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Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 26, 2023
542 views
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• North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R) has proposed legislation that would prohibit public libraries from maintaining books with LGBTQ characters and themes.
• The legislation defines a “sexually explicit” book as one that contains a “visual depiction” of twelve items, including “sexual identity” and “gender identity.”
• Librarians argue that the legislation would require them to remove most books with LGBTQ characters, and that it promotes censorship and book bans.
• The legislation provides that librarians that make prohibited materials available would face “up to 30 days imprisonment” and a $1500 fine.
• Lefor introduced the legislation because the book “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” was available in public libraries.
• The legislation is likely unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court has ruled that governments are not permitted to remove materials from libraries because they disapprove of the content.
• Lefor is supported by some of the most prominent corporations in the United States, including Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, NextEra Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Petroleum.

Published January 26, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator

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January 25, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
January 26, 2023
657 views
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• Democrats are staying out of the way while House Republicans make a spectacle of themselves, giving power to extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and facing financial improprieties from George Santos.
• Senate Republicans are staying out of debt ceiling negotiations until the House Republicans come up with a viable plan.
• President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to promote competition in the economy, reclaiming the country’s long tradition of opposing economic consolidation.
• Biden’s executive order has resulted in a sharp drop in mergers and acquisitions, and the December jobs report showed strong job growth and a decrease in unemployment.
• The CHIPS and Science Act has attracted multibillion-dollar private investments and created jobs accessible to those without college degrees.
• The Inflation Reduction Act has capped the cost of insulin for those on Medicare, made hearing aids available over the counter, and expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.
• Biden is taking to the road to tout his successes to the country, especially to those places most skeptical of the government.

Published January 26, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post January 25, 2023

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Demographics Part 6: The Orthodox Predicament [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain
In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics], Politics
January 26, 2023
662 views
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  • Orthodox Christian world is a huge swath of territory stretching from Russia to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia
  • These countries have experienced broad-scale economic dislocation, resulting in high levels of out migration
  • Primary method of birth control in the region is abortion, leading to low birth rates, a low death rate, and high infertility rates
  • The Russians have suffered from stacked geopolitical disasters and have the smallest generation ever
  • In Ukraine, the population is already dissolving, with the Ukrainian ethnicity likely to vanish within 20-30 years
  • Russian ethnicity is likely to follow suit – Population decline in the Orthodox Christian world has the greatest economic impact in Northeast Asia

You can watch the full  Demographics Part 6: The Orthodox Predicament on YouTube – Published January 26, 2023

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Spill it [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 25, 2023
573 views
S

• Popular Information has exposed an extraordinary assault on academic freedom in Florida.
• Bruce Friedman in Clay County has removed over 100 books from school libraries and is seeking to remove thousands more.
• Vicki Baggett in Escambia County is trying to ban 150 books from school libraries, including one about a legendary sprinter who overcame racial prejudice. Baggett allegedly said she opposed interracial marriage in class.
• Florida schools are using the “”Don’t Say Gay”” law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people.
• Teachers in Manatee County are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.

Published January 25, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Spill it

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January 24, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
January 25, 2023
654 views
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• Mike Pence’s lawyer revealed on January 18, 2023, that Pence had documents with classified markings at his Indiana home. This suggests that it is not uncommon for officials to find such documents among their papers, although the level of classification matters.
• The discovery highlights the difference between officials like Biden and Pence who inadvertently find such documents and alert the National Archives and Research Administration (NARA), and those who stonewall NARA and the FBI, as Trump did.
• Judge Robert McBurney heard arguments about whether to release the grand jury’s report investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential vote in Georgia.
• Representative George Santos revised his financial reports to say that a $500,000 loan to his campaign did not, in fact, come from his personal funds.
• Representative Elise Stefanik is being pulled into Santos’ troubles.
• House Speaker Kevin McCarthy put together a weaponization committee to fulfill a promise to the right-wing extremists whose votes he needed to become speaker. The true goal of the committee is to “shovel paranoia and distortion into the news stream” to make right-wing voters distrust the government even more.
• McCarthy refused to seat Democratic representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
• Another mass shooting on Monday took seven more lives, bringing the total for 2023 to an all-time high for mass shootings at this point in the calendar. California Governor Gavin Newsom called out Republicans for standing in the way of gun safety.

Published January 25, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post January 24, 2023

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Germany Green-Lights the Tanks [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain
In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics], Politics
January 25, 2023
665 views
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  • German and US governments have struck a deal to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine
  • The Germans have been hesitant to take a leadership role in military affairs in the past, so this is a major shift in policy
  • The Abrams Tanks provided by the US are the pinnacle of armored equipment development, but require significant logistical support to operate, which is not available in Europe
  • Leopard tanks are already used in Europe and can be delivered much more quickly to the Ukraine
  • The Abrams will signal a vote of confidence from the US, but will take longer to be ready for battle

You can watch the full Germany Green-Lights the Tanks on YouTube – Published January 25, 2023

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Twitter can’t handle the truth [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 24, 2023
629 views
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• Popular Information reported that the Manatee County School District instructed teachers to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.
• The directive was issued as part of an effort to comply with new laws and regulations championed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
• After the report was posted on Twitter, a “Community Note” was appended stating that “all books are not being removed from classroom libraries”, which is inaccurate.
• Teachers in Manatee County have been told to remove all books from their classroom libraries.
• The Community Note feature has been championed by Elon Musk, the billionaire who purchased Twitter for $44 billion in the fall.
• Musk has argued that Community Notes will be a corrective and cannot be biased towards the right, but since taking over Twitter, he has repeatedly catered to the far-right.

Published January 24, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Twitter can’t handle the truth

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The 2nd Holodomor: A Pending Genocide [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain
In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics], Politics
January 24, 2023
647 views
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  • Ukrainians are vastly outmanned by the Russians, estimated to have 300,000 mobilized with 500,000 more coming by May/June
  • Ukrainians lack sufficient bullets to take out the additional Russian forces
  • Ukrainians need to inflict casualties at a ratio of 5:1 to prevail
  • Russians resupply primarily by rail and lost their supply line when the Kirch Bridge was taken out last year
  • Russians have been using vans, buses and even artillery shells on trucks to ferry troops around
  • Ukrainians have been attacking the truck Fleet of the Military, reducing it from 3,000 to 500
  • Ukrainians need to turn the war into one of movement to win, but the weather has not been cooperative
  • Russians are waiting for spring to throw extra half a million men in and come at the Ukrainians from multiple angles
  • Russians are trying to destroy morale/Ukrainian economy and kill civilians as much as possible using drones, missiles, etc.
  • Russians will shift their targeting from electricity infrastructure to agricultural infrastructure by June
  • This will have a significant impact on countries that normally import from Ukraine, especially Egypt, come October/November/December

You can watch the full The 2nd Holodomor: A Pending Genocide on YouTube – Published January 24, 2023

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Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 23, 2023
590 views
F

• Teachers in Manatee County, Florida, are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution, in order to comply with new laws and regulations championed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
• The policy is based on the premise that teachers and librarians are using books to “”groom”” students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.
• The law requires that all library books selected be free of pornography and material prohibited under s. 847.012, suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, and appropriate for the grade level and age group for which the materials are used or made available.
• Teachers must make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students until they can establish that each book has been approved by a librarian.
• The process of restoring student access to classroom libraries is complex and requires cross-checking each book in their classroom library with the district library catalog, and any book not currently held in the district libraries must be individually evaluated and approved by a librarian.
• The review must also be consistent with a complex training, which was heavily influenced by right-wing groups like Moms For Liberty and approved by the Florida Department of Education just last week.
• The Parental Rights In Education Act prohibits all instruction on “”sexual orientation or gender identity”” in K-3 classrooms and instruction in other grades that is “”not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.””
• The teacher training approved by the Florida Department of Education, however, does not inform librarians that the Parental Rights in Education Act and Stop WOKE ACT do not apply to library books.
• Manatee County schools have already removed several books from school libraries because they contain LGBTQ characters or themes.

Published January 23, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution

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January 21, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
January 21, 2023
528 views
J

• Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973, granting physicians the power to determine with a patient whether the patient’s pregnancy should be terminated.
• This decision was rooted in a public health crisis, as states had begun to criminalize abortion in the 1870s, leading to an estimated 200,000-1.2 million illegal abortions a year.
• The rising women’s movement wanted women to have control over their lives, and the evangelical Southern Baptist Convention agreed that abortion should be legal in some cases.
• In 1972, Gallup pollsters reported that 64% of Americans agreed that abortion should be between a woman and her doctor.
• In 1973, the Supreme Court, under Republican Chief Justice Warren Burger, in a decision written by Republican Harry Blackmun, decided Roe v. Wade, legalizing first-trimester abortion.
• Opposition to the eventual Roe v. Wade decision began in 1972, and was a deliberate attempt to polarize American politics.
• Today, about 62% of Americans support the guidelines laid down in Roe v. Wade, about the same percentage that supported it fifty years ago.

Published January 22, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post January 21, 2023

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