A few days ago, University Presidents of Harvard, Penn St, and MIT were brought before Congress and grilled on anti-Semitism at their schools. Under oath, they dodged, ducked, and avoided straight answers. Worst of the bunch was Penn State President Liz Magill, who reportedly smirked at the questioners.

It seems as if Liz has backtracked now, saying that killing and the holocaust are unacceptable. Could this change of heart be because the Penn State, Wharton Business School has demanded her resignation? Or perhaps because Businessman Ross Stevens, who recently gifted Penn State with $100 million, has demanded his money back, or Magill gone?

If forced out, it would be one baby step in the right direction, in my opinion. Not only should she be given the boot, but every professor, teaching graduate, and every student screaming the “From the river to the sea,” the anti-Jewish terrorist chant, needs to be introduced to the wonderful world of a McDonalds employee.

Colleges and Universities in America have been a breeding ground for anti-Semitism. This has spread down to High Schools, as seen by the arrest of a 13-year-old boy in Canton, Ohio, who laid out plans to commit a mass shooting at the Temple Israel in that city. These kids are pawns for leftist professors and administrators, which is why they must be removed from any position where they can infect their hatred to others.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, it has been reported Hamas fighters have begun surrendering. Only about 120 so far, but though that sounds like a small number, these are men sworn to fight and die for Allah. They are voicing displeasure, it’s said, with their leaders hiding in a bunker deep underground while their people are dying in large numbers in the streets above. This may be the start of the end for Hamas, in wars when small numbers begin quitting others tend to follow but we will have to wait to see if this happens.

Keep in mind nothing will change anywhere until we remove leftists from positions of power everywhere, from local town officials all the way up to the US Congress and President. MAGA, vote for Trump in 2024

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Here’s a quick decline of the American culture update. “In Fairfax County, Virginia, during the swearing-in ceremony, school board member Karl Frisch opted for a stack of books portraying explicit content and immoral behavior.”

I guess we could say that, at the very least, he’s standing up for or behind (perhaps with his pants down) his “convictions. And I’m willing to bet that it is an oath (to the books, at least) he will actually keep.

In Fairfax County, Virginia, during the swearing-in ceremony, school board member Karl Frisch opted for a stack of books portraying explicit content and immoral behavior instead of a Bible.

This choice reflects an attempt to normalize inappropriate behavior and challenge the… pic.twitter.com/eYWUM7c6T0

— I Meme Therefore I Am (@ImMeme0) December 14, 2023

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The Legislative Beer Caucus is hoping to sit down with all major presidential candidates over beers and have some serious, substantive discussions about NH PRIMARY  issues. And also have fun – starting with Chris Christie on Wednesday in Portsmouth.

December 15, 2024
CONTACT: Todd Cheewing
(todd.cheewing@gmail.com)

FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE SLATED FOR BEER CAUCUS LEGISLATIVE FORUM AT SEA DOG BREWERY IN EXETER ON DECEMBER 20

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Former New Jersey Governor and current Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie will be the featured guest at a legislative forum (at the Sea Dog Brewery in Exeter) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 20th.

The event marks the return of the popular “Legislative Beer Caucus Founders Happy Hour” political confab. The Beer Caucus is an informal group of several dozen current and former New Hampshire legislators who socialize and network while addressing important Granite State issues.

The “Happy Hours” were started in 2020 by the Beer Caucus Founders during the COVID pandemic as on-line zoom events allowing GOP candidates to share perspectives and positions while concurrently enjoying libations. Hundreds of voters registered to watch these interactive events where significant and substantive issues were addressed in a format that also allowed for humorous and relaxed interaction.

The four Beer Caucus Founders include District 2 State Senator Tim Lang (Chair, Senate Ways and Means Committee), District 17 State Senator Howard Pearl (Chair, Senate Committee on Executive Departments and Administration), Merrimack District 4 State Representative Mike Moffett (Chair, House Committee on State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs) and the Honorable Reed Panisiti, former House Assistant Floor Leader. The December 20th event will be a hybrid affair, meaning that this time the Happy Hour will include a live audience as well as the on-line option.

“Elected officials have long connected informally over beers to communicate and figure out how to get things done,” explained Lang. “Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill for instance. We’re excited to engage Governor Christie and are very pleased to have him find time for us.”

The Happy Hours conclude with the popular “Lightning Round” where the candidates are given a succession of “either/or” options to respond to.

To watch on-line via “Zoom” voters can go to
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83234382709?pwd=bkNsRGFqYWJ1U2RBS1JudDB5MHFCQT09
Meeting ID: 832 3438 2709, Passcode: 685611

Voters can email suggested candidate queries to timothy.lang@leg.state.nh.us.

#####

‘GrokNote: ( … ) Changed from original to reflect a venue change after the press release was issued.

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In advance of a holiday season that could see record numbers of ancestry kits given as gifts, The Rutherford Institute is cautioning the public about the significant privacy risks associated with corporations, government agencies, and hackers possibly gaining access to one’s familial DNA.

As the Institute’s investigative report “We’re All Suspects in a DNA Lineup, Waiting to be Matched with a Crime” explains, a DNA print reveals everything about who we are, where we come from, and who we will be. By submitting one’s DNA to a genealogical database, individuals risk the police, corporations, and hackers potentially gaining access to the genetic makeup, relationships, and health profiles of every relative—past, present, and future—in their family, whether or not they ever agreed to be part of such a database. The Institute’s warning comes in the wake of reports that hackers may have gained access to the ancestry data of 6.9 million people through one of the leading genealogical sites.

“The debate over genetic privacy—and when one’s DNA becomes a public commodity outside the protection of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on warrantless searches and seizures—is really only beginning,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “No longer can we consider ourselves innocent until proven guilty. Now we are all suspects in a DNA lineup waiting to be matched up with a crime.”

Police have used ancestry databases to solve cold cases that have remained unsolved for decades. Anyone who comes up as a possible DNA match—including distant family members—can suddenly become part of a circle of suspects that must be tracked, investigated, and ruled out. Although a number of states had forbidden police from using government databases to track family members of suspects, the genealogy websites could provide a loophole for law enforcement. For instance, in 2018, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo was flagged as the notorious “Golden State Killer” through the use of familial DNA, which allows police to match up an unknown suspect’s crime scene DNA with that of any family members in a genealogy database. Police were able to identify DeAngelo using the DNA of a distant cousin found in a public DNA database. A few states have started introducing legislation to restrict when and how police use these genealogical databases, with Maryland requiring that they can only be used for serious violent crimes such as murder and rape, only after they exhaust other investigatory methods, and only under the supervision of a judge.

Tens of millions of people have added their DNA to genealogical databases in recent years. Public, commercial DNA databases have grown so massive that they can be used to find you even if you’ve never shared your own DNA. One genealogy profile can lead to as many as 300 other people. All 50 states also maintain their own DNA databases, in addition to CODIS, the FBI’s massive DNA database. As part of the government’s mandatory genetic screening of newborns, some hospitals also take and store newborn babies’ DNA, often without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

| Rutherford Institute

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I have wonderful, fond childhood memories of Christmastime in Boston. It was a magical place in the 60s. Driving along the city streets was a kaleidoscope of lights and colors, as was the Boston Common. The window displays at Filene’s were masterful, and we were always in awe of the Enchanted Village at Jordan Marsh.

The holiday season always ended with a trip to Boston Garden for the Ice Capades. Only now do I realize what my folks must have sacrificed to give me and my sisters those memories? Apparently, the folks in charge of Boston these days do not share my memories or spirit for the holidays. The Presidents of some of Boston’s finest colleges cannot denounce antisemitism and then dare to show up at a Minorah lighting standing next to Jewish students they fail to protect.

The Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, comes from a Chinese lineage and is the first Asian woman to serve on the City Council and as Beantown’s Mayor. Wu was educated at Harvard, which may explain her role in an incredibly Racist, albeit stupid, incident that happened this week at City Hall.

Related: Busted in Boston – All The Racist Wu’s Down in Wu-ville!

Wu sparked controversy after mistakenly inviting all councilors to an “electeds of color” holiday party. The invitation was erroneously sent to all council members, and when the oversight was discovered, the White council members were sent an Un-Invitation. Whites were not welcome at Michelle Wu’s party. Wu claims it was an honest mistake that the invitation was sent to all members. Talk about compounding a disastrous lack of judgment and a stupid idea to begin with.

I apologize for the second use of the term stupid, but I cannot use any of the colloquialisms of the gutter that I would like to use to describe this entire incident. No, Michelle, the mistake was not the list of invitees but the idea of an Electeds of Color Holiday Party at all. Whoever had that original thought should resign or be fired immediately, including Michelle Wu. This Whites Need Not Attend Party is one of the most offensive ideas and actions I have ever seen by a politician, and there have been many others.

It amazes me that 160 years after the Civil War, we still get mired in incidents of Racism, and when anything excludes people of any color, in this case, White, then it is Racism. In the words of our illustrious Press Secretary, Karine Jeanne-Pierre, “full stop.”

Michelle Wu should be holding up her status as the first Asian Mayor of Boston as a testament to how far the American people have come to be color-blind to Race, Sex, and Color. But not Wu. She had to play identity politics with something so joyous as a Holiday Party, use the worst card in her deck, the Race Card, and turn a party into a national embarrassment.

I was fortunate for two things early on in my life. When my family traveled South every year in the sixties and seventies, I saw first the restrooms, water bubblers, and building entrances designated for Whites and Blacks. I also saw the evolution of Civil Rights and the elimination of these designations, and the mingling of Whites and Blacks in all walks of life. I had parents who didn’t turn our heads away from social injustices but taught us why they were wrong and how we could be better people to never see the world as Black and White. I was raised to be color-blind, and unfortunately, Michele Wu did not have the benefit of the same teachings from her parents.

This has not been a good week for Boston. Mayor Wu and Harvard President Gay have shown how ungrateful they are for the opportunity afforded them by living in the greatest, most diverse country on Earth. They have set Civil Rights back decades—shame on both of these women and on anyone who condones their actions or turns away from their responsibility to hold people like them accountable. To do so is to lower the bar on what is right and wrong with humanity.

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I’ve been participating in an email thread where the main idea is more or less that ‘special education is ruining everything’ in schools.

The craziness that has evolved around special education is certainly not helping.  But I believe the problems we’re seeing in schools are mainly the symptoms of using the wrong tool for the job.

Confucius said that the first step towards wisdom is to call things by their right names, i.e., to use the right words.

I think this is a special case of a more general idea: The first step toward success in any endeavor is to use the right tools.

School is the right tool for one well-defined task: If you have a bunch of people who (regardless of age) are ready to learn the same material (which includes intellectual readiness, behavioral readiness, and motivation), then it can be very efficient to have them synchronously share instruction in that material.

(Having said that, it used to be the case that school was where you could find the highest-quality instruction available in an area. That is no longer the case. In fact, it’s often the opposite — a kid who goes to school has access to lower-quality instruction than he could get at home, over the Internet.)

Here are some tasks for which school is not the right tool:

• Daycare
• Therapy
• Nutrition
• Transportation
• Hobbies
• Social development (SEL)
• Moral and spiritual development
• Political indoctrination (CRT, DEI)

And yet, those are the tasks where schools spend almost all their time and effort (and our money). If a school is a hammer, then what we are doing with that hammer at various times corresponds to

(1) treating everything as a nail, or

(2) assuming that if a hammer is good for driving nails, it must also be good for cutting wood, drilling holes, driving screws, grabbing items firmly, applying paint, tightening bolts, clamping items together, measuring distances and angles, and so on.

All of which is to say, by using schools to do things for which schools are not suited, we

(1) make it inevitable that we will do a terrible job at all the secondary tasks and,

(2) make it impossible to do a competent job at the primary task.

The only winners in this approach are the makers and sellers of the hammers.

But suppose we made ‘public schools’ into public schools, i.e., schools open to all members of the public, who can come to learn what’s being taught if they want to and if they are ready to.

That would free teachers to actually teach students who want to learn.  And it would allow all those other needs — like therapy — to be addressed through other more specialized, more efficient, and more competent channels — the right tools for those jobs.

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