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| Charlie Kirks comments against Nicki Minaj resurface after rappers support | Iri |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (6 reads) | |
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Charlie kirks comments against nicki minaj resurface after rappers support
in a resurfaced clip, late political commentator charlie kirk described nicki minaj as being a bad role model for young black girls while also mistaking her for another rapper
charlie kirks comments against nicki minaj have resurfaced as the rapper showcased her support for the late conservative activist by appearing at turning point usas america fest.
this weekend the 43-year-old rapper sparked fierce backlash among her fans as she took part in a bizarre sit-down interview with erika kirk at the event intended to memorialize charlie. During her interview, nicki discussed faith and politics and even praised president donald trump and vice president jd vance as being great role models for young men.
meanwhile since nickis controversial appearance, an old clip of charlie has circulated online in which he is seen accusing nicki of not being a good role model for kids. But in an embarrassing blunder, charlie mistook nicki for fellow rappers cardi b and megan thee stallion during a heated debate with a college student.
nicki minaj makes shocking assassin comment to erika kirk at america festread more:
jesse watters mocked by fox news viewers as he shares intimate trump conversation
in the video, charlie was heard saying, nicki minaj, cardi b - to which a college student cut him off and asked, okay so nicki minaj is causing dads to leave the home?
to which charlie fired back, hold on a second. I dont think thats a good role model for 18 year old black girls. I dont. I dont think that songs that are talking about glorifying wet female genitalia is exactly - i dont know which one wrote that song - which one was it?
to which the student jokingly replied, i think it was ben shapiro.
charlie laughed off her remark and said, yeah thats right. But by the way the role models from the 1940s and the 1950s for black america were completely different.
the student then hit back, so it is a representation issue?
charlie then continued, hold on a second. Its not representation. Its who do you get your art from? Its what values are they putting forward? For example, more times than not black politicians will lament the condition of america. Its systemically racist, its terrible, what does that do to a 14-year-old black kid if you just find that you hear that everything is rigged against you?
he continued, instead they should be saying hey there might be some barriers, but if you believe in yourself enough you can achieve in his country. It creates a form of social conditioning of low expectations. And thats not my argument - you know whose argument that is? Barack obamas. Barack obama said number one we need more fathers in the home. And secondly, he said that we cant keep telling our black youth that you cant succeed in this country. Anybody can succeed in this country and obama was right when he said that.
in this, charlie made clear that he was not a nicki fan as he clearly mistook her for cardi b and megan thee stallion, who released the their hit song wap in 2020. And as the clip continues to circulate online, many are taking aim at nicki, who chose to use her stardom to support conservative figures like kirk, trump, and vance.
reacting to the footage on x (formerly twitter) one person wrote, shes the biggest phoney ever. Its her then jd vance as #2. Another added, that whole circus made me nauseous.
while a third replied, this is wild! It gets crazier by the day. While fourth asked, “wet a-- p----” is not a christian value?
and someone else added, conservatives that are supporting nicki minaj are hilarious. I wonder if any of them have read some of the lyrics to her songs, not to mention that charlie kirk (whose organization ironically hosted this event) stated that she was a bad role model for young black women.
for all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletters here.For the latest local news and features on irish america, visit our homepage here. |
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| Comment on Hot Messs Memoir of Dental Care by abrir una cuenta en Binance |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (7 reads) | |
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I’m currently listening to everything is awful by matt bellasi via the audible.Com app. It’s pretty funny and the shit hit home during my commute the other day. He was discussing his extensive dental work as a child. It inspired me to discuss my own experience and to say it sucked is an understatement.
my dentist was not carefully researched, nor was he a referral from a dear family friend. My dentist was a customer of my dad’s restaurant, fresh out of college. Since he ate at my father’s restaurant, this made him the obvious choice to work on my horribly crooked teeth.
don’t get me wrong, he did a good job. My teeth are straight because of him and he was invited to my wedding for cryin’ out loud. I laugh now because at the time, my teeth were so bad, it was agreed upon between the dentist and my parents that they would pay one flat lump sum and this was to cover every procedure i needed for movie-star teeth. Procedures i endured but not limited to included:
- braces- 3 times
- glued in jaw extender- 2 times
- adenoids out- twice
- 2 wisdom teeth removed
- countless retainers
- a gabillion x-rays
- probably 30 different impressions. That’s where the dentist sticks gooey stuff in your mouth with a metal, platelet thingy. You are then required to bite down while the goo tickles your throat, threatening to choke you. It’s not pleasant.
the retainer from hell
the most barbaric procedure was the glued in retainer. I was told my jaw was too small and needed to be expanded. This entailed gluing the retainer into my teeth. Then i was given a tiny little key that i would then tighten x amounts each week. Honestly i forget how many times, i just know it hurt like a bitch every time it has to be twisted. Though i wanted to ask how we would get the glued retainer out, i didn’t; fearing the answer.
after a year, it was time for the removal. Once at the dental office, i sat in the brown, vinyl chair, looking up at the gigantic elephant staring at me. Each time you came to the dentist, you could enter your name into a drawing to win the over-sized animal of the month. I put my name in that basket religiously and never once won any of the animals. Dr. Abel joined me after the initial inspection was complete by the dental tech and he was holding pliers.
‘pliers!? What the actual fuck?‘ Obviously i did not think those exact words. I just saw the pliers and knew it wasn’t to fix the squeaky exam chair.
after much begging and pleading from the dentist, i finally agreed to open my mouth to remove the retainer. I was whimpering (a state i found myself in probably every visit) while butterflies flew around in my stomach. He attached the pliers to the side of the retainer and pulled down.
crunch!
at that moment, i knew what had happened. The glue was so strong, that the pliers had removed not only the retainer but a tooth too! I cringed as he centered the pliers on the other side to repeat the torture. Fortunately, the second side came off easier. I sat crying in pain but relieved it was over.
and do you know what he said to me? Do you know what the consolation prize was for accidentally ripping out my tooth?
“well, at least it was a baby tooth.” He said as if he had gotten the wrong brand of cheese at the grocery store. When he said that, it broke my shock. I had been crying while staring blankly, straight ahead. I suddenly stopped crying, turned to him and said,
“are you kidding me? A tooth is a tooth is a tooth.” |
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| Joey McGuire Confirms Hostile Plan for Dante Moore as Dan Lanning Rips Messed Up |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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In the last two seasons, there are only two teams that have beaten dan lanning’s oregon ducks football program. One is former national title winner ohio state buckeyes, and the other is current favorite curt cignetti’s indiana hoosiers, who did it in week 5 of the regular season this year. Obviously, it’s anything but easy to beat them. Texas tech head honcho joey mcguire is well aware of that, and he has cooked up a very detailed plan to dismantle the oregon ducks’ national title dream.
watch what’s trending now!
on december 22, texas tech red raiders head coach joey mcguire hopped onto the podium before flying out to miami for the orange bowl and dropped three key plans to take down the no. 5 oregon ducks:
“this, this game is going to be really we talk all the time about complementary football, how we play off of each other. You know, indiana did a phenomenal job of doing that, meaning their offense was on the field probably longer than, you know, anybody else, or comparable to some of the, you know, tough games that they’ve had is that indiana was really effective on offense. We’ve got to be effective on offense to help our defense.” Mcguire’s said.
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1) go toe-to-toe at all positions
if you look at it on paper, both teams have a similar level of talent. Joey mcguire even called oregon a “mirror match” of his own team. Mind you, the $28 million–backed red raiders squad may have bullied its way to the quarterfinals, but they haven’t faced anyone of equal pound-for-pound quality yet. Many analysts believe this is the biggest challenge of joey mcguire’s career.
mcguire wants his guys to match oregon’s strength everywhere on the field, ensuring they can hang tough whether they’re on offense or defense.
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2) stop their run game with the front-seven
“i think with those guys, it all starts with their run game. You know, where they create explosives is off their run game. And so we’ve got to eliminate some of those explosives, you know, get the ball down, make them drive the field.”
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the oregon ducks have an excellent and deep running game, which is easily one of their biggest strengths. They are one of the best rushing teams in the country, if not the best. The ducks’ offense averages 217.1 rushing yards per game and an impressive 5.9 yards per carry. They’ve also rushed for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground.
however, the good news is that the red raiders’ front seven is no slouch. They have two to three potential early first-rounders up front in jacob rodriguez, david bailey, and romello heights. Texas tech also boasts the nation’s no. 1 rushing defense, allowing just 68.5 yards per game and only 2.3 yards per rush.
3) pressure qb dante moore
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joey mcguire even gave heisman-level praise to dante moore:
“this quarterback is special. I mean, if he decides to come out, he’s probably the number one quarterback taken in the draft—him or the indiana kid—but he’s really good. So we’ve got to put some pressure on him, and we’ve got to do a good job of stopping the run to do that.”
dante moore has been phenomenal over the last few games and was even a heisman favorite at one point this season. In his first-ever playoff game, moore threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns against the jmu dukes. The texas tech defense clearly has its work cut out.
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regardless of who wins, this is going to be one tough game. Oregon is a bit favorite, but texas tech is coming in with only bad intentions after winning 12 games by 20-plus points in this regular season.
the only glaring concern for the ducks is that they allowed around 500 yards against a group of five opponent earlier this year—something they absolutely cannot afford against the red raiders. Meanwhile, dan lanning also has a few logistical issues to worry about.
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dan lanning calls out on cfp format
oregon beat james madison 51–34 on december 20 to move on in the college football playoff. Now, the ducks will play texas tech on new year’s day in the orange bowl at hard rock stadium in miami. Texas tech has not played since december 6, which led to questions about whether oregon has an advantage.
oregon head coach dan lanning said the bigger issue is the playoff format, not either rest or timing. “The way we do playoffs in college football is messed up,” lanning said. He explained that even though oregon is excited to play in the orange bowl, the higher-seeded team should be rewarded. He then doubled down: “this game should be played at texas tech.”
in this 12-team playoff format, the top four seeds get a bye, but they do not get to host a game. However, the quarterfinals are played at neutral bowl sites like the rose bowls and orange bowl. Lanning made it clear he’s not a fan of that setup, and while changes could come in the future, he believes the current format doesn’t fully reward the higher-seeded teams.
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| Bari Weiss Just Proved Why Billionaires Buy the News |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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While bari weiss spews propaganda from inside cbs news, we’ll be here to expose her dec 22 back in september, we told you about reports that bari weiss & the free press were on the “1-yard line” of a $100-200 million deal with paramount. A publication that spent a year questioning gaza’s famine, with stories titled “the gaza famine myth,” was about to get a corporate windfall that dwarfs every truly independent newsroom in america.
now we see exactly what that money bought. Propaganda masquerading as journalism.
hours before 60 minutes was set to air an investigation into the trump administration sending deportees to brutal prison conditions in el salvador, cbs pulled the segment. The reason? Bari weiss, who has spent her short career on the opinion side only, and before that was a college kid trying to get palestinian teachers fired, pulled rank — just as cbs’ parent company was amending its bid to take over warner brothers and cnn, a deal that would require trump administration approval.
sharyn alfonsi, the 60 minutes correspondent who reported the story, sent an internal email making it clear: bari weiss spiked the story. The piece reportedly had been screened five times, cleared by cbs attorneys and standards and practices, and was “factually correct.”
this is what happens when billionaires buy journalism and put propagandists in charge: honest reporting gets killed to appease those in power.
we’re going to keep exposing bari and the billionaires behind her, but we need your help to do it. The free press has roughly 155,000 paying subscribers and just got a nine-figure corporate windfall. Drop site has 15,000 paying subscribers and another 20,000 individual readers who’ve made contributions. If you support journalism that refuses to be silenced or bought, then help us close that gap. For less than $0.25 a day , you can make that happen.
and for the next 48 hours, we’re offering 20% off annual subscriptions.
support drop site – save 20% today
the billionaire takeover is here larry ellison, the largest single private donor to the idf, bought paramount and cbs through his son david and is now trying to buy warner brothers/discovery/cnn. Trump is trying to hand him tiktok as netanyahu calls the potential seizure one of israel’s “greatest victories,” citing the platform’s failure to censor content critical of israel. A former idf soldier now oversees tiktok’s censorship policies.
bari weiss’s rise to cbs editor-in-chief? David ellison specifically wanted her because of her ironclad support for israel and her years spent denying genocide. When david ellison’s bid to buy cnn looked shaky and trump was annoyed at cbs coverage, they rebid with larry ellison’s family trust guaranteeing the money.
and what does bari weiss do? She spikes a story critical of trump.
this is what establishment control of journalism looks like. And we’re not going to let it go unchallenged.
upgrade now – 20% off!
what independent journalism actually looks like while the free press used google searches to report that malnourished children had “pre-existing conditions,” we interviewed those families to expose the intent to minimize a documented famine. When establishment media ignored jeffrey epstein’s ties to israel because it’s politically inconvenient, we did the reporting using publicly available documents. When bari weiss kills stories to protect her powerful backers, we’ll report on it and keep holding her accountable.
but here’s the reality: we can only do this with your support.
we made a commitment from day one: no paywalls. Ever. That means someone living paycheck to paycheck can access the same reporting as anyone else. But it also means we are completely dependent on readers stepping up with financial support.
if we want to compete at the scale necessary to fight back against billionaire-controlled propaganda machines, we need your help.
become an annual supporter – 20% off
while bari weiss spews propaganda from inside cbs news, we’ll be here to expose her. While larry ellison builds his media empire to control narratives on israel and trump, we’ll keep reporting the truth. While establishment outlets kill stories that expose abuse of power, we’ll keep publishing them.
your paid subscription isn’t just supporting our work. It’s a statement that there’s still an audience for reporters who won’t be bought, who won’t kill stories to please the powerful, and who won’t pretend genocide isn’t happening to appease the government committing the crime.
yes, i’ll support drop site – 20% off
– ryan |
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| Youth movement led by freshman Knittel at Millbrook |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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Millbrook boys’ basketball coach brian laffin jokes that he’s fielding a jayvee team as he often starts freshman point guard kellen knittel along with three sophomores and a junior.
laffin still has plenty of confidence in his young squad, in part, because knittel has taken on the role of leader for the blazers. After all, this isn’t any freshman. Knittel, who just turned 15 last month, saw considerable playing time last year as an eighth-grader.
“last year was probably uncomfortable for kellen playing with mostly seniors and juniors, but he showed a lot of maturity,” laffin said. “I think now kellen is comfortable being the guy, being the distributor. He is very mature and carries himself beyond his years. Kellen isn’t one of these kids walking around saying ‘6 7’ all the time.”
when he said ‘6 7’, laffin was referring to the gen z slang term and internet meme that originated this year. It is widely considered a nonsensical inside joke used to confuse adults, teachers, and parents (google it).
knittel is averaging 16 points per game this season, helping millbrook to a 3-1 start. He averaged 10 points and six assists last season on a senior-heavy team. Knittel said that the key to his development is that many of those seniors mentored and looked out for him.
millbrook could get even younger this season as knittel’s younger brother, eighth-grader kipton, is a slashing guard on millbrook’s jayvee team. The pair comes from an athletic family. Their mother, kim, won four girls’ basketball state championships at our lady of lourdes in poughkeepsie in the mid-1990s and played collegiately. Her husband, chris, played soccer, baseball, and basketball at chittenango high school in syracuse. He played goalkeeper at mount saint mary college in newburgh.
it’s no wonder that kellen knittel has a passion for sports. He was millbrook’s starting varsity goalkeeper this fall and is an avid watcher of college sports.
as far as his new role, knittel has embraced it while establishing himself as a quiet, steady, and reliable leader. Laffin thinks he will only get better as his young career continues.
“being a leader as a freshman definitely isn’t easy,” knittel said. “But i have enjoyed the challenge and have great teammates, including some other great leaders. I have just tried to take what i learned last year and bring it to this team. I just want to keep elevating my game to help the team any way we can.” |
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| Harrell: I dont know if well ever go through bowl games again | College | reflec |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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Theres one constant about college football throughout the past decade: change.
east carolina football coach blake harrell knows all too well the conundrum that plagues his peers as he preps for another postseason contest.
just this month the first-year head man lost his starting quarterback, top receiver and both coordinators in consecutive weeks. The departures for the pirates (8-4) came almost without shock value though, as those who follow the sport closely have become numb to such news.
its why ecus military bowl bout against pittsburgh (8-4) is now like similar matchups that, despite featuring two teams with winning records, mean less and less nowadays.
all of college football is changing. I dont know if well ever go through bowl games again, harrell said monday following practice. Who knows what itll look like a year from now? It obviously looks different from a year ago, two years ago, than it does now. But im sure itll change in some aspects, some ways, some shapes, some form.
those adjustments took off in recent years when the ncaa allowed players to transfer almost at will and be eligible to compete without sitting out a season. Then came the house settlement this fall, which essentially introduced a pay-for-play model where universities could directly support athletes financially without penalty.
whether its power 4 or group of 5, no conference in america is safe from a kid taking to social media and posting his next business decision.
meanwhile, their former team and scholastic progression are afterthoughts.
its a mess. I mean, you got guys opting out — or quitting … on their team in the middle of a playoff run, harrell said. At some point, we got to put the student back in to student-athlete. If were letting guys transfer every year, are they ever going to graduate?
good question. An equally appropriate question is, how does it get fixed?
harrell doesnt have that answer, but recently applauded the six seniors from his current team who received their diplomas during ecus fall commencement. Some possible ideas harrell floated involve making a clear-cut date in the spring following football season as to when a school can hire coaches or sign new players.
but for now, the rules are here to stay. And he thinks pirate fans have the right to long for simpler times, but also need to focus on the present.
sometimes i think we can all get frustrated about things that dont go our way … but we got to look at the positive things and what we do have, harrell said.
its going to be different than it was years ago, thats just what it is. And well learn to live with it and move on … next week well worry about next year, and until then, lets go win a ball game this week. |
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| Univ. of Oklahoma punishes instructor for failing Christian student who didnt do |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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Univ. Of oklahoma punishes instructor for failing christian student who didnt do the assignment
samantha fulnecky didn’t do the work, and the university punished the only person who noticed
this newsletter is free and goes out to over 23,000 subscribers, but it’s only able to sustain itself due to the support i receive from a small percentage of regular readers. Would you please consider becoming one of those supporters? You can use the button below to subscribe or use my usual patreon page!
in an utterly insane declaration, the university of oklahoma has announced that a conservative student who received a failing grade on an essay (because she deserved it) will no longer have that grade on her record. Furthermore, the grad student who gave her that grade will no longer be allowed to teach at the school.
it’s a complete capitulation to right-wing hysteria over what should have been a non-controversial agreement that the student didn’t do the work.
the short version of the story, which i reported on here, is that samantha fulnecky, the student in question, was supposed to write a response to a scholarly journal article. Instead of grappling with anything it said—the assignment’s rubric was loose enough that students could have talked about damn near anything connected to the article as long as they actually discussed what it said—fulnecky turned in a four-page sermon that lashed out against transgender people, promoted traditional gender roles, and suggested that bullying kids was sometimes warranted.
fulnecky received a 0% on the assignment because she showed no evidence of responding to anything the paper said. Even though her beliefs were odious, graduate student mel curth, a trans person who was teaching this course, told her the beliefs themselves played no role in her grade. Instead, her score was earned because the paper “does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive.”
curth even said: “if you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using the methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class.”
rather than just accepting her own incompetence, fulnecky whined about her grade to republican gov. Kevin stitt, the university president, the dean of her college, several reporters, and the anti-teachers’ union group now headed up by former state superintendent of public instruction ryan walters.
republicans then turned this minor incident into a full-blown spectacle to the point that it was getting play on fox news. Because they looooooove stories of christians who fail up. Fulnecky also filed a formal discrimination complaint—as if she was being punished for being a christian in oklahoma—as well as an academic appeal. Curth was put on administrative leave while an investigation took place.
now, the school has announced the results of that “investigation” and it’s a disaster from start to finish:
a student’s claim of religious discrimination on an individual assignment in an online psychology course taught by a graduate teaching assistant has come to resolution. As stated previously, the student followed two available processes at the university: the grade appeals process in the college and she made a formal claim of illegal religious discrimination. As already announced, the grade appeal was decided in favor of the student, removing the assignment completely from the student’s total point value of the class, resulting in no academic harm to the student.
the claim for discrimination has been investigated and concluded. The university does not release findings from such investigations.
at the same time of the investigation, the provost—the university’s highest ranking academic officer— and the academic dean reviewed the full facts of the matter. Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant’s prior grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper. The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the university.
because this matter involves both student and faculty rights, the university has engaged in repeated and detailed conversations with the faculty senate executive committee to ensure there is an understanding of the facts, the process, and the actions being taken.
the university of oklahoma believes strongly in both its faculty’s rights to teach with academic freedom and integrity and its students’ right to receive an education that is free from a lecturer’s impermissible evaluative standards. We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. The university will continue to review best practices to ensure that its instructors have the comprehensive training necessary to objectively assess their students’ work without limiting their ability to teach, inspire, and elevate our next generation.
what a pathetic statement from a university that openly admits academics take a backseat to faith-based aggression. Curth did not have “impermissible evaluative standards.” The rubric was clear and no other student seemed to have a problem with it.
but not only will fulnecky get to toss out that failing grade, curth “will no longer have instructional duties” on campus. Republicans often complain about dei—even though they don’t know what it actually is—but this is the very thing they’ve been decrying: someone getting a pass despite being unable to do the work. What part of curth’s grading was “arbitrary”? Curth literally explained to fulnecky the justification for the 0% and it made perfect sense; she didn’t do the work required of that course. If anything, curth’s response to fulnecky was an act of kindness.
instead of giving instructors the freedom to use their expertise, the university just gave students a blueprint to avoid getting a failing grade: just say jesus loud enough, and all will be forgiven.
invoking christianity should not be a get out of jail free card for students who can’t do the assigned work. And a teaching assistant who dares to take the role seriously should never be punished for giving students the grades they deserve.
for what it’s worth, curth’s attorney has now issued a statement saying curth is considering “all of her legal remedies”:
“my client, mel curth, received notification from the university of oklahoma that an investigation determined that she engaged in arbitrary grading of a student’s paper,” [brittany] stewart said in the statement. “Ms. Curth continues to deny that she engaged in any arbitrary behavior regarding the student’s work, and is considering all of her legal remedies, including appealing this decision by the university.”
what good will an appeal do when the cards are already stacked against you? I don’t know. But the message to professors, from the university, is that flunking a christian will get you fired.
as i wrote before, this whole situation was always about accountability, not religious persecution, and fulnecky’s absolute refusal to accept any. She didn’t fail this assignment because she’s a devout christian. She failed because she didn’t do the assignment. There was no indication she read the article, understood anything it said, or could form a response that didn’t involve parroting right-wing talking points. All we learned from her essay is that she’s not prepared for the work of psychology, much less anything involving higher education. (She apparently wants to go into the field of medicine.)
the only person who behaved with integrity in this saga was the graduate instructor who gave fulnecky detailed, thoughtful feedback. And that’s the only person who was punished.
if fulnecky had the ability to be introspective and thoughtful, she would openly admit she just didn’t know how to write a response essay, thank her teachers for their thoughtful feedback, announce that she’ll do whatever it takes to earn a higher score in the class, and urge her right-wing allies to calm the fuck down. Instead, she took the riley gaines approach of blaming everyone but herself for her own shortcomings, and the conservative media world amplified the narrative from there.
the university of oklahoma has now publicly demonstrated that its supposed commitment to academic rigor, faculty autonomy, and basic standards of evidence collapses the moment political pressure gets applied. That’s not academic freedom. It’s academic cowardice. The school wants instructors to know that doing their job too honestly is now a liability.
fulnecky’s behavior, meanwhile, is a case study in bad faith. She was never silenced. She was just evaluated and she failed. But she knows how the right-wing ecosystem works—her mother is one of those conservative propagandists herself—and so she decided the best path forward was to pretend to be a victim rather than figure out how to earn a higher grade. That tactic worked because conservatives in general oppose education, especially if it goes against their beliefs. Young conservatives know exactly how to weaponize their identity because it’s all they ever see. (Just this week, vice president jd vance proclaimed that no one has to “apologize for being white anymore,” which is a thing that he fully made up.)
the sad thing is that fulnecky is an anomaly among otherwise hard-working students, and curth was a typical grad student ta. But because of the right-wing complaints, the school has decided that enforcing standards is unacceptable. Hell, having standards at all now risks being caught in the crossfire. This is how universities rot from the inside.
the school’s decision here now cheapens every degree it grants. It sends a clear message that effort is optional and temper tantrums are a simple way to avoid accountability. The administration should have stood by its faculty. Instead they caved to conservatives who are determined to destroy public education any way they can. |
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| The New York Times ignores an essential part of the Jeffrey Epstein story - Isra |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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The new york times has published a major exposé purporting to explain how jeffrey epstein rose to the top of the financial and political world, but it ignores one key topic: israel.
mondoweiss, december 19, 2025
if you want to understand why conspiracy theories about jeffrey epstein flourish, then you must read the interminable investigation the new york times published, purporting to explain how jeffrey epstein clawed himself to the pinnacle of the financial/political/social world. “The untold story of how jeffrey epstein got rich” concludes that epstein was the greatest conman and swindler that ever lived, and charmed the pants off of every powerful man he met.
some of his marks still curse epstein for fleecing them. But the paradigm of the article is the execs at bear stearns back in the 70s who found out that the former math teacher at dalton school had invented college degrees from “two california universities” but didn’t fire him because they wanted to give a humble kid from the outer boros a second chance.
“you lied about your education,” [senior exec michael] tennenbaum said.
“yes, i know,” epstein calmly replied. He had never graduated from college. Tennenbaum recalls being disarmed by the admission. Decades later, he would regard it as an example of epstein’s ability to manipulate his marks — in this case, him.
“why did you do it?” Tennenbaum stammered.
without an impressive degree or two, epstein said, “i knew nobody would give me a chance.”
this resonated with tennenbaum.
that’s a great story, and there is great reporting in this article. But the premise of the article is a stupid myth the nyt wants to believe– that epstein was just the canniest, boldest con man that ever lived, and he left everybody swooning. The talented mr ripley.
it’s a myth not because epstein was not a bold and crafty con man – no doubt he was. But even a conman can have an ethos. Look at gatsby, a mobster with romance. Look at trump’s fascistic populism. And jeffrey epstein had an ethos that he played on over and over again as his racket grew; and that ethos was the love of israel in the rising jewish meritocratic establishment of the 70s.
almost every player in the times story is a jewish success story who lobbied for israel in prestigious circles, from dershowitz to larry summers, leon black, lynn forester de rothschild, and epstein’s most famous associations, robert maxwell and les wexner.
love of israel was a lead criterion for inclusion in epstein’s circle. I don’t think epstein’s “marks” were even fooled by him. They knew he was a conman who played fast and loose. But they also knew that the israel lobby has a need for charmers who break the rules, so they looked the other way.
epstein did numerous chores for israel that investigative sites have documented and the times does not touch: he helped israel broker financial deals with neighbors, he had an israeli spy living in his house for a time, and he had a close relationship with former israeli pm ehud barak that included business ventures and politics in israel.
“it’s well past time to ask questions about the billionaire pedophile’s links to israel,” jacobin says.
epstein held multiple passports, including one from austria with a false name and an address in saudi arabia.
some theorize that epstein was mossad and running a “honeytrap” for the israeli government, videotaping pols having sex so they could be blackmailed to support israel. I don’t see the evidence for this. However, the evidence in plain sight suggests that epstein was always willing to help israel whenever possible, and this service ultimately elevated him.
as the times says, in its one reference to israel: “in 1989, epstein accompanied wayne owens, a democratic congressman from utah, on a trip to the middle east to explore ways to promote business ties between israel and its neighbors.” That trip came about because of epstein’s relationship to the israel-supporter les wexner. But the times studiously avoids the israel connection when it comes to the two people epstein was closest to, businessman wexner and fellow child sex trafficker ghislaine maxwell.
to show you how foolish the times narrative is, let’s focus on those relationships.
maxwell says she met epstein in 1990 or 1991 when she was 30 and had come to new york from england as an ambassador for her beloved father’s growing media empire in the states. A friend introduced her, she says, and she remembers epstein, then in his late 30s, having a ketchup stain on his tie.
maxwell’s father then vetted epstein by calling bear stearns execs. Here’s the times version:
“when the domineering robert maxwell learned that his daughter was spending time with epstein, he contacted ace greenberg and jimmy cayne, both of whom he was close to, to see what they knew about their former bear stearns employee. Greenberg and cayne apparently vouched for epstein.”
ghislaine explained the vetting in her deposition to the justice department last summer. Her father was extremely protective of her because he was such a controversial figure that she had been threatened, including a death threat by the irish republican army. So he wanted to get her a bodyguard (she turned him down) and to know who she was dating. And bear stearns was “one of our banks.”
let’s take ghislaine at her word…
what doesn’t track in the times story is the idea that cayne and greenberg would “vouch” for epstein. Wait a second. The times just recounted one incident after another in epstein’s career in his 20s and 30s where he ripped people off, lied to them, smiles and waves. Cayne and greenberg knew this well. They’d fired epstein after an sec investigation of trading violations 10 years earlier! They knew epstein to be a charming fraud who invented his degrees.
so when their friend and client robert maxwell, who is one of the biggest businessmen in the world, calls them to get their take on epstein as boyfriend material for his beloved daughter — they “vouch” for him. No red flags??
i think the truth is that everybody knew this guy was a conman, and ghislaine wasn’t really his girlfriend, but a consort; it was a business relationship from the start (she claims he was actually dating eva andersson until 1994). And in fact, the bear stearns execs were vouching for epstein as a jewish kid on the make who loved what robert maxwell loved — israel.
robert maxwell was born in czechoslovakia and lost much of his family in the holocaust. As ghislaine maxwell stated in her deposition to the justice department last summer, her father served as an intelligence officer in world war ii and essentially functioned as one throughout his life, passing on secrets to governments, including israel.
there is speculation that maxwell worked for mossad. After his death by drowning in 1991, maxwell was given what the press termed a state funeral in israel, and then was buried in jerusalem.
“my father, you know, anything that touches on israel or the state of israel, i’m always interested in because my father loved israel and so i pay attention to it and we have ties to israel,” maxwell said.
jimmy cayne also loved israel; he gave to many causes there. Ace greenberg gave half his philanthropy to jewish causes and israel.
the times also whitewashes the relationship with les wexner, the man who truly elevated epstein. This is how the times subtitles their association: “a confidence man meets his most significant mark”
so les wexner is a mark? But according to the times, wexner’s people saw through epstein from the start. And wexner just “didn’t listen” again and again.
[harold] levin told us that he spent an hour with epstein in his office and immediately got a bad vibe. He found a pay phone and called wexner. “I smell a rat,” levin reported. “I don’t trust him.”
wexner apparently didn’t listen…
almost immediately, wexner’s colleagues grew alarmed by his embrace of epstein. “I tried to find out how did he get from a high school math teacher to a private investment adviser,” the vice chairman of the limited
[told the new york times]in 2019….Once again, wexner didn’t listen, and thus became the most important contributor to the staggering growth in epstein’s fortune. One unsolved mystery of the epstein era is what exactly wexner got out of their relationship.
wexner didn’t listen because he didn’t want to listen. As to what he got out of the relationship—well, wexner cares deeply about israel. Wexner is married to an israeli-american, abigail koppel, whose father fought in israel’s foundational war and later opened el al airlines in the u.S. Per the latest emails, koppel and epstein were close. When her father died in 2006—“in lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to ‘friends of the israel defense forces,’”
wexner is a pillar of the israel lobby. Just last month at the jewish federations conference, eric fingerhut, a former congress member, hailed wexner as one of those great jewish leaders who love israel and combine communal leadership with the ability to stand next to the governor and the mayor.
yes, and right after he got in with wexner, epstein flew out to israel with a utah congressman to promote business deals.
once you start connecting israel dots with epstein, you can’t stop…. Epstein worked with dershowitz to try to discredit the authors of the bombshell israel lobby paper in 2006.
epstein’s close associate leon black (who was brought down by their association in 2021) gave $1 million to the birthright program and a large gift to the israeli defense forces.
the one time i met epstein (reporting for this article) he was with howard rubenstein, the p.R. Guy who was a devoted supporter of israel.
you simply cannot separate the shared love of israel from epstein’s mysterious rise. The times investigation is naïve and stupid. No wonder people turn to tucker carlson.
philip weiss is an american journalist who co-edits mondoweiss (“a news website devoted to covering american foreign policy in the middle east, chiefly from a progressive jewish perspective”) with journalist adam horowitz. Weiss describes himself as an anti-zionist and rejects the label “post-zionist.”
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| Patrick Durkin: Meyer protected Wisconsins natural resources and outdoor heritag |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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Wisconsin lost its most devoted and enduring conservation watchdog dec. 10 when prostate cancer killed george meyer at age 78.
meyers list of job titles in five decades of public service grew so long he almost had to unfurl a scroll when introduced at podiums across the state. And man, did meyer tour wisconsin. In 1993 alone, he delivered 240 speeches; speaking to just about any group, anywhere.
about that resumé: meyer spent over 30 years with the dnr, serving as a staff attorney from 1972 to 1980, administrator of the dnr’s law-enforcement division from 1980 to 1993, and then dnr secretary until 2001.
after retiring from the dnr in 2002, meyer became the wisconsin wildlife federation’s executive director in 2003, and held the job until retiring in july 2021. Besides running the wwf, testifying and listening at dnr and legislative hearings, and alerting the public to legislative shenanigans in madison, meyer built the federation’s membership of affiliated conservation clubs and organizations from 79 in 2003 to over 200 in recent years.
among many distinctions, meyer was wisconsin’s last dnr secretary to be appointed by the seven-citizen natural resources board. And after gov. Tommy thompson and the legislature gave that duty to the governor’s office in 1995, meyer eventually became the first dnr secretary to be dismissed by a newly elected governor and replaced by one of the guv’s cronies. That happened in 2001 when tommy went to washington to serve in president george w. Bush’s cabinet, allowing scott mccallum to inherit the governor’s mansion and replace meyer.
but meyer always persevered, whether working face to face, talking on his phone during meals, or juggling impromptu gaggles in the capitol’s hallways. And whether he testified at hearings, spoke to civic groups, or endured protests at state parks and northwoods boat landings, meyer arrived early and stayed late, sometimes needing a janitor, sheriff’s deputy or his wife, jayne, to ease him toward his car.
so, yes, wisconsin will miss this conservation diplomat and hunting-fishing advocate. Meyer was a tenacious pain in the butt for anyone trying to plunder wisconsin’s natural resources. He learned those traits and his environmental values on his parents’ new holstein dairy farm during the 1950s and early 1960s. And a half-century later, in april 2018, his lifetime achievements earned him a deserving pedestal in the wisconsin conservation hall of fame.
some of us were lucky to report on meyer’s storied career. Here’s a few of his thoughts from long-ago articles and columns in my files:
-- in november 1994, animal-rights protesters hassled hunters at blue mounds state park on opening day of deer season to test wisconsin’s new hunter harassment law. To avoid making them martyrs by arresting them, meyer told conservation wardens not to interfere except to prevent injury or property damage.
“(their protest) won’t have an impact on anything,” meyer told me. “People in our society accept protest and understand its value, but they don’t like it when anyone interferes with the private life or pastime of other individuals. That feeling came through loud and clear. Most people in wisconsin are hunters or have hunters in their families. Anti-hunters have a narrow support base. Their main interest was fund-raising publicity. I doubt their protest did much for their cause.”
-- in august 2004, meyer recalled how he persuaded gov. Thompson to support a hunting season on mourning doves. Thompson didn’t oppose the hunt, but hesitated to endorse it.
“after a cabinet meeting in 2000, the governor asked why i was pushing this dove hunt thing,” meyer said. “I reminded tommy that in 1970 when the legislature named the mourning dove the state bird of peace, only seven assemblymen voted against it. One of them was elroy’s tommy thompson. He laughed, realizing i had him. Soon after, more than 30,000 people at the spring hearings voted overwhelmingly for the hunt. When i asked tommy about that vote, he said he was a politician and knew how to count.”
meyer enjoyed hunting doves, telling me in 2004: “dove seasons start early, the weather’s nice, and you get lots of shooting. It’s a great, well-structured way to introduce kids to hunting.”
-- for 10 straight aprils during the 1980s and early 1990s, meyer wore a bullet-proof vest and spent long, stressful days and nights patrolling northwoods lakes with conservation wardens to enforce the chippewa tribes’ federally granted spearfishing rights.
during a 2018 interview, meyer said he reminded himself of those dark months whenever navigating issues in madison at dnr headquarters. “Nothing i worked on as dnr secretary was ever as difficult as that,” meyer said.
-- meyer disliked wisconsin’s political landscape in summer 2018. “Our legislature now answers to only one thing and that’s economic interests,” meyer said when addressing the wisconsin outdoor communicators association in eagle river. “It’s not even close. When a business association, or the wisconsin manufacturers and commerce, the dairy business association, or lobbyists for the koch brothers and americans for prosperity show up in the capitol, they throw tremendous weight. Most of our legislators listen to those economic interests. They buy it.”
-- meyer took special pride in the wisconsin conservation leadership corps, a wwf program that trains college students and high-school seniors in conservation advocacy, leadership, communication and policy development.
“we need these bright, young people for our state’s conservation work,” meyer told me. “When i attend most conservation meetings, i see an aging group. The wisconsin wildlife federation is putting more young people into those rooms.”
-- in 2018, meyer faulted gop lawmakers and gov. Scott walker for helping private interests dominate natural-resource policies. But he also reminded everyone that former gov. Jim doyle, a democrat, let issues slide that way during his 2002-2010 term.
“doyle ran for governor (in 2002) saying he would restore independence to the dnr secretary, but when that bill later came to his desk, he vetoed it,” meyer said. “Gov. Doyle lied. He said one thing publicly and something else privately. Yes, gov. Walker and the republican legislature probably would have changed everything back after the 2010 election, but the political stain would have been on them. That stain remains on doyle. Let’s pin the tail on the right donkey.”
-- after retiring from the wwf four years ago, meyer said he didn’t intend to disappear. “I’ll just volunteer more often,” he said. “This has never been about me. Whatever work i do, and whatever recognition i receive, it’s all about a joint effort of dnr staff, the wildlife federation and other volunteers.”
patrick durkin is a free-lance writer who covers outdoors recreation in wisconsin. Contact him at patrickdurkin56@gmail.Com, or at @patrickdurkinoutdoors.Com on facebook and instagram. |
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| Business owner Vaughn Towns aims to improve construction industry for younger Bl |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 23 @ 00:00:51 PST (3 reads) | |
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South philadelphia native vaughn towns owns live limitless renovations llc, a philly-based home renovation company, where he aims to inspire more young black philadelphians to join the construction and trades industry.
towns said he was always good with his hands and was a lego and connect kid growing up. After graduating from college with a computer science degree, he did not feel fulfilled in that industry. He later became connected to philadelphians in the trade industry and launched his company in june 2024. |
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