The Punisher and The Punished Today’s conversation is with retired Marine corporal Adam Ranke. A decorated Force Recon vet, Adam served in the Corps from 2002 to 2006 and then worked as a private military contractor from 2011 to 2016.  Adam is an accomplished heavy metal bassist playing with his band Sign of the Southern Cross (you can find their album, Of Mountains and Moonshine in the show notes,). He is a former Mixed Martial Arts fighter (Muay Thai school), a “one percenter” (the Outlaws MC), a comic aficionado, and a doting father. He is a 2002 Franklin High School graduate and my former student. Sign of the Southern Cross (Adam's former band) 

Full show notes with photo of Adam's outfit and his Scout Sniper certificate.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TPZs5qTyoZ9FjQTMuNgTHJ6OmQPgA1y3B3YjT84w4Qw/edit?usp=drivesdk

A conversation with investigative journalist and teacher Justin Parmenter about the players in the merit pay scheme, who is funding the marketing, and the dark connection to menthol cigarettes. 

Plenty to see in the show notes.

https://tinyurl.com/meritpaygate

Deja vu: Another stillborn education reform for the people of North Carolina — a conversation with public education advocate and teacher Kim Mackey.

As Yogi Berra said, “it’s deja vu all over again.”

And the deja vu is yet another public education reform effort. Yet another proposal which believes the solution to what ails North Carolina public education is lack of tasty carrots for teachers, and the assumption we have too often been spared the beatings from sticks.

So, If you’ll give me a few minutes, I want to walk you through as to how we got to the present moment, and then what follows is a conversation with my friend and fellow NC public school teacher, Kim Mackey. Kim can fill you in on the details and shortcomings of the current proposal.

(the notes for this episode are extensive and full of useful links -- links to better inform yourself such as how much better Alabama will be paying there teachers than NC this year, links for you to take action....you can find all of that here. tinyurl.com/interviewwithKimMackey