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April 2022

The Magic Kingdom Supports Sexualizing Childhood A dangerous escalation in the decades-long ideological transformation of sexual mores. Bruce Thornton

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/04/magic-kingdom-supports-sexualizing-childhood-bruce-thornton/

Once the epitome of childhood innocence and joy, the Disney Corporation has gone full “woke,” endorsing and supporting a dangerous grammar-school curriculum that exposes prepubescent children to inappropriate sexual information. Pressured by activists, including Disney employees, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek publicly renounced Florida’s recently passed Parental Rights in Education law––dishonestly labeled by critics the “Don’t say gay” law–– which forbids curriculum from kindergarten to third grade from including content on “sexual orientation or gender identity.” 

This assault on childhood innocence in the name of “tolerance” and identity-politics activism marks a dangerous escalation in the decades-long ideological transformation of sexual mores away from common sense, faith, and traditional morality. This escalation puts at risk children’s sexual development and psychological health by exposing them to materials and information they are not ready for, while sidelining parents’ responsibility and right to oversee this vulnerable period in their children’s lives.

This episode highlights several cultural and political developments that have been going on for many decades. The attempt to usurp parents’ right to raise their kids according to their morality and principles reflects the progressive technocratic hubris that they, rather than families or churches, are better suited for properly raising and educating children. The irony is, it hasn’t been science that supports that claim, but scientism: disciplines like psychology and sociology that oversimplify human nature and motivation, and impose ideologically loaded paradigms and practices on public schools.

Why don’t the media ever ask why previous IPCC predictions have been so wrong? By Jack Hellner

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/04/why_dont_the_media_ever_ask_why_previous_ipcc_predictions_have_been_so_wrong.html

Once again, the UN intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning that we are doomed by climate change.  The media, Biden administration, and the IPCC like to scare people. This article by Yahoo News senior editor Ben Adler does not answer simple questions.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday released its latest report, which found that nations are falling short of their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avert catastrophic climate change. While the technology exists to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of average global temperature increase — the goal that virtually every nation agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement and reaffirmed last year in the Glasgow Climate Pact — current policies put the world on a trajectory toward at least twice as much warming.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the report’s conclusion “damning.” The Working Group III report marks the end of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment, with strong words for countries that have failed to act on climate change.

“The jury has reached a verdict. And it is damning,” Guterres said in a statement. “This report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a litany of broken climate promises. It is a file of shame, cataloging the empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unlivable world.” (snip)

Without a dramatic shift in policy, Guterres warned, “We are on a fast track to climate disaster: Major cities under water. Unprecedented heatwaves. Terrifying storms. Widespread water shortages. The extinction of a million species of plants and animals.”

In 1989 the IPCC said we only had ten years left!

Senate Moves Judge Jackson’s Supreme Court Nomination to Floor after Committee Deadlocks By Caroline Downey

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/senate-judiciary-committee-splits-on-advancing-judge-jacksons-nomination/

After the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday in a split eleven-to-eleven partisan vote, the Senate chamber advanced her candidacy 53–47 Monday evening in a subsequent vote.

A simple majority of 51 votes was needed to advance her nomination, which Jackson garnered after Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney pledged their support, cementing a likely bipartisan confirmation.

Given that the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats is evenly divided in the Senate, Jackson’s prospects have been encumbered by a political tug-of-war, especially since both parties have the same number of seats on every committee. For the last two weeks, some GOP members on the committee have hammered Jackson on her record of perceived leniency on child-pornography cases during her hearings.

THE CDC MASSIVELY VIOLATES ITS PLEDGE TO AMERICANS. WHY TRUST IT NOW?

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/04/05/the-cdc-massively-violates-its-pledge-to-americans-why-should-anyone-trust-it-now/

(Since Big Tech is likely to try to censor this article, we encourage our readers to share it widely with friends by email, on personal websites, blogs, or however else you share information these days.)

One of the five items on the CDC’s “Pledge to the American People” is that it will “base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data that is derived openly and objectively.” Can anyone honestly say that it has lived up to this promise during the COVID outbreak?

Three recent events should make it abundantly clear that the answer is no.  

First, the CDC has been caught hiding vast amounts of scientific data regarding COVID. The New York Times, of all places, reported in late February that “For more than a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data on hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the United States and broken it down by age, race and vaccination status. But it has not made most of the information public.” Why? Because the data, especially data on the efficacy of vaccines, “might be misinterpreted.”

Dr. Nicole Saphier, a physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering, tweeted in reaction to the news that: “The CDC’s response when questioned about their withholding of COVID data and lack of transparency is essentially ‘we don’t trust you to be able to understand the truth.’ The condescension is palpable.”

She added that “People who have blindly trusted the CDC the last 2 years are about to have their world turned upside down as the lack of transparency and manipulation of data become undeniably evident.”

So much for the CDC’s pledge to be “open and objective.” (This revelation also shows that the CDC has violated another of its pledges: to “treat all persons with dignity, honesty, and respect.”)

The Cult of Abortion Seth Barron

https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-cult-of-abortion/

As the Left abandons the meaningful existence of gender, abortion remains a sacrament reserved for women in the woke cathedral.

As we all have learned by now, women do not get pregnant and have babies—“birthing people” do. Women do not exclusively menstruate—both men and women have periods. And women do not nurse babies—“chestfeeders” do. But, so far at least, abortion is still exclusively a question of women’s health. 

In May of 2021, Representative Cori Bush testified in a congressional hearing about maternal death among black women and babies. “Every day,” she tweeted, “Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don’t believe our pain. My children almost became a statistic. I almost became a statistic.” But Bush, a radical socialist legislator who is sticking with “Defund the Police” as a mantra, was not using some arcane terminology in substituting “birthing person” for the usual “mother.” This substitution apparently reflects official U.S. government policy under the Biden administration, which used it in 2022 fiscal documents.  

Tampon companies have also embraced the idea that their products are, potentially, for everyone. “Fact: Not all women have periods,” Tampax tweeted. “Also a fact: Not all people with periods are women. Let’s celebrate the diversity of all people who bleed!” The ACLU has embraced “menstrual equity” as a matter of civil rights, asking, “How can we recognize that barriers to menstrual access are a form of sex discrimination without erasing the lived experiences of trans men and non-binary people who menstruate, as well as women who don’t?” Numerous colleges have installed tampon machines in men’s bathrooms, too. 

“Conformity – Death Knell for Freedom”- Sydney Williams

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

News sources seem unable to deal with more than one crisis at a time. Three months ago, and for the previous twenty-one months, airwaves were dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it is Ukraine. What has been happening in Ukraine is awful, but is it, as commentators on both Fox News and MSNBC have reported, the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II? Is it worse than China’s Cultural Revolution, which caused an estimated 20 million deaths? Is it worse than the Cambodian killing fields when the Communist-led Khmer Rouge slew as many as 3.0 million people? Does it compare to Islamic terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa where 3 million Christians have been displaced and 43,000 killed in Nigeria alone? Where is perspective? Evil is part of human nature. It was because of the existence of evil that the Founders put constraints on governmental power. Evil leaders – from Hitler, Hirohito and Stalin to Mao Zedong, from Kim Jong-un to Ali Khamenei, from Xi Jinping to Vladimir Putin – rule by forced conformity, with none of the restraints on their leadership necessary for people to live freely and securely. Dissent is not allowed. Opposition to prescribed doctrines threatens totalitarian leaders.

Lest one tags me as an anarchist, let me add that I do believe in conformity when it comes to adherence to civility – tolerance, decency and respect for others, regardless of opinions, gender or race. And I believe in the universal values, embedded in traditional concepts of virtue. It is not the superficial differences reflected in gender and race, but differences in the opinions we carry, that threaten progressives’ desire for conformity. The freedom to express those opinions in a civil manner is critical to a democracy. In his 2007 book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, Stanford Professor Philip Zimbardo wrote, “Research shows that the decisions of a group as a whole are more thoughtful; and creative when there is a minority dissent than when it is absent.” It is the premise behind the success of democracies versus the failure of authoritarian rule.

How Florida’s Newly Enacted ‘Parental Rights in Education’ Law Actually Protects Gay Students Leor Sapir

https://quillette.com/2022/04/01/how-floridas-newly-enacted-parental-rights-in-education-law-actually-protects-gay-students/

The White House has denounced a new Florida law as “cruel” and “harmful.” In an interview with CNN, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay cabinet member in American history, agreed that the law is “dangerous.” His husband Chasten, a best-selling author, was even more emphatic, declaring that “this will kill kids.”

The law in question does not lower the driving age to 12, permit teenagers to own guns, or eliminate funding for research on pediatric cancers. Instead, Florida’s newly enacted Parental Rights in Education law requires that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade three, or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Another provision dictates that schools “may not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.” This latter provision has not attracted nearly as much attention (or criticism) as the former. But as discussed below, it will likely have a bigger impact on students—and a highly beneficial one.

Pete Buttigieg smirks to Americans to ‘go green’ or get used to soaring gas prices By Monica Showalter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/04/pete_buttigieg_smirks_to_americans_to_go_green_or_get_used_to_soaring_gas_prices.html

Joe Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has a smarmy, smiling message for all of us pudknocker Americans who don’t quite buy into the ‘going green’ agenda of the Bidenites:

Here’s what he actually said:

…so, less dependent on foreign oil, and that protects us from shortages at fuel stations, but here’s the thing  to remember, even if all of the oil we use in the U.S.A. were made in the U.S.A., the price of it is still subject to powers and dynamics outside of the U.S.A. Which means that until we achieve a form of energy independence that is based on clean energy created here at home, American citizens will still be vulnerable to wild price hikes like we are seeing right now..

..which is smug, certain, smiling, and … and a very odd message to shill out to the American public as gas prices hit $5.85 a gallon on average in California and $4.26 nationally, and midterms beckon.

It’s an astonishingly ignorant and charlatan-like statement.

Buttigieg argues that domestically produced green energy is somehow not subject to global price swings, while only oil and natural gas somehow are.

How do we unpack this?

Compromised Biden Cannot Lead America or the World By Vasko Kohlmayer

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/04/compromised_biden_cannot_lead_america_or_the_world.html

Last week the Russian government held a press conference where it aired accusations of breathtaking corruption on the part of Joe Biden and his family.

Unfortunately, this event was no fake news Russian propaganda. The incriminating evidence presented at the event came straight from the hard drive that belonged to Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

As you may know, in 2019 Hunter Biden carelessly abandoned his laptop at a computer repair shop in Delaware. This was an act of astounding recklessness, since the emails, text messages, files, photos, and videos contained on that computer provided extensive record of greed, corruption, bribery and graft, not only on his part but also on the part of his father and other members of their family.

When the New York Post tried to report on the hard drive in October 2020, the America mainstream media and law enforcement authorities refused to acknowledge it or take appropriate action. Rather than commencing an investigation, the establishment falsely claimed that the hard drive was a product of “Russian disinformation.” They did this even though they knew it was real.  The staff of the New York Post conducted an extensive, multi-level authentication process to ensure that the hard drive was genuine, and they made the details of this process available to anyone who cared to check.

Amid a Crime Wave, the New York State Attorney General Gets Tough on . . . Reporters By A. J. Caschetta

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/04/amid-a-crime-wave-the-new-york-state-attorney-general-gets-tough-on-reporters/?itm_

Letitia James has used her office to thwart investigative reporters while sticking up for a group with intimate ties to Hamas.

New Yorkers are currently suffering through an epidemic of violent crime that is diminishing the quality of life of the nation’s most-burdened taxpayers. And what is state attorney general Letitia James doing about it? Pushing back against the so-called bail-reform laws that every day turn violent offenders back out on the street? Devising new ways to protect tourists and residents? Conducting a forensic investigation into all that missing Covid-19 relief cash that was stolen?

No, she’s coming to the defense of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in its efforts to stop its own members from talking to reporters about the potentially illegal activities of the group’s leaders. On April 1 (this couldn’t have been an April Fool’s Day joke, can it?), the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York sent a cease-and-desist notification to Steven Emerson, founder and director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), ordering the end to “any ongoing or contemplated unlawful espionage operations against Muslims and Muslim organizations within the State of New York.”

The press release announcing the letter begins: “On the eve of Ramadan, New York Attorney General Letitia James today warned a known anti-Muslim hate group to stop spying on Muslim communities.” The second paragraph begins: “As we enter the holy month of Ramadan, it’s more important than ever that we show our support for our Muslim communities and stand up to Islamophobia and hate of any and every kind.”