‘Twitter Files’ Expose Coordination with CIA, State Department, Pentagon

The latest installment of the “Twitter Files” revealed that the FBI acted “as a doorman” for the social media giant to other government agencies, including the CIA, the State Department and the Pentagon.

“Twitter had so much contact with so many agencies that executives lost track,” journalist Matt Taibbi wrote as he released the ninth batch of internal Twitter files on Saturday evening. “Is today the DOD, and tomorrow the FBI? Is it the weekly call, or the monthly meeting? It was dizzying.”

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Local Government’s Christmas Policy Parallels Woke Rules Found on College Campuses

A memo shared by the free speech watchdog, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), reveals that employees of King County, Washington, are advised not to include “religious symbols” in their workspaces. 

“Before adding any decorations to your workspace (including your virtual workspace), consider the likely effect of such decorations on all of the employees in and outside of your workgroup,” writes Workforce Equity Manager Gloria Ngezaho in the “Guidelines for Holiday Decorations for King County Employees.” 

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Netflix Poised to End Password Sharing, Potentially Affecting 100 Million Users

Netflix is reportedly poised to cancel the widespread user practice of “password sharing,” limiting accounts to one single household in a move to shore up its struggling bottom line. 

The streaming company several years ago “identified password sharing as a major problem eating into subscriptions,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, but did not move to address it until this year due to significant gains in subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Commentary: The Things We Believe In

Rosa Parks was one of America’s indispensable civil rights icons, Rita Hayworth one of its great actresses, Ronald Reagan one of its most consequential presidents, and Norman Rockwell one of its most beloved artists. They all had something else in common, along with 700,000 Americans who die with Alzheimer’s disease every year. All four of them suffered memory losses so thorough and tragic that they eventually had no knowledge of who they were, how important they had been, and why their lives had mattered to millions.

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RNC Announces 2024 Convention Dates

The Republican National Committee on Wednesday announced plans to hold its 2024 convention from July 15-18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the GOP will select its 2024 presidential nominee.

“We look forward to our continued work with the beautiful city of Milwaukee to make this convention week a success. Republicans will stand united in Milwaukee in 2024 to share our message of freedom and opportunity with the world,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said. 

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Oregon Government Student Health Survey Asks 11-Year-Olds If They Are Trans

The Oregon Department of Education is administering a 2022 student health survey that asks 11-year-olds if they are transgender, according to the Oregon government website.

Oregon’s Student Health Survey is a state-wide test administered on a school-to-school basis to students in classrooms or online to “improve the health and well-being of students,” according to the Oregon government website. The 2022 survey asks sixth grade students if they are transgender and provides seven different gender identity options.

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Review: 10 Books to Understand Our World

At Intellectual Takeout, we strive to offer not only commentary on current events but also tangible advice for engaging with our increasingly chaotic world. That’s why we’re proud to present this new, biweekly series of literature recommendations.

These works have helped us and many others deepen their understanding of both the state of the world today and how it got there. We hope they prove engaging and informative for you as well.

This week’s recommendations cover current and recent world events.

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Blue State’s New Climate Curriculum Emphasizes ‘Emotions’ over ‘Rational Thinking’

The Washington state Department of Health’s climate curriculum instructs teachers to focus on “emotions” over “rational thinking,” according to curriculum lesson plans.

The Washington state Department of Health released a five part curriculum to help students learn the “intersections of biological, societal, and environmental issues.” The second phase of the curriculum, “Climate Change & Pregnancy,” tells educators and students to “pay attention” to their emotions as “for too long” science has caused “rational thinking” to be prioritized.

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Elite Private School’s Math Class Trains Students to Find ‘Systematic Oppression’ in Public Policy

An elite private school in New Hampshire is offering a math class that teaches students how to uncover factors that lead to “systematic oppression.”

Phillips Exeter Academy provides “Mathematics of Social Justice” which focuses on how public policy can lead to “discrimination, systematic bias and inequity,” according to the school website. Students in the math class will study “inequity in the justice system, healthcare inequity and wealth disparity” using concepts such as mathematical modeling and statistical inference.

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Mass Migration Artificially Increased U.S. Population in 2022

In the year 2022, the population of the United States of America was artificially boosted by the surge of mass migration across the southern border, with over 1 million people being added to the overall population total.

According to the Associated Press, the American population increased by 1.2 million due to the flood of illegal aliens, with the U.S. Census Bureau declaring on Thursday that the total population had increased to about 333.2 million people.

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