The Full Belmonte, 5/30/2023
Texas Lawmakers Pass Ban on D.E.I. Programs at State Universities
By Audra D. S. Burch
“The News: Just a day before the Texas legislative session ended, state lawmakers approved a ban on offices and programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion at publicly funded colleges and universities. On Sunday, both chambers approved Senate Bill 17, which was sponsored by Brandon Creighton, a Republican state senator.
‘The days of political oaths, compelled speech, and racial profiling in university hiring are behind us,’ Mr. Creighton said in statement.
Democratic leaders, college educators and students warned that the bans could have wide repercussions including on the ability to attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds and on the chances of winning research and programming grants.
The Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors said in a statement that the bill sends a clear message to the 1.3 million public university and community college students, ‘that our state is not committed to welcoming students from all backgrounds and to building a public higher education system that is truly inclusive and supportive of all.’
Why It Matters: Education is at the forefront of political battles across the country.
Texas is the latest state to defund diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, known as D.E.I. The move there is part of a national wave by conservative politicians who say that taxpayer money is being used to stoke racial division and push a liberal agenda in colleges and universities.
An Associated Press analysis of legislative bills found at least 30 bills in about a dozen states this year were aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in colleges and universities.
Background: D.E.I. has been targeted nationally.
Across the country, public colleges and universities have opened D.E.I. offices to help attract and support a broad range of students. But in recent months, those efforts have been targeted by conservative state legislators who paint them as discriminatory. So far, several universities have halted their D.E.I. programs, prompted either by laws or political pressure. In perhaps the most high-profile case, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill into law two weeks ago prohibiting institutions of public higher education from spending funds on D.E.I. initiatives. In Iowa, the Board of Regents president announced the current D.E.I. programs at three public universities would be studied, and any new initiatives would be halted until the review was completed.
What’s Next
Senate Bill 17 heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who will almost certainly sign it. If the bill becomes law, D.E.I. programming at public colleges and universities would be required to shut down in about six months.” [New York Times]
Drones Hit Residential Areas in Moscow for First Time
Attacks follow Russian strikes on Kyiv that killed one person
A multistory apartment block in Moscow was damaged following a drone attack. MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS
“Drones struck several buildings including residential blocks in Moscow, Russian authorities said Tuesday, blaming Ukraine for the first attacks on civilian areas deep inside the country since the invasion last year, as Kyiv spent another night under air assault.
Some of the drones that hit Moscow were shot down over a district that houses the city’s political and business elite. Videos online showed plumes of smoke over the area’s turreted estates, and photographs on social media—carried by state television—showed blackened holes in working-class apartment buildings elsewhere inside Moscow and on the outskirts of the city.
‘All the city’s emergency teams are at the sites of the incident,’ said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, asked people to remain calm and attributed explosions to air-defense systems that were working to shoot down the drones. Authorities said some residents had been treated for light wounds at the site.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack used eight fixed-wing drones, five of which were shot down by its Pantsir air defenses. Three were deflected from their targets by radio-electronic defenses, the ministry said.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the drone strikes. Kyiv didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Groups of alleged Russian nationals with ties to Ukrainian military intelligence have been operating inside the country, and launched an incursion into a border region last week.
Violence has spread on Russian soil ahead of an expected offensive by Kyiv in Ukraine’s east and south.
Police officers and investigators collect parts of a drone that damaged an apartment building in Moscow. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
At the start of this month, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin, an incident that exposed vulnerabilities around the symbol of President Vladimir Putin’s seat of power and which Moscow blamed on Ukraine.
While shelling is frequent in Russian villages near the border with Ukraine, Tuesday’s attack in Moscow marks the first time that civilian areas deep inside Russia have been struck since the invasion of Ukraine last year. The incident belies Putin’s assertion that Russia’s so-called special military operation is going according to plan. It also shatters the perception shared by many in Russia that the conflict is playing out far away.
Continued attacks inside Russia, if carried out by Ukraine, threaten to raise tensions with Washington, which has urged Kyiv not to carry out strikes on Russian soil. The violence could also change the calculus of Russia’s backers, such as China, which haven’t so far delivered large amounts of lethal aid….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Ugandan President Signs Anti-Gay Law That Includes Death Penalty as a Punishment
The legislation is among the most restrictive of its kind in the world and was condemned by Western leaders and the United Nations human rights body.
Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya
May 29, 2023
“The president of Uganda signed a punitive anti-gay bill on Monday that includes the death penalty, enshrining into law an intensifying crackdown against L.G.B.T.Q. people in the conservative East African nation and dismissing widespread calls not to impose one of the world’s most restrictive anti-gay measures.
The law calls for life imprisonment for anyone who engages in gay sex. Anyone who tries to have same-sex relations could be liable for up to a decade in prison.
The law also decrees the death penalty for anyone convicted of ‘aggravated homosexuality,’ a term defined as acts of same-sex relations with children or disabled people, those carried out under threat or while someone is unconscious. The offense of ‘attempted aggravated homosexuality’ carries a sentence of up to 14 years.
The legislation is a major blow to efforts by the United Nations, Western governments, civil society and rights groups that had implored the president, Yoweri Museveni, not to sign it. On Monday, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union all condemned the enactment of the law, saying it undermined equality and the right of all Ugandans to live free from discrimination and persecution….” Read more at New York Times
Spanish Prime Minister Calls Snap Election for July
Pedro Sánchez, who leads a fragile coalition government, made the announcement after his liberal party lost ground to conservatives in regional and local elections over the weekend.
By Emma Bubola and Jason Horowitz
May 29, 2023
“Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said Monday that he would dissolve Parliament and called a snap election for July after his liberal party suffered bruising defeats in regional and local elections over the weekend.
‘Although yesterday’s elections had a local and regional scope, the meaning of the vote conveys a message that goes beyond that,’ Mr. Sánchez said, speaking in front of Spain’s presidential palace. ‘I take personal responsibility for the results.’
The announcement by Mr. Sánchez, who is popular in the European Union for his progressive policies but has been increasingly a weight on his party’s fortunes, brings to a premature end the country’s first coalition government since the return of democracy in the 1970s.
But that coalition, formed in 2020 after a monthslong political limbo, was from the start a hodgepodge of leftist parties and deeply polarizing Catalan and Basque separatists. Its abiding fragility came to the fore with the local election results….” Read more at New York Times
Florida mom who challenged Amanda Gorman poem and other books says she only read parts of the material
USA TODAY
“The Florida mom whose complaints about reading material prompted Amanda Gorman's acclaimed poem "The Hill We Climb" and other books to be restricted at a local elementary school admits she only read parts of the material she objected to.
Daily Salinas fueled a firestorm last week after the Bob Graham Educational Center, a public school in Miami-Dade County, agreed to restrict access to "The Hill We Climb" − which Gorman recited at President Joe Biden's inauguration −and three other books a school panel decided were better suited for middle-school students.
Salinas told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency she complained about Gorman's poem and the books because they did not support the curriculum. Gorman, 25, was the first person named the National Youth Poet Laureate.
‘I’m not an expert,’ Salinas said. ‘I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.’
Gorman rejected the school's defense that her poem was restricted, not banned, and that it remained available for middle-school children.
‘For those claiming my book wasn’t banned, just 'aged-up,' 'The Hill We Climb' is an inaugural poem for the world,’ Gorman posted on Twitter. ‘Relocating it to older age group library shelves by its nature bars younger and equally deserving generations from accessing said moment in history.’
Developments:
∙ Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has invited Gorman to perform a reading of her poem in the county.
∙ Students at New Roads elementary, the California school Gorman once attended, read their own poetry at rally in her name. ‘When our students see this book, they are reminded that they too are authors, thinkers, speakers, social justice advocates, champions for those who have been marginalized, and compassionate young people who want to listen and to be heard,’ the school said in an Instagram post….” Read more at USA Today
Jimmy Butler helps Heat to 103-84 Game 7 win over Celtics and spot in NBA Finals
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler dribbles during the second half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics Monday, May 29, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa )
“BOSTON (AP) — No unprecedented comeback, no last-tick miracle, no cavalcade of higher seeds is going to prevent these Miami Heat from playing for the NBA title.
Eastern Conference finals Most Valuable Player Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the eighth-seeded Heat beat Boston 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
A year after losing a seventh game to the Celtics, Miami recovered from blowing a 3-0 lead in the series and advanced to face the Western Conference champion Nuggets.
Game 1 is Thursday night in Denver, where the top-seeded Nuggets have been waiting since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on May 22..
‘We stayed together as a group. As a team, we talked about going and getting a tough one on the road. We did just that,’ Butler said. ‘But we’re not satisfied. We’re excited. We’re happy. But we’ve got one more to get.’…” Read more at AP News