Right Wing Granny

News behind the news. This picture is me (white spot) standing on the bridge connecting European and North American tectonic plates. It is located in the Reykjanes area of Iceland. By-the-way, this is a color picture.

Right Wing Granny

Monthly Archives: April 2022

What Are We Teaching Our Children?

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In a article updated April 13,2022, The Balance reported the following:

The Program for International Student Assessment tests 15-year-old students around the world and is administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In 2018, when the test was last administered, the U.S. placed 11th out of 79 countries in science. It did much worse in math, ranking 30th.2 

The U.S. scored 478 in math, below the OECD average of 489. That’s well below the scores of the top five, all of which were in Asia: Singapore at 569, Macao at 555, Hong Kong at 551, Taiwan at 531, and Japan at 527. China was not included in this ranking, since only four provinces participated.3

In science, the United States scored at 502, above the OECD average of 489. The top five highest-scorers were Singapore at 551, Macao at 544, Estonia at 530, Japan at 529, and Finland at 522.

When analyzing the U.S.’s results over the years, it’s clear that the scores have been stable over time. While not declining, there aren’t any signs of improvement, either. In fact, there’s been no detectable change in U.S. students’ math scores since 2003 or science scores since 2006.4

…The IMD World Competitiveness Center reports that the U.S. is ranked 10th in its 2020 Competitiveness Report. After ranking first in 2018, the U.S. fell to the third spot in 2019. The seven-point tumble to 10th place in 2020 represents the lowest the U.S. has ever been in the annual ranking system by far.

So we are obviously not improving the education of American children. So what are we doing instead?

On April 20, The Conservative Review reported the following:

Miller Middle School in San Marcos, Texas is hosting a “Queer Week” where students as young as sixth grade are urged to dress in “pride” colors, wear nametags with preferred names and pronouns, and “protest” LGBT discrimination.

“The goal of the week is to provide a school culture that values diversity, equity and inclusion,” MMS Principal Saumnya Hart told parents in an email forwarded to The Federalist by the school.

According to a “Miller Queer Week” schedule obtained by The Federalist, MMS set aside four school days in April “to provide support for students in the LGTBQIA+ community, their allies, and the greater student and staff body.”

Beginning on Tuesday, April 19, students were encouraged to “share their stories on the wall in the hallway in order to stand against mistreatment.” On Wednesday, students were told to “dress in colors of the rainbow to support the LGTBQ+ community.”

Nametags designated for “pronouns and preferred names” will be supplied for all students on Thursday, according to the “Queer Week” calendar. On Friday, the week is scheduled to close out with a “National Day of Silence” where “LGTBQ+ students and their allies protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGTBQ people in schools.”

The article at The Conservative Review notes that the curriculum and lessons planned for that week violate Texas law. Whether or not that is the case, is this really what we want to spend our time teaching our children? The LGTBQ is an alternative, minority lifestyle. We can accept it as such without bullying, but we don’t have to celebrate it.

Is This An Indication Of Things To Come?

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On Wednesday, NewsMax reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives acting Director Marvin Richardson is being demoted.

The article reports:

U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino will replace Richardson, multiple sources told The Reload.

…”The news that he was being replaced came as a shock to most of us within the agency,” one ATF official told The Reload.

Sources told The Reload that Richardson’s demotion likely resulted from perceptions inside the administration that he was too friendly toward the gun industry.

“This administration has some very strong opinions on guns,” a source told The Reload. “They may have some distaste with that. So, bringing in [Restaino] kind of negates that.”

The move comes after a recent New York Times article featured complaints from gun-control activists that Richardson was “an industry-friendly subordinate pumping the brakes” on President Joe Biden’s progressive gun-control initiatives.

Richardson, a veteran of more than 30 years with ATF, is being moved out of the acting director position months before a permanent director might be confirmed.

On April 11, Biden announced he was nominating former federal prosecutor Steve Dettelbach to run ATF. Administration officials acknowledge Dettelbach faces long odds in the Senate largely because gun-rights groups routinely oppose any nominee for the agency who regulates guns, CNN reported.

The article concludes:

“A lot of the tips that we would get on illegal firearms activity from straw purchasers to traffickers came from dealers,” the source told The Reload. “The reality is just a very, very small percentage of gun dealers are bad. So, those partnerships are important, and Marvin really did a great job at nurturing those relationships.

“The fact that he has those relationships may not have sat well with the current administration. And I’m sure that that might’ve helped them push him out.”

While one ATF source told The Reload that Richardson’s demotion was met with disappointment by many of the staff, another source said, “As a person, he was very well-liked. Marvin is a nice guy, but he’s not a strong leader.”

Restaino spent 18 years as an assistant U.S. attorney before being confirmed as the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.

The impact of this decision will be less tips from dealers about illegal firearms activity. This will result in a further uptick in gun violence which the administration will use to justify attempts to disarm Americans. Stay tuned.

This Is Truly Bizarre

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On April 17th, NewsBusters reported that Univision’s immigration advocacy has reached the point to where the network’s news division now promotes a swimming instructor that is training potential migrants on how to swim across the Rio Grande.

YouTube even has a video:

This is the dialog from the video posted at NewsBusters:

BORJA VOCES: We now go live to Mario Veneiro, the swim coach for Club Mantarrayas (Club Stingray),   who teaches his countrymen that are set to migrate, free of charge. Are there really a lot of people taking this course? Is there a waitlist? Are there more men or women? Tell me a bit about what types of people take these courses.

MARIO VENEIRO: There’s really all types of people…teenagers, adults, and each day more are added.

CAROLINA SARASSA: I ask you, Mario: Obviously, when people see the Rio Grande it looks very calm, still waters- like a pool. However, there are many currents which are very dangerous. What do you do so that your pool has turbulent waters like those of the Rio Grande and that people truly learn to swim against the current?

VENEIRO: We made a tunnel with some lanes inside the pool, and we placed 10 people with boards on each side and we created turbulence (by) splashing water on the person going over the channel.

SARASSA: Mario Veneiro, live from Nicaragua on Edicion Digital. It’s good that you’re telling us about this course, which has gone viral. Fathers, mothers, children who are thinking about coming to the United States and facing those very dangerous waters of (the Rio Grande). Thank you very much.

We need to close the southern border yesterday!

This Is Not Surprising

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For a long time, America trusted its news sources. However, in recent years, those sources have come into question as they have become more and more biased. There are also some real questions as to what is being left out of what is being reported. The addition of alternative news has helped balance things out for those who are willing to do their own research, but a large segment of the American population still believes that everything they hear on the mainstream media is true. That is one of many reasons for the division we see among Americans. There are, however, some elements of our society who like the current lack of unbiased information and would like the division to continue. Unfortunately many of these elements are found inside of our government.

Yesterday The Conservative Treehouse posted an article titled, “Former Intel Officials Want Efforts to Break Up Big Tech Stopped–Data Control and Retention of Social Media Partnership Is A National Security Imperative.” Just for the record, controlling the media in our free republic is not only not a national security  imperative–it is totally unconstitutional.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. It is long and complicated, but worth the read. I will post a few important points here.

The article reports:

Former Obama era intelligence officials, those who helped construct, organize and assemble the public-private partnership between intelligence data networks and supported social media companies, have written a letter to congress warning that any effort to break up Big Tech (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Microsoft, etc.) would be catastrophic for the national security system they have created.

[READ LETTER HERE]

Citing the information control mechanisms they assembled, vis-a-vis the ability of social media networks to control and approve what is available for the public to read and review, the intelligence officials declare that any effort to break up the private side of the intel/tech partnership will only result in less ability of the intelligence apparatus to control public opinion.

They willfully admit that open and uncensored information is adverse to the interests of the intelligence state and therefore too dangerous to permit. They specifically argue, if the modern system created by the partnership between the U.S. government and Big Tech is not retained, the national security of the United States is compromised. Let that sink in for a moment.

The article concludes:

The influence of the Intelligence Branch now reaches into our lives, our personal lives through their efforts in social media.

In the decades before 9/11/01 the intelligence apparatus intersected with government, influenced government, and undoubtedly controlled many institutions with it. Back then, the legislative oversight function was weak and growing weaker, but it still existed and could have been used to keep the IC in check. However, after the events of 9/11/01, the short-sighted legislative reactions opened the door to allow the surveillance state to weaponize.

After the Patriot Act was triggered, not coincidentally only six weeks after 9/11, a slow and dangerous fuse was lit that ends with the intelligence apparatus being granted a massive amount of power. The problem with assembled power is always what happens when a Machiavellian network takes control over that power and begins the process to weaponize the tools for their own malicious benefit. That is exactly what the installation of Barack Obama was all about.

The Obama era intelligence team took pre-assembled intelligence weapons we should never have allowed to be created and turned those weapons into tools for radical, political and fundamental change. The target was the essential fabric of our nation. Ultimately, this corrupt political process gave power to create the Fourth Branch of Government, the Intelligence Branch. From that perspective, the fundamental change was successful.

…It’s all Connected Folks, SEE HERE

[…] “The vision was first outlined in the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise plan championed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and IC Chief Information Officer Al Tarasiuk almost three years ago.” … “It is difficult to underestimate the cloud contract’s importance. In a recent public appearance, CIA Chief Information Officer Douglas Wolfe called it “one of the most important technology procurements in recent history,” with ramifications far outside the realm of technology.” (READ MORE)

One job…. “take the preexisting system and retool it so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum.”

Welcome to 1984.

Why I Don’t Trust The Mainstream Media

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In the age of user-friendly electronics, videos and interview recordings can be easily edited to give a totally false impression. This  happened recently with an interview of President Trump by Piers Morgan.

Breitbart reported yesterday:

Audio provided by former President Donald Trump’s team to Breitbart News of the end of Trump’s interview with Piers Morgan proves that Morgan and his team deceptively edited the interview to make it appear as though it was a contentious ending when it was not.

A 30-second promotional clip that Morgan released on Wednesday afternoon seemed to show Trump flying off the handle and walking out mid-interview as a righteous Morgan asked him tough questions about his views on the 2020 election. But the full story seems to indicate that Morgan’s team deceptively edited the clips together to make it as nasty as possible for Trump—and to drive up the ratings for Morgan’s new show. Morgan’s new show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, launches next week on Talk TV, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

How many people will listen to that interview without knowing that it has been doctored?

The article concludes:

After the publication of this story, Trump blasted Morgan in a press statement that also linked to the audio published here by Breitbart News.

“Piers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me,” Trump said. “He wanted to make it look like I walked out on the interview when my time limit of 20 minutes went over by an hour. The good news is that the interview was taped by us as a means of keeping him honest. The interview was actually very strong on the 2020 Election Fraud, with me calling him ‘a fool’ if he truly believed those results.”

Trump added that the 2020 evidence was “massive and irrefutable,” and pointed to the forthcoming documentary from Dinesh D’Souza based off surveillance footage that True The Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht obtained on drop boxes in Georgia and other states.

“For those who want to make Piers look bad, compare his video promo and how it was doctored to the real thing,” Trump said. “Hopefully they will now be doing some big changes to their final product. It just shows, however, what I have to deal with in the Fake News Media. He went out of his way to deceptively edit an interview and got caught. That is a big story, isn’t it?”

Hopefully the final product will be more accurate than the promotion.

The Smoke Screen Continues

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On Tuesday, The Epoch Times reported that John Durham has uncovered evidence that the CIA knew the accusations of President Trump’s ties to Russia were fake as early as February 2017.

It should be noted at this point that The Conservative Treehouse begins every article about the Durham investigation with the following disclaimer:

CTH begins every outline of the ongoing Durham investigation with the following disclaimer:  How is John Durham going to reveal everything that is possible about the deep state Trump targeting operation, and simultaneously handle the involvement of Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann and the Special Counsel team who were specifically appointed to cover it up?

The Conservative Treehouse reported on April 16th:

Thanks to a more detailed filing by John Durham last night {pdf here, h/t Techno}, we can now see the guardrails, rules and general direction the prosecution is taking.

In essence, the underlying Trump-Russia conspiracy theory material from the Clinton campaign, via Rodney Joffe to Michael Sussmann, was fabricated – likely for a dual purpose:

(A) to coverup and make excuses for the stunningly embarrassing, potentially unlawful and politically terrible April 2016 DNC email leaks, which showed the DNC Club internally working to secure the nomination for Hillary Clinton, while trying to destroy her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders.

and

(B) to create the political Russia narrative against Trump, to be deployed later in the general election.

Within the general direction Durham is following, the FBI was duped by a purposeful and manipulative intent from the Clinton campaign.  Meanwhile, the CIA [Agency-2] did not buy into the technological evidence saying it was not “technically plausible” and was “user created and not machine/tool generated.”  

…The prosecutorial approach by John Durham positions all of the corruption outside the institutions of government, thereby protecting them.

The bad guys, the corrupt lawbreakers, are the people directly connected to the Clinton Campaign and all of the political and legal agents in/around the Clinton political machine.

As the prosecutorial narrative is unfolding, the institutions of government were victims to the horrible, terrible activity by the Clinton outsiders.

Pay no attention to the aligned politics and weaponization of the White House, DOJ, DOJ-NSD, FBI main, FBI-CoIntel, CIA, Senate Intelligence Committee, or memberships therein.  The entire apparatus of the most robust, capable, excellent and diligent intelligence apparatus in the history of all mankind, along with all the oversight mechanisms that exist to support that apparatus, was duped by Hillary Clinton’s team.

That’s John Durham’s investigative thesis, and the court filings show he’s sticking to it.

The Epoch Times article concludes:

The bigger question that looms is whether Durham will charge anyone with conspiracy. He clearly has plenty of evidence, but for reasons not fully understood, he has not used that evidence to date. It may be that he faces significant internal pressure from DOJ officials. It may also be that he’s trying to extend the legal clock until after the midterms, knowing that prosecuting the Clinton campaign will require political cover.

Or it may simply be that Durham is waiting for more evidence that would allow him to charge top campaign officials. This argument is backed by the fact that the two people who received immunity are too far down the food chain to have known anything about the extent of involvement from top Clinton campaign officials.

Don’t hold your breath waiting to see the real culprits in this trial held accountable.

Playing With Fire

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On Thursday, Hot Air posted an article about genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida. Yes, you read that right.

The article reports:

…But now there’s a new type of mosquito hanging out in the Florida Keys. It’s one that’s never been seen before because scientists genetically modified the species in an effort to use them in a genocidal war against their own kin. Thus far, the scientists seem to be declaring the experiment a success. But that sort of ignores the fact that there are now five million genetically modified super-mosquitoes roaming around Florida. (Nature Journal)

Researchers have completed the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the United States. The results, according to the biotechnology firm running the experiment, are positive. But larger tests are still needed to determine whether the insects can achieve the ultimate goal of suppressing a wild population of potentially virus-carrying mosquitoes.

The experiment has been underway since April 2021 in the Florida Keys, a chain of tropical islands near the southern tip of Florida. Oxitec, which developed the insects, released nearly five million engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes over the course of seven months, and has now almost completed monitoring the release sites.

Based in Abingdon, UK, the firm reported the first results from the experiment during a webinar on 6 April, although it has not yet published the data.

The article explains how the modification is supposed to work:

Okay, so let’s see how this is supposed to work, shall we? This British company, Oxitec, genetically engineered some of the A. aegypti mosquito (also known as the Yellow Fever Mosquito) so that the males inherited a particular new gene. When the males fertilize the eggs of females, the offspring inherit the gene. The gene has no effect on the male offspring but it causes a destructive mutation in all of the female offspring, leading them to die before they can reproduce. In theory, they would begin drastically reducing the population of female mosquitoes until there were so few mating options for the males that the population should shrink drastically.

I don’t want to be anti-science here, but this scares me to death. I realize that scientists know a lot about genetics, but I think they are in dangerous territory here.

As reported by gypsy moth alert:

The gypsy moth was brought to North America from France by Mr. E. Leopold Trouvelot. His purpose was to breed hybrid silkworms that would be hardier than the Chinese species and that could be used to establish a silk industry in the United States. By 1865 he had a million caterpillars feeding under protective netting at his home in Medford Massachussets. In 1869 some of them escaped and were apparently scattered by a windstorm.

Gypsy moths have now spread into most of New England, down the east coast to Virginia, to Michigan and Wisconsin, and to Oregon. They have done tremendous damage to trees in those areas. I am hoping that the genetically modified mosquitoes will at least stay in Florida, but I doubt it.

To Mask Or Not To Mask

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On Tuesday, Just the News reported that the Biden administration intends to appeal the court decision that mask mandates were unconstitutional. The statement is shrouded in ‘wiggle words,’ but that is the general direction the administration is going.

The article reports:

The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced that if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines masks to be necessary, it will appeal the Florida judge’s decision striking down the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mask mandate on transportation.

So the administration will blame the CDC if it decides to appeal.

Scott Johnson at Power Line Blog also posted an article about mask mandates on Thursday.

The article at Power Line Blog notes:

Speaking of maskaholism, former New York Times science writer John Tierney reviews the record in the outstanding City Journal column “Maskaholics.” Tierney includes the graph below with his column. It was created by data analyst Ian Miller. Tierney comments that the graph should be required viewing for everyone still wearing a mask and every public official or journalist who still insists that mask mandates “control the spread[,]” such as Mr. Playbook above.

Tierney explains:

The graph tracks the results of a natural experiment that occurred nationwide during the pandemic. Eleven states never mandated masks, while the other 39 states enforced mandates. The mandates typically began early in the pandemic in 2020 and remained until at least the summer of 2021, with some extending into 2022. The black line on the graph shows the weekly rate of Covid cases in all the states with mask mandates that week, while the orange line shows the rate in all the states without mandates.

As you can see from the lines’ similar trajectories, the mask mandates hardly controlled the virus. By the time the mandates were introduced in New York and other states in the spring of 2020 (at the left side of the graph), infections had already been declining in those states, and the mandates didn’t prevent a surge later that year, when cases rose and fell in nearly identical trajectories regardless of states’ mask policies. The pandemic’s second year saw slight deviations in both directions, but those reflected the seasonality of the virus and the geography of mask mandates, which remained more common in northern states. Cases were higher in the non-mandate states last summer, when the seasonal surge in the South disproportionately hit Republican states without mandates, but those states went on to have fewer cases during the winter, when the seasonal surge in the North hit more Democratic states with mandates.

If you add up all the numbers on those two lines, you find that the mask mandates made zero difference. The cumulative rate of infection over the course of the pandemic was about 24 percent in the mandate states as well as in the non-mandate states. Their cumulative rates of Covid mortality were virtually identical, too (in fact, there were slightly more deaths per capita in the states with mask mandates).

Please follow the links to both articles for further information and insight into the significance of masks.

What Corruption?

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On Thursday, The Conservative Review reported that according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Democrat South Carolina Representative James Clyburn has distributed more than $200,000 in campaign funds to entities controlled by his relatives.

The article reports:

Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, has made 15 rental payments to a company controlled by a daughter and son-in-law, and 39 direct payments to another daughter and son-in-law. Clyburn’s grandson also appears to be a salaried employee, and has received twice-monthly payments from the Clyburn campaign since October 2021.

The article concludes:

Overall, Friends of Jim Clyburn has paid Clyburn’s family members and entities they control $236,412 since 2010.

Clyburn’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment on the matter.

Clyburn is one of several members of Congress who have funneled money to relatives through campaign accounts in recent years. Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes paid her adult children more than $35,000 out of campaign funds since entering Congress in 2021. Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters paid her daughter more than $100,000 during the 2018 election cycle.

Republican Idaho Rep. Russ Fulcher paid family members $69,000 during the 2020 election cycle.

Actually, this doesn’t bother me as much as some of the other corruption in Washington does. It shouldn’t be a problem for a candidate to do business with or hire family members. However, those business and family members should be paid according to the going rate for the services they provide. For instance, a family member who is not a ‘volunteer’ stuffing envelopes (do they still do that?) in an office should be paid what people stuffing envelopes are usually paid. For that person to receive a $100,000 a year salary is a problem. The bigger picture is that what we are seeing is how someone middle class can come to Washington to ‘serve’ and leave a few years later as a millionaire with millionaire family members. That is the problem.

Good News

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Townhall reported yesterday that Justice Clarence Thomas is back at the Supreme Court after a recent, week-long stay in the hospital.

The article reports:

“Justice Clarence Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening after experiencing flu-like symptoms. He underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics. His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two. Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts, and audio of the oral arguments,” the Court said.

That’s good news for America.

More Good News

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Last night The Conservative Treehouse reported the following:

Following a federal judge vacating the federal mask mandate on transportation, the TSA responded, “TSA (Transportation Security Administration) will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

Within hours, various airlines began notifying customers the mask mandate is gone:

♦ American Airlines – “In accordance with the Transportation Security Administration no longer enforcing the federal face mask mandate, face masks will no longer be required for our customers and team members at U.S. airports and on domestic flights.” (link)

♦ Southwest Airlines – “As a result of this development, effectively immediately, Southwest Employees and Customers will be able to choose whether they would like to wear a mask, and we encourage individuals to make the best decision to support their personal wellbeing.” (link)

♦ Delta Airlines – “Effective immediately, masks are optional for all airport employees, crew members and customers inside U.S. airports and on board all aircraft domestically, as well as on most international flights.” (link)

♦ Alaska Airlines – “Effective immediately, all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air guests and employees have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. and at work. Masks are no longer required for travel and will be optional.” (link)

♦ United Airlines – No press release. “Masks are no longer required on domestic flights, select international flights (dependent upon the arrival country’s requirements) or at U.S. airports. More comfortable keeping yours on? Go right ahead… the choice is yours (you look dino-mite either way)!” ~Twitter

The article concludes:

Additionally, with all the major carriers and the TSA making official statements, it would be almost impossible to reinstate the mask mandate now.

It’s over.

Now let’s see a court ruling on vaccine mandates. They also need to end.

Is There A Grownup In The Room?

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I love the idea of world peace–nations all getting along with each other. All of the nations embracing freedom for their people. I love the idea. However, history seems to indicate that a peaceful world consisting of free people is not likely to happen. Because of that, a world where force can be met by counter-force seems to be the best alternative. Nations need to be able to protect themselves. That should be obvious to most people. Evidently it is not obvious to some of our current leaders.

On Monday, The U.K. Daily Mail reported that the US will no longer conduct anti-satellite missile tests. The theory is that the self-imposed ban will become part of a goal to make it an ‘international norm for responsible behavior in space,’ If we put our space weapons down, other countries will put their space weapons down. We have a current example of how well agreements like that work–in 1994 Ukraine signed a memorandum that stated that if it gave up its nuclear weapons, western countries would protect it from Russian aggression.

The U.K. Daily Mail reports:

The U.S. government will no longer conduct anti-satellite missile tests, making it the first nation to enact such a ban, Vice President Harris announced Monday.  

The Biden administration is setting the self-imposed ban as part of a goal to make it an ‘international norm for responsible behavior in space,’ Harris said. 

The new declaration comes after Russia in November conducted an anti-satellite missile test to destroy its Cosmos-1408 satellite, a soviet-era spacecraft that’s been in orbit since the 1980s. 

The explosion generated a cloud of at least 1,500 pieces of trackable debris that threatened the International Space Station. China conducted a similar test in 2007, as did India in 2019. Such tests are highly controversial due to the dangerous debris they can cause – debris from an anti-satellite missile test can travel at thousands of miles and even a small fragment can damage surrounding space stations. 

Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, made the announcement during a speech at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. While at the base, the vice president received a briefing on the Space Force and the U.S. Space Command. 

Does anyone actually believe that Russia and China will follow the lead of America on this issue?

One Reason Americans Are Voting With Their Feet

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Fox 32 in Chicago reported on Saturday that Illinois has expanded its free health program to include health benefits for immigrant seniors (that includes undocumented immigrants–aka illegal aliens ages 55 to 64).

The article lists the services that will be provided:

Covered services include doctor and hospital visits, lab tests, physical and occupational therapy, mental health, substance abuse disorder services, dental and vision services, and prescription drugs.

To qualify for the free health care, immigrants need to:

    • Be between the ages of 55-64.
    • Be either an undocumented immigrant or a legal permanent resident of the United States for less than five years.
    • Have household income is at or below $18,754 for one person; $25,268 for two people. 

The free health care will expand even further on July 1 to cover eligible adults ages 42 to 54.

The obvious question is, “Is the same healthcare available to people in Illinois who have been legally in America for more than five years?” Are Americans obligated to pay for healthcare for people who are not legally in their country? How is this not a draw that will encourage more illegal migration to America?

Your tax dollars at work (if you live in Illinois).

Our Justice System Has Turned Political

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On Sunday, The American Thinker reported the following:

One of the most visible signs of our federal government’s corruption is the treatment being meted out to the January 6 prisoners, who have been deprived of their express and inherent rights under the Constitution, one of which is the right to an impartial judge. Dustin Thompson, however, was not accorded that right, as Judge Reggie Walton explicitly showed his political bias and hostility to Thompson. Walton should have recused himself before the trial. With the trial over, at the very least, the judgment should be reversed. Ideally, Walton would be removed from the bench and disbarred.

The Bill of Rights describes rights inherent in the individual; they are not “gifts” from the government. All Americans enjoy them automatically and the government may override these rights only by showing an overwhelming need to do so.

When it comes to the January 6 martyrs, however, the federal government under Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland has deprived these martyrs of multiple rights. Specifically:

    • the First Amendment (most of the defendants were peaceably assembling because the police let them into the Capitol),
    • the Fifth Amendment (for they have been deprived of life, liberty, and property for over a year without due process),
    • the Sixth Amendment (they’ve been deprived of speedy trials and the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations against them), and
    • the Eighth Amendment (being denied bail is tantamount to impermissible excessive bail).

This is a disgrace. The January 6th prisoners are political prisoners in what is supposed to be a free country.

The article concludes:

The worst thing, though, was Judge Walton, who insulted Thompson in front of the jury for daring to support a president of whom Walton disapproved:

As the defense played Trump’s speech before the jury, he spoke words of disdain for President Trump and Rudy Giuliani. He did not stop.

“Anyone who follows Trump is weak-minded. Thompson is a flight risk,” Walton continued, as Thompson was shackled and taken from the courtroom.

Judge Walton, “Trump is a charlatan who caused an insurgency. He is tearing America apart. That’s the reason why our country is falling apart. I am proud of the jury for doing this.”

In 35 years as a lawyer, almost all in the leftist San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve never seen a judge show this type of bias in front of a jury, and I have seen some pretty horrible judges over the years. Walton should be disbarred. That won’t happen but his disgraceful, indecent, unprofessional conduct certainly justifies a reversal and dismissal on appeal. 

What has happened to our judicial system?

Solving National Problems At The State Level

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Our southern border is a mess, and it is not getting any better. When Title 42 officially expires effective May 23, the southern border will become even more of a mess. This has been a nightmare for border states.

On Sunday, The Epoch Times posted an article about one state’s efforts to deal with the current and coming border crisis.

The article reports:

Gov. Greg Abbott late Friday signed his fourth memorandum of understanding in three days with another Mexican governor as part of his commitment to secure Texas’ shared border with Mexico.

The signing came as a fourth bus transporting illegal immigrants released by the Biden administration into Texas reached Washington, arriving Saturday morning.

Abbott met Friday with Tamaulipas Gov. Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca in Weslaco, Texas. They signed a memorandum of understanding designed to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to Texas and improve the flow of commercial traffic across the international bridge.

The agreements were reached within a week of Abbott ordering enhanced inspections of commercial vehicles as part of the state’s expanded border security efforts through Operation Lone Star. The inspections led to major backlogs, protests by Mexican commercial truck drivers, cartel operatives setting fire to vehicles, and commercial traffic being ground to a halt.

Despite criticism of Abbott’s plan, within a week, an agreement was reached with four Mexican governors in states where international bridges connect Texas and Mexico.

“Border governors can achieve results when we work together and put the safety of our constituents first,” Abbott said. “I am grateful for the partnership of Governor Cabeza de Vaca as we work to secure our border.”

Because Cabeza de Vaca presented such a detailed plan to secure the border, Abbott said the Texas Department of Public Safety would return to its previous strategy of randomly searching commercial vehicles coming through ports of entry.

“While President [Joe] Biden ignores the ongoing crisis at the border, the state of Texas will continue to work with heads of state in Mexico to further strengthen our comprehensive border strategy,” he said.

The Preamble of the United States Constitution states:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Our present administration is not living up to that ideal. It is the responsibility of our government to secure our borders. Until the government does what it is supposed to, the states will be obligated to protect themselves from the flood of illegals attempting to enter America.

Coming To An Airport Near You

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On Saturday, The New York Post reported that the Biden administration has resumed its nighttime migrant flights to an airport outside New York City.

The article reports:

The White House has quietly resumed its after-dark charter flights of underage migrants to a suburban airport north of New York City — after a Post expose led to their suspension last year.

The Post watched as a group of migrant teens got off an Avelo Airlines plane that arrived at the Westchester County Airport near White Plains at 9:25 p.m. Thursday. The group then boarded three waiting buses that drove off about 50 minutes later.

One bus traveled to the Walt Whitman Service Area in Cherry Hill, NJ, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. After the bus pulled up at around 12:45 a.m. Friday, several teens disembarked, retrieved their bags from the luggage compartment and left with adults who were waiting there to meet them.

The bus left the rest stop around 1:05 a.m. and continued south on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The article concludes:

The White House declined to say why the flights to Westchester had been suspended and resumed, but said they were being used to “transport unaccompanied minors to vetted sponsors or relatives with whom they will await the outcome of their immigration proceedings.”

The US Department of Health and Human Services, to whom DHS referred The Post for comment, said in a separate statement that, “It is our legal responsibility to provide safe, appropriate care to unaccompanied migrant children during the time they are in our custody, and that includes transportation to vetted sponsors while they await immigration proceedings.”

Hochul’s office did not return a request for comment.

At a time when Americans are struggling to put food on the table and gas in their cars, our government has decided to fly people here illegally around the country. There is no indication that the people being relocated are not infected with covid. There is no indication that the people being relocated are not involved in illegal activities. There is no indication that the people being relocated are able to provide for themselves. How is this helpful to anyone?

Almost Good News

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On Friday, The Conservative Treehouse reported that the Biden administration has authorized new oil and gas leases on limited federal land.

The article reports:

Energy development companies had identified 744,000 acres of federal land which could yield significant returns for oil and gas extraction.  Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) authorized leases for 173 parcels on 144,000 acres; approximately 80% less than was identified by energy companies.  [BLM Press Release Here]

…The new leases are mostly for areas where already existing oil and gas exploration is taking place, and the Biden administration has raised the federal royalty charges from 12.5% to a new 18.75%. In order to keep upward pressure on gasoline prices, Green New Deal national target price $7/gal, the new leases will not be available until later this year.

Two things to consider here. Any movement in the way of helping America to produce energy can be quickly reduced after the mid-term elections. The increase in federal royalty charges may make the land less attractive for drilling.

This is a political move by the Biden administration to give the impression he cares about American energy production. He doesn’t. He is being controlled by the extreme environmentalists. The only way to get back to energy independence is to elect people to Congress who will make laws to protect the energy independence of America.

This Is No Surprise To My Boston Friends

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On April 14th, Fox News posted an article about some of Hunter Biden’s business associates. As my mother used to say, “You are known by the company you keep.”

The article reports:

James “Whitey” Bulger’s nephew, Jim Bulger, was a business associate of Hunter Biden, and according to emails obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, appears to have played a key role in a number of his Chinese business ventures. 

Whitey Bulger was a notorious Boston crime boss, who became one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in late 1994. He was captured in 2011. Bulger was serving a life sentence for 11 murders and other crimes when he died in prison in October 2018. 

In addition to being Whitey’s nephew, Jim Bulger is the son of William “Billy” Bulger, who served as president of the Massachusetts State Senate for eight years. Billy Bulger was an ally of John Kerry when he served in the Senate. Kerry’s stepson, Christopher Heinz, co-founded Rosemont Seneca with Hunter Biden and Devon Archer.

The article also notes that Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation for his ‘tax affairs’ since 2018. Is anyone willing to make bets as to whether or not the laws that apply to the rest of America apply to the Biden family?

The article concludes:

The federal investigation into Hunter Biden was predicated, in part, by Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.

Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News in December 2020 that the SARs were regarding funds from “China and other foreign nations.”

A Treasury Department official, who did not comment on the investigation, spoke broadly about SARs, telling Fox News that SARs are filed by financial institutions “if there is something out of the ordinary about a particular transaction.”

The official told Fox News that the mere filing of a SAR does not mean there has been a criminal act, or violation of regulations, but instead, flags that a transaction is “out of the ordinary” for the customer. The official noted, though, that a SAR could be part of a money laundering or tax investigation.

Meanwhile, the grand jury continues to investigate Hunter Biden’s international business dealings—even after he paid off a tax liability following the announcement of the probe into his “tax affairs.”

Hunter Biden, weeks after the 2020 presidential election, released a statement acknowledging the federal investigation of his “tax affairs.”

“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Biden said in the December 2020 statement.

Translated loosely that means, “Barack and I control the Justice Department so I am not worried about my son.”

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It includes a number of screenshots of emails about Hunter Biden’s business deals.

Analyzing The Data

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Issues & Insights recently posted an article comparing how the blue and red states and cities have handled the COVID pandemic. We need to learn from the mistakes made.

The article reports:

…Those that hewed to the Red State model of lower taxes, less regulation, and respect for the rule of law thrived – while those that followed the “woke” blue-state model, built on socialist top-down control, forced equality, and divisive racial identity politics, suffered.

One of the new studies, by Phil Kerpen of The Committee to Unleash Prosperity, Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago, and Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation, and published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, ranked states by how they performed in three major areas during the pandemic: economics, education, and mortality.

That study, for good reason, has garnered much attention. It shows that red states, in general, beat blue states hands down during the pandemic, largely due to the latter’s dedication to damaging COVID lockdowns.

“Shutting down their economies and schools was by far the biggest mistake governors and state officials made during COVID, particularly in blue states,” said Moore, a co-founder of the Committee To Unleash Prosperity.

New Jersey was the worst-performing state, while neighboring blue-state giant New York was next, ranked 49th. Also flunking out were California, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.

“They had high age-adjusted death rates, they had high unemployment and significant GDP losses, and they kept their schools shut down much longer than almost all other states,” according to the study.

So who did best? Utah, Nebraska, Vermont, Montana, South Dakota – and Florida.

Meanwhile, a second study from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that there has been massive population movement away from large blue-state cities toward red-state cities.

The article concludes:

As for New York, its leaders seem to think crime-ridden streets and more government spending will do the trick. Sorry, but New York’s losing its wealthiest citizens after years of misrule.

Far-left Democrats have an iron lock on government in Albany, so tax cuts and a crackdown on crime seems highly unlikely. In the meantime, one key group is leaving the state and city of New York in droves: Millionaires.

“New York’s share of the nation’s total millionaire earner population dropped to 9.9%, down from 12.7% as of 2010, the year after the state enacted a supposedly temporary and ultimately permanent higher rate on millionaire earners,” noted E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy think tank.

Good riddance you say? Millionaires pay 40% of taxes in New York. So losing so many to Florida, Texas and other red states is a disaster. All New York will suffer.

Truth is, America is being re-made, moving van by moving van, family by family, as the states’ demographic profiles and political leanings undergo dramatic shifts. It all points to a possible shift in political power toward conservative-leaning red states and away from once-dominant blue states. But how big that shift is remains to be seen.

As we’ve said before, the red-state model works. It has proved itself in good times and bad. Americans, you do have a choice: Red pill, or blue pill. Which is it going to be?

Our government was designed to give individual states the power to experiment with ideas to see what worked and what did not. The idea was that less successful states would copy what the successful states did. Unfortunately in our highly politically-charged atmosphere of today, blue states are not interested in learning from red states. Hopefully they will change their ways as their populations relocate.

Let The Games Begin

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On April 14th, The New York Post reported that Elon Musk has launched a $41 billion bid to buy Twitter, saying the proposed deal is part of his plan to bring “free speech around the globe.”

Wow. I suspect a lot of Twitter employees are currently having a nervous breakdown.

The article continues:

Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share, which comes just days after he rejected a seat on the social media company’s board, represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s more than 9% stake in the company was made public.

Twitter’s shares jumped 12% in premarket trading.

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.

“Since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

“My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk said.

The article concludes:

“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” Musk asked users in a Twitter poll on March 28, in which over 70 percent of the 2 million voters responded “No.”

Musk — the richest person in the world with a fortune of more than $265 billion, according to Forbes — bought some 73.5 million shares of the company, worth an estimated $2.89 billion, according to an SEC filing. 

The massive purchase may have violated federal law, according to financial experts. After the billionaire filed his disclosure forms, Twitter’s share price skyrocketed 30 percent.

Marc Bain Rasella, a Twitter shareholder, sued Musk for not disclosing his stake in the social media company soon enough.

The richest man in the world is obviously very good at three-dimensional chess.

Weaponizing Government Agencies For Political Purposes

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On April 13th, Project Veritas reported that between November 2020 and March 2021, the Department of Justice issued nine secret subpoenas and warrants to Apple and Google for the private information of Project Veritas journalists.

The article reports:

  • In addition to using Apple and Google to surveil the data of Project Veritas’ journalists, the DOJ also spied on journalists’ security detail, accessing private information about them, as well.
  • Documents show the Department of Justice compelled Apple and Google not to disclose that they were providing the individual’s private data to the government.
  • In the case of Google, the DOJ accessed individuals’ payment information, MAC address and browsing history, in addition to other personal information.
  • Project Veritas’ attorneys filed a motion outlining how the DOJ’s seizures violated the Privacy Protection Act and the Fourth Amendment, in addition to the First Amendment and Common Law Reporter’s Privilege.

The article also notes:

In a statement, the ACLU said they were “deeply troubled” by the “secret electronic surveillance” conducted by the Department of Justice.

Paul Calli, an attorney for Project Veritas, pointed out that the actions from the government were disproportionate, in addition to arguing the DOJ violated the Privacy Protection Act, the First and Fourth Amendments, and Common Law Reporter’s Privilege.

“By no reasonable measure can the wholesale seizure of newsgathering materials, attorney-client privileged communications, and irrelevant personal information be considered a proportional response to an alleged low-grade larceny, much less to a non-crime,” said Calli in Project Veritas’ motion filed in response to the disclosures from Microsoft.

The DOJ’s spying campaign represents the latest example of governmental misconduct in, what appears to be, a politically motivated investigation. President Biden’s Department of Justice has placed its crosshairs squarely on Project Veritas’ newsgathering activities pertaining to apparent allegations against then-candidate, Joe Biden, which were made by his daughter, Ashley Biden, in her diary.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It includes screenshots of the notification Project Veritas received from Apple about the surveillance.

If we continue to elect members of the Washington swamp to Congress and to the Presidency, we will reach a point where we are no longer free to exercise our First Amendment rights. Please consider that when you vote in upcoming elections.

This Doesn’t Make Me Feel Safe

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On April 12th, Breitbart reported that five sexual predators were arrested last week in the West Texas Border Sector of our Southern Border.

The article reports:

Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens tweeted this week about the arrest of a previously convicted sex offender. The Mexican national attempted to hide in a group of 15 migrants who illegally crossed the border on April 5. The man identified by CBP officials as Honorio Santa Maria-Vasquez has a 2009 conviction from a court in Indiana for sexual misconduct with a minor.

…Earlier that day, Carrizo Springs Station agents arrested another group of seven migrants attempting to sneak into the U.S. interior. During processing, agents identified a Guatemalan national, Selvin Danilo Chocooj-Boztoc as a criminal alien with a conviction in Washington State for forcible sex abuse in the 3rd degree from 2018.

…On April 9, Chief Owens reported that the Mexican government extradited Braulio Davila and turned them over to agents from the Del Rio Sector Foreign Operations Branch. Davila, a sex offender, has an active warrant out of Pecos County, Texas.

…Shortly after midnight on the morning of April 4, Eagle Pass Station agents apprehended a group of three migrants who had just crossed the border into Texas. During a records check, agents identified a Guatemalan man, Delfidio Escobar-Guzman, 43, as a convicted sex offender. A Colorado court convicted the man for a “Sex offense in the 4th degree.”

Two days earlier, Brackettville Station agents found a group of nine migrants attempting to sneak around the immigration checkpoint by trespassing on a ranch. During processing, agents identified a Mexican national, Isais Hernandez-Ulin, 38, as a criminal alien with a conviction from a North Carolina court for felony indecency with a child.

So far this fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2021, Del Rio Sector agents arrested more than 660 criminal aliens, officials stated.

There are a lot of reasons we need to seal our southern border. Criminals can easily mix in with the crowds coming across, fentanyl is coming across in record amounts, and there are numerous human rights abuses against the immigrants along the way. It’s time to finish the wall and enforce our laws.

Two More Weeks Of Masks For Public Transportation

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The government does not like to give up control–even when that control is not based on science. To review a few basic facts–the corona virus is smaller than the spaces in the cloth mask–it easily gets through. Wearing a mask to protect you from Covid is like putting up a chain-link fence to protect you from mosquitoes. There is also the fact that wearing a mask has a negative impact on your immune system (my husband and I were recently told this by a pulmonary specialist). The pulmonary specialist is expecting a spike in pneumonia when the masks are permanently gone. At any rate, the Biden administration has extended the requirement for masks on public transportation for two weeks.

On April 13th, NewsMax reported:

The Biden administration will extend for two weeks the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was set to extend the order, which was to expire on April 18, by two weeks to monitor for any observable increase in severe virus outcomes as cases rise in parts of the country. The move was being made out of abundance of caution, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the CDC’s action.

When the Transportation Security Administration, which enforces the rule for planes, buses, trains and transit hubs, extended the requirement last month, it said the CDC had been hoping to roll out a more flexible masking strategy that would have replaced the nationwide requirement. 

Meanwhile, on April 12th, Hot Air reported:

We’re still waiting to find out if President Joe Biden will allow the mask mandate for public travel to expire on April 18th or if he will extend it yet again. While he’s making his decision, he might want to take a peek at a new Axios/Ipsos poll that was just released this week. They asked Americans a variety of questions about how serious the threat from COVID was at this point and if the pandemic was still a major driving concern. While it may come as a great surprise to some people, particularly inside the White House and among cable news hosts, people really aren’t seeing this as a crisis requiring any extravagant government intervention at this point. In fact, it sounds like a large majority of Americans crossing party lines and every other demographic are done with the pandemic. (Daily Caller)

Just 9% of Americans believe COVID-19 is a serious crisis, signaling Americans are ready to move past the pandemic, according to a new Axios/Ipsos poll released Tuesday.

The poll asked Republicans and Democrats to characterize the state of the coronavirus in the U.S. Only 16% of Democrats called it a “serious crisis” compared to just 3% of Republicans. Sixty-six percent of Republicans called it a “problem, but manageable,” compared to 81% of Democrats. Overall, 73% of those polled said it was a “problem, but manageable.”

Meanwhile, 31% of Republicans said it was “not a problem at all” while just three percent of Democrats said the same, according to the poll.

The article at Hot Air also notes:

Another interesting recent finding mentioned in the linked report is the reality that the states which took a more “eased” approach to masking and other mandates had better outcomes than those with the harshest restrictions in terms of deaths, hospitalizations, and all the rest. The lowest grades were given to blue states such as New York, New Jersey and California. Utah, Vermont and Nebraska fared the best.

I don’t know exactly how Covid became political, but it is becoming obvious that very few of the decisions made in the last two years were based on science. Unfortunately, I expect that trend to continue.