May 02

More efforts to blacklist news sources which question government as “unreliable”

Recent scholarship has found that the most prominent ‘fact-checking’ and ‘news-checking’ organizations tend to label news sources which are skeptical of governments as ‘fake news’ or ‘unreliable.’

Now the ‘journalism institute’ Poynter has blacklisted more than 29 popular Conservative Outlets as ‘UnNews’

Poynter, which has started the “International Fact-Checking Network,” shared the new report and dataset called “UnNews,” declaring at least 29 right-leaning news outlets and organizations to be “unreliable news websites.” Major online content providers (such as Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube) appear to rely on Poynter’s designations.

Examples of ‘unreliable’ news sources, according to Poynter, include Breitbart, CNSNews.com, Daily Signal, Daily Wire, Drudge Report, Free Beacon, Judicial Watch, LifeNews, LifeSiteNews, LifeZette, LiveAction News, the Media Research Center, PJ Media, Project Veritas, Red State, The Blaze, Twitchy, and the Washington Examiner.

See here.

May 01

Faith in Democracy and Government Crumbles Worldwide

Recent global events have shaken faith in governments–and political engagement itself. More than two years after the people of Britain bravely voted to leave the European Union–against the wishes of the entire world political class–British elites continue to stall the move toward Brexit. The Brexit vote was the biggest vote in British history, with thousands of Britons coming forward to vote who had never voted before or who had long given up on voting.

In the United States, voters have sent wave after wave of politicians into offices after those politicians promised to limit government. Yet almost nowhere, at any level, has any winning politician actually followed through and done anything to cut government power.

The Pew Research Center has recently surveyed people in 27 countries. Just 63% of the people polled said their country protects the rights of people to express their views. “Those views are strongest in Indonesia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Philippines and Canada. In contrast, fewer than half of respondents in Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Spain and Hungary said free speech was protected in their country.”

Fifty-four percent of global respondents said that politicians are corrupt, including 89% in Greece, 82% in Russia, 75% in South Korea, 72% in both Nigeria and South Africa and 69% in the United States.

A median of 53% disagreed with the statement that their country’s court system treats everyone fairly. That disagreement was strongest in South Korea, Argentina, Spain, Greece and Italy.

Apr 27

Officials at Guantanamo Prepare to Detain Prisoners For Life Without Due Process

A COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW UNDER THE ‘GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR’

Just 20 years ago no one imagined that the U.S. government would begin incarcerating prisoners without charge, trial or due process for years at a time.

But now the U.S. government is drafting formal plans to house prisoners for life without indictment, charge, or trial.

“[After years of impassioned debates over the rights of the detainees and whether the prison could close, the Pentagon is now planning for terrorism suspects still held in the facility to grow old and die at Guantánamo Bay.”

Although socialists and government trusters generally depict life under total government as a utopia, many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay show signs of physical deterioration.

“[T]he Palestinian known as Abu Zubaydah, who was confined to a box the size of a coffin while held at a secret C.I.A. site and waterboarded 83 times to break him . . . [is] already living with what [his] lawyers say are the physical and psychological aftereffects of torture, making [his] health especially precarious. . . .”

“Unless America’s policy changes, at some point we’ll be doing some sort of end of life care here,” the commander of the detention center, Rear Adm. John C. Ring, said during a discussion with reporters that highlighted the kinds of questions the prison is asking Pentagon policymakers to decide.

Many of the prisoners at the top secret prison are reportedly prediabetic. Others “now suffer typical middle-age conditions: high blood pressure and cholesterol, joint pain, diabetes and, lately, sleep apnea.”

But the military is grappling with an array of questions about how much medical care the prisoners should receive, how it should be delivered and how much Congress will provide to pay for it.

“We are starting to see the use of canes and walkers and braces and so forth.”

One prisoner is due for a knee replacement, reportedly because of his first year of C.I.A. captivity, when he was always shackled at the ankles. Another inmate reportedly suffers from chronic rectal pain from being sodomized in the C.I.A. prisons.

Nine (9) inmates have died in the facility since 2006. There are now forty (40) left.

Apr 26

Saudi government executes teenager for social media posts about government

A 16-year-old Saudi boy posted several comments about anti-government protests on WhatsApp.

The boy was severely tortured, shocked with electricity, threatened with the murder of his family, and made to sign a confession without an attorney. This week the boy was convicted of “terrorism” on the basis of his tortured confession, and beheaded before a cheering crowd of government loyalists.

According to The Sun, the boy was targeted along with dozens of others for “terrorism” involving nothing more than posting reports about protests.

“The 37 citizens killed during beheading bloodbath had all been convicted of terrorism offences in the hardline kingdom. It emerged one man had even been crucified.
Saudi lawmakers insist the men were charged with “adopting terrorist extremist ideology, forming terrorist cells” and harming the “peace and security of society”.”

Statistically the average person in the world is more than 4 times more likely to be killed by his own government than by any foreign government or any criminal.

Apr 25

Tens of thousands flee socialist New York, New Jersey and Connecticut

Almost half of one percent of New York’s most productive people–about 40,000 individuals–fled the Empire State last year due to the State’s heavy taxes and regulations. High-tax neighbors Connecticut and New Jersey have also seen their residents flee.

Many move to lower-tax states such as Florida, Texas and Nevada. Many are also climate refugees seeking warmer weather.

“[T]hose with incomes between $50,000 . . . and $150,000 or more, made up the highest proportion of move-outs.”

See here.

Apr 18

22,000 fled socialist Chicago last year

AMERICA’S MAJOR SOCIALIST CITIES (Chicago, LA and New York City) continue to lose thousands of people annually.

The socialist government of Chicago continues to enact further rules, regulations and taxes upon the City’s long-suffering people.

The city’s dwindling class of older, wealthier taxpayers is declining rapidly. See here.

Apr 16

Australian science professor fired for skepticism wins back his job

Dr. Peter Ridd, one of the world’s foremost authorities on climate and its effects on coral reefs, did what scientists are supposed to do. He questioned scientific claims and studied them.

Ridd found that the Great Barrier Reef was thriving and was not endangered by catastrophic-manmade-global-warming-by-CO2.

Unfortunately, skepticism and adherence to the scientific method is frowned upon in modern universities–especially in the area of climate research. Ridd was subjected to a series of disciplinary charges–and finally fired–by his employer James Cook University. He was accused of bringing scientific institutions into disrepute. He was ordered to keep his mouth shut. He was ordered that he could not even use satire to jest about the accusations against him.

Yesterday an Australian court ruled in Ridd’s favor on all 17 counts of his lawsuit against the University. See here.

Apr 13

More than THIRTY THOUSAND Illinois teachers make six-figure salaries

The socialist government of Illinois continues to lavish its millionaire ‘workers’ with extravagant wealth and benefits. A recent study by Forbes magazine found that there are now over THIRTY THOUSAND Illinois school ‘teachers’ who make more than $100,000 annually. Many make over $200,000 annually.

Tens of thousands of productive workers now flee the high taxes of the Land of Lincoln annually. The State has teetered on bankruptcy for a decade.

Many of the highest-paid teachers and administrators work in school districts where THE MAJORITY of students come from impoverished homes. And despite the luxurious, lavish lifestyles of Illinois public teachers, their long-suffering students have shown little improvement in their education or scholastic performance.

Apr 13

EPA predicts “hundreds of billions” of dollars of damages annually from climate change

The LA Times is out with another doomsday story about apocalyptic-manmade-global-warming-by-CO2.

The LA Times cites an EPA study predicting ruined bridges, dirty air, crop failure, economic collapse due to lack of labor productivity and property destruction. Total costs–unless governments quickly advance toward socialism and controlling the energy industry–will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

(The LA Times bans all letters to its editors which question the apocalyptic “science” theory.)

Thus far, virtually every prediction of economic catastrophe made by climate change doomsdayists has proven false. Crop yields continue to increase despite predictions that crop yields would decrease; economic production continues to increase despite predictions that the U.S. economy would collapse from climate change; and the U.S. population continues to migrate generally southward despite predictions that U.S. populations would flee northward.

Apr 02

Washington Governor Inslee uses his office as a vendor to sell “climate doomsday,” and re-routs donations to environmentalist groups to avoid campaign finance limits

Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee recently announced his Democratic candidacy for the Presidency. Inslee makes stopping ‘climate doomsday’ his feature issue.

But Anthony Watts has broken the story behind Inslee’s climate catastrophe campaign. As Governor, Inslee makes serial announcements of new ‘groups’ that generally do not in fact exist (they are websites), but which somehow have millions of dollars worth of consultants, lawyers and report-writers to promote Inslee’s ‘leadership.’

Sometimes the money is from donors — e.g., the multi-million dollar websites “US Climate Alliance” and Governors Climate Alliance — and sometimes the money is taken from taxpayers — “Pacific Coast Collaborative” and the the campaign to tell the “West Coast Story”.

Inslee has used his Governor’s office to contract as a consultant for an environmentalist pressure group, World Resources Institute (WRI), in at least two agreements providing hundreds of thousands of dollars of private underwriting so that the group can essentially operate out of Inslee’s office and claim State authority for its agenda.

Public records also show that [Inslee’s] Office is transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in taxpayer money, including apparently a quarter of a million Washington State taxpayer dollars, to pay consultants . . . to promote climate advocacy.

See here.