The United States Postal Service is removing mail sorting machines from facilities around the country without any official explanation or reason given, Motherboard has learned through interviews with postal workers and union officials. In many cases, these are the same machines that would be tasked with sorting ballots, calling into question promises made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that the USPS has “ample capacity” to handle the predicted surge in mail-in ballots.

Source: The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election

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Only 43 percent of 2,000 Americans surveyed were aware that the holiday honors military members who died while serving in the US Armed Forces, according to research revealed on Thursday.

Source: Less than HALF of Americans know the true meaning behind Memorial Day – The US Sun

It’s Black Friday, and you know what that means: People trading in their dignity for discounted toys and paper towels.Two men brawled in the aisle of a Walmart on Thanksgiving evening. It’s not clear what the tussle was over, but women jumped in and cursed them out.

Source: SEASON’S BEATINGS: Black Friday shoppers throw punches in Walmart, wrestle TVs in merch scrum – The American MirrorThe American Mirror

The clip shows shoppers tumbling over a pile of the vegetable steamers before one woman grabs a steamer being held by a child who looks under the age of 6. The mother of the child then tries to wrestle the box back off her as she screams, “Why are you being so aggressive – you’re scaring me!”

The individual who posted the video on YouTube was presumably an employee of the store, commenting that they didn’t want to be fired for making the footage public.

Source: Black Friday: Americans Brawl Over Vegetable Steamers » Infowars Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!

Seventy-three percent of American eighth graders tested below the proficiency level in geography last year, according to a report to Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Analyzing nationally representative test data from the U.S. Department of Education, GAO found that only 27 percent of eighth graders nationwide scored at either the proficient (24%) or advanced (3%) level on standardized geography tests in 2014.

Nearly half (48%) exhibited only partial mastery of the subject, and a quarter (25%) scored below basic competency on the geography tests.

The 2014 results showed virtually no improvement since 1994, when 4 percent of eighth graders tested at the advanced level, 24 percent at the proficient level, 43 percent at the basic level, and 29 percent were below basic competency, the GAO reported, even as Americans become increasingly dependent on location-based technologies such as GPS (global positioning system).

“Geography is generally taught as part of social studies, but data show that more than half of eighth grade teachers reported spending a small portion (10 percent or less) of their social studies instruction time on geography,” the report to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Humans Services, Education, and Related Agencies stated.

Source: GAO: 73% of 8th Graders Don’t Know Much About Geography

Only one-in-three Americans knows how many women serve on the Supreme Court, but 91 percent can identify Martin Luther King Jr., 47 years after his assassination.

That’s according to the latest Pew Research Center News IQ survey released Tuesday, which tests how well the American public knows the world in words, maps and pictures.

Almost all millennials surveyed — 96 percent — could pick out King from a list of names that included Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson and Thurgood Marshall. Older generations could mostly identify the slain civil-rights leader, as 89 percent of Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation did.

But millennials apparently aren’t so great at identifying the current party makeup of the Senate. Only 47 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 were able to do so, compared to 52 percent overall. Those who described themselves as more politically engaged were more likely to know the upper chamber’s composition. (For the record, Republicans hold 54 seats; Democrats 44 seats; and Independents two seats.)

More people were able to identify the country that Kim Jong-un rules (82 percent) than were able to identify Malala Yousafzai as the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner (63 percent). And only 51 percent could recognize Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren from a series of four photos with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Source: Americans bomb Pew test of basic political knowledge – Nick Gass – POLITICO

A Michigan woman who died after accidentally shooting herself in the head in the beginning of the year was adjusting her bra holster when the gun went off, police said.

St. Joseph Public Safety Department Director Mark Clapp told the Kalamazoo Gazette 55-year-olod Christina Bond was “having trouble adjusting her bra holster and could not get it to fit the way she wanted it to.”

Clapp also said Bond was looking down before accidentally firing the weapon.

Officers found Bond Jan. 1 with a gunshot wound to the eye. She was taken to Lakeland Hospital and then airlifted to Bronson Methodist Hospital the next day. Bond later died.

Thanks to Brian F. for the tip!

Source: Michigan woman accidentally killed herself while adjusting bra holster, police say | Fox News

The Associated Press has removed an image of Andres Serrano’s 1987 photograph “Piss Christ” from its image library following Wednesday’s attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

“It’s been our policy for years that we refrain from moving deliberately provocative images. It is fair to say we have revised and reviewed our policies since 1989,” AP spokesperson Erin Madigan told POLITICO, referring to the year the AP first posted the photograph.

Until today, the AP’s policy allowed for Serrano’s photograph, which depicts a statue of Christ submerged in urine and has repeatedly caused controversy when exhibited. “Piss Christ” was once vandalized, and both Serrano and gallery owners have received death threats over the years.

Following Wednesday’s attack, the photo has been replaced on the AP’s website with a note that reads, “Oops! This image is not part of your portfolio. Please contact customer support.”

The AP was one of several news organizations to either blur or crop photos featuring a Charlie Hebdo cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed. In an email earlier today, AP spokesperson Paul Colford cited the “longstanding policy” as its reason for not showing the cartoons.

Both the cropping of the Hebdo cartoons and the decision to remove Serrano’s photo have been interpreted by many as a capitulation to the attackers’ efforts to limit the freedom of expression. Though there identity is as yet unknown, the masked gunmen are believed to be Islamic terrorists.

via AP pulls ‘Piss Christ’ after Paris attack.

Parents of students at North Hill Elementary in Rochester Hills, Michigan, have reportedly been informed that all students are “winners,” therefore the “competitive ‘urge to win’ will be kept to a minimum” at the school’s annual field day.

The flyer, flagged by Progressives Today, reads in part:

“The purpose of the day is for our school to get together for an enjoyable two hours of activities and provide an opportunity for students, teachers and parents to interact cooperatively. Since we believe that all of our children are winners, the need for athletic ability and the competitive “urge to win” will be kept to a minimum. The real reward will be the enjoyment and good feelings of participation.”

via Parent Left ‘Speechless’ After Reading the ‘Field Day’ Flyer Reportedly Sent Home by Daughter’s School | TheBlaze.com.

The public schools in Washington, D.C., spent $29,349 per pupil in the 2010-2011 school year, according to the latest data from National Center for Education Statistics, but in 2013 fully 83 percent of the eighth graders in these schools were not “proficient” in reading and 81 percent were not “proficient” in math.

These are the government schools in our nation’s capital city — where for decades politicians of both parties have obstreperously pushed for more federal involvement in education and more federal spending on education.

Government has manifestly failed the families who must send their children to these schools, and the children who must attend them.

Under the auspices of the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal government periodically tests elementary and high school students in various subjects, including reading and math. These National Assessment of Educational Progress tests are scored on a scale of 500, and student achievement levels are rated as “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced.”

In 2013, students nationwide took NAEP reading and math tests. When the NCES listed the scores of public-school eighth graders in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, D.C. came in last in both subjects.

D.C. eighth graders scored an average of 248 out of 500 in reading, and Mississippi finished next to last with an average of 253.

Only 17 percent of D.C. 8th graders rated “proficient” or better in reading. In Mississippi, it was 20 percent.

In math, D.C. public-school eighth graders scored an average of 265 out of 500, and only 19 percent were rated “proficient” or better. Alabama placed next to last with an average math score of 269, with 20 percent rated “proficient” or better.

Some might argue it is unfair to compare, Washington, D.C., a single city, with an entire state. However, D.C. also does not compete well against other big cities.

via DC Schools: $29,349 Per Pupil, 83% Not Proficient in Reading | CNS News.