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	<title type="text">The Chief Organizer Blog</title>
	<subtitle type="text">WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of &#34;Nuts &#38; Bolts&#34;, &#34;Citizen Wealth&#34;, &#34;Global Grassroots&#34;, and &#34;The Battle for the 9th Ward&#34;.</subtitle>

	<updated>2026-07-23T01:07:42Z</updated>

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	<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Chief Organizer</name>
							<uri>https://chieforganizer.org</uri>
						</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Get Ready to Pay for School Lunches Again or Go Without]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://chieforganizer.org/2026/07/22/get-ready-to-pay-for-school-lunches-again-or-go-without/" />

		<id>https://chieforganizer.org/?p=45736</id>
		<updated>2026-07-23T01:07:42Z</updated>
		<published>2026-07-23T01:07:42Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Politics" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[            Harrisburg      Believe it or not, children and their parents are already getting ready for school with classes right around the corner.  The days when summer lasted until Labor Day are long gone in many districts with classes starting in August.  There are always surprises in store, but this year there’s also something new in &#8230; ]]></summary>

		
			</entry>
		<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Chief Organizer</name>
							<uri>https://chieforganizer.org</uri>
						</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Maryland Allows Rent Strikes, Kinda]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://chieforganizer.org/2026/07/22/maryland-allows-rent-strikes-kinda/" />

		<id>https://chieforganizer.org/?p=45732</id>
		<updated>2026-07-22T23:05:41Z</updated>
		<published>2026-07-22T23:05:41Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="ACORN" /><category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Maryland" /><category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Strike" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[            Philadelphia        We were looking forward to seeing the progress ACORN’s affiliate, Progressive Maryland, was making by employing our organizing model since early in 2026.  Craig Robbins, ACORN’s Field Coordinator, had worked with PM leadership to help hire and train five organizers and put them into organizing drives.  The field staff had hardened at &#8230; ]]></summary>

		
			</entry>
		<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Chief Organizer</name>
							<uri>https://chieforganizer.org</uri>
						</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[El Refugio]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://chieforganizer.org/2026/07/20/el-refugio/" />

		<id>https://chieforganizer.org/?p=45726</id>
		<updated>2026-07-21T18:04:18Z</updated>
		<published>2026-07-20T21:43:43Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="California" /><category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Environment" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[            Pearl River      A picture in the Times caught my eye.  The caption indicated that people were jogging on Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County.  The article wasn’t really about the beach so much as it was about the fact that Trump and his Energy Department had used his Iran war to trigger the &#8230; ]]></summary>

		
			</entry>
		<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Chief Organizer</name>
							<uri>https://chieforganizer.org</uri>
						</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[World Cup and America the “Hilarious”]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://chieforganizer.org/2026/07/18/world-cup-and-america-the-hilarious/" />

		<id>https://chieforganizer.org/?p=45720</id>
		<updated>2026-07-18T16:36:13Z</updated>
		<published>2026-07-18T16:36:13Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Sports" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[            Pearl River      After almost 40 days of World Cup soccer games up and down the North American continent, the end is finally near with the contest between Argentina and Spain.  I still know nothing about soccer, although I have learned what a “red card” means, or at least, used to mean until Trump injected &#8230; ]]></summary>

		
			</entry>
		<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Chief Organizer</name>
							<uri>https://chieforganizer.org</uri>
						</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Lawn Mowing and More]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://chieforganizer.org/2026/07/17/lawn-moving-and-more/" />

		<id>https://chieforganizer.org/?p=45716</id>
		<updated>2026-07-19T00:30:51Z</updated>
		<published>2026-07-17T19:18:13Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://chieforganizer.org" term="Personal Writings" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[            Pearl River      Mowing your yard doesn’t necessarily rank near the top of anyone’s list of top ten favorite ways to spend their time.  It’s a chore, especially in the South where it seems the grass is always growing, and if it’s not grass, it’s some greenish form of weeds or unnamed plant life.  Add &#8230; ]]></summary>

		
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