Displaying the most recent of 90909 posts written by

Ruth King

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

IS THE “BIG GUY” IN BIG TROUBLE?

By on April 7th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/04/07/is-the-big-guy-in-big-trouble/

So far, the lurid news reports of global influence peddling, sex and drugs emanating from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and its thousands upon thousands of damning emails have been treated solely as the risqué escapades of President Joe Biden’s ne’er-do-well son. However sad this episode might be, we’ve been told it has nothing to do with the president himself. Oh, really?

In fact, based on what we know so far, President Biden could be in a world of legal trouble.

Ordinarily, influence peddling involves a middleman with access to someone powerful. The middleman uses his access to a powerful politician or official to obtain money and/or favors from a third party, who in turn wants favors or access from the powerful official.

Strangely enough, the Supreme Court in recent years has actually softened its treatment of this behavior, in essence saying that what we normally call influence peddling is a part of our democracy, unsavory though it may be.

This allows such curious practices as political lobbying to occur. Essentially, lobbyists are well connected people who sell their access to others. It’s legal.

Legal, except that is, when the politician himself benefits financially. Then it’s garden-variety corruption, a bribe.

The Justice Department has made it clear in recent years that “it is a violation of federal law for any federal, state, or local government official to ask for or receive anything of value in exchange for, or because of, any official act. Public corruption is a federal crime.”

Continue reading →
IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

The deliberate plan behind the border crisis Chad Wolf

By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/for-restoring-america-the-deliberate-plan-behind-the-border-crisis

We are in the midst of the single worst immigration crisis that our country has ever experienced.

This past fiscal year saw the highest number of illegal apprehensions on record, and we are on pace to exceed that number in 2022. Even more disturbing is the recent decision by the Biden administration to end Title 42, a public health emergency order, which undoubtedly will result in an additional surge of illegal immigrants to the border. Accompanying the huge rise in illegal crossings has been more human trafficking and a massive influx of drugs and other contraband that is contributing to an opioid crisis that is not only further devastating communities but enriching Mexican cartels.

It has become clear over the past 14 months that the Biden administration has no interest in securing the border or tackling the immense amount of fraud in the immigration system. Each and every decision, whether to suspend construction of the effective border wall system or cancel bilateral agreements that contributed to a more secure border, has been a deliberate attempt to undermine the statutory obligations the government has to secure our borders and maintain a coherent immigration system.

Instead of looking forward and addressing the nature of the border as it exists today, Biden administration officials have opted to resort back to an even more disastrous version of the immigration system that existed during the Obama administration, when there was no border infrastructure construction, catch and release was in full effect, and the flood of illegal crossings was never-ending.

Unfortunately, this administration has taken such failed policies a step further. President Joe Biden has refused to get tough on those who are breaking the law — something that even former President Barack Obama was able to do when he deported more than 3 million people, leading the far Left to label him derisively the “deporter in chief.” (Biden has described this action from the Obama-Biden administration as a “mistake” and vowed not to repeat it.)

Continue reading →
MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

The CDC finds a depression epidemic among teens — that it created By Sam Munson

By on April 7th, 2022

https://nypost.com/2022/04/05/the-cdc-created-a-depression-epidemic-in-our-teenagers/

The Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote of sailing to an imagined Byzantium because his was “no country for old men.” The pandemic has proven that the United States is no country for the young.

A new Centers for Disease Control study reveals how badly teens have suffered from COVID policies — that the CDC itself pushed.

Many of us have lamented the terrible damage done to younger children by school closures and mask mandates — years of learning loss that may never be made up. Now we learn that the isolation and anxiety that accompanied school shutdowns have taken a heavy toll on adolescents.

The CDC found that more than a third of US high-school students reported poor mental health during the pandemic. Nearly half — 44% — said they felt sad or hopeless. A horrifying near-20% said they had seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months.

The lifeline for those who made it through unscathed? Per the CDC data, it’s an obvious one: a feeling of “school connectedness.”

Teens who felt connected to both adults and their school buddies were far less likely to experience those feelings of sadness or despair: 35% vs 53%.On suicidal thoughts, the numbers are even starker, with 14% who felt connected having such thoughts vs. 26% of those who didn’t. And when it comes to actual suicide attempts, 6% of those who felt connected made the attempt vs. 12% of those who didn’t.

Continue reading →
EDUCATION Comments turned off

Revolt of the Parents, Vol. 3 The GOP is winning local races over Covid policies and curriculum.

By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/articles/revolt-of-the-parents-vol-3-wisconsin-waukesha-kenosha-oklahoma-school-board-election-11649280677?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

America’s fed-up parents on Tuesday sent another set of school board incumbents to the timeout corner to reflect on what they’ve done wrong. This time the elections were in Waukesha, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee. The races were nonpartisan officially, yet it was a win for a slate backed by the state and local GOP.

Three Waukesha school incumbents lost their seats, one in the primary, two on Tuesday. “Our children have endured an awful lot in the past two years navigating a pandemic that unleashed mandates, restrictive rules, remote learning and constant changes to their normal school routine,” one of the winning challengers, Mark Borowski, says on his website. He also criticizes—and he ran against—“equity initiatives” that “infiltrated district curriculum,” while dividing students and “espousing falsehoods about America.”

The incumbents protested that Mr. Borowski and the other challengers were running on national GOP talking points. But the arguments had local resonance.

Last year a Waukesha kindergarten teacher was suspended for a day after she refused to take down a gay and transgender pride flag she had hung in her classroom. The local teachers union urged staff to wear rainbows in solidarity. Parents could be forgiven for wondering about this seeming focus on ideological activism instead of education.

Continue reading →
ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Climate-Change ‘Solutions’ That Are Worse Than the Problem The political assault on fossil fuels comes at the expense of the poor, peace, and the environment. By Jason De Sena Trennert

By on April 7th, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-life-expectancy-carbon-netural-oil-coal-fossil-fuels-ukraine-war-russia-china-fossil-fuels-

If you can afford a Tesla, you probably find it hard to imagine that there are some 3.5 billion people on Earth who have no reasonably reliable access to electricity. Even less obvious may be the way rich countries’ pursuit of carbon neutrality at almost any cost limits economic opportunities for the world’s poor and poses serious geopolitical risks to the West.

Anyone on an investment committee has likely spent untold amounts of time discussing ways to mitigate the impact of climate change, but they’ve likely never heard anyone state one simple and incontrovertible fact: The widespread exploration and production of fossil fuels that started in Titusville, Pa., not quite 170 years ago, has done more to benefit the lives of ordinary people than any other technological advance in history.

Before fossil fuels, people relied on burning biomass, such as timber or manure, which was a far dirtier and much less efficient source of energy. Fossil fuels let people heat their homes in the winter, reducing the risk of death from exposure. Fossil-fuel-based fertilizers greatly increased crop yields, reducing starvation and malnutrition. Before the advent of the automobile, the ability for many people to venture far from their hometown was an unfathomable dream. Oil- and coal-burning transportation opened up access to education, commerce, professional opportunities, and vital services such as medicine. There has been, and remains, a strong correlation between the use of fossil fuels and life expectancy.

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Anthony Trimino for California Governor: Changing Mismanagement to Management by Nurit Greenger

By on April 7th, 2022

https://newsblaze.com/usnews/politics/anthony-trimino-for-governor_183325/

For far too long, many governments of California abused their power. More so, the current governor, Gavin Newsom, has abused his power and therefore his term in office must be ended, replaced by a governor who will focus on the quality of life for all Californians.

Anthony Trimino Standing For California

Anthony Trimino, standing as the Republican Gubernatorial candidate for California, is seen by supporters as the “X-factor” in California’s 2022 gubernatorial race. He appeals to a broad range of Californians, from moms, the fastest growing California conservative group who do not want the government to mess with their children and/or co-parent with them, as well as Californians of all walks of life.

Professional Approach

Mr. Trimino’s unique multi-cultural Cuban – Mexican – American heritage and his extensive business experience as one of Orange County’s leading CEOs with his company TRAFFIK, one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America, provides a timely opportunity for the Republican Party to rebrand itself, evolve, and most importantly, begin changing the composition of California’s voter base. Though some people suggest that the Republican Party is on its last breath in California, supporters see a hopeful future with Anthony Trimino.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Proof has emerged from the White House that Biden’s presidency is over By Andrea Widburg

By on April 6th, 2022

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

Barack Obama was at the White House yesterday, making it clear, as did others at the reception held in Obama’s honor, that Biden’s presidency is over. Watching Obama suck the oxygen out of the room made me wonder if Obama is planning a comeback, something he can easily do.

The ostensible reason for Obama’s return to the White House was to celebrate Obamacare’s twelfth anniversary (if you can celebrate our modern, cowardly, corporate-run “medical care,” along with overpriced insurance that does little for people with serious health issues).  The reception in Obama’s honor, though, hinted that the event’s real purpose was to signal to Democrat apparatchiks that Biden is now shark chum.

The chumming process began when Obama referred to Biden as the “vice president,” adding, after a long pause, “That was a joke.”

Self-deprecating humor when you’re allegedly the president of what is (was?) the world’s most powerful nation isn’t charming; it’s unnerving.

Worse was still to come.  Normally, everyone in the room should be clamoring to be near the American president.  After all, political power is the strongest magnetic force in the world.  But in Biden’s case, he was the creep at the party, the one everyone assiduously ignores and avoids:

Not only was Obama the magnetic force in the room, but he also made it clear to all that they should shun Biden:

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Recession Predictions Begin Dominic Pino

By on April 6th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-recession-predictions-begin/

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank became the first major bank to forecast a recession in 2023. Economists David Folkerts-Landau and Peter Hooper predicted that the Fed’s raising interest rates to control inflation will cause a recession next year and bump the unemployment rate up to 4.9 percent in 2024 (it’s at 3.6 percent currently). “Our call for a recession in the U.S. next year is currently way out of consensus,” they wrote. “We expect it will not be so for long.”

A Bloomberg survey of financial professionals and investors indicates that the view is becoming more widespread. Only 15 percent predict a recession this year, but 48 percent predict one next year. They are concerned mostly about the inversion in the yield curve for two-year versus ten-year Treasury bonds, which means the two-year bond has a higher yield than the ten-year bond. A yield-curve inversion has come before every recent recession (although the exact causal connection between the two isn’t totally clear).

Larry Summers took to the pages of the Washington Post yesterday to give his prognosis, which is similarly negative:

There is a first time for everything, but over the past 75 years, every time inflation has exceeded 4 percent and unemployment has been below 5 percent, the U.S. economy has gone into recession within two years. Today, inflation is north of 6 percent and unemployment is south of 4 percent.

He sees the Fed as “dangerously behind the curve” (a view that Scott Sumner shares). Summers is not convinced that inflation will return to an acceptable level largely on its own, which seems to be the Fed’s view based on its forecasts and projected rate hikes that are relatively modest by historical standards. He writes that “there can be no real question but that the American job market is unsustainably hot and in need of restraint” and that this hot job market is raising demand and prices.

Continue reading →
MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

France’s Academy of Medicine Urges ‘Great Medical Caution’ in Blocking Puberty

By on April 6th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/frances-academy-of-medicine-urges-great-medical-caution-in-blocking-puberty/

The Biden administration acts as if “the science” supports “gender affirming care” — i.e., puberty blocking, hormone administration, and even mastectomies and genital surgeries — as clearly the best approaches to treating children and adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But that isn’t true. The brakes are being put on this approach in the U.K., Sweden, and Finland. And now, France’s National Academy of Medicine is holding up a big “SLOW DOWN!” sign on joining the transgender moral panic. Specifically, it warns that these interventions might not be warranted and have potentially significant deleterious potentialities. Moreover, there has been a worrying explosive increase in the number of cases. From the translated press release:

While this condition has long been recognized, a sharp increase in demand for medical interventions has been observed first in North America, then in Northern Europe, and, more recently, in France, particularly among children and adolescents. A recent study of a number of high schools in Pittsburgh revealed a prevalence that is clearly higher than previously estimated in the United States: 10% of students declared themselves to be transgender or non-binary or were unsure of their gender. In 2003, the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne diagnosed only one child with gender dysphoria, whereas today it treats nearly 200.

It used to be infinitesimal! More:

Whatever the mechanisms involved in adolescents — excessive engagement with social media, greater social acceptability, or influence by those in one’s social circle — this epidemic-like phenomenon manifests itself in the emergence of cases or even clusters of cases in the adolescents’ immediate surroundings. This primarily social problem is due, in part, to the questioning of an overly dichotomous view of gender identity by some young people.

Continue reading →
EDUCATION Comments turned off

Parents Should Guide Their Children’s Civic Education Issue: American Civics By David Randall

By on April 6th, 2022

https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/articles/2022/04/06/parents_should_guide_their_childrens_civic_education_825557.html

What should parents look for in a K-12 civics curriculum for their children? I’ve been asked that question a lot since the release of “Learning for Self-Government: A K–12 Civics Report Card,” a report I wrote that surveys popular civics curricula. One short answer is the Curriculum Sketch. Another answer is Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum, which is the gold standard for civics in 2022. But here’s a longer answer – an answer that will help parents ask their own questions as they examine the civics curricula used in their children’s schools.

Parents should look for a civics curriculum that teaches the nuts and bolts of American government. Their children should learn what the Constitution is and how it works. They should learn how state and local government works. If they hear a politician say, “I’ll do this,” their children should know if he’d be breaking the law if he tried to do that.

Parents should look for a civics curriculum that teaches the moral beliefs of the American Founders, so their children can learn why and for what purposes the Founders created our government. The Founders believed in limited government, because they saw that individuals were fallible. They believed in free government, because they reasoned that people were best suited to choose their own happiness. Students need to know our republic’s moral foundations to be able to pass on the blessings of liberty to future generations.

Parents should look for a civics curriculum that gives students a vocabulary that accompanies being a free citizen. Their children shouldn’t rely on the paraphrases of teachers and textbooks. They should read the words themselves. They should study the Constitution and The Federalist, The Gettysburg Address and Brown v. Board of Education – all our documents of freedom. Children become citizens by reading the words of these key texts themselves, thinking about them, and acting on them.

Parents should look for a civics curriculum that instills pride in America without erasing Americans’ all-too-human faults. Our children should know that we are proud of our achievements – not least because we’ve struggled at times to follow our better angels.

Continue reading →