The Pictures Tell The Story

On Sunday, PJ Media posted an article about some prominent Democrats referring to President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden as a Nazi Rally. We have all heard the quotes, so there is no need for me to repeat them. If you haven’t heard them, the article includes some of them.

The article includes some screenshots from X that tell a very different story.

Unfortunately there were some Nazi signs there:

It’s kind of sad that Hitler seems to be the Democrats’ closing argument. If they are proud of their policy ideas, they should be talking about them.

A Victory For Election Integrity

Election fraud is not a new thing. There were some real questions in 1960 as to whether or not John Kennedy won Illinois–Chicago just kept those votes coming. However, we are somewhat more sophisticated now, so we do better most of the time.

On Friday, PJ Media posted an article about a recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court.

The article reports:

On Oct. 25, the Fifth Circuit Court ruling in Republican National Committee v. Wetzel reversed a former judgment and affirmed that Mississippi’s statute allowing the state to receive ballots up to five days after federal Election Day is not consistent with the Constitution or federal law. It is not even consistent with Mississippi’s own law, the ruling states! Indeed, the ruling is a hopeful sign coming just after the discouraging news that a Biden-appointed judge ordered Virginia to reinstate non-citizens on voter rolls. The fight for election integrity is challenging but most certainly not doomed.

“Congress statutorily designated a singular ‘day for the election’ of members of Congress and the appointment of presidential electors. Text, precedent, and historical practice confirm this ‘day for the election’ is the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials,” the ruling announces. “Because Mississippi’s statute allows ballot receipt up to five days after the federal election day, it is preempted by federal law. We reverse the district court’s contrary judgment and remand for further proceedings.”

A ballot is “cast,” the ruling explains, “when the State takes custody of it.” While ballots might be counted after Election Day, “the result is fixed when all of the ballots are received and the proverbial ballot box is closed,” namely Election Day. Thus “the election concludes when the final ballots are received and the electorate, not the individual selector, has chosen.”

The article concludes:

As noted above, the ruling also explains why the state must in fact receive ballots by Election Day for them to be considered validly cast. If only more courts and judges based their decisions on what the Constitution says, not on whatever political pressures leftist radicals are currently bringing to bear.

Hopefully, this ruling will secure elections not just in Mississippi, but provide a legal basis for securing elections in other states too.

We all need to be working toward honest elections!

A New Venture For Big Brother

On Sunday, PJ Media reported that the California legislature has passed a bill that will require all cars built after 2030 to give a beep when the driver exceeds the speed limit by 10 MPH. Speeding would not only be considered a violation of the law–it would be considered a crime. Considering all of the things that are not crimes in California, this is an amazing law. (Shoplifting is defined under California’s penal code as “entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed $950.” It is considered a misdemeanor and carries a possible penalty of up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.) And the state wants to make speeding a crime?

The article reports:

As introduced, Weiner’s bill would have made “every passenger vehicle, motortruck, and bus manufactured or sold in the state” of the 2027 model year and beyond unable to drive more than 10 miles per hour above the limit. 

Ultimately, Wiener relented and amended the bill in April. Given that modern seatbelt alarms require “repetitive, successive, or ongoing warnings each time a vehicle exceeds the speed threshold,” Californian drivers have reason to be grateful that such alarms are merely not precluded in the current bill. They also have reason to regard the bill as superfluous.

The most popular phone-based navigation apps, Google Maps, (Apple) Maps, and Waze include visual and auditory signals when drivers go over the speed limit whatsoever. Still, speed signals are optional on these apps, and not everybody is as dependent on Google Maps and CarPlay.

My car has a 6-CD player and a Garmin. I have no idea what these other things are. If this bill is passed in California, it will eventually be passed in other places. This is one more reason to ad to my list of never buying a new car!

 

 

A Ridiculous Solution To A Serious Problem

On Saturday, PJ Media posted an article about Germany’s plan to change their policy of knife possession following a number of ‘knife incidents’ in their country.

The article reports:

After a Syrian illegal immigrant attacked and killed three people and wounded eight attending a diversity festival in the town of Solingen, Germany on August 23. Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to do something about it.

There were 13,844 “knife crime” incidents in Germany in 2023. So, naturally, Olaf decided the culprit was the knife. Since you can’t put a knife on trial or put a blade in jail, Scholz decided on the next best thing; knife control.

As silly as that sounds, it’s going to happen in Germany.

Current law allows an individual to carry a knife up to 7″ long. Scholz wants to change the statute to allow individuals to carry knives only 2.4 inches long. Germany still won’t be able to put knives on trial or jail knives and make them pay for their crimes. But at least Scholz is “doing something about the problem.”

In addition to knife control, Scholz is also going to limit benefits available to illegal immigrants. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says the suspect in the knife attack, Issa Al H., was scheduled to be deported to Bulgaria where he first arrived in the European Union.

“The entire process… must be examined, must be made more effective, so that we can deport people more quickly,” Justice Minister Buschmann said Thursday.

Limiting benefits to illegal immigrants is actually a wise move. Changing the length of the knife is not really going to make a difference. Anything can be a weapon. In 2010, I posted an article about the British Pubs introducing a new shatterproof pint glass because the previous pint glasses were consistently being broken over the bar and used as weapons. In Germany (and in America’s future), the problem is importing large numbers of people from places with totally different cultures who are not assimilating into the culture. Because they have not assimilated, these immigrants tend to be economically challenged and angry when they can’t find work. It is a recipe for disaster. Hungary seems to be one of the few European countries that has recognized the problem and dealt with it.

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?

Reason.com:

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!

Clean Up Your Own Backyard First

Two of the main talking points in the 2024 election (regardless of who the Democrat candidate is) are that President Trump is a liar and that President Trump is a convicted felon. My lawyer friends tell me that he is not a convicted felon until he is sentenced, so we will see how that works out. Oddly enough, the majority of President Trump’s ‘lies’ turn out to be true or accurate predictions. So just for the fun of it, let’s look at some of the Democrat lies.

On article at PJ Media posted on Friday about the demise of the Democrat party includes the following screenshot:

We could also make some additions to the list of questionable things that the Democrat party has done that Americans have become aware of–politicization of the Justice Department, major overspending, ignoring Constitutional guidelines, open borders, and generally bad governance.

If you don’t like the candidates, look at the platforms and the past record of each candidate. At that point, the decision of who to vote for in 2024 should be easy.

Your Vote Will Determine Your Taxes

On Monday, PJ Media posted an article detailing changes they want to make in America’s tax code if President Biden is re-elected.

The article reports:

“The main goal here is this can’t just be a debate about the 2017 tax cuts,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said, completely unshy about the threat. He told Bloomberg last week, “This is going to be Tax Armageddon.”

Prepare for the end of the world.

Federal income tax revenues jumped nearly $100 billion in the first year after Trump’s signature tax cuts went into effect and almost another $40 billion in 2019. The stupid and unnecessary COVID-19 lockdowns derailed that growth in 2020. Since then, revenues have continued to surge. Much of that “growth” was an illusion created by inflation, however, and the rest was due to increased taxes on energy and corporations which, of course, got passed on to consumers. 

Reminder: Corporations don’t pay taxes; they collect them.

But Democrats are just getting started. The tax man never merely cometh for “the rich.”

Washington has a spending problem, and Democrats aren’t shy about how to solve it: tax us poor bastards back to the Stone Age.

There are two issues at play here. 

The first is that Democrats have a desperate need to wipe out the Trump tax cuts because Orange Man Bad, although they hide it under the usual guise of “taxing the rich.” 

…The second issue is the Democrats’ longstanding desire to impose an unconstitutional wealth tax.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Wa.) chairs the Finance Committee and last Thursday “revived his pitch to tax the appreciation of assets for those with at least $100 million in income,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Wyden plans to run through the door on wealth taxes that the Supreme Court left open Thursday in its lamentable decision in Moore v. U.S.”

Please note that in the third paragraph I quoted, the article reported that tax revenues jumped after President Trump cut taxes, so why do the Democrats want to raise taxes? Because in Washington, the more money you control, the more powerful you are. Who cares about the American taxpayer or reducing the deficit when you can have power?

If the Democrats take Congress or the Presidency, we can expect at least a serous attempt at increased taxes. Remember the Laffer Curve.

Betraying An Ally For Political Gain

On Monday, PJ Media posted an article about the Biden administration’s attempts to free the American hostages held captive in Gaza. While I agree that the American hostages should be freed, I also believe that the effort to free them should also be part of a larger effort to solve the problem of Hamas terrorism. Unfortunately, that is not the path the Biden administration has chosen.

The article reports:

It’s a line we’ve heard in countless movies and TV shows. Get the picture: a terrorist group hijacks a plane, kidnaps an American, or otherwise takes over something on U.S. soil, and the country’s leaders are discussing what to do. Usually, the president or someone else in the administration says that inevitable line: “We do not negotiate with terrorists!”

If we are to believe a report from NBC, that’s not the case anymore. Or, as my colleague Ed Morrissey put it: “Old and busted: America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. New hotness: We’d rather cut a deal with terrorists than support our ally.

NBC is reporting that the White House is ready to work on a deal to get five hostages back from Hamas along with the remains of three dead hostages while leaving Israel out of the loop:

The article also includes a screenshot of a Tweet illustrating another way the Biden administration is trying to undermine the Israeli government of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The article also notes:

“Not only is this effort from Biden and Antony Blinken despicable, it’s incredibly stupid,” Ed Morrissey wrote. “They want to reward Hamas for the October 7 massacre and want to punish the Israelis for grasping its existential import.”

Add this to the growing list of Biden’s foreign policy failures. “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said of Biden 10 years ago. Make that five decades because his treatment of Israel is shameful and wrong.

Genesis 12:3 states:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (KJV)

The Biden administration might want to keep this in mind.

 

Kindness Gone Awry

On Friday, PJ Media posted an article detailing the plight of a homeless man in Canada. The story is an example of what happens when well-meaning people forget that all life has value.

The article reports:

Amir Farsoud — whose sad story I shared with you in 2022 — won’t have to choose between going homeless or being euthanized by the Canadian government. This is what passes for good news some days.

A CityNews video report from November of that year covered Farsood’s financial troubles and was headlined, “MAID As an Alternative to Poverty,” and that pretty much sums it up. Farsood had been homeless before and, while only just disabled enough to qualify for the “Medical Assistance in Dying” law’s tender mercies, he considered a homeless winter to be a death sentence worse than euthanasia.

“I don’t want to die,” Farsood said, “but I don’t want to be homeless more than I want to die.” He had put himself on the 90-day dying waiting list — Ontario’s list for housing assistance is 10 years long — when his story got people to donate enough money to get him back on his feet.

Recently, Farsood was featured on a BBC documentary called “Better Off Dead?” He said in the documentary that he made it clear to medical professionals that the only reason he was choosing MAID was due to his housing situation.

“I did tell my doctor right off the bat that while I qualify for medical reasons, the reason I’m asking is my socio-economic position at the moment.”

They put him on the death list anyway. He wasn’t suffering from a terminal illness. He wasn’t a quadriplegic, trapped in a hospital bed for years. He didn’t suffer from “grievous and irremediable medical conditions,” as the law originally required. He was just suffering from chronic back pain and he was broke.

The article notes:

As I wrote back then, Canada’s MAID law had just been expanded to cover euthanasia for almost anyone who wanted it. In force only since 2016, MAID originally provided the option of suicide to terminally ill adults. Since then, the law has been amended to allow those suffering from mental illnesses to have the government shove them off this mortal coil, starting in 2024.

Euthanasia is not healthcare just as abortion is not healthcare. Ending a life is not healthcare. Deciding to help someone end their life is not helping them. We have overstepped our bounds as people and are trying to play god. That never ends well.

That Was Then; This Is Now

On Monday, the trial of President Trump for paying ‘hush money’ began. One of the points being made by the media and other left-wing sources is that keeping the story of Stormy Daniels quiet influenced the 2016 election causing Hillary Clinton to lose (yes, they said that). The money that was used to keep the story silent was put in bookkeeping entries as legal fees. That essentially is the crime that is being charged. But wait a minute–what about the money Hillary Clinton paid to create the Russia Hoax?

An article at PJ Media on April 15th notes:

Before the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton’s campaign denied that it had funded the infamous Steele dossier behind the debunked Russian collusion claims.

The funding was hidden as legal expenses by then-Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias. (The FEC later sanctioned the campaign over its hiding of the funding.). When a reporter tried to report the story, he said Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”

Likewise, John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, was called before congressional investigators and denied categorically any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.

Yet, there were no charges stemming from the hiding of the funding, though it was all part of the campaign budget.

How is using campaign funds to pay for a fraud different from using campaign funds to hush up a damaging story?

This is the world we currently live in. The justice system in America has been corrupted to the point where it doesn’t matter what you did–it matters who you are. Unfortunately, because of an amendment to the FISA bill that was passed in the House of Representatives on Monday night, things are going to get worse for those of us who do not parrot what the mainstream media tells us. The Himes-Turner amendment to FISA dramatically expands the ability for the government to surveil Americans’ communications, updating the definition of electronic service provider to include “any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications.” This expands the number of businesses and employees who could be asked to spy on customers and provide warrantless access to their communications systems.

In the immortal words of the Chad Mitchell Trio, “If mommie is a commie, then you gotta turn her in.” Only today it’s, “If mommie does not support the Biden regime, you gotta’ turn her in.”

 

The Circus Continues…

According to a March 2024 Gallup Poll, about 68 percent of Americans identify as Christians. About 41 percent attend church at least once a month.

In March 2018, the AARP reported:

When broken down by age, results from the multiple surveys show that the oldest Americans — the Silent Generation, born before 1946 — are 84 percent Christian. The figures for younger cohorts: boomers (born 1946 to 1964) 76 percent; Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) 67 percent; and millennials (born 1981 to 1996) 49 percent.

The Christians in America are the voters who are likely to be offended by the Biden administration’s declaration of Easter as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

According to PJ Media:

By now, we’re all aware that the White House managed to commit the most sacrilegious act imaginable — or at least made the biggest possible slap in the faces of Christians — by emphasizing “Transgender Day of Visibility” over Easter. While the holiday honoring our secular state religion of transgenderism is fixed on March 31, it could have and rightly should have taken a backseat to the moveable feast that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.

Instead, Joe Biden, his handlers, and the rest of his administration chose to double down on honoring a tiny minority of transgender Americans over the millions of Christians who celebrate Easter Sunday. The White House statement on Easter was only 94 words, while the proclamation of “Transgender Day of Visibility” clocked in at a whopping 635 words. On the president’s X/Twitter account, the “Transgender Day of Visibility” tweet was twice as long (45 words) as the Easter tweet (20 words).

The proclamation (which we’re supposed to believe is Biden’s words) makes ridiculous statements like, “Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation.” It also falsely claims that states enacting laws preventing children from undergoing life-altering hormone treatments and surgeries “target and terrify transgender kids and their families.” To hear the White House tell it, keeping kids safe from making decisions they’re likely to regret denies people “the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and even the right to raise your own child.” (And I thought this administration only cared about killing children.)

Considering the percentage of transgenders and other alphabet groups and their tendency not to vote, this was a really stupid political move. A semi-apology has been issued, but I am not sure voters will forget this in November.

Finally Addressing The Obvious

On Thursday, PJ Media posted an article about the difference between the way the ‘summer of love’ Antifa protestors who burned down buildings and killed people were treated and how the January 6th protestors who did nothing but walk through the Capitol were treated. Evidently there are some people in our judicial system who want to restore equal justice under the law.

The article reports:

Finally a federal judge who believes in justice or something close to it. Could this be a crack in the dike of the tyranny of the DOJ? Is this the beginning of the end of Antifa pattern of violence and silence? We can hope.

To understand what’s at stake, let’s take you back.

At UC Berkeley in 2017, Antifa and their local black bloc franchisees set fires and rioted to prevent Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking on campus. 

The anti-free speech violent protesters set off munitions, broke windows, beat people, and scared the university away from allowing any right-wing speakers to be heard on campus—unless they paid for their own security. Antifa radicals, calling themselves By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), framed themselves as brave and heroic for silencing speech of people they detested at the very birthplace of the campus free speech movement.

It was the first round of the speech wars between people on the right who were trying to speak and those on the left who called them “fascists” while calling themselves “anti fascist” and using violence to literally shut them up. 

Several people were arrested for the melee, but guess who were the only ones prosecuted? 

In an opinion issued February 21, California Federal District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney stiff-armed the DOJs Terrorism and Export Crimes Section out of Los Angeles and nailed them for selective prosecution. The decision to dismiss the federal charges against two men who at some point became members of a group characterized as “white supremacist” was based on the fact that Antifa did as bad or worse that day and at other events where both groups were represented and Antifa wasn’t prosecuted.

This pattern continues as charges were dropped against those who participated in the ‘summer of love’ and Vice-President Kamala Harris asked people to contribute to the bail of the people who were arrested. We need to restore ‘equal justice under the law’ if our country is to survive.

Changing The Vocabulary Doesn’t Make It Right

Yesterday, PJ Media posted an article about the new term for shoplifting.

The article reports:

Do you know what the problem with capitalism is? It doesn’t want to sell stuff to people. Calling it “a late-capitalism horror story,” the Washington Post’s Maura Judkis might have just written the stupidest possible piece about Blue America’s state-sponsored shoplifting craze. 

“America is a sticky-fingered nation built on stolen land,” Judkis scolded her readers on Friday to their self-loathing delight, “and its current moral panic is about shoplifting.”

Judkis tells the story of Washington’s Columbia Heights shoplifter-beloved CVS location, where by last week, there was “almost nothing left to steal… and that gives you an idea of which items have actual value.”

“The thieves don’t even bother” with blank CDs or greeting cards, we’re told without any surprise. “The good magazines like Vogue and GQ and Sports Illustrated are gone, but there are still a few copies of Traditional Home, some special issues of Life devoted to Willie Nelson, and a Woman’s World that declares: ‘Bye bye, jiggly fat!'” The soft drinks are gone, “but three gallon-sized jugs of Arizona green tea are still on the shelves on one recent visit.”

The good stuff — including Dawn dish soap, L’Oreal shampoo, MiraLax, Clairol root touch-up hair dye kits, DayQuil, NyQuil, diapers, Cetaphil, Neutrogena face wash — are all either behind Plexiglass, available only at the counter, or under lock and key. 

“Other shelves, stretching entire aisles, are totally empty.”

If you’ve been reading the news these last four years, you know that the Third World shopping experience is a familiar sight in cities like Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

Yet Judkis insists that “the data is murky” whether or not America really has a shoplifting problem. But that misses the point, doesn’t it? America doesn’t have a shoplifting problem, but poorly policed neighborhoods in America’s Democrat-dominated blue cities do.

The article concludes:

Judkis did leave one question unanswered: where are those free-lance reparations specialists going to shoplift now that the local CVS has closed? I’d wager this month’s car payment that she’ll have a somewhat less understanding take if the O.C. shoplifting gangs ever come to Georgetown or Adams Morgan.

I’m reminded once again of Barack Obama aide Ben Rhodes’ blithe assessment of young reporters — the ones who cut their teeth covering politics during the Obama years. “All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus. Now they don’t. They call us to explain to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington,” he told New York Times Magazine in 2016. “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.”

Why Are They Asking This?

On Tuesday, PJ Media posted an article about a new question the Red Cross is asking blood donors.

The article notes:

How curious then, that the Red Cross is not only screening applicants for their vax status but also requiring them to undergo additional scrutiny if they self-report COVID vaccination: “Have you EVER had a Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine? If you answer YES to the question, please call 1-800-RED CROSS… before coming in to donate to determine if this will affect your eligibility.”

The article includes the following screenshot:

There is a ‘context’ note added at the end of the Tweet. The context note says:

They ask this question to make sure you haven’t received a self-replicating vaccine; and if you have, there is a two-week wait.

Most Covid vaccines are not replicating, and do not require a waiting period.

Generally speaking, when you give blood, you are not asked about vaccines. Why is this vaccine different?

Is Increased Artic Ice A Sign Of Global Warming?

On Monday, PJ Media posted an article about global warming.

The article reports:

One of climate alarmists’ favorite predictions is that the Arctic is losing its ice due to global warming, something elites have claimed for decades. New data shows, however, that Arctic ice is actually increasing! 

Climate has always changed and will continue to do so until the real apocalypse (not the fake one climate alarmists have been predicting as imminent for decades). With more than 50 years of failed climate change predictions behind them and a track record of consistent and total untrustworthiness, you’d think that the doom prophets would have given up. Then again, climate change is a convenient way for the greedy to enrich themselves (like former Vice President Al Gore) and for power-hungry politicians to take away rights and liberties while claiming a moral and physical necessity.

The article concludes:

It is interesting that last year’s data showed eight years of a global cooling trend rather than warming. Right about this part of winter, I wouldn’t mind a little warming, but many of us in America are instead facing a harsh cold snap. Of course, it’s not encouraging that some entities (including our federal government) aim to engage in geoengineering to manipulate weather and supposedly save the planet from warming. These entities who want to reduce global temperatures ignore the fact that the world isn’t about to go up in flames and that the Arctic is not becoming ice-free.

The real threat isn’t climate apocalypse; it’s leftist ideologues who have the power to weaponize pseudo-scientific propaganda against us and our liberties.

Obviously, I am not in favor of pollution. However, I am in favor of balance and of a free market. India and China are largely exempt from the energy restrictions that recent climate ‘treaties’ have placed on America.

A December 2023 article at NBC News reported:

This year, the burning of fossil fuel and manufacturing of cement have added the equivalent of putting 2.57 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every second.

If China and India were excluded from the count, world carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacturing would have dropped, Friedlingstein said.

In 2023 the world increased its annual emissions by 398 million metric tons, but it was in three places: China, India and the skies. China’s fossil fuel emissions went up 458 million metric tons from last year, India’s went up 233 million metric tons and aviation emissions increased 145 million metric tons.

There is also the fact that many scientists believe that a higher level of CO2 is good for the planet–good for agriculture and good for providing food for more people.

The Real Cost Of Living

Washington always finds a way to lie with statistics when it comes to the economy. Limiting the items included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is one way to convince Americans that inflation isn’t as bad as it seems and also a way to limit the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of various federal disbursements. However, those fake numbers don’t help Americans deal with the rising cost of food and gasoline.

On Sunday, PJ Media posted an article about the rising cost of living in America.

The article reports:

Perhaps the most misleading government statistic of all is the Consumer Price Index. The CPI is an incredibly important statistic because so many government programs that benefit American citizens are tied to that number.

It’s usually cited as the inflation rate, but it’s not really. The CPI is the rate of increase in a subjective “market basket” of goods and services. The things that concern you and me the most as far as price increases have very little to do with the CPI. The CPI doesn’t track food or gas prices at the pump, so the CPI that we see every month doesn’t tell us anything useful.

Right now, the CPI stands at 3.1%. That’s down from a high of 9.1% in June 2022. But even that doesn’t tell us the whole inflation story because along with skyrocketing food and gas prices, real wages failed to keep pace with the price increases.

According to The New York Sun:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released jobs numbers this morning that show non-farm wages increased 4.1 percent in the past year, which is above the inflation rate of 3.1 percent. The problem is that inflation-adjusted real hourly wages — those of the average blue-collar or middle-class person — are down 4.7 percent today from when Mr. Biden took office. That’s a weekly earnings decline in real wages to $381 in November 2023 from $399 in January 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The reason Biden polls so badly is that there’s a decline in wages and an increase in prices,” a former economic adviser to President Trump, Larry Kudlow, tells the Sun. He calls this the “affordability crisis.”

Americans feel it when they walk into the grocery store. Food prices increased nearly 6 percent in 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture. In 2022, at-home food prices — what one buys in a grocery store — increased more than 11 percent. No matter one’s income, it’s hard not to notice the rising cost of food at the grocery store and at restaurants — even fast food.

Are voters going to believe what they are told or what they see?

When Your Words Come Back To Bite You

On Thursday, PJ Media posted an article about Hunter Biden’s refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena.

The article reports:

On Wednesday, instead of complying with the committee’s subpoena, he gave a whiny press conference, during which he played the victim card like a petulant child. 

He accused Republicans of cherrypicking and fabricating evidence against him and denied any “financial involvement” by his father, Joe Biden, in his foreign business dealings. Hunter curiously moved the goalposts, considering that for a long time, the narrative was that Joe Biden never even spoke with his son about his business, and now suddenly, he seems to be conceding more significant involvement.

But regardless of his son’s reasons for refusing to comply with the subpoena, Joe Biden is on record saying that anyone who doesn’t comply with a congressional subpoena should be prosecuted.

It’s true. In October 2021, Biden urged the Department of Justice to prosecute anyone who defied congressional subpoenas from the January 6 Select Committee.

“Mr. President, what’s your message to people who defy Congressional subpoenas on the January 6 Committee?” asked CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

“I hope that the committee goes after them and holds them accountable criminally,” Biden told her.

Somehow I can’t picture the current Department of Justice holding Hunter Biden accountable criminally. And that is the problem. We have watched three years of a totally politicized justice system. I have no reason to believe that things are going to change until we get a new President, and even if that happens I am not optimistic.

If Joe and Hunter Biden did nothing wrong, how did Joe buy a million dollar beach house on a public-servant’s salary?

As The Truth Slowly Leaks Out…

On Monday, PJ Media posted an article about recent audio released by former U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Johnson recorded on January 6th.

The article reports:

Last week, former U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Johnson announced his plan to release audio from the January 6 Capitol riot, which he says proves that the entire incident was a “set-up” and that the proof was covered up.

“I spoke to my lawyer and I told him what my plans are as it relates to releasing information on X about the J6 set-up and the cover-up that ensued after,” he wrote on X/Twitter last week. “I wanted to see what if any legal ramifications I’d be facing when I do. He stated he didn’t see any and if something arose we would deal with it together. So it’s a go!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Johnson continued, “With that said, I ask for everyone to be patient as I’m going to do this right and I have to make another post before I load the 12-hour radio run to my page. Additionally, I am not a tech person so I will also have to learn to load large documents and audio files from my computer to X so I’m going to need a little more time. I still have to work in the middle of all this and I’m dealing with family stuff at the same time but you have my word I will get everything done by next week. Hopefully by Wednesday.”

Johnson was concerned enough about his safety that he assured his followers that the data he was about to release was also in the hands of his attorney and Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch.

The audio is posted at his Twitter account.

Please follow the link to read the entire article and access the recording. The truth is coming out slowly, but will eventually be out there for everyone to see.

Some Of Our Elected Leaders Need Lessons In Logic

Yesterday PJ Media reported the following:

Days after antifa rioters terrorized Seattle, driving a van full of weapons and explosives with the mob in order to set fires and attempt to blow up police departments, Mayor Jenny Durkan focused her attention squarely on President Donald Trump, accusing him of running a “dress rehearsal for martial law.” She claimed that Trump’s efforts to bolster local law enforcement to combat a rising tide of crime and violence have “decreased public safety.” In a press conference addressing the antifa riots, Durkan claimed “the president wants” the violence.

So the President’s bringing in law enforcement to fight crime that the city was not able to stop is decreasing public safety? Wow. It seems to me that the Mayor, who refused to confront those rioting and breaking the law, wanted the violence.

The article further notes:

The riots on Saturday followed a protest in support of the antifa rioters in Portland, who have attempted to burn down the federal courthouse and Justice Center in nearly two straight months of violent riots. Seattle rioters used a van packed with fireworks, smoke bombs, stun guns, bear and pepper spray, gas masks, and more. At one point, rioters set off an explosive that blew an 8-inch hole through a wall of the Police Department’s East Precinct, the Seattle Times reported. Rioters injured 59 police officers.

Durkan focused her ire on Trump.

“I hate to say it, but it looks like this president is doing a dress rehearsal for martial law, sending in federal forces to take over police duties in city after city for political purposes,” the mayor told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday. “It is frightening and it’s making things worse. It has not improved public safety, it has decreased public safety.”

The article concludes:

During the previous weekend, antifa rioters tore a devastating path through Seattle, smashing windows at the municipal courthouse and at various businesses — including storefronts for Amazon Go, Starbucks, and Walgreens — they targeted both the West Precinct Police Station and the East Precinct Police Station (the site of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone Occupied Protest last month). They fired mortar-style fireworks at both stations, causing a fire in the East Precinct station.

It seems Durkan agrees with the leftist worldview behind the rioters, but that doesn’t mean she has to focus her energy on demonizing the president. How does her fearmongering about Trump supposedly planning “martial law” concretely protect any of the citizens of Seattle?

She was elected by the people of Seattle. Theoretically she represents them. I wonder how they feel about their city being destroyed. Are their taxes going to increase dramatically to pay for the damage that has been done? I wonder if the Mayor or the residents have thought through the consequences of the lawlessness they are permitting.

The Supreme Court Lost Their Copy Of The Constitution

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. It’s interesting that they chose to uphold the program when President Obama, the author of the program, admitted various times that the program was illegal.

Yesterday PJ Media posted a list of the ten times President Obama declared that his creation of DACA was illegal. Please follow the link to the article for the details, but here is the basic list:

  1. During remarks at a 2010 Cinco de Mayo Celebration
  2. During remarks on comprehensive immigration reform at American University
  3. During an MTV/BET town hall meeting and a question-and-answer session
  4. During a radio interview with Univision
  5. During a Univision town hall
  6. During remarks at a Facebook town hall meeting and a question-and-answer session
  7. During the 2011 Miami Dade College commencement
  8. During remarks on comprehensive immigration reform at Chamizal National Memorial
  9. During remarks to the National Council of La Raza
  10. During a roundtable with questions from Yahoo!, MSN Latino, AOL Latino, and HuffPost Latino Voices

So a President who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution passed a law (a violation of the separation of powers) and now the Supreme Court is not willing to undo that law. That is another reason Americans think Washington has lost its way.

The Western Journal posted a screenshot of a tweet by The Daily Caller summarizing what Justice Thomas said in the dissent:

As usual, Justice Thomas got it right.

 

 

Just In Case You Haven’t Heard The Full Story Yet…

Yesterday PJ Media posted an article that includes a statement by United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan. As you probably know, the mainstream media accused President Trump of having peaceful protesters dispersed with tear gas so that he could walk across Lafayette Park and the National Mall.

This is the statement from the Park Police:

The United States Park Police (USPP) is committed to the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights. However, this past weekend’s demonstrations at Lafayette Park and across the National Mall included activities that were not part of a peaceful protest, which resulted in injuries to USPP officers in the line of duty, the destruction of public property and the defacing of memorials and monuments. During four days of demonstrations, 51 members of the USPP were injured; of those, 11 were transported to the hospital and released and three were admitted.

Multiple agencies assisted the USPP in responding to and quelling the acts of destruction and violence over the course of the weekend in order to protect citizens and property.

On Monday, June 1, the USPP worked with the United States Secret Service to have temporary fencing installed inside Lafayette Park. At approximately 6:33 pm, violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.

To curtail the violence that was underway, the USPP, following established policy, issued three warnings over a loudspeaker to alert demonstrators on H Street to evacuate the area. Horse mounted patrol, Civil Disturbance Units and additional personnel were used to clear the area. As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park. Subsequently, the fence was installed.

Unfortunately the mainstream media chose to lie to make President Trump look bad rather than to tell the truth. This sort of lying is a major cause of the divisions in our country. People who depend on the mainstream media are simply not being told the truth.

When ‘Real’ Security Is Present

As the riots continue, the violence continues. The ‘protestors’ have been involved in beating innocent people, looting stores, and shootings. On Sunday, PJ Media posted an article that provides some good news.

The article reports:

In Seattle, riotous thugs “honored” the memory of George Floyd, who was killed while in Minneapolis police custody earlier this week, by blocking Interstate 5 for most of the day in the busiest downtown portion of the freeway. They looted a Nordstrom store, smashed windows of downtown businesses and set cars on fire. It was part of a nation wide series of riots that began in Minneapolis and quickly metastasized to the West Coast and all the way to the White House gates.

Somehow in the melee, KING 5 News, captured video of bandanna wearing antifa dirtbag who stole an AR-15 type rifle from one of two smashed up police cars. The cars, one of which was burning, was tagged with the Left’s favorite anti-cop epithet ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards.

Knowing antifa’s thuggery and how cops are too busy to protect anyone, one TV news station had the foresight to hire what they called a “security guard.”

This was no mall cop.

George Orwell famously said “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And thank God a Seattle TV station hired one.

As the mayor ordered police officers and National Guard troops to corral the protesters, fetch them water and and cut their meat for them, there was this guy.

This is what happened next:

He moved on the antifa boy and his buddies so fast, grabbed the stolen AR-15 and ejected the magazine so quickly and efficiently, without looking, that it impressed this retired cop friend who told me he was duly impressed.

The article at PJ Media includes a video of the incident. Had this man not acted swiftly there is a high probability that innocent lives would have been lost.

Foreign Interference In Our Government In Plain Sight

PJ Media posted an article yesterday with the following headline, “Dems Block China Investigation Even After Communist Regime Threatens U.S. Senators by Name.” Great. We have another country threatening our Representatives if they do their job.

The article reports:

“Coronavirus Committee Dems won’t let us investigate China’s cover-up,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) tweeted. “Why? – China’s lies caused global suffering & economic devastation – China undermined our efforts to combat the virus – China is reportedly trying to steal our vaccine research They must be held accountable.”

The article notes:

If Democrats are going to investigate President Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis, they should also investigate China’s malfeasance. Just last week, Chinese officials threatened “serious consequences” for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, along with two state attorneys general. The officials named Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).

“The Chinese government is lashing out at those in the U.S. who are appropriately trying to hold them accountable for intentionally misleading us about the nature of the novel coronavirus, where it was spreading and how quickly things were getting out of control. I consider their threats a badge of honor,” Banks replied.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) filed a lawsuit last month demanding tens of billions of dollars in damages due to China’s coronavirus malfeasance, which allegedly violated Missouri law. Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) filed a lawsuit allowing Mississippians to bring claims against China.

We need to remember that the communist government of China is not our friend. They are not anyone’s friend.

The article lists some of the destructive actions of China relating to the coronavirus:

China received 2.4 billion pieces of PPE from other countries. Yet when countries asked China for PPE, the Communist Party extorted them — only sending valuable medical aid if political leaders agreed to publicly praise Beijing. Chinese companies also sent faulty medical gear and coronavirus antibody tests to European countries, and an Associated Press investigation revealed the prevalence of counterfeit masks in America, likely tracing back to a major Chinese factory. Meanwhile, the Communist Party also prevented U.S. companies from shipping their own medical gear back home, where it is sorely needed.

Wuhan was not put under lockdown until January 22-23. On January 26, Wuhan’s mayor admitted that 5 million people had already left the city. Chinese President Xi Jinping said he had “issued requirements for the prevention and control of the new Coronavirus” as early as January 7. He could have acted to shut down Wuhan as early as January 7, two weeks before the city was shut down. A University of Southampton study found that if strict quarantine measures had been introduced three weeks earlier, the coronavirus’s spread would have been reduced by 95 percent.

As the coronavirus spread across the globe, China’s Communist Party put out a video encouraging Italians to hug Chinese people to prove they weren’t racist — while China was lying about the true danger of the virus.

According to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, the Chinese Communist Party is also attempting cyber espionage on American attempts to create a coronavirus vaccine and cure. Chinese officials are also refusing to cooperate in the search for the coronavirus’ origins.

It is definitely time to put trade restrictions on China and move American manufacturing out of China. We need to start shopping for ‘made in America’ products.

The Other Side Of The Mask Requirement

Yesterday PJMedia posted an article with the following headline, “Neurosurgeon Says Face Masks Pose Serious Risk to Healthy People.” This is not the first time I have read  that.

The article notes:

As for the scientific support for the use of face mask, a recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that, “ None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.”1   Keep in mind, no studies have been done to demonstrate that either a cloth mask or the N95 mask has any effect on transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Any recommendations, therefore, have to be based on studies of influenza virus transmission. And, as you have seen, there is no conclusive evidence of their efficiency in controlling flu virus transmission.

It is also instructive to know that until recently, the CDC did not recommend wearing a face mask or covering of any kind, unless a person was known to be infected, that is, until recently. Non-infected people need not wear a mask. When a person has TB we have them wear a mask, not the entire community of non-infected. The recommendations by the CDC and the WHO are not based on any studies of this virus and have never been used to contain any other virus pandemic or epidemic in history.

The article continues:

In one such study, researchers surveyed 212 healthcare workers (47 males and 165 females) asking about presence of headaches with N95 mask use, duration of the headaches, type of headaches and if the person had preexisting headaches.2

They found that about a third of the workers developed headaches with use of the mask, most had preexisting headaches that were worsened by the mask wearing, and 60% required pain medications for relief. As to the cause of the headaches, while straps and pressure from the mask could be causative, the bulk of the evidence points toward hypoxia and/or hypercapnia as the cause. That is, a reduction in blood oxygenation (hypoxia) or an elevation in blood C02 (hypercapnia). It is known that the N95 mask, if worn for hours, can reduce blood oxygenation as much as 20%, which can lead to a loss of consciousness, as happened to the hapless fellow driving around alone in his car wearing an N95 mask, causing him to pass out, and to crash his car and sustain injuries. I am sure that we have several cases of elderly individuals or any person with poor lung function passing out, hitting their head. This, of course, can lead to death.

A more recent study involving 159 healthcare workers aged 21 to 35 years of age found that 81% developed headaches from wearing a face mask.3   Some had pre-existing headaches that were precipitated by the masks. All felt like the headaches affected their work performance.

Blaylock (Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon) says studies have also shown that face masks impair oxygen intake dramatically leading to serious problems.

Wear a mask if you choose, but please do not criticize those of us who choose not to.

Sometimes There Just Aren’t Any Words

Yesterday PJ Media posted an article by Robert Spencer about a recent statement by Khadar Bin Muhammad, the imam of the Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah in Syracuse, New York.

The article reports:

In a video posted on YouTube last week and reposted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the learned imam explains it all for us. Offering us a revelation that the Center for Disease Control and everyone else who is working on the coronavirus crisis have overlooked, the imam explained that “safety comes through tauhid,” that is, Islam’s concept of monotheism. So if you don’t want to contract the coronavirus, turn to Allah. Khadar Bin Muhammad says: “Every destruction and every harm comes through shirk” – that is, having other gods besides Allah – “and through worshipping other than Allah, believing in other than Allah, and thinking that [anything] other than Allah can harm you or have an effect on you. All harm comes through that. That is why you see the kuffar [infidels] are the scaredest people.”

The infidels aren’t just scared when they should be trusting in Allah. They are also the cause of all the trouble in the first place – specifically infidel women. According to Khadar Bin Muhammad, the coronavirus is a manifestation of Allah’s wrath against their outrageous immodesty. “How many women do we see,” he asked, “may Allah guide them and protect them, who walk around and show their ankles? Is this not part of her awra [private parts]?”

According to a statement in the hadith, every part of a woman’s body except her face and hands are private parts.

The article explains:

Khadar Bin Muhammad said that women’s ankles were part of her private parts. As strange as it may seem, this is not an eccentric view in Islam. A hadith depicts Muhammad saying to a woman, “‘O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this,’ and he pointed to her face and hands” (Sunan Abu Dawud 4092).

This is the important quote from the article:

So that’s the imam’s message for women: take off the mask, put on the niqab, and pick up the Qur’an, and the coronavirus will go away. Won’t it? And seriously, while it is easy to laugh at this, isn’t Khadar Bin Muhammad endangering his hearers by preaching this nonsense?

Somehow I don’t think that women covering their ankles is going to stop the spread of coronavirus. Not all cultures and religions are equal.