Sierra Club Deviated From Environmental Mission To Embrace Far-Left Projects. It Ripped Each Itself To Shreds
'What do wolves have to do with equity, justice, and inclusion?'
Coddled Harvard students cry after dean exposes grade inflation, 'relaxed' standards
Harvard University's Office of Undergraduate Education released a 25-page report on Monday revealing that roughly 60% of the grades dished out in undergraduate classes are As. This is apparently not a signal that the students are necessarily better or smarter than past cohorts but rather that Harvard As are now easier to come by.
According to the report, authored by the school's dean of undergraduate education Amanda Claybaugh and reviewed by the Harvard Crimson, the proportion of students receiving A grades since 2015 has risen by 20 percentage points.
'If that standard is raised even more, it's unrealistic to assume that people will enjoy their classes.'
Whereas at the time of graduation, the median grade point average for the class of 2015 was 3.64, it was 3.83 for the class of 2025 — and the Harvard GPA has been an A since the 2016-2017 academic year.
"Nearly all faculty expressed serious concern," wrote Claybaugh. "They perceive there to be a misalignment between the grades awarded and the quality of student work."
Citing responses from faculty and students, the report revealed that the specific functions of grading — motivating students, indicating mastery of subject matter, and separating the wheat from the chaff — are not being fulfilled.
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"In the view of faculty, grades currently distinguish between work that meets expectations or fails to meet expectations, but beyond that grades don't distinguish much at all," said the report. "'Students know that an 'A' can be awarded,' one faculty member observed, 'for anything from outstanding work to reasonably satisfactory work. It's a farce.'"
Claybaugh acknowledged that grades can serve as a useful and transparent way to "distinguish the strongest student work for the purposes of honors, prizes, and applications to professional and graduate schools." However, since As are now handed out like candy and many students have identical GPAs, prizes and other benefits must now be dispensed on the basis of less objective factors, which "risks introducing bias and inconsistency into the process," suggested the dean.
The report noted further that Harvard University's current grading practices "are not only undermining the functions of grading; they are also damaging the academic culture of the College more generally" by constraining student choice, exacerbating stress, and "hollowing out academics."
Steven McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, highlighted the admission in the report that Harvard owes much of its current crisis to its coddling of unprepared students.
"For the past decade or so, the College has been exhorting faculty to remember that some students arrive less prepared for college than others, that some are struggling with difficult family situations or other challenges, that many are struggling with imposter syndrome — and nearly all are suffering from stress," said the report.
"Unsure how best to support their students, many have simply become more lenient. Requirements were relaxed, and grades were raised, particularly in the year of remote instruction," continued the report. "This leniency, while well-intentioned, has had pernicious effects."
The new report is hardly the first time the school has suggested that Harvard undergraduate students tend to be coddled, intellectually fragile, ideologically rigid, and slothful.
Citing faculty feedback, Harvard's Classroom Social Compact Committee indicated in a January report that undergraduate students "have rising expectations for high grades, but falling expectations for effort"; often don't attend class; frequently don't do many of the assigned readings; seek out easy courses; and in some cases are "uncomfortable with curricular content that is not aligned with the student's moral framework."
The January report noted further that "some teaching fellows grade too easily because they fear negative student feedback."
Claybaugh's grade inflation report has reportedly prompted complaints and whining this week from students.
Among the dozens of students who objected to the report and its findings was Sophie Chumburidze, who told the Harvard Crimson, "The whole entire day, I was crying."
"I skipped classes on Monday, and I was just sobbing in bed because I felt like I try so hard in my classes, and my grades aren’t even the best," said Chumburidze. "It just felt soul-crushing."
Kayta Aronson told the Crimson that higher standards could adversely impact students' health.
"It makes me rethink my decision to come to the school," said Aronson. "I killed myself all throughout high school to try and get into this school. I was looking forward to being fulfilled by my studies now, rather than being killed by them."
Zahra Rohaninejad suggested that raising standards might sap the enjoyment out of the Harvard experience.
"I can't reach my maximum level of enjoyment just learning the material because I'm so anxious about the midterm, so anxious about the papers, and because I know it's so harshly graded," said Rohaninejad. "If that standard is raised even more, it's unrealistic to assume that people will enjoy their classes."
The student paper indicated the university did not respond to its request for comment.
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Karine Jean-Pierre's humiliating book tour is even worse than you think
Karine Jean-Pierre has been hawking a new book in a desperate attempt to cash in on her time as White House press secretary — and it's not going well.
Whereas fellow lesbian and propagandist Rachel Maddow of MSNBC suggested that the book was a "truly new and valuable contribution to our understanding of the Biden presidency," the Washington Post shredded "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House Outside the Party Lines," noting that it was a "fascinating book for all the wrong reasons."
'Sorry, I'm not trying to be dense. I'm a little unclear about what this has to do with Democratic leaders.'
The reviewer — confronted with 180 pages' worth of Jean-Pierre's thoughts "written in the outmoded register of one of those lawn signs proclaiming that 'in this house, we believe kindness is everything'" — expressed amazement "that someone who writes in such feel-good, thought-repelling clichés was hired to communicate with the nation from its highest podium."
The Post concluded on the basis of the book that Jean-Pierre is a "blinkered" establishmentarian whose recent departure from the Democratic Party and identification as an independent "seems to be less of a strategy than a style"; whose "thinking remains so decidedly in the box"; and who "appears to have little authentic understanding of why her erstwhile party’s approval rating has cratered."
Journalist Matt Taibbi's review of the book for the Free Press was similarly damning, dubbing it "history's most incoherent memoir."
"Jean-Pierre had over a year to think about what to say about all this, and instead of writing the book the whole world wanted, the true story (complete with photos of Biden’s used-bib collection and pictorial toilet guides) of her frustration at having to be the public face of one of the most obvious and legally perilous cons in American political history, she denied there was anything to cover up, much less that she had responsibility for it," wrote Taibbi.
In the book, Jean-Pierre reportedly rejects the obvious justification for Biden's ouster — the mental and physical decrepitude that had him tumbling, mumbling, and bumbling — and claims that she "saw Biden every day and saw no such decline." As for Biden's humiliating performance in his TV debate with President Donald Trump, Jean-Pierre blamed a cold and travel-related exhaustion.
Perhaps worse than the reviews for the book are Jean-Pierre's efforts to sell it on tour.
For instance, Jean-Pierre befuddled a sympathetic journalist with a series of word salads in her recent interview with the New Yorker.
Isaac Chotiner repeatedly pressed Jean-Pierre on her explanation for how and why the Democratic Party supposedly undermined former President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 election.
When asked the second time why the Democrats had it out for Biden, Jean-Pierre said — in an interview the New Yorker indicated was edited for length and clarity — that:
they believed that he needed to step aside. There’s more to this than just that period of time. This is very layered, right? There’s a period of time that I questioned what was happening and how do we treat our own, how do we treat people who are decent people. And then you also have to think about how I’m thinking about this as a black woman who is part of the LGBTQ community, and living in this time where I also don’t think Democrats right now, Democrats’ leadership, is protecting vulnerable people in the way that it should.
The interviewer responded, "Sorry, I'm not trying to be dense. I'm a little unclear about what this has to do with Democratic leaders and many Democrats in the country thinking that Joe Biden was going to lose to Donald Trump — which was what the polls all showed — and therefore thinking that he should be replaced."
After Jean-Pierre launched into a rant about how "nobody knows" about what could have alternatively happened, Chotiner indicated that he had no idea what the former Biden spox was trying to say.
Toward the end of the viral interview, Jean-Pierre — who had made sure to mention her LGBTQ status and race numerous times and suggested the subtitle of her book, "Inside a Broken White House," was referring to the Trump White House — accused Chotiner of pushing Democratic Party talking points.
David Weigel, a political writer for Semafor who was among the multitude of critics awestruck by how badly the interview went, said, "Turns out you can do a career-ending interview even after your career is over."
Even Jean-Pierre's interview with Stephen Colbert — a liberal propagandist who helped raise millions for Biden's campaign last year — went off the rails when the CBS late-night host proved unwilling to buy what the former White House spox was selling.
Colbert, like Chotiner, asked Jean-Pierre to explain how the Democratic Party betrayed Biden. Even though that's a core claim in the former press secretary's book, she appeared unable to answer, launching into a speech about Biden's perceived accomplishments and how he was still "engaging, understood policy, and was always putting the American people first."
The late-night host pointed out that "it takes more than that to be the president of the United States, and in a moment of great pressure on stage, we saw someone shock us and worry us. And nothing could assuage that worry. So I don't think it was necessarily a betrayal of Joe Biden as other people saying, 'We don't think we were shown the Joe Biden that you saw.'"
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'Lord of the Rings' demonizes orcs, says college prof
A university professor is attacking classic literature through the guise of academia.
Specifically targeted are the beloved works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and even William Shakespeare.
'Diverse populations and Africans lived there.'
Onyeka Nubia is a British historian employed as the assistant professor for the faculty of arts at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
Hobbitual racism
In a history module called "Decolonising Tolkien et al," Nubia teaches that "people of colour" are demonized in the "Lord of the Rings" books and targets certain races of creatures and humans for his analysis.
According to the Telegraph, Nubia noted groups called the Easterlings, Southrons, and men from Harad as being particularly deprecated. According to Lord of the Rings Fandom pages, the Harad and Southrons had black skin, while the Easterlings were "sallow or olive."
Fans of the series know that none of these races are noted as being undesirable based solely on the color of their skin, but Nubia claims that these races are depicted as "the natural enemy of the white man."
He makes similar claims about orcs, despite the fact that they are literal monsters bred for war. As well, Nubia reportedly declares that the stories showcase "anti-African antipathy," even though several of the story's most significant evildoers are light-skinned males, like Grima, Saruman, and Gollum.
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Narnia business
The professor reportedly does not stop at Tolkien, though, and goes after classics like "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
The fantasy book is reportedly described as providing unbecoming portrayals of oriental stereotypes when describing the Calormenes. These characters are described as "cruel" people with "long beards" and "orange-coloured turbans."
A fan page describes them as "tan-skinned" men who are "mostly bearded," wearing "flowing robes, turbans, and wooden shoes."
Nubia also provided articles that said medieval England had "diverse populations and Africans lived there," but "ethnic chauvinism" was apparent in the literature in the region.
Bad Bard
This was also allegedly present in Shakespeare's work. Nubia's syllabus reportedly said the author promoted a vision of a "fictional, mono-ethnic English past."
Calling Shakespeare's plays problematic, Nubia claims they are "missing direct references to Africans living in England" which creates the "illusion" of racial homogeneity in the country.
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As noted by Geeks and Gamers, prominent voices who cover the medium spoke out against the alleged teachings.
"If you see orcs as black people YOU are the racist," wrote Nerdrotic, an X account with over 260,000 followers.
The Critical Drinker, who has over 2.3 million YouTube subscribers, wrote on X similarly, "If you look at Orcs and see people of colour, that's a 'You' problem."
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Transgender boxer makes shocking return, brutally beats 19-year-old girl
An Olympic gold medalist who failed gender testing has returned to competition for the first time.
Not to be confused with Algerian Olympic champion Imane Khelif — whose gender is confirmed to be male — Taiwan's Lin Yu‑ting also brutalized women at the Paris 2024 Olympics under tough scrutiny.
'Pan Yan-fei's coach threw in the towel.'
The boxer dominated the women's 57kg division last summer, despite having been disqualified by the International Boxing Association in 2023. That March, Lin was denied a bronze medal after failing to meet gender eligibility requirements. The IBA also disqualified Khelif from the same event, and the Algerian was later exposed as a male in three other reports.
Lin had not been seen in competition for over a year until his recent appearance at the Taiwan National Games. Reduxx reported that the competition does not have any known sex testing protocols in place, so the 30-year-old was allowed to compete in the women's 60kg category.
It did not take long for Lin to overwhelm an opponent, defeating 19-year-old female Pan Yan-fei in just one minute and 34 seconds. After repeated punches to the head, Pan's coach threw in the towel.
Pan was, "a little breathless because of being hit on the head," Taiwanese outlet CNA reported. "Then Pan Yan-fei’s coach threw in the towel and gave up the game."
If Lin wins the tournament, that would make six consecutive national titles for the controversial boxer.
The Trump Olympic ban
The controversy around Lin's gender is parallel to Khelif's, as the latter was proven by a multitude of sources to be, in fact, a male. However, less is known about Lin specifically, although it was discussed internally at the Olympics that the boxer had failed gender testing.
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The Guardian reported at the time that the International Olympic Committee had prior knowledge that Lin was "stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test," and noted such in its internal system.
This came after IBA president Umar Krevlev told Russian outlet TASS that both Lin and Khelif had "XY chromosomes."
While the IBA has faced criticism over its credibility, it was proven to be right about Khelif.
Still, neither boxer is likely to see the ring at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. New IOC president Kirsty Coventry and President Donald Trump have made it clear that males will not be beating up females in the United States.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced a rules update in July that stated it would "ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201."
Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, bans males from participating in "all-female athletic opportunities" or entering "all-female locker rooms."
After their Olympic performances, Lin and Khelif were not permitted to box in other competitions until Lin's latest appearance.
Khelif, though, has vowed to compete in the 2028 Olympics and even submitted an appeal to World Boxing after being booted from a Dutch event in June. The boxer asked to be declared "eligible to participate in the 2025 World Boxing Championships from 4 to 14 September," without having to submit to a genetic test.
The ban stood. Lin was also not permitted to compete at the world championships.
RELATED: New Olympic president strikes huge blow to transgender athletes ahead of 2028 games in LA
Lin's latest opponent
Lin's opponent, Pan, was a young boxer who was making her first appearance at the senior national games after winning a national high school title in 2023.
She previously competed in Taiwan's under-22 category at 54-57kg.
Despite the brutal loss, event officials reportedly examined her after the fight, and she did not suffer any serious injuries. She was able to walk unaided and was described as stable.
Lin reportedly declined to be interviewed after the fight.
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Gay-spread monkeypox is back. Watchdog asks policymakers to drop the political correctness.
Health officials in California recently confirmed that monkeypox, a virus spread almost entirely in the West by and among homosexual men, has once again reared its ugly head in the United States.
The Oversight Project, a government watchdog group, is calling on policymakers poised to tackle the latest outbreaks to drop the political correctness that tripped up previous approaches to the disease.
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News, "Public officials should be honest about how and where monkeypox is spreading, should not be worried about offending anyone, and should pull the fire alarm if animals and children start catching it."
Monkeypox is a nasty disease caused by a virus in the same genus as the virus that causes smallpox. While endemic in various African regions, monkeypox made a global play in early 2022.
Individuals infected with monkeypox may experience a painful rash that can look like pimples or blisters, respiratory problems, exhaustion, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and chills. The disease can be spread via respiratory droplets, through "direct contact with a rash or sores of someone who has the virus," and through "contact with clothing, bedding, and other items used by a person" with the virus.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that of the 528 infections diagnosed between April 27 and June 24, 2022, 98% of those infected were homosexuals and that "transmission was suspected to have occurred through sexual activity in 95% of the persons with infection."
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Months after then-President Joe Biden stated in May 2022 that "everybody should be concerned" about the virus, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra declared that a "public health emergency exists nationwide." Numerous states including Illinois and New York subsequently rushed to declare statewide disaster emergencies.
'They should shut down gay bathhouses.'
While the Biden administration and various state health authorities appeared willing to admit that the spread was predominantly among homosexuals, they nevertheless generalized the threat, glossed over the nature and locations of the spread, and refrained from cracking down on super-spreader venues in the same fashion they had when tackling COVID-19 — while in some cases fretting both privately and publicly about feeding into homosexuals' "sexual shame and stigma."
Such efforts to gloss over critical facts and to pretend the virus presented a danger to the general population evidently caused consternation behind the scenes.
The Oversight Project flagged, for instance, a May 27, 2022, email in which Dr. Stephanie Cohen, then-medical director of the San Francisco City Clinic, noted to other officials at the San Francisco Department of Public of Health that while she supported the "desire to not stigmatize gay men/MSM and agree that other populations can be affected, I worry a bit that we are not being fully transparent about current [epidemic]."
The Oversight Project noted that "officials were primarily concerned with not stigmatizing, the exact opposite of the COVID response."
The watchdog group further revealed that while health officials around the country were well aware that the disease was being spread at LGBT events and homosexual venues such as bathhouses, they refrained from seeking health crackdowns on such locations.
The disease, which the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Anthony Fauci was reportedly cleared to conduct gain-of-function experiments on, has apparently made a comeback.
Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the City of Long Beach's health department both confirmed new cases of monkeypox in their respective jurisdictions.
The announcements by both health authorities appear to have once again been worded to avoid stigmatizing homosexuals. The Long Beach health authority noted, for instance, that "Mpox can spread through specific behaviors, regardless of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation."
The Los Angeles County DPH, echoing the state health authority, did, however, note that the disease primarily impacts "communities of gay and bisexual men" and that risk can be mitigated by reducing the number of sexual partners, limiting attendance at "sex or circuit parties," and refraining from sharing "fetish gear" and sex toys.
"Monkeypox is back. We encourage policymakers to follow the science instead of political correctness this time," stated the Oversight Project.
When asked what prioritizing science over political correctness would look like in practice, Howell told Blaze News, "It means they should shut down gay bathhouses if they're again epicenters for monkeypox."
Editor's note: Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.
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San Jose Sharks apologize for displaying pro-ICE message on scoreboard during Hispanic celebration
The San Jose Sharks hockey team will not explain how a message in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement made its way onto the big screen.
The incident happened during the first intermission on Saturday at the Sharks' annual Hispanic celebration at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
'The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight.'
During the break in the scoreless game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a text image appeared on the arena's scoreboard reading, "SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET'EM BOYZ!" along with a video of the team mascot, S.J. Sharkie, waving next to the message.
A fan captured the message in a video and posted it to X.
"Hey [Sharks], how on earth is this an acceptable thing to have on your Jumbotron, like, ever, much less on a night honoring Hispanic heritage? I'm so appalled and disappointed in you right now," the fan wrote.
This prompted an apology from the organization later that night, describing the message as offensive and coming from an "outside source."
"During the first intermission of tonight's game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard," the message explained. "Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization's values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message."
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— (@)
Blaze News asked the team if the investigation was concluded and what exactly the team was apologizing for.
Scott Emmert, the team's senior vice president of communications, responded and said the organization declined to provide further comment on the situation.
In video of the incident, at the bottom of the screen, a scrolling message stated, "Want to see your personalized greeting here? Visit sjsharkie.com."
That URL leads to a website offering a "Name in Lights" scoreboard greeting program.
"The Sharks are offering completely customizable greetings. Your greeting will appear in lights during the 1st intermission and you may add any greeting to the center hung scoreboard," the program states.
Restrictions on the messages include those with a commercial purpose or any that are "obscene, offensive, or refer negatively to any NHL team."
Using NHL players' names is also prohibited, and the team reserves the right to remove or edit any message. In the case of a removal, the $75 fee is refunded.
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The night in question was the team's ninth annual Los Tiburones game, "a celebration of the team's commitment to the Bay Area's vibrant Hispanic community."
The night spotlights Latino performers and concessions, a Spanish-language broadcast, and, of course, a bevy of merchandise.
In the aftermath of the scoreboard message, fans were outraged, but their political leanings depended on the platform.
On X, the team saw an overwhelmingly pro-ICE response, with messages such as "why is supporting law enforcement offensive," and "So the Sharks are in favor of illegal immigration? Is that what I’m gathering?"
On Instagram, however, multiple unrelated posts by the team saw messages calling the team racist or asking "you guys gonna start calling ice on fans or what?"
The Sharks did not make a dedicated post with their apology on Instagram.
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