Boots & Sabers

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Category: Culture

Leftist Activist Quits Job Over DEI

by | 2050, 23 Apr 24 | , | 1 Comment

I encourage you to go read this entire post by a former professor in Texas who just quit. It is a marvelous bit of insight into the mind of someone who was shaping young minds a few short weeks ago. She is not an educator. She is an activist. It helps explain what’s happening on campuses this week.

No, I quit my dream job because my life is more expansive than just a job and because I have irreconcilable differences with my employer, the Government of the State of Texas.

“You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.”

My partner, Kate, and I have never felt at home in this state. I will not go into detail so as not to offend the many wonderful Texans I know and love, but this has never been our place.

 

We loved Seattle, my grad school home, but I know many wonderful people who lived there and then left due to the weather or the people’s reserved demeanor. But Kate and I cherished every moment we spent in the Pacific Northwest. It felt like home to us. Part of this is undoubtedly due to Seattle’s welcoming culture toward LGBTQ people, which we have experienced to a lesser extent here in Austin.

 

[…]

 

Since the pandemic, our sense of not belonging in Texas has intensified. The state took a disappointing approach to COVID-19, refusing to let the university require masking and returning us to the physical classroom too quickly.

 

Our lives didn’t matter to my employer, and this angered me.

 

The state has since attacked DEI programs, and I’ve watched marginalized students shed tears as centers that were formerly beacons of light for them are now shuttered. I recall a trans student telling me early in my career at UT that they felt so at home because of the awareness and resources available to trans people. I wonder if they would still feel the same way if they were a student here today. I strongly doubt it.

 

It is one thing to live in a country where the government is regressive and makes decisions I don’t agree with; it is quite another to work for a fundamentalist state with so much control over my job and that regularly threatens to do more damage. The latter has proven much harder for me to reconcile.

 

[…]

 

If I had fallen in love with Austin or felt at home in the state, I might want to stay and fight the power. After all, these atrocities are not unique to Texas.

 

I have spent the last seven years educating young people here, and I frequently tell them that they will one day change Texas. I still believe that. I am leaving them and my remaining warrior colleagues to carry on that work with all my love and support from afar.

Protests Erupt on American Campuses

by | 2002, 22 Apr 24 | , | 4 Comments

While I don’t discount the possibility that some of these protestors have informed and honorable intentions, the vast majority of them appear to just be hateful bigots. While everyone has a right to protest, they do not have a right to prevent people from living their lives.

Protests against the war in Gaza have spread from Columbia and Yale to other universities as officials scramble to diffuse a burgeoning protest movement.

Dozens of students were arrested at Yale on Monday, while Columbia cancelled in-person classes over fears of antisemitism on-campus.

 

Similar protest “encampments” have sprung up at other campuses, including Berkeley in California.

School officials are under increasing pressure to calm campus tensions.

SCOTUS hears Case On Banning Homeless Encampments

by | 1953, 22 Apr 24 | , | 0 Comments

This should be pretty simple. The Constitution is silent on homeless people, thus laws about them are up to the states.

A majority of Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared sympathetic to an Oregon city making it a crime for anyone without a permanent residence to sleep outside in an effort to crack down on homeless encampments across public properties.

 

The case, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, carries enormous stakes nationwide as communities confront a growing tide of unhoused residents and increasingly turn to punitive measures to try to incentivize people to take advantage of social services and other shelter options.

 

“These generally applicable laws prohibit specific conduct and are essential to public health and safety,” argued the city’s attorney Theane Evangelis during oral arguments, which stretched more than two and a half hours.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said in a decision last year that a homeless camping ban amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment” under the 8th Amendment. But several members of the high court’s conservative majority took a critical view of that conclusion.

 

“Have we ever applied the Eighth Amendment to civil penalties?” asked a skeptical Justice Clarence Thomas.

USC Cancels All Graduation Speakers

by | 0740, 20 Apr 24 | , | 0 Comments

Liberals ruin everything.

Amid the decision to cancel this year’s valedictorian speech, the University of Southern California announced it would be eliminating all outside speakers and honorees from its main-stage commencement taking place next month.

In a memo released on Friday, the university said, “To keep the focus on our graduates, we are redesigning the commencement program. Given the highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main-stage commencement program, university leadership has decided it is best to release our outside speakers and honorees from attending this year’s ceremony.”

Teen Arrested to Thwart School Massacre

by | 0814, 19 Apr 24 | , | 9 Comments

It’s good that the police were able to intervene before the teen did something. Clearly this is another isolated, mentally ill teen who needs help.

A transgender 18-year-old planned a school shooting because he ‘wanted to be famous’, according to cops who arrested him after finding his 129-page ‘manifesto’.

 

Andrea Ye, whose preferred name is Alex, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with making threats of mass violence after allegedly planning to shoot up Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland.

 

Police swooped on Ye after finding a ‘manifesto’ written by the teen which they said ‘writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act’.

 

In the pages, Ye allegedly wrote that he ‘wants to be famous’ and contemplated targeting an elementary school as ‘little kids make easier targets’.

 

[…]

 

Montgomery County Public Schools told Fox that Ye is an active student at Wootton High School in Rockville but has been attending through a virtual program and hadn’t been on campus physically since 2022.

 

Police reportedly said in court records that Ye’s sex is female but he uses male pronouns.

UTD Eliminates DEI Positions

by | 0755, 19 Apr 24 | , , | 0 Comments

Of course, we all need to be vigilant about DEI being infused in other ways, but this is manifestly positively. When I see these stories about universities and companies eliminating DEI positions, it does make me marvel at how much cost has been ladled onto students and taxpayers by these universities for things that had zero – or, perhaps, negative – value for the students’ education.

More than three months after a law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education went into effect, the University of Texas at Dallas has announced it will officially be eliminating around 20 positions. 

 

According to a recent announcement from the university, they will be closing the Office of Campus Resources and Support to comply with state law. 

 

“As a result, effective April 30, 2024, the Office of Campus Resources and Support (OCRS) and approximately 20 associated jobs will be eliminated,” UTD President Dr. Richard C. Benson announced in a letter.

 

Benson added that all employees being affected will be able to apply for other open positions on campus and directed hiring managers to give “these experienced and talented individuals careful review when making their hiring decisions.”

 

The elimination of these positions at UTD follows the University of Texas laying off dozens of employees working in DEI positions. 

Young Black Voters Dissatisfied with Biden

by | 1843, 18 Apr 24 | , | 0 Comments

Young black folks don’t have the same personal relationship with the civil rights era. Like the rest of us, they are concerned about the economy, border, and crime.

“It is a generational divide. They don’t know the people who fought and died for their rights,” said Terrance Woodbury, a Democratic pollster, whose polling has found a nearly 30-point gap in support for Democrats among Black voters 18 to 49 years old relative to Black voters over 50. The latter group, he said, “does know those people. They saw that fight. Some of them were in that fight.”

 

Young Black voters point to higher costs of living, crises abroad and the old ages of both major candidates — Biden, 81, is the oldest U.S. president, and former President Donald Trump is 77 — as reasons for their discontent. They also say that they feel their lives have not improved under Biden’s presidency and that they have seen little of his campaign promises to lower housing costs, relieve student loan debt and promote racial equity.

 

These gripes are not unique to young Black voters. In polls, focus groups and interviews, record numbers of Black Americans across ages and genders have expressed disenchantment with Democratic leaders. And the generation gap in support for Democrats is not unique to one race. While most young voters support Democrats and turned out en masse during the 2020 presidential and 2022 midterm elections, many have also said they are deeply dissatisfied with the party and see less reason to turn back out for them.

Police Break Up Terror Cell in New York

by | 1743, 18 Apr 24 | , | 0 Comments

It’s good to finally see a bit of pushback on the hate. Again, we all have a right to protest. It’s protected by the 1st Amendment in the U.S. What you do not have a right to do is squat on private property, destroy property, or disrupt the lives of others. The fact that you are all worked up over something doesn’t mean that I have to be.

Dozens of students have been arrested after police cleared an encampment set-up by pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University in New York.

The university’s president said that the “extraordinary step” came after multiple warnings and was necessary to provide a safe environment.

Among the participants in the protest was Minnesota politician Ilhan Omar’s daughter, who has been suspended.

[…]

Protestors had constructed an encampment of about 50 tents on campus on Wednesday – and overnight hundreds of students and others had rallied with them.

 

USC Won’t Allow Muslim Valedictorian to Give Speech

by | 0727, 17 Apr 24 | , | 0 Comments

Interesting

What was supposed to be a time of celebration for Asna Tabassum – the University of Southern California’s 2024 valedictorian – has turned to disappointment after the university denied her the chance to give a speech at commencement over security concerns.

 

“Over the past several days, discussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor,” USC Provost Andrew Guzman said in an online campus-wide letter. “The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.”

 

Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, would have delivered her speech at the graduation ceremony on May 10.

 

[…]

 

USC student advocacy group Trojans for Israel accused Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, it wrote in a social media post.

Although nobody is really talking, it seems clear that Tabassum is an antisemitic bigot and USC is worried about protests at graduation. I can understand that USC wants to preserve the graduation as an event to be enjoyed by all of the graduates. It’s not about this one person. Graduation is about hundreds of graduates and their families celebrating their achievement. They don’t deserve to have their day ruined by a circus.

On the other hand, Tabaddum earned the privilege to speak. One would hope that she has the class to keep her speech to traditional topics and not delve into world politics. One would hope.

Were it me, I would let her speak and beef up security with a wide security perimeter to keep any protests at a distance. I would also insist that her speech be approved in advance. Sure, she could go off script, but hopefully they can instill in her the responsibility to make the day about her classmates and not about her.

Ford Drops Prices to Lure EV Buyers

by | 2015, 11 Apr 24 | , , | 2 Comments

Market working.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor is lowering the starting prices of some all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup trucks as it prepares to resume shipping the vehicles after quality issues.

 

[…]

 

The cost reductions are the latest electric vehicle price changes for the broader automotive industry amid slower-than-expected consumer adoption. Ford’s cuts come three months after it adjusted Lightning prices, including increasing some model prices.

When Liberals Quote the Bible

by | 0954, 6 Apr 24 | | 1 Comment

Wow…

I’ve always been fond of the Bible verse “The truth will set you free.” John 8:31 32 (ESV). But quite frankly, I’ve never quite understood what it meant. So, I did some research, and the best explanation I could find was… Honesty brings peace and self-respect.

That is absolutely NOT what that verse means. Like… not even close. Even a cursory bit of research by someone completely unfamiliar with the Bible would tell you that.

t.u. Fires DEI Staff

by | 1850, 5 Apr 24 | , , | 0 Comments

Progress.

The University of Texas at Austin has sent layoff notices to an estimated 60 staff members who previously worked in diversity, equity and inclusion roles, according to the Texas NAACP and the Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors.

 

The staffing cuts come as the university works to comply with the state’s anti-DEI law, or SB17, that bans public colleges and universities from maintaining DEI offices, holding mandatory DEI training, and having departments focused on “promoting differential treatment” based on race, sex or ethnicity.

 

In a statement released Wednesday, the Texas NAACP and AAUP said impacted staff members were given a 90-day layoff notice. Forty of those employees were from the Division of Campus and Community Engagement, which will be closing, the statement said. The office was formerly called the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement before SB17 went into effect in January.

Brian Davis, a university spokesman, said he was unable to confirm the number of jobs that are being eliminated. Davis told CNN in an email that the university would not comment beyond a letter President Jay Hartzell’s released to the campus community earlier this week.

 

Hartzell said in the letter that the university is redirecting funds from DEI initiatives to “teaching and research.”

Imaging spending money on teaching and research. How progressive.

State Bar Tries to be Less Racist

by | 1835, 5 Apr 24 | , , | 1 Comment

Victory? I guess? But if the results of the program are the same, it doesn’t seem like much of a victory. Liberals have no problem saying one thing to appease the law and then doing whatever they want.

The State Bar of Wisconsin said that under terms of the settlement, its “diversity clerkship program” would continue unchanged under the new definition.

 

But the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which brought the lawsuit in December, declared victory, saying in a statement that “mandatory and annual State Bar dues will not fund internships and policies primarily based on race, but rather on merit and diversity of viewpoint.”

 

The original definition of “diversity” for the Wisconsin program said the concept includes race, ethnicity, gender identity and other factors. The new definition simply says it involves “including people with differing characteristics, beliefs, experiences, interests, and viewpoints.”

 

Under the deal, the bar association must also clearly say in all materials related to the program that race is not a factor in considering participation in the program, according to the conservative law firm.

 

The bar association also may not say that only law students from diverse backgrounds, with backgrounds that have been historically excluded from the legal field, or who have been socially disadvantaged are eligible, the law firm said.

 

The program in question offers summer internships for first-year law school students at top law firms, private companies and government offices. Past participants have included Alliant Energy, Froedtert Health, the Kohler Co., the city of Madison, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the state Department of Corrections.

Two Dutch Players Quit National Team Over Transgender Teammate

by | 1359, 25 Mar 24 | | 0 Comments

One feels for their anguish. The Trans movement is destroying women’s spaces. 

“The moment you’re embarrassed to be a part of the Dutch Team, because a biological man is playing in the women’s team, it’s time to go,” Zijlstra wrote in the past, according to Andrew Holleran of The Spun “I have tried to accept this, but I can not condone or justify this.

“I think that with sports there has to be an equal and level playing field which is to be used and accepted in good faith. After all, we have worked so hard to be relevant and competitive in this sport.”

De Graaf also explained her decision in the post.

“At some point you have to make decisions if something goes against your feelings,” De Graff wrote. “You have to do what feels right for you. Hence my decision to also leave the Dutch team.”

Renting Is Much Cheaper Than Buying

by | 2019, 21 Mar 24 | , , | 1 Comment

The powers that be want a nation of renters.

Buying a house in the United States is considerably more expensive than renting right now, and the real estate market is expected to stay that way for at least the next five years, according to a new analysis.

 

The analysis out Thursday from CBRE, a firm that tracks real estate prices, shows the average monthly payment on a new apartment lease in the U.S. is $2,165. The average monthly payment on a mortgage for a new home is $2,997, meaning it costs households, on average, 38% more to buy than to rent, according to the analysis.

 

Notably, the gap between buying and renting will continue to be a big hurdle for aspiring homeowners for at least five years, the analysis found — mortgage payments are still expected to cost 11% more than rent in the year 2030.

 

Higher mortgage rates and a nationwide housing shortage are key factors behind persistently high home prices, according to the CBRE report. The report estimates there is a shortage of 3.8 million housing units in the U.S., mainly in single-family homes and smaller multi-unit dwellings.

Of course, even though renting is cheaper in terms of monthly expense, you will pay it forever and never own anything. Buying a home is still the #1 way that most families build wealth. That’s what they want you to rent and build their wealth.

Young People Are Less Happy

by | 0808, 20 Mar 24 | | 0 Comments

Why wouldn’t young people be less happy? We are constantly telling them that we are destroying the environment, they are the wrong gender, everyone is racist, and they will never be able to get ahead against systemic forces.

Meanwhile, in Biden’s economy, they can’t afford to buy a house, their rent is skyrocketing, and they can’t afford groceries.

Add to that that young people are more likely to be buried in their phones and social media without having real, human relationships.

Yup. I buy it.

The United States has fallen eight spots and is no longer in the top 20 happiest countries in the world, falling behind countries like Canada, Israel, Kuwait, Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report released by Gallup and its partners.

[….]

One of the main reasons for the United States dropping out of the top 20 is the overall unhappiness of younger people, according to the report.

“For the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, but especially for the young, so much so that the young are now, in 2021-2023, the least happy age group,” according to the new report. “This is a big change from 2006-2010, when the young were happier than those in the midlife groups, and about as happy as those aged 60 and over. For the young, the happiness drop was about three-quarters of a point, and greater for females than males.”

The 2024 World Happiness Report goes on to explain another reason for such a heavy drop is the widespread concern about an “emerging epidemic of loneliness, and about the consequences of loneliness for mental and physical health.”

“Although overall levels of loneliness are not unduly high in global terms, there is a significantly different pattern across the generations,” the report says. “Loneliness is almost twice as high among the Millennials than among those born before 1965. Millennials also feel less socially supported than Boomers in those countries, another place in which these countries look different from the rest of the world. This is despite the fact that actual social connections are much more frequent for Millennials than Boomers, and about as frequent as for Generation X.”

Wausau Suddenly Overwhelmed by Homeless People In Winter

by | 0750, 19 Mar 24 | , , | 2 Comments

Hmmmm… First we hear that little Whitewater is facing a crime wave with social services being overwhelmed by illegal aliens. Now we see that Wausau is being overwhelmed by homeless people. It’s almost as if we have an open border and illegal aliens are finding their way to communities throughout the country.

The Wausau Police Department is requesting an additional two officers as part of a team approach to working with homeless residents, as the number of people without permanent housing surged considerably over the past three months.

“The speed at which unhoused individuals are coming into our community scares me,” he said.

[…]
In his February presentation, Barnes said city workers are shoveling human fecal material from downtown parking ramps on a regular basis.
[…]

Barnes said the homeless situation in Wausau is making policing complicated and reducing the amount of policing that the rest of our community “that pay taxes to have a quality police force” is getting.

Divorce Rate Down

by | 1951, 17 Mar 24 | | 2 Comments

This is a positive trend.

In 2022, the divorce rate was 2.4 per 1,000 people. Although that isn’t the lowest it has ever been – in 2021, it was 2.3 – it continues a downward trend, according to the data.

By comparison, the rate of divorces in 2000 was 4 per 1,000, which means the current rate is a big decline from two decades earlier.

Being stuck in a home together during lockdown forced a lot of couples to face problems in their relationship head-on, Nelson said. That might have caused additional strife, or it could have helped them lay better groundwork for a stable future, she added.

Changes over the past two decades may also have helped. Therapy has become more normalized, roles in marriages have become more flexible, and people are more used to talking openly about how they want their marriages to work, Nelson said.

Blacks Less Likely to Buy Biden’s “Treat to Democracy” Rhetoric

by | 1707, 15 Mar 24 | , | 0 Comments

There is a deep cultural memory in the American Black community of the government abusing their power to victimize people. The lawfare against Trump is as anti-American as what many Blacks endured for a century. That being said, I don’t expect Blacks to abandon Biden in any serious numbers.

Biden’s Black supporters, who make up about a fifth of his political base, were considerably less likely than his white backers to respond in the poll that they were voting to stop Trump, 37% to 65%.

 

Black Democrats were also less likely than white Democrats to say they were worried about a presidential candidate stealing an election or partisan state legislatures overturning its results. Black voters in the U.S. have skewed heavily Democratic for decades.

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