Displaying posts published in

September 2018

Study Claims Gifted Math Classes Promote ‘Academic Apartheid’ By Toni Airaksinen

https://pjmedia.com/trending/study-claims-gifted-math-classes-promote-academic-apartheid/

A math education professor is arguing that gifted math classes cause “academic apartheid” among students, claiming that the practice is rooted in “capitalist exploitations and settler colonialism.”

The study, “Understanding Issues Associated With Tracking Students in Mathematics Education,” was published in the new issue of the the Columbia University journal Mathematics Education by Cacey Wells, a professor at the University of Oklahoma.

In his article — which relies heavily upon social justice math theory — Wells takes aim at what teachers call “academic tracking,” which is the practice of placing students in different math classes (such as pre-algebra or gifted classes) depending on test scores.

Under the tracking system, for example, a student who scores in the top 10 percent of his peers may be placed into a precalculus course. On the other hand, a student who scores in the lowest 10 percent may be placed into a remedial math class, or perhaps pre-algebra.

While this practice is fairly common in high school, it has come under criticism by teachers who worry about the impact of the practice on the lower performing students. The confidence of some students may suffer at the expense of others, especially minorities, it is argued.

Not only that, but critics of the tracking system worry that standardized test scores may not fully encompass all of a students’ skills and abilities. This is especially true for students of color and children whose first language is not English, critics argue. CONTINUE AT SITE

Whining Serena Williams is tennis’s Hillary Clinton Things didn’t turn out how she wanted — so she had a tantrum at the umpire. How classy! Roger Kimball

https://spectator.us/2018/09/serena-williams-hillary-clinton/

No one expected Naomi Osaka to win the US Open yesterday. Everyone favoured her opponent. The crowd was solidly with Serena Williams, as were the bookies. But the 20-year-old Japanese-Haitian, who became the first player representing Japan to win a Grand Slam, prevailed against all the odds.

Victory, however, was bittersweet. The crowd booed her. The announcers were in shock. ‘Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,’ said one prominent commentator, adding ‘This mama is a role model and respected by all.’ Muted kudos at best for Naomi.

‘It’s not fair,’ wailed Hillary Williams, after the umpire issued a warning when her coach was caught signalling her from the stand. Under questioning after the game, the coach admitted that he had done so but said the penalty was hypocritical: ‘Everybody does it,’ he said.

After smashing her racket onto the court, another violation for which the umpire docked her a point, Serena Clinton accused the judges of stealing the match from her. ‘Apologise,’ she screamed at the umpire. ‘You are the liar. You owe me an apology.’ ‘You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live.’

‘Men have said much worse without penalty,’ said the establishment’s choice after the umpire docked her a game for the verbal abuse. ‘They get away with it because they are men.’

The crowd stayed with her, as did the commentators. Writing for the Independent, Jonathan Liew contended that ‘the fundamental divide here is between those for whom this is no more than a simple issue of rule enforcement, and those for whom this is part of something much larger: of who gets to make the rules and who has to live with them, of wider injustices that originated long before Hillary ever picked up a racquet, and will endure long after she has put it down for the last time.’ The ‘sanctity of the rules,’ he said, ‘has always struck me as faintly suspicious. . . . [A]nd they’re never as objective as they look.’

Nikki Haley: Combating corruption is about ensuring peace and security By Nikki Haley

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/09/opinions/systemic-corruption-and-security-nikki-haley/index.html

On December 17, 2010, one young man took a stand against corruption, and changed the course of history. Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26 year-old fruit vendor in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest the harassment he faced from government officials, who confiscated his products and kept him from making a living.
Bouazizi’s tragic act of desperation touched a deep chord. People were fed up living under a dictator who treated his country’s treasury like his own personal bank account. A month later, Tunisia had risen up, and the reign of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was over. Shortly thereafter, protests broke out across the Middle East, and the Arab Spring had begun.

All too often, we think of corruption as a low-level problem — like the cop that demands a bribe to let someone off, or the bureaucrat who demands an extra “tip” before granting a permit.
But corruption goes far beyond a few individual bad actors. In too many places, the state exists mostly to enrich the ruler and a tiny circle of cronies at the top. When that happens, just like Tunisia in 2010, the effects can be dramatic.
Regimes that appeared stable can suddenly crumble when corruption fuels popular uprisings. That was true for Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine, who stole billions of dollars before the people declared enough was enough. The same sentiment toppled regimes in Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.
In all of these cases, protests took the world by sur

TX Terror Case Gives Rare Glimpse Inside Encrypted Jihadist Social Media By Todd Bensman

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/tx-terror-case-gives-rare-glimpse-inside-encrypted-jihadist-social-media/

Researchers, journalists and anyone honestly seeking to understand modern Islamic terrorism need look no further than the now-vast trove of American court prosecution records. The Department of Justice prosecuted 157 U.S. homegrown terrorism cases in 30 states just since 2013, and 220 since 9/11.

Say what you will about the politicized upper echelons of the FBI. But the front-line special agents in FBI joint terrorism task forces are doing what we pay them to do in terms of cuffing jihadists. They deserve respect and thanks.

Collectively, the court records reveal the true motives, ideology, tactics, and methods of the terrorists. Unfiltered by the few media accounts of such cases, the unadulterated court records show terrorists saying exactly why they did it in transcribed testimonies from interrogations, sentencing hearings, and wiretapped conversations.

The media’s artful academic theories about what motivates jihadists simply do not survive the weight of this sworn motherlode of evidence.

The U.S. Northern District of Texas case against the Jordan-born Texas resident Said Azzam Mohamad Rahim is one such illuminating case. Rahim is set to go on trial December 3, 2018 on six counts of lying to the FBI and one count of providing material support to ISIS. He is a U.S. citizen who owns a convenience store. The investigation centered around Rahim’s life as a moderator in the Austin social media application, Zello. There, on a mobile phone channel, he would broadcast incitement to mobilize killers and other kinds of direct support for ISIS.

We’ve known for a number of years that Islamic terrorists use these encrypted online safe spaces to hide their fellowship, incitements to kill, and plotting. But the Rahim case is unique in that it fully reveals the grotesque degree of venality of those who participate.

Death as Punishment “for Disbelief”: Extremist Persecution of Christians, by Raymond Ibrahim

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12982/death-punishment-disbelief

“I was beaten and taken to a bathroom. I asked what was my mistake, and they [the police] replied that I was his cousin…. Later they asked me to pull his pants down and sodomize him. I refused.” — Christian man, Pakistan.

“One of the Boko Haram said, ‘You’re not ready to convert to Islam, so I’m going to teach you a lesson.'” He then proceeded to drown her 3-year-old son Jonathan in a nearby river. — Nigeria.

“The equality that is named as a law in the Constitution of Egypt disappears before Article 2 of the Constitution, which stipulates that Islamic law is the main source of legislation.” — Fadi, a Coptic lawyer, Egypt.

The jihadi assault on, and massacre of, Christians continued unabated throughout the Muslim word. According to one report titled, “Armed gangs WIPE OUT 15 villages in mass Christian slaughter in Nigeria,” several Islamic terrorists “stormed through 15 villages to massacre Christians and destroy their churches in a violent crackdown against the religion…. Dozens of people have been killed after the gangs ransacked towns and villages to clear them of all aspects of the Christian faith. Houses belonging to believers have also been razed with authorities doing little to help…” According to a human rights activist, “One attack took place in broad daylight, as people were about to go to church. The assailants chased and killed the villagers and burned down nine churches and many more houses.”

An open letter to Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari lamented that since he came to power, the plight of Christians has gone from bad to worse: 16,000 Christians have been killed—many in the name of jihad—since June 2015, when Buhari became president. The letter states:

“… the estimated 30 million Christians in Northern Nigeria who form the largest minority in a predominantly Muslim environment, have for decades, suffered marginalization and discrimination as well as targeted violence especially in the hands of organized mob violence and violent groups such as Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen.

“Hundreds of churches in Northern Nigeria particularly Northeast and North-central Nigeria as well as Southern part of Kaduna State which is predominant Christian population have also been burnt or destroyed with estimated 16,000 defenseless citizens composed of mostly Christian population killed across the country since June 2015 when Mr. President became Nigeria’s sixth civilian President. The estimated 16, 000 defenseless civilian deaths outside the law include 5,800 mostly Christians killed by terror Fulani Herdsmen and Boko Haram since June 2015.”

A Christian woman, Rebecca Bitrus, shared her experiences as a former captive of the jihadi group Boko Haram. After she and her two young children were abducted during a raid on a Christian village, they were taken to a forest where the terrorists attempted to force her to convert to Islam, but she refused.

Immigration Moves Europeans Right By Christopher Gage

https://amgreatness.com/2018/09/09/immigration-

Angela Merkel’s dastardly decision to throw open Germany’s borders to more than 1 million mainly Syrian migrants in 2015 didn’t quite go as planned.

The German Chancellor’s grandiloquent gesture meant to exorcise German history once and for all instead cleaved through the middle of a once-reliably measured and “open” nation.

Even in Germany, where most people one meets will insist with conviction that any stance outside of the squishy center is “extreme,” the migration question has exposed the chasm between rulers and the ruled.

Last week saw violent protests engulf the eastern city of Chemnitz, where a 35-year-old carpenter was stabbed to death. Two suspects are in custody. One suspect is Syrian, and the other Iraqi.

Famed German tolerance, the kind Merkel drew upon when declaring, “Wir schaffen das”—We can do this—has boiled dry, in Chemnitz at least.

As always, social media disfigured the protests, echo-chambering and manicuring events to suit both extremes. As always, the simplistic tapestry of black and white is more a shade of gray. What started as a demonstration of grief, was soon hijacked by the mirroring of extreme Left and Right.

Ghastly images of troglodytic Nazi bootboys joined in violent communion with, of course, their black-clad Antifa cousins, peppered paper and pixel. Both groups are execrable to anyone with an IQ above that of processed cheese.

Violent threats to Jewish students at Stanford U. Janet Levy

This summer, the failure by Stanford University to adequately respond to threats of violence made by a Muslim student against other students dramatically illustrates that anti-Semitism does not rank anywhere near the same level of concern as hate speech against blacks or gays.

Indeed, the incident made clear that the justice system and even many Jewish groups were reluctant to act or even issue strongly worded rebukes. When Jews are the targeted hate population, many today give only weakly worded expressions of “concern,” but do nothing of consequence to stop anti-Semitism which only encourages more such expressions of hatred and endangers the safety of Jewish college students.

The incident at Stanford occurred in July, university student Hamzeh Daoud made violent threats on Facebook against pro-Israel students. Daoud had some stature on campus as a former student Senate member and a soon-to-be, residential advisor (RA) for a dormitory. He also worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and was active in the terror-linked, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Daoud’s SJP involvement is a cause for concern. The anti-Semitic group, founded by Hatem Bazian, who raised money for a Hamas front and headed the UC Berkeley Muslim Student Association, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, is described by NGO Monitor as “the organization most directly responsible for creating a hostile campus environment saturated with anti-Israel events, BDS initiatives, and speakers.”

SJP routinely smears Israel by falsely characterizing it as an “apartheid state,” denounces Israel’s self-defense measures against Arab-Palestinian terrorism and supports the Hamas-inspired Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Jewish state.

Illegal Immigration & Crime Chaos in EU Countries just in past few days

Surely this is the most comprehensive list of the ongoing destruction of Western civilization throughout Europe that has ever been assembled. It is impossible to read all of this – but even a fast-paced scroll gives you all of the information you need…..C.Baker

UNITED KINGDOM

NHS staff crisis as 25% of student nurses drop out; With the National Health Service (NHS) struggling to cope with a huge shortfall of nurses – estimated at 40,000 in England alone – the issue is more pressing than ever.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012134/NHS-staff-crisis-25-percent-student-nurses-drop-out

Scotland’s nurses at ‘breaking point’ as vacancies rise to record levels; more than one in 20 nursing and midwifery posts in NHS Scotland are vacant – the highest ever level.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/04/scotlands-nurses-breaking-point-vacancies-rise-record-levels/

Number of doctors opting for early retirement doubles, amid pension clampdown; Medics blamed stress, and said they were increasingly overloaded

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/04/number-doctors-opting-early-retirement-doubles-amid-pension/

FEARS are mounting over a new “Manchester-style attack” – after the defence secretary warned about links between UK terror cells and Islamic State fighters regrouping in Afghanistan; government acknowledged threats posed by links between the emerging threat in that country and terror cells in the UK.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012327/UK-terror-warning-Islamic-State-Manchester-attack-terrorist-attack

FINALLY! British jihadists who fight with ISIS in warzones to face 10 years in jail; A total of 360 jihadists were allowed to go free, after officials deemed there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them; Javid has called for an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, calling for measures to imprison any Briton travelling to terror-ridden countries without reasonable grounds.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/06/returning-british-jihadists-could-face-ten-years-prison/

Two men accused of jointly plotting a terror attack were attempting to manufacture an explosive device involving a DRIVERLESS CAR to spare their own lives; the pair were supporters of terrorist organisation Islamic State; three air rifles, two Samurai swords, a wine bottle full of sulphuric acid, homemade fireworks, gunpowder, and “a variety of improvised homemade fuses” were discovered at their properties

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/terrorism-plot-driverless-car-explosive-device-bomb-chesterfield-sheffield-a8523101.html

Paramedics furious as ‘senseless’ thugs pelt ambulance with eggs and flour while on call in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1012831/Peterborough-news-Ambulance-pelted-with-eggs-and-flour-while-on-call-out

SCARRED FOR LIFE: Acid attacks in the UK – where have they been carried out and is London the worst affected city?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4016850/acid-attacks-uk-london-statistics-westbourne-grove/

Seventeen men and a woman have appeared in court charged with offences linked to child sexual exploitation in West Yorkshire; The Muslim group are among 31 people accused of offences including the rape and trafficking of five girls, aged 12 to 18, in the Huddersfield area between 2005 and 2012.

Luke Daniel :Debt colonialism: Is China trying to buyout Africa’s resources? “Why is China, a country with over 100 million people who are still living below the poverty line, playing at being the flashy big-spender? How can such wanton generosity be allowed?” – law professor, Xu Zhangrun.

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/debt-colonialism

China has just offered Africa another $60 billion for emerging economic developments, but is this a slight of hand aimed at funnelling out the continent’s resources, or is it a sincere gesture of assistance?

South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has vehemently denied accusations insinuating Chinese neo-colonialism taking root in Africa. Even Chinese President, Xi Jinping, rebuked the notion of ulterior motives, telling African leaders his country’s investments in the continent have “no political strings attached”.
China in South Africa

This may be so – but the question needs to be asked, what does China hope to gain from these costly investments in Africa?

In August, China pledged R196 billion to South Africa, during the 10th annual BRICS summit which was held in Johannesburg. A portion of these funds is set to assist embattled state-owned enterprises, Eskom and Transnet.

While foreign investment in South Africa is surely appreciated, especially considering Ramaphosa’s target of $100 billion, questions regarding the payback have not gone unnoticed.

Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, has requested the president to disclose conditions on the loan agreement before parliament, saying:

“If the President is confident that the agreement is in the best interest of the South African people, he will surely accede to our request.

It is difficult to imagine that the Chinese Development Bank approved a R33 billion loan to Eskom with no strings attached. Eskom is in dire financial straits and made a R2.3 billion loss in the last financial year.”

Is China practising debt-colonialism?

The Sum of All Tears By Matthew Continetti

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/wendy-sherman-book-iran-deal-clueless-architects/

The clueless architects of Barack Obama’s terrible Iran deal.

International business consultant Wendy Sherman was the chief American negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal agreed to by President Obama in 2015 and abrogated by President Trump earlier this year. She has a new book out, Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence, and in the space of 14 tweets promoting it the other day, she managed to combine basically everything I dislike about Washington.

Twitter threads, for starters. These have proliferated much like WMD under liberal administrations. They no longer serve any useful function. The whole point of Twitter is to be succinct. That’s why it’s called a “micro-blogging platform.” I can see how, even with the 280-character limit, one’s thoughts might stretch to two, even three tweets. A dozen takes things too far. Fourteen? You’re trying our patience.

Keeping in mind the subtitle of Not for the Faint of Heart, I persisted. And found more stuff that annoyed me. Like beginning a story by saying, “I want to tell you a story.” What if I don’t want to listen? Get on with it, in any case. The “I want to tell you” preface isn’t only superfluous and self-indulgent. It’s a cliché. On Twitter, everyone uses it. Grab the reader’s attention with an original first sentence, an intriguing anecdote, a funny meme.

What I want to tell you about Wendy’s story is that it’s embarrassing, both self-pitying and self-congratulatory, and proves exactly the opposite lesson that it intends. The year is 2015. The scene is the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna. “I thought I’d be home in short order,” Sherman writes. “By day 25 I had barely left the hotel and eaten only one meal outside the Coburg.” The poor dear! Confined in this shack, this madhouse, this roach motel! It’s a wonder she didn’t go Jack Torrance on us.