Commentary: America’s ‘Social Justice’ Nightmares Have Only Intensified

Pills

Seattle is in King County, Washington, where Joe Biden got 75 percent of the vote in the 2020 election. King County had more than 1,000 drug overdoses involving fentanyl in 2023. These two facts are almost certainly related, but which is the cause and which the effect? Or could it be that both (a) the tendency to vote for Democrats and (b) the addiction to dangerous drugs are caused by some unknown factor? Without a careful analysis of the available data to identify that unknown background factor, is it wrong to hazard a guess that the overdosing dopeheads and Democratic voters in King County are just plain stupid?

Beyond sarcastic put-downs, it behooves those interested in public policy to take a look at what’s going on in places like Seattle, where Democrats dominate and “progressive” ideas therefore advance unhindered by any effective opposition. In the case of King County’s skyrocketing drug overdoses — which increased nearly 50 percent in just the past year — local officials have declared the problem “a public health crisis.” However, fentanyl is illegal, which means that the overdoses are also indicative of a crime problem, and progressives are against putting criminals in prison.

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Commentary: Teacher Union Power Is Still in Full Bloom

CTA Event

As a result of the Janus decision in 2018, no teacher or any public employee has to pay a penny to a union as a condition of employment. The good news is that since then, 20% of workers in non-right-to-work states have dropped out of their unions, according to a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The not-so-good news is that 70% of teachers nationwide are still willingly paying union dues, a great deal of which goes to politics, specifically to progressive candidates and causes.

The California Teachers Association has the honor of being the biggest political-spending teachers’ union in the country. A recent report reveals that between 1999 and 2020, the 300,000+ member union spent an astonishing $222,940,629 on politics – about $6 million was spent on the federal level, while almost $217 million stayed in the state – with 98.2% of all spending going to Democrats. The top advocacy issues for CTA include regulating charter schools, immigration reform, social justice, and a slew of almost exclusively left-wing causes.

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Ohio’s Miami University Tells ‘Social Justice’ and CRT Degree Programs to Fix Lack of Interest

Low-enrollment degrees at Miami University need to adapt or die, according to a memo from school officials.

Majors in “social justice, “critical race and ethnic studies” and “art history” are among those that must adapt their offerings in order to survive. The Oxford, Ohio university is facing a $36 million budget deficit.

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Watchdog Group Reports on Ohio State University College of Medicine ‘Anti-Racism’ DEI Practices Post-Supreme Court Decision

A comprehensive report by an organization that seeks to protect health care from discriminatory ideology has published a report that finds Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine is steeped in teaching medicine through the lens of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, and notes the school will need to examine its admissions processes to align with the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling.

The report, by Do No Harm, is released in the wake of the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down affirmative action policies in school admissions.

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Physicians Criticize CDC ‘Guidance’ on Biological Men ‘Chestfeeding’ Babies

Doctors are reacting with shock and horror at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “guidance” on how biological men who identify as women can “chestfeed” their babies.

Internationally-known physician Peter McCullough, M.D., wrote at his Substack column Courageous Discourse Tuesday that CDC has become a “laughing stock” over its “chestfeeding” guidance, “plunging to new lows” with its “ridiculous” statement.

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Commentary: Stephen Curry’s Housing Hypocrisy

Stephen Curry is quite the guy. Professional athlete, philanthropist, and social justice advocate—is there anything he can’t do? Apparently there is, seeing as how the NBA player has difficulty practicing what he preaches.

Curry came under fire this week after it was revealed that he and his wife oppose the construction of multifamily housing near their $31 million Atherton mansion. Yet this shouldn’t surprise us. Hypocrisy is a defining trait for many wealthy liberals.

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Planned Parenthood Sex Educator Teaching Minors on TikTok to Use ‘Spicy Toys’ or Vegetables for Sexual Pleasure Under Fire

The work of a Planned Parenthood sex educator whose viral TikTok videos instruct children and young teens to use “spicy toys” and fruits and vegetables for sexual pleasure has been condemned by a former sex educator also trained by the abortion industry giant. Monica Cline, who, prior to her conversion, educated children as young as middle schoolers to engage in sex acts “safely,” said in comments sent to The Star News Network that Planned Parenthood sex educator and digital creator Mariah Caudillo is engaged in a “crime against children” paid for by American taxpayers.

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The American Historical Association’s Fight over the Present

The American Historical Association (AHA) is fixated on the present. At its recent annual meeting in Philadelphia, former AHA President James Sweet referenced his criticism of “presentism,” according to a report in The New York Times. Presentism, Sweet suggested in the August 2022 edition of AHA’s news magazine, leverages history to serve present-day social justice initiatives.

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California College Trustee Wants to ‘Cull’ Conservative Faculty, ‘Take ‘Em to the Slaughterhouse’

A faculty-run think tank that challenges social justice orthodoxy at a California community college is so loathed by activists on and off campus that an elected official apparently suggested treating its leaders like his doomed livestock.

John Corkins, vice president of the Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, made the agricultural quip at a Dec. 13 meeting following public comments dominated by accusations of racism and harassment by the Renegade Institute for Liberty at Bakersfield College.

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Washington State School District Appoints Board Director Who Called Police ‘Pigs’ and Advocated Riots

The Olympia school district in Washington State appointed a woman to the city school board who, in July 2021, was recorded in a video speaking to a crowd at the state capitol, shouting “f**k the police,” calling the police “pigs,” and urging the crowd to “tear everything up in this “f**king city.”

The school board unanimously agreed to appoint Talauna Reed to fill the director vacancy in District 2 following the resignation of Justin McKaughan at the end of August, a press statement said.

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Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund Launches Two Organizations to Push for Diversity in Local Government

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Action Fund announced on Monday the formation of two PACs to promote diversity in local government candidates across the South.

The New Southern Leaders federal Political Action Committee (PAC) and the New Southern Majority federal Independent Expenditure Committee (Super PAC) will “help recruit, support and drive greater diversity among political candidates running for local offices throughout the South,” according to an emailed press release.

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Commentary: The Stigmatization of the Ordinary

Over 60 years ago, we were introduced to the idea of “the two cultures” in higher education—that is, the growing rift in the academy between the humanities and the sciences, a rift wherein neither side understood the other, spoke to the other, or cared for the other. But this divide in the academy, real as it may be, is nothing compared to another great divide—the rift today between our common American culture and the culture of the academy itself.

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‘Obstructing Justice’: Report Reveals How Many Millions Soros Has Spent Getting Left-Wing Prosecutors into Office

Billionaire George Soros spent a staggering $40 million through “shell organizations, affiliates, and pass through committees” in the last decade to aid in electing 75 “social justice” prosecutors in half of the 50 most-populous cities in the U.S., according to a new report.

The 17-page report, compiled by the nonprofit Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), says the billionaire steers money to candidates and his “robust support network” to get left-wing prosecutors elected. The 75 prosecutors, which include those in Dallas, San Antonio, New York City, Austin, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and more, represent over one-in-five people, or more than 72 million Americans, according to the report.

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Maine Democrat Governor’s ‘Climate Council’ Recommends Paying ‘Disadvantaged’ People to Attend Its Meetings

The Equity Subcommittee of Maine Governor Janet Mills’ (D) Climate Council is recommending a plan to pay “disadvantaged” and “overburdened” state residents to attend its meetings because, according to its ideology, victims of systemic discrimination suffer greater impact from climate change than average Maine residents.

The Equity Subcommittee’s report, released in February, claims that some individuals in Maine, particularly those who are victims of “historical and systemic discrimination, underrepresentation, and isolation” are “more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than others.”

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Bank of America Shareholders Band Together Against Company’s ‘Woke’ Practices

A group of shareholders in America’s largest bank has banded together to fight against the company’s “woke” policies.

Members of a group called The Boardroom Initiative issued a shareholder proposal that rebuked some of Bank of America’s “wokeness,” and though the proposal was shot down, members of the group remained upbeat.

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Professor, ‘Free Black Thought’ Co-Founder Discusses Why He Teaches English, Not ‘Social Justice’

Dr. Erec Smith of York College of Pennsylvania

Erec Smith is an associate professor of Rhetoric and Composition at York College of Pennsylvania. After experiencing cancel culture 2019, he has since become an advocate for viewpoint diversity, especially in the Black community.

In a June 2021 “On the Media” podcast, Smith discussed the incident that led him to be “canceled” in higher education.

He spoke to WNYC Studios’ Shamed and Confused podcast about “Feeling ‘canceled’ in Academia,” and was featured in a December 2021 segment on Reputation.Erec Smith is an associate professor of Rhetoric and Composition at York College of Pennsylvania. After experiencing cancel culture 2019, he has since become an advocate for viewpoint diversity, especially in the Black community.

In a June 2021 “On the Media” podcast, Smith discussed the incident that led him to be “canceled” in higher education.

He spoke to WNYC Studios’ Shamed and Confused podcast about “Feeling ‘canceled’ in Academia,” and was featured in a December 2021 segment on Reputation.

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Indianapolis Administrator Fired After Leaking School District’s Social Justice Initiatives

An Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) administrator was fired Monday for “sharing public files” with news outlets as well as recordings of a “Racial Justice Speaker Series” that was presented to students, according to a statement.

Tony Kinnett was fired from his job as District Science Coordinator & Instructional Coach for IPS for “Sharing that IPS recorded children in required racial justice sessions, not sending IPS the personal info of” two reporters, “quoting Dr. Payne’s racist comments to students” and for “sharing public files,” according to his Twitter.

Kinnett told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the HR team pulled him into several meetings that they repeatedly said were non-disciplinary, but he said at the meetings he was not allowed to speak freely, initially bring an attorney or record anything.

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Biden-Appointed U.S. Attorney Plays Race Card in Expletive Filled Rant

A recently-appointed U.S. Attorney who has been praised for her commitment to fixing the “injustices” in the criminal justice system launched into an expletive laden rant when approached by reporters. 

Wednesday, Rachael Rollins was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. She was appointed by President Joe Biden. 

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Ohio State University Dodges Questions on Multi-Million Dollar Diversity Bureaucracy

Ben Johnson

Ohio State University (OSU) was not very forthcoming Tuesday after the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Mark J. Perry posted a report detailing the school’s spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats. 

According to the report, Perry claims that OSU has 132 staffers in administration roles focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), costing the Ohio taxpayer more than $13 million per year. 

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‘Woke’ Professor Fired After Mixing up Names of Black Students

A professor at Fordham University in the Bronx has been terminated after showing off his “woke” credentials to students in order to excuse himself from mixing up the names of two black students. 

“A former lecturer in the English Department, Christopher Trogan, was terminated by Fordham on Oct. 25 after a series of communications with students that stemmed from an incident where he confused the names of two Black students,” The Fordham Observer, the school’s newspaper, said. 

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Jordan Peterson Spots Another Woke College Math Course

Jordan Peterson, the famed psychology professor, recently pointed out that his institution, the University of Toronto, is offering a “Liberating Mathematics” class.

The course description argues that “progress” in the discipline has been “led in large part by women mathematicians, in particular Black women, Indigenous women, and women from visible minorities” who offer “a daring critique of traditional mathematics, re-imagining of mathematics culture, and more.”

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‘Everything’s About Race’ in the American Justice System, Warns Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz, the famed law scholar and appellate lawyer, has a stark warning for judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers: America’s justice system is being corrupted by identity politics and critical race theory.

In an interview with Just the News, Dershowitz deplored the growing trend in recent criminal cases toward political agendas supplanting the neutral consideration of evidence and law that has been the lifeblood of U.S. jurisprudence for more than two centuries.

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Colleges Offer ‘Social Justice’ Math Classes for Students, Future Teachers

This school year, colleges around the country will teach students to use math to drive a “social justice” agenda. Campus Reform has found several courses, aimed both at math students and future teachers, that will teach math through social justice and social justice through math.

Central Washington University’s “Mathematics for Social Justice,” identified by Twitter user @OrwellNGoode, purports to teach students how, and why, to use math for social justice activism. The course description says, “The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around us, exploring social, political, and economic justice.” Students will use math and analysis to “draw conclusions concerning social justice issues,” “make and evaluate assumptions in a social justice context,” and “analyze and critique social justice claims and arguments.”

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Ohio Native Vivek Ramaswamy Blasts BlackRock CEO Larry Fink

The founder and Executive Chairman of the biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences blasted BlackRock Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Fink.

“Larry Fink claims to embrace ‘ESG.’ In practice, he does political favors for the CCP in return for market access to China and earns hefty fees from American workers who have no idea how he uses their assets to advance his own agenda. The face of the woke-industrial complex,” Vivek Ramaswamy said on Twitter.

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Commentary: The Insufferable Piety of the Progressive Elites

Freedom in Australia is now at the mercy of a state and its police apparatus bent on controlling people’s every movement.

But despite the extensive footage of protests gone violent, neither American liberal media nor domestic social justice movements are raising alarms about police brutality in that country.

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Commentary: The Great Parent Revolt

As overreach in classrooms by progressive school administrators, nonprofits and the federal government has reached new heights, parents are stepping up to fight back.

Moms for Liberty, Informed Parents of California, EdFirstNC, NJ Parental Rights, No Left Turn in Education and Parents Against Critical Theory are just a few of the hundreds of new parent groups that have emerged across the country in recent months. Many parents have become education activists because of schools’ failure to bring children back into the classroom or their continued imposition of mask mandates.

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Universities Train Future Teachers to Push Critical Race Theory and Social Justice

School bus with "use your voice" on the windshield

As the controversy over Critical Race Theory rages across the country, several prominent teacher preparation programs are training future teachers to use Critical Race Theory in the classroom.  Several of the nation’s largest teacher preparation programs are training future teachers to use Critical Race Theory in the classroom.

Campus Reform reviewed course descriptions for upcoming classes in college teacher training programs at several major universities. Many intentionally prepare students to use progressive ideology in their own classrooms. Several use Critical Race Theory and social justice as a starting point for learning how to teach.

Among those courses are the University of North Carolina education department’s class, “”Critical Race Theory: History, Research, and Practice.” The course will cover how Critical Race Theory connects to “LatCrit Theory, AsianCrit, QueerCrit, TribalCrit, and Critical Race Feminism,” those terms being more recent areas of study that draw heavily from Critical Race Theory.

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Commentary: The Macro Subjectivity of ‘Microaggression’ Studies

Micro-Aggression

Ever since the most blatant forms of racism and discrimination in America faded, what are called microaggressions have, in the view of leftist academics and social justice activists, taken their place. These are “a form of racism,”  the slights and insults that, though subtle and small and typically unconscious, are insulting and harmful to their targets.

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Arizona State University Debuts New Degree in Social Justice Activism

Arizona State University (ASU) debuted a new undergraduate degree geared toward social justice activism, called community development. The course description describes education on the basics of activism, citing concepts like diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, equity, and social and environmental justice. If students enjoy studying community development, they may also earn a graduate degree in it.

“The BA program in community development equips students with tools to collaborate with, empower and educate diverse community constituents by drawing on grassroots and inclusive frameworks such as sustainable development, social and environmental justice, participatory democracy, social and economic equity and social accounting,” reads the course description.

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Commentary: Fighting Back in a Woke World of Cancel Culture

Empty office

By now there are enough “cancel culture” stories to fill volumes. After my own story about standing up to a woke mob – and succeeding – went viral on Twitter, I decided to speak out, because I am convinced that Americans need more encouraging stories about standing up to cancel culture, and information on how they can do it themselves.

In order to withstand attacks, you’ll need to be armed with an understanding of the ideas in play, and the courage to stand up to bullies. I hope my story can help give you both.

My story began in 2010, when my husband and I founded a nonprofit organization that trains people around the world who are providing care for survivors of trauma. We were pleased with the success of our organization for the first several years, but around 2016, we noticed a change.

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Slide from Social Justice Class Lists ‘Make America Great Again’ as ‘Covert White Supremacy’

Among the material associated with a Maryland public school’s five-day social justice summer course is a slide that identifies the phrase “Make America Great Again” as a type of “Covert White Supremacy.”

The slogan, often abbreviated “MAGA,” has been a staple of Donald Trump’s political career.

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Ohio State to Hire 50 Professors Focused on Social and Racial Justice

Ohio State President Kristina Johnson

Ohio State University recently announced it plans to hire 50 faculty members focused on addressing social equity and racial disparities.

The news comes as an economics professor and higher education watchdog calculated that the public university currently employs 150 diversity officials at a cost of $12 million annually.

In a 2021 state of the university address, President Kristina Johnson stated last month that she was encouraged by the Task Force on Racism and Racial Inequities to hire 150 new faculty within a new initiative called RAISE, which stands for race, inclusion and social equity.

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University Abruptly Suspends Diversity Classes: ‘Students Have Been Humiliated and Degraded’

Amid rumors of a video that shows a student being targeted during a diversity lesson at Boise State University, administrators have abruptly suspended all of the school’s general education classes called “University Foundations 200: Foundations of Ethics and Diversity.”

“We have been made aware of a series of concerns, culminating in allegations that a student or students have been humiliated and degraded in class on our campus for their beliefs and values,” states a March 16 memo from President Marlene Tromp to the campus community.

“This is never acceptable; it is not what Boise State stands for; and we will not tolerate this behavior,” Tromp stated. “…Given the weight of cumulative concerns, we have determined that, effective immediately, we must suspend UF 200.”

She goes on to note that academic leadership will determine next steps “to ensure that everyone is still able to complete the course.”

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Commentary: Critical Race Theory as a Leftist Hammer

You have to hand it to the Left: they are relentless and always at war on a thousand fronts. As my father once told me when he was in Congress, “The shame is our people come and go, while evil never sleeps.” As I have pointed out, leftists are on the level of religious zealots; politics and government are their religion, the vehicle by which perfection and utopia will be achieved in this world. 

The worst that can be said about many on the Right, however, is that they are just careerists. Most are nine to five types on weekdays and politics is not a religion for them. They consider politics a necessary evil. So if it seems like the Left is always on the move, it’s because politics is a lifestyle for them and they fully intend to reshape this country into their vision for it, everything else be damned.

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‘Intentional Erasure’: Black Lives Matter Fractures Over Power as Chapters Split from Network

Black Lives Matter has fractured in recent weeks as local chapters allege national leaders have withheld funding while shifting the direction of the movement.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was founded on the premise of empowering local chapters and activists on the ground, but in recent months those leaders have complained national leadership is centralizing power, according to Politico. Ten local chapters of the BLM Global Network Foundation announced Nov. 30 that they would sever ties with national leadership in a statement entitled “It is Time for Accountability.”

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Kamala Harris Goes ‘Full Blown Marxist’ in Campaign Ad

by Debra Heine   The Biden campaign is taking some heat after vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris unabashedly promoted the communist principle of equality of outcome in a campaign ad, rather than the American ideal of equality of opportunity. The animated video, shared by Sen. Harris (D-Calif.) on Twitter Sunday,…

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Big 12 Athletic Conference Makes Push for Social Justice During Fall Season

As college football season is well underway, the Big 12 conference announced that it will be going all-out on social justice messaging with public announcements, scoreboard messages, and more. This comes amid a nationwide push for BLM messaging in sports.

According to ESPN, the conference made the decision in early September, which includes the college allowing athletes wearing social justice patches on uniforms. Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that the conference wants to use “our platforms” to make a difference.

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Dolphins Announce They Will Stay Inside Locker Room During Both National Anthems

Miami Dolphins announced that they will remain in the team’s locker room for both national anthems this Sunday ahead of their regular-season opener against the New England Patriots, Fox News reports.

There will be no kneeling for the Dolphins on the sidelines this season. The players shared their thoughts in a video Thursday and read a message demanding the NFL use its money and influence to make social changes.

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NBA Promises $300 Million Towards New Foundation to Help Black Community

The National Basketball League Board of Governors announced plans Thursday to give $300 million over the next decade towards a new foundation supporting economic opportunities for black communities.

The NBA will donate $30 million each year for the next ten years towards the NBA Foundation, according to an NBA press release. The 30 NBA teams will each donate $1 million every year to the fund, NBC News reported.

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Commentary: Time to Adopt a ‘Second Tower’ Mentality

Few who were alive at the time can forget the moment the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Over the intervening 18 minutes, people remarked that there were 10,000 people in those buildings on any given workday. And some talked about a B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building in dense fog in 1945. Nearly all were wondering how those kinds of accidents can still happen in the 21st century. In those tense minutes, everyone knew something was terribly wrong, but they were in a First Tower Mentality.

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Commentary: Social Justice Cancels Social Distancing

And just like that, social distancing is canceled. At least for some.

After submitting to house arrest orders for the past three months in order to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans may have noticed a slight change in the rules this past week. There are no duct-taped outlines on city streets telling unruly mobs protesting the death of George Floyd where to stand. Rioters are not instructed to loot stores in opposite directions on downtown streets in order to avoid contact. Face coverings are optional but certainly useful when attempting to avoid identification by local law enforcement.

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Commentary: This Is What Social Justice Looks Like

If you did not grasp what the amorphous words “social justice” look like in a concrete sense, then after seeing so many examples of it this weekend defining the phrase no longer requires explanation. Live on television, I saw people social justicing at Ross Dress for Less, Aldi, Alexander McQueen, Target, the Apple Store, Hot Topic, Adidas Originals, Target, and Best Buy.

Protesters, strangely enough, also enthusiastically social justiced at Family Dollar. Clearly not all social justicers, despite their outlook’s stated egalitarianism, are created equal.

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‘Justice’ is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

Racial justice. Obstruction of justice. Social justice. The Justice Department. Merriam-Webster has chosen “justice” as its 2018 word of the year, driven by the churning news cycle over months and months. The word follows “toxic,” picked by Oxford Dictionaries, and “misinformation,” plucked by Dictonary.com. Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large,…

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Ocasio-Cortez Sees Global Warming as Way to Push Social and Racial Agenda

by Michael Bastasch   Democratic Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the “Green New Deal” plan she supports would be used to achieve liberal “economic, social and racial justice” goals along with fighting global warming. “We can use the transition to 100 percent energy as the vehicle to truly deliver…

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