Trusting the Election

For John, BLUF:  There has been controversey about the 2020 election, from President Donald Trump saying it was stolen to Democrats saying it was perfectly clean.  I expect the truth is less absolute.  I also expect the average voter thinks there were some problems, and thinks it is rubbish to deny it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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More believe in cheating in 2020 election, hit ‘Zuckerbucks’

From The Washington Examiner, "Secrets" Column, by Columnist Paul Bedard, 23 December 2021, 10:46 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

Angered by growing reports that Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg steered vote-generating donations to pro-Biden counties, more voters believe that cheating occurred in the 2020 elections.

Shoving aside repeated liberal media dismissals of cheating claims, those who believe it occurred increased from 56% in October to 59% in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll previewed for Secrets.

Asked “How likely is it that cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election?” just 36% said unlikely. What’s more, the largest group, at 40%, said that cheating was “very likely.”

To dispose of the background question, I believe that President Biden won sufficient Electoral Votes to become President of the United States.  Or, in an old expression, "Close Enough for Government Work."

At the same time I believe there was hanky-panky, as in Phildelphia and Atlanta.♠  Enough to swing the election?  I am doubtful.

I expect that, in reality, the average voter believes there is a certain level of corruption in voting.  When they are told the voting is totally clean they become doubtul of that claim to purity.  That is what happened in the 2020 November Election. The People reverted to that old Groucho Marks line:  "Who are you going to believe?  Me or your lying eyes?"  The more the Media and the Democratic Party doubled down on the cleanness of the election, the more the average Citizens began to doubt.♥

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  My concern is the way "Poll Watchers" were excluded from the vote counting process.  Why exclude the Poll Watchers?  It could be the vote counters were just irritated with the Poll Watchers.  However, that is petty and looks like the existence of petty dictatorships in some locations, something that brings to mind Tammeny Hall.
♥  I think we see the same thing with regard to COVID-19.  The Federal Government made pronouncements early on that did not pan out.  Rather than acknowleding the early mistakes, "scientists" just changed the story.  However, the average Citizen became a little dubious, and some became very dubious.  This argues for being open and honest and trusting the citizens to understand that things evolve as new information becomes available,

Michael Flynn Pushes Back

For John, BLUF:  And why shouldn't he, after the way he has been treated by the DC Establiahment?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Morning Briefing:  Michael Flynn vs. Granny Boxwine—Make Extra Popcorn

From PJ Media, by Columnist Stephen Cruiser, 22 December 2021, 2:39 AM ET.

Here are three key paragraphs:

It’s been a slog watching Granny Boxwine preside over her revenge-porn January 6 kangaroo trial. Some of the higher-profile people she’s harassed have pushed back a little, which has just made her want to play the strongarm game even more. The whole thing was getting a little stale. Enter one Michael Thomas Flynn. Flynn introduced a little spice into the proceedings on Tuesday by filing a restraining order against Nancy Pelosi, which Robert [Spencer] wrote about:

No, she isn’t stalking him, but it is almost as bad: Gen. Michael Flynn, who knows a thing or two about witch hunts, is taking action to stop the latest one.  Naming all the members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol as defendants, he has filed a complaint intended to stop a subpoena from that committee.  At the same time, according to the Western Journal, Flynn “filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction specifically” against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Smirnoff).  It is always refreshing, and far too rare, to see someone fighting back against this latter-day American version of the Stalinist show trials.

Remember: Flynn served as Trump’s National Security Adviser for less than a month before he resigned under a cloud in Feb. 2017, having become a central focus of the Russian collusion hoax. He wasn’t serving in the Trump administration in any capacity on Jan. 6, 2020, and had not done so for nearly three years.  But that didn’t stop the rabid partisans of the Jan. 6 committee from trying to rope him into something he had absolutely nothing to do with.

Yes, it looks like a fishing expedition.

Then there is this, from Rasmussen, on the 22nd.

Most Voters Think Capitol Riot Committee Is ‘Partisan’

While Democratic voters strongly support the House Select Committee’s investigation of the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, most Republicans and independents believe the committee has become a partisan weapon.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 59% of Likely U.S. voters believe the congressional investigation of the riot at the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump is important, including 43% who say it is Very Important.  Thirty-nine percent (39%) don’t think the investigation is important, including 21% who say it is Not At All Important.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

I would think that part of the proble3m for the House Select Committee on 6 January is that the term "insurrection" has been used in a fairly indiscriminate way.  Only one person was shot and killed in the incident, and that ws a rioter, who was deliberately shot by a Capitol Policeman.♠  At this point there doesn't appear to have been a plan to take over the Governent.  This was not Oliver Cromwell replacing the king.  This was not the Long Parliament, which was a precident to the American Revolution.  This was a bunch of rambuctious Citizens, tired of being lied to by politicians and media that the November election was "perfect".  What might have caused it not to happen might have been a little humility, which was, unfortunately, in short supply on the Democratic side, and the Republican.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Fortunately, for the shooter the victim was Caucasian and he is Black.  I expect there would have been quite a hue and cry had it been otherwise.

Variety of Choices

For John, BLUF:  This is about meeting the needs of the customers.  When customers don't have options, service can suffer.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yesterday I went to Staples in mid-afternoon, to pick up printer paper and to retrive some green constructioin paper my wife had left at the Copy Center desk.  The construction paper was just as my wife had described it and the two Ladies at the Copy Center were most helpful and willing to help.

Up until checkout it waw a high quality experience.  I enjoy stationary stores and Staples, on a large scale, is a stationary stores. a very good stationary store.

However, there is a glitch at checkout.  As it was mid-afternoon, i was approaching a sugar low and wanted to small snack.  Unlike pre-COVID-19, the snack selection at checkout had been shrunk in size and all squeezed into the last rack in the checkout line.  And the selection left something to be desired.  There was only one kind of Hershy Bar, and that was the large size.  There are no odd ball's, such as a Clark Bar or a Fifth Avenue Bar.  Are those other nick-nacks on the racks such great sellers that anfternoon snack pickups are squeezed out?

And at the end of the checkout line, past all the cash registers.  After one has checked out.  It seems counter-intuitive.

I guess they are trying to drive customers to C-Stores.

Regards  —  Cliff

Food Availability

For John, BLUF:  We are facing a number of food issues, from not enough stores, to not enough fresh food, to, in some places, high prices.  However, food providers need to make a profit, to engage in selling food.  With existing margins, there isn't much profit, notwithstanding the concerns of Senator Karen.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BIG GROCERY?  SERIOUSLY?

From Powerline Blog, by Blogger John Hinderaker, 21 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

I’m not saying that Elizabeth Warren is the dumbest person in public life–there is a lot of competition for that title–but let’s just say she is having the worst week. First she accused Elon Musk of being a tax freeloader, just before he disclosed that he will pay $11 billion in taxes this year, more than any American in history, to Warren’s slush fund the federal government. Next she blamed skyrocketing food prices on “Big Grocery.” Seriously:

Giant grocery store chains force high food prices onto American families while rewarding executives & investors with lavish bonuses and stock buybacks. I'm demanding they answer for putting corporate profits over consumers and workers during the pandemic.

This is almost beyond belief. The grocery store business is notoriously competitive and relatively unprofitable. David Harsanyi writes that “average margins [come] in at a little over 2 percent,” one of the lowest margins of any industry.

I would say, based upon what my wife tells me, Mr Arthur T. Demoulas is not running up prices to pad his bank account.  He is working to help his customers.  I would think Ms Warren should get out of Cambridge and see how things are in the Hinterlands.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Protecting the Federal Attorney

For John, BLUF:  Government officials should feel safe while executing their duties.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Federal marshals won’t provide a security detail for confirmed US Attorney Rachael Rollins despite recent threats against her life

Here is the sub-headline:

Recent e-mail to prosecutor:  “You’ll probably die.”

From The Boston Globe, by Reporter Andrea Estes, 17 December 2021, 6:15 pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

Federal marshals have declined a request from newly confirmed US Attorney Rachael Rollins for a full-time security detail, rejecting her arguments that recent threats show she could be in danger, according to two people with direct knowledge of the security discussions.

Rollins, the first Black woman to serve as US attorney for Massachusetts, has said threats against her have grown more vicious since her Senate confirmation vote earlier this month during which Republicans attacked her as a dangerous, pro-criminal prosecutor. A blatantly racist e-mail sent to the Suffolk district attorney’s office on Dec. 9 warned that “SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE IS PLOTTING TO PUT ONE IN YOUR FACE OR HEAD!!!

“You’ll probably die ... I don’t have the (nerve) to outright kill someone ... but keep going and you will find one (who does have the nerve) ... I hope,” said the e-mail, which Rollins turned over to the US Marshals Service for investigation.

But the Marshals Service, which protects federal officials, declined to provide Rollins with a security detail after investigating the threats, the two people said. One author of a threatening e-mail apologized, the two people said, and marshals concluded Rollins was at low risk.

I szympathize with Ms Rollins having to deal with death threats.  However, there are some 30,000 federal officials who could receive protectoin from the US Marshal Serice. On the other hand, in its infinite wisdom, the US Congress has only authorized 3,067 marshalls, plus 4,700 Court Security Officers.  I pray that none of those threatening Ms Rollins have the courage, or stupidity, to try to kill or injure her.

The other thing I noted in the article was that Ms Rollins is taking a pay cut to move up to being the Federal Attorney for the full state of Massachusetts.  As the Suffolk district attorney she earned $191,000 pa.  Plus, a car, a driver and a security detail.  As the Federal Attorney she will earn $172,500, and will lose the car, driver and protection unit.  Is this a comment on Suffolk county and profligate ways, or a comment on the Federal Government, deep in debt?  Or does it mean that the Federal Government should have different pay scales for different parts of the nation?

In the mean time, regardless of our political leanings we should counsel our friends and neighbors not to use inflamtory language about our elected officils.  It is OK to call for impeachment or to circulate recall petitions.  It is not OK to threaten elected or appointed officials or their familites with physical violence.

It doesn't matter if you follow Émile Loubet or Émile Zola, one needs to have some moderation in one's approach to politicians.  Remember, the most stiupid remark of the Twentieth Century was by a member of the Frankfurt School, Professor Herbert Marcuse:  "Tear down the Weimar Republic.  Whatever replaces it has to be better."

Let us not tear down this Republic.  Whatever replaces it will likely be worse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Occupy Capitol Hill

For John, BLUF:  I suspect this scab will be picked at a lot between now and the Anniversary, in a couple of weeks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Another Lawsuit Holds The Key To Trump’s Best Defense Against The Jan. 6 Committee

Here is the sub-headline:

Because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed to appoint the requisite number of members, the Jan. 6 committee is arguably invalid under its own authorizing resolution.

From The Federalist, by Reporter Margot Cleveland, 10 December 2021.

Here are the four key paragraphs:

House Resolution 503 created the January 6, 2021, Select Committee, Meadows’s argument begins, then stressing that Section 2(a) of that resolution requires House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to “appoint 13 Members to the Select Committee, 5 of whom shall be appointed after consultation with the minority leader.” But “Speaker Pelosi has appointed only nine members to the Select Committee: seven Democrats and two Republicans,” the complaint alleges.  “None of these members was appointed from the selection of five GOP congressman put forth by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy,” Meadows’s lawsuit continues.

Because Speaker Pelosi failed to appoint the requisite number of members, as mandated by House Resolution 503, it was “not a duly constituted Select Committee,” Meadows’s lawsuit argues.  Without establishing a duly constituted Select Committee, as mandated in the Resolution, the nine members lack the authority to act under House Resolution 503, the argument continues, including by issuing subpoenas under Section 5(c)(6) of House Resolution 503.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ignored the problem caused by Pelosi’s unprecedented refusal to seat Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, which led to only two representatives with Rs behind their names, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, agreeing to serve on the committee.

Further, while House Resolution 503 provides for business to be conducted by a quorum of members, the problem here is not the number of members participating but the number of congressmen appointed to the committee.  Also, because House Resolution 503 requires the appointment of 13 members, Pelosi’s failure to appoint the requisite number of committee members means the select committee was never properly constituted.  That failure, Meadows’ lawsuit argues, renders the Select Committee invalid and without the authority to issue subpoenas.

This whole House Select Committee strikes me as more therater than factfinding.

I hope that all of us can focus on protecting our Republic and retain a little trust in our fellow Americans.  All of them.

One thing we can do iseschew the use of Insurrection.  If that was an insurrection, then the riots of 2020 were also an attempt to bring down the US Government.  A sense of proportion would be good.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Star Chamber?

For John, BLUF:  Whixh should be controlling when it comes to social/cultural issues, the welcoming nation or the culture of the immigrants coming in?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Denmark’s Ex-Immigration Minister Gets Jail Sentence for Ordering Separation of Child Brides From Their ‘Husbands’

Here is the sub-headline:

BBC:  “The verdict cannot be appealed and the jail sentence is unconditional, meaning that it must be served.”

Freom Legal Insurrection, by Blogger Vijeta Uniyal, 14 December 2021, 11:30am.

Here is the lede plus one:

On Monday, Denmark’s high-power court convicted Inger Stoejberg, who served as the country’s immigration minister between 2015-19, for ordering the separation of refugees couples if the woman was under 18.

Stoejberg’s 2016 order, as she argues, was aimed at stamping out the practice of child brides who were being imported into the country in the wake of the migrant wave. “A total of 23 couples were separated, with the wives ranging in age from 15 to 17 years,” Germany’s DW News reported.

Here is the really disturbing part of the story, which is why the title of this Blog:

The so-called Impeachment Court, specially set up for Stoejberg’s trial, “agreed that the order had violated Danish law and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the TV network Euronews reported.

It seems to me that if a nation has age restrictions on marriages they should be enforced on everyone.  Otherwise they should be changed to reflect what is being allowed for some.  A two tiered system is inherently unequal.

Considering that in the West young teenage bridges were accepted several centuries ago it might be the way to go, except that in our current culture education suggests that 18 is a reasonable marriage age for all.  Our culture expects youth to stay in school until graduation from high school.  It is a reasonable expectation for society today.

A special court for Ms Stoejberg seems fishy to me.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Nancy For Ever

For John, BLUF:  I thought she had earlier decided to retire, not that I think she is too old.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Now We Know What Nancy Pelosi's 2022 Plans Are

From PJ Media, by Reporter Matt Margolis, 13 December 2021, 4:33 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

Rumors have been going around for months that Nancy Pelosi was planning to retire.

Back in October, she refused to confirm to CNN’s Jake Tapper whether she would seek reelection, saying she had to have that conversation with her family first.

Well, I suppose she’s had the conversation, and if you were hoping Nancy would retire, I hate to break it to you, but according to CNN, she plans to stay at least until after the 2022 midterms.

“And sources familiar with Pelosi’s thinking say she isn’t ruling out the possibility of trying to stay in leadership after 2022, despite her original vow to leave as the top House Democrat,” CNN reports. “She’ll devote much of next year to raising money for Democrats as they try to hold their narrow majority, those sources tell CNN, adding to the nearly $1 billion her office calculates she has already raised for Democrats in her time as leader.”

While Speaker Pelosi is likely going to be reelected from her California District, I am doubtful the Democrats will hope a majority in the House in January 2023.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Very Bad, But Not a Trend

For John, BLUF:  The issue is the tornadoes that touched down along a 200 mile corridor in the US Midwest, killing over 100 people overnight between Friday night, the 10th, and Saturday morning, the 11th of December.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Meteorologist responds with data after Joe Biden seemingly blames climate change for deadly tornados

From The Blaze, by Reporter Chris Enloe, 13 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus nine:

Meteorologist Joe Bastardi fired back at President Joe Biden for seemingly blaming the devastating tornado outbreak that struck multiple states last week on climate change.

What did Biden say?

When a reporter asked Biden on Saturday whether climate change contributed to the deadly tornados, Biden pointed to climate change allegedly increasing the intensity of storms.

"All I know is that the intensity of the weather across the board has some impacts as a consequence of the warming of the planet and climate change," Biden said. "The specific impact on these specific storms, I can't say at this point."

"I'm going to be asking the EPA and others to take a look at that," Biden continued. "But the fact is that we all know everything is more intense when the climate is warming. Everything. And obviously, it has some impact here, but I can't give you a quantitative read on that."

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell was more direct. During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Criswell said the extreme weather "is going to be our new normal."

"The effects we are seeing of climate change are the crisis of our generation," Criswell said.

How did Bastardi respond?

The famed meteorologist accused Biden of weaponizing tornados and shared data showing that severe weather this year has not been as severe compared to previous years.

"Clueless Joe Biden In action again with his weaponization of Tornados. 1) Violent tornadoes not increasing. 2) this year tornados, hail and wind all together near-record low," Bastardi said. "Mindless media should do their dang job and call him on it, I called Trump out on Dorian jibberish." The data Bastardi included, coming from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, directly contradicts claims from Biden and Criswell that severe weather is more intense because of climate change.

Meteoroligist Joe Bastardi?  Yes, Wikipedia has described him as a Climate chsange denier.  That seems a little harsh.  How can anyone, looking back over tens of thousands of years deny climate change?

I do think that President Biden and FEMA Director Criswell took the easy way out, appealing to their base, but the data suggests they were specifically wrong, although there may be some larger climate shift.  If you read the whole article it will suggest this is not a particularly active period for tornados.  Or huriccanes.

Regards  —  Cliff

Abolishing Math

For John, BLUF:  A little perdictability in how we measure (describe) things is good.  Two plus two must always equal four or mathematics loses its ability to convey information.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Major News Outlet Asks if Math is Racist

By Alex Parker | Dec 10, 2021 12:15 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

Have you ever considered a numerical concept and then suspected it was judging you by your color?

If so, USA Today has an article for you.

A piece published Tuesday asks, “Is math education racist?”

“Debate rages,” it claims, “over changes to how (the) U.S. teaches the subject.”

The current title is a tweak: As relayed by Fox News, the original headline posed more profoundly, “Is math racist?”

I blame people from the Indian subcontinent, for intorducing the concept of zero, and the Arabs, for giving us our znumber system, which replaced the klunky Roman Numeral system.

I, for one, like the predictability of the math I leared in K thruogh 12.  When I go to the store and buy buy watermellon and cottage cheese I feel I can depend on the numbers to always work out the same. The price may chnge, but the addition of the two items on the cash register will be consistent.  Without tht consistence, life woould be much more complex.

As for Math Eduction, that is on the Teachers' Unions.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Contested Races

For John, BLUF:  Dean Tran is someone who might give Republicans a shot at winning the Massachusetts Third Congressional District Seat.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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TRAN VS TRAHAN:  A CHANCE TO END THE MADNESS

Here is the sub-headline:

Former State Senator and Fitchburg City Councilor Seeks Third District Congressional Seat

From IZON GOP, by First Middlesex Mass GOP Committeeman Dennis Galvin, 10 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

In a meeting today with Republican State Committeewoman Kathleen Lynch and Republican State Committeeman Dennis Galvin, former State Senator and Fitchburg City Councilor Dean Tran announced his intention to challenge Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan for the Third Congressional District Seat.  Tran brings energy, experience, organization and fundraising ability to the effort making this race potentially the most competitive in the Commonwealth in 2022.  Tran is a great "nuts and bolts" campaigner, who knows the game and plays hard to win.  He has assembled a great team to fill out his staff, and is poised to offer a formidable challenge to the incumbent.

Pointing to the economic, border and national security disasters of the Biden administration, Tran indicates, that he will try to return some sanity to Washington.  Energy Independence, better security and screening protocols at the border, particularly for Covid19, and improving military readiness, in the face of a rising Communist threat from China are among his top priorities.  Looking at the map, he thinks he has more than an even chance.  The newly reorganized third congressional district now extends from Haverhill to Gardner, and south to Concord Action and Clinton.  Tran is confident that he will be very competitive particularly in the district’s cities of Gardner, Fitchburg, Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill.

Recent polling suggests that Democrats in Congress are in trouble.  Their plans seem to be rooted in a wrong understanding of the economy and what it takes to get it turned around.  There is a good chance that Republicans running for the House and the Senate will offer up ideas that will capture the voters.

This means that local Republicans need to "Get ready to get to work!".

Regards  —  Cliff

Julian Assange Coming to America

For John, BLUF:  This is a saga that has gone on for too long a time.  It should have been ended under the last administration.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Julian Assange Loses Appeal:  British High Court Accepts U.S. Request to Extradite Him for Trial

Here is the sub-headline:

Press freedom groups have warned Assange's prosecution is a grave threat.  The Biden DOJ ignored them, and today won a major victory toward permanently silencing the pioneering transparency activist.

From Greenwald Substack, by Reporter Glenn Greenwald, 19 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

In a London courtroom on Friday morning, Julian Assange suffered a devastating blow to his quest for freedom.  A two-judge appellate panel of the United Kingdom's High Court ruled that the U.S.'s request to extradite Assange to the U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges is legally valid.

As a result, that extradition request will now be sent to British Home Secretary Prita Patel, who technically must approve all extradition requests but, given the U.K. Government's long-time subservience to the U.S. security state, is all but certain to rubber-stamp it.  Assange's representatives, including his fiancee Stella Morris, have vowed to appeal the ruling, but today's victory for the U.S. means that Assange's freedom, if it ever comes, is further away than ever: not months but years even under the best of circumstances.

This is not a good turn for press freedom, either in the UK or the US.  I wonder what they are afraid of.

As an aside, I did think that Mr Greenwald was a bit snarky about the UK being subservient to the US in the area of national security.  However, the issue of press freedom should be paramount for both nations.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mass and Cass Crime

For John, BLUF:  When the local news starts reporting on crime in areas where the homeless congregate it is a sign that action needs to be taken.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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‘I’m unnerved by it’:  Attorney calls for change after he says he was attacked while driving through Boston

From WHDH (7 News), by Reporter Nick Emmons, 9 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

BOSTON (WHDH) - A local attorney says he feared for his life after he was attacked while driving in Boston.

After meeting with a client at the South Bay jail, Hassan Williams said he beeped at a man for blocking traffic near an intersection in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard — an area plagued by homelessness and drug use.

That is when he said another man came forward and began swinging a broken piece of a wheelchair at his car.  The discarded footpad shattered Williams’ windshield and passenger side window and ended up on the floorboard among scattered shards of glass.  Another person allegedly threw some food at the car as well.

“I have food and bodily fluids all over my car because I couldn’t get out of the car, because I have a mob sitting outside the car.  I couldn’t stay in the car because I have a guy smashing my car,” he explained.  “I’m like, what the heck am I gonna do?”

The first lesson to be learned is that one should avoid locations where the homeless congregate.

The second lesson to be learned is that if in an area where homeless congregate one should not call attention to oneself, nor should one irritate the homeless milling around.

That said, this is about policing in cities.  There need to be minimum standards of behavior, enforced.  There needs to be mental health help for those who need it.  Open drug markets need to be suppressed.  Safe spaces to walk zre needed.  This is local government.  Stte Government can help, but it is about local government setting and enforcing stndards.  And it is about local residents getting out and voting.  Nothing gets the attention of politicians like a strong voter turnout

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Pearl Harbor Day

For John, BLUF:  thanks to the Greatest Generation for doing its duty.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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VICTOR DAVIS HANSON ON PEARL HARBOR

5 Minute, 55 Second video

This is a good overview of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, why it happened, why it both succeed and failed and the eventual cost of the war in the Pacific.  Worth the six minutes to click and view.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Pueblo Indian Society Overcomes Disaster

For John, BLUF:  There was history in North American before the coming of the British.  Here is an example of a society that coped well for several centuries.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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One American Culture Actually Benefited From 'The Worst Year in Human History'

From Science Alert, by Reporter Mike McRae, 3 DECEMBER 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

As far as years go, you could do a lot better than 536 CE. By some historians' standards, it may have well been 'the worst year to be alive in human history'. Depending on where a person lived around the globe, those cold, bleak times kept on truly sucking for many years to come.

Now, it seems it might not have been the worst thing, at least for the Ancestral Puebloan communities who occupied the southwestern US. In fact, the darkness of this brief, global ice age might have heralded a bright new day for their culture.

A study conducted by a team of archeologists and anthropologists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Colorado State University in the US has uncovered signs that the population spread across the Four Corners region not only recovered from a catastrophic climate shift in the mid-6th century – in some ways they came back stronger than ever.

To understand the climate issue, consider that reports were of a sun performing like the moon, due to an atmosphere obscuring the sun due to volcanoes:

Today, it appears this sun-shielding fog had its origins in a series of volcanic eruptions across the Americas, which spewed enough ash into the atmosphere to turn summer into winter across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Just five years later, a good chunk of the Roman population would fall beneath a plague like no other. Oh, and another colossal volcanic event, this time in El Salvador, churned out even more ash to top it all off.

Life in North America wasn't much better. Measurements of tree rings from northern Arizona reveal a drop in temperature and precipitation that lasted for decades.

Yet archaeological records show that in spite of these challenging times, the Ancient Puebloans would go on to develop a rich, complex culture that would thrive for centuries.

So, are we as a society ready to meet the new social challenges that would be posed by a rapid climate change or some other environmental or economic change?  Not some gradual climate change, but rather a rapid onset, one that included major challenges in food production and in other activities, including new diseases and a gloomy atmosphere?

I am not sure the Biden Administration and the "Green New Deal would be what we would need in such a crisis.  I suspect we would benefit most from decentralized empowerment.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Entertaining Ideas

For John, BLUF:  Smaller municipalities need innovation to grow, or sustain their current populations.  This should not be a shock,  Attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, “Now that we have run out of money we have to think.”  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Cambria County fights population loss in little, big ways

Here is the sub-headline:

The first of three reports on counties with declining populations.

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by Reporter Salena Zito, 21 November 2021, 4:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Reggie Canal began the process of moving from New York City to this Cambria County city this past July. The Queens native is a financial adviser who has spent much of his life working in the five boroughs as well as various places abroad. He was lured here for a number of reasons, including quality of life, affordability and the ability to start his own business in the main business district of a city, without breaking the bank.

The kicker, though, was the remote worker incentive, a pilot program that offered a cash motivation — $2,500 to be exact — to attract people to move to the county and take up residence.

The brainchild of local civic and business leaders with a boost from the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, the program required applicants to agree to live here for a year.

I applaud the County of my birth.  Those of us in smaller governmental units need to think smarter.

In Lowell we don't need more residents, per se, but se do need more and better jobs, and less homelessness.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Watches the Watchman?

For John, BLUF:  Per The New York Post, "The FBI raided Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe’s home on Saturday, as authorities continued to investigate the apparent theft of President Biden’s daughter’s diary".  They tipped off friendly press, which didn't see the irony.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Even the Washington Post Wonders if the Justice Department Went Too Far in Raiding Project Veritas

From PJ Media, by Mr Robert Spencer, 17 November 2021, 2:54 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

It’s hard to believe that all this is happening in the United States.  First, secret police chief Merrick Garland directed the FBI to monitor parents who protested at school board meetings against the imposition of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools.  Then there was the Justice Department’s raid of the home of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe because of Ashley Biden’s diary.  After that came the arrest of harsh Biden critic Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, the first such arrest in decades, for his refusal to cooperate with the Democrats’ Jan. 6 pseudo-insurrection show trials.

Then today came news of FBI raids of the homes of Colorado’s Elections Clerk and Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) campaign manager.  It looks as if the Justice Department has become an authoritarian tool of Biden’s handlers in their quest to criminalize dissent from their agenda — and this corruption is advancing so rapidly that even the Washington Post, a reliable mouthpiece of the Deep State, is now wondering if it is all going too far.

When you’re on the left and lose the Post, you’ve really gone too far.  It’s abundantly clear at this point that the Post is fully on board with the authoritarian Biden/Garland agenda.  Its coverage of the Attorney General siccing the FBI on law-abiding anti-CRT parents included such Orwellian headlines as “Faced with Republican criticism” — which all good Post readers know is something that is always wrongheaded, ill-advised, cynical, opportunistic, and on the wrong side of history — “Attorney General Garland defends school board memo”; “A man gave a Nazi salute at a school board meeting to oppose mask rules.  Ted Cruz defended it as a form of protest”; and “Garland asks FBI to address recent ‘disturbing spike’ in threats against educators.”  Nonetheless, if you go too far too fast, you risk waking up the sleeping populace, and so the Post is now calling for the Injustice Department to slam on the brakes.

From my understanding it seems that there is a campaign to shut down Project Veritas.  I don't think this is good for Press Freedom.  For Press Freedom for all press outlets.

In addition, there is the appearance that the Department of Justice, as an institution, has become a partisan supporter of the Democratic Party side of many cultural issues.  This kind of perception on the part of a fair sized part of the Citizenry is not a good thing in a Democracy.  The Department of Justice should work hard to not only be impartial, but to appear impartial.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Does Shop Class Help Language Learning?

For John, BLUF:  Don't kids in Middle School take Shop anymore?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Using mechanical tools improves our language skills

From Medical Press, by Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, 11 November 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Our ability to understand the syntax of complex sentences is one of the most difficult language skills to acquire.  In 2019, research had revealed a correlation between being particularly proficient in tool use and having good syntactic ability.  A new study, by researchers from Inserm, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon and Université Lumière Lyon in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, has now shown that both skills rely on the same neurological resources, which are located in the same brain region.  Furthermore, motor training using a tool improves our ability to understand the syntax of complex sentences and—vice-versa—syntactic training improves our proficiency in using tools.  These findings could be applied clinically to support the rehabilitation of patients having lost some of their language skills.  This study is published in November 2021 in the journal Science.

Language has long been considered a very complex skill, mobilizing specific brain networks.  However, in recent years, scientists have revisited this idea.

Research suggests that brain areas, which control certain linguistic functions, such as the processing of word meanings, are also involved in controlling fine motor skills.  However, brain imaging had not provided evidence of such links between language and the use of tools.  Paleo-neurobiology has also shown that the brain regions associated with language had increased in our ancestors during periods of technological boom, when the use of tools became more widespread.

When considering this data, research teams couldn't help wondering: what if the use of certain tools, which involves complex movements, relies on the same brain resources as those mobilized in complex linguistic functions such as syntax?

I am hoping that the Lowell School Committee can illuminate the answear to this question.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trust in Schools

For John, BLUF:  He isn't out right lying to us, but neither is he giving us the truth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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His team’s trying to hide it, but de Blasio’s bungling has parents fleeing NYC schools

From The New York Post, by Mr Ray Domanico (Director of Education Policy at the Manhattan Institute), 10 November 2021, 7:47 pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

Mayor-elect Eric Adams won on a common-sense platform of making critical city services more efficient.  Nowhere is the need clearer than in Gotham’s school system, which under outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio has drifted aimlessly, sowing parental discontent.

Last week, the system released its annual student headcount, much anticipated after last year’s huge drop, particularly in the early grades, due to COVID-related school closures and the city’s uneven remote-learning performance.  Did some students who left return this year or has the Department of Education irrevocably lost them to public charter and private schools?

We have no way of knowing: In an incredibly cynical act, the DOE released a single number, total students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.  With that restricted accounting, the news didn’t seem so awful:  Enrollment was down 17,000, a much smaller drop than last year’s 43,000.  But that comparison says little because year-to-year changes often look very different at different grade levels.

What is the city hiding?  A close look at State Education Department numbers shows parental confidence in de Blasio’s stewardship was already dwindling pre-pandemic, before the disastrous 18-month shutdown of most DOE schools.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been a disaster for Public Schools and for the leadership of such schools, be it Administration or Labor Union.  Suddenly, parents were seeing, live, what was going on in the classrooms.  Parents got to see what was going on in the classroom and some of them, many of them, were unimpressed.

I think that Mayor Bill de Blasio only added to the distrust and distaste.  Then along came Virginia Gubinatorial Candidate Terry McAuliffe, with his assertion:  “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” I hope that as we go forward together, schools will be receptive to the desires of the parents, working with all parents.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Veterans Day

For John, BLUF:  I looked last night and couldn't find my Poppy.  It is somewhere in the bedroom, I am sure.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The origin of the phrase:  “All gave some, Some gave all.”

From Spec Ops Magazine, by Writer Eric Sof, 10 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

The widely used phrase “All gave some, Some gave all.” is mostly related to the United States military members who were wounded or killed in action.  You will probably hear it more often around Memorial Day every year, and it’s not for Veterans Day.  Many Americans get this confused, and we’ll be honest — it can be a little annoying to all of the living veterans out there.

Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for our country, particularly in battle or from wounds they suffered in battle.  Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.

I think the author is a little picky here.  This morning I greeted my wife, the widow of an Air Force pilot killed while flying a training mission, with "Happy Veterans Day" because she was deprived of her husband while he was on active duty.  Fortunately for me she had room in her heart for an additional person.

I think it is fine to remember the fallen, the wounded, in body and in mind, on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day.  Memorial Day started as Decoration Day, the day folks put flowers on graves.  Veterans Day started out as Armistice day, the day in 1918, 11/11, at 11:00 that an Armistice went into effect. It was about the Western Front of The Great War, when the fighting stopped and the Butcher's Bill had been paid.  On both days we honor those who served, as we should.

And thank you to all those who served, and all those who gave us support while we served.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reds Under the Bed

For John, BLUF:  We have had Communists in the Treasury Department since at least World War II, the Big One.  However, this seems a little blattant.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Treasury Department Nominee Says Biden Administration Purposefully Wants to Bankrupt Oil, Coal and Gas Companies

From The Conservative Tree House, by Sundance, 9 November 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

Against catastrophic outcomes, we have been pointing out how the people within the Biden administration are not incompetent; they know exactly what they are doing, and they are destroying the U.S. economic system on purpose.  All of their economic damage is by design, it’s a feature – not a flaw.

An example today is so demonstrative of that point, it’s almost a parody.  Joe Biden’s nominee for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a branch of the Treasury Department that polices some 1,125 banks, is a communist ideologue named Saule Omarova.  She is directly from communist central casting and literally from Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union.  Ms. Omarova graduated from Moscow State University in 1991, and Joe Biden nominated her for the OCC job in September.

Today, Ms. Omarova is caught on tape saying it is the intent of the Biden administration to use the treasury department to bankrupt oil, coal and natural gas companies.  This is what happens often with avowed ideologues; they are so focused on their mission to destroy the U.S., they often just say the stuff out loud

I would say Ms Omarova is problamtic as a high level Tresury official.  I was thinking that before this most recent revelation.  Before this she was talking about eliminating local banks.

What are they thinking?  Who are they paying off?  For sure, this kind of thinking is not good for our Capitalist system, for Citizenry across the fruited plain, or for the environment.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Doubling Down

For John, BLUF:  This is how gamblers go deep into debt and nations lose wars—they double down on a strategy that isnt going well.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Advisor Ignores Warnings From Election Defeats, Wants to Push Further Left

From PJ Media, by Writer A.J. Kaufman, 7 November 2021, 2:16 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

Blind to reality and wholly dedicated to partisan politics, Democrats have ignored their major electoral setbacks last week and doubled down on their radical agenda.

The party even refuses to listen to its own strategists, or a Democrat congresswoman who’s been successful in the very places where they received backlash last week.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who’s twice won in a suburban Richmond district that was held by Republicans for 40 years prior, is someone with credibility.  After the Tuesday shellacking, she told the New York Times “nobody” made Joe Biden president to pursue sweeping legislation similar to former President Franklin Roosevelt’s transformative New Deal, but rather they elected Biden to “be normal and stop the chaos.”

Needless to say, that has not occurred.

Asked on “Fox News Sunday” if Spanberger was wrong for this view, Biden’s senior advisor and former congressman Cedric Richmond surprisingly said she was.

In the article the veteran non-partisan election analyst Charlie Cook is quoted:

They are pretending they have political capital in the bank when the reality is, they are overdrawn.

I see the Administration, and the Democrat Party Leadership in Congress taking a big leap of faith.  I am guessing they won't be able to make it to the other side in 2022, or maybe even 2024.

That said, in these United States the side in power manages to alienate the voters, after a while, and we have a reversal of fortune.

Regards  —  Cliff

Call to Action

For John, BLUF:  This talks to a problem which is often misidentified, but a problem that needs to be fixed nevertheless—voter turnout.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Solving the national civics crisis begins in our homes

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Ms Katharine C. Gorka, 5 November 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

As the election results in Virginia and elsewhere demon-strate, many parents are upset with how American history and civics are being taught in schools.  And it’s hard to blame them.

Some feel we are tearing down our nation’s past.  Others believe we are not doing enough to tell the history of all Americans, particularly those in communities that have long been marginalized.  The good news is that discussions are taking place in school districts nationwide over what we should teach our children.  The bad news is that those debates may not resolved anytime soon.

But parents can take an active role in ensuring their children receive the education they want them to have.

Yes, the problem Lowell faced a while back with the lawsuit about how we elect local officials was really about a failure of the School Committee to ensure we teach civics.

Lowell has a new system for electing local officials.  Now we have to knucle down and make it work.  That means serious civics instruction.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Citizen Journalism

For John, BLUF:  The story is summed up in these two sentences:  "Captain Lorenzo [Die Hard 2] understood this.  The officers in Laredo should have, too….".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Right to Ask Government Officials Questions

Here is the sub-headline:

The Die Hard 2 Principle makes a special appearance

From Reason, by Lawyer Eugene Volokh, 3 November 2021, 2:39 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

From Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho's Monday opinion, joined by Judge James Graves, in Villarreal v. City of Laredo (Chief Judge Priscilla Owen dissented and stated she "will file a forthcoming dissenting opinion"):

If the First Amendment means anything, it surely means that a citizen journalist has the right to ask a public official a question, without fear of being imprisoned.  Yet that is exactly what happened here:  Priscilla Villarreal was put in jail for asking a police officer a question.

If that is not an obvious violation of the Constitution, it's hard to imagine what would be.  And as the Supreme Court has repeatedly held, public officials are not entitled to qualified immunity for obvious violations of the Constitution….

Priscilla Villarreal is a journalist in Laredo, Texas. She regularly reports on local crime, missing persons, community events, traffic, and local government.  But Villarreal is not a traditional journalist.  Instead of publishing her stories in the newspaper, she posts them on her Facebook page.  Instead of using a tape recorder to conduct interviews, she uses her cell phone to live-stream video footage of crime scenes and traffic accidents.  Her reporting frequently includes colorful—and often unfiltered—commentary.  Perhaps because of this, she is one of Laredo's most popular news sources, with more than 120,000 Facebook followers. See, e.g., Simon Romero, La Gordiloca:  The Swearing Muckraker Upending Border Journalism, N.Y. Times (Mar. 10, 2019) ("[Villarreal] is arguably the most influential journalist in Laredo, a border city of 260,000.")….  [But] local law enforcement officials [have been] less than enthused with Villarreal's reporting….

Once in a while the Courts protect the rights of the Citizens against the Government.

I am hoping that this Court decision holds up.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Confusion in DC

For John, BLUF:  It appears that there is not a strong voice in the Executive Branch, guiding policy.  Thus we have gridlock.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Klain in Vain

Here is the sub-headline:

#43: Did Biden's chief of staff make a fateful blunder?

From Kaus Files, by Political Analyst Mickey Kaus, 2 November 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

There’s a remote—but increasingly less remote— possibility that Dems will wind up with neither of their two big spending bills:  1) the bipartisan “BIF” hard infrastructure (bridges, roads, etc.) bill and 2) the partisan Dem social spending laundry list, aka “Build Back Better” (BBB).

Why would that happen?  Because Terry McAuliffe’s upset loss in Virginia could freak out vulnerable Dems, who then bail from the second, BBB bill — the way an Eric Cantor loss in Virginia freaked Congress out about “comprehensive immigration reform” and sank that legislation in 2014.  But if BBB dies … well, since many progressives only support the bipartisan “hard” infrastructure bill if it’s twinned with BBB, it’s possible enough of them might vote against the bipartisan bill to sink it too.  (It would only take 4 or 5, out of a “Progressive Caucus” of 94 members, to do that.) Biden’s agenda dies in a Tarantino gunfight.

Still an unlikely scenario, as it’s always been almost inconceivable that the Democrats would screw things up so badly they’d end up passing nothing.  But this achievement is now within reach, and if it happens, it looks like there will be an obvious fall guy: Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of staff.

I find it hard to believe that the Troika (Biden, Pelosi and Schumer) can't make it happen.  Surely the staffs will eventually get together and find a compromise.  Compromise is what the system is set up to force on the elected officials.  So why isn't it happening?  If you think the system is hard broke then you take an all or nothing position.  I would describe it as a repudiation of our American experiment.

On the other hand, if President Biden is not exercising a strong hand, then power is fragmented in the Executive Branch.  There is not a clear voice, a certain trumpet, as the Good Book says, and we will have problems.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

We Are Making Progress

For John, BLUF:  I expect the Progressive Democrats will draw a lot of wrong lessons from Tuesday's election, as will the Republicans.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New Virginia Lieutenant Governor

Here is the Tweet:

Iris Miller
@IrisCMiller

Can’t wait to see the media talk about her historic victory breaking down barriers in a former slave state.

Oh wait, she’s a Republican.

Mollie
@MZHemingway

First black woman elected statewide in Virginia is conservative Winsome Sears.

Good on Virginia.

Good on Winsome Sears.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Shanksville Monument

For John, BLUF:  A quick loook at the monument outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to the passengers aboard Flight 93, who took down the hijacked airliner, at the cost of their own lives.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A SHANKSVILLE MEDITATION

Here is the sub-headline:

It took the passengers of Flight 93 less than 20 minutes to decide that they would rather risk death as free men and women than submit to certain destruction as submissive captives of evil men intent on mass murder.

From The Pilot, by Mr George Weigel, 27 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

The most moving feature of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, are the pictures of the 40 brave men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, while preventing al-Qaeda terrorists from destroying the U.S. Capitol.  At this moment of intense divisiveness and polarization in America, it's important to reflect on those images and learn from them, however peripheral they may be to the memorial's design.

At 8:42 a.m. on 9/11, United 93, a Boeing 757, took off on a flight from Newark to San Francisco.  The north tower of the World Trade Center was struck by a hijacked airliner four minutes later.  At 9:03 a.m., the south tower was hit.  Some 25 minutes after that, terrorists seized control of United 93.  And a few minutes later, the Pentagon was struck by another hijacked plane.  The next 20 minutes wrote an epic story of courage and resolve into the annals of American history.

Thanks to cell phones and on-board airphones, Flight 93's passengers, who were herded to the back of the plane after the hijackers seized the cockpit, learned what had happened to the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.  Thirty-seven phone calls, plus the fact that the plane had reversed its course and was heading east toward Washington, convinced the passengers that the hijacking of United 93 was part of a coordinated terrorist plot to cripple the United States.  After discussing their situation and responsibilities, the passengers voted to try and retake the plane, tackling the hijacker who remained in the passenger cabin (and claimed to have a bomb), and then forcing their way into the cockpit to regain control of a 65-ton jetliner careening through the sky.

Passenger Todd Beamer, whose call, "Let's Roll" has lived beyond the day is the known hero.  That said, all the passangers on that flight acted like Americans and came together to do the right thing I thank them for their fine example.

Mr Weigel is not all that impressed with the Shanksville Monument.  But he is very impressed with the dignity of those passangers on that flight.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Reset For Jews

For John, BLUF:  Something that is often missed in both the media and during coffee table discussions is that American Jews are being pushed into a corner, where their support of Israel is seen as just more inherent Caucasian Supremacy.  Not by everyone, but certaining by their former progressive allies.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A strategic reset for Jewish community relations and advocacy

Here is the sub-headline:

Do we dig in our heels with progressives because it used to make sense, or do we pivot and develop new partnerships and strategies that reflect our community’s interests today?

From Americans for Peace and Tolerance, by Mr David Bernstein, 18 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus six:

For more than a decade, the primary strategy of the Jewish community relations field has been to build ties to key non-Jewish segments on the political left deemed “fence-sitters”on Israel.  An influential report issued by the REUT Group, an Israeli think tank, in 2010 stated that “Israel and its allies should maintain thousands of personal relationships with political, financial, cultural, media and security-related elites.”  The report went on to say that “Israel should engage its critics, while isolating the delegitimizers.”

Fence sitters include, among others, segments of the African American community, mainline Protestants, Latinos and LGBTQ activists.  The strategy had been to engage these groups on social justice issues that they — and many Jews — care about, and in the process influence their thinking on Jews and Israel.

With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015, many in the Jewish community, myself included, were especially concerned about the prospect of growing hostility toward Jews and Israel.  We worried that a total breakdown would mean many mainstream Jews would become politically disenfranchised.  In 2016, as the president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Jewish community relations umbrella, I wrote:

“If the (Jewish) community wants to have any influence on how today’s civil rights activists view Jews and Jewish issues, it must show up to the planning meetings, press conferences and protests.”

But, I cautioned:

“We must find our own voice on civil rights.  It will not be easy integrating the Jewish community into civil rights coalitions, some of which hold very different political sensibilities. Young activists routinely invoke phrases like -‘white supremacy’ – to describe America’s prevailing power structure…Rather than feeling obliged to use these terms, however, the Jewish community can…come to the table in its own voice.”

This strategy of engaging progressive activists, I am sorry to say, has largely failed.  The attitudes toward Israel among progressives have markedly worsened in the past five years.  And the prevailing ideological environment has become toxic and fundamentally illiberal.  Aligning ourselves too closely with the progressive movement, especially insofar as such alignment requires conformity to its pieties and credos, gives succor to an ideology that will ultimately harm us.  It’s time for the mainstream Jewish community to do a strategic reset.

It was just over a year ago that the Labour Party in the United Kingdom forced out its leader, Mr Jeremy Corbyn.  Part of Mr Corbyn's problem was his antisemitic presentation.

We are seeing the same sort of anti-Israeli attitude on the part of some Progressive Democrats, including members of The Squad.

Many GOP voters are clearly supportive of an independent home for Jews in the Holy Land.  Based on that, the Republican party should be making room for those Jews who can accommodate a more conservative philosophy, one oriented on freedom, including freedom of thought, speech and religion.

Regards  —  Cliff

Striving to Be Better

For John, BLUF:  The message from the Author, Ms Sara Hoyt, is that we need to struggle to be united, rather than separating ourselves.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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REGRESSING

From the Blog According to Hoyt, by Novelist Sarah Hoyt, 2 November 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

A Catholic priest, a rabbi and two Lutheran ministers walk into a bar…

If they’re friends, and at ease with each other, you’re almost certainly in America.  Or in a country so far gone into atheist socialism, that it doesn’t matter what religion you have, you’re an enemy of the state.

In this post Ms Hoyt introduces a name change.  She is now calling Progressives as "Regressives".  She sees the regressives as intent on destroying the progress we, as Americans, have made.  She says:

And that rows back decades of just learning to live together and ignoring what’s not relevant to building and living and having a functional society.

Ms Hoyt believes we can continue to get better as a nation, but not if we embark on a plan of separation.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Election Day

For John, BLUF:  Please, please, please vote.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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GO VOTE

There are a number of reasons to vote.  Perhaps your friend is running, and deserves a little suppport from you.  Perhaps someone you admire is running and you think they would be a good elected official for your town or city.

However, the best reason to vote is that politicians, and government bureaucrats, pay attention to the voter turnout. The reason the Belvidere section of Lowell seems to get special attention from local government is because, in local elections, about 40 percent of the voters actully go and vote.  On the other hand, in some parts of the city the turnout is less than 10 percent.  Which area attacts more attention?  Exactly.  Even with "districts" Belvidere will have a disproportionate impact on which "at large" candidates win.  But, if all areas turn out in large numbers, then the whole City because an important garden of voters, to be carefully cultivated.

The problem with the recent election law suit is that it misidentified the problem to be fixed. It wasn't minority participation.  It was voter turnout.  Remember what Dead Karl told us:  "The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish . . . the kind of war on which they are embarking."  It applies in politics, as it does in war.

Here are the Lowell polling locations.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Education Support by Parents

For John, BLUF:  Many parents are not happy with how things are going in the schools their children attend.  Further, many of those parents think they are not getting the strait word as to what is happening in those schools.  Finally, the school officials are not doing a good job of appearing to be transparent.♠  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Edexit:  We Shouldn’t Let the Education Crisis Go to Waste

From Law & Liberty, by Harvard Professor james Hankins, 1 November 2021.

Here is a key excerpt:

The most important factor keeping most American schoolchildren in unionized public schools is undoubtedly cost.  Public schools, after all, are free, and it’s hard to beat free.  Of course they are not really free; they are paid from tax revenues, mostly property taxes, which is to say they are in effect subsidized by wealthier property owners.  Property-tax-paying parents understandably do not want to pay twice to school their children.  To be sure, some public schools are highly rated.  Precisely for that reason, many parents have been willing to pay a premium for homes in townships with good public schools.  While it is true that the “awokening” of public schools has made even the best of them unpopular with most Americans, many parents, for now, will have to stick with their local public schools.  It’s a question of path-dependence: for many Americans, to go private would mean radically altering college funding plans and perhaps push retirement several years further out.  It could mean leaving beloved homes and communities for others with less burdensome property taxes.

What is clear is that a huge proportion of parents with children currently in K-12 public schools would go private if they could afford it.  That much is revealed by the polling data compiled by EdChoice, a non-partisan organization committed to giving American parents more power over their children’s education.  According to EdChoice’s Polling Dashboard, of current K-12 school parents, 83% have actually enrolled their children in district public schools, but only 39% would do so if they had the freedom to choose other kinds of school.  50% would like to send their children to private or charter schools, but only 14% are able to do so.  78% of the general population and 84% of current school parents favor Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) once informed of how these accounts would work.  Similar numbers favor some kind of public voucher system which would allow parents to decide which schools will receive the public funds allocated for their own child’s education.  EdChoice’s polling data also shows that the last two years have seen a considerable jump in public support for educational choice in general, from the mid-70th percentile in 2018 to the mid-80s in 2020-21.

All this adds up, I believe, to a historic opportunity to set a new direction for American K-12 education.

This should be one of several wakeup calls coming out of the Pandemic.  This is like the imbroglio in Laudaun County, Virginia.  While a number of parents are happy to turn their children over to some school for the education of those children, there are others who are sitting there in silent horror over when it is going on.

This should be a wakeup call for school systems and teachers unions and teachers colleges.  Public Institutions depend upon public approval,  It is eroding for schools.  We should all be dedicated to fixing this.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I would say, with regard to transparency, our local Lowell School District was doing an excellent job of being transparent, right up until the Bob Hoey imbroglio.  Since they they have not been as open to all branches of the media, which is sad.  Perhaps post election things will open up again.

Placement of Students (By Parents)

For John, BLUF:  Are parents voting on Public Schools by moving their children to other schools or to home schooling or maybe just moving to a new community and school district?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Blue State Blues:  Record Number of Students Flee Nation's Largest Public School Districts

From PJ Media, by Reporter Gwendolyn Sims, 31 October 2021, 9:40 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

This week the three largest public school districts in the U.S. announced that they are in the middle of a massive and continuing problem: record low enrollment numbers.

The New York Times reported that since the fall of 2019 enrollment in New York City’s (NYC) public school system—the nation’s largest district—has dropped by about 50,000 students or 4.5%.  The numbers are even worse in the nation’s second-largest public school district, where the Los Angeles Times reported the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) lost a record of more than 27,000 students or 6.0% of its enrollment since 2019.  The third-largest district’s numbers are just as bad in Chicago’s public schools (CPS), where WTTW reported enrollment is down nearly 25,000 students or 3.0% over the same time.

What exactly is to blame for the record drop in enrollment across these districts?  The districts are quick to blame the COVID-19 pandemic; that’s not the only reason fewer parents want their children to attend these public schools, but you’d never know that to listen to them.

We need more data, but the current numbers suggest there may be problems out there.

While I find it unlikely to happen, it would be interesting and revealing if state and local governments allocated school money to the individual students, to be spent as the parents see fit.  Will parents who can't afford private or parochial schools today shift their children's school of choice under such a regime?  There is a hint in the election of Florida Governor Ron DiSantis.  What put him over the top was 100,000 Black women who voted for him over the issue of schools.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

CRT Again

For John, BLUF:  One has the sense that US Public Schools, by and large, embrace Critical Race Theory (CRT).  On the other hand, they deny all.  Where is the truth?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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CRT:  IT DOESN’T EXIST…AND IT’S AWESOME!  [WITH COMMENT BY PAUL]

From Power Line Blog, by John Hinderaker, 31 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Critical Race Theory has become the number one political issue in the U.S.  So, needless to say, it is the top issue in school board elections that are taking place across the country.  Thus, in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts, the administration emailed talking points to school board members, telling them how to answer questions about CRT from concerned parents.  No doubt many other districts have done the same.  Remarkably, this particular email included no fewer than six attachments with talking points on CRT.

These six pro-CRT missives are pretty much interchangeable, although they come from a variety of sources: the school district itself; Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union (this one includes an attack on American Experiment); the Minnesota School Boards Association; the University of Minnesota; the Minnesota Association of School Administrators; and the Council of the Great City Schools.

I like the title for this blog post.  It captures what I have picked up from the various news sources I consume.

I am all for looking at all of our history,  However, as a believer in evolution, I believe the same happens in history.  Most of our progress toward a freer and fairer society is based upon the actions of those who have gone before us.  While the Magna Carta wasn't the Declaration of Independence, it was a big step forward in helpinig define the Rights of Englishmen. 

What I don't see is where we are going.  Remember the line from General David Patraeus, "Tell me how this ends"?  I hear a lot of talk about how Caucasians from Europe have made the world a worse place,♠ but I don't hear much about how others are going to make it better.  I am sure there are folks who think General Secretary Xi Jinping is offering a better path, but I am not sold.  I thought South Africa might be a model of integration and freedom, but it doesn't seem to be working out.  Look at their Gini.  I wouldn't pick Venezuala and their Bolivarian Revolution.

This kind of issue is why voting in your local School Committee (School Board) is so important.  Even if you aren't sure who to vote for tomorrow, the fact that you vote will send the signal that folks are paying attention and the Committee Members and the school leadership needs to be aware of public sentiment.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  One of their worst acts was the elimintion of human sacrifice as a public ritual in North America.

Gifted and Talented

For John, BLUF:  In the name of equity and equality we are dumbing down the education of our youth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pitt students want to 'abolish' their community's elementary gifted program

Here is the sub-headline:

• The Pitt News Editorial Board recently published a piece in support of abolishing local elementary gifted programs.
• According to the piece, the gifted program intellectually and racially 'segregates students.'
• Members of the Pittsburgh community share mixed viewpoints about what such a change would mean for their community.

From Campus Reform, by Correspondent Logan Dubil, 29 October 2021, 8:55 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

The Editorial Board of the University of Pittsburgh student paper recently published an article calling to get rid of the gifted program in surrounding schools.

“The gifted program segregates students — sometimes based on IQ tests conducted at an early age.  The program is deeply flawed, encourages students to unnecessarily compete against each other academically and often ends up leaving behind students of color.  It is time for Pittsburgh to follow New York’s example and eliminate the gifted program from local school districts,” claims the piece.

The paper published the piece in light of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent decision to remove elementary school based gifted programs over the next five year period, saying "Pittsburgh should be next."

I did poorly in elementary school, and not all that well in high school (junior high school was my period of shining).  Even so, I found that the brighter students, who surged ahead of me, did help me and my learning, both in school and after school.  Their interests and learning helped to spur me on and made me a better student.  My prime example is Lloyd Davis, who lived at the end of town in Wenonah, NJ.  His interest in science helped spur my interest in science.  Hold him back, even if only by not pushing him on, would seem to be the opposite of encouraging education.

This is a bad idea.  If you see no other indicztor, remember tht New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is backing it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Education For Citizenship

For John, BLUF:  The autahor, a University President, has written off K-12 Public Educztion as a place where future voters learn about democracy.  That is sad.  There was a day when most people didn't go to college and public schools had the responsibility of Civics education, and stepped up.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Universities Are Shunning Their Responsibility to Democracy

Here is the sub-headline:

Institutions of higher education have remained, at best, bit players in the project of educating the citizenry.

From The Atlantic, by Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels, 3 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

was born in canada, and my sense of national identity, like that of many Canadians, was formed in direct relation—perhaps in opposition—to the great colossus to the south. We were a country that aspired not to the lofty abstractions of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” but to the more prosaic benefits of “peace, order, and good government.”  I have always been proud of Canada’s basic values—but I have also envied the grandeur of the American experiment, even in the face of its shortcomings and contradictions.

When I first came to the United States, in the mid-2000s, I expected, perhaps naively, that this country would be a bastion of civic learning.  Surely the stewards of the world’s first modern democracy would understand the need to cultivate an understanding of both its majesty and its mechanics—the Enlightenment ideas that animate it and the institutions that make it work.  But when my children enrolled in high school in Philadelphia, they received only a weak introduction to any of this.  That modest exposure, however, was far more elaborate than what many other children across the country receive.  Two years ago, during a seminar at Johns Hopkins University, I asked my students if any of them had learned about core democratic ideas and institutions in high school.  Only a smattering of hands went up—and those few were at half-mast.

The dearth of civic education is corrosive. According to an Associated Press–GfK survey, from 1984 to 2014, the share of American adults who said that staying informed about current affairs and public issues was “not an obligation that a citizen owes to the country” more than tripled, from 6 to 20 percent.  Over roughly the same period, according to Cambridge University’s Centre for the Future of Democracy, dissatisfaction with democracy among young people has risen precipitously, particularly in the United States.

For decades, elementary and secondary schools have borne the responsibility of educating about citizenship.  But in an era when funding is limited and partisans on all sides are quick to detect the merest whiff of agendas they dislike, civics and social-studies classes are among the first to shrivel.  A majority of principals and other school leaders surveyed in 2018 by Education Week believed that students were not getting enough civics education.  Often, there is little they can do.

Another sign of the times.  Back in the day, when I was in Eighth Grade, one of our year long classes was called Core.  It was about being a grownup and grownup responsibilities.  For example, we had to research and do a report on three different future careers.  (I did Aeronautical Engineer and Army Armor Officer and one other, which I can't remember.)  We studied the US Constitution.  We wrote a town charter for a mythical town in which we lived  We learned civics.

Today, apparently not so much.

Who fixes this?  Our School Superintendent?  Our School Committee?  The General Court?  The Troika of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden?

I think it is on the voters of Lowell.  Vote wisely on Tuesday, but vote, so those elected know you are paying at least a little attention.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Work Force

For John, BLUF:  This is a study of not everybody, but of those in the prime working demographic.  People who should be out in the labor force.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New Report Shows Growth of the Welfare State Has Fueled Long-Term Declines in the Labor Force

Here is the sub-headline:

Policies should incentivize employment; not discourage it.

From Foundation for Economic Eduction (FEE), by Journalist Brad Polumbo, 28 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

A massive labor shortage continues to grip the nation and hold back our economic recovery.  With countless pandemic and policy factors influencing the shortage, there’s a heated debate over what’s keeping so many workers out of the labor force.  But a new study confirms that the growth of the welfare state is playing a massive role—and that this trend began long before the pandemic.

Published by experts on the Republican side of the Senate Joint Economic Committee, the analysis reports, “the U.S. has witnessed an unprecedented rise in disconnected prime-age workers over time.”  As shown in the graph below, the men’s labor force participation rate has fallen from more than 97 percent in 1955 to 89 percent prior to the pandemic, while the women’s labor force participation rate has declined in recent decades as well.

This is not good news for the economy.  But, few are talking about it.  We need more people working, so that the Democrats in Washington, DC, can collect more taxes, to pay for their plans.  Or, we could remove disincentives in the work force and use the extra Federal taxes to pay down our towering Federal debt.

The alternative future is this:

We are better off with people working.  Work is a virtue, as Commentator Lawrence Kudlow tells us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Paybacks Can Be Fun

For John, BLUF:  Atlanta loses $100 million in revenue when Major League Baseball pulls the All Star Game, but then the Braves go to the World Series.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Braves Fans Rejoice as MLB Backpedals

From PJ Media, by Reporter Chris Queen, 27 October 2021, 11:00 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

The Atlanta Braves are in the World Series — and won the first game Tuesday night — which is the perfect opportunity for us to thumb our noses at Major League Baseball.  If you need a refresher as to why Braves fans everywhere have a beef with MLB, let’s hop in the Wayback Machine and take a look.

You may remember back in the spring when Georgia passed its voting rights bill, which extended voting opportunities while tightening security.  The Left actually pounced, the way they accuse conservatives of doing, mischaracterizing the law as one that would disenfranchise minorities.

Major League Baseball virtue-signaled in a big way, moving the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta’s beautiful ballpark to Colorado.  MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement at the time:

“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” Manfred said in his statement.  “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.

“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.  In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States.  We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process.  Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.”

The move cost businesses in Cobb County, the location of Atlanta’s Truist Park and the Battery, a business and entertainment area that surrounds the park, an estimated $100 million.  A group of businesspeople sued MLB.  Yet the game stayed in Colorado.

Yes, it is fun when some high level poobah finds his pious inanity is paid back by fate.

Later in the article Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledges that Major League Baseball is 30 different markets, each unique:

“It’s important to understand that we have 30 markets around the country,” Manfred added.  “They aren’t all the same.  …  The Native American community in that region is wholly supportive of the Braves program, including ‘The Chop.’  For me, that’s kind of the end of the story.  In that market, we’re taking into account the Native American community.”

E plurabis unum.  Out of many, one.  We should celebrate our diversity.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff