2 Comments on “Sunday Cartoons: Jimmy”

1. dakinikat says:

   February 19, 2023 at 1:32 pm

   Richard Belzer, comedian and long-time actor in NBC's Law and Order franchise, has died. He was 78. https://t.co/SFSnl8qb59 pic.twitter.com/zeuHWyHp5A

   — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 19, 2023

2. dakinikat says:

   February 19, 2023 at 4:32 pm

   https://jezebel.com/florida-teacher-is-fired-for-posting-viral-video-of-emp-1850130894

   Florida Teacher Is Fired for Posting Viral Video of Empty Classroom Bookshelves
   The state is cracking down on books about racism and LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and teachers are now being punished for sounding the alarm.
   ByLaura Bassett

   Brian Covey, a substitute teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, was fired this week for posting a video showing rows of empty bookshelves in his classroom in late January, which several local teachers did after schools in the Florida’s Manatee and Duval counties received a directive to “remove or cover all classroom libraries until all materials can be reviewed.”

   The motive for Covey’s firing is pretty nakedly political, considering the timing: His video went viral last month; Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was forced to address it on Wednesday at a press conference and called it a “fake narrative;” and Covey tweeted the next day that he’d been let go.

   Duval County Public Schools confirmed Covey’s termination in a statement to First Coast News:

   “In discussion between the district and ESS regarding this individual’s misrepresentation of the books available to students in the school’s library and the disruption this misrepresentation has caused, it was determined that he had violated social media and cell phone policies of his employer. Therefore, ESS determined these policy violations made it necessary to part ways with this individual.”

   Earlier this month, Jezebel’s Rodlyn-mae Banting wrote about teachers in Manatee and Duval counties scrambling to empty their classroom libraries in order to avoid felony charges, as the state increasingly cracks down on any student reading that grapples with racism or LGBTQ+ issues. As she explained:

   As per the Florida Department of Education training document, targeted books are those that “predominantly appeal to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest,” are “patently offensive” and “without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” But between DeSantis and the Florida State Board of Education quietly packing its seats with MAGA moms, the required “educational media certificate” seems to be less a measure of objectivity, and more a tool used to ban books that challenge officials’ racist and anti-LBGTQ+ views. According to the Washington Post, teachers who “knowingly or unknowingly” violate these rules can be charged with a third-degree felony ($5,000 fine and up to five years in jail) for exposing students to material that the Florida Department of Education deems “harmful to minors.”

   Calling ACLU!!!