Category: Khmer Noir

What’s The Opposite Of Diversity?

University.

Two years ago, a colleague entered a prestigious graduate program. When I asked how the opening days of classes had gone, she described something akin to a dreary Maoist struggle session. Discussion focused on tedious strategies for avoiding the barely discernible microaggressions that would cause fragile classmates and others to crumple into apoplexy. Students dutifully climbed to their particular rungs on the intersectional ladder and admitted the sins that indelibly stain those on their particular rungs. Conversations signaled which sorts of viewpoints would be unwelcome. The best strategy, she thought, was to remain quiet and nod reflexively when absolutely necessary. I wondered how this particular department could have sunk so far, but in the following months, I realized that the problem had suddenly metastasized in universities of every type across America.

They Took All The Rights, Put ‘Em In A Rights Museum

Human rights tribunal says the quiet part out loud

In June 2021, an Ontario high school student tried to sign up for a summer program. He was rejected because he was white. The “SummerUp” program, sponsored by the Ontario government, was open only to Black students. His father filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal alleging racial discrimination. Last November, the Tribunal dismissed the complaint, saying the quiet part out loud. White people, wrote the Tribunal, cannot claim discrimination.

Go Woke

Go broke.

Last week, NPR laid off 84 people and stopped production on four seasonal podcasts, including Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot and Rough Translation. The company warned in February those cuts would be coming after it projected a $30 million sponsorship shortfall this year.

Thirteen roles in the organization’s digital team are also planned to be cut, but that group unionized through a separate union for broadcast employees and technicians and haven’t yet agreed on a contract with NPR, despite the organization voluntarily recognizing them. This means they cannot be laid off until a contract or separate lay-off agreement is met.

While layoffs often mark the abrupt end of an era at an organization, NPR’s story has stretched into this week, spilling over into multiple, tense all-hands meetings in which impacted employees grilled executives about their decisions. […]

A group of executives, including president and CEO John Lansing, presented various financial metrics and updates on the diversity levels at the organization following the layoffs. As of March 24th, for example, NPR had booked $28.9 million in sponsorship revenue for the first quarter, compared to $41 million the year prior. The team highlighted that diversity levels remained roughly consistent before and after the cuts, though trans people in the programming department dropped, going from 2.5% of the workforce to 1.2%.

It gets better.

Badge #5869

In depth report and unpixelized video at at Gateway Pundit;

A Forensics Video Analyst from “The People’s January 6th Commission” methodically put together video evidence that Morris is allegedly the officer seen beating Boyland a number of times to the body and the head with a stick. Interestingly, the original body-cam footage he found of Boyland being beaten was hidden in plain sight. The Department of Justice & FBI gave this body-cam video to mainstream media who continued to use it to paint their narrative. MSNBC and CNN had both played the footage repeatedly to illustrate Capitol violence and paint the picture of an “insurrection.” This is a glaring example of how negligent and irresponsible some mainstream media are to miss something like this in the videos they play for the American People and around the world.

Ban All The Words

These people are too stupid to breathe, so they’ve been granted the role as educators.

The University of Southern California’s school of social work will no longer use the word “field” in its curriculum, saying it may have racist “connotations.”

USC’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work said the change was critical to support anti-racist social work and inclusivity.

The department specifically decided to remove the word “field” from its curriculum and replace it with “practicum,” according to the letter, which was dated Jan. 9 and shared to Twitter.

“This change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that would be considered anti-Black or anti-immigrant in favor of inclusive language,” the letter said.

The letter continued: “Language can be powerful, and phrases such as ‘going into the field’ or ‘field work’ maybe have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign.”

See also, “Brownies”.

Race To The Bottom

City Journal;

For years, two administrators at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) have been withholding notifications of National Merit awards from the school’s families, most of them Asian, thus denying students the right to use those awards to boost their college-admission prospects and earn scholarships.

This episode has emerged amid the school district’s new strategy of “equal outcomes for every student, without exception.” School administrators, for instance, have implemented an “equitable grading” policy that eliminates zeros, gives students a grade of 50 percent just for showing up, and assigns a cryptic code of “NTI” for assignments not turned in. It’s a race to the bottom.

An intrepid Thomas Jefferson parent, Shawna Yashar, a lawyer, uncovered the withholding of National Merit awards. Since starting as a freshman at the school in September 2019, her son, who is part Arab American, studied statistical analysis, literature reviews, and college-level science late into the night. This workload was necessary to keep him up to speed with the advanced studies at TJ, which U.S. News & World Report ranks as America’s top school.

Last fall, along with about 1.5 million U.S. high school juniors, the Yashar teen took the PSAT, which determines whether a student qualifies as a prestigious National Merit scholar. When it came time to submit his college applications this fall, he didn’t have a National Merit honor to report — but it wasn’t because he hadn’t earned the award.

A Scandal Called “Farmgate”

And it’s not about South Africa’s murdered farmers.

South Africa is facing deep political turmoil and corresponding uncertainty across markets amid growing calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down over an emerging bizarre scandal centered on the alleged theft of $580,000. The over half million in cash was literally found stuffed in a sofa at a farm that Ramaphosa owns. The timing of the crisis couldn’t be worse given long-awaited economic reforms had only just begun to take shape and improve the country’s outlook. 

The mysterious cash payment has sparked outrage particularly among the opponents of the ruling African National Congress, and with his allies holding emergency consultations. On Thursday South African media is reporting President Ramaphosa is to imminently address the nation as prospect for his resignation grows, and as he faces impeachment.

More: Ramaphosa came to power after the ANC forced Jacob Zuma to step down following an almost nine-year tenure during which the government estimates more than 500 billion rand ($29 billion) was stolen from state coffers.

The Derek Chauvin Appeal

Scott Johnson;

Derek Chauvin could not afford an attorney to appeal his convictions in the case of George Floyd. Chauvin’s insurance did not extend to appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court denied him a public defender. Although I thought Chauvin could not have received a fair trial in Hennepin County, it looked like he wouldn’t be able to raise the issue on appeal either. […]

Virtually every time I wrote about the trial on Power Line I noted the riots that preceded it, the riots that occurred during it, and the concrete and barbed-wire construction around the courthouse that gave visible form to the lynch-mob atmosphere of the proceedings. National Guard troops were stationed outside the courthouse along with two armored personnel carriers.

Security concerns were such that the jurors assembled at an undisclosed location each morning during the trial and were driven to and from the courthouse by Hennepin County Sheriff’s officers in unmarked vans. The Star Tribune reported: “The unprecedented effort aimed at protecting jurors from danger and outside influence cost $21,905 in van rentals.”

One more thing. Governor Walz began deploying National Guard troops around Minneapolis and St. Paul as early as Wednesday, April 14, 2021-before jury sequestration-in the event riots occurred “post verdict,” as Bill puts it at page 29 of Appellant’s Brief. “Post verdict” should be translated as “in the unlikely event of a not guilty verdict.” Everyone in his right mind understood the secondary effects of a not guilty verdict.

He has an appeal lawyer now, and legal defense fund at a Give Send Go, for however long that lasts.

Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors

Until recently, I was a director of data science at Thomson Reuters, one of the biggest news organizations in the world. It was my job, among other things, to sift through reams of numbers and figure out what they meant.

About a year ago, I stumbled on a really big story. It was about black Americans being gunned down across the country and the ways in which we report on that violence. We had been talking nonstop about race and police brutality, and I thought: This is a story that could save lives. This is a story that has to be told.

But when I shared the story with my coworkers, my boss chastised me, telling me expressing this opinion could limit my ability to take on leadership roles within the company. Then I was maligned by my colleagues. And then I was fired.

Things You’ll Never See On The CBC

BLM journalist arrested in assassination attempt in Kentucky;

A Louisville activist has been identified as a suspect in Monday’s attempted shooting of mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg.

Quintez Brown, 21, was charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment after Greenberg was shot at in his campaign headquarters Monday morning in Butchertown, LMPD spokeswoman Elizabeth Ruoff said late Monday.

Brown, a civil rights activist, is a former intern and editorial columnist for The Courier Journal.

A police report says a man later identified as Brown entered the building and fired a 9mm Glock handgun at Greenberg before fleeing the building.

Black Loot Matters

The California Department of Justice has threatened to hold the leaders of Black Lives Matter personally liable if they fail to fork over information about the charity’s $60 million bankroll within the next 60 days, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The move came just days after a Washington Examiner investigation found that BLM has had no known leader in charge of its millions since its co-founder resigned in May and that the Los Angeles address it lists on its tax forms is wrong.

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