Dog-free zones needed to make outdoors less racist, Welsh Government told
Dog-free zones needed to make outdoors less racist, Welsh Government told
Tories claim that plan to remove ‘barriers to the outdoors’ is out of touch and ‘virtue signalling nonsense’
By Craig Simpson
November 13, 2024
The Welsh Government has been advised to create dog-free zones to help make the outdoors “anti-racist”.
Labour’s devolved administration has pledged to rid Wales of racism by 2030, and set out a plan to ensure “all areas” of public life were transformed.
According to a report submitted to the Welsh Government to steer “anti-racist” policy, dog-free zones should be created to make the outdoors more inclusive.
The report by the environmental group Climate Cymru BAME advises, as part of a suite of proposals, that authorities should create “dog-free areas in local green spaces”.
The reason for this is not elaborated on in the report, which will be used by the Welsh Government to “support policy teams” who are “developing and implementing” anti-racist plans for Wales.
The report was part of a call for evidence to assess “racism relating to climate change, environment, and rural affairs”, in order to steer how green spaces can be made to align with the Labour’s 2022 Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.
On the basis of reports provided to date, the Welsh Government has concluded that ethnic minorities face “barriers” to the outdoors created by “exclusions and racism”.
Barriers to outdoor activities includes the perception that growing food in gardens or allotments is an activity “dominated by middle-aged white women”.
A report submitted to the Welsh Labour Government by the environmental group Green Soul recorded the complaint that food growing groups are run by “majority White/British/Welsh individuals” and “older white people”.
Climate Cymru BAME, along with groups polled to inform the anti-racist policy, suggested that ethnic minority residents could be directed to “community led” food growing groups to mitigate the issue.
One report to the Welsh Government complained that the environmental sector was not sufficiently inclusive, stating that environmentalism is “essentially a white middle class issue” and groups are filled with people from a “white middle-class background”.
A separate set of recommendations submitted by the North Wales Africa Society suggested that “dog-free areas” should be created, explaining that during its focus groups “one black African female stated that she feels unsafe with the presence of dogs”.
The report also noted that others kept “seeing dog fouling on the floor”.
Mess and the quality of urban green spaces was an issue consistently recorded in reports of ethnic minority experiences fed to the Welsh Government.
One respondent in a “community dialogue” focus group complained that “the green spaces are not respected in areas where there is a bigger population of ethnic minority people”.
Other issues raised included a lack of public transport access to non-urban green spaces, and the poor air quality in towns and cities.
Summarising findings and recommendations submitted by polled groups, a Welsh Government report published on Nov 6 also stated that “some participants expressed apprehension about visiting the countryside owing to their racial or religious identities”.
It added that there were “concerns of the lack of understanding and relationships by the wider white population particularly in rural areas, from personal experiences”.
Ultimately, the Welsh Government’s report, which will steer future policy, concludes that “people of ethnic minority background in Wales face barriers created by exclusions and racism”.
The conclusions of the report have been criticised by Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, who said: “This kind of outdated virtue signalling nonsense is completely out of touch with the needs of the people of Wales.
“Labour is stuck on yesterday’s thinking, the kind that is being roundly rejected globally. Time to turf them out.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are committed to creating an anti-racist nation by 2030. Our Anti-racist Wales Action Plan is built on the values of anti-racism and calls for zero tolerance of all racial inequality.”
San Francisco elected official Hillary Ronen said she’s against building new housing because it would cast a shadow. Instead, they want people to live in tiny little “pods.”
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1857467164891963460
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1857467164891963460
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExgxwKnH8y4
https://rollingout.com/2024/11/14/san-francisco-sleeping-pod-housing/
San Francisco’s sleeping pod solution to affordable housing crisis
Hundreds apply for scarce rentals at $700 per month
By Amari Apple
November 14, 2024
As the cost of living continues to soar in major cities across the United States, innovative housing solutions are emerging to address the growing crisis of affordability and homelessness. One such solution is the introduction of sleeping pods in San Francisco, a city notorious for its exorbitant rental prices.
The sleeping pod initiative
Brownstone Shared Housing, led by CEO James Stallworth, has recently made headlines by revealing that a staggering 300 individuals have applied for just 17 available sleeping pods in downtown San Francisco. Each pod is priced at $700 per month, a fraction of the average rent in the city, which is reported to be around $4,000.
These sleeping pods are designed to provide a low-cost housing option in one of the most expensive urban areas in the country. Measuring approximately 3.5 feet by 4 feet by 6.5 feet, the pods are large enough to accommodate a twin mattress. Each pod is equipped with privacy curtains, interior lighting and charging ports, making them a practical choice for those in need of affordable shelter.
Addressing the housing crisis
The concept of sleeping pods first gained traction last year, and despite facing coding hurdles in 2024, Brownstone Shared Housing remains committed to serving the community. This initiative highlights the urgent need for creative solutions to combat homelessness and provide affordable living spaces in urban environments.
With the rising number of applicants for these sleeping pods, it raises an important question: Should more cities adopt similar innovations to tackle the homelessness crisis? As urban areas continue to grapple with the challenges of high rent and limited housing options, the sleeping pod model could serve as a blueprint for other cities facing similar issues.
Potential benefits of sleeping pods
Affordability: At $700 per month, sleeping pods offer a significantly lower cost of living compared to traditional housing options in San Francisco.
Space efficiency: The compact design of sleeping pods maximizes the use of limited urban space, allowing more individuals to find shelter.
Community building: Shared living spaces can foster a sense of community among residents, providing social support and reducing feelings of isolation.
Privacy and comfort: Despite their small size, the inclusion of privacy curtains and personal lighting enhances the living experience for residents.
Challenges and considerations
While the sleeping pod initiative presents a promising solution, it is not without its challenges. Concerns about zoning regulations, health and safety standards and the overall acceptance of such living arrangements in urban neighborhoods must be addressed. Additionally, the psychological impact of living in a confined space should not be overlooked, as it may affect residents’ well-being.
Moreover, the sustainability of such initiatives relies heavily on community support and government policies that prioritize affordable housing solutions. As cities explore innovative ways to combat homelessness, collaboration between private organizations, local governments and community members will be crucial.
The introduction of sleeping pods in San Francisco is a bold step towards addressing the housing crisis that many urban areas face today. As more individuals seek affordable living options, initiatives like these could pave the way for a new era of housing solutions that prioritize accessibility and community.
As we continue to navigate the complexities of urban living, it is essential to remain open to new ideas and solutions that can provide relief to those struggling with housing insecurity. The sleeping pod model may just be the beginning of a transformative shift in how we think about affordable housing.
Instead of firing Rachel Zegler, Disney should issue a public statement saying that it was wrong for them to fire Gina Carano, and that it’s wrong to fire anyone for something that is not related to their job performance.
3 facing federal charges of allegations of staging hate crime hoax during 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral race
3 facing federal charges of allegations of staging hate crime hoax during 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral race
By Lindsey Grewe
November 13, 2024
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Three people are now facing federal charges for allegedly staging a hate crime during the Colorado Springs mayoral race in 2023.
In the early morning hours of April 23, 2023, a burning cross in front a campaign sign for then-candidate Yemi Mobolade was found at the intersection of Union and Fillmore. The sign had been defaced with a racial slur.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado (USAOC) now says the entire scene was a hoax, intended to make citizens think that there was a group of racists in Colorado Springs strongly opposed to a Black mayoral candidate.
In a news release Tuesday, the USAOC announced 35-year-old Derrick Bernard Jr., 40-year-old Ashley Blackcloud, and 38-year-old Deanna West had been indicted by a grand jury for their “maliciously conveying false information about a threat made by means of fire” and “their alleged roles in a conspiracy to spread disinformation about the threat.”
In the indictment obtained by 11 News, the USAOC states the trio started plotting in early April 2023, the day after a runoff election was announced in the mayoral race, with Mobolade and Wayne Williams the projected candidates. The indictment included a series of emails it alleges were from the three suspects:
(a) On or about April 5, 2023, the day after the mayoral election, BERNARD texted BLACKCLOUD that he wanted to talk “in person” because he was “not talking on the phone bout nothing that’s bout to happen” and that “Ima just talk to you bout a few plans.”
(b) On or about April 13, 2023 BERNARD sent a Facebook message to CANDIDATE 1: “I know it’s crunch time sir but look . . . I spoke with some of my friends in other places and theirs [sic] a plot amidst . . . I’m mobilizing my squadron in defense and for the final push. Black ops style big brother. The klan cannot be allowed to run this city again.”
(c) On or about April 13, 2023 BERNARD sent a series of Facebook messages to BLACKCLOUD. Among other things, BERNARD told BLACKCLOUD “I can’t let the klan retake the city,” “[CANDIDATE 1] really won already. They doing some B’s [sic] run off now bc they ain’t tryna let an African win,” and “I got a plan . . . .”
– Excerpt from indictment
The indictment then goes on to accuse the three of vandalizing one of Mobolade’s campaign sings, then erecting and intentionally setting a cross on fire in front of it. Investigators allegedly later recovered spray paint from one of the suspects’ cars.
On or about April 23, 2023, between approximately 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. BERNARD, BLACKCLOUD, and WEST worked together to place a wooden cross in front of that campaign sign. Red spray paint, similar in kind to a can later found in the passenger compartment of BLACKCLOUD’s car, was used to write [a racial slur] on the sign. The wooden cross was then set on fire. An iPhone 13 was used to take a short video of the scene and to take a photograph.
– Excerpt from indictment
Afterward, the indictment says the photo and video were circulated to media outlets:
(e) On or about that same day, later in the evening on April 23, 2023, BLACKCLOUD and WEST worked together to send an email … to, among others, local broadcast news outlets. Attached to the email was the above photograph and the video. Several news organizations published news stories on the cross burning.
…
(b) On or about April 23, 2023, at approximately 3:52 a.m. BLACKCLOUD used Instagram to send a message to WEST: “Hey did u get back ok?”
(c) On or about April 23, 2023, between approximately 1:53 p.m. and 7:42 p.m., BLACKCLOUD researched online 15 of the 24 organizations that received the … email and performed searches such as “kkk email,” “contact news about a story,” and “news colorado springs.”
(d) On or about April 23, 2023, between approximately 7:18 p.m. and 7:24 p.m., WEST performed web searches such as “complaint letter against racist acts” and “candidates racist acts during campaign.” (e) On or about April 23, 2023, at approximately 7:24 p.m., WEST used the internet to access a document entitled “Hate in Elections” with the subtitle “How Racism and Bigotry Threaten Election Integrity in the United States”
…
(j) On or about April 25, 2023, at approximately 7:56 p.m. BERNARD used Facebook Messenger to send BLACKCLOUD a link to a local broadcast news report on the cross burning.
(k) On or about April 25, 2023, at approximately 7:56 p.m. BERNARD texted BLACKCLOUD: “Look at ya messenger ASAP” and “we got traction.”
– Excerpt from indictment
Both Mobolade and Williams strongly condemned the display at the time.
The USAOC says Bernard, Blackcloud and West were indicted following a lengthy investigation by the FBI and Colorado Springs Police Department. Blackcloud made her first appearance in federal court Tuesday, with Bernard expected to follow suit after he is transferred from state custody into federal custody.
West has not been located.
Children’s book by British chef Jamie Oliver is withdrawn after criticism from Indigenous Australians
Children’s book by British chef Jamie Oliver is withdrawn after criticism from Indigenous Australians
November 11, 2024
A children’s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticised for causing offense to Indigenous Australians.
The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation blasted “Billy And The Epic Escape,” which was published earlier this year, for employing a series of tropes and stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, including their relationships with the natural and spiritual worlds.
The group criticized one of the fantasy novel’s subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.”
In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offense and apologized “wholeheartedly.”
“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said. “Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
Indigenous campaigners were particularly aghast that neither Oliver nor his publishers, Penguin Random House, had consulted with them before the novel was published.
“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action,” the publisher said.
“With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.”
Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is among a long list of celebrities to have put their names to children’s books, a trend that has been criticized by many children’s authors, who say they are being crowded out of their market.
Oliver released his first children’s book, “Billy And The Giant Adventure,” last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.
Oliver, who rose to fame in 1999 with his book and television show “The Naked Chef,” has long campaigned on children’s food and nutrition and caused a furore in 2005 when he hit out at the nutritional value of some school dinners in the UK.
Alman’s conjecture: The more expensive a college’s tuition is, the more insane its students are.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
November 8, 2024
Alman’s conjecture: The more expensive a college’s tuition is, the more insane its students are.
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1854964493484179776
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1854964493484179776
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/11/7/harvard-students-react-donald-trump-reelection/
Harvard Professors Cancel Classes as Students Feel Blue After Trump Win
Students awoke to a somber campus following Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency early Wednesday morning. “My heart dropped a little bit,” one student said.
By Madeleine A. Hung and Azusa M. Lippit
November 7, 2024
At 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Sophia R. Mammucari ’28 woke up to a phone call from her mom — and the news that Donald Trump had been officially reelected.
“I still had some hope that she was going to win by a small amount. And then I woke up this morning, and that’s not what happened,” Mammucari said. “I probably cried for like an hour.”
On election night, students gathered at viewing parties hosted by friends, House tutors, the Institute of Politics, and the Harvard Republican Club to watch results roll in.
The next morning, they woke up to a somber campus.
When Samantha M. Holtz ’28 googled the presidential election’s outcome before her Wednesday morning swim practice, her “heart dropped a little bit.”
“Being at Harvard, I was surrounded by a lot of people who were very pro-Harris, so in my mind it was already a decided election,” Holtz said. “It was a little bit shocking to me.”
Luke P. Kushner ’27 said he was “really, really disappointed” by the presidential election results.
“Very early on in the night, it became pretty clear that it was going to go in the direction of Trump,” Kushner said. “I went to bed before they called it, and at that point I was pretty resigned.”
‘Space to Process’
In Harvard’s freshman dining hall Wednesday morning, Holtz joined a teammate to eat breakfast with College Dean Rakesh Khurana.
According to Holtz, Khurana told students to “let yourself feel a bunch of emotions about how this is going to impact us in the future, and listen to other people and how they feel about it too.”
Some professors also encouraged students to process in the aftermath of the election, adjusting course requirements in kind.
Courses such as Sociology 1156: “Statistics for Social Sciences” and Applied Math 22a: “Solving and Optimizing,” as well as several General Education courses — 1074: “The Ancient Greek Hero” and 1111: “Popular Culture and Modern China” among them — canceled their Wednesday classes, made attendance optional, or extended assignment deadlines.
The move echoes the aftermath of Trump’s first win in 2016, when professors postponed exams and changed lesson plans to lighten students’ schedules.
Economics lecturer Maxim Boycko wrote in a Wednesday email to students in Economics 1010a: “Intermediate Microeconomics” that the course’s typical in-class quizzes would be optional.
“As we recover from the eventful election night and process the implications of Trump’s victory, please know that class will proceed as usual today, except that classroom quizzes will not be for credit,” Boycko wrote. “Feel free to take time off if needed.”
Jack A. Kelly ’26 said he “was tempted to say ‘no’ to class today.”
“I had some professors that have been like, ‘If you need to not come to class, that’s understandable,’” he added. “This definitely takes a toll on people’s mental wellbeing.”
Throughout Wednesday, student organizations, faculty, and House tutors also offered chances to come to terms with the election results.
Physics professor Jennifer E. Hoffman ’99 wrote in an email to physics students and faculty that her office would be “a space to process the election.”
“Many in our community are sleep-deprived, again grieving for glass ceilings that weren’t shattered, fearful for the future, or embarrassed to face our international colleagues,” she wrote. “I stress-baked several pans of lemon bars to share.”
A ‘Very Dark Moment’
For many College students, Trump’s policy proposals mark a source of despair for the next four years.
“Long term, I’m very concerned about Trump’s policies and the things that he has endorsed,” Kushner said. “Trump’s attitude towards democracy and the norms that we have in this country are really, really concerning.”
Kelly, who is enrolled in a class about healthcare, said he is particularly aware of Trump’s potential impact on American medical systems.
“We have an exam next week about the Affordable Care Act and other kinds of healthcare policies,” he said. “A lot of what we’re learning might become moot if the ACA and the progress that was made under that law is repealed in the second Trump administration.”
Eleanor M. Powell ’25 said she is especially worried about Trump’s impact on the judicial system.
“I’m really worried about the court — and not just the Supreme Court, all of the courts where he will be able to appoint judges,” Powell said. “I think we’re in for a very dark moment in the 21st century’s history.”
Several students attributed their emotional reactions to Trump’s rhetoric toward minority groups across the U.S.
“I just couldn’t believe that Donald Trump won, because he is literally a felon, he’s a criminal, and he’s a racist,” Rachele D. Chung ’28 said. “I just can’t believe America voted that way.”
“I feel really sad for the state of women,” Claire V. Miller ’28 said. “If the candidate hadn’t been a Black woman — like if it had been a white man who was just younger than Trump and mentally sharp — I think they could’ve won.”
Victor E. Flores ’25, co-president of the Harvard College Democrats, said he was afraid for the “countless people” who could be affected by Trump’s policies.
“There are marginalized communities across the country that are waiting and watching to see what will happen,” he said. “I am certainly disappointed by these results.”
‘We’re Not Going Anywhere’
For politically engaged Harvard students in groups like Harvard College Democrats and the IOP, Trump’s win marked the conclusion of months of heavy campaigning.
Harvard College Democrats Co-President Tova L. Kaplan ’26 praised the students who have been “working incredibly hard” campaigning for Kamala Harris.
“Those networks that we’ve built and the skills that we’ve built — in students organizing, canvassing, political communications, community building, issue area, advocacy and more — are going to be all the more crucial in this fight ahead,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Alexander H. Lee ’27 said while results were not what he was hoping for, he is motivated to focus on local politics and “make the best out of what we have right now.”
Though students on both sides of the political aisle fought hard for their preferred candidate, IOP President Pratyush Mallick ’25 said he enjoyed seeing bipartisan “unity” at the IOP watch party and “super high” voter turnout.
With the end of the presidential campaigns, Mallick added that students interested in careers in presidential administration have entered a “transition process.”
“Many people who are thinking about pursuing careers in a Harris administration might explore opportunities and other avenues of public service and walk down those pathways,” he said. “And people who are kind of doing the vice versa might look to transition over to the Trump administration.”
‘A Lot More Vocal’
With Trump’s return to the Oval Office, some students said, Harvard’s campus may see a surge in conservative activism despite its usual “blue tint.”
Many students agreed that support for Trump is strong in limited conservative pockets, including the Harvard Republican Club — which endorsed Trump in July — and the Salient, a conservative student magazine which has published pro-Trump content this year.
According to Chung, Harvard students with more conservative beliefs tend to be quieter, but student Democrats “scream it from the rooftops.”
But in the aftermath of the election, some students predict a change.
“I’m very clear eyed about what this election means in terms of emboldening misogynistic, racist, hateful rhetoric,” Kaplan said.
“I don’t know to what extent that will trickle down to Harvard,” she added, but “we’re going to do our best to make sure that it doesn’t.”
“I think that the Trump supporters will now be a lot more vocal on this campus which, free speech is great, but there might be more animosity,” Mammacuri said.
Jara A. Emtage-Cave ’25, a student on the women’s rugby team, said pro-Trump sentiment seemed to gain traction even before November.
“In the past two weeks before the election, I’ve encountered a lot more people who are pro-Trump, specifically in the athletics community,” Emtage-Cave said.
Following the election, Akash D. Anandam ’28 said he assumed a handful of Harvard students were “popping champagne.”
On Tuesday night, HRC was indeed gleefully ushering in a second Trump presidency.
“It is morning again in America!” HRC President Michael Oved ’25 wrote in a statement to The Crimson Wednesday morning.
“I am pleased that the Harvard Republican Club played a part in this remarkable victory and historic comeback of President Trump,” Oved wrote. “It’s now time for us all to come together, unite around our new President, and tackle the issues that face our country.”
What to Know About the University of Michigan’s D.E.I. Experiment: A Times investigation found that the school built one of the most ambitious diversity programs in the country — only to see increased discord and division on campus.
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/magazine/university-of-michigan-dei.html
Archive: https://archive.ph/F7nzQ
What to Know About the University of Michigan’s D.E.I. Experiment
A Times investigation found that the school built one of the most ambitious diversity programs in the country — only to see increased discord and division on campus.
By Nicholas Confessore
October 16, 2024
A decade ago, the University of Michigan intentionally placed itself in the vanguard of a revolution then beginning to reshape American higher education. Around the country, college administrators were rapidly expanding D.E.I. programs. They believed that vigorous D.E.I. efforts would allow traditionally underrepresented students to thrive on campus — and improve learning for students from all backgrounds.
In recent years, as D.E.I. programs came under withering attack, Michigan has only doubled down on D.E.I., holding itself out as a model for other schools. By one estimate, the university has built the largest D.E.I. bureaucracy of any big public university.
But an examination by The Times found that Michigan’s expansive — and expensive — D.E.I. program has struggled to achieve its central goals even as it set off a cascade of unintended consequences.
Here are some key takeaways from the Magazine’s article on Michigan’s D.E.I. experiment.
Michigan has poured a staggering quarter of a billion dollars into D.E.I.
Striving to reach “every individual on campus,” Michigan has invested nearly 250 million dollars into D.E.I. since 2016, according to an internal presentation I obtained. Every university “unit” — from the medical school down to the archives — is required to have a D.E.I. plan.
The number of employees who work in D.E.I.-related offices or have “diversity,” “equity” or “inclusion” in their job titles reached 241 last year, according to an analysis by Mark J. Perry, an emeritus professor of finance at the university’s Flint campus.
Michigan has struggled to improve Black enrollment — and students overall feel less included, not more.
The percentage of Black students, currently around 5 percent, remained largely stagnant as Michigan’s overall enrollment rose — and in a state where 14 percent of residents are Black. In a survey released in late 2022, students and faculty members across the board reported a less positive campus climate than at the program’s start and less of a sense of belonging.
Students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or religion or with different politics — the exact kind of engagement D.E.I. programs, in theory, are meant to foster.
While its peers reconsider aspects of D.E.I., Michigan has doubled down.
This year, both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced they would no longer require job candidates to submit diversity statements, or explanations of the candidate’s commitment to D.E.I. Such “compelled statements,” M.I.T.’s president said, “impinge on freedom of expression.” But at Michigan, a faculty committee this summer privately recommended that the school continue using such statements,” which are currently required by most of Michigan’s colleges and schools.
D.E.I. at Michigan has helped fuel a culture of grievance.
Instead of improving students’ ability to engage with one another across their differences, Michigan’s D.E.I. expansion has coincided with an explosion in campus conflict over race and gender. Everyday campus complaints and academic disagreements are now cast as crises of inclusion and harm.
In 2015, the university office charged with enforcing federal civil rights mandates including Title IX received about 200 complaints of sex- or gender-based misconduct on Michigan’s campus. Last year, it surpassed 500. Complaints involving race, religion or national origin increased to almost 400 from a few dozen during roughly the same period.
After Oct. 7, Michigan’s D.E.I. bureaucracy was tested like never before — and failed.
At Michigan, as at other schools, campus protests exploded after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and Israel’s retaliation in Gaza. So did complaints of harassment or discrimination based on national origin or ancestry. This June, civil rights officials at the federal Department of Education found that Michigan had systematically mishandled such complaints over the 18-month period ending in February. Out of 67 complaints of harassment or discrimination based on national origin or ancestry that the officials reviewed — an overwhelming majority involving allegations of antisemitism, according to a tally I obtained — Michigan had investigated and made findings in just one.
“Queers for Palestine” is a scam! They’re afraid to hold a parade in Gaza or the West Bank.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
October 16, 2024
In order to prove that “Queers for Palestine” is a scam, some clever people from an organization called “The New Tolerance Campaign” offered them one million dollars to hold a parade in Gaza or the West Bank.
That offer was made a month ago, but I can’t find any evidence that the offer was ever accepted.
Therefore, “Queers for Palestine” is a scam.
Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards. Here are 24 examples.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
October 15, 2024
Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards.
Here are 24 examples:
1) The New York Times wrote, “The Board of Regents on Monday eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in New York State pass a literacy test to become certified after the test proved controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates.”
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/nyregion/ny-regents-teacher-exams-alst.html?_r=0
Archive: https://archive.ph/GzyQM
2) The New York Times wrote, “A 2009 Princeton study showed Asian-Americans had to score 140 points higher on their SATs than whites, 270 points higher than Hispanics and 450 points higher than blacks to have the same chance of admission to leading universities.”
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/white-students-unfair-advantage-in-admissions.html
Archive: https://archive.ph/MEDXn
3) Patrick Henry High School, San Diego’s largest high school, cited “equity” as its reason for removing some of its classes in advanced English, advanced history, and advanced biology.
4) The Vancouver School Board cited “equity and inclusion” for why it got rid of its honors courses in math and science at its high schools.
Archive: https://archive.ph/MBOEo
5) In the name of equity, California will discourage students who are gifted at math
Original: https://reason.com/2021/05/04/california-math-framework-woke-equity-calculus/
Archive: https://archive.ph/N4CQC
6) PBS Boston affiliate WGBH: “Boston public schools suspends test for advanced learning classes; concerns about program’s racial inequities linger”
7) Lowell High in San Francisco, one of the country’s best public high schools, replaced its merit based admissions with a lottery based admissions, because the school had too many Asians.
Original: https://abc7news.com/sfusd-board-of-education-meeting-school-lowell-high-sf/10325219/
Archive: https://archive.ph/iGzom
8) Expecting math students to get the right answer is now considered to be a form of “white supremacy.” See page 6 at this link:
Original: https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/1_STRIDE1.pdf
9) The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City canceled its honor society because whites and Asians were earning better grades than blacks and Latinos.
Archive: https://archive.ph/WNwvW
10) New Jersey stopped requiring new teachers to be proficient in reading, writing, and math, because the requirement was considered to be an “unnecessary barrier.”
Archive: https://archive.ph/vh6io
11) Washington Post: “Maryland school district worker fired after correcting student’s spelling in a tweet”
12) Oregon again says students don’t need to prove mastery of reading, writing or math to graduate, citing harm to students of color
Archive: https://archive.ph/mV38Y
13) In Mississauga, Ontario, a public high school library removed every book that had been published in 2008 or earlier, under the justification of “inclusivity,” “anti-racism,” “equity,” and “diversity”
Original: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-school-board-library-book-weeding-1.6964332
Archive: https://archive.ph/ktv2R
14) The public schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts stopped offering advanced math classes to students in grades 6, 7, and 8, because students of some races had been doing better than students of other races.
15) Met applicants ‘functionally illiterate in English accepted in bid to improve diversity’
Archive: https://archive.ph/t3Pia
16) New York Times: “At N.Y.U., Students Were Failing Organic Chemistry. Who Was to Blame? Maitland Jones Jr., a respected professor, defended his standards. But students started a petition, and the university dismissed him.”
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/nyu-organic-chemistry-petition.html
Archive: https://archive.ph/iDG0t
17) New York Times: “Texas Wesleyan Cancels Play After Students Say Use of Slur Is Harmful. The play’s author, who is Black, said he crafted its language to be historically accurate in representing civil rights struggles. But the theater program at the university heeded the call of students.”
Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/us/texas-wesleyan-play-racism.html
Archive: https://archive.ph/uIz1L
18) University bans sonnets as ‘products of white western culture’
Original: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/14/university-bans-sonnets-products-white-western-culture/
Archive: https://archive.ph/RrXCi
19) The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center temporarily placed Professor Julie Overbaugh, an award winning HIV researcher, on administrative leave, after the school found out that she had once dressed up as Michael Jackson for Halloween.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Overbaugh
Archive: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julie_Overbaugh&oldid=1234427714
20) Canadian court declares math test for new teachers ‘unconstitutional’ because of racial disparities in passage rates
Original:
Archive:
21) The English Touring Opera fired 14 of its musicians because they were white.
Archive: https://archive.ph/Rl9Ub
22) Sunrise Park Middle School in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, cited “equitable grading” as the reason why “students no longer will be given an F grade – no matter how bad they did on an assignment or test or if it was turned in late or not at all.”
Archive: https://archive.ph/JkGij
23) The UCLA Anderson School of Management placed lecturer Gordon Klein on involuntary administrative leave because he refused to dumb down his curriculum for black students after the murder of George Floyd.
Archive: https://archive.ph/XCdng
24) Washington Post: “Students hated ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Their teachers tried to dump it. Four progressive teachers in Washington’s Mukilteo School District wanted to protect students from a book they saw as outdated and harmful.”
Archive: https://archive.ph/H6Z6A
The “stereotype” is real. 72% of black babies in the U.S. are born out of wedlock. That’s the real problem, not some ad from a ketchup company.
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1845880854834237722
Democrats are claiming that this question from a firefighters’ exam “discriminates against Black candidates.”
https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil/status/1844058406434283824
Justice Department Secures Agreement with Durham, North Carolina, to End Discriminatory Hiring Practices in City’s Fire Department
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with the City of Durham (City), North Carolina, to resolve the department’s claim that the hiring process for firefighters in the Durham Fire Department (DFD) violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the department alleges that the City’s fire department screens applicants with a written test that discriminates against Black candidates.
Title VII is a federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin and religion. Title VII prohibits not only intentional discrimination but also employment practices that result in a disparate impact on a protected group, unless such practices are job related and consistent with business necessity.
The settlement agreement resolves a civil pattern or practice investigation the Civil Rights Division opened in February 2020. As part of the investigation, the division conducted an in-depth review of DFD’s hiring practices, applicant data and other information received from the DFD. The division concluded that the fire department was using a written test that does not meaningfully distinguish between applicants who can and cannot perform the job of a firefighter. The test also disqualified Black applicants from employment at significantly disproportionate rates. The department thus concluded that the test violates Title VII.
“Discriminatory employment tests do more than cost applicants a fair chance to compete for public service jobs like firefighting; they also prevent communities from being served in these crucial positions by the most qualified candidates for the job,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The under-representation of Black people in the fire department workforce in Durham, and across the country, undermines public safety efforts. This settlement agreement requires the Durham Fire Department to reform its unlawful hiring process and provide monetary and other relief to those already harmed. The Justice Department will continue to work to ensure that all qualified applicants have a fair and equal opportunity to serve their communities.”
“Employers should identify and eliminate practices that have a disparate impact based on race,” said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston for the Middle District of North Carolina. “The Justice Department will continue to work to eliminate discriminatory policies that deprive qualified applicants of a fair chance to compete for employment opportunities.”
The complaint, filed yesterday in the Middle District of North Carolina, alleges that the City’s uses of the written test called the Comprehensive Examination Battery (CEB) disproportionately exclude Black candidates from employment as firefighters. The department further alleges that DFD’s uses of the CEB are not job-related and consistent with business necessity, and thus violate Title VII.
Under the terms of the consent decree also filed yesterday, DFD will:
Adopt a written test that does not discriminate in violation of Title VII and provide data to the department on the administration of the new test to ensure compliance;
Pay $980,000 in back pay to applicants who were disqualified by DFD’s uses of the challenged test; and
Hire up to 16 applicants who were unfairly disqualified by the challenged test and who successfully complete the new firefighter selection process.
The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. The division has issued a fact sheet on combating hiring discrimination by police and fire departments to help applicants for public safety jobs understand their rights to be free from discriminatory hiring processes. More information about the Civil Rights Division can be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt.
I’m 100% completely and totally indifferent to the gender or the sexual orientation of a ship captain. The only thing that I care about is that they do their job properly.
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1844438923323506914
I support meritocracy because I want ship captains who don’t crash their ship into a reef and spill oil and other toxic chemicals into the ocean.
Supporters of DEI were so focused on giving the job to a lesbian that they neglected to care about the person’s qualifications or experience.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/07/world/new-zealand-navy-ship-sinks-intl-hnk/index.html
This article says that criticism of her is based on “sexism and homophobia.”
I can’t speak for other critics, but I myself am 100% completely and totally indifferent to the gender or the sexual orientation of a ship captain. The only thing that I care about is that they do their job properly.
https://gayexpress.co.nz/2024/10/sexism-and-homophobia-cant-diminish-commander-grays-heroic-actions/
Here is absolute proof that Los Angeles Democrats don’t care about the victims of violent crime
https://www.foxla.com/news/la-county-repeat-offender-linked-killing
17-year-old previously tried as a minor for double murder now linked to another killing after release
By Gina Silva
September 28, 2024
LOS ANGELES – Nearly five years ago, Alfredo Carrera and his friend, José Flores Velázquez, were murdered in South Los Angeles simply for standing in a gang’s territory.
“It was devastating, honestly,” says Cynthia Carrera, Alfredo’s sister.
Neither man was gang-affiliated. Alfredo was about to become a father, and Jose, a student at UCI, had just accepted a job with NASA.
“This was cold-blooded murder. And it wasn’t just one person; two innocent people lost their lives for no reason,” said Carrera.
Seventeen-year-old Shanice Dyer, a member of the East Coast Crips, was charged with premeditated murder by then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey and was set to be tried as an adult. However, that changed when George Gascón took office in 2020.
“The public needs to know what’s going on,” said Michele Hanisee, the Association of Deputy District Attorneys President in LA County. She explained, “One of the many blanket policies Gascón implemented on his first day in office was that no crime committed by a juvenile — no matter the circumstances — would ever be transferred to adult court.”
As a result, Shanice Dyer was tried as a juvenile. Despite being convicted of two murders, she was in custody for less than four years. “It’s still very hard. And now we find out that this person has committed another crime, doing this to yet another family,” said Carrera.
The same woman who killed Alfredo and Jose is now accused of murder once again, allegedly aiding and abetting in the murder of 21-year-old Joshua Streeter. Retired LA County Deputy DA Kathy Cady, now a victim’s advocate, said, “George Gascón refuses to take responsibility for the fact that his policies have led to this murder. He hides behind explanations that don’t make sense.” Carrera added, “Gascón’s reform aimed to rehabilitate and give people a second chance, but since the incident, no one has ever reached out to the victims. No one has ever asked, ‘What can we do for you?'”
George Gascón declined our request for an interview, but his office released the following statement:
“Our heart breaks for the victim and his family. This is an unimaginable tragedy. However, it is very unlikely that Ms. Dyer would have been transferred under any administration. Under the law, there are five factors that a juvenile court would have considered and weighed in determining if Ms. Dyer were amenable to remain in the juvenile system. Of those five factors, only one factor, the circumstances and gravity of the offense, weighed in favor of transfer to adult court. All the other factors weighed in favor of Ms. Dyer remaining in the juvenile system. Given this, it is highly unlikely that Ms. Dyer would have been transferred to the adult system even if the court had held a transfer hearing. Those factors include:
She was under the influence of adult men and acted at their direction, which indicates that she did not exhibit a high degree of criminal sophistication;
Her lack of any serious criminal history at the time;
The amount of time and opportunity that remained at that time to rehabilitate her in the juvenile system; and
The absence of any previous opportunities to rehabilitate her in the juvenile system.”
In March 2022, LADA’s Juvenile Alternative Charging Evaluation Committee (JACE) was formed. Since that time, 23 transfer requests have been approved for transfer motions to adult court by JACE.
Of those approved, 5 JACE cases have gone to hearings before the juvenile court.
4 JACE transfer motions were denied by the court.
1 JACE transfer motion was granted by the court.
1 JACE transfer motion is still in progress as of today.
The radical leftists who are obsessed with hate crimes don’t care about the 93% of black murder victims who are killed by other blacks. All black lives matter, not just the ones who are killed by whites.
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1841231820710355186
https://cbsnews.com/news/feds-49-of-murder-victims-are-black-men/
A thought experiment: A student is admitted to four different colleges, with each of the four colleges having a different reason for admitting the student.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
September 9, 2024
A thought experiment: A student is admitted to four different colleges, with each of the four colleges having a different reason for admitting the student.
Question: Of these four colleges, which college would be the best match for the student?
College #1: The student is admitted based on merit.
College #2: The student is admitted because their family donated $100 million to the college.
College #3: The student is admitted because the football team wanted the student to play on their team.
College #4: The student is admitted based on affirmative action.
Columbia University just told its students that it’s OK for them to break windows, illegally enter a building, block the exits, and imprison employees inside the building.
https://x.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1825942177962406270
Columbia has ‘waved the white flag’ by failing to expel even one student who occupied campus building: House report
By Carl Campanile
August 19, 2024
Columbia University has not only caved and failed to expel any of the students busted in the occupation of a building during a pro-terror riot, most of them are still “in good standing’’ there, a House report says.
“The failure of Columbia’s invertebrate administration to hold accountable students who violate university rules and break the law is disgraceful and unacceptable,” fumed Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in a scathing statement accompanying a panel analysis Monday.
“More than three months after the criminal takeover of Hamilton Hall, the vast majority of the student perpetrators remain in good standing,” said the head of the House committee, which is investigating campus antisemitism.
“By allowing its own disciplinary process to be thwarted by radical students and faculty, Columbia has waved the white flag in surrender while offering up a get-out-of-jail-free card to those who participated in these unlawful actions,” Foxx said.
She blasted the Manhattan Ivy League school for failing to adequately punish students nabbed during the rule-breaking and lawless behavior that ran amok during recent anti-Israel campus demonstrations.
Foxx issued the startling finding about the university’s “failure” based on disciplinary records obtained from Columbia that found most students have escaped serious punishment such as expulsion and remain in good standing.
Her committee’s analysis found:
Of the 22 students arrested for occupying and vandalizing Columbia’s historic Hamilton Hall on April 30, 18 are in good standing, while three others are on interim suspensions and one on probation.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office ended up dismissing nearly all of the cases against the total 46 people arrested in the riot, citing lack of evidence while noting many of the suspects wore masks to hide their identities.
Twenty-seven Columbia students arrested by the NYPD on May 1 at various off campus locations outside of Hamilton Hall had their cases dismissed by DA Alvin Bragg because of “insufficient evidence” despite their arrests.
On April 29, 35 Columbia students were placed on interim suspensions for failing to leave a protest encampment on the south lawn of the Morningside Heights campus. But Columbia concluded it couldn’t substantiate their participation and lifted the suspensions and dismissed the charges for 29 of the students. Thirty-one of the 35 students are currently in good standing. Two others are on interim suspensions from previous incidents, one who was previously on probation is now suspended, and one is on probation.
Of the 32 students involved in the alumni reunion weekend encampment on the weekend of May 31, all remain in good standing. Three of the students are on probation from a prior incident but remained in good standing.
The records reviewed by Foxx’s panel show that many of the suspected rabble-rousing students hired lawyers and engaged in “alternative resolution” to lessen or avoid severe punishment by their school.
“Breaking into campus buildings or creating antisemitic hostile environments like the encampment should never be given a single degree of latitude—the university’s willingness to do just that is reprehensible,” Foxx added in her statement.
A Columbia spokeswoman said in a statement to The Post that the embattled school “is committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of discrimination and taking sustained, concrete action toward a campus where everyone in our community feels valued and is able to thrive.
“Following the disruptions of the last academic year, Columbia immediately began disciplinary processes, including with immediate suspensions. The disciplinary process is ongoing for many students involved in these disruptions, including some of those who were arrested, and we have been working to expedite the process for this large volume of violations,” the rep said.
But Matthew Schweber, a member of Columbia’s Jewish Alumni Association, slammed his alma mater, saying it is going soft on the disrupters.
“It’s a travesty of a mockery of a sham,” said Schweber, lifting a line from the Woody Allen film “Bananas.”
Criticism of the school’s slap-on-the-wrist discipline at least to date is just the latest hit on Columbia.
There is now anecdotal evidence that Jewish students are not applying or enrolling to attend the Ivy League after its anti-Israel protests and Jew-bashing.
For example, for the first time in decades, none of the graduates from the elite Jewish Ramaz high school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has enrolled at Columbia College, the university’s premier liberal undergraduate program.
Embattled Columbia President Minouche Shafik also resigned last week and is heading back to England after leading the elite institution for the past year during its constant and sometimes destructive anti-Israel protests. Dr. Katrina Armstrong, the CEO of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has been named interim president.
Shafik’s resignation comes just one week after three university deans also resigned from Columbia following the exposure of their “very troubling” text chain that disparaged Israeli and Jewish students’ fears of rising antisemitism on campus.
The protests and anti-Israel vitriol was fueled by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, in which the terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in the Jewish state and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
The fact that this took a court of law to get involved is ridiculous. The school should have expelled any student who tried to prevent any student from going to the class that they paid for.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ucla-cant-allow-protesters-block-014458314.html
UCLA can’t allow protesters to block Jewish students from campus, judge rules
August 13, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the University of California, Los Angeles, cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from accessing classes and other parts of campus.
The preliminary injunction marks the first time a U.S. judge has ruled against a university over the demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed in June by three Jewish students at UCLA. The students alleged that they experienced discrimination on campus during the protest because of their faith and that UCLA failed to ensure access to campus for all Jewish students.
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.” Scarsi wrote.
UCLA argued that it has no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students’ access to the school. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps.
Scarsi ruled that the university is prohibited from providing classes and access to buildings on campus if Jewish students are blocked from it.
Yitzchok Frankel, a UCLA law student who filed the lawsuit, celebrated the order.
“No student should ever have to fear being blocked from their campus because they are Jewish,” Frankel said in a statement. “I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to put a stop to this shameful anti-Jewish conduct.”
UCLA spokesperson Mary Osako said the ruling “would improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground and to meet the needs of the Bruin community.”
The university is also considering all available options moving forward, she said.
“UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination, and harassment,” Osako said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The ruling came after Scarsi ordered UCLA last month to create a plan to protect Jewish students. The University of California, one of the nation’s largest public university systems, is also working on systemwide campus guidelines on protests.
The demonstrations at UCLA became part of a movement at campuses across the country against the Israel-Hamas war. At UCLA, law enforcement ordered in May that over a thousand protesters break up their encampment as tensions rose on campus. Counter-demonstrators had attacked the encampment overnight and at least 15 protesters suffered injuries. In June, dozens of protesters on campus were arrested after they tried to set up a new encampment.
Internal communications reveal Soros-backed prosecutors ‘undermine law and order in America,’ MRC says
The article includes these links:
https://cdn.mrc.org/static/pdfuploads/Soros+Report_FINAL_PAGES.pdf-1723215421233.pdf
https://mrc.org/sorosdocuments
https://www.yahoo.com/news/internal-communications-reveal-soros-backed-090002671.html
Internal communications reveal Soros-backed prosecutors ‘undermine law and order in America,’ MRC says
By Brian Flood
August 12, 2024
Liberal billionaire George Soros and his son Alex, who has taken control of the family empire, have “worked tirelessly to undermine law and order in America,” the Media Research Center (MRC) alleges in a new report.
The MRC obtained nearly 7,800 pages of internal communications from dozens of Soros-backed prosecutors through multiple public records requests. The conservative watchdog group said its findings “reveal how the Soros machine effectively employs an army of radicalized government lawyers to tear apart the justice system” across America.
“It’s astounding the number of DAs Soros has not only funded across the country, but continues to control their politics and priorities,” MRC founder and president Brent Bozell told Fox News Digital.
The MRC detailed its findings in a report titled “Law & Disorder,” and allows readers to download the internal communications from a variety of liberal DAs, including Alvin Bragg in New York and Kim Foxx in Illinois.
“The Soros machine sets their policies and priorities, staffs their offices with hand-picked leftists, dictates media narratives, lobbies government officials and perverts the American justice system,” MRC researchers wrote.
“The Soros empire spent at least $40 million to elect its prosecutors. It then invested an additional $77,663,316 to 20 leftist nonprofits to coordinate and control the prosecutors, bringing the total Soros spending to at least $117,663,316,” the MRC continued. “At least 30 percent of the U.S. population currently lives under the boot of the Soros prosecutors who were pressured to sign pledges vowing to adhere to various Soros priorities. The Soros machine orchestrated 33 of these ‘joint statements’ and pledges, which were signed by 123 of the 126 Soros prosecutors.”
The MRC also put a spotlight on Fair and Just Prosecution, a network of local prosecutors they claim has worked to “manipulate the rule of law concerning illegal immigration, drugs, abortion, election integrity, capital punishment and laws against childhood sex changes.”
“The little-known group orchestrating the effort among Soros-backed prosecutors is Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), a radical, soft-on-crime project of the heavily Soros-financed Tides Center. FJP held at least 51 private meetings and published 33 formal statements and pledges that contained signatures from prosecutors within its network between 2021 and 2022 alone,” MRC researchers wrote.
“For just one Soros-backed prosecutor, former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, MRC gathered a remarkable 508 communications between Boudin’s office and FJP in just an 18-month period,” they continued. “That averages out to at least one communication each day.”
The MRC reported that one of “the most damning examples” found in the documents involved five Soros and FJP-backed prosecutors in Texas who “worked so closely together that they created a shared group chat to strategize on refusing to enforce statutes that ran afoul of their left-wing politics.”
The MRC also found documents indicating FJP “coordinated meetings with Soros prosecutors in several states,” including California and New York, in addition to Texas.
The MRC report also said the documents indicate Soros-backed prosecutors built connections with the establishment media through the help of FJP, lobbied other branches of government, and showed hostility toward Trump supporters.
The MRC concluded by making several recommendations for how media outlets and elected officials can better address the Soros empire, including urging journalists to do a better job covering crime and its origins.
“The Soros empire is massively involved in changing the legal system of the United States. Yet, most media outlets rarely cover Soros’s ‘reform prosecutors’ and the harm they have wrought,” MRC researchers wrote.
The MRC also implored reporters to dig into the Soros family as “legacy media coverage of their operations is scant,” and suggested Congress and other elected officials need to get involved.
“Since the Biden-Harris administration will not take action, Congress must investigate how the Soros empire wields power over prosecutors. The Senate should also refuse to confirm any additional nominees to the DOJ or the Federal bench until legal action is taken against the Soros machine,” MRC researchers wrote.
“Governors and state attorneys general should remove law-breaking prosecutors. Where appropriate, AGs should also bring RICO-like charges against the Soros machine and its prosecutors,” the MRC added. “Because the Soros prosecutors have violated numerous laws and ethics rules, complaints can and should be filed with the appropriate bar associations.”
Fair and Just Prosecution executive director Miriam Krinsky dismissed the MRC study.
“As we clearly spell out in our mission statement, Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) brings together elected local prosecutors committed to promoting a justice system grounded in fairness, equity, compassion and fiscal responsibility. FJP supports these elected leaders – and the vision they share for safer and healthier communities – through ongoing information sharing, research and resource materials, opportunities for on-the-ground learning, in-person convenings, technical assistance, and access to national experts. We look to proven models and experts who can offer the best thinking and insights around policies that promote public safety and enhance accountability, transparency and fairness,” Krinsky told Fox News Digital.
“The elected prosecutors we engage with are public servants backed and put in office by the voters and communities they serve, and false narratives to the contrary are predicated on an unfortunate desire to fuel misinformation, fear and division,” Krinsky continued. “In particular, calling any reform-minded prosecutor a ‘Soros-backed prosecutor’ is ill-informed and promotes antisemitic tropes that are incredibly harmful at a time when there is an alarming surge in anti-Jewish bigotry. We take issue with that characterization and any report predicated on a total lack of knowledge about the criminal legal system and the changes needed to make us all safer.”
Bragg, Foxx and Boudin also didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment.
Hooray for Brooke Jenkins!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/san-francisco-d-brings-charges-182209882.html
San Francisco D.A. brings charges against pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked Golden Gate Bridge
By Nathan Solis
August 13, 2024
Protesters blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in mid-April to call attention to the war in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians whose cities were being bombarded.
Now, authorities in San Francisco are prosecuting them for trapping people in their cars on the bridge for hours. The San Francisco Public Defender countered that officials were “weaponizing the law” against protesters; he wants the charges dropped.
The San Francisco district attorney’s office announced in a news release Monday that arrest warrants were issued for the 26 people who participated in the April 15 protest. All 26 surrendered to law enforcement, according to the California Highway Patrol, but they have not appeared in court or been assigned legal representation.
“While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech can not compromise public safety,” Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow.”
The group, dubbed the “Golden Gate 26” by their supporters, could be represented by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, which blasted the charges and cited a higher moral authority for the protest.
“The protestors are opposing American tax dollars being used to fund ongoing attacks on the people in Gaza, which the International Criminal Court has deemed crimes against humanity,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in a statement. “Our attorneys intend to vehemently defend any individuals we are appointed to represent.”
The district attorney’s office charged the 26 with trespassing to interfere with a business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusal to disperse at a riot, failure to obey the orders of police and 38 counts of false imprisonment. Eight of the defendants also face a felony conspiracy charge, and the rest face a misdemeanor conspiracy charge.
Protests in opposition to the war in Gaza have taken over highways, college campuses and city streets since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, where militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 250 hostages, roughly 115 of whom are still missing. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in Gaza, who include both Hamas forces and civilians in their casualty counts.
The protesters gathered shortly before 8 a.m. on April 15 on the Golden Gate Bridge, where they abandoned their vehicles and chained their bodies together while holding up signs. The group’s members were warned repeatedly by police and other officials that they would be arrested if they did not move, but the group ignored them, according to the D.A.’s office.
A protester later identified as Sara Cantor told police that the protesters would not resist arrest, but the demonstrators who were interlocked between vehicles with a large metal tube would not voluntarily comply with authorities, the D.A.’s office said. All of the protesters were arrested and removed from the bridge, and the traffic lanes were reopened by 12:20 p.m.
Roughly 12,000 vehicles travel south and 8,000 vehicles travel north on the bridge between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon, according to the Golden Gate Bridge District, which the D.A.’s office claims lost more than $162,000 in revenue due to the protest.
Jenkins took to social media following the protest to ask for anyone stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge to come forward, because they could be entitled to restitution and have other rights guaranteed under state’s law.
The D.A.’s office said several hundred people were held against their will at the mercy of the protest. According to court documents, people caught in the middle of stopped traffic missed work and important medical appointments, and a mother with her baby did not have water for the infant formula.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 