Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards. Here are 24 examples.

By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)

October 15, 2024

Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards.

Here are 24 examples:

1) The New York Times wrote, “The Board of Regents on Monday eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in New York State pass a literacy test to become certified after the test proved controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates.”

Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/nyregion/ny-regents-teacher-exams-alst.html?_r=0

Archive: https://archive.ph/GzyQM

2) The New York Times wrote, “A 2009 Princeton study showed Asian-Americans had to score 140 points higher on their SATs than whites, 270 points higher than Hispanics and 450 points higher than blacks to have the same chance of admission to leading universities.”

Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/white-students-unfair-advantage-in-admissions.html

Archive: https://archive.ph/MEDXn

3) Patrick Henry High School, San Diego’s largest high school, cited “equity” as its reason for removing some of its classes in advanced English, advanced history, and advanced biology.

Original: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2022-04-10/san-diegos-largest-high-school-quietly-eliminated-several-honors-courses-parents-are-outraged

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220410124259/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2022-04-10/san-diegos-largest-high-school-quietly-eliminated-several-honors-courses-parents-are-outraged

4) The Vancouver School Board cited “equity and inclusion” for why it got rid of its honors courses in math and science at its high schools.

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The Babylon Bee hits another homer


NASA Baffled At How Elon Managed To Succeed Without As Many Gay Non-Binary Muslim Dwarfs Of Color As They Have

HOUSTON, TX — As the world still celebrated the astonishing accomplishment of SpaceX catching its returning Starship, NASA officials were baffled at how Elon Musk managed to succeed without as many gay non-binary Muslim dwarfs of color as they have.

SpaceX’s historic achievement occurred despite not making diversity and inclusion its top priority, leaving NASA in awe that such a feat could be pulled off without the mandated involvement of underrepresented people groups.

“Not a single transgender dwarf of color on the team! How does this guy do it?” one high-ranking NASA official marveled. “We devote all of our time and spend billions upon billions of dollars to put together the most intersectional and diverse team, but we can’t even come close to the stuff Musk is pulling off at SpaceX. They caught a rocket, for crying out loud! And they didn’t have any non-binary Hindu furries working on the project! How is that possible?”

Decision-makers at NASA reportedly held emergency closed-door meetings this week to discuss the widening gap between their work and the things being done at SpaceX. “It doesn’t matter what we do, he just keeps pulling further ahead,” a NASA insider said. “We’re going to keep trying to incorporate more diversity, equity, and inclusion to everything we do, but it’s like this guy has cracked some code where he just puts the most brilliant and qualified minds to work on his projects. That sounds crazy, but I guess it’s working out for them.”

At publishing time, NASA sources still expressed skepticism that Musk would be able to successfully land a human being on Mars without the help of any gender-fluid atheist amputees of mixed racial descent.

 

Supreme Court Orders Fresh Look at Young-Adult Gun Restrictions

The US Supreme Court sidestepped a brewing gun-safety issue for now, telling a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that 18-to-20-year-olds have a broad constitutional right to carry a firearm.
In a two-sentence order Tuesday, the justices opted not to take up an appeal by Pennsylvania officials, instead ordering a fresh look at the issue at the lower court level. The reconsideration order cited the high court’s ruling in June upholding a federal gun ban for people under domestic-violence orders.
Pennsylvania is one of 32 states, along with the federal government, that establish 21 as the minimum age for some gun rights. The case before the high court involved a Pennsylvania law that prohibits people age 18-to-20 from openly carrying firearms during a declared state of emergency.
The Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the law, saying in a 2-1 decision the state hadn’t shown the type of historic pedigree required under an earlier Supreme Court ruling.
The law is being challenged by two gun-rights groups and three people who were under age 21 when the suit was filed in 2020. They urged the Supreme Court to reject Pennsylvania’s appeal without ordering reconsideration, saying lower courts are generally in agreement that states can’t put special restrictions on 18-to-20-year-olds.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry argued that the 3rd Circuit imposed a much stricter historical test for gun laws than the Supreme Court said in the domestic-violence case was required.
The Supreme Court has steered clear of new Second Amendment disputes since its June 21 ruling. Lower courts now are grappling with bans on so-called assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, laws prohibiting gun possession by convicted felons and restrictions on where firearms can be brought.
The Pennsylvania case is Paris v. Lara, 24-93.

Poplar Bluff man shot while entering woman’s bedroom window

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (KFVS) – Police said a man was shot while he allegedly entered a woman’s bedroom window.

Rondriguez Hopkins, 24, of Poplar Bluff was arrested after he was released from the hospital.

According to Poplar Bluff police, they responded to a home in the 600 block of Victor Street around 5:50 a.m. on Saturday, October 12 for a report of a shooting.

They say a resident of the home told them she shot at a man as he entered her bedroom window.

Officers found the man, later identified as Hopkins, who had a gunshot wound to his shoulder and hand. He was taken to a Poplar Bluff hospital for treatment and then transferred to a Cape Girardeau hospital.

Hopkins is being held at the Butler County Justice Center pending the filing of formal charges.

According to court documents, in 2022, Hopkins was caught on camera trying to enter other homes.

He’s scheduled to be in court on Tuesday morning, Oct. 15.

Police are not seeking charges against the resident of the home.

Drone photographer pleads guilty to Espionage Act charges

Graduate student Fengyun Shi is the first to be convicted under this section of the Espionage Act.

A foreign graduate student has pleaded guilty to crimes under the Espionage Act for photographing classified US Navy ships with a drone. The case appears to be a first-of-its kind prosecution by the Department of Justice.

Fengyun Shi, a Chinese citizen and graduate student at the University of Minnesota, was arrested in January after a drone he was flying got stuck in a tree in Newport News, Virginia. A suspicious resident called the police and Shi was questioned before abandoning the drone and fleeing. After the FBI seized the drone and pulled the images off it, investigators discovered that Shi had photographed Navy vessels at multiple shipyards in Virginia. One of those shipyards, in Newport News, was actively manufacturing next-generation aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Both of these types of vessels contain classified components.

Shi was charged with six misdemeanors under the Espionage Act. It appears to be, national security law expert Emily Berman previously told me, the first known prosecution under a WWII-era statute banning the use of aircraft to photograph sensitive military sites.

The first known prosecution under a WWII-era statute banning the use of aircraft to photograph sensitive military sites

On Monday, Shi pleaded guilty to two counts of violating that statute. Specifically, for photographing vessels at the shipyard in Newport News. Each offense may result in up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, and another year of supervised release, but prosecutors note that he could receive a heavier sentence that a higher court may review for reasonableness. The plea agreement also explains that Shi could be deported, but that he can apply for asylum if he believes he will be subject to torture in China.

The statement of facts accompanying Shi’s plea agreement contains new information. For example, it reveals that Shi purchased the drone one day before flying to Virginia from San Francisco. There is no explanation given for why he was in San Francisco. According to the statement, Shi only flew the drone around the shipyards and did not take any photos that did not contain US Navy vessels. Finally, it says that Shi was arrested trying to board a one-way flight to China from California.

There are many unknowns surrounding Shi’s strikingly novel prosecution, including why the DOJ pursued it in the first place. Despite the case taking place amid rising tensions between the US and China, Shi has not been accused of acting as a spy; his only crime was taking photos with a drone. Berman previously said that his case could even raise important First Amendment issues.

Court documents filed to date provide no explanation for why Shi took the photos, although the plea agreement states that Shi acknowledges he had no “innocent reason” for doing so. Even people around Shi seemed baffled by the case. I previously spoke to a colleague from the University of Minnesota who was surprised to learn that Shi was even still in the US, adding that he’d effectively abandoned his studies months prior to his arrest.

The DOJ declined to comment, and Shi’s attorney did not respond to a request. Shi now awaits sentencing.

Comment O’ The Day
Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.

Border Patrol Union Endorses Trump, Chief Says Everything Would ‘Go to Hell’ Under Kamala

In a move that should surprise no one considering that the Biden-Harris regime has treated the Border Patrol like dirt, the National Border Patrol Council announced Sunday at a campaign rally in Prescott, Arizona, that they were throwing their support behind Donald Trump. Union president Paul Perez minced no words as he eviscerated Kamala Harris for her utter failure to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country:

If we allow Border Czar Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country, is going to go to hell. The untold millions of people, unvetted, who she has allowed into this country that are committing murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries, and every other crime will continue to put our country in peril.

Only one man can fix that and that is Donald J. Trump. He has always stood with the men and women who protect this border.

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Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.— Robert A. Heinlein