Cuts to Special Education

 The Trump administration landed another blow to the U.S. Department of Education, this time gutting the office responsible for overseeing special education. The reduction affects staff members responsible for roughly $15 billion in special education funding and for making sure states provide special education services to the nation's 7.5 million children with disabilities. Children with disabilities matter! With special education they become productive adults.

 In Canada, Thanksgiving Day takes place on the second Monday of October. Thanksgiving Day in 2025 will be celebrated on Monday, October 13th, coinciding with the end of the fall harvest in the Northern Hemisphere.

Iowa

 The Ioway (Iowa) people, is the Native American tribe for whom the state is named. The indigenous peoples of Iowa include the Ioway, Meskwaki (Fox), Sauk (Sac), and the Dakota (Sioux), among others who lived in the area or were relocated there. The Meskwaki are the only tribe to have successfully purchased and retained land, preserving a significant cultural presence in the state today.  

Oct 11

 

Oct 11 is Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day but because Oct. 11 is this Saturday, the federal holiday will be recognized on Monday, Oct. 13.

Indigenous Peoples' Day, challenged Columbus' legacy due to his role in the colonization and violence against Indigenous people in North America.

President Donald Trump has signed an order that he won't recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. We need to! 

Where next?

 Where next? The current administration is sending troops into cities across the nation: Chicago, Portland, Memphis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans. Where next? Everywhere and anywhere, cities and states are in danger of being invaded, militarized. It is not a matter of it "might happen tomorrow," but it is beginning now. Fall is coming. The plants on our deck are still alive, but for how long? Inevitably they will wither. When? Soon, very soon. The plants will be gone. What else will be lost?

Gaza Oct. 7

 "It looked like a war zone," people say after a fire or tornado.  You have seen pictures of Gaza today. Here is a war zone that looks like the country will never be able to rebuild at all. On Dec. 7, 2023, Hamas killed 1,140 people in Israel and took about 200 people hostage. Since that times Israel has killed over 67,000 people in Gaza and wounded over 169, 680. Stop the killing! Work for a two-state solution.

Jan Goodall

 I am saddened by the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall, the pioneering primatologist and world-renowned conservationist, at age 91. Her curiosity, dedication to science, and commitment to the natural world redefined our understanding of animal behavior and inspired a global movement to environment stewardship.

GOV shut down

 A government shut-down! The military training for combat on people in U.S. cities!  Health care lost! What else is Trump doing? Lecturing our military leaders.  Refusing to be a global partner.  What can we do?  We must resist. This is a tree I see out my window. It stands tall in all its various colors.  We can too.

National Day of Remembrance

. For 150 years, over 500 Indian boarding schools operated in the United States, where Native children were forcibly taken from their families and communities, prohibited all expression of Native language and culture, and required to perform manual labor, with a goal to "kill" the Indian in them.“ Religious organizations collaborated with the federal government in operating more than half of these federally-funded schools.

We wear orange on September 30, the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools, marking this day in worship, and learning more about Truth Seeking and Truth Telling Initiative on Indian Boarding Schools.

Sons Day

 Our three sons: Mark, Joel, and Kirk, Pictured in 1972: 9, 5, 3.   Pictured in early adulthood.  National Sons Day.

DMPS arrest

Des Moines Public School Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts was arrested by ICE Friday. He was born in Guyana, but grew up in New York. He has a doctorate in education and has served in public education for over 20 years. Some accounts say Dr. Roberts was fleeing ICE, had a gun and a knife in his car and is a public safety risk.  Others say Roberts was stopped for a traffic violation and is a hunter.  Dr. Roberts was the first DM Public School superintendent of color. Now he is in jail.  What do you think? 

Revenge

 Revenge     Resentment       Retribution

Restoration    Resilience     Reconciliation