Monthly Archives: November 2022

Misdirected Complaints

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Americans have endured record inflation in recent months, partially caused by skyrocketing energy costs. The Biden administration has been quick to take credit when gasoline prices have decreased slightly, but has consistently avoided taking responsibility for the role they have played in the increases in both gasoline and diesel prices. On Monday, Hot Air posted an article about the diesel fuel shortage.

The article reports:

During recent public appearances, President Joe Biden has continued to complain about energy prices as well as the potentially catastrophic shortage of diesel that has been forecast to hit the United States soon, particularly in the northeast. Of course, he never takes the blame for any of this himself. He instead tries to blame the “greedy” energy companies or, of course, Vladimir Putin. He has called for bans on oil and gas exports and even suggested a mandate that diesel stocks be maintained at a higher level. But a new report from the Institute for Energy Research addresses the actual root of these problems. What we’re facing is a significant loss in refinery capacity in the United States and its various territories. We’ve lost more than a million barrels per day in production capacity, but rather than working to rebuild that capacity, the White House is issuing new edicts that will result in diminishing it further.

…Banning petroleum exports (which are already at severely low levels) would only cut off markets, making the American oil and gas industry even less profitable, thereby disincentivizing any efforts to expand capacity. And as for an executive order directing a specific amount of diesel to be kept in stock, well… that’s simply insane. You can’t order more diesel to magically appear with a few scribbles of a pen. Someone has to produce the required oil, move it to a refinery, and create the diesel.

The article concludes:

Energy prices – including diesel – continue to rise and stockpiles continue to fall. We’re talking about a situation where people could literally wind up freezing to death over the course of the winter. There are steps the federal government could be taking to stave off such an outcome and improve the situation. But thus far, the Biden administration is doing the exact opposite. Some of you may want to start stockpiling blankets at this point. You might wind up needing them.

Bad policies have consequences. We are desperately in need of competent people in Washington.

Our Role Model?

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On November 27th, I posted an article reporting that Klaus Schwab recently stated that China Will Be a ‘Role Model’ in the ‘Systemic Transformation’ of the World. I really don’t like the idea of China as a role model. Currently Chinese protestors are being beaten in the streets, and many will be jailed and tortured for their protesting. The protests began in response to the draconian lockdowns (supposedly due to Covid) that resulted in people in an apartment fire dying because they were locked into their apartment building.

On Tuesday, The Washington Free Beacon posted the following:

Uyghur activists are demanding that the Biden administration extract details from China about the fire that the Chinese government says killed 10 people trapped in a building, alleging that the true number of deaths is far higher due to China’s coronavirus lockdowns.

“The Chinese government officially recorded 10 deaths,” said Salih Hudayar, who heads a human rights group focused on China’s genocide of the ethnic minority group. “Photos suggest the number of Uyghurs slain was much higher.”

Social media posts and photos place the death toll at 44, said Hudayar, who on Monday led a protest outside the State Department in Washington, D.C. Residents reportedly couldn’t escape their homes because their doors were bolted and barred for quarantine. Barricades at the building prevented fire trucks from getting close enough to fight the fire—video of the incident shows firefighters spraying water that failed to even reach the building. Huyadar said it took hours for help to arrive.

“Residents stated firefighters arrived three hours after the fire began,” Hudayar said.

The deaths have sparked unrest across the country, with residents calling for the easing of restrictions and the resignation of President Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities have tried to clamp down on the protests, searching residents’ phones in Beijing and Shanghai for use of illegal messaging apps. Chinese bots on Twitter, meanwhile, tweeted pornographic content to drown out posts about the protests and criticism of Xi.

It takes a lot of courage to protest in China. Free speech is not a way of life. Prison and torture are likely to be the results of protesting. China is not a role model we want to follow.

Things The Mainstream Media Left Out

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On Sunday, The Western Journal posted an article titled, “Most Damning Detail of Fauci’s 7-Hour Deposition Slips Through Media Blackout.”

The article reports:

During a several hour-long deposition, Republicans grilled Fauci regarding the NAIAD director’s reported collusion with Big Tech companies to censor opinions about COVID-19, according to Fox News.

More specifically, the deposition was part of Republican attorneys general Eric Schmitt and Jeff Landry’s lawsuit filed against the Biden administration in May.

The two allege that information, such as the origin of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of masking, was censored thanks to collusion between the White House and social media companies, Fox News reported.

Perhaps the most notable fact to come out of the deposition has fallen completely under the media radar.

Apparently, Fauci based his lockdown narrative on Chinese propaganda. Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, MD, one of the parties partnered with the two AGs in filing the lawsuit, walked through this revelation on Thursday.

According to Kheriaty, Fauci sent NAIAD deputy Clifford Lane to China in order to represent the U.S. for the WHO.

After meeting with Chinese officials, who falsely claimed their draconian lockdowns had effectively combated the virus, Lane convinced Fauci that the U.S. needed to follow the communist, authoritarian government’s lead.

“From the very beginning, the evidential basis for this global policy catastrophe was always paper-thin,” Kheriaty wrote. “We are now living in the aftermath.”

…Jenin Younes of the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), another partner in filing the lawsuit, explained as much via Twitter as well.

Younes concluded that Fauci was “apparently willing to base his lockdown advocacy on the observations of a single guy relying on reports from a dictator.”

Looking back on this, it seems as if China was able to cripple the American economy with a few words to an American official. The entire Covid pandemic is looking more and more like a biological weapon attack designed to weaken America and bring us closer to The Great Reset and One World Government. Those who pushed the narrative of lockdowns and school closures need to be removed from their positions. Those governors who sent Covid patients into nursing homes need to be put on trial.

Putting American Interests Last

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Venezuela is an obvious example of a prosperous country rapidly declining. As I noted in a recent article, the country went from freedom to tyranny in a very short time. The chances of Venezuela returning to its former status as a free, prosperous nation are very slim. However, evidently the Biden administration has hope.

On Monday, Townhall posted an article about President Biden’s decision to allow Chevron to resume pumping oil in Venezuela. This decision is in obvious contrast to the President’s limiting oil production in America.

The article reports:

The Treasury Department announced Saturday that it was giving Chevron the green light to pump in the socialist country for the first time in years in a joint venture with the country’s national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela.

The article includes the following quote from former White House Economic Adviser Stephen Moore:

Commenting on the news, Moore said he nearly fell out of his chair reading the headlines.

“This is the same administration that won’t allow us to do drilling here in the United States, not in Texas, not in Oklahoma, not in Alaska, not in West Virginia. But we can pump oil from Venezuela,” he told Fox News of the “America last” policy. “It makes absolutely no sense…When Trump left office and I helped Trump on energy policy, our whole policy was to make America totally energy independent so we wouldn’t have to rely on countries like Venezuela and Iran and Russia. And so somebody explain this one to me because it makes no sense.”

The article concludes:

A White House official claimed the move has nothing to do with current oil prices, but instead is “about the regime taking the steps needed to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” an administration official told The Wall Street Journal. 

Wow. If you believe that, I would like to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn. You can have all the tolls you collect.

What Used To Be A Beautiful City

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On Sunday, BizPacReview posted an article about a business in Portland, Oregon, that put a sign on their door:

…Marcy Landolfo has shuttered her Rains PDX shop in the most conspicuous way possible — with a large note on the store’s front door.

“Rains PDX was a locally-owned small business. But, due to the constant, and unrelenting, criminal behavior, coupled with escalating safety issues for our employees, we have decided to permanently close,” the note reads.

Our city is in peril. Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins… We have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd,” it continues.

The note concludes, “Portland has always been known for its thriving and abundant local, independently owned, small businesses. If small businesses are forced out, then our city will have lost a lot of what makes it a unique and desirable place to live. Please do your part to support small businesses, this holiday season, and beyond. Please be vigilant in voting to make our city safe again.”

The article notes that a local coffeehouse that tried to host a ‘coffee with a cop’ was smashed up & sprayed w/paint everywhere by 6 masked assailants using hammers & crowbars. #Antifa then celebrated the attack on social media.

However, there is hope. The article notes:

Dovetailing back to Landolfo’s note, take heed of how she urged people to “be vigilant in voting to make our city safe again.”

To their credit, some Portland residents have been doing exactly that. Indeed, during the midterm elections earlier this month, they ousted the city’s anti-police, pro-criminal commissioner, Jo Ann Hardesty:

…According to The Oregonian, she lost specifically to political newcomer Rene Gonzalez, a pro-police candidate who wants to re-fund the cops.

The voters are the people who can make a difference locally which will eventually make a difference nationally.

It is well to remember the words of Tip O’Neill–“All Politics is Local.”

 

 

Is This Legal?

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As the Republicans prepare to take the majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats are preparing for the change. However, some of the preparation seems a little odd.

On Sunday, The Epoch Times reported the following:

Outgoing House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said the Jan. 6 committee will have to “scrub” some evidence from its final report before Republicans take over the house in 2023.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Schiff was asked by anchor Dana Bash about Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) becoming chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and will “go through the evidence you left out … you’re saying that there won’t be evidence that will not be made public?”

“The evidence will all be made public,” Schiff told Bash in response. “Now, we will have to make sure that we scrub that evidence for personally identifiable information, that the evidence that we provide protects people’s security, it doesn’t put them at risk. So, there are things that we’re going to have to do along those lines.”

The article also notes:

Elsewhere in his interview, Schiff declined to say whether he would comply with a House Republican subpoena when the GOP takes control.

“We’ll have to consider the validity of the subpoena,” he said. “But I would certainly view my obligation, administration’s obligation to follow the law. And the fact that they have disrespected the law is not a precedent I would hope that would be broadly followed. But we’ll have to look at the legitimacy or lack of legitimacy of what they do.”

Schiff, meanwhile, did not say when the final Jan. 6 select committee’s report would be released to the public. The panel will end with the start of the next Congress in January 2023—like all other select committees created during the current session of Congress.

So there are only consequences for not complying with a subpoena when the Democrats issue the subpoena? I am honestly beginning to wonder if our unequal system of justice has reached the point on no return.

Is This Bill Constitutional?

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The inaccurately named Respect for Marriage Act is currently making its way through the Senate. However, there are some questions about whether or not the bill is Constitutional. On Sunday, Just the News posted an article listing some of those concerns.

The article reports:

The bill, HR 8404, was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, on July 18 and passed by a vote of 267-157 the next day. The U.S. Senate took it up on Nov. 14.

It would provide “statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages” and repeal several provisions of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The 1996 law received bipartisan support including from then U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and from Democratic President Bill Clinton, who signed it.

When a constitutional amendment was proposed to ban same-sex marriage in 2006, Sen. Biden told Meet the Press’ Tim Russert, “I can’t believe the American people can’t see through this. We already have a law, the Defense of Marriage Act … where I voted and others … that marriage is between a man and a woman and states must respect that. … Why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Sixteen years later, President Biden now supports replacing DOMA provisions, which “define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex,” with ROMA provisions “that recognize any marriage that is valid under state law,” according to the bill summary.

The article notes:

After their vote, Biden said, “Love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love,” adding their vote made “the United States one step closer to protecting that right in law.”

Schumer also said he had “zero doubt” the bill “will soon be law of the land.”

But multiple groups disagree, arguing it’s unconstitutional for the same reasons the Supreme Court struck down DOMA. Because the court already ruled Congress doesn’t have the constitutional authority to define marriage under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, and because ROMA is nearly identical to DOMA, they argue it will also likely be struck down.

In a letter to Congress, the nonprofit religious freedom organization Liberty Counsel argues the court ruled in Windsor, “DOMA, because of its reach and extent, departs from this history and tradition of reliance on state law to define marriage.” It also ruled, “[b]y history and tradition the definition and regulation of marriage . . . has been treated as being within the authority and realm of the separate States.”

It is entirely possible that the way to solve this dilemma is to totally remove government from the institution of marriage. Leave marriage with the church–churches should have the right to marry or not to marry anyone they want to. A couple can find a church to do their wedding without having to worry about the government getting involved. A church certificate would be enough to prove the wedding, and the government would not need to be involved. In the case of a divorce, the church certificate would prove the marriage. Let the churches go on record for what they support and what they don’t support.

The Story Behind The Story

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On Friday, The New York Post reported that United Furniture Industries had fired all of its 2,700 employees while they were sleeping, telling them in texts and emails not to come to work the next day, according to reports. So what happened?

The RADlaw Newsletter explains:

Last Monday United Furniture Industries (UFI) fired their entire manufacturing workforce with no severance in preparation for what can only be a complete liquidation of the company’s manufacturing assets.

In 2019, when we had a President who did not hate our country, UFI announced that they were increasing their manufacturing staff by about 20%. The crushing regulations and inflation caused by the Harris-Biden Administration, however, have caused them to stop all manufacturing in the USA.

They plan to still sell furniture but it will be made in China, delivered directly from the Chinese manufacturers.

Elections have consequences.

The article at The New York Post continues:

The mass firing on Tuesday by United Furniture Industries, which makes budget-friendly sofas and recliners for Simmons Upholstery, left thousands of employees including truck drivers and factory workers in North Carolina, Mississippi and California unemployed just two days before Thanksgiving.

“At the instruction of the board of directors … we regret to inform you that due to unforeseen business circumstances, the company has been forced to make the difficult decision to terminate the employment of all its employees, effective immediately, on Nov. 21,” the company said in messages to employees.

“With the exception of over-the-road drivers that are out on delivery. Your layoff from the company is expected to be permanent and all benefits will be terminated immediately without provision of COBRA.”

The privately held, Okolona, Miss.-based company could not be reached for comment.

I can thoroughly relate to the employees of this company. In the early 1990’s I worked for a small satellite office of a paper company in Massachusetts. I went home one Thursday night with no concerns and came in Friday morning to find out that the company did not like the over regulation of Massachusetts and was closing the office and going back to Pennsylvania. There was no severance pay. I really don’t think that is the way to do business, but unfortunately it is not unusual.

Politicizing Justice

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Last week (updated today) The Epoch Times posted an article about the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate President Trump. I wonder if all the Americans who have decided that President Trump is the ultimate evil have actually looked at what is happening and what it means to the future of America. A sitting President has allowed a Special Prosecutor to be named to investigate a political opponent who may run for President. If you are happy with this, would you have been happy if this had happened after the Hillary Clinton email scandal where she erased much of what was probably evidence against her? This is the kind of thing that goes on in banana republics. I only hope America has not become one.

The article reports:

While the Republicans kicked off the 2024 presidential race with the announcement that former President Donald Trump was again running for president, in perhaps the ultimate sign of our ignominious times, the Democrats, in effect, kicked off their half of the contest three days later by appointing a special counsel to escalate their political prosecution of him.

This is where “our democracy” stands today: with its purported defenders engaging in the singularly anti-democratic act of siccing a hyper-politicized law enforcement apparatus on a candidate for the highest elected office, on dubious grounds, thereby subverting the political process by which we decide who represents us.

At a minimum, no doubt to an approving President Joe Biden, his law-enforcement arm is now engaged in what amounts to election interference against arguably the president’s top challenger—ironically probing in part Trump’s alleged interference with the transfer of power in 2020, when Trump could make the case that the deep state did the same to him from the inception of Russiagate in 2016 onward.

Worse, with Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel, the prospect of the former president being charged and convicted of something, anything, is more real than at any time during the perpetual campaign to purge Trump from the body politic.

Our ruling class really does wish to “lock him up,” or at least hold that threat over the former president’s head for maximum political gain.

The article concludes:

The legal persecution of Trump—an insurance policy of sorts should the political persecution of him and his supporters fail—is beyond chilling.

Those who loathe Trump, his policy, and his people, have proven they are willing to eviscerate the U.S. system in the name of defending it from traitors, authoritarians, and insurrectionists.

Their projection is reaching its apex.

Should it persist, we will be an unrecognizable country.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. I personally think President Trump needs to be re-elected to illustrate that the Washington elite and media mob do not control the voters. Unfortunately, I fear that they do.

It Could Happen Here

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Yes, it could happen here. The December issue of America’s 1st Freedom includes an article by Gabby Franco, a former resident and Olympian from Venezuela. Ms. Franco chose to leave her family and country and come to America in 2004. In the article she explains what happened to change Venezuela from the richest country in South America to one of the poorest.

The article notes:

Venezuela is surrounded by paradisiacal turquoise waters in the north and an enigmatic rainforest in the south. There are no seasonal natural disasters—no hurricanes, tornados, blizzards or wildfires—such as there are in various areas of the United States. But an idea that the government should be given so much power that it could take away every right of the individual citizen—even their right to self-defense—did lead to the country’s ruination.

As a former citizen of Venezuela who became a U.S. citizen, I am now hearing many of the same things I heard in Venezuela from certain anti-Second Amendment politicians. I was an Olympic shooting competitor representing Venezuela and am now a lawful gun owner here in America. I don’t want to see this right being threatened again.

…Venezuela was once a place where people could find jobs, prosper, dream about their future and, with hard work, succeed, despite social and political issues. My parents were born in a rural town where there were not even flushing toilets until the late 1950s. My mom became a high-school teacher, and my dad was a machinist who dreamed of owning a machine shop. They married in the late 1970s and lived on my mom’s salary for several years as my dad built his business. They showed my siblings and me that dreams are possible with hard work and dedication.

During that time, law-abiding Venezuelans could own firearms and apply for a concealed-carry license. My father was an avid hunter who filled up the freezer with venison, duck, rabbit and any other animals he deemed tasty. Children could go to the gun range with their parents to practice the shooting sports.

…Hugo Chávez took power in 1999 and ruled the country via executive orders from the beginning. The terrible implications of his actions were palpable, as he aimed to take farmland away from its owners. Chávez did not waste time in pushing his socialist agenda, influenced by Fidel Castro, seeding hatred and envy amongst Venezuelans. I remember one time a person on a motorcycle stopped next to my dad’s SUV and spat on it. It was a symbolic gesture showing his hatred toward us for having a good vehicle. What this man did not know is that my parents were born poor but rose through their will and dedication.

Hugo Chávez’s actions did not go by unnoticed. A Cuban friend, whom I’ll call Jose, warned many of us at the gun range about Venezuela’s future under Hugo Chávez. These warnings were, as Gabriel Garciá Márquez wrote, a “chronicle of a death foretold.” It was indeed a hard pill to swallow for many, who often replied with something like: “That would never happen here. Venezuela is the richest country in the region. Venezuela is not an island like Cuba.”

Ms. Franco notes the danger to America:

I know it is hard to imagine that any of this could happen in America, but it is. The same divisive rhetoric I heard in Venezuela and then from Obama is used even more today. Venezuela’s current situation is the result of giving more power to the government, eliciting corruption, mismanagement and excessive spending; moreover, it was not an immediate change. Socialists took Venezuelans on a one-way journey to misery one step at a time. Unfortunately, I see America heading in that direction if we continue with the current socialist agenda that favors a powerful government, gun control, more regulations and a politicized justice system. Thus, it is imperative that Americans rally to preserve our Constitution and our nation by voting out anyone who wishes to undermine our constitutional rights.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It is chilling to hear her story and realize that the same thing could happen here.

 

This Is Not A Happy Thought

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On Thursday, Breitbart posted the following headline:

WEF’s Klaus Schwab Says China Will Be a ‘Role Model’ in the ‘Systemic Transformation’ of the World

China, the country that imprisons Uighurs, uses slave labor, puts anyone who disagrees with the government in jail, uses an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scale to control its population, etc., is the country Schwab thinks we should emulate.

The article quotes Klaus Schwab:

“I respect China’s achievements, which are tremendous over the last over 40 years, I think it’s a role model for many countries,” the Davos chief said, adding that while he believes countries should be able to choose the system they prefer to live under, the “Chinese model is certainly a very attractive model for quite a number of countries.”

“I look very much forward to having a strong Chinese voice in Davos to explain even better to the world what it means to see the party Congress which laid down the principles of the policy [and] what it really means for global collaboration and for global development,” Schwab added.

He concluded by saying that he has taken “great satisfaction” in seeing the European Union become more “unified” in its thinking following the Chinese virus and the war in Ukraine and that this could lead to deeper ties between Brussels and Beijing.

“I’m very pleased that we speak not only about Chinese-U.S. relations but also again about European-Chinese relations, and I feel despite all the question marks and to a certain extent cautious approach which we see in Europe, I think that very close ties can be established again between China and Europe because there’s such an interwoven economy.”

The article concludes:

China also seems to be in broad agreement with the World Economic Forum on using the issue of climate change to usher in radical changes.

For example, at this year’s WEF summit in Davos, the president of the Alibaba Group Chinese tech giant, J. Michael Evans said the firm, which like all other companies in Communist China is closely linked to the state, will be seeking to implement an “individual carbon footprint tracker” to monitor the behaviour of individuals in terms of their supposed environmental impact.

“We are developing through technology the ability for consumers to measure their own carbon footprint… where are they travelling, how are they travelling, what are they eating, what are they consuming on the platform,” Evans said.

It’s time for Americans to wake up. We need to elect people who will stand firm to protect our freedom. It is obvious that many of the world leaders are moving away from freedom to embrace tyranny. We need not to be part of that.

The American Economy Under The Biden Administration

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On Wednesday, The Washington Free Beacon reported the following:

U.S. business activity contracted for a fifth straight month in November, with a measure of new orders dropping to its lowest level in 2-1/2 years as higher interest rates slowed demand.

S&P Global said on Wednesday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 46.3 this month from a final reading of 48.2 in October. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the private sector. Activity is slumping under the weight of the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive interest rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s aimed at curbing inflation by dampening economic demand.

The flash composite new orders index dropped to 46.4, the lowest level since May 2020, from a final reading of 49.2 in October. Outside the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the worst reading since 2009.

The article concludes:

Average input prices increased at the softest rate in two years, but factories still faced challenges finding skilled labor. This suggests the slowdown in inflation will be gradual as wages remain sticky.

The survey’s flash services sector PMI decreased to 46.1 from 47.8 in October. Services businesses also reported weak demand and a moderation in input prices.

I am not an economist, and I do not totally understand what these numbers mean. Generally speaking, inflation is a problem and the rising interest rates that are supposed to combat it are a problem. It is my understanding that the solution to the inflation problem could be found in bringing back domestic energy production and limiting government spending. The new House of Representatives that will be sworn in in January does have the power to cut government spending; however, it is doubtful that they have the power to overrule the Biden administration’s restrictions on domestic energy production. All of us need to be concerned for the people in the colder regions of America this winter. Heating costs will be very high, and many people are going to suffer because of brownouts and energy costs. All of this is the result of the Biden administration’s energy policies. The war in Ukraine is a contributing factor, but not the main cause. Energy prices began to rise in January 2021 and have continued to rise since (with a few pauses). Energy is an international commodity and is subject to supply and demand. The way to bring energy costs down in America is to get back to producing our own energy. That is also the way to curb inflation.

The Golden Turkey Awards

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From 1975 through 1987, Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire sent out monthly press releases announcing his Golden Fleece Awards, given to the most outrageous spending projects in Congress. The Senator passed away in 2005, but the concept is still with us in the form of the Golden Turkey Award given by  American Experiment.

On Thursday, Power Line Blog posted an article about the latest winner of the Golden Turkey Award.

The article reports:

This year we had some remarkable nominees: our state government paid children to play outdoors; it spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting folk remedies for covid like burning sage and eating sauerkraut; and it paid random citizens stipends of $6,000–e.g. a stripper who was paid to continue stripping.

But if you have been following the Feeding Our Future scandal, it can come as no surprise that the Minnesota Department of Education was voted this year’s Golden Turkey. I presented the award to the Department of Education at their headquarters on a cold, windy afternoon.

…One more thing: we presented the award at 3:30 in the afternoon. It says on the front of the building that it is open until 4:30 every weekday afternoon, but when we were there, the place was deserted. The Department of Education building was dark, and there was not a single car in the vast parking lot, other than ours. Is no one working at the Department of Education? Frankly, that might be an improvement. But at the very least, it suggests another area where the State of Minnesota could save money: the Department of Education’s budget.

This is the video:

It’s time taxpayers at all levels of government held their elected officials accountable for reckless spending.

When Green Energy Isn’t Working

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On Thursday, The Epoch Times reported that President Biden had quietly approved plans to build a new crude oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas. Obviously, this is not in agreement with the green energy agenda of the Biden administration.

The article reports:

The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration approved the application (pdf) for Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal, one of four proposed offshore oil export terminals, on Monday.

According to the application, the port will be located offshore of Freeport, Texas. It will have 4.8 million barrels of storage capacity and add 2 million barrels per day to the U.S. oil export capacity.

In its 94-page decision (pdf), the Maritime Administration said that it had approved the application because the construction and operation of the port is “in the national interest and consistent with other policy goals and objectives.”

“The construction and operation of the Port is in the national interest because the Project will benefit employment, economic growth, and U.S. energy infrastructure resilience and security,” the administration wrote. “The Port will provide a reliable source of crude oil to U.S. allies in the event of market disruption and have a minimal impact on the availability and cost of crude oil in the U.S. domestic market.”

The article notes the usual protests:

Protests broke out shortly after on the Gulf Coast, The Texas Tribune reported, with climate activists condemning the move, and pointing to the fact that President Joe Biden has prioritized issues such as climate change and clean energy incentives during his time in office. Biden has vowed to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

This may actually be a quiet acknowledgement that green enrgy policies, although they may be viable in the future, are not there yet. Unless the administration wants an open revolt from Americans who can’t pay their fuel bills or afford to drive anywhere, it has to make some concessions.

The Case For School Vouchers

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by R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D

In a recent article, I included school vouchers as one of five issues that the N. C. General Assembly should address in their next session. The purpose of this article is to provide more information about how important school vouchers have become over the past few years.

Most parents and citizens assume that the public school system, which is very well funded, is focused on teaching essential academic skills and is being successful. The reality of these assumptions could not be further from the truth. The academic achievement (ranking) of American public schools has continued to diminish so that now Americas’ school students rank 38th in math scores and 24th in science according to a Business Insider report in 2018. Since the school lockdowns the situation is most certainly worse. The national average expenditure per student in 2021-22 was $15,047 per student with North Carolina spending $11,651. The question becomes are we getting a good return on our expenditure? Assuredly not.

Another issue with public schools is the wide disparity between schools in the same district. Here in Craven County, the highest ranking Elementary School in math proficiency is 67% while the lowest is 10%. Why the wide disparity? Similar disparities exist for reading proficiency. Which school a child attends is crucial. According to recent data, home schooled children typically score 15 to 30 percent higher on standard achievement tests. The difference is even higher for Black children who achieve 23 to 40 percent higher than those in public schools.

Beyond academics however, is the increasing concern parents have about the Woke ideology prevalent in public schools. Critical Race Theory, demeaning America, transgender instruction and encouragement, and inappropriate sex education are increasing concerns of parents. Even though a school may deny specific classes on these topics, most teachers subscribe to these beliefs and consequently infuse their beliefs on their students through their daily interaction.

The bottom line is whether the parents or the government has the right to select the type of education that a child receives. If you believe the government has that right, then like most Leftists, you will support the public school system. If however, you believe that parents have that right then school vouchers are the only way to fairly allow parents to exercise that right. The state of Arizona recently passed legislation that allows parents the authority to direct the per student tax money to public, private, charter or homeschools. This should serve as a model for North Carolina. No reason not to. The question becomes whether the General Assembly has the will to take a stand on this critical issue.

Freedom,to be meaningful, must be exercised in all arenas of society. What can be more important than ensuring that the children of this country receive the best education possible?

What The News Fails To Report

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On Thursday, Newsbusters posted an article about the latest reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop. On Monday morning, CBS News announced that they had independently verified the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop. CBS News is claiming that the laptop is Hunter Biden’s and the information on it is valid. ABC and NBC however have no followed suit.

The article reports:

On Monday morning, CBS News became the first of the Big Three networks to announce that their “independent forensic review” found Hunter Biden’s laptop is full of authentic contents. They didn’t dwell on how CBS mocked this laptop as Fake News before Biden was elected in 2020. Then CBS did not air a story on Monday evening, or on Tuesday, or on Wednesday. It looks like a one-and-done. 

ABC and NBC were not spurred to report its own version of the CBS story. NBC was more determined to do multiple stories last weekend on the White House wedding of Hunter’s daughter Naomi Biden, with Kristen Welker stories on Friday’s Nightly News and Saturday’s Today.

The significance of the laptop is not that Hunter Biden was engaging in a lot of activities that are illegal–drugs, sex, etc., but exactly what is the financial relationship between Hunter and his father? Has the Biden administration been influenced by Hunter Biden’s business dealings? Please follow the link above to read the entire article to read the timeline on the discovery of the laptop and the events that have followed. It still may be that the major network news programs will ignore the latest information on Hunter Biden’s laptop and cover more important things like the local quilt maker’s club.

 

The Respect For Marriage Act Doesn’t Respect Marriage

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On Tuesday, The Conservative Review posted an article about The Respect for Marriage Act that is now making its way through Congress. The Respect for Marriage Act is nothing more than the Biden administration (and Congress’) attempt to silence people who support and believe in traditional marriage.

The article explains the consequences of passing this law:

What will happen is this: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and anyone else who dares maintain that marriage is a lifelong conjugal union between one man and one woman — the definition of marriage for thousands of years until the U.S. Supreme Court descended from Mount Sinai with Obergefell v. Hodges inscribed on stone tablets — will be branded a bigot and driven from the public square and marketplace.

Anyone who owns a small business related to the wedding industry — photographers, bakers, website designers, venue owners, caterers, florists — will be sued into oblivion if they refuse services to same-sex couples. Religious colleges and universities will lose their tax-exempt status. Religious institutions of every kind, if they hold to their teachings and traditions about marriage, will face an onslaught from the Department of Justice and the federal bureaucracy. 

To paraphrase George Orwell’s famous line, if you want a picture of the future under the Respect for Marriage Act, imagine a boot stamping on Jack Phillips’ face — forever. 

The untrammeled exercise of power and the vigorous crushing of dissent is the entire purpose of the proposed law. There can be no other possible justification for it. Michael New, an assistant professor at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, recently told The Daily Signal that Catholic colleges and universities in particular might face ruinous lawsuits and loss of federal funding if the bill is signed into law.

The article concludes:

The justification for the bill is just as outlandish and offensive as the argument that it presents no danger to religious Americans. In the wake of the Dobbs decision this summer, we were warned that some future Supreme Court opinion, following Justice Clarence Thomas’s logic, could overturn Obergefell and other substantive due process rulings such as Loving v. Virginia, which struck down state laws banning interracial marriage.

The purpose of this claim, in case it isn’t bone-crushingly obvious, is to lump opponents of gay marriage in with opponents of interracial marriage, to smear them as bigots who aren’t just on the wrong side of history, but who are about to be on the receiving end of a federal government empowered to go after them.

And if you think that can’t really be how proponents of the Respect for Marriage Act think about traditional-minded Americans, go ask Jack Phillips how he’s faring after winning his Supreme Court case in 2018.

This is a bad bill. Any Republican who supports this bill should be subject to a primary challenge during the next election.

Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is a day when theoretically Americans sit down with family and friends and give thanks for all of the blessings we have received.

The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the holiday as follows:

Plymouth’s Thanksgiving began with a few colonists going out “fowling,” possibly for turkeys but more probably for the easier prey of geese and ducks, since they “in one day killed as much as…served the company almost a week.” Next, 90 or so Wampanoag made a surprise appearance at the settlement’s gate, doubtlessly unnerving the 50 or so colonists. Nevertheless, over the next few days the two groups socialized without incident. The Wampanoag contributed venison to the feast, which included the fowl and probably fish, eels, shellfish, stews, vegetables, and beer. Since Plymouth had few buildings and manufactured goods, most people ate outside while sitting on the ground or on barrels with plates on their laps. The men fired guns, ran races, and drank liquor, struggling to speak in broken English and Wampanoag. This was a rather disorderly affair, but it sealed a treaty between the two groups that lasted until King Philip’s War (1675–76)…

The Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in November. Massachusetts in November is not a hospitable place, and it goes downhill from there until about May. The fact that any of them survived is amazing. They  had a lot to be thankful for.

However, the story of the Pilgrims has been rewritten by some of the media.

On Wednesday, Breitbart reported the following:

MSNBC’s Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show “The ReidOut” that she believed Republicans want to portray Thanksgiving as a “simplistic fairytale” to cover up for America being founded on “violence” and “genocide.”

She continued, “But it is also to unpack the myth of Thanksgiving. It is a holiday riddled with historical inaccuracies. It is built on this myth that the indigenous welcomed their colonizers with open arms and ears of corn. A simplistic fairytale interpretation of a 1621 encounter between indigenous tribes and English settlers that erases the genocide that followed. It’s the truth that Republicans want banned from our textbooks. Because here is the secret they want so desperately to keep, we are a country founded on violence. Our birth was violent. In 1619, a ship with more than 20 enslaved Africans landed in Virginia, ushering in two centuries of American slavery that left millions in chains or dead. When those humans in bondage were finally free, a terrorist organization that was a card-carrying member of polite society, The Ku Klux Klan, picked up where the Civil War ended using violence to maintain white supremacy.”

Reid added, “The Klan is still active, and as Americans, we continue to choose violence. We are a country that chooses violence over and over again. There is no facet of American society that is untouched by it.”

I guess she can be thankful that she lives in a country that gives her the freedom to say that. However, I challenge her to find a better place to live where she could enjoy the success she has had in America.

 

Heart Problems And Covid Vaccines

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On November 20th, The Epoch Times posted an article about the link between the Covid mRNA vaccine and heart problems.

The article reports:

Until the British cardiologist, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, expressed grave concern about the safety of Covid mRNA vaccines, he was one of the most celebrated doctors in Britain. In 2016 he was named in the Sunday Times Debrett’s list as one of the most influential people in science and medicine in the UK in a list that included Professor Stephen Hawking. His total Altmetric score (measure of impact and reach) of his medical journal publications since 2013 is over 10,000 making it one of the highest in the World for a clinical doctor during this period.

In the early days of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Britain, he advocated the injections for the general public. However, in July of 2021, he experienced a terrible personal loss that caused him to reevaluate the shots—namely, the sudden and unexpected death of his 73-year-old father. His father’s death made no sense to him because he knew from his own examination that his father’s general and cardiac health were excellent. As he put it in a recent interview:

His postmortem findings really shocked me. There were two severe blockages in his coronary arteries, which didn’t really make any sense with everything I know, both as a cardiologist—someone who has expertise in this particular area—but also intimately knowing my dad’s lifestyle and his health. Not long after that, data started to emerge that suggested a possible link between the mRNA vaccine and increased risk of heart attacks from a mechanism of increasing inflammation around the coronary arteries. But on top of that, I was contacted by a whistleblower at a very prestigious university in the UK, a cardiologist himself, who explained to me that there was a similar research finding in his department, and that those researchers had decided to essentially cover that up because they were worried about losing funding from the pharmaceutical industry. But it doesn’t stop there. I then started looking at data in the UK to see if there had been any increase in cardiac arrest. My dad suffered a cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death at home. Had there been any change in the UK since the vaccine rollout? And again those findings were very clear. There’s been an extra 14,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests in 2021 vs 2020.

The more Dr. Malhotra looked into it, the more he felt the same concern about the safety of the mRNA vaccines that Dr. Peter McCullough had felt since the spring of 2021. The alarming incidence of sudden, unexpected deaths during the latter half of 2021 and the first eight months of 2022—especially among the young and fit—strengthened his grave concern and suspicion.

The Covid mRNA vaccine is an experimental vaccine. I believe that it should be taken off the market until it can be proven to be safe. There have been too many athletes and people who were in seemingly good health that have died shortly after receiving the vaccine. It’s time we tested more before giving the shot to anyone.