#U.S. Flag Code

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

Celebrating Pledge of Allegiance Day

Hello, everyone! December 28th is a special day for us to honor and reflect on the words that unite our nation – it’s Pledge of Allegiance Day. Have you ever wondered why we stand up, place our hands over our hearts, and recite these powerful words? Let’s explore the significance together. The Pledge of Allegiance is more than just a series of words; it is a heartfelt expression of our loyalty…

[gwydionmisha]

Stay Noisy. It works sometimes.

[saywhat-politics]

Department of Defense deletes Code Talkers, Iwo Jima flag raiser Hayes under Trump’s DEI order

Prominent Native American figures in U.S. military history have been erased from the U.S. Department of Defense’s website as part of the sweeping effort stemming from President Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Department of Defense website removed articles featuring details about the Navajo Code Talkers — Navajo men who served during World War II and used their language as a secret code in battle — along with U.S. Marine Ira Hayes from the Gila River Indian Community, who helped raise the flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

“Navajo code has absolutely nothing to do with DEI because Navajo code was a weapon,” Navajo Code Talker Peter MacDonald said in response to the removal during an interview with the Arizona Mirror.

MacDonald, 96, is one of two living Navajo Code Talkers. He served in the South Pacific as a Code Talker and in North China with the 6th Marine Division.

[supremacyproject]

For some, the U.S. flag represents all America is revered for. “Old Glory” also touts the country’s ills with the same energy used to pridefully promote its promise. For many, its presence indicates that they are in inhospitable territory. Today’s inauguration of a president and regime committed to promoting disparity among the people of this nation, on Martin Luther King Day, highlights this paradox.

The United States is a brand and its flag is subject to its brand guidelines. The Flag Code stipulates that “the flag should not be displayed with the union down, except in as a signal of dire distress or extreme danger to life or property.” Those are the times we are in.

We fly the inverted flag for those who are deemed less than due to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or any other classifications used to disenfranchise. We are all full people. We have always been.

Inverted Flag sweatshirt available for preorder now.

Cop here

#whoprotectsmefromyou

[reality-detective]

9 Little Known Facts about US History 👇

1. The Revolutionary War was a fraud. The "United States" did not actually declare Independence from Great Britain or the King.

America has always been a British Colony. The “UNITED STATES” is a corporation, not a land-mass, that existed before the Revolutionary War. [Articles of Association, October 20th, 1774].

2. British Triops did not completely leave the 13 American colonies until 1796 [Respublica v. Sweers 1 Dallas 43, Treaty of Commerce 8 Stat 116, The Society for Propagating the Gospel, &c. V. New Haven 8 Wheat 464, Treaty of Peace 8 Stat 80, IRS Publication 6209]

3. The King of England financed both sides of the Revolutionary War [Treaty at Versailles. July 16, 1782, Treaty of Peace 8 Stat 80.]

4. The gold fringe, symbolic of Royalty, which is attached to the border of every U.S. flag hanging in every courtroom across America symbolizes America being ruled, to this day, by Great Britain under International Maritime Admiralty Law.

5. There are no judicial courts in America and there has not been since 1789. Judges do not enforce Statutes and Codes. Executive Administrators enforce Statutes and Codes. There have not been any judges in America since 1789. [FRC V. GE 281 US 464, Keller v. PE 261 US 428, 1 Stat. 138-178].



6. The most powerful court in America is not the United States Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. (42 Pa.C.S.A. 502)



7. If you are of legal age and retain legal counsel in your defense, you are automatically assumed by the court to be a mentally incompetent ward, and can therefore be remanded indefinitely to any mental institution of the court's choosing.

8. You can not use the U.S. Constitution to defend yourself in admiralty court, because you are not a “Party” to it. (Padelford Fay & Co. v. The Mayor and Alderman of The City of Savannah, 14 Georgia 438, 520.)

9. The legal definition of “The People" under the Constitution does not include you and me. (Barron v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243)

Interesting... Don't You Think? Or don't you think? 🤔

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Samuels at Daily Kos:

President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a top priority to remove anything associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from federal websites, regardless of the context. But in doing so, it’s erasing history—and making a compelling case for why we shouldn’t be dismantling the Department of Education. One glaring example of this is Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense, which, in early March, erroneously removed a historic image of the B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, from the Pentagon’s website. (The plane dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.) Why? Because the aircraft’s name contains the word “gay.” 

This absurdity is a powerful illustration of how far Trump and his cronies will go in their quest to eliminate anything that might be construed as “inclusive.” But this particular flub reveals the administration’s true intentions: to distort historical facts for the sake of ideological purity. More recently, on Tuesday, it was reported that the Defense Department removed articles about the Navajo Code Talkers from its website, supposedly following a directive from Trump and Hegseth to eliminate all DEI-related content from Pentagon and military sites. As we’ve highlighted before, though, under Trump, DEI has been reduced to little more than a smokescreen. The term now serves as a tool for denying opportunities to people of color, women, and minorities—if not erasing them entirely from the history books. So far, the Defense Department has been at the forefront of this effort to whitewash the past. But it's not just Hegseth. Trump’s America doesn’t just tolerate blatant racism—it celebrates it. Nazi salutes are casually made by presidential surrogates without consequences, and Confederate generals are celebrated as heroes. History is being erased right before our eyes.

This past Friday, the Arlington Cemetery website deleted information about certain Black, Hispanic, and female service members, according to The Washington Post. Then, on Monday, the Post reported that a webpage honoring Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian and one of the Marines famously photographed raising the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, had been removed from the Defense Department’s website. After public pushback, officials stated the page would be restored. Jackie Robinson, the first Black man to play Major League Baseball and a former Army lieutenant, also found himself on the chopping block. Reports indicate his story has also been erased from the Department of Defense’s website.  As one ESPN columnist wrote, “The ghouls who did this should be ashamed. Jackie Robinson was the embodiment of an American hero. Fix this now.” After more public outcry, the article on him was restored as of Wednesday. Robinson isn’t the first Black icon once celebrated by the president to be swept aside in this DEI purge. A webpage honoring Medgar Evers, the civil rights activist and U.S. Army World War II veteran, was also removed from the Arlington Cemetery website. These instances raise a troubling question: Does Trump even understand the consequences of his actions, despite their apparent lack of rationality? After all, during the 2017 opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Trump called Evers a “great American hero.” Yet now, in 2025, it’s as if that acknowledgment never occurred. What’s changed?

The Trump/Hegseth crusade to erase non-White American heroes as part of their misguided and destructive war on “DEI” is a gross abuse and whitewashing act.

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1942 12 27 New Guinea, Commonwealth Wirraway - box art MPM

Wartime History: Assigned to No. 4 Squadron code D. On the left side of the nose was painted "Ugh!" with a character wearing a derby hat with "A. R. P." and a fork. On the left side of the nose was a scoreboard with three bomb markings indicating missions flown and a single Japanese rising sun flag indicating the aerial victory claim on December 26, 1942.During early 1942, operated from Canberra Airfield (Fairburn). In early November 1942 flown northward to 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby.On December 22, 1942 took off from from 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby and flew four sorties, two piloted by P/O Ranson and two by F/O Utber. The first two were reconnaissance over Buna and two artillery observation and gun spotting over Buna.On December 26, 1942 took off from 12 Mile Drome (Berry) near Port Moresby piloted by P/O John S. Archer, 409285 with observer Sgt J. L. Convulsion on a tactical reconnaissance over the north coast of New Guinea searching for Japanese barges at the mouth of the Kumusi River then southward to Gona. Next, Archer made a single strafing pass against the shipwreck of the Ayutosen Maru. Pulling up to make another run, Archer spotted another plane approaching 1,000' below and incorrectly identified it as a Japanese "Zero". In fact, this was Ki-43-I Oscar pilot W/O Tadashi Yoshitake. Taking advantage of their higher altitude, Archer dived down onto fighter firing a long burst with his two machine guns and as he pulled away saw the enemy plane crash into the sea and explode. This was the only time a Wirraway made a confirmed kill against an enemy fighter. Later, Archer stated that he had acted on impulse and was lucky to get in an effective first burst. On January 20, 1943, Archer earned the American Silver Star from U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) Brigadier General Ennis Whitehead, commanding general of Allied Air Forces in New Guinea. On October 16, 1944 at 1:00pm while Wirraway A20-80 was taxing, it accidentally collided with this plane causing damage. Afterwards, this Wirraway was withdrawn from service.

[darkmaga-returns]

How does a jihadist, flying an ISIS flag on his pickup truck, go undetected in the United States long enough to plow into pedestrians, killing at least 15 and injuring many more?

The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, is responsible for the deadly New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans and that he likely did not act alone. Law enforcement is still looking for others who may be involved.

Jabbar was not the threat on President Joe Biden’s radar. Jabbar did not fit the profile of the terrorists Biden, his crooked Department of Justice (DOJ), and feckless Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been searching for.

While the DHS left U.S. borders wide open for any criminal or harmful ideology to enter, the DOJ made “domestic violent extremism” a “national priority area,” numerous reports show.

In June 2021, the National Security Council announced a plan to target domestic terrorists, mostly “those who promote the superiority of the white race” and “militia violent extremists.” The FBI called them “the most persistent and lethal threats.”

That is code for the kind of people who went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Our current effort comes on the heels of … the Jan. 6 assault on our nation’s Capitol,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a June 2021 speech introducing the new focus on domestic terrorism.

[collapsedsquid]

U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor published an essay in the New York Times arguing that the display of flags associated with President-elect Donald Trump’s MAGA movement at Justice Samuel Alito’s Virginia and New Jersey homes was a breach of public trust. The piece was unusual because judges don’t typically offer personal criticisms of a colleague in public. According to the jurist assigned to review the matter, Chief Judge Albert Diaz of the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., it was Ponsor who damaged the judiciary. In a previously unreported order filed last week, Diaz found that by commenting on controversial issues and criticizing Alito, Ponsor violated the code of conduct that applies to all federal judges other than Supreme Court justices. Among other transgressions, Ponsor, a 1994 Clinton appointee who sits in Springfield, Mass., was found to violate rules against actions that “detract from the dignity” of a judge’s office and harm “public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”

Fucking Lèse-majesté

[mugiwara-lucy]

Didn’t this asshole say people should be arrested for not following US flag code? And then he had the nerve to SHIT TALK Jimmy Carter, a man who dedicated his life to doing NOTHING BUT GOOD with his life.

You KNOW the reason why he's doing this is because even as DUMB as Trump is, he KNOWS when he dies he won't receive NEAR this level of accolade. I GUARAN-FUCKING-TEE it'll be an INTERNATIONAL PARTY when this miserable fucking piece of dirt dies.

I'm normally not like this but Donald Trump is an EVIL IRREDEEMABLE PIECE OF SHIT and I CAN'T WAIT until we never have to hear from him or his fucked up family EVER again.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

US Code indicates Porreres Mallorca hasn't a leg to stand on by u/nylieli

US Code indicates Porreres, Mallorca hasn't a leg to stand on But US statute only a foreign nations flag/coat of arms is protected. There might be treaties that say otherwise. See Cornell Law 15 U.S. Code 1052 (b) (b) Consists of or comprises the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any State or municipality, or of any foreign nation, or any simulation thereof. post link: https://ift.tt/m5gUjeH author: nylieli submitted: February 19, 2025 at 02:27PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[renthony]

From the article:

State lawmakers in Tennessee could soon pass a bill that would limit the types of flags that can be displayed in public schools, sparking outcry from LGBTQ advocates who say the measure is an attempt to ban the Pride flag and curtail free speech. The Tennessee state House advanced HB 1605 to the state Senate Thursday, an amendment to the Tennessee Code that sets out which flags can be displayed in schools. The new bill designates several types of flags that can be displayed, including the U.S. flag, the official Tennessee state flag, and any flag that is protected by the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act. Critics argue that including the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act in the amendment would allow the Confederate flag to be displayed, while banning the Pride flag. The Heritage Protection Act, which went into effect in 2013, states “no memorial regarding a historic conflict, historic entity, historic event … that is, or is located on, public property, may be removed, renamed, relocated, altered, rededicated, or otherwise disturbed or altered.” The law specifically notes memorials and flags dedicated to what some euphemistically call the “War Between the States,” but is historically known as the Civil War, cannot be removed. Although the law does not specifically name the Confederate flag, many critics have noted that it would be protected under the act. Tennessee state Rep. Gino Bulso, a Republican, said he introduced HB1605 last November after receiving complaints from parents in his district about the Pride flag and after contentious debates over whether the flag should be allowed in classrooms erupted during a local school board meeting. Last month, during a Tennessee House education subcommittee hearing, Bulso said the bill “does not allow any other flag beyond the 10 that are listed” to be displayed, adding that the ban also includes “flags that teachers are currently using to indoctrinate students in a particular set of values, including the Pride flag which is becoming more ubiquitous in schools.” Several people at the hearing groaned in response to Bulso’s claim that teachers were “indoctrinating” students by displaying the Pride flag. On the floor of the state house, Democratic State Rep. Justin Pearson called the bill “immoral and unjust” and proposed an unsuccessful amendment that would have banned Confederate flags from being displayed.

[beardedmrbean]

A Canadian town is facing a fine of $10,000 for refusing to participate in Pride Month and fly the "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag" outside its municipal building.

The town of Emo, Ontario, which has a population of about 1,300 and is situated near the border with Minnesota, was found to have violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for refusing to proclaim June as Pride Month, according to a report from the National Post.

The town was also issued a citation for its failure to fly "an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag," the report notes, despite Emo not having an official flag pole.

MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS JOIN FORCES TO PROTEST LGBTQ+ PRIDE IN CANADA: 'LET KIDS BE KIDS'

In addition to the $10,000 fine, officials from the town were ordered to complete mandatory "human rights" training.

According to the report, the decision to cite Emo began with a 2020 incident in which the town was approached by a group called Borderland Pride, which issued a written request asking that Emo declare June Pride Month.

The group’s request also included a draft proclamation, containing clauses such as "pride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals" and "the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society."

Borderland Pride also asked the city to fly an "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing."

MUSLIM ACTIVIST GIVES POWERFUL SPEECH AGAINST FORCED LGBTQ CURRICULUM: ‘OUR PEOPLE ARE NOT BACKWARD'

The request was defeated by a 3-2 vote at a later Emo township council meeting, where Mayor Harold McQuaker argued there was "no flag being flown for the other side of the coin… there’s no flags being flown for the straight people."

The line was seen as particularly offensive to Human Rights Tribunal vice-chair Karen Dawson, who said she found the remark "demeaning and disparaging of the LGBTQ2 community of which Borderland Pride is a member and therefore constituted discrimination under the Code."

Dawson further argued that the remark was made in "close proximity" to McQuaker’s no vote on the Borderland Pride request, meaning it "constituted discrimination under the Code."

Borderland Pride sought a $15,000 fine for the Township as well as a $10,000 fine for each of the three council members who voted no on the group’s request, according to the report, though the tribunal eventually settled on the $10,000 fine for the township and a $5,000 for McQuaker.

McQuaker and Emo’s chief administrative officer were also ordered to complete an online course offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission called "Human Rights 101" and "provide proof of completion… to Borderland Pride within 30 days."

[mariacallous]

A symbol affiliated with former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” fallacy was on display at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s house in 2021, a New York Times investigation found Thursday.

The symbol in question was an upside-down American flag, which supporters of Trump’s stolen election conspiracy theory began displaying after he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. Neighbors who saw and photographed the flag confirmed to the Times that it flew on Jan. 17, 2021. The conservative justice admitted it but said it was his wife’s doing.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” he said in a statement to the paper. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

The Times found in interviews with neighbors that Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was having an ongoing argument with neighbors who’d put up an anti-Trump sign with an expletive on their front lawn.

You can see a photo of the flag in question in the Times’ story.

Jan. 17 was a little over a week after Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that gave Biden the presidency. More than a thousand people involved in the riot have been charged with crimes associated with that day.

While the flag was up, the Supreme Court was deciding whether to hear several cases about the integrity of the 2020 election. Alito was in favor of hearing the arguments but was ultimately on the losing side. Currently, the court is set to rule on two cases related to the Capitol riot, including one that could give Trump presidential immunity from some of the dozens of charges he’s facing.

The Supreme Court’s code of ethics calls for the justices to avoid making political statements or sharing opinions on matters that might come before the court.

Take Back the Court, a group opposed to the conservative swing the court has taken in recent years, said this incident is proof Alito doesn’t belong on the court.

“Sam Alito has disqualified himself from legitimate service on the Supreme Court. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant f-you to the American public than proudly displaying a vestige of a failed coup attempt on the country you’re supposed to serve, right on your front lawn,” the group’s president, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, said in a statement.

Alito’s wife isn’t the only Supreme Court spouse to get caught up in an election conspiracy scandal. Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, promoted and attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House that preceded the Capitol insurrection. Her husband has refused to recuse himself from cases related to the attack on the Capitol.

“If the wife of one sitting Supreme Court justice helping incite an insurrection wasn’t enough for Congress to issue subpoenas to these extremists, perhaps another sitting justice proudly displaying memorabilia from that insurrection will be,” she said.

[ralfmaximus]

Here's the complete list of DHS flagged search terms. Don't use any of these on social media to avoid having the 3-letter agencies express interest in your activities!

DHS & Other Agencies

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Coast Guard (USCG)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Border Patrol

Secret Service (USSS)

National Operations Center (NOC)

Homeland Defense

Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Agent

Task Force

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Fusion Center

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Secure Border Initiative (SBI)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)

Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Air Marshal

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

National Guard

Red Cross

United Nations (UN)

Domestic Security

Assassination

Attack

Domestic security

Drill

Exercise

Cops

Law enforcement

Authorities

Disaster assistance

Disaster management

DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)

National preparedness

Mitigation

Prevention

Response

Recovery

Dirty Bomb

Domestic nuclear detection

Emergency management

Emergency response

First responder

Homeland security

Maritime domain awareness (MDA)

National preparedness initiative

Militia

Shooting

Shots fired

Evacuation

Deaths

Hostage

Explosion (explosive)

Police

Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)

Organized crime

Gangs

National security

State of emergency

Security

Breach

Threat

Standoff

SWAT

Screening

Lockdown

Bomb (squad or threat)

Crash

Looting

Riot

Emergency Landing

Pipe bomb

Incident

Facility

HAZMAT & Nuclear

Hazmat

Nuclear

Chemical Spill

Suspicious package/device

Toxic

National laboratory

Nuclear facility

Nuclear threat

Cloud

Plume

Radiation

Radioactive

Leak

Biological infection (or event)

Chemical

Chemical burn

Biological

Epidemic

Hazardous

Hazardous material incident

Industrial spill

Infection

Powder (white)

Gas

Spillover

Anthrax

Blister agent

Exposure

Burn

Nerve agent

Ricin

Sarin

North Korea

Health Concern + H1N1

Outbreak

Contamination

Exposure

Virus

Evacuation

Bacteria

Recall

Ebola

Food Poisoning

Foot and Mouth (FMD)

H5N1

Avian

Flu

Salmonella

Small Pox

Plague

Human to human

Human to ANIMAL

Influenza

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Drug Administration (FDA)

Public Health

Toxic

Agro Terror

Tuberculosis (TB)

Agriculture

Listeria

Symptoms

Mutation

Resistant

Antiviral

Wave

Pandemic

Infection

Water/air borne

Sick

Swine

Pork

Strain

Quarantine

H1N1

Vaccine

Tamiflu

Norvo Virus

Epidemic

World Health Organization (WHO and components)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

E. Coli

Infrastructure Security

Infrastructure security

Airport

CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources)

AMTRAK

Collapse

Computer infrastructure

Communications infrastructure

Telecommunications

Critical infrastructure

National infrastructure

Metro

WMATA

Airplane (and derivatives)

Chemical fire

Subway

BART

MARTA

Port Authority

NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center)

Transportation security

Grid

Power

Smart

Body scanner

Electric

Failure or outage

Black out

Brown out

Port

Dock

Bridge

Canceled

Delays

Service disruption

Power lines

Southwest Border Violence

Drug cartel

Violence

Gang

Drug

Narcotics

Cocaine

Marijuana

Heroin

Border

Mexico

Cartel

Southwest

Juarez

Sinaloa

Tijuana

Torreon

Yuma

Tucson

Decapitated

U.S. Consulate

Consular

El Paso

Fort Hancock

San Diego

Ciudad Juarez

Nogales

Sonora

Colombia

Mara salvatrucha

MS13 or MS-13

Drug war

Mexican army

Methamphetamine

Cartel de Golfo

Gulf Cartel

La Familia

Reynose

Nuevo Leon

Narcos

Narco banners (Spanish equivalents)

Los Zetas

Shootout

Execution

Gunfight

Trafficking

Kidnap

Calderon

Reyosa

Bust

Tamaulipas

Meth Lab

Drug trade

Illegal immigrants

Smuggling (smugglers)

Matamoros

Michoacana

Guzman

Arellano-Felix

Beltran-Leyva

Barrio Azteca

Artistics Assassins

Mexicles

New Federation

Terrorism

Terrorism

Al Queda (all spellings)

Terror

Attack

Iraq

Afghanistan

Iran

Pakistan

Agro

Environmental terrorist

Eco terrorism

Conventional weapon

Target

Weapons grade

Dirty bomb

Enriched

Nuclear

Chemical weapon

Biological weapon

Ammonium nitrate

Improvised explosive device

IED (Improvised Explosive Device)

Abu Sayyaf

Hamas

FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)

IRA (Irish Republican Army)

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)

Basque Separatists

Hezbollah

Tamil Tiger

PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)

PLO (Palestine Libration Organization)

Car bomb

Jihad

Taliban

Weapons cache

Suicide bomber

Suicide attack

Suspicious substance

AQAP (Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)

AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)

TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)

Yemen

Pirates

Extremism

Somalia

Nigeria

Radicals

Al-Shabaab

Home grown

Plot

Nationalist

Recruitment

Fundamentalism

Islamist

Weather/Disaster/Emergency

Emergency

Hurricane

Tornado

Twister

Tsunami

Earthquake

Tremor

Flood

Storm

Crest

Temblor

Extreme weather

Forest fire

Brush fire

Ice

Stranded/Stuck

Help

Hail

Wildfire

Tsunami Warning Center

Magnitude

Avalanche

Typhoon

Shelter-in-place

Disaster

Snow

Blizzard

Sleet

Mud slide or Mudslide

Erosion

Power outage

Brown out

Warning

Watch

Lightening

Aid

Relief

Closure

Interstate

Burst

Emergency Broadcast System

Cyber Security

Cyber security

Botnet

DDOS (dedicated denial of service)

Denial of service

Malware

Virus

Trojan

Keylogger

Cyber Command

2600

Spammer

Phishing

Rootkit

Phreaking

Cain and abel

Brute forcing

Mysql injection

Cyber attack

Cyber terror

Hacker

China

Conficker

Worm

Scammers

Social media

SOCIAL MEDIA?!

[dubiouslynamed]

Mariana Hernandez wrote:

March 22 at 3:21 PM ·

Let’s talk about public education.

Here’s the greatest hits playlist I keep hearing multiple times:

“Before the Department of Education, the U.S. was number one. Now we rank 31st. We spend more than anyone and 28% of grads can’t even read. The DOE failed. Let the states handle it again.”

Sounds bold, right?

Too bad most of it is dead wrong.

Let’s break it down. Slowly. Loudly.

1. “We were number one before the Department of Education.”

Oh? Says who?

The U.S. Department of Education was created in 1980.

The PISA test (the gold standard for comparing education across countries) didn’t even exist until 2000.

A LOT more under the cut.

There were no international rankings before that. No standardized tests between nations. No way to compare performance.

So where’s the proof we were “number one”?

There isn’t any. Because it didn’t exist.

That’s not a fact, it’s nostalgia.

You weren’t first in a race that hadn’t started yet.

2. “Now we rank 31st.”

In what, exactly?

Because there are two kinds of education rankings, and people love to smash them together like they mean the same thing.

A. PISA = actual test scores from real kids

This tests 15-year-olds around the world in:

Reading

Math

Science

U.S. PISA 2022 ( it’s done every 3 years) results:

6th in reading

13th in science

28th in math

We’re not failing. We’re holding our own, without training our kids for it, by the way (more on that later).

And remember: in 2000, PISA had 30 countries. Now it’s 80+. So yes, the ranking shifted. That doesn’t mean we tanked. It means the field grew.

B. Education system indexes ( like WPR) how the system looks on paper

This is where the “31st” stat comes from. These rankings measure:

Enrollment

Literacy

Spending

Teacher ratios

Graduation rates

System efficiency

That’s not about how smart our students are it’s about how effective our bureaucracy is. And yeah, ours is a hot mess. But that’s a systems problem, because we are decentralized. It’s not a student problem.

3. “We spend more than anyone!”

We do.

Because we’re massive we are the size of an entire continent, unequal, and decentralized to the point of dysfunction.

Want to compare?

Let’s look at some of those “top countries” from the WPR and match them to U.S. states by population:

South Korea (51M) = California + part of Texas

Denmark (6M) = Wisconsin

Netherlands (17.5M) = New York

Belgium (11.7M) = Ohio

Slovenia (2M) = Nebraska

Those countries are the size of states.

They have:

One national curriculum

One funding system

One set of laws

We have:

50 state systems

Over 13,000 school districts

No national standards

Local property tax funding, so rich zip codes thrive and poor ones drown

Some kids go to brand new schools with 3D printers and solar panels.

Others freeze through winter in buildings with leaking ceilings and no library.

Same country.

Same flag.

Two different worlds.

Of course we spend more.

We’re funding chaos.

4. “28% of grads can’t read past a 5th-grade level.”

That number? Totally made up.

It’s pulled from a misused stat of adults that has no national backing.

We do have literacy issues.

But they’re not because kids are lazy or dumb.

They’re because:

Early childhood education is optional, not guaranteed

Schools in low-income areas don’t get the same resources

Reading specialists are being cut, not hired

Many children come to school hungry, sick, or scared

Let’s stop blaming kids for failing systems.

They can’t read when the school can’t even afford books.

5. “The Department of Education is a failure.” Or maybe… you just don’t understand what it does.

Let’s be clear.

The Department of Education does not:

Choose your kid’s curriculum

Write textbooks

Approve lesson plans

Invent Common Core

Control what your school teaches

All of that? State and local control.

What the Department of Education actually does:

Enforces civil rights in education (Title IX, IDEA, disability rights, racial equity)

Sends federal funding to underfunded schools

Provides support for English learners, special ed, and rural students

Administers Pell Grants and federal student loans

Gathers data so we know what’s working (and what’s not)

You kill the DoED? You cut:

Support for kids with disabilities

Protections for non-English speakers

Funding for rural schools

Grants for low-income students

Accountability for states that are actively failing children

You hurt little kids in big ways.

6. “Let the states decide.” Newsflash: they already do.

People scream “let the states decide!” like they’re fighting for freedom.

Buddy, the states HAVE BEEN deciding.

There is no national curriculum.

There is no federal standard for what kids learn.

That’s why:

Evolution is taught in some states and questioned in others

Black history is expanded in some districts and banned in others

Some states offer world class public education… and others? Barely the basics

So if you're mad about what your kid is learning or not learning, don’t blame the DoED.

Blame your state. Blame your local school board.

Because that’s who’s in charge.

The problem isn’t too much federal control, it’s not enough support for the states that are failing their students.

7. “Other countries prep for PISA. We don’t.”

Top performing countries like Singapore and South Korea train for PISA.

They build their curriculum around it. They do mock tests. They align teaching methods with the skills the test measures.

Our kids? They show up, take it cold, and go back to class like nothing happened.

No one even explains what the test is.

And guess what?

We still came in 6th in reading.

Imagine what we could do if we actually prepared.

The real issue? They want to abolish the DoED.

Not because it failed.

But because it does things they don’t like:

It protects marginalized kids

It enforces civil rights

It sends money where states don’t want to

It holds people accountable

Getting rid of it won’t hurt your wealthy district with robotics clubs and parent-funded libraries.

It will hurt:

Disabled students

Low-income schools

Rural districts with no tax base

Immigrant kids

English learners

Students who rely on someone, anyone, to fight for them

This isn’t about shrinking government.

It’s about shrinking opportunity, shrinking equity, and letting kids fall through the cracks on purpose.

So next time someone says:

“We were better off before the Department of Education…”

Ask them for data.

They won’t have it.

But now you do.

(Everything in this post is based on real data: PISA 2022, Department of Education records, NCES, and education policy research. You want receipts? I have them.)

Edited to clarify: DOE refers to the Department of Energy, while DoED (or ED) refers to the Department of Education