Transition Closets

For John, BLUF:  The idea is you go off to school the way your parents dress you, and then, once at school, you chaange into those cloths that best represent who you think you are (gendere wise).  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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California School Creates ‘Transition Closet’; Allows Students To ‘Swap Out’ Of Clothes ‘Parents Approve Of’

From The Daily Wire, by reporter Ben Zeisloft, 23 February 2022.

Here is the lede:

A high school in Oakland, California, is creating a “transition closet” that will allow students to come to school in clothes that their “parents approve of” and change into the clothing of their selected gender identities.

It really does seem like the public schools against the parents.

My nagging questiion is under what circumstnces can the Parents say "Enough!" and release their child to the school for housing, feeding, clothing and general supervision?  If the path the parents are on for raising their child is no longer satisfctory to their Lordships at the school, is it not time to transition the child to the school, full time.

I expect, a hundred years on, if the United States is still around, this will be seen as child abuse.

That said, adults should be free to identify as they wish.  And to have surgury and drugs as they see fit.  As with, from my childhood, Ms Christine Jorgensen.  But, Ms Jorganson was in her twenties when she sought surgury.  An adult.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Corruption in 2020 Election

For John, BLUF:  Two key points.  The Electoral College elected Joseph Biden President and there is no changing that fact.  Further, no matter how many pundits disgrace themselves by denying it, there were pockets of corruption in the 2020 elections.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Explosive Pennsylvania Testimony Explains How Leftist Money Infiltrated Election Offices In 2020

Here is the sub-headline:

This evidence should be enough for the Pennsylvania legislature to recognize there is a real problem when private money and private actors collaborate with election officials.

From The Federalist, by Columnist Msrgot Cleveland, 8 pril 2022.

Here is the lede plus two:

The Democrat governor’s office in Pennsylvania colluded with left-wing activists to secure millions of dollars in private money to run get-out-the-vote efforts in blue counties in the swing state in 2020, new, explosive testimony revealed.  The Pennsylvania legislature heard this testimony, backed up by email evidence, on Tuesday during the first public hearing on two new bills seeking to block private grants.

Tuesday’s public hearing began with statements by the respective primary sponsors of the bills that seek to ban dark money from elections, with Sen. Lisa Baker speaking in support of Senate Bill 982 and Rep. Eric Nelson encouraging passage of House Bill 2044.  Pennsylvania investigative journalist Todd Shepherd then testified at length on the results of his extensive probe into the insertion of private funds into the 2020 election.

With a series of PowerPoint slides, Shepherd revealed to lawmakers that beginning in July 2020, consultants working for leftist organizations coordinated with local election officials and Democrat Gov.Tom Wolf’s office to lobby five blue counties to apply for these private grants.  While the grants originated with the nominally non-partisan Center for Tech and Civic Life—an organization that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s private foundation later infused with some $350 million in cash—emails reveal that a main consultant involved in targeting select counties, Marc Solomon, worked for the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, or the CSME.

Get out the vote efforts are good.  but they have to be fairly done.  To use state level governmental [political] power to steer money to benefit one or another party is ethically, and per the article, legally wrong.

Thus, what was done in Pennsylvania was wrong.  Learning about it doesn't change the outcome of 2020.  It is what it is.  That said, what we know today should influence what is done at the local, state and Federal levels in 2024.  To deny this is to show oneself to be, at best, corrupt, and at worse fascist in conduct.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Weapons of Mass Destruction

For John, BLUF:  They aren't guilty until the Jury says so, and the Jury represents the Common Man—us.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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No convictions for defendants in Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnapping trial

Here is the sub-headline:

Anti-government militia members were charged with hatching a plot against the state's Democratic leader, angry over restrictions she ordered in the early days of the pandemic.

from NBC Newa, by Reporters David K. Li and Mohammed Syed, 8 April 2022, 2:32 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus †hree

A federal jury failed to convict four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom they despised for the restrictions she ordered early in the pandemic.

The panel in Grand Rapids considered charges against Daniel Harris, 24, Adam Fox, 38, Barry Croft Jr., 46, and Brandon Caserta, 33, all charged with conspiracy.

All but Caserta are also charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, in an alleged plot to slow responding police.

Croft and Harris were also charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device.  Harris was charged with possession of a semi-automatic assault rifle that wasn't registered to him.

I want to first deal with the term "weapons of mass destruction".  In my mind the use or the term in this court case, while conforming to current US Law, erases an important line; a line that is between normal ways of killing people and destroying property and the use of nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons, which are expected to create thousand of casualities, and, iin the case of nuclear weapons, blocks of destruction.  See, for example, this Wikipediaa article.

As for the jury, I expect they did their duty in sorting through the facts,  It appears to me that the involvement of the FBI was too heavy in the plotting, thus giving plausability to a defense argument that the defendents were trapped.  Further, this seems to be an action at a time when emotions were high and this "conspiracy" may have just been blown out of proportion.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

George Anthes Has Moved On

For John, BLUF:  It is sad when anyone passes away.&nbp; It is more so when it is a friend.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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George Anthes Passed Awy on Wednesday

George, like myself, was a "blow in", having been born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  AA graduate of Holy Cross Univeristy and then earning a JD, he worked in private practice and in Government.  He was also an adjunct University Professor.  Some of us know George from his excellent work as a Lector at Immaculate Conception Parish. Others, with some overlap, know him from his radio and TV careers as Commentator,  In al he excelled.

Farewell George Anthes, and God's Speed to Paradise.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is A Food Shortage Coming?

For John, BLUF:  Even the Chinese Agriculture Minister is concerned and has said so publically.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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20 Facts About the Emerging Global Food Shortage That Should Chill You to the Core

From Uncanceled, by Author Michael Snyder, 3 April 2022.

Here is the lede:

A very alarming global food shortage has already begun, and it is only going to get worse in the months ahead.  I realize that this is not good news, but I would encourage you to share the information in this article with everyone that you can.  People deserve to understand what is happening, and they deserve an opportunity to get prepared.  The pace at which things are changing around the globe right now is absolutely breathtaking, but most people assume that life will just continue to carry on as it normally does.  Unfortunately, the truth is that a very real planetary emergency is developing right in front of our eyes.  The following are 20 facts about the emerging global food shortage that should chill you to the core…

Then follows 20 examples of problems noted in various nations.

It isn't just the loss of wheat production due to Putin's War (e.g,, half of Africa's wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine), but includes other issues, like bird flu infecting chicken production in Iowa.

I hope Joaephy has taalked to President Biden about this issue of years of famine.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hope Over Reality

For John, BLUF:  Not every good idea works out when it meets reality.  The groceery store plastic bag ban is an exaample.♠  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Research suggests plastic bag bans may be backfiring in a way that makes complete sense once you think about it

Here is the sub-headline:

From Not the Bee, by the NTB Staff, 30 Mrch 2022 4:30 pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

Plastic bag bans are fairly irritating—they're paternalistic, preachy, and they deprive countless homes of the endless usefulness of the all-purpose plastic bag—but more than that, it appears that they might not actually, you know, work:

Researchers at the University of Georgia suggest that banning the sale of plastic bags may come with a side-dish of unintended consequences.

The new analysis suggests that plastic bag ban policies — while well-intentioned — may end up having the opposite effect.  The issue that comes up is that grocery bags are viewed as single-use items, but they often get a (brief) second lease on life as liners for small trash cans.  Without the shopping bags available, people look for alternatives — which the researchers suggest means they buy small plastic garbage bags.

And there you are.  Do state legislatures not have research organizations?  People who look at the long term conseuences.  I would give a pass to local elected bodies, but if it is a city the size of Lowell, Mass, don't they have a Department of Planning and Development, with people capable of asking questions?.

The plastic bag ban is another triumph of hope over reality.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  From our time living in the Naples, Italy, area, in the mid 1970s, the NATO Allied Community (US, British, French, Greek and Turk) referred to the small plastic bag as an "Italian Attache Case," in that they were (re)used on the local economy to carry just about anything.

Telling the Truth

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes Government begin to think things are all about them, when, in fact, it should be about the People.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Not just Russia:  America has a problem speaking truth to power, too

From The New york Post, by Professor Glenn H. Reynolds, 31 March 2022, 8:02pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in trouble in Ukraine, and it’s because people lie to him.

That’s the story put out by US intelligence officials, and it has the ring of truth.  Apparently, Putin wasn’t told of the miserable state of readiness of Russian troops, the unavailability of spare parts and repair facilities, the shortage of transport, the inefficiency of the Russian air force, the lack of trucks needed to haul ammunition, food and fuel to the front or the surprising effectiveness of the Ukrainian military.

Putin’s “senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth” about “how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions,” according to the White House’s Kate Bedingfield.

. . .

Thing is, the hide-the-bad-news dynamic is growing by leaps and bounds right here in America.

And there is the problem.  We, as Americans, are facing the same problem as President Putin.  As he is Sovereign in Russia, we, the People, are sovereign here in the United States, and we are not getting the truth.  And while some might point to this President or that President, I believe the problem is in the permanent Bureaucracy.

The permanent Bureaucracy has institutional interests and will act to defend those interests.  It is the job of Congress, and the president, to fight those institutional interests and substitute the interests of the People.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff