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March 2025

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Mia Love: My Last Wish for the America I Know In the last piece she wrote before her death, the late former Utah congresswoman took up her pen—not to say goodbye but to say thank you.

By on March 25th, 2025

https://www.thefp.com/p/mia-love-last-wish-for-america-utah
Mia Love never had it easy. Yet in an age where cynicism about the United States and its founding had become the norm, she never lost sight of the great opportunities America had given her.

In 2022, Love was diagnosed with brain cancer. Two weeks ago, she announced in a moving Deseret News essay that she would soon die, and used this final opportunity to write a love letter to America. We wanted to have her on “Honestly,” but this past weekend, her family announced that she had passed away at age 49.

You can read all about her life in this beautiful obituary published by Deseret News, a Utah publication we admire. We are grateful to them for allowing us to reprint this lightly edited piece and help it find the widest possible audience. — BW

My dear friends, fellow Americans, and Utahns, I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know.

My battle with brain cancer is coming to an end. The disease is no longer responding to treatment, and my family and I have shifted our focus from treatments to enjoying every moment and making memories with the time we have.

My life has been extended by exceptional medical care, science, and extraordinary professionals who have become dear friends. My extra season of life has also been the result of the faith and prayers of countless friends, known and unknown. The result of such humble faith and pleading prayers have been felt by me and my family in ways too numerous to count. I have always believed that faith and science are inextricably interconnected.

As a mayor, member of congress, and media commentator, I have seen the worst of petty politics, divisive rhetoric, and disappointing lapses of moral character by some. These same roles also provided me a front-row seat and backstage pass to be blessed and inspired by the courage, vision, and hope of America’s finest daughters, sons, and citizens.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Joe Lonsdale Jews and Christians Must Fight Anti-Semitic Conspiracies Ancient lies about Jews are gaining traction again in Western discourse.

By on March 25th, 2025

https://www.city-journal.org/article/jews-christians-anti-semitic-conspiracies

Last month, for the first time in my life, many of my successful Jewish friends—names you likely know—called me, worried. They asked what they need to do to protect their families, and who will have our back if attacks on Jews keep spreading.

Ancient libels, banished from polite society after the horrors of World War II, are reentering the mainstream, shared to millions on social media and podcasts. In recent months, Tucker Carlson has suggested that the Jewish State and American “neocons” are actively targeting Christians in the Middle East and manipulating American foreign policy to start a war with Iran. They “invariably destroy ancient Christian communities, from Iraq to Gaza and in many places in between,” Carlson said. “Can this be an accident? You wonder.”

Podcaster Candace Owens, whom Carlson calls a friend, has repeatedly attacked Jews and Israel, blaming “Zionists” for the chaos in Syria and downplaying the persecution of Christians by Islamist forces. “Israel is implicated in Syria,” she said. “Remember when Zionists were applauding the fall of Assad? Well, us Christians knew then that Israel-funded Islamists in the territory would start mass-murdering Christians.”

I do not know the motivations or intentions of these influencers. What I do know is that they are repeating claims that historically have led to deep suspicion and persecution of Jewish communities. And they are trying to drive Christians and Jews apart—damaging a vital relationship that must be preserved.

When I first posted about this trend, I received a flurry of disturbing replies:

“Tldr: jew crying over nothing because people are exposing them for being genocidal psychopaths”

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Kennedy Assassination And The Persistence Of Conspiracy Theories — Part II Francis Menton

By on March 25th, 2025

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2025-3-23-the-kennedy-assassination-and-the-persistence-of-conspiracy-theories-part-ii

“Conspiracy theory” — the label evokes connotations of something so preposterous that it couldn’t possibly be true. With an obvious simple explanation for some incident easily at hand, generally involving a single perpetrator or a natural cause, the alternative “conspiracy theory” posits that a large group of people plotted to bring the incident about. The very size of the posited group alone makes the conspiracy theory seem unlikely, because such a large group could never hope to keep the secret. And then, in the classic conspiracy theory, the large group of conspirators consists mostly or entirely of agents of the government, who have allegedly acted in nefarious and illegal ways against the interests of the people they are sworn to serve, and have then also covered up their illegal conduct. Our government employees and officials may not be perfect, but surely they would not carry out, and then cover up, massive illegal conspiracies against the interests of the people.

Put these factors together, and you can see why sticking the label “conspiracy theory” on a hypothesis has long been an effective way to dismiss that hypothesis out of hand. It’s a “conspiracy theory” — and therefore it is so preposterous that there is no need to deal with its specifics. And, generally speaking, far more often than not, the obvious simple explanation of the incident is likely to be correct.

But not always. And indeed over the last several years we have seen one after another hypothesis initially branded as a “conspiracy theory” later established to be true, at least within the limits that truth can be known in our imperfect world. In multiple cases the conspiracy theories have been vindicated after years of having been vociferously denounced and belittled and censored by the media. To list just a few of the most notorious:

The theory that members of the FBI conspired to obtain illegal warrants and then to spy on the 2016 Trump campaign for President.

The theory that members of the Hillary Clinton campaign, together with friendly law firms and campaign consultants and researchers, conspired to produce and pay for and spread to the media fake opposition research painting Donald Trump as having “colluded” with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Shed No Tears For Fired Federal Workers

By on March 25th, 2025

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/03/25/shed-no-tears-for-fired-federal-workers/

When the Trump administration announces the next round of government layoffs, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth, the sob stories will be deafening. For what? A bunch of overpaid, underworked bureaucrats?

Estimates about how many jobs have been cut so far differ. The press claims DOGE has eliminated around 100,000 federal jobs. Challenger, Gray & Christmas says 62,530 were let go in January and February. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded a net loss of only 6,700 federal jobs in February.

Whatever the case, Donald Trump wants big numbers. The Department of Education already said it will chop its workforce in half. Veterans Affairs says it is targeting 80,000 workers.

The White House is currently reviewing plans for a second wave of layoffs after getting recommendations from Cabinet officials.

Terrible, right?

Wrong. Consider the context missing from every one of these sky-is-falling stories:

This is just a haircut.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

The Global Warming Scare Hits Rock Bottom

By on March 25th, 2025

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/03/24/the-global-warming-scare-hits-rock-bottom/

Our friend Steven Hayward, late of the great Power Line blog, university professor and incisive thinker, wrote a compelling essay last week about “The Nadir of the Climate Change Movement.” If anyone should know about the state of global warming hysteria, it would be Hayward. Here’s how he begins his argument:

The prevailing winds are blowing not toward more windmills but toward common sense on energy.

It is possible that the Trump administration is going to deal the death blows to the long-running climate change hysteria and government hostility to fossil fuels, not just in the United States but around the globe.

The Trump administration has moved well beyond merely supporting increased oil and natural gas production. It has also launched steps to dismantle the foundations of anti-energy climate policy, in particular, a proposed reversal of the so-called ‘endangerment finding’ that gave the EPA jurisdiction to regulate greenhouse gases, which were never explicitly included in any of the various Clean Air Acts passed over the last 50 years. Trump’s EPA is also proposing to revise the EPA’s flawed ‘social cost of carbon’ analysis, which is used to justify costly green energy schemes.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

Tim Walz, Minnesota’s manic Marxist governor, has the reverse Midas touch By Eric Utter

By on March 24th, 2025

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/03/tim_walz_minnesota_s_manic_marxist_governor_has_the_reverse_midas_touch.html

Contrast the competence of an Elon Musk with the staggering incompetence of Minnesota’s manic Marxist governor, known as Tampon Timmy Walz, here in Minnesota.

Walz did nothing as his largest city burned, helping to foster the nationwide George Floyd riots.

His wife said she enjoyed the smell of burning tires coming through their windows.

Walz somehow managed to turn a $16 billion surplus into a $6 billion deficit in no time flat.

The self-described knucklehead managed to tank Minnesota’s pension fund for public servants based on his public gloatings over Tesla’s leftist terrorism-induced stock plunge, before he was forced into a pathetic backtrack.

He presided during the horrendous Feeding Our Future scandal yet somehow has been untouched and untainted by it.

He has overseen the collapse of Minnesota’s education system, the state’s test scores plummeting like the temperature on a cold January night in Bemidji.

“Minnesota Nice” is a thing of the past, which I can attest to personally. Many of the state’s drivers are angry, impatient, rude, or downright dangerous, passing people on ramps and flipping the bird to others, whom they deem guilty of some made-up indiscretion. (This is particularly true in the Twin Cities metro area.)

Liberals, progressives, and LGBTQ activists own big city governments and incessantly push their causes, everyone else be damned. Have a “Trump” yard sign? If so, in many Minneapolis neighborhoods it’s just a matter of time before it is vandalized or removed.

Some areas of the Twin Cities are trending toward Muslim majority, and Students for Palestine run rampant on the University of Minnesota campus, while Muslims’ call to prayers echoes from loudspeakers in Ilhan Omar’s old district.

And yet, even this ‘diversity’ is not enough for governor Walz. He has vowed to make Minnesota a sanctuary state for abortion, a sanctuary state for children’s transgender procedures (including genital mutilation), and now a sanctuary state for criminal illegal aliens.

The land of 10,000 lakes is certainly not a sanctuary state for traditional Americans, or those whose politics are to the right of Chairman Mao. This is evidenced by the many who have fled Minnesota for states such as Texas and Florida, where sane governors preside.

If Chairman Walz has his way, the North Star State could eventually be left devoid of anyone but leftist members of the LGBTQ community and practicing Islamist Muslims, most of whom tend not to venture too far from the Twin Cities, which would leave Minnesota’s 10,000-plus lakes relatively uncrowded.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Big Law Gets Back to Business By Richard Porter

By on March 24th, 2025

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/03/24/big_law_gets_back_to_business_152545.html
Frankly this sounds mean and vindictive to me….rsk

The top law firms in New York City gave Donald Trump the high hat for years, despite his wealth, fame, and standing. But Big Law is finally putting politics aside and getting back to business.

Last month, Sullivan & Cromwell agreed to handle President Trump’s appeal in the egregious criminal case brought by posing partisan prosecutor Alvin Bragg. Last week, Paul Weiss agreed to provide $40 million of legal work on “mutually agreeable matters” in support of the Trump administration’s policy initiatives, and agreed to boot DEI too, in exchange for Trump’s agreement to terminate his Executive Order “Addressing Risks from Paul Weiss.”

Some decry Paul Weiss’ agreement as craven – and one young associate at another firm threatened to quit unless her law firm fights with Trump to her satisfaction. She’s missing the point, as have most of Trump’s other critics in the legal profession.

Until relatively recently, Big Law is all about business – and avoiding political risks. Leading partners at the mega-firms are practical people who behave rationally, not ideologically. And that’s how it’s supposed to work.

So, when Democratic Party lawyers tried to overwhelm Trump with egregious and extra-legal lawfare, Americans rallied around him and helped him retake the presidency. Even then, Big Law refused to represent him because the risk-adjusted return of helping Donald Trump was less than shunning him. Nothing personal, just business – or so they thought.

It’s true that most lawyers, including those who pursue careers in the elite law firms, are Democrats. Two of the three law firms singled out by President Trump are among the most unbalanced of the largest 100 firms. And while Paul Weiss was closer to average, its partners donated more money to Democratic Party campaign committees in a recent cycle than any other large law firm – and one of its partners prepped Kamala Harris for her debate with Trump.

It’s also true that big law firms perceive left-wing activist groups as an outsize risk to their ability to recruit top talent, mostly from elite institutions that are also left. To mitigate that risk, firms have for many years catered to the groups’ requests for financial, policy, and legal support.

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BOOKS, EDUCATION Comments turned off

An EdTech Tragedy:A groundbreaking UNESCO book on the damage wrought by ed-tech during COVID school closures around the globe Jon Haidt and Zach Rausch

By on March 24th, 2025

https://www.afterbabel.com/p/edtech-tragedy?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=8t06w&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

In The Anxious Generation, we focused on the emergence of the adolescent mental health crisis that began in the early 2010s. However, since the book’s publication one year ago, we have learned even more about worrisome trends in education that closely mirror those in mental health: after decades of stability or gradual improvement, test scores in the U.S. and around the world began declining notably in the 2010s.

While widespread attention to declining test scores intensified during and after the COVID-19 pandemic—with many experts attributing the downturn primarily to COVID restrictions and the rapid movement to full remote learning—the declines actually began much earlier. Evidence from The National Assessment of Student Progress (NAEP) clearly illustrates this earlier decline. As shown in Figure 1, after decades of slow and steady gains, American students started to give back those gains after 2012, particularly among students who were already performing at lower levels.

But as with the mental health crisis, it wasn’t just an American thing. In December 2023, Derek Thompson wrote an essay in The Atlantic titled, It Sure Looks Like Phones Are Making Students Dumber.

Here’s a figure from that essay (re-graphed by us), showing that the decline is happening across the dozens of countries that participate in PISA (Program for International Student Assessment). As with the mental health declines, these decline started after 2012, not 2020.

What could cause such an international decline in learning? One plausible explanation is the arrival of the phone-based childhood, which, as we showed, arrived between 2010 and 2015. However, there is a related hypothesis that is more proximal to the educational decline: the sudden appearance of a laptop or tablet on every student’s desk. To be clear, the intentions here were good. In 2010, for example, the U.S. Department of Education recommended that schools provide every student with “at least one Internet access device…Only with 24/7 access to the Internet via devices and technology-based software and resources can we achieve the kind of engagement, student-centered learning, and assessments that can improve learning in the ways this plan proposes.” But the outcome seems to be bad for most students—especially students who were already struggling.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Aharon Barak’s protest gavel Ruthie Blum

By on March 24th, 2025

https://www.jns.org/aharon-baraks-protest-gavel/

In a slew of interviews on Thursday, former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak came out swinging his proverbial gavel. His target was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—this time around for firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and gearing up to get rid of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Since going after Netanyahu was what the left-wing press expected of the esteemed elder, the retired judge-turned-oracle didn’t disappoint. If anything, he went above and beyond the call of duty.

“The prime minister,” he told Channel 13, “needs to understand that the situation is very bad and that … we are heading toward bloodshed, toward a civil war.”

The schism among Israelis, he said to Ynet, “is getting worse and, in the end, I fear, it will be like a train that goes off the tracks and plunges in a chasm, causing a civil war.”

And this to Channel 12: “[T]he rift in the public is immense, and no effort is being made to heal it. … Today, there are demonstrations … but tomorrow there will be shootings, and the day after that there will be bloodshed.”

This is just a taste of Barak’s multi-media onslaught. Though described by his champions as a “warning” to the Netanyahu-led government that any moves against Bar and Baharav-Miara would rip apart the country and—ho hum—destroy Israeli democracy, his pontificating had two main motives.

The first was to threaten Netanyahu that if he proceeds with the ousters—the legality of which is indisputable—the demonstrations in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will turn violent. Implicit in the admonition was that such a dangerous spike in societal unrest would be both inevitable and justified.

The second aim of Barak’s sermonizing was to signal support for Bar’s refusal to exit his post and Baharav-Miara’s abuse of her role, while instructing the High Court to overrule the government in each of the cases. As though it needed any coaxing on that score.

Still, a nod from the father of Israel’s “constitutional revolution”—who justified his power grab for the bench more than 30 years ago on the grounds that “no areas in life are outside the law”—is a cherished commodity among the robed elites. Though he retired 18 years ago at the mandatory age of 70, he remains a jurisprudence giant in the eyes of the legal community, at home and abroad.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Syria: Terrorists in Suits and Ties No Future for Christians or Other ‘Infidels’ by Lawrence A. Franklin

By on March 24th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21489/syria-terrorists-in-suits-and-ties

[Ahmed] Al-Sharaa, on taking power in Syria in December, originally professed to be a “moderate.” The Biden administration even lifted a $10 million bounty for his arrest, for previous terrorist activity linked to Al Qaeda, presumably in the hope of moderation actually being delivered. Since that time, however, al-Sharaa and his followers have appeared more as terrorists in suits and ties.

The country’s new constitution, published on March 14, stipulates that Islamic Sharia jurisprudence is the sole source of judicial decision-making. This constitution also asserts that Syria’s president must be a Muslim and that the executive branch has almost dictatorial powers. Moreover, the constitution includes no provision for protecting Syrian ethnic or religious minorities, which include Christians, Alawites, Kurds and Druze.

Sunni jihadist government forces are reportedly reveling in the massacre of the Alawites, and Turkey has already set up secret cells throughout Syria “to use as proxies abroad.” Christians throughout Syria are afraid that after the Alawites, they will be next. It is also possible that al-Sharaa’s HTS will be successful in uniting most of Syria under its control, then initiate a genocidal purge against Christians and the rest of the “infidels.”

Some of Syria’s minorities have been seeking help from nearby Israel. Some Druze community leaders even asked Israel officially to annex their villages. Israel has established a strategic “buffer zone” in areas of Syria adjacent to the countries’ shared border, to deter potential jihadist and Turkish attacks, and may yet again turn out to be threatened minorities’ greatest protector.

In December 2024, after an offensive lasting less than two weeks that swept through much of Syria, a Turkish-backed Sunni militia led by Ahmed al-Sharaa ousted the Assad regime, which had ruled the country for 54 years.

From March 6-9 – unchecked by al-Sharaa’s professedly “moderate” interim government – his jihadist troops slaughtered an estimated 1,080 Syrians in 72 hours, apparently mostly civilian members of the minority Alawite religion. The Alawite sect, which split off from Shia Islam in the ninth century, is regarded by other Shiites as heretical. To people who practice Sunni Islam — the religion of al-Sharaa and Turkey — all non-Sunnis are infidels. Alawites are estimated to be up to 10% of Syria’s population, and the deposed Assad family belong to the sect.

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