Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Harry and Meghan -- Moving Back to Britain

 


They have repeatedly portrayed California as a much better fit for the life they wanted—more freedom, privacy, sunshine, outdoor life, and distance from the constraints of the royal institution. Their 2021 Oprah interview, for example, presented their California life as a calmer, more normal existence, with their Montecito home, garden, chickens, walks, and family life.

Harry was especially explicit about the contrast. In later interviews he described royal life as fe


Oprah asked Meghan to describe their new life in California in one word. Meghan answered “Peace.” She then said that what she liked was being able to “live authentically” and described the life as getting “back down to basics.”

Harry made the point more explicitly in the 2022 Netflix documentary. He said that moving to California felt like a natural progression because he had “outgrown” his previous environment. He also said he felt content and that he and Meghan were where they were meant to be.

And in a 2022 interview with Hoda Kotb, Harry described California as home “for the time being.”

So there really was a fairly consistent message:

  • Britain/royal life: intrusive, constrained, stressful, and ultimately unhealthy for them.
  • California: privacy, freedom, authenticity, family life, sunshine, and the ability to choose their own work.
  • Meghan particularly portrayed California as a return to her roots and a place where she could be herself. 

Apparently Principals Embezzling Funds (or Other Misbehavior) Is Not Rare

Searches of "principal embezzlement" on 9/29/2024


4.  Principal Celebrates Kirk's Murder and Has Child Pornography  8/19/2026

A former Oregon school principal who reportedly responded to Charlie Kirk’s murder with “Oh, too bad, good riddance” has now been sentenced to more than 5 years in prison in a child sexual abuse material case. The former Rainier Junior/Senior High School principal was already on paid leave over his comments about Kirk when police arrested him. Investigators said they found at least 31 images of child sexual abuse material on his devices—including material involving an infant. He pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and was sentenced to 5 years and 1 month behind bars, followed by sex-offender registration requirements.

3.  Former Catholic Principal Accused of Embezzling More Than $100,000  8/6/2024

Sonoma County prosecutors filed a felony count against a former high school principal accused of embezzling at least $100,000 from St. Vincent de Paul College Prep.  Patrick Daly, 59, was arraigned Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa where he’s charged with one count of grand theft, according to court records.  He’s out of custody and is scheduled to return to court Oct. 1 to enter a plea before Judge Laura Passaglia.

2. Wyandotte Elementary Principal Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $89,000  6/7/2024

A former Wyandotte elementary school principal accused of embezzling more than $89,000 of school funds has pleaded guilty.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Krizia Allen, 38, of West Bloomfield, pleaded to one count of theft from a federally funded program. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10.

Federal prosecutors said that between June 2018 and February 2023, Allen, a principal at Garfield Elementary School, stole about $89,312 by using the funds for her personal use. 

Officials said Allen funneled more than $24,000 through a corporate entity and used the money to pay for rent and food and make ATM withdrawals. She also used a school credit card to purchase items on Amazon and transferred more than $50,000 into her PayPal account.

To conceal the theft, Allen submitted false business invoices and receipts of school-related purchases to the finance department.



1.  Evesham School Principal takes $709.25 in Cash

The elementary school principal in Evesham charged with theft was recorded on surveillance video walking out the building with a red canvas bank bag containing more $700 in cash, a court document states.

Colleen Schroeder stole $709.25 from the main office of Helen L. Beeler Elementary School at 6:05 p.m. on Feb. 21, according to court records and a criminal complaint outlining the third-degree charge filed against the 46-year-old Hainesport resident.



One search of "principal fraud"

1.  Catholic School in DC  08/03/2022

A former principal at a Catholic school in D.C. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing at least $175,000 meant for school-related services and activities.

Bridget Coates, 49, of Virginia, pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud last April and was sentenced Wednesday.

She was the principal of St. Thomas More Catholic School in Southeast when she began taking money from the school’s Home School Association in 2012. Her scheme lasted through December 2017, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Columbia said. Coates resigned in 2018.

As principal, Coates had access to the association’s checks, which were supposed to pay for school-related purposes.

But prosecutors said that she “engaged in a pattern of purchasing personal good and services” with the money, including buying designers fashion and qualifying for a home mortgage loan. She also wrote 66 unauthorized checks and deposited money into her personal account.

In addition to her prison sentence, Coates has to pay $175,000 to the Archdiocese of Washington, as well an identical amount in a forfeiture money judgment.


https://wtop.com/local/2022/08/former-principal-of-dc-catholic-school-gets-2-1-2-years-for-embezzling/#:~:text=services%20and%20activities.-,A%20former%20principal%20at%20a%20Catholic%20school%20in%20D.C.%20was,April%20and%20was%20sentenced%20Wednesday.

2.  Catholic School in PA   06/08/2023

John C. McGrath, 57, former principal at a Maple Glen Catholic school, recently admitted to felony charges that he embezzled upward of $25,000 in school funds between May 2020 and October 2021.

McGrath was the principal at Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School in the Maple Glen section of Upper Dublin. He faces a sentence of three years’ probation and a requirement to make full restitution after he’s sentenced.

According to Assistant District Attorney Tanner C. Beck, McGrath admitted to using the school’s credit cards to take unauthorized trips and visits to bars and restaurants, and pocketing money from a school fundraiser.

McGrath was once a Philadelphia police officer before becoming a principal, according to his lawyer.


https://aroundambler.com/former-principal-at-our-lady-of-mercy-regional-catholic-school-in-maple-glen-admits-to-embezzling-25k-during-his-tenure/

3.  Pasadena Principal 1/26/2022

A former Inglewood and Pasadena principal accused of pocketing about $67,000 in school money has pleaded guilty to three felony counts after a nearly year-long investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

Kyle Douglas, the 51-year-old former principal of Inglewood High School and Pasadena’s Woodrow Wilson Middle School, pleaded guilty to misappropriation of public funds, forgery and grand theft late last week, said Los Angeles District Attorney spokesman Greg Risling.

While employed at Inglewood High in 2017, Douglas negotiated an unauthorized contract with a company for private use of the school’s parking lot, according to a statement from the DA’s office.

He profited about $57,000 from the deal.

Inglewood Unified School District did not return multiple requests for comment. Douglas also did not respond to a request for comment.

Douglas was later hired by the Pasadena Unified School District, in October 2017, to serve as principal for Woodrow Wilson Middle School.

In 2019, Douglas collected about $10,000 for a Wilson Middle student trip to China — and never paid the company that he hired to organize the trip, the DA’s statement said.

He was placed on leave June 27, 2019, and later “released from employment” on June 30, 2020, a representative for that district said. The district declined to provide further comment on Douglas’ case.

Wilson Middle School is now closed. The PUSD board voted to close the school in late 2019 after a series of budgetary issues related to declining student enrollment.

“Betraying students, their parents and school administrators,” District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement, “is the ultimate failure for those who are the face and voice of a school.”

Douglas’ career in academia began in 1996. He began as a social studies teacher at Marshall Fundamental School and Rose City High School, where he worked until 2007, according to a PUSD news release from the time of his hiring.

He later became the dean of activities for the Temple City Unified School District. In 2009, he was appointed assistant principal of the Alhambra Unified School District.

Douglas joined the Inglewood Unified School District as principal in 2015, the news release said.

Douglas pleaded guilty on Friday, Jan. 21, and was sentenced to formal probation, 120 days community service and ordered to make $67,700 in restitution, Risling said.



https://www.dailybreeze.com/2022/01/26/ex-principal-pleads-guilty-to-3-felonies-stealing-67000-from-pasadena-middle-inglewood-high-schools/

4.  Boston New Mission High School 8/1/2023

Naia Wilson was the head of school for New Mission High School, a pilot school in Hyde Park, for 13 years. Over the course of 3 years, she allegedly used over $38,000 in school money to pay for vacations for herself and her friends.





Authorities have charged a former Boston Public Schools principal with one count of wire fraud for allegedly misusing nearly $40,000 in public money on things like all-inclusive personal vacations.

Mattapan resident Naia Wilson, 60, served as the head of school at Hyde Park‘s New Mission High School, an autonomous pilot school within Boston Public Schools, from 2006 to 2019, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts said in a press release Tuesday.

Between September 2016 and May 2019, Wilson requested checks from the school’s account that were listed as being for other people, the release said. She then allegedly fraudulently endorsed those checks and deposited the checks into her own account. The persons the checks were for never knew of the checks or authorized Wilson to deposit them in her own account.

Wilson used some of the embezzled $38,806 to pay for two all-inclusive vacations to Barbados for herself and her friends in 2016 and 2018, the release said. Both times, Wilson requested checks payable to other people who went on the trips.

“Instead of working honestly on behalf of her students, Naia Wilson is accused of abusing her authority and using the school’s budget as her own personal slush fund,” FBI Boston Special Agent Christopher DiMenna said in the release.

Wilson recorded the fraudulent checks as being for stipends and expense reimbursements, but some of the people the checks were issued to never worked at New Mission, The Boston Globe reported.

Federal prosecutors began investigating Wilson at the same time that an independent audit of Boston Public School’s spending flagged New Mission for shoddy recordkeeping, the newspaper wrote.

Superintendent Mary Skipper thanked the U.S. Attorney’s office for its efforts to restore misappropriated funds to Boston students in a statement Tuesday.

“The Boston Public Schools takes its responsibility as a steward of public funds very seriously,” Skipper said. “…Since these incidents, the Boston Public Schools has implemented additional internal protocols and procedures to prevent a situation like this from occurring again.”

5.  Chicago Public Schools

A former Chicago principal faces a 10-count federal indictment for allegedly stealing $200,000 in overtime money from other employees.  Sarah Jackson Abedelal was a principal at Brennemann Elementary School, at 4251 N. Clarendon Ave. in the Uptown neighborhood. According to federal prosecutors, Abedelal, 57, engaged in the scheme from 2012 to 2019 while she was principal at the school.

The indictment said Abedelal told some school employees that she would authorize overtime pay for hours they didn't work.  "She directed them to then deliver the proceeds of the unearned overtime to Abedelal or another individual," the indictment states.  Abedelal told the employees that the money would be used to pay for school expenses at Brennemann Elementary School.  Instead, she intended to convert the funds for her own personal use.

The federal charges allege that Abedelal stole at least $200,000 in CPS money. through the scheme.  Abedelal is charged with ten counts of wire fraud.  The indictment states that Abedelal told school employees to take their unearned overtime money, convert it into cash on the day the paychecks were deposited into their bank accounts.  Abedelal would later meet with those workers employees individually in her office or classrooms to get the cash from them.  To hide the theft, Abedelal used the money to buy money orders at a currency exchange. She would then use the money orders to pay for her personal expenses.  One item included the mortgage on her home, according to the indictment.

Abedelal was arrested Wednesday morning. She is set to make a federal court Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain. (She admitted to fraud but I could not find anything about sentencing.  Supposedly she was cooperating which might lead to a lesser sentence.)



https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ex-cps-principal-indicted-federal-fraud-200k/

More on above and related cases:  A former clerk at South Side Public Elementary School has been indicted in an extended federal fraud case involving wrongful ordering of school supplies to provide iPhones, iPads and prepaid gift cards for personal use to school officials. alleged plan to do so.

Ashley Beard, 34, who worked as a business clerk at Caldwell Math and Science Academy at 85th Street and South Craigiere Avenue before resigning in 2019, was charged with wire fraud in a superseding indictment brought in US District Court on Monday. 

According to the 10-page indictment, Anthony Rasmussen, 47, a sales associate for a suburban vendor who had a contract to supply Chicago public schools with paper, printer toner and other school supplies was also indicted. 

His indictment comes three months after Rasmussen’s coworker at the supply company, Debra Bannack, 62, of Schomberg, was charged with the same alleged scheme. Bannack has pleaded not guilty.

Beard and Rasmussen were the fifth and sixth people to be charged in the ongoing investigation, which also separated former Brenneman Elementary School principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal and two of her associates, who have been charged in a separate indictment.  Court records show Hammond’s beard, and Des Plaines’ Rasmussen are to be indicted on Friday on the impeachment.

A CPS spokesman said Tuesday that an issue involving “potentially fraudulent timekeeping” by Beard was first referred to the district’s legal team in February 2018, and after a review Found “further misconduct”, Beard was scheduled for a disciplinary convention.

“Soon thereafter, Beard resigned and admitted wrongdoing in his January 2019 resignation letter,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to the Tribune. “The CPS Law Department then referred the matter to the office of the Inspector General and since then, the investigation has expanded.”

The statement said CPS holds its staff to high standards and that the district’s legal team, if necessary, will refer cases to the inspector general to determine whether the practice can proceed. review and criminal charges. ,

The CPS placed Beard on its Do Not-Hire list after his resignation from 2007 to work for the district in some capacity.

According to the indictment, from 2015 to 2017, the defendants planned to falsify order records to make it appear that legitimate school supplies — such as paper, ink and toner — were distributed when, instead of purchasing an iPad, worth thousands of dollars. was used. iPhones and gift cards for personal use.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2022/6/14/23167856/cps-school-clerk-federal-wire-fraud-charge-investigation-chicago-public-schools

Definition Fascism & Gunter Grass from 1960s.

 

Fascism is a form of authoritarian, ultranationalist politics that seeks to subordinate individual rights and political pluralism to the perceived interests and unity of the nation, usually under a powerful leader or ruling movement.

There isn't one universally agreed-upon definition, but historians generally associate fascism with several characteristics:

  • Extreme nationalism: The nation is portrayed as an organic community whose interests take precedence over individual or group interests.

Trump does champion the country more than the two previous presidents.  
  • Authoritarian leadership: Political authority is concentrated in a leader or ruling movement, rather than being genuinely constrained by democratic institutions.
He has made a number of presidential decisions some of which the courts have shut down -- including about DEI -- but nothing like opening the borders. 
  • Rejection of liberal democracy: Fascist movements typically reject political pluralism, liberal individualism, and competing centers of political power.
Others are running for office, making speeches in which they criticize him, protesting against him.  Nothing happens to him. 
  • Mass political mobilization: Rather than simply suppressing politics, fascists seek to mobilize the population around the nation, leader, and movement.
He does have the MAGA movement but they don't protest, burn or loot.  They go to some peaceful rallies. 
  • Glorification of strength and struggle: Conflict, discipline, military virtues, sacrifice, and sometimes violence are celebrated as means of national renewal.
Military and sacrifices as a means of national renewal but Kennedy was also promoting sacrafice as a part of national renewal.  
  • Identification of internal enemies: Political opponents or minority groups may be portrayed as threats to the nation's survival.
Yes.  But previously Maga.
  • Suppression of opposition: Independent political parties, media, unions, and other organizations are weakened, controlled, or eliminated.
Opposition is strong.  Opposition has been elected in many parts of the country. 
  • A vision of national regeneration: Fascism generally presents itself as a solution to perceived national decline, promising to restore unity, greatness, and order.
Yes.

The classic historical examples are Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany, although Nazism is a particular and especially radical form of fascism rather than simply a synonym for it.

One important distinction: authoritarianism isn't necessarily fascism. A dictatorship can be authoritarian without being fascist. Fascism involves a particular combination of ultranationalism, mass political mobilization, authoritarian leadership, rejection of liberal pluralism, and a project of national regeneration.

Also, simply calling something "fascist" because it is repressive or because one dislikes its politics is not a useful definition. The term has a specific historical and political meaning.

======================

Tom Wolfe giving a speech at Princeton in the 1960.  

Support came from a quarter I hadn’t counted on. It was [Gunter] Grass, speaking in English.

“For the past hour I have my eyes fixed on the doors here,” he said. “You talk about fascism and police repression. In Germany when I was a student, they come through those doors long ago. Here they must be very slow.”

Grass was enjoying himself for the first time all evening. He was not simply saying, “You really don’t have so much to worry about.” He was indulging his sense of the absurd. He was saying: “You American intellectuals—you want so desperately to feel besieged and persecuted!”



Tuesday, August 18, 2026


July 18, 2026  Conditional Variances 


I do not know how the equality above was obtained.  



I do not understand  the equality above or how it was obtained.  




















July 18, 2026  Omitted Variable Bias

We are interested in the effect of X on Y.  Z is a variable that effects X.  Think of the error term as a bucket of everything affecting that you haven't put into the model.

If a confounder Z is left in that bucket, and Z also affects X, then X is correlated with the error term → biased causal estimate

It is not enough that merely affects . For Z to create confounding of the X-Y relationship, it needs to be associated with X through the relevant causal structure.

For example:

but

does not create the same confounding problem.

The key problematic structure is:

XZY

That's called a backdoor path.

Even if Z does not directly cause X but the two are correlated, then the error term in the regression of Y on X encompasses Z.  And Z is correlated with X. 


Suppose that we regress Y on only X.  In each case above, Z is encompassed in the error term and Z is correlated with X.  So omitting Z causes bias.  

Even if there is a mediator, omitting Z causes bias.



Regress Y on X.  Think about whether the error term is correlated with X.

Step 1: What causes ?

Those are candidates for being represented in u.

Step 2: Which of those causes of are associated with ?

Those are the ones that can create:

Step 3: Why are they associated with ?

This is where the DAG becomes crucial. It could be because:

(confounding), or because of some more complicated path.


5. And this explains your collider example beautifully

Your DAG:

When estimating Y on X:

  • U2 causes → relevant component of the error.
  • U1 causes X, not Y → not itself part of the Y-equation's error.
  • Z causes neither X nor Y → not a cause of Y, so not part of the structural error.
  • But X and Z are associated because of U1.

And that last fact becomes dangerous only when you condition on , because conditioning on the collider makes U1 and U2 associated.

So:

Don’t just ask "Is Z correlated with X?"

Instead ask:

"What is the causal path connecting X to the determinants of Y?"

That's the deeper causal-inference way of thinking about the error term.

And one final refinement: variables that are not causes of can still matter for causal identification if conditioning on them opens a path, exactly as Z does in your diagram. That's why "look at causes of Y" is an excellent starting point, but the DAG/backdoor paths give the complete rule.


Harry and Meghan -- Moving Back to Britain

  They have repeatedly portrayed California as a much better fit for the life they wanted—more freedom, privacy, sunshine, outdoor life, and...