From my friends at Power Line Blog:
Monthly Archives: February 2022
Was This Really The Most Qualified Person?
On Thursday, American Greatness posted an article about the Biden administration’s pick for deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. The choice is Sam Brinton, who according to his profile on an LGBTQ website, has “a dual Master’s degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering from MIT.” That’s nice. He is intellectually qualified. However, there are some things that make me question the choice.
The article reports:
In his spare time, Brinton also enjoys roleplaying as a “pup handler,” and talking about having sex with animals.
As of December 2016, having sex with animals is illegal in 42 states.
The article continues:
His drag queen alter ego is “Sister Ray Dee O’Active,” The National Pulse reported. Brinton is reportedly the son of Southern Baptist missionaries, and claims to be a “survivor of a traumatic and torturous conversion therapy experience.”
Brinton provided a biographical statement to the LGBTQ Religious Archives network that included a story about how he had helped a little boy embrace his inner “princess” at Disneyland when the child saw him sashaying around in stiletto heels with his boyfriend.
This man obviously has some serious psychological issues. There is no way he should be holding an important position in our government.
Are You Going To Believe What You See Or What I Tell You?
Representative Troy Nehls of Texas recently charged Capitol Police of illegally entering his office, taking photos in his office and interrogating his staff. On Thursday, PJ Media reported that earlier this week, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger denied the charge, stating that one of his officers noticed that the door was open and acted responsibly to secure the office.
The article reports:
According to Manger, “The weekend before Thanksgiving, one of our vigilant officers spotted the Congressman’s door was wide open.” As such, Manger said it is the responsibility of the USCP to document the incident and secure the office.
There’s only one small problem with that Chief Manger’s claim. If you follow the link above to the article, there is a video of the door in question. The video clearly shows that the door has an automatic closing mechanism.
The article concludes:
As the video above makes clear, the door to Nehls’ congressional office suite has an automatic closer on it. Is it possible the door was propped open by Nehl or his staff? This is unlikely, as the sign on the door states it is not for public use, but for the member and his staff only. Neither Nehl nor his staff would leave this door open. Doing so might violate the local fire code, as well. Further, Manger never mentioned that the door was propped open in any way — which in itself would have been suspicious.
So, there’s definitely something fishy about Manger’s explanation.
I hope that if the Republicans gain a majority in Congress, they will investigate some of the questionable activities of the Capitol Police and the people who are charged with overseeing their actions.
The Mama Bears Are Awake
On Wednesday, Breitbart reported that a covert network of moms has formed across America to stop the indoctrination of children in schools and to fight the declining academic standards that we have seen in recent years.
The article reports:
A growing group of moms from across America — and across the political spectrum — have created a covert network dedicated to combating critical theory pedagogy in private schools accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and are setting out to destroy what one mother calls the “head of the snake.”
The central goal of the group is to expose and put a stop to political indoctrination in their children’s schools, declining academic standards, and opaque school governance and financial management — which they believe stems from NAIS.
These moms are working to improve private schools, but how long will it be before similar groups of moms form to improve public schools?
The article notes:
The moms are of a variety of political leanings — some of whom told Breitbart News they have “maxed out” political donations to former President Obama and to Hillary Clinton — and do not have a collective political ideology. Their only stance is opposition to political indoctrination of any kind in school.
Speaking to Breitbart News, the “Undercover Mothers” detailed what they believe to be an effort at “elite capture” of private school kids by Marxist ideologues, hoping to control the worldview of those likely to be influential when they grow up; as one explained, “1.2 percent of the nation’s schools are NAIS private schools, but a third of Biden’s cabinet went to these schools … once you’ve got the elite organizations, that changes the entire makeup of the country.”
The identities of the mothers speaking out have been withheld due to fear of retribution against them and their children. NAIS member private schools across America are including provisions in enrollment contracts prohibiting them from “[voicing] strong disagreement” with school policy or curricula, under threat of expulsion. Multiple similar contracts were reviewed by Breitbart News from schools in various states in reporting this story.
Mama bears aren’t about politics–they are about protecting their children!
The article concludes:
“I thought Trump was a loser [in 2016],” one mom from California told Breitbart News. “I used to be a hardcore Democrat and worked for Democrats in campaigns, and for Democratic causes, and donated to Democratic causes. And I thought Trump was just, like, a joke in 2016. But then I voted for him in 2020.”
“I was a Democratic donor, I was a nonprofit board member, I have emails and correspondence with the biggest progressives in this country, you know, we were on first name basis, I would socialize with them,” another mom from New York City explained.
“You can quote me on this,” she continued, “They don’t want to mess with us to the level where they want to expose us and go after us individually, because if they do a simple political giving search, they will see that so many of us maxed out to Obama, maxed out to Hillary, and that’s going to look really bad because their narrative is that this is a far right-wing conspiracy, and ’they’re ginning up their base before the midterms,’ — that is not the case.
“There are more [Undercover Mothers] in our midst who have been in a room with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, in her office at the Capitol or at fundraisers, sat across from [Sen.] Kirsten Gillibrand … and many other progressive Democrats … than they would prefer to see,” the New York City mom went on.
“We are the mothers of America. We’re every race, religion, ethnicity, whatever you want to say — we’re the mothers of America. That’s all we are. We just care about our children. We care about the future for our children in this country. And we are super, super dedicated,” a third mom added, as she washed dishes while on a call with Breitbart News.
Please follow the link to read the entire article. American moms are waking up.
Are You Better Off Now Than You Were A Year Ago?
In the past, many election campaigns have asked the question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” We have seen the results of an election even after only one year.
The Wall Street Journal posted an article Thursday about the current rate of inflation.
The article reports:
A relentless surge in U.S. inflation reached another four-decade high last month, accelerating to a 7.5% annual rate as strong consumer demand collided with pandemic-related supply disruptions.
The Labor Department on Thursday said the consumer-price index—which measures what consumers pay for goods and services—in January reached its highest level since February 1982, when compared with the same month a year ago. That put inflation above December’s 7% annual rate and well above the 1.8% annual rate for inflation in 2019 ahead of the pandemic.
The so-called core price index, which excludes the often volatile categories of food and energy, climbed 6% in January from a year earlier. That was a sharper rise than December’s 5.5% increase and the highest rate in nearly 40 years.
Prices were up sharply in January for a number of everyday household items, including food, vehicles, shelter and electricity. A sharp uptick in housing rental prices—one of the biggest monthly costs for households—contributed to last month’s increase.
High inflation is the dark side of the unusually strong economy that has been powered in part by government stimulus to counter the pandemic’s impact. January’s continued acceleration increased the likelihood that Federal Reserve officials could speed up a series of interest-rate increases this spring to ease surging prices and cool the economy.
Inflation is a tax that impacts everyone. When your grocery bill doubles, you have to find a way to pay for the increase and still pay your other monthly bills. People who live paycheck to paycheck are being negatively impacted. The increased price of gasoline impacts the spending power of everyone who has to commute to work every day and the price of anything we buy that is transported by truck.
Elections have consequences.
Changing The Rules In The Shadow Of The Upcoming November Election
The recent election of Governor Youngkin in Virginia sent shock waves through the Democrat party. It was an election where parents voted to regain control of their children’s education and their children’s health issues. We have elections coming up in November, and the Democrats do not want the Virginia story repeated (even in Virginia).
On Wednesday, The Conservative Review reported:
A bipartisan bill to make masks optional in all of Virginia’s K-12 schools passed Wednesday with three Democrats joining Republicans to codify GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order. The bill now heads to the state House of Delegates, where Republicans have the majority, and it is expected to pass.
The Senate voted 21 to 17 in favor of the bill which requires schools to be open for in-person learning and gives parents the right to decide if their children will wear masks in school. Youngkin celebrated the bill’s passing in a statement.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday The Daily Wire reported the following action by Democrats in the Virginia legislature:
When Democrats regained control of the Virginia House of Delegates in November 2019, one of the first things they did was pass a law that says school officials do not have to report misdemeanor crimes – specifically singling out “sexual assaults” – to law enforcement. Two years later, with Republicans back in control of that chamber, Democrats do not support its repeal.
Former Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed off on the law in February 2020. Schools are currently not required to report to police misdemeanors related to instances of sexual battery, assault, violent threats, stalking, drug and alcohol violations, and more.
The article at The Daily Wire notes that some legislators feel that reporting these crimes to the police creates a “school-to-prison pipeline” for some children. While I agree that the penalty for an alcohol violation should be different from the penalty for a sexual assault, I don’t see a problem with reporting both to the local authorities. I sexual assaults are happening in our schools, the problem is not the “school-to-prison pipeline”, it is the bad behavior of the students.
The Daily Wire also notes:
In an interview with The Daily Wire, Republican Delegate John Avoli, a former Virginia public high school principal, said “sexual battery needs to be reported.”
“If you’re a 17-year-old and you assault someone, the cops pick you up and they charge you. But you do this in a school building, and we don’t charge you. It doesn’t make sense to me. Think about it as a parent. If your daughter is a freshman in high school and she’s assaulted by someone, do you mean I don’t report that? Are you kidding me?” he said.
The mid-term elections are going to be very interesting this year.
Freedom Under Threat
The truckers in Canada have been protesting for approximately two weeks. The Canadian government is looking for ways to shut it down. So far they have been unsuccessful. At some point in the near future, they may resort to methods that are questionable in a so-called free society. On Wednesday, The U.K. Daily Mail posted an article about an instance where the police definitely used unnecessary force.
The article reports:
A 4ft-10inch great grandfather was handcuffed and arrested by two Canadian cops for honking his horn in support of Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa on Sunday – a day before a judge outlawed blaring horns due to left-wing backlash against the anti-mandate protesters who have been smeared by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as ‘swastika-wavers’.
A bystander filmed while two officers pulled over Gerry Charlebois, 78, for beeping his horn.
‘What did he do wrong?’ the bystander asked. ‘None of your f****** concern, man,’ one officer responded.
The six-minute video shows officers shouting back and forth with furious onlookers and Charlebois as he protests his arrest. Eventually an officer in a blue surgical mask grabs Charlebois to restrain him, and brings the vaccinated great-grandfather down to his knees in the middle of the street before handcuffing him against his van.
Charlebois sustained injuries to his arms, hands, shoulders and knees. He was later fined $118 for ‘unnecessary noise’ but has not been criminally charged.
An Ontario Superior Court Justice temporarily banned honking and air horn blowing for 10 days on Monday, after a lawsuit brought by a downtown resident who measured the noise in her apartment at more than 80 decibels during the protests, which began on January 29.
The daily demonstrations, going on day 12, began as a protest against vaccine requirements for truckers who enter the country by land, but has since expanded to call for the dismantling of nearly all COVID-related restrictions.
Police have arrested 23 people and issued more than 1,300 tickets.
Admittedly, Canada does not have a law protecting free speech (which I assume includes honking your horn in support), but the police reaction here seems a little over the top. Unfortunately, I suspect this is only the beginning of something that is going to be genuinely ugly.
Gerrymandering In America
Gerrymandering is an American tradition (I didn’t say it was a good tradition–I just said it was a tradition).
According to Wikipedia (which I don’t generally recommend as a source):
The term gerrymandering is named after American politician Elbridge Gerry,[a][6] Vice President of the United States at the time of his death, who, as Governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander. The term has negative connotations and gerrymandering is almost always considered a corruption of the democratic process. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander (/ˈdʒɛriˌmændər, ˈɡɛri-/). The word is also a verb for the process.
Our voting district in Massachusetts looked like a shadow drawing of a sea horse. It was drawn like that to minimize the Republican votes in the area of Massachusetts that bordered northeast Rhode Island. Districts are drawn by state legislators and are usually drawn to give the advantage to whichever party is in power. There are less noble reasons for drawing districts, but the fact remains that the state legislators have the responsibility to draw those districts. Recently a case involving districts drawn by the Alabama legislature was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday, The Epoch Times reported:
The Supreme Court on Monday halted an order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2022 elections.
A lower court had determined in late January that the new Alabama congressional electoral map disadvantages black voters and likely violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The lower court’s three-judge panel said the state should have two majority-black districts, instead of one. The congressional map, approved by Alabama’s Legislature last year, has one majority-black district.
Alabama’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives consists of six Republicans and one Democrat.
Alabama was given until Feb. 11 to create a new map, but it appealed the district court’s decision instead.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling (pdf) grants a stay of the lower court’s order to have the districts redrawn.
“The stay order is not a ruling on the merits, but instead simply stays the District Court’s injunction pending a ruling on the merits,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote.
The legislature has the right to draw voting districts. The courts do not have the right to undo those districts and require new maps. The districts may not be drawn fairly in Alabama, but it is up to the voters in Alabama to vote for people in the legislature that will create districts that better reflect the population. There are other states where the courts are trying to control the redistricting process. This is an example of the courts attempting to usurp the job of the legislature. The courts do not have that right.
The Department Of Homeland Security Has Gone Off The Rails
On Wednesday, John Hinderaker posted an article at Power Line Blog about a recent National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin. The article includes a scribd of the bulletin. I will post some of the highlights, but please follow the link above to read the entire article.
The bulletin states:
The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors.
…These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.
…Key factors contributing to the current heightened threat environment include:
1. The proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions:
* For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021.
…Some domestic violent extremists have continued to advocate for violence in response to false or misleading narratives about unsubstantiated election fraud. The months preceding the upcoming 2022 midterm elections could provide additional opportunities for these extremists and other individuals to call for violence directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers.
Maybe my memory is going in old age, but I seem to remember that the violence in 2020 and 2021 was the work of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other anarchist groups. I remember what happened to the people who left the Republican convention meeting at the White House. There was a riot on January 6th in Washington, but the damage and loss of live on that day was minuscule compared to what happened the summer before. When you compare the sentences of the January 6th rioters to the sentences of the rioters from the summer of 2020 (article here), you really begin to wonder about the priorities and values of our Justice and Homeland Security Departments.
The Wrong Way To Go
On Monday, The Washington Free Beacon reported the following:
The Biden administration is set to fund the distribution of crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its plan to advance “racial equity.”
The $30 million grant program, which closed applications Monday and will begin in May, will provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to help make drug use safer for addicts. Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for “smoking kits/supplies.” A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and “any illicit substance.”
What in the world is the administration thinking?
The article notes:
Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, said government resources are better spent on preventing drug abuse rather than making it safer.
“If we look at more of a preventive campaign as opposed to an enabling campaign, I think it will offer an opportunity to have safer communities with fewer people who are dependable on these substances,” Boatwright told the Free Beacon.
Funding for the “harm reduction” grant program is provided through Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, which the Senate passed along party lines after Vice President Kamala Harris cast a tie-breaking vote. Other equipment that qualifies for funding include syringes, vaccinations, disease screenings, condoms, and fentanyl strips. The grant program will last three years and includes 25 awards of up to $400,000.
An HHS spokesman declined to specify what is included in the smoking kits. Similar distribution efforts provide mouthpieces to prevent glass cuts, rubber bands to prevent burns, and filters to minimize the risk of disease.
It is against federal law to distribute or sell drug paraphernalia unless authorized by the government.
The idea of the government distributing drug paraphernalia is insane. I wonder if the Congressmen who voted for the Democrats’ American Rescue Plan knew what was in the bill. Illegal drug use is dangerous for a number of reasons–you have no idea what is in the street drug you are taking. If it contains fentanyl, even a small amount could be fatal.
This is a really bad idea that needs to be challenged quickly before it does major damage.
Now They Tell Us
On Monday, Townhall posted an article with the following headline:
CDC Makes Major Admission About Rushed Vaccine Timeline and Heart Inflammation
The article explains:
The Centers for Disease Control is considering changing the timeline for the administration of a second Moderna and Pfizer Wuhan coronavirus vaccine dose. The consideration comes after a rushed timeline caused heart inflammation in a number of patients.
“Dr. Sara Oliver, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the agency was considering making the recommendation for Moderna (MRNA.O) and Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech shots during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of outside advisers to the CDC,” Reuters reports.
Currently, the CDC recommends individuals receive their second dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines three and four weeks after an initial dose. The government agency may now recommend a second dose eight weeks after the first.
In October a number of European countries limited Moderna’s use due to an alarming number of myocarditis cases.
The article concludes:
Meanwhile an Oxford University study show the risk of myocarditis for young people is higher from the vaccine than it is from natural infection.
…”In under 40-year-old people…dose two of Moderna has exceeded the risk of myocarditis after infection with a second dose,” Dr. Vinay Prasad said about the study. “There have been many people who have been reluctant to take serious the risks of myocarditis after the Moderna product.”
“If you’re under 40 and if you pool men and women together, there is more myocarditis associated with dose two of Moderna than there is with an infection. That is a bombshell finding,” he continued.
This is information that anyone who has not yet taken the shot needs to know. This is also information that should end the vaccine mandates if indeed we are going to ‘follow the science.’
School Mask Mandates Are Ending In Four States
On Tuesday, NewsMax reported that governors in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon will be ending statewide mask requirements in schools by the end of February or March. The mask mandates are ending because the number of Omicron cases has drastically declined.
The article reports:
The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it. And it was noted by some observers that blue-state leaders were moving to act in favor of relaxing COVID restrictions ahead of a midterm election cycle in which several polls suggest Dems may incur heavy losses, perhaps losing control of one or both chambers of Congress. One reason Republicans are gaining traction: concern over overly restrictive and protracted pandemic mandates.
So is this politics or science?
The article notes:
In a statement, the union (New Jersey Education Association, the state’s biggest teachers union) noted that trends show COVID-19 heading in the right direction, and added: “It is appropriate for Gov. Murphy to allow local districts to continue to require masking in communities where that is prudent based on local conditions.”
Nationwide, new COVID-19 cases per day have plunged by more than a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000. Cases have been declining in 47 states over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has fallen 28% since mid-January to about 111,000.
Deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter, reflecting a lag between when victims become infected and when they die.
The article notes that the end of the mandates does not necessarily mean the end of masking:
In New Jersey, it is unclear how many and how soon the state’s 600-plus school districts might end the wearing of masks.
In Paterson, the state’s third-biggest city, the school system will take time to consult with administration officials, principals, parents and staff, said district spokesperson Paul Brubaker.
Melissa Alfieri-Collins, a mother of two who disagrees with mask mandates in schools, saying she prefers “choice,” called the governor’s decision good news. But she raised concern that districts might keep mask rules in place.
“For this reason, parents need an opt-out option for when and if districts do this,” she said.
Connecticut will also allow school districts to retain the mandate. It’s unclear if Delaware will follow suit, but the governor said he wanted to give school districts time to consider a local mandate.
I suspect we will see other states suspend their mask mandates as we get closer to the mid-term election.
When The Cover-Up Unravels
On Saturday, American Greatness posted an article about the information labeled ‘misinformation’ at the beginning of the Covid crisis that has turned out to be true.
The article reports:
Tellingly, the demands to censor Joe Rogan rarely identify the supposed “misinformation” he peddled. Even more tellingly, the censors totally fail to acknowledge that Rogan-promoted “conspiracy theories” have a better track record than many of the articles of faith his critics promoted.
Let’s start at the beginning. In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, a “conspiracy theory” emerged suggesting that the dread COVID-19 virus actually escaped from the Wuhan virology lab that studied coronaviruses. Vox warned,
With more and more people searching online for information about the coronavirus outbreak, they can easily encounter a barrage of misleading and potentially dangerous information. And the WHO, which has also released its own ‘myth-busting’ resources, is warning that misinformation about the novel coronavirus has caused harmful stigmatization and discrimination. In the US, for instance, there is a growing number of reports about misinformation fueling racism against Asian Americans.
Facebook and other social media then censored posts that suggested the virus originated in the Wuhan lab.
As Rogan recently noted, Newsweek and several other outlets later reported, “the pileup of circumstantial evidence pointing to the Wuhan lab kept growing—until it became too substantial to ignore,”
The article concludes:
Joe Rogan and Spotify aren’t in trouble for disseminating false information. They’re in trouble for embarrassing the media and government officials who themselves have pushed false information and bad policy. That’s why the powers that be are resorting to censorship instead of rebuttal. It’s easy to understand their panic. As I wrote in 2020, “If social media wants to play doctor, they should prepare to be sued for malpractice.”
Hundreds of thousands of Americans died from COVID, some of whom might have lived if social media hadn’t blocked legitimate information about therapeutics. When COVID finally abates, they will no longer be able to justify censorship to “protect” public health. Let the lawsuits begin.
Meanwhile, a very short article appeared at One America News on Monday. The article reported:
MRNA technology inventor Dr. Robert Malone is questioning suspicious behavior by Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top health care officials ahead of the coronavirus outbreak.
In a recent interview, Dr. Malone cited a report by the Epoch Times, which found Fauci and his colleagues had secret meetings in late 2019. They also reportedly had extensive conversations using burner phones at the time.
Interesting.
Do As I Say–Not As I Do
On Tuesday, The Daily Wire posted an article about some of the actions that contrast with the words of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
The article reports:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has spent more than $500,000 in taxpayer money on private jets since 2020, even though she often describes climate change as an “existential” threat and says the U.S. has a “moral” obligation to solve it, according to a new report.
“According to campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission, Pelosi’s campaign paid a Virginia-based private aviation provider, Advanced Aviation Team, over $437,000 between October 2020 and December 2021 and over $65,000 to Clay Lacy Aviation, a California-based private jet provider,” Fox News reported on Monday.
Pelosi, who will run for re-election again this year at age 82, lead a 21-member congressional delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November, where she said: “For me, it’s a religious thing. I believe this is God’s creation, and we have a moral obligation to be good stewards.”
“We must face the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis,” Pelosi said in January 2019 in her opening address to Congress. “The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future.”
The article concludes:
During the administration of George W. Bush, Pelosi requested regular access to an Air Force passenger jet, but that created a debate over whether she would get the large aircraft she wants and who she may take as passengers.
At the time, one Republican called it a “flying Lincoln Bedroom,” and Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC) labeled the speaker’s plane “Pelosi One.”
“This is a bullet point to a larger value — Pelosi’s abuse of power continues,” McHenry said. “It began when the speaker denied minority rights to Republicans … and now she’s exploiting America’s armed forces and taxpayers for her own personal convenience.”
I might be inclined to take the idea that man actually is a major influence on the earth’s climate seriously if I saw those yelling that we need to panic actually acting like they saw a threat.
Ending Mask Mandates
On Tuesday, The Western Journal posted an article about a recent recommendation from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The article reports:
With mask mandates for students and teachers increasingly under fire, one of the major children’s hospitals in the country is recommending that facial coverings no longer be required.
Dr. David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said masks should not be considered necessary, WCAU-TV reported Monday.
“We are in a very different moment in this pandemic,” Rubin told the station.
Rubin suggested that it is finally time to start getting back to normal in the school setting, particularly since cases of COVID-19 omicron variant among children are more on the level of other seasonal viruses.
…In January, Rubin also advocated for fully re-opening schools and getting kids back into normal school settings, NPR reported.
He pointed to the fact that children are not as susceptible to the virus and that for the sake of mental health and normality, they should be in regular school settings.
“The spectrum of illness is very consistent with what we take care of each year, and we’re actually seeing fewer kids in the ICU proportionally this phase,” Rubin told NPR.
He also argued that the harm being done from keeping kids at home or in abnormal settings is now outweighing the good of keeping them from getting COVID.
As expected, he has gotten pushback from the teacher’s unions.
The article notes:
The school district also just introduced a stricter mask policy than it had. According to KYW-TV, the district announced last week that cloth masks, which had previously been acceptable, would no longer be enough. Students and staff would now be required to wear N95, KN95 or KF94 surgical masks.
Since children are not at high risk for complications from Covid, why are they the ones being required to wear masks? Is the masking of children nothing more than a security blanket for teachers who fear the disease?
The article concludes:
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole defended the policy by citing the fact that many adults across the city have not yet been vaccinated and said children are doing fine with masks.
“With children of all ages…they’re quite resilient. They do very well with masking. Of course, we would all love to get rid of those masks,” Bettigole said.
“I understand the CHOP PolicyLab perspective, but when we look across the city, we still see, we have 250,000 adults who are still unvaccinated,” she added.
We know that children are not the ones in danger from the disease and are not the spreaders of the disease, so why are we masking them?
When Life Gives You Lemons…
The idea that GoFundMe would take the money donated to the Canadian truckers and distribute it elsewhere is disturbing. However, good things are happening because of GoFundMe’s bad decision.
On Sunday, The Western Journal reported:
Last week, the website GoFundMe decided it would no longer support the Canadian Freedom Convoy, which meant $9 million in donations would never reach the Canadian truckers whose convoy transfixed freedom-lovers everywhere.
By Sunday morning, it no longer seemed to matter.
A page on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo dedicated to the Freedom Convoy had surpassed $2.5 million in donations Sunday morning. The page said all money raised would go to the Incorporated Freedom 2022 Human Rights And Freedom Association.
The page contained a clarion call for freedom.
…The site said that donations will be used for fuel, lodgings and food to support truckers as they put pressure on Canadian leaders in Ottawa to hear the voices of the people.
“It’s a small price to pay for our freedoms. We thank you all for your Donations and know that you are helping reshape this once beautiful country back to the way it was,” the site said.
On Friday, GoFundMe decided the protest was beyond the pale and said it would no longer send donations to the purpose for which they were intended. In it’s initial statement, the company suggested any unrefunded donor money could be spread around to GoFundMe’s chosen recipients.
In the end, after a vast outcry, GoFundMe went into reverse and decided to simply refund everyone’s donations.
There will be hardships as a result of the Canadian truckers’ strike and of the similar strikes around the world, but hopefully there will also be a breakout of freedom. Truckers move our food and other goods. We desperately need them. We don’t need them to be subject to regulations that make their job even harder than it is.
Good News About Covid
On Saturday, Just the News posted an article about the declining number of Covid cases in American states.
The article reports:
The sharp upward trajectory of cases in this country appears to have turned in mid-July and has been falling ever since. At that time, the daily average case numbers stood around 800,000; they have since fallen to just over 300,000.
Deaths attributed to the virus are continuing to rise; a lag between case rates and deaths from the virus has generally been observed throughout the pandemic.
Some states are following the encouraging news by lifting restrictions such as mask mandates and event bans.
Vaccination rates in the country largely stalled last year and have been increasing only at a very slow rate since then. Less than a third of the U.S. has received a booster shot against the virus.
Covid is a virus. Vaccines against viruses are very tricky. Viruses mutate. We are seeing a combination of these factors work together to bring the number or Covid cases under control. It seems as if Covid may be wandering down the path that previous viruses have taken.
Illustrating The Current Imbalance In Our Justice System
On February 3rd, The Washington Examiner reported:
FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed the FBI is working just as hard to punish participants in the 2020 George Floyd riots as those involved in the Capitol riot, though neither the numbers nor his own boss’s words seem to back him up.
…Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general who heads the DOJ’s national security division, told the Senate in January that DOJ’s investigation into the Capitol riot is “unprecedented.” He also announced that his office had created a new “domestic terrorism unit” and said the Capitol riot is “being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism.”
The Justice Department said in January that at least 725 defendants have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot and that more than 225 defendants had been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers. DOJ said in February that more than 165 defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges, including 22 felonies.
“The number of FBI [domestic terrorism] investigations over the past two years since March 2020 has more than doubled,” Olsen testified.
…McFadden (Judge Trevor McFadden), in a December ruling, argued there was a “troubling theme” in how prosecutors handled Portland riot cases compared to Capitol riot ones.
“The Government dismissed 27 cases brought against Portland defendants, including five felony cases,” McFadden said. “Dismissal of one felony case is unusual. Dismissal of five is downright rare and potentially suspicious. Rarely has the Government shown so little interest in vigorously prosecuting those who attack federal officers.”
On February 5th, The New York Post reported:
A man convicted of attempting to set fire to a high school during the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd has been sentenced to five years probation.
Mohamed Hussein Abdi, 20, was handed the probation sentence in a U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, according to court documents obtained by Fox News.
Abdi was also ordered to pay just over $34,000 in restitution to Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul.
Court documents state that the sentence was “imposed pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.”
Draw your own conclusions.
Responding To Public Pressure
On Saturday, Fox Business reported that GoFundMe had reversed its decision to redistribute the donations made to the Canadian truck drivers protesting vaccine mandates and other Covid restrictions. GoFundMe was planning to redistribute the donations made for the truckers to other organizations.
The article reports:
Facing a potential fraud investigation by the state of Florida, GoFundMe reversed a decision to redistribute money given by thousands of donors to the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protesting COVID-19 regulations.
On Friday, the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe froze the convoy’s official campaign, claiming law enforcement convinced the company that the convoy had become violent and unlawful.
GoFundMe encouraged donors to submit a refund form, and said that any funds not properly returned to donors would be donated to a charity chosen by the Freedom Convoy.
Within hours, however, GoFundMe walked back the refund applications, instead announcing it would be refunding donors automatically.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he would “investigate” the company, accusing them of fraud.
The article concludes:
Critics of the company’s haphazard cancellation include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who questioned whether there is a “double-standard,” given past fundraisers for legal funds in defense of antifa members and criminal protesters.
There is a double standard. There is also the fact that organizations should not be able to take donations for one case and channel them to another cause. Good for Governor DeSantis for standing up to the attempted theft of charitable donations.
This Isn’t A Good Look For The Chinese
On Friday, BizPacReview posted an article about a reporter covering the Olympics in China. Evidently the reporter was reporting from a location that the powers that be in China did not want him reporting from.
This is the video:
The reporter was later allowed back on the air to finish his report. This is what life in a totalitarian state is like.
The article reports:
No nerves were settled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, while speaking Thursday at a Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing, delivered a chilling warning for our Olympic athletes.
“Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government, because they are ruthless,” Pelosi cautioned, saying the athletes are “there to compete.”
“I know there is a temptation on the part of some to speak out while they are there,” Pelosi said. “I respect that, but I also worry about what the Chinese government might do… to their reputations, to their families.”
“Pelosi ostensibly slammed the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee for choosing Beijing as the venue for the Games given the Chinese Communist Party’s horrific human rights record,” reported BPR.
It’s a significant change in tone from the speaker, who just last September told a crowd in Cambridge, England, that, while the U.S. was aware of China’s ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs, we needed to continue working with China on the “overriding issue” of climate change.
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy swung back at Pelosi’s Olympic-sized warning, tweeting, “Speaker Pelosi doesn’t want to upset the Chinese Communist Party. So she’s warning US Olympians to stay silent about China’s atrocities.”
“There’s a lot of us athletes who are super upset about the genocide in China,” an American snowboarder, who wished to remain anonymous, told Yahoo! Sports. “We’re upset about it. But we’re struggling to figure out, what can we do?”
And what, you may wonder, did the NOS reporter do who went against the Olympic spirit?
According to one source, he dared to broadcast from an “unphotogenic location.”
At some point is the world going to stop ignoring the plight of the Uyghurs and stand up to the ruthlessness of the Chinese Communist government?
This Isn’t The Way To Negotiate
On Saturday, Zero Hedge reported that the Biden administration restored sanction waivers for Iran’s civilian nuclear program. The idea was that restoring those waivers would pave the way for a nuclear agreement with Iran. Those of us with a more cynical viewpoint see restoring the waivers as the Biden administration negotiating with itself in order to get Iran to the negotiating table.
The article reports:
The waivers mean any foreign countries, including Russia, China, and countries in Europe, that work with Iran on its nuclear program cannot be targeted by US sanctions. The waivers are an aspect of the JCPOA and were rescinded by the Trump administration in 2020.
The article concludes:
The waiver is a hopeful sign for the JCPOA. Negotiators are expected to return to Vienna soon in what could be the final round of talks, although Iran said earlier this week that “significant issues” remain.
Iran hawks were quick to criticize the move, and State Department spokesman Ned Price insisted that the waivers were not “sanctions relief.”
“We did NOT provide sanctions relief for Iran and WILL NOT until/unless Tehran returns to its commitments under the JCPOA. We did precisely what the last Administration did: permit our international partners to address growing nuclear nonproliferation and safety risks in Iran,” Price wrote on Twitter.
What’s the difference between a civilian nuclear program and a nuclear weapons program? Not a whole lot. Considering the world’s perception of the Biden administration and the strength of America, Iran will probably have a functioning nuclear weapon and the means to deliver it in the very near future.
From my friends at Townhall:
A Disturbing Statement
On Thursday, The Washington Examiner reported a troubling quote from President Biden.
The article reports:
President Joe Biden said Thursday that his gun violence prevention strategy is necessary to combat rising violent crime in cities across the country and that preventing the sale of certain firearms “doesn’t violate anybody’s Second Amendment rights.”
“Making sure that people who are not allowed to have a gun, don’t get the gun in the first place,” the president said of his push to institute stricter background checks for firearm sales. “This doesn’t violate anybody’s Second Amendment right. There’s no violation of the Second Amendment right to talk like there’s no amendment that’s absolute.”
“There’s no amendment that’s absolute.” What? Didn’t this man take an oath stating, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”?
The article reports:
Biden, speaking alongside Attorney General Merrick Garland, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, additionally outlined new measures the Justice Department was taking on Thursday to clamp down on the illegal sale of “ghost guns” and other “assault” weapons. Those actions include:
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- Directing every U.S. Attorney’s office nationwide to increase resources dedicated to district-specific violent crime strategies.
- Cracking down on the “Iron Pipeline,” an illegal flow of guns sold in the South, transported up the East Coast, and found at crime scenes in cities from Baltimore to New York City.
- Launching a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, “which will train a national cadre of prosecutors and disseminate investigation and prosecution tools to help bring cases against those who use ghost guns to commit crimes.”
- Pursuing “unlawful gun sellers that put firearms in the wrong hands by taking steps such as prioritizing federal prosecutions of those who criminally sell or transfer firearms that are used in violent crimes, including unlicensed dealers who sell guns to criminals without the required background checks.”
The president also called on Congress to approve $500 million in new funding “for proven strategies we know will reduce gun crime,” including $300 million to expand the COPS Hiring Program and $200 million for evidence-based community violence interventions.
Why is the President focusing on the guns rather than focusing on arresting criminals with guns and keeping them in jail? How many gun crimes in America are committed by repeat offenders? What does the President consider an assault weapon? These are questions that need to be answered.
It’s Amazing How Quickly People In Congress Accumulate Wealth
On Thursday, Fox Business posted an article about the failure of a member of Congress to disclose some of his wife’s recent stock transactions.
The article reports:
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin violated a federal conflict-of-interest law by failing to properly disclose stock shares that his wife – President Biden’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve‘s top banking regulator – received for her work at a Colorado-based financial technology company, a source familiar with the matter told FOX Business.
Lawmakers’ spouses are allowed to trade in companies or industries that their partners may help regulate. But Jamie Raskin’s failure to promptly disclose the shares that his wife sold marks a violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act. The law – frequently referred to as the STOCK Act – was passed in 2012 in an attempt to increase transparency on Capitol Hill; the law made it illegal for members of Congress and their families to profit from inside information and requires lawmakers to report stock trades to Congress within 45 days.
Jamie Raskin, a prominent lawmaker who led the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, did not immediately respond to a FOX Business request for comment. But the Democrat has acknowledged the late filing and told Business Insider that the omission occurred because the transaction happened just before their 25-year-old son, Thomas, died on Dec. 31, 2020.
The article notes:
The Maryland Democrat disclosed information about the transaction in August 2021 – eight months after Sarah Bloom Raskin sold 195,936 shares of Reserve Trust for $1.5 million, according to a federal financial disclosure. The document listed the initial transaction date as Dec. 18, 2020.
The article reports another aspect of this connection:
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., probed Sarah Bloom Raskin over her connections to Reserve Trust, noting that many other nonbank financial institutions have applied and failed to receive a Fed master account. (The company even touts its access on the front of its homepage: “Move beyond the bank. Reserve Trust is the first fintech trust company with a Federal Reserve master account.”)
Sarah Bloom Raskin served on the Fed’s board from 2010 to 2014 and was tapped by former President Obama to serve as assistant Treasury secretary. She joined the Reserve Trust board in May 2017, four months after she left the Treasury Department.
There seem to be a lot of amazing coincidences among the Biden administration’s nominees for government positions.
What Were They Thinking?
On Wednesday, Townhall reported that House Democrats blocked consideration of H.R. 6184, also called the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, which was offered by Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Kat Cammack (R-FL).
The article reports:
The bill would have permanently placed fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal to sell the molecularly-altered fentanyl substance manufactured by criminals, instead of its normal classification as a Schedule II under the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are “defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The emergency class-wide scheduling order for fentanyl-related substances is set to expire on February 18. Fentanyl and related drugs, trafficked through the U.S.-Mexico border, are currently the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Mexican drug cartels, using substances imported from China, have largely switched over to producing and trafficking fentanyl because it is not limited to a growing season and it is easier to smuggle through the ports of entry and between the ports of entry along the southern border.
Griffith’s bill would have granted researchers the ability to conduct studies on these substances.
“We recently learned from the CDC that between May 2020 and April 2021 more than a hundred thousand overdose deaths occurred in the United States – an increase of nearly 30 percent over the previous year…Because fentanyl has a proven medical use, it is considered a Schedule II narcotic, but elicit derivations of fentanyl, also called fentanyl-analogs or fentanyl-related substances, do not tend to demonstrate medical value,” said Griffith.
The article concludes:
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, testified to members of Congress on Tuesday that due to Border Patrol agents being bogged down with processing family units and children who willingly give themselves up, they are unable to arrest the drug smugglers who are bringing in fentanyl between the ports of entry.
Fentanyl is killing Americans. It needs to be permanently placed on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, making it permanently illegal to sell the drug. Fentanyl is one of the main reasons we need control of our southern border.