From my friends at Townhall:
Monthly Archives: August 2024
Altering Headlines
On Tuesday, Zero Hedge posted an article about a campaign tactic being used by the Harris, Walz campaign that is very misleading.
The article reports:
Despite corporate media’s unabashed u-turn to support Kamala Harris, her campaign has been busted creating made-up headlines next to the names of real news outlets to trick people into thinking they’ve stumbled upon the real thing, Axios reports.
The article includes a few screenshots of the fake headlines:
Just for the record, President Trump has made it very clear that abortion is a states’ issue. It falls under the Tenth Amendment. Roe vs. Wade was unconstitutional because of the Tenth Amendment, and any effort to ban abortion nationwide would be unconstitutional for the same reason. The issue of abortion is left to the states, so that the voters in each state can choose. I will say that I think it is criminal that abortion is a billion-dollar industry selling aborted baby body parts, but each voter has the right to evaluate that fact.
The article concludes:
Meanwhile, according to Google’s ad transparency center, the Trump campaign isn’t running these types of ads – and says that because ads on Search are prominently labeled as “Sponsored,” they’re “easily distinguishable from Search results.” A Google spokesperson added “we’ve provided additional levels of transparency for election ads specifically.”
Nevermind that news outlets pay to promote their own articles all the time.
And nevermind that there was a “glitch” which hid the ad disclosure.
A source familiar with the Harris campaign’s ads team said the campaign buys search ads with news links to give voters searching for information about Vice President Harris more context.
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- The campaign has complied with all of Google’s rules, although a technical glitch in Google’s Ad Library made it appear as though some ads lacked the necessary disclosures Google requires when they ran. (A Google spokesperson confirmed the glitch and said it’s investigating what happened.)
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- “Election advertisers are required to complete an identity verification process and we prominently display in-ad disclosures that clearly show people who paid for the ad,” the spokesperson said. -Axios
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That said, according to Google the ads don’t violate its rules – however other platforms have taken action against such deception. Facebook, for example, banned advertisers from editing text from Instant Article news links in their ads in 2017, citing its “continuing efforts to stop the spread of misinformation and false news.”
A candidate so good they have to deceive voters…
If the polls really show that they are winning, why are they cheating?
Hiding The Increased Cost Of Medicare Premiums Caused By The Passage Of The Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act did a lot of things. One of the things it did not do was reduce inflation. We are now finding out that it will cause a significant increase in the cost of Medicare Insurance.
On Wednesday, Fox News posted an article about the use of taxpayer money to delay the increases until after the election.
The article explains:
In a move critics say is designed to shield the Biden-Harris administration from election fallout, the administration has leveraged taxpayer funds to mask upcoming increases in Medicare premiums.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was intended to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, insurers are poised to significantly hike monthly premiums, with average bids for Part D plans expected to triple by 2025.
In response to potential voter backlash, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a three-year “demonstration project” to subsidize these premiums, aiming to keep them artificially low. However, despite the appearance of relief, some critics are saying that taxpayers will fund a dramatic increase in subsidies — from $30 per recipient per month in 2024 to $142.70 in 2025 — raising concerns about the long-term impact on government spending and debt.
The article notes:
Research published by Fidelity, an investment research group, shows that a 65-year-old retiring today can expect to spend $165,000 on health care in retirement, a 5% increase from last year and more than double the estimate from 2002.
Yet, there appears to be a disconnect for many Americans between the actual projected cost of health care in retirement and how much they expect to spend on those expenses. The average American thinks they will spend about $75,000 on health care and other medical expenses, less than half of Fidelity’s calculation, according to the research.
The estimate assumes that an individual is enrolled in Medicare – including Part A and Part B, which cover most hospital care and doctor’s visits – and Part D, which covers prescription drugs. Other expenses such as Medicare premiums, over-the-counter medications, dental and vision care and other costs typically not covered by Medicare are “left to retirees to manage on their own,” the report said.
As of April 2024, about 67.3 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Of those, about half were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, while about 80% were covered by Medicare Part D.
“They just want to get through the election,” Grogan (former President Trump advisor Joe Grogan) said. “They’re hoping after the election they can face it, but its gonna need to be dealt with in the next 12–18 months. They did not believe it would be this bad and its only gonna get worse.”
Medicine was much more efficient and much cheaper before the government got involved. It is time to let medicine become a free-market part of the economy. More competition will provide more care at a more reasonable price for everyone.
Good News For Those Of Us Who Emit CO2
On Tuesday, wattsupwiththat posted an article about increased levels of CO2.
The article reports:
One of the more commonly-stated concerns linked to “global warming” is that sweltering heat will parch the terrestrial landscape (browning), limit vegetation growth, and foment water shortages – even widespread drought.
However, a new study suggests the Earth’s rising CO2 concentration has the exact opposite effect in the real world.
In their extensive trend analysis spanning the last few decades, the scientists determined elevated CO2 was the single most “dominant driver” (accounting for 45% of the correlation) when assessing the link between reducing vegetation water demand and improved water use efficiency.
Compared to CO2, temperature and precipitation, for example, play a far less significant role (10-11% of the correlation) in influencing the trend in improved vegetation growth and water use efficiency.
“The CO2 fertilization effect has benefits for both vegetation growth and water use efficiency (WUE).”
“…elevated CO2 concentrations could indirectly enhance water availability by improving [water use efficiency]…reducing vegetation water demand.”
Please follow the link to the article. The science here is way above my pay grade, but I will say that I have heard other scientists say this. As CO2 levels rise, there will be more than enough food to feed the planet as long as man and politics get out of the way.
When Is Eliminating Taxes On Tips Bad?
Recently Kamala Harris has stated in a campaign speech that she would like to eliminate income taxes on tips. That’s interesting. According to an article in Breitbart posted on Sunday, in 2022 she cast the deciding vote to allow the IRS to track down workers’ tips so that they could be taxed. That provision was part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Among other things, that bill provided $80 billion in additional funding to the IRS. The Senate voted 50-50 to approve the bill, and Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote.
On Monday, Breitbart posted an article reporting the following:
In a stunning display of hypocrisy and double standards, CBS News attacked former President Donald Trump when he announced his “no tax on tips” policy proposal in June and then suddenly became uncritical of the idea when Vice President Kamala Harris copied Trump on Saturday.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is rolling out a new policy position, saying she’ll fight to end taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” CBS announced in a Monday X post.
When President Trump proposed the idea, CBS immediately claimed that it would cost the federal government up to $250 billion over 10 years. Now that Kamala Harris has proposed it, there is no mention of the cost.
This is how the mainstream media works.
Policies Matter
The crisis at America’s southern border became a national issue when illegal aliens began to be bussed around the country by the State of Texas. However, the State of Texas is still dealing with the impact of the open border. Most Texans, if not all, want the border closed.
On Monday, Just the News reported the following:
Three and a half years into an unprecedented border crisis impacting Texans in border communities and the state’s largest cities, high-profile Democrats are openly endorsing a Republican candidate for Senate who they never endorsed before: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cruz, a Houston Republican, is running for reelection for his third term. He’s being challenged by U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat, who is trailing in the polls.
While Cruz has been characterized as polarizing or far right by those on the left, those on the right argue he’s a conservative stalwart championing their causes: pro-life, supporting traditional marriage, women’s rights, the Second Amendment, and school choice, among other issues. Differing on these views doesn’t matter. Texas Democrats supporting Cruz argue that border security and combating crime are their top concerns.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the greatest number of illegal border crossers have entered the U.S., with the bulk illegally entering in Texas, and increasing number of violent crimes being committed against Americans, The Center Square has reported.
The article concludes:
Democrats at the border are also endorsing Cruz, including Zapata County Sheriff Raymundo Del Bosque, Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez, Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson, Reeves County Sheriff Art Granado, Kenedy County Judge Charles Burns and Reeves County Judge Leo Hung. Many are from the 55 counties that declared an invasion, The Center Square exclusively reported.
“The crisis at our southern border threatens our communities and well-being every single day,” Judge Hung said. “We used to live in a state where we could walk outside without fear of getting hurt. Now, because of the policies of the National Democratic Party, we fear for our safety every time we step outside. I’ve been a Democrat all my life and will continue to be, but no one has fought harder to secure the border than Senator Ted Cruz, which is why I am endorsing him for reelection and look forward to his victory in November.”
Policies matter.
I Hate To Discriminate On The Basis Of Age, But…
On Sunday, Politico reported that New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell Jr.is back in the hospital after returning home briefly after a three-week stay in the hospital. Representative Pascrell is 87 years old. Why is he still in Congress?
Statista has a graph on its website showing the mean age of Congress. Here is the chart:
Mean age of Members of Congress in the United States from 2009 to 2023
According to usafacts.org , only 17.3 percent of America’s population is age 65 or older and 18.9 percent is ages 50 to 64. To be fully representative, the age of Congress needs to move down to somewhere between 50 and 60 to be truly representative.
Representative Pascrell will probably get re-elected and may be in attendance for at least some of the House of Representatives activities, but wouldn’t it be wise for the voters of New Jersey to find someone a bit younger?
About That Pesky First Amendment
The First Amendment states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Our Founding Fathers had enough faith in the American people to allow them to distinguish the fake news from the real news. Evidently at least one of today’s newspapers does not share that view. Washington Post reporter Cleve Wootson asked an amazing question at Monday’s press conference with Karine Jean-Pierre.
On Monday, The Gateway Pundit quoted the question:
“One more, Elon Musk is slated to interview Trump tonight on X. I don’t know if the president is going to — feel free to say if he is or not — but I — I think that misinformation on Twitter is not just a campaign issue. It’s a — you know, it’s an America issue. What role does the White House or the President have any sort of stopping that or stopping the spread of that or sort of inter — intervening in that. Some of that was about campaign misinformation, but you know it’s a wider thing, right?” Washington Post reporter Cleve Wootson asked Karine Jean-Pierre.
Karine Jean-Pierre went along with the far-left reporter and agreed that social media companies have the responsibility to shut down so-called misinformation.
Who determines misinformation? The Washington Post shared a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Russiagate. All of that reporting turned out to be false. Was that misinformation?
The article notes:
It’s all hands on deck right now to silence Trump ahead of his blockbuster interview with Elon Musk.
The globalist tyrants in control of the European Union sent a letter to Elon Musk on Monday demanding the X owner censor President Donald Trump during their interview tonight.
Why is the mainstream media so afraid to let President Trump speak?
When Green Energy Isn’t Green
On Friday, The Minnesota Star Tribune posted an article highlighting one of the problems with wind energy–turbine blades are not biodegradable, and they are big!
The article reports:
GRAND MEADOW, MINN. – Darcy Richardson had big plans for a garden patio enveloped by flowers in her backyard in this little community south of Rochester.
She gave up once the blades arrived.
Trucks dropped off more than 100 fiberglass turbine blades on the empty lot next door in 2020, haphazardly stacked to the edge of Richardson’s property. Almost four years later, the mountain of old wind parts — which is visible on Google Earth — is still there.
Some blades are cracked and stained. Locals say they draw feral cats and foxes and are a safety risk because kids climb on the junk.
They’re also ugly, ruining Richardson’s view, hurting property values and attracting the curiosity of seemingly everyone who drives the highway into town.
“After six months we were like ‘C’mon guys, what’s going on,’” said Richardson, once a master gardener. “After a year we were like ‘Seriously, this sucks.’”
What happened in Grand Meadow is more than merely a local mess. It reflects tensions over the boom of wind energy in southern Minnesota during a shift away from fossil fuels, the problem of recycling green infrastructure, small town political infighting and government and corporate bureaucracy.
The article concludes:
Grand Meadow is looking into whether it can fine TMT. The city asked for help from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, with no luck. Christian is now trying the PUC, where utility regulators plan to weigh in next month after taking public comments on whether the board can or should intervene.
Xcel Energy now owns the wind farm, but the company says it can’t move the blades because it doesn’t own them and described the situation as “isolated.” Xcel is still sensitive to the issue because the blade junk is not exactly building goodwill in a wind-rich area.
Annette Olson co-owns Olson Tree Services, a business adjacent to the blade pile, and said, like several others, she is not opposed to renewable power. But “it’s frustrating when they talk about all the things we need to do to help our environment, but yet they fail to do their part,” she said.
Xcel spokesman Theo Keith said the company is open to including new protections in blade recycling contracts to protect host communities. NextEra declined to comment. Siemens Gamesa said it has a confidential agreement with RiverCap to remove the blades from Grand Meadow.
Donahue, at Canvus, said their lease expires by the end of the year so the blades will be moved soon. But the Richardson family living next to the junk pile, and others, are skeptical.
Darcy Richardson said she sometimes tries to imagine the wind blades as snow piles. The family said they once would have hosted a wedding in the yard, but not anymore. She has a smaller deck close to her house with a small statue of a farmhouse windmill amid black-eyed Susans. It’s the more idyllic vision of renewable energy.
Richardson asked the PUC to consider “what would you do if it was in your backyard?”
Jim had another message: “Don’t mess with my wife’s flowers.”
There are a lot of people who make large political donations making a lot of money from ‘green energy.’ Meanwhile, there are a lot or ordinary people being negatively impacted by promoting ‘green energy’ solutions that have not been completely thought out.
The Slant On This Story Is Very Subtle
Remember when Fox News was conservative? Those days are gone. On Monday, Fox News posted an article about the coming budget battle in Congress. Unfortunately Congress has not followed its own budge procedures since 2008, one of many reasons the federal deficit has grown so fast.
The article states:
The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is signaling it will not help Congress avoid a government shutdown next month unless a short-term spending bill is linked to a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
First of all the House Freedom Caucus is not ultra-conservative. They are conservative, period. Ten years ago they probably would have been considered middle of the road. Just for the record, why is requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote a problem?
The article continues:
The House GOP rebels are also calling for a short-term spending plan to extend until the new year, at which point allies of former President Trump hope he will be in the White House again.
That puts the group in direct opposition to their more traditional GOP colleagues, including House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., who suggested last month that he would want to finish the government funding process by the end of 2024.
With just six of 12 individual appropriations bills having passed the House, and none yet in the Senate, it is all but certain that a short-term extension of the current year’s funding levels will be needed to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
…The House passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act last month with five Democrats voting with every single House Republican in passing the bill.
However, it is opposed by the White House and likely will not get a vote in the Democratically-held Senate, meaning its inclusion in a final CR would be fighting an uphill battle.
Cole told reporters last month that he would prefer something with wider bipartisan appeal, like supplemental disaster relief funding, to be attached to a CR instead.
“I haven’t really thought about it yet, it’s not a big deal to me. But again, if it can’t pass the Senate, it isn’t going to be an effective CR,” Cole said when asked about the SAVE Act. “So a real CR, you know, I’m more interested actually in disaster relief. That’s something that I think the two sides can come together on.”
It would be nice if someone in Washington would do their job and get back to the prescribed budget process.
Not Surprising
On Friday, PJ Media posted an article about the misuse of Covid funds by the state of Minnesota. Minnesota was not the only state to misuse those funds, but since their Governor is running for Vice-President, it is interesting to see what he did with the money.
The article reports:
Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) spent money using pandemic relief funds that could have easily come from the state’s general budget. It’s not a crime. But don’t you think it gives us an idea of what kind of a politician he is?
A few of the biggest line items should also get more scrutiny, though there is limited information available on the Treasury’s site. For example, the state distributed more than $11 million to the Minnesota Zoo and nearly $3.8 million to the Science Museum of Minnesota to cover operating and maintenance costs. In some ways, that is connected to the pandemic: Fear of the disease and government social distancing mandates certainly harmed museums and zoos. The same could be said of the $237,000 line item for a “movie theater relief grant program.”
But Walz should be asked why he believes federal taxpayers—who may not live in Minnesota or ever visit the state—should be on the hook to pay for that.
As Reason has reported over the past few years, the federal bailout of state and local governments after the pandemic was largely unnecessary, and many governments have struggled to find ways to use the $350 billion in free cash distributed by the ARP. A good chunk of the funds have been put to questionable use, including subsidizing money-losing, government-owned golf courses, padding the paychecks of public employees, and funding tourism promotion campaigns.
The article concludes:
Until someone — not Congress — begins investigating this massive misuse of government power and taxpayer money, we’re in danger of having history repeat itself when the next national health emergency is upon us.
We need someone in Washington who has some respect for the taxpayers’ pocketbooks!
Paving The Way For The New Democrat Voting Bloc
On Saturday, Breitbart posted an article about a program that the Biden administration is tweaking to allow more migrants to stay in America after they are released from custody at the southern border.
The article reports:
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is building what critics are calling a “ghost mode operation” so migrants can more easily stay in the United States after they are released from federal custody at the southern border.
The little-known pilot program, operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is meant to reduce the frequency with which migrants released into the U.S. interior from the border must report to an ICE field office, people familiar with the matter detailed to Breitbart News.
Rather than the standard of having migrants check in with an ICE agent in person, the program allows migrants to check in via a cellphone or computer. A key flaw with the program, critics say, is that ICE agents are unable to grab GPS data on migrants who check in with a computer.
Even more alarming is that the program does not yet have any consequences for migrants who fail to check in with ICE agents via cellphone or computer, critics note.
“As if releasing millions of illegal aliens into our country wasn’t bad enough, now Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are allowing those released illegals to go ‘ghost mode,’ making it almost impossible for ICE agents to locate them in the future, should they abscond,” RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE), told Breitbart News.
Even when GPS data is grabbed by ICE agents for migrants checking in through their cellphones, people familiar with the matter said that data is only stored for a week, rendering it useless afterward should agents need to locate a migrant weeks, months, or years later.
Eventually these migrants (illegal aliens) will vote–legally or illegally. The fact that many of them are coming across the border wearing Biden t-shirts tells us how they will be encouraged to vote. If Kamala Harris wins this year’s election, we will no longer be a representative republic.
We Can Predict The Future Based On The Past
On Saturday, The American Thinker posted an article pointing out the differences between the Trump administration and the Biden administration in the area of law and order. The contrast is stark. Logically, whichever administration is elected in November will implement policies similar to those they have espoused in the past.
The article reports:
As the November election approaches, the choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris could not be clearer, especially for working-class Americans and business owners alike.
After four tumultuous years under Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’s administration, where economic policies have faltered and crime rates have surged, Trump’s track record provides a compelling case for his return to the White House.
His administration’s unparalleled support for law enforcement and focus on economic prosperity stand in stark contrast to the failures of the current administration, promising a restoration of safety and stability that America desperately needs.
Under Trump’s leadership, the nation saw a significant decline in violent crime, a trend that reversed under Biden. By 2019, violent crime had fallen for the third consecutive year, with a decrease of over 5 percent since 2016 and a reduction in the murder rate by over 7 percent. This progress was not accidental but the result of deliberate, effective policies.
Trump’s administration launched Operation Legend to combat rising violence in cities, leading to more than 5,500 arrests and demonstrating a robust response to escalating crime.
…Contrast this with the Biden-Harris approach. Under their tenure, the FBI reported a rise in violent crime, exacerbating the struggles of American communities. Their administration’s reluctance to fully back law enforcement agencies has led to weakened public safety and heightened fears among citizens. The surge in violent crime under Biden’s watch starkly contrasts with the progress made during Trump’s presidency.
The article notes:
As we approach the November 2024 election, the choice is clear. Donald Trump’s track record of supporting law enforcement and fostering economic stability stands in stark contrast to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s failed policies. Trump’s administration demonstrated a commitment to restoring safety and order, which directly contributed to economic growth and stability. His policies not only addressed crime effectively but also ensured that businesses and communities could thrive.
Biden-Harris’s administration, with its record of rising violent crime and economic instability, has proven that his approach is not effective. Kamala Harris, as Biden’s successor, promises to continue these failed policies, further undermining public safety and economic prosperity.
For working-class Americans and business owners alike, supporting Donald Trump this November represents a vote for a proven leader who understands the critical link between law enforcement and economic stability. Trump’s track record of reducing violent crime, supporting law enforcement, and fostering a conducive environment for business growth underscores his capability to lead the nation towards a safer and more prosperous future.
This November, you are not only making decisions that will impact your pocketbook, your vote will impact your family’s safety and the safety of your community.
What Would Be The Goals Of A Trump Second Term?
Below is President Trump’s Platform for a second term (link here):
- Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion.
- Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.
- End inflation, and make America affordable again.
- Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far.
- Stop outsourcing, and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower.
- Large tax cuts for workers, and no tax on tips.
- Defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms.
- Prevent World War Three, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our entire country–all made in America.
- End the weaponization of government against the American people.
- Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence, and lock up violent offenders.
- Rebuild our cities, including Washington, D.C., making them safe, clean and beautiful again.
- Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world.
- Keep the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
- Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, included no changes to the retirement age.
- Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and our costly and burdensome regulations.
- Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.
- Keep men out of women’s sports.
- Deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.
- Secure our elections, including same day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship.
- Unite our country by bringing it to new and record levels of success.
What part of this is objectionable? Actually this is doable. For instance, Social Security can be saved simply by cutting the overall cost of government. When regulations are cut, the cost of government is cut. This is one of many reasons President Trump is such a threat to the status quo in Washington. Control of money is power in Washington. If a businessman becomes President and starts handling the taxpayer money as if it belonged to his own company, the status quo will collapse. That would be wonderful, but it will take a second term of President Trump and a conservative Congress to accomplish that.
Big Brother Is Watching ALL Of Us!
On Wednesday, Racket News posted an article about the government surveillance of former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Congresswoman Gabbard left the Democrat party in late 2022.
The article reports:
Tuesday night, while self-styled Democratic nominee Kamala Harris pledged to defend “freedom, compassion, and the rule of law” to cheers in Philadelphia, Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard described being tracked by teams of government agents in a surveillance regime more reminiscent of East Germany than a free country. Whistleblowing Air Marshals told Uncover DC Gabbard was singled out as a terror threat under the so-called “Quiet Skies” program, and the former presidential candidate says she noticed.
“The whistleblowers’ account matches my experience,” says Gabbard. “Everything lines up to the day.”
This story began two weeks ago, when the former Hawaii congresswoman returned home after a short trip abroad. In airport after airport, she and her husband Abraham Williams encountered obstacles. First on a flight from Rome to Dallas, then a connecting flight to Austin, and later on different flights for both to cities like Nashville, Orlando, and Atlanta, their boarding passes were marked with the “SSSS” designation, which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” The “Quad-S” marker is often a sign the traveler has been put on a threat list, and Gabbard and Williams were forced into extensive “random” searches lasting as long as 45 minutes.
“It happened every time I boarded,” says Gabbard. The Iraq war veteran and current Army reservist tends to pack light, but no matter.
“I’ve got a couple of blazers in there, and they’re squeezing every inch of the entire collar, every inch of the sleeves, every inch of the edging of the blazers,” she says. “They’re squeezing or padding down underwear, bras, workout clothes, every inch of every piece of clothing.” Agents unzipped the lining inside the roller board of her suitcase, patting down every inch inside the liner. Gabbard was asked to take every piece of electronics out and turn each on, including her military phone and computer.
That was the other strange thing. “I use my military ID to get through security sometimes,” says Gabbard, who among other things traveled to her reservist base in Oklahoma during this period. Once, she was unable to get through security with military ID. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent saw the “SSSS” marker. “The TSA agent said, ‘Why are you Quad-S? You’re in the military,’” explains Gabbard. “And I said, ‘That’s exactly what I’m wondering.’
Please follow the link above to read the rest of the article. What has happened to her is chilling, particularly since she was a sitting Congresswoman and has a military ID. This could happen to any one of us who speaks out against the Biden administration.
How Many Non-Citizens Are Currently On America’s Voting Rolls?
On Thursday, The Federalist posted an article about one aspect of Virginia’s government that has been impacted by the election of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
The article reports:
In an executive order directing state agencies to undertake election security efforts ahead of the November election, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin revealed on Wednesday that the commonwealth’s Department of Elections (ELECT) has removed more than 6,300 noncitizens from its voter rolls since his administration took office.
“All data collected by the DMV that identifies noncitizens is shared with ELECT, which uses it to scrub existing voter rolls and remove noncitizens who may have purposefully or accidentally registered to vote,” Youngkin wrote. “According to data from ELECT, between January 2022 and July 2024, records indicate we removed 6,303 noncitizens from the voter rolls.”
Virginia is one of only three states to require individuals “provide their full 9-digit Social Security number” when registering to vote, according to Youngkin.
Virginia may be one of the few states that will have an honest election in November.
The article concludes:
Youngkin further directed the state DMV to “expedite the interagency data-sharing with [ELECT] of noncitizens by generating a daily file of all noncitizen transactions, including addresses and documents.” As noted by the governor, registrars are required by Virginia law to cancel the registration of an individual who registered to vote “by falsely claiming that they are a citizen,” and must report such cases to their local commonwealth’s attorney.
“Our election security model is designed to prevent illegal votes and guarantee legal votes are accurately counted,” Youngkin wrote. “However, security procedures can only be as strong as the state and federal law which governs voting. Further strengthening of Virginia’s election security system will rely on strengthening state and federal law.”
All states need to follow this example.
From my friends at Townhall:
This Is How Propaganda Works
On Thursday, The Ed NC Website posted an article illustrating how propaganda works. The article is about the two candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina. Essentially, the article is a ‘hit piece’ on Michele Morrow.
The article reports:
She’s been homeschooling her children for over a decade, participated in the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and has used choice words like “indoctrination centers” to describe public schools.
…Morrow isn’t the only Jan. 6 participant vying for office this November. One is in a primary for a Congressional seat, and an organizer of the rally is running for the Texas House. But if elected, Morrow would become the only protester responsible for more than 2,700 schools and a $13 billion education budget.
Why is it relevant that she attended the rally on January 6th? Doesn’t she have freedom of speech rights like everyone else?
The article also notes:
She counts her nine years teaching science and Spanish for a homeschool co-op as her primary qualification for the job and said that after six years talking to parents and educators, she has a “clear understanding” of what voters are looking for in a state schools chief, starting with a strong focus on academics and character development. Green, meanwhile, is trumpeting his experience leading an education agency and advocating for increased education funding at a time when Republican lawmakers are expanding vouchers.
In interviews, Morrow espouses policies — like a scientific approach to reading instruction and high-dosage tutoring in math — that could bridge the partisan divide in a state with a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled House and Senate. But her past actions and occasionally extreme language are alienating would-be allies.
“I’m fearful of the rhetoric,” said Marcus Brandon, who leads CarolinaCAN, part of a network of policy and advocacy groups that support school choice. He pushed for expansion of the state’s voucher program, and said while Morrow is “good for my issue on paper,” he thinks Green is more qualified. A former lawyer, Green led the Guilford County Schools, which includes Greensboro, for seven years.
The article also notes:
Green agrees and often reminds the public that Morrow, during some of her Facebook live posts early in the pandemic, used words like “cesspool of evil and lies” to describe public schools. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, has made similar disparaging remarks, calling teachers “wicked people” in a speech last year.
“Our educators are being disrespected,” Green told The 74. The state ranks 42nd in starting teacher pay, according to the latest National Education Association salary report. “It’s especially challenging to bring folks into this really important profession when you’re not paying them well enough.”
The professional ‘educators’ have done a lot of damage to our schools in recent years. Covid lockdowns and mask requirements on young children are only one example. Falling test scores are another example. There are a lot of parents who would agree with Michele Morrow’s characterizations of our public schools.
In 2024, according to World Population Review, North Carolina schools ranked 43rd among the 50 states. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That describes the current Department of Public Instruction in North Carolina. Don’t you think it’s time to bring in someone with new ideas?
How Much Is The Invasion At Our Southern Border Actually Costing Americans?
On Friday, The Daily Caller posted an article about a recent executive order issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The article reports:
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday issued an executive order requiring hospitals report the annual costs of care for illegal migrants so the state can seek reimbursement from the federal government.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is directed to collect information on illegal migrants who use state hospitals for emergency and inpatient care, according to the executive order. These costs will be reported every year to Abbott’s office and the Texas Legislature in order for state officials to demand reimbursement from the Biden-Harris administration.
Since the beginning of the Biden administration, more than 7 million foreign nationals have illegally crossed into the U.S.
The article concludes:
Abbott, who leads a state that shares the largest portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, has positioned himself as a leading figure in the GOP fight against the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies with the launch of his Operation Lodestar initiative and other lawsuits.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cost of providing emergency and other medical care for illegal migrants, given many states don’t ask for legal status, some estimates put the price tag into the billions. A 2023 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) put total federal medical expenditures at more than $23 billion and estimated state medical expenditures to be more than $18 billion.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
As Americans are struggling with inflationary price increases for food and fuel, they are also being asked to pay for the healthcare for people who have broken the law to come here.
Preparing For November’s Election
On Wednesday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the preparations the Commonwealth of Virginia is making to promote integrity in the November election.
The article reports:
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order on Aug. 7 to implement security measures ahead of the November election.
These measures include using paper ballots; tracking possession of ballots during early voting; matching the number of ballots cast with the number of voters who have checked in and the number of ballots sent to voters; and requiring absentee ballots to be requested before being mailed to voters, in addition to not accepting them back unless the voter provides the last four digits of his or her Social Security number and birth year.
Virginia uses paper ballot counting machines that are not connected to the internet. These machines are tested before elections.
…According to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, 6,303 noncitizens have been removed from the state’s voter rolls under the Youngkin administration. Miyares’ office is charged with enforcing election laws.
According to the executive order, almost 80,000 deceased voters have been removed from the voter rolls.
Every state needs to do this.
The article also notes:
In the executive order, Youngkin instructed the Department of Motor Vehicles to “expedite the interagency data sharing with the Department of Elections of noncitizens by generating a daily file of all noncitizens transactions, including addresses and document numbers.”
The Department of Elections compares a list of noncitizens with those registered to vote. Those who are on both lists get removed from voter rolls. If someone is erroneously removed, they have 14 days to prove their eligibility to cast a ballot.
Additionally, Virginia has cameras monitoring drop box locations 24/7.
There have been almost two-dozen cases of election fraud cases in Virginia since 2007, according to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.
It is telling that there seems to be only one political party fighting for election integrity.
Is Germany Still Germany?
On Tuesday, The American Thinker posted an article about the changes in the population demographics in Germany.
The article reports:
According to the data, five percent of the global Syrian population now live in Germany alone, accounting for a “16-fold” increase in just a decade, which works out to be a staggering 1,520% jump in the numbers; here’s the story from a new report by the editorial staff at Remix News:
Ever since the 2015/16 migrant crisis, Syrians have arrived in Germany in ever-increasing numbers, and now number at least 972,000 at the end of 2023, according to Statista. There are 22 million Syrians living in Syria itself, meaning those in Germany represent nearly 1 for every 20 in their native country.
This is extremely rapid growth since 2013 when there were only 60,000 Syrians in Germany. Since then, the population has grown 16-fold.
…[D]espite promises that Syrians would integrate into the German economy, the numbers still tell a very different story, with 513,534 Syrians receiving the German welfare benefit known as citizen’s money (Burgergeld), according to the current data from the Federal Employment Agency. However, even those who are not receiving this payment receive money, housing, and other benefits from the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act.
The article notes:
Germany’s welfare costs are “exploding” while the German citizens bear the brunt—the article reports that the state spent around €50 billion on migrants during 2023, which was a little over 11% of the total annual budget (€445 billion). (486.17 billion in US dollars)
This is not good for Germany. First of all, the costs of providing food, housing, and medical care for these immigrants will far outweigh any contribution they will make to the German economy. Secondly, how can you assimilate that many people into your culture all at the same time?
We Need A Fair Search Engine!
On Tuesday, Hot Air posted an article about Google and Google searches. Searching for a politically conservative link on Google is like looking for ice cubes in the Sahara Desert.
The article reports:
When we first learned that Google’s autocomplete function in its search engine appeared to be blocking suggestions about Donald Trump’s attempted assassination (or even his name), the company assured us that those results were simply “an anomaly” in the code. But the House Judiciary Committee has been digging into the question more deeply and asked parent company Alphabet’s legal counsel to explain further. The answers the committee received weren’t exactly definitive, but they may provide a bit of additional clarity. First of all, the search engine absolutely was blocking autofill from pointing users to articles about the assassination attempt. But was it out of some bias against Trump? According to them, the system was performing as designed, but the design was overly broad. We’ll look into it a bit further here this evening. (National Review)
The article concludes that the blocking may not have been intentional politics, but a filter to prevent malfeasance.
The article concludes:
As to the far more damning searches for information about the assassination attempt, it was easy enough to note that the shooting created an iconic moment for President Trump and his approval ratings and donations were surging. A liberal outlet could easily be tempted to suppress such search results. But in reality, anyone searching for information related to trying to assassinate a President would no doubt raise red flags across the board. The FBI would (or at least should) be interested in any persons conducting such a search. Would it be that surprising that their default filters would prevent the autocomplete, typeahead function from refusing to fill in questions such as “How could I ass**ate President D*****”?” ( I won’t even type it out here or we will be blocked as well.)
The code underlying the search engines is smart, but it’s not “human smart.” I believe that they had such a filter in place to cover all such eventualities. And after the flaw was discovered, they had to go in and manually revise it to allow for searches dealing with news of the events in Butler, Pennsylvania. I’m generally not shy about criticizing Google and Alphabet, but in this case I believe I’m going to give them a pass.
That’s the word from someone who deals with search engines every day.
From my friends at Townhall:
A Vote For President Trump Is A Vote For Parents’ Rights
An American Vice-President doesn’t have a lot of power, but it is assumed that the President and Vice-President are in agreement over basic issues. If that is the case, it would be a good idea for all Americans to look carefully at Governor Walz and the ideas he has espoused during his time as Governor. On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article spotlighting one policy he endorsed during his governorship.
The article reports:
Gov. Tim Walz signed a law that strips parental protections from out-of-state teenagers and children who claim to want irreversible transgender medical treatment in Minnesota.
He also signed laws that install tampon-dispensing machines in K-12 schools to broadcast the state’s claim that teenage girls can choose their legal sex, and also a law that allows pedophilia to be someday legally protected under existing state anti-discrimination laws.
President Donald Trump’s campaign is eagerly spotlighting Walz’s pro-transgender advocacy, and is describing him as “#TamponTim.”
“As a woman, I think there is no greater threat to our health than leaders who support gender-transition surgeries for young minors, who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools,” campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday. “Those are radical policies that Tim Walz supports.”
“Kamala Harris’s selection … of Tim Walz as her running mate sends a clear message to America: the Democrat Party is all in on its far-left cultural agenda,” said a statement from the American Principles Project. The project has promised to spend $18 million during the 2024 election to spotlight the Democrats’s pro-transgender priorities.
The article also notes:
“Walz has relentlessly attacked families and pushed gender insanity,” said the APP statement “He has thrown his support behind efforts to eviscerate parental rights, inject gender ideology and other far-left ideas into schools, and open up girls’ sports and private spaces to males.”
Boys in girls sports will destroy scholarship opportunities for high school girls. It will eventually end women’s sports. Where are the feminists who claim to support women? Tim Walz is bad news for women, for parents, and for families.
What Happened On July 13th?
On Tuesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article containing more information on the shooting of President Trump on July 13th. The information comes from Senator Josh Hawley who appeared on the Jesse Watters show on Monday night.
The article reports:
It turns out that the security lapses that day were even worse than previously thought. Hawley also stressed that this information was being shared with him because these whistleblowers are worried that this could happen again.
…The incident has led both Republicans and Democrats to intensely scrutinize the Secret Service in recent weeks. On “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Hawley claimed that the lead site agent was known to be inexperienced and “incompetent.”
“The site agent, the lead agent, was known to the Trump campaign to be inexperienced, to be ineffectual, to be, frankly, incompetent at their job,” Hawley said. “I’m also told by whistleblowers that on that day, she was not enforcing the normal security protocols.”
“She was not checking people’s IDs. She did not use Secret Service agents,” Hawley added. “Most of the agents there that day were not Secret Service agents. They were Homeland Security agents.”…
“Whistleblowers are coming forward from the Secret Service because they can’t believe what leadership is doing,” Hawley said. “They cannot believe that Secret Service is not taking action to clear out the rot.”
The fact that most of the agents were Homeland Security agents rather than Secret Service agents is troubling. No one wants to view this as an inside job, but the level of incompetence is stunning.