Another evangelist for the area, Ingrid Buxbaum, a longtime home renovator in nearby Starlight Heights, puts it like this: “I still can’t believe the rest of the world has not yet discovered us.”

Culp, Buxbaum, and their allies look toward a relatively new neighbor—Blackhall Studios, with its sprawling, high-security campus where Tom Hardy’s Venom and the latest Godzilla incarnation were filmed—not as the area’s savior, but as the vehicle for finally getting on the map. They’re backers of a studio expansion campaign called the Great Park Connection—a reference to new public green space the Hollywood contingent has promised to create in exchange for land owned by the county.

But it wouldn’t be a plot without conflict.

The friction comes via a dueling campaign: Stop the Swap. That’s a reference to three parcels of nearby land Blackhall owns and wants to trade with the county for the aforementioned piece of Intrenchment Creek Park, a woodsy, 127-acre public green space. No financial transactions. No tax incentives. Just land.

Exact acreage numbers are debated, but the deal goes that Blackhall would be giving up roughly 53 acres and getting back less from the county: a 48-acre piece that’s closer to the existing studios, allowing expansions to be more seamless. But what sounds like a straightforward exchange has raised complex questions of fairness and ethics.

Among the swap’s opposition leaders is Joe Peery, an East Atlanta resident and outdoor enthusiast who happens to be an animation director for TV and film. He knows the two land areas in question. He loves the connection with nature the existing park provides. And he doesn’t pull punches.

The existing Intrenchment Creek Park and trails today.

“It’s a bad deal, no matter how you look at it,” says Peery. “I’ve been hiking and biking and building trails in the land for years. So I know when people are bullshitting. I can take you over there, and there’s no way you’ll agree these properties are of equal value.”

Facets of the monthslong drama over the swap—value disputes, proud tree-huggers, protest graffiti and yard signs, lawsuit threats, architect testimonials, dueling petitions, hashtag campaigns, allegations of misleading propaganda and media spin, and racial and socioeconomic differences—could lend themselves to at least one Blackhall production.

It’s a unique case of neighborhoods aligning with Hollywood to push forward a real estate deal—and of a metro Atlanta studio facing substantial backlash in a growing, if threatened, industry valued at $9.5 billion statewide last year. (The record 455 movie and TV productions filmed in the Peach State in fiscal 2018 equated to $2.7 billion in Georgia cash registers, per the governor’s office.) And what happens here could be of huge importance to Atlantans at large as the city evolves.

Just ask Ryan Gravel, the architect who invented the Atlanta Beltline concept and has studied the area in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, a leading environmental organization. Intrenchment Creek Park, says Gravel, is a critical component of a larger proposed green space identified as the “South River Park” in the Atlanta City Design plan.

“It could be 3,500 acres—bigger than Stone Mountain Park,” says Gravel. “It’s the last chance for metro Atlanta to have a massive urban green space inside [Interstate] 285.”

At stake for the other side, the swap’s supporters say, is the potential for a TV and film studio complex that dwarfs almost all others around Atlanta—and the opportunity for neighbors to be lifted up by their proximity to it.

A visit to Intrenchment Creek Park presents a striking dichotomy.

One minute you see a massive, closed landfill, a wastewater treatment plant, and the infrastructural bones of a failed subdivision; the next brings a creek full of rocky shoals, well-kept older ranch homes on big lots, and serene woods where herds of deer roam within Atlanta’s 285 Perimeter. Enter the park itself, and a six-mile PATH Trail wends through soothing, silent woods—where trail-markers and welcome signs are Swiss-cheesed by bullet holes.

Josh Green

Bullet-ridden park signage.

“I’ve hiked the trails several times as part of this process, and they are scary,” says Buxbaum. “I would not hike them alone.” (The opposition would contend the most menacing thing in the woods might be a wayward Disney executive.)

But in this paradoxical, tucked-away setting, Ryan Millsap, a native Los Angeleno and real estate mogul, saw potential for his big break in the movie-making business a few years ago.

After Wall Street collapsed in 2008, Millsap bought about 8,000 apartments across the Southeast, roughly half of them in metro Atlanta. The same year Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Georgia lawmakers approved juicy TV and film tax credits for productions made here. Soon, the Hollywood of the South—alternately: Y’allywood—was rolling, and Tyler Perry’s Madea was joined by everything from Walking Dead zombies and dystopian Hunger Games sets to Magic Mike male strippers.

Atlanta now competes with five TV and film production powerhouses across the English-speaking world: New York City, Toronto, Vancouver, London, and Los Angeles, the latter being the only hub with more soundstages. Georgia has as many soundstages as New York and all of Canada combined. And in Millsap’s estimation, the state was on the cusp of developing a brand identity and reputation in Hollywood comparable to California’s prior to passage in May of the controversial “heartbeat bill,” among the country’s most restrictive abortion laws. (Legal fights are expected before the law would be implemented in January; Millsap says he thinks of the turbulence as temporary.)

Millsap, who grew up with friends in the film industry, moved here in 2014 with plans for a specialty real estate project. A movie studio, he reasoned, would be akin to something like a medical-office development. “I’m no surgeon,” says Millsap, “but I could build a hospital in a way that surgeons would love.”

Blackhall Studios—named for a street near the University of Oxford, where Millsap once studied philosophy—opened on the site of a former paint distribution warehouse in April 2017. It’s a walled-off campus with nine soundstages just south of the Starlight Drive-In Theatre, an easy eight miles from the world’s busiest airport. And it didn’t take long before the real estate axiom about location proved accurate.

Blackhall was smaller than Pinewood Studios in Fayetteville but more central; actors and crew could jet off to lunch in Inman Park in 15 minutes. It’s more open to outside productions than Tyler Perry Studios, triple the size of Third Rail Studios in Doraville, and more versatile than a mixed-use development with studio components like Pratt-Pullman Yard’s planned revival. It’s for those reasons, says Millsap, that Blackhall’s entire facility is booked through next July—and expansion is crucial.

“When people come to town, we’re definitely the number-one studio in the state from a desirability standpoint,” he says. “We get the first crack at all the big stuff. And our competitors are getting a shot if we’re full.”

Josh Green

A secured studio entrance on Constitution Road.

Right now, between soundstages, offices, and industrial sections used for building sets, Blackhall counts about 850,000 square feet under its roofs. The proposed expansion would nearly double that footprint, making the studios larger than the built-out spaces of the Braves’s SunTrust Park and Hawks’s State Farm Arena combined.

“Once we’re finished with our second phase,” Millsap notes, “we’ll not only be the largest by soundstage space in Georgia, but in North America—and one of the largest in the world.”

Millsap was all set to break ground on that second phase last year, planning to convert the three parcels he already owns. From the current studio entrance, they’re maybe a two-minute drive up Bouldercrest Road, on the other side of Constitution Road, an industrial east-west corridor.

But then he met a local architect with a big idea.

A longtime Atlanta landscape architect and planner, Jay Scott is the 66-year-old head of Green Rock Partners, a firm with offices in Ponce City Market. About eight years ago, the self-proclaimed tree-hugger crafted an overlay district for the area around what’s now Blackhall Studios, a sort of roadmap for development that never came.

The process acquainted Scott with the area’s businesses and neighborhoods, and in Millsap’s initial plans, he was concerned that truck traffic would be channeled too close to a cove of existing homes, and that 50-foot-tall soundstages would tower over backyards. His idea was to instead create open parkland from Blackhall’s three undeveloped parcels, a “greenbelt buffer between industrial and residential areas.” Scott called for a deal with DeKalb County to carve studios and backlots into Intrenchment Creek Park across the road from Blackhall’s existing campus and snake the PATH Trail around them.

Courtesy of Blackhall Studios

The studio’s park proposal, with what supporters stress is improved accessibility to Bouldercrest Road and neighborhoods beyond.

It got him hired by Millsap as a consultant. And they took their proposal to county commissioners in mid-2018 with a cherry on top: Millsap and company would commit $3.8 million toward building new park amenities: picnic shelters, emergency call boxes, enhanced lighting, a second entrance, more parking, and possibly a boardwalk along the babbling creek. They’d also rebuild a runway for the remote-control plane and drone enthusiasts who constitute the park’s main patronage now.

Scott cites statistics from a county study that suggest his idea would boost 10-minute park walkability from 94 neighbors now to more than 1,500. But that’s not the most valuable aspect, as he sees it.

“This park along Bouldercrest [Road] is going to have a meadow similar in size to Piedmont Park, where people can have festivals, movie screenings [of films] shot next door, where kids can toss Frisbees,” Scott says. “There just is not a park like that in southwest DeKalb County right now.”

Culp, the neighborhood association leader, concurs: “We want a big, central green space.”

But Peery, the opposition spearhead, feels strongly that saving the land’s natural ecosystem should be paramount: “[Nearby] Gresham Park has cricket, ballfields, a pool, so there’s no lack of that,” he says. “What we need is forests, trees, water, lakes. That’s where people are spending money—they want to be near that.”

By November, the swap appeared imminent, if quietly so. DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond’s office wrote to the Arthur M. Blank Foundation, which oversees part of the park following a 2003 agreement with the Trust for Public Land, that the proposed swap had the makings of a “win-win” and would move forward.

It wasn’t until January that Peery and his East Atlanta cohorts were made aware that almost half of their beloved woods could become huge, fenced-off sheds and backlots for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson movies.

A leader of the park’s RC airfield called Peery to inform him “the studios are taking over,” and Peery was confused, alarmed, and angry. He promised a grassroots campaign that would “bring it to the surface, show everyone what’s happening, and get people fired up.”

Thus, #StoptheSwap was born.

Peery arranged a meeting to discuss a compromise with Millsap at Intrenchment Creek Park last winter. He struggles to suppress laughter in recalling how the studio head arrived near the entrance’s little gazebo and bullet-ridden signage in a stretch limo. What is this, thought Peery, a movie premiere?

As became immediately clear, there’s a fundamental difference in how both sides see the big picture.

DeKalb County owns nearly 1,000 acres of contiguous green space in the area, straddling I-285. That includes Gresham Woods (beside the Gresham Park neighborhood), Intrenchment Creek Park, Sugar Creek Golf Course, Constitution Lakes (home to the otherworldly Doll’s Head Trail), and vast swaths of virgin forest.

via DeKalb County presentation

A general overview of the proposed swap and broader connections of existing green space in the immediate area. Blackhall’s existing campus and ancillary studio properties are shown in dark pink; the undeveloped land it owns is light green.

The pro-swap regiment believes that building a park with the more northern land Blackhall owns—part of it the chewed-up turf of a failed subdivision—would help create an uninterrupted, park-like setting from Constitution Lakes all the way up to East Atlanta. One day, paved trails could weave through it, connecting the area to intown job centers without more streets.

“The plusses here are huge,” says Amanda Brown-Olmstead, part of a PR team hired by Blackhall Studios to promote The Great Park Connection concept. “It’s a time where quality of life, and nature, and recreation come in balance with economic development, and we can make these things work together.”

Conservationists, meanwhile, view the swap proposal as highly unusual and possibly illegal, in that the land was meant to be permanently protected, per earlier deals. Instead of building a bridge between existing parks and forests, they say, the massive studio complex and clear-cutting it would require are tantamount to a roadblock that threatens biodiversity, endangering a rich habitat of fauna, from amphibians to turkeys, foxes, and large deer. “And the precedent of this swap would put all public parks in DeKalb at risk,” says Margaret Brady, a Stop the Swap ally of Peery’s.

“The only thing that would interrupt that contiguous greenspace is [the studio] development” in the park, adds Peery, “and that’s what pisses me off.”

Scott, the architect, sees it differently: “The idea that this 48 acres [of existing parkland] is somehow sacred to this entire 1,000 acres is kind of absurd to me.”

Also at stake is a future Beltline connection, as the existing PATH could eventually be extended northwest to link with the Beltline’s Southside Trail. (Pro-swappers say that PATH could simply be rerouted, at Blackhall’s expense.) The loss of mature trees in the forested park is another concern, a threat to sewer water and erosion control, but Scott argues that land the county would receive is dotted with big oaks, 30 to 50 inches in diameter, while most trees in Intrenchment Creek Park are “eight-inch pines or less—a very early-stage forest.”

Images courtesy of Rashawn Johnson

These materials, distributed by PATH at a Southside neighborhood meeting in May, illustrate how the system could connect Intrenchment Creek Park’s current PATH Trail to the Beltline’s Southside Trail.

What’s probably the biggest bone of contention, however, involves sheer value.

Swap detractors say the trade would give Blackhall about 20 additional acres of developable land that’s not in a floodplain, as with some land the studio owns now, worth about $2 million more that the studio’s current acreage. Not so, says Scott. He contends that appraisers hired by DeKalb determined the swap would mean a $515,000 net gain in land value for the county.

“It’s about an even trade,” Scott says, “in terms of the amount of open, cleared space and trees.”

In May, as swap-related tensions heated, Trust for Public Land officials insisted “a robust public conversation” was needed, and DeKalb commissioners Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon convened what’s been the only community meeting devoted to the subject thus far at nearby McNair High School. It’s where one observer noticed a clear distinction along racial lines: Almost all swap naysayers where white, and supporters black.

Courtesy of Blackhall Studios

Swap opponents decry a neighborhood event held recently at Blackhall Studio as propaganda.

“The real shame of it is, [Blackhall reps are] pitting neighbor against neighbor, going into these really low-income areas and promising the moon,” Peery asserts. “Unfortunately, more recently, I feel like Blackhall has really amped up efforts in terms of propaganda, and they’re overstepping their bounds.”

The public relations push has spurred cheery news stories on TV and in print this summer (these pages included). One subject was cleanup efforts on Blackhall’s land that removed towering piles of illegally dumped tires, now set to be recycled as playground surfaces. What wasn’t mentioned, per Peery, is that Blackhall had allowed some 4,000 tires and trash to accumulate for months despite neighbor complaints. The edges of that property are now dotted with pro-swap yard signs, while a graffitist has left his “Stop the Swap” sentiment in red paint on the trail’s nearby concrete.

Josh Green

The tagline used by opponents of the land deal, in graffiti.

Josh Green

Pro-swap signs dot the area.

In June, Blackhall studio heads flung open the doors for the first time so neighbors could tour the facility, and some 250 turned out. “What I’m hearing, from neighborhoods, is that they’re so jacked up about this [swap],” Brown-Olmstead, the spokeswoman, said after the event. “They’re going door-to-door, to their neighbors, to their friends… there’s a real sense of pride.”

At the time, Culp said the shoe-leather campaign among neighborhood leaders had garnered 700 pro-swap signatures. “This is not something online, not a petition on Change.org,” she said. “And it’s not easy, I can tell you.”

“We beat that in two days,” said Peery, referring in June to his contingent’s Charge.org petition, versus the signature tally pro-swappers brought before commissioners. “Currently we’re over 2,500.”

Ammunition for pro-swappers came last month when Katerina Taylor, DeKalb Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, and Emory Morsberger, South Metro CID president, announced support for the Great Park Connection “movement.”

The land exchange would “serve as a major economic development initiative,” said Taylor, while Morsberger called Millsap “the kind of business leader we’re looking for” in the same press release.

The opposition’s own heavyweight, Beltline visionary Gravel, takes a longer view, calling swap plans “a short-sighted vision for a part of the county that’s poised for rapid change and growth over the next 20 years.”

Exactly when a victor might be declared in this protracted drama isn’t clear.

DeKalb County spokesman Andrew L. Cauthen III said Blackhall’s proposal is being vetted by county legal staff, the chief operating officer’s office, and other departments to weigh operational and legal issues and conduct environmental studies. Following all those assessments, a recommendation will be sent up to Thurmond, who could ask for more studies, reject it outright, or give the swap his blessing. The final decision will be made in a public board of commissioners meeting.

When asked to estimate how long the process might take, Cauthen replied via email: “It’s not really possible.”

It’s a safe bet the studios will expand, one way or the other. While Millsap is moving forward with the construction of new studios in London and possibly others in Canada, he says Atlanta will remain home base. And he seems genuinely enthused when talking about creating synergy with a part of town that’s seeing an influx of capital.

“There’s going to be a whole bunch of kids who grow up in these neighborhoods who say, ‘I watch movies and televisions, that sounds cool, how are they made?’” says Millsap. “They start to realize that on every production, there’s 300 jobs. What you really want to be able to do is tie them into the Georgia Film Academy, and have the academy have a presence at McNair High School and [nearby] Perimeter College. If Disney’s here making movies, maybe smaller connections could be made, with directors visiting schools, maybe finding a student they like.”

On a busy day at the studios now, with all productions filming, Millsap says 1,000 highly paid workers are on-site (granted, most of them commute from elsewhere in Atlanta and beyond). He says their local spending on everything from lumber to tacos translates to between $500 million and $700 million annually, figures that would ostensibly swell if the studio space doubles.

Pro-swappers like to point to a nearby KFC that’s doubled its business since Blackhall moved in.

Peery, Gravel, and other swap adversaries are quick to call the studios an obvious boon, with growth projections that they applaud. But should the proposed land trade move forward, with a section of Intrenchment Creek Park to be lost, Peery says a lose-lose for taxpayers is inevitable, and that his group will sue on grounds, in part, that land deed restrictions were violated.

“We know a lot about what they want—we’re not being snowed here,” says Peery. “We want a big regional park, incorporating what’s there now, and we’ve been working on it for years. They come along in the past couple of years and decide they’re going to build our park for us, and that doesn’t work.”

Josh Green

The park’s main entrance today.

source https://atlanta.curbed.com/2019/8/15/18761677/blackhall-studios-atlanta-intrenchment-hollywood-land-swap-dekalb

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