Educational Interference & A Room With An Intrusive View
February 2, 2023
During Black History Month?!
On Wednesday, the College Board revealed the changes they have made to the proposed Advanced Placement (AP) African-American studies course, and, despite promises to the contrary, it appears to have conceded to some conservative demands. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had rejected the possibility of teaching the course in his state, saying it “significantly lacks educational value” and told the College Board to come back with “lawful, historically accurate content” next time around.
Florida officials explained that they had rejected the course based on six specific areas of the course: “Black Queer Studies,” “Intersectionality,” “Movement for Black Lives,” “Black Feminist Literary Thought,” “The Reparations Movement,” and “Black Struggle in the 21st Century.” “Movement for Black Lives” is now missing from the syllabus entirely, and significant changes were made to the “Intersectionality” section. Officials also took issue with the teaching of works by Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, bell hooks, Angela Davis, and other Black authors – in the updated syllabus, they have been removed. Perhaps most interesting is the addition of a “suggested research project topic”: Black conservatism.
While the College Board is busy bowing down to Governor DeSantis, he’s moved his focus to higher areas of education. The day before the Board’s reveal of its new-and-improved course, DeSantis announced that he plans to block state colleges from having programs on critical race theory, as well as on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism, essentially arguing that racism is systemic and helps maintains the current racial hierarchy. The move falls in line with his typical position, like the “Stop WOKE Act,” which limits discussions of race in schools, and the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill that acts similarly for LGBTQ+ conversations.
Good News
- National Braille Press children’s book club making reading more accessible (CBS)
- U.S. awarding $800 million to improve roads, cut traffic deaths (Reuters)
- Everyone to live 15 minutes from green space or water in England under plans (BBC)
Putin The Message Out There
- According to researchers at Logically, a company that tracks online misinformation and disinformation, a network called “Russosphere” is pushing pro-Kremlin messages in Africa. The network is connected to a far-right Belgian political activist named Luc Michel who was involved in overseeing contested Russian-backed referenda in Crimea and Donbas in 2014. He also helped a 2021 effort to create a “Republic of Detroit’” in the U.S.
- Using Facebook, YouTube, Telegram, and other online channels, Russosphere is using a tactic similar to the one used in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, exploiting deep political divisions and using social media to do so. Despite ongoing efforts to suppress such misinformation and pro-Russian campaigns, social media remains the perfect breeding ground for propaganda.
Though She Be But Little, She Is Fiercely Radioactive
- A tiny capsule filled with Caesium-137, eight millimeters tall and six millimeters in diameter, was found on the roadside of a remote highway Wednesday afternoon, six days after it went missing in Western Australia. Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said during a press conference Wednesday the search was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
- Emergency responders and radiation specialists were frantically searching for the capsule along a 22-mile busy freight route in the regions of Pilbara, Midwest Gascoyne, Goldfields-Midlands, and Perth Metropolitan after it was lost during transportation from the Rio Tinto mine to the northeastern suburbs of Perth, an 870-mile journey.
- The capsule is tiny, but contained materials that are “a million times more active” than those used in a lab, according to Angela Di Fulvio, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Coming within one meter of the source is comparable to about 17 chest X-rays.
Additional World News
- US says Russia is violating key nuclear arms control agreement (CNN)
- Andrew Tate: Influencer’s appeal against detention rejected by Romanian judges (BBC)
- Exiled Bolsonaro lives it up in Florida as legal woes grow back home (Guardian)
- Most schools in England affected by strikes (BBC)
- India hikes spending, shuns ‘outright populism’ in last pre-election budget (Reuters)
- Rishi Sunak under pressure over what he knew about claims against Dominic Raab (BBC)
- German police arrest woman for allegedly murdering doppelgänger to fake her own death (CNN)
- Iran imprisons couple shown dancing at Tehran’s Freedom Tower in viral video (NBC)
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
No Search Results Found
- On Wednesday, President Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer said the FBI searched the president’s home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and found no more classified documents. After over three hours, the FBI did leave with some handwritten notes and other materials for further review, similar to their search at the Wilmington residence.
- The search was planned and had the “full support and cooperation” of Biden, Bauer said. This marks the third known occasion that federal agents have searched properties associated with the president for classified materials. The Justice Department announced special counsel Robert Hur officially began his job overseeing the investigation of Biden’s handling of classified documents on the same day.
Petty Probe Proliferation
- On Wednesday, House Republicans held their first set of hearings regarding the Biden administration and Democrats as they take full advantage of their narrow majority in the chamber. The Judiciary Committee’s first meeting will cover what Republicans have named “The Biden Border Crisis,” and will consider immigration and security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says they will focus on the perceived lack of scrutiny when it comes to pandemic-era spending. “There have been reports of lots of waste, fraud and abuse with respect to the stimulus funds, PPE, loan fund, unemployment funds and all of that,” Comer explained. The Oversight committee is also looking into the Biden family and their business dealings, but so far they haven’t found any proof of misconduct.
Additional USA News
- Man shot dead by police after opening fire with AR-15 in Target store in Omaha (Guardian)
- Trump Org. controller to testify to Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments (CNN)
- Republican Nikki Haley is set to announce a run for president (NPR)
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoes Grieving Families Act, angering some loved ones of Buffalo massacre (ABC)
- Biden administration takes another step toward advancing a controversial oil drilling project in Alaska (CNN)
- Michigan House passes 2024 primary calendar shift (The Hill)
- Republican-led states ask judge to shut down DACA program for immigrant “Dreamers” (CBS)
View From The Top, Sides, & Bottom
- Talk about an invasion of privacy. Five residents of four flats in the Neo Bankside development on the South Bank in London took legal action against the Tate Modern art gallery – specifically, a viewing platform 34 meters (111 feet) from their windows that provides a panorama of the city and a direct line of sight into their glass-sided homes. The platform opened in 2016, while the flats were completed in 2012, so residents could not have known the access that 500,000 strangers annually would have to their daily activities.
- In a majority judgment, the U.K.’s supreme court ruled that residents of the luxury flats across from the Tate Modern’s viewing gallery faced a “constant visual intrusion” that interfered with the “ordinary use and enjoyment” of their properties. Some visitors have even photographed the interiors of the residences and posted the images on social media. Lord Leggatt said, “It is not difficult to imagine how oppressive living in such circumstances would feel for any ordinary person – much like being on display in a zoo.”
- The judgment does not contain a remedy, and suggested to the high court that it may involve either an injunction or damages paid to the owners. The decision risks opening the floodgates to countless neighborly disputes, but Leggatt warned that the decision does not mean that residents can complain of nuisance because neighbors could see inside their buildings. He made it clear that this is an extremely specific case – after all, how often are viewing galleries installed across the street from floor-to-ceiling windowed apartments?
Additional Reads
- Dallas Zoo’s missing tamarin monkeys have been found in a closet of an abandoned home. Here’s what we know (CNN)
- Here are the states Americans are moving to — and the states they are ditching (CBS)
- Dances with Wolves actor and alleged cult leader arrested on sex abuse claims (Guardian)
- Discovery of embalming workshop reveals how ancient Egyptians mummified the dead (CNN)
- Hong Kong bans CBD, a move that forces businesses to shut down or revamp (NPR)
- The Shift to Renewable Energy Is Speeding Up. Here’s How. (NYT, $)
- Third car in 2 weeks falls into California sinkhole marked by “road closed” sign: “We can’t make this stuff up” (CBS)