At least two of the illegal migrants who were accused of viciously attacking two New York Police Department officers in January are members of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua‚ United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told the New York Post Tuesday.Wilson Juarez‚ 21‚ and Kelvin Servita-Arocha‚ 19‚ were recently apprehended in a Bronx apartment and are currently being held without bail by ICE officials‚ who claim the two men are members of a gang that is wreaking havoc in New York City.Marie Ferguson‚ a spokesperson for ICE‚ told the news outlet‚ “Both unlawfully present Venezuelan citizens have been charged in conjunction with the violent gang assault carried out on two NYPD officers [and] are currently detailed without bond.”“Both noncitizens have been identified as members of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization‚” Ferguson added.ICE officials reported that Arocha‚ who was arrested on a warrant‚ will have his custody status re-evaluated. Juarez was detained on a deportation order issued by an El Paso‚ Texas‚ judge a year ago.The two alleged gang members are accused of attacking a pair of NYPD officers on January 27. Shocking surveillance footage of the assault captured a gang of illegal migrants punching and kicking the law enforcement officials before fleeing the scene on foot.After coming under fire for releasing several of the suspects without bail‚ progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced new charges against the illegal migrants. Arocha was charged with two counts of assault‚ and Juarez was charged with a class E felony for allegedly tampering with physical evidence. As many as 14 suspects are believed to have taken part in the incident. At least one suspect remains at large.It is unclear whether ICE has linked any other suspects to Tren de Aragua‚ Spanish for "Aragua Train." The gang’s name stems from its origins as a railroad labor union in Aragua‚ Venezuela. The group’s presence in the New York City area is growing‚ and members have been linked to a recent increase in cellphone robberies.The Post reported earlier this week that the New York State National Guard is being advised to check all illegal migrants arriving in the state for gang-affiliated tattoos.“It’s to a point that they had to post policies on use of force like if we were in a combat zone‚” a National Guard source told the news outlet.An alert to service members stated‚ “Given the potential threat posed by TdA’s growing presence in the city‚ the [NYPD Intelligence and Counter Terrorism Bureau] recommends members of the service maintain situational awareness of symbols and iconography used by the gang to identify local activity and trends.”National Guard members were instructed to “coordinate with your precinct Field Intelligence Team” if they identify any individuals with gang-affiliated tattoos.An FBI source told the Post that a dangerous alliance between the Venezuelan gang and MS-13 members might be forming.“While these gangs wouldn’t normally mix‚ it’s always going to be a concern as the gang [Tren de Aragua] expands in strength and establishes a foothold‚” John Morales‚ a senior FBI agent‚ told the news outlet. “Right now we are working with our local law enforcement partners and sharing intelligence in order to stop the growth of Tren de Aragua.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A luxury superyacht seized from a Russian in 2022 has cost the American taxpayer so much that the government is seeking a judge's permission to auction it.The Amadea‚ a 348-foot superyacht with a price tag of $300 million‚ was seized in Fiji in April 2022 by the Department of Justice after the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the boat's owner‚ Suleiman Kerimov.The treasury sanctioned the man in 2018 over alleged money laundering. He is reportedly worth around $14 billion‚ according to NBC News.During the yacht's approximately 22 months in forfeiture‚ the government has spent nearly $20 million maintaining the superb vehicle. As reported by the National Pulse‚ the cost to maintain the Amadea is about $600‚000 per month. This is made up $360‚000 for crew‚ $75‚000 per month in fuel‚ and an additional $165‚000 in unnamed maintenance costs.When a $1.7 million annual insurance bill is included‚ that brings the estimated total to $18‚300‚000 and counting.With the bills piling up‚ the government has finally determined the sitting costs to be "excessive" and has requested that a judge allow the superyacht to be auctioned."The carrying costs for the Amadea are far from modest‚ and there is good cause to spare the Government and the public from bearing these costs‚" a filing stated‚ according to Business Insider.Another Russian oligarch may have thrown a wrench into the Treasury Department's plan‚ however. Eduard Khudainatov has claimed ownership of the yacht‚ and since he has not been sanctioned by the United States‚ he wants his supposed property returned to him.Khudainatov's legal representatives told Bloomberg that the seizure of the ship was "unlawful‚" but he is willing to pay the United States back for the maintenance costs of the Amadea.U.S. officials claimed‚ however‚ that while Kerimov used shell company transactions to hide that he is the owner‚ he is indeed the yacht's true "beneficial owner‚" with control and rights to the ship.In addition to the yacht seizure‚ the U.S. Department of the Treasury has blocked a trust worth over $1 billion that Kerimov "holds a property interest" in. The Delaware Heritage Trust was "formed in July 2017 for the purpose of holding and managing Kerimov’s U.S.-based assets‚" a 2022 government document stated.Kerimov was accused of using a complex series of legal entities and "front persons" to obscure his interest in the trust‚ with the funds "subsequently invested in large public and private U.S. companies and managed by a series of U.S. investment firms and facilitators."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

For the longest time‚ I didn’t know what I thought when someone mentioned nuclear energy. It seemed relegated to the realm of sci-fi or "The Simpsons." I knew what Chernobyl was‚ and I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster (a dorm room in Chinatown‚ pulling an all-nighter). But still‚ I didn’t know what to make of it. I spent several years in the trenches worrying about climate change‚ and I still don’t think I thought about nuclear very much. I thought we’d sooner see carbon capture than any meaningful changes to our energy infrastructure. Plus‚ wasn’t nuclear energy really dangerous‚ anyway? Maybe that’s what I thought about it. Not a pipe dream exactly; it was just dangerous. I think a lot of people get their idea of nuclear waste from "The Simpsons‚" but as my friend Madi Hilly says‚ the only thing "The Simpsons" got right about nuclear is that a man without a college degree can make enough to buy a home and support his family while working at a nuclear power plant.Then‚ around 2019‚ I started noticing nuclear discourse appearing in my digital life. A tweet here‚ a TikTok there. Suddenly‚ it started taking shape in my mind. It was no longer some ill-defined threat. Nuclear energy became something more tangible. But for people like me‚ being able to understand nuclear power doesn’t just happen. It’s thanks to people like Emmet Penney‚ one of the most interesting and most accessible energy writers out there. Something of a digital renaissance man‚ he’s an accomplished essayist‚ the mind behind the newsletter Grid Brief‚ a podcast host times two at "Nuclear Barbarians" and "ex.haust‚" a contributing editor at Compact‚ and a recipient of a prestigious Emergent Ventures grant. Here’s our conversation in which we discuss how he got into nuclear‚ whether my kids will grow extra limbs if we ever see widespread nuclear adoption‚ and why it feels like nuclear is entering the discourse as a perfect solution to our energy needs. Katherine: You are a humanities guy — what’s the story on how you got into nuclear? Emmet: I got into nuclear through Michael Shellenberger’s work and Leigh Phillips’ book "Austerity Ecology &; the Collapse Porn Addicts." A few years after I got nuke-pilled‚ I had the wonderful opportunity to help on Michael’s book "Apocalypse Never‚" which turned me into a full-blown advocate. This story has a lot of twists and turns‚ but that’s the most direct version of how it happened. Still‚ it baffles me that I’m even in this space.Katherine: Where’d the name “Nuclear Barbarians‚” the title of your nuclear energy podcast‚ come from?Emmet: I don’t share‚ as many nuclear advocates seem to‚ the belief that history progresses. Yet I still believe in civic virtue and the power and necessity of big industrial projects. So I wanted to come up with a brand idea that had an atavistic‚ John Milius tinge to it. I also wanted to head off the “nukebro” insult that renewaphiles tend to hurl around. If I’m already posting memes with Arnold as Conan and calling myself the Nuclear Barbarian‚ what else is there to say? I’ve already said it for you. The other reason I picked it is because if you’re a nuclear advocate‚ you’re more or less beyond the moat of the energy mainstream’s castle. So I wanted to feature that rather than fix it. Katherine: Please excuse the expression‚ but can you red-pill me on nuclear energy? I have internalized so much anti-nuclear propaganda. Emmet: Depends on what your concerns are. Many people are worried about safety issues‚ but nuclear power is among the safest energy sources. It also has the lowest land footprint. If you’re really worried about climate and you think it’s a good idea to electrify everything so as to reduce emissions‚ then you’ll want to look at the two canonical examples of decarbonizing the electricity sector: Ontario and France. Both were accomplished with nuclear. No one’s done it with renewables. If you want to know how nuclear got such a bad name (and how it became so expensive to build in America)‚ you can check out this piece I wrote for American Affairs. It was my attempt to write the article I wish someone could have handed me when I first started getting into all this five years ago. Katherine: What about nuclear waste? Will my kids grow extra limbs if I live near a reactor?Emmet: The waste is the best part. Renewables end up clogging landfills and leaching toxic chemicals into the ground. Coal stores a lot of its waste in the air we breathe. On the other hand‚ nuclear has highly monitored waste stored in highly durable casks. Check out this photo of my friend Paris hanging out with the waste at the Paolo Verde plant in Arizona.I think a lot of people get their idea of nuclear waste from "The Simpsons‚" but as my friend Madi Hilly says‚ the only thing "The Simpsons" got right about nuclear is that a man without a college degree can make enough to buy a home and support his family while working at a nuclear power plant. Katherine: What should freak me out the most about energy these days?Emmet: The general hostility to energy abundance that Western elites exhibit. People think they can do whatever they want with fossil fuels or nuclear and nothing bad will happen. Or they don’t care that bad things happen because it doesn’t affect them as much. But get a load of Germany right now – they closed their nuclear plants‚ made themselves dependent on natural gas from Russia‚ and now they’re firing up their coal plants to keep the lights on. So much for the all-renewables dream of their Energiewende. What we’re experiencing right now is the trailer for the feature-length suffering that’s about to play out over the next few years. Few in charge seem to have really internalized this. Katherine: You wrote about renewable energy credit scams in your newsletter‚ Grid Brief. It’s not the first time I’ve heard chatter about this. What’s the story there? Leif Skoogfors/GettyEmmet: Renewable energy credits are a way to say you run on clean energy from renewables without actually doing it. They’re like the indulgences for sins the Catholic Church put on the market way back when. The basic idea is that you offset your “sin” of consuming fossil fuels by purchasing some credits that go towards renewable energy projects. Does this actually happen? It’s a Barnum and Bailey world out there‚ so not really. It’s more like an accounting trick. They’re useful because if you’re‚ say‚ running a huge data storage facility‚ you’re power-hungry and most likely getting all of your juice from fossil fuel generators because fossil fuels are energy-dense‚ reliable‚ and dispatchable (you can call on them when you need them). But maybe you’re in a state that has certain standards around how much clean energy you have to use. Well‚ you can buy some credits and say‚ “Hey‚ look! I bought all these credits that cancel out all my emissions! I’m 100% clean now.” Unless you’re parked next to a major hydro dam or a nuclear plant‚ that’s probably a load of bull. And part of that’s just the nature of electricity. Once electricity is created‚ you can’t analyze it and go‚ “Ah‚ yes! This is coal electricity.” It’s just watts. There’s no such thing as an electricity sommelier.Anyway‚ RECs are a big scam. Katherine: It’s weird that energy doesn’t get a lot of airtime in the hot-take economy given how it … well‚ undergirds everything. But part of me wonders if it’s because it’s just complicated to write about and there’s a barrier to entry to understand what you’re talking about. Is that it? Or do you think there are other reasons?Emmet: I’d say the barrier to entry for energy discourse is inherently higher than other spheres. Anyone can watch some new Netflix show and fire off a spicy take on it — and good for them. With energy‚ you have to put some work in over time. Lots of homework. I’m absolutely a beginner. Part of the reason I got into all this is because there’s something new to learn every single day. It’s also because — and this is especially true when it comes to electricity markets — there are loads of specialized language. If some dude with a wind turbine in his profile pic tweets out “MOPRs are for utilities cucks‚” who the f**k is going to like or RT that? No one knows what he’s talking about outside a very small circle. Hot-take economies run on the structure of jokes‚ and jokes are structured like a 2010 American Apparel ad. It’s about what information is missing‚ not what information’s there. All that being said‚ there are still flame wars and hot-take economies that play out within the energy sphere. It’s like any other online discourse‚ really. Just with more white papers and graphs. Katherine: Who’s one person everyone should be reading on any topic? Or listening to‚ for that matter? Emmet: There are so many people I could list that it’s overwhelming me. So I’ll instead give some advice that I wish someone had given me when I started exploring various domains for myself: Go to the library and find out-of-print books on the topic you’re interested in. Or buy them online if you’re so inclined. Understand that what you’re curious about has probably been litigated over and over again — tear through works cited and bibliographies and figure out the genealogy of the debate to the best of your ability. Try to wade into the flow of time. And reread Plato’s "Republic" a few times a decade.

Candace Cameron Bure‚ best known for playing D.J. Tanner on ABC’s “Full House‚” is no stranger to the crushing pressure of Hollywood’s impossible and toxic beauty standards. Bure is now back in the entertainment industry‚ and while she loves her “fitness routine” and “being a healthy eater‚” she knows where to draw the line. “There are unrealistic and unhealthy beauty standards in the entertainment industry that I'm sure you had to battle against‚” says Allie Beth Stuckey. “I still do‚” Bure admits‚ citing “the Ozempic craze” as one area she’s currently struggling with. “I’m like‚ ‘Should I go on Ozempic?’ … I’m not going to go on Ozempic‚ but these are the things that cross my mind because the standard is so high and I’m in front of the camera all day‚” she continues‚ adding that “a lot of the pressure comes from [herself].” Bure is open about her former eating disorder‚ and while she’s had control over it for “20 years‚” she still has to “battle it all the time.” “I have tools in place that help me‚” she says. Before making a decision‚ “I'm going to remind myself how I'm going to feel‚ I'm going to remind myself of every physicality” that might happen — “whether my stomach’s going to feel bloated‚ whether my eyes and face are going to hurt.” “I was bulimic for a long time‚ so I remind myself of the things that feel awful and the consequences of it‚” she says‚ adding that this method “snaps [her] back to reality.” As for exercise‚ Bure focuses on “[feeling] strong and healthy‚” allowing “all of those endorphins” to help “clear [her] mind.” “My fitness journey is really for my emotional health‚” she says. She also looks to her Christian faith to guide her through those internal battles. “I have an ongoing dialogue with God‚ and so‚ my prayer life is pretty strong‚” she tells Allie. “If I pull the Holy Spirit into my mind and I'm constantly praying and asking God to renew my mind‚ it helps.” To hear about how Candace handles the pressure to look perfect on social media and the inevitability of aging‚ watch the clip below. Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture‚ news‚ and theology from a Christian‚ conservative perspective‚ subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

The left and its corporate media have been having another panic about Donald Trump. This time‚ they’re calling Trump a would-be dictator. Whenever the left accuses the right of something‚ it’s almost guaranteed the left is doing that very thing. So who is really acting like a dictator right now? Joe Biden has been governing like a dictator since day one. Believe it or not‚ even the New York Times said so after Biden’s first week in office when he signed a boatload of executive orders. You know it must be bad when the New York Times editorial board suggests “legislating through Congress is a better path.” To keep their power‚ dictatorships must try to control the spread of ideas they find threatening. This is not a South American-style dictatorship where political enemies are rounded up and executed. It’s a nice progressive-style dictatorship where opponents are monitored‚ or censored online‚ or get a knock on the door from an IRS agent. You might wonder how Biden can be a dictator if he is practically senile. He can be both thanks to the administrative state. It’s a well-oiled machine. Biden is just the tip of the spear‚ the public face reading the teleprompter lines that he’s fed. And that’s on a good day. It’s the left-wing activists in charge. It’s the Woodrow Wilson progressive dictatorship model. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a major fan of Wilson. He and his band of merry progressives took Wilson’s model to the next level with New Deal controls. Wilson and FDR both pulled off their dictatorships during wartime. Later‚ Lyndon Johnson tried to do it by declaring his own “war on poverty.” In an ideal progressive dictatorship‚ you have control of Congress to rubber-stamp your ideas. In Biden’s case‚ he doesn’t need to pass legislation any more since he has the vast executive wing of federal government built by Wilson‚ FDR‚ LBJ‚ Bill Clinton‚ and Barack Obama. Here is a rundown of 10 ways Biden has acted as a dictator. The eviction moratorium Biden’s eviction moratorium in 2021 simply ignored property rights and placed undue financial hardship on small businesses. Ultimately‚ the Supreme Court correctly struck it down. Unconstitutional vaccine mandates Biden’s September 2021 executive order required vaccines for all federal workers and federal contractors‚ health care workers‚ the military‚ and all employers with more than 100 employees. Again‚ the Supreme Court struck most of it down. In his announcement‚ he said: “This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. … We’ve been patient‚ but our patience is wearing thin.” Student loan cancellation I bet you didn’t know that a president can just wave his magic wand and make loan debt disappear. Well‚ technically he can’t‚ but that hasn’t stopped Biden. Last summer‚ yet again‚ the Supreme Court shut down this plan as completely unconstitutional. But in true dictator style‚ Biden treats Supreme Court decisions as roadblocks to drive around. Just a few weeks ago‚ he canceled another $5 billion in student loan debt. This brings his grand cancellation total to $136 billion. The Disinformation Governance Board In 2022‚ Biden named Nina Jankowicz as the first censorship czar of the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board‚ and she sounded perfect for the role. After all‚ she had called the Hunter Biden laptop story nothing more than “a Trump campaign product.” When the disinformation board was later shelved‚ the Washington Post blamed it on “right-wing attacks.” To keep their power‚ dictatorships must try to control the spread of ideas they find threatening. Destroying American energy During his first week in office‚ Biden canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline. He stopped new oil and natural gas leasing on public lands and offshore‚ even though a court ordered him to resume the lease sales as required by law. Then he drained our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since 1984. Then‚ since socialist dictators stick together‚ Biden reduced sanctions on Venezuela‚ allowing the country to resume pumping oil there and exporting 19% of it back to us. An enormous land-grab Biden claims he is “protecting” 1.5 million acres of public land so far as part of his “30 by 30” plan. He wants to protect “at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.” Biden didn’t come up with this idea on his own‚ of course. The Center for American Progress came up with the “30 by 30” program in a 2019 report titled “How Much Nature Should America Keep?” John Podesta‚ the guy who started the Center for American Progress‚ is now replacing John Kerry as Biden’s climate czar. Podesta will officially just be a “coordinator” in the position. That way he won’t face confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Moreover‚ he won’t have to answer questions about Kerry‚ who refused to hand over simple information like who was on his staff‚ his expenses as climate czar‚ and what he actually worked on. It’s a great way to keep your radical climate agenda hidden from oversight. This is how you run a modern progressive dictatorship: erasing the lines between left-wing dark money think tanks and the executive branch‚ sidestepping the Constitution‚ and avoiding Congress by working through government agencies to accomplish whatever the activists want. The National School Boards Association letter In 2021‚ the NSBA asked Biden for help and urged that parental threats be classified as “domestic terrorism.” It turns out that the NSBA coordinated with the White House and the Justice Department on the letter. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before Congress that the Justice Department was not using counterterrorism tools to target parents. Whistleblowers later said‚ however‚ that the Justice Department and FBI were investigating parents across the country with a “threat tag” created by the FBI’s counterterrorism division. Targeting pro-life demonstrators In 2022 alone‚ the Justice Department charged 34 people for blocking access to abortion clinics. Meanwhile‚ in the same period‚ there were 81 reported attacks on pregnancy centers and 130 attacks on Catholic churches since a draft of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was leaked. Yet only two individuals have been charged related to those crimes. When Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) questioned Garland about the disparity‚ the attorney general said it was because the pro-lifers committed their “crimes” during the daytime when their faces could be seen‚ while those who vandalized pregnancy centers and churches did so in the nighttime. Do you really buy that? As Senator Lee asked Garland‚ “How do you explain the disparity by reference to anything other than politicization?”Trashing the First Amendment Biden has been cracking down on the First Amendment by working with Big Tech platforms to censor speech on topics including COVID origins‚ masks‚ vaccines‚ lockdowns‚ the Hunter Biden laptop‚ climate change‚ mail-in voting‚ and election integrity. The censorship happened even when the social media companies knew the suppressed information was true. Last year‚ Federal District Court Judge Terry Doughty called this case “the most massive attack against free speech in United States history." Even after an injunction‚ the Biden White House is pressing on with its legal challenge‚ claiming the government’s free speech is being violated. The Supreme Court will hear the case this year. In the meantime‚ we continue learning more about Biden’s censorship efforts‚ including the revelation earlier this month by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that the White House pressured Amazon to censor books related to COVID-19. Amazon caved and triggered a “do not promote” policy for books that were critical of vaccines. Forcing transgenderism on schools During Biden’s very first week in office‚ he signed an order declaring support for boys participating as girls in girls’ sports. In 2022‚ he signed an executive order expanding access to sex-change treatments for kids. In addition‚ recent rule changes to Title IX will force school employees to report any improper use of a transgender person’s preferred pronouns to the Title IX coordinator for that campus. More policing of speech sounds totally constitutional. Biden has been in the White House for three years and issued 131 executive orders so far — a little less than an average of one per week. During his first year in office alone‚ he issued 77 orders‚ almost double Obama’s first year‚ and 40% more than Trump’s first year. These are dictator moves. Abusing executive power. Skipping past Congress. Ignoring the Constitution. Trampling on individual liberties. Targeting political opponents. This is how Biden delivers on his inaugural address promise to “restore the soul and to secure the future of America.”

Tema Okun‚ a white Oberlin College graduate from North Carolina‚ has spent the last three decades suggesting that Western civilization and its distinguishing features are racist. According to the greying leftist‚ objectivity‚ binary thinking‚ and individuality are "characteristics of white supremacy culture." The Gaza ceasefire advocate's feverish accusations‚ first published in 1999‚ have been reprinted countless times and promoted by once-serious institutions and universities across the country. Conservative radio host Jason Rantz of KTTH has obtained possible evidence that Seattle Public Schools is now subjecting English students to Okun's racist ravings. Okun racializes quality and competence Okun‚ plagued by apparent feelings of inadequacy and "exasperation‚" attempted in the late 1990s to draft a list of "characteristics of white supremacy culture" she perceived to be "prevalent in our culture and institutions." The leftist determined that various effective beliefs‚ behaviors‚ and modes of thinking — including objectivity‚ a sense of right and wrong‚ and individuality — were "damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking." A sense of urgency is supposedly racist‚ for example‚ because it "makes it difficult to take time to be inclusive‚ encourage democratic and / or thoughtful decision-making‚ to think long-term‚ to consider consequences." Even worse‚ a sense of urgency "frequently results in sacrificing potential allies for quick or highly visible results." Paternalism‚ by which Okun apparently meant decisive leadership‚ is a characteristic of white supremacy because "those with power think they are capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power." "Either/or thinking" is racist because it is "closely linked to perfectionism‚" "results in trying to simplify complex things‚" and "creates conflict and increases sense of urgency." Okun also figures individualism to be a characteristic of white supremacy because it promotes a "desire for individual recognition and credit" and "creates a lack of accountability‚ as the organization values those who can get things done on their own without needing supervision or guidance." Objectivity is another such white supremacist characteristic because it requires people to think in a logical fashion and allegedly corresponds with "the belief that emotions are inherently destructive‚ irrational‚ and should not play a role in decision-making or group process." Okun notes on her blog that "white supremacy culture is inextricably linked to all the other oppressions - capitalism‚ sexism‚ class and gender oppression‚ ableism‚ ageism‚ Christian hegemony - these and more are all interconnected and intersected and stirred together in a toxic brew[.] ... This brew is a cancer‚ a disease‚ an addiction‚ an infliction and it infects everything with and without our awareness." The madness continues to spreadSeattle Public Schools has made no secret of its identitarian leanings‚ noting in its 2019-2024 strategic plan that it is focused on "ensuring racial equity in our educational system‚ unapologetically address[ing] the needs of students of color who are further from educational justice‚ and work[ing] to undo the legacies of racism in our educational system." To this end‚ SPS appears to be singularly focused on helping one group of students. "By focusing on students of color who are furthest from educational justice‚ especially African American males‚ we will make the greatest progress toward our collective vision‚" says the strategic plan. "We believe that an intentional focus on African American males will ultimately benefit every student." Accommodation of black male students apparently entails divorcing them from desirable traits and convincing them that such traits are racist. A concerned father told Rantz that students in a class on world literature and composition were given a handout with definitions of the "9 characteristics of white supremacy" as part of "Black Lives Matter at School Week‚" which previously ran from late January to early February. The English students were apparently told that "Worship of the Written Word" — one of Okun's proposed characteristics of white supremacy — entails "honoring only what is written and even then only what is written to a narrow standard‚ full of misinformation and lies. An erasure of the wide range of ways we communicate with each other." An updated and textual definition of Okun's white supremacy characteristic‚ circulated by the University of Michigan‚ indicates that the worship of the written word is especially problematic because it corresponds with an "inability or refusal to acknowledge information that is shared through stories‚ embodied knowing‚ intuition and the wide range of ways that we individually and collectively learn and know." The other eight characteristics named on the handout‚ all lifted from Okun's decades-old article‚ are as follows: objectivity; individualism; right to comfort; perfectionism; denial and defensiveness; paternalism; either/or and the binary; and fear. The list is "incoherent and cannot stand any sort of reasoned analysis‚" added the father. "How is a 15-year-old kid supposed to object in class when 'denial and defensiveness' is itself a characteristic of white supremacy? This is truly educational malpractice." KTTH indicated that SPS declined to provide comment. "I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this‚ as it is setting them up for failure‚" the father‚ who chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals‚ told Rantz. "My problem with this curriculum is that this is supposed to be a writing and literature class‚ and lessons like these do nothing to help my kid become a better writer." "I'm sure Lincoln administration will point to the high ELA proficiency scores‚ but the high proportion of HCC [highly capable] kids (40% of the student body) is a big factor‚" added the concerned dad. "With so many smart‚ hardworking kids (white supremacists) it's easy to support these luxury beliefs‚ but system-wide‚ only 63% of kids are proficient in English. Is this really the best use of class time?" Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

An actress who starred in iconic films like "Breathless" and "Bonjour Tristesse‚" Jean Seberg would have her life destroyed by a government smear campaign in the 1970s. The post Jean Seberg Was A Celebrated Actress — Then The FBI Targeted Her For Supporting Civil Rights appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Recent reports suggest that at least 12 UNRWA staff participated in the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel in October. 

Will anyone from Team Transitory go on the record by predicting deflation in the coming years? If not‚ they should stop claiming inflation was transitory.

MS Society Releases Statement on Dismissal of 90-Year-Old Volunteer‚ Things Go VERY Badly for Them