The Daily Populous

Thursday November 25th, 2021 evening edition

image for US libraries report spike in organised attempts to ban books in schools

“It’s a volume of challenges I’ve never seen in my time at the ALA – the last 20 years.

We’re seeing what appears to be a campaign to remove books, particularly books dealing with LGBTQIA themes and books dealing with racism.”.

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye has been removed from school libraries in Utah over its “explicit” content; in Virginia, the Nobel laureate’s Beloved has been challenged for similar reasons.

(The all-white school board said it was coincidence that almost all the material banned was by or about people of colour.).

“I guess we live in a world now that our public schools would rather have kids read about gay pornography than Christ.”

The school board subsequently ordered that “sexually explicit” books be removed from district libraries.

Last year, the ALA reported more than 273 attempts to ban or challenge books. »

Great Barrier Reef 'gives birth' in massive coral spawning event

Authored by cbc.ca
image for

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is spawning in an explosion of colour as the World Heritage-listed natural wonder recovers from life-threatening coral bleaching episodes.

The annual spawning event lasts for two or three days.

Gareth Phillips, a marine scientist with Reef Teach, a tourism and educational business, is studying the spawning as part of a project to monitor the reef's health. »

Russian doctors invite prominent anti-vaccine voices to visit COVID-19 hospitals

Authored by euronews.com

A group of prominent Russian doctors has invited anti-vaccine celebrities and politicians to visit hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

Eleven leading doctors signed the open letter on Wednesday, calling on the public figures to see the effects of the virus firsthand.

The letter was addressed to a dozen of the loudest anti-vaccine voices that have spread doubts about coronavirus jabs on social media. »

This Thanksgiving, I’m Grateful for a President Who Believes in Science

Authored by thenation.com

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Vice President Kamala Harris has cast 13 tie-breaking votes in the US Senate, the most in a single year by any vice president in US history.

Hell, that’s more than any president has done since 1981 (I’m looking at you, Ronald Reagan). »

Jan. 6 Organizers Reportedly Used Burner Phones To Communicate With Eric Trump

Authored by huffpost.com

Organizers of the Jan. 6 rally near the White House where then-President Donald Trump spoke before the Capitol riot allegedly used burner phones to communicate with top Trump officials, including his son Eric Trump, Rolling Stone reported Tuesday.

So-called burner phones are cheap, prepaid mobile phones typically purchased for temporary use to protect the user’s anonymity.

Kremer used one of the phones to communicate with top White House and Trump campaign officials, including Eric Trump and wife Lara Trump, then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Katrina Pierson, a former Trump campaign spokesperson, three sources involved with the event told Rolling Stone. »