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All illnesses come with the potential for lifelong disabling complications and/or consequences; thats just how illness works. Theres a lot more sick people now, getting a lot worse because the NHS cant treat anything within a timeframe that actually prevents harm.

Over a decade of Tory rule has done this. If you want there to be fewer sick and struggling people, then people need to be seen, treated and supported for their needs. Theres a lot deeply wrong with life in Britain today and people are suffering tremendously.

@sharptonguecharlie, Instagram

I hate how some of these politicians think they know more than doctors and specialists and scientists because theyre annoyed by people being unwell. This sort of language and rhetoric causes anxiety and fear and stigmatises neurodivergent people and those with mental health issues. This sort of talk gives other horrible people the permission to start harassing those they consider, in their medical ignorance, unworthy of help, care and support. Im fuming.

@Ronnydeanstanton, Instagram

These people have caused a lot of the mental health issues! Living through the Covid craziness and a cost of living crisis is enough to affect anyones mental health. Then they shame people for suffering with it. Its the highest form of gaslighting and torture.

Denise Leech, Facebook

Mental health is not a culture! Tory culture wars have gone too far.

@lallafa_jeltz, X

The social care system is privatised and, therefore too expensive for ordinary people to access. We need to reduce costs by bringing some of it back under the NHS umbrella. Currently, our government is recruiting care workers from Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe through private care companies. Social care is charged at 30 an hour on average, and the workers are paid 4 an hour. This is the reality of what vulture capitalism advocated by the Tories looks like.

@rubymoonswim, Instagram

Well done Prince William for sticking up for the homeless. It should be commended. I wish we could tackle the reasons behind it, but I guess every case is complex. I subscribed to my vendor during Covid and hopefully helped him through a bad patch.

This Homeward drive sounds good, it raises awareness around the issues and more. I wish my charity could take part in it as well, to send every one of them homeward and back to where they belong (a nice loving home).

Stuart Campbell, Facebook

I have just read Chaminda Jayanettis article about the dire effects of the governments running down of the benefit system and why it is going to cost us more in the end rather than saving money.It should be required reading for everyone, especially those in the government who are sure that most claimants are faking scroungers.

The article is concise, easily understood by anyone and should be the next governments manifesto.Well done Big Issue!

Dagna Horner, Berkhamsted

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Letters: Mel Stride's comments show Tory culture wars have gone too far - The Big Issue

Rainbow over Cheesebox Butte Highway 95, photo by Stephen Trimble

Author: Stephen Trimble

Three presidents have signed Bears Ears proclamations. Barack Obama established Bears Ears National Monument in 2016, but supporters were devastated when Donald Trump eviscerated the monument the following year, reducing its area by 85%. In 2021, President Joe Biden restored the original boundaries and then some.

Whats clear is that Bears Ears remains reviled by Republican officials and cherished by Indigenous tribes and conservationists.

The monument, 1.36 million acres in southeast Utah, lies within San Juan County. The Navajo Nation covers 25% of the county, and Native people account for more than half of the 14,200-person population. Just 8% of the county is private land while another 5% is state trust land.

The rest 62% of the county is federal land owned by the people of the United States and administered by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior. This immense commons testifies to the sublime difficulty of the place beautiful enough to warrant preservation as national parks, monuments and forests. But its also arid enough to attract only a few 19th-century settlers to what had been Indigenous homeland for millennia.

I think its fair to say that San Juan Countys white residents never envisioned challenges to their political power. But in 2009, the feds came down hard on generations of casual pothunting by local white families. Then, after a century of oppressing their Indigenous neighbors, lawsuits strengthened Native voting rights. The county commission became majority Navajo from 2018 to 2022.

Native influence keeps expanding. The five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition first envisioned a national monument and became co-stewards for these 1.36 million acres. They have a champion in Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, but such historic changes make the dominant culture uneasy.

In February, Utah Governor Spencer Cox dramatically withdrew from a Bears Ears land exchange poised for completion. This swap of state trust lands for Bureau of Land Management lands would hugely benefit the state. Details were already negotiated; each side compromised; the stakeholders were largely content.

But in 2024, Utah politics are stark, compounded by distrust and disinformation.

At statehood in 1896, Utah received four sections per township to support public schools and universities. The Utah Trust Lands Administration manages these scattered lands blue squares on ownership maps but blocking up these blue squares into manageable parcels means trading land with federal agencies.

Such trades arent rare and can be grand in scale. A 1998 negotiation between Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Utah Governor Mike Leavitt traded Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monuments 176,000 acres of school sections for BLM land elsewhere along with a hefty $50 million payment to Utah from the U.S. Treasury. Utah Trust Lands still brags about the dealon its website.

But the old guard is up in arms about the draft Bears Ears Resource Management Plan releasedfor public commenton March 8. The BLMs preferred alternative emphasizes traditional Indigenous knowledge and land health.

Any such gestures toward conservation elicit local outrage about the feds destroying the pioneer way of life. The subtext: the people long in charge dont want to lose power.

Denouncing federal overreach is always a sure win for Utah politicians. In this years Republican primary, San Juan County-based legislator Phil Lyman is challenging the incumbent governor with fierce anti-public lands rhetoric. Governor Cox will need to protect his right flank.

Meanwhile, school trust lands within Bears Ears remain at risk. The tallest structure in Utah,a 460-foot telecom towerwith blinking red lights, could rise on state land in the heart of the monument. Its been approved by county planners, and the Trust Lands Administration could add poison pills on other lands proposed for exchange.

The elected leaders of Utah have decided that the monuments integrity and the needs of the states children matter less than political gamesmanship.

The five tribes of Bears Earsknow better: It is our obligation to our ancestorsand to the American people, to protect Bears Ears. Their big hearts will win in the end.

Stephen Trimble is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He lives in Utah and will publish the 35th-anniversary edition of his bookThe Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basinnext winter.

Corrections: The 4th paragraph has been changed to reflect the monument is 1.36 million acres. Previously it read 5 million acres. The 7th paragraph read 1.3 million acres and that has been updated as well to 1.36 million acres.

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Culture Wars and an Embattled Utah Monument Sierra Nevada Ally - The Sierra Nevada Ally

Washington:

The latest battle in the culture wars cleaving American society centers around diversity programs on university campuses, now restricted or banned in a growing number of US states.

The debate pits those on the left, who advocate for boosting minority students victimized by deep-rooted inequality, and those on the right who say people should be judged on individual merit, not skin color.

"The idea of present discrimination being the remedy for past discrimination... is inherently wrong," said Jordan Pace, a Republican member of the House of Representatives in the state of South Carolina.

"We don't like the idea of judging people based on immutable characteristics, whether it be gender or race or height or whatever," he said, calling the United States a "hyper-meritocratic society."

Often known as "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) programs, many American universities had given special consideration to minority students -- particularly those who are Black, Hispanic and Native American -- as they sought to correct long-standing inequalities.

Last June, the country's conservative-majority Supreme Court put an end to affirmative action in university admissions, reversing one of the major gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Now, Pace is urging his state to follow the lead of Florida and about a dozen other states that have scrapped campus DEI programs.

"The primary target group across the country... are Black people," said Ricky Jones, professor of pan-African studies at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Carlie Reeves, 19, was the first person in her family to attend college and when she arrived at the University of Louisville, it was "very obvious that my professors didn't really think I belonged. Didn't really see me as intelligent."

DEI leaders on campus "spoke life into me and told me... you have the merit."

Many minority students are at the school "100 percent because of DEI," she said, raising as an example Black students who benefitted from race-based scholarships.

But on March 15, Kentucky lawmakers advanced a proposal to restrict such programs, spurring Reeves to co-organize a protest on campus.

"It just felt like my duty to inform the students, 'Hey y'all, these people are trying to literally get rid of us from campus... we have to do something," she said.

Kentucky is following other conservative states, including Texas, Alabama and Idaho.

At the beginning of March, the University of Florida ended DEI programs and related jobs, part of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis's offensive against what he calls "woke ideology."

"I'm extremely worried," said Stephanie Anne Shelton, a professor and director of diversity at University of Alabama's College of Education.

While provisions in the state's new law allow her to teach certain diversity awareness courses to future educators, she is concerned about "the degree to which concepts like academic freedom remain in place."

In Alabama it is now prohibited to "compel a student... to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to a divisive concept" -- specifying that includes making an individual feel the need "to apologize on the basis of his or her race."

Failure to comply can result in dismissal, the law notes.

Republicans routinely rail against "critical race theory," an academic approach to studying ways in which racism infuses US legal systems and institutions in often subtle ways.

Republican White House candidate Donald Trump has called for making reforms on a federal level.

"On Day One I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content, onto our children," he told a rally in Ohio.

Jones, the Louisville professor, said the new laws are "a rolling back of the racial clock locally, statewide and nationally."

Going forward, Black scholars will avoid states like Florida and Texas, he said, predicting "a very, very dangerous forgetting that will happen here."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

See original here:
Diversity Programs Slowly Disappear From US Campuses Amid Culture Wars - NDTV

The Editorial Board

On Tuesday, voters in the Francis Howell school district and other districts around the St. Louis region said, Enough. Enough of the race-baiting, enough of the ideological grandstanding, enough of weaponizing childrens education for the culture wars.

The electoral defeat of two right-wing Francis Howell candidates for open seats and similar outcomes in almost a dozen other area races this week is an encouraging rebuke of the recent movement to politicize school boards. That voters in even generally conservative communities are finally seeing through this MAGA-affiliated fog is the best message possible going into other crucial elections this year.

Francis Howell has been this regions epicenter for an alarming national trend in which right-wing activists are targeting school board seats. Contrary to their stated goals of bettering kids education, their real agenda is to promote their own restrictive political ideology in the classroom. Their obsessions are issues related to public health, gender and, especially, race.

The Francis Howell district in St. Charles County, one of Missouris largest, is overwhelmingly white and has been the site of disturbing displays of racial intolerance in the not-too-distant past, including protests at the transfers of students from the mostly Black Normandy School District.

The Francis Howell boards subsequent embrace of racial inclusion policies including the establishment of courses focused on Black history and the approval and posting of an anti-racism statement in the schools represented welcome evolution.

But it also sparked an ugly backlash from right-wing activists who view any discussion of Black culture or the undeniable fact of systemic racism in society as something that has to be cleansed from classrooms.

Touting bogeyman phrases like woke and critical race theory (a legitimate field of academia but one that virtually doesnt exist outside higher education), they have promoted the corrosive idea that policies seeking to combat racism are inherently reverse racism.

Recognizing the realities of systemic racism in society is a legitimate aspect of educating all students about the world they will inherit and hopefully make better. To condemn such recognition as some kind of attack on white students is a twisted, historically blinkered philosophy. But its one that helped a hard-right PAC called Francis Howell Families seize a majority of the boards seven seats over the past few years.

What they have done with that majority could not be more telling.

Last year, the all-white board voted to scrub the anti-racism message the earlier board had approved. The simple, five-paragraph statement wasnt radical; it simply pledged that the district will speak firmly against any racism, promote racial healing and recognize the challenges faced by our Black and brown students and families.

Surely the sight of those messages being literally, physically removed from school hallway walls on orders from the school board sent its own loud-and-clear message to the districts few Black students, as well as their white classmates.

The current board also briefly eliminated elective Black-themed history and literature course offerings. Public outcry at the course removals forced the board to almost immediately rescind that decision, which hinted at the possibility that district residents were finally tiring of the boards ideological antics.

Tuesdays election for the two open seats drove home that message.

Mainstream candidates Steven Blair, a pastor, and Carolie Owens, a retired teacher, both won the seats over two culture-warrior candidates backed by Francis Howell Families, marking a significant defeat for the right-wing PAC. Blair and Owens were backed by Francis Howell Forward, a PAC formed last year to counter the boards rightward tilt.

It was a victory for moderation and tolerance and not an isolated one. As the Post-Dispatchs Blythe Bernhard and Monica Obradovic reported this week, right-wing activist school board hopefuls in the St. Charles City, Wentzville, Lindbergh, Mehlville, Parkway, Rockwood and Ft. Zumwalt districts all lost to more mainstream candidates. In fact, every one of the 13 candidates endorsed in a concerted anti-woke campaign by right-wing radio talk show host Marc Cox lost their races.

The Francis Howell outcome doesnt eliminate the right-wing majority on the board (yet). But it stands as a strong sign that the reactionary political fever that has gripped local elections might finally be breaking.

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Editorial: Defeat of culture-war board candidates hints that a political fever is breaking - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Just a day after The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger claimed he removed the company from the culture war, Disneyland announced Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite.

Disneyland Pride Nite via Patrick Dougall YouTube

In an interview with CNBC, Iger was asked, The woke thing has had more of an impact. Youve said to me that you would love to be just out of the culture wars. Do you feel your succeeding in that?

He answered, Well, I think Yes. I mean, I think the noise is sort of quieted down.

READ: Disney CEO Bob Iger Believes Hes Removed Disney From The Culture War And Claims Company Is Not Infusing Messaging In Its Films And TV Shows

Ive been preaching this for a long time at the company, before I left and since I came back, that our number one goal is to entertain, Iger said. Look, the term woke is thrown around liberally, no pun intended in that regard. I think a lot of people dont understand really what it means. The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what were up to. They need to be entertaining.

And look, where the Disney Company can have a positive impact on the world, fostering acceptance and understanding of people of all different types, great. But generally speaking, we need to be be an entertainment first company. And Ive worked really hard to do that, he asserted.

Bob Iger via CNBC Television YouTube

When asked how hes done that, Iger explained, Engaging with our executives, engaging with the creative community, returning to our roots, making sure that everybody is aligned with what our priorities are, and understanding that, look, were trying to reach a very, very diverse audience.

He continued, And on one hand in order to do that, the stories you tell have to really reflect the audience that youre trying to reach. But that audience, because they are so diverse, really, first and foremost, they want to be entertained and sometimes they can be turned off by certain things and we have to be more sensitive to the interest of a broad audience. Its not easy. You cant please everybody all the time.

Bob Iger via CNBC Television YouTube

READ: After Bob Iger Claims Disney Does Not Advance Any Kind Of Agenda Ozarks Julia Garner Cast To Play Gender-Swapped Silver Surfer In Marvels Fantastic Four Film

Just a day after making these claims, Disneyland Resorts Public Relations Director Kelsey Lynch announced on the Disney Parks website that Disneyland is hosting a Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite on June 18 and 20th.

Lynch writes on the website, Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nitereturns to theDisneyland Resort for its second year with colorful celebrations, joyful photo opportunities, event merchandise, fabulous food and divine drinks.

She adds, Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community, bringing allies and community members together as Disneyland park is illuminated with rainbow projections.

Disneyland Pride Nite via Patrick Dougall YouTube

This event is clearly trying to promote and celebrate disordered lifestyles.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes the lifestyles and acts these individuals live cannot be approved, Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves. Photo Credit: Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

READ: Disney Allegedly Selling Off Parts of Closed Star Wars Hotel Experience

This event clearly contradicts Bob Igers comments. It shows that he lied to viewers on CNBC and that he also lied to shareholders during a Q&A portion of the companys shareholder meeting when he was asked, Is it possible for Disney to stay out of political and social agenda and just provide entertainment?

He answered, Our job is to entertain first and foremost. And by telling great stories we continue to have a positive impact on the world and inspire future generations just as weve done for over 100 years. Disney has always been and will continue to be a source of hope, joy, and optimism for people of all ages.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 28: (L-R) The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, Showrunner/Executive Producer Jon Favreau, Pedro Pascal and Alan Bergman, Chairman of Disney Studios Content attends the Mandalorian special launch event at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

We are committed to telling stories that reflect the world around us and using those stories to entertain stories from all walks of life, he asserted. I believe we have a responsibility to do good in the world.

He then declared, But we know our job is not to advance any kind of agenda. So as long as Im in the job, Im going to continue to be guided by a sense of decency and respect. And we will always trust our instincts.

(L-R): Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez and Vincent DOnofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Marvel Studios Echo, releasing on Hulu and Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. Marvel Studios 2023. All Rights Reserved.

What do you make of The Walt Disney Company immediately pushing an agenda and engaging in the culture war immediately after Bob Iger claimed the companys job was not to advance any kind of agenda and that he had removed the company from the culture war?

NEXT: Measurement, Merit, and Mendacity: How We Keep Track Of Things Reveals Our ValuesOr Lack Of Them

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After CEO Bob Iger Claims He's Removed The Company From The Culture War, Disneyland Announced Disneyland ... - That Park Place