History – KMZ Digest

How COVID-19 Changed College Athletic Recruiting

itsme — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:57:40 +0000

Hoboken High School in Hoboken, New Jersey (Photo/Luigi Novi -Wikimedia Commons)

By Nicole McNulty

April 19, 2021

ARCELIA MARTIN, HOST: On average only about 6% of high school athletes go on to play sports in college. In a normal year, graduating seniors would be signed to their college teams by now. But COVID has disrupted this cycle. Nicole McNulty explores what that means for kids hoping to play sports in college.

NICOLE MCNULTY, BYLINE: Tyler Sims has been playing basketball since he was 9 years old. And like a lot of kids.

TYLER SIMS: My dream school is definitely Duke University. You know, I’ve been watching them since I was little. That’s my favorite basketball team.

MCNULTY: That would be tough enough any year. But with the pandemic it’s even harder. Tyler is a 17-year-old senior guard on the Hoboken High School boys varsity basketball team. Normally, coaches would be in the stands watching him play. But this year, they can’t watch in person. So his only way to get in front of them is his highlight reel. He had to make it himself. His friend filmed it. Here’s a clip of him making a layup in his red Number 2 jersey.

TAPE: [Basketball game.]

MCNULTY: Highlight tapes were always a part of the process – videos players make and send to colleges. But this year, his video might be his only chance. And his season was shorter. He’s played half as many games.

SIMS: I’m nervous, but at the same time, I’m very confident that, um, I’ll be in the hands of the right school. I’m pretty sure that I’ll play college basketball.

MCNULTY: Still, Tyler, like many other kids in the U.S., is now behind the ball. The recruiting process usually looks like this:

TIM NEVIUS: It’s about getting the athlete recognized by a college coach.

MCNULTY: That’s Tim Nevius, a lawyer who works with college athletes on eligibility and other issues.

NEVIUS: And then that coach making contact with them via email, telephone and establishing a connection and then offering a scholarship or a roster spot or admission.

MCNULTY: Nevius says the COVID disruption has created two major problems. One of them is what kids like Tyler are dealing with.

NEVIUS: Because of canceled seasons or postponement or the inability of coaches to travel, the athletes aren’t actually being seen playing their sports as they normally would.

MCNULTY: And the second problem? Overloaded rosters. Because of the pandemic, the NCAA extended college players’ eligibility. Coaches can hold onto their seniors for another year. That means fewer spots for high school hopefuls.

NEVIUS: For the incoming freshmen, then, that means that they’re faced with even a larger roster of juniors and seniors than they otherwise would have been.

MCNULTY: Take Bloomfield College in New Jersey, a Division II school. Gerald Holmes is the basketball coach there. He’s bringing back three of his seniors this fall. That only leaves room for three incoming freshmen. He might be able to take one more, but there’s another problem. This year the rules are more flexible for transfer students. They’re bigger, faster, stronger.

GERALD HOLMES: A lot of coaches would prefer to have a transfer versus a freshman. So, high school kids are taking the brunt of that.

MCNULTY: This year there are many new rules: each sport and division has their own. And the pandemic has changed a lot of them. An already complicated situation is worse — everyone from coaches to parents and students are confused.

HOLMES: It’s almost like the wild, wild west out there.

MCNULTY: For high school athletes, it’s a struggle to stand out. Holmes says he gets at least 100 emails a day from recruiting services and high school players. He agrees, the ripples of COVID are going to be felt in the recruiting process for years.

HOLMES: In reality, this is going to be a full cycle of four years, is going to be because a kid who is a freshman for me this year is still a freshman next year.

MCNULTY: The rules say that if a college player’s season was disrupted by COVID, they can play an extra year. As for Tyler, the 17-year-old in Hoboken, he sent his tape to a few schools. But no one knows when he’ll find out for sure about making a team. If he doesn’t get in this year, he’ll wait, keep training and try again next year.

Nicole McNulty, Columbia Radio News.

columbianewsservice.com/2021/04/19/how-covid-19-changed-college-athletic-recruiting

This story first aired on Uptown Radio.

About the author(s)

Nicole McNulty

Nicole McNulty is an audio journalist based in New York. She was born in Texas and spent her adolescence in Germany and Colorado. After traveling in her van for two years she now calls the city home. Her freelance print work can be found in The Boulder Weekly, The City Weekly and The West Side Rag. Nicole is currently studying at Columbia Journalism School where she’s focusing on crafting audio stories for Uptown Radio. Connect with Nicole on Twitter @nicole_mcnulty and via email nicole.mcnulty@columbia.edu

Not All Heroes Wear Capes2

kim zolotar — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:16:50 +0000

These innovators, scientists, creative thinkers and just regular people all played a pivotal role in helping me live my best life.

Ralph Braun

Wheelchair van pioneer

Ralph Braun

Ralph William Braun (December 18, 1940 – February 8, 2013) was the founder and CEO of the Braun Corporation. He is also known as the “Father of the Mobility Movement” at BraunAbility.

Braun was born and raised in Winamac, Indiana. When he was six years old, doctors diagnosed him with muscular dystrophy. He started using a wheelchair at the age of 14. At the age of 15, he created a motorized wagon with his father to help him get around. Five years later, Braun created a motorized scooter, which he called the Tri-Wheeler, using various parts from his cousin’s farm. Ralph rode the Tri-Wheeler to and from his day job as a Quality Control Manager for a nearby manufacturer. When the facility moved several miles away, he equipped an old mail carrier Jeep with hand controls and a hydraulic tailgate lift, enabling him to drive his Tri-Wheeler in and out of the vehicle unassisted.

In 1970, Dodge introduced the first full-sized, front engine van. Braun retrofitted a Dodge van with a lift and called this new invention the “Lift-A-Way” wheelchair lift. When word spread about this new invention, Braun assembled a team to help fill orders across the nation, all from his parents’ garage. As demand increased, Braun decided to quit his full-time job to focus on his part-time business.

Braun started “Save-A-Step” manufacturing in 1963 to build the first motorized scooter, made from “a lawnmower differential, four big wheelbarrow tires, two 6-volt automotive batteries, makeshift wiring and switches I got from the hardware store, a kitchen chair, and a motor from a 1957 Pontiac kid’s car that I rescued from a mortician’s trash bin”.[6] In 1966 Braun created the first wheelchair accessible vehicle, by creating a wheelchair platform lift and hand controls that were added to an old Post Office Jeep.[6] In 1970, Ralph added wheelchair platform lifts to full-sized vans. “Save-A-Step” was incorporated under a new name, The Braun Corporation, in 1972.

In 1991, Braun introduced its first wheelchair accessible minivan, based on the Dodge Caravan and called the Entervan.[7] In 1999, Braun acquired Crow River Industries, a specialized manufacturer of wheelchair platform lifts. In 2005, Braun acquired IMS of Farmington, NM, a specialized manufacturer of Toyota Sienna wheelchair accessible minivans. In 2006, the Braun Corporation adopted the brand name, BraunAbility, for its personal-use products. In 2011, the Braun Corporation acquired partial ownership in AutoAdapt, a European mobility company. In 2011, the Braun Corporation also acquired Viewpoint Mobility, a small Michigan-based company that specializes in the wheelchair accessible minivans with rear entry.

In May 2012, Braun was named a “champion of change” by U.S. President Barack Obama.

In 1991, the the Braun Entervan was introduced. It was equipped with a ramp and kneel system and removable front seats which allowed the chair user to enter the vehicle independently and drive from their wheelchair.

My disabled sports mom ride

BraunAbility makes vans that have side entry ramps, as well as models with rear entry ramps. Vans are available with powered ramps, or with manual ramps for people on a smaller budget.

Driving from my wheelchair for the past 11 years has been a godsend!

Edwin Binney & C. Harold Smith

wp:image {“id”:6477,”align”:”center”,”className”:”wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized”} –>

Founders of Crayola Crayons

The company was founded as Binney & Smith Company by cousins Edwin Binney and Charles Harold Smith^[6] in New York City in 1885. Initial products were colorants for industrial use, including red iron oxide pigments used in barn paint and carbon black chemicals used for making tires black and extending their useful lifespan.^[7] Binney & Smith’s new process of creating inexpensive black colorants was entered into the chemistry industries competition at the 1900 Paris Exposition under the title “carbon gas blacks, lamp or oil blacks, ‘Peerless’ black” and earned the company a gold medal award in chemical and pharmaceutical arts.^[8][9] Also in 1900, the company added production of slate school pencils. Binney’s experimentation with industrial materials, including slate waste, cement, and talc, led to the invention of the first dustless white chalk, for which the company won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.^[9]

^{Staonal marking crayon 1902}

Initially formed as a partnership, Binney & Smith incorporated in 1902, and in that year Binney & Smith developed and introduced the Staonal marking crayon. Then Edwin Binney, working with his wife, Alice Stead Binney, developed his own famous product line of wax crayons beginning on June 10, 1903,^[10] which it sold under the brand name Crayola. The Crayola name was coined by Alice Binney who was a former schoolteacher. It comes from craie (French for “chalk”) and ola for “oleaginous” or “oily.”^[9][11]

Tom Ross: Remember when Crayola 64 was a status symbol?

The coolest

Of course, the most sought-after status symbol at Charles R. Van Hise Elementary School was a big box of Crayola 64 crayons. I endured a couple of years with boxes of 16 colors and nervously peeled the paper off my purple crayon as other kids leered at me. They were using the in-box sharpener to ready themselves for the day’s map-coloring exercise – “Let me see now, what color should I make Bolivia?

Willis Carrier

Developed the first air conditioning

Engineer Willis Carrier took a job that would result in the invention of the first modern electrical air conditioning unit. While working for the Buffalo Forge Company in 1902, Carrier was tasked with solving a humidity problem that was causing magazine pages to wrinkle at Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn.

Through a series of experiments, Carrier designed a system that controlled humidity using cooling coils and secured a patent for his “Apparatus for Treating Air,” which could either humidify (by heating water) or dehumidify (by cooling water) air. As he continued testing and refining his technology, he also devised and patented an automatic control system for regulating the humidity and temperature of air in textile mills.

It wasn’t long before Carrier realized that humidity control and air conditioning could benefit many other industries, and he eventually broke off from Buffalo Forge, forming Carrier Engineering Corporation with six other engineers.

Without his invention, my life in the Inland Empire would be a lot tougher, especially in the summer.

https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning

Justin Dart, George H.W. Bush & Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

_{^{President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, surrounded by Evan Kemp, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Justin Dart, Chair of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities; Sandra Swift Parrino, Chair of the National Council on Disability; and Rev. Harold Wilke, an ordained minister and disability advocate.}}

Americans with Disabilities Act

July 26, 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA (42 U.S.C. § 12101) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) authored what became the final bill and was its chief sponsor in the Senate. Harkin delivered part of his introduction speech in sign language, saying it was so his deaf brother could understand.

As DREDF attorney and prominent ADA activist and scholar Arlene Mayerson has aptly and eloquently written in her publication:

The History of the Americans with Disabilities Act-A Movement Perspective

“For the first time in the history of our country, or the history of the world, businesses must stop and think about access to people with disabilities. If the ADA means anything, it means that people with disabilities will no longer be out of sight and out of mind. The ADA is based on a basic presumption that people with disabilities want to work and are capable of working, want to be members of their communities and are capable of being members of their communities and that exclusion and segregation cannot be tolerated. Accommodating a person with a disability is no longer a matter of charity but instead a basic issue of civil rights.

While some in the media portray this new era as falling from the sky unannounced, the thousands of men and women in the disability rights movement know that these rights were hard fought for and are long overdue. The ADA is radical only in comparison to a shameful history of outright exclusion and segregation of people with disabilities. From a civil rights perspective the Americans with Disabilities Act is a codification of simple justice.”

Mayerson, Arlene. “The History of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A Movement Perspective.” Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, 1992.

https://dredf.org/about-us/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/

The ADA led to significant improvements in terms of access to public services, accessibility in the built environment, and societal understanding of disability.^[53]

On signing the measure, George H. W. Bush said:

“I know there may have been concerns that the ADA may be too vague or too costly, or may lead endlessly to litigation. But I want to reassure you right now that my administration and the United States Congress have carefully crafted this Act. We’ve all been determined to ensure that it gives flexibility, particularly in terms of the timetable of implementation; and we’ve been committed to containing the costs that may be incurred…. Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.”

Hair straightening visionaries

Straightening irons, straighteners, or flat irons work by breaking down the positive hydrogen bonds found in the hair’s cortex, which cause hair to open, bend and become curly. Once the bonds are broken, hair is prevented from holding its original, natural form, though the hydrogen bonds can re-form if exposed to moisture.

Marcel Grateau

Early hair straightening systems relied on harsh chemicals that tended to damage the hair. In the 1870s, the French hairdresser Marcel Grateau introduced heated metal hair care implements such as hot combs to straighten hair. Madame C.J. Walker used combs with wider teeth and popularized their use together with her system of chemical scalp preparation and straightening lotions.^[3] Her mentor Annie Malone is sometimes said to have patented the hot comb.^[4] Heated metal implements slide more easily through the hair, reducing damage and dryness. Women in the 1960s sometimes used clothing irons to straighten their hair.

Ada Harris

The woman who invented the straight iron was a school teacher from Indianapolis, a woman forgotten by history. A woman named Ada Harris, looking to lose her curls. The first patent for a hair straightening iron was filed on November 3rd, 1893.

In her patent, she wrote, “My invention relates to a hair straightener whose purpose is to straighten curly hair, and is especially of service to; colored people in straightening their hair.”

Unfortunately, Harris never built an empire with her invention attempting to find investors or a company to purchase her patent. She never did anything with her patent for the hair straightener, perhaps because she didn’t have the finances to help develop her invention. But she should be recognized for the effort made to create this tool.

https://www.racked.com/2017/1/4/14014216/hair-straightener-flat-iron-inventor-ada-harris

Isaac K. Shero

In 1809 Isaac K. Shero patented the first hair straightener composed of two flat irons that are heated and pressed together.

Ceramic and electrical straighteners were introduced later, allowing adjustment of heat settings and straightener settings.

Ms. Lady Jennifer Bell Schofield was that person in1912. Big hair was big fashion with big curls in the early 1900s but Lady Schofield was obsessed with straight hair, and when she did not find the appliance she wanted to straighten her hair. She improved on the ideas of Marcel Grateau and Isaac Shero in the early 1900s to make a better straightening iron.

My defiant bangs rely on this the hair straightener almost daily.

Percy Spencer

Microwave Oven

The microwave oven was invented as an accidental by-product of war-time (World War 2) radar research using magnetrons (vacuum tubes that produce microwave radiation, a type of electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength between 1 mm and 30 cm).

_{The Raytheon Radarange being demonstrated in 1946.
Image originally appeared on page 15 of the October 14, 1946 publication of the Press and Sun-Bulletin.}

In 1946, the engineer Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer, who worked for the Raytheon Corporation, was working on magnetrons. One day at work, he had a candy bar in his pocket, and found that it had melted. He realized that the microwaves he was working with had caused it to melt. After experimenting, he realized that microwaves would cook foods quickly – even faster than conventional ovens that cook with heat.

Raytheon, then filed a patent on October 8, 1945 for a microwave cooking oven, eventually named the Radarange. The Raytheon Corporation produced the first commercial microwave oven in 1954; it was called the 1161 Radarange. It was large, expensive, and had a power of 1600 watts.

It wasn’t until 1967 that the first microwave oven that was both relatively affordable ($495) and reasonably sized (counter-top model) became available.

Lean Cuisine microwave entries helped me lose about thirty pounds in high school, so I am a loyal microwave user.

Helene Winterstein-Kambersky

Waterproof mascara

Austrian singer and performer Helene Winterstein Kabersky invented waterproof mascara in the 1930’s, after many attempts at developing mascara and other cosmetics that would not smear or run under hot stage lights.

Helene Winterstein-Kambersky, née Vierthaler (13 March 1900 in Vienna – 12 June 1966 in the Hinterbrühl) was a singer and inventor of the world’s first waterproof mascara.

During her numerous stage performances the stage lights repeatedly made her make-up run an left back black marks under her eyes.

This worrying situation caused her to begin work on the perfect mascara in her own kitchen.

After 2000 failed attempts the first patented waterproof mascara in the world was invented and began a new era of cosmetics designed for eyes.

After about two thousand attempts, she made the patented recipe known far beyond the borders of Austria under the name of La Bella Nussy. Winterstein-Kambersky founded a cosmetics company in 1936, which is still family-owned and produces the recipe almost unchanged.

Justus von Liebig

Powdered baby formula

In an attempt to improve the quality of manufactured baby foods, in 1867, Justus von Liebig developed the world’s first commercial infant formula, Liebig’s Soluble Food for Babies.^[120] The success of this product quickly gave rise to competitors such as Mellin’s Food, Ridge’s Food for Infants and Nestlé‘s Milk.^[121]

Gloria (Campano) Cooper & Charles Cooper

Bradley Cooper Family

Actor Bradley Cooper addresses the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan underway in the Gulf of Oman, July 13, 2009. _{^{U.S. Department of Defense Photo:VIRIN: 158823-L-FDH84-178.jpg}}

Their union produced him.

Advocates for the left-handed population

Dr. Bryng Bryngelson

Dr. Bryng Bryngelson, a University of Minnesota speech pathologist and a pioneer in the study of left-handedness, flatly stated that left-handers tend to be more creative and imaginative. But others credit any creativity and imagination shown by left-handers to their efforts to survive in a right-handed world.

Seattle public schools

Countless left-handers tell of developing neck and shoulder pains from from writing at one-armed right-handed desks in school.

13 years ago, a left-handed student filed a formal complaint with the administration at Bellingham’s Western Washington University saying he had been denied an equal educational opportunity because there were no left-handed desks.

It’s hard to write on these tables.
Go to memesr/memes
nightshade_1612

Seattle schools and local colleges do their best these days to rectify old wrongs.

They buy about 10 percent left-handed desks when they place new orders.

In Seattle Public Schools, they also buy left-handed scissors and left-handed pouring ladles for home-economics classes.

Bud Turner, district physical education coordinator, orders two or three left-handed softball mitts for every 15 purchased, “and the same with golf clubs.”

David Hall, an overseer of space needs for the University of Washington’s capital budget office, says that left-handed desks traditionally have been “segregated” – in the front row, back row or at the ends of rows. No longer. When new classroom seating is designed, left-handed desks are scattered randomly throughout the class.

Back in 1979, when Seattle University undertook the remodeling of its nursing building, a committee sat down to discuss the needs of the handicapped. After the usual provisions for ramps, wide doors and special lavatory equipment, someone asked, “But what about left-handers?”

Result: Seattle U bought 15 left-handed desks and 135 right-handed ones. The school’s public-information director later said it was the first time in his memory that left-handedness had been recognized as a handicap.

Dec 20, 1990

Don “Lefty” Duncan, Don Duncan

Duncan, Don https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19901220&slug=1110557

Left Out — Left-Handers Are Handicapped In This Right-Handed World, But Why? Arm Yourself With These Facts

It’s nothing big. Some of you may not even notice it. But it is SO nice to have a left-handed chair.

Inventor of soft contact lenses

Otto Wichterle

Otto Wichterle (27 October 1913 Prostějov now in the Czech Republic – 18 August 1998) was a Czech chemist known for his invention of modern soft contact lenses in the 1960s.

Czech chemist Otto Wichterle made a huge breakthrough in making the first hydrogel lenses. Together with his colleague Drahoslav Lim, they created a material that absorbed up to 40% water, which was also transparent and could be moulded into a comfortable lens shape. Fun fact: using his son’s toy construction kit, Wichterle produced the first four hydrogel lenses.

Several models of contact lenses (including sketches of the concept by Leonardo da Vinci) preceded Wicherle’s invention. I got contacts when I was 16, over thirty years ago, and they have improved my “vision” of the world immensely!

Drahoslav Lím

Drahoslav Lím (September 30, 1925, in Czechoslovakia – August 22, 2003, in San Diego, California)^[1] was a Czech chemist. He invented polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate, the synthetic material used for soft contact lenses (hydrogel).

Lím worked^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] as a member of the team of Otto Wichterle (the inventor of soft contact lenses) and in 1955, he came up with poly(hydroethyl-acrylate), the material later used for the lenses. This work was later published in Nature^[6] and was the subject of US patents.^[7]^[8] During 1970 to 1974 he worked in Palo Alto, California, improving contact lenses materials and technology.

I’ve worn contacts since high school, so this invention has improved my vision of the world immensely!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_lens

How the ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’ Fable Reveals the Folly of Student Loan Forgiveness

itsme — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:12:37 +0000

Today, instead of Aesop Fables, we have Government Fables.

Michael Heberling

Michael Heberling is the Chair of Leadership Studies in the Baker College MBA program in Flint, Michigan. Prior to this, he was President of Baker’s Center for Graduate Studies for 16 years. Before Baker, Dr. Heberling was a Senior Policy & Business Analyst with the Anteon Corporation. He also had a career in the Air Force retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Dr. Heberling has over 75 business and public policy publications. His research interests focus on leadership, military history and the impact of public policy on the business community. He is a member of the FEE Faculty Network

Reviving the ‘Can-Do’ Spirit Is Key to Recovering from the COVID Years

itsme — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 19:47:28 +0000

Lawrence W. Reed

June 13, 2023

“In life, your attitude determines your altitude,” a wise person once said. I agree. I’ve observed many people with bad attitudes over the years. Without exception, they didn’t amount to much until they fixed their attitude problem.

A bad attitude manifests in multiple forms: Arrogance. Dishonesty. A sense of entitlement. A thirst for power. Laziness. Pessimism and negativity. Cheerlessness. Jealousy. Defeatism. Disrespect for other people’s rights, choices, and property.

After three years of destructive Covid policies—from lockdowns to mask mandates—some are finding it challenging to get their engines going again. That’s perfectly understandable, given what many have endured including illness and death among friends and family to serious financial losses. Let’s not trivialize any of that but at the same time, let’s note that a bad attitude is a hindrance to recovery and progress. This short 1905 poem titled Thinking by Walter Wintle offers a few keen observations:

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
It begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are;

You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

Americans have been body-slammed before but we’ve always bounced back. The agony of the pandemic is Sunday school compared to the hardships of Valley Forge, the crucible of the Civil War, the injustices of slavery and Jim Crow, the heartbreak of the Great Depression, or the existential threat of World War II.

Even some past health crises were proportionally worse than Covid. The 1793 yellow fever epidemic claimed about 10 percent of the citizens of Philadelphia and forced President Washington and his Cabinet to move to nearby Germantown. The Spanish Flu of 1918-19 killed half a million Americans when the country’s population was less than a third of today’s.

Many Covid measures were clearly counterproductive and even deadly. “Progressive” Governors in New York, Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey forcing nursing homes to accept Covid-19 patients is Exhibit A. We must learn from the experience and insist that nothing like it happens again.

What we traditionally refer to as a “can-do” spirit, so vital to the country’s past success, must be front-and-center again. Its magic is evidence of personal character as well as the political and economic liberty in which we can put that character to work. Nations that suppress the can-do spirit are plagued with endless, intractable problems from poverty to poor health to lousy government.

If you think things are tough here, take inspiration from courageous Ukrainians. They are taking the can-do spirit to the next level, will-do, under the most difficult of situations.

To walk away from any challenge would be an unthinkable forsaking of our ancestors who bequeathed us so much. It would likely make many problems worse for us as well. No matter the obstacles, we have no good reason to ever give up on the future. Pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How “A Bug’s Life” Revealed the Immorality of Socialism

itsme — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 19:14:34 +0000

June 11, 2022

Emmanuel Rincón

There is no ethical or moral reason why somebody should work tirelessly to support a bunch of bureaucrats, and the 1998 Pixar hit seems to grasp this.

Nowadays it is difficult to find a film that represents good ideals and lays bare the practices of totalitarianism; in recent decades, the major film producers have left aside in good proportion the stories of heroes and role models to focus on the victims and their suffering at the hands of the oppressors, without really offering any positive or hopeful message, other than to enhance the culture of victimhood.

However, in A Bug’s Life this did not happen, although the film also has in Hopper—a grasshopper represented by Kevin Spacey—one of the greatest cartoon villains, it also presents in Flik an innovator who never gives up, who constantly explores new ideas, and who finally decides to confront Hopper’s totalitarianism to free his colony from the exploitation of grasshoppers.

Various media have published articles erroneously claiming that the film presents a criticism of “capitalism,” because according to them, it is about a class struggle of exploited workers. But this has little relation with reality. In capitalist and free market systems, people collaborate mutually without coercion; private property is respected, contrary to what is represented in the film, as the ants are fighting to protect their production (private) from the hands of some grasshoppers (militarists) who through force try to take away (expropriate) the fruit of their labor.

Curiously, Flik, who only thinks of liberating his community from oppression, is constantly repudiated and rejected by other ants due to his lack of obedience and respect for the grasshoppers’ authority; in this, we can find great parallels with today’s societies, increasingly servile before the inclement power of the States on steroids and their refined bureaucrats. However, Flik is convinced that he will be able to save his colony from slavery and he will not rest until he achieves it.

Hopper: The Ultimate Representation of Socialism

Hopper, the villain of this story, is the closest thing to the collectivist dictators we have known in the last 100 years. Stalin, Castro, Chavez, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, anyone could be identified with Hopper, because in his conception of the world the ants are scum that must work to sustain the grasshoppers. It is basically the same logic followed by socialist regimes: the people must work to feed the bureaucrats. The supposed “redistribution of wealth” is nothing more than an excuse to appropriate the production of “the people” so that the bureaucrats can dispose of it, leaving only crumbs for its producers.

In one of his impassioned dialogues Hopper addresses the princess of the colony: “It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess. One of those Circle of Life kind of things. Now let me tell you how things are supposed to work: The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food…”

The ant princess is completely intimidated by Hopper’s threats, and he exerts his control over the little insects through fear of violence and demands absolute obedience, in the purest Castro style.

In another part of the film, the grasshoppers closest to the leader stand up to him when he says they have to go and exert more pressure on the ants to get their food, so Hopper responds with some anger: “You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life! It’s not about food, it’s about keeping those ants in line.”

Clearly, Hopper understands that it is necessary to keep the collective fear of the ants at bay, for if they were to think they could be free, the grasshoppers’ lives of privilege and idleness would end immediately, and they would have to work for their food themselves.

Flik’s Hope and Yearning for Freedom

Flik, like the rest of the colony, is just a little ant who is not strong enough to take on Hopper and the grasshoppers, but he has big ideas and a lot of courage.

After traveling long distances trying to find help for his colony and recruiting a band of circus bugs, Flik returns to the colony to end Hopper’s plans to keep them enslaved until the last of their days. Unfortunately, Flik’s plan fails; however, his courage remains intact, and that manages to inspire the rest of the ants.

In the last part of the film, as a confrontation approaches, Hopper shouts at Flik: “You piece of dirt! No, I’m wrong. You’re lower than dirt. You’re an ant! Let this be a lesson to all you ants! Ideas are very dangerous things! You are mindless, soil-shoving losers, put on this Earth to serve us!”

Then Flik replies, “You’re wrong, Hopper. Ants are not made to serve grasshoppers. I’ve seen these ants do great things. And year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves and you. So who is the weaker species? The ants are of no use to the grasshoppers. It is you who need us. We are much stronger than you say we are. And you know that, don’t you?

After Flik’s words the grasshoppers start to get restless, the ants start to advance against their slavers, Hopper stands his ground, but his army starts to disperse. The leader of the grasshoppers gives the order to counterattack, but the ants have already realized that they are more and that they don’t need the grasshoppers. Finally the ants overwhelm their captors, and the princess says to the villain: “You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order. The ants gather the food, the ants keep the food, and the grasshoppers leave!”

In the end, all the ants needed was a little courage to break free from their captors, and Flik gave them the inspiration to defeat the grasshopper army.

The message that A Bug’s Life leaves us with is quite hopeful, and we should all follow the example of Flik and his colony; there is no ethical or moral reason why somebody should work tirelessly to support a bunch of bureaucrats.

The wealth created should belong to its creators, not to those who dictate the laws of unjust societies and intimidate citizens with the use of force.

If you haven’t seen A Bug’s Life, I assure you that you have missed one of the best movies ever. Indeed, that animated classic produced by Pixar that saw the light of day in 1998, and that probably doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, is probably one of the most libertarian productions ever seen.

Emmanuel Rincón

This El American article was republished with permission.

Emmanuel Rincón is a lawyer, writer, novelist and essayist. He has won several international literary awards. He is Editor-at-large at El American

Covid supercentenarian

itsme — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 20:43:25 +0000

Lucile Randon DC (French: [ly.sil ʁɑ̃.dɔ̃]; 11 February 1904 – 17 January 2023), also known as Sister André (French: Sœur André), was a French supercentenarian. Living to the age of 118 years and 340 days, she had been the world’s oldest verified living person since April 19, 2022, following the death of Kane Tanaka.^[1][2] ^]

Randon was blind and used a wheelchair from the early 2010s.^[6] In January 2021, she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in an outbreak at her retirement home. She was asymptomatic and tested negative days before her 117th birthday, making her the oldest known survivor of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1][3][10]

The Trump Card

KMZ — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 20:19:06 +0000

Donald Trump takes the oath of office to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
January 20, 2017

by Gene Myers

January 22, 2017

The following essay is not intended to either sway opinion, insult, or convert anyone to my thought process. It is simply an unfiltered opinion relating to recent national issues as analyzed by me. And who among humanity doesn’t want to hear my opinion? If not, read no further. Easy, huh?

So, here we are months after the presidential vote, and a new leader has been installed. Still, most of what I see and hear on television / radio news shows, NPR, and read in print has to do with sobbing, complaining, swearing, and hand-wringing over the results.

As much as I enjoy the asinine far left meltdown, come on, folks, grow up. Time to get over it and look ahead. The real irony is that the biggest whiners are the same people and organizations who finger-waggingly lectured that “Trump must accept the results of the election”. Well, guess what? He did! Now would you please have the same courtesy? More irony is that the same holier-than-thou sources looked the other way when the DNC rigged the Democrat primary in Clinton’s favor. Talk about galling hypocrites.

BTW, as much as I dislike name-calling, I do enjoy the “snowflake” label being applied to the protesting, hating whiners. It psychologically keeps them from being taken seriously. The DC rioters dressed ISIS-like, and destroyed property. Don’t they realize that kind of behavior wins moderate Democrats for Trump? I also found it amusing that the snowflakes smashed the windows of Bank of America and Starbucks, both big Hillary donors.

And the inauguration speech? According to news commentator, Greg Gutfeld, most politicians, including Obama, orate with the flavor of a Pina Colada, but Trump’s inauguration speech was like a shot of whiskey. If Gutfeld meant direct and not meaningless political-mumbo-jumbo-speak, I agree. Here’s an example of the latter, which is typical of inauguration and graduation speeches: “We must move forward, united for this great nation now and for generations to come. Today we…blah, blah, blah…zzz”

I do not wish our outgoing president anything but the best. However, he DID say during the campaign that repudiation of Hillary Clinton would be repudiation of his legacy. Unfortunately, the Clinton and Obama dynasties permitted their party, the party of FDR, Truman, and JFK, to be hijacked by the far left, which was a major factor in the election results. The original working man’s party is now the party of condescending academia and Hollywood elites. With that in mind, Obama’s legacy can be sadly described in two words: Donald Trump.

As for me, I’ve decided to trust the system (executive, legislative, and judicial branches) of our government to be an effective check-and-balance, and to err on the side of the American people as they administrate our Republic under law of the Constitution. No, folks the US was not formed to be a democracy, and personally I’m tired of hearing politicians and media describe our system that way. Democracy is mob rule where the squeaky wheel always gets the grease, and eventually falls under its own consequence. I’m not suggesting that we’re not morphing in that direction what with all the self-interest groups and lobbyists trying to sway public opinion; and for the most part, it’s working. Sad to watch. Jefferson said once we make that turn, we’ve maybe 50 years left.

Meanwhile, I intend to hope Trump is successful, and trust what’s left of the system. Recall Obama had both houses of the legislature for two years, and was reined-in still. it will be the same for Trump because his party is not in lockstep with him—not at all. In fact, I consider him a third-party candidate. (Of course, there is the reality that congress consists of an enigmatic and ineffective herd of humanity. Now I’ve depressed myself.)

The biggest con foisted upon us (for years) is that political experience by people who have political science and law degrees is somehow paramount to running a country. What a load of fiction that is. The only thing experience in politics gains one is experience in being a politician—not in getting anything done. See, the idea is: Once you’re “in”; to get reelected, which is what they spend their time doing. Until we mandate term limits for congress, nothing will change. It wasn’t always that way. People in government used to have “real” jobs before running for office, and returned to the private sector once they went home.

Now this “in” crowd NEVER leaves. If they don’t hang around for years (voting themselves new perks), they become lobbyists. Our so-called Republic is becoming a falling body. Want more proof? Take a hard look at the House of Representatives’ top Democrat, the vacuous Nancy Pelosi. Then there’s the GOP’s top Senator, the oblivious Mitch McConnell. I’m surprised that either has the ability to form words. Warning: A “hard look” requires you to be objective, and check your emotions at the door. Can you do that? Do you have intellectual honesty? Many of you with an “us vs. them” attitude will probably have difficulty; and are therefore, responsible for putting the country in the present day Kafka-esque mess we “enjoy”. The only reasonable solution is to bring in a total outsider; one who understands a republic system of government under law of a constitution.

So, with that in mind, I’ve decided to give Trump a chance to succeed. The law in a republic is specifically intended to limit the power of government over people. The Democrats (and I suspect most Republicans) want bigger, more-intrusive government, not restricted government. Nuff said.

As a Truman / JFK advocate, it pains me to see that the far left has become the mainstream of the Democratic Party. I categorically do not believe the leftwing bomb-throwers’ campaign exaggerated rhetoric about Trump; and all one has to do is look at the makeup of his business empire, and ask his people how they’re treated. Plus, I do want open borders closed, and illegals who commit crimes removed—and I don’t care how. In addition, I want Islamic terrorists eliminated. How is that racist?

For those Hillary supporters who do believe their party’s acerbic verbosity, recall what the Wikileak’s hack into the DNC revealed. Mainly, that venerable DNC staffers’ communiques were replete with anti-gay, sexist, and racist remarks. Then there is Bill Clinton’s ongoing history with women. Those of you who remember the man getting caught with his hand-in-the-cookie-jar during his term will also recall what his supporters and the media lectured us, to wit: CHARACTER DOESN’T MATTER! Then there is Ted Kennedy drowning a young lady, and not mentioning it until the next day; the same Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd bragging about their “waitress sandwiches”; and Joe Biden twice getting busted for plagiarism.

I am not suggesting Trump is a knight in shining armor, but Democrats CANNOT have it both ways no matter how often the self-serving media looks the other way. That, and the unrelenting name-calling of ALL Trump supporters, is what irritated voters and got a guy like Trump elected. Geez, folks, learn from it for crying out loud! Still, they persist…(sigh)

I prefer to consider Trump’s assets since he’s going to be around for a while. No matter what one thinks of the guy, he is an astute businessman. He knows what a balance sheet is and how to run an organization by interpreting the numbers. He also knows how to make a deal, and administrate assets and people. Since World War I, and maybe before, the US is renowned in the international community for being terrible at diplomacy. My tenth grade history teacher even taught us, through examples, how our country has been snookered time and again at the international bargaining table. The Europeans, in particular, have been laughing up their sleeves at us for years. John “Lerch” Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and most of their Secretary of State predecessors have been inept, and that’s being kind. The only respected and adequate Secretary of State I can recall in my lifetime is Henry Kissinger, and he was lumbered with Tricky Dick Nixon. (Aside: Hey, do any of you remember when Nixon ran against JFK that people would intentionally put Nixon bumper stickers upside down on their cars so it read, NOXIN?)

Therefore, I intend to look at the new president’s positive attributes, and totally and completely ignore the allegations of his opponents. They have zero credibility in my world.

As Hillary Clinton infamously said, “Besides, at this point, what difference does it make?”

Your working boy, Yosemite Sam, a registered and disappointed Democrat.

The Freeway Flag

itsme — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 19:40:52 +0000

I was driving home today and saw a faded American flag hanging on a freeway bridge near Rancho Cucamonga. I figured it was probably from one of the local Marines that was killed last year in Kabul during our shameful exit from Afghanistan.

So here’s my question:

Why hasn’t anyone who played a part in this foreign policy disaster been fired? None of the high ranking military officers, cabinet secretaries, and other experienced officials were really held accountable for this debacle.

Our military left billions of dollars in military equipment behind, abandoned a valuable airport, left Americans in Afghanistan, and the marines were killed on their watch.

Nothing.

I wonder how long the flag will hang above the freeway.

Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

itsme — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 20:36:23 +0000

June 21, 2022

The rapid gains Republican women have made since 2018 could be a signal for how the party fares in this year’s midterms

Mayra Flores was sworn in on Tuesday, becoming Texas’ first Republican Latina to join Congress. Flores’ victory also sets a new milestone: A historic high of 147 women overall and a record 41 Republican women now hold congressional seats, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University.

Born in Mexico to migrant farmworkers, Flores is a first-time candidate who defeated her Democratic opponent this month in Texas’s 34th congressional district, which is historically Democratic. Flores’ addition to Congress underscores the growing visibility of Republican Latinx candidates and rising numbers of GOP women in the legislative branch.

That number has seen a sharp increase from 2018, when the number of Republican women in Congress dropped from 23 to 13. The gains women candidates have made since then reflect greater support and investments among Republican party leadership and outside conservative groups, experts told The 19th.

“I think 2018 was a bit of a yet another wake-up call to the Republican Party about women’s under-representation within the party,” CAWP Director Debbie Walsh told The 19th. “Republican women are following the playbook in many ways that we’ve seen on the Democratic side of women raising money for women candidates.”

Flores’ swearing-in comes on the heels of newly elected Republican Rep. Connie Conway, who won the open seat special election to replace former Republican Rep. Devin Nunes in California’s 22nd congressional district. Conway, whose election set the previous record for the number of women in Congress at 146, was sworn in on June 14. The rapid gains Republican women have made in just a few short years could be a signal for this year’s midterms when historically the president’s party loses seats.

Two groups founded within the last six years — Winning for Women and E-PAC, founded by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik — have helped to boost conservative women candidates alongside VIEW PAC, a more established organization for Republican women. These groups, in addition to growing enthusiasm from the Republican establishment, are helping Republican women candidates get critical support early on in their races.

After 2018, candidates experienced challenges winning their primaries, but they saw more success in 2020.

“In 2020, the party saw that of the seats that they won, especially the seats that they took away from Democrats, most of them were won by a woman, a person of color or both,” said Michele Swers, a professor of American government at Georgetown University who focuses her research on women’s representation in politics.

Those 2020 victories include Michelle Steel and Young Kim, Korean American women who both flipped House seats in California. That same year Maria Elvira Salazar, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, defeated Democratic incumbent Donna Shalala in Florida’s 27th congressional district.

Democratic groups have more robust infrastructure for funding women candidates with organizations like the PAC Emily’s List, though Democratic women of color have still struggled to gain access to party and financial support during their political campaigns. Democratic party leaders and voters have also historically demonstrated more interest in diversity among candidates, Swers said.

Flores’ victory in a Democratic stronghold captures another nuance: an increase in Latinx candidates running as Republicans. Other Republican Latinas are getting national attention in their races, including Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump will compete in November for Texas’ 15th congressional district, and Cassy Garcia, who is running in the fall for Texas’ 28th congressional district, facing off against nine-term Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.

“In this cycle, you are seeing more women stepping up, particularly more Latina women that we’re seeing run on the Republican side, and they have a good amount of party resources behind them,” Swers said.

Flores’ June victory came during a special House election after the 34th congressional seat became vacant when incumbent Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. resigned in March. Flores significantly outraised her Democratic opponent and focused ads on her marriage to a border patrol agent and the need for border security and legal immigration.

Flores will serve an abbreviated term until January, but she is also the Republican nominee for the 34th district in November — the race Vela Jr. would have competed in had he run for reelection. But that race won’t be an exact repeat of the special election: In November the 34th congressional district will fall under newly redrawn district parameters that make it much more friendly to Democrats, and Flores will face a different opponent.

American Amnesia

kim zolotar — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 19:31:20 +0000

I happen to love “today”. Little Orphan Annie sang about tomorrow, but I’m a “today” fan. Big time. We only get it once. You see, today is one unique day in all the days that will ever be. And according to actuarial tables, I don’t have many left. I want today to be peaceful, tranquil, and filled with joy.

But you know, folks, I find this polarized, divisive country we live in to be incredibly annoying and distracting. I’m constantly amazed at the length people go to find fault, hate, and spew venom. All this poison attempts to invade my “today”, and although I’m pretty good at keeping it at bay, the constant whining noise, like tinnitus, persists.

In my humble opinion, a contributor to this social freefall is the lack of US and World History being taught in our schools. I’m talking about real, raw, call-it-like-it-was history instead of the sanitized, watered-down, politically-correct, ignore-the-Holocaust indoctrination students receive today.

Ignorance abounds. For example, I’ve watched a number of televised interviews with teenagers during which they say that only employment by a non-profit company is acceptable and moral because for-profit businesses are evil. They also reveal they have been indoctrinated into believing Socialism is the best economic system for our country. Worse, they don’t even know what it is. One young lady said, “Socialism is great for people; for instance, you and me talking together right now? We’re doing Socialism.” Good grief.

Obviously, they weren’t taught about the USSR, Cuba, Venezuela, et.al. One reporter attempted to logically debate the matter and was shouted down with an incredible streak of profanity and name-calling, including “f—k the troops” by one pimply-faced, lard-ass teen. (See what I did there? I got in a “name”.) When they can’t or won’t debate because they’re either programmed sycophants or don’t understand the issues, they become vile. That’s their default mechanism.

That brings me to Donald J. Trump, for sure a polarizing figure. Half the population loves him, and the other half hates him. There is no middle ground. Whether or not you love him or hate him is of no matter to me. I simply do not care. To each his own, I say.

With that in mind, I did a bit of research on the man. He inherited his father’s real estate development business, has been married three times, and has a business degree from Wharton. Everyone pretty much knows that. I also found an old photograph of Trump (with Rosa Parks, Muhammed Ali, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton) receiving an award for service to the black community. Comments about him by the four were glowing. Hmmm. I also found a 2013 video of Hillary Clinton saying he’d make a good president. Double hmmm. I also looked into his hiring practices. From what I could determine, he’s color and gender blind when it comes to hiring and promoting.

So, when I saw a group of young people holding a sign proclaiming Trump to be a racist, I asked for an example. None of the group could come up with a specific case other than saying, “Everyone knows that! It’s a known fact!” Further, they angrily declared, since I asked such a lame and stupid question, it followed that I must be racist as well. I expected as much (sigh). It didn’t matter that I showed them a Joe Biden quote from 1977 proclaiming schools should remain segregated saying, “Allowing schools to be integrated would create a racial jungle.” Or that both he and Hillary Clinton said their mentor was Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon, West Virginia Senator Robert “KKK” Byrd. Biden even delivered Byrd’s eulogy address. “Who the hell is Robert Byrd, and who cares?” one asked. My point exactly. I faced mind-numbed ignorant souls programmed by the leftist educational system. They remind me of the rightwing robots of the 1960s arising from the John Birch Society although that group was not nearly as wide spread. In the 1960s, JBS believed communists infiltrated the civil rights movement with the goal of establishing a “Soviet Negro Republic”.

I suggested they fact check (on their own) a 1994 law Biden wrote entitled “Stop and Frisk”, which many blacks blame for systematic racism today; and a statement Biden made in 2008 calling Obama the first mainstream black to be “articulate and clean”. I remember Obama rolling his eyes upon hearing that pronouncement. Will the young folks check? Probably not. Truth doesn’t fit their belief system. They are victims of learned-ignorance; that is, in spite of facts to the contrary, they choose to remain ignorant when it fits the Orwellian agenda they have been given. (2 + 2 = 5)

I turned to leave, and one reedy little guy shouted that Trump is also anti-women because of a vulgar remark he made about grabbing a specific part of a woman’s anatomy. I agreed with him that the remark was vulgar. He seemed taken aback, but looked suspicious when I suggested he use the same standard for the political party he was supporting. He wanted an example. I gave him two: 1) Ted Kennedy, the so-called lion of the Senate, driving off a bridge, and leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to drown. He was given probation for two months. 2) Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) picking up waitresses at the Brasserie Liberté restaurant in DC for what they called “waitress sandwiches”. Actress Carrie Fisher outed them on the Tonight Show saying they tried to pull the same stunt on her. I suggested they do their own fact checking, but they told me I was full of it because none of that ever happened. Deny, deny, deny.

Oh, well…

Since the main promoters for leftwing Socialism happen to be mostly wealthy white people who are politicians (who got wealthy by being politicians), academic know-it-alls, and insipid entertainers; let’s look at history.

The French Revolution took place from 1787 to 1799 instigated by upper middle class, wealthy elites including Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer and Jacobin Club member and Joseph Guillotine, a physician. They sought to usurp the monarchy and replace it with a Constitutional Republic similar to that of the United States.

From the beginning of the 18th Century, the population of France swelled by 44-percent leading to high unemployment and civil distress such as economic and social inequality, and high taxes. Louis XVI was popular with the people, but his Austrian wife, Marie Antoinette was an unapologetic, condescending spendthrift. The Committee of Public Safety, chaired by Robespierre, used Marie Antoinette’s behavior in part to justify the beheading of both king and queen. They also charged that she was an Austrian spy. From September 1793 to July 1794, 16,600 citizens were guillotined. The victims included aristocracy, their servants, businessmen, their families and servants; and priests and nuns; AND common people caught stealing bread and fruit to feed their families. By 1796, a total of 117,000 were either executed or died awaiting trial. As fate dictates for many revolutionaries, Robespierre was considered too ambitious by his peers, and on July 28, 1794 at the age of 36 was led to the guillotine. The final result was that Napoleon overthrew the government and declared himself emperor. Some revolution—from king to emperor.

The Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) came about when Spain’s constitutional republic, established in 1930 after ousting King Alfonso XIII, failed to solve that country’s internal problems. The war constituents were as follows: 1) those who favored the republic (Republicans), 2) communists backed by USSR, and 3) fascists backed by Italy and Germany. Germany used the conflict as a proving ground for their WWII war machine. The Fascists prevailed and installed Francisco Franco, a brutal dictator. One million lives were lost, including the clergy.

In 1917, led by V. I. Lenin and Leon Trotsky the Reds overthrew the Tsarist monarchy of Russia to establish the USSR—the Soviet Union. Brutal dictator Joseph Stalin became the head of State when Lenin died, and purged Lenin’s followers, including Trotsky who received the same fate as the aforementioned Maximilien Robespierre. Trotsky was found in Mexico City with an axe in his head.

History teaches us that so-called beneficial change is promoted by pitting “haves” versus “have-nots” by wealthy change agents, which results in brutal, heavy-handed dictatorships rendering the people worse off. Witness Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Franco, Castro, Chavez, et.al.

^{Two founding Idahoan DSA members}
^{at a big tent event in late September 2018}

Socialism is voted in then replaced (by force) with Communism. The Soviets referred to the transfer as “normalizing”. In 1957, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev accurately predicted what is happening in the US today. He said we’d be fed small bits of socialism until we wake up one day under communism without one shot being fired.

With that in mind, George Soros has been working mightily to tear down our Republic under Law of Constitution, and replace it with a socialist paradise. Most of our citizens are halfway there by referring to the US as a Democracy, a form of government that has always failed because those who scream the loudest are rewarded; the law being amended to fit. I hear the term, Democratic Socialism, a merging of two really bad ideas from people I know who have converted from liberal to extreme left-wingers. The Soviets claimed it takes a minimum of 30 years to convert neophytes to leftist zealots, which is done through the educational system by first converting ultra-liberal teachers. Results: Moral decay, demonize religion, loss of family, life-is-cheap, minorities where a father is totally absent, redistribution of money because of envy, book-burning, forced political correctness, speech censoring, et., etc.

The US ground has been fertilized with the same natural (and manufactured) elements that have toppled governments throughout history: Massive unemployment brought about in just one-year courtesy of COVID-19, a natural and manufactured phenomenon; Unbridled population surge from letting people pour across our southern boundary, most of whom have not been vaccinated; A government put in power by an electronic coup—155 million ballots counted versus 138 million registered voters, many “ballots” mysteriously showing up after 3:00am; Civil unrest and rioting led by two fascist groups, ANTIFA (what an oxymoron) and BLM both paramilitary leftist gangs; Massive debt incurred for the purpose of buying special interest groups—a democracy existing of many special interest groups all devoted to their own agenda NOT the wellbeing of the nation as a whole. Obama put the country in more debt than his 43 predecessors combined. Again, the goal being to tear down the system, and rebuild it as a socialist economy.

Finally, let’s take a look at a socialist program installed during FDR’s term in office, and despite the good intentions of that day, what has happened since. Short story: as usual self-serving politicians have betrayed the people.

Roosevelt outlined five points to the plan, which he promised would never be violated: 1. Participation is voluntary, and the SSN would never be used for identification. In fact, my card contains those words, which were removed in the 1980s. Participation is NOT voluntary. 2. One-percent from the first $1,400 would be withheld, which was the case when I was a young man. That was revised to 7.65% of the first $90,000. 3. Deductible for your income tax. In 1983, congress voted to rescind that benefit. 4. The money collected would be used ONLY to fund social security. Under LBJ congress voted to transfer the funds to the GENERAL FUND to be used for whatever they deemed necessary. 5. Social Security benefits would never be taxed as income. Under the Clinton administration congress voted to tax SS benefits with Al Gore casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. Sen. Joe Biden also voted “aye”.

_{President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935.[1]}

Although the changing and raiding of social security benefits was proposed and ratified under Democrats, the GOP went along as well. The whole place is a corrupt, money-grabbing machine.

And now, some want to change the government and economic system so they rile up ignorant minions to provide the lynchpin—race against race; have-nots against haves; non-believers against believers. Do not be fooled. As always, the people will be worse off. No matter the form of government, the wealthy change agents are the only ones who make good while keeping the rest of us in line with promises of tomorrow. The Democrats have been doing it to inner city minorities for years. Like Charles Barkley said, “The Democrats only care about us every four years.”

Read a little history for crying out loud! Ah, yes, tomorrow will be a brighter day just trust us. Rubbish. Me? I’m a fan of today.

Gene Myers