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Lessons from COVID Totalitarianism By J.B. Shurk

Posted By on May 19th, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/05/lessons_from_covid_totalitarianism.html

The COVID police state revealed Western governments’ zeal for totalitarianism.  Forced masking, forced experimental injections, forced school and business closures, forced isolation, and forced compliance provided Western citizens an opportunity to see the tyrannical inclinations hiding just beneath the surface of their supposedly beneficent “democracies.”

None of it was pretty.  Mass propaganda disguised as medical expertise (remember when Joe Biden and his CDC army of Goebbels clones demanded that we wear three or more masks outside?) and mass censorship of social media conversations (because, we were frequently told, disinformation kills!) proved that — when push comes to shove — Western governments will quickly dispense with protections for free speech.  Wannabe dictators (intent on protecting “democracy” by being authoritarian) embraced their true “Do as we say!” dispositions and branded the public’s rights and liberties as “enemies of the State.”

Officials summarily punished anyone who resisted COVID’s descending Iron Curtain.  Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau seized the bank accounts and property titles of Freedom Convoy protesters.  Videos from Australia and New Zealand showing police forces blocking roads, securing quarantine camps, and pushing citizens back into their homes looked like scenes from a Mad Max movie.  California Democrats buried skateparks in sand, cordoned off jungle-gyms with yellow crime tape, and arrested lone surfers paddling in the ocean.  Abandoning moderation and constitutional constraints, Western totalitarians embraced intimidation, coercion, and surveillance on a wide scale.  

Throughout the West, governments prohibited places of worship from conducting religious services, recorded license plate numbers of congregants, and issued excessive fines to clergy.  Those same governments prevented families from comforting hospitalized loved-ones and forced spouses, parents, and grandparents to die heartbroken and alone.  In other words, Western officials tore families apart, inflicted tremendous emotional pain upon the most vulnerable, and denied the anguished any access to spiritual refuge.  It is no surprise that such intentional government malice produced skyrocketing rates of alcohol and drug addiction, lifelong psychological traumas, and a burgeoning epidemic of suicide.

EDUCATION, ISRAEL Comments turned off

James Piereson, Naomi Schaefer Riley A Dangerous Road Elite universities may come to regret considering “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” proposals for their endowments.

Posted By on May 19th, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/for-universities-bds-is-a-dangerous-road

In January, writing for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman lamented that a high percentage of giving in the U.S. goes to wealthy, elite colleges and universities, often at the expense of programs aiding the poor. But donors don’t need to choose between giving to wealthy institutions and giving to areas of the “highest need,” he advised. Instead, they can take a “yes, and” approach. “If donors make a gift to their alma mater, they should pair it with an equally large gift to a program that makes online textbooks free to all college students. Or they could pair a gift to a research institution in a wealthy country with a gift to fund research on infectious diseases that primarily affect poor people in developing countries.”

In a subsequent article, Benjamin Soskis of the Urban Institute added that colleges themselves could facilitate this “pairing” of donations—acting as philanthropic “sommeliers”—by advising donors on how to give elsewhere, too. Schools truly committed to this idea, writes Soskis, could “make such pairings a condition of major gifts—those who want to give a million dollars or more to Yale would need to also donate to one of the university’s equity partners.”

The level of chutzpah such an arrangement would require might challenge even the boldest development officer. But the philanthropic sommelier idea is a possible solution to a dilemma that elite universities confront today. College administrators want to keep raising piles of money from wealthy donors, while at the same time signaling that they are truly concerned about the poor and oppressed. And they want to earn the approbation of leftists on campus without antagonizing donors. In that circumstance, they might take the money, while advising donors how they might “launder” it via gifts to other charities.

FOREIGN POLICY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Sinwar in Exchange for Rafah Why is the Biden administration dangling the Hamas chief in exchange for stopping the Gaza war? Because the terror group’s survival is key to the administration’s larger project in the Middle East. By Lee Smith

Posted By on May 19th, 2024

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/sinwar-exchange-rafah-biden-gaza

The Biden team’s offer to trade Yahya Sinwar, the man believed to be the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack, for guarantees that the Israeli military stay out of Rafah points to two disturbing truths about the current conflict in the Middle East. The first is that the U.S. knows plenty about what the Hamas terror group is doing and has done. The second is that Washington has been keeping key information—like the terror leader’s whereabouts—from the Israelis, thereby prolonging the war that it claims to decry.

The implications of the administration’s offer, relayed in a recent Washington Post article, has Israelis and U.S. pro-Israel activists livid. Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, for instance, posted on X, “I am shocked and sickened by reports that the U.S. is withholding from Israel vital information on the whereabouts of senior Hamas leaders in Gaza. Is the administration still our ally?”

The Biden administration is making the offer because all its efforts to end Israel’s war have failed and if Rafah falls, Hamas is likely to fall, too. It seems there’s no other way to preserve a pillar of what the White House calls “regional integration”—a euphemism for the U.S.-Iran alliance system that Barack Obama has tried to impose on the Middle East for the last decade.

Leaks that the Biden administration is withholding actionable intelligence on Hamas’ paramount leader in Gaza confirm that, as Tablet reported shortly after the Oct. 7 massacre, the administration had a wealth of intelligence on the terror group and its plans. If U.S. intelligence agencies are confident that they know where Sinwar is squirreled away now, in the chaos of wartime, they also knew what he was doing in the lead-up to the massive attack.

Biden and his aides have formulated their scenario: Hamas ‘technocrats’ will constitute the Iranian-backed component in a unity government with the U.S.-backed faction that now rules the West Bank. Hamas is a pillar of the U.S.-Iran condominium.

EDUCATION, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Western Universities: A Double Invasion by Amir Taheri

Posted By on May 19th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20655/western-universities-double-invasion

They introduce themselves as university students, young scholars who are supposedly training to become the nation’s political guides and mentors.

However, you soon found out that their understanding of political issues, including the current war in Gaza, is a reflection more of street politics than academic methods. In other words, the street, and its politique de la rue in French, have invaded the university or at least part of it that wears the label of “humanities”, a witches’ brew of once academic subjects corrupted by ideology.

The crisis in Western universities is further complicated by the advent of wokeism, a corrupted secular version of the seminarian’s sympathy for the innocent scapegoat, a sympathy extended to all real or imagined victims of injustice. While the seminary is chiefly interested in the text, faculty ought to be equally interested in the context. In many “humanities” departments in Western universities, however, the text comes from propagandist pamphlets written by polemicist professors, while the context is regarded as a mere diversion from the truth.

Shakespeare said it best: “Now confusion has made its masterpiece!”

If you visit Paris these days, you may run into solemn-looking youths distributing a tract that’s says: “Palestine is fighting for all of us!” or tagging this message on the walls: “Stop Genocide in Palestine!”

They introduce themselves as university students, young scholars who are supposedly training to become the nation’s political guides and mentors.

However, you soon found out that their understanding of political issues, including the current war in Gaza, is a reflection more of street politics than academic methods. In other words, the street, and its politique de la rue in French, have invaded the university or at least part of it that wears the label of “humanities”, a witches’ brew of once academic subjects corrupted by ideology.

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Liz Peek: Desperate Biden must debate to win — but there are risks

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4670330-biden-trump-debate-cnn-2024-desperate-risks

Kudos to Team Biden for successfully landing the first punch in the presidential free-for-all (aka, the campaign). By challenging Donald Trump to a debate and dictating the terms of play, President Biden left his opponent with two impossible choices: decline the opportunity to face off against Biden on national TV and be declared a coward, or agree to the meet, even knowing the playing field is tilted in favor of the incumbent.  

Will it matter that the Trump campaign got snookered? Almost certainly not. For the same reason that the absurd 14-second video in which the president dares Trump to “make my day” required five “cuts” to get it right, 81-year-old Biden is still likely to lose round 2.   

Not that it’s a slam-dunk for former President Trump. Biden is correct; Trump did lose the 2020 debates. He had apparently been coached to be combative, in hopes that Biden would overreact and reveal his “angry old man” persona. The tactic backfired spectacularly; Trump came across as unlikeable. If Biden or the moderators goad the former president on his January 6 behavior or reference his many legal troubles, Trump could again get angry. That disastrous encounter cost him the election; it could happen again. 

Expectations will be incredibly low for his opponent, as they were for this year’s State of the Union address. After that speech in February, critics described Biden as being hopped up on stimulants; the president spoke in an unnatural, rapid-fire manner that nonetheless got the job done. Worried that Biden will get a similar boost to endure a two-hour debate, some on the right — including Trump — have called for drug testing before the debates; that won’t happen.  

Biden’s handlers are doing everything possible to give the president an edge.

FOREIGN POLICY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

US Administration Abandons Israel, Empowers Enemies by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20642/us-abandons-israel-empowers-enemies

Worse, abandoning Israel sends a troubling message to U.S. allies worldwide: in times of crisis, do not rely on American support.

The Biden administration has eroded trust and damaged U.S. credibility on the global stage even further than it already had done after surrendering Afghanistan and allowing China to kill more than a million Americans with Covid-19, or poisoning to death more than 80,000 Americans each year with fentanyl, or permitting China to commit massive espionage and intellectual property theft with no consequences at all.

Biden’s decision has projected an image of weakness rather than leadership, further tarnishing America’s reputation as a steadfast defender of the free world. Instead, the Biden administration is seen globally as siding with terrorists — the Taliban in Afghanistan, the terror-funding Qataris, the genocidal Communist government of China, and the annual winner of the world’s top, largest, leading “state sponsor of terrorism,” Iran.

Such a milestone shift in U.S. foreign policy displays a concerning departure from longstanding principles of backing the Free World. Overall, the development is deeply detrimental to U.S. interests. It threatens the stability of international relations, and for the perception of America’s role as a leading global power, it is nothing short of devastating.

In an unprecedented move in US governance, the Biden administration has embarked on a policy that departs from its longstanding support for Israel.

Instead, there is a discernible tilt towards policies that favor the adversaries of the United States, notably Iran and its proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as China and Russia. This strategic realignment marks a significant shift in US foreign policy and has generated a substantial risk both domestically and internationally.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Which Makes Better Soldiers: DEI or Assimilation? By Maj. Gen. Joe Arbuckle (USA, Ret.)

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/05/which_makes_better_soldiers_dei_or_assimilation.html

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is divisive, as it emphasizes differences based on race, ethnicity, biological sex, gender identities, etc., which is opposed to the time-tested, traditional military culture emphasizing unity, teamwork, selflessness, sacrifice, and assimilation into the warrior ethos.

May 1969, a commercial bus full of sleepy recruits stopped during darkness at Fort Ord, CA. Two Drill Instructors (DIs) jumped on the bus and started screaming, “get off my bus, you dirtbags, and line up outside.” A diverse assortment of now wide-awake young men lined up in four rows and then shuffled/marched to sterile appearing billets with a platoon of 50 recruits in each open bay, gray double-decker bunks with sheets and a wool blanket on both sides of an aisle running down the middle of the bay. They were awake until 0200 scrubbing the billet floors and latrine; up at 0530 the next day.

The next day they marched with DIs yelling commands, to the long quartermaster warehouse to be issued clothing and gear. But, first a stop at the barber building with a line of barbers ready to buzz hair off which they did quickly leaving about 1/4 inch on the top and almost none elsewhere.

Inside the quartermaster building there was a long countertop with mostly civilians on the opposite side manning issue stations; the recruits moved from one station to the other getting standard Olive Drab issue clothes which they stuffed into duffle bags. Sizes for fatigues, socks, t-shirts, boots, etc. were based on the calibrated eyeball estimate of the QM guy behind the counter. The heavy duffle bags were carried back to the billets where the contents were arranged in foot and wall lockers, dress right dress, according to the SOP, inspected and enforced by the DIs.

All of this was done to erase the “back on the block” civilian mentality and quickly replace it with “you’re in the Army now” and don’t forget it mindset. No more personal identities, no more it’s about me, it is now about the “Green Machine, your ass is mine” and your personal identity as a civilian does not matter; it no longer exists — you are now part of the machine — you have one color — Green.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Unpacking Ray Dalio’s Alarmist Prediction of Civil War Every time the Ray Dalios of the world open their mouths on the risks that the great unwashed masses pose to “Our Democracy™,” they make the idea of a political separation sound far more agreeable. By Stephen Soukup

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/05/18/unpacking-ray-dalios-alarmist-prediction-of-civil-war/

The other day, Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates, told The Financial Times that he sees the risk of a second American civil war as “growing” and places the odds of such a war at “35-40 percent.” According to FT, Dalio’s “research” has led him to conclude that “we are now on the brink,” although we “don’t yet know if we will cross over into much more turbulent times.”

On the one hand, it’s important to remember that Dalio is nearly universally known as a world-class crank. He’s made a lot of money in the markets and has long been considered an astute investor, but he has also long been considered an odd duck, to put it gently. Additionally, the idea that this proclamation and setting of odds are based on “research” is silly. There are no variables one can examine and analyze and then use to calculate an objective estimate of a civil war’s occurrence. To pretend otherwise is… well… perfectly Dalio-esque.

On the other hand, Dalio is hardly alone in his belief that tough times are imminent. Virtually the entirety of the ruling class seems to believe that the zeitgeist of the moment is characterized by anger, hatred, and the expectation of confrontation between political adversaries. Hollywood is busy making movies about a potential Civil War. Political magazines are warning that totalitarianism looms just over the electoral horizon. And even the President of the United States is releasing videos that sound more like pre-fight smack talk than political posturing. In short, Ray Dalio is hardly the first major public figure to express his fear/hope that the nation is “on the brink.”

Ironically, the part of this story Dalio and his fellow elites are missing is that in which they’re the cause of the turmoil that currently plagues the United States, or, at the very least, are exacerbating that turmoil and aggravating the people’s frustrations.

Consider, for example, the description Dalio gives of one of the primary causes of this possible civil war:

This election would be a test of ‘can democracy work well? Will there be an acceptance of the rules and an ability to work well under those rules?’ he said.

[Republican candidate Donald] Trump will follow more rightist, nationalistic, isolationist, protectionist, non-regulatory policies — and more aggressive policies to fight enemies internally and externally, including political enemies. [President Joe] Biden, and even more so the Democratic party without Biden, will be more the opposite….

Ah, I see. It’s all Donald Trump’s fault. Strangely, Dalio doesn’t address the almost inarguable fact that Donald Trump is a symptom of this nation’s political dysfunction rather than the cause of it.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Election 2024: A Political Renaissance for America or the Path to Totalitarianism To ensure the continuation of the American Republic will require not only support for President Trump but also extraordinary vigilance by the American people through the election and its aftermath. By James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/05/18/election-2024-a-political-renaissance-for-america-or-the-path-to-totalitarianism/

It has been decades in the making, but the country is now on the precipice between its traditional ideology of political liberalism and a path that will lead, far sooner than Americans might think, to totalitarianism. The historical bulwarks of Americanism and the American political system—government of the people, freedom, and liberty—have been deliberately eroded. A citizenry steeped in republican virtue, cognizant of the political ideas and principles that made America a lasting and strong constitutional republic, and knowledgeable about the duties and obligations of American citizenship have been under daily assault for years from the foreign ideology of communism. That odious ideology has operated under synonyms such as “progressivism,” “multiculturalism,” or DEI to make its poison more palatable to American audiences.

The media—the so-called “Fourth Estate”—has been another layer of protection that has been peeled away. Today, they are activists advancing the left’s agenda in all but name. Great newspapers that were lively to read and informative are no longer. One reads them now the same way Soviet citizens used to read Pravda—only by knowing the lies that are printed and surmising what is left out of the story can one come close to knowing the truth. Compare the front page of the New York Times from fifty, forty, or thirty years ago to one today, and the change is telling and sad to see. Rather than a robust culture of free speech, censorship is pervasive by the legacy and social media, Big Tech, and by a ubiquitous and devilish culture of self-censorship.

American universities were once the envy of the world, as lively academies of intellectual debate and devoted to the pursuit of knowledge are now factories of indoctrination. Their law, medical, engineering, and business schools have also been transformed into political instruments that advance the “Party Line.” Unbelievably, thought control in K-12 is even worse. Popular culture fell a long time ago, and most of it is simply a contemporary version of Soviet entertainment where the heroic worker and peasant defeat the evil capitalist and priest. Worse still is the promotion of degeneracy and decadence with gender reassignment led by a teacher’s union that more resembles a Clockwork Orange ensemble than as the protectors of the most vulnerable in our society—our children.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

How to solve America’s doctor shortage: Sally Pipes

Posted By on May 18th, 2024

https://www.pineisland-eagle.com/2024/05/16/guest-commentary-how-to-solve-americas-doctor-shortage/

Doctors appointments will be hard to come by over the next decade, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. By 2036, the organization estimates that the United States will be short as many as 86,000 physicians.

This is a shortage of not just doctors but medical care. In most sectors of the economy, shortages tell suppliers it’s time to boost production. But government regulation has artificially restricted the supply of medical care for years.

We must relax those regulations in order to boost the supply of medical care — and meet the needs of patients.

There are plenty of medical professionals who can help address this shortage of medical care — if only they’re allowed to. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants go through years of training and clinical practice to get qualified. They can diagnose and treat patients, including by prescribing medication. Right now, there are about 280,000 nurse practitioners and 126,000 physician assistants in the United States.

In many areas, “scope of practice” laws prevent these professionals from practicing to the full extent of their training. Nearly half the states have laws limiting nurse practitioners’ ability to practice.

Proponents of these rules argue that allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to practice without restrictions would put patients at risk. Yet research shows otherwise.

A study by researchers at New York University and Boston College concluded that “(s)tate regulations restricting (nurse practitioner scope of practice) do not improve the quality of care.” A study from the University of Central Florida found that broadening nurses’ scope of practice may actually improve quality of care.

And according to a 2023 study from the University of Alabama School of Law, over a 14-year period, expanding scope of practice for nurse practitioners and physician assistants reduced healthcare-related deaths — by 12 per 100,000 people and 10 per 100,000 people, respectively. Rural areas, which tend to have the biggest primary-care shortages, saw even greater improvements.

It’s clearly time for states to get rid of scope-of-practice rules.