Scott Johnson at Power Line.

I’ve followed the government’s investigation of James O’Keefe and Ashley Biden’s diary since the New York Times broke the story with a little help from its friends in the national security establishment. What did O’Keefe do wrong? What makes it a federal case? This much is clear to me: the Biden Justice Department is out to get James O’Keefe.

Pending before the court that signed off on the search warrants executed on O’Keefe et al. is a motion to unseal the “search warrant materials” (i.e., “the search warrant application, supporting affidavit, return, and any other related judicial documents filed in connection with the Search Warrant” that was “executed at the residence of James E. O’Keefe, III, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Project Veritas, in connection with an ongoing federal grand jury investigation”).

Biden falsely says abortion ruling makes US ‘outlier among developed nations’

AG Garland: States can’t ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds (Axios)

Hundreds of illegal immigrants stroll along Texas highway: video

Fact-Checking 5 Biden Claims on Dobbs Ruling

Biden approval rating slips for fourth straight week: poll (The Hill)

Biden’s job approval rating slips to lowest level in months

The mainstream media’s lies on secret migrant flights

Oil CEOs call for ‘tone shift’ from White House on finger-pointing over gas prices (CNN)

Biden administration canceling $6 billion in student loan debt for 200,000 borrowers

Kamala Harris’ office posts video of VP sinking basketball shot, leaves out her first 5 misses

‘It’s almost unbelievable’: People are having their job offers rescinded days before they start (CNBC)

‘YOU take YOUR seat’: Very specific cheat sheet reminds Biden how to act

Poll: Trust in Biden slips in allied countries (Axios)

‘The View’ Grills White House Spox on Biden Admin’s ‘Botched’ Handling of Brittney Griner Phone Call (Daily Beast)

Missouri AG Files Temporary Injunction On Censorship Law

Senate Republicans’ Report Condemns ‘Biden’s Border Crisis’

Nine Former Border Patrol Heads Oppose Punishment Of Agents Cleared Of ‘Whipping’ Migrants

Read it.

Hardly anyone was shocked to learn that President Joe Biden is so cognitively impaired that members of his staff are printing out official note cards with detailed instructions to help him carry out his daily tasks.

Read it.

After a SWAT team wrecked an innocent woman’s house, the city of McKinney, Texas essentially told her “tough luck” and refused to compensate her. In a case that could have nationwide property rights implications, a federal jury on Wednesday awarded her $59,656.59 in damages—and more may be coming.

The jury award follows an April 29 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Amos Mazzant III that the city’s “intentional and foreseeable” destruction of Vicki Baker’s house constituted a government “taking” that compelled the city to pay just compensation.

Read it.

With Democratic control of the White House and Congress for most of the last 14 years, I am surprised that there has not been more of an overt push to legalize the 12 million illegal aliens. A conservative Supreme Court majority remains our most important first line of defense against what I have long expected—some federal judge concocting a ruling that it is imperative that illegals be given full citizenship.

Many assumed we were headed that way as a result of the 1975 decision in Plyer v. Doe (5-4 majority opinion by Brennan) holding that Texas had to admit children of illegals to public schools under the Fourteenth Amendment because equal access applies to “people” not “citizens.” Because the feds were clearly not enforcing the immigration laws, the court decided to make policy concerning children in the country illegally through no fault of their own. The justices openly opined that if we are not going to kick them out, there is no benefit in keeping them uneducated (even if it is patently unfair to dump the additional cost of federal failures on a state budget).

From that decision, we soon got the universal policy of not being allowed to ask about citizenship status by any federal, state, or local government agency. A foreigner can crash the border and thus say “screw you” to American law and policy and immediately demand and receive social welfare benefits for an indefinite period of time.

Read it.

North Carolina lawmakers have the power to protect the state’s voter identification requirement, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The 8-1 decision allows two Republican state legislators to defend in court a law that requires in-person and absentee voters to present at least 1 of 10 different options of photo ID. Lower courts said that only North Carolina’s Democratic attorney general could defend the law. The NAACP challenged the law, Senate Bill 824, in court, saying it burdens minority voters, though 69 percent of black Americans support voter ID requirements.

The idea of a Democrat official ‘defending’ a voter identification requirement law is Straight Outa Comedy Central.

Read it.

During a non-election year, Washington Democratic senator Patty Murray called a federal gas tax holiday a “bad idea” that may not lower prices at the pump. Now that she’s up for reelection, she’s on board with the plan.

Murray—who is expected to face Republican triage nurse Tiffany Smiley in November—quietly signed on to Senate Democrats’ gas tax suspension bill in late April, more than two months after it was introduced. But in 2008, when Murray was not embroiled in a reelection fight, the Democrat called the policy a “bad idea” that would “deteriorate highway funding.”

Amazing how that works.

Read it.

“There is an official narrative, and the official narrative is they’ve got to stop inflation… Let’s look very simply at what happened. They voted on the direct reset. Then they injected $5 trillion into the economy that went to the insiders. Then they used Covid to shut down the economy run by the outsiders. Now, the outsiders want to open another business, and they are going to radically raise the cost of capital to the outsiders. What’s going to happen is that $5 trillion is going to buy more assets more cheaply. To me, this is part of centralizing the control of the economy. They are asserting very significant central control. This is not a turndown–this is a takedown.”

Read it.

We now know that the door to a fourth grade classroom invaded by the shooter wasn’t barricaded and may not even have been locked. Instead of two underequipped and wounded officers facing a huge obstacle, it was four officers with a ballistic shield, at least two of them armed with rifles, standing outside an unlocked classroom door.

One teacher with a gun and proper training is all it would have taken. This is Texas; that ought to have been a no-brainer.

Read it.

U.S. Air Force leadership are now accused of serious misbehavior (criminally deceiving Congress) by deliberately lying to Congress about their plans for the A-10 ground attack aircraft. The recent leaks include briefings describing how air force leaders planned to continue undermining the A-10 but deliberately sabotaging promised upgrades and sustainment (money for maintenance and operations of A-10s). The leaked documents included mention of the importance of keeping all of this from going public. That’s where the air force crossed the line into criminal conduct.

It is no secret that the air force has spent several decades trying to get rid of the A-10, its most popular, affordable, and effective combat aircraft. Since 2019, the air force appears to have decided to stop trying to get rid of its popular, at least with pilots and infantry, A-10 attack aircraft. Nicknamed “Warthog” or just “hog”, the A-10 never got much respect from air force leaders. The A-10 did gain enough popular and political clout to keep this aircraft flying. The current (2020) plan reduces the A-10 force by 44 aircraft, to 237. These will equip seven squadrons. Three are active duty and four operated by part-time National Guard and reserve personnel. The reserve units would be available within 30 days for deployment to a combat zone. The reserve pilots are largely retired fighter pilots and tend to have more experience in the A-10 than the younger active-duty pilots. The reservists fly regularly and their aircraft are kept in shape for regular operations.

Read it.

A U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that North Carolina charter day schools cannot have dress codes based on a child’s gender because, as a “state actor,” such codes violate laws on equal protection. Under the ruling, girls can no longer be required to wear dresses.

Some parents have believed charter schools are an alternative to public schools that impose woke ideology. If this court ruling stands, notes a New York Post editorial, ” … it could mean, in effect, the end of charters as they exist. It provides a legal rationale for them to be brought under the thumb of the state and city educrats nationwide, who are eager to handcuff charters for daring to bring educational options to students failed by traditional public schools.”

The Antiplanner jerks back the curtain.

A recent survey found that 93 percent of planning students oppose highway expansion because they believe that it won’t relieve congestion due to induced demand. However, the survey found, only 24 percent of the general public agrees. Similarly, 83 percent of planning students believe the government should try to reduce the amount of driving Americans do, but only 31 percent of the general public agrees.

It never occurs to planners that results like these might indicate that they are wrong. After all, they are the experts and the general public is not, so the public should let them do what they want.

…

Most infuriating is the whole induced-demand argument, which (according to Governing magazine) has planners actively wondering why they can’t sell this idea to the public. The answer, of course, is that it is stupid. Economically it is stupid because there is no conceivable product that will generate more demand simply by making more of it: building a road in a desert will not induce more driving. Politically it is stupid because it argues that more roads generate more economic activity, and most urban politicians say they want more economic activity in their cities.

John Hinderaker at Power Line.

In Minnesota, a new rule relating to certification of teachers is in process. As I understand it, the rule has proceeded without legislative action and ultimately will come before an administrative law judge who will (I assume) approve it, absent enormous public outcry. The rule provides that you can’t be licensed as a teacher in Minnesota unless you subscribe to neo-Marxist theories of race, gender and so on.

You have to read it to believe it.

Read it.

Faked heart studies by a once-obscure scientist duped the U.S. government and medical establishment for years. Washington is still paying for it.

A New Cringe Achievement Level for Harris

Betsy DeVos: Biden Plans to Radically Change Title IX to Let Biological Men Play Women’s Sports

Oil refineries are making a windfall. Why do they keep closing? (Washington Post) Why do you think?

VP Harris botches Juneteenth history lesson about ‘400 years of slavery’

MSNBC’s Joy Reid complains Kamala Harris treated unfairly by ‘White, male’ media: People just don’t ‘know her’

Hell Freezes Over: AP Challenges Biden’s ‘Dissonance’ with Americans on Economic Crisis

Military Readiness Takes Back Seat to Wokeness at the Pentagon

Biden USAID Nominee Lavished Praise on Saudi Arabia—Until It Stopped Funding Her Think Tank

Vatican Promises Next Pope Will Be A Woman Of Color  (Babylon Bee) Devout Catholic Joe Biden couldn’t be reached for comment, since it’s his nap time.

Kamala Harris: Killing Babies IS In Line With Christianity

Report: Kamala Harris Is So Unpopular That Democrats Don’t Want a Photo With Her  I know I wouldn’t.

Frustrated Capitol Gift Shop Lady Finally Puts Up Sign Saying ‘NO WE DO NOT SELL BUFFALO HAT SOUVENIRS’  (Babylon Bee)

Biden Ahead of Schedule in Destroying US Offshore Oil Production

Read it.

The Biden administration claims it formed the recently unveiled “parents council” to better reflect families’ views in public schools—but its members include Al Sharpton’s community organizing group; activists who lobby to teach “comprehensive sex education,” including gender identity theory, in school; and open borders groups.

Surely dysfunctional parents have a right to be represented?

Read it.

“Take your pick of the many self-induced Biden disasters, among them hyperinflation, unaffordable gasoline, out-of-control crime, and foreign-policy humiliations. But one reason why voters are furious is rarely expressed. Americans feel that ordinary citizens like themselves who follow the rules are treated more harshly by their own government than are both non-citizens and our own progressive elites. And they are right, and they are angry, and we will hear from them very soon.”
–Victor Davis Hanson

Follow the link for discussion.

Read it.

I had to fly to Boston this weekend to help my sister fix up her new house. I almost didn’t make it back to work on Monday, because my flight was canceled at the last minute, and I had to buy another ticket on another airline, which was canceled, and so on. I made it home eventually, and was less than amused to hear Pete Buttigieg’s statement about the rash of flight cancellations. He said that if the airlines couldn’t fix this problem quickly, then government would be forced to step in.

Ok, so let’s see here. So the government said that a pilot would not be allowed to work unless he had the COVID vaccine. Many pilots chose not to do so, and were fired. Which was fine, as long as nobody was traveling. But once people started to travel again, the airlines couldn’t handle the passenger load because they had fewer pilots available. Because they had fired them last year. Because the government told them to. And now, the government blames the airlines.

Energy Sec Sputters a Weak Defense of Biden-MBS Meeting (Daily Beast)

White House says Biden’s meeting with Saudi officials next month will ‘include’ crown prince (CNN)

Buttigieg says feds have power to force airlines to hire more workers amid travel delays

Biden admin explores bussing migrants to US towns hours beyond border  Helping them disappear into the general population at taxpayer expense.

CNN reporter defends Biden’s mental strength, says the ‘gears of his mind are working’

PRIDE MONTH: Here’s How the Navy Is Training Sailors on Proper Gender Pronouns

Saudi Arabia Bans Rainbow Toys, Clothing With ‘Homosexual Colors’ Weeks Before Biden Visit

Biden State Department Racial Equity Rep Says White Diplomats Like America Too Much  We’re paying these people.

John Hinderaker at Power Line.

The fundamental problem with wind and solar power is that they don’t work. Both generate electricity less than half the time, and this isn’t a question of improving technology, it is inherent in obsolete systems that depend on the weather. As a result, the ballyhooed “green revolution” has fizzled. The Germans, formerly committed to a “green” makeover, are starting to face reality, even if their politicians aren’t quite there yet.

Read it.

Kathleen Buhle, Hunter Biden’s ex, married a total sleazeball  A sleazeball named Hunter.

White House press secretary says Americans are ‘well positioned’ to face economic challenges (CNN)

U.S. judge blocks Biden administration policy narrowing immigration enforcement (Reuters)

Expert rips Biden’s ‘backwards’ energy policies: He’s ‘failing’ Americans

The Electric Car Is Biden’s ‘Golden Calf’

S&P 500 Plunges, Wipes Out All of Its Gains Since Biden Took Office

The Swamp vs. America: Biden Policies Are Making America Poorer

Biden Admin Stonewalls on Release of Thousands of Illegal Immigrants Into New York

Watch: Biden Advisor Says Social Media Should Silence Anyone Who Criticises Green Energy “Transition”

Reference.

Before Space X can launch its Starship in support of NASA, the Department of Defense, and the greater goal of bringing humanity to the stars, the FAA has required that SpaceX must (among other requirements):

• Prepar[e] a historical context report (i.e., historical narrative) of the historic events and activities of the Mexican War (1846–1848) and the Civil War (1861–1865) that took place in the geographic area associated with and including the Area of Potential Effects (APE).
• [P]rovide $5,000 annually to enhance the existing TPWD Tackle Loaner Program. This funding may be used to purchase fishing equipment (rods, reels, and tackle boxes with hooks, sinkers, and bobbers) for use at existing, heavily visited sites and/or allow the program to expand to new locations.
• Participate in wildlife photography introduction and instruction opportunities on?site.
• [M]ake an annual contribution of $5,000 to the Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge Adopt?an?Ocelot Program within 3 months of the issuance of the BO and by March 1 of each year thereafter for the duration of the BO. Funds donated to the program are intended to pay for…Special events to raise awareness about the ocelot.

It’s hard to take our civilization seriously on some days.

Members of white nationalist group charged with planning riot at Idaho pride event (Reuters) Notice the difference in treatment between these guys and those planning – in public! – to shut down the Supreme Court.

Energy & Environment —Biden EV pitch faces headwinds (The Hill)

Biden administration proposes national EV charging station standards

Biden responds to $5 gas: ‘Outrageous what the war in Ukraine is causing’

Biden Approval Plummets To 22% Among Young Adults, 24% Among Hispanics

Yahoo: “Biden’s on the verge of losing on climate change”

Biden’s Homeland Secretary Lied About Disinformation Board: Whistleblower Documents

Kuwait Summons US Diplomat Over Gay Pride Month Tweet

Biden bashes big oil: ‘Exxon made more money than God this year’ (The Hill)

‘Start investing’: Biden jabs Exxon Mobil for high fuel costs in inflation speech (CNBC)

Texas congressman says busloads of migrants heading to his district: ‘System is completely overwhelmed’  To be clear: illegal migrants.

Biden administration launches ‘unprecedented’ operation to disrupt human smuggling as caravan moves north (CNN)

Biden Administration To Provide Grief Counselors At All Gas Pumps (Babylon Bee) There’s a problem? Well, we won’t do anything about the way we’re creating that problem, but we’ll establish programs (at your expense) to do what we think will help you cope.

Texas Judge Blocks Federal Policy Letting ‘Criminal Aliens’ ‘Roam Free’

FBI Chief Comey Misled Congress’ “Gang Of 8” Over Russiagate, Lisa Page Memo Reveals

Read it.

Being a government hack has its advantages. You get eleven paid holidays per year. You get promoted for poor performance. The benefits are superb. Best of all, you can get remarkably rich…even if you’re a screw up.

President Joe Biden, for example, has worked for the federal government for nearly 50 years. His net worth is about $9 million.

Yet Biden and his wife Jill really made the big bucks between 2017 and 2020, when Biden was out of office. Together, they hauled in $17.3 million in book deals and speaking fees. These are some of the fringe benefits of having been a government bigwig.

Read it.

The free-money PPP “loan” obtained by a prostitute frequented by Hunter Biden offers a vividly teachable insight into American capitalism: you don’t maximize your private gains by offering a product or service that’s faster, better, cheaper, you maximize your private gains by securing a government-gimme. Hunter’s Hooker Scored $20,000 PPP Loan As Joe Biden Entered White House.

The cornucopia of government-gimmes is vast. There are “loans” which are forgiven, i.e. free money such as the PPP “loans;” government subsidies and tax breaks designed to serve the interests of a single enterprise or cartel; low-interest loans unavailable to tax donkeys; sweetheart contracts where the private cartel/monopoly can overbill the government without consequence; toothless anti-trust agencies allow monopolies to scoop up dozens or even hundreds of potential competitors, and skims/scams funded by government largess: Medicare / Medicaid fraud, the student-loan racket, and so on, in an endless profusion of ways to maximize private gains via investing capital in capitol, i.e. bribing politicians and bureaucrats to use the government’s vast powers to enrich the few at the expense of the many.

Read it.

School surveys that collect information from students and create a perceived need for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum have caught the attention of Missouri authorities. Attorney General Eric Schmitt issued subpoenas this week to seven school districts that allegedly employ student surveys—created by education companies Panorama and Project Wayfinder—to gather data about parents’ political beliefs and income levels, as well as racial identity, sexual behaviors, and mental health. “Those same groups come in and sell that curriculum to the schools,” said Kimberly Hermann, general counsel with Southeastern Legal Foundation, a national nonprofit law firm that defends liberty. “The contracts with these companies are public record so they’re supposed to be approved during school board meetings, but the surveys are happening without parental consent and parental notification.”

Read it.

With border cities overwhelmed by a record surge in migration, the Department of Homeland Security is planning to start transporting migrants into cities away from the border, according to DHS documents reviewed by NBC News.

Los Angeles has been designated as the first city to be the recipient of the transported migrants, with Albuquerque, Houston, Dallas and others to follow. In a statement to NBC, DHS said “no decision has been made.”

Away from microphones, DHS officials jokingly refer to the scheme as the “Abbott plan,” according to an unidentified official who spoke to NBC. That’s a reference to Texas governor Greg Abbott, who earlier this year sent at least 10 busloads of illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. as a means of redistributing the wealth of inbound Latin American diversity.

He’ll just send them back to D.C.

Victor Davis Hanson.

Anyone testing positive would have to delay his or her return. That quarantine would entail spending thousands of dollars in finding scarce hotel accommodations, additional living expenses, and rebooked airline tickets—depending upon the length of the mandatory sequestration.

Contrast the tens of thousands of foreign nationals now mustering to cross illegally into the United States again this summer. They follow the already 2 million who have entered the country unlawfully since Joe Biden became president.

Does any foreign national worry about being tested for COVID-19, much less fear being turned away if he tests positive or for lack of proof of vaccination?

Or do we scrutinize far more carefully U.S. citizens entering legally their own country than we do noncitizens crossing our borders unlawfully?

Read it.

One of the Oxford High School students who survived being shot on November 30 has filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and four top officials for failing to intervene to prevent the tragedy.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 17-year-old Kylie Ossege, a recent Oxford High graduate, who suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder during the mass shooting at the high school in November. Four students were killed and seven others, including a teacher, were injured.

The lawsuit, the latest of several state and federal complaints filed against the school, alleges gross negligence and violation of the Michigan Child Protection Law in the incident and details how events leading up to the shooting should have prompted school officials to disarm the student accused in the shooting, Ethan Crumbley, then 15.

New poll: Inflation ‘most urgent issue’ over gun violence, Biden’s approval rating ties with lowest ever

‘Great resignation’ reaches White House with staff turnover (Associated Press) Like Democrats leaving a sinking ship.

Hunter Biden makes rare public appearance as laptop controversy continues to swirl

Empty wallets, empty tanks: Surging gas prices leave drivers stranded (Washington Post)

Truck drivers parking their rigs as gas prices continue to climb

Biden’s inept Cabinet shares blame for Biden’s many failures

Despite efforts to fight formula price-gouging, desperate families are paying top dollar (CNN)

Democrats frustrated by flat-footed White House (The Hill)

Round Up: 3 Times Biden Disinfo Board Members, Advisors Spread False Information

Massive Migrant Caravan Targeting Texas Could Be Biggest One Yet

‘Foolish and Naive’: US Lawmakers Decry Biden Admin’s Greenlight of China Military Investment

Read it.

Fox News host Charles Payne said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trade timing was “impeccable” and suggested that “maybe Nancy Pelosi knows something we do not know.”

“Representative Pelosi just bought a total of 50 out of the money calls on Apple, 150 out of the money calls on Microsoft,” Payne said on the June 6 edition of his show, Making Money. “Now, the two transactions totaled anywhere between one and a little bit over two million dollars. One would say it’s the kind of bet that one would make, uh, if they were a greedy capitalist, right? In fact, you would make a capitalist blush and then of course a professional poker player would also blush because the timing always seems to be so impeccable when it comes to Nancy Pelosi trades.”

It’s amazing that politicians who have never manifested any expertise in economics in their lives, in fact have conclusively demonstrated economic illiteracy, suddenly turn in to stock market gunslingers upon election to Congress. Makes me want to run for something….

Scott Johnson at Power Line.

The venerable office of Secretary of the Treasury goes back to Alexander Hamilton. Looking over the roster of former Secretaries, one can observe that it has rarely been held by lightweights or hacks. Janet Yellen makes a mockery of the office. She degrades the office in performing its responsibilities poorly and ranging far afield to parrot the shibboleths and follies of the Biden administration like a Stalinist apparatchik.

Considering that her previous gig was in charge of the Federal Reserve, it is no surprise that inflation is such a problem.

Read it.

The predominant system of agriculture I am working in now has been intentionally set up against me and current and future farming generations. Today’s corporate controlled system is bad for farmers, bad for consumers, bad for rural and urban communities and economies, bad for our environment and our climate, and bad for democracy.

We are in this position because the rules (laws, policies and regulations) have been written, and lobbied and paid for by corporate special interests. We are in this position because of corporate-written, bad Farm Bills and bad trade agreements (the main drivers of our farm and food system).

We are here because many of our elected “representatives” don’t really represent us, their constituents or the vast majority of Americans. We’re here because we have a democratic process controlled by that “elephant in the room”–billion dollar multinational corporations.

Billionaire oil refiner warns Biden to ‘open up the spigots’ or things ‘will get worse’

White House worried about Jimmy Carter parallels to Biden presidency as approval rating remains low: report Who wouldn’t trade Biden for Carter?

Afghanistan? Inflation? Joe Biden passes the buck as problems multiply

Student loan debt forgiveness a ‘big transfer of wealth’ from poor, working class to the rich: Payne

Politico’s pusillanimous pandering on Hunter Biden

Biden Administration Expected to Reinstate Price Controls, Bringing Back 1970s Gas Lines, Experts Warn

Gasoline Prices Heading For $5, ‘Not If, But When,’ Says GasBuddy

Mexico’s President Boycotts US-Hosted Americas Summit

In Latest Flailing Attempt To Slow Soaring Energy Costs, Biden Invokes Defense Production Act To Push Green Agenda

GOP House Lawmakers Criticize Biden Admin for ‘Unlawfully Expanding’ Obamacare

Another Grim Milestone for Joe Biden

Protocol Droid Fluent In Six Million Forms Of Communication Still Can’t Understand What Biden Is Saying  (Babylon Bee)

Hunter’s Hooker Scored $20,000 PPP Loan As Joe Biden Entered White House  Sometimes it is good to boff the prince.

Janet Yellen Expects Inflation to Remain High, Shrugs Off Effects of Biden Spending Spree

Read it.

Expanded use of ethanol — enabled by President Biden’s lifting a summertime ban on fuels with a 15 percent blend — is a poor answer to high gasoline prices and a refusal to recognize the failures of the corn-based fuel additive. Reuters described the president’s action a win for the corn lobby, but all others appear to be losers.

Shortcomings of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline have been reported continually since at least 2007 when the U.S. government expanded its requirement that distributors blend ethanol with fuels to reduce dependence on foreign oil. The additive also has been touted as a way to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.

“There is a great danger for the right to food by the development of biofuels,” U.N. human rights advocate Jean Ziegler said at the time. “It (the price) will be paid perhaps by hundreds of thousands of people who will die from hunger,” A year later he called the diversion of food crops to fuel production a “crime against humanity.”

Read it.

Thank you, Bill Clinton. (And George H.W. Bush, who fumbled the ball so badly.)

Up until 1993, the federal government merely guaranteed/backed student loans that private lenders gave. This meant that only in the case of someone defaulting on their loan would the government be on the hook, stepping in and paying the college what’s owed.

This amendment completely overhauled that system, making it so that for the vast majority of student loans, the federal government directly made the loans to students. More specifically, the federal government pays the universities/colleges up front, and the student then owes the government that money.

This represented a large shift in the alignment of incentives. When the loans come from the federal gov, there’s much less pressure on schools to compete on price. This is especially true since “increasing max student loan size => making college more accessible to everyone” is a political argument that both major parties benefit from in terms of optics.

Steve Sailer.

As we’ve been told over and over by the important people, you need to stop driving your own car and take public transportation to fight Climate Change. On the other hand, the important people feel entitled to promote policies and manias that help make taking the bus a nightmare.

Read it.

Forget about the faux Biden ´Don´t Come´ talking point intended to keep undocumented migrants from crossing into the United States. Now, according to the Latino network newscasts, a record-breaking, 15,000 migrant strong caravan is making its way through Mexico to send “a message” to the leaders gathered at the Summit of the Americas currently underway in California.

Watch as Telemundo shifts from the ´stay away´ threat to report on the longest and biggest caravan that correspondent Pedro Ultreras has “had to cover in recent years”; now, the motivation for the onslaught is to “send a message to Latin American leaders that the immigration problem is still very big and that they need them to help”.

Read it.

Many parts of the U.S. government, including its leading scientific agencies, are being blamed for the country’s chaotic and disorganized response to COVID-19. The CDC’s muddled and mistaken messaging about masks, testing, and the mechanism of viral spread sowed public confusion. The FDA’s extreme caution about approving boosters may have slowed the deployment of those vital measures. But a nation’s ability to weather a pandemic also depends upon its underlying ability to make major scientific discoveries, even—or especially—during moments of crisis. Success is not just a matter of luck; historically, the United States has made a series of strategic decisions that put researchers in a position to make timely breakthroughs. Yet amid the biggest health crisis in 100 years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the $42-billion-a-year engine of our nation’s biomedical-research infrastructure, has been strangely quiet.

Read it.

President Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation.

Well, perhaps the word “detailing” is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of the economy that was shuttered by the governing class during COVID-19. Biden, of course, not only championed those closings but was critical of Republican governors who opened their states before he deemed it appropriate.

But with midterms approaching, there’s been a concerted effort underway to exonerate the president, and thus Democrats, of any culpability for rising prices. Biden sycophant “Morning Joe,” for example, contends that anyone who blames the president for more than a “passing impact” on inflation is a “lying hack or an ignorant rube.”

One wonders if that group includes former Obama adviser Steve Rattner, who argues that inflation has been driven by government putting “too much money in people’s pockets”? Or Obama’s onetime Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers, who had been warning for more than a year that cash infusions would exacerbate inflation? Or Jeff Bezos, who correctly pointed out that the “administration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy”?

Read it.

The City of Minneapolis, that is. Not too many years ago, Minneapolis was known as a safe place. But that seems like another galaxy at this point. Last night, a gun battle broke out on Fraternity Row at the University of Minnesota. I don’t think the criminals were frat brothers. You can hear the gun battle in this surveillance video, from an alley that I take it is behind the fraternity buildings.

Read it.

Hey, it’s Free Government Money, right? Nobody ever pays that back!

Read it.

Studies on COVID-19 vaccines have suggested links between Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)—an incurable and fatal prion disease—and getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

A recent French pre-print on CJD and COVID-19 vaccination has suggested that the COVID-19 vaccine may have contributed to the emergence of a new type of sporadic CJD disease that is a lot more aggressive and rapid in disease progression as compared to the traditional CJD.

CJD is a rare disease caused by an abnormal protein in the brain called a prion.

Prions naturally occur in the brain and are usually harmless, but when they become diseased or misfolded, they will affect nearby prions to also become misshapen, leading to deterioration of brain tissue and death.

The disease is incurable as once one prion becomes infected, it will continue to propagate to other prions with no treatment capable of stopping its progress.

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Now that we are over the most serious televised issue of our day with the verdict going to Johnny Depp over Amber Heard, loosen your seat belt and relax. Coming soon are the televised hearings of the so-called January 6 Committee.

Vying on your screens, as dramatically presented by the behind-the-scenes media wizards for the role of the put-upon Johnny and the even more put-upon Amber will be, well, every member of the Committee. As you read this, you can be certain that the staffs of the Committee members have been toiling into the wee hours to decide the angle of questioning their bosses will follow if/when given time to question witnesses.

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Ross Wightman, who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome shortly after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, has become one of the first recipients of funds under Canada’s Vaccine Injury Support Program.

But the plight of others who have suffered vaccine injuries weighs heavily on the realtor and former pilot from B.C.’s Okanagan Valley.

Wrightman says he’s “feeling fired up” about the inaction of government and the medical system in recognizing those who have suffered vaccine injuries.

“The longer this goes on the more angry, and completely disheartened I get by the lack of recognition from government officials and doctors that these things are actually happening,” he wrote in a May 31 Facebook post.

“It’s not a coincidence. … There’s one common denominator.”

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Watching President Biden rattle on last night — the White House has posted the transcript here — I thought it was time to get serious about gum control. Yes, it’s time for Biden to quit flapping his gums with the usual dynamics ranging from a whisper to a shout in the deranged old-man style to which we have become accustomed.

Biden himself appeared to have gum control in the back of his mind as he spoke: “For so many of you at home, I want to be very clear: This is not about taking away anyone’s guns. It’s about vili- — not about vilifying gum [sic] — gun owners.” That [sic] was inserted by the official White House Bracketologist, not by me.

Is there anyone among his minders in the daycare operation at the White House who believe he is an effective advocate of any public policy proposal? I think Biden’s statement requires translation. He’s saying: “This is about taking away your guns.”