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Ruth King

Climate Policy: Covid on Steroids? By Joel Kotkin

https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/03/09/climate_policy_covid_on_steroids_767399.html

For most people around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic seems a great human tragedy, with deaths, bankruptcies, and fractured mental states. Yet for some, especially among the green Twitterati and in some policy shops, the pandemic presents a grand opportunity to enact permanent lockdowns on economic growth, population growth, and upward mobility.

Pointing to reductions in greenhouse gases due to the lockdowns, some see the pandemic’s wreckage of much of the economy – including the mass destruction of businesses and family budgets – not as a plague of its own, but, as a British Climate Assembly put it, as a “test run” for a new climate-driven economy.

“We have an “incredible responsibility” to “actually converge the solutions – at least the financial solutions – to coronavirus to the financial solutions for climate,” hyperbolized former UN Climate Chief and UN Paris pact architect Christiana Figueres, “because what we cannot afford to do is to jump out of the frying pan of Covid and into the raging fire of climate change.”

President Donald Trump may have been responsible for the vaccine success of Operation Warp Speed, but now his fast-track approach, ironically, is being adopted by climate campaigners in a drive to change our entire economy in short order. After all, they argue, the lockdowns demonstrated that governments can impose without constitutional constraint virtually any restrictions to address a perceived crisis. And the pandemic, by killing much of the economy – particularly travel – temporarily succeeded in reducing greenhouse gases by as much as 7 percent worldwide and 12 percent in the U.S.

No borders, no country by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA-4)

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/no-borders-no-country

Before the lockdown, the Left took a wrecking ball to our economy last year, we were enjoying one of the greatest expansions of economic opportunity in our lifetimes. Unemployment was at its lowest rate in 50 years; the poverty rate was at its lowest in 60 years. Wage growth was the strongest in 40 years. The wage gap was narrowing for the first time in many years as blue-collar wages increased dramatically. The unemployment rate for women was the lowest in 70 years. For African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans, veterans and disabled Americans, and those without a high school diploma, unemployment was the lowest ever recorded.

The tax and regulatory relief Republicans won in 2017 and 2018 explain much of this success, but something else was going on that caused the extraordinary improvement of wages for unskilled and low-skilled workers. The Trump administration restored control of our borders and stemmed the flood of low-wage labor that had been suppressing American workers’ wages for decades.

Big business and big agriculture hated former President Donald Trump’s immigration policy because it forced them to pay their workers higher wages. But in the growing economy it produced, working Americans who had been left behind for decades finally began to prosper. Did we learn anything from this unprecedented blue-collar boom? Apparently not, judging from the Democrats’ zeal to open our borders to new waves of illegal immigration.

The president’s executive orders have already produced a new migrant crisis on the southern border.

One abandoned the border wall mid-construction. Another undermines the long-standing requirement that immigrants support themselves and not burden American taxpayers. Another ends the remain-in-Mexico policy for those making asylum claims, most of which are false. Yet another effectively releases illegal immigrants accompanied by youths under age 18 directly into the United States. Another grants what amounts to sanctuary status for a wide variety of criminal offenses, including drunk driving and sex offenses. Another restores unrestricted travel from hotbeds of international terrorism.

Dan Gelernter :Cancel Culture’s Newest Victims Cultural power is shifting, decentralizing—one might say diversifying. And it is actual, meaningful diversity—that is, diversity of thought rather than diversity of appearance.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/03/09/cancel-cultures-newest-victims/

Ebay will no longer list certain Dr. Seuss books, and the Dr. Seuss Foundation has decided to “recall” six titles. The reporting on the subject, even in the Wall Street Journal, was too cowardly to tell us exactly what in these six books was offensive, but we are given to understand that they contained anti-wokeness.

Following hard on the heels of this courageous cancellation, Turner Classic Movies has decided to “reexamine” 18 “troubling and problematic” films of the past, including “My Fair Lady,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” and “Psycho,” all of which are now considered deeply sexist or racist or both. (This despite the fact that “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” for example, is explicitly and aggressively antiracist.)

That TCM’s list contains just 18 movies shows how little the woke brigade knows about movies. I grew up watching classic films almost exclusively, and can think off the top of my head of more than 200 movies that the modern Left would find offensive for one reason or another: Women in traditional roles (sometimes even happy about it), other cultures being mocked (and mocking us back), blackface routines (like Fred Astaire’s extraordinary homage to the African American dancer Bill Robinson), and more besides.

It’s hard to think of a single film from more than a couple of decades ago that wouldn’t upset the Left in some way. These films are products of their times, and often great masterpieces. They can’t be blamed for reflecting prevailing prejudices any more than you could blame someone for believing in a geocentric solar system before Galileo came along. 

Criticizing Public Figures, Including Influential Journalists, is Not Harassment or Abuse As social media empowers uncredentialed people to be heard, society’s most powerful actors seek to cast themselves as victims and delegitimize all critiques. Glenn Greenwald

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/criticizing-public-figures-including?token=eyJ

“Knowing that you will be vilified as some kind of brute abuser if you criticize a New York Times reporter is, for many people, too high of a price to pay for doing it. So people instead refrain, stay quiet, and that is the obvious objective of this lowly strategy.”

The most powerful and influential newspaper in the U.S., arguably the West, is The New York Times. Journalists who write for it, especially those whose work is featured on its front page or in its op-ed section, wield immense power to shape public discourse, influence thought, set the political agenda for the planet’s most powerful nation, expose injustices, or ruin the lives of public figures and private citizens alike. That is an enormous amount of power in the hands of one media institution and its employees. That’s why it calls itself the Paper of Record.

One of the Paper of Record’s star reporters, Taylor Lorenz, has been much discussed of late. That is so for three reasons. The first is that the thirty-six-year-old tech and culture reporter has helped innovate a new kind of reportorial beat that seems to have a couple of purposes. She publishes articles exploring in great detail the online culture of teenagers and very young adults, which, as a father of two young Tik-Tok-using children, I have found occasionally and mildly interesting. She also seeks to catch famous and non-famous people alike using bad words or being in close digital proximity to bad people so that she can alert the rest of the world to these important findings. It is natural that journalists who pioneer a new form of reporting this way are going to be discussed.

The second reason Lorenz is the topic of recent discussion is that she has been repeatedly caught fabricating claims about influential people, and attempting to ruin the reputations and lives of decidedly non-famous people. In the last six weeks alone, she twice publicly lied about Netscape founder Marc Andreessen: once claiming he used the word “retarded” in a Clubhouse room in which she was lurking (he had not) and then accusing him of plotting with a white nationalist in a different Clubhouse room to attack her (he, in fact, had said nothing).

MORE HEADLINES MARCH 10, 2021

Kamala Harris Called for Kavanaugh’s Impeachment, But She’s Silent on Andrew Cuomo https://www.lifenews.com/2021/03/09/kamala-harris-called-for-kavanaughs-impeachment-but-shes-silent-on-andrew-cuomo/

‘The Five’ say Cuomo is ‘hanging on by his fingernails’ as allegations continue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_DqyX1qT_s

Pelosi Task Force Seeks Permanent D.C. Military Occupation That Can Self-Deploy Without

Presidential Authorization https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2021/03/pelosi-task-force-seeks-permanent-dc-military-daniel-greenfield/

Entire Staff Of Nevada Democratic Party Quits After Socialists Win Key Leadership Positions https://thejewishvoice.com/2021/03/entire-staff-of-nevada-democratic-party-quits-after-socialists-win-key-leadership-positions/

Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer May Face Charges for Order Killing Nursing Home Residents https://www.lifenews.com/2021/03/09/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-may-face-charges-for-order-killing-nursing-home-residents/

The Emerging Existential Crisis at the Border https://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2021/03/09/the-emerging-existential-crisis-at-the-border-n2585906?

How the border crisis could bring the end of the republic https://www.wnd.com/2021/03/border-crisis-bring-end-republic/

LA teachers warned to not share vacation pics as union seeks safe return to classrooms: report https://www.foxnews.com/us/la-teachers-warned-to-not-share-vacation-pics-as-union-seeks-safe-return-to-classrooms-report

Switzerland: Voters Approve ‘Burqa Ban’ by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17161/switzerland-burqa-ban

The referenda reflect the determination of a majority of Swiss voters to preserve Swiss traditions and values in the face of runaway multiculturalism and the encroachment of political Islam.

Switzerland now joins Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden, all of which currently have full or partial bans on religious and non-religious face coverings.

“In Switzerland our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms.” — Walter Wobmann, member of the Swiss People’s Party, the biggest political party in Switzerland.

“Some Muslims also understood that the niqab is a clear symbol of radical Islam.” — Jean-Luc Addor, member of the Swiss People’s Party.

“Saying yes to the ban on veiling is saying no to a totalitarian ideology that has no place in a democracy.” — Saïda Keller-Messahli, founder and president of the Forum for a Progressive Islam.

“The full veil, which turns the woman into a faceless being without an identity, is a symbol of misogynistic political Islam. It is the most visible symbol of an overall fascist ideology, which includes gender apartheid, but also anti-Semitism and gay hatred….” — Gisela Widmer, Swiss author and playwright.

Swiss voters have narrowly approved a proposal to ban face coverings in public spaces. The measure comes just over a decade after citizens voted to ban the construction of minarets, the tower-like structures on mosques that are often used to call Muslims to prayer.

The referenda reflect the determination of a majority of Swiss voters to preserve Swiss traditions and values in the face of runaway multiculturalism and the encroachment of political Islam.

Switzerland now joins Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden, all of which currently have full or partial bans on religious and non-religious face coverings.

The binding referendum, approved on March 7 by 51.2% of voters, is popularly known as the “burqa initiative,” although the proposal does not specifically mention burqas or niqabs, the face-coving garments worn by some Muslim women. The ban encompasses most face coverings, including the bandanas and masks sometimes used by violent street protesters, and applies to all public spaces, including parks, restaurants, shops, and public transport.

The measure allows for some exceptions: health (anti-Covid masks); weather (scarves), safety (motorcycle helmets) and local customs (carnival costumes). Face coverings may also be worn inside houses of worship.

Chief justice Mogoeng told to retract and apologize for pro-Israel comments Andisiwe Makinana

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-03-04-chief-justice-mogoeng-mo

Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has been ordered to apologise for, and retract, pro-Israel comments he made during a webinar in June last year.

The Judicial Conduct Committee found Mogoeng guilty and ordered him to apologise unconditionally for becoming involved in political controversy through his utterances in the online seminar hosted by The Jerusalem Post on June 23 2020.

The committee further ordered Mogoeng to unreservedly retract and withdraw a statement he uttered after a public outcry over his initial comments. He said he stood by his comments and that he would not apologise or retract them — “even if 50 million people were to march every day for 10 years for me to do so, I would not apologise”.

“If I perish, I perish,” he said.

An NGO, Africa 4 Palestine, the SA Boycott Disinvestments and Sanctions Coalition (SA BDS Coalition) and a Durban-based Women’s Cultural Group (WCG) complained separately to the Judicial Service Commission about Mogoeng’s comments in July.

Whistleblower: Biden’s FAA Forcing Air Traffic Controllers to Wear Masks While Speaking to Pilots, Causing Serious Read-Back Errors By Debra Heine (!!!!!???###)

https://amgreatness.com/2021/03/09/whistleblower-bidens-faa-forcing-air-traffic-controllers-to-wear-masks-while-speaking-to-pilots-causing-serious-read-back-errors/

An Air traffic controller is ringing alarm bells about the Biden administration’s mask mandates, warning that the face coverings are creating a serious safety hazard.

Investigative journalist Alex Berenson reported on Twitter that he received an “urgent warning” from an air traffic controller who works at a major Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The whistleblower told Berenson that the FAA issued a guidance about a month ago requiring controllers to “wear masks at all times” while at work and in position, and warned that the directive could have devastating consequences for airline passengers and pilots.

Prior to this, he said, most controllers took off masks while speaking directly with pilots.

The whistleblower noted that posters have gone up where he works that say “mask up for the mission,” and his supervisors are now insisting that they keep the masks on while speaking with pilots.

“For context, our headsets use a boom microphone that adjusts to fit somewhere an inch or two away from our face. It has created an issue where we get a lot more read-back errors from pilots on instructions because they can’t hear us clearly over the radio,” he explained.

“A bad readback or failure to even copy can cause a lot of problems when we’re busy because we use up more time to correct them,” he continued. “Worst case scenario is a pilot thinks we say something, reads it back wrong, and it results in disaster because we can’t correct them before we lose them on radios.”

Never Again: The Time to Stop China’s Holocaust is Now By Janet Levy

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/03/never_again_the_time_to_stop_chinas_holocaust_is_now.html

As early as December 1942, the Allies knew of Nazi Germany’s massacre and horrific abuse of Jews and other populations the Nazis deemed inferior.  Two million Jews had already been killed by then.  But the Allies were slow to act against the unspeakable evil.  By the time the Second World War was over, the Nazis had exterminated 20 million people, including six million Jews.

Today, the world is again displaying that willful, unconscionable blindness.  It is doing nothing as Communist China forces Uighurs and other minority groups it finds politically or culturally undesirable into prison camps with marked similarities to Nazi concentration camps.

The Nazis killed their victims by gassing them, shooting them, and subjecting them to gratuitous torture and forced labor.  Thousands died of disease and malnutrition.  With highly organized teams, Josef Mengele, also known as the Angel of Death, conducted abominable medical and “eugenic” experiments on detainees.  Out of revulsion at what had happened in Nazi-occupied Europe, there were many proclamations of “Never Again.”  Never again would the world stand by and allow a genocide of such mammoth proportions and abject evil.

Despite that pledge arising from the carnage of the Shoah, the world seems indifferent to Communist China’s network of prison camps, where the atrocities being committed may well approach or surpass those of the Third Reich.  Staring us in the face is the possibility of another monstrous genocide. In addition to Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, other minorities, Christians, Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners are being shoved into these camps for re-education through brainwashing, rape, sterilization, involuntary abortions, torture, and forced labor.  Falun Gong adherents, a peace-loving group with over 100 million followers worldwide, banned since the 1990s, are being harvested for their organs to supply an ever-growing transplant industry.  Genetic experiments are being conducted to breed sought-after characteristics in humans and monkeys.  Replacing notions of Aryan superiority with Han Chinese supremacy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is aiming to become the global hegemon by creating its own delusional version of a master race.

Turner Classic Movies goes woke By David Lazar

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/03/turner_classic_movies_goes_woke.html

Dear TCM,

Imagine my surprise last week when I clicked on the cable listing you’d posted for a primetime airing of Gone with the Wind and found, in place of the brief synopsis you customarily provide, a trigger warning that the film contained ‘imagery and depictions that may be offensive to modern audiences.’

Just to be sure, I checked with my local cable provider to see if this was their doing and confirmed that the wording for the listing was indeed furnished by TCM. A quick web search later, I learned this treatment was part of a monthlong promotion TCM would be running for March, titled ‘Reframed: Classics in the Rearview Mirror,’ in which your on-air cast of 30- and 40-something woke sherpas would be revisiting a handful of Hollywood’s greatest productions – from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady to Psycho and The Searchers – to retroactively enlighten us on why these classics, the films we’ve all come to love, are “problematic.”

This, of course, comes on the heels of cancel culture’s collective scalpings of Dr. Seuss, Mr. Potatohead, Pepé le Pew, and Mallard Fillmore as insidious avatars of violent insurrectionist, toxically masculine, militant white supremacist America – cultural touchstones every bit as dangerous to the nation’s youth and delicate sensibilities as boxes of razor wire — and fentanyl-laced Tootsie Rolls handed out by Pennywise on Halloween.