EDUCATION Comments turned off

A Third Way on the Place of Critical Race Theory in the Classroom By David Bernstein, Amna Khalid & J.D. Richmond

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2021/03/29/a_third_way_on_the_place_of_critical_race_theory_in_the_classroom_110556.html

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently banned Critical Race Theory (CRT) from being taught in Florida’s public schools. He stated that “Florida’s civics curriculum will incorporate foundational concepts with the best materials, and it will expressly exclude unsanctioned narratives like Critical Race Theory and other unsubstantiated theories…we will invest in actual, solid, true curriculum, and we will be a leader in the development and implementation of a world-class civics curriculum.”

CRT, a school of thought that focuses on the effects of race on one’s social standing, is a distinct lens that sees racial disparities embedded in power structures and perpetuated by the people who benefit from them. Drawing on postmodern ideas that humans perceive reality through an array of power structures, animating how we think about race and other social issues, it upholds systemic deconstruction as the only way to progress. To start, marginalized people have special insight into their own plight and should define race and racism for the rest of society. Emotion and lived experience matter as much, or more than, rational discourse.

That said, both the common use of CRT, which is to teach it as established dogma, and the governor’s exclusion of it, strike us as highly illiberal. Perhaps we can draw on Martin Luther King’s wisdom: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” Like DeSantis, we decry the dogmatic application of CRT as the only way forward, but unlike the Florida Governor, we also see value in CRT as one way to explore social power dynamics. And so we encourage a third way: a pluralistic civics education that teaches Critical Race Theory alongside numerous other approaches to social science and social justice.

DeSantis’s move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s ban of CRT in September 2020 in Federal agencies. The Biden Administration rescinded the Executive Order in the President’s first week in office. Still, it remains a hot topic, with many Republicans favoring the ban and many Democrats supporting CRT education. Numerous states, especially those with Republican-dominated legislators and governors, are trying to ban CRT altogether.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Charles Jacobs–US Jewish Leaders between Wokeness and Antisemitism

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/global-patriot-radio/2021/03/26/conservative-c

One of America’s top Jewish leaders, Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) founder Charles Jacobs joins show host Andrew E. Harrod to discuss the state of Jewish-American leadership in the face of rising, multifaceted antisemitism.  Traditionally left-leaning politically, American Jewish communities have often thought of antisemitism as a phenomenon associated with Christian prejudice and extreme nationalism, like the European beliefs that facilated Nazi genocide in Europe during World War II.  By contrast, recent decades, particularly since Al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks, have witnessed rising Islamic and leftist antisemitism, with a focus on condemnation of the Jewish state of Israel.  Leftist political proclivities and intersectional alliances of Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), however, have prevented them from correctly analyzing today’s antisemitic threats.  Jacobs will discuss the ADL’s long-developing malaise and possible reforms in Jewish leadership, among other matters.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Kamala Harris MIA during border crisis: Where is she? The vice president is reportedly frustrated with ongoing mansion renovations by Angelica Stabile

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-during-this-border-mess

The Biden administration is putting out a call for government volunteers to report for duty amid the significant surge at the border, but many are asking, Where is the person deputized to ‘fix’ the line-in-the-sand crisis? 

As the immigration mess at the southern border gets more and more out of hand, Vice President Kamala Harris remains inexplicably silent.

Even after President Biden officially tapped the VP Wednesday to lead in response to border challenges, there aren’t any plans for her to travel south or even address the issue. According to the Office of the Vice President, Harris had no events this past weekend and no mention of border-related activity.

This comes as the Biden administration is now asking for government volunteers to help manage the migrant surge. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has sent memos to agency heads seeking “volunteer deployments” for up to 120 days, Fox News confirmed.

“We are actively working to screen, process and deploy these volunteers while continuing our recruitment efforts and exploration of other avenues to bolster staff resources at the border,” an OPM spokesperson said.In the meantime, while government officials are preparing to volunteer their time to help keep our borders safe, according to CNN, Harris is currently frustrated with the ongoing renovations being made to the vice president’s mansion – forcing her and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to temporarily stay at Blair House, the president’s official guest quarters.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

 No Justice: No Peace: The case of the Sbarro murders mastermind The case of Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, Sbarro Pizzeria massacre mastermind is a travesty of justice and proof that crime pays. Dr. Alex Grobman,

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

On March 8, 2021, Interpol declared Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, a Jordanian national in her mid-30s, who participated in the August 9, 2001 suicide bomb attack at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, would no longer be a “subject to an Interpol notice.” This change was announced in a letter published in the Arabic-language media. Apparently, her name had also been deleted from the Interpol’s website. [1]

No mention was made as to why the Red Notice had been cancelled, which notifies law enforcement in all their member countries about fugitives who should be arrested until “extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.” Red Notices assist police in bringing criminals to justice who have committed murder, rape, child abuse or armed robbery, even when the initial crime had been committed many years before. [2]

The Sbarro bombing killed 15 people, including two US nationals. Four other US nationals were among the approximately 122 others injured in the attack. [3]

Accompanying a Suicide Bomber to the Target

On Aug. 9, 2001, Al-Tamimi met the suicide bomber, 23-year-old Izzedine al-Masri from Silat al-Harithiya, a member of the Hamas military wing Iz a Din al-Kassam, in Ramallah. Together, they went by car to Jerusalem. Having a young Arab woman dressed in a tight-fitting dress accompany a male suicide bomber to his target enabled the couple to seem part of the urban landscape, and less likely to arouse any suspicion. This is exactly how Al-Tamimi, at the time a 21-year-old journalism student at Birzeit University, guided the suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza parlor in the heart of Jerusalem, without being detected.

As a resident of Ramallah, Al-Tamimi had been to Jerusalem on countless occasions, spoke fluent English with only a minor trace of an Arab accent, and possessed a Jordanian passport. If stopped, she would attempt to convince the police she was a Jordanian tourist on holiday.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Trans Ploy: Rachel Levine and the Left’s Reality Subversion Trap By Vasko Kohlmayer

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/03/vasko-kohlmayer/the-trans-ploy-rachel-levin

“Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify.’”

– Dr. Paul McHugh, the distinguished professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

A strange scene unfolded a few weeks ago on Capitol Hill. The setting was the confirmation hearing for the position of the US Assistant Secretary for Health.

The candidate put forth by the Biden administration was one Dr. Rachel Levine, who previously served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The candidate, however, was not your run-of-the-mill physician. Levine is what these days is called a transgender “woman.” In other words, Levine is a biological male who says that he is a woman.

The hearing presented a sight that many people found unsettling. Those who tuned in would see Levine sitting in a citadel of American government dressed in a woman’s clothes wearing a wig and make-up. Anyone who looked more closely could immediately see that the person whose credentials were being examined by the senate committee was no woman, but a middle-aged, somewhat overweight man donning external paraphernalia of womanhood.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Top Paid LA Lifeguards Earned Up To $392,000 In 2019 Adam Andrzejewski.

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://mailchi.mp/0f3d8e3d3f71/35b-from-us-taxpayers-funded-world-health

Being a lifeguard in California can be unbelievably lucrative. If we had only known, many of us would have packed our bags and headed west for a career on the California beach.

Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found that lifeguards make a fortune in Los Angeles County. Seven lifeguards made more than $300,000 and 82 lifeguards had total earnings that exceed $200,000 in 2019, the latest year available.

Fernando Boiteux was the most highly paid and earned $391,971. As the “acting chief lifeguard,” he out-earned 1,000 of his peers: salary ($205,619), perks ($60,452), and benefits ($125,900).

The second highest paid, Captain Daniel Douglas, pulled down $140,706 in base pay, and a whopping $131,493 in overtime pay, with $21,760 in “other pay” and $74,709 in benefits. Total compensation amounted to $368,668.

Overtime pay drove earnings into corporate executive range.

MEDIA Comments turned off

Journalists Attack the Powerless, Then Self-Victimize to Bar Criticisms of Themselves Powerful media figures now invoke sexist and racist tropes to cast themselves as so fragile and marginalized that critiques of their work constitute bullying and assault. Glenn Greenwald

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/journalists-attack-the-powerless?token=

The daily newspaper USA Today is the second-most circulated print newspaper in the United States — more than The New York Times and more than double The Washington Post. Only The Wall Street Journal has higher circulation numbers.

On Sunday, the paper published and heavily promoted a repellent article complaining that “defendants accused in the Capitol riot Jan. 6 crowdfund their legal fees online, using popular payment processors and an expanding network of fundraising platforms, despite a crackdown by tech companies.” It provided a road map for snitching on how these private citizens — who are charged with serious felonies by the U.S. Justice Department but as of yet convicted of nothing — are engaged in “a game of cat-and-mouse as they spring from one fundraising tool to another” in order to avoid bans on their ability to raise desperately needed funds to pay their criminal lawyers to mount a vigorous defense.

In other words, the only purpose of the article — headlined: “Insurrection fundraiser: Capitol riot extremists, Trump supporters raise money for lawyer bills online” — was to pressure and shame tech companies to do more to block these criminal defendants from being able to raise funds for their legal fees, and to tattle to tech companies by showing them what techniques these indigent defendants are using to raise money online.

The USA Today reporters went far beyond merely reporting how this fundraising was being conducted. They went so far as to tattle to PayPal and other funding sites on two of those defendants, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola, and then boasted of their success in having their accounts terminated:

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Biggs fundraiser was listed as having received $52,201. Pezzola had received $730. Biggs’ campaign disappeared from the site shortly after USA TODAY inquired about it….

Friday, a USA TODAY reporter donated to Pezzola’s fundraiser using Stripe. Stripe told USA TODAY it does not comment on individual users. A USA TODAY reporter was able to make a $1 donation to Pezzola’s fundraiser using Venmo, a payment app owned by PayPal. After being alerted by USA TODAY, Venmo removed the account. 

Soon a PayPal account took its place. PayPal caught that and removed it, too. 

Wow, what brave and intrepid journalistic work: speaking truth to power and standing up to major power centers by . . . working as little police officers for tech giants to prevent private citizens from being able to afford criminal lawyers. Clear the shelves for the imminent Pulitzer. Whatever you think about the Capitol riot, everyone has the right to a legal defense and to do what they can to ensure they have the best legal defense possible — especially when the full weight of the Justice Department is crashing down on your head even for non-violent offenses, which is what many of these defendants are charged with due to the politically charged nature of the investigation.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

China Grabbing Whitsun Reef: ‘Sudetenland’ in Slow Motion by Gordon G. Chang

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17215/china-whitsun-reef

The failure of the Obama administration to defend the Philippines in early 2012, in a confrontation similar to today’s, emboldened China’s regime to adopt an even more aggressive posture in its peripheral waters.

China claims all the waters inside the dashes are sovereign as well, terming them “blue national soil.” There is no legal basis for an assertion of sovereignty of this sort.

Whitsun, which Manila calls Julian Felipe Reef, is 175 nautical miles from Palawan, an island of the Philippines. The feature is within the Philippine “exclusive economic zone”….

Since December, large Chinese trawlers have lashed themselves together and parked in formations near Whitsun. Vessels come and go, but the numbers have gone up over time. They have not been engaged in fishing.

Near Whitsun, retired U.S. Navy Capt. James Fanell tells Gatestone, China is building “two concentric rings of new artificial island bases.”

Washington [in 2012] brokered an agreement for [China and the Philippines] to withdraw their craft [from Scarborough Shoal], but only Manila complied. Beijing has been in firm control of Scarborough Shoal ever since. The Obama administration, despite the brazen Chinese seizure, decided not to enforce the agreement it had just arranged.

Worse, by doing nothing to hold China accountable for deception and aggression at Scarborough, Washington empowered the most belligerent elements in the Chinese political system by showing everybody else in Beijing that aggression worked.

Chinese vessels have continued pressure in the South China Sea, especially at Second Thomas Shoal, also thought to be part of the Philippines, as well as other Philippine-controlled features.

“Many on the Biden team failed to act in 2012. They now have a very rare opportunity to get another chance to do the right thing. Let’s hope they will.” — Capt. James Fanell, former director of Intelligence and Information Operations at the U.S. Pacific Fleet, to Gatestone Institute, March 2021.

James Holmes, who holds the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College, told Gatestone that China’s current actions at Whitsun are “an offensive that looks like conquest by increments.” Fanell maintains that not opposing China’s actions at Whitsun will soon put both Taiwan and the Senkakus at risk.

About 220 Chinese fishing vessels, almost certainly part of China’s maritime militia, are now crowding around Whitsun Reef in the Spratly chain in the South China Sea in another attempt to break apart the Philippines.

Whitsun is where the United States and the region should confront an increasingly expansionist China. The failure of the Obama administration to defend the Philippines in early 2012, in a confrontation similar to today’s, emboldened China’s regime to adopt an even more aggressive posture in its peripheral waters.

Whitsun Reef is inside China’s infamous nine-dash line. The line on official maps defines an area informally known as the “cow’s tongue,” which includes about 85 percent of the South China Sea. Beijing maintains it has sovereignty over every feature there, including Whitsun, which Beijing has named Niue Jiao.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Border Democrat Shares Another Batch of Leaked Photos From Border Patrol Facilities By Jack Phillips

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/border-democrat-shares-anoth

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose congressional district lies along the southern border, shared another batch of photos that were sourced from Border Patrol facilities.

Cuellar aired the photos during a CBS News segment on Sunday morning. The photos showed numerous unaccompanied minors being held in overcrowded conditions, sitting on the floor with foil blankets, and more.

“Border Patrol does not want to keep people there longer than 72 hours,” Cuellar told the network. “But there’s two issues, two factors coming into play. One, there are so many—there’s a large number of people coming across every single day, groups of over 100 individuals coming in into the Border Patrol custody, number one. Number two, the flow through, that is through [Health and Human Services], they’re moving and they’re trying to get more shelters open.”

Cuellar said that adult illegal immigrants are “pretty much returned,” adding that 71 percent out of 100,000 people that illegally crossed the border in February were adults.

“Those are being returned, expelled back. Some family units are turned back into Mexico depending on the age of the kids. Thirteen and above are being returned,” he remarked.

However, Cuellar said that some 2,000 people who entered illegally have been released into the United States by federal officials without any notices to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) court date in the future.

MY SAY: Comments turned off

MY SAY: THE OPEN BORDER CRISIS

Posted By on March 29th, 2021

Maria Bartiromo’s guests yesterday were all GOP legislators who visited the border and witnessed the unspeakable conditions with cages and thousands of people crowded into rooms designated for 250 persons. Children unaccompanied, some with Covid or other communicable diseases…. human traffickers …. drug cartel members…. young girls subjected to rape…. This is a human rights crisis and where are the concerned Democrat legislators other than Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) ? They are too busy and too concerned with altering voters’ rights in order to consolidate their power.

 Please read the columns on the appalling crisis that Biden has wrought….rsk