You should meet Lucy Tidd. She is 8. It is unusual for such a young child to be scaring the bejeezus out of adults across the land.

Because looking at the behavior of those adults...adults who enough people judged to be sufficiently mentally competent that they elected them to public office, you'd think she was a serial killer.

It was the first day of third grade and 8-year-old Lucy was sitting in the principal’s office with her parents, crying her heart out. She was terrified. Mark and I sat with her and said: ‘This is your journey. We will go and do whatever you want.’ She had this blue bunny and she just held onto that and sobbed and sobbed. And then Mark carried her to the classroom.

--Briget Tidd

The scariest thing is that nobody knew except for the teachers. The kids saw Benjamin walk into school dressed like a girl, and they were like, ‘Hey, Benji.’ They were confused, but there was no malicious intent.

--Mark Tidd

Lucy didn’t relax until recess, when her mother helped a group of curious girls understand what was happening.

I said to them, ‘This is the same person you played with last year, that you played four square with, that you played jump rope with, that you ran around and played ball with. This is the same exact person.’ Only now, Benji wants to be just like you...like a girl.

--Briget Tidd

“I said, ‘Do you think that we can let her be herself and do this?’ ” Bridget asked the girls, who nodded in agreement. “Then the next thing I know they took her hand and they ran and that was it.”

I stood there with tears in my eyes, trusting that the rest of the day would be OK, and I let her go. And at that moment she was completely free, and we’ve never turned back.

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features jazz pianist, bandleader and composer, Count Basie. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday February 10, 1906
Greensboro, North Carolina - Mother Jones Interviewed, Tells of Children in the Mills

The following is an interview with Mother Jones which was published in the February 8th edition of the Greensboro Daily Industrial News:

NO STRIKE COMING SAYS MOTHER JONES
-----

Noted Socialist Thinks General Uprising
Will Be Avoided by Both Sides.
-----
SPEAKS OF CHILD LABOR AND
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
-----
Amusing Anecdotes Related By Her Show Her Fearlessness and
Sense of Humor as Well as Her Lack of "Respect of Persons."
-----

Mother Jones leading the March of the Mill Children, 1903
``````````

In Sunday's paper:

The Boston Globe editorial board called out "irrational objections" to a Massachusetts bill that would provide non-discrimination protections for transgender people, debunking the right-wing myth that these protections would endanger women and children.

--Media Matters

The bill is H1577/S735. Speaker Robert deLeo is polling members of the House to see if the bill has enough support to override a potential veto by Gov. Charlie Baker.

What I’m starting to do is to do polling and see where the members stand, but I also have to be concerned that the governor’s going to veto it: Do we have enough to override the veto? So that’s the quandary. Although the governor hasn’t said one way or the other, I have to be prepared in case he does it.

--deLeo

(Educated Marxists will recognize the title of this "new essay" as riffing off of Marx's eleven Theses on Feuerbach. For Marx, writing in 1845, this text represents a final break from Feuerbach's contemplative materialism and an embrace of historical materialism, a doctrine familiar in name but not in spirit to those for whom this "new essay" is written.)

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features jazz trombonist and bandleader Jack Teagarden. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday February 9, 1906
Greensboro, North Carolina - Interview with Mother Jones

The Daily Industrial News of Greensboro published the following interview with Mother Jones in its February 7th edition:

MOTHER JONES TELLS OF HER MISSION IN LIFE
-----

Noted Socialist Visits Greensboro and Chats Most Entertainingly of Her Work,
Her Purpose and the Tactics She Invariably Pursues.
-----

"Mother" Jones, the noted socialist who is to speak in Labor Union Hall on tomorrow night, came to this city two days ago. She was seen by a Daily Industrial News reporter last night, and talked freely of her life and work.

So many people picture "Mother" Jones as a kind of Carrie Nation who wields her hatchet against governments instead of saloons that the sight of the real woman fairly takes away the breath.

The best description of "Mother" Jones is her own soubriquet "mother," and when to that wholesome-hearted out-reaching motherliness is added humor, even mischievousness, jollity, and "spunk" immeasurable the reality is almost approached.

To reach it quite, however, would be impossible, for "Mother" Jones is one of those indescribable little persons who always just eludes description and analysis. Classify her as a woman fighter and striker, and her tender, sweet gentleness comes up in contradiction. Classify her as the woman with heart so exquisitely sympathetic and pitying that it aches for every hurt suffered by a fellow creature and the picture of the intrepid woman marching at the head of a great army of workmen baffles one.

Danielle Ryan at RT asks today: ‘Coincidence? Baltic invasion story reappears as Pentagon seeks to quadruple Europe spending’