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BC teacher suspended after showing class ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ film

A British Columbia elementary school teacher was suspended this week after showing her students the 1962 American drama To Kill A Mockingbird.

The teacher, Andrew Michael Dennis, showed his Grade 6/7 students the film in September 2018, a resolution agreement by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation found.

The resolution states that the film dealt with themes too mature for students that age, such as sexual assault and racism, as well as racial slurs.

“In the B.C. curriculum, the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is listed as a secondary school-level resource for Grades 10 and higher,” the commissioner wrote in the disciplinary form.

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CDC Deems Racism a ‘Serious’ Public Health Threat

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deemed racism a “serious” public health threat, according to an entry published on the agency’s website.

In an entry titled “Racism is a Serious Threat to the Public’s Health,” the agency asserts racism is intricately intertwined with public health matters:

A growing body of research shows that centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color. The impact is pervasive and deeply embedded in our society—affecting where one lives, learns, works, worships and plays and creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits—such as housing, education, wealth, and employment. These conditions—often referred to as social determinants of health—are key drivers of health inequities within communities of color, placing those within these populations at greater risk for poor health outcomes.

The CDC cites data suggesting racial and ethnic minority groups experience higher rates of health conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease “when compared to their White counterparts.”

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Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Buys $1.4 Million Home in Area With Just 1.6% Black Population

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors has chosen to live in one of the whitest areas of California after purchasing a $1.4 million dollar home in an area that has a black population of just 1.6 per cent.

A report by real estate website Dirt reveals that Khan-Cullors, who started the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013 in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal, has purchased a “secluded mini-compound tucked into L.A.’s rustic and semi-remote Topanga Canyon.”

“A winding 15 minute drive from The Commons at Calabasas and a slightly longer and somewhat less serpentine drive from Malibu’s Getty Villa, the pint-sized compound spans about one-quarter of an acre. The property’s not-quite 2,400 square feet is divided between the a three-bedroom and two-bath main house and a separate one-bed/one-bath apartment capable of hosting guests long term with a private entry and a living room with kitchenette,” writes Mark David.

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Brits At Pubs Will Have To Register On Government Tracking App, Hand Over Phones

According to a report in the London Telegraph, anyone wishing to drink in a pub garden in Britain from Monday (only the outside areas will open) will be forced to hand over their phone to venue staff who must check the individual is registered on the government’s tracking app.

Venues will face fines of £1000 if they are found to be admitting people who have not registered on the NHS Test and Trace app with all their personal details and then scanned a QR code on entry to the outdoor portion of the venue.

The official government guidance notes “should someone choose to check in with the official NHS QR code poster, a venue should check their phone screen to ensure they have successfully checked in”.

The word ‘choose’ is odd because the guidance makes clear that it is mandatory for everyone to individually register on the app, or fill in a paper form.

There is no ‘choice’ in the matter.

Pubs have also been told to refuse entry to anyone they believe has given false details.

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YouTube CEO calls for global coalitions to address content that’s “legal but could be harmful”

During an appearance at the World Economic Forum Global Technology Governance Summit 2021, an event where more than 40 governments and 150 companies meet to ensure “the responsible design and deployment of emerging technologies,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki expressed her support for tech platforms moderating content that’s “technically legal but could be harmful” and praised global coalitions that help Big Tech coordinate and automate their censorship efforts.

Wojcicki said that when tech companies comply with the law, there are still “issues around speech” and suggested that these issues should be addressed by private corporations.

“I see a lot of issues around speech and what should or should not be allowed on platforms for example,” Wojcicki said. “And that’s a really tough area. Now, certainly countries pass certain laws and we comply with all the laws that the different countries pass but a lot of times, there’s content that’s legal but could be seen as harmful. And it’s hard for governments to necessarily find the right way to regulate it.”

She then proposed YouTube’s model of privately policing what the platform deems to be COVID-19 “misinformation” as an effective way to handle this content that’s “legal but could be harmful.”

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Biden Administration Officials Urged Republican Senators to Delete Pictures of Border Visit

In a recent appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo”, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso revealed that Biden administration officials begged a group of senators who were present at the Southern Border to “delete the pictures.”

Barrasso recounted that he and 18 other Republican senators went down to the border at the end of March to get an idea of the immigration crisis taking place down there. Upon arriving at the border, the senators were instructed “to delete the pictures,” but none ended up doing so.

“We were told to delete the pictures. No one did. You’ve seen the video coming out of all of these kids crammed together under the foil blankets, huddling together,” Barrasso said in the interview.

Shakhzod Yuldoshboev of the Daily Caller noted that Barrasso was concerned about the conditions of the unaccompanied minors who were illegally smuggled into the US were being kept in. “They are crammed in like sardines,” Barrasso observed on the program.

“This is what the Biden administration is trying to hide from the American public. Which is why we took video, and the Biden administration tried to stop us,” he continued. 

Yuldoshboev also highlighted that Barrasso accused the Biden administration of censoring coverage of the border crisis in a tweet late last month.

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