Hometown Newspaper For The Free World
PJ O’Rourke, famed conservative commentator, has passed away. No news yet on the cause of death. More to follow:
I’m afraid it’s true. Our panelist and my dear friend PJ O’Rourke has passed away. More later.
— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 15, 2022
The Minnesota Senate Republicans are hoping to pass a bill that would make public school curricula more transparent to parents, and also equip parents to be able to challenge the schools when they find issue with what the schools are teaching. In many school districts, especially over the last ten years, what was once openly available, even online, is now behind firewalls. Parents must file a FOIA request to see their own school’s curriculum. What do the schools have to hide from us?
The push for more transparency and accountability is only going to increase across this country as more and more parents are coming to realize just how militant our own government schools have been in attempting to create revolutionaries and activists cut in the party’s image (the DNC) rather than equip people to build lives of their own choosing within an American republican reality, a Constitutional republic that affords its citizens the primary source of government power, even guaranteeing their right to bear arms should the state fail to recognize who the real government is (not the experts, not the elected officials, not the bureaucrats, the people, who have rights, even when they are in the minority).
Senate GOP bills would change how Minnesota teachers disclose curriculum to parents
From minnesotareformer.com
2022-02-14 19:52:22
Excerpt:
Minnesota Senate Republicans on Monday unveiled a series of bills they say would empower parents to review and object to school curriculum.
Four GOP lawmakers, including two running for governor, said they want to enshrine in state law the principle that a parent has a right to direct their child’s education.
“Parents know what’s best for their kids in their education,” state Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said during a news conference. The former majority leader is seeking his party’s endorsement for governor.
“Let’s make a syllabus available in every classroom in Minnesota,” said state Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, who is also running for governor.
Details about the proposals were scarce. Under current state law, school districts have to provide instructional materials for parents’ review upon request, as well as “alternative instruction” if parents object to the content.
“You’re getting down in the…
Many Americans across this country are experiencing dramatic spikes in their electric heating bills this winter, and you can thank Joe Biden and the DNC for that. Their efforts to shut down major American natural gas projects like the Keystone Pipeline are the most significant factor for your spike in your heating bills this winter.
As usual, DNC policy is created by isolated, sheltered experts in sterile rooms, who never have to live the consequence of the high moral choices they suppose they are making for the rest of us.
The spike in natural gas prices because of Biden’s almost seemingly intentional crippling of American energy independence capacity comes at a time when all of the trillions of dollars this administration has printed is now producing 40-year-high levels of inflation. 80 million people can’t be wrong, can they?
Dems’ tragic climate policy caused skyrocketing energy bills
From nypost.com
2022-02-14 21:47:12
Joe Borelli
Excerpt:
My January electric bill is up about 40% from last year, which itself was about 20% higher than it was in 2020. Before you ask: No, I didn’t invest in any new Christmas lights; nor did I suddenly start mining bitcoin. In fact, my Con Edison bill conveniently points out I used slightly less power this year.
It turns out I am just one of millions of middle-class schlubs in New York whose wallets are lighter this winter thanks to the Democratic Party’s catastrophic climate policy — and my humble 40% increase is nowhere near some of the triple-digit horror stories out there.
If you listen to Con Ed, the spike in your bill is a direct consequence of the rising cost of acquiring natural gas, due to its global supply and demand. The past few months, the commodity price has hovered between $4.00 and $6.00/MMBtu, which are averages we haven’t seen since the 2008 financial crisis.
It would be criminal not to mention that President Joe Biden scrapping…
The Texas Attorney General is going after Facebook in the courts over its handling of user privacy data connected to a facial scan. The AG, Ken Paxton, is alleging that Facebook collected the user data without permission. He filed the lawsuit this past Monday, February 15th. This lawsuit is one of a myriad of ways that Facebook and other international social media giants are facing from multiple US and other national governments as well. This is a battle between the new power and the old, as the old still needs the new power, but they need to clip their wings. However, the new power is far from vanquished, though I’d reckon its days were still numbered.
Texas Sues Facebook’s Parent Meta Over Facial Recognition Data
From www.nytimes.com
2022-02-14 19:42:42
Cecilia Kang
Excerpt:
The Texas attorney general on Monday filed a privacy lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, for allegedly collecting facial recognition data without the clear permission of users.
Ken Paxton, the attorney general, said the social network violated a state consumer protection law by repeatedly capturing and commercializing biometric data in photos and videos for more than a decade without the informed consent of users. He said the company also shared the data with third parties and failed to destroy the information in a reasonable time.
“Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement. “This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices, and it must stop. I will continue to fight for Texans’ privacy and security.”
The lawsuit adds to Meta’s legal battles as local and national regulators take aim…
Russia’s North Korean construction workers are being treated like virtual slaves by their own government handlers, and the Russians are continuing to benefit from this coerced labor. Around 20,000 North Koreans work as virtual slaves so the regime can get the cash from the Russians who are willing to pay for this slave labor.
North Koreans in Russia ordered to work in groups so they can’t escape — Radio Free Asia
From www.rfa.org
2022-02-14 21:20:02
Excerpt:
North Korean construction workers in Russia are being prohibited by their government back home from taking on small-scale side jobs, a policy change designed to prevent them from escaping, sources in Russia told RFA.
An estimated 20,000 North Koreans have been dispatched by their government to Russia to earn foreign cash for the regime. The government keeps the lion’s share of the wages they earn while abroad.
After several North Koreans disappeared while working apart from their handlers in mid-January, authorities gave the order that side jobs are no longer allowed. A Russian citizen of Korean descent from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East that authorities fear the workers will become “ideologically lax.”
“Since January, North Korean workers here in Russia have not been able to take on any individual small-scale contract work,” the source told RFA’s Korean Service on Feb. 9.
“From now on, all workers must work in groups of 10…
From www.express.co.uk
2022-02-14 18:36:44
Excerpt:
French research minister Frédérique Vidal echoed the position of EU negotiators position and said Britain cannot take part in Horizon Europe until it resolves its Brexit disputes with the bloc. This is despite Britain’s participation in the EU’s key research and innovation project being a feature of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Ms Vidal said: “The association of a third country requires mutual trust between the parties and, of course, we expect the UK to demonstrate its willingness to cooperate on other ongoing discussions.”
Her comments come after Mr Macron snatched up the rotating presidency of the EU Council until June.
But the French President is yet to admit Britain back into the programme after it was banned.
Antoine Petit, chair and chief executive of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has torn apart the decision.
He said: “It’s a punishment for all of us, it’s a punishment for Europe.
Western Megadrought Worsens To Driest In At Least 1,200 Years
From www.huffpost.com
2022-02-14 19:51:29
Excerpt:
The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.
A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought passed the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.
“Climate change is changing the baseline conditions toward a drier, gradually drier state in the West and that means the worst-case scenario keeps getting worse,” said study lead author Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA. “This is right in line with what people were thinking of in the 1900s as a worst-case scenario. But today I think we need to be even preparing…
Ex-Sudan official detained as 2 killed in anti-coup protests – Las Vegas Sun
From lasvegassun.com
2022-02-14 19:38:00
Excerpt:
Sudan’s military authorities have arrested a former senior government official a second time, his party said, and at least two demonstrators were killed as thousands once again took to the streets around the country Monday to protest an October military coup.
The Unionist Alliance party said Mohammed al-Faki Suliman, a former member of the ruling Sovereign Council, was detained Sunday in the capital of Khartoum. It said security forces stopped his vehicle as he was heading from his home to the party’s headquarters.
UK to send military personnel to Lithuania
From www.plenglish.com
2022-02-14 20:17:08
Excerpt:
As reported by the British Ministry of Defense through the social network Twitter, the military will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the Lithuanian armed forces and will help them increase their response capacity in the face of pressure on the border with Belarus.
Although it did not offer details on the number of British troops that will be deployed, Defense Minister Ben Wallace assured that London and Vilnius share concerns about the accumulation of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and about the migratory crisis that is brewing, he said, on the Lithuanian-Belarusian dividing line.
The United Kingdom, the United States and other Western countries accuse Russia of wanting to invade Ukraine because the Ukrainian government applied for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Moscow categorically opposes NATO expansion into Eastern Europe as a threat to its national security, and maintains more than 100,000 troops…
