Unschooler, Entrepreneur, Prodigy: The Story of Cole Summers

/in , , , , , /by

“Don’t Tell Me I Can’t” by Kevin Cooper (aka Cole Summers) deserves a place in the alternative education canon.

Kevin Cooper, known to the internet as Cole Summers, was taken from this world far too soon—he tragically died on June 11 in a kayaking accident. But in his 14 years of life, he accomplished more than most of us do in a lifetime.

At age 6, his parents handed him the reins to his own education, giving him the freedom to choose what to study. (He chose Warren Buffet videos on YouTube, because he wanted to learn how to get rich).

At age 7, he started his own business, breeding meat rabbits and selling them to restaurants. He set up a corporation and became the majority shareholder, just like a Silicon Valley startup.

At age 8, he got his first truck through trade with a neighbor—and discovered that an 8-year-old can in fact get a vehicle titled in their name.

At age 9, he bought a 350-acre ranch for $130 per acre to expand his business into breeding meat goats.

At age 10, he bought a house, which he then renovated and sold for a profit. He learned flooring, roofing, cabinet making, painting, and electrical work – again, from YouTube.

At age 14, he wrote an autobiography about his education called Don’t Tell Me I Can’t, a fitting title for what is essentially an ode to kids pushing the limits of what adults think is possible.

Kevin Cooper was the most ambitious and inspiring unschooler I have ever met.

I found Kevin on Twitter this past spring, and I knew immediately he was an unschooling legend in the making. He was successfully running a holding company controlling multiple LLCs, including one for his rabbitry and one for his properties. He was helping support his disabled parents and brother. And he was working on a plan to tackle the environmental problems of industrial hay farming and aquifer depletion, which were threatening to make the valley where he grew up uninhabitable.

He was an unschooling success story, an alternative education inspiration, a shining example of what is possible for kids to accomplish. At 14, he had already done more for education than many education professionals do in their whole lives, just by being living proof of how far someone can go when they let their interests drive their education.

That’s what Kevin’s book is all about.

I started reading Don’t Tell Me I Can’t while I was waiting for a takeout order. I imagined I would read the introduction while I waited for my food and then go home. Instead, I ended up sitting at the restaurant counter reading the entire book cover-to-cover while my food grew cold (much to the amusement of the wait staff, I imagine). I was captivated. Kevin’s book was the most compelling story of homeschool possibility I had ever read.

Kevin wrote in his introduction:

“Like every other kid, I’ve had people tell me I can’t do something because I’m ‘just a kid.’ This silly, adult idea that being young makes us incapable and incompetent has discouraged so many kids from learning what they’re capable of and pursuing their dreams. But one of the biggest blessings in my life has been that every time I’ve heard that nonsense said to me, I can be sure of two things. First, it’s never my parents that said it. Second, my parents will not only allow me to work to prove whoever said it wrong, but they encourage me to do so.”

Kevin’s book is an argument for letting kids drive their own education and for letting them tackle life head-on in any arena they find interesting. His own story is proof that it works.

From first grade on, Kevin’s education was built around what he was interested in. First he wanted to know how people make money. After he and his dad started listening to Warren Buffet videos, they pivoted into mental models and learning how to think.

When he wanted to try making money for himself, he convinced his parents to let him start his rabbit farm, and he learned about business and math through bookkeeping and setting up his business’s legal entity.

After paying taxes for the first time, Kevin heard about Amazon’s $0 tax bill, and decided he wanted to learn about corporate tax law for 5th grade math so he could learn how to pay no taxes too. That was the first time he realized he was different:

“On the ride to Cub Scouts one time, my friends started talking about what they were doing in school. They were all joking around about having to memorize the names of all the planets in order. [My friend] Michael said “it’s stupid. Like, when will I ever need to know that?”

Then they asked me what I was studying. I started talking about how companies can pay certain expenses, like payroll, in stock, creating paper losses that reduce their taxes and maybe even create net loss carry forward. Wow, the looks I got from everyone. They told me they had no clue what I was talking about. I just shrugged it off and said “yeah, I’m weird,” but I was confused. I still thought back then that they did all the same stuff I did.”

This stark difference in Kevin’s education is what led to his extraordinary life. Because he was free to chase the things he cared about, he was able to achieve outcomes far beyond what most people think is possible for somebody who’s “just a kid.”

Kevin’s book was released in May of 2022. Less than a month later, the world lost more than we’ll likely ever know. Kevin was a giant in the making. He would have accomplished feats on a geographic scale, like reversing the disappearance of the Great Basin Desert’s supplying aquifer. He had ambitions to spearhead environmental change and advocate for unschooling, so more kids could be set free to chase their passions like he was – an endeavor his parents plan to carry on, as they shared when they broke the news of Kevin’s heart-breaking, untimely death.

Kevin’s book deserves a place in the unschooling and alternative education canon: an honest and beautiful case study of what’s possible when parents trust their kids, and when kids let their passions become the driving force of their education.

If you want to support Kevin’s family, a GoFundMe was set up in his memory. Kevin’s book is available for purchase on Amazon.

AUTHOR

Hannah Frankman

Hannah is a career development coach and a course instructor. She works as an advisor at Praxis and an instructor at The Objective Standard Institute. You can find her work at hannahfrankman.com.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Records Show Critical Race Theory Propaganda at West Point

/in , , , , , , /by

Training Slide Depicts Black Americans in State of ‘MODERN-DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA’

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 518 pages and 135 pages of records revealing critical race theory (CRT) instruction at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. One training slide contains a graphic titled “MODERN-DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA.”

The records were obtained through two Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Defense, which were filed after it failed to respond to requests for records concerning critical race theory training at West Point (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:21-cv-01795)) and emails related to such training of LTG Darryl A. Williams, Superintendent, United States Military Academy, BG Mark C. Quander, Commandant, U.S. Corps of Cadets, U.S. Military Academy, and CSM Michael J. Coffee, former U.S. Military Academy senior enlisted leader, (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:21-cv-02616)).

The records include material about “whiteness:”

In order to understand racial inequality and slavery, it is first necessary to address whiteness

  • “White people and people of color live racially different structured lives” – Frankenberg
  • 1) Is a location of structural advantage, of race privilege.
  • 2) A standpoint or place from which white people look at themselves and the rest of society
  • 3) Refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked and unnamed:

Take-for-grantedness of whiteness

  • Privilege lives within this

A slide in the materials is titled “By the Numbers” and has a graphic titled “MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA.” [Emphasis in original] It lists:

Blacks are more likely than whites to:

  • Live below the poverty line
  • Be victims of homicide (6:1)
  • Be incarcerated (8:1)
  • Blacks are less likely than whites to:
  • Have a college education
  • Receive recommended medical screening tests
  • Receive bank approval for a housing mortgage
  • Own their own homes
  • Receive a job promotion

Students are instructed that critical race theory, “Grows out of the field of law and studies the way that racism is built into and reproduced through the institutions that organize everyday life.”

Another presentation is titled “Education and Work Inequality,” in which one slide has a text box: “‘Race and the Invisible Hand’ How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs.”

Another slide in the presentation titled “Affirmative Action,” asks cadets:

Do you think Affirmative Action creates and [sic] environment for “reverse discrimination?” Use CRT to support your answer.

Cadets are asked in a slide titled “Conundrums of Integration:”

What is the difference between desegregation versus integration? How would you apply a tenant [sic] of CRT to this idea?

An additional PowerPoint presentation, includes a slide titled “Critical Race Theory and Policy” which describes critical race theory as having the following attributes:

  • Racism is ordinary.
  • Race is socially constructed.
  • White Americans have primarily benefited from civil rights legislation.

A slide in the presentation titled “Queer Theory and Policy,” under the general heading “Queer Theory” lists:

  • Heterosexuality is the basis for sexual formations.
  • Queer theory is multidisciplinary.
  • Gay and lesbian issues get combined into one category when they are not the same.

In the syllabus for a 3-credit Social Sciences Department class titled “The Politics of Race, Gender, and Sexuality,” an assigned reading text is “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction” by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. In the course description, the syllabus notes: “[T]he class will serve as an introduction to the theoretical concepts of post-modernism. This will include a focus on feminist theory, critical race theory, and queer theory.”

Another objective is to “consider how the contemporary issues that relate to race, gender, and sexuality apply to the army and how they impact the army officer. The concepts that will be discussed in this class are essential for future military officers to understand and fully absorb.”

“Our military is under attack – from within. These documents show racist, anti-American CRT propaganda is being used to try to radicalize our rising generation of Army leadership at West Point,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Judicial Watch lawsuits and FOIA requests on critical race theory and other leftist extremism include:

  • Judicial Watch in June 2022 further pursued litigation a federal court decision dismissing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of David Flynn, a Massachusetts father who was fired from his position as high school football coach after he raised concerns over Black Lives Matter/critical race theory being taught in his daughter’s seventh-grade ancient history class.
  • Records produced in April 2022 from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) show the government agency responsible for regulating credit unions required “inclusion and unconscious bias training” for the agency’s employees and contractors and offered advice on how to recognize and address alleged “microaggressions” in the workplace.
  • Records produced in February 2022from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) included a PowerPoint presentation titled “Race and gender based microaggressions” that was used for training at the organization.
  • Two sets of records obtained by Judicial Watch in November 2021 related to the teaching of critical race theory in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Maryland’s largest school system, included a training course with information about a book titled “Antiracist Baby” that introduces the youngest readers to “the concept and power of antiracism,” and says it’s the “perfect gift” for “ages baby to age 3.”
  • Records from Loudoun County, VA, obtained in October 2021 revealed a coordinated effort to advance critical race theory initiatives in Loudoun County public schools despite widespread public opposition.
  • A training document provided to Judicial Watch in October 2021 by a whistleblower in the Westerly School District of Rhode Island, details how its schools are using teachers to push critical race theory in classrooms. The training course was assembled by the left-leaning Highlander Institute and cites quotes from Bettina Love, from whom the Biden administration distanced itself publicly after her statements equating “whiteness” to oppression.
  • Records produced in June 2021 by Wellesley Public Schools in Massachusetts confirmed the use of “affinity spaces” that divide students and staff based on race as a priority and objective of the school district’s “diversity, equity and inclusion” plan. The school district also admitted that between September 1, 2020, and May 17, 2021, it created “five distinct” segregated spaces.
  • Heavily redacted records obtained by Judicial watch in May 2021from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland included documents related to their $454,000 “Anti-racist system audit” and critical race theory classes. Students were taught that the phrase “Make America Great Again” was an example of “covert white supremacy.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Judicial Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Violence in the Name of “Jane’s Revenge”

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Ever since the unprecedented leak of an early draft of the Dobbs decision from the Supreme Court which may overturn Roe v. Wade, the “shock troops of tolerance” have been busy interrupting church services. And they have done much destruction of crisis pregnancy centers.

They claim to be “pro-choice,” but choice involves options. And these people want to make sure women make only one choice—the choice of abortion. When there’s only one choice, then “pro-choice” is an oxymoron.

Since May 2, when the draft decision was leaked:

  • There have been numerous disruptions of church services, usually Catholic ones. However, even Joel Osteen’s church service was interrupted by topless promoters of abortion.
  • There have been illegal protests in front of the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices to intimidate them to change their opinion.
  • There have been at least 60 attacks on crisis pregnancy centers, which are all funded by private donations to provide loving alternatives to abortion. This is becoming a regular occurrence.

Many of these attacks have been done through an ad hoc organization called “Jane’s Revenge.”

The name would imply revenge on behalf of “Jane Roe” from the 1973 Supreme Court pro-abortion decision, Roe v. Wade.

Jane’s Revenge declares open season on crisis pregnancy centers across the nation: “From here forward, any anti-choice group who closes their doors, and stops operating will no longer be a target. But until you do, it’s open season, and we know where your operations are. The infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive. We will never stop, back down, slow down, or retreat.”

A friend of mine works in a crisis pregnancy center. She told me in an email over the weekend: “I worked in the Emergency Dept as a RN for 25 years with police security, but I never dreamed that working at a pro-life clinic would be a high risk job!”

And this damage is being done in the name of Jane Roe? As the record shows, Jane Roe’s identity was revealed in 1987, and her name was Norma McCorvey. It turns out McCorvey had not been raped (as claimed in the case). She had gotten pregnant from her boyfriend, and she just wanted an abortion.

ACLU attorney Sarah Weddington lied to her as she assured McCorvey she could get an abortion, but what Weddington really wanted was McCorvey’s participation in what became Roe v. Wade.

Then in the late 1990s, something amazing happened. Norma McCorvey made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and came to oppose abortion. Thus, Roe came to agree with Wade. Henry Wade had been the District Attorney of Dallas County, and Roe v. Wade challenged Texas’s pro-life law.

Norma McCorvey wrote her story in her 1997 book, Won By Love (with co-author Gary Thomas). The subtitle of that book is “Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade Speaks Out for the Unborn as She Shares Her New Conviction for Life.”

And now, in the name of Jane Roe, anarchists and ANTIFA-types are carrying out acts of vandalism and damage of pregnancy centers that simply exist to provide loving alternatives to abortion.

One man who knew McCorvey, who died in 2017, is Father Frank Pavone, the president of Priests for Life. He even baptized her and spent time sharing Scriptures and Church teaching with her.

I asked him for a comment on the former “Jane Roe” since these groups are doing damage to try and disrupt pro-life work in her name.

Father Pavone told me: “As for Norma McCorvey, hers was a life of repentance, not of revenge. She wouldn’t have needed to take ‘revenge’ on pro-life people anyway, because she was one of us. She would have abhorred the way the pro-abortion people are acting now. In fact, she didn’t like them even when she was on their side. She thought they were arrogant and disrespectful of her.”

He adds, “The abortion supporters were handed abortion-on-demand on a silver platter by Roe v. Wade. They didn’t have to engage in the laborious, tedious process of elections, lobbying, debating, persuading and lawmaking. Instead, a ‘constitutional right’ was just created for them.

Now that it is being taken away, they whine and stomp their feet like a child.”

Where is the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in all this? When is he going to act against this intimidation? Our nation’s founders said that the Creator has endowed us with “unalienable rights”—first among these is “the right to life.”

Father Pavone has the final word: “Of course, their attacks on our churches are because when we restrict abortion, they perceive it as an attack on theirs. The abortion clinics are their churches, abortion-on-demand is their dogma, and abortion itself is their sacrament. May they be given the grace of repentance.”

©Jerry Newcombe, D.Min. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Kamala Harris Claims Killing Babies in Abortions is a Christian Value

Chuck Schumer Refuses to Apologize for Threatening Supreme Court After Justice Kavanaugh Assassination Attempt

65% of Americans Say Their State Would Still be Great to Live in if It Banned Abortions

Wisconsin Republicans Reject Governor Evers’ Demand to Repeal Abortion Ban

Louisiana Governor Signs Pro-Life Bill Banning Abortions

The Failure of Public Schooling in One Chart

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Public school spending has become a costly failure.

While I have great fondness for some of the visuals I’ve created over the years (especially “two wagons” and “apple harvesting“), I confess that none of my creations have ever been as clear and convincing as the iconic graph on education spending and education outcomes created by the late Andrew Coulson.

I can’t imagine anyone looking at his chart and not immediately realizing that you don’t get better results by pouring more money into the government’s education monopoly.

But the edu-crat lobby acts as if evidence doesn’t matter. At the national level, the state level, and the local level, the drumbeat is the same: Give us more money if you care about kids.

So let’s build on Coulson’s chart to show why teachers’ unions and other special interests are wrong.

Gerard Robinson of the American Enterprise Institute and Professor Benjamin Scafidi from Kennesaw State University take a close look at this issue.

…education is important to the economic and social well-being of our nation, which is why it is the No. 1 line item in 41 state budgets. …Schools need extra money to help struggling students, or so goes the long-standing thinking of traditional education reformers who believe a lack of resources – teachers, counselors, social workers, technology, books, school supplies – is the problem. …a look back at the progress we’ve made under reformers’ traditional response to fixing low-performing schools – simply showering them with more money – makes it clear that this approach has been a costly failure.

And when the authors say it’s been a “costly failure,” they’re not exaggerating.

Since World War II, inflation-adjusted spending per student in American public schools has increased by 663 percent. Where did all of that money go? One place it went was to hire more personnel. Between 1950 and 2009, American public schools experienced a 96 percent increase in student population. During that time, public schools increased their staff by 386 percent – four times the increase in students. The number of teachers increased by 252 percent, over 2.5 times the increase in students. The number of administrators and other staff increased by over seven times the increase in students. …This staffing surge still exists today. From 1992 to 2014 – the most recent year of available data – American public schools saw a 19 percent increase in their student population and a staffing increase of 36 percent. This decades-long staffing surge in American public schools has been tremendously expensive for taxpayers, yet it has not led to significant changes in student achievement. For example, public school national math scores have been flat (and national reading scores declined slightly) for 17-year-olds since 1992.

By the way, the failure of government schools doesn’t affect everyone equally.

Parents with economic resources (such as high-profile politicians) can either send their kids to private schools or move to communities where government schools still maintain some standards.

But for lower-income households, their options are very limited.

Minorities disproportionately suffer, as explained by Juan Williams in the Wall Street Journal.

While 40% of white Americans age 25-29 held bachelor’s degrees in 2013, that distinction belonged to only 15% of Hispanics, and 20% of blacks. …The root of this problem: Millions of black and Hispanic students in U.S. schools simply aren’t taught to read well enough to flourish academically.  …according to a March report by Child Trends, based on 2015 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 21% of Hispanic fourth-grade students were deemed “proficient” in reading. This is bad news. A fourth-grader’s reading level is a key indicator of whether he or she will graduate from high school. The situation is worse for African-Americans: A mere 18% were considered “proficient” in reading by fourth grade.

But Juan points out that the problems aren’t confined to minority communities. The United States has a national education problem.

The problem isn’t limited to minority students. Only 46% of white fourth-graders—and 35% of fourth-graders of all races—were judged “proficient” in reading in 2015. In general, American students are outperformed by students abroad. According to the most recent Program for International Student Assessment, a series of math, science and reading tests given to 15-year-olds around the world, the U.S. placed 17th among the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in reading.

This is very grim news, especially when you consider that the United States spends more on education – on a per-pupil basis – than any other country.

Here’s a table confirming Juan’s argument. It lacks the simple clarity of Andrew Coulson’s graph, but if you look at these numbers, it’s difficult to reach any conclusion other than we spend a lot in America and get very mediocre results.

Juan concludes his column with a plea for diversity, innovation, and competition.

For black and Hispanic students falling behind at an early age, their best hope is for every state, no matter its minority-student poverty rate, to take full responsibility for all students who aren’t making the grade—and get those students help now. That means adopting an attitude of urgency when it comes to saving a child’s education. Specifically, it requires cities and states to push past any union rules that protect underperforming schools and bad teachers. Urgency also means increasing options for parents, from magnet to charter schools. Embracing competition among schools is essential to heading off complacency based on a few positive signs. American K-12 education is in trouble, especially for minority children, and its continuing neglect is a scandal.

He’s right, but he should focus his ire on his leftist friends and colleagues. They’re the ones (including the NAACP!) standing in the proverbial schoolhouse door and blocking the right kind of education reform.

P.S. This is a depressing post, so let’s close with a bit of humor showing the evolution of math lessons in government schools.

P.P.S. If you want some unintentional humor, the New York Times thinks that education spending has been reduced.

P.P.P.S. Shifting to a different topic, another great visual (which also happens to be the most popular item I’ve ever shared on International Liberty) is the simple image properly defining the enemies of liberty and progress.

Republished from Dan Mitchell’s blog.

AUTHOR

Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell is a Washington-based economist who specializes in fiscal policy, particularly tax reform, international tax competition, and the economic burden of government spending. He also serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

3 Things Biden Has Done That Increased Gas Prices

/in , , , , , , , , /by

President Biden isn’t entirely to blame, but his anti-market policies have contributed to the problem.

Average gas prices recently passed $5 per gallon nationwide, setting a new record. This is bad news for workers’ budgets, and since it’s happening under President Joe Biden’s watch, it’s bad news for the Democratic Party’s electoral prospects.

The White House has tried to deflect blame for the insane surge in gas prices onto Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. And, to be fair, gas prices are definitely not completely within any president’s control. They absolutely are influenced by global factors, and the disruption in the global energy market caused by Putin’s invasion certainly has contributed to higher prices.

But Biden isn’t off the hook. Gas prices started rising long before the invasion, and the president still has direct responsibility for how his policies have contributed to this problem.

Here are three specific things Biden has done that have led to increased gas prices.

Since taking office, Biden has taken too many steps to count to limit domestic production. These include halting federal permits for oil and gas drilling and leasing shortly after taking office and blocking drilling in a major oil-rich Alaskan region.

To be clear, these decisions will mostly affect future production. But that does still significantly affect gas prices because companies factor in their expectations about the future into the decisions they make today.

“Some say that new leases … would have taken time and would not yet be online, but even so, there is evidence that expectations of increased future supply has a beneficial impact on current prices and expectations of future supply drying up has a negative impact on current prices,” the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ben Lieberman said.

“At a day-to-day level, I am hearing from drillers that they are having a very hard time getting all the approvals they need from [the Environmental Protection Agency] and other agencies in order to produce on existing wells, and of course, new federal leasing has come to a halt,” Lieberman added.

It’s just basic economics that when the government throttles future supply in an industry, that will lead to higher prices both now and in the future. Biden was warned by many critics at the time that this would happen, but he proceeded anyway.

Speaking of basic economics, it’s well established that when businesses’ costs rise, that puts upward pressure on the prices they charge consumers. The oil and gas industry is no exception.

And unfortunately, the Biden administration has both proposed and implemented a wide array of regulations on the energy sector, inflicting billions in direct financial costs and incalculable indirect compliance costs — plus further harming expectations for the future.

“The regulatory chokehold imposed by the Biden administration on oil production in place of a Green New Deal has drastically raised gasoline prices, thereby hurting lower-income people the most,” said conservative economist Vance Ginn, who served in the Trump administration.

“This is yet another example of the high cost of big-government environmentalism when the better approach is to remove government barriers so that free markets can better let people adapt to changes in the environment at a much lower cost,” Ginn concluded.

Rhetoric matters. While words don’t literally do anything to change gas prices, the signals coming from policymakers absolutely do affect the long-term investment decisions businesses make.

And even as a presidential candidate, Biden sent very negative messages about what his leadership would mean for the gas industry.

In just one example, as Americans for Tax Reform pointed out, Biden said during a campaign stop: “We are going to get rid of fossil fuels. … We’re going to phase out fossil fuels.” Then, upon taking office, the president followed these words with actions such as canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, blocking leases, restricting imports, and pursuing regulations.

In general, Biden’s open hostility toward the oil and gas industry has almost certainly curbed investment into production that otherwise would’ve occurred.

“Such extinction rhetoric, coming from the now-president, has an unprecedented chilling effect on investment,” Lieberman said. To put it simply, less investment means less supply — which means higher prices.

It’s absolutely true that our high gas prices aren’t entirely Biden’s fault. But the president is not the helpless bystander his defenders would have you believe.

This article originally appeared in the Washington Examiner. 

AUTHOR

Brad Polumbo

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and Policy Correspondent at the Foundation for Economic Education.

RELATED ARTICLE: Why High Gas Prices Are a Signal of (More) Inflation to Come

These Widespread Shortages Can’t Be Explained by Supply Constraints Alone

/in , , , , , , , /by

Poorer markets can still clear. So why won’t they?

All sorts of shortages are now popping up in our economy. At the head of the list is undoubtedly infant formula, but there are literally dozens of other items in short supply. There are so many of them that I feel constrained to mention them in alphabetical order, lest I inadvertently miss one or engage in double counting.

Here they are, as best I can list them: aluminum, avocado, bicycles, blood collection tubes, blood for transfusions, canned vegetables, cat food, chlorine, Christmas trees, coal, coins, commercial air tickets, computer chips, cream cheese, dye used in CT scans, eggs, fuel oil, garage doors, gasoline, girl scout cookies, hand sanitizer, home covid tests, infant formula, juice boxes, liquor, lithium, lumber, maple syrup, meat, motorcycles, natural gas, paper towels, pet food, potatoes, semiconductors, soap, soda, sunflower oil, toilet paper, tomato paste and wine. Peanut butter has not yet been mentioned in this regard but will soon, undoubtedly, be added prominently to this list.

I’m not kidding: each and every one of these items has been mentioned in this regard in the major media. What is going on here? Has the economy gone crazy, or what? According to several headlines, that is just about what is occurring. Here are a few of them: “The world is still short of everything; get used to it.” “America is running out of everything.” “Product shortages and soaring prices reveal fragility of U.S. supply chain.”

If the shortage list is long, the presumed causes of this economic malfunction are almost as large. For peanut butter, it will be a recall due to contamination; a salmonella outbreak. But this is an input into many other products, such as fudge, chocolates and peanut butter sandwiches, which will also soon be hard to find. For many items on the list the antecedent is the Coronavirus, which has led to supply chain problems. Paying workers to stay home and earn as much or more than their salaries, a few months ago, also contributed. Blame was also laid at a harsh winter. Imports from abroad have been subject to sudden border closures. Ships stuck at harbors on the west coast have been vulnerable to shortages of truck drivers and regulations. Computer chips have been susceptible to supply inelasticity; new offerings as a result of higher prices take a great amount of time to become forthcoming. Consumers have been castigated for hoarding. Staffing problems have been held responsible for commercial air travel disruptions. Drought, the bird flu and the Ukraine war have been held culpable.

But we have had all of these things before, war, pestilence, disease, bad weather, ill health, government regulations, before. However, massive shortages, not of everything under the sun, but almost pretty close, have never before disrupted the economy to anything like the degree we are presently experiencing (apart from the two world wars, of course).

Where is the much-vaunted free enterprise system in all of this? Nowhere, that is where. Has it succumbed to so-called “market failure?” Not a bit of it. Rather, the difficulty is that public policy has made capitalism operate with one arm tied behind its back, and it has not been able to function when hemmed in by a plethora of restrictions, limitations and regulations.

Basic introductory Economics 101 teaches us that a shortage occurs when demand for an item exceeds its supply. What invariably occurs then? Why, prices rise. When this takes place, businesses are incentivized to produce more, buyers to purchase less. Voila, the shortage ends. Why doesn’t this occur under the Biden Administration? Why do we have so many shortages?

One possibility not at all in the public eye is that business firms are afraid to raise prices lest they be charged with price gouging. And why in turn might this be the case? The Bidenites are not exactly friends of the free enterprise system. Yes, to be sure, prices have indeed been rising. But are they increasing fast enough so as to quell shortages? Evidently not. Why not? This is possibly due to fear of being accused of gouging, and being subject to antitrust attentions. Wages, too, are on the incline. But likely not sufficiently so as to overcome the supply inelasticity difficulty. Why not? Firms may well be leery of so doing, in case they have to be decreased later on, and will be accused of exploiting, or victimizing laborers, or some such.

Prices and wages are typically somewhat sticky; that is, they are not instantaneously and fully flexible. But an anti-business philosophy of the sort now prevailing in Washington D.C. makes them even less able to perform the tasks for which we need them, than would otherwise be the case.

AUTHOR

Walter Block

Walter Edward Block is an American economist and anarcho-capitalist theorist who holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the J. A. Butt School of Business at Loyola University New Orleans. He is a member of the FEE Faculty Network.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Ascendant Islam Means Jihad Is Coming

/in , , , , , /by

In my early morning news broadcast, I routinely include stories about the ongoing series of massacres in Africa.  I want Americans to know what happens in countries where Islam is ascendant, so they can decide where Islam belongs in the American scheme of things.

Recent stories include Muslim militants killing 142 people in 10 villages across Nigeria, and fresh jihad attacks and slaughter of innocents in Mozambique as well as Nigeria.  Muslims have abducted or killed 35 Christian pastors in the last 17 months.

One recent story that broke through to major news outlets was the terrorist attack on a Catholic Church during church services in Nigeria, killing 50 people and taking the priest hostage.  Locals identified the killers as ethnic Fulanis.  The Fulani stock is primarily Muslim.

There’s a narrative out there to the effect these are all just land and water disputes between rival tribes.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  How much land and water is inside a Catholic Church?  These are massacres motivated by standard Islamic doctrine, the same Islamic doctrine found in America and everywhere else the Quran is read and believed.  Quranic doctrine holds that Islam shall reign supreme, and jihad will be waged until the entire world submits to Islam.  Another narrative, pushed by the corrupt FBI and the rest of the U.S. government, is that sharia supremacy is only the view of extremist groups like Al Qaeda, but the narrative falls apart when you realize sharia supremacy and jihad come right from the pages of the Quran itself.  As President Erdogan of Turkey put it in 2017, “There is no moderate or immoderate Islam.  Islam is Islam and that’s it.”

Sharia supremacists are not shy about telling you what they believe.  An Islamic scholar in Michigan said just this month, “Islam teaches us that Islam is supreme. The supremacy of Islam, not that we want a seat at the table, not that our whole hope is to stop Islamophobia so that we can just be treated like human beings, no, Islam is supreme.”  An imam in Miami, in dismissing women’s rights, said rule by sharia law would eliminate a lot of suffering.   Another imam, who used to preach in Houston before he was deported on immigration charges, said non-Muslims are the ‘worst of Allah’s creations.  Treat them like that.’  You might remember the Pakistani doctor who worked at the Mayo Clinic who was arrested on terrorism charges in 2020.  He was charged with providing material support to Islamic State and had ambitions to use his medical knowledge to wage jihad in America.  “I want to kill and get killed, again and again. This is what even Prophet Mohammed wished,” he said.

Why do these Muslims believe all this?  Because it’s what their holy book commands them to believe.  Is it any surprise some of them actually believe it?

The FBI may not think that’s a problem for national security and law enforcement, but I do.  That’s why I filed a Freedom of Information Act case against the FBI in federal court, to put some sunlight on the FBI’s view of standard Islamic doctrine and on what prominent Islamic scholars are preaching to their flocks in America.  My FOIA case has been grinding on for four years and will go on for at least several more months.  Regardless of the outcome, all Americans should realize what happens in a country when Islam is ascendant and Islam’s critics are intimidated and silenced.

Maybe you think what’s happening in Africa can’t happen here.  If you think that, I suggest you follow the news on Islam in America and open your eyes to creeping sharia.  It’s not that hard to see what they’re up to.

Visit The Daily Skirmish and Watch Eagle Headline News – 7:30am ET Weekdays

©Christopher Wright. All rights reserved.

Democrat Andrew Gillum Indicted On Charges Of Wire Fraud, False Statements To FBI

/in , , , , , , , /by

A federal grand jury indicted former Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and the National Black Justice Coalition chief executive officer Sharon Lettman-Hicks Wednesday for false statements, wire fraud and conspiracy.

The 21 count indictment, filed on June 7, alleges that Gillum and Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud by obtaining funds from “various entities” and individuals through “false and fraudulent promises” between 2016 and 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced in a press release. The funds were allegedly diverted to a company owned by Lettman-Hicks through third parties, then disguised as payments to Gillum for personal use.

Both are individually charged with 19 counts of wire fraud, the attorney’s office announced. Gillum is additionally charged with making false statements to the FBI in 2017 during a corruption investigation when he served as Mayor of Tallahassee and gubernatorial candidacy against then-Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis.

“On or about June 14, 2017, in the Northern District of Florida, the defendant, Andrew Demetric Gillum, did knowingly and willfully make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations in a matter within the executive branch of the Government of the United States, that is, during a criminal investigation of public corruption involving the City of Tallahassee conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the indictment said.

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen M. Kunz and Andrew J. Grogan are prosecuting the case, according to the release.

Wire fraud and conspiracy can both lead up to 20 years imprisonment each, the release stated. Gillum could face an extra 5 years for his charge of making false statements.

They were both arrested by the FBI Wednesday and scheduled to make their first appearance in federal court at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee in the Magistrate’s Judge’s Courtroom at 2 p.m., according to the release. The former Tallahassee mayor surrendered himself to FBI agents at 10 a.m., NBC News reported.

Gillum proclaimed his innocence of the charges against him in a Wednesday statement, accusing the case of being “political,” according to WFSU.

“I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people,” he said in a statement. “Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. There’s been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.”

His attorneys, Marc Elias and David Oscar Markus, released a joint statement vowing to fight for Gillum, the outlet reported.

“The government got it wrong today. The evidence in this case is clear and will show that Mr. Gillum is innocent of all charges. We look forward to putting this case to rest and giving Andrew and his family peace of mind once and for all.”

Gillum, who was married with three children, was discovered drunk inside a Miami Beach hotel room with gay porn star Travis Dyson in March 2020. Dyson was suspected to have been high on crystal meth at the time.

AUTHOR

NICOLE SILVERIO

Media reporter. Follow Nicole Silverio on Twitter @NicoleMSilverio

RELATED ARTICLE: Report: Andrew Gillum Used Official Government Account To Fund Campaigning

RELATED VIDEO: Former Hillary Campaign Attorney Marc Elias is Representing Gillum in his Fraud Case

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

TAKE ACTION: Ask U.S. Senators To Pass ‘The Stop It Now Act’ & Make School Shootings a Federal Crime!

/in , , , , , , , /by

It is time to act to stop school shootings. We have created a draft letter that readers can send to all U.S. Senators to pass laws to stop school shootings. We have title it The Stop It Now law.

What we have noticed is that politicians have a do something mentality when it comes to school shootings. But their do something legislation focuses on the weapon of choice of the killer and not the killer himself.

The Stop It Now law focuses on the killer and only the killer or potential killer or killers.

PROPOSED LETTER TO YOUR SENATORS

Dear Senator ___________________

I ask that you pass before Tuesday, November 8, 2022 a law to prevent violent criminals from attacking our most innocent and vulnerable, the children in our schools. We have seen too many children killed or maimed and criminals not getting tried rapidly and charged in a way that sends a clear signal that this type of attack will not be tolerated by you and your fellow Senators and members of Congress.

It’s past time to take action. 

I suggest calling this new legislation The Stop It Now Act.

The Stop It Now Act would:

  1. Make it a federal crime to plan to enter any school at any level with the intent to do harm to either students or teachers.
  2. If a person, or persons, does enter any school at any level with the intent to do harm to either students or teachers then that person, or persons, would be charged with a federal crime and if convicted with each count being a life sentence in a federal prison.
  3. If any person or persons does enter any school at any level and that person or persons harms or kills either a student or teacher then that person or persons are charged with a federal crime and if convicted are then executed by a means currently used to execute others, e.g. terrorists.
  4. That those who aid or abet a person or persons in carrying out an attack on any school with the knowledge that the person they aided had the intent to harm or kill a student or teacher be prosecuted under provisions 1 and 2 above.
  5. Repeal any and all “Gun Free Zones” federal legislation. Allow each state to decide how to best protect their students and teachers from those who wish to do harm to students and teachers at all levels.

I ask that you and your staff work across party lines to pass such legislation and have it signed by the president before Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

Sincerely,

Signed

If you wish to alter this email please feel free to do so to add your thoughts and concerns. If you wish please cc us at drswier@gmail.com.

Below are the email addresses of the members of the the U.S. Senate, their staff and their campaign headquarters.

Just copy and past the list into the TO box of your email or if you just wish to contact your two senators just select their names.

NOTE: We also ask that you send a copy of the email to your member of congress.

EMAILS OF U.S. SENATORS AND STAFF

senator@tammybaldwin.com;
info@chrismurphy.com;
senator@chrismurphy.com;
john@barrassoforwyoming.com;
contact@chrismurphy.com;
michael@michaelbennet.com;
info@michaelbennet.com;
marsha@marshablackburn.com;
info@moranforkansas.com;
richard@richardblumenthal.com;
info@jeffmerkley.com;
info@corybooker.com;
info@boozmanforarkansas.com;
info@mikebraunforindiana.com;
sherrod@sherrodbrown.com;
services@jeffmerkley.com;
richard@burrforsenate.com;
info@burrforsenate.com;
maria@cantwell.com;
ben@bencardin.com;
contact@menendezfornj.com;
tom@carperfordelaware.com;
info@menendezfornj.com;
info@bobcasey.com;
bill@billcassidy.com;
contact@edmarkey.com;
susan@susancollins.com;
info@edmarkey.com;
chris@chriscoons.com;
info@lummisforwyoming.com;
info@johncornyn.com;
info@catherinecortezmasto.com;
scc@catherinecortezmasto.com;
info@tomcotton.com;
kevin@kevincramer.org;
senator@romneyforutah.com;
info@crapoforsenate.com;
contact@robportman.com;
info@leeforsenate.com;
info@tedcruz.org;
steve@stevedaines.com;
info@leahyforvermont.com;
info@jameslankford.com;
tammy@tammyduckworth.com;
info@tammyduckworth.com;
senator@tammyduckworth.com;
dick@durbinforsenate.com;
info@joniforiowa.com;
info@lindseygraham.com;
senator@lindseygraham.com;
senatorgrassley@grassleyworks.com;
bill@teamhagerty.com;
info@cindyhydesmith.com;
info@maggiehassan.com;
maggie@maggiehassan.com;
josh@joshhawley.com;
senator@hoevenforsenate.com;
martin@martinheinrich.com;
info@hoevenforsenate.com;
john@hickenlooper.com;
hello@hickenlooper.com;
john@hoevenforsenate.com;
info@martinheinrich.com;
senator@hoevenforsenate.com;
cindy@cindyhydesmith.com;
justin@cindyhydesmith.com;
info@jiminhofe.com;
info@ronjohnsonforsenate.com;
press@ronjohnsonforsenate.com;
ron@ronjohnsonforsenate.com;
senator@ronjohnsonforsenate.com;
info@timkaine.com;
mark@markkelly.com;
info@grassleyworks.com;
john@johnkennedy.com;
info@angusformaine.com;
amy@amyklobuchar.com;
info@amyklobuchar.com;
jim@jameslankford.com;
james@jameslankford.com;
patrick@leahyforvermont.com;
info@fischerfornebraska.com;
mike@leeforsenate.com;
info@stevedaines.com;
info@benraylujan.com;
cynthia@lummisforwyoming.com;
info@joemanchinwv.com;
ed@edmarkey.com;
edward@edmarkey.com;
senator@stevedaines.com;
info@kevincramer.org;
roger@kansansformarshall.com;
info@kansansformarshall.com;
info@chriscoons.com;
mitch@teammitch.com;
contact@teammitch.com;
info@billcassidy.com;
robert@menendezfornj.com;
senator@menendezfornj.com;
bob@menendezfornj.com;
info@carperfordelaware.com;
jeff@jeffmerkley.com;
info@bencardin.com;
jerry@moranforkansas.com;
info@lisamurkowski.com;
info@barrassoforwyoming.com;
christopher@chrismurphy.com;
chris@chrismurphy.com;
info@richardblumenthal.com;
patty@pattymurray.com;
jon@electjon.com;
info@cantwell.com;
alex@alex-padilla.com;
info@alex-padilla.com;
info@sherrodbrown.com;
rand@randpaul.com;
info@petersformichigan.com;
rob@robportman.com;
info@robportman.com;
info@tammybaldwin.com;
info@jackreed.com;
info@senatorrisch.com;
info@romneyforutah.com;
mitt@romneyforutah.com;
senator@romneyforutah.com;
info@markkelly.com;
jacky@rosenfornevada.com;
info@rosenfornevada.com;
info@roundsforsenate.com;
mike@roundsforsenate.com;
contact@roundsforsenate.com;
info@susancollins.com;
info@marcorubio.com;
marco@marcorubio.com;
contact@marcorubio.com;
info@teamsasse.com;
brian@brianschatz.com;
info@brianschatz.com;
contact@brianschatz.com;
senator@brianschatz.com;
chuck@chuckschumer.com;
info@chuckschumer.com;
info@rickscottforflorida.com;
info@votetimscott.com;
senator@susancollins.com;
richard@shelbyforsenate.com;
kyrsten@kyrstensinema.com;
info@kyrstensinema.com;
info@tinaforminnesota.com;
info@debbiestabenow.com;
debbie@debbiestabenow.com;
info@dansullivanforalaska.com;
dan@dansullivanforalaska.com;
info@jontester.com;
friends@johnthune.com;
info@johnthune.com;
john@johnthune.com;
thom@thomtillis.com;
info@thomtillis.com;
pat@toomeyforsenate.com;
info@tommyforsenate.com;
info@vanhollen.org;
mark@markwarnerva.com;
contact@markwarnerva.com;
info@markwarnerva.com;
senator@markwarnerva.com;
raphael@warnockforgeorgia.com;
info@warnockforgeorgia.com;
press@warnockforgeorgia.com;
sheldon@whitehouseforsenate.com;
info@whitehouseforsenate.com;
senatorsheldon@whitehouseforsenate.com;
roger@wickerforsenate.com;
info@wickerforsenate.com;
contact@wickerforsenate.com;
ron@standtallforamerica.com;
contact@standtallforamerica.com;
contact@toddyoung.org;
info@randpaul.com;
jon@electjon.com;
contact@romneyforutah.com

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Senate Republicans caving on gun control & amnesty for illegals to a party with a -30 Presidential Approval Index rating!

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

The below tweet remined us of these lyrics to a song by Stealer Wheel, “Clowns to the left of me. Jokers to the right.” It seems like déjà vu all over again.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.  On Tuesday, June 21st, 2022 the Biden Approval Index History  shows that 40% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Biden’s job performance. Fifty-nine percent (59%) disapprove. The latest figures include 19% who Strongly Approve of the job Biden is doing and 49% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -30.

QUESTION:  Why are Senate republicans caving on gun rights and giving illegal aliens amnesty?

ANSWER: They aren’t big “R” republicans.

President Ronald Reagan during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California offered what he called the 11th Commandment. The 11th Commandment reads: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

Well, it seems that the time is now to violate Reagans’ 11th Commandment.

The Bottom Line

In our June 9th, 2022 column “It’s not that they have an ‘R’ behind their names it’s how they actually vote that counts!” we wrote:

We have learned over time that politicians who claim to be a republican once elected don’t vote like a big “R” Republican. The Florida News Report editorial board got this message and showed how little “r’s” say one thing then do the exactly the opposite when introducing or voting on legislation.

Florida News Report editorial board explains that the real election day is the mid-term primaries. The Editorial Board noted,

Republican voters only get one shot at purging the Republican Party of RINOs each election year and that date comes early – the August Primary election.

But most Republican voters don’t participate…. the Republican voter turnout is only around 30%. It is on August 23rd Republican voters decide the direction of the party when they choose between:

  • A RINO Establishment candidate who doesn’t adhere to the Republican Party Platform 

OR

  • A Republican constitutional conservative candidate who embraces the Republican Party Platform

Do you have some Republican friends you can influence to actually go vote on August 23rd?

Do it.

Do it like your life depends on it. Because it does. When elected Republicans pass Democrat policies, your rights are immediately reduced. From gun rights to Covid restrictions, this is no joke.

August 23rd is your Election Day. 

It’s the primaries stupid! Get out and vote for a “BIG Rs” on August 23rd!

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Police Report Proves Plainclothes Electronic Surveillance Unit Members Were Embedded Among Jan. 6 Protesters

/in , , , , , , /by

Judicial Watch in an email share a link to an Epoch Times article published on June 20, 2022 and updated on June 21, 2022 by Patricia Tolson titled “EXCLUSIVE: Police Report Proves Plainclothes Electronic Surveillance Unit Members Were Embedded Among Jan. 6 Protesters.”

Tolson wrote,

While there is growing speculation that federal agents and Capitol Police were involved in instigating acts of violence during the Jan. 6, 2021 protests and recording responses for the purposes of entrapment, evidence now proves that “plainclothes” members of a special Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU) were embedded among the protesters for the purposes of conducting video surveillance. Evidence also points to a day of security deficiencies and police provocation for the purpose of entrapment.

According to a report—First Amendment Demonstrations, issued Jan. 3, 2021, by Chief of Police Robert Contee of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Homeland Security Bureau, Special Operations Division, obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times—the MPD began to activate Civil Disturbance Unit (CDU) platoons on Jan. 4, 2021. Full activation of 28 platoons was scheduled to occur on the following two days.

According to the Department of Justice website, “A CDU is composed of law enforcement officers who are trained to respond to protests, demonstrations, and civil disturbances for the purpose of preventing violence, destruction of property, and unlawful interference with persons exercising their rights under law.”

The objective of MPD was “to assist with the safe execution of any First Amendment demonstration and ensure the safety of the participants, public, and the officers.” CDU personnel and Special Operations Division  (SOD) members were to “monitor for any demonstration and/or violent activity and respond accordingly,” according to the report.

There has been speculation that federal agents and Capitol Police were involved in instigating acts of violence during the protests for the purposes of entrapment. As Red State reported in October 2021, “multiple surveillance videos show masked men opening up the doors to the U.S. Capitol Building to allow protesters to enter. In fact, one video shows them entering while Capitol Police officers simply stand around. Yet, we have no idea who those men are.”

Read more.

Judicial Watch in a video titled What are Pelosi & Schumer hiding about January 6? announced “[I]n February of this year [2022] that it filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Capitol Police seeking for emails and videos concerning the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 (Judicial Watch v. United States Capitol Police (No. 1:21-cv-00401)).”

Watch: Capital Riot Records Still Hidden.

On June 20, 2022  in The Hill article titled “Crack appears in Jan. 6 committee wall” Don Wolfensberger reports,

On Monday, June 13, the first crack appeared in the otherwise cohesive wall of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. The fissure opened when committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters after that day’s hearing that the committee would not be making any criminal referrals to the Justice Department of former President Donald J. Trump or anyone else.

Almost immediately, Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tweeted that the committee “has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals,” and will do so “at an appropriate time.” Another committee member, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) issued her own conclusion that “if criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.” Other committee members, taken aback by the chairman’s comments, were stumbling to respond, but most chose to keep their powder dry until the committee could talk it over privately.

Meantime, a committee spokesperson released a statement to CNN the following day which attempted to clarify the chairman’s comments — sort of a sideways walk-back: “The committee has no authority to prosecute individuals but is rather tasked with developing facts….”  Two sentences later, the spokesperson said the committee would gather “all relevant information, offer recommendations, and, if warranted, make criminal referrals.”

Read more.

It appears that information and the truth about the involvement of government agents in plainclothes is coming out. As they say the truth will set you free.

Will the truth set free those currently in prison for simply attending the January 6th rally? Will the truth set the families of those killed in the Capital building, like Ashley Babbitt, by the Capital Police set them free?

We report. You decide.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Pelosi Congress Claims Sovereign Immunity in Federal Court to Keep Secret January 6 Videos and Emails

Judicial Watch Tells Court FBI May Have Violated Law in 1/6 Probes

DeSantis Speaks Out Against Newly Elected ‘Marxist’ Colombian President

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Thank you Governor DeSantis. What does the Biden Administration have to say about the rise of anti-American Marxists leaders, who are rapidly gaining power in countries throughout Latin America?

Marxist governments in Latin America are a serious threat to the United States, because they are neighbors who will align with our adversaries. Just like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Governor DeSantis understands this threat. The Biden Administration clearly does not.

Leftism (communism, socialism) is the most destructive, evil, irrational, blind, anti-real force in human history, It should have been dead and buried after Hitler and Stalin, and yet here we are with even America, the greatest experiment in self governance, being subsumed by this terrible evil.

“The Communists’ chief purpose is to destroy every form of independence—independent work, independent action, independent property, independent thought, an independent mind, or an independent man. Conformity, alikeness, servility, submission and obedience are necessary to establish a Communist slave-state.”

“There is no difference between the principles, policies and practical results of socialism—and those of any historical or prehistorical tyranny.” (Ayn Rand)

DeSantis Speaks Out Against Newly Elected ‘Marxist’ Colombian President

By Daily Wire, June 20, 2022

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) spoke out against newly elected leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday, predicting the leader would be “disastrous.”

DeSantis shared a video of his comments regarding Petro on Twitter.

AUTHOR

Geller Report Staff

RELATED ARTICLES:

Marxist Ex-Rebel Gustavo Petro Wins Colombian Presidency in Narrow, Historic Election

Nicaragua Approves Russian Troop Access To Country, Defies US Objection

WATCH: Illegal Migrants POURING Into Arizona right now…..

China Is Threatening To Close The Taiwan Strait

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Jan. 6 Committee Begins to Crack

/in , , , , , , , /by

The NY Sun reports, “The drama of these hearings revolves not around the events of a year and a half ago, but around the possibility of criminal charges in the future. The gravity of such a development has precipitated tension between members of the committee itself, and between the committee and the Justice Department. Officially, today’s hearing, the fourth, will focus on President Trump’s efforts to pressure state officials — particularly in Georgia and Arizona — to overturn the results of the presidential election. Representative Adam Schiff, who managed Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial, is expected to quarterback the session.”

Crack appears in Jan. 6 committee wall

By Don Wolfensberger, The Hill, June 20, 2022:

On Monday, June 13, the first crack appeared in the otherwise cohesive wall of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. The fissure opened when committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters after that day’s hearing that the committee would not be making any criminal referrals to the Justice Department of former President Donald J. Trump or anyone else.

Almost immediately, Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tweeted that the committee “has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals,” and will do so “at an appropriate time.” Another committee member, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) issued her own conclusion that “if criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.” Other committee members, taken aback by the chairman’s comments, were stumbling to respond, but most chose to keep their powder dry until the committee could talk it over privately.

Meantime, a committee spokesperson released a statement to CNN the following day which attempted to clarify the chairman’s comments — sort of a sideways walk-back: “The committee has no authority to prosecute individuals but is rather tasked with developing facts….”  Two sentences later, the spokesperson said the committee would gather “all relevant information, offer recommendations, and, if warranted, make criminal referrals.”

It is doubtful the chairman’s remarks on referrals were an inadvertent slip of the tongue.  There have certainly been private and even public surmises as to whether criminal referrals are advisable, perhaps even some guidance from above.  Ranking committee Democrat Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), who is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said publicly in March that a criminal referral would be “unproductive” because “it carries no legal weight.”

That same month, the Justice Department announced it would not be prosecuting former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and social media director Dan Scavino on House-approved contempt of Congress charges for defying committee subpoenas to appear. No reason was given. That same day, however, the department announced it was proceeding against former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on the same charges. It was an obvious muscle-flexing demonstration of prosecutorial discretion.

Unlike contempt of Congress citations, criminal referrals have no formal status in law or in Congress’s rules. Any citizen can make them. There are three good reasons why the committee would avoid making criminal referrals on Trump or anyone else. First, as Lofgren mentioned, such referrals from Congress have no legal status at DOJ. Most of such referrals from Congress, usually made by committee chairmen, have died on the department’s doorstep. Justice is very sensitive about being perceived as doing Congress’s political bidding, and prides itself on its independence and non-partisanship.

The second reason for not filing a criminal referral is a matter of optics. One of the main criticisms House Republicans level at the select committee is that its investigation is simply a smokescreen for a public show trial – a “kangaroo court.” Making a criminal referral to DOJ would only feed and confirm that accusation.  Most of the public media’s focus would be on whether the committee finds Trump criminally culpable for the Jan. 6 riot and would overshadow any other findings and recommendations the committee will presumably make.

A third reason a criminal referral would be resisted is that Trump’s role in claiming the election was stolen from him and whether he incited the violence that ensued is not necessarily a slam-dunk case. For Trump to be convicted requires proof of criminal intent on his part. Did he knowingly intend to break the law? Judging from much of the testimony already aired, it is not clear he was purposely acting illegally. As former Attorney General Bill Barr testified, at times the president seemed “detached from reality” and prone to believe the many “fantastical” conspiracy theories presented to him. Someone’s mental state is difficult enough to discern, let alone prove.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

Jan 6 Committee Chair Reminds Everyone It’s Irrelevant

Schiff Praises RINOs on Committee Investigating Jan. 6 ‘Attack’

First-hand account of Jan. 6 “insurrection” at U.S. Capitol

Reuters: FBI Finds No Evidence Jan. 6 Attack Was Coordinated

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Fairfax County School Board Votes To Make It A Potential Crime To Call A Boy A Boy

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

 

The ruling class has lost its collective mind and they mean to take us all and every good thing down with them.

Fairfax County School Board Votes To Make It A Potential Crime To Call A Boy A Boy

Dissenting students at school will now be suspended and possibly charged with a crime.

By: Auguste Meyrat, The Federalist, June 21, 2022:

Last Thursday, the school board at Fairfax County School Public Schools (FCPS) voted 8-4 to increase penalties for students who misgender or “dead-name” transgender-identifying students. This will now be classified as “discriminatory harassment,” which means offenders “could face weeks-long suspensions and referrals to local law enforcement,” according to the Washington Examiner.

The most charitable interpretation anyone could make of this move is that the school board is trying to cultivate a kinder environment by removing hateful language and attitudes from campuses. This would allow transgender students and their allies to feel safer and happier while those who oppose transgenderism have an opportunity to reflect on their intolerance and make better choices.

However, like most leftist gimmicks in education, all of this is based on false premises and will only create more dysfunction in an already dysfunctional school system. Specifically, there are three major problems with this new policy, two of them concern the idea behind it while the third has to do with its implementation.

Not an Expression of Hate

The first problem is that the school board conflates the refusal to accommodate a transgender student with an expression of hate. However, the two things are completely different. In the case of accommodating transgender classmates, a student is refusing to betray his own senses and reason to conform to the classmate’s fabricated reality; in the case of expressing hate, a student is actively seeking to harm and demean a classmate with hateful language.

Of course, the usual rebuttal to this is asking what the big deal is. After all, if objective reality (otherwise known as truth) is as relative and meaningless as transgender activists suggest, then why not humor people who live by a different truth? Professor Patrick Grzanka’s defensive interview with Matt Walsh in “What Is a Woman?” reflects this sentiment perfectly, as he asserts, “You keep invoking the word ‘truth,’ which is condescending and rude.”

On the contrary, it’s the exact opposite. Forcing someone to abide by another person’s arbitrary truth is “condescending and rude.” Empowered by the school faculty, trans-identifying students in FCPS can force every other student to lie and go along with the delusion. This isn’t much different from a big kid putting a smaller kid in a headlock and asking him to say “uncle,” and if he doesn’t — in this case, he will face severe consequences from a school administrator.

Is Transgender Identity on Par with Race and Sex?

This brings up another more fundamental problem with FCPS’s new policy: how should one properly view transgenderism? Is it really fair or accurate to say that transgender identity is on par with one’s race or sex? Shouldn’t it matter that race and sex are based on biology while transgenderism is based on feelings?

It most definitely matters because sometimes people’s feelings can be wrong, and if those feelings aren’t corrected by reason, they can become harmful. Researcher Jared Eckert argues this point in The American Conservative with the example from two decades ago of young people suddenly developing Body Identity Integrity Disorder (BIID), the belief that there is something wrong with one’s body.

They would go online and read blog posts about others seeking to amputate healthy limbs because they felt like they didn’t belong — and then these young people started feeling it too. The same thing happened with young people developing eating disorders because they felt like they were overweight.

Fortunately, as Eckert explains, social media platforms censored material that promoted these disorders because of the harm it was doing to young people. Unfortunately, in the case of transgenderism, censorship goes the other way — anyone who dares to question the idea that feeling like a woman makes one a woman will be censored. It’s the equivalent of punishing people who tell an anorexic woman she’s not fat, or an able-bodied man that he shouldn’t dismember himself.

Read the rest…..

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Disaster Is A Warning To The United States

/in , , , , , , , /by

“No nation has anything approaching a clean energy economy. And those that have promised to build one are all struggling.”

Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Disaster Is A Warning To The United States

By: David Harsanyi, The Federalist, June 21, 2022:

As gas hit historic highs, leftists keep arguing it’s a perfect time to transition to a “clean energy” economy. “Now is the moment to double-down, triple-down, and quadruple-down on clean energy,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted on Friday, linking to a CNN piece that contends “wind and solar” have been “bailing out” Texas during its recent heat wave.

In the piece we learn that wind, solar, and nuclear have “powered about 38% of the state’s power in 2021, rivaling natural gas at 42%.” That’s quite the sleight of hand; tantamount to bragging about how Babe Ruth (60), Lou Gehrig (47), and Joe Dugan (2) combined for 109 home runs in 1927. True, but deceptive.

Subsidized solar power generates less than 2 percent of Texas’ energy during the year. Nuclear power generates around 10 percent and wind nearly 20. Coal accounts for nearly 15 percent and natural gas for more than 52 percent of electricity generation. It would be far more accurate to say that coal, nuclear, and gas are bailing out Texas.

No nation has anything approaching a clean energy economy. And those that have promised to build one are all struggling.

More than a decade ago, after a major earthquake caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster, German chancellor Angela Merkel announced her nation would close down all its nuclear power plants, at the same time quadrupling down on the decarbonization of its economy—energiewende. Once there were 17 reactors in Germany. Now there are only three remaining, all of which are scheduled to go offline by the end of the year.

The move to “clean energy”—without nuclear—has accomplished three things:

1. It has prompted Germany, and the rest of the EU, to begin relying more heavily on Russian natural gas as it “transitioned.” Putin, who has begun demanding EU nations pay for their energy in roubles, is now able to undercut the European economy at will.

2. It has created the highest global electricity prices per household in the world. In 2019, German households were paying 34 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 13 cents in the United States. The price of energy has doubled since 2000, when Germany first mandated decarbonization, an effort that forced energy companies to purchase long-term inefficient renewables at high, fabricated prices.

3. It has meant the burning of coal. Even before Russia began cutting off supply, Germany was more reliant on coal than the United States. This week, Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who earlier this year rejected a European Union label of nuclear energy as “green,” announced that in an effort to avoid future gas shortages—because cars can’t run on wind—the government would incentivize the use of more coal-fired power plants.

The “transition” to green that Germany began 30 years ago has not worked. In 2000, Germany obtained 84 percent of its energy from fossil fuels. By 2019, it was 78 percent. As Vaclav Smil pointed out a couple of years ago, at this rate, Germany would still be deriving 70 percent of its energy from fossil fuels by the year 2050. With a move back to coal in 2022, it will surely be even later, if ever.

Setting aside the high cost of transitioning to renewable energy, and the failure of wind turbines and solar panels to produce energy in the winter, the intermittency problem is not going to be overcome in any season. To pull back on the only reliable “clean energy” source that can mitigate this problem has been suicidal.

Unlike Germany, we don’t even have to worry about pipelines from Russia; we are situated on a continent with abundant energy sources. Germany’s problems are self-inflicted. Ours will be, as well, if we follow its lead.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

Biden and Oil: Destroy America in Order to Save It

“Germany turns to coal

Dutch join Germany, Austria, in reverting to coal

Green-pushing Germany turns to coal to offset gas crisis from Russian gas restriction

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.