The New Angst Over Grade Inflation

There are a few rules of life that anyone over 30 understands from experience. Among them is that making challenges easier for your children, your mentees, your employees, and your students will make them less capable of being successful after they’ve gone from your protective shield.

And yet, so many people that should know better continue to believe that lowering educational and other performance standards is a good thing because it will widen the circle of students that make it through school and emerge with diplomas.

The fact is, it is impossible to upgrade to a realm of equality for humanity in any respect. We humans are designed not just to be unequal because of the equipment we are supplied with at birth and the environment (culture) we grow up in, but also because each one of us develops his own point of comfort along the range of competence in any and every endeavor.

Lowering standards does not change the bell curve. At all. It only lowers the achievement levels of everyone on it, from top to bottom.

This article addresses the point with only a minimal understanding of what I’ve just said. But it nevertheless (and perhaps unwittingly) displays the impossibility of ever improving performance by lowering standards.

Big Win!

Good news for my family and all Americans building structures on land that they own. In the last several decades, state and local municipalities have begun to charge such landowners so-called “permitting fees” (cash fees and/or partial land compensation) for building on properties they may have owned for years. In the case in question, a homeowner was charged a permitting fee for an imagined future impact that was neither real nor even planned.

One thing that governments do well is to figure out ways of raising their budgets by inventing new fees and taxes. But this decision was 9 to 0 against that. Click here.

Debates That Work the Way They Are Supposed to Work

The Oxford Union debates have become increasingly popular in recent years because they require the debaters and the audience to follow strict codes of conduct. That discipline creates an actual “safe space” for participants to make their arguments and their rebuttals in a structured way that allows for both sides to fully air their views.

Click here to watch an example: Winston Marshall debating Nancy Pelosi on whether populism is a threat to democracy.

Brilliant. Scary. Crazy.

Meet Victoria Shi

She is a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But she’s not real. She’s AI-generated. In this clip, she introduces herself and explains how she was named, what her role is, and how future audiences can verify her identity.

What she doesn’t tell us is why she was created. And that, it seems to me, is obvious. What could be better in terms of presenting political positions, explaining them, and defending them than a being that is connected to AI? No mistakes. No misunderstandings. Everything programmed for maximum clarity and maximum rhetorical effect.

So, I believe there will be lots of “Victoria Shis” in all our lives in the future. The not-too-distant future. They will be speaking for governments – federal, state, and local. They will be representing non-profit groups and corporations, too. Eventually, they will be speaking for high profile individuals (e.g., movie stars, bestselling authors, and superstar athletes) that want a more “personal” connection to their fans.

We already know from dozens of experiments – not to mention billions of interactions with Siri and Alexa – that the general public will accept them. So there’s nothing to keep it from happening.

Welcome to a brave, new world!

Election Watch 

Do You Know Who Kristi Noem Is? 

She’s the good-looking governor of South Dakota, and has been a top contender for the Trump VP slot. And she’s just published a best-selling memoir – No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.

I don’t read memoirs. But I do read reviews of memoirs. And I’m glad I read this one by Nellie Bowles in the May 3 issue of Free Press, because it contained this wonderful little vignette:

“In her memoir, [Noem] writes about her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, Cricket.

“Cricket really annoyed her. She took Cricket out hunting, and Cricket was useless. ‘I hated that dog,’ she recalls. So when they got back from the not fun pheasant hunt, she took Cricket out back to a gravel pit and shot Cricket dead.

“Seemingly pleased with herself, she then went and found a particularly annoying goat, brought that one over to the gravel pit, and shot the goat dead too. She presents this as life on the farm.

“Now, I have family who farm, and honestly the main thing about their life is how much they love and care for animals. I swear to god they have ten stray cats they’re feeding, and if one of them bites it’s definitely your own fault.

“Farms are not special places where random wirehaired pointer puppy slaughter is approved. It’s not that squeamish city folk just don’t understand what it takes to maintain the heartland. The actual news from this is that ‘Trump insiders’ say Noem is definitely not the VP pick after this freaky little anecdote.”

What do you think?

Health Watch 

Guess What? The Sun IS Good for You – Even for Your Skin! 

Skin cancers are by far the most diagnosed cancers in the United States. And to prevent them, the public is constantly being told to avoid the sun.

I’ve written about this subject many times. In fact, about 20 years ago, a colleague and I – finding it impossible to believe that sunlight, which feels so good on the skin, can be deadly – investigated the scientific literature and published a report that, unfortunately, nobody paid attention to.

Now, decades later, an article by a doctor in Vigilant News corroborates many of the things we had discovered. A few examples:

* While the relatively benign skin cancers are caused by sun exposure, the ones responsible for most skin cancer deaths are due to a lack of sunlight.

* Sunlight is arguably the most important nutrient for the human body. Avoiding it doubles the rate of dying and significantly increases the risk of cancer.

You can read the entire Vigilant News article here.

Election Watch 

Trump’s “Show Trial” in Manhattan: An Embarrassment to the American Justice System? 

From Alex Berenson in the 4/24 issue of Unreported Truths:

Like Trump or dislike him (and as you know, I dislike him), he is neck-and-neck with Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential election. Trying the leader of the opposition party on criminal charges is no small matter in a democracy. It should be reserved for very serious crimes – espionage, for example – with irrefutable evidence.

Read more here.

The End of Western Culture

Hamas, the KKK… and a Bunch of Pro-lifers?

Students for Life of America (SFLA) are weighing legal action after being placed on a database that tracks extremists in the US… and then “quietly” removed from it. “We have every reason to be concerned,” they said. Click here.

Conspiracy Watch 

Could This Be True? Plastic Recycling Is a Fraud?

As an instinctive contrarian, I’ve always had my doubts about Green politics. But I never doubted the wisdom of recycling – and, in particular, that plastic is something that should definitely be recycled.

So I was charged up to get this piece from GM, in which John Stossel explodes one of the biggest myths (lies?) about recycling plastic.

Trends in Wokeness 

Common Sense; Uncommon Candor 

Wesley Hunt and Matt Gaetz speak clearly on gender issues and parents’ rights. Click here.

Health Watch

The CDC Doesn’t Want You to Hear This Conversation 

Liberals call RFK Jr. a conspiracy theorist. Especially when he talks about vaccinations. Here, he is talking about a subject that the CDC and mainstream medicine consider an irresponsible falsehood. Take a listen and see what you think.

The Latest on the Israel-Hamas Front: 
A Proposal Dismissed. Another Suggested and Not Yet Rejected. Will There Ever Be a Two-State Solution?

Iranians at an anti-Israel rally in Tehran 

If there is one thing I’ve learned from researching the Israel-Arab conflict, it is that Arab terrorist groups have never shown any real interest in ending it. Furthermore, as I eventually realized, they have no real interest in a “two-state” solution.

For 70 years, the US and other nations have attempted to negotiate some sort of mutual peace pact. And each time, the Arabs have either rejected the deal outright or officially agreed to a cease-fire… only to use the cease-fire to rearm and attack Israel again.

It’s happened almost too many times to count.

And yet, the US once again finds itself in the same position: trying to solve this centuries-old problem by working with Israel and the Arabs as if both sides were serious about finding peace.

From the WSJ, April 16:

President Biden’s strategy of pressuring Israel and pleading with Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage deal has met one more dead end. Hamas rejected another offer over the weekend, countering with new demands designed to throw negotiations into disarray.

As State Department spokesman Matthew Miller explained, “Israel moved a significant way in submitting that proposal,” but Hamas rejected it. “It is Hamas right now that is the barrier and the obstacle to a cease-fire in Gaza.” The Times of Israel reports that Hamas rejected every clause of the proposal brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar.

Hamas now demands a six-week truce in which it releases no hostages while Israel stops fighting, withdraws from Gaza’s cities, and commits to a permanent cease-fire, a withdrawal from Gaza, and the return of all Palestinians (including Hamas) to northern Gaza. In other words, an Israeli surrender.

Since then, the Biden administration has smartly partnered with Saudi Arabia to try another tactic that is getting, for the moment at least, some hopeful reporting.

I’d like to think this new version of the Two-State Solution might work. But I doubt it. I’m expecting it to become, at best, an idea that will satisfy neither Israel or Hamas (or Iran and its proxies). But if the talks can continue for another six months, it may be enough to help Biden get reelected.

Read more here and here and here.

Denver’s New Plan for Caring for Asylum Seekers 

Migrants in Denver 

Denver is cutting $45 million from city agencies, including the police, to help fund a program to deal with a rise in its illegal immigrant population. That $45 million, plus another +/-$45 million in new spending, will be part of “providing a long-term sustainable solution” to the migrant problem, according to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.

The $90 million Denver Asylum Seekers Program will help migrants secure housing and work authorization for up to six months after they apply for asylum. “Individuals arriving in Denver after April 10 will be provided a short-term stay at a congregate site along with assistance securing onward travel to another destination,” the mayor’s office said in a news release. “Newcomers who choose to remain in Denver may utilize available local and community support.”

Not surprisingly, most of the reporting on this has been positive, as most of the news agencies covering it lean toward the left. Click here and here and here for some examples.

My guess is that the program is going to be a massive failure. It will quickly blow itself up as the number of migrants looking for free health and human services will skyrocket… and I’m betting it will collapse under its own weight before 2025.

Trends in Wokeness

Don’t Believe What McKinsey Has Been Saying

It doesn’t take a master’s degree from Wharton to understand that DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), as a business agenda, makes zero sense.

It’s not because those values are ethically, philosophically, or even inherently misguided. (Although one can argue that they are). It’s because the DEI agenda has nothing to do with product innovation, sales and profit growth, or shareholder value.

And so I was surprised to learn recently that McKinsey & Company has been publishing papers for nearly 10 years (since 2015) claiming that there is a direct correlation between companies that embrace DEI practices and corporate success.

Writing in Taki’s Magazine, Steve Sailer summarizes his research into the methodologies, analysis, and resulting conclusions of those papers, and argues that they were intentionally structured to produce data that were not just statistically inaccurate, but that arrived at conclusions that were polar opposites of what correctly applied statistical analysis would have produced.

Racial, religious, or ethnic discrimination in hiring employees, contracting vendors, pricing products, and maintaining healthy profit margins are all damaging to all businesses, he asserts. And that’s why the most successful investment research companies – despite what some of them say publicly – are leery of investing in companies with a strong DEI culture.

Click here.

Election Watch

Targeting Trump 

In this essay, Taki (of Taki’s Magazine) argues that all but possibly one of the current legal charges against Trump are basically “bills of attainder,” which were expressly forbidden by the framers of the US Constitution.

The End of Western Culture 

Damn Dams!

In December 1997, Steven Tvedten, as a result of a complaint filed by his neighbor with the Department of Environment Quality, a regional government authority, received a letter from that agency giving him six weeks to remove two “unauthorized” and “hazardous” dams from a stream on his property or face prosecution.

Tvedten responded with a letter in which he makes a mockery of the complaint and refuses to comply on behalf of the beavers that had built the two dams. The case made the news and was quickly dropped.

You can read Tvedten’s brilliantly written letter here.

Health Watch 

There Are More Viruses Than Stars in the Sky

“Viruses are everywhere,” says Dr. Toby Rogers in a recent essay on the National Geographic website. “There are a quadrillion times a quadrillion individual viruses on Earth – 100 million times more viruses on Earth than there are stars in the sky.”

But, contrary to popular belief, viruses as a class are surprisingly bad at killing us. Of those quadrillion-times-a-quadrillion individual viruses on Earth, he points out, only about 200 of them contribute to disease in humans. The rest “function as a sort of divine scratch pad for working out new models of life.”

Election Watch 

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Kennedy? 

I’ve wondered which party JFK Jr.’s independent campaign will hurt the most. If you can judge by the response to it, it’s the Democrats, says Bill Bonner in the April 9 issue of Bonner Private Research. The Dems, he says, “have created a $100 million war chest to stop Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They’ve also refused Secret Service protection, perhaps hoping that the problem will take care of itself. But just in case it doesn’t…

From Politico:

A billboard truck paid for by the DNC has been circling Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events. Protesters picketed his vice-presidential announcement rally.

From New York Magazine:

Simultaneously, former Biden deputy campaign manager Pete Kavanaugh launched Clear Choice, a super-PAC whose goal is to help liberals coordinate their efforts to minimize third-party candidates’ political influence by the fall.

Bonner continues:

“Were Kennedy to succeed in reducing the reach of the federal government, balancing the budget and bringing the troops home… it would be a remarkable – almost superhuman – achievement.

“The whole country would change… and we would have to change with it. We’d have to abandon our cynicism. We’d have to put on a happy face, from dour to delighted… and change our outlook, from negative to positive.

“For better or for worse, we doubt we’ll be called upon to make those changes. America’s drift – towards a decrepit, dysfunctional, and corrupt empire – is not likely to be stopped by RFK Jr. or Donald J. Trump. Why? There are too many powerful groups that don’t want it to be stopped.”

Michelle Obama Is Popular, but Not That Popular

Given concerns about Biden’s age, Michelle Obama has been repeatedly floated by some pundits as a potential Democratic alternative to Biden. But a new poll from J.L. Partners and The Daily Mail suggests she would fare no better against Trump in a head-to-head matchup. The survey of 1,000 likely voters found that 47% would back Trump in a race against the former first lady, who secured 44%. Trump led Biden by a narrower 46% to 43% spread in the same poll.

This is not surprising. As I’ve said before, if the Democrats wanted to assure a victory in November, it would be Gavin Newsom for president and Michelle Obama for VP.

A Rare Win for Election Integrity

A federal appeals court has just ruled that mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania have to be dated in order to be considered valid. Click here.

Trends in Wokeness

Are Right-to-Die Activists Making Suicide Contagious? 

State-assisted euthanasia is a trend that is growing. And studies have shown that when countries legalize suicide, the number of people that take that option increases significantly over time.

As someone who has experienced severe depression and anxiety, I’m 100% sympathetic to anyone who chooses death over living in extreme pain. But I do find the rate at which euthanasia climbs when it’s legally (and perhaps socially) sanctioned disturbing.

The uptrend is similar to the uptrend in people with gender dysphoria that choose to “transition.” On the one hand, I think, “They are adults. They have the right to decide what to do with their lives.” On the other hand, I think, “Surely, some of these people are making these irreversible decisions based not on unbearable pain, but in order to feel, at least momentarily, socially significant.”

Click here to read a thought-provoking article from a recent issue of The Free Press.

The End of Western Culture

Trespassers Welcome

I’m not sure why, but in the last year, I’ve read a lot of stories about how the law protects squatters. In this clip, John Stossel makes the point that they are not only legally able to stay in a place without paying rent but feel entitled to do it.

And what are our lawmakers doing about this problem?

* Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) blasted the woke notion of “squatter’s rights” during an interview last week where he again went against the grain in his party by signaling support for law enforcement. Click here.

* In Florida, Gov. DeSantis signed legislation to end what he calls “the Squatters Scam” in his state. Click here.

* In New York, a State Assemblyman from Long Island filed a bill that would make it easier for a homeowner to remove a squatter from the property. Click here.

Conspiracy Watch 

Was the Bridge Collapse Sabotage? 

After a cargo ship took down the Francis Scott Key bridge in Twin Tower fashion last week, I was not entirely surprised to learn that some people wondered if it was a planned event. I even read a few pieces that got me wondering. But then, thanks to GM, I read this take on what happened that was written by a certified master helmsman with lots of port transit time. I found it convincing:

“The ship in question is the MV Dali. The Dali has a fixed pitch prop, meaning the ship cannot go in reverse. She has an electric bow thruster, but that only really works at slow speeds and requires electrical power.

“The videos show the ship losing power and engines as it approaches the bridge. When the power goes out on a ship like that, the hydraulics that control the rudder stop working.

“After losing power, the helmsman likely turned the wheel all the way over to starboard in a futile effort to steer as the ship was drifting out of alignment. The rudders did not respond due to the power-outage. Then suddenly the engine (or auxiliary generator) kicks back on, which is the cause of the black smoke you see. Once the engine kicks back on, the power to the hydraulics is restored and the rudder immediately swings hard to starboard because the wheel is already turned over to that position. It would have taken the helmsman a few seconds to realize what was happening as rudder authority suddenly returns.

“A second ill-timed power-outage seals the fate, leaving the rudders locked hard to starboard just a few seconds too long.

“You can see him try to swing the rudder back over to the port side once he realizes the rudders are working again, but by then it is too late. The rudders on those ships are slow to respond. It can take over 10 seconds for the rudders to swing all the way over from one side to the other.

“I’ve had power-outages like this happen on a warship at sea with far more redundancy than this cargo ship has. Things like this can happen. Even with backup generators running, managing the electrical load on a ship like this is complex. It would have taken the engineers some time to figure out how to address an outage. As you can see from the video, the outages did not last long. They just happened at the worst possible time.

“There is no conspiracy.

“I would need to see some proof of sabotage before I believed this was planned. Killing the power also means killing the ability to steer. If the ship can’t be steered, there’s no way to intentionally aim it at the pier.

“I also see lots of questions about anchors. Anchors need to be manned. They typically can’t just be dropped by the push of a button. Further, it’s unlikely that even if they did have the anchors manned and managed to drop them that it would have managed to stop the ship in time. I doubt the captain even thought about it. I’m sure he was more concerned about keeping the ship on course. This all happens in just seconds. It’s easy to Monday-morning-quarterback this.”

Health Watch 

I Was Way Ahead of My Peers…

When I was in my mid-forties and most of my friends and colleagues were wearing glasses, I wasn’t. I felt proud of that and mentioned it to my doctor.

“You are in a very small club,” he said. “More than 90% of people your age are already using glasses.”

“Does that mean I might never need them?” I asked.

“No,” he said smiling. “You’ll be wearing glasses in about 12 to 18 months.”

That shocked me. But this graphic on eyesight (and hearing) made it easier to understand.

Authentic Autism, or Aspirational Asperger’s?

From Steven Tucker, writing in Taki’s Magazine:

“Apparently, the current psychological condition du jour is autism, according to a new report from a pair of London clinicians… which warns that, since 1998, there has been a ninefold increase in autism diagnoses across the UK.

“Do many such new patients genuinely have autism, however, or have they just been groomed to think they have, thereby stealing away scarce medical resources from those genuine sufferers who actually need it?”

Read more here.

Trends in Wokeness 

The Trump Camp and the White House Clash Over… Now What?

In 2021, Joe Biden proclaimed March 31 “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Because the date unfortunately overlapped with Easter Sunday in 2024, he is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for this “years-long assault on the Christian faith.” Click here.

The End of Western Culture 

Disparate Impact: Do You Know What That Means?

In this essay, conservative political commentator Heather Mac Donald bravely articulates the facts about the concept of “disparate impact” and how it this seemingly innocuous phrase represents a way of thinking that is fast diminishing the requirements and standards of virtually every educational and professional association in America.

It’s impossible to read her argument without wondering: Can lowering our standards for achievement in academia, the professions, and business possibly make America a better, stronger, and wealthier country?

Health Watch 

A Persuasive Argument for Vitamin D Supplementation

I’ve been following Dr. John Campbell for quite a while. He’s always struck me as reasonable, restrained, and believable. In this short but informative video, he talks about how good levels of Vitamin D can protect people from all sorts of health dangers, including some forms of cancer and all sorts of viruses, including COVID-19.

As to Vaccines, Texans Are Pro-Choice!

The Texas GOP polled more than 2 million voters in their March 12 primary, asking if they thought they should be free “to give or withhold consent for any vaccine without coercion.” 91.7% said yes and 8.43% said no.

Trends in Wokeness

Trudeau’s Canada Just Keeps Getting Woker and Woker! 

Tell me this is a hoax:

Bill C-6, a new law proposed by Trudeau’s party, will make any crime designated as a “hate crime” punishable by life imprisonment.

Here’s the language:

“Everyone who commits an offense under this act or any other act of Parliament, if the commission of the offense is motivated by hatred based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, color, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for life.”

It gets scarier. Another provision offers cash rewards to Canadians that anonymously snitch on their neighbors:

“It [C-6 bill] allows someone to make a complaint of a discrimination anonymously… if that hateful complaint is found legit, a maximum of 20,000 [Canadian] dollars goes to that person.”

Someone Among the COVID Skeptics Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize This Year: 3 Reasons

I promised to publish my “controversial” essays as Special Issues. And I am working on several of them right now. But last week, I found this little list somewhere (maybe on The Vigilant Fox website), and I felt compelled to reproduce it here. (Note to self: Keep record of all sources!) Knowing my longstanding views on COVID, the lockdowns, and the vaccines, it won’t surprise you to know that I agree with the points made below. 

Why someone involved in battling against the worldwide governmental response to the COVID insanity should receive the Nobel Peace Prize:

1. Stood up against the most egregious assault on human rights and civil liberties in modern history.

This included violations of bodily integrity and informed consent, the spread of a surveillance state, the closure of small businesses, and the dehumanization of people who wanted to be left alone.

2. Displayed great courage and made significant sacrifices to stand up for essential human values.

Previous Peace Prize recipients “typically paid a heavy personal price for their defense of human, women’s, and children’s rights.” COVID dissidents lost jobs, doctors who did not conform had their licenses threatened or taken away, and many lost lifetime relations with loved ones for not going along with the narrative.

3. Created supportive communities, took matters into their own hands, and overcame censorship in the face of tyranny.

* COVID-19 necessitated the emergence of citizen journalism, where regular people with full-time jobs dedicated their free time to covering the other side of the story, a.k.a. the truth.

* Others created and bolstered spaces for dissenters to coalesce. Platforms like Rumble and Telegram allowed citizen journalists to grow a following. And later on, Twitter unbanned accounts from the COVID resistance.

* And then there are the people who took to the streets, who deserve all the praise in the world. In [our] opinion, the Freedom Convoy will go down as one of the most important demonstrations in history. The efforts of the truckers and their allies almost single-handedly swung public favor against despotic vax mandates.

As such, “There should be no shortage of potential candidates for the Peace Prize to recognize their brave efforts to keep the flame of freedom flying through these dark times.”