>>17197177

Union Boss Randi Weingarten: Parental Rights Bills Are the ‘Way in Which Wars Start’

Randi Weingarten, union boss of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said that parental rights bills such as the one recently signed into law in Florida are “the way in which wars start.”

“This notion – we’ve been very lucky in America, and we in some ways live in a bubble for a long time,” the president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union said on the April 14 episode of the Rick Smith Show — a left-wing, pro-union talk show. “This is propaganda. This is misinformation. This is the way in which wars start. This is the way in which hatred starts.”

AFT has been a consistent opponent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and parental rights bills across the country. It was also instrumental in keeping schools shuttered and mask mandates in place throughout the coronavirus pandemic, leaving children with significant physical, social, and mental issues.

Florida and other states have passed laws that give parents greater access to school curriculums and information regarding their children as well as more streamlined avenues to request information from schools.

In what appears to be an attempt at saving face for having an anti-parent position, Weingarten told Fox News, “Educators welcome parent involvement in schools because our kids do best when teachers, parents and caregivers work together.”

She then went on to call the parents’ movement that has found electoral success across the country “vocal minorities,” attempting to delegitimize parental concern with school curriculums and policies.

“We have a lot to do to help kids recover and thrive this year after two years of an unprecedented pandemic,” Weingarten continued. “So rather than help us help our kids socially, academically and emotionally, these vocal minorities want to marginalize LGBTQ kids, censor teachers and ban books.”

It is unclear to which books she is referring, but the most prominent books conservatives seek to remove from schools are Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, which prominently feature depictions of pornography and pedophilia.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/23/union-boss-randi-weingarten-parental-rights-bills-way-wars-start/

>>17197177

>>17202908

A further Dig, based on the fourth pic the "Thank You" letter from Colonel, Commander of the Volunteer Formation Battalion "Free Ukraine"

>Oklahoma Veterans Head To Ukraine To Render Aid

https://www.news9.com/story/62355b67da25c20723798f4a/oklahoma-veterans-head-to-ukraine-to-render-aid-

Turns out there is not such thing as Volunteer Formation Battalion by that name specifically, nor can I find any information about Colonel, Commander Kostyantyn Zhuk.

There is a bit of an explanation of how the Battalions work, which are little more than a rag-tag militia. Feb 1, 2022,08:00am EST "The Ukrainian government this month put into effect a new law creating a framework for everyday civilians to join territorial defense battalions. Army special forces soldiers will lead the volunteers. The government will supply and arm them.

In Kharkiv, a city of one million that lies just 25 miles from the border, interest in the local volunteer battalion is strong even though the unit is just a few days old. “To fight for the protection of your own house is a big motivation,” one local man told Al Jazeera.

But if Russia widens its war on Ukraine, as seems increasingly likely, a regular army brigade—not some ragtag bunch of volunteers—would be the first to fight for Kharkiv, which among other strategic assets includes an important tank factory. "

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/02/01/one-of-ukraines-best-brigades-defends-one-of-its-most-vulnerable-cities/?sh=2ed5a80876f9

These Battalions go far back though, related to more unidentifiable characters. For example this propaganda : Ukraine ’s VolUnteer Battalions published in April-July 2016 INFANTRY magazine.

Authored by: MAJ Michael Cohen is a U.S. Army foreign area officer assigned to the

Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C. He is fluent in Russian and

Ukrainian languages.

SSG Matthew Green is currently serving as a conventional arms control

inspector and weapons specialist with the Defense Threat Reduction

Agency-Europe. He has served in various tactical leadership positions with

units including the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment; 1st Squadron,

151st Cavalry Regiment; and 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st

Airborne Division.

I can find no further background on these people. The article concludes with: "In the aftermath of Ilovaisk, it is tempting for critics to

highlight the deficiencies of the volunteer battalions. Their indiscipline, poor equipment, lack of standardized training, uneven integration/cooperation with regular forces, and political activism (and in the case of Azov, repugnant far-right ideology) come under frequent attack. When faced with trained and equipped conventional forces, such as at Ilovaisk, the volunteers proved a less-than-equal match. Added to this list can be allegations of corruption, smuggling, and looting, which have hounded some battalions such as Shakhtarsk (disbanded as a result) and Tornado. Right Sector, which resisted subordination to Ukrainian control until the very

end, wound up in a shootout with Ukrainian police in west Ukraine in July 2015 that many allege was over control of illegal cigarette smuggling routes.23 All of that aside, the

Ukrainian volunteer battalions need to be given due credit for their accomplishments. They rose to fight for Ukraine when Ukraine’s military could not do so in a coordinated fashion (paralyzed by a rapid change of government and fast-moving events on the ground), fought the separatists using similar

tactics and equipment, and sent a message to Russia that ordinary Ukrainians were willing to take up arms to defend their land. Most crucially, the volunteer battalions bought

Ukraine time. Ukraine had time to complete several waves of mobilization, time to reorganize its interior and military forces

after a long period of neglect, time to conduct reinvigorated training, and time to clean traitors from its military and civilian

ranks. Ukraine had time for international sanctions to begin to bite Russia and time for locals in Donetsk in Luhansk to begin to regret what the Russians and separatists had brought them.24 They held the line and prevented further destabilization and occupation of further Ukrainian provinces. They showed that the last line of defense in any country is a loyal citizenry willing to take up arms in its defense.

https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/magazine/issues/2016/APR-JUL/pdf/16)%20Cohen_UkraineVolunteers.pdf