by Corinne Murdock | Mar 20, 2024 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
A coalition of Arizona State University (ASU) students, Students Against Apartheid at ASU (SAGA), plan to protest the suspension of a pro-Palestine student group, MECHA de ASU.
The planned protest to reinstate MECHA de ASU is scheduled to occur on Thursday at 11:30 am on the student services building lawn. ASU suspended the group for a since-deleted Instagram post calling for the death of certain groups in February. The university’s Student Rights and Responsibilities Office and police force are investigating the incident.
“Mecha believes in revolution. Not reform. We do not condemn the Al Aqsa flood. We do not condemn Hamas. We do not condemn resistance. Death to boer. Death to the Pilgrim. Death to the zionist. Death to the settler. Glory to the Martyrs! Freedom to the prisoners! Victory to the resistance!”
“Al-Aqsa Flood” was the formal operation name for the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel last October. “Death to boer” is a reference to a traditional chant calling for the genocide of white South African farmers, famously sang last fall by Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at a political rally. Based on the inclusion of the “boer” reference, then, “death to the Pilgrim” could be referring to those who make their pilgrimage to Israel to worship, or it could be referring to America’s first English settlers.
In a press release issued on Sunday, SAGA said that MECHA de ASU’s post was mainly about comparing police brutality in Arizona to the violence of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
SAGA also took issue with the amount of time ASU has taken to conduct its investigation into the incident, specifically its delay in responding to MECHA de ASU’s appeal of their suspension. ASU reportedly promised to respond within five business days of the appeal, but had yet to do so as of SAGA’s press release.
“The university is using this fraudulent investigation process to silence and surveil MECHA for protesting an ongoing genocide ASU is complicit in,” said SAGA.
SAGA has the explicit goal of stopping “ASU’s investment in the settler colonial state known as ‘Israel’.” In a more recent statement, the coalition accused ASU of being complicit in “the zionist occupation and genocide of Palestinians.” SAGA demanded that the university cease all partnerships and investments with companies and institutions supportive of Israel, as well as cease its investigation and suspension of MECHA de ASU.
Masks will be required for Thursday’s protest, as a means to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and other communicable airborne diseases.
In addition to advocating for MECHA de ASU’s return, SAGA has been coordinating in a boycott of Starbucks for its support of Israel. Like with Thursday’s protest, SAGA meetings and events have required masking.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Elizabeth Troutman | Mar 20, 2024 | Education, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Arizona State University’s journalism school teaches students “cultural sensitivities, civil discourse, bias awareness and diversity initiatives.”
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication requires students in at least three of the undergraduate degree programs to take a course called “Diversity and Civility at Cronkite,” the Goldwater Institute uncovered.
ASU’s online course catalog says the class “emphasizes the importance of diversity, inclusion, equity and civility to ensure all Cronkite students feel represented, valued and supported.”
The course “Offers training and awareness on cultural sensitivities, civil discourse, bias awareness and diversity initiatives at the Cronkite School and ASU” and “Empowers students to approach reporting and communication projects with a multicultural perspective and inspire mutual respect among students from various backgrounds and beliefs within different Cronkite professional paths,” the catalog says.
The “Learning Outcomes” on the course syllabus lay out identity categories: “By the end of this course, students will be able to … understand the value of their own and other people’s identities in terms of the work and study at Cronkite.”
The course’s seven units affirm the theme of identity. Units include “Race & Ethnicity,” “Geography and Income,” “Language & Citizenship,” “Sexuality and Gender Identity,” “(Dis)ability,” and “Differences and Conflict.”
The “Race & Ethnicity” unit includes the learning objective “Learn what microaggressions are and why they matter.” The instructor asks students to review a list of “typical microaggressions” published on a University of Minnesota webpage.
Examples of microaggressions include “America is a melting pot,” a statement that demands that people “assimilate/acculturate to the dominant culture;” “There is only one race, the human race,” a statement “denying the individual as a racial/cultural being;” “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,” a statement communicating that “people of color are given extra unfair benefits because of their race;” and “Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough,” a statement communicating that “people of color are lazy and/or incompetent and need to work harder.”
A week of the course is dedicated to discussing “sexuality and gender identity” to make students:
- Understand the difference between sexuality and gender identity and why it matters.
- Recognize privileges related to sexuality and gender identity.
- Know how to ask for and why to use a person’s pronouns and the benefits of gender-neutral language.
The unit includes an assignment to read an article which defines nonbinary as “a term that can be used by people who do not describe themselves or their genders as fitting into the categories of man or woman,” and Agender as “an adjective that can describe a person who does not identify as any gender.”
Students are asked to demonstrate what they learned about gender ideology by responding to the following prompt:
“Imagine you’re working at a PR firm and you have a client whose first album is about to drop. Your client’s gender identity is nonbinary and they use they/them pronouns. They have a massive press tour planned.
How do you prepare journalists to talk with your client?”
Diversity initiatives at ASU are not limited to the journalism school. Goldwater identified more than 100 classes offered in ASU’s Spring 2024 course catalog that include terms like “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion,” or that fulfill the university’s general education requirement in “diversity.”
“To return Arizona’s public universities to their educational missions, it is imperative that the institutions themselves—or the bodies who oversee them—adopt a change in policy to eliminate politicized ‘diversity’ based course requirements such as DCC,” said Timothy K. Minella, senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Elizabeth Troutman | Mar 20, 2024 | Economy, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Reports show that the Biden administration plans to finalize its final tailpipe emissions rule for cars and trucks on Wednesday, a measure 61% of Arizonans oppose.
The final EPA rule covers both carbon dioxide and conventional pollutants for vehicle model years 2027 through 2032. This is part of the administration’s effort to ban new gas, diesel, and flex fuel vehicles from the U.S. market.
The possible rule could mean that nearly 70% of cars sold in 2032 would need to be electric vehicles, though this is not achievable with our current infrastructure and would make us more reliant on China, according to government relations firm AxAdvocacy.
Chet Thompson, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) president and CEO, said the EPA policy will feel like a ban for consumers.
“It will vastly restrict both their access to and ability to afford new gas cars, trucks, SUVs and traditional hybrids,” Thompson said. “And there are no offramps in the policy in the event our infrastructure isn’t ready or consumers simply don’t buy EVs at the rate EPA would like. This is exactly why 75% of registered voters solidly oppose any government efforts designed to ban gas, diesel and traditional hybrid cars.”
President Joe Biden has been clear since 2020 he intends to use his federal agencies and the state of California to eliminate sales of new gas cars.
“While multiple administration policies push us toward this end, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) passenger vehicle standards will do most of the damage on their own—requiring approximately 70% of new car sales to be electric in less than eight years,” he said. “This policy is bad for consumers, the economy and national security.”
“It will sacrifice our hard-won U.S. energy strength for even greater dependence on China and the EV battery and mineral supply chain China controls,” Thompson continued.
Only 16% of Arizonans support the rule, which would deprive Americans of the right to select the car best for them, their families, and their budgets.
Opposition for the rule is high in the key presidential and senate battleground states. Almost 90% of Michiganders oppose efforts to ban new gas cars and impose electric vehicle mandates.
In Wisconsin, 64% of residents oppose the measure, while 57% of Pennyslanvanians oppose, 61% of Nevadans oppose, and 66% of Ohioans oppose. Only 9% of Montana residents support the potential rule.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Mar 19, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A bipartisan housing bill from the Arizona State Legislature has met its demise.
On Monday, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB 2570, which would have “create[ed] municipal prohibitions relating to home designs and single-family home lot sizes” – according to the overview provided by the state House.
In a letter explaining her veto to House Speaker Ben Toma, Hobbs said, “I was elected on a promise to bring thoughtful leadership to the Governor’s Office and always do the right thing for the people of this state, even when it’s hard. Unfortunately, this expansive bill is a step too far and I know we can strike a better balance. This is unprecedented legislation that would put Arizonans at the center of a housing reform experiment with unclear outcomes. It lacks the nuance necessary for statewide reform, and I do not believe it is in the best interest of the people in this state.”
Senate President Warren Petersen blasted the governor’s decision on the bill, writing, “Our kids can’t afford a home. Today, the Governor sided with bureaucrats, instead of our kids. Thanks to her, affordable starter homes remain illegal in Arizona. But it’s not just our kids. Every day, we hear from active-duty military, veterans, young families, young professionals, firefighters, teachers, police officers, service workers, and seniors on fixed incomes that they are either facing the grim reality of becoming homeless or are being prevented from participating in the American dream of homeownership because of outrageous prices, partly due to reckless big government regulations imposed by cities and towns.”
The Senate Republican Caucus’ press release highlighted that Hobbs became the “first Governor in the nation to block a bill removing zoning restrictions to bring housing prices down for hardworking citizens.” The release asserted that “the status quo currently limits options, which can tack on tens of thousands of dollars to the sale price of a home.”
Hobbs pointed to push back from the Department of Defense and Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona over the bill, which she claimed to take under advisement in the lead-up to her veto. She added, “The bill has unexplored, unintended consequences that are of great concern. For instance, the Department of Defense contacted my office while this bill was on my desk to state their opposition. They expressed very serious concerns that the increased density near military installations would put military operations and homeowners at risk, putting dense development within Accident Potential Zones. Firefighters shared significant public safety concerns highlighting that increased density without corresponding improvements to roads and public infrastructure could lead to traffic congestion during evacuations or delays in emergency response times. These are the examples that demonstrate the potential risks that come with the kind of sweeping reforms in this proposal.”
Petersen countered these concerns from Hobbs as part of his statement in response to the veto. He said, “The Governor has a track record of pushing red herrings to justify her vetoes against commonsense legislation, and her statement today is no different. No, this bill does not harm military operations, nor create safety issues for cities. Instead of listening to the citizens, she’s listening to the people who created the problem. This legislation had strong bipartisan support, and this veto will certainly go down as one of her biggest failures.”
Other legislative Democrats expressed their disappointment over the veto. Representative Analise Ortiz stated, “I am deeply saddened and disappointed in the Governor’s decision to veto the Arizona Starter Homes Act. HB 2570 was a historic bipartisan solution to our state’s housing crisis and it would have created a pathway to the American dream of homeownership. While other states are proactively addressing housing in an urgent, deliberate manner, AZ continues to kick the can down the road. Status quo is clearly not working and believing that things will change without policies like the Starter Homes Act is, at best, wishful thinking. I hope Governor Hobbs will support future plans to expand the state’s inventory of modest, starter homes and homes on small lots – homes that our parents & grandparents purchased years ago that allowed them to build wealth, lay roots in communities, and break cycles of poverty.”
Democrat State Senator Anna Hernandez also weighed in about the governor’s veto. She said, “I hope the Governor takes this moment to reaffirm her commitment to solving the housing crisis rather than stand as another obstacle in the way of solutions. My hope is that Governor Hobbs and her staff, learn from their mistake today, and ensure that decisions on policy are made for the betterment of all Arizonans. We must prioritize the people over the politics. The work we have begun will continue – I promise.”
HB 2570 is likely completely dead for the legislative session, with no hope for a veto override, as only 33 State Representatives and 16 State Senators supported its passage in their chambers.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 19, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel implied that Trump’s recent use of the common “bloodbath” metaphor was a call to violence.
The congressional candidate didn’t come to the conclusion on her own. Engel played off viral claims made in the media by the Biden-Harris campaign and top Democrats. She used the media storm on the former president as an opportunity to condemn her opponent, incumbent Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), for not rebuking Trump’s rhetoric. Ciscomani endorsed Trump earlier this month.
“Just one week after my opponent endorsed him, President Trump warns of a ‘bloodbath’ if he’s not elected in Nov,” said Engel. “Predictably my opponent remains silent. Time and again he’s demonstrated an unwillingness to stand up to extremism. #AZ06 deserves better.”
Democrats and legacy media claimed that Trump mentioned a “bloodbath” in a political rally Saturday night as a promise of violence should he lose the election, many comparing the rhetoric to the 2021 Capitol breach. However, the former president was warning that his loss in the upcoming presidential race would result in a “bloodbath” for the country’s auto industry, as well as the entire economy.
“Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re gonna get that, you’re gonna not hire Americans and you’re gonna sell the cars to us. No, we’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line. And you’re not gonna be able to sell those cars; if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars; they’re building massive factories.”
The “bloodbath” metaphor is a popular one employed often by politicians, and even the same outlets that have now criticized Trump for its usage.
The Biden-Harris campaign also accused Trump of eliciting violence. James Singer, the campaign’s spokesman, passed on a statement to numerous outlets from a press release claiming that Trump was trying to start another January 6 incident.
“This is who Donald Trump is: a loser who gets beat by over 7 million votes and then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience doubles down on his threats of political violence,” said Singer. “He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”
Biden’s team also issued a response directly from him with a similar accusation.
“It’s clear this guy wants another January 6,” stated Biden.
The campaign’s communications director, Michael Tyler, also put out the accusation in an interview with former White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 19, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Democratic presidential candidate Jason Palmer, surprise winner of the American Samoa Democratic caucus, received the endorsement of three of his opponents ahead of Arizona’s primary election on Tuesday.
Democratic presidential candidates Gabriel Cornejo of Nevada, Frankie Lozada of New York, and Stephen Lyons of Maryland endorsed Palmer. The four men debated last month with Free & Equal Elections.
President Joe Biden’s loss of the territory marked the first time an incumbent president lost a nominating contest since 1980. Biden also lost the territory his first time around in 2020 against former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In a response to his win, Palmer assessed that Americans desire younger leadership, and that Biden’s 50 years in government weighed too heavily on voters.
The Marylander credited his use of AI for his victory with the American Samoa caucus in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Palmer used an interactive AI that answered voters with Palmer’s policy and experience through text and email. Palmer also launched an AI chat avatar, “PalmerAI,” that responds in his voice and mimics his movements when answering questions on his policy stances in real time. The presidential candidate says the AI avatar cost about $25,000 to implement.
Palmer also rolled out a plan to solve the border crisis on Monday. His plan calls for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and extension of DACA; a modernization of the border using digital technologies such as rocket dockets to expedite processing; reforming asylum processing and eliminating parole; implementing merit-based pathways to green cards and citizenship, implementing a points system; ending catch and release of illegal immigrants; adding over 1,000 more immigration judges to address the backlog of asylum cases; creating a guest worker program for migrants not eligible for asylum but have willing American sponsors; prioritizing global talent acquisition to improve the workforce; and eliminating caps placed on immigration from certain countries.
“Less than 10 percent of illegal border crossers are legitimate asylees,” read Palmer’s plan. “The other 90 percent should be efficiently processed to determine if they are eligible for guest worker visas, but the majority should immediately be returned to their home country or third countries where the United States establishes special asylum partnerships.”
Palmer has previously held executive roles with Microsoft, Kaplan Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and New Markets Venture Partners.
Palmer’s announcement ahead of the Tuesday primary occurred alongside another development: the White House announced that President Joe Biden would arrive in Phoenix late Tuesday, where he’s scheduled to make remarks on his Investing in America agenda.
Though Palmer is vying to unseat Biden, it doesn’t appear that Palmer entirely dislikes Biden’s leadership.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) said that Biden’s visit should focus on the border crisis.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
