#oklahoma has leftist areas

[boba21521]

I GOT YOU BECAUSE THEY GOT ME!!

From the perspective of an Oklahoman, I have a lot of reasons why I like it:

A. California and Oklahoma don't outright *hate* each other, which is more then I can say for a lot of 'enemies' to lovers ships in the fandom. I mean there is the whole 'south vs California' thing but people ship Texicali so that doesn't matter all that much

B. It's plausible!(?) Coming from personal experience, there's no bonding agent like mutual hatred, and hatred there is. A common Calihoma headcanon that makes this make more sense is that they started talking to each other to vent about Texas, and it spiraled from there, (though plots like that aren't everyone's cup of tea.)

C. For the people interested in history of states only, dig into the goldrush/dust bowl history between the actual state of Oklahoma and California, it's actually really interesting! (Fun fact, the word 'Okie' was a derogatory term for Oklahomans that were migrating to California during the gold rush (? IDK I need to brush up on that it's been a while))

Overall,there's more to it than just this and I'm very new to this ship as well, but there's real chemistry there that's just untouched potential I guess. Also sorry for writing like 4-5 paragraphs of shit in your replies :,D

someone get me into calihoma or whatever its called. i’ve tried reading it but i just don’t understand how it’s became a “big” thing. im a multishipper and don’t care when it comes to ships (even texacali. i know. shocker). i may not read it much or look for it but i’ll stan for it if it’s good- i just- don’t understand? the only part i understand about calihoma is that their shipped together because they both hate texas. (i think?)

someone convert me to the calihoma ways

(i’ll always be a yorkcali shipper though, so.)

[pscottm]

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Some Oklahoma parents say they want to opt their child out of any Bible-related teaching.

A nonprofit called the Defense of Democracy created a Bible opt-out form that parents can fill out, and send to their child’s school district.

"Parental choice has always been a thing in public education," Regional Director and parent Erica Watkins said. "This [form] is just to kind of solidify that, and show that there are parents who don’t want their children to be involved in any Bible-based curriculum.”

State Superintendent Ryan Walters tells Fox 25 it's unfortunate that parents "have been lied to by these radical, left-wing individuals."

"Look, it’s history," Supt. Walters said. "You going to opt out of history? You going to opt out of math? You going to opt out of science next? I mean, here’s the reality: the Bible is the most cited book in the 17th and 18th century from the writers in America.”

As a Jenks Public Schools parent, Watkins doubles down on her stance against Walters' directive.

"I want my school to know there are parents in favor of letting the school do what they know is best, by the professionals and educational groups that have developed this curriculum," Watkins said. "We can't just have somebody coming in and saying "we need a Bible in every classroom" to fix the very real issues that are going on in public education."

Walters responds to that statement, saying the Oklahoma State Department of Education has been taking on how the "teachers unions destroyed education from day one."

"We have more parental rights than any other state," Walters said. "We've brought in teacher pay based on performance. We have record signing bonuses, and we've driven up scores through our tutoring programs. Very proud of the work we're doing. Frankly, we're setting a blueprint for every state to follow on how to get education back on track. We are happy to take this state away from the path the teachers unions had it on: a Marxist dumpster fire, and putting it in on the right track to be a leader in the country."

Nonprofit co-chair for Payne County and Stillwater Public Schools parent Saralynn Boren says if her district has the Bible in the classroom, she will fill out the template.

"You don’t know what is going to be taught," Boren said. "When your kids go to church, they’re being taught by someone who is an expert in that religion, so you know that they’re going to be taught well. Whereas if you’re just having a random teacher teach that, you have no idea what that teacher’s background is. There's no telling what kind of lesson they're going to get from the Bible if you have just a random teacher teaching it. This is really not something that's in their area of expertise. We should let the teachers take the teachings of things that our kids need to be taught in school."

Walters reiterates that it's unfortunate how "leftists have lied" to parents.

"It's in its historical context," Walters said. "When it fits into the standards as they've been laid out for years now, we're going to make sure those standards are taught. There's absolutely moments, like when the pilgrims came to America so that they could practice their religious liberty, what religious liberty are we talking about? We're not going to lie to kids and say, 'Well we're not going to tell you that it was Christianity.' We're not going to lie to kids and not quote the Bible when Martin Luther King Jr. quoted the Bible."

The state superintendent offers a final thought to concerned parents.

"I’m going to continue to stand with the parents of Oklahoma who want to make sure their kids have history taught to them not through a Marxist perspective being pushed by the teachers unions and Kamala Harris, but a robust history that understands American exceptionalism and frankly, includes the Bible in its historical role."

Walters says he's not not forcing religion on kids, and that he wants to make sure they understand the Bible from a history standpoint. Watkins tells Fox 25 she doesn't believe that.

"Walters' rhetoric of saying that the Bible also correlates with American history is just nonsensical," Watkins said. "It's political pandering to his base. We see right through it."

[antoine-roquentin]

obliquely, this is in reference to how formerly working class bastions in the midwest that used to elect socialists now elect republicans. if we all gave up the theory that LGBT people are normal, we might once again go back to the days where we elected socialists across the country. thomas frank, what’s the matter with kansas:

But its periodic bouts of leftism were what really branded Kansas with the mark of the freak. Every part of the country in the nineteenth century had labor upheavals and protosocialist reform movements, of course. In Kansas, though, the radicals kept coming out on top. It was as though the blank landscape prompted dreams of a blank-slate society, a place where institutions might be remade as the human mind saw fit. Maps of the state from the 1880s show a hamlet (since vanished) called Radical City; in nearby Crawford County the town of Girard was home to the Appeal to Reason, a socialist newspaper whose circulation was in the hundreds of thousands. In that same town, in 1908, Eugene Debs gave a fiery speech accepting the Socialist Party’s nomination for president; in 1912 Debs actually carried Crawford County, one of four he won nationwide. (All were in the Midwest.) In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt signaled his own lurch to the left by traveling to Kansas and giving an inflammatory address in Osawatomie, the onetime home of John Brown.

The most famous freak-out of them all was Populism, the first of the great American leftist movements.* Populism tore through other states as well—wailing all across Texas, the South, and the West in the 1890s—but Kansas was the place that really distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. Driven to the brink of ruin by years of bad prices, debt, and deflation, the state’s farmers came together in huge meetings where homegrown troublemakers like Mary Elizabeth Lease exhorted them to “raise less corn and more hell.” The radicalized farmers marched through the small towns in day-long parades, raging against what they called the “money power.” And despite all the clamor, they still managed to take the state’s traditional Republican masters utterly by surprise in 1890, sweeping the small-town slickers out of office and ending the careers of many a career politician. In the decade that followed they elected Populist governors, Populist senators, Populist congressmen, Populist supreme court justices, Populistcity councils, and probably Populist dogcatchers, too; men of strong ideas, curious nicknames, and a colorful patois....

For a generation, Kansas has been the testing-ground for every experiment in morals, politics, and social life. Doubt of all existing institutions has been respectable. Nothing has been venerable or revered merely because it exists or has endured. Prohibition, female suffrage, fiat money, free silver, every incoherent and fantastic dream of social improvement and reform, every economic delusion that has bewildered the foggy brains of fanatics, every political fallacy nurtured by misfortune, poverty and failure, rejected elsewhere, has here found tolerance and advocacy.

Today the two myths are one. Kansas may be the land of averageness, but it is a freaky, militant, outraged averageness. Kansas today is a burned-over district of conservatism where the backlash propaganda has woven itself into the fabric of everyday life. People in suburban Kansas City vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of New York and Washington, D.C.; people in rural Kansas vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of Topeka and suburban Kansas City. Survivalist supply shops sprout in neighborhood strip-malls. People send Christmas cards urging their friends to look on the bright side of Islamic terrorism, since the Rapture is now clearly at hand.

Under the state’s simple blue flag are gathered today some of the most flamboyant cranks, conspiracists, and calamity howlers the Republic has ever seen. The Kansas school board draws the guffaws of the world for purging state science standards of references to evolution. Cities large and small across the state still hold out against water fluoridation, while one tiny hamlet takes the additional step of requiring firearms in every home. A prominent female politician expresses public doubts about the wisdom of women’s suffrage, while another pol proposes that the state sell off the Kansas Turnpike in order to solve its budget crisis. Impoverished inhabitants of the state’s most scenic area fight with fanatical determination to prevent a national park from opening up in their neighborhood, while the rails-to-trails program, regarded everywhere else in the union as a harmless scheme for family fun, is reviled in Kansas as an infernal design on the rights of property owners. Operation Rescue selects Wichita as the stage for its great offensive against abortion, calling down thirty thousand testifying fundamentalists on the city, witnessing and blocking traffic and chaining themselves to fences. A preacher from Topeka travels the nation advising Americans to love God’s holy hate, showing up wherever a gay person has been in the news to announce that “God Hates Fags.” Survivalists and secessionists dream of backyard confederacies out on the lone prairie; schismatic Catholics declare the pope himself to be insufficiently Catholic; Posses Comitatus hold imaginary legal proceedings, sternly prosecuting state officials for participating in actual legal proceedings; and homegrown terrorists swap conspiracy theories at a house in Dickinson County before screaming off to strike a blow against big government in Oklahoma City.

the problem with this simple story is that social liberalism actually grew in lockstep with an economic policy tailored to the poor. in the 70s, the most common place to get gender reassignment surgery was at a catholic hospital in small town colorado. in 2010, in response to deep opposition in the town, the practice was forced to move to california. the second most common place was at a baptist hospital in oklahoma city, where such surgery was viewed as routine until a number of religious leaders decided to oppose it in the 70s. at the same time, many other religious leaders spoke out in favour of the surgery, saying that it comported well with religious tenets.

likewise, colorado legalized abortion in 1967, as did states like kansas, missouri, georgia, and north and south carolina prior to roe v wade. today, these states are considered anti-abortion and anti-lgbt hotspots, yet prior to the late 70s, compassion for such people was viewed as paramount in the life of america’s christians. so what happened? it clearly wasn’t an emphasis on the social aspects of poor american lives that shifted the political arena in favour of religious conservatism. rather, as thomas frank points out in the same book:

Nobody mows their own lawn in Mission Hills anymore, and only a foot soldier in its armies of gardeners would park a Pontiac there. The doctors who lived near us in the seventies have pretty much been gentrified out, their places taken by the bankers and brokers and CEOs who have lapped them repeatedly on the racetrack of status and income. Every time I paid Mission Hills a visit during the nineties, it seemed another of the more modest houses in our neighborhood had been torn down and replaced by a much larger edifice, a three-story stone chateau, say, bristling with turrets and porches and dormers and gazebos and a three-car garage. The dark old palaces from the twenties sprouted spiffy new slate roofs, immaculately tailored gardens, remote-controlled driveway gates, and sometimes entire new wings. One grand old pile down the street from us was fitted with shiny new gutters made entirely of copper. A new house a few doors down from Esrey’s spread is so large it has two multicar garages, one at either end.

These changes are of course not unique to Mission Hills. What has gone on there is normal in its freakishness. You can observe the same changes in Shaker Heights or La Jolla or Winnetka or Ann Coulter’s hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut. They reflect the simplest and hardest of economic realities: The fortunes of Mission Hills rise and fall in inverse relation to the fortunes of ordinary working people. When workers are powerful, taxes are high, and labor is expensive (as was the case from World War II until the late seventies), the houses built here are smaller, the cars domestic, the servants rare, and the overgrown look fashionable in gardening circles. People read novels about eccentric English aristocrats trapped in a democratic age, sighing sadly for their lost world.

When workers are weak, taxes are down, and labor is cheap (as in the twenties and again today), Mission Hills coats itself in shimmering raiments of gold and green. Now the stock returns are plush, the bonus packages fat, the servants affordable, and the suburb finds that the princely life isn’t dead after all. It builds new additions and new fountains and new Italianate porches overlooking Olympic-sized flower gardens maintained by shifts of laborers. People read books about the glory of empire. The kids get Porsches or SUVs when they turn sixteen; the houses with asphalt roofs discreetly disappear; the wings that were closed off are triumphantly reopened, and all is restored to its former grandeur. Times may be hard where you live, but here events have yielded a heaven on earth, a pleasure colony out of the paintings of Maxfield Parrish.

america's workers and small farmers were saved by the reforms of the 1930s, as frank explains, then crushed as the wealthy found out how to squirrel away their taxes (in part thanks to the collapse of the british empire), accumulate wealth away from prying eyes, lobby the government for preferential treatment, and between 1976 and 2000, triumph completely in the political domain. mission hill donates more money to politicians than the rest of kansas combined. unions are swamped in state politics, and see declining fortunes. as a result, neoliberal social atomization takes effect, which sees even workers demanding beggar-thy-neighbour policies. and when thy neighbour is socially distinct from you, it becomes easier to justify voting for such politics based on a survival instinct. the majority of the working class tuned out and do not vote any more. among the rest, low skilled working class jobs in highly stratified and inequitable cities vote democrat, hoping for some patronage from the white collar creative class voters they serve, while blue collar skilled workers tend to vote republican, devoid of any examples of class politics in their lives with the death of unions and hoping to keep their share of wages against their only opposition, the tax man.

ultimately, any socially liberal politics sustained by donations from rich big city donors is unsustainable. on the other hand, the notion that “woke” politics is holding back leftism is, save for a few clearly absurd situations (robin diangelo, for instance) also wrong. economic leftism leads to social leftism, because respect to the working class leads to respect for its identities. neoliberal atomization is a much deeper force than can be surmounted at the ballot box, even in a primary, but it is always an economic force first and foremost.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

But see here's the fun part. You just pointed out one of the things that infuriates me the most. When dealing with a conflict you're aggression should always be pointed at the top not the bottom. And while it wasn't worded in the best way, my tangent pretty much says that.

I've seen story after story after story of specifically leftists harassing and actually harming or threatening death upon Western Jews who've never been to and lay no claim to Israel. If people want to take issue with how the Israeli government is handling things that's fine. The bigger issue is there's a lot of stuff we don't know in regards to what's going on over there.

Who fired missiles at who and other things is hard to dictate generally speaking because almost all of the news coming out of Gaza is going to be propaganda. That's not to say Israel does not have propaganda on its side either, but the issue is most of the people watching the news who are moderate, try to wait a few days to see if alternative information comes up. Like the example I gave of the supposed bomb that hit the hospital. Turns out it was a misfire to missile from Hamas that they fired from said hospital and it blew up the parking lot instead.

Also the Oklahoma thing I'm actually not in favor of. And the reason is because there were people living on that land before a choice was unilaterally made it to just give the land back. And the reason that the land was actually given back was because a criminal who had broken the law and was about to go to prison for a lengthy period of time, or had gone to prison and was trying to get out I don't remember which (I might be misremembering but if member serves he was a child predator); actually started doing research into the state and pushed an argument that the land that he committed the crime on was actually native land and therefore he couldn't be charged. I'm not against upholding contracts. The issue however is the fact that there should have been an actual proceeding discussion or vote from the people of Oklahoma before that whole ordinance passed.

Because the people who were directly affected by that were people who were not native american. Although admittedly a lot of Americans have native American blood how much is kind of a moot point but. I think if you're like 5th or 6th the generation native American you're still recognized as part of a native tribe to some relative degree. Regardless, I think that it's a proposition that should have been voted on and the amount of land should have also been voted on as well.

Don't get me wrong it sucks that the US government has done all of the things the US government has done in a lot of instances. But the expanded area had a lot of different like houses and businesses and whatnot and those things are now on native land if I remember correctly because it just kind of encompassed a s*** ton of the state. Unfortunately native American tribes are slowly but surely dying out and they're not reproducing it rates that will keep them at or above replacement levels. Which means that the land that was given back will kind of be a moot point in the next 30 to 50 years. But may cause legal issues down the line for anybody who was living in that area who wasn't part of the native tribe. However, I'm not against having given back that land. I'm against how it happened. And I'm also against the fact that criminal and a dangerous one at that managed to manipulate the law so as to get out of prison time. mind you I didn't necessarily follow up with what happened all I know was that the initial reports was that not only would it affect him specifically but it could also affect dozens if not hundreds of other cases of many many different people who committed crimes on the area that was then just kicked back over to Oklahoma's native tribe. If he still got arrested and stayed arrested awesome but also if any other criminals were to make that argument it would become a large legal issue since the argument respond originally as far as I'm aware from a criminal who was trying to avoid prison time which is how it got rebrought back up in modern times.

Also @beardedmrbean thanks for your input as well

So this should have been an ask rather than a message. But I'll hide your name so there's no claims of doxxing.

Ok so first I'll address the last claim.

Gaza is extremely anti LGBT. Most of the Muslim world actually is. Because in miss countries that practice Islam have a few practices to deal with gay people. Castration, jail, or death. It's extremely common to find in most nations. Gaza isn't an exception. The region has it's own laws, specifically that of jailing people whom are gay. For 10 years.

The second claim revolves around the fact that scholars have made pretty definite claims that most all the Philistines are fundamentally gone. Sure it's likely you'll find traces in your blood line somewhere but no that land area has not been occupied by "Palestinians" for a long time. It's actually rather recent.

Also I can separate the people who support Gazan people from people who suppose Hamas, except you all give me on reason to. You lie about hostages, beheadings, and rapes. Most all of you call the Jewish people colonizers when historically almost ALL of that land is their land. What's more while there isn't a voting system in Gaza, Hamas was supported into a position of power through bribery etc by the current people of Gaza.

Believe whatever you want. But don't pretend that one of the most traditional conservative (to an extreme) religions on earth is actually pro LGBT. They aren't. You are all a disposable pawn in their quest to purge the world of every faith not their own. What's more, I'd treat most of you in better faith if most of you were not liars who believed in propaganda. News comes out of a bomb or rocket blowing up a hospital by hamas. Then mainstream leftists do nothing but cover that Non-Stop. Then come to find out it was actually a rocket fired by Hamas that misfired fell back down and blew up a parking lot.

I would treat you all in better Faith generally if y'all didn't believe the mindless propaganda of people who want to see the Jewish people wipe from the face of the Earth. Because it's been pro hamas people and pro Palestinian people who have torn down missing persons signs from the October 7th attack. It's been pro Hamas and pro Palestinian people who have said that Hamas did nothing wrong. It is pro Hamas and pro Palestinian people who have shouted a genocidal term which is from the river to the Sea. Except again historically that land never belonged to them.

I hate taking sides on these wars and other things across the world because it always gets polluted by bleeding heart leftist who think brown people good white people bad and y'all consider Jews white which is the only reason most of you are even upset. I would honestly treat most of you and better faith, if I did not see leftists and progressives harass Target and threaten none Israeli Jews around the world because of a fight going on in a different country that these people have nothing to do with.

If you have zero sympathy for the people who got raped beheaded murdered or kidnapped on October 7th you are pro Hamas. And people who say that their pro Palestinian will never ever get an ounce of Mercy from me. And if you want to know why it's because those same people absolutely never care about the victims on the Israeli side. They either say that they deserve it they call them colonizers or they excuse it because they are "not human".

Having said that, if you are one of the people who cares about both sides in this fight especially all of the innocent people. I will treat you with some level of good faith. But if you have no care for the Israelis that were hurt killed or brutalized. Then I absolutely believe 100% you are pro Hamas. Because as far as I'm concerned you all take pro Hamas propaganda at face value which is a group of people who want Jews wiped off the Earth and everything that comes out of Palestine news wise is almost completely Hamas propaganda in their quest to destroy Israel. That land in mass does not belong to the current residence of Gaza. Almost unilaterally that land belongs to people of Jewish descent. And the fact that they gave that land to the current people referred to as Palestinians should show that they actually care at least a bit. Because honestly if they wanted genocide like everyone claims they could glass Gaza and every other place with Palestinian residents overnight. And I mean glass in the literal sense.

Because the fake before and after photos we keep seeing of Gaza show that it was extremely high-end. They were rich. We're all Palestinians rich? Probably not but a lot of the before and after photos showed a lot of really really high-end housing hotels and businesses. And yet the people who are pro Palestine insist that it was an open-air prison and that they were just treated to the worst atrocities. Sure.

[bubblingoverwithcharm-us]

9 ‘Starter Steps’ to Save America From Socialism

1. Face Reality

Millions of Americans are still in complete denial. Many think the military is secretly in control—that it’s only a matter of time until justice is done and President Donald Trump is restored. There’s a “secret plan”—just “have faith.” The truth is that Trump was outmaneuvered by an alliance of communists, globalists, and even traitors in his own party. The “deep state” is now almost fully in control.

Trump isn’t coming back into office any time before 2024—if we still have meaningful elections by then.

To make sure they can never be voted out of office, the Democrats plan to enfranchise 22 million illegal immigrants, abolish the Electoral College, gain at least four more far-left senators through Puerto Rico and D.C. statehood, and flood the country with tens of millions more refugees and illegal immigrants. They also plan to nationally introduce voting “reforms,” i.e., mass mail-in balloting, abolition of ID requirements, etc., that will guarantee eternal Democratic Party control.

If the Democrats can abolish the Senate filibuster and place at least four more leftist “justices” on the Supreme Court, there’ll be virtually no way to stop any of this if we rely on traditional political methods.

We’re undergoing a Marxist-Leninist revolution driven by China—right now, in real time.

The military can’t save us, nor can Trump. On the contrary, it’s up to patriots to protect Trump and the Armed Services from unrelenting Democrat/communist attacks.

When enough Americans face the unpleasant truth, then, and only then, can we talk about hope.

2. Stop All Violent Rhetoric

Violence will not save America. The harsh reality is that President Barack Obama had eight years to replace patriotic generals with left-leaning political appointees. He did a great job. If violence breaks out (God forbid), the military will stand with the government, not the insurgents.

Does anyone think Russia and China and Cuba and North Korea and Iran would stand idly by while their Democratic friends are being defeated by a patriotic uprising? They would undoubtedly use the opportunity to finish off their “main enemy” once and for all.

Beware of anyone inciting violence online, at a public gathering, or in a private meeting. Distance yourself fast. They will be at best hopelessly naive, at worst government provocateurs.

The left is praying for “right-wing” violence. It will give them an excuse for a massive crackdown on patriotic Americans. This country will be saved peacefully or not at all. If significant violence breaks out, it’s over.

Having said that, the Second Amendment must be preserved at all costs. An armed populace is at least some check on tyranny, even if useless in the face of biological warfare or nuclear attack. Americans should keep their guns and work every day to ensure they never have to use them against their own people.

3. Restore Election Integrity in All Red States

If voter trust isn’t restored within months, the Republican Party is doomed. Democrats will continue to vote. Large numbers of Republican voters will stay home. They won’t trust the elections and will refuse to participate. We’ve already seen this play out in the Georgia Senate elections.

Thirty states are currently led by Republican legislatures. Some are already holding inquiries into fixing deficient electoral procedures. Most will be whitewashes unless the public gets heavily involved. If the resulting recommendations don’t include the elimination of electronic voting machines and heavy penalties for organized voter fraud, it’s likely to be a window-dressing exercise. Be alert.

Patriots must work to restore voting integrity first in the red states, then the red counties of the blue states—then after 2022, the whole nation.

Get involved in this process. It’s a top priority.

4. Close the Republican Primaries Immediately

This should be a no-brainer, but no one is talking about it. Only five U.S. states have truly closed Republican primaries. This means that in most states Democrats and independents (even communists) can vote in Republican primaries—and they do. All over the country, the GOP’s enemies vote in Republican primaries to pick the weakest, most wimpy candidate they can.

That’s why the Republican base is super patriotic but most of their elected representatives in most states vote like “progressive” Democrats.

Close the primaries, Republican patriots. It will transform your party.

5. Organize a Compact of Free States

MAGA folk need to build a “nation within a nation.” This doesn’t mean secession—Russia and China would be quick to exploit such division. What’s needed is a reaffirmation of 10th Amendment rights as already outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The already out-of-control federal government is about to go on a rampage against every form of independence left in the country. Every red state with the courage to do so must immediately begin working toward a formal compact to collectively oppose all forms of federal overreach.

Such a formal alliance should start with Florida and Texas, then grow by inviting Oklahoma, the Plains states, most of the Southern states, New Hampshire, the free Midwestern states, and the Republican-led Northern and Western states.

Such an alliance, stretching from the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Great Lakes and the Canadian border and even Alaska, would bisect the entire country.

Adding the red counties of the blue states such as Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and California, would create a voting and economic bloc that Washington would find exceedingly difficult to challenge.

When the Biden administration recently suggested that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis close all restaurants in his state to slow the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, the governor politely refused—citing the ineffectiveness and horrendous economic consequences of mass lockdowns.

Biden then reportedly hinted at an unconstitutional ban on air and road travel to and from Florida. This threat might work against Florida alone. It wouldn’t work against Florida plus Texas and Oklahoma and 10 to 25 other states.

The United States is technically a federation of free and independent states. It’s time to fully realize that ideal.

Southern states will soon be reeling under a massive new wave of illegal immigration. The federal government will do nothing to prevent it. Texas, Florida, Arizona, and the free counties of New Mexico and California need to be preparing to defend their borders now. This isn’t an immigration issue that is the constitutional preserve of the federal government—this is a state public welfare issue.

Of course, the Biden-Harris administration plans to pack the Supreme Court with more left-wing justices to make virtually anything they want “constitutional.” But this shouldn’t even need to go to the courts. State governments already have the power under the 10th Amendment to nullify federal overreach; they simply have to band together to put Washington back into its constitutionally tiny box.

The Republic will be saved through the courageous application of the First Amendment (free speech) and the 10th Amendment (state sovereignty).

6. Republic Review

Every free state should immediately embark on the adoption of the “Republic Review” process. There’s a small but growing movement in some Western and Northern states to review their engagement with the federal government to eliminate or nullify all unconstitutional relationships.

Under the Constitution, the states are technically superior to the federal government. They’re sovereign under the “equal footing” doctrine and have the legal power to refuse to engage in unconstitutional programs.

For instance, most states only get about 10 percent of their education budget from the feds—but are almost completely subservient to Department of Education dictates. Why not forgo the measly 10 percent in exchange for a return to local control over all public education? America is losing its youths in public schools. Every patriotic parent knows that.

This would give parents more control over their children’s education and restore citizens’ control over their own government. Is this worth 10 percent of your state’s education budget?

If the free states are willing to stand against federal overreach, they must also be prepared to forgo unconstitutional federal money.

A thorough Republic Review audit would soon return power to the state legislatures—where it belongs.

7. Form a Multi-State ‘America First’ Popular Alliance

The left has “Our Revolution,” a nationwide alliance of 600 groups operating both inside and outside of the Democratic Party. Operated by Democratic Socialists of America and the Communist Party USA, Our Revolution works in the Democratic primaries to elect far-left candidates such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) into office. Our Revolution isn’t subject to Democratic Party discipline, but it does get to choose Democratic candidates.

We need an “America First” umbrella group to operate both outside and inside the Republican Party—even possibly within the Democratic Party in some areas.

This organization should be all about pushing the MAGA/America First agenda at every level of government, in every state of the union.

Such a movement could harness the energy of 70 million to 80 million Trump voters without being under Republican Party control.

America First could unite the Tea Party and MAGA movements, grassroots Republicans, patriotic Democrats, and independents to mobilize tens of millions of voters to transform the GOP into the truly populist, patriotic MAGA party it should always have been.

Take that, Mitch McConnell!

Trump is already vetting candidates to stand against Republican House members and senators who betrayed their own base after the 2020 election.

America Firsters should register Republicans by the millions to primary out dozens of Republican sell-outs in 2022. The America First/MAGA movement could “own” every level of the GOP by 2024. The GOP needs the MAGA movement way more than the MAGA movement needs the Republican brand.

Meanwhile, there are almost 70 far-left Democratic members of Congress in red states. Just restoring voter integrity alone could defeat several of them in 2022.

Running MAGA candidates backed by Trump in every one of those races could flip many more. It would be more than feasible to take back the House in 2022 to make Biden a “lame duck” president.

8. Boycott/Buycott Bigtime

Patriots should be abandoning Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. for more honest platforms. They should also enthusiastically support efforts by DeSantis to heavily fine Big Tech operators who “cancel” patriots. If 25 or 30 free states did the same, Big Tech would soon be little tech.

Patriots need to organize nationwide boycotts of unpatriotic companies and buycotts for loyal American companies like My Pillow and Goya Foods.

Already, local groups are drawing up lists of “unfriendly” local companies and friendly alternatives so patriots can stop supporting their opponents and spend more with their fellow MAGA supporters.

It would also be smart to sequentially target vulnerable unpatriotic companies.

Imagine if 80 million MAGA patriots resolved to begin a nationwide boycott of one such company, starting now. The boycott would go on indefinitely until the target company was broke, or it apologized for “canceling” patriots. If applicable, every MAGA family could simultaneously commit to buying at least one of the canceled person’s products this year.

On April 1, another disloyal company could be targeted, then another on May 1, another on June 1, etc.

After two or three companies had collapsed or apologized, we would soon see large companies start to back away from the “Cancel Culture.”

Patriots have spending power in this country, people. We need to starve our enemies and feed our friends.

Again, patriots need to build a nation within a nation.

It should be also a given that every U.S. patriot boycotts all communist Chinese goods wherever possible. Check those labels! Buying Chinese communist products in 2021 is like buying Nazi products in 1939. It’s immoral and it’s suicidal.

The Chinese Communist Party just crippled the U.S. economy with the CCP virus. Then, pro-China communists instigated mass Black Lives Matter rioting. Then, the same people worked to influence the 2020 election.

It’s about time Americans stop funding their No. 1 enemy—the CCP.

9. Remove Malign Foreign Influence at State Level

DeSantis has announced legislation to massively curtail communist Chinese activity in Florida. The legislation also targets several other enemy states, including Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela—all of which interfere in this country’s internal affairs.

In December 2020, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe revealed that the Chinese Communist Party was conducting a “massive influence campaign” focused on dozens of members of Congress and their aides, including through attempted blackmail and bribery.

Currently, thousands of foreign companies from hostile regimes are buying up land, food production facilities, technical companies, educational facilities, and infrastructure. Tens of thousands of foreign agents are co-opting unpatriotic businessmen, unethical politicians, and sympathetic journalists in the interests of China and other malevolent states.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, nothing will be done to stop these activities at a federal level—but much can still be done by the free states. If every free state cracked down on foreign bribery, corruption, espionage, and subversion, this country would be transformed.

If hundreds of corrupt academics, journalists, businessmen, and politicians (from both parties) were exposed and punished, this country would soon be well on the way to moral, economic, and political recovery.

What Do You Think?

These steps alone won’t save America—but I believe they would be a huge step in the right direction. I will be following up with further suggestions and plans. But for now, I’d love to see your comments, suggestions, and criticisms in the comments section.

Thank you for reading. From a grateful Kiwi, God bless America.

Thanks,

Mike Capeloto

623-826-7108

...

[leviathangourmet]

As we all know, the last election was a  “tipping point” election on many different levels. An election won with the use of illegal last-minute changes to state election laws has led to a rogue regime that threatens the very foundations of America.  This is being achieved through highly questionable executive orders, the decimation of the concept of national sovereignty and an attack on fossil fuels, the lifeblood of our economy.  Moreover, Biden is converting our military into a social justice agency and transforming our intelligence services into witch-hunters for conservatives who dared to protest a stolen election.

More alarming is the left’s goal to make its political power permanent by granting amnesty to 20-30 million illegal aliens, granting statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico, expanding the Supreme Court, and normalizing the censorship of conservatives, not to mention the institutionalizing of election fraud, especially in key swing states.  

There is little doubt, if history is our guide, that should the left achieve permanent political  power, future elections will just become  “show” elections, our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights will be diminished, if not gutted, and our economy will become permanently stagnant as with all other socialist economies in the world.   It will be the beginning of the end of America as we know it.

Our Founders, however, were extremely wary of federal power and thus created a number of checks and balances to counter it.  One of them was the ability by the states to “nullify” federal laws and even Supreme Court decisions.   As most conservatives  know, nullification is when a State decides to not abide by a federal law, regulation or even a Federal court ruling by simply refusing to enforce it.  This concept is rooted in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which plainly states that if the states, who are the creators of the federal government, have not specifically given them authority, that authority rests with the states and the people of the state:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Over the last 150 years or so, liberal legislators and judges have violated the Tenth Amendment by illegally expanding the scope and power of the federal government. We know that Federal power is limited because such powers were actually “enumerated” or listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution and include actions  such as  “To lay and collect taxes,”  “coin money,” and   “raise and support Armies.”  The federal government was not given any role in education, health, welfare, transportation, energy, or even with maintaining secure borders.  All those issues were left up to the states to decide. If our founders wanted to expand the federal government into every area of our life, they would not have specifically listed the very few powers they granted it.

Conservative constitutional scholars such as Thomas E. Woods, in his book, Nullification, How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century, documents that our Founders believed that if a “law is unconstitutional and therefore void and of no effect, it is up to the states, the parties to the federal compact, to declare it so and thus refuse to enforce it.”

The left will scream about such nullification efforts, but they have been engaged in nullifying federal laws for years.  For example, all state laws legalizing marijuana are illegal since they’re  in conflict with federal narcotic laws, but states have simply refused to enforce these federal laws and so have “nullified” them. 

Likewise,  states controlled by the left have allowed various cities and counties to become “sanctuaries” in which they refused to abide by federal immigration laws.  And no, the Marines were not sent in nor did any state or city even suffer the loss of federal funding.

It is time our side use this tactic as a way of protecting our constitutional rights. Here are some of the issues that could be affected by the concept of nullification:

Nullify all 1st Amendment Restrictions.  States should refuse to enforce all federal edicts and Supreme Court rulings that impinge upon the 1st Amendment protections of our religious freedom, such as efforts by radical gays to force churches, faith based adopting agencies,  religious schools, colleges, and businesses to carry out a radical gay and transexual agenda.

Nullify all federal efforts to undermine the 2nd Amendment.  States should nullify all federal laws that compromise the 2nd Amendment such as those being proposed by the Biden team.

Nullify open border policies. With Biden announcing his intent to grant amnesty to all illegal aliens, combined with his hostility to border security, expect the border to get  out of control. Already, migrant caravans are heading to the border.  States should nullify such pro-open border policies and use their resources to stop illegal immigration.   The reality is that states were originally involved in setting immigration policy and indeed, used to detain and deport illegals prior to the existence of a Border Patrol or ICE. The only mention in the constitution regarding immigration is "to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization."  

Nullify the anti-police agenda. During the Obama regime, his DoJ hamstrung city police departments all over the country with phony “civil rights” investigations, resulting in cities hesitant to arrest or prosecute violent thugs.  With anti-police activists surrounding Biden, his administration will do the same, thereby empowering leftist rioters in our cities. The founders never gave the federal government a law enforcement role as they thought this responsibility best be carried out by local police and sheriff departments.  States should resist and ignore all federal anti-police regulations and DoJ harassment of local police departments.

Nullify all federal efforts to preserve fraudulent voting procedures. Conservative states need to immediately take action on election fraud and pass comprehensive voter ID laws, which, of course, will be attacked by Biden’s DoJ as a “civil rights” violation. States also need to remove the estimated 2-3 million illegal aliens from its voting rolls. Indeed, a fact check site has documented that the millions of illegal aliens are currently voting and may have thrown the election to Biden. States need to stop disenfranchising its legal citizens and also purge from its voter rolls dead people, repeat registrations, and those who moved out of state. 

Of course, states will be reluctant to invoke nullification but the alternative would be to watch our constitutional rights be trashed by leftists.  The MAGA movement in the Red States needs to became active in urging legislators and governors to start reclaiming their constitutional powers and begin nullifying illegal Federal law.  

Once states are engaged in nullifying federal laws, I believe we will witness what I call the “great migration” in which conservatives will leave blue states to live in red states and vice-versa.  And yes, this could lead to a peaceful balkanization of America in which the Red states become redder and the Blue states become bluer, but this is not our fault.  It is the left that is  assaulting our constitutional rights and if conservatives desire to live in states that protect their rights, then so be it.    

Already, we are seeing some movement in the states on the nullification front. The Arizona Senate passed a bill that declares it will not enforce federal gun control laws. Oklahoma, South Dakota and North Dakota legislators have all introduced legislation that nullifies Biden’s executive orders.  

Nullification is simply returning America to its original system of governance in which most governmental authority is decentralized to the states and counties. The federal government can’t do much about it other than to cut federal funding for some state programs, but perhaps the time has come for states to do away with these federal handcuffs. 

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): With the spread of the new coronavirus in the U.S., the 2020 Democratic primary is on a bit of a hiatus. Many states have postponed their primaries, and now we might not wrap things up until late June. But the expected outcome is hardly a surprise — former Vice President Joe Biden is for all intents and purposes the presumptive nominee.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is still in the race, but at this point, the question is less about what Sanders can do to mount a comeback and more about what can Biden do — if anything — to win over Sanders voters, particularly as we start to transition to the general-election phase of 2020.

So, let’s unpack this question in three parts:

First, how much does Biden need Sanders supporters? Or in other words, what does it mean for Biden’s base of support if he’s able to win over Sanders supporters? What does it mean if he can’t?

Second, how does Biden actually win over Sanders supporters?

And third, how important is party unity �� or Democrats rallying behind one candidate — for what happens in 2020?

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): Well, this is so obvious that it sounds stupid to say out loud, but: Biden needs some Sanders primary voters to support him in November, since Sanders has won about 31 percent of the national popular vote so far. But he doesn’t need every single one.

Some Sanders-or-bust voters might stay home in November; that happens to some degree in every election.

But most Sanders voters don’t fit that description. According to a recent Morning Consult poll, 82 percent of Sanders supporters say they would vote for Biden in the general election, and just 7 percent said they would vote for Trump. And Quinnipiac University found that 86 percent of Sanders voters would vote for Biden, 3 percent would vote for Trump, 2 percent would vote for someone else, 4 percent wouldn’t vote, and 5 percent didn’t know who they’d vote for.

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): Yeah, I mean, you have polls showing Biden winning ~90 percent of Democrats in general election trial heats against Trump. So he’s likely winning over most Sanders voters. But if a Trump-Biden matchup were to be a close election like 2016, any shortfall in support from Sanders voters would be magnified.

nrakich: Yeah, Biden should certainly want to win over as many Sanders supporters as possible.

Every little bit counts!

sarahf: One thing you’ve written about for the site, Perry, is the age divide we’ve seen play out in the Democratic primary with Sanders consistently winning voters under 45.

But you’ve also written that these voters generally vote Democratic in a general election, so maybe Biden doesn’t have to worry all that much about making special inroads here? That is, it will come with time?

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): Every bit of enthusiasm and turnout from younger voters helps Biden. That said, it’s worth separating the cohort of people under 45 from the “Sanders-or-bust” people. Overall, I think the under 45 group will be fine with Biden because they hate Trump more.

geoffrey.skelley: Data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study suggested that about three-fourths of Sanders’s voters backed Hillary Clinton in 2016. Might that number be higher in 2020? Maybe.

On the one hand, it’s possible that some of the anti-Hillary, conservative Democratic voters that Sanders won in places like Oklahoma and West Virginia are now Republicans who didn’t participate in the 2020 primary. But it’s also possible that a handful of those voters back Biden. For instance, he’s already been doing better than Sanders among white primary voters without a college degree, a group Sanders won handily in 2016.

So the tradeoff for Biden in 2020 may be that he loses youth turnout but gets more votes from suburban moderate types who are older. Given that older voters are more reliable voters, that might be an OK trade for Biden.

nrakich: Yeah, I think there are a lot more votes up for grabs among suburban Romney-Clinton voters than there are among young voters.

Biden winning suburban areas in the primary doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll win them in the general (the actual voters are different — primaries are just a fraction of the general electorate). But as a more moderate candidate who doesn’t rail against the rich, he is likely to appeal more to these more moderate, well-to-do voters than Sanders.

sarahf: That makes sense, especially based on your analysis, Nathaniel, of turnout in the primary so far, but I can’t help but wonder about your other point — voters in the primary are different than the general — so maybe some of Biden’s support among the Romney-Clinton style voters is inflated?

Or the fact that Biden has won rural areas that Clinton did poorly in in 2016 isn’t actually that good of a sign for his coalition in a general election context? So maybe young and very liberal voters will actually be very important to Biden’s coalition?

nrakich: People shouldn’t use primary election results as a portent of the general election. Biden won every county in Michigan in the primary, but he obviously won’t do that in the general. Winning white working-class Democrats isn’t the same as winning white working-class independents or Republicans. That said, I don’t think it’s a bad sign for him that turnout was up so much in highly educated suburban areas.

perry: Biden should try to win older voters and younger voters, moderate voters and liberal voters, and I don’t necessarily see those things as trade-offs. Obama was stronger than Clinton across all kinds of voting blocs in 2008.

So getting younger voters excited about his candidacy is important and useful for Biden. He will likely win the under 45 vote (historically, Democrats do), but growing that margin should be a goal of his campaign.

sarahf: OK, so what does Biden do to actually win over Sanders supporters?

nrakich: Well, the first and most obvious answer is to adopt some of Sanders’s positions. He has already started moving left (although, it should be noted, not as far left as Sanders) on issues like free college tuition — quite savvily, in my opinion, because that is one progressive policy that actually has strong support among all voters, not just Democrats.

geoffrey.skelley: Exactly. That seems like a pretty transparent play for younger voters, and possibly older millennials who like Sanders and who also have kids and are starting to think about how they’ll pay for college some day.

nrakich: Two other progressive positions that Biden could take without alienating general-election voters are coming out in favor of legalizing marijuana and implementing an Elizabeth Warren-style wealth tax.

geoffrey.skelley: Of course, the latter might alienate some donors.

nrakich: True.

I also don’t think Biden will ever fully replace Sanders in many voters’ minds — a lot of Sanders’s appeal is based on his personality and tear-down-the-system rhetoric.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, and Biden’s appeal has been that of a safe harbor in a storm — even more so now that we face the new coronavirus threat. He’s interested in reforming the system, not breaking it up and then rebuilding it.

perry: I honestly don’t think Biden has to do much of anything to win the votes of the overwhelming majority of Sanders voters — except to not be Trump. The question is more about, “How does he get them excited?” The danger of Biden is that he is like Clinton in 2016 — he wins the votes of the older, traditional Democrats in the primary, but he is not a candidate people are jazzed about — and that shows up in voter turnout, in donations, in the general mood of the campaign.

Biden can’t be Obama in 2008, but he should avoid being Clinton in 2016 or Kerry in 2004. I think he should aim for a running mate people are really excited to vote for.

geoffrey.skelley: Is that Sen. Kamala Harris? I don’t see it being Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

perry: Geoff, I honestly don’t know who that person is. But I think it should be an Obama-like person — exciting less in terms of policy (the party is divided on policy) but more in terms of persona and charisma.

As I was saying earlier, Biden should focus on energizing “Democrats under 45,” not “Sanders supporters.”

nrakich: The problem is that everyone has a different definition of who is “exciting.” The stereotypical leftist Sanders voter isn’t going to be jazzed about Harris, who has her own problems among the progressive flank. Maybe not even someone like Stacey Abrams, who appeals to the “woke” wing of the party but is certainly closer to Biden than Sanders on policy.

And then there is the fact that it’s debatable how much of an impact vice-presidential candidates even have.

sarahf: That makes sense, Perry, definitely from a messaging vantage point, anyway. But right, to Nathaniel’s point, it’s hard for me to imagine Sanders voters being excited by Harris as his VP pick. But maybe that’s the point — it isn’t about the diehard loyal fans as much as it is about just generally energizing younger voters.

That especially holds true given that turnout in these primaries hasn’t been historic, as many thought it would be.

It’s easy to read too much into the primary and try to apply that to the general election, but the turnout question for 2020 does give me pause, especially if Biden, like you say, is someone the Democratic Party rallies around but isn’t necessarily jazzed about.

nrakich: But how many young voters are against Biden because he’s not far left enough, and how many are against him because they just want a new generation of leadership? I genuinely don’t know.

perry: I think the second group (new generation of leadership) is both bigger and easier to satisfy (because moving left might create electoral problems).

geoffrey.skelley: Right. Pew Research found back in 2017 that while younger Democrats and those who leaned Democratic were more liberal than older Democrats, they weren’t that much more liberal.

sarahf: So how important is party unity for what happens in 2020? As has been said in this chat, in many ways the biggest factor for the Democratic nominee is that they’re not Trump. That said, is there a risk that Democrats don’t rally behind Biden? After all, that was a critique of what happened in 2016, with some arguing Sanders cost Clinton the election. Could that happen again in 2020?

perry: Party unity is super important. But I think Trump will create party unity. Sanders and Warren will eventually be strongly behind Biden. And the biggest difference between 2016 and 2020 is not between Clinton and Biden (they are very similar candidates) but between Trump 2016 (theoretical) and Trump 2020 (a reality Democrats hate). Because of Trump, some of the problems Clinton faced in getting the base behind her won’t be as much of an issue for Biden.

nrakich: Yeah, I think we’ve been getting at this question indirectly. Party unity will be important, sure, but according to the polls cited above, Democrats largely already have it. And some of those Sanders voters who may have cost Clinton the 2016 general election may have just been anti-Clinton voters in the primary as well. It doesn’t seem like there is a rash of anti-Biden protest voting this year.

geoffrey.skelley: It helps to not have been a target of attacks for a quarter century before becoming your party’s nominee.

Also, while we do have some exit-poll data suggesting some Sanders voters might not want to vote for Biden, it’s important to remember that some might answer that question differently once they are no longer in the thick of the primary. I’m reminded of “Party Unity My Ass” Clinton voters (PUMAs) in 2008. Obviously, Democrats were largely unified behind Obama that November.

nrakich: Right, and also, no one asked whether PUMA voters cost Obama that election — he won handily! So it’s clearly possible to win after a divisive primary.

In fact, according to one study, only 70 percent of Clinton voters in 2008 voted for Obama — comparable to, and even a bit lower than, the three-quarters of Sanders voters who we think voted for Clinton in the 2016 general election. So it wasn’t party unity per se that cost Clinton the 2016 election — the party was about equally united in 2008 and 2016. Instead, it was how close the election already was that made the difference. And it could come down to that again in 2020.

[newstfionline]

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Crunch Time On Campus (LAT) As finals season approaches University of California campuses, the U.S.’s largest-ever strike of higher-education academic workers has continued into its third week. The group of 48,000 striking academic workers, comprised of academic researchers, graduate student researchers, and academic student employees, are protesting for higher wages and more support from the U.C. system, which they say is necessary to compensate for the ever-growing cost of living in areas near U.C. campuses. Academics and academic workers seem to be united against college administrators, with many complaining about lack of funding for students that’s been made worse by spending on “administrative bloat.” As students prepare to head home for winter break, grading delays are on the table. Classes end as early as this Friday, with finals beginning within the next couple of weeks. Academic Senate leaders released a statement last week that a continued strike could see the U.C. system employing temporary readers or even making final exams optional.

Tornadoes fueled by record highs wrecked homes around South (AP) Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi, while two people died as a tree crunched their mobile home in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday. The National Weather Service had warned that strong twisters capable of carving up communities over long distances were possible as the storm front moved eastward from Texas. They were fueled by record high temperatures and threatened a stretch of the United States where more than 25 million people live. A total of 73 tornado warnings and 120 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, said Matthew Elliott, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Peru opposition lawmakers launch third impeachment attempt against Castillo (Reuters) Peru opposition legislators on Tuesday presented another impeachment motion against President Pedro Castillo, the third formal attempt to oust the leftist leader since he took office last year, calling him morally unfit for office. The impeachment attempt comes amid escalating tensions between the two government branches. Castillo has said the legislature is attempting a coup d’etat against him while opposition lawmakers say he is trying to illegally shut down Congress. Castillo, who took office in July 2021, has been besieged by scandals and has already survived two impeachment attempts in Congress. He is accused of using the presidency to benefit himself, his family and close allies, among other allegations of corruption. Prosecutors have opened six criminal investigations against him, including one for alleged obstruction of justice in the firing of a former interior minister.

Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows (BBC) For the first time fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian, the Census 2021 has revealed. The proportion of people who said they were Christian was 46.2%, down from 59.3% in the last census in 2011. In contrast the number who said they had no religion increased to 37.2% of the population, up from a quarter. Those identifying as Muslim rose from 4.9% in 2011 to 6.5% last year. The census is carried out every 10 years by the Office for National Statistics.

Inflation eases in Europe, but still in double digits (AP) Inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency eased to 10% this month as fuel and utilities drifted down from painful highs, but it is near the record levels that have robbed consumers of spending power and led economists to predict a recession. The consumer price index was down from 10.6% in October, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. That is the first decrease since June 2021. But the double-digit figure reflected prices for food, alcohol and tobacco rising faster, at a pace of 13.6% annually. Energy prices slipped to a 34.9% rate of increase, down from the astronomical 41.5% in October. Out-of-control inflation is being fed by high energy prices caused by Russia cutting off natural gas over the war in Ukraine as well as bottlenecks in supplies of raw materials and parts and rebounding demand after the removal of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Welders wanted: France steps up recruitment drive as nuclear crisis deepens (Reuters) French power giant EDF is looking to recruit a new generation of welders, pipe-fitters and boiler makers to fix its ageing nuclear reactors and build more of them, as Europe’s energy crisis rekindles the allure of atomic power. The problem is that in France such skilled workers are in short supply. So much so that EDF, which has a reputation for delays and cost overruns in building nuclear plants, has had to fly in around 100 of them from the United States and Canada, it said this month. The utility, which is in the process of being fully nationalised, is racing against time to ensure its nuclear fleet can run at full capacity for the depths of winter. It has already seen its electricity output this year drop to a 30-year low due to a record number of outages. With EDF on the hook to build at least six new generation reactors over the next 25 years, at a total investment of some 52 billion euros, the group is hurriedly ramping up a recruitment drive across France. EDF estimates that France’s nuclear industry needs to recruit between 10,000 and 15,000 workers a year over the next seven years.

Repairing Ukraine’s energy grid (Foreign Policy) As Ukraine faces sweeping power blackouts, the United States has vowed to send Kyiv $53 million to restore critical energy infrastructure that had been knocked out by Russian missile strikes. On Tuesday, NATO also emphasized its commitment to admitting Ukraine as a member. “This equipment will be rapidly delivered to Ukraine on an emergency basis to help Ukrainians persevere through the winter,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement. “This supply package will include distribution transformers, circuit breakers, surge arresters, disconnectors, vehicles and other key equipment.”

Setbacks in Ukraine war diminish Russia’s clout with regional allies (Washington Post) Russia’s war on Ukraine, and its failure so far to subjugate its smaller neighbor, has exposed President Vladimir Putin’s weakness to other smaller neighbors, including Central Asian nations long viewed by Moscow as part of its rightful sphere of ex-Soviet influence. The result—polite but obvious snubs in recent months from Kazakhstan to Tajikistan—marks a regional realignment that will only sharpen as international sanctions, a global shift away from fossil fuels, and deepening political isolation erode Russia’s economic power. Kazakhstan’s shift is the most significant. The sprawling Central Asian oil power has deepened ties to China, Turkey and Europe, and wooed hundreds of Western companies that exited Russia in response to the Kremlin’s toxic war, sending Moscow an unmistakable message. Kazakhstan has also served as a way station for tens of thousands of Russian men fleeing military conscription.

The yuan’s the new dollar as Russia rides to the redback (Reuters) Chinese entrepreneur Wang Min is delighted about Russia’s embrace of the yuan. His LED lights company can price contracts to Russian customers in yuan rather than dollars or euros, and they can pay him in yuan. It’s “win-win”, he says. Wang’s plans have been transformed by the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow that have shut Russia’s banks and many of its companies out of the dollar and euro payment systems. While the yuan, or renminbi, has been making gradual inroads into Russia for years, the crawl has turned into a sprint in the past nine months as the currency has swept into the country’s markets and trade flows, according to a Reuters review of data and interviews with 10 business and finance players. Russia’s financial shift eastwards could boost cross-border commerce, present a growing economic counterweight to the dollar and limit Western efforts to pressure Moscow by economic means. Total transactions in the yuan-rouble pair on the Moscow Exchange ballooned to an average of almost 9 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) a day last month, exchange data analysed by Reuters showed. Previously, they rarely exceeded 1 billion yuan in an entire week.

Glued to the field (NYT) A review of China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV’s coverage of the World Cup, by no means comprehensive, compared with the official FIFA World Cup stream and other international broadcasts indicates a strange point: While other international broadcasts emphasize the onlookers and atmosphere, CCTV appears to be doing just the opposite, its cameras glued to the field. Fans have speculated that the government hopes to de-emphasize the unmasked spectators gathered in Qatar, who have in large part moved on from coronavirus precautions.

With Intimidation and Surveillance, China Tries to Snuff Out Protests (NYT) Reacting to China’s boldest and most widespread protests in decades, the security apparatus built by Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is mobilizing on multiple fronts to quash dissent, drawing on its decades-old tool kit of repression and surveillance. In a meeting of the party’s top security leaders, reported in state media on Tuesday, officials were ordered to “resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order.” And by evening, the demonstrations already appeared to be smaller and more scattered, with new videos emerging on social media—the main channel for news of the protests to reach a wider audience—showing mainly groups of residents in several different locked-down developments demanding to be freed. Public security personnel and vehicles have blanketed potential protest sites. Police officers are searching some residents’ phones for prohibited apps. Officials are going to the homes of would-be protesters to warn them against illegal activities and are taking some away for questioning. Censors are scrubbing protest symbols and slogans from social media.

AI (Vox) In 2018 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had something to say: “AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire.” Pichai’s comment was met with a healthy dose of skepticism. But nearly five years later, it’s looking more and more prescient. AI translation is now so advanced that it’s on the brink of obviating language barriers on the internet among the most widely spoken languages. College professors are tearing their hair out because AI text generators can now write essays as well as your typical undergraduate—making it easy to cheat in a way no plagiarism detector can catch. AI-generated artwork is even winning state fairs. A new tool called Copilot uses machine learning to predict and complete lines of computer code, bringing the possibility of an AI system that could write itself one step closer. DeepMind’s AlphaFold system, which uses AI to predict the 3D structure of just about every protein in existence, was so impressive that the journal Science named it 2021’s Breakthrough of the Year. You can even see it in the first paragraph of this story, which was largely generated for me by the OpenAI language model GPT-3. While innovation in other technological fields can feel sluggish, AI is full steam ahead. The rapid pace of progress is feeding on itself, with more companies pouring more resources into AI development and computing power.

[mim526]

From the article:

On Thursday, [West Virginia state treasurer] barred five top Wall Street firms from West Virginia banking contracts in response to the financial institutions’ support of ESG [Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance] activism.

The treasurer went on to say that

"several other states that have passed similar legislation. I think we’re going to see Texas have their list come out this year. Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee have passed similar legislation as well. We’re just the first one out of the gate."

This action is cause-and-effect in a democratic capitalist society. (For more on the "cause" part, reference a previous post.) These Wall Street investment firms are blackballing investments/brokering in fossil fuel-related instruments which hurts states with a lot of fossil fuel-related business.

West Virginia is saying is they're not going to allow these large investment banks to profit from banking contracts in their states while they prohibit investments in the resources that provide many of West Virginia citizens a living.

Texas is the state that will hit the Wall Street firms hardest. Houston is fairly liberal compared to rest of TX (except Austin which has almost turned into Leftist central), but it is a big oil-producing area so not surprised TX is in. If Florida joins, I'd hate to have to explain the hit to those investment firms' shareholders.

~~~~~~~~

Sidenote 1: Banks in the US can be state, regional, or national. Even if these Wall Street firms are considered national and granted banking charters by the federal OCC, they are not exempt from state law. The [Supreme] Court has explained that "national banks are subject to the laws of the State, and are governed in their daily course of business far more by the laws of the State than of the nation, because their contracts, ability to acquire and transfer property, rights to collect debts, and liability to be sued for debts are all based on State law."

Sidenote 2: This is kind of unprecedented for states with alot of blue-collar workers like WV, KY, OK, TN, and TX. I've lived or travelled extensively in them, and they're the type of people it takes a lot to push into an action like this. They're often traditional but not necessarily conservative; they don't like government or corporations too far into their lives (IOW, they're Americans :-)

Another indicator America is forming up sides, and there are basically two with variations on the side these states are in.

[garudabluffs]

at the BOK Center before Trump’s rally on June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Trump saw his Tulsa rally as a chance to reset his reelection campaign. It did not go well.        

Despite boasting of more than a million ticket registrations, Trump spoke before a mostly empty stadium.

“But on Saturday night, the numbers turned out to be a tiny fraction of that: The Bank of Oklahoma Center Arena Trump spoke in was roughly two-thirds empty, and plans for a second speech to an outdoor crowd in an overflow space were scrapped because the outdoor area was sparsely populated. Ultimately, the most notable news from the event ended up being that half a dozen members of the advance team for his campaign tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the rally.

The flopped event — dogged by controversy from its announcement due to Tulsa’s history of racist violence — marks a substantial blow to Trump’s agenda to regain reelection momentum after months of pausing his campaign rallies due to the coronavirus pandemic, and comes as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden soars in the polls and outstrips Trump in fundraising.

At the rally, Trump reiterated some past campaign themes, but at times seemed more focused on defending himself from criticism in the media than on attacking his presumed opponent”

While the Trump campaign had bragged for weeks about hot ticket sales and not having enough space to contain the crowds, the actual showing on Saturday night was strikingly small. The arena Trump spoke in seats 19,200 people, but fewer than 6,200 came.”

According to the New York Times, hundreds of teenagers who use TikTok and fans of Korean pop music say they banded together online to flood ticket registrations in a bid to inflate the numbers and deny Trump supporters seats in the arena. Videos with instructions to register for tickets — which were free — and then not show up received millions of views online. The political prank took hold among parts of the TikTok and K-pop scene which sometimes leverage their social media networks for online activism.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1274558069876367361

Trump tried to claim victory after the event despite the poor turnout. “THE SILENT MAJORITY IS STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he tweeted, attaching photos that were cropped to make the arena look more filled up than it was.  

READ MORE https://www.vox.com/2020/6/21/21298177/trump-tulsa-rally-low-turnout

“The president was initially scheduled to address supporters outside the arena, which has a capacity of 19,000 people, earlier in the evening before heading inside. But Trump’s campaign canceled the outdoor remarks at the last minute. At the time the cancellation was announced, only a few dozen people were reportedly gathered in the overflow area outside the venue. Inside, the upper stands were empty, and there was plenty of room in the standing-only area in front of the stage.”https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-tulsa-oklahoma-rally_n_5eee95adc5b6aac5f3a45f37

making a monument of an argument :SPEECH RHETORIC Excerpts

Donald Trump: (37:54) Okay, that’s enough of that. I wanted to tell that story. Does everybody understand that story? The left-wing anarchists tore down a statue of Thomas Jefferson. Now we’re getting into the real stuff. They decapitated a statue of Christopher Columbus, except in New York when the Italians surrounded it. They didn’t have too much of a chance. Those Italians, I love the Italians. They heard they were going to rip down their beautiful Christopher Columbus and all of a sudden they circle that thing. They didn’t do too well in hurting Christopher, did they? Thank you to our Italian population, we’re very proud of you, right? Two days ago, leftist radicals in Portland, Oregon ripped down a statue of George Washington and wrapped it in an American flag and set the American flag on fire. Democrat, all Democrat. Everything I tell you is Democrat and you know we ought to do something, Mr. Senators, we have two great senators, we ought to come up with legislation that if you burn the American flag, you go to jail for one year. One year. Jim and James. Jim and James. We ought to do it. You know they talk about freedom of speech and I’m a big believer in freedom of speech, but that’s desecration, that’s a terrible thing they do. We used to have things, we don’t have them anymore because we want to be so open, so everything, and look what happens? We should have legislation that if somebody wants to burn the American flag and stomp on it or just burn it, they go to jail for one year, okay? In Seattle the Democrat mayor and the Democrat city council have surrendered control of six city blocks to an anarchist … Now these are anarchists, these are not protestors. You listen to the fake news, they say, “Oh, the protesters were lovely.” Could you imagine if people just even slightly to the right tried to take over Seattle? They’d have machine guns out to get them, but these people can take over the city, look at what they’ve done to business people that have spent years and years building their business, and now they’re wiped out. Take it away. Governor Inslee ought to get his act together, get in there, I’ll help you, I’ll do whatever you want. I’m waiting for a call, I would love to do it. I would love to do it, it’ll take less than an hour and it’ll all be over with and you’ll have your city back.

When rioting and looting broke out in our nation’s Capitol, I very quickly deployed the National Guard. I said, “Get them in.” After watching for an evening or two, we stopped the violence and restored peace and order to the streets. And last night that had a little breakout. Again, they ripped down a statue that was 110 years old, beautiful piece of art in front of the police precinct with our radical left mayor watching on television. We’re not happy. That’s going to be very expensive for DC. They’re always looking for money. “We need more money. We always need more money.” And then they don’t do the proper job. So it’s not going to be good for Mayor Bowser, Mayor Bowser there.

Donald Trump: (54:54) They were heading over to the Jefferson Memorial recently and they wanted to do damage to our great, beautiful Jefferson Memorial. Not going to happen. Don’t worry about it. We have it surrounded with very strong people. The choice in 2020 is very simple. Do you want to bow before the left wing mob? Or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans.”

Donald Trump - Advanced Graphics Life Size Cardboard Standup $59.95

And explain this to the NFL. I like the NFL. I like Roger Goodell, but I didn’t like what he said a week ago. I said, “Where did that come from in the middle of the summer? Nobody’s even asking?” We will never kneel to our national anthem or our great American flag. We will stand proud and we will stand tall. I thought we won that battle with the NFL. The stadiums were emptying out. Did you see those stadiums? It took them a long time to get you back. A lot of people didn’t like that. A lot of people that you wouldn’t even think would care that much. I’ve had people that I said, “These are super left liberals and they didn’t like it.”

Burnin' And Lootin' ·The Wailers Burnin'  ℗ 1973

[sinrau]

(CNN) President Donald Trump says almost 1 million people had requested tickets to attend his upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But some who have registered for the free event, which is scheduled to take place at a nearly 20,000 seat auditorium next week, say they have no plans to attend.

They’re trying to troll the President’s campaign instead.

Mary Jo Laupp, a 51-year-old grandmother living in Fort Dodge, Iowa, appears to have helped led the charge on TikTok late last week when she posted a video encouraging people to go to Trump’s website, register to attend the event — and then not show up.

“All of those of us that want to see this 19,000 seat auditorium barely filled or completely empty go reserve tickets now and leave him standing alone there on the stage,” Laupp told her then-1,000 or so followers on TikTok, normally thought of a platform for dancing teenagers and not, necessarily, political action.

Laupp, who said she worked on Pete Buttigieg’s campaign in Iowa last fall, told CNN she made the initial appeal upset that the rally was originally set to take place on Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

The decision to hold the first Trump campaign rally in months on the holiday, and in Tulsa — the site of one of the worst incidents of racial violence in US history –was met with widespread criticism amid nationwide protests about police brutality and racial inequality. The campaign eventually moved it one day later.

Still, the hometown newspaper has editorialized that “this is the wrong time” and “this is the wrong place,” citing the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic along with racial unrest following the killing of George Floyd.

Laupp, who works at a high school and signed up to TikTok earlier this year, told CNN the video blew up overnight.

And then, alongside the choreographed dances, comedic dares and schoolyard pranks, the grandmother’s prompt became a challenge of its own. Inspired users began posting videos showing they too registered for the event — similar posts on Instagram and Twitter clocked up thousands of likes.

Her idea prompted multiple other TikTok users to post similar videos calling on their followers to do the same — visit the website, register for the event, fail to show up.

One video, with more than a quarter of a million views, called on fans of South Korean pop music in particular to join the trolling campaign. Fans of the music, which is known as K-pop, are a force on social media — they posted over six billion tweets last year alone. And they have a history of taking action for social justice causes.

Earlier this month K-pop fans rallied around the Black Lives Matter movement, drowning out “White Lives Matter” and other anti-black hashtags. It is not clear if K-Pop fans have registered for the Trump Tulsa rally in big numbers.

Despite their intent, the objective of the effort, to leave Trump with an empty stadium on Saturday, is almost certainly going to be unsuccessful. Although the capacity of the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa is just under 20,000, the Trump campaign has, clearly, not put a limit on how many people can request tickets.

On top of that, to register for the event people have to hand over a phone number to the Trump campaign — feeding the campaign’s vast data operation.

When registrations passed 800,000, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale described it as the “Biggest data haul and rally signup of all time by 10x.”

Erin Perrine, principal deputy communications director for the Trump campaign, told CNN, “Leftists do this all the time. They think if they sign up for tickets that will leave empty seats. Not the case at all. Always way more ticket requests than seats available at a rally. All they are doing is giving us access to their contact information.”

The RSVPs are designed to give the campaign a sense of what the turnout will be and to collect information about potential supporters for use in the campaign’s voter database going forward. Those who make it into the event will be the ones that arrive first. It is a first come, first served event.

Campaign officials say that the RSVPs are concentrated in the area around Tusla, but are also coming from all over the country.

Campaign events, both Republican and Democrat, rarely if ever require physical tickets to gain entrance. Trump campaign events have never required a ticket to get in and this event in Tulsa will be no different.

Trump on Monday said the campaign would utilize the convention hall next to the “magnificent stadium” where the rally would be held — adding 40,000 additional spaces to the roughly 20,000 who can fit in the BOK Center.

“I think we’re going to have a great time,” Trump said. He said he would discuss the state of the nation, “where we’re going, where we’ve come from.”

“We expect to have — you know, it’s like a record-setting crowd. We’ve never had an empty seat,” he said.

Vice President Mike Pence was pressed by Fox News hosts on why the campaign couldn’t host the rally at an outdoor venue, given the spread of coronavirus through aerosols in enclosed spaces. He suggested that was a possibility.

“You raise a good point and what I can tell you is it’s all a work in progress and we’ve had such an overwhelming response that we’re also looking at another venue. We’re also looking at outside activities and I know the campaign team will keep people informed as that goes forward,” Pence said, reiterating that there will be temperature screenings, hand sanitizer, and masks provided for people attending. But as CNN has reported attendees will not be required to wear a mask. Trump has notably declined to wear a mask in public.

The grandmother who helped spark the effort, Laupp, said the Trump campaign will “find bodies to put in seats.” Still, she believes the TikTok stunt is an effective way to raise awareness about why the original plan to hold the rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth was so problematic in the first place.

Laupp told CNN she had heard from people this week who had not known about the Tulsa massacre, and that “we as American citizens owe it to marginalized communities to know those parts of history.”

She said she plans on continuing to use her newfound TikTok platform in the months leading up to November’s election.

Having voted for Gary Johnson in 2016, she describes herself as a libertarian and while she is not yet sure if she will vote for former Vice President Joe Biden in the fall, she says she knows she will not vote for President Trump.

Additional reporting from CNN’s Sarah Westwood, Ryan Nobles, DJ Judd and Betsy Klein.

TikTok users are trying to troll Trump’s campaign by reserving tickets for Tulsa rally they’ll never use #web #website #copied #to read# #highlight #link #news #read

[phroyd]

Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret, Critics Say.

The Environmental Protection Agency has become more secretive under the leadership of Scott Pruitt.Credit - Tom Brenner/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — When career employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are summoned to a meeting with the agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt, at agency headquarters, they no longer can count on easy access to the floor where his office is, according to interviews with employees of the federal agency.

Doors to the floor are now frequently locked, and employees have to have an escort to gain entrance.

Some employees say they are also told to leave behind their cellphones when they meet with Mr. Pruitt, and are sometimes told not to take notes.

Mr. Pruitt, according to the employees, who requested anonymity out of fear of losing their jobs, often makes important phone calls from other offices rather than use the phone in his office, and he is accompanied, even at E.P.A. headquarters, by armed guards, the first head of the agency to ever request round-the-clock security.

A former Oklahoma attorney general who built his career suing the E.P.A., and whose LinkedIn profile still describes him as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda,” Mr. Pruitt has made it clear that he sees his mission to be dismantling the agency’s policies — and even portions of the institution itself.

But as he works to roll back regulations, close offices and eliminate staff at the agency charged with protecting the nation’s environment and public health, Mr. Pruitt is taking extraordinary measures to conceal his actions, according to interviews with more than 20 current and former agency employees.

Together with a small group of political appointees, many with backgrounds, like his, in Oklahoma politics, and with advice from industry lobbyists, Mr. Pruitt has taken aim at an agency whose policies have been developed and enforced by thousands of the E.P.A.’s career scientists and policy experts, many of whom work in the same building.

“There’s a feeling of paranoia in the agency — employees feel like there’s been a hostile takeover and the guy in charge is treating them like enemies,” said Christopher Sellers, an expert in environmental history at Stony Brook University, who this spring conducted aninterview survey with about 40 E.P.A. employees.

Such tensions are not unusual in federal agencies when an election leads to a change in the party in control of the White House. But they seem particularly bitter at the E.P.A.

Allies of Mr. Pruitt say he is justified in his measures to ramp up his secrecy and physical protection, given that his agenda and politics clash so fiercely with those of so many of the 15,000 employees at the agency he heads.

“E.P.A. is legendary for being stocked with leftists,” said Steven J. Milloy, a member of Mr. Trump’s E.P.A. transition team and author of the book “Scare Pollution: Why and How to Fix the E.P.A.” “If you work in a hostile environment, you’re not the one that’s paranoid.”

Mr. Pruitt’s penchant for secrecy is reflected not just in his inaccessibility and concern for security. He has terminated a decades-long practice of publicly posting his appointments calendar and that of all the top agency aides, and he has evaded oversight questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to the Democratic senators who posed the questions.

His aides recently asked career employees to make major changes in a rule regulating water quality in the United States — without any records of the changes they were being ordered to make. And the E.P.A. under Mr. Pruitt has moved to curb certain public information, shutting down data collection of emissions from oil and gas companies, and taking down more than 1,900 agency webpages on topics like climate change, according to a tally by the Environmental Defense Fund, which did a Freedom of Information request on these terminated pages.

William D. Ruckelshaus, who served as E.P.A. director under two Republican presidents and once wrote a memo directing agency employees to operate “in a fishbowl,” said such secrecy is antithetical to the mission of the agency.

“Reforming the regulatory system would be a good thing if there were an honest, open process,” he said. “But it appears that what is happening now is taking a meat ax to the protections of public health and environment and then hiding it.”

Mr. Ruckelshaus said such secrecy could pave the way toward, or exacerbate, another disaster like the contamination of public drinking water in Flint, Mich., or the 2014 chemical spill into the public water supply in Charleston, W.Va. — while leading to a dearth of information when such events happen.

“Something will happen, like Flint, and the public will realize they can’t get any information about what happened or why,” he said.

But Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., categorically denied the accounts employees interviewed for this article gave of the secrecy surrounding Mr. Pruitt.

“None of this is true,” she said. “It’s all rumors.”

She added, in an emailed statement, “It’s very disappointing, yet not surprising, to learn that you would solicit leaks, and collude with union officials in an effort to distract from the work we are doing to implement the president’s agenda.”

Mr. Pruitt’s efforts to undo a major water protection rule are one example of his moves to quickly and stealthily dismantle regulations.

The rule, known as Waters of the United States, and enacted by the Obama administration, was designed to take existing federal protections on large water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi River and expand them to include the wetlands and small tributaries that flow into those larger waters.

It was fiercely opposed by farmers, rural landowners and real estate developers.

The original estimate concluded that the water protections would indeed come at an economic cost to those groups — between $236 million and $465 million annually.

But it also concluded, in an 87-page analysis, that the economic benefits of preventing water pollution would be greater: between $555 million and $572 million.

E.P.A. employees say that in mid-June, as Mr. Pruitt prepared a proposal to reverse the rule, they were told by his deputies to produce a new analysis of the rule — one that stripped away the half-billion-dollar economic benefits associated with protecting wetlands.

“On June 13, my economists were verbally told to produce a new study that changed the wetlands benefit,” said Elizabeth Southerland, who retired last month from a 30-year career at the E.P.A., most recently as a senior official in the agency’s water office.

“On June 16, they did what they were told,” Ms. Southerland said. “They produced a new cost-benefit analysis that showed no quantifiable benefit to preserving wetlands.”

Ms. Southerland and other experts in federal rule-making said such a sudden shift was highly unusual — particularly since studies that estimate the economic impact of regulations can take months or even years to produce, and are often accompanied by reams of paperwork documenting the process.

“Typically there are huge written records, weighing in on the scientific facts, the technology facts and the economic facts,” she said. “Everything’s in writing. This repeal process is political staff giving verbal directions to get the outcome they want, essentially overnight.”

Jeffrey Ruchs, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an organization representing government employees in environmental fields, said the E.P.A. could not allow changes like this to take place, or expect its employees to follow such directives.

“This is a huge change, and they made it over a few days, with almost no record, no documentation,” Mr. Ruchs said, adding, “It wasn’t so much cooking the books, it was throwing out the books.”

Experts in administrative law say such practices skate up to the edge of legality.

While federal records laws prohibit senior officials from destroying records, they could evade public scrutiny of their decision-making by simply not creating them in the first place.

“The mere fact they are telling people not to write things down shows they are trying to keep things hidden,” said Jeffrey Lubbers, a professor of administrative law at American University.

Mr. Pruitt had a reputation for being secretive before he ever came to the E.P.A.

While serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general, he came under criticism for maintaining at least three separate email accounts, including one private account that he at times used for state government business.

During his Senate confirmation, he was asked about these multiple accounts, providing what some senators considered a misleading answer.

A subsequent lawsuit resulted in the release of some of these other emails, which Mr. Pruitt had asserted did not exist.

“He’s got a serious problem because of his emails down in Oklahoma — he’s burned himself,” said David Schnare, who worked at the agency from 1978 to 2011 and then on the Trump administration’s E.P.A. transition team. “He doesn’t want to take any risks.”

Mr. Schnare, a conservative Republican who has backed President Trump’s broader agenda, had taken on what was expected to be a more permanent role at the E.P.A.

But he resigned last month in protest of what he said is Mr. Pruitt’s mismanagement of the agency.

Mr. Schnare noted that some previous E.P.A. administrators had been secretive — during the Obama administration, for example, Lisa Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, came under criticism for using an email alias, “Richard Windsor,” to conduct official business.

But Mr. Schnare said that Mr. Pruitt’s methods stood out from all of his predecessors.

“My view was that under this administration we would be good at transparency, particularly in the regulatory area,” he said. “But these guys aren’t doing that.”

Senator Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee overseeing federal government operations, has criticized Mr. Pruitt for embracing what he calls “a culture of secrecy around everything from his schedule to the way the agency makes scientific determinations.”

Mr. Carper and other Senate Democrats have a dozen outstanding requests awaiting a response from Mr. Pruitt, and when responses do come, Mr. Carper said, they referred lawmakers to printouts of news releases instead of answering questions.

An E.P.A. spokesman disputed Mr. Carper’s criticisms.

“Administrator Pruitt has responded to 14 of the 27 oversight letters, which often contain numerous in-depth questions and it takes time to provide an extensive and through response,” he said, adding that he “has been incredibly responsive to Congress.”

Mr. Pruitt and his staff are also subject to intense scrutiny from the public and the news media: The E.P.A., just in the last two months, has received more than 2,000 Freedom of Information requests, many of them focused on Mr. Pruitt, asking for every possible record related to his tenure, including text messages, telephone records and even his web browsing history.

Yet for E.P.A. employees, information about Mr. Pruitt’s activities can be hard to obtain.

In April, for example, he traveled to Chicago to visit an E.P.A.-designated hazardous waste site.

But E.P.A. employees at the agency’s Chicago office said they had no idea he was there — nor did he visit the Chicago branch of the agency, or meet with staff members.

“He won’t meet with us or talk to us to make decisions about policy, and we don’t even know when he’s in town,” said Nicole Cantello, a lawyer in the E.P.A.’s Chicago office and a leader of the employee union.

[Source]

Phroyd

[animezinglife]

It depends on the private school, and it depends on the public school. Many small, rural schools still aren’t teaching CRT in Texas (specifically northern, western, and far rural eastern TX, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Lousiana, Florida, and southern Missouri. When you start getting into the private school systems in more metropolitan areas of Texas, it’s a tossup and you’ll want to explore that on the school’s website and get a copy of the curriculum from K-12. Most private schools in these regions have them posted.

Christian schools overall tend to be pretty good about not enforcing leftist doctrine. I think there’s a bad stereotype of Christian schools being too controlling of and strict towards their student population (i.e., enforcing their own doctrine), and while there are certainly some that fall into a cultlike mentality, that’s not the majority of them. It’s not even close to being. Aside from teachers and students feeling like they can openly talk about God if they so choose, most of the time these are more along the lines of “Christian” schools that incorporate little to no religious practice in the actual curriculum. 

For full transparency, I transferred into a small, private, very affordable Christian school in high school. I’m not blowing hot air, I’m speaking from experience from someone who attended one and who’s had many students over the years who attended private schools. CRT did not exist, and it still doesn’t exist within that particular school.

For Christian schools, read the statement of faith (or “What We Believe”) posted on the website. If they’re going to ask for proof you’re involved in a church and want a pastor, priest, etc. to sign off on something, that’s probably not the school you want to go to unless you are very active in your church and want that to be a big part of your child’s education. However, plenty of schools don’t require that at all and most simply state that their curriculum has a Christian lean. They teach all the same core subjects in the same way as public schools, and the only real difference is that their books are usually from different publishers. Some of our high-end Christian schools in my state also offer personal finance, home economics, and other incredibly useful courses and tend to offer a holistic education rather than training students for tests. 

I had plenty of students who’d come out of prominent Catholic schools for example who weren’t even Catholic. Some aren’t even Christian. My school was non-demoninational Christian, but among my close friends there were Baptists, Methodists, Hindus, and a Muslim girl. We did have Catholics too, but they were fewer since they tended to opt for Catholic schools.

We also had agnostics, atheists, etc.

My only caveat to all of this would be that no matter which school you choose, every single one has some kind of problem or shortcoming. Smaller schools don’t have the same opportunities larger schools do, but massive schools are often so competitive (unnecessarily) that you may not get to take part in a lot of opportunities anyway. You run the risk of your child being in an echo chamber or bubble no matter which type of school you send him or her to. Private schools can be extremely expensive, and you’ll have to determine whether it’s worth it and manageable. 

You’ll just have to weigh your options and see what will work best for you and your future family.

I’ll be honest: I’ve thought about it a lot, and I probably will not send my future children to private school. I think it’s a wonderful option, but unless I end up marrying some guy with plenty of money to spare who adamantly wants private schooling for our kids, I would rather my children go to school in a smaller, all-American town. I plan to keep close tabs on my future children’s education anyway and supplement it.

Homeschooling can be a great option too if you can swing it, as long as you’re letting your children be involved through groups, club sports, etc. My cousin and his wife pulled their kids out of school in 2020 and she in particular has loved being able to give each of their kids more individualized attention according to their interests. The kids are also lucky in that their education won’t be lacking–their mother is a certified teacher who decided to become a stay-at-home mom, and their dad’s an engineer. Their oldest daughter is extremely interested in chemistry right now, so her mom took extra time to build more units that allowed her to put those interests to the test. They’ve also been able to teach them a lot of practical ways to apply their knowledge: my cousin has really enjoyed teaching them to build things, the science behind things they do already, and loves testing his own ability to teach complex engineering topics at a kid’s level. They have a very active school day and get to spend a lot of time learning outside. Their mom makes sure they stay involved: the kids play sports through their town’s rec center and are very active in their children’s church group.

Honestly, at the end of the day, I think one of the most important things to do is to trust your own parenting. Parent by example, be consistent, allow your child to be exposed to different ideas (else they’ll rebel and automatically shut anything you teach them out as “stupid” or “wrong”), and trust in the knowledge and values you instill in them. Equip them with knowledge and critical thinking skills.

To put it bluntly, people who can think critically don’t fall prey to CRT or leftist ideology. They might have an adolescent phase when they’re learning to abstract and their emotions are running high, but once they start growing and learning more about the world, they’ll come back to reality.

Are private schools better in terms of not teaching CRT stuff or is it creeping in there as well? I'm asking cause I'm planning on sending my kid there someday.

I have no kids so I've never looked into it in depth, but I don't think so. CRT seems to be mostly a public school/college thing. As always though, research the schools thoroughly before you send your kids. Ask to speak to the teachers and the principal/dean/headmaster/whatever and ask them specific questions about what they teach, how they teach, and how you can get a hold of your child's teachers if you have questions or concerns. Find out if there's any way to get involved with the school, the way public schools have school board meetings and elections. That's pretty much the only way you can be sure your kids aren't being taught things you don't approve of behind your back.

[leftpress]

From the Ashes of Standing Rock, a Beautiful Resistance is Born

Earth First! Journal | IT'S GOING DOWN | March 15th 2017

The post From the Ashes of Standing Rock, a Beautiful Resistance is Born appeared first on IT'S GOING DOWN.

If you’re like me, you are probably feeling a deep sorrow in your heart over the news that oil will soon flow through that black snake of death, the Dakota Access Pipeline. Despite the largest gathering of tribes in over 100 years, despite the prayers and militant resistance, despite hundreds of water protectors facing trumped up felony charges, despite the occupations, blockades, lockdowns and sabotage; DAPL has prevailed. It is true, we lost the battle of Standing Rock, but there are signs that we are winning the war on fossil fuel infrastructure.

In the past year, as the resistance at Standing Rock grew from a trickle to a flood, at least seven new oil and gas pipelines have been defeated. These include: ...

Pinion Pipeline – NM; Sandpiper Pipeline – MN; Enbridge Line 5 – WI, MI*; Northern Gateway Pipeline – Canada; Northeast Energy Direct – New England; Palmetto Pipeline – GA, SC; Constitution Pipeline – PA, NY. Many of these pipelines were defeated when, seeing the massive resistance at Standing Rock, companies simply withdrew their applications citing “market forces”. What is left unsaid in the corporate press releases is that our resistance to new energy infrastructure is now a major market force.

In addition to these victories, the past couple years have seen communities up and down the west coast defeat seven out of eight proposed coal export terminals and four proposed oil export terminals aimed at shipping Bakken crude from North Dakota to international markets.

It is important to understand that the fossil fuel industry needs these new infrastructure projects in order to expand. Without them they cannot. While it should have been clear under the Obama administration that the US government was never going to commit to any meaningful greenhouse gas reductions (the US became the #1 producer of oil and gas in the world on Obama’s watch), nobody is under any illusion of the government reigning in emissions under the Trump regime. It is plain to see that our only hope in defeating the fossil fuel industry will not be through government action, but concerted direct action campaigns against these fossil fuel projects.

Standing Rock was not the beginning, and it is certainly not the end

As we lick our wounds, mourn the loss, and continue to support those facing charges, we can find inspiration in the incredible spirit of resistance unleashed by the uprising. While a global divestment campaign has been hitting banks with occupations and blockades, and withdrawing billions of dollars from these fossil fuel funders; a wave of direct action encampments have blossomed in the paths of destructive infrastructure projects across Turtle Island.

Two Rivers Camp – Trans Pecos Pipeline, TX

The Society of Native Nations launched the Two Rivers Camp at the end of Dec. 2016 to fight Energy Transfer Partners Trans Pecos Pipeline which would transport fracked gas from Texas shale fields, through the beautiful Big Bend region, to Mexico where it would be exported on the international market. The camp, which includes support from the Jumano, Apache and Conchos People, has engaged in a series of successful actions to disrupt construction of the pipeline.

Sabal Trail Resistance – Sabal Trail Pipeline, FL 

Sabal Trail Resistance has engaged in a series of direct actions to stop the Sabal Trail project, a 500 mile project by Spectra Energy and Duke Energy to ship gas from Alabama to south Florida. The pipeline has seen strong resistance from members of the Seminole tribe as well as residents and environmentalists living along the route. There have been multiple acts of civil disobedience, including a mass action in January in which 1000 people gathered to shut down pipeline construction under the Suwannee River. Also just last week a lone pipeline resister was killed by police after fleeing the scene of an effective sabotage action against the pipeline. In addition to the ongoing actions of STR, folks in Dunellon, FL have opened up the Water is Life campaign house to serve as a base for anti-pipeline organizing.

Arkansas Rising – Diamond Pipeline

The Diamond Pipeline would carry oil from eastern Oklahoma to a refinery in West Memphis, Arkansas. In response Arkansas Rising has shut down pipeline construction with direct actions and most recently blockaded the West Memphis oil refinery that would receive the oil. They don’t have a permanent encampment but you stay up to date on their actions here.

Split Rock Sweetwater Prayer Camp – Pilgrim Pipeline, NJ

Members of the Ramapough-Lunaape Tribe have set up a prayer camp in the path of the aptly named Pilgrim Pipeline. This pipeline would bring Bakken crude oil from Albany to the Bayway refinery in New Jersey. A second parallel pipeline would ship refined petroleum products back north. In addition to their encampment, tribal members recently finished an eight day prayer walk to draw attention to the pipeline.

Mountain Valley Pipeline – WV, VA

From the get go, resistance to this fracked gas pipeline has been strong. Counties such as Floyd, VA have organized such strong resistance that the pipeline company decided to reroute construction around them. Most recently activists organized a direct action training attended by over 100 people including many landowners living on the path of the pipeline. Activists have tentative plans for a week long action camp in June to continue building the resistance.

Bayou Bridge Pipeline- LA

This 163 mile long pipeline would cut through the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest riverine swamp in the US, to bring petroleum to refineries in St James Parish, LA. This pipeline, brought to you by Energy Transfer Partners, the same company behind DAPL, has already faced stiff resistance from Louisiana residents. Members of the Houma Tribe, the Louisiana Bucket Brigades and other concerned citizens have turned out hundreds of people to rowdy public hearings on the pipeline, where government officials have been booed and shouted down. Many activists have said they are ready to start an encampment if and when construction starts.

Coalition of Woodland Nations – Atlantic Coast Pipeline – WV, VA, NC

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, backed by Duke Energy, Dominion Resources, and Southern Company seeks to bring fracked gas from the Marcellus shale into Virginia and the Carolinas to fuel a new wave of gas power plants. North Carolina Alliance to Protect Our People And The Places We Live (APPPL) and the Coalition of Woodland Nations have recently teamed up on a two week long march following the route of the ACP through North Carolina to raise awareness and build a network of resistance to this pipeline. In addition to the walk many landowners are refusing to allow their land to be surveyed and some are vowing to engage in civil disobedience to keep the bulldozers off their land.

Apache Stronghold – Resolution Copper Mine – AZ

For the past few years members of the Apache tribe have been occupying an area known as Oak Flats in order to prevent a new copper mine from being built on their traditional sacred land. Thanks to the Sen. John McCain, this land, which was relatively protected under the control of the Forest Service, was given to Resolution Copper by sneaking a rider into a Defense Authorization Bill. The occupation, under the name Apache Stronghold, is still ongoing and vows to stay until the project is defeated.

Lancaster Stand – Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline – PA

This February, residents of Lancaster County announced the launch of Lancaster Stand, a protest encampment built directly in the path of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. This pipeline would carry fracked gas out of PA and send most of it to the controversial Cove Point LNG export terminal in Maryland. So far the camp is holding strong and encouraging others to join them.

Unist’ot’en Camp – Pacific Trails Pipeline, BC, Canada

Long before the Standing Rock uprising caught the world’s attention, members of the Unist’ot’en tribe along with other First Nations people set up an encampment on their traditional territories to block the Northern Gateway pipeline. The camp, now in its eighth year has been instrumental in beating that pipeline and is now fighting the Pacific Trails Pipeline. The PTP would deliver gas from Summit Lake, BC to a proposed LNG export terminal in Kitimat, BC. In addition to blocking the pipelines, the Unist’ot’en Camp serves as a reclamation of their traditional territories where they can practice and strengthen their traditional skills and customs.

Madii Lii Camp – Prince Rupert Natural Gas Pipeline, BC Canada

Members of the Gitxsan Nation have erected a camp to fight the PRNGP and accompanying LNG export terminal. The pipeline and export terminal threaten their traditional territory and vital salmon runs which the First Nations people have relied on for countless generations. Like the Unist’ot’en they are using their camp as both a base of resistance as well as a space to pass on their traditions to the next generation.

Lelu Island fighting the proposed Petronas LNG Plant, BC Canada

In response to a proposed $11 billion LNG export facility on their traditional territories, members of the Lax’walams Nation have camped out on Lelu Island to block construction. The facility would have a major impact on the coastal ecosystem, including salmon runs, that residents depend on. The resisters have intercepted ships carrying surveying equipment and disrupted other efforts to begin construction of the LNG facility.

All power to the Camps!

Supporting, growing, and escalating these direct action encampments should be a primary strategy for our movement to defend the Earth and her people. Not only do they serve as a base to launch disruptive actions against destructive projects, they also act as radical laboratories where new ideas and tactics are innovated, as well as focal points where new and inexperienced activists can dive in to a full blown direct action campaign relatively quickly. These camps help us to grow a culture of resistance by creating communities where we can experiment with self organization and autonomy, pointing a way forward out of the utter inneffectiveness of electoral politics. These spaces allow us to break through the isolation of social media activism, and find each other in real life to build bonds, make connections, and take meaningful action in defense of Mother Earth.

There are many ways to help these resistance camps thrive: donate money and supplies, organize work parties, do solidarity actions, spread the word with a presentation in your town, broadcast them on social media, and of course you can always join them, or better yet, start your own!

*Enbridge Line 5 is an existing oil pipeline. The Bad River Band of the Chippewa recently voted to not renew the lease on the pipeline which runs through their reservation. This will force Enbridge to discontinue its use or build a new route around the reservation.

[thenonconformistcurmudgeon]

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Dateline, North America, 2027:  The break-up of the former United States is near completion.  The last refugees are streaming across the borders to their newfound homeland, not always welcomed.  Hostility has been rampant for the last seven years as the disintegration of societal mores was rapid and rampant. Maine through Maryland is a new nation, as is the former states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado.  Minnesota decided to join Canada. The rest of the nation stayed together with Fearless Leader.  These homelands were now divided by politics and race and millions and millions were forced to move so as not to be killed.  

In 2020, Fearless Leader declared Marshall Law, disbanded the supreme court and congress, and halted elections.  He traveled to his preferred states with gifts of toilet paper and sanitizer rallying his followers and promising a rosy future and blaming his enemies for the virus, the poor response to the virus, failing markets, and the thorough dissolution of everyday life.

The disloyal print and video media were disbanded and sent to educational facilities.  They were subjected to listening to loud speeches of Kimberly Guilfoyle around the clock.  Media members were told that they could be released if they passed quizzes about the speeches but since no one could understand what she was saying, not one was allowed to exit.  

The fair and balanced media were allowed to continue on air providing hourly updates about fearless leader’s new pardons, his daily oratory and his greatness.  He knew it would get high TV ratings so he pardoned Ghislaine Maxwell and wished her well.   The remaining TV programming were old Westerns and re-enactments of what made America great. Pioneers in covered wagons, Buffalo Bill taming the wild west and frequent sing-a-longs of Davy Crockett, King of the wild frontier.

The troops were called back from NATO countries and stationed at the southern border, shooting hordes of Mexicans trying to leave the country.  With great compassion, fearless leader declared Dreamers would be allowed to live and be deported if they gave themselves up voluntarily.   They can live out their dream of going back to a country they have never been to, indicating the US Government was sponsoring their vacation plans.  Fearless leader said it was a beautiful thing.

The military was reformed to better protect our interests here at home and abroad.  Fearless leader’s love and devotion to the military was apparent when he declared that no minorities including women and transgenders could serve, ensuring and preserving loyalty to the commander in chief.  

A reign of terror ensued. Militia groups were emboldened to pursue “swift justice” in the name of nationalism, the flag, and returning America to its former and future glory.  Shootings in the street were rampant.  Dead bodies were left in the gutter to remind others to keep their mouths shut.  Chief of the Department of Justice said the disposal of revolutionaries were justified.  Homeland Security built walls around “shithole cities” that were previously run by the radical left.  No one could leave but those brandishing weapons and had the proper identification could enter to enforce law and order.  

After years of deprivation, famine, disease and death, Fearless leader in his kindness set some of these areas free to form their own nation in order to bring peace, economic prosperity, and perfection to what he considered the patriotic parts of his beloved nation.  Manufacturing prospered as former factories that produced ventilators were now assembling flags, bibles, bullets, guns, and rocket launchers so that each home could be well armed in case of a return of leftist revolutionaries.

As of this writing, ground is being broken for the monument to fearless leader and his children in the hills of South Dakota.  Mike Pence is dedicating the site with the motorcycles of people who died in Sturgis from the China virus that was unleashed by the deep state to try to derail the presidency.  A small bust of Herman Cain will also be unveiled in Oklahoma City to remind folks of fearless leader’s love for the blacks as well as a memorial about the heroes that were killed by anarchists.  Fearless leader accomplished what Reagan couldn’t, eradicating big government as no checks and balances existed.  Perfect. A beautiful thing.

[global-news-station]

TikTok users took partial credit for inflating attendance expectations at a less-than-full arena at President Donald Trump’s first political rally in months, held in Tulsa on Saturday.

Social media users on platforms including the popular video-sharing app have said they completed the free online registration for the rally with no intention of going. The New York Times reported that fans of Korean pop music were encouraging people to do the same.

Prior to the event, Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale said there had been more than one million requests to attend. However, the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena had many empty seats on Saturday evening and Trump and Vice President Mike Pence canceled speeches to an expected “overflow” area outside.

A Tulsa Fire Department spokesman told Reuters the crowd was tallied at about 6,200 people.

Trump’s campaign advisers had seen the rally as a way to rejuvenate his base and demonstrate support, at a time when a string of opinion polls have shown him trailing his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden.

Oklahoma has reported a surge in new coronavirus cases in recent days, and the state’s department of health had warned those planning on attending the event that they faced an increased risk of catching the virus.

The Trump campaign said entry was on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis and no one was issued an actual ticket.

“Leftists always fool themselves into thinking they’re being clever. Registering for a rally only means you’ve RSVPed with a cellphone number,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement. “But we thank them for their contact information.”

Parscale said in a statement the campaign weeds out bogus phone numbers and that they did this with “tens of thousands” at the Tulsa event in calculating possible attendance.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, responded with derision to a Twitter post by Parscale that blamed the media for discouraging attendees and cited bad behavior by demonstrators outside.

“Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID,” she tweeted on Saturday. “KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too,” she added.

CNN reported on Tuesday that a TikTok video posted by Mary Jo Laupp, who uses the hashtag #TikTokGrandma, was helping lead the charge. The video now has more than 700,000 likes.

Fans of K-pop have been actively rallying around the Black Lives Matter movement on social media in recent weeks, taking over hashtags that opposed the movement and spamming a Dallas police department app that asked for evidence of illegal activity during the protests.

On Saturday evening there were some shouting matches and scuffles outside the event between around 30 Black Lives Matter demonstrators and some Trump supporters waiting to enter.

A Reuters reporter said that while police did temporarily close the access gates after protesters arrived at the rally perimeter, state troopers helped clear the area and the gates were reopened some three hours before the rally began.

The post TikTok users say they helped sabotage Trump rally with false registrations appeared first on ARY NEWS.

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