Shakespeare's birthplace to be 'de-colonised' over fears his success 'benefits the ideology of white European supremacy'

William Shakespeare's birthplace will be de-colonised over fears that portraying his success as the 'greatest' playwright 'benefits the ideology of white European supremacy'.

Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust owns buildings in the playwright's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.

It wants to 'create a more inclusive museum experience' and announced it will move away from Western perspectives after concerns were raised that Shakespeare's ideas were used to advance 'white supremacy' ideas.

The trust also said that some of its items could contain language or depictions that are racist, sexist, or homophobic.

It comes amid an ongoing backlash against the writer. Some productions of his works have been slapped with trigger warnings for misogyny, racism and 'problematic radicalised dynamics' that link whiteness to beauty.

In 2022, a research project between the trust and Dr Helen Hopkins at the University of Birmingham postulated that the idea of Shakespeare's 'universal' genius 'benefits the ideology of white European supremacy'.

This is because European culture is portrayed as the standard for high art and the playwright as a symbol of British 'superiority', according to The Telegraph.

The project said this narrative has caused harm, and advised that the trust stop saying Shakespeare was the 'greatest' but part of a community of 'equal and different' writers globally.

Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust later received funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, which finances projects that boost diversity and inclusion.

Some of its organised events celebrated Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, and a Romeo and Juliet-inspired Bollywood dance workshop.

The trust also promised to remove offensive language from its collections.

Some of the items at the trust include archived material, literary criticism, books linked to the writer and gifts from around the world offered in honour of him.

A statement from the trust said: 'As part of our ongoing work, we've undertaken a project which explores our collections to ensure they are as accessible as possible.'

In 2021, The Globe Theatre launched a project to 'decolonise' Shakespeare's famous plays, while experts claimed his work is 'problematic' for linking whiteness to beauty.

The London theatre, which is a reconstruction of the Elizabethan playhouse where William Shakespeare wrote his work, has begun 'anti-racist' seminars to discuss 'decolonising' Shakespeare's esteemed plays.

Experts claimed that the bard's plays are 'problematic' for linking whiteness to beauty, while an academic said all of Shakespeare's plays are 'race plays' as they all contain 'whiteness'.

Also in 2021, it was reported that a growing number of 'woke' academics are refusing to teach Shakespeare in U.S. schools, arguing that the Bard promotes racism, white supremacy and intolerance, and instead are pushing for the teaching of 'modern' alternatives.

Writing in School Library Journal, Amanda MacGregor, a Minnesota-based librarian, bookseller and freelance journalist, asked why teachers were continuing to include Shakespeare in their classrooms.

'Shakespeare's works are full of problematic, outdated ideas, with plenty of misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism and misogynoir,' she wrote, with the last word referring to a hatred of black women.

But others contended the latest woke trend is short-sighted, not taking into account the lessons that Shakespeare still can teach for today - with one New York Times best-selling author accusing schools that jettison the writer as 'flushing great literature down the drain'.

In 2023, The Globe gave Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream a 'misogyny and racism' warning.

The comedy, telling the tale of four rebellious lovers who get lost in a magical forest, is set to run from April as part of the venue's summer programme.

The warning read: 'Content guidance: The play contains language of violence, sexual references, misogyny and racism.' The online guidance ends with a plea to those concerned about its themes to contact the ticketing team for further details on the play's content.

The venue is a replica of the original Globe theatre, where Shakespeare's plays were first seen, so is closely associated with the Bard.

A spokesman for the Globe said at the time: 'Content guidance is written in advance of the creation of each production and based on what is present in the play. These will be updated as the production comes to life.'

The website's warning came after education experts at the theatre who intend to 'decolonise' Shakespeare's work also attacked the play for its misogyny.

A major comic plot line is King Oberon giving a love potion to Queen Titania so she falls for the ass-headed character Bottom.

But academics have claimed this is troubling because Titania is drugged, so she cannot consent.

Hailey Bachrach, the founder of the education project Shakespeare and Consent, said that this kind of plotline can 'make Shakespeare problematic'.

Another 'problematic' plot line is Hermia fleeing Athens because she must choose between marrying against her will, or being executed or placed in a convent. Some academics say Shakespeare creates a 'dark/light binary' which casts dark or black as negative and white or fair as positive.

The Globe has sought to address the more troubling aspects of Shakespeare's work with its Anti-Racist Shakespeare seminars.

In these seminars education experts have said the Bard's language was 'racialising'. For example, the first line of A Midsummer Night's Dream is said to set out the racial divide clearly straight away: 'Now, fair Hippolyta.'

Unlike Othello, which features a key non-white character, the play is not typically viewed as a 'race play' but experts believe racial slurs lie in the insults used by the play's characters.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14504153/Shakespeares-birthplace-colonised-fears-success-benefits-ideology-white-supremacy.html

Stranded astronauts thank Trump and Elon

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1901456989571493923

NYC Man Caught in Viral Video Calmly Eating Raw Dead Rat on Busy Sidewalk in Broad Daylight: ‘This is How Zombie Movies Start’

https://twitter.com/GlobalDiss/status/1901009213020586186?

SpaceX is sending Optimus robot to Mars next year

Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX’s Starship will head to Mars at the end of 2026. The ship will be carrying Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot. The tech billionaire said that if all goes well, humans could be on the red planet by 2029, although he admitted that 2031 is more likely.

The X account for Optimus replied to Musk’s announcement with just two words: "Hold on."

"Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable," SpaceX writes on its website. In US tons, that is up to 165 tons of fully reusable and up to 275 tons expendable.

Musk has long talked about his dream of sending men to Mars, and recently he was spotted in the White House wearing an "Occupy Mars" shirt.

"I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars," a quote from Musk reads on SpaceX’s webpage on its mission of "making humanity multiplanetary."

Musk’s announcement of a mission to Mars comes during an exciting week for SpaceX.

On Friday, SpaceX and NASA launched a crew headed for the International Space Station (ISS) with astronauts who will replace Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck in space for nine months.

Test pilots Wilmore and Williams launched into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, and were scheduled to return to Earth on June 13, 2024. However, thruster failures and helium leaks led NASA and Boeing to leave the astronauts aboard the ISS rather than have them make the risky journey home.

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/spacex-send-starship-mars-next-year-elon-musk-confirms

>>22772073

How do human ankles support 300lbs? Crazy.

Democrat party approval rating falls to record low of 29% – lowest ever recorded by CNN, dating back more than 30 years

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1901302504018559041

CNN Poll: Democratic Party’s favorability drops to a record low

The Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Americans stands at a record low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, fueled in part by dimming views from its own frustrated supporters.

With many in the party saying publicly that their leaders should do more to stand up to President Donald Trump, Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57% to 42%, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda, rather than working with the GOP majority to get some Democratic ideas into legislation.

The survey was taken March 6-9, days before 10 Democratic senators — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — voted with Republicans in the chamber to advance a GOP-authored spending bill to avert a government shutdown, much to the chagrin of many other Democratic lawmakers and progressive critics.

The majority’s desire to fight the GOP marks a significant change in the party’s posture from the start of Trump’s first term. A September 2017 poll found a broad 74% majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying their party should work with Republicans in an attempt to advance their own priorities, and just 23% advocating for a more combative approach.

Democratic-aligned adults say, 52% to 48%, that the leadership of the Democratic Party is currently taking the party in the wrong direction. That’s another shift from eight years ago, when views on this metric were largely positive.

Among the American public overall, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021, when Trump exited his first term under the shadow of the January 6 attack at on Capitol. The Republican Party’s rating currently stands at 36%.

That’s driven in part by relatively high levels of dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party. Just 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents report a favorable view of their own party, a dip from 72% in January and 81% at the start of President Joe Biden’s administration. The decline comes across ideological wings, with favorability ratings for the Democratic Party falling by 18 points among liberals and moderates alike since the start of 2021.

By contrast, 79% of Republicans and Republican leaners currently take a positive view of the GOP. Political independents as a group take dim views of both parties, with 19% rating the Democrats favorably and 20% saying the same of the Republicans.

Both the Democratic and the Republican parties are viewed by about half the public as having views and policies that are too extreme, rather than generally mainstream. That’s a change from 2022, when most Americans – 56% – called the Democratic Party’s positions mainstream. Views of the GOP have remained effectively unchanged over that time.

Political independents remain likelier to see the Republicans as out of the mainstream – 57% call the GOP too extreme, while 48% say the same of the Democrats. But 16% of Democrats call their own party too extreme, while just 9% of Republicans say the same of the GOP.

The public continues to draw a distinction between Trump and his party. Americans are 9 points likelier to call the president too extreme than to say the same of the Republican Party as a whole, although that’s down from an 18-point gap in 2022.

Democrats, who overwhelmingly consider Trump too extreme, have yet to consolidate around any one-party leader to serve as a counterpoint. Asked in an open-ended question to name the Democratic leader they feel “best reflects the core values” of the party, 10% of Democratic-aligned adults name New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 9% former vice president Kamala Harris, 8% Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and 6% House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Another 4% each name former president Barack Obama and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with Schumer joining a handful of others at 2%.

More than 30% didn’t offer a name in response. “No one,” one respondent answered. “That’s the problem.”

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who delivered the party’s response to Trump’s presidential address this month, remains largely unknown. A separate question finds that nearly three-quarters of Americans have never heard of her or have no opinion of her, with the remainder roughly split in their opinions. Slotkin is scarcely better known within her own party, although Democratic-aligned adults who do express a view of her are largely positive, 24% favorable to 6% unfavorable.

Ocasio Cortez’s stock in the party is especially high among those who describe themselves as liberal and those younger than 45, with roughly 1 in 6 within each of those groups calling her emblematic of the party’s values. No Democratic leader polled in the double digits among older adults or moderates on this metric.

Democratic-aligned adults’ views of their party and its leadership also divide sharply along demographic lines, the poll finds. Those who call themselves Democrats are far likelier than independents who lean toward the party to express favorable views of the Democrats (72% to 37%), and to say the party’s leaders are taking it in the right direction (53% to 34%).

And while the party leadership earns positive reviews from most Democratic-aligned women (57% of whom say they’re taking Democrats in the right direction), people of color (57%) and those without college degrees (60%), just 38% of men and 32% of White college graduates say the same.

By contrast, majorities across demographic lines say they want to see Democrats work to stop the Republican agenda, with little daylight between the views of those who describe themselves as Democrats, and those of independents who lean toward the party. The only remaining Democratic-aligned group to edge in favor of compromise are moderates: they say, 51% to 48%, that Democrats should mainly try to work with Republicans.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from March 6-9 among a random national sample of 1,206 US adults drawn from a probability-based panel. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results among all adults have a margin of sampling error of ±3.3 percentage points. Results among the 504 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents have a margin of sampling error of ±5.0 percentage points.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats/index.html

Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives

@dom_lucre

🔥🚨BREAKING: A bartender at Chatterbox bar in Indianapolis threatened a Trump supporter with a bat and kicked her out the bar after they spotted her MAGA hat, another woman can be heard telling the victim she wasn’t welcome and when the Trump supporter pointed out that this was clear discrimination the bar can be heard laughing at her.

https://x.com/dom_lucre/status/1901109722658312525

2026 map looks awful for democrats — Now three more Senators are quitting

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s decision to not seek reelection marks the latest bit of tough luck for Senate Democrats, who face an increasingly challenging midterm election map as they fight to climb out of the minority.

After losing four seats and control of the Senate in 2024, Democrats entered the 2026 cycle confronted by a 53-47 Republican majority and a daunting map with seemingly few offensive opportunities.

The retirements of three incumbents in Minnesota, Michigan and now New Hampshire have only further complicated matters. President Donald Trump has won Michigan in two of the last three election cycles, and all three open seats will require money and resources to defend against Republicans hoping to expand their majority.

It’s a challenging reality for a party that should be looking at a favorable cycle. Midterm elections have historically been a bright spot for the party out of power in the White House, which tends to gain seats in Congress as voters weigh in on the president’s leadership. That makes 2026 a key cycle for Democrats, whose best shot at reclaiming the Senate in future cycles rests on netting seats next year.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson David Bergstein spoke to the importance of the party seizing opportunities next year. “This Senate map is ripe with offensive opportunities Democrats can take advantage of,” Bergstein said. “Open seats in states the GOP hasn’t won in decades don’t change the fundamentals of the cycle: Republicans have more seats to defend, and they’re doing it in a hostile political environment.”

Republicans have portrayed the trio of retirements as a sign that next year could defy past trends.

“Incumbents don’t retire when they think they’re about to have an easy re-election,” said GOP strategist Corry Bliss. “Incumbents retire when they think, ‘Holy sh*t, this environment is going to suck.’”

Democrats’ chances of weathering the cycle may hinge in part on Republicans’ continued recruitment challenges. The GOP has lost winnable seats in recent years with controversial, Trump-backed candidates such as Herschel Walker in Georgia, Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Kari Lake in Arizona.

Some potential Republican recruits may be unwilling to run in a cycle when they may have to defend federal worker cuts led by Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, possible cuts to programs such as Medicaid and the dismantling of the Department of Education, said Martha McKenna, a Democratic ad-maker and strategist.

“Why would a reasonable, moderate Republican ever want to run for Senate in 2026?” McKenna said. “It’s just going to be impossible for them to explain it.”

The DSCC’s Bergstein echoed that sentiment, saying, “Our approach at this stage is to ensure we have strong candidates in these states, identify where Republicans have weak incumbents, and build the infrastructure so we can take advantage of as many realistic opportunities as possible.”

The first blow to Democrats came in late January, when Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the outgoing chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, announced that he was retiring. Weeks later, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith made a retirement announcement of her own.

Smith described her retirement, along with those of her colleagues, as a personal decision about how to spend the next decade of their lives. The three of them have “great confidence” that there’s a strong bench of candidates in their states, she said during an interview on CNN Wednesday.

“I don’t think that any of the three of us feel like we are the only ones who can do this job in this moment, but it matters to know that I believe a strong Democrat will hold the seat when I am finished in this job,” she said.

Incumbency is a powerful advantage and losing it in those states is a blow to the party. With Shaheen’s departure, Democrats are suddenly faced with the prospect of contending in three open seats, including two in Midwest states that have been trending toward Republicans in recent election cycles.

In New Hampshire, Democrats are trading Shaheen – a former governor and three-term Senator who won her last re-election bid by 16 points – at a time when Republicans are making inroads in the Granite State. Former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte won the 2024 gubernatorial race by 9 points and Trump improved his margin of defeat from more than 7 points in 2020 to under 3 points in 2024.

“This is an earthquake, and it absolutely puts this in play,” Jim Merrill, a New Hampshire-based Republican strategist, said of Shaheen’s retirement. “There’s no question about it, the seat is now absolutely competitive.”

In a potential boon to Republicans, former GOP New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told the Washington Examiner earlier this week that he hasn’t ruled out a run for the seat.

Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist and past staffer to former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, said that while Democratic retirements have made some seats more competitive for his party, the critical work Republicans must do during the off-year is to get on the same page when it comes to recruitment.

“It’s an intriguing environment for Republican candidates to want to get involved,” Holmes said. “I think the alignment is the key. You’ve got to make sure that you’ve got a president in a White House that sees the world exactly the same way as a majority leader or a Senatorial Committee.”

Republicans will need to recruit strong candidates in open seats and protect incumbents from primary challenges. Some Republicans, including Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, have already drawn primary challenges. Elon Musk and other Trump allies have threatened to back primary challengers to Republicans who stray from the president’s agenda.

Trump himself has publicly acknowledged that Republicans who fail to vote with him may be primaried. And having spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars supporting Trump’s return to the White House in 2024, Musk has more than shown his willingness to spend on campaigns.

The retirements of Peters, Smith and Shaheen also create the potential for crowded, contentious primaries for Democrats that could divide the party and hurt its chances further.

There are signs that process is already underway. Peters’ retirement announcement produced a rush of statements from prominent contenders expressing interest in the race, including Attorney General Dana Nessel; Reps. Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib and Hillary Scholten; and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who had been considering a bid, announced Thursday he would not run for Senate or governor next year.

In Minnesota, a similar story played out. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was quick to move, declaring her intention to run hours after Smith’s announcement, while progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar’s team also released a statement that day, saying the congresswoman “will be talking with Minnesotans” about the seat. The list of potential contenders also includes Attorney General Keith Ellison and former US Rep. Dean Phillips.

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, Rep. Chris Pappas, who represents the state’s First Congressional District, said he is “strongly considering” a run in the wake of Shaheen’s announcement, while former Democratic US Rep. Ann Kuster also said she would “take a serious look” at the Senate race.

Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist who has worked on Senate campaigns for Shaheen and other candidates, said if there is a time for Democrats to retire, it’s now.

“When you look at the bigger picture, it’s better to have open seat races in these places in the first midterm of Trump’s administration, than six years from now, when it’s going to be a presidential year and we don’t know what the dynamics are going to be,” she said.

Crowded, rambunctious primaries could be good testing grounds for the eventual Democratic nominee in each state – but they could just as easily divide party factions, already at odds over the best path forward in the wake of losses in 2024.

Drawn-out primaries could also strain campaign budgets that were already set to be tested in what’s expected to be one of the most expensive midterm election cycles in history.

In 2022, the most recent midterm election cycle, the most expensive Senate race was in Georgia, drawing more than $385 million in ad spending. The top five Senate races that year cost more than $1.4 billion combined. And in 2024, the top five Senate races cost the parties more than $1.6 billion total.

Sen. Tim Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is projecting eye-watering totals for some of the top races next year. At a donor event in early February, Scott told attendees that the parties could spend more than $1 billion defending just two competitive Republican-held seats, according to a report from Politico.

While retirements create new or better opportunities for Republicans, their best chance to flip a seat likely remains Georgia, where first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff is seeking re-election.

Ossoff’s early 2021 win helped Democrats secure the Senate ahead of Biden’s inauguration. But recent elections have been disappointments. Democrats lost Georgia’s 2022 gubernatorial race by more than 7 points, and Trump won the state by about 2 points last year.

Meanwhile, Democrats’ best opportunities to cut into Republicans’ majority are also tall tasks.

One is in Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for a sixth term. Democrats have had success in statewide races not featuring Collins – they won the governor’s office in 2018 and 2022, while Independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, won a third term in 2024. But Collins has defied those trends, and won a decisive 9-point victory in her 2020 reelection campaign.

In North Carolina, Democrats are aiming to knock off Tillis – who won in 2014 and 2020 by less than two points – in a battleground state that’s repeatedly frustrated them at the presidential level. Many Democrats are hoping former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper decides to run.

“There’s a lot to like about what’s going on in North Carolina,” Legacki said, referencing Democrats’ statewide wins in 2024. “It’s just a question of whether we can pick up that Senate seat. And look, if anyone can do it, it’s Roy Cooper.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/democrat-retirements-senate-map/index.html

UN judge convicted of slavery — new details

A United Nations judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave.

Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe "took advantage of her status" over her victim by preventing her from holding down steady employment while forcing her to work as her maid and provide childcare for free.

The 49-year-old, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness.

She will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 2.

In footage released by Thames Valley Police, Mugambe appeared shocked when an officer said he was arresting her under the Modern Slavery Act.

She then had a conversation with the officer, in which she said: "I am a judge in my country, I even have immunity. I am not a criminal."

Asked to reaffirm that she had immunity, Mugambe told the officer: "Yes, I have a diplomatic passport."

The conversation ended with the defendant saying: "I came here as a student, I don't need anyone to work for me.

"I didn't come with her, she asked me because she has worked at my home before, she asked me."

Gasps were heard from the public gallery as the verdicts were given, and the court was cleared as the defendant appeared unwell.

Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: "Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused [her alleged victim], taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK."

She alleged Mugambe, who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford, had conspired with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK.

Prosecutors said the pair participated in a "very dishonest" trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman's entrance into the UK.

In exchange Mugambe would attempt to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in, jurors heard.

She was also found guilty of conspiring to intimidate the woman to withdraw her support for the prosecution, and to have the charges against her dropped.

Mugambe's trial heard she had the intention of "obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself".

She denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she "always" treated her with love, care and patience.

The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt "lonely" and "stuck" after her working hours were limited.

According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the body's judicial roster in May 2023, three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.

Thames Valley Police commander for Oxfordshire, Ch Supt Ben Clark, said: "Lydia Mugambe is an extremely qualified lawyer, a Ugandan High Court judge and a UN Criminal Tribunal judge.

"After the offences had been reported to the police, Mugambe tried to evade justice by repeatedly claiming she had diplomatic immunity due to her status.

"Any immunity Mugambe may have enjoyed as a UN judge has been waived by the Office of the United Nations Secretary General."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn892zq6z43o

U.S. launches strikes at Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1901465252945920179

>>22772093

Check out past statement of NPR reporter who hit Trump in the face with a mic

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1901473682272276943