The Elon University School of Education invited “white identifying” students to participate in a white caucus to discuss race without distressing people of color, according to an email first reported by Young America’s Foundation. The document said it was urgent for white-identifying students to attend the white caucus, scheduled to meet online Feb. 16, because it takes a step towards making equity-minded leaders in education. The email also adds that white caucusing shows commitment to antiracism , and is important for whites who care about racial justice, according to the document obtained by Young America’s Foundation . NEW: Elon University is hosting a whites-only caucus for “white-identifying students” to discuss racism without “re-traumatizing people of color.” The school also forces students participating to sign a confidentiality agreement. My latest for @YAF : https://t.co/9cLw6FShfI — Kara Zupkus (@kara_kirsten) February 9, 2021 Elon University’s …
The environmental impact of the U.S.-Mexico border wall
Tech & Science Mexico Border control Illegal Immigration Immigration A line of 18-foot-tall steel posts placed four inches apart cuts like a scar across the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge near McAllen, Texas. It's a stretch of a barrier extending intermittently across 650 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border from California to Texas, and presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio vow to enlarge it if elected. The barrier is intended to deter illegal immigration and smuggling. Whether it has achieved those aims remains unclear, but what is clear in this part of Texas is that sections of the barrier bisect and isolate public and private lands, threatening to decimate wildlife habitats and leaving communities on both sides of the border that rely on wildlife tourism to wither. The Rio Grande traces the entire 1,254-mile border between Mexico and Texas. Alongside a 120-mile stretch of the river that ends at the Gulf of Mexico, more …
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Skywalkers Sneak to the Top of the World’s Tallest Buildings—and Bring Back Proof
The biting wind blowing off the China Sea stung the cheek of Vadim Mahora as he dangled more than half a kilometre above the ground from the top of East Asia's tallest skyscraper, the Shanghai Tower. "Seeing the smaller towers pierce the clouds below made me feel more alive than ever before," says Mahora. The 24-year-old Russian from Novosibirsk became the first person to reach the 632-meter top of one of the world's tallest towers last February. His ascent was strictly unauthorised. He outwitted security guards to make the two-hour climb, then took out his smartphone and posted his video online from above the clouds. "Our mission was a success and we had the footage to prove to the world what we had achieved," he says. Mahora and his climbing partner Vitaly Raskalov are "skywalkers", part of a Russian subculture that has grown exponentially during the past four years, thanks to the internet. The group is thought to number more than 200. Without safety equipment, they scale the …
Why abolishing the police and turning to the community won’t protect women
The killing of Rayshard Brooks by police in America happened less than three weeks after that of George Floyd. With jaw-dropping horror, these deaths point to the intractable history of police brutality towards the black community, despite an equally long history of reform. The killings have given new impetus to the long-simmering frustration of how do you solve a problem like the police? Calls to defund the police and use the resources that are freed up on community welfare, health and education are rational and laudable, as those kinds of investments should reduce the need for police intervention further down the line. But defunding is usually seen as the tactical first step on the road to abolition by creating the kind of society in which policing would not be needed. While the US context, with its prison-industrial complex and where the police began life as slave patrols , is significantly different from the UK, there are enough parallels in terms of …
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Senate poised to battle over Biden’s pick of big bank critic
President Biden Joe Biden Fighter jet escorts aircraft that entered restricted airspace during UN gathering Julian Castro knocks Biden administration over refugee policy FBI investigating alleged assault on Fort Bliss soldier at Afghan refugee camp MORE ’s pick to lead a powerful bank regulator is certain to spark a partisan battle in the Senate. Biden announced Thursday he will nominate Cornell University law professor Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), tapping a fierce critic of big banks for a post with broad power over the industry. Omarova has argued that major banks have failed to serve broader public needs and that the Federal Reserve should replace private firms in consumer banking. ADVERTISEMENT In a paper published last year, she proposed “a series of structural reforms that would radically redefine the role of a central bank” and “fundamentally alter the operations and systemic footprints of private …
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Sharpton Delivers Eulogy
Here’s what you need to know: Officials across the country move to ban chokeholds and defund the police. A New Jersey corrections officer is suspended after mocking George Floyd’s death during a protest. George Floyd is remembered as a father, son, nephew and ‘Superman.’ Plea deal negotiations with Chauvin broke down the day before he was charged with murder, prosecutors say. Trump promotes a conspiracy theory about an injured Buffalo protester. Evoking history, black cowboys and cowgirls are riding at protests. A New York City officer who shoved a protester surrenders to face charges. Officials across the country move to ban chokeholds and defund the police. More than two weeks after George Floyd gasped under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer that he could not breathe — an embodiment of the suffocation long felt by black Americans — the mayor of Houston stood at his funeral on Tuesday and announced that he would ban the city’s police from …
Laundrie family spends National Daughter’s Day ducking scrutiny as Petito’s parents plan funeral
close Video Laundrie's parents could be charged if they gave false information: Former detective Former D.C. homicide detective Ted Williams reacts to the latest developments in the manhunt for Brian Laundrie NORTH PORT, Fla. – Saturday is National Daughters Day – and the parents of New York’s Gabby Petito – who mourners around the country have called "America’s daughter" – spent it preparing for her Sunday funeral. Petito's mother, Nicole Schmidt, posted on Facebook Friday to grieve the loss of her daughter. "As I scroll through all the posts, my heart is full of love. I wish I could reach out and hug each and every one of you!!! Your support has been so overwhelming and we are so filled with gratitude. Please know what you are all doing for us does not go unnoticed, and with all of you by our side, we will get #justiceforgabby." The parents of Brian Laundrie, who police have named as a person of interest in the activities surrounding …
Maxine Waters Celebrates Radical Abortion Bill: ‘Governor Abbott, This One’s for You!’
Far-left California lawmaker Rep. Maxine Waters (D) celebrated the Democrat-passed abortion bill Friday, which essentially bars state governments from enacting any “law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision” that violates the act permitting the brutal killing of unborn children even up to birth. “ Leave women alone!” the 83-year-old lawmaker declared, blasting Texas for prioritizing protection for unborn children. “The Texas legislature voted to interfere with a woman’s right to choose & they’re rewarding vigilantes for coming after women & their doctors. Today, I voted to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. Governor Abbott, this one’s for you!” she said, using the hashtag, #LeaveWomenAlone: Leave women alone! The Texas legislature voted to interfere with a woman’s right to choose & they’re rewarding vigilantes for coming after women & their doctors. Today, I voted to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. Governor Abbott, this one’s for you! …
What China’s new missiles mean for the future of the aircraft carrier
World China U.S. military Missile South China Sea In late 1995, escalating Chinese threats against Taiwan prompted President Bill Clinton to stage a show of American support for the beleaguered island that Beijing's leaders couldn't ignore. Clinton sent two aircraft carrier battle groups steaming into the conflict zone, their heavily armed fighter jets poised on deck for takeoff. One battle group, led by the carrier USS Nimitz , sailed down the middle of the Taiwan Strait, less than 50 miles from the Chinese mainland, while the second stood in reserve off Taiwan's eastern coast. Chinese officials decried what they called "foreign intervention" in their long-standing claim to Taiwan. But lacking the weapons to deter the American warships, they had little choice but to heed Clinton's show of force and back away. China's loss of face in the Taiwan crisis spurred its development of a long-anticipated family of anti-ship missiles unveiled at a military parade in …
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DANIEL: Democrats Scream About ‘Whips’ To Distract From The Fact That They Have No Idea How To Secure The Border
Allegations that mounted border patrol officers used “whips” to beat and corral Haitian migrants trying to illegally cross the southern border have become the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing border crisis, largely thanks to Democrats. The “whips” in question were almost certainly reins and there is no clear evidence that the officers were hitting the migrants, but that hasn’t stopped Democrats from using the incident to criticize the immigration policies left over from the Trump administration and condemn the border patrol. Even President Joe Biden weighed in on the allegations. “It was horrible to see what you saw, to see people treated like they did—horses barely running them over people being strapped,” Biden said at a press conference Friday. “It’s outrageous. I promise you those people will pay.” It’s easier for Biden and the Democrats to scapegoat some CBP officers trying to do their jobs in a dangerous situation than it is to admit that they haven’t been doing …