#diversity officer

[saywhat-politics]

With public broadcasters pressured by the Trump administration, PBS shuts down its diversity office

NEW YORK (AP) — PBS says it is shutting down its office of diversity, equity and inclusion to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order, firing the two executives brought on when the effort was begun in 2021.

The move, eliminating the jobs held by Cecilia Loving and her associate Gina Leow, comes as public television and radio girds for a fight over federal funding likely to be more serious than it has faced in many years.

Despite eliminating the DEI effort, PBS CEO Paula Kerger said Tuesday that “we were committed to telling the stories of all Americans before we had an office, and will continue to do it afterwards.”

Because PBS gets federal funding through U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation for its children’s programming, the system’s lawyers determined that it needed to comply with Trump’s order, she said. The system gets some $535 million in general support from the government, about 16% of its budget, but because it is filtered through the private Corporation for Public Broadcasting, it’s unclear whether that would require compliance.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Badash at NCRM:

Just days before he will be sworn into office, President-elect Donald Trump is alleging the FBI has been engaging in “corruption,” after learning the Bureau has shut down its “DEI Office,” officially the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The FBI has a lengthy, ongoing investigation into the January 6, 2021 insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol. It also conducted an intensive investigation into Trump’s removal and refusal to return classified documents, including top secret national security materials, and executed a lawful search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence to retrieve some of those documents. “We demand that the FBI preserve and retain all records, documents, and information on the now closing DEI Office—Never should have been opened and, if it was, should have closed long ago. Why is it that they’re closing one day before the Inauguration of a new Administration? The reason is, CORRUPTION!” Trump alleged, offering no proof or evidence, in a social media post Thursday evening. Trump pointed to a report from Mediaite: “FBI Shuttered DEI Office Ahead of Trump’s Inauguration.” “While on the campaign trail, Trump stated he would end ‘wokeness’ and ‘leftist indoctrination’ by dismantling diversity programs and imposing fines on colleges ‘up to the entire amount of their endowment,” the Mediaite report reads. “More recently, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray stating the agency’s DEI practices ‘endanger Americans.’ Blackburn made those comments shortly after the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans.” The Bureau’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion “was created in 2012 to provide guidance and implement programs that promote a diverse and inclusive workplace that allows all employees to succeed and advance,” according to an archived version of its website. That page, which stresses, “Different backgrounds. One mission,” appears to no longer be accessible from the FBI’s website, and instead forwards to the main page.

Whiny manbaby Trump having a Caillou about the FBI’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

[guzhufuren]

gmmtv diversely yours, huh. and is gmmtv 2023's diversity in the room with us right now?

[secretmellowblog]

People always take the line “Javert was tempted to fling himself upon Jean Valjean, seize him, and devour him: that is, to say arrest him” out of context in order to make it seem gay. But when you read it in context, it’s actually a lot gayer.

My pet peeve is that people often act like this line represents Javert’s “usual” feelings about arresting Jean Valjean—-“See, Javert doesn’t want to arrest Jean Valjean because he’s a bootlicking authoritarian who enforces unjust laws, hes just homoerotically obsessed with him!” But Javert really isn’t obsessed with Jean Valjean in the novel. They reunite mainly by coincidence and chance, and Javert doesn’t think too much about him outside of doing his job…until after Jean Valjean saves his life at the barricades, and Javert suddenly begins to develop Emotions.

The “seize and devour him” line is from the scene where Javert is considering suicide, and reflecting on the new agonized complicated emotions he’s only just started to develop for Jean Valjean.

Here’s the full paragraph it’s from with the pieces people always leave out:

Twenty times, as he sat in that carriage face to face with Jean Valjean, the legal tiger had roared within him. A score of times he had been tempted to fling himself upon Jean Valjean, to seize him and devour him, that is to say, to arrest him. What more simple, in fact? To cry out at the first post that they passed:—“Here is a fugitive from justice, who has broken his ban!” to summon the gendarmes and say to them: “This man is yours!” then to go off, leaving that condemned man there, to ignore the rest and not to meddle further in the matter. This man is forever a prisoner of the law; the law may do with him what it will. What could be more just? Javert had said all this to himself; he had wished to pass beyond, to act, to apprehend the man, and then, as at present, he had not been able to do it; and every time that his arm had been raised convulsively towards Jean Valjean’s collar, his hand had fallen back again, as beneath an enormous weight, and in the depths of his thought he had heard a voice, a strange voice crying to him:—“It is well. Deliver up your savior. Then have the basin of Pontius Pilate brought and wash your claws.”

I feel like it’s important that this line is followed up immediately with the description “he had not been able to do it”— with Javert hesitating as he reaches for Jean Valjean’s collar and letting his hand fall, because he can’t bring himself to hurt him for reasons he doesn’t understand.

The reason this description is so visceral and feral isn’t because “this is how he usually feels about arresting Jean Valjean all the time��� but because post-barricades Javert is in a frenzied desperate suicidal state, like an animal backed into a corner.

Javert is frequently compared to animals throughout the novel— he is the “watchdog” of the government, the domesticated wolf who is tolerated because he hunts down the wild wolves like Jean Valjean. But here finally feels shame and disgust at his own animalistic violence. He feels a tiger roar within him, is furiously certain that he is obligated to arrest Jean Valjean— but then he notices how animalistic and monstrous he is, and that his hands are “claws,” and he suddenly feels a deep confused shame.

I think you can also analyze this line through the layer of….Javert doesn’t actually know what he’s feeling, and so he is attempting to describe all of his emotions through the language of prisons and police. The only metaphors he has to explain his feelings to himself are the metaphors of are arrest, violence, and hunting. And I think in that context it’s also possible to read this paragraph as Javert’s confusion over wanting to touch Jean Valjean, but not wanting to hurt him— and not understanding what that means. He wants to seize him, which must mean he wants to arrest him— but he doesn’t actually want to arrest him. He keeps raising his hand to reach out to him and then letting it fall. What does it mean if he has a violent visceral emotional desire to touch someone, to seize and devour someone— but does not actually want to hurt them? Is someone whose hands are “claws” even capable of that?

Idk, I often see this line used to ‘prove’ how Javert’s weird vaguely homoerotic feelings for Jean Valjean are what make him predatory and violent —but to me actually it’s the opposite. Javert’s obsession with authority makes him predatory and violent, and the weird vaguely homoerotic emotions he develops for Jean Valjean are what finally make him hesitate, and ‘let his hand fall’ rather than hurt him.

[carlocarrasco]

More than 500 senior citizens of Barangay Talon Uno receive flu shots from Las Piñas City Health Office

Recently in the City of Las Piñas, over five hundred senior citizens of Barangay Talon Uno got vaccinated for flu for free thanks to the vaccination program of health office of Las Piñas City, according to the City Government’s social media post. Vice Mayor April Aguilar personally attended the vaccination activity. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the City…

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: May 17, 2024

The law of attraction dictates that you attract what you are, so it is by no coincidence that the Diversity Industrial Complex often attracts con artists.

It’s an industry predicated on siphoning phoning money from gullible corporations who are desperate to project themselves as societal changemakers.

This is how immoral people like ex-Facebook and Nike diversity program manager, Barbara Furlow-Smiles, were able to extract millions of dollars from resource abundant corporations.

Smiles, who led the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs for Facebook from January 2017 to September 2021, pleaded guilty in December to a wire fraud scheme that helped her steal more than $4.9 million from Facebook and a six-figure sum from Nike.

Atlanta US Attorney Ryan Buchanan lamented how Smiles was “utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks.”

“After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program,” Buchanan stated.

Smiles used her authority to approve invoices to pay for services and events that never occurred, funneling the money to several personal associates and pay Smiles in kickbacks.

She would later submit fake expense reports claiming her associates completed work for Facebook, such as providing marketing help and merchandise fulfillment.

Smiles’ lavish lifestyle will be replaced with a stiff punishment of five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and an order to pay back the money she stole from both Facebook and Nike.

There is something apropos about a sham employee like Smiles being able to climb the ranks of a sham sector of corporate America.

Post-George Floyd’s death, business enterprises fell in love with — or were backmailed into — the idea of a marriage between capitalism and social philanthropy.

DEI job positions increased 123% between May and September of 2020, according to Indeed.

It was no longer enough to have financial success in the business environment, they now wanted to become adored by the public — or at least not be accused of white supremacy.

But when you’re desperate for an outcome, there will always be fraudsters waiting to exploit you.

DEI is a sham because you can’t quantify if it’s succeeding. There are never enough programs or seminars or representation — it just keeps expanding.

Smiles likely was able to get away with what she was doing for years at Facebook because DEI is treated like a new romance; constantly given the benefit of the doubt despite their red flags.

Falling for a scam has nothing to do with intelligence or experience; literally anyone can get scammed.

We fall for scams when we become so desperate for an outcome that we’re willing to suspend belief and overlook common sense.

The problem is that ego prevents industry leaders from hearing our warnings about the falsehoods they’re being fed.

People who believe they’re always the smartest ones in the room won’t conceive how they’re being played by ideological nitwit college graduates who are motivated by ending capitalism.

They’re scared of being accused of being racist, and thus surround themselves with con artists who enjoy manipulating their empathy to drain their wealth.

Corporate America loves chasing love; DEI loves their money.

Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Follow him on Substack: adambcoleman.substack.com.

--

See:

==

DEI is inherently fraudulent. It's premised upon fraudulent grievance "scholarship," it's unquantifiable, untestable and unfalsifiable, and will accuse you of istaphobism for expecting that its objectives should be quantifiable, testable and falsifiable. Much like traditional religion.

In practice, it's like doing phrenology or dowsing for hidden "bigotry," and "curing" it with more identity homeopathy.

So, it's unsurprising that a fraudulent industry is rife with frauds. We've seen non-stop academic fraud and plagiarism from DEI academics, so we should expect comparable fraud from DEI practitioners.

Interesting how these DEI types are usually raging anti-capitalists, though.

[saywhat-politics]

‘A travesty’: Echoing Trump, Scottsdale guts its diversity office

In 2004, racists tried to destroy Scottsdale’s diversity office with a pipe bomb. Tuesday, the city council finished the job.

By TJ L'Heureux

February 12, 2025

Tuesday night at a Scottsdale City Council meeting, Don Logan looked on in dismay.

Nearly three decades ago, Logan was tasked with getting a diversity office off the ground in Scottsdale. This was a new venture among Valley cities, and the going was often tough. So tough that he nearly gave his life for it.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ahmed Baba at Ahmed Baba's Newsletter:

A flurry of incompetent policy decisions and abuses of power spark chaos and immediate court injunctions. Unhinged, divisive, blame-seeking press conferences that try to exploit a crisis or disaster. Democratic lawmakers and pro-democracy groups jump into action to oppose the latest unlawful maneuver. GOP lawmakers twist themselves into either defending the latest ramble or evading questions from an eager press demanding answers.

To the surprise of no one who has been honest with themselves, Trump’s second term is unfolding much like his first, but with higher stakes. This week, the Trump Administration's federal funding freeze sparked confusion and chaos before they rescinded it after public pressure and court injunctions mounted. After a plane crash in D.C. killed 67 people, President Trump sought to exploit the tragedy by baselessly blaming DEI, sparking media fact-checks and public outcry. Trump’s team has tried to sell the public on the idea that they would be more competent this time. That they learned from the failures of Trump’s first term. But it’s clear that Trump 2.0 has many of the same shortcomings as Trump 1.0. Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to Trump’s authoritarian ambitions is his own incompetence.

I documented every day of Trump’s first term in real-time and later organized it all in an index where you can click into every week. For me and many Americans who have been warning about what could happen in a second Trump administration, this was déjà vu. For others, this week was a stark reminder of why Trump is unfit for office. How Trump has behaved in office thus far is exactly why he lost as an incumbent in 2020. Trump's outrage-bait nonsense works in a campaign, but it's toxic in government, especially during a tragedy or crisis. During the 2024 election, many Americans appeared to have collective amnesia about Trump's first term. I wrote about this in my newsletter last year. The truth is Trump's governing style is defined by self-interest, chaos, incompetence, and divisive depravity. Now, Americans are being confronted with the real-world consequences of his re-election.

Even before the events of this week, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that many of Trump’s executive orders are wildly unpopular, and Trump’s approval rating has dipped to 45%. The poll found that 77% of Americans oppose Trump ending requirements that make government employees report gifts or investments, 62% of Americans oppose pardoning the January 6 rioters, 60% oppose implementing new tariffs on imports from Canada, 59% oppose ending birthright citizenship, and 59% oppose ending federal efforts to hire women and people of color.

[...]

The first major commercial plane crash since 2009 had just occurred above D.C., and bodies were still being pulled from the Potomac River. The American public was in a state of mourning as we learned more about the passengers, which included American figure skaters. At this moment, Americans needed calm, deliberate leadership and credible information. Instead, they got the Donald Trump we remember from the unhinged COVID-19 pandemic press briefings. President Trump repeatedly sought to blame Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Biden Administration. Trump also cited people with disabilities. Multiple reporters pushed back, including NBC’s Peter Alexander, who pointed out the fact diversity policies were also in place during Trump’s own administration. [...] The fact this policy was in place during Trump’s own administration takes down one part of his argument, but the notion generally that this was somehow the fault of DEI, aka the presence of more people of color and women in these roles, is asinine and depraved. Even Senate Republicans were caught off guard by the comments.

[...] President Trump later signed a memo that blamed the crash on DEI. First off, it’s not clear whether there were any people of color or women flying either aircraft. So, that undermines his point. I feel terrible even talking about the race or gender of these people who have lost their lives, but Trump has forced that into this discussion. This was a tragic accident, and the skills of these individuals should not be thrown into question. They go through rigorous training and are highly qualified for their roles. [...]

This crash came days after Trump made sweeping changes at the FAA as part of his efforts to downsize the federal government. Trump removed several key officials and implemented a hiring freeze. It’s not clear if Trump’s actions contributed to the circumstances that caused the crash, but Trump received online criticism for the changes after the fatal accident. Faced with criticism, Trump did what he always does: deflect blame. This time, he scapegoated DEI.

[...]

On Monday, the Trump Administration made its most chaotic move so far this term and ramped up its distortion of the federal government by ordering a freeze on federal assistance programs. Unilaterally freezing congressionally approved funds is a direct violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. This funding freeze came as Trump has made several unlawful moves to test the boundaries of the law and this Supreme Court’s appetite for further expanding executive power

The incredibly vague 2-page memo, written by Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Matthew J. Vaeth, threw the country into a state of confusion. The freeze on federal assistance was set to take place on Tuesday evening at 5 pm EST and was for the purpose of reviewing if the funding complies with Trump’s culture war executive orders. The initial memo made exceptions for Medicare or Social Security and “assistance provided directly to individuals,” but there were widespread reports of Medicaid portals being down in all 50 states on Tuesday, in spite of a second “clarifying” memo from the White House claiming Medicaid was unaffected. There was confusion among nonprofits who administer aid and healthcare providers. Lawsuits began flying from nonprofits, health groups, and Democratic state attorneys general.

Then, minutes before it was set to take effect, D.C. District Judge Loren Ali Khan temporarily blocked Trump’s funding freeze. By Wednesday, the public backlash had grown so great that the White House rescinded the OMB memo, attempting to avoid further court injunctions. But Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sent a tweet trying to save face, claiming the funding freeze was still on. Hilariously, the Trump Administration was heading into another court hearing moments later. A federal judge, citing Leavitt’s tweet, said that they intended to grant another injunction. Talk about a self-own.

[...]

Trump’s Overreach Could Backfire Politically, Too

In November, I wrote an article claiming that Trump was going to overreach when in office and predicted that instead of focusing on lowering prices, he would bring about Project 2025 extremism, incompetence, culture wars, and cruel policies.

It’s all going exactly as expected, and it could backfire on Republicans. As I noted at the beginning of this piece, polling isn’t looking good on Trump’s executive orders. And when it comes to Trump’s approach to his billionaire allies, that’s also not going over well with Americans. An AP/NORC poll earlier this month found that Elon Musk only has a 36% approval rating, DOGE has a 29% approval rating, and only 12% of Americans think it’s good that billionaires are advising the president. The Musk poll came even before he made that arm gesture at the inauguration many are calling a Nazi salute. It turns out that oligarchy is unpopular. Who knew? The data indicates that if Democrats lock in on a consistent anti-corruption message while pointing out that Trump’s moves are directly impacting Americans (like they did with the funding freeze), they could be well-positioned to win in the 2026 midterms.

After almost two weeks of Tyrant 47’s reign that has tattered America at the seams, he is repeating his first term on steroids: authoritarian overreach, causing legal headaches, and embarrassing lies out of his mouth and social media posts.

See Also:

HuffPost: Inside Trump's Second-Term Torrent Of Chaos

[puzzle-cat404]

doodle

[obstinaterixatrix]

I was commenting about how being in jp in the summer was starting to further contextualize office work culture because as hot and humid as it was, I still saw office workers in full suits, jackets and all (INSANE???) and my friend was like ‘oh yeah but recently some companies have started doing a ‘cool biz’ thing where in the summer the dress code for men is less strict, they’re allowed to wear short sleeves. because companies wanted to spend less on air conditioning’ not moved by the suffering of your fellow man but moved by cost-cutting huh… and a chunk of them are still out in jackets

[heartsdefine]

gonna try to do some writing this weekend since i'm not sure when i'll have the time/energy combo again once the semester starts lmao.

[quatregats]

Okay while I would definitely like to watch the Hornblower TV series/movies I did forget that for the only episode I watched (The Duchess and the Devil) I spent the entire time being distracted by the phonetics of Ioan Gruffudd's speech

[peachybeins]

After reading SHWD, I've come to the realisation that the reason I don't give two shits about most yuri is because I hate reading about kids/teens & femmes.

So yeah more of this please.

[deathshallbenomore]

ma la campagna di atm sull’inclusività e il rispetto con due uomini cis e bianchi nella foto? cosa mi dovrebbe rappresentare? era finito il budget dopo i calzini rainbow di beppe sala?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"What do you do, Jess?"

"I also work for an association with universities to help them diversify their faculties. You probably can't make fun of that."

"You underestimate how good I am at crowd work. I can't see you, but my guess is the way you said that, and the tone, are you a white woman? 'I think we should diversify every position except the one that I hold, if I'm gonna be... I think we should get more black people in here, except not my job, my job should be a white woman.'"