What Americans Should Know About Interpol Abuse

Commentary From Ted Bromund on The Daily Signal.com (May 17):

Over the past few years, awareness has spread about the problem of Interpol abuse.

Interpol isn’t an international police agency, even though Hollywood likes to depict it as such. It’s actually more like an electronic bulletin board on which police agencies around the world can post their “wanted” notices.

Other police agencies can read the notices—or ignore them—as they choose.

Interpol isn’t supposed to get involved in politics. But not all of its members—and almost every country, except North Korea and Kosovo, are members of Interpol—are so scrupulous.

Interpol abuse happens when a nation (usually an authoritarian regime) puts a “wanted” notice on the Interpol bulletin board on a political opponent.

This abuse is generically known as transnational repression, because it cuts across national borders and it involves everything from spyware to assassinations to Interpol. But Interpol abuse is an important facet of the wider problem.

Every year, the U.S. State Department releases reports on human rights in every nation in the world. Last year, the department wisely started including Interpol abuse in those country reports.

This year’s reports, released at the end of March, named nine nations as Interpol abusers: Azerbaijan, Benin, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkey. They also cited dubious issues related to Interpol in China, Ecuador, and Mexico.

I have a lot of experience researching Interpol, and, though my work as an expert witness, I’ve seen a lot of Interpol abuse cases. Broadly speaking, I’d say the State Department’s list is a good start—Russia is certainly a notorious abuser—but far from complete. [read more]

US fuel pipeline hackers 'didn't mean to create problems'

From BBC.com (May 10):

A cyber-criminal gang that took a major US fuel pipeline offline over the weekend has acknowledged the incident in a public statement.

"Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society," DarkSide wrote on its website.

The US issued emergency legislation on Sunday after Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack.

The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day - 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.

The operator took itself offline on Friday after the cyber-attack. Work to restore service is continuing.

On Monday, the FBI officially confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for compromising Colonial Pipeline's networks, saying that it was continuing to work with the firm and other government agencies on the investigation.

During a speech about the economy at the White House on Monday, US President Joe Biden said that he was being "personally briefed" on the situation with the pipeline each day.

"The agencies across the government have acted quickly to mitigate any impact on our fuel supply," he said.

"We're prepared to take additional steps depending on how quickly the company is able to bring its pipeline back up to capacity."

A number of cyber-security researchers, including firms contacted by the BBC, have speculated that the cyber-criminal gang could be Russian, as their software avoids encrypting any computer systems where the language is set as Russian. [read more]

Yea, I’m sure that helped out all the long gas lines.

More articles on the hack:

• Colonial Pipeline hackers received $90M in ransom from dozens of victims, report finds
• Colonial Pipeline CEO claims he paid ransom to hackers ‘for the country’

Are Americans Becoming Sovietized?

From The Daily Signal.com (May 6):

What ultimately ended the nihilist Soviet system?

Was it not that Russians finally tired of the Kremlin’s lies and hypocrisies that permeated every facet of their falsified lives?

Here are 10 symptoms of Sovietism. Ask yourself whether we are headed down this same road to perdition.

1. There was no escape from ideological indoctrination—anywhere. A job in the bureaucracy or a military assignment hinged not so much on merit, expertise, or past achievement. What mattered was loud enthusiasm for the Soviet system.

Wokeness is becoming our new Soviet-like state religion. Careerists assert that America was always and still is a systemically racist country, without ever producing proof or a sustained argument.

2. The Soviets fused their press with the government. Pravda, or “Truth,” was the official megaphone of state-sanctioned lies. Journalists simply regurgitated the talking points of their Communist Party partners.

In 2017, a Harvard study found that over 90% of the major TV news networks’ coverage of the Trump administration’s first 100 days was negative.

3. The Soviet surveillance state enlisted apparatchiks and lackeys to ferret out ideological dissidents.

Recently, we learned that the Department of Defense is reviewing its rosters to spot extremist sentiments. The U.S. Postal Service recently admitted it uses tracking programs to monitor the social media postings of Americans.

CNN recently alleged that the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security is considering partnering with private surveillance firms to get around government prohibitions on scrutinizing Americans’ online activity.

4. The Soviet educational system sought not to enlighten but to indoctrinate young minds in proper government-approved thought.

Currently, cash-strapped universities nationwide are hiring thousands of diversity, equity, and inclusion staffers and administrators. Their chief task is to scan the admissions, hiring, curriculum, and administration at universities. Like good commissars, our diversity czars oversee compliance with the official narrative that a flawed America must confess, apologize for, and renounce its evil foundations.

5. The Soviet Union was run by a pampered elite, exempt from the ramifications of their own radical ideologies.

Now, woke Silicon Valley billionaires talk socialistically but live royally. Coke and Delta Air Lines CEOs who hector Americans about their illiberality make millions of dollars a year.

What unites current woke activists such as Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Obamas are their huge estates and their multimillion-dollar wealth. Just as the select few of the old Soviet nomenklatura had their Black Sea dachas, America’s loudest top-down revolutionaries prefer living in Martha’s Vineyard, Beverly Hills, Montecito, and Malibu. [read more]

America is coming close to becoming Sovietized.

Along the same lines….

• Communism Survivor Speaks Out Against Critical Race Theory
• Too Many Deny the True Evils of Communism
• North Korean defector slams ‘woke’ US schools

5 Ways To Help Your Child Not Grow Up To Be A Socialist

From The Federalist.com (Feb. 24):

Young people are taking an increasingly positive view of socialism. According to a study last year, 70 percent of millennials and 64 percent of Zoomers say they would vote for a socialist candidate. What can conservative parents do to keep their children from going down that path?

The left has no scruples about brainwashing your children. So conservative parents need to get there first and consciously shape their children’s attitudes. After all, they are your children. Here are five strategies you can implement to help your children not grow up to be socialists.

1. Show that Big Government Doesn’t Work

Parents should point out big government failures to their children whenever they can. Standing in line at a government office is a great one for this. Use that long wait to explain that the government claims vast powers over our lives but can’t even move people through a line quickly.

The COVID-19 shutdowns are ripe with examples of government incompetence that directly affect your kids’ lives. When my local park reopened after the initial shutdown, the section with a playground remained closed a few weeks longer. As a result, all the kids squeezed into the little square next to it instead. My 6-year-old could grasp the absurdity of this situation, and I made sure she knew the government was responsible.

2. Find Examples of Socialism in Your Kids’ Lives

Parents should look out for situations in their kids’ lives that resemble socialism and use these as a springboard for discussion. For example, last year, my family attended a “socialist” Easter egg hunt. At the end, all the kids had to hand over the eggs they had found to the organizer, who redistributed an equal number to each.

My daughter had specifically been hunting pink eggs, but in the redistribution she got blue ones. She is too young to understand political theory, but she certainly felt the unfairness. When she’s a bit older, she can connect the dots.

3. Let Lids Feel the Pain of Taxation

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pushes the slogan “Tax the Rich” as if there were some magical money tree that funds government programs. Conservative parents need to teach their kids that taxes come from their own hard-earned money. Socialism doesn’t only work on the rich people’s dollars. In every socialist country, the middle class is heavily taxed.

Each year, I like to snag a few of my kids’ Halloween and Easter candies and call it “tax.” But why not also let kids pay a bit of actual tax? Joy Pullmann suggests, “The dollar store is a great place to explain this basic concept because everything is just one dollar — except it’s not. Everything is one dollar PLUS TAX.”

Parents should tell their kids bring coins or break another dollar to pay the tax themselves. They will quickly realize that taxes are not only for billionaires.

4. Look for Teachable Moments in Books and Shows

Parents should keep an eye out for examples of government overreach and failure in their kids’ books and shows. I recently read my kids the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty,” and we discussed how the king tried to ban spinning wheels from his kingdom, but it backfired. I explained that central planning doesn’t work.

Many parents read the Bible’s account of the birth of the Lord Jesus to their kids. Perhaps you could briefly point out how a government forced a pregnant woman to travel a long distance to register for tax.

Some parents might object that the Bible should not be used to make a political point. But the left doesn’t have that scruple. Last year, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted that the Lord Jesus was born “as a refugee.” Conservative parents need to make sure their kids know better.

5. Keep Them out of Government Schools

There is little point in following the four steps listed above if your kids are getting a completely different message in school every day. Public schools are probably the biggest reason so many young people are embracing socialism.

The social atmosphere of leftism is like the air your kids will breathe in public school. You may not want to believe it, but the evidence is quite strong that government education is the leading cause of children losing their faith and replacing it with leftist politics. Conservative parents need to find a schooling arrangement that gives their kids an actual education, not left-wing indoctrination.

By following these five steps, parents can help make sure their children won’t grow up with the delusion that the government will take care of them. They will realize that, while there are problems in the world, socialism can only make things worse. [source]

Good advice.

Biden says people earning less than $400,000 won't pay taxes in new slip-up

From Washington Examiner.com (May 3):

President Joe Biden said those who make under $400,000 per year "will not pay a single penny in taxes."

The comment, made during a speech on Monday, is the 78-year-old's latest blunder.

"The reason I'm going to do this is because I keep hearing on the press, 'Biden is going to raise your taxes,'" he said. "Anybody making less than $400,00 a year will not pay a single penny in taxes, and we will not increase the deficit either, unlike the last gigantic tax cut, which increased the deficit by $2 trillion."

PRES. BIDEN: "Anybody making less than $400,000 a year will not pay a single penny in taxes." pic.twitter.com/37GkyPeY1K

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 3, 2021

The president likely meant those making under $400,000 "will not pay a single penny more in taxes."

The $400,000 cap applies only to those filing as individuals. Therefore, married couples who together exceed the threshold may be hit with unforeseen tax increases, a White House official told Axios. [read more]

Won’t be Biden’s last mistake. Sometimes his brain cells misfire. Sometimes they just stop firing all together. EEG anyone?

Mitt Romney booed at raucous Utah GOP convention as speakers attack the Biden agenda

From Sltrib.com (May 1):

West Valley City • Sen. Mitt Romney was lustily booed by the more than 2,100 Republican delegates who packed into the Maverik Center on Saturday for the party’s state convention.

“Aren’t you embarrassed?” said Romney trying to deflect the chorus of catcalls that greeted him as he took the stage.

“I’m a man who says what he means, and you know I was not a fan of our last president’s character issues,” said Romney as delegates attempted to shout him down. Accusations that Romney was a “traitor” or “communist” flew from the crowd like so many poison darts.

The cacophony of disapproval only ended after outgoing party chair Derek Brown scolded delegates to “show respect” for Romney.

“You can boo all you like,” said Romney. “I’ve been a Republican all of my life. My dad was the governor of Michigan and I was the Republican nominee for president in 2012.” [read more]

What does your dad have to do with you, Romney? He was a RINO just like you.

Another Romney article: Mitt Romney Was Just Caught RED-HANDED

Ashli Babbitt's family plans to sue Capitol Police and officer who fatally shot her

From Washington Examiner.com (April 29):

The family of Ashli Babbitt, the 14-year Air Force veteran who was killed while participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, is planning to sue the U.S. Capitol Police and the officer who fatally shot her for at least $10 million.

The revelation of her family's litigation plans comes nearly two weeks after the Justice Department announced there would be no criminal charges filed against the officer who killed the 35-year-old Babbitt.

It has yet to be determined when, or in which court, the civil lawsuit against the department would be filed, Babbitt's family's attorney Terrell Roberts told CNBC on Thursday.

Roberts said the $10 million figure is an estimate of financial losses, including the value of Babbitt's "services to her husband and combined with Ashli’s potential income if she would have lived."

"A potential for recovery for non-pecuniary losses is also factored in the amount," Roberts said.

Babbitt was among the crowd of hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump who rushed into the Capitol in early January, interrupting Congress's efforts to certify President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.

She was in a hallway outside the Speaker's Lobby, which leads to the House chamber, just before she was fatally shot. As seen in bystander video, Babbitt attempted to climb headfirst through the broken glass window of a door separating the hallway from the lobby before she was shot in the left shoulder by an officer inside the lobby. She was later transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died.

Mark Schamel, an attorney for the officer who shot Babbitt, claimed in February, "There’s no way to look at the evidence and think he’s anything but a hero.” [read more]

The family deserves to know who killed her and why. Why has the officer’s identity remained a secret? Is this was not a Capitol Police officer his identity would have been revealed already. Is his union (I am assuming he is in one) covering up his identity? And what about Congress. Why aren’t they demanding his identity? Oh, wait. Those in power probably think of the Capitol Police as their own private bodyguards and Babbitt as an insurrectionist, so, they will protect the officer no matter what. He was just doing his duty even though she was unarmed and not breaking any laws. The officer is no hero. I think he panicked. Maybe he is a rookie. I don’t know because the public doesn’t know his identity! The public will never know for sure because there’ll never be any trial to find out the motive. I don’t think there was even an investigation.

Giuliani says FBI agents declined to take Hunter Biden's hard drives

From Just the News.com (April 30):

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani during an interview on Thursday said that FBI agents who searched his home this week declined to take Hunter Biden's hard drives.

Giuliani said that seven FBI agents showed up early Wednesday morning with a warrant for electronics. He said when he asked them if they wanted to take Hunter Biden's hard drives, they declined.

"Hunter Biden's hard drives fall within the scope of the subpoena. The subpoena required them to take all electronics, but they decided to leave that behind. And they also were completely content to rely on my word that these were Hunter Biden's hard drives," the former mayor told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson during an interview on the Fox News Channel.

Giuliani described the warrant as "completely illegal," saying that the only way authorities can obtain a search warrant is if they can demonstrate that the individual will destroy or abscond with the evidence.

"Well I've had it for two years and I haven't destroyed it. And they also got it from the iCloud," he said, adding that the warrant was unjustified, unlawful and unconstitutional.

Giuliani said that he has "never, ever represented a foreign national." [read more]

Interesting. So, if you’re a crook and the FBI comes to your home to take your hard drive for evidence, just say it’s Hunter Biden’s and they won’t take it. Hmmm.

Another article on the matter: Giuliani lawyers question legitimacy of search warrants

The Case for True Religion and Revolutionary Repentance

From American Thinker.com (Feb. 21):

The church in America has a problem.  Since the mid-twentieth century, confidence in the institutional church has drastically declined, leaving many scrambling to find ways to restore trust.  In "The Case for Hard Religion," conservative commentator Yuval Levin explains why he thinks this decline has occurred and offers a solution. At first glance, his case appears to be on target, but careful reflection and analysis reveal it's not — at least in part.  Flawed premises shake the logic, thus inhibiting formulation of a sound solution — and a proper solution is what America desperately needs.  This article aims to offer one.

The Case for Hard Religion

Levin's article opens with the statement that "we are living in an era of unprecedented doubt," which results in a crisis of meaning for our society.  Institutions that help people find this meaning have failed to be the beacon of light they once were.  This crisis, as it pertains to the church in particular, "is not exactly a crisis of belief in the teachings of traditional religion, but rather a crisis of confidence in the institutions that claim to embody them," Levin writes.  "In other words, Americans aren't losing their faith in God.  Eighty-seven percent of the public expressed belief in God last year in Gallup's figures, which is roughly the level pollsters have found for many decades.  What Americans do have trouble believing, however, is that our institutions — our churches, seminaries, religious schools and charities — remain capable of forming trustworthy people who actually exhibit the integrity they preach."

People, Levin argues, are turning away from the church because those within the institution of the church are untrustworthy.  They are using the church and other religious organizations, not as a means to preach truth and model love, but as a platform for their own advancement, political agendas, personal legitimacy, and pragmatism.  The solution, therefore, is for people within the church to become more trustworthy and more appealing by behaving better and faithfully fulfilling their proper roles.  They need to exchange their soft pews for hard pews that will make them sit upright.

Levin is certainly right that too many people in the church are using it to expand their personal egos and ideologies or to bend it to attract the spirit of the age.  However, this is not the only cause of distrust, nor is it primary.  The primary causes are much more complex, and the effects much more destructive, than Levin seems to appreciate.

Who Is God?

Despite Levin's opening claim, we are not living in an era of unprecedented doubt.  We are living in an era of unprecedented idolatry.  We, as a culture, are looking for meaning in ourselves and in truth defined by our own moral standards and feelings.  We are seeking understanding of who we are and our place in the world — not in our Creator, but in group dynamics and social movements that feed on self-worship.  Our belief, our confidence, is in ourselves, especially as we organize within groups that prop up our own doctrines of self.  Of human power and self-will, there is no doubt.

The clay has told the Artist that it is perfectly capable of molding itself.  We have rejected God's objective truth, God's providential hand in human history, God's authority in culture, God's standards of morality, God's design of human identity, and God's purpose for institutions.  This rejection perverts everything in society, from the individual to the family to institutions, which are "durable" only when they are built on a solid foundation.  That foundation has now been bulldozed and replaced with the shifting sands of postmodernity.  Subjectivism has replaced objective truth.  This is the worldview of our age.  It is the abolition of man. [read more]

Border shock: Eighteen-wheelers unloading migrants and drugs, and ‘cartels are having a field day’

From Washington Examiner.com (April 27):

Mexican crime cartels, never seeing the U.S. border so inviting as it has been under President Joe Biden, are openly driving to the border with tractor trailers full of illegal immigrants and drugs to unload their cargo, according to a new report.

For the first time, 18-wheelers are stopping at the Rio Grande to dump their cargo in the poorly defended Big Bend areas of West Texas as cartels shop for new crossing points.

“It’s never been this busy,” one agent told Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies. He has been on the border charting the impact of Biden’s border-opening policies, dubbed “la invitacion” by illegal immigrants.

Bensman wrote in a new report, “Eighteen-wheeler tractor-trailer rigs and trucks of all sizes now pull right up to the river in unending succession to unload people and drug cargo in broad daylight along the long empty stretches of riverside territory. Police chases of immigrant transport vehicles are now commonplace in towns further inland for the first time. And border patrol agents, largely unreinforced despite new circumstances, are chasing groups through the desert day and night, losing most and strained beyond capacity to impact what’s happening, they say."

The agent, only identified as a 10-year veteran, told Bensman, “I’ve never seen 18-wheelers out on the levy on the Mexican side like this, filled with God-only-knows what. It was predicted before the new administration came in, and it happened. Now the cartels are having a field day.”

A key point in Bensman’s new report is how cartels are shopping for new opening points, cleared as the Border Patrol shifts agents to areas overwhelmed by illegal immigrants by Biden’s open borders move.

“There’s no one watching,” a smuggler told Bensman, of the rugged West Texas border. [source]

Perhaps the Most Effective Weapon Against Viral Infections

From The Epoch Times.com (April 26):

Nebulized hydrogen peroxide is a safe, inexpensive, and incredibly effective way to help prevent and treat viral illnesses of all kinds.

That’s the conclusion of many, including Dr. Thomas Levy, a board-certified cardiologist perhaps best known for his work with vitamin C. Levy is an expert on nebulized hydrogen peroxide, which has become my favorite intervention for viral illnesses, including COVID-19. In his latest book, “Rapid Virus Recovery,” Levy details this treatment. He’s giving the e-book away for free, and the 321-page physical book will be available soon online. It’s also available in Spanish.

Levy suffered with lifelong sinus problems. About a year and a half ago, while doing research for his book on magnesium, he came across nebulization with magnesium chloride, which sparked his interest.

As a result of his research, he began nebulizing with hydrogen peroxide and noticed incredible changes in his health almost immediately, including the reversal of his chronic sinus problems. So, after finishing his magnesium book, he took a deep dive into nebulization, and “Rapid Virus Recovery” was the result of that journey.

Levy’s research and direct observation led him to a startling conclusion—that nebulizing hydrogen peroxide is so effective it can stop virtually any cold or flu infection in its tracks if used quickly enough, and help those already infected to recover more quickly.

Levy also points out that if you can easily prevent or cure a viral infection, then vaccination becomes irrelevant. “Why vaccinate for a disease that you can prevent or easily cure after you have it?” he asks.

“Nebulized hydrogen peroxide is not only simple to administer to yourself and universally effective, but it’s also inexpensive and readily available around the entire world.” [read more]

These Key Similarities Between Lenin’s Red Terror and America’s Woke Culture Reveal Left’s Blueprint For Complete Takeover

From Revolver.news (April 24):

Thursday marked the 151st birthday of the most successful revolutionary of all time, Vladimir Lenin. With only a tiny cabal of diehard followers, Lenin seized control of the world’s largest country and inaugurated a reign of darkness and terror that lasted seventy years.

There are many lessons to draw from the blood-soaked life of Lenin. But one of the most important is this takeaway for the terrifying “woke” moment America is living through right now. Things are not going to naturally get better. Things will not organically “calm down.” Until there is a fundamental reset of America’s treasonous leadership class, today’s unthinkable witch hunt is merely a prelude of an even darker globalist terror to come.

The Bolsheviks were indisputably more murderous than today’s left (if only because they lived in a more violent age), but even they had to ramp up how much terror they engaged in.

At the beginning of their rule, in fact, the Bolsheviks were even willing to run a fair election. Just days after the October Revolution, they held the preplanned elections for Russia’s Constituent Assembly, anticipating an easy win. To their surprise, they were easily defeated by the Socialist Revolutionaries. And so, like any good leftists, they simply nullified the election and dissolved the Constituent Assembly. Since it was 100 years ago and the Bolsheviks were well-armed, it was enough to simply announce that the Constituent Assembly was closed. Today, they might concoct a more elaborate narrative, perhaps that the Socialist Revolutionaries engaged in “collusion” with a foreign power.

Once they had taken power, the Bolsheviks didn’t immediately launch Stalin-style mass purges. Instead, the Bolsheviks started off in a way modern Americans would find disturbingly familiar: By legitimizing criminal anarchy and co-opting the justice system.

In their earliest days, the Bolsheviks framed their political abuses as a “war on privilege.” In a tactic eerily reminiscent of 2020’s riots, the Bolsheviks of 1918 encouraged a decentralized campaign by the masses to plunder and crush class enemies.

…………………..

Lenin’s Red Terror carries important lessons for America in 2021.

Every time the terror in America seems to have peaked, it gets worse.

In 2017, people lost their jobs for attending the Charlottesville march. It didn’t matter if they engaged in any violence or broke any laws. Merely being there was enough.

Many normal Americans shrugged.

“It was some racist march anyway,” thought most conservatives. “They should have known better than to go.”

But of course, it didn’t stop there. Throughout the Trump administration, it became acceptable to target people for pettier and pettier offenses: Anonymous posts online, leaked emails, decade-old articles (or decade-old tweets), attending conferences with the wrong people.

April 2021 has brought us to a new low. In Minnesota, Derek Chauvin is going to prison, likely for decades, for using a routine policing method to subdue a man twice his size who was resisting arrest. In Virginia, a police officer’s twenty-year career has ended in termination after he sent a $25 anonymous donation to the defense fund of Kyle Rittenhouse. [read more]

More articles on the woke culture:

• The New Business of Woke Corporate Consulting
• 3 Key Concepts That Woke ‘Anti-Racists’ Believe
• Woke Politics: The Democrats’ Plan for a Permanent Majority
• My Woke Employees Tried to Cancel Me. Here’s How I Fought Back and Saved My Nonprofit.

Amazon's Rejection of Unions In Alabama Is a Big Loss for Big Labor

From Real Clear Markets.com (April 20):

Big labor suffered a significant loss in its attempt to unionize employees at Amazon’s warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Of the workers eligible to vote, an embarrassingly small 16% voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It was the most recent in a series of high-profile losses for labor including failed attempts to unionize factories for Volkswagen, Nissan Motors, and Boeing. In each case, union leaders bet that they could convince workers it was in their best interests to be enrolled in a union that would stand up to management over wages and working conditions. In each case, they lost.

With private-sector union membership down from 24.2% in 1973 to 6.3% today, union leaders realize they are in an uphill battle. But the problems they face are nearly impossible to address absent a reassessment of their political affiliations – unless, that is, they can get the government to change the rules so that joining a union is less of a choice and more of a mandate.

One such problem is union leadership’s overwhelming support for Democrats and progressive political causes, which clashes with more varied political affiliations among rank-and-file union members.

As reported on the pro-union website Strikewave last October, polling data commissioned by the progressive think tank Data for Progress found that active union members were more strongly Republican (31%) than strongly Democrat (29%), though a slight majority lean Democrat. Yet, according to OpenSecrets.org, labor organizations contributed a whopping $27.5 million to President Biden’s campaign and groups that supported him, while President Trump took in a mere $360,000. [read more]

The Left likes big labor unless it hurts their business. Good for thee not for me.

Another article on the subject:

Bezos-Owned Amazon Opposes Mail-In Voting For Union Election

Why Trump Voters Don't Trust the People Who Count the Votes

From Mises.org (Jan. 6):

A Slate headline from December 13 reads: “82 Percent of Trump Voters Say Biden’s Win Isn’t Legitimate.” If even half true, this poll means tens of millions of Americans believe the incoming ruling party in Washington got its political power by cheating.

The implications of this are broader than one might think. Under the current system, if many millions of Americans doubt the veracity of the official vote count, the challenge to the status quo goes beyond simply thinking that Democrats are cheaters. Rather, the Trump voters’ doubts indict much of the American political system overall and call its legitimacy into question.

For example, if Trump supporters are unwilling to accept that the vote count in Georgia was fair—in a state where Republicans control both the legislature and the governor’s mansion—this means skepticism goes well beyond mere distrust of the Democratic Party. For Trump’s vote-count skeptics, not even the GOP or the nonpartisan election officials can be trusted to count the votes properly.

Moreover, unlike the general public, Trump supporters appear to have adopted a keenly suspicious view toward these administrators and the systems they control. This is all to the best, regardless of the true extent of voter fraud in 2020. After all, government administrators—including those who count the votes—are not mere disinterested, efficiency-obsessed administrators. They have their own biases and political interests. They’re not neutral. [read more]

Let’s see: two democrats couldn’t win their primary and yet win the presidency? Yea, Trump voters should be suspicious.

Another article on the matter:

Here's How You Know Democrats Rigged and Stole the 2020 Election

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Extracts First Oxygen from Red Planet

From NASA.gov (April 21):

The growing list of “firsts” for Perseverance, NASA’s newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen. A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the task. The test took place April 20, the 60th Martian day, or sol, since the mission landed Feb. 18.

While the technology demonstration is just getting started, it could pave the way for science fiction to become science fact – isolating and storing oxygen on Mars to help power rockets that could lift astronauts off the planet’s surface. Such devices also might one day provide breathable air for astronauts themselves. MOXIE is an exploration technology investigation – as is the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) weather station – and is sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

“This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for STMD. “MOXIE has more work to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are full of promise as we move toward our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars. Oxygen isn’t just the stuff we breathe. Rocket propellant depends on oxygen, and future explorers will depend on producing propellant on Mars to make the trip home.”

For rockets or astronauts, oxygen is key, said MOXIE’s principal investigator, Michael Hecht of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory.

To burn its fuel, a rocket must have more oxygen by weight. Getting four astronauts off the Martian surface on a future mission would require approximately 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of rocket fuel and 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) of oxygen. In contrast, astronauts living and working on Mars would require far less oxygen to breathe. “The astronauts who spend a year on the surface will maybe use one metric ton between them,” Hecht said. [read more]

Interesting.

US Postal Service running secret program that tracks people's social media and flags government agencies: Report

From Washington Examiner.com (April 21):

The United States Postal Service is apparently tracking social media posts as part of a clandestine program searching for “inflammatory” messages.

The program, known as the Internet Covert Operations Program, or iCOP, has not previously been made public and involves analysts combing through social media sites looking for “inflammatory” postings and then sharing those posts with government agencies, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News.

ICOP specifically tracks protests across the country. A March 16 government bulletin obtained by Yahoo, marked as “law enforcement sensitive,” showed that “analysts with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021.”

“Locations and times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed online across multiple social media platforms, to include right-wing leaning Parler and Telegram accounts,” the bulletin read.

A nationwide protest dubbed the World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy was set to take place on March 20 and was intended to signify displeasure with a variety of issues, including coronavirus lockdowns.

“Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in violence,” the bulletin explained. “Image 3 on the right is a screenshot from Parler indicating two users discussing the event as an opportunity to engage in a ‘fight’ and to ‘do serious damage.’”

The bulletin concluded that “no intelligence is available to suggest the legitimacy of these threats.” [read more]

Big Brother watching you?

Another article on the subject:

USPS faces backlash for social media surveillance of “inflammatory” posts, including anti-lockdown posts

Retired General Picked By Nancy Pelosi To Review Capitol Security Appears On Chinese Propaganda Network

From Daily Caller.com (April 21):

Chinese government officials and state-controlled media agencies have recently ramped up their rhetoric against the United States on the issue of climate change, portraying the U.S. as not doing enough to limit greenhouse emissions even though China is by far the world’s biggest polluter.

One shot fired in the propaganda war came this week in the form of an interview that CGTN America, the U.S. affiliate of the Beijing-controlled China Central Television (CCTV), conducted with retired Army Lt. General Russel Honoré.

Honoré, who is founder of the environmental group Green Army, decried in the CGTN interview that a “large part” of the population in his native Louisiana denies the existence of climate change.

Honoré has been in the news recently after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi picked him to conduct a review of security failures leading up to the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Honoré, who retired from the Army in 2008, first gained national prominence for leading the disaster recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina.

In his CGTN interview, Honoré said that Louisiana pays “a dear price” for energy jobs in the state because of pollution generated by onshore and offshore drilling.

……………..

Honoré did not praise China’s response to climate change, and his remarks criticizing Americans’ views on the issue were similar to those from other environmentalists. But in giving the interview, Honoré provided fodder that China’s propaganda mills used to subtly tarnish the image of the U.S. [read more]

Minimize Police Interactions With The Public

From Dick Morris.com (April 21):

The time has come for a change in policing. About 1000 people are killed each year by police officers. It couldn’t be more obvious for the need to minimize police interactions with the general public.

The case of Duane Wright is an illustration of what over-enforcement of the laws can lead to. Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was killed after he was stopped on a highway for an expired driver’s license and for having an air freshener dangling from his rearview mirror.

It was totally unnecessary to pull Wright over. In London, they use ubiquitous cameras to see who is driving and, with computers, to determine if they have a valid license. Those whose licenses have expired receive summonses in the mail and if necessary personal visits in their home. What is the reason, in this over-wrought racial situation, to send police to stop cars and confront unlicensed drivers?

And is it really worth endangering the lives of police officers and citizens to ensure that they do not have air fresheners dangling from the rearview mirrors? The rationale for this ridiculous rule is that air fresheners can be used to block the smell of marijuana. But we are on the verge of legalizing marijuana throughout the country. Is it worth the risk of confrontation that could and did escalate into a shooting to enforce a law like that?

Of course, sometimes it is necessary for police to interact directly with citizens. Street crimes, muggings, and crimes in progress come to mind. But the vast bulk of police- citizen interactions have nothing to do with violence and they should be minimized in the current climate

Protesters have a case when it comes to holding police accountable for shootings. Each year, approximately 1000 people are killed by police officers. Over the past 15 years only 121 have been indicted and only 44 convicted, many of lesser charges.

There can be no doubt that jurors in the Chauvin case were intimidated by the prospect of massive rioting if they voted to acquit. When the President of the United States says publicly, in the Oval Office, that he is, in effect, hoping for a conviction, there is scant hope for impartial justice.

The trial was as tainted as it could have been by the statements of Joe Biden and Maxine Waters. With tens thousands of troopers massed on the streets of Minneapolis what juror would have the courage to vote for acquittal knowing that it would set off rioting that might endanger his family, home, or business?

Reducing the number of interactions between citizens and police officers is no panacea, but it is a common sense, prudent step toward reducing violence and racial tensions. [source]

Not a bad idea. It would free up time for the police go after felonies or cars breaking the speed limit.

The Social Tyranny that Threatens Thoughtful Americans

From American Thinker.com (Dec. 15):

One of the earliest lessons we learned in school was likely to include the spirited explanation of Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" speech to move colonists to declare independence from the British Kingdom in 1775.  By high school, some may have dug deeper into the roots of the American Revolution by reading or hearing some excerpts from Thomas Paine's famous pamphlet Common Sense. Most social science majors, and certainly political science majors, in college likely worked through John Stewart Mill's On Liberty (1859).  Liberty is what we Americans cherish, and we learned in our history courses about the chains of tyranny brought on by governments.

Civil liberty (not to be confused with civil rights) is a right we are all given by the US Constitution to keep government at bay from encroaching on our person and our property.  The Constitution spelled out some limited power we turn over to government to manage society, and just as important the Bill of Rights ensures what we do not want our government to do to us or for us. We expect Congress to pass no laws to infringe on our liberty, and we expect government officials or any actors to leave us and our property alone.  The Bill of Rights protects us from government action to infringe or to restrict our freedom, as we go about our station in life.

Today, people don't talk about fear of tyranny when they distrust a politician or are mistreated by a government agency.  Aside from a sprinkle of hyperbole by calling someone a fascist, most warn that the bad actor is a "threat to Democracy."  However, we are not a Democracy.  By design, the Founders were fearful of a true Democracy.  James Madison in Federalist No 10 explained that given human nature, people would pursue narrow interests without regard for the rights of others and the common good.  Madison and others had little faith that "cooler heads" will prevail in governing, especially on controversial issues.  They were afraid of what the mob faction, affectionately called the masses of asses, would do if given all the power.  Thus, as we learned, the Founders set up our Constitutional Republic with three branches of government and plenty of balances and checks to keep the system clunky enough to avoid both rule by a majority or rule by a minority that gains too much power.

What we are witnessing today on our streets, in our businesses, in our schools where we play, and even in our homes is not tyranny by Big Brother, but a social tyranny.  John Stewart Mill's classic political philosophy treaties On Liberty warned not only against tyranny by government but what he called "social tyranny."  Social tyranny, Mill writes, is when we are told what is socially acceptable to think, say, and do.  An influential group in society, not the actual government, makes us do things at first we normally would not do, then over time they make us do things without thinking, to making us do things that are, well, unthinkable! [read more]

Other articles on tyranny:

• Democracy Is Another Form of Tyranny
• The Tyranny of the "Enlightened" Experts

China’s Communist Party Is Hiding Even More History To Celebrate Its 100th Birthday

From The Federalist.com (April 21):

In July, the Chinese Communist Party will celebrate its centenary. The birthday presents it gave itself included re-written party history and a hotline for Chinese people to snitch on fellow citizens who dare to raise any questions about the newly revised party history. Such behaviors remind everyone the CCP cannot be considered a trustworthy partner in addressing international affairs, such as finding the true origin of the coronavirus.

The CCP was founded in 1921 at the International Settlement area in Shanghai, an area managed by the British that housed Western businesses, politicians, and visitors. It was the only place in China where free press and dissent were much more tolerated. The area helped foster a press boom with the publication of hundreds of Chinese-language newspapers. It also became a hotbed for radical ideas, including Communism.

Both Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai — future leaders of the Chinese Communist Party — avoided the Chinese government’s persecution by living in the International Settlement in the early 1920s. There, they met other like-minded radicals.

They founded the CCP at the French Concession in late July of 1921, intending to start a Communist Revolution in China with the goal of driving out all foreign “invaders.” Since its founding, the CCP’s history was written in blood — from purges and power struggles to policies that inflicted immense suffering on China’s people. [read more]

What else is knew. They don’t let the citizens read about what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989. What did Orwell say? Who controls the past, controls the present? Yea, that sounds right.

Democrats Want Feds To Block Miami Latinos From Hearing Conservative Radio

From Daily Wire.com (April 16):

After Republicans increased their share of the Hispanic vote in 2020, Congressional Democrats are clamoring to use the force of government to prevent Latinos from hearing conservative ideas.

Multiple members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), including Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), the chair of its political arm, want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block the sale of a Miami Spanish-language radio station to a company they believe will move its programming from a left-wing to a right-wing slant.

America CV, a Spanish-language media company, announced that it was buying Caracol 1260 AM this month. Soon after, it said it would change the station’s name to America Radio and replaced Raul Martinez, a liberal talk show host and former government official, Newsweek reported.

Marcell Felipe, cofounder of the company, told The Daily Wire, “America Teve is being accused of being conservative because it is anti-Castro. We will not apologize for promoting democracy and opposing the Castro regime because we represent a community who are victims of that regime.”

Gallego lamented that Hispanics might vote Republican since those who preferred to consume media in the Spanish language did not watch CNN. [read more]

Fascists control freaks! The Left tried to shut down Rush Limbaugh too. 

The Totalitarian Undertow of Social Distancing

From American Thinker.com (April 14):

Social distancing, mask mandates, and lockdowns have put civil society on ice. Church congregations either do not meet, “meet” in socially distancing congregations, or try to fellowship over video conferencing. Many schools are still closed, still trying to replace face-to-face learning with farcical “distance learning.” Public sporting events have been almost nonexistent. Many small businesses have gone under, and many of the survivors are struggling. Most remaining social interaction has been pushed to social media, which at its best is a weak substitute for face-to-face human interaction. Even ardent supporters of mask-wearing can’t deny that they stifle communication, verbal and nonverbal. When was the last time you saw someone smile in public?

Some restrictions were perhaps unavoidable, even prudent measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the restrictions have clearly harmful side effects. Our government has deliberately fragmented society to protect ourselves from a disease.

What are the unintended consequences of allowing government to overwhelm civil society, even for good reasons?

The closest parallel in recent history to prolonged social distancing may be the atomization of societies under totalitarian regimes. Totalitarian regimes usually take power during periods of massive social and political upheaval, and they must perpetuate the upheaval through reigns of terror in order to retain power. This completely isolates the individual, subjecting him or her to the full power of the central government to prevent any coherent political opposition from forming. Intervening institution such as families, churches, schools, media, unions, and political parties are co-opted or eliminated. Local and regional governments, the military, and the police are brought under central control. Any legislative and judicial bodies are either dissolved or converted into rubberstamps for the ruler, whether one man (e.g., Hitler) or an oligarchy (e.g., the Soviet and Chinese politburos).

The net result is no one can truly trust anyone in a totalitarian state. Against such overwhelming state power, the isolated individual cannot stand. The individual does not matter. He or she must either submit, take a fun-filled vacation to a “re-education camp,” or die. [read more]

Another article on the subject:

Lockdowns Are More Economically Devastating Than Voluntary Social Distancing