Check if your utility company can change the temperature in your home

 From Komando.com (June 30):

Smart devices in your house can help you out with a lot of things. From doorbells that show who’s on your porch to lights that can come on at a specific time, they sure do make modern life exciting. If you live in a region with extreme temperature fluctuations, you may have added a smart thermostat to your technological arsenal.

These devices allow you to remotely control your home’s air-conditioning even if you aren’t there. But some users across several states have noticed that their devices are seemingly changing the temperature by themselves.

Distinctly remember that the thermostat was set at a specific temperature, users discovered their houses to be much warmer than expected. If this has happened to you, here is what is going on.

Here’s the backstory

Texas experienced one of its coldest winters this year, causing many residents to crank up the heat in their homes. The more electricity Texans use, the greater the strain on the state’s utility grid. During the last winter, Texas had several blackouts as a result.

With summer already reaching record temperatures, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has pleaded with residents to use electricity sparingly. Some parts of the state had a sudden loss of power generation on June 22, and the day before had a generation loss of 564 MW.

What does this have to do with smart thermostats? Well, it turns out that some Texas residents’ thermostats have been turned up remotely without their knowledge. These devices are installed in homes as part of a Smart Savers Texas program and are operated by EnergyHub, of which ERCOT is a client.

A resident explained to KHOU 11 that his thermostat remotely changed to 78 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the same temperature ERCOT recommends to save power. Brandon English explained that his wife and child were napping at the time. “They woke up sweating. Was my daughter at the point of overheating? She’s 3 months old. They dehydrate very quickly,” he said. [read more]

Kind of scary that power companies can change your temperature like. My question is what kind of computer security is on the thermostat? If an evil psychohacker gets access to your thermostat via the power company (s)he could have a lot of fun. 

How A 10-Year-Old Girl’s Mom Saved Her From Going Transgender

Commentary from Wait Heyer on The Federalist.com (June 30):

When I appeared on a Heritage Foundation panel discussion in 2019, I said people are manufacturing trans gender kids. They are hurting the most vulnerable members of our society by encouraging children and adolescents to live as the opposite sex, inject hormone blockers and cross-gender hormones, and undergo surgeries that irrevocably alter healthy body parts.

These protocols are dangerous and unstudied, and shouldn’t be pushed on children. Yet this madness rages on like an unchecked forest fire.

I was a transgender child who “transitioned” to female as an adult. I lived as female for eight years, until I woke up and admitted it wasn’t working. Counseling led to emotional healing and my feelings of gender dysphoria dissipated. Hormones and surgery were unnecessary and physically harmed me. Now I use my experience to mentor others who want to reclaim their biological reality.

So, when a mother who watched the panel discussion wrote me, saying, “The video gave me the courage and helped me to take control of my 10-year-old daughter’s wellbeing,” I knew I needed to speak out again to expose the manipulation that causes vulnerable children to think they have a transgender identity.

With this mother’s permission, I share her terrifying experience of almost losing her young daughter in a few short months. I’ve shortened her emails for space and clarity. Her story illustrates how easily a ten-year-old girl can be groomed into a cross-sex identity, but for the intervention of her mindful parents.

Ten-year-old Mindy (a pseudonym) changed schools and left behind her friends just before the school lockdowns, then attended school virtually for the rest of fourth grade and all of fifth grade. When she exhibited overwhelming stress, her concerned parents took her to a counselor at the pediatrician’s office. That started their nightmare.

Their story followed a common five-step process I have seen numerous times.

Step 1. Exclude the Parents

Separating parents from their child is an excellent strategy to manufacture trans kids. Away from the parents’ watchful eyes and protection, advocates are free to indoctrinate the child into transgenderism.

Mindy was isolated for six days in the hospital from her parents, who were refused updates. Reflecting on this time, the mother says, “She was hospitalized in February for out of the blue with anxiety and depression…I’m still amazed this happened in the first place and my husband and I weren’t given any choice. They told us she was suicidal and she needed to be taken to be evaluated in house [hospitalized].”

……………….

Step 2. Leap to a Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria

For Mindy, what started as “out of the blue” anxiety and depression quickly escalated to a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the next crucial step in the manufacturing of trans kids.

“She began counseling at the pediatrics office and [they] quickly diagnosed her with gender dysphoria (without telling us) and possible Asperger’s in addition to the previous GAD [Generalized Anxiety Disorder]. I felt like they did not listen to me…I told the pediatrics office and counselor that this started when my daughter changed school… leaving her friends and the only school she had ever been to. [Then] school became virtual [and] nothing was normal.”

Notice how the counselor didn’t listen to the parents and their knowledge of their child. Obvious triggers—changing schools, leaving friends behind, lockdowns, and the resulting anxiety and depression—were ignored. To me, this is reckless medical malpractice and it happens far too frequently.

……………….

Step 3. Affirm the Cross-Sex Identity

Studies show that affirming a child in a cross-sex identity alters the child’s psyche and puts a child on the path to living as transgender. Without being pushed into transgenderism, most gender-confused children will re-identify with their natural sex during puberty. In other words, their feelings change, and they grow out of it.

Sometimes the parents affirm the child’s dysphoria and cross-dress him or her. More often, schools, counselors, and teachers affirm and encourage children in a cross-sex identity (new name, new pronouns, new wardrobe), and even keep it a secret from the parents.

For ten-year-old Mindy, her therapist was forthright enough, thankfully, to inform Mindy’s parents that she intended, without their permission or input, to start calling Mindy by a male name. But Mindy’s mama bear mother didn’t roll over. She took appropriate action.

“Well needless to say I began researching this day and night. This is when I found your video. I quickly requested her medical records…of course the info was blacked out but the gender dysphoria was on there.”

“We informed the same therapist that she would not be coming back. We would resume care elsewhere.”

Step 4. Glorify Trans Identities

Manufacturing trans kids wouldn’t be nearly so successful were it not for entertainment glorifying trans identities, through YouTube videos, children’s shows, video games, and education. Children are attracted (and groomed) through the influence of their peers, social media, and teachers.

It’s easy to see why a child who hits a rough period emotionally, or feels socially awkward or isolated, would be drawn to identifying as transgender as a means to acceptance and attention.

Across the nation, public schools include LGBT books and activities in the curriculum, as early as kindergarten, that romanticize those who identify as transgender. (Parents, see this article for concrete advice on fighting this in public schools.) Online, communities and popular apps are incubators, chock-full of transgender-pushing accounts ready to indoctrinate a vulnerable child. “Social contagion” is now a major factor in teens flocking to trans identities.

Mindy’s mom discovered the negative influence of those communities when Mindy made friends with two older kids online: “[Mindy] began to have anxiety more frequently after talking to them / panic attacks while online with these kids,” the mother wrote. “My gut knew this played a part.”

Mindy’s observant mother rightly sensed that Mindy’s online activity contributed to her anxiety and confusion. Most of the parents who contact me report their child has spent too much time online in chat rooms or video games. Many times, we discover the child was not gender dysphoric at all.

Step 5. Vilify and Ban All Differing Ideas

Anyone who has questions the transgender narrative faces the charge of “trans-phobic” and is ostracized. I’ve been called trans-phobic because I tell my story of transition and detransition. A distinguished child psychologist and department chair was effectively fired because he expressed the scientific fact that drugs that block puberty or cross-sex hormones can endanger a child’s long-term psychological health.

Major medical associations have changed position statements to advocate for political ideology over sound medical practice. In 20 states, counselors can lose their licenses if they question a client’s transgender identification instead of reinforcing it.

At the national level, activists disguise the true intentions of innocuous-sounding bills like the proposed Equality Act and the Fairness for All Act. Both bills ban therapy and punish all who question transitioning for children.

Loss of freedom is the result. Individual health professionals must comply or lose their livelihood. Concerned parents can’t find a counselor who will challenge the diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Parents face being labeled “trans-phobic” and more severe legal repercussions, such as a visit from child protective services and possible seizure of their children. The child suffers the consequences for a lifetime. [read more]

How Christians Ended Foot Binding in China

From Break Point.org:

The practice of foot binding, tightly wrapping the feet of young girls in order to reshape them and prevent them from growing too large, began sometime during the ninth or tenth century in China. Small feet on women were considered attractive in Han Chinese culture, and, over time, the practice grew increasingly extreme. In fact, by the sixteenth century, the foot binding process broke the bones in young girls’ feet. The goal was to produce “lotus feet,” with the ideal feet being no longer than 4 inches. Women with “lotus feet” were able to only manage small steps and would sway as they walked, something considered alluring by Chinese men.

By the end of the nineteenth century, foot binding was deeply embedded as a cultural norm. Nearly half of all women in China and almost all upper-class Han women had their feet bound. Though a painful, debilitating, and abusive practice, having “lotus feet” was essential to securing a good marriage.

Yet, in the space of one generation, foot binding disappeared.

The successful campaign against foot binding was jointly led by Western missionaries and native Chinese Christians. John Macgowan, a Belfast-born missionary with the London Missionary Society was a key figure. In 1875, he called a meeting of Chinese Christian women to oppose foot binding. Nine of these women agreed not to bind their daughters’ feet, not to allow their sons to marry women with bound feet, and to undergo the painful process of unbinding their own. This was the beginning of the Quit-Foot-Binding Society, the first anti-foot binding society in China.

Macgowan also convinced Chinese intellectuals, including the Buddhist reformer Kang Youwei, to oppose foot binding. In 1885, Kang founded the Foot Emancipation Society. In 1898, he wrote a memorandum to the Emperor urging him to abolish foot binding, arguing that it made China an object of international ridicule.

Other anti-foot binding societies developed rapidly, some which were part of Kang’s movement while others were led by or inspired by foreign and Chinese Christians. In the end, Chinese Christian women took the lead to end foot binding. For example, Shi Meiyu was the daughter of a Methodist pastor who refused to allow her own feet to be bound. As the first Chinese woman to receive a medical degree from an American University, she founded two hospitals in China and labored tirelessly to abolish foot binding. [read more]

Taking the Racism Test

From American Thinker.com (June 30):

Professor Ibram X Kendi is the unremarkable, unapologetically racist “academic” who has become the go-to-guy for guiding woke public sector leaders on how to recognize racism and the through line between systemic racism yesterday and today. In an environment where Kendi’s woke disciples initiate daily reports of racism everywhere, it is a useful skill to be able to recognize racism and any through lines. Why not test your skills? Keep in mind that racism is discrimination based on race, religion, or ethnicity.

Historical: 1700-2000

1. All North American slaves, excluding spoils of war, after 1700 were black. Was this racist? 
2. Free Irish were used instead of Black slaves for dangerous work because slaves were too valuable. Was that racist? 
3. In 1863 slaves were freed. In 1864 a new immigration act was passed permitting indentured servitude for White ethnicities from southern and central Europe. Was this racist?
4. Were laws preventing Catholics and Jews from voting and holding office racist?
5. Jim Crow laws disproportionately disenfranchised black people. Were they racist? 
6. The Ku Klux Klan used violence to make Black people uncomfortable. Was this racist?
7. In the mid and late-1800s Irish-American citizens and legal residents were deported because they were poor. Was that racist?
8. Was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act racist?
9. The 1924 Immigration Act aimed to halt immigration specifically against Whites from Italy. Was it racist?
10. Were signs that said no colored people allowed racist?
11. Were signs that said Irish, or Filipino, or Jews prohibited racist?
12. In the 19^th century, public schools taught anti-Catholicism. Was this racist? 
13. In the early 20^th century, the number of qualified Jews accepted into Ivy League universities were subjectively restricted. Was this racist?
14. During WWII, the U.S. government reluctantly agreed to accept 1,000 Jewish refugees trying to escape the Holocaust. Was this racist?
15. Historian Arthur Schlesinger (1888-1965) called the discrimination against Catholics “the deepest bias in the history of the American people.” Was this racist?
16. After WWII, Congress agreed that it was unfair to have American systems that encouraged or condoned preferences or discrimination based on race/religion/ethnicity. Systemic racism was made illegal in 1964. Was this racist? 
17. Since 1964, American private and public institutions have succeeded in ending systemic discrimination by dismantling discriminatory laws, practices, and programs. In the 21^st century, America has the most successful minority populations in the world. Some are more successful than White Protestants. Is this racist?

[read more]

The answer is yes to all above except the last two questions.

Another article on race: The Failures of Federal Race-Based Paternalism

Election Integrity: The Firewall That Keeps America Free

Commentary From Scott S. Powell on American Thinker.com (June 26):

During the last year and a half, it’s become obvious to anyone whose head is not in the sand that America has been under assault on multiple levels from within. There is no denying that the COVID-19 viral invasion was a catalyst for so much of the disruption of 2020, culminating in election irregularity in November.

By spring 2020, normal activities and businesses were largely shut down nationwide by federal and local governments’ response to COVID-19.  Antifa and BLM protests and riots in May and June brought the costliest manmade damage to American property in history. Then the cancel culture, already ensconced and in control of college and university campuses, came to the streets and parks of America in the tearing down historic monuments -- all the while law enforcement was coming under severe attack with numerous police departments facing prospects of defunding.

This lockdown-crisis environment gave Democrats an opportunity to push for change in state election rules to their advantage, such as allowing wholesale distribution of mail-in ballots, extending deadlines for counting those ballots, and legal challenges to voter ID and signature verification laws. And we all now know the result: the November 3^rd election was characterized by unprecedented election irregularities and charges of vote fraud in more states than any prior election.

The confluence of all this has certainly brought on confusion for many Americans.  But a significant group of people believes they see things with clarity. Where I live in South Florida it’s an incredible melting pot of people -- immigrants from all over the world. Many of my acquaintances and friends -- from Eastern and Slavic Europe and Russia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia -- have commented that what they see going on in America is a fairly classic communist-type subversion.  They believe that the takedown of America is well advanced and now poses a real threat to continuation of the United States as a free nation. 

…………….

While there are minor differences in theory amongst those who have lived under and have experienced communism up close, they [the author’s immigrant and refugee friends] basically agree that communists generally target four primary institutions to break down and replace:  1) the Family unit; 2) Religion, Christianity in particular; 3) Individuality and independent thinking (which is supplanted by collectivist group think); and 4) Loyalty to the nation-state (which is supplanted by global and internationalist affinities).

My friends also agree on the four steps or stages that communists employ to take over targeted peoples and nations.  First, communists seek to bring about “demoralization,” which takes many years -- a generation or two -- of brainwashing to destroy the moral fiber and integrity of the target people or country.  The second stage, which is shorter, is to bring about “destabilization,” and targets the weakening of the country’s economy, justice system and law enforcement, and its defense capabilities.  The third stage is to bring about a “crisis.” This is the last major step in the communist playbook, which usually involves a cataclysmic event that upsets and divides the country -- pitting large groups against each other, creating either civil war or simply chaos and panic. The fourth and final stage in the realization of the communist-type society is what is called “normalization,” and it is generally irreversible. That is the final stage where the new powerbrokers take over and the populace of the target country loses all its remaining freedoms, its connection to its past, while the new state employs censorship and propaganda to enforce acquiescence to the new communist reality being imposed.     

According to the “four stages of communist revolution,” the United States is now clearly in the third Crisis Stage, with division making the country nearly ungovernable and revolutionary change being manifest in a fraudulent election.  Not only is Joe Biden’s election legitimacy as President in question, but so is his mental competence. Additionally, his fundamental trustworthiness is in question because of son Hunter taking large monetary sums on behalf of the Biden family from corrupt foreign countries, with China being the largest benefactor. [read more]

Another article on the communists and radicals:

In a Philadelphia elementary school, teachers are putting a premium on radicalism, not reading.

Tucker Carlson accuses NSA of spying on him

From Washington Examiner.com (June 28):

Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused the Biden administration of "spying" on him in an attempt to take his show off the air.

He told his audience on Monday a government whistleblower told his team the National Security Agency is "spying" on their electronic communications and is "planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air."

Carlson offered no evidence other than to say the whistleblower, whom he did not identify, repeated back information on a story the host's team is working on that came directly from his own text messages and emails.

"The Biden administration is spying on us," he said after asserting "it is illegal for the NSA to spy on American citizens."

Accusing the NSA of covertly picking up his electronic communications, Carlson insisted there is "no other possible source of that information."

The NSA responded to Carlson's claims in a statement on Tuesday.

"On June 28, 2021, Tucker Carlson alleged that the National Security Agency has been 'monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.' This allegation is untrue," an NSA spokesman said in a statement. "Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the Agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air. NSA has a foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States. With limited exceptions (e.g. an emergency), NSA may not target a US citizen without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting."

Carlson, whose show averages millions of viewers, said his team filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for all information the NSA and other agencies have gathered about his show. They also reached out to the press offices of the NSA and FBI for comment.

"We don’t expect to hear much back. That’s the way that usually goes. Only Congress can force transparency on the intelligence agencies, and they should do that immediately," he said.

"Spying on opposition journalists is incompatible with democracy. If they are doing it to us, and again, they are definitely doing it to us, they are almost certainly doing it to others. This is scary, and we need to stop it right away," Carlson said in conclusion.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Fox News for comment. The FBI declined to comment on the FOIA request and referred the Washington Examiner to the NSA.  [source]

This is scary. If NSA can spy on Tucker it can spy on anyone.

Other articles on the spying:

• Tucker Carlson Rips Biden Admin Response to Claim of NSA Spying on Him
• WATCH: Tucker Carlson shares new details on NSA spying claims
• NSA review finds that Tucker Carlson’s communications were not targeted
• How The NSA Unmasked Tucker Carlson Has Been REVEALED!
• Congress pressures US spy agencies as Tucker Carlson feuds with NSA
• Tucker Carlson recalls his first move after realizing NSA was SPYING [video]

Soros gun-ban group has key role in Biden ‘crime’ plan

From Washington Examiner.com (June 24):

President Joe Biden is teaming with anti-gun advocate George Soros and several other liberal groups in his bid to reduce violent crime by focusing on guns and legal gun sellers.

Included in his plan is hosting meetings over the next 18 months in 15 high-crime cities where Soros’s Open Society Foundation and 12 other pro-gun-control groups will spell out “best practices” to help city leaders with the explosion of violence in their cities.

A scan of the policies of those 13 groups shows that all are anti-gun and, like Biden, blame firearms for violence plaguing some cities.

The list does not include any gun industry groups, notably the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which has several programs to cut crime and stop guns from getting into the wrong hands through straw or other illegal purchases.

The groups Biden chose are proponents of gun registration and bans.

Open Society, for example, has called for a new 1994-style ban on popular semi-automatic sporting rifles.

In describing its teaming with the groups, a White House fact sheet read, “A group of philanthropies that have been leaders on this issue will support this collaborative learning network by deploying [community violence intervention] experts to provide training and technical assistance, identify best practices, integrate proven and innovative public-health approaches, and help local community-based organizations scale CVI efforts this summer and beyond.”

The move comes as Biden is trying to install an anti-gun advocate from the Giffords organization as the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Second Amendment advocates predicted that the groups Biden planned to team with would be proponents of gun control and not have any industry representatives.

Soros is a well-known funder of anti-gun groups. Over one 10-year period, for example, he spent nearly $7 million funding them. He has funded at least one other gun control group being tapped by Biden, the Joyce Foundation. [source]

A Question of God, Part 1: Why Does God Ask Questions?

From The Epoch Times.com (Mar. 27):

St. Augustine observed long ago that “whatever appears in the divine Word that can be referred neither to virtuous conduct nor to the truth of faith must be taken to be figurative.” I think the key word in his sentence that we have to come to terms with is the word “figurative.”

The “divine Word” means, of course, the scriptures. And it is easy to see that the Ten Commandments, for example, are a clear case of exhorting us to virtuous conduct. Equally, we can delve into the Epistles of Paul in the New Testament and find plenty of examples of what constitutes “the truth of faith.”

But then, setting aside this large body of virtue and truth texts, we also have huge swaths of text—myths, stories, parables, and so on—that make up what might be construed as “figurative.” That seems easy and straightforward, doesn’t it? It does, but it isn’t! It’s important in looking at the Bible to realize that figurative truths exist alongside literal truths, and sometimes can be even more powerful.

One of the problems with atheists, and especially those of a scientific cast of mind (sometimes called “scientism”), is that they look for literal meanings where, in fact, figurative things are meant.

And, it’s not just atheists who do this, for if we go back to the New Testament, we find the Pharisees—religious leaders (not atheists!)—doing it. A great example would be in Mark’s gospel (14:58) where Jesus is accused of saying that if “this Temple” is destroyed, he will make another in three days. Here, clearly, the figurative meaning that Jesus is referring to is his own resurrection, but the accusers and priests assume that he actually—literally—means he will rebuild Herod’s temple (that took 46 years to build, John 2:20) in three days!

But still worse than scientism, however, is when we find the aesthetic artist types who also, incredibly, seem not to understand what figurative means. A good example of what I am talking about occurs in the book “Revelations: Personal Responses to the Books of the Bible,” published in 2005, in which various celebrities and experts give their responses and interpretations to many of the books in the Old and New Testaments.

…………….

Why Does God Ask Questions?

So we are left with asking two questions. The first is, Why does God ask questions when he already knows the answers? And this, I think, helps us delve further into the depths of meaning in this seemingly simple story or myth.

A starting point might be that to see the presence of God “in the cool of the day” (notice, not the heat or passion of the day) is somewhat analogous to the voice of conscience: They have done wrong, and they know it; but they don’t know it and wish to hide from it. But there is no hiding. If we won’t come to God, then God comes, walks, toward us.

Then, in this personal encounter (and isn’t conscience intensely cool but also intensely personal?) we find God—clearly knowing the answers to his own questions—going into what in modern parlance might be described as a “coaching” mode. Yes, God the ultimate coach!

For what do coaches do? By questioning, they draw out from the subjects the answers that are within them, but yet which unaided they seem unable to reach. The point of God’s question is always to enable the subject to self-realize, to rescue their self from their own predicament. [read more]

A Question of God, Part 2: The Subtle Intentions Behind Satan’s Questions

The Covid Lockdowns Showed Us How Dangerous Social Engineers Have Become

From Mises.org (June 22):

Since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, governments around the world, along with a handful of unelected medical experts, have been behaving as though they are the social engineers of totalitarian regimes (e.g., fascism, Nazism, and communism). To be more precise, this select group of political leaders and medical experts have upended economies, as well as the lives of billions of ordinary people, by implementing extremely coercive and restrictive lockdowns and physical distancing measures for the stated purpose of bringing the pandemic under control and preventing future outbreaks. Specific measures have included curfews; police patrols on the streets; the compulsory closure of businesses deemed nonessential, as well as workplaces, schools, and institutions of higher education; the banning of social gatherings; the cancelation of sporting and cultural events; the suspension of religious services; and restrictions on personal movement and interactions at the local, national, and international levels. In many parts of the world, people have been subjected to mandatory stay-at-home orders, requiring them to spend most of the day confined and isolated in their homes. Lockdown measures have also been used to prohibit people from engaging in public protests and freely expressing their opinions, as failure to comply with limits on social gatherings has led to people being arrested, detained, and fined. It has also not been uncommon to see excessive police force being used to enforce lockdowns and curfews, and to disperse protests against unreasonable restrictions. Some governments have also set up detention centers for international travelers entering into their countries, where they are forced to quarantine at their own expense while they wait for the results of their covid-19 tests. Shockingly, in early June 2021, the provincial government in Ontario, Canada, went so far as to announce that residents in long-term care homes would soon be permitted to engage in “close physical contact, including handholding” and “brief hugs” with visitors when both parties are fully immunized.

Unfortunately, instead of criticizing this state of affairs, the mainstream media and major social media platforms are fully on board. They have turned out to be willing collaborators of the governments in these matters by glorifying their oppressive and punitive measures, censuring critical viewpoints, and fostering a culture of surveillance, all while spreading fear. They have also been ceaselessly promoting the injection of experimental vaccines as the only solution that will bring totalitarian lockdown measures to an end.

If Karl Popper and Friedrich Hayek had witnessed the type of central planning that has taken place since the beginning of the pandemic, they would have called it “holistic social engineering.” They were convinced that supporters of the concept of a social engineer sought to extend “the power of the State” in controlling and reshaping society as a whole in accordance with their own ideals, goals, and wills. According to Popper, social engineers believe that they can diagnose the goals and needs of society, and then implement a strategy to achieve them through large-scale planning. However, such an undertaking would require social engineers to centrally coordinate the activities of millions of people by replacing the wills and ends of those individuals with their own. [read more]

There will always be social engineering when the “elites” think they know better than the masses. This also involves dehumanizing people. Thinking they are an abstract concept not as individuals with rights. Both attitudes go hand in hand.

More articles on lockdowns:

• Experts Said Ending Lockdowns Would Be Worse for the Economy than the Lockdowns Themselves. They Were Wrong.
• Civil disobedience can stop another COVID shutdown

Whitlock: Veneration of George Floyd is racist and must be stopped

Commentary From Jason Whitlock on The Blaze.com (June 22):

The deification of George Floyd harms black people and America.

The statues unveiled last week in Newark, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, that memorialize the final nine minutes of George Floyd's life denigrate and diminish the reputation of black men.

George Floyd was a victim — of his drug addiction, self-destructive behavior, and Derek Chauvin's misconduct.

Floyd is not Jesus. He's not Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Medgar Evers, black men who died tragically in service of promoting racial fairness. Floyd isn't Crispus Attucks, the first man killed in America's Revolutionary War. Floyd isn't Emmett Till, an innocent victim of anti-black bigotry.

Floyd isn't any of the black men I know who are terrific fathers, husbands, providers, and protectors. Floyd isn't "Uncle Jimmy," my media sidekick, whose primary job is father to his young sons, James and Jamill.

George Floyd is a prop corporate media uses for attention, a pawn liberal politicians use to push policy, and a punching bag social activists use as a symbol to explain black people and promote themselves.

A prop, a pawn, and a punching bag.

That is not the recipe for deification and statues. It's a recipe for the impugnment of the character, integrity, and reputation of black people. [read more]

I agree. Floyd shouldn’t be worshiped or even venerated. Would he have been venerated if he had been killed by another civilian? Probably not.

“You are a pathetic liar”: CDC senior scientist to CDC's head of immunization (DOCUMENT)

From Sharyl Attkisson.com (June 26):

A CDC internal email released through a Freedom of Information Act request reveals just how nasty things got behind closed doors after a CDC senior scientist confessed to covering up a link between vaccines and autism, and implicated his CDC colleagues.

The email, dated Sept. 2, 2018, was written by CDC's Dr. Willam (Bill) Thompson to Dr. Frank DeStefano, CDC’s head of immunization safety.

In the email, Thompson responds to an interview DeStefano gave me in 2014. It was after Thompson stunned the scientific community by saying that he, DeStefano, and other CDC scientists committed fraud in a major vaccine-autism study. It was information that upended a decade-and-a-half of government and vaccine industry narratives on the controversy, and stood to impact some of the millions of families in the U.S. who have autistic children.

According to Thompson, he and his fellow CDC scientists covered up a link between MMR vaccine and autism in African-American boys. “The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism,” Thompson later testified. [read more]

A Plan to Get Divisive & Radical Theories Out of Our Schools

From Real Clear Politics.com (June 18):

As a candidate, Joe Biden’s number one promise was to “unite” America. Yet in his first months as president, his number one priority has been to divide our country by race and gender at every turn.

There is no clearer example than the Biden administration’s new effort aimed at indoctrinating America’s schoolchildren with some of the most toxic and anti-American theories ever conceived. It is vital for Americans to understand what this initiative would do, what drives it and, most importantly, how we can stop it.

For decades, the America-blaming left has been relentlessly pushing a vision of America that casts our history, culture, traditions, and founding documents in the most negative possible light. Yet in recent years, this deeply unnatural effort has progressed from telling children that their history is evil to telling Americans that they are evil.

In classrooms across the nation, students are being subjected to a new curriculum designed to brainwash them with the ridiculous left-wing dogma known as “critical race theory.” The key fact about this twisted doctrine is that it is completely antithetical to everything that normal Americans of any color would wish to teach their children.

Instead of helping young people discover that America is the greatest, most tolerant, and most generous nation in history, it teaches them that America is systemically evil and that the hearts of our people are full of hatred and malice. Far from advancing the beautiful dream of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- that our children should “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” -- the left’s vile new theory preaches that judging people by the color of their skin is actually a good idea.

……………..

Here are the reforms that every concerned parent in America should be demanding.

First, every state legislature should pass a ban on taxpayer dollars going to any school district or workplace that teaches critical race theory, which inherently violates existing anti-discrimination laws. Inspired by my executive order last year, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and other states have already taken steps to pass such laws. It needs to happen everywhere — and Congress should seek to institute a federal ban through legislation as well.

Second, each state should create its own 1776 Commission to examine the public school curriculum and ensure that students are receiving a patriotic, pro-American education — not being taught that the United States is an evil nation.

Third, parents have a right to know exactly what is being taught to their children. Last year, many parents had the chance to routinely listen in on classes for the first time because of remote learning. As students return to the classroom, states need to pass laws requiring that all lesson plans have to be made available to parents — every handout, article, and reading should be posted on an online portal that allows parents to see what their kids are being taught. Furthermore, in many places, there are rules preventing students from recording what teachers say in class. States and school boards should establish a “Right to Record.” [read more]

Other parts of the plan:

• [P]arents need to organize locally — in every school district in America — to eliminate “Action Civics” and other versions of the effort to contort traditional civics education into a vehicle for political indoctrination.
• [A]ny parent who objects to the material being taught to their child in public school should get an automatic voucher, empowering them to pick another school of their choice.
• [S]tates need to take back control of their schools of education and credentialing bodies to ensure they are not churning out radicalized teachers.
• [S]tates need to break the tenure monopoly in public K-12 schools. Tenure was originally supposed to protect competent teachers from being subjected to undue political influence; it has turned into a mechanism to protect incompetent teachers who themselves wield undue political influence over our children.

Good ideas.

Other school articles:

• Parent union forming to combat power of public school teachers unions
• How ‘Systemic Liberalism’ Failed Public Education in America

10 Radical New Rules That Are Changing America

From The Daily Signal.com (Apr. 1):

Ten new ideas are changing America, maybe permanently:

1. Money is a construct.

It can be created from thin air. Annual deficits and aggregate national debt no longer matter much.
Prior presidents ran up huge annual deficits, but at least there were some concessions that the money was real and had to be paid back. Not now.

As we near $30 trillion in national debt and 110% of annual gross domestic product, our elites either believe permanent zero interest rates make the cascading obligation irrelevant or the larger the debt, the more likely we will be forced to address needed income redistribution.

2. Laws are not necessarily binding anymore.

President Joe Biden took an oath to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” But he has willfully rendered federal immigration laws null and void. Some rioters are prosecuted for violating federal laws, others not so much. Arrests, prosecutions, and trials are all fluid. Ideology governs when a law is still considered a law.
Crime rates do not necessarily matter. If someone is carjacked, assaulted, or shot, it can be understood to be as much the victim’s fault as the perpetrator’s. Either the victim was too lax, uncaring, and insensitive, or he provoked his attacker.

How useful the crime is to the larger agendas of the left determines whether a victim is really a victim and the victimizer really a victimizer.

3. Racialism is now acceptable.

We are defined first by our ethnicity or religion, and only secondarily—if at all—by an American commonality.

The explicit exclusion of whites from college dorms, safe spaces, and federal aid programs is now noncontroversial. It is unspoken payback for perceived past sins, or a type of “good” racism. Falsely being called a racist makes one more guilty than falsely calling someone else a racist.

4. The immigrant is mostly preferable to the citizen.

The newcomer, unlike the host, is not stained by the sins of America’s founding and history. Most citizens currently must follow quarantine rules and social distancing, stay out of school, and obey all the laws.
Yet those entering the United States illegally need not follow such apparently superfluous COVID-19 rules. Their children should be immediately schooled without worry of quarantine.

Immigrants need not worry about their illegal entry or residence in America. Our elites believe illegal entrants more closely resemble the “Founders” than do legal citizens, about half of whom they consider irredeemable.

5. Most Americans should be treated as we would treat little children.

They cannot be asked to provide an ID to vote. “Noble lies” by our elites about COVID-19 rules are necessary to protect “Neanderthals” from themselves.
Americans deserve relief from the stress of grades, standardized testing, and normative rules of school behavior. They still are clueless about why it is good for them to pay far more for their gasoline, heating, and air conditioning. [read more]

The other five rules:

1. Hypocrisy is passé. Virtue signaling is alive.
2. Ignoring or perpetuating homelessness is preferable to ending it.
3. McCarthyism is good.
4. Ignorance is preferable to knowledge.
5. Wokeness is the new religion, growing faster and larger than Christianity.

Ex-Obama Doctor Torches Biden In Brutal Letter, Demands Biden ‘Submit To A Cognitive Test Immediately’

From Daily Wire.com (June 17):

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), the former White House physician for former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, sent a letter to Democrat President Joe Biden on Thursday demanding that Biden immediately submit to a cognitive test because his “mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past eighteen months.”

The letter — which was signed by more than a dozen other lawmakers, including by another physician and a dentist — told Biden that he should “follow the precedent set by former President Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities.”

“The American people should have absolute confidence in their President,” the letter states. “They deserve to know that he or she can perform the duties of Head of State and Commander in Chief. They deserve full transparency on the mental capabilities of their highest elected leader. To achieve this, we urge you to submit to a cognitive test immediately. We implore you to then publish the test results, so the American people know the full mental and intellectual health of their President, and to set an example for all Presidents to follow going forward.”

The letter then documented numerous instances of Biden appearing to have had struggles:

Previously, while on the campaign trail, you agreed to a similar assessment. At first, you “grew testy” and questioned “why the hell would I take a test,” according to an AP report. Later, you relented and said you were “very willing to let the American public judge my physical, mental – my physical, as well as my mental fitness and to, you know, to make a judgement about who I am.”

[read more]

He should take a test like President Trump. Something is wrong with his mind.

Biden Land Management nominee 'collaborated with eco-terrorists,' traded testimony for immunity

From Fox News.com (June 16):

President Biden's nominee to serve as the head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) "collaborated with eco-terrorists" in a tree spiking plot before trading her court testimony for legal immunity, according to court documents reviewed by Fox News.

In 1993, Biden's nominee to head up BLM, Tracy Stone-Manning, was granted legal immunity for her testimony that she retyped and sent an anonymous letter to the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of John P. Blount, her former roommate and friend, those documents reveal.

The letter told the Forest Service that 500 pounds of "spikes measuring 8 to 10 inches in length" had been jammed into the trees of an Idaho forest.

"The sales were marked so that no workers would be injured and so that you a--holes know that they are spiked," read the letter obtained by Fox News. "The majority of the trees were spiked within the first ten feet, but many, many others were spiked as high as a hundred and fifty feet."

"P.S., You bastards go in there anyway and a lot of people could get hurt," the note concluded.

Tree spiking is a dangerous and violent eco-terrorism tactic where metal rods are inserted into trees to prevent them from being cut down. The metal rods damage saws that, in turn, have severely injured people, such as a mill worker whose jaw was split in two from an exploding saw.

Stone-Manning admitted to mailing the letter for Blount in 1989 after receiving the letter from him but said she was unaware the spiking had occurred until reading it.

The nominee testified that she was "somewhat shocked" by the letter but rented a typewriter regardless and retyped the letter "pretty much word-for-word." Stone-Manning said she slept on the idea of mailing the letter and followed through the next day. [read more]

Vegan food company touting social justice lays off workers without notice

From Washington Examiner.com (June 14):

A vegan food manufacturer that uses socialist-inspired branding laid off all its production employees without warning or severance.

No Evil Foods, which is based in North Carolina and claims that it uses “food as a force for good,” announced the layoffs to workers on Friday. Employees expressed anger and shouted, “Screw all of y’all” and “f*** you!” after Drew Pollick, the head of human resources, told them that the company will not be paying them past Friday, according to audio obtained by HuffPost.

“The reality of the situation is the company has essentially run out of money, and we’re now really forced to make some really big, really difficult changes,” CEO Mike Woliansky said to the workers. “It’s coming down to whether or not there will be a No Evil at all.”

Woliansky confirmed that the company fired all remaining production staff in a statement. He said that instead of having in-house manufacturing, the company would shift to a co-packing manufacturer.

“Our goal is to be a significant force for good in the food system with environmentally sustainable, socially conscious, plant-based foods,” the CEO said. “For a company of our size to survive in the hyper-competitive marketplace, the co-manufacturing model will be required going forward.”

The company touts itself as a business that brings people closer to the origins of their food “while addressing issues like food insecurity, economic justice, and climate change,” according to No Evil Foods’s website. Some of the faux meat the company sells is branded with socialist themes such as “Comrade Cluck” and “El Zapatista,” apparently named for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a far-left revolutionary political and militant group in Mexico. [read more]

No Evil Foods? I guess laying off workers for no good reason and without warning is not evil. Hmmm. Then again the Left doesn’t care about individuals—just groups or some fuzzy concepts that don’t make sense.

Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen

From Axios.com (June 10):

Criminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year, some experts say.

Why it matters: Unemployment fraud during the pandemic could easily reach $400 billion, according to some estimates, and the bulk of the money likely ended in the hands of foreign crime syndicates — making this not just theft, but a matter of national security.

Catch up quick: When the pandemic hit, states weren't prepared for the unprecedented wave of unemployment claims they were about to face.

• They all knew fraud was inevitable, but decided getting the money out to people who desperately needed it was more important than laboriously making sure all of them were genuine.

By the numbers: Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me, a service that tries to prevent this kind of fraud, tells Axios that America has lost more than $400 billion to fraudulent claims. As much as 50% of all unemployment monies might have been stolen, he says.

• Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, estimates that at least 70% of the money stolen by impostors ultimately left the country, much of it ending up in the hands of criminal syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere.
• "These groups are definitely backed by the state," Talcove tells Axios.
• Much of the rest of the money was stolen by street gangs domestically, who have made up a greater share of the fraudsters in recent months.

What they're saying: “Widespread fraud at the state level in pandemic unemployment insurance during the previous Administration is one of the most serious challenges we inherited," said White House economist Gene Sperling. [read more]

The Commonalities Between the Rise of the Nazis and the Tactics of the American Left Cannot be Ignored

Commentary From Steve McCann on American Thinker.com (Mar. 29):

I recently wrote a column wherein I accused the American Left and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Democrat party, of using Fascist or Nazi tactics in their determination to permanently transform the nation into a one-party hybrid socialist state by exploiting nonexistent “systemic racism” and baseless fears of “white supremacy.”  This characterization did not set well with the gullible and self-righteous Democrat voters I know or those who contacted me.  They, rather vociferously, claimed that the utilization of Nazi tactics only applies to the American right and that they, the left, are only motivated by caring for the people.

However, any thoughtful and unemotional examination of the tactics the Nazi Party used to gain and maintain power in the 1920’s and 30’s will reveal numerous stark similarities to those being used by the left and the Democrat Party today.

First, racial division was a central component of Nazi political strategy and philosophy.  The Nazi Party was, without doubt, the most racially obsessed political party in human history.  Today’s Democrat party is second only to the Nazi Party in their racial obsession.   Every piece of legislation, every accusation against their opponents, every aspect of American society, even weather and climate is framed in racism.  

The Nazi Party’s obsession with race focused on their perverted belief in the inferiority and superiority of the races. This opened the door for blaming various racial groups for all the problems facing the country.   The American left are claiming the root cause of virtually all problems facing the nation is “systemic racism” as theoretically instigated by one particular race.

This obsession with race led to what is now often referred to as “identity politics.”  Identity politics was not invented by the modern American left.  It was, in fact, a weapon in the arsenal of the Nazi Party.  As the Nazis, using the national media they controlled, sliced and diced the populace into specific identity groups and then promulgated grievance-riddled policies aimed at these manufactured factions in order to foment anger at a specific identity group previously isolated by the party, the Jews.  The Democrat party and the left, using the so-called mainstream media, is doing the same among their manufactured identity groups (as defined by race or sexual orientation or ethnicity) in order to foment anger and isolate a specific group: white, heterosexual Christians.

Second, the Nazi Party was fixated on censorship and eliminating any cultural institution, publication or speech that did not fully support them.  In other words, their version of today’s “cancel culture.”   The Nazis were notorious for book-burning rituals in order to intimidate and send the message that they would shut down anyone and anything that did not align with their ideology.  Once in control of the national levers of powers, they did so with impunity.   The American left is figuratively burning books as it uses social media mobs as the vehicle to send the message that they will shut down anyone or anything that does not align with their ideology. [read more]

Other commonalities:

• The Nazis perfected the art of indoctrinating the citizenry through propaganda and “fake news.”
• The Nazis, true to socialist ideology, preyed on class envy to stoke tensions and resentment as they blamed the “Junker Class” (the equivalent of today’s “one percent”) for the nation’s economic woes.
• In the 1920’s and early 30’s the Nazi Party routinely relied on street riots, property damage and gratuitous violence utilizing their militant cadre, the Sturmabteilung (SA), to project power through intimidation while blaming the communists for the violence.
• In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.  Within four weeks a mysterious fire broke out in the Reichstag (Congress) Building which they blamed on communist agitators and that this was the opening salvo in a violent coup.

Why This Dispute in South China Sea Matters to America

From The Daily Signal.com (June 8):

Tensions between China and the Philippines are rising in the South China Sea. How this conflict plays out will have long-lasting effects on the power struggle between China and other nations in the region, and larger implications for the U.S. as well.

A total of 220 Chinese militia and fishing boats on March 20 swarmed Whitsun Reef, a coral region in the South China Sea claimed by both China and the Philippines.

Whitsun Reef is situated in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Established in 1982 by the United Nations, exclusive economic zones give countries complete economic control over the area up to 200 nautical miles from their shores, including official rights to drilling and fishing.

In response to China’s illegally operating its vessels in Philippine waters, the Philippines increased its law enforcement and military presence in the area.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 13 Philippine military vessels made 57 visits to contested areas from March 1 to May 25. In the previous 10 months, only three Philippine vessels visited these areas a few times.

Although the Philippines have intercepted and driven away its ships, China will not stop its intimidation campaign in the region.

Even though communist Chinese aggression in the South China Sea may seem like a distant problem, the U.S. has a lot at stake economically. Left unchallenged, China’s excessive claims could negatively influence global trade.

China wants to increase its dominance in the South China Sea because it is a major trade conduit where one-third of the world’s shipping occurs. The sea is also rich in seafood and oil reserves. [read more]

College Athlete Sues Over Critical Race Theory, Woke Culture

From The Daily Signal.com (June 8):

A spokeswoman for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, expressed support Friday for former University of Oklahoma volleyball player Kylee McLaughlin, who has accused the university of violating her First Amendment rights by excluding her from her volleyball team over her conservative views.

“Governor Stitt fully supports every individual’s right to freedom of speech and thought,” the governor’s communications director, Carly Atchison, told The Daily Caller News Foundation Friday afternoon. “It’s shameful that young people on college campuses, and in today’s world, even K-12 classrooms, who dare dissent from the left’s agenda are being punished.”

McLaughlin is suing the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, volunteer assistant coach Kyle Walton, and University of Oklahoma volleyball head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton for a minimum of $75,000, according to the lawsuit, saying that the school discriminated against her for expressing beliefs that “did not fit the culture” at the University of Oklahoma. She formerly served as both a team captain and first team All-Big 12 player in 2018 and 2019, according to OU Daily.

“Although Plaintiff supports equality, social justice, and finds racism despicable, she disagreed with the WOKE culture and critical race theory advocated and practiced by two of her coaches who are the Defendants in this action,” the lawsuit said. Her case is currently pending in an Oklahoma City federal court. [read more]

Other articles about critical race theory:

• Critical Race Theory’s Poisonous Roots Trace Back To Harvard University
• Critical Race Theory Is Antithetical to Christianity, Black Pastor Says
• Is Your School Hiding Its Critical Race Theory Teaching? Here Are 5 Things to Ask About
• The Department Of Education Has Blinked On Critical Race Theory!
• Critical race theory: Struggle sessions
  
• Critical race theory: The education trap
  
• Biden’s race training for federal workers is designed to humiliate whites
• Democrats Kill Bill That Would’ve Banned Taxpayer-Funded Critical Race Theory In Schools And The Military
  

ANOM: Hundreds arrested in massive global crime sting using messaging app

From BBC.com (June 8):

More than 800 suspected criminals have been arrested worldwide after being tricked into using an FBI-run encrypted messaging app, officials say.

The operation, jointly conceived by Australia and the FBI, saw devices with the ANOM app secretly distributed among criminals, allowing police to monitor their chats about drug smuggling, money laundering and even murder plots.

Officials called it a watershed moment.

Targets included drug gangs and people with links to the mafia.

Drugs, weapons, luxury vehicles and cash were also seized in the operation, which was conducted across more than a dozen countries. This included eight tons of cocaine, 250 guns and more than $48m (£34m) in various worldwide currencies and cryptocurrencies.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the operation had "struck a heavy blow against organized crime" around the world.

European Union police agency Europol described Operation Trojan Shield/Greenlight as the "biggest ever law enforcement operation against encrypted communication". [read more]

Ransomware attacks are closing schools, delaying chemotherapy and derailing everyday life

From Washington Post.com (June 5):

SAN FRANCISCO — It can feel abstract: A group of organized but faceless criminals hijacking corporate computer systems and demanding millions of dollars in exchange for their safe return. But the impact of these ransomware attacks is increasingly, unavoidably, real for everyday people.

These crimes have resulted in missed chemotherapy appointments and delayed ambulances, lost school days, and transportation problems. A ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline in May led to gas shortages and even dangerous situations caused by panic buying. This past week, hackers compromised the JBS meat processing company, leading to worries about meat shortages or other key food providers being at risk. Last fall, the Baltimore County Public Schools system was hit with ransomware and forced to halt classes for two days, which were being held virtually.

As recently as Wednesday, ransomware attacks were causing problems across the country. In Martha’s Vineyard, the ferry service transporting people to and from the Massachusetts island said it had been hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted its ticketing and reservation process. Ferries continued operating all week, but the ticketing system was still affected, causing delays, on Friday.

The recent spate of high-profile ransomware incidents is exactly what cybersecurity professionals have been warning about for years. But it’s partially the impact on everyday people — far from the executive suites, cybersecurity companies, or government agencies that regularly fret about the criminal enterprise — that has made the risk more visible. The ripple effects of ransomware can result in everything from mild inconvenience to people losing their lives, and it’s only increased in frequency during the pandemic. [read more]

Other articles on ransomware:

• World’s largest meat processor paid $11 million in ransom to hackers
• Declassified Report Reveals Chinese Hackers Gained Access To US Pipeline Systems 10 Years Ago
• Where's the Beef? Thanks to Russian Hackers, It's Ever Closer to Home