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A Reader Writes: In Defense of Bayonets

SRC reader, David, very kindly responded to my request for content from all you experts out there. Here he describes his affection for his WW1 bayonet and its usefulness when all else fails. I hope others will follow his example and send me their very own self-reliance tips, whether it’s cooking, making things, fixing things, preparing for things, or home defense – everyone has something valuable to share.

By David McComas                           

I have recently read an article disparaging bayonets attached to home defense shotguns. I own four riot guns, one of which will accept a bayonet. A WWI bayonet. Yep, it’s a long one. The only way I would use it in the house would be after all else fails. I own a small house and having something that long would be unwieldy in tight quarters.  

Image: Curiosandrelics, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. David didn’t send a photo of his bayonet but I assume it looks like one of these.

I don’t mind telling anyone I am a prepper. I have a long list of bad things that can happen in a heartbeat that can cause chaos. Zombies however, are NOT on my list. 

If I have to bug out of my house on foot, I will have a bayonet available to attach to the long gun I will carry. I have several to choose from. Picking just one will be difficult. However, bearing in mind what happened in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, I will have a bayonet to ward off people who want to eat what I have, or dog packs who want to eat me.

Many pets were rescued, but many were left behind as well. When Spot, Fido and Fluffy had to fend for themselves, they formed packs and started attacking people as a food source.

In trying to get from point A to point B, I figure I may have to find some high ground to defend. Perhaps the top of a car, the porch of a house, or the entrance to a building. If a brave dog climbs up to get me, I will stab it. It will fall back, bleeding, where its pack mates will eat the wounded animal, giving me and my family time to get to the next defensible area we have selected prior to departure. All involved should know in advance where to go to or fall back to. Every move should be done that way. Everyone should know the plan.

When I was a cop, everyone knew that shooting a trouble maker was a big deal. Hitting him with a nightstick was very much less so. In twelve years, I never had to actually hit someone. I had it cocked a few times. I always had a small smile on my face. Indicating I would like this and he wouldn’t. At the last second, they would always surrender. Maybe I was just lucky. Maybe, it was what my field training officer called, “Salesmanship.”

Bayonets have their place in self defense. Perhaps they are not for everyone. To date, the only person I have ever cut with a knife, is myself.

Alzheimer’s Association Push FDA to Approve This Treatment

This message was sent to all Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement board members, all Alzheimer’s Association staff, and volunteers and supporters of AIM and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heard the heart-wrenching personal stories of individuals whose lives have been devastated by Alzheimer’s disease. 

The Alzheimer’s Association worked directly with the FDA to arrange this session as part of our advocacy for new treatments. We were deeply concerned that the voices of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers had not truly been heard during a recent advisory committee meeting on aducanumab, an Alzheimer’s treatment developed by Biogen, now under review by the FDA. 

On behalf of the millions of Americans facing Alzheimer’s every day, the speakers candidly and powerfully used their voices to communicate the immediate need for treatment to FDA leaders. We are deeply grateful to each of the speakers, who so openly, and often emotionally, talked about the crushing impact of Alzheimer’s on their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. 

Hearing the staggering realities of living with Alzheimer’s, with no treatment available for its underlying cause, the FDA participants were certainly engaged and expressed their appreciation for the speakers’ openness and honesty. 

I told the FDA leaders that the Alzheimer’s Association, as a science-driven organization, continues to believe what we have told them previously, that aducanamab should be approved.  

If approved, it would be the first treatment to potentially change the progression of Alzheimer’s, not just the symptoms. We believe the accumulated science, the publicly released data on aducanumab and the absence of any other treatment addressing the cause of the disease justifies FDA approval, accompanied by a Phase 4 post marketing surveillance study

Be assured, we will keep working on this on behalf of the millions affected by Alzheimer’s until a decision is made. And then, whatever the decision, we’ll continue to work relentlessly until we realize our vision of a world without Alzheimer’s. 

I will share more news with you when the FDA makes its final decision. As always, thank you for everything you do to advance our mission to make a difference for others — today and tomorrow.

Harry Johns Signature

Harry Johns
Chief Executive Officer

Aducanumab is an antibody being studied as a potential drug that eases symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Antibodies are made by the immune system to fight viruses and bacteria that make us ill, and drug developers say aducanumab is from cloned immune cells (called “monoclonal antibodies”) that help fight dementia by targeting amyloid beta.

Amyloid beta is a protein that occurs naturally in healthy brains but forms clumps or tangles between the brain cells of people with Alzheimer’s disease, causing brain-cell death that leads to symptoms including memory loss. Studies have suggested that aducanumab binds to amyloid beta tangles and reduces them.

Calvin Coolidge’s Inaugural Address Warned of the Dangers of ‘Legalized Larceny’

‘Silent Cal’ was right as usual! He understood that if government can do something for you, it is only because it can do something to you.

Best President ever?

In accordance with longstanding custom, Joe Biden’s first act upon being sworn in as the 46th US President was to deliver an Inaugural Address. It was longer than the shortest one (George Washington’s 135-word speech in 1793) but mercifully shorter than the longest one (William Henry Harrison’s two-hour, 8,450-word sleeper in 1841).

Most inaugural speeches are fully forgotten but every now and then, a new president coins a memorable term or utters an enduring phrase for the ages. FDR’s “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”; John Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”; and Ronald Reagan’s “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem” come to mind.

As does our 30th president’s, that of Calvin Coolidge, whose Inaugural Address on March 4, 1925 was both profound and substantive.

History teaches endless lessons whether people want to learn them or not. Its pages instruct us painfully that the two greatest dangers from government are mission creep and creeps on a mission. The last thing you would ever hear from the lips of Calvin Coolidge were arrogant pretensions to knowledge or grand plans to “fundamentally transform” America. He was smart enough to know what his job was—to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” not to ignore it, shred it or rewrite it.

Coolidge’s appreciation of history and human nature tempered any illusions about government power he ever had. In a political leader, that’s a superlative quality, and a humbling one. It is often swept aside by lesser politicians (the creeps on a mission) who let the moment go to their heads. Our 30th president understood that if government can do something for you, it is only because it can do something to you, that it can get bigger only if you get smaller.

On that chilly March day in 1925, Coolidge noted America’s achievements at the same time he acknowledged they had sprung from a bedrock of principles:

We cannot continue these brilliant successes in the future, unless we continue to learn from the past. It is necessary to keep the former experiences of our country both at home and abroad continually before us, if we are to have any science of government. If we wish to erect new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundations. We must realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the universe and that the essentials of human relationship do not change. We must frequently take our bearings from these fixed stars of our political firmament if we expect to hold a true course.

We know what Coolidge’s principles were because he repeated them throughout his public life: Respect for the Constitution; without it, we are at the mercy of whim and power lust. Respect for the highest authority, by which he meant the Creator, not a self-anointed elite or a congressional committee. Respect for the individual, especially his freedom to exercise his abilities and uniqueness in peaceful trade and service to fellow citizens. Long before the Austrian economist F. A. Hayek noted that “The more the State plans, the more difficult planning becomes for the individual,” Coolidge knew it in his gut. To be an American was to love free people, not the State. He cautioned us,

We believe that we can best serve our own country and most successfully discharge our obligations to humanity by continuing to be openly and candidly, intensely and scrupulously, American. If we have any heritage, it has been that. If we have any destiny, we have found it in that direction. But if we wish to continue to be distinctively American, we must continue to make that term comprehensive enough to embrace the legitimate desires of a civilized and enlightened people determined in all their relations to pursue a conscientious and religious life. We cannot permit ourselves to be narrowed and dwarfed by slogans and phrases.

In “progressive” nanny state fashion, Biden will probably tell us he cares for us, that he seeks to help us, that he has a laundry list of proposed spending to prove that he cares and wants to help. Calvin Coolidge also cared for people and wanted to help them, but to him that meant respecting their rights and property. Americans, he declared,

are opposed to waste. They know that extravagance lengthens the hours and diminishes the rewards of their labor. I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form.

Amid record budget deficits and unconscionable debt, perhaps Biden will muster the courage to tell us the till is empty and it’s time to get real about spending. Maybe he will value the lessons of the past as Coolidge did, and tell us that fiscal insanity is the path to bankruptcy and tyranny. What are the chances? The “progressives” in the audience would have a collective heart attack but I would cheer if Biden repeated these words from Coolidge’s Inaugural:

The wisest and soundest method of solving our tax problem is through economy…The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. Under this republic the rewards of industry belong to those who earn them. The only constitutional tax is the tax which ministers to public necessity. The property of the country belongs to the people of the country. Their title is absolute. They do not support any privileged class; they do not need to maintain great military forces; they ought not to be burdened with a great array of public employees….

I am opposed to extremely high rates, because they produce little or no revenue, because they are bad for the country, and, finally, because they are wrong. We cannot finance the country, we cannot improve social conditions, through any system of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich. Those who suffer the most harm will be the poor. This country believes in prosperity. It is absurd to suppose that it is envious of those who are already prosperous. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation and all other economic legislation is not to destroy those who have already secured success but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.

By early afternoon of January 20, 2021, we will all know what Joe Biden said in his Inaugural. Did it lift up “we the people” or “they, the government”? Did it empower free men and women or did it empower planners, bureaucrats and spenders to shackle those men and women? Did it do justice or violence to the Constitution? You be the judge, but I personally will be watching to see how Biden’s words measure up to these of Calvin Coolidge:

Those who want their rights respected under the Constitution and the law ought to set the example themselves of observing the Constitution and the law…Those who disregard the rules of society are not exhibiting a superior intelligence, are not promoting freedom and independence, are not following the path of civilization, but are displaying the traits of ignorance, or servitude, of savagery, and treading the way that leads back to the jungle.


Lawrence W. Reed is FEE’s President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty, having served for nearly 11 years as FEE’s president (2008-2019).

He is author of the 2020 book, Was Jesus a Socialist? as well as Real Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction and Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism. Follow on LinkedIn and Parler and Like his public figure page on Facebook. His website is www.lawrencewreed.com.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

Honorably discharged? Have you thought about Burial at Sea?

If you are a veteran who selects a Burial At Sea, there are a few hoops you need to jump through, but the U.S. Navy can work with your family to ensure your last wishes are respected.

Burial at Sea is a means of final disposition of remains that is performed on United States Navy vessels. The committal ceremony is performed while the ship is deployed. Therefore, family members are not allowed to be present. 

The commanding officer of the ship assigned to perform the ceremony will notify the family of the date, time, and longitude and latitude once the committal service has been completed. The average amount of time, for burial at sea, is 12 to 18 months, once the remains/cremains are received at the port of embarkation. 

Eligibility: Individuals eligible for this program are: (1) active duty members of the uniformed services; (2) retirees and veterans who were honorably discharged. (3) U.S. civilian marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command; and (4) dependent family members of active duty personnel, retirees, and veterans of the uniformed services.

How to get started: After the death of the individual for whom the request for Burial at Sea is being made, the Person Authorized to Direct Disposition (PADD) should contact the Navy and Marine Corps Mortuary Affairs office at 1-866-787-0081 to request a packet and for additional information. Supporting documents which must accompany this request are:

(1) a photocopy of the death certificate
(2) the burial transit permit or the cremation certificate
(3) a copy of the DD Form 214, discharge certificate, or retirement order.

The Burial at Sea Request Form and the three supporting documents listed above make up the Burial at Sea Request package.

Burial Flag: A Burial Flag is required for all committal services performed aboard United States Naval vessels, except family members, who are not authorized a burial flag. Following the services at sea, the flag that accompanied the cremains/remains will be returned to the PADD. If the PADD does not wish to send a burial flag for the service, a flag will be provided by the Navy for the committal service, but will not be sent to the PADD.

Cremated Remains (Cremains): Cremains must be in an  urn or temporary container (preferably Bio-degradable) to prevent spillage in shipping.  Recent changes in law prohibit the discharge of plastics at sea.  Families are encouraged to have the cremains inurned directly, or transferred to a sturdy biodegradable urn at their local funeral home to facilitate burial at sea.  Burial at Sea Coordinators at the ports of embarkation  are available to field any questions regarding the urns.  The cremains, along with the completed Burial at Sea Request package should be forwarded to the Burial at Sea Coordinator at the desired port of embarkation (listed below).  Prior to shipment, it is recommended that a phone call be made informing the coordinator of the pending request. ONLY Priority Mail Express Service is authorized when shipping cremains and it is recommended that that Tracking and Signature On Delivery is used to ensure the package is delivered to the correct individual in a timely manner.

Intact Remains (Casketed): Specific guidelines are required for the preparation of casketed remains. All expenses incurred in this process are the responsibility of the PADD, who will select a funeral home in the area of the port of embarkation. After this selection has been made and notification has been provided to the coordinator, the casketed remains, the request form, supporting documents, and the burial flag are to be forwarded to the receiving funeral home. The coordinator will make the inspection and complete the checklist for the preparation of casketed remains. It is recommended that funeral homes responsible for preparing and shipping intact remains contact the Mortuary Services office at Navy Casualty in Millington, TN to receive the preparation requirements.

Learn more here.

‘Your Order Is A Direct Attack!’ Native American Tribe Angry at New Administration

The Uintah and Ouray reservation is located in Northeastern Utah (Fort Duchesne) approximately 150 miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, on US Highway 40. There are around 3,200 tribal members, and the Reservation rests within a three-county area known as the “Uintah Basin”.

The Uintah and Ouray reservation is the Second Largest Indian Reservation In The United States And Covers Over 4.5 Million Acres. 

The Biden administration has announced a temporary suspension of new drilling permits on federal land and hinted at a moratorium on leasing. States with much federal land like New Mexico, are in their targets.

Secretarial Order No. 3395 does not halt leasing or existing development, but is certain to create bottlenecks that last well-beyond the 60-day limit on the order.

Go here for more news from the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

According to a release from Interior:

“…the Order does not impact existing ongoing operations under valid leases and does not preclude the issuance of leases, permits and other authorizations by those specified. In addition, any actions necessary in the event of an incident that might pose a threat to human health, welfare, or safety will continue.”

But the Biden administration has already acknowledged there is more to come. As Bloomberg reported:

“White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday the administration still has a commitment to ending new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, without elaborating on the president’s plans. ‘We do, and the leases will be reviewed by our team,’ Psaki said.”

Banning production on federal lands would result in higher energy prices and thousands of lost jobs across much of the country while doing little to reduce emissions.

By the end of President Biden’s first term, a fracking ban on federal lands would result in $19.6 billion in lost wages, 72,815 fewer jobs annually and $10.8 billion in fewer tax revenues across Alaska, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, according to a recent Wyoming Energy Authority study.

After the release of the study,

“A federal leasing ban would be a serious threat to our state’s economy. The revenue challenges that we currently face would be further exacerbated by any misguided federal policies that unfairly target states with large swaths of federal land.”

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) did not mince words about the threat a leasing ban posed to his state.

And as the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation said in a response letter, (embedded below) the impacts would also be significant for tribes that “rely on energy development to fund our governments and provide services to our members.”

Your order is a direct attack on our economy, sovereignty, and our right to self- determination. Indian lands are not federal public lands. Any action on our lands and interests can only be taken after effective tribal consultation.

Ute Tribe Business Committee Chairman Luke Duncan

Impact on Tribal Economies From Secretary of the Interior Order No. 3395 Ute Ltr DOI Re Order 3395 1-21-21 by OWNEditor on Scribd

As University of Wyoming Professor and WEA study author Tim Considine explained:

“Even if in the unlikely event a leasing moratorium or a drilling ban were to reduce emissions, they would be achieved at great cost. There are many cost-effective technologies and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Restricting development of oil and gas on federal lands is not one of them.”

What are they saying?

Given all of this, it’s unsurprising that the order and discussions of a leasing moratorium were met with quick response. Lawmakers from many energy-producing states have released strong statements criticizing the Biden administration’s aggressive approach.

In an interview yesterday, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) said:

“As chairman of @EnergyDems I will work with the Biden administration to ensure we can meet America’s energy needs while addressing climate change responsibly. That means innovation – not elimination.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) tweeted:

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said in a tweet that the Biden administration “was off to a divisive & disastrous start”:

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) also responded on Twitter:

“The Biden ban will:
• Eliminate more than $11 billion annually going to schools, hospitals, roads and conservation
• Destroy more than 380k jobs

Banning responsible energy development is bad for North Dakota and bad for the country.”

The order also affects offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said that Biden was “weaponizing the federal government”:

“The Biden moratorium will destroy thousands of oil and gas jobs, raise energy costs, and increase reliance on foreign energy… Further, sending oil and gas production overseas to nations with horrible ecological records is the worst thing we can do for the environment. It’s not just bad for America, it’s bad for the world.”

And in Alaska, where energy production in non-wilderness areas of ANWR was also blocked by executive order, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) released the following statement:

“At a time when the United States, and especially Alaska, is struggling to deal with the impacts of COVID-19, I am astounded to see that the Biden administration’s “day one” priority is put our economy, jobs, and nation’s security at risk. Not only has Alaska proven time and time again we have the highest environmental standards when it comes to our responsible resource development but this right was guaranteed by the federal government more than 40 years ago when ANILCA was enacted. It is time to hold true on this long overdue promise.

Murkowski’s release was accompanied by statements from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R):

“Let me be clear: As we are struggling to rebuild our economy, these directives announced today will cause real harm to millions of Americans, and thousands of Alaskans. Jobs will be lost. Families will struggle. Futures will be imperiled. The American people did not give President Biden a mandate to kill good-paying jobs and curry favor with coastal elites, and I will do everything in my power—working with the delegation, the state, and all of my fellow Alaskans—to fight back against these job-killing orders and regulatory reviews.”

Industry groups at the state and federal level blasted the order, stressing the negative impacts it would have on state economies. New Mexico Oil and Gas Association President Ryan Flynn reiterated the severe impacts the measure will have on the state’s economy:

“Oil and gas development on federal lands is a critical part of New Mexico’s economy, and restricting activity here risks the loss of more than 60,000 jobs and $800 million in support for our public schools, first responders, and healthcare services. New Mexico’s oil and gas producers are fully committed to fighting climate change and stand ready and willing to work with the Biden administration to drive environmental progress and keep responsible energy production moving forward across our country.”

The Independent Petroleum Association of America stressed the economic losses of the order would cause. According to Dan Naatz, senior vice president of government relations and political affairs for IPAA, would “decimate jobs and economic development in communities across the country”:

“In their never-ending desire to placate the environmental community, the Democrats are not only willing to destroy the economies of many western states and the Gulf Coast, but also impact world markets. All a leasing ban will do is shift production to Saudi Arabia and Russia, which have far less-stringent environmental controls than American producers.”

American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers agreed, saying that restricting development on federal lands would not only threaten thousands of jobs, but would also force the country to import more energy from countries with lower environmental standards:

“With this move, the administration is leading us toward more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards and risks to hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in government revenue for education and conservation programs. We stand ready to engage with the Biden administration on ways to address America’s energy challenges, but impeding American energy will only serve to hurt local communities and hamper America’s economic recovery.”

TO MY READERS, I HAVE A REQUEST

You know how much I respect your skills and talents. Today, I’m asking you to share them with me and your fellow readers.

Please send me your self-reliance tips (no politics, please!)

You all know by now that I am being harried off the internet for sharing conservative viewpoints from leading writers. While I will continue to do this, I am only going to respond to the effects of the damaging progressive policies being implemented in Washington D.C. To rail against the actual policies will exhaust and frustrate us all, as well as ensure that we are kicked off this hosting platform, lose the last of our advertisers and get blocked by the big email providers.

So, I am turning to you! You homemakers, gardeners, hobbyists, hunters, survivalists, car enthusiasts, parents, fisherfolk, experts, military experts, marksmen, inventors, bakers, heritage skill experts, — all of you with cool things to share.

I would like to ask you to send me your recipes, instructions, guides, photos, step-by-step instructions, and videos*. Please email them to me at [email protected] . Remember NO POLITICS. This is my desperate attempt to get us back to our self-reliant roots and swamp the site with preparedness and quality of life improvements. Please know that I am the only person involved at SRC and I can’t pay but I would truly love to share your passions. (Please send only your original material. Copyright and intellectual property lawyers trawl these sites to sue people who use other people’s work.)

*If you make a video, I suggest you post it direct to rumble.com rather than on this site, as you can get paid when people view them. Let me know what you have posted and if I share it with my readers and viewers that means more eyeballs and more money earned for you!

The Case Against Class-Warfare Tax Policy

by Dan Mitchell

I’ve shared three reasons why Biden’s tax plan is misguided (the tax code is biased against rich taxpayers, the tax hike would have Laffer-Curve implications, and it would saddle America with the world’s highest corporate tax burden).

For Part IV of the series, let’s explain why every piece of his plan will backfire.

There are three main arguments for higher taxes, though I don’t find any of them convincing.

  1. Spite and envy against successful entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and business owners.
  2. Bringing more money to Washington to finance a larger burden of government spending.
  3. Bringing more money to Washington to ostensibly lower the burden of deficits and debt.

For what it’s worth, Biden’s proposed spending increases are far larger than his proposed tax increases, so we can rule out reason #3.

So we have to ask ourselves whether reasons #1 and #2 are compelling.

And when considering those two arguments, we also should ask whether those reasons are sufficiently compelling to justify throwing millions of Americans into unemployment and reducing the nation’s competitiveness.

The answer should be a resounding no.

In a column in the Wall Street Journal from last July, Philip DeMuth elaborated on the damage that would be inflicted by Biden’s class-warfare agenda.

Mr. Biden has proposed to reinstate the Obama tax rates for top earners while simultaneously imposing an unlimited 12.4% Social Security payroll tax on earnings over $400,000. …Mr. Biden proposes to eliminate the capital gains reset to fair market value at death. For long-term holdings, much of that gain is merely inflation, created by the government’s failure to maintain price stability, so this is effectively a tax on a tax. The remaining gains are usually from corporate earnings, which were already taxed once, when they came in the door. It will be difficult to keep your business or farm in the family if the Biden scheme forces it to be liquidated to pay the death taxes. …If a President Biden has his way, the top capital-gains tax rate will be 39.6%—the same as for ordinary income. This could be a triple whammy: cutting the estate tax exemption in half, eliminating the capital gains reset to fair market value, and then doubling the capital-gains tax rate. A small step for the government, a giant loss for the American family. …The former vice president’s ambitious spending programs would more than offset any new revenue from his tax proposals. …This isn’t a debate between growing the pie vs. redistributing the pie; it is about everyone settling for a smaller pie.

The final two sentences deserve extra attention.

First, nobody should be deluded that tax increases will be used to reduce red ink. Yes, Biden is proposing to collect a lot more money, but he’s proposing about $2 of new spending for every $1 of projected tax revenue.

Brian Riedl’s Chartbook has the grim details on Biden’s spending agenda.

Second, the point about “growing the pie” is critically important since even a very small reduction in long-run growth will have a surprisingly large impact on household finances within a few decades.

The bottom line is that living standards in the United States are significantly higher than living standards in Europe, in large part because fiscal burdens are not as onerous in America.

Biden’s plan to make America more like FranceItaly, and Greece is not a good idea.

U.S. Army Special Forces Highlight Readiness Capabilities

Taken last week this video demonstrates the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) areas of readiness. They maintain high standards in physical fitness, training, daily performance, and personal appearance.

There’s a great deal of preparedness going on right now, and quite a lot of restructuring:

 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska is using the shortest days of the year to prepare for war in the Arctic under darkness and amid harsh weather conditions. Every flying unit at the base was assembled on the runway for what the Air Force calls an Elephant Walk. More than thirty fighters and two refueling aircraft participated in the exercise. (Here)

Given the last several decades of U.S. military war campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, many are likely to regard Special Operations Forces such as Navy SEALs or Special Naval Warfare units as primarily focused upon and experienced in counterinsurgency missions. While such a thought would indeed be accurate when it comes to the SOF mission envelope, war planners also see Special Operators as increasingly vital when it comes to the possibility of major-power maritime conflict as well. (Here)

For the nearly 200 candidates scrambling through Hoffman Forest at Camp Mackall, the struggle to become a Green Beret is real. But Army commanders are making sweeping changes to shorten and revamp the course. The aim is to meet evolving national security threats and to shift from a culture that weeds out struggling soldiers at every point to one that trains them to do better. (Here)

Special operations forces were the first deployed in the war in Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago and likely will be the last troops to leave the country, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said after visiting U.S. forces and American military leadership in Afghanistan… (Here)

Change is coming to the U.S. Marine Corps. For decades, the service pinballed between two different roles, serving as an amphibious “second land army” in both world wars, but specializing in counter-insurgency and police action for most of the rest of its history. In two recent documents — the Commandant’s Planning Guidance and Force Design 2030 — the Marine Corps officially embraced support to fleet operations as its preeminent purpose. The Marine Corps seeks to enable the U.S. Navy’s access to contested areas and support the penetration of adversary air and maritime defenses while simultaneously disrupting enemy efforts to threaten the U.S. fleet. Operationally, the Marine Corps’ concept for expeditionary advanced base operations calls for a dispersal of the force. This creates the potential to dismantle Marine air-ground task forces — the most hallowed organizing principle in modern Marine doctrine and culture…U.S. Special Operations Command should take a keen interest in the modernization efforts of the Marine Corps. They serve as a live-action case study for dramatic organizational change — the sort of change that Special Operations Command may now be expected to enact. (Here)

As a term, “Irregular Warfare” generates strong emotions within the Department of Defense and across the U.S. government. Proponents welcome the increased focus it gives to influence and legitimacy, and consider this emphasis to be indispensable amidst the irregular competition posed by asymmetric threats across the competition continuum. Opponents may accuse IW as being conflated with all of competition, disregard IW in favor of singular emphasis on conventional deterrence, opt for investment in incrementally improving warfighting potential, or defer all activities short of war to other departments and agencies. (Here)

The National Clock and Watch Museum in Lancaster, PA

This lady made a video of the Engle Clock at the The National Clock and Watch Museum in Lancaster, PA. As of 2020, this museum houses over 12,000 watches and clocks. When it opened in 1977, it housed fewer than 1,000 items.

The short video before the photos in this video was when she sat for the presentation of the 1,049 lb. Engle Clock. This marvel of a clock was sent on tour across the United States for 70 years, from around 1881 to 1951, when it disappeared from public view.

The clock was rediscovered in a barn in the 1980’s and lovingly restored by staff at the museum. It currently runs for visitors at the museum at noon and 2 pm. According to their website, the museum recently reopened on November 3, 2020 to members and on November 4, 2020 to the public – since it was previously closed for months due to COVID-19.

Watch US Navy sink USS Durham with three anti-ship missiles

Last September, the U.S. Navy and its allies used a decommissioned American ship as target practice during a major Pacific military exercise, launching missiles from the air and sea to demolish and sink the vessel.

Planes and ships from the U.S., Australia and other partner nations turned their fire on the retired Navy ship USS Durham. The sinking exercise was part of the annual Rim of the Pacific event, or RIMPAC, the world’s largest set of multilateral maritime drills.

We assume it sent the right message.

“We have met the enemy..and he is us.”

Daily Caller, by Bob Barr

In a subtle redirection of Shakespeare’s oft-quoted assertion in Henry VIto “first .  .  .  kill all the lawyers,” Democrats inside government and their cohorts in the private sector are moving to censure not necessarily all lawyers — just those who fail to kowtow to their liberal orthodoxy.

This purge is but the latest chapter in the radical rulebook long focused on “reimagining” our society into one premised not on individual liberty protected by the rule of law, but rather one built on group identity and forced allegiance thereto. It has been a long time coming, but the Democrat Party’s capture of the Senate majority allows them to dramatically accelerate their villainy.

For decades, liberals have worked tirelessly to deconstruct America’s system of education, one premised on classical pedagogy and local curriculum control – a structure that stressed objective standards of learning and which rewarded achievement. Our country’s public education now is a cartoonish, Rube Goldberg-esque system defined by federal bureaucrats and ruled over by teachers’ unions and tenured professors. In this morass, what is deemed correct and worthy of being learned is subjective, with no foundational values.

This toxic recipe has spawned a generation of government and corporate leaders steeped in the liberal notion that government is the default mechanism to address every real or perceived shortcoming in society. For today’ culture warriors, using the power of their positions in government and in the business arena is a moral imperative.

The so-called mainstream media has trended liberal since at least the 1960s. That this communications sector is wholly embedded with the Democrat Party is no surprise and is not going to change any time soon if at all. What is far more problematic is the explosive growth of communications technology now concentrated in the hands of so-called “progressives.” This, far more than any federal law or regulation ever could do, is empowering the Left to exert a degree of societal control not fairly dreamt of at the turn of this millennium.

Beyond being now on the precipice of gaining control of federal legislative, regulatory, and executive mechanisms, and already enjoying close friendships with the Lords of Social Media (including Facebook, Google, and Twitter), Democrats now are turning their sights on one of the last remaining redoubts of opposition – conservative lawyers.

Well-known conservative lawyers in Washington, D.C., such as Cleta Mitchell, are being forced to “disassociate” from their law firms for having leant their legal skills to the Trump administration’s challenges to evidence of alleged fraud in last November’s election.

An offending attorney’s role need not even have been as an active participant in conferences or conference calls disputing President-elect Biden’s electoral victory to earn the ire of Democrat scalp hunters. One Atlanta-based father and son pair of lawyers with a Philadelphia law firm were forced out after the son was “outed” as having listened in on the January 2nd conference call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger.

The Left has turned especially against attorney Members of Congress who declared any degree of support for Trump’s electoral challenges. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz and his Missouri colleague, Sen. Josh Hawley, committed what in the eyes of the Left are offenses warranting disbarment, if not criminal prosecution. One of their House colleagues, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, has been similarly assailed.

The attacks against attorney lawmakers and other members of the Bar who supported Trump have gone far beyond grievances by individuals who may not like the particular senators or congressmen. The attacks are being led by national lawyer organizations and, more ominously, by law school deans. Some of these lawyer critics imply that those who simply alleged that there were irregularities in the election are themselves guilty of “insurrection.”

There was a time when Democrats in particular would openly defend lawyers who were under attack for having represented an unpopular cause or client (it happened to me when I first ran for Congress in 1994). This reflected the principle that standing firm in defense of the unpopular was the essence of good lawyering. For the Left now, that quaint notion obviously no longer prevails. What prevails instead is a toxic political partisanship reminiscent of despotic regimes of the sort our Founders recognized and provided a Constitution and Bill of Rights to guard against.

Fifty years ago, in 1971, cartoon strip character “Pogo” declared, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” It is no longer a cartoon.

Bob Barr represented Georgia’s Seventh District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He served as the United States Attorney in Atlanta from 1986 to 1990 and was an official with the CIA in the 1970s. Originally appeared in the Daily Caller.

The most incredible hyperrealistic cakes compilation of 2020

Who knew this was a thing? People bake cakes and decorate them with the features of celebrities! And someone went to the trouble of compiling a video. Amazing. (Was it a lock down phenom???)

Made in America

By Robert Romano of Americans For Limited Government who was there for the Donald Trump Inauguration and there for his send-off. He says: Thank you, President Trump, for your service to our country.

I had the honor and privilege to bid former President Donald Trump farewell this morning while he and the former First Lady Melania Trump boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland one last time.

It was only the second time I got to hear a Trump speech in person. The first was his Inaugural four years ago. And so perhaps it was fitting that I only ever got to see both his first and last speeches as President.

It was also the last Make America Great Again rally — for now — complete with the classic rock and other oldies tunes pounding on the loud speakers. That was fun.

Before proceeding to his remarks, he invited his wife to the podium to say a few words. She said: “Being your First Lady was my greatest honor. Thank you for your love and your support. You will be in our thoughts and prayers. God bless you all. God bless your families. And God bless this beautiful nation.”

Trump began by naming some of his many accomplishments, including the creation of the U.S. Space Force: “We created a new force called Space Force. That in itself would be a major achievement for a regular administration. We were not a regular administration.” No, they were not.

President Trump was an outsider who came to Washington, D.C. to shake things up, which he did, renegotiating trade deals with Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and even got China to agree to a phase one trade deal with the 25 percent tariff on $250 billion of goods in effect and another 7.5 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods.

He and his White House, including senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, helped broker historic peace treaties, the Abraham Accords, between Israel and her neighbors Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco, normalizing diplomatic relations.

Trump put American sovereignty first, and summoned the will to construct some 450 miles of new steel border fencing along the southern border, fulfilling his signature campaign promise.

At the send-off speech, Trump touted reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which made it easier to fire and remove bad employees and to deploy additional resources that expedited health care received for those who fought for our nation: “We took care of our vets, our beautiful vets. They were very badly treated before we came along.”

Trump also talked up the deregulatory agenda which he credited for the job creation seen during his tenure, with a 50-year low in unemployment as recently as Feb. 2020 before the Chinese coronavirus struck.

“When we started, had we not been hit by the pandemic, we would’ve had numbers that would have never been seen. Already, our numbers are the best ever,” Trump said, pointing to the more than 16 million jobs recovered since April when labor markets bottomed last year, forming a V-shaped economic recovery that still has some ways to go.

Trump appeared to be in good humor, telling his assembled supporters: “I hope they don’t raise your taxes, but if they do, I told you so.” That got a good laugh.

“You’re going to be seeing some incredible things happening, and remember us when you see these things happening… I’m looking at elements of our economy that are set to be a rocket ship up… We have the greatest country in the world. We have the greatest economy in the world,” Trump said, predicting that the economic recovery would continue robustly over the coming months.

The real key, Trump said, would be the Covid vaccine now being distributed he said would drive new cases down: “[A]s bad as the pandemic was, we were hit so hard just like the entire world was hit so hard. Places that thought they got away with it didn’t get away with it, they’re suffering right now. We did something that is really considered a medical miracle. They’re calling it a miracle, and that was the vaccine.”

Trump also touted the 234 federal judges confirmed including three Supreme Court justices.

Trump thanked his supporters and the American people: “You are amazing people. This is a great, great country. It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president. I will always fight for you. I will be watching, I will be listening, and I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better.”

He wished the new Biden administration well: “I wish the new administration great luck, great success. I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”

Finally, Trump concluded, “The things that we’ve done have been just incredible, and I couldn’t have done them without you. So, just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form.”

Now, that I am certain of. He shall return. And thank you, President Trump, for your service to our country.

We’ll never get another president like you. Made in America. Farewell, Mr. President.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government. Reproduced with permission. Original here.

Goodbye, Mr. President

Left Calls for ‘army of citizen detectives’ to ‘monitor’ conservatives

“We need… an army of citizen detectives… our weapons will be computers and cell phones, we who are monitoring extremists on the internet and reporting their findings to authorities.”

By Catherine Mortensen

A chilling video calling for an ‘army of citizen detectives” to monitor and report conservatives to “authorities” is making the rounds on left wing social media. The video, produced by California author Don Winslow,  calls Trump supporters domestic terrorists, comparing them to 9-11 terrorist Osama bin Laden.

From the video:

“The greatest threat facing America today comes from within. Radical extreme conservatives, also known as domestic terrorists disguise behind regular jobs, they are your children’s teachers, they work in supermarkets malls, doctors offices, and many are police officers and soldiers.”

“We have to fight back. In this new word battlefield, as changes, computers can be more valuable than guns. And this is what we need now more than ever, an army of citizen detectives and proposing reforms to this army, our weapons will be computers and cell phones, we who are monitoring extremists on the internet and reporting their findings to authorities, remember before the Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, he had to be found. He was found by a CIA analyst working on a computer 1000s of miles away. It’s up to you.”

The video ends by calling on leftists to hunt down Trump supporters online and reminding them that “before the Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, he had to be found. He was found by a CIA analyst working on a computer 1000s of miles away. It’s up to you.”

The Left’s army of citizen monitors will be greatly assisted by the ever-growing corporate cancel culture. This week the Washington Post carried an op-ed by prominent Trump critic Max Boot, a Post columnist and CNN global affairs analyst that calls to shut down “the influencers who radicalize people and set them on the path toward violence and sedition.”

Last month, a Washington Post essay encouraged the media to shun Republicans who questioned the election results.

The essay itself admitted promoting “a radical approach” yet stood by it as “the only way to safely proceed with live interviews with Republicans who may be carrying a dangerous conspiracy theory that spreads on air.”

Also last month, the Washington Post published an essay comparing denying election results to denying the Holocaust and using that as a pretext to silence opposing voices.

“We would not allow a Holocaust denier to speak on evening news programs or have free rein on social media,” the essay’s authors write unequivocally. “Old and new media alike should no longer give a platform to these dissimulations, starting with Trump’s.”

For the first three years of Donald Trump’s presidency the mainstream media reported on little else but the fake Russian collusion story which attempted to delegitimize the 2016 election results. To this day, Hillary Clinton calls Trump’s presidency illegitimate.  The false narrative pushed by the media and Democrat leaders radicalized their followers to burn down cities, take over an entire police precinct in Seattle, and attack Trump supporters at rallies.

So for these people now to eliminate all news platforms that report on issues of voter fraud and election integrity is the height of hypocrisy.

I, for one, am off Facebook (mostly). I’m off Twittter. I’ve been off both for several weeks and don’t miss them, at all. I’ve dumped Fox News and now go to trusted news sites such as:

Because Big Tech censorship is coming for all of us, Americans for Limited Government is urging our followers to sign up to receive our content in our free daily newsletter. Join our “Tell Two Friends” campaign by sharing this link to subscribe to our newsletter with two friends who share our limited government principles.

Catherine Mortensen is Vice President of Communications at Americans for Limited Government.

Energy Independence: Mission Accomplished

At least for now, America is self-sufficient in energy.

By Richard McCarty

In the 1970s, America saw what happens when a country is dependent upon unfriendly countries for oil. Prices skyrocketed, gas was rationed, and drivers still had to sit in long lines to get gas. Consequently, energy independence has long been a stated goal of U.S. leaders, but it remained stubbornly elusive. Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. finally achieved energy independence.

Unlike Obama, Trump understands the power of the market and the need for affordable energy. You may recall that when gas prices were high under Obama, we were told to check the air in our tires, that there was little we could do to bring down the cost of oil because America had so little of it, and that we could not drill our way out of high prices. Obama was wrong. Perhaps he did not think it was possible for us to produce enough oil of our own, or perhaps he just opposed more drilling, but, either way, he was wrong. Under Trump, we have drilled more, and prices have remained reasonable throughout his presidency – unlike the huge swings that we saw in gas prices under Obama.

As expected, Trump reversed a number of Obama’s policies that were detrimental to energy production and distribution. For example, Trump killed Obama’s “Clean Power Plan,” which was a key part of Obama’s War on Coal. Trump also approved the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was completed over the violent and bitter opposition of the Left.

Trump’s policies have paid off. Since January of 2017, both domestic natural gas and oil production have increased by roughly 25 percent. (Of course, these numbers were even higher prior to the pandemic and economic shutdowns.) Due to these gains, the U.S. became the world’s largest producer of oil, surpassing both Saudi Arabia and Russia. Furthermore, we also became a net energy exporter for the first time in nearly seven decades.

Due in part to our increased oil production, Trump was able to take a hard line with the Iranian regime knowing that we did not need their oil. Although Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of many of our soldiers, previous presidents never dared to take him out, but Trump could and did. Because we stood up to Iran, other Middle Eastern countries were more willing to stand with us – and Israel – against Iran.

As the U.S. moved closer to energy independence, it was easier to improve our relations with Israel. For example, previous presidents had declined to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, where it belonged; but Trump moved the embassy in his first year in office. Furthermore, Trump’s predecessors had long leaned on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians and mollify neighboring countries. By contrast, Trump recognized that the Palestinians were a major impediment to peace and stopped coddling them.

With a freer hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to formally annex more settlements – theoretically located on Palestinian land – into Israel. The United Arab Emirates saw this and decided to cut a peace deal in exchange for Israel not annexing additional land – and for the U.S. not recognizing any such annexation for the next several years. After brokering this Israeli peace deal, Trump quickly brokered three more. It should be noted that these four Israeli peace deals were the first in a quarter of a century.

President Trump ran on unleashing America’s energy potential, and that is exactly what he has done. If Joe Biden were smart, he would keep Trump’s very successful energy policies, which have helped create good jobs, kept energy costs down for consumers, and enabled our leaders to pursue foreign policies of our own choosing. Unfortunately, Biden will likely remain under the spell of the global warming alarmists and pursue policies that kill jobs, drive up energy costs, and make America more dependent upon foreign countries – and more dependent upon unreliable energy sources, such as wind and solar.

Richard McCarty is Director of Research for Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

Why Care About Identity Theft? Here’s why!

This video shows what happens when someone learns the hard way why she should care about her identity.

Transcript: Lynn didn’t worry about identity theft. She always said, who’d want to steal my identity? Lynn never had a credit card or borrowed money. She figured thieves wouldn’t mess with someone who had no credit history. One day, Lynn decided to apply for a credit card. She sent in her application, but the company turned her down. Lynn wanted to know what happened. Why didn’t she get the credit card? She got a free copy of her credit report to find out. There, Lynn discovered that someone had opened eight credit cards in her name. They even got a car loan. And whoever used her name wasn’t paying any of the bills. The credit report said all the accounts were overdue. Lynn tried to fix these mistakes, but she found out that it’s not easy to prove that you did not do something. Those businesses held Lynn responsible for the bills, at least until she proved that the bills belonged to an identity thief. It took a long time, but she fixed the problem. Now Lynn checks her credit report every year to look for signs of identity theft.

I found this video on the AAA site. https://aaa.protectmyid.com. I have signed up for this service. I am not receiving remuneration for this endorsement. I just mostly like the AAA and feel they’re probably fairly straight shooters who won’t sell my data.

Building a healthy financial life starts with your credit and identity. From understanding credit basics to spotting signs of identity theft, ProtectMyID® gives you the information you need to strengthen your status, achieve your goals and secure your financial future.

Amazing Footage of F/A 18 Hornets and Super Hornets!

Naval aviators  soar in this spectacular footage of F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets as they takeoff and land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) from October 2014.

The video includes the aircraft flying in tandem formation at low altitude above the water, conducting banking and rolling maneuvers at high-speed, and making high-speed passes over the aircraft carrier. It was filmed from the cockpit and pilot point-of-view.

Film Credits: Lt. Ian Schmidt, Released by Lt. J.G. Michael Hatfield, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jared King

NAVY Names New Ships

(U.S. Navy video).

WASHINGTON: – Secretary of the Navy announces the naming of four new ships, the future: Constellation-class Frigate, USS Chesapeake (FFG 64), the Expeditionary Sea Base, USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), the Virginia-class Attack Submarine, USS Silversides (SSN 807) and the Amphibious Transport Dock Ship, USS Pittsburg (LPD 31).

Three future vessels are named after ships steeped in naval history and two others after a Medal of Honor recipient* and a Native American tribe. 

Braithwaite detailed the announcement Jan. 8 during a visit to one of the Navy’s first heavy frigates and oldest commissioned ship afloat – USS Constitution.

“The decks and lines of this proud ship speak to our storied past, and the Sailors who operate her reveal the strength of our future,” said Braithwaite. “We must always look to our wake to help chart our future course. Together, these future ships will strengthen our Navy and carry on our sacred mission to secure the sea lanes, stand by our allies, and protect our nation against all adversaries.”

The future ships will bear the names and hull numbers:

USS Chesapeake (FFG 64)

USS Silversides (SSN 807)

USS Pittsburgh (LPD 31)

USNS Lenni Lenape (T-ATS 9)

USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7)

The future Constellation-class frigate USS Chesapeake (FFG 64) will be named for one of the first six Navy frigates authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. The first USS Chesapeake served with honor against the Barbary Pirates in the early 1800. Following an at-sea battle with HMS Shannon in 1813, the ship was captured by the Royal Navy and commissioned her HMS Chesapeake. Braithwaite recently travelled to England where he retrieved a piece of the original frigate from the Chesapeake Mill in Hampshire.  

“Like Constitution and Constellation, the first Chesapeake was a mighty sailing ship that declared our nation a maritime power,” said Braithwaite. “The new USS Chesapeake, FFG-64, will proudly carry on the legacy of that name into the new era of great power competition.”

Last year, Braithwaite named future Constellation-class frigates USS Constellation (FFG 62) and USS Congress (FFG 63) to honor the first six heavy frigates.

To honor the Silent Service, the future Virginia-class attack submarine USS Silversides (SSN 807) will carry the name of a WWII Gato-class submarine. The first Silversides (SS 236) completed 14 tours beneath the Pacific Ocean spanning the entire length of WWII. She inflicted heavy damage on enemy shipping, saved downed aviators, and even drew enemy fire to protect a fellow submarine. A second Silversides(SSN 679) was a Sturgeon-class submarine that served during the Cold War. This will be the third naval vessel to carry the name Silversides. The name comes from a small fish marked with a silvery stripe along each side of its body.

“Those who run silent and deep in this new attack submarine will inherit a proud legacy, and the capabilities to forge a strong future for our nation and our allies,” said Braithwaite.

The future San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Pittsburgh (LPD 31) will be the fifth Navy vessel to bear the name. The first was an ironclad gunboat that served during the American Civil War. The second USS Pittsburgh (CA 4) was an armored cruiser that served during WWI, and a third USS Pittsburgh (CA 72) was a Baltimore-class cruiser that served during WWII – supporting the landing at Iwo Jima. The fourth USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) was a Los Angeles-class submarine that served the Navy from December 1984 to August 2019.

To honor the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, a future Navajo-class towing, salvage, and rescue ship will be named USNS Lenni Lenape (T-ATS 9).  This will be the first naval vessel to carry the name of the Lenni Lenape tribe who are indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, and the first tribe to sign a treaty with the United States in 1778.

“As a resident of the Keystone State, I know that Pittsburgh is a proud city with a strong legacy of service. I am confident that the crew of the future Pittsburgh will demonstrate the same excellence in support of amphibious and littoral operations around the world,” said Braithwaite. “And, the future USS Lenni Lenape will carry the legacy of the Lenape people for generations to come.

The future USNS Lenni Lenape will join USNS Muscogee Creek Nation (T-ATS 10), USNS Navajo (T-ATS 6), USNS Cherokee Nation (T-ATS 7), and USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek (T-ATS 8) providing a wide range of missions including open ocean towing, oil spill response, humanitarian assistance and wide area search and surveillance.

Also joining the fleet will be the first Expeditionary Sea Base USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), carrying the name of Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Private First Class Robert Ernest Simanek who earned the nation’s highest medal for valor for his actions during the Korean War when he unhesitatingly threw himself on a deadly missile to shield his fellow Marines from serious injury or death.  

“Private Simanek stands in the unbroken line of heroes extending from the early Marines who once stood in the fighting tops of our original frigates, to the Marines holding the line around the world today, and those who will deploy from the future USS Robert Simanek for years to come,” said Braithwaite. “This Expeditionary Sea Base continues the honored legacy of warriors from the sea, exemplified by her namesake.”  

Simanek, a Detroit, Michigan, native, joined the Marine Corps in August 1951. He was just 22 years old when he sailed for Korea, joining Company F, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines in May 1952 to serve as a rifleman and as a radioman when needed. In addition to the Medal of Honor and Purple Heart, he was also awarded the Korean Service Medal with two bronze stars. Simanek, now 90, lives in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Along with the ship names, Braithwaite also selected individuals who will be recognized as sponsors for several ships he recently named. The sponsor plays an important role in the life of each ship and is typically selected because of a relationship to the namesake or to the ship’s current mission. The following individuals were identified as sponsors:

Melissa Braithwaite will sponsor the future USS Constellation (FFG 62).

Barbara Strasser will sponsor the future USS Chesapeake (FFG 64).

Gail Fritsch will sponsor the future USS Barb (SSN 804).

Mimi Donnelly will sponsor the future USS Tang (SSN 805).

Michelle Rogeness will sponsor the future USS Wahoo (SSN 806).

Cindy Foggo will sponsor the future USS Silversides (SSN 807).

Kelly Geurts will sponsor the future USS Wisconsin (SSBN-827).

Nancy Urban will sponsor the future USS Pittsburgh (LPD 31).

*Marine Corps Pfc. Robert Simanek was just 22 years old when he jumped on a grenade to save his fellow Marines. But unlike many of the men who have done the same brave thing, he survived to tell his own story.

Simanek was born April 26, 1930, and grew up in Detroit. He was the second-youngest of four boys, all of whom served in the military. Simanek’s oldest brothers fought in World War II. His youngest brother served alongside him in Korea. 

Poland defies Social Media Giants with Massive Fines

The Polish government has passed a new law that would fine social media companies $2.2 million every time they censor lawful speech on their platforms.

Under its provisions, social media services will not be allowed to remove content or block accounts if they do not break Polish law.

Image: Facebook (ironically!)

In the event of removal or blockage, a complaint can be sent to the platform, which will have 24 hours to consider it. Within 48 hours of the decision, the user will be able to file a petition to the court for the return of access. The court will consider complaints within seven days of receipt and the entire process is to be electronic.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro made clear that the legal initiative is designed to fight censorship.

This sounds like a genius idea to us! We were kicked off Twitter months ago in the early stages of the anti-conservative, anti-skeptic, anti-lockdown, pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Trump purge. We didn’t lie about anything but they silenced us anyway!

What do you think? Should we fine the asshats at Twitter, FB, etc. when they break our law, notably the First Amendment?

Media Are Still Peddling One of the Great Myths of the Great Depression

Image: The Daily Post

The “Hoover did nothing and FDR saved us” fairy tale is the myth that refuses to die.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once cautioned newcomers to learn from those who held the same positions before. “Try to make original mistakes rather than needlessly repeating theirs,” he said.

Image: Daily Post January 9, 2021 

Harry Kazianis should have taken Rumsfeld’s advice before writing this annoying paragraph in his April 2, 2020 commentary at Fox News:

The rapidly worsening pandemic is shaping up as the defining challenge of the Trump presidency. Future historians will judge if Trump should be viewed like President Herbert Hoover or President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in meeting the challenge. While Hoover is generally blamed for not doing enough to fight the Great Depression, Roosevelt is generally credited with ending it.

To his credit, Kazianis doesn’t claim that this view is his own considered opinion. He offers no evidence he has researched the topic himself. He simply implies it’s a common view. That’s still an offense, only slightly less sinful than knowingly fobbing off falsehoods as truth. It’s how lies and errors become institutionalized.

In Great Myths of the Great Depression, I showed that not even Franklin Roosevelt believed that Herbert Hoover was innocent, inactive, or a bystander. In his 1932 campaign for the presidency, FDR assailed Hoover for “presiding over the greatest taxing and spending administration” in American history. FDR’s running mate, John Nance Garner of Texas, declared that Hoover was “leading the country down the path to socialism.”

Roosevelt and Garner criticized the Hoover administration for jacking up tariffs to record highs, as well for more than doubling federal income tax rates. Upon assuming office in March 1933, FDR mostly followed Hoover’s example and prolonged the Depression with harmful schemes of his own.

FDR’s own Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, declared this:

We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work…I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started, and an enormous debt to boot!

The “Hoover did nothing and FDR saved us” fairy tale originated with statist media and historians intent upon advancing an ideological agenda. Fake news, fake history—not the first time or the last time both have been employed in the service of state worship.

Arthur Schlesinger, among the worst culprits, smeared small-government President Calvin Coolidge with deliberate distortions aimed at making people think he too helped cause the Great Depression. If you want to empower government elitists to “plan” an economy, you have to get people to think that small government is bad and big government is good; since the evidence for that is scant at best, you just make it up if truth means little to you.

So Mr. Kazianis, the next time you casually miseducate Americans about the Hoover-Roosevelt years, please come up with something that’s at least original if not factually correct.

Meantime, here are some helpful sources to improve anyone’s understanding of that era:

New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR’s Economic Legacy Has Damaged America by Burton W. Folsom

“Great Myths of the Great Depression” by Lawrence W. Reed

“The First Government Bailouts: The Story of the RFC” by Burton W. Folsom

“The Politically-Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal” (reviewed by Raymond Keating)

“The Real Questions You Should Ask Your Economics Professor” by Lawrence W. Reed

“The Smoot-Hawley Tariff and the Great Depression” by Theodore Phalan, Deema Yazigi and Thomas Rustici

“Myth: FDR Was Elected in 1932 on a Platform to Plan the Economy” by Lawrence W. Reed

“FDR’s Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression” by Burton W. Folsom and Jim Powell

“The Great Crash and Depression, 90 Years Later” by Lawrence W. Reed

“Franklin Roosevelt and the Greatest Economic Myth of the 20th Century” by Burton W. Folsom

Lawrence W. Reed
Lawrence W. Reed

Lawrence W. Reed is FEE’s President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty, having served for nearly 11 years as FEE’s president (2008-2019). He is author of the 2020 book, Was Jesus a Socialist? as well as Real Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction and Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism. Follow on LinkedIn and Parler and Like his public figure page on Facebook. His website is www.lawrencewreed.com.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

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December Defensive Draws

11 Cases of Defensive Gun Use as 2020 Came to a Close

The world has said “good riddance” to 2020 and ushered in a new year. Although 2020 was a year in which many people faced extraordinary challenges, it did come with a silver lining for advocates of a strong Second Amendment right—unprecedented growth in the number of Americans who embrace their right to keep and bear arms.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Americans bought an estimated 21 million firearms in 2020, with 8.4 million Americans buying a gun for the first time last year.

Additionally, the number of Americans with concealed carry permits continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than in past years. This likely was due to record-long delays in permit processing and shutdowns because of COVID-19.

It is hardly surprising that law-abiding citizens flocked to exercise their Second Amendment rights last year. It was, after all, a year replete with widespread civil unrest and calls to strip resources from police departments already hamstrung by a global pandemic.

The demand for socialism is on the rise from young Americans today. But is socialism even morally sound? Find out more now >>

But even during “normal” years, the right to keep and bear arms plays an important role in preserving the public safety.

According to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost every major study on the issue found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times a year. We have good reason to believe that many of these defensive gun uses aren’t reported to police, much less make the local or national news. 

For this reason, The Daily Signal each month publishes an article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read accounts from 2019 and 2020 here.) 

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in December. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database.

  • Dec. 2, Yorkville, New York: Three or four armed intruders kicked in a door of a residence and forced a woman to the floor at gunpoint while they burglarized her home. Another resident heard the commotion from a bedroom, grabbed a “long gun,” and exchanged fire with the intruders, forcing them to flee, police said. The woman they had assaulted was wounded in the shootout but her injuries were not life-threatening.
  • Dec. 4, Alexander City, Alabama: A driver recognized a wanted murder suspect walking along a rural road and held him at gunpoint until police arrived. A U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and local police had been on a four-day manhunt for the suspect, who is alleged to have shot to death his girlfriend and her teenage son.
  • Dec. 6, Blountstown, Florida: A man used his AR-15 to defend himself against two armed, masked gunmen who approached his home, threatened the three residents, and demanded money. At one point, a robber pointed his gun at a resident’s head, which appears to have sparked a shootout, police said. Two residents were injured in the ensuing firefight, but the assailants fled and the residents were expected to survive.
  • Dec. 8, Lacombe, Louisiana: Four armed intruders broke into a residence and assaulted the homeowner, police said. The homeowner was able to grab and shoot his own firearm, killing two attackers and wounding the others, who now face a plethora of felony charges. The homeowner’s 4-year-old daughter was injured in the crossfire, but was expected to make a full recovery.
  • Dec. 11, Las Vegas, Nevada: An employee of a car dealership confronted a homeless man who was attempting to break into the business, police said. The intruder became physically aggressive and shoved the employee to the ground, where he injured his head. Police said the employee then drew a firearm and shot and killed his attacker in self-defense.
  • Dec. 14, Atlanta, Georgia: During an argument at an apartment complex, a man pulled a gun and shot another man several times in the back, wounding him. A woman who lived there drew her own firearm and fatally shot the gunman in self-defense, police said. She was not expected to face charges. 
  • Dec. 17, Pine Bluff, Arkansas:  A paramedic defended himself and his partner with his firearm after a call to a domestic dispute turned violent. The paramedics began to treat a woman who told them that her boyfriend had beaten her; the boyfriend angrily confronted them for treating her injuries. After a physical altercation, he took out a gun and opened fire on the paramedics, police said. One paramedics was armed and, though injured, shot back, killing the boyfriend. Both paramedics were treated for gunshot wounds, but they and the woman survived.
  • Dec. 22, Green Township, Pennsylvania: A man at a gun range inexplicably turned his firearm on his friend, shooting and wounding him, police said. Another gun owner saw the attack and came to the friend’s aid, fatally wounding the gunman and likely saving the friend’s life.
  • Dec. 25, Stockton, California: Upset by an ongoing dispute, a neighbor forced his way into a woman’s residence on Christmas Day, police said. A verbal confrontation soon turned into a physical assault, prompting the woman to shoot and wound the man in defense of herself and her family.
  • Dec. 26, Chicago, Illinois: An armed robber walked into a cell phone store and demanded store property at gunpoint from an employee. The employee, a concealed carry permit holder, drew his own handgun and fatally shot the robber, police said.
  • Dec. 27, Port Arthur, Texas: Several armed men forcibly followed a woman into her residence, holding her and her young children at gunpoint, police said. The homeowner, who heard what was happening from another room, armed himself with a rifle and shot at the men, killing one and sending the other two fleeing.  

Although we all can hope that 2021 brings increased stability and lower crime rates, we also should hope that America’s new gun owners do not forget the lessons of 2020.

America’s civil society and “scheme of ordered liberty” are fragile things that can be severely disrupted with little warning.

Unfortunately, many gun control advocates still want to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves in public, or with the firearms of their choice, best suited to their situation, experience, or comfort levels. There is little doubt that these law-abiding Americans will benefit from a 2021 where the nation returns to “normalcy,” and the chaos of 2020 begins to feel more like a fevered dream than a lived experience.

So say “good riddance” to 2020—but remember what it taught us about the right to keep and bear arms.

Amy Swearer is a legal fellow in the Edwin Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Reproduced with permission. Original here.

Unlimited undocumented immigration is back

Joe Biden announced that he will immediately move to give citizenship to millions of illegal aliens once he gets into office in two months. “I’m going to make a commitment in the first 100 days, I will send an immigration bill to the United States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in America.”

Joe Biden, NBC News November 24 2020

Unlimited illegal immigration—what the left calls undocumented–is what a Biden administration wants, and that is what it will be able to get after Jan. 20.

This is perhaps the most important domestic policy issue at stake for America as we face single-party leadership in both chambers of Congress and the White House. And it couldn’t come at a worse time for our country as Americans struggle to keep businesses open and regain a public health footing from the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 virus.

President-elect Joe Biden has a long record of calling for unlimited immigration. 

In 2015, he was recalling a conversation he had with a former president of Singapore about what separates America. He stated that it was “an unrelenting stream of immigration—nonstop, nonstop.” 

The demand for socialism is on the rise from young Americans today. But is socialism even morally sound? Find out more now >>

He had previously expressed this desire to the National Association of Manufacturers, where he said that the “constant, unrelenting stream” of immigrants into the U.S. was the basis for our economic strength. 

He emphasized that he wanted “not dribbling” amounts, but “significant flows.”

With the left in control of the U.S. Senate, the Biden administration has a Congress available to rubber-stamp its most radical immigration agenda items. And make no mistake: The left will not waste this political opportunity. Its leaders understand that mass immigration historically transfers into more leftist voters.

It’s no coincidence that the open-borders lobby has found a permanent home with leftists. It means pure political power. Look no further than California as Exhibit A.

So, what can the Biden administration do with a House and Senate controlled by the far left? First, it can seek to legalize all illegal aliens within the U.S., with token exceptions for some hardened criminals.

Keep in mind that the U.S. doesn’t even know how many illegal aliens are here, in part because the left has opposed any effort to try to better understand that number. The Biden team claims it is around 11 million, but other estimates top 22 million. 

Such an amnesty effort would not make any attempt at assimilating illegal aliens into the U.S. mainstream—adopting our language, culture, and patriotism.

Second, the borders would be open and overrun. Promising amnesty has already resulted in a run on the border, or the “Biden Effect.” Once the wheels start moving toward the largest amnesty in our history, the Border Patrol would be overwhelmed by illegal aliens seeking to get their claim to the most prized passport in the world—and all the government benefits that come along with it.

Couple this green light with stand-down orders to the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and you have a recipe for absolute disaster without any limiting principle. A recent Gallup poll found that more than 158 million adults would migrate to the United States if they could. 

With a Biden presidency and a leftist-controlled Congress, what will be able to stop them?

Third, scarce resources would be directed away from current Americans and toward amnestied immigrants. This means it would be open season on the buffet of federal government welfare programs, as well as the continued strain on America’s job availability, education budgets, health care costs, and public safety resources.

Translation? Americans forced to compete for employment opportunities as wages decrease, crowded schools with burgeoning numbers of students who don’t speak English, rising health care costs, increased COVID-19 spread, and more gang-related crime, as Americans have seen from the ruthless MS-13 where it has taken hold.

But as Biden says of illegal immigrants, “We owe them.”

Americans are directly affected by immigration policy in many important aspects of our lives—jobs, the economy, education, health care, crime, and national security. 

Americans and lawful immigrants want our immigration laws enforced and our borders secured.

Yet, we are on the verge of having neither. With the White House and Congress under single-party leadership, it will be up to the American people to frequently and loudly voice their opinion that open borders and amnesty are wrong for America.

This column first appeared in The Washington Times.

Reproduced from The Daily Signal with permission. Original here.

COMMENTARY BY

Mike Howell @mhowelltweets

Mike Howell is senior adviser for executive branch relations at The Heritage Foundation. A lawyer, he previously worked in the general counsel’s office at the Department of Homeland Security and, before that, for the chief oversight committees of the House and Senate.

Lora Ries@lora_ries

Lora Ries is a senior research fellow specializing in homeland security at The Heritage Foundation.

“Come On, Vaccine” Music Parody from the Holderness Family

The Holderness Family creates original music, parodies, and Vlogs for YouTube to poke fun of themselves and celebrate the absurdity in circumstances most families face in their day to day life. They published “Christmas Jammies” in December 2013 and life hasn’t been the same.

Here they tackle the Dexy Midnight Runners’ classic, “Come on, Eileen.” It’s fun!

Since then, their popular parodies, “All About That Baste”, “Baby Got Class,” and original music “Snow Day” have received national news coverage. Penn, the Dad, took a chance and left his job as a news anchor to join his wife Kim, the Mom, at their video production and digital marketing company, Greenroom Communications, LLC.

Lola and Penn Charles are always happy, respectful and eat all of their vegetables (that last sentence is a lie). Penn, Kim, Lola, and Penn Charles publish Vlogs and other nonsense to this channel as often as they can while remaining sane.

How to turn plastic waste in your recycle bin into profit – and materials for 3D printing

By Joshua M. Pearce, Wite Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Saved from the trash heap and ready for transformation. Nathan Shaiyen/Michigan Tech, CC BY

Joshua M. Pearce, Michigan Technological University

People will recycle if they can make money doing so. In places where cash is offered for cans and bottles, metal and glass recycling has been a great success. Sadly, the incentives have been weaker for recycling plastic. As of 2015, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. The rest pollutes landfills or the environment.

But now, several technologies have matured that allow people to recycle waste plastic directly by 3D-printing it into valuable products, at a fraction of their normal cost. People are using their own recycled plastic to make decorations and gifts, home and garden products, accessories and shoes, toys and games, sporting goods and gadgets from millions of free designs. This approach is called distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, or DRAM for short.

As a professor of materials engineering at the forefront of this technology, I can explain – and offer some ideas for what you can do to take advantage of this trend.

How DRAM works

The DRAM method starts with plastic waste – everything from used packaging to broken products.

A chart showing the various routes plastic waste can take to become custom plastic recycled products.
From trash to treasure – the DRAM flowchart. Joshua M. Pearce, CC BY

The first step is to sort and wash the plastic with soap and water or even run it through the dishwasher. Next, the plastic needs to be ground into particles. For small amounts, a cross-cut paper/CD shredder works fine. For larger amounts, open-source plans for an industrial waste plastic granulator are available online.

Next you have a few choices. You can convert the particles into 3D printer filament using a recyclebot, a device that turns ground plastic into the spaghetti-like filaments used by most low-cost 3D printers.

Filament made with a 3D-printable recyclebot is incredibly cheap, costing less than a nickel per pound as compared to commercial filament, which costs about US$10 per pound or more. With the pandemic interrupting global supply chains, making products at home from waste is even more appealing.

The second approach is newer: You can skip the step of making filament and use fused particle fabrication to directly 3D-print granulated waste plastic into products. This approach is most amenable to large products on larger printers, like the commercial open source GigabotX printer, but can also be used on desktop printers.

Granulated plastic waste can also be directly printed with a syringe printer, although this is less popular because print volume is limited by the need to reloading the syringe.

My research group, along with dozens of labs and companies throughout the world, has developed a wide array of open source products that enable DRAM, including shredders, recyclebots and both fused filament and fused particle 3D printers.

These devices have been shown to work not only with the two most popular 3D printing plastics, ABS and PLA, but also a long list of plastics you likely use every day, including PET water bottles. It is now possible to convert any plastic waste with a recycling symbol on it into valuable products.

Furthermore, an “ecoprinting” initiative in Australia has demonstrated DRAM can work in isolated communities with no recycling and no power by using solar-powered systems. This makes DRAM applicable anywhere humans live, waste plastic is abundant and the Sun shines – which is just about everywhere.

Toward a circular economy

Research has shown this approach to recycling and manufacturing is not only better for the environment, but it is also highly profitable for individual users making their own products, as well as for small- and medium-sized businesses. Making your own products from open source designs simply saves you money.

A series of photos showing how plastic waste first becomes filament and then can be used on a desktop 3D printer to make a camera bubble tripod.
From waste to filament to a camera tripod. Joshua M. Pearce, CC BY

DRAM allows custom products to be made for less than the sales tax on conventional consumer products. Millions of free 3D-printable designs already exist – everything from learning aids for kids to household products to adaptive aids for arthritis sufferers. Prosumers are already 3D-printing these products, saving themselves collectively millions of dollars.

One study found MyMiniFactory users saved over $4 million in one month alone in 2017 just by making toys themselves, instead of purchasing them. Consumers can invest in a desktop 3D printer for around US$250 and earn a return on investment of over 100% by making their own products. The return on investment goes higher if they use recycled plastic. For example, using a recyclebot on waste computer plastic makes it possible to print 300 camera lens hoods for the same price as a single one on Amazon.

Individuals can also profit by 3D-printing for others. Thousands are offering their services in markets like Makexyz, 3D Hubs, Ponoko or Print a Thing.

A skateboard is held up before a large 3D printer.
The Gigabot X 3D printer makes larger items. Samantha Snabes/re:3D, CC BY

Small companies or fab labs can purchase industrial printers like the GigabotX and make high returns printing large sporting goods equipment like snowshoes, skateboard decks and kayak paddles from local waste.

Scaling up

Large companies that make plastic products already recycle their own waste. Now, with DRAM, households can too. If many people start recycling their own plastic, it will help prevent the negative impact that plastic is having on the environment. In this way DRAM may provide a path to a circular economy, but it will not be able to solve the plastic problem until it scales up with more users. Luckily we are already on our way.

3D printer filament is now listed in Amazon Basics along with other “everyday items,” which indicates plastic-based 3D printers are becoming mainstream. Most families still do not have an in-home 3D printer, let alone a reyclebot or GigabotX.

For DRAM to become a viable path to the circular economy, larger tools could be housed at neighborhood-level enterprises such as small local businesses, makerspaces, fabrication labs or even schools. France is already studying the creation of small businesses that would pick up plastic waste at schools to make 3D filament.

I remember saving box tops to help fund my grade school. Future students may bring leftover plastic from home (after making their own products) to help fund their schools using DRAM.

[Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter.]

Joshua M. Pearce, Wite Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Impeachment is not just about removing Trump—it’s about canceling you

By Robert Romano

The House has voted to once again impeach President Donald Trump, charging him with incitement of insurrection. The single article of impeachment states the President “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol.”

President Trump did nothing of the sort, but the facts do not matter to the House.

At the Save America Rally on Jan. 6, President Trump explicitly urged everyone to “peacefully” protest the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden as President-elect: “We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

Under no standard of law do those statements constitute incitement of insurrection. They are political speech fully protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Unfortunately, President’s Trump call for peaceful protest was not heeded, as some of the crowd breached the perimeter around the Capitol, attacked police officers and then proceeded to storm into the U.S. Capitol, broke down doors, smash windows and made their way to the floors of the House and Senate, resulting in the deaths of five individuals, including two Capitol Hill Police Officers.

To be clear, these rioters do not represent President Trump, his movement or this country. They do not represent me. Such acts of political violence are unacceptable, wrong and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

After the violence began, Trump immediately urged his followers to stop on Twitter, stating: “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”

Just today, the President issued another statement denouncing violence: “In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”

None of that was enough for the House, which conducted no investigation, held no hearings and provided no due process in this proceeding.

That is because this snap impeachment is not just about removing President Trump from office with just six days left in his term — it is about canceling you and the 74 million Americans who voted for him.

This rush to judgement will not end in the Senate, where a trial is constitutionally prescribed — although, after Jan. 20 any case for removal will be moot — it will go on and on.

If you supported President Trump, if you thought the 2020 election was not conducted honestly, either you renounce him, or you could lose your job. Your access to banking. Your social media accounts. Subjected to political violence. It will never end.

If the Senate proceeds to another divisive trial, and were to vote to convict, either before or after Jan. 20, then tens of millions of Americans will be disenfranchised. The nation will be divided.  And even the Union imperiled.

This impeachment undermines the peaceful transfer of power almost as much as storming the Capitol did.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uf01sDadV2M%3Fenablejsapi%3D1%26autoplay%3D0%26cc_load_policy%3D0%26cc_lang_pref%3D%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26loop%3D0%26modestbranding%3D1%26rel%3D0%26fs%3D1%26playsinline%3D0%26autohide%3D2%26theme%3Ddark%26color%3Dred%26controls%3D1%26https%3A

As Sen. Lindsey Graham today warned, this impeachment “will do great damage to the institutions of government and could invite further violence at a time the President is calling for calm… The process being used in the House to impeach President Trump is an affront to any concept of due process and will further divide the country. The President, who will be leaving office in less than a week, has committed to an orderly transfer of power, encouraging calm and rejecting violence.”

Graham added, warning House and Senate Republicans to oppose this rushed process, “To my Republican colleagues who legitimize this process, you are doing great damage not only to the country, the future of the presidency, but also to the party.”

Graham warned that it is the American people themselves are being targeted by this impeachment: “The millions who have supported President Trump and his agenda should not be demonized because of the despicable actions of a seditious mob. The individuals who participated in the storming of the Capitol should be met with the full force of the law. They should and will be held accountable.”

Sen. Graham is exactly right. There is a lot more at stake than the removal and disqualification of President Trump.

Millions of Americans who supported President Trump think this means they are next. That Congress is declaring them to be enemies of the state. Are they wrong?

As House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was gunned down by a fanatical political opponent at the 2017 Congressional baseball practice, a victim of political violence in our country, said on the floor of the House today: “At this moment we need to be focused on toning down the rhetoric and helping heal this nation as we move towards a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden next week… I have seen the dark evil of political violence first-hand and it needs to stop. But all of us need to be unequivocal in calling it out every single time we see it, not just when it comes from the other side of the aisle.”

Scalise quoted Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, when President Lincoln called on the country to come together after the tumultuous Civil War that claimed 620,000 American lives: “With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

America is at a dark crossroads. One path leads into an endless abyss, risks civil war and could destroy the Union and lead to tyranny.

The other path is the long and difficult road to rejoining a national dialogue, reestablishing national brotherhood and affirming that we are all Americans working together to heal our republic.

We have to find a way to come together, because the alternative is unthinkable. We will not get this moment back.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

what3words – the coolest location address tool ever

Street addresses weren’t designed for 2021. They aren’t accurate enough to specify precise locations, such as building entrances, and don’t exist for parks and many rural areas.
This makes it hard to find places and prevents people from describing exactly where help is needed in an emergency. Millions of people around the world use what3words to make life safer, more efficient and less frustrating. Just spent the morning looking up all the homes in the family – I discovered that my back door is different from my front door which really would be useful for a delivery person.

what3words provides a precise and incredibly simple way to talk about location. They have divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique 3 word address.

With what3words, everyone and everywhere now has an address. That’s not a huge deal to us, as we have a sophisticated address system through our zipcodes. But in many countries, 75% of the word in fact, this simply doesn’t exist. In some of the new economies, the ones that popped up overnight like the UAE, postal addresses just didn’t exist until recently. Delivering companies and taxi cabs would ask for the name of the building and a rough location. Mail would be collected not delivered. But now we have home delivery through the internet, addresses are more important than ever.

And so, these dudes have come up with a system that is so simple it’s amazing and pins you to a nine square meters plot of land. You can even 3word tag your photos so people can find that exact beach, desert trail or mountain cave!

There’s a free app for your smart phone. It’s fun to punch in your address. Try this online version from your device/computer. https://map.what3words.com/

Watch the introductory video to learn more:

Apple and Google Control 99+% of the US Smart Phone Market

By Seton Motley 

When either behaves badly – it is devastating to We the People.

When both behave badly – it is cataclysmic for We the People.

As of July 2020, here’s the US smart phone marketshare data. There are three colors available on the chart. One for Apple, one for Google and one for all other smart phones combined. You can not see the third color at all.

That’s probably because as of May 2020, the data is Apple 52.4% and Google 47%. For a duopoly grand total 99.4%. That is some serious market domination.

So when Apple and Google both decided last Friday to remove Parler’s apps from their respective app stores – Parler was instantly rendered a digital nonperson. (Sunday night came the coup de grace – Amazon and its Web Services removed Parler from their server farms and thus the Internet.)

Of course, we are in the very early stages of the already-great-and-growing Digital Age. Everything that can be online is either online – or rapidly headed that way.

When Apple and Google together monolithically control trillions of dollars a year of our nation’s economy?

They get a little bossy and larcenous.

So Intellectual Property (IP) – its creation, implementation and protection – is now even more important than ever. Which I would have fairly recently in human history sworn wasn’t possible.

It has always been important to protect physical property. Stealing someone’s car is illegal – and absolutely should be. Because you’ve deprived them of their transportation – and the money they spent obtaining it.

But digital property theft is orders-of-magnitude worse. Because the theft is immediately scalable. Once you have the computer code for Product X – you can make trillions of copies of Product X.

Your theft-enabled sales of the product makes your sales of it 100% profit. And you can charge way less than the person from whom you stole it – because you didn’t spend the millions or billions of dollars it took to create it. So you can dramatically undercut your victim – victimizing them again.

If you reward theft over creation – you will very quickly have no more creation.

Market-dominating Apple and Google both stole key components of their respective market-owning smart phones. And both have a long history of stealing IP of all sorts….

Apple


Apple Finally Admits They’ve Been Stealing Billions of Dollars from Qualcomm for Years
:

“In February 2017, iMonster Apple stopped paying Qualcomm for the patented technologies Qualcomm invented – and Apple used in their wireless devices.

“Please note: Apple had signed multiple contracts – in which they agreed to pay Qualcomm for permission to use the patented technologies Qualcomm invented.

“Please also note: Apple continued to subsequently sell millions of wireless devices – for tens of billions of dollars – containing the patented technologies Qualcomm invented.  For which Apple had signed multiple contracts – in which they agreed to pay Qualcomm for permission to use the patented technologies Qualcomm invented….

“Without Qualcomm’s inventions – an iPhone is very little more than a skinny rotary phone….”

“Apple then went one step further in its thievery.  It reversed engineered Qualcomm’s tech – and illegally taught Intel how to replicate it…..

“Lawsuits immediately sprung up here in the United States – and all over the world.”

Apple spending years stealing money from and undermining the people who have single-handedly kept us wirelessly ahead of Communist China – is more than a mite problematic.

Eventually, thankfully, Reality reared its pretty head.

Apple Paid Up to $6 Billion to Settle with Qualcomm

But not all of Apple’s IP theft victims are capable of doing anything about it.  Because most everyone is way too small to do anything about it.  (Apple Market Cap: $2.17 trillion.)  Which is awful – and almost certainly a part of the reason why – Apple steals IP all the time.

Stolen Ideas: Apple Didn’t Build That [Infographic]

Apple Steals Innovation from the Heart of the Linux Community

Texas Jury Orders Apple to Pay for Wireless Patent Infringement

Apple Must Pay WiLan Over iPhone Patent Dispute

Apple Hit with $13B Lawsuit for Stealing the iPhone Concept

Top Five Features Apple Stole from Samsung

Apple Sued for Patent Infringement over Touch Screen Functionality

Apple Accused of Stealing Dual-Camera Technology Used in Latest iPhones

Masimo Sues Apple over Apple Watch Patents, Alleged Theft of Trade Secrets

That’s what cops call a REALLY awful rap sheet.

Google

Hot Java: Google Yet Again Caught Stealing Other Peoples’ Stuff

Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.:

“Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. is an ongoing legal case within the United States related to the nature of computer code and copyright law.

“The dispute centers on the use of parts of the Java programming language’s application programming interfaces (APIs), which are owned by Oracle (through subsidiary, Oracle America, Inc., originating from Sun Microsystems), within early versions of the Android operating system by Google.

“Google has admitted to using the APIs….”

Wait – Google admitted it? Yes indeed.

Wait – Google admitted it?  Yes indeed.

The Email Where Google Admits They Stole the Intellectual Property to Build Android:

“‘The e-mail, from Google engineer Tim Lindholm to the head of Google’s Android division, Andy Rubin, recommends that Google negotiate for a license to (Oracle’s) Java rather than pick an alternative system….

“‘The second paragraph of the email reads:

“‘“What we’ve actually been asked to do by Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] (Google’s founders) is to investigate what technical alternatives exist to Java for Android and Chrome.

“‘“We’ve been over a bunch of these and think they all suck. We conclude that we need to negotiate a license for Java under the terms we need.”’

“Except Google never did negotiate for Android “a license for Java under the terms we need.”

“But they released Android anyway.

“That’s not legal.”

Google Stole Android and Probably Made a Trillion Dollars

Apple denied its quite obvious IP theft for several years – then admitted its quite obvious IP theft and settled with its victim.

Google has defied Reality and its victim for more than a decade.  And hasn’t acquiesced.  They have instead taken it all the way up the judicial food chain.

Google and Oracle Are Squaring Off in the Supreme Court

Google’s legal arguments are somehow even more pathetic than is their blatant, brazen theft.

Google: ‘If You Don’t Let Us Steal – People Will Stop Making Things for Us to Steal’

Google Should Google What ‘Fair Use’ Actually Means

We await the Court’s ruling….

Here’s Hoping Wednesday Begins a Supreme Court Reckoning for Monster Thief Google

Is this Google mass heist a one-off?  Of course not.  It is Google industrial policy.

Behold: An Avalanche of Headlines Chronicling Google’s Systemic Theft:

“Google steals.  All the time – from everyone.

“If you have a good idea – a cool new product, a cool new way of doing something – very soon Google will have a good idea…and you will have nothing.”

Google’s Business Model – Is Theft

The Evidence Google’s Systematic Theft is Anti-Competitive

How Google Steals Ideas From Entrepreneurs! The Google Innovation Theft Factory

Google Retracts After Caught Stealing Ideas

Google Sued for Copyright Infringement by Photographers and Visual Artists

Authors Sue Google Over Google Print

Publishers to Sue Google Over Copyright

Google Settles Copyright Dispute with Belgium Newspapers

Sonos Sues Google, Alleging It Stole Its Wireless Speaker Technology

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They get a little bossy and larcenous.

Researchers at Brazil’s space institute discover why lightning branches and flickers

Image: Analysis of the first super slow motion recordings of upward flashes suggests a possible explanation for the formation of luminous structures after electrical discharges split in the atmosphere (photo: INPE)

By Elton Alisson | Agência FAPESP – Researchers at Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE), in partnership with colleagues in the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa, have recorded for the first time the formation and branching of luminous structures by lightning strikes.

Analyzing images captured by a super slow motion camera, they discovered why lightning strikes bifurcate and sometimes then form luminous structures interpreted by the human eye as flickers.

The study was supported by FAPESP. An article outlining its results is published in Scientific Reports.

“We managed to obtain the first optical observation of these phenomena and find a possible explanation for branching and flickering,” Marcelo Magalhães Fares Saba, principal investigator for the project, told Agência FAPESP. Saba is a researcher in INPE’s Atmospheric Electricity Group (ELAT).

The researchers used ultra high speed digital video cameras to record more than 200 upward flashes during summer thunderstorms in São Paulo City (Brazil) and Rapid City, South Dakota (USA) between 2008 and 2019. Upward lightning strikes start from the top of a tall building or other ground-based structure and propagate upward to the overlying cloud.


The upward flashes they recorded were triggered by positively charged cloud-to-ground lightning discharges, which are much more common, as described by the same INPE research group in a previous study (read more at: https://agencia.fapesp.br/31947). 

“Upward lightning originates at the top of a tower or the lightning conductor on a skyscraper, for example, when the storm’s electrical field is disturbed by a cloud-to-ground discharge as far away as 60 kilometers.”

Marcelo Magalhães Fares Saba

Although the study conditions were very similar in Brazil and the US, luminous structures were observed in only three upward flashes, recorded in the US. These were formed by a positive leader discharge propagating toward the cloud base.
“The advantage of recording images of upward lightning is that they let us see the entire trajectory of these positive leaders from ground to cloud base. Once inside the cloud, they can no longer be seen,” Saba said.

The researchers found that a low-luminosity discharge with a structure resembling a paintbrush sometimes forms at the tip of the positive leader. “We observed that this discharge, often referred to as a corona brush, may change direction, split in two, and define the path of the lightning flash and how it branches,” Saba said.

When an upward flash branches successfully, it may proceed to the left or right. When branching fails, the corona brush may give rise to very short segments as bright as the leader itself. These segments first appear milliseconds after the corona brush splits, and pulsate as the leader propagates upward toward the cloud base, the videos show.

“The flickers are recurring failed attempts to start a branch,” Saba said, adding that the flickers may explain why multiple lightning discharges are frequent, but more studies are needed to verify this theory.

The Scientific Reports article “Optical observation of needles in upward lightning flashes” (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74597-6) by Marcelo M. F. Saba, Amanda R. de Paiva, Luke C. Concollato, Tom A. Warner and Carina Schumann can be read at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74597-6
 

This text was originally published by FAPESP Agency according to Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-ND.

Read the original here.

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Which States Perform Best, Worst in COVID-19 Vaccinations

Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

The Dakotas stand above all other states in administering the COVID-19 vaccine to residents, while Arkansas has done the worst job, according to an analysis of federal data by a Heritage Foundation health policy expert.

Only 11 states have used more than half the doses provided by the federal government, the analysis shows.

The analysis by Edmund Haislmaier, senior research fellow in health policy at The Heritage Foundation, is based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That data measures the number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that the federal government distributed to states, compared with how many doses states have administered so far.

The result largely has been a matter of competence and organization, Haislmaier said. 

“Some states were just better prepared for the vaccine when it gets down to individual states and how it was dispersed to the population,” Haislmaier told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “While we were all waiting for the vaccine, states had time to plan to be ready.”

The federal government distributed doses of two approved vaccines to states based on population size, and state governments were responsible for administering the shots. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has raw numbers, including doses given per 100,000 population. But a more “relevant metric” in measuring how well states are doing is to look at how much of the vaccine a state administers, Haislmaier said. 

Importantly, he said, CDC updates the numbers daily, but some lag time on the data likely occurs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was critical of states Tuesday for micromanaging delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines while calling for giving shots to anyone 65 and older.

“Every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more life lost and one more hospital bed occupied,” Azar said during a press conference, noting that some states have been effective in delivering the vaccine to citizens. 

The federal government distributed 53,525 doses to North Dakota. The state has used 38,868 doses, or 73% of what it had. Neighboring South Dakota follows closely, administering 70% of its doses. 

West Virginia and Connecticut each administered 60% of their allotted doses.

Azar specifically praised those two states for moving aggressively to vaccinate their populations. Others aren’t doing so well, he said:

Some states’ heavy-handed micromanagement of this process has stood in the way of vaccines reaching a broader swath of the vulnerable population more quickly. We are telling states they should open up vaccinations to all people 65 and over and all people under 65 with a comorbidity, with some form of medical documentation as defined by governors.

States that administered at least 50% of their vaccine doses include Montana, Colorado, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, and Nebraska.

By comparison, Arkansas administered only 40,879 doses out of the 250,200 it got from the federal government, or 16%. Georgia comes in at 19% of doses, Alabama at 23%, Arizona at 24%, South Carolina at 25%, and North Carolina at 26%.

Although the state of New York is storied for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s perceived mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state actually administered 41% of its supply, according to Haislmaier’s analysis—placing it in the middle. 

“New York’s complaints have been more about being too rigid in the criteria [for who takes priority in getting a shot], and they had to throw away vaccines,” Haislmaier said. “The governor says, ‘Give us more vaccines, it’s the feds’ fault.’ No. That’s not the problem if you are using 50% or less of your supply.”

Florida, generally viewed as handling the broader impact of COVID-19 far better than New York in controlling the spread and number of deaths within a larger population, has used only 38% of its vaccine supply, according to the analysis. 

Pfizer and Moderna developed vaccines against the novel coronavirus under the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed, which encouraged rapid research and approvals. 

The winter has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, and the United States has logged more than 386,000 deaths since the virus that causes the disease first emerged in Wuhan, China. 

In addition to expanding availability of the vaccines to those 65 and older, Azar announced that HHS is telling states to expand channels for administering the vaccines from hospitals to include pharmacies, community health centers, and mass vaccination centers. 

He said the federal government is releasing the entire available supply for order by states, rather than holding enough for required second doses in physical reserve. 

Azar didn’t name states doing a poor job of getting the vaccine to individuals. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention measures distribution and administering of the vaccine. 

According to the CDC, the Northern Mariana Islands has administered more vaccine doses per 100,000 population than any other U.S. jurisdiction. South Dakota leads the way among states, followed by West Virginia, North Dakota, Alaska, and Connecticut. The District of Columbia ranks just ahead of Connecticut.

States and territories lagging behind in administering doses per 100,000 in population include the Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arizona, the CDC says. 

States across the country are experiencing problems, said Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center, a New York think tank. 

“The whole country has done a terrible job,” Hammond told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “It is amazing that we can’t move it as fast as it is being produced. A lot of people assumed that Pfizer and Moderna couldn’t keep up with demand. It turns out states can’t keep up with supply.”

Under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, the federal government distributes vaccines to states, the District, and territories based on population. Their governments are in charge of administering the vaccine. 

Some states have insisted that all health care providers, the first group eligible, be vaccinated and the most vulnerable population, the second group eligible, is vaccinated. 

“We would rather have some lower-priority individuals get vaccinated along with the high-priority individuals if it makes it go fast and it avoids vaccines sitting on the shelves and, for the love of God, not having that vaccine actually wasted or thrown away because of a failure to administer,” Azar said during the press conference. 

The vaccines, given in two doses, must be stored in subzero temperatures.

Other state bottlenecks have resulted from poor data collection and reporting, and an unwillingness to expand vaccination from hospitals to pharmacies, Azar said. 

Despite such scolding, the HHS secretary noted that the number of vaccinations is growing:

Over the last several days, we averaged around 700,000 reported vaccinations each day and we are on track to hit 1 million per day in a week to 10 days’ time. We have 9 million first vaccinations given, far more than any Western country. By the end of next week, 95% of long-term care facilities will have had their first visit with vaccine doses. All of this means it’s time to move onto the next phase of the vaccination campaign.

The goal now is maximum execution of vaccine delivery to Americans, said Army Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who has led the mobilization for Operation Warp Speed. 

“That is how we are managing the second doses to ensure, first and foremost, it is always available,” Perna told reporters. “But second, we assure the maximum amount of available vaccines are available to the American people every day.”

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