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Dave Fortin

@davidwfortin.bsky.social

710 followers 860 following 3.9K posts

History teacher in Philadelphia. APUSH, AP Govt, AP Euro. Dogfather. Irish dance dad. STL Cards, Blues, and STLCity fan. Army vet (Gulf War). Notre Dame alum. Gen X. "The air tasted of lies.” S. De Beauvoir

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · Aug 19

Rewatching "The Watchers of the Skies" which is a hard but beautiful film on genocide. Rafael Lemkin quote:

"It is not the cargo of a vessel that is at stake, but humanity with its spiritual heritage in which the whole world partakes."

youtu.be/1e0HFCKcVhc?...

Watchers of the Sky Official Trailer 1 (2014) - Documentary HD

YouTube video by Rotten Tomatoes Indie

youtu.be

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3h

Dude, put your cell phone down and pay attention to your call!

Trump:

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 4h

"Chuck Prince of Citibank famously said that we have to dance until the music stops. Actually, the music had stopped already when he said that."

Inside Job, 2010

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 5h

About 10 years ago we had a consultant at my school wave around her cell phone and tell us "You don't need to teach content! It's all on here in your students' pockets! Teach them how to use this!"

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 5h

I recently taught this from George Washington's Farewell Address--my students saw Trump in GW's warning without my prompting.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 5h

Hannah Arendt QOTD from The Origins of Totalitarianism:
“As techniques of government, the totalitarian devices appear simple and ingeniously effective. They assure not only an absolute power monopoly, but unparalleled certainty that all commands will always be carried out; the multiplicity of the transmission belts, the confusion of the hierarchy, secure the dictator's complete independence of all his inferiors and make possible the swift and surprising changes in policy for which totalitarianism has become famous. The body politic of the country is shock-proof because of its shapelessness.”

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 17h

Might work. Could be an expensive bet if it doesn’t. Hard to say when hiring someone with very little managerial experience.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 19h

I guess because of this---they need to compete with IBX:

6abc.com/post/highmar...

Highmark is now moving into the Southeastern Pennsylvania market

Highmark is offering and quoting their products for both individual and employer groups through the fall for a January 1, 2024 effective dates.

6abc.com

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 19h

Here's an example:

www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/puj...

Albert Pujols says Cardinals need to find a way to get Colby Rasmus "out of here"

Things are turning sour quickly in St. Louis, and not just in the National League Central standings. Prompted with the report that 24-year-old center fielder Colby Rasmus asked for a trade earlier thi...

www.nbcsports.com

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 19h

I don't think that would work. Sir Albert is known to speak his mind in the clubhouse and not hold back. He always expect 110%+ from everyone---he fit TLR's managing style perfectly.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 20h

Just a reminder that in 2006 Congress reauthorized the VRA by a vote of 390-33 in the House and 98-0 in the Senate. W signed it. But hey, judicial activism. Here's what W said at the signing event:

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 20h

Hannah Arendt QOTD from The Origins of Totalitarianism:
“There is no need to look for any irony in the word modesty; the totalitarian leader, in marked contrast to all former usurpers, despots and tyrants, seems to believe that the question of his succession is not overly important, that no special qualities or training are needed for the job, that the country will eventually obey anybody who happens to hold the appointment at the moment of his death, and that no power-thirsty rivals will dispute his legitimacy.”

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 1d

Common Sense Media has a new report on Boys and the Digital Age (they already published one on girls). www.commonsensemedia.org/healthy-boys...

One of their more disturbing findings:

Algorithms, not user intent, are the
primary driver of boys' exposure to
masculinity content.
For boys who have seen masculinity content online, more
than two-thirds (68%) say it just started showing up in their
feed without them searching for it, while one in four (26%)
say friends shared it with them. TikTok, YouTube, and
Instagram are the most often mentioned platforms for
nearly all digital masculinity content, including all problem
atic content. Among boys who use these platforms, the
following percentages report seeing each type of content
sometimes or more often: 48% of TikTok users and 38% of
Instagram users see content suggesting that girls only want
to date certain types of guys, 46% of TikTok users see
content claiming that girls use their looks to get special
treatment, and 27% of TikTok users and 22% of Instagram
users encounter messages that boys are treated unfairly
compared to girls.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, William Cronon, Robert Caro (esp. Master of the Senate), James McPherson, Donald Miller (his Vicksburg book is excellent!), David Walker Howe....

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

Hannah Arendt QOTD from The Origins of Totalitarianism:
“The absence of a ruling clique has made the question of a successor to the totalitarian dictator especially baffling and troublesome. It is true that this issue has plagued all usurpers, and it is quite characteristic that none of the totalitarian dictators ever tried the old method of establishing a dynasty and appointing their sons. Against Hitler's numerous and therefore self-defeating appointments stands Stalin's method, which made the succession one of the most dangerous honors in the Soviet Union. Under totalitarian conditions, knowledge of the labyrinth of transmission belts equals supreme power, and every appointed successor who actually comes to know what is going on is automatically removed after a certain time.”

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/davi...

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 8d

This one is very relevant to what we're seeing today...

Hannah Arendt QOTD from The Origins of Totalitarianism:
“The artificial creation of civil-war conditions by which the Nazis black-mailed their way into power has more than the obvious advantage of stirring up trouble. For the movement, organized violence is the most efficient of the many protective walls which surround its fictitious world, whose "reality" is proved when a member fears leaving the movement more than he fears the consequences of his complicity in illegal actions, and feels more secure as a member than as an opponent. This feeling of security, resulting from the organized violence with which the elite formations protect the party members from the outside world, is as important to the integrity of the fictitious world of the organization as the fear of its terror.”

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

That's terrible baserunning by the Dodgers.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

There's many books that are difficult reads but are worth the effort, even if they can be a slog to get through.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 3d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 2d

I have a love-hate with the city, but know our neighbors won't take crap from Trump and his goons if they show up here. But I'd say that the sports teams regularly create a collective psychosis that is unlike just about anywhere else.

Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3d

Don't they have to Mirandize anyone they take into custody like this?

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3d

9/There are no markers or other recognition of that event, which was a BFD at the time. Which is why Columbus should go and the Exposition should be recognized instead.

philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/penns...

Pennsylvania Emancipation Exposition (1913) - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

the Pennsylvania Emancipation Exposition marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and celebrated African American progress.

philadelphiaencyclopedia.org

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3d

8/Lawsuits were filed, the box was removed and we're back to Square 1. The real travesty is that much of the landscape of the largish park where he stands is shaped by the Emancipation Exposition of 1913 that was held there on the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3d

7/A cop was posted there for about a year 24/7 to protect the box (good use of taxpayer money there!). The Parks Dept sent out a city-wide survey on what to do--the results of this were never released but I said the city should send Columbus back to the Centennial grounds.

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Dave Fortin @davidwfortin.bsky.social · 3d

6/After some back and forth, the city's Parks Department decided to stick Columbus in a box while it figured out what to do.

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