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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas.   It's here.

JUNE 28, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE –  OVERNIGHT:

ONE SMALL STEP FOR SANITY – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Brown University has backtracked on offering a “mindfulness” course exclusively to black, Latino and Indigenous students after a complaint was made to the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism.
Last month’s online “teacher training class in mindfulness-based stress reduction” was open only to “BIPOC” students, which stands for black, indigenous and people of color — although Asian students were not included in that category, the New York Post reported.
Brown reportedly established the course because “mindfulness instruction in the West has historically … failed to include and address the needs, life experiences, and priorities of marginalized communities,” according to a letter from a FAIR attorney Leigh Ann O’Neill.The universities represent the worst examples of political correctness and Marxist agitprop.  Rooting this stuff out will not be easy, as many professors and administrators have built their careers around know-nothingism.  We have a chance of progress with the newest generation of students, some of whom seem to understand what's being done to them.  We need more.

MOVING VAN POLITICS – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   As the Washington Examiner reported this week, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic has done nothing to arrest the trend of people fleeing large cities in liberal coastal states for more pleasant and orderly locales, particularly in the Mountain West and the Sun Belt.
A mixture of unreasonable pandemic restrictions, rising crime, lawlessness, and hostility toward employers has forced this continued urban exodus.  A Census Bureau report released late last month shows which cities and towns have gained population and which have lost it. The data demonstrate that the states and cities that imposed the most draconian COVID-19 restrictions were very likely to lose population. But the fact is that the data are quite similar for the period between 2018 and 2019, when COVID-19 was not a consideration. What towns and cities gaining population generally have in common both before and during COVID-19 is that they generally live under laws made by Republicans. What towns and cities losing population have in common is that they generally live under Democratic rule.  It is hardly a coincidence that all 15 of the 15 fastest-growing cities and towns between July 2020 and July 2021 are in states that Republicans govern: Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho. And 14 out of the 15 fastest-declining cities during the same period were in states that Democrats governed at the time.  What towns and cities gaining population generally have in common both before and during COVID-19 is that they live under laws made by Republicans. What towns and cities losing population have in common is that they live under laws made by Democrats.  Ah, it is so great to have good news, and this is good indeed. Now we have to translate the reality into votes in November.  The Dems will use every device to keep their power.

June 28, 2022       Permalink

A NATION OF LAWS?  WELL, MAYBE – Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, is taking on the Justice Department over its odd way of enforcing the law.  About time.  From Just the News:

Ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) slammed the Department of Justice on Monday for "repeated failure to prosecute employees" who were caught lying during internal investigations. 

"An unsettling pattern has emerged from the Department of Justice (DOJ) whereby criminal referrals by the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General (OIG), against DOJ employees for making materially false statements are rarely prosecuted," Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Grassley said the "most shocking example of this pattern" occurred last month after the DOJ declined to bring charges against the former FBI agents who botched the investigation of Dr. Larry Nassar, the former U.S. women's national gymnastics team physician who was sentenced to prison for assaulting gymnasts. 

The Iowa Republican listed a dozen other cases in which the United States Attorney's Office declined to prosecute staffers. For example, the OIG substantiated allegations that an employee made inaccurate statements in an investigation report and the staffer even admitted to lying, but the attorney's office decided to not prosecute.

In another case, the OIG supported the claim that an employee received about $350,000 worth of excess worker's compensation disability payments, but the office did not file charges. 

"Laws are meant to deter criminal activity, but when DOJ does not enforce those laws but rather shields their employees from consequences, it has the opposite effect. It creates a sense of entitlement and signals that DOJ employees are beyond reproach," Grassley said, adding that "DOJ employees should be held to a higher standard" or else the department risks losing Americans' trust. 

Grassley asked how many employees were prosecuted over the last five years. He also wanted to know more about why the department declined to prosecute agents suspected of wrongdoing in the Nassar case.

COMMENT:  I doubt if Garland will do a thing.  He seems to be a very political attorney general, with little sense of independence, and no sense of urgency.  But I'm glad Senator Grassley spoke out.  If Republicans take the Senate, he'll return to his old job as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and will be in a position to conduct his own independent investigations.

June 28, 2022       Permalink 

JUNE 27,  2022

A DEEPLY TROUBLING SIGN OF OUR TIMES – The United States Army is lowering its standards for recruits, eliminating even the need for a high-school diploma.  This comes at a time when weapons are becoming increasingly complex.   And our armed services generally cannot meet their minimum recruiting quotas.  Why?  Could it possibly be that potential recruits are not attracted to critical race theory?  I wonder.  From dailywire: 

The United States Army has dropped its requirement that recruits must have a high school diploma or a G.E.D. degree in an apparent attempt to increase the number of troops.

On Thursday, the Army announced the changes. Recruits must be 18 years old and eligible for a job in other areas of active duty and they also must score at least a 50 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to test their academic ability, according to Military.com.

The military outlet also noted, “The Army and its sister services have scrambled this year, offering increasingly generous benefits and policy tweaks in an effort to improve recruiting numbers. The Army has hit 40% of its recruiting goals this year, with the struggle to fill the ranks seemingly so grim the Defense Department reduced its planned total force size because prior recruiting goals were out of reach.”

Last week, the Army also relaxed its regulations regarding the placement, size, and number of tattoos that recruits may have.

“Social norms, people are getting more tattoos,” Sergeant Major Ashleigh Sykes told reporters Thursday. “It doesn’t stop readiness if someone has a tattoo on the back of their neck.”

According to a memo regarding the rule change, “This directive announces a change in policy for the allowable placement of tattoos for currently serving Soldiers and applicants for enlistment or appointment. Changes to the Army tattoo policy allow individuals who meet all other qualifications for appointment or enlistment the opportunity to serve.”
“They also support the Army’s People Strategy, our number one priority, by offering Soldiers options for appearance that take into account professional appearance and good order and discipline,” the memo added.

On Monday, NBC News reported that every branch of the U.S. military is on schedule to not meet its recruiting goals for the year.

“This recruiting crisis is like a slow-moving wave coming at us,” one senior defense official involved in recruiting and personnel issues told NBC News. “As the military has gotten smaller and the public have gotten less and less familiar with those in uniform, it has grown. And COVID accelerated it.”

COMMENT:  There is a famous Biblical line, from Corinthians:  "“If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”  This naiton's trumpet is giving an uncertain sound.  We have, under Biden, the image of weakness. 

Who will defend us in a catastrophe?  I don't know.  I'm afraid to find out.

June 27, 2022       Permalink

A NEW OUTRAGE – Remember when we thought our local schools belonged to we the people?  Get this, from Fox: 

Parents around the United States are being charged tens of thousands, including some fees in the millions, for public records requests in their school districts, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital spoke with parents around the county – such as in Michigan, Oregon, and Rhode Island — as well as with public records experts who said they believed schools were using exorbitant fees in order to price parents out of the information they are legally entitled to, such as those related to curriculum.

A parent from Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland told Fox News Digital that she requested emails that spanned one month between various entities and was asked to pay $5,000. "I never got the [records] because that's well beyond what I'm willing to pay for information my tax dollars already paid for," she said. FCPS was contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.

In Oregon, the Oregon Department of Education slapped on $10 per email review in various requests. For example, to review 963 emails, the fee was $9,630; for 382 emails, the fee was $3,820; and 109 emails would cost $1,090, according to a complaint with the attorney general that was reviewed by Fox News Digital. The total fees subject to the complaint were ultimately reduced from nearly 15K to a few hundred bucks.

Another request a parent sent into ODE came back with a fee of $1,525. "You may narrow the scope of your request to reduce your overall cost estimate," a rules coordinator at ODE said, according to an email reviewed by Fox News Digital.

"How could I narrow my request? Is this not a single document?… I do not understand what you mean by narrowing or how 1 document costs $1,525 to download and email to me. Or why 3 hours of time is needed by IT to again download 1 document and email it. Please explain," the parent asked. Fox News Digital reached out to ODE for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

In Rochester, Michigan, the district reportedly charged fees as high as $18 million to complete their requests. "I don’t know what they’re hiding, but they’re definitely hiding information. Why make it so difficult for parents to get [public records] if they don’t have something to hide," a parent told local media.

COMMENT:  That's more ammunition for the parents' revolt that began in Virginia, and helped flip the state to the Republicans.  Parents are fed up with schools that treat them as outsiders.  We all know why they do it – to hide what the hard left education systems are teaching.  Education is now a Republican issue, and the party should run with it.  The outrage is there.

June 27, 2022       Permalink