Daily Archives: November 11, 2021

Denying Schools Are Teaching Critical Race Theory Won’t Make It Popular – The Federalist

Posted: November 11, 2021 at 6:25 pm

Many Democrats are responding to their electoral drubbing in Virginia with total denial. Concerns over education radicalism, especially critical race theory, were essential to Republican victories, but the cultural leftists who steer the Democratic Party these days keep insisting this is a fake controversy created by right-wing activists.

Either they are idiots, or they think we are. Probably both.

That critical race theory and its allies permeate public education is indisputable, and there are a multitude of examples. For instance, the Virginia Dept. of Education website promoted CRT even as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe denied it was in Virginia schools. Fairfax County Public Schools paid anti-racist huckster Ibram X. Kendi $20,000 for a one-hour chat session and spent another $24,000 on his books.

Leftists could defend this propagation of critical race theory and related ideas, or they could acknowledge that parents have legitimate worries and change course. Instead, they are denying everything. Responding to a story about a backlash to California watering-down its math curriculum in the name of racial equity, Ross Douthat joked: Looks like another fake controversy designed and launched by one specific hard-right activist, working within the institutional conservative messaging industry.

But a lot of Democrats really seem to think that they can sell this spin to voters. More remarkable still, many of them seem to believe it, a conviction that further demonstrates the extent to which critical race theory has conquered their minds. The sort of separation they are trying to create between CRT and what is happening in education is only plausible for true believers who accept the entire intellectual framework.

Consider the usual argument for why CRT is not being taught in public schools, which is that it is an advanced academic theory mostly found in law review articles and grad school seminars, so of course it isnt being taught to children. This is like arguing that Thomism isnt being taught in a Catholic middle schools theology course unless students are assigned readings from the Summa Theologica.

Of course, Thomism can be taught without being assigned the works of the angelic doctor, and critical race theory can be taught without readings from academics such as Kimberl Crenshaw. In both cases, the concepts and jargon are omnipresent in shaping the subject, even if the original source is not always cited.

Todays left is as dependent on the ideas of CRT as Catholic theology is on the writings of St. Thomas. Most Democrats adopt the CRT patois of systemic racism and white privilege and genuflect before its shrines. This helps explain why some of them are able to, with apparent sincerity, insist that it isnt being taught in public schools.

After all, a faithful theology teacher would probably describe himself as teaching the truth of the Catholic faith, rather than Thomism. Likewise, for true believers, the academic work of critical race scholars is but one exploration of the fundamental American reality of racism.

Such teachers see themselves as imparting the truth about our nation, whose history they see as one of white oppressors and non-white oppressed. For such a teacher, telling children that racism has been the essence of the USA for its entire existence is teaching them the truth. Training white children to dwell on their privilege, and black children to count their oppressions, is just teaching them the truths about life in systematically racist America.

This is how educators whose work is steeped in CRT can deny that they teach it they believe the dogmas of CRT so thoroughly that the source seems irrelevant and academic to their work. This is not to say that there is no motivated reasoning involved. They would prefer to describe their program as mere anti-racism, or as one of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as a less biased label gives dissenters something to hang their objections on and to rally against.

Those pushing a top-down cultural revolution do not want a label, because that makes it harder to delegitimize opposition to their agenda. They believe that dissent from their position is by definition racist, so they think it beside the point whether their ideas and language can be specifically traced to CRT scholars and their allies. For them, CRT is just an academic part of anti-racism. The point is that America is wicked and must be cleansed.

But calling voters racist is a bad electoral strategy. So Democrats and their media allies have motivation to try to define CRT in a very narrow way even as they push its ideas onto students. This sort of pedantic point appeals to the midwits that dominate leftist Twitter. The thought bubbles are practically visible: Ah-ha! They are treating critical race theory as a general ideology, instead of an academic movement! We have them now; it was just a right-wing con the whole time!

Even if they have talked themselves into believing this, it wont work on the broader public. The parent revolt will continue not because conservatives have made CRT into a boogieman, but because parents are horrified at the radical racial indoctrination being pumped into public schools. Critical race theory is as good a label for this as any, but the name matters less than the insanity it represents. Denying this and quibbling over labels will not make the Democrats education policies popular.

Nathanael Blake is a senior contributor to The Federalist and a postdoctoral fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

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Biden Can’t Keep It Straight On Paying Illegals $450K In Reparations – The Federalist

Posted: at 6:25 pm

The latest prong of the Biden administrations open borders strategy is its negotiations to give away hundreds of millions of dollars to illegal aliens. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 28 that the administration is negotiating to pay criminal illegal entrants as much as $450,000 per person, and up to almost $1,000,000 per family.

The hopeful recipients were arrested for committing a federal crime: illegal entry into the United States in violation of 8 U.S. Code 1325. When arrested, some were separated from the minors accompanying them, whom they claimed were their children. The administration justifies the proposed payments as legal settlements to compensate the illegal entrants for alleged mental trauma from having been separated from family members.

Such separations, of course, are standard when any parent is arrested and detained for any crime. For example, those imprisoned for trespassing at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 were separated from their children when they were arrested.

There can be little doubt that the prospect of getting almost a million dollars from the U.S. government will further incentivize hundreds of thousands of would-be entrants from all over the world to take a chance on winning this particular lottery. Not only do illegal entrants get to stay in the United States, jumping ahead of hopeful legal immigrants, but they may get a windfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to free medical care, free public education, and other gratuitous benefits proposed by the Biden administration.

There is no doubt that even President Joe Biden understands how outrageous this proposal is. His first public comments about it show that, like millions of other Americans, he thought such payments should never even be considered. After those initial disapproving comments, however, Biden and others have tried to change the narrative. In the process, Biden has contradicted himself and made an incoherent mishmash of his policy.

After a press conference at the conclusion of the G-20 meeting in Rome, Fox News Peter Doocy asked, Mr. President, is it true were going to give $450,000 to border crossers who are separated? Biden did not respond, but just rubbed his brow and looked down.

Doocy raised the issue again at a press conference six days later, to which Biden simultaneously blamed Fox News for attracting the flood of migrants and accused it of spreading fake news about the proposed $450,000 payments: If you guys keep sending that garbage out, yeah. He then added, But its not true It will not happen.

Doocys question was not a surprise, and Bidens response was not just a careless slip of the tongue. Biden had almost a week to consider it after the initial Wall Street Journal report and Doocys question in Rome. Bidens quick and unequivocal denial suggests he shares the widespread outrage at the idea of paying illegal entrants up to a million dollars per family when the only reason they had been separated was that they had broken U.S. law.

But one day later, the administration made clear that Biden was, in fact, perfectly comfortable with what he had just said, will not happen. In a press conference on November 4, Deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre essentially declared Bidens one-day-old statement inoperative.

[T]he president is perfectly comfortable with the Department of Justice settling with the individuals and families who are currently in litigation with the United States government, he said.

At another press conference on November 6, Biden denied saying what he had said three days earlier. When a reporter questioned him about his statement to Doocy that the report about payments was garbage, Biden said, I did not say that.

Biden then squarely contradicted his prior unequivocal denial that such payments would occur. Waving his finger at the reporter, he added, If, in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you come in across the border, whether legal or illegal, and you lost your child You lost your child! Hes gone! you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstances. What that would be, I have no idea.

This latest Biden statement was both dishonest and incoherent. It was dishonest because his new position that it is up to the DOJ and I have no idea what the payments should be cannot be reconciled with his original unambiguous promise that possibl[e] payments of up to $450 thousand per person will not happen.

Biden was further dishonest when he mischaracterized what Doocy had asked. Doocy said only that there had been reports that payments of up to that amount might possibly be made. Bidens mischaracterization was a clear effort to try to wiggle out of his earlier unambiguous promise that it will not happen.

Bidens November 6 statement also demonstrates the incoherence of his new thinking about the payments. He said all illegal entrants separated from a child deserve the payments, no matter what the circumstances. So, according to Biden, fault and illegal conduct are irrelevant; the facts do not matter. That is an incoherent prescription for unlimited payments without any boundaries.

All of those still in jail because of their alleged illegal entry into the Capitol building on January 6 will no doubt be comforted to know that that the presidents view is that they are entitled to compensation for family separation, no matter what the circumstances.

The proposed payments to those who have invaded our country are more evidence that this administration has its priorities wrong. If the DOJ can devote hundreds of FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to the investigations and trials of those charged with crimes in connection with their illegal entry into the Capitol on January 6, then surely it can devote the necessary resources to investigate and battle the grab for taxpayer money by those who have been charged with illegal entry into the United States.

Bidens initial reaction shows that he shared the outrage over these payments. His handlers changed his position to serve the politics of his open border policy.

John Lucas is a practicing attorney who has tried and argued a variety of cases, including before the U. S. Supreme Court. Before entering law school at the University of Texas, he served in the Army Special Forces as an enlisted man and then graduated from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1969. He is an Army Ranger and fought in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader. He is married with five children. He and his wife now live in Virginia.

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Democrats Are Right To Be Scared About Losing The Parent Vote – The Federalist

Posted: at 6:25 pm

Polling in the Virginia elections just concluded this week showed parents breaking for Republicans over education policies, which has Democrats alarmed.

On MSNBC Wednesday, a former Obama campaign manager declared, in an urgent tone, The one thing that we need to make sure that Republicans in 2022 dont become is the party of parents. Because we need to be the party of parents.

Its too late; thats already happening. Even the hoax-mongering New York Times can see it, and theyre afraid too.

On Nov. 4, the Times issued a hysterical article covering the Virginia results with the same motif. Republicans Pounce on Schools as a Wedge Issue to Unite the Party, read the headline, followed by this malicious smear in the subheading: Rallying around what it calls parental rights, the party is pushing to build on its victories this week by stoking white resentment and tapping into broader anger at the education system.

Get that? Parental rights in scare quotes and insisting its racist to complain about the clearly subpar quality of instruction offered to most American children in public schools.

The multiracial coalition of parents who want neo-racism out of their childrens publicly funded schools might have something to say about that, as might the multiracial GOP politicians elected Tuesday night in Virginia, but we already know The New York Times doesnt exist to report facts it exists to control opinion.

Democrats have reason to be afraid of losing the parent vote, and theyre demonstrating that fear by deploying the only weapon they have left: false accusations of racism. The truth is, its an existential threat to their party if American parents as a demographic begin shifting to the Republican Party and that is already well on its way.

An October report from the Institute for Family Studies finds there is marked polarization in desires related to marriage and childbearing by income, religious attendance, and partisanship as COVID-19 abates.

The report shows the majority of voters ages 18-55 who identify as Republicans are married, at 56 percent, while just 40 percent of Democrats aged 18-55 are married. That 16-point gap persists among parents in that same age range: 61 percent of Republicans in that age range are parents, as are just 45 percent of Democrats.

As with other pre-existing social trends, lockdowns accelerated all this. In a Newsweek article about the report, family policy researchers Brad Wilcox and Isabel Sawhill summarize further aspects of this trend: The rich, the religious and Republicans reported the greatest overall increase in the desire to marry while the poor, secular Americans and Democrats reported less or no increase in marriage interest.

The report also finds COVID fear-mongering has depressed lefty voterss already anemic desire to marry (marriage predicts fertility) and have children. It finds that right-leaning voters were more likely to be more rational and less frightened about COVID, which gave them social and familial advantages with major political implications.

Republicans have been more open to socializing since COVID-19 struck, likely making it easier for the unmarried in their ranks to date, the report says. And there is evidence they weathered COVID-19 somewhat better emotionally. We find, for instance, that 16% of Republicans reported being sad most of or all the time, compared to 19% of Independents and 20% of Democrats aged 18-55, according to the IFS/Wheatley May-June survey.

Republicans emotionally better-adjusted response to COVID likely played a role in helping right-leaning Americans turn up as the only partisan group whose desire to have children didnt decline in the wake of COVID-19.

This is more evidence that Democrats fear-mongering about COVID will politically backfire in the long run. And not just in concentrating fertility among their political opponents, but also in detaching families from the lefts No. 1 recruitment facility public schools. Extended and irrational school lockdowns definitely contributed to families discontent with public schools that helped push Youngkin across the finish line.

What are some implications of all this?

For one, this also makes Democrats the party of unhappier people, since married parents are the most likely to report theyre happy than are singles, as Wilcox and Sawhill note:

At a moment marked by social distrust, political polarization and declining in-person interaction, Americans who are married with children have an advantage when it comes to built-in social support. As stressful as family life can be, men and women who have formed families are less likelyto report feelings of loneliness and meaninglessness. In fact, men and women aged 18-55 who are married with children are more likely tosay they are very or pretty happy, especially compared with those who are not married and do not have childrenalthough its unclear whether thats because family life creates happiness or because the happiest among us are more likely to get married and have children.

The politics of resentment are indeed bitter, as weve seen vividly already. Mary Eberstadts Primal Screams documents the connections between family disintegration and political extremism. If family alienation allies itself more tightly with the Democrat Party, we can expect more politics of rage from them ahead.

Representing people with less investment in the future through parenting children will also drag on Democrats ability to provide a positive vision for the country and our communities. It also makes Democrats less likely to see issues from parents perspective, Wilcox noted to me in an email about the IFS report findings. This could help explain The New York Times and other media leftists inability to understand parents political defense of their children in Virginia as an act of love, not white resentment or any kind of resentment at all.

It also makes Democrats less likely to express support for marriage and families through public policy. This is another problem, because marriage and family formation are existential issues, not just for political parties, but for the good of the country. Without children and the self-restraint and creativity that love for them fosters, the countrys future is at risk.

A main way for the left to stave off the threat all this poses to their electoral dominance is another longstanding strategy: converting peoples kids through the education institutions they dominate. But in their frenzy to get Trump by weaponizing COVID, Democrats may have set up a series of ticking time bombs that detonate on this most important political territory.

More of those time bombs are set to go off. We havent seen half of the devastating effect of school lockdowns, for example, on todays school-age generation. All that is yet to come. It will shock and motivate parents, and change their minds about Democrats, even more.

Another key question this all raises is whether Republicans are ready to capitalize on this massive opportunity by acting decisively on behalf of the families who are giving it to them. Its clear what they want. Its also clear they will not take I cant for an answer.

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Biden Puts Another Pipeline On The Chopping Block – The Federalist

Posted: at 6:25 pm

The Biden administration is looking at a shutdown of Michigans Line 5 pipeline, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed to reporters Monday.

The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental impact to look through this, Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing, after denying reports that President Joe Biden is preparing to revoke the Canadian pipelines permit as happened to the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office.

A new environmental impact under this administration, however, is often a precursor to the projects cancellation. Jean-Pierre said the study would help inform any additional action or position the U.S. will be taking on the replacement of Line 5.

Politico broke the news Sunday that the White House was actively surveying the market consequences of a shutdown. The Line 5 pipeline operated by the Calgary-based energy company Enbridge transports about 540,000 barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products per day from western Canada through Michigans Upper and Lower Peninsula. The pipeline begins in Superior, Wis. and ends in Sarnia, Ontario.

Line 5s shutdown would deal the biggest blow to Michigan residents, where the project supplies 65 percent of the Upper Peninsulas propane demand and 55 percent of the entire states propane, according to Enbridge. As Americans approach winter with repeated warnings from the Energy Department of higher power prices, propane users will be hardest hit, already expected to pay up to 94 percent more than last year over the six-month heating season, according to season projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By comparison, homes heated by electricity are expected to face up to a 15 percent increase and those heated by natural gas face as much as a 50 percent spike from the year prior. The price shocks could mean hundreds of dollars in higher heating bills.

The quiet deliberations inside the White House provoked more than a dozen Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill to send a letter demanding the administration hold back.

As we enter the winter months and temperatures drop across the Midwest, the termination of Line 5 will undoubtedly further exacerbate shortages and price increases in home heating fuels like natural gas and propane at a time when Americans are already facing rapidly rising energy prices, steep home heating costs, global supply shortages, and skyrocketing gas prices, wrote lead author Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, on Nov. 4, as reported by Politico.

Line 5s shutdown would follow the late-summer completion of Russias Nord Stream 2 feeding natural gas into Germany with Bidens blessing. The White House waived sanctions for the projects construction in May enhancing Russian leverage over Europe with its supply of natural gas, as nations too reliant on wind and solar struggle in a low-wind season. The European Union reported in 2019 that 41 percent of member nations gas imports came from Russia.

President Biden has pledged to follow the same formula as European nations faced with an energy crisis after nearly half a dozen banned hydraulic fracturing. Within months Biden has suppressed oil and gas production with a cascade of taxes and regulation leading to high gas prices that the administration concedes it has no plan to bring down.

At this time, I dont have anything new to share, Jean-Pierre said Monday.

Biden himself conceded gas prices at seven-year highs are unlikely to come down until sometime next year.

I dont see anything thats going to happen in the meantime thats going to significantly reduce gas prices, Biden said during a CNN town hall last month, placing blame on OPEC for refusing his request to raise oil output after the presidents destruction of domestic production.

In early October, Enbridge announced the nearly $3 billion-dollar completion of the Line 3 pipeline replacement project in neighboring Minnesota ending at Superior, Wisconsin. The projects finish came after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered aging pipelines to be replaced.

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Reconciliation Bill Makes the Case for Federalism | Opinion | villanovan.com – Villanovan

Posted: at 6:25 pm

Looking to cement his legacy as a transformational president, President Joe Biden has poured most of his legislative priorities into one omnibus spending bill known as the Build Back Better plan. Initially proposed with a whopping $3.5 trillion price tag, progressive Democrats have had to compromise with the more moderate faction of their caucus, whittling the bill down to a meager $1.75 trillion framework.

Democrats hold a three seat majority in the House, and with Independent Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine caucusing with the Democrats, the Senate is essentially split 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie. Since it is eligible to be passed in the Senate under reconciliation, Republicans cannot block a vote with the filibuster, enabling Senate Democrats to pass the measure with a simple majority and no Republican support.While Democrats work to craft a passable bill, considerable negotiating effort has been spent attempting to bridge the gap between progressive and moderate members of the Democratic Caucus. Such negotiations highlight the virtue of an overlooked yet fundamental principle of American government: federalism. In a country of more than 330 million people, it is nearly impossible to arrive at policy considerations that are acceptable to a broad swath of Americans, and it often feels impossible to create consensus between the national representatives of the American people. Such struggles are a feature of the American system, not a bug. House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) summed up House progressives attitudes towards the Build Back Better plan when asked about the state of negotiations: there is too much at stake for working families and our communities to settle for something that can be later misunderstood, amended or abandoned altogether.

I do not doubt that communities in Representative Jayapals district care deeply about the elements of Build Back Better. After all, they ostensibly elected her to represent their interests. Fortunately, the American system already consists of governing bodies that legislate issues of concern to particular communities, namely the states. Members of communities elect legislators who are intimately aware of their concerns and who rule not in Washington, but in their own backyards. Negotiations do not take place between legislators representing vastly different economies nearly unrecognizable to one another but between those representing neighboring counties. This is not to suggest that all states are homogenous, but there is certainly more homogeneity within states than between them. State legislators are empowered to institute programs desired by the citizens within their jurisdictions. If citizens do not like the laws and programs of their state, they can move to another state that has not instituted such laws or programs.

The Constitution of the United States is a remarkable document that requires major decisions to take place at the most local level possible. It grants specific powers and jurisdictions to the federal government, leaving other powers to states and municipalities. Under the American system, if the community members from Representative Jayapals district want 12 weeks of paid family leave, they can elect state legislators and a governor who would institute such a plan, drawing taxes from and bestowing benefits upon those who support the proposal. If citizens living in Senator Manchins state of West Virginia do not want the same plans that Representative Jayapals constituents do, they are under no obligation to institute such plans.

During the 2012 presidential election, Republican nominee Mitt Romney was criticized for opposing health care regulation at the federal level that he supported at the state level while governor of Massachusetts. Far from contradictory, Romneys position demonstrated an understanding of the beauty of the American federalist system. States do what the federal government cannot and should not do. Rather than ram life-altering legislation through a 50/50 senate, Democrat senators should return to their states and encourage their constituents to contact their city counselors, state legislators and governors. If citizens of Vermont want government subsidies for hearing, dental and vision care, there is no reason that they should demand Alabama citizens follow in their footsteps. Vermonts government is perfectly competent enough to institute such subsidies at the state level.

Federalism allows for the needs of individuals and communities to be met by the legislators beholden to those individuals and communities. Instead of trying to negotiate a broad spending package acceptable to both New York and Nebraska, the federal government should allow each respective state to legislate themselves as it sees fit. Everyday life experience demonstrates that consensus is more easily arrived at among small groups than among large conglomerates. States and localities are better equipped to meet the needs of their citizens than 538 egotistic politicians in Washington, D.C. who represent economically and culturally diverse constituencies. If Biden wants to leave a positive legacy, he should praise the constitutional system rather than spend four years trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.

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Democrats Will Raise Taxes On The Middle Class, Both Now And Later – The Federalist

Posted: at 6:25 pm

Democrats know they will have to come back to raise taxes on the middle class later, and want to prevent people from paying taxes on their retirement balances at todays lower rates.

I dont earn $400,000 per year. In fact, Ive never reported an adjusted gross income of even $200,000 on my federal tax return, yet Democrats want to raise my taxes. And the reason Democrats could raise my taxes now explains why they will almost certainly raise everyones taxes later.

The issue involves a decision I made shortly after President Trumps tax relief act passed at the end of 2017. Rather than using the laws rate reductions to lower my annual tax bill, I chose to put that money to use. I rolled over my old Thrift Savings Planthe version of a 401(k) for federal employeesinto an Individual Retirement Account, and began converting the funds in that pre-tax IRA into an after-tax Roth IRA.

But Democrats would effectively ban me from making this move going forward. Section 138311 of House Democrats reconciliation bill would prohibit individuals from converting their IRA balances to after-tax Roth IRAs if any portion of the distribution comes from a non-deductible IRAregardless of that persons income.

Because my income slightly exceeded Roth contribution limits in a few years, I made contributions to a non-deductible IRA instead. Now, Democrats reconciliation bill would prohibit people like me from converting those fundsand any rollover IRA dollars I commingled with those fundsto a Roth IRA, even though my income never approached the $400,000 threshold below which Joe Biden promised to hold Americans harmless from tax increases.

When I found out Democrats had proposed this provision in September, with an effective date at the end of this year, I accelerated my plans. I completed converting my IRA rollover account to a Roth in early October, even though recognizing all the income this year, as opposed to spreading the conversion out over several more years, could push me into a higher tax bracket for 2021.

Despite a potential higher tax bill this year, I view the conversion as necessary to stave off the tax increases Democrats immense welfare state will bestow on all Americans in the future. In fact, I began converting my Thrift Savings Plan balances into a Roth IRA in 2018 precisely because I knew taxes would eventually rise, and I view todays tax rates as discounted compared to future levels.

In poker terms, Section 138311 of the reconciliation bill represents a tell. Democrats know they will have to come back to raise taxes on the middle class later, and want to prevent people from paying taxes on their retirement balances at todays lower rates. Voters should therefore pay much less attention to what politicians say than what they do, Section 138311 being a prime example.

The president recently claimed that I give you my word as a Biden: If you make under $400,000 a year, Ill never raise your taxes one cent. But the politician who went on to claim that Im going to make those at the top start to pay their share in taxes himself dodged nearly $517,000 in Medicare and Obamacare taxes.

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This Veteran Has Served Our Country In Amazing Ways His Entire Life – The Federalist

Posted: at 6:25 pm

There wont be any speeches, awards, or special recognition for veteran David Baldwin on November 11. Despite a 17-year career in the Armed Forces four in the Army and 13 in the Air Force, including sending classified communications satellites into space at Cape Canaveral and installing classified communication systems on Air Force bases in the Middle East during Desert Shield and Desert Storm Veterans Day will be like any other for the active septuagenarian living in rural Alabama.

There will be lots of phone calls from his flock hes pastor of the 132-year-old Mt. Zion Baptist Church and many from his business associates and family.

Flags fly on the light poles in downtown Camden (population 2,200) and flowers bloom at the tiny veterans park across the street from True Value hardware store. A few phone calls and a look at the local weekly newspaper doesnt show any special services Thursday, but Baldwin could get a discount if he goes to the zoo in Montgomery or a free sandwich at Zaxbys in Selma.

Like most veterans, Baldwin is quietly going about his life, despite his remarkable military service that took him around the world on top-secret assignments, some of which he still cannot talk about today. He also will hobble into the Comprehensive Wound Center in Birmingham Thursday, as doctors continue to treat the wound on his foot caused by the only thing that has slowed him down in 70 years a rusty nail, something even a bite from a brown recluse spider couldnt do during his fishing trip two years ago.

Baldwin was born in 1951 in a tin-roofed shack in Pebble Hill, Alabama, to a dirt-poor, hardworking family, the second of 10 children. His father worked long hours at a lumber mill and spent Sundays circuit preaching at churches in Pine Level, Macedonia, Arkadelphia, and Boiling Springs.

Rev. L.V. Baldwin expected his sons to work hard too. In fact, his father wouldnt let him leave high school and go to college at age 15 because he needed him to pick beans, cotton, and black-eyed peas.But his humble beginnings, and the often terrorizing life for blacks in the segregated South, didnt limit Baldwins extraordinary life, which included a stint on the faculty of the National Cryptologic School run by the National Security Agency. (His oldest brother, Lewis, is professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University.)

Baldwin entered Talledega College in April 1968, at the age of 16, just days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. Baldwin and his brother had heard King speak in Camden in 1965 in support of civil rights marchers. They were deeply moved by his words: You are somebody. You matter to the world. During summers, Baldwin worked at an inner-city church in Atlanta and on campaigns for Andrew Young.

Baldwin attended Alabamas oldest historically black college on a full scholarship and graduated in 1972 with a bachelors degree in math and physics. He was accepted to Dartmouth Medical School and wanted to become a neurosurgeon, but discovered he didnt have the science background he needed.

After graduate studies in science at several prominent universities, he married and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1975, where he was trained as a combat medic. His overseas posting first was to the Battalion Medical Aid Station in Stuttgart, Germany. Later, he trained as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor and served at the Fifth U.S. Army Hospital, Bad Cannstatt, Germany.

When Baldwin returned stateside in 1979, he asked about his application to Officer Training School to become a commissioned officer, a fairly common assignment for college graduates. After searching, they found his application, with all the necessary signatures, hidden in a desk drawer of his supervisor, who was on leave, with a coffee mug stain covering his photograph.

He immediately switched his enlistment to the U.S. Air Force, doubled his salary, and was enrolled in Officer Training School, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, eventually becoming a major.

He switched fields from medicine to communications, becoming a specialist in classified communications systems installed at bases throughout the Pacific, including Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. He was serving in the Middle East during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Later, he received a master of business administration-aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and worked alongside faculty at Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developing systems for satellites. He was sent to Cape Canaveral to watch one of the satellite launches. He helped prepare top secret packages that went into war zones and were placed on airplanes flown by the secretary of defense.

I loved serving in the military; you learn so much, it was like a university in itself, Baldwin told me.

Baldwin retired from the military in 1996 when his wife Linda got sick, and took math and science teaching positions at high schools and middle schools in her hometown of Greenville, North Carolina, and in his hometown of Camden. He wrote two math picture books for young students that underscore his interest in preparing young minds for higher-level math.

In 2008, while visiting his dying mother, Baldwin told her he felt called then to ministry. A woman of few words, she squeezed his hand, and he knew she was grateful he was following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and older brother.

At the urging of his siblings, Baldwin returned home to rural Wilcox County permanently in 2018, after his wife died. Four of the 10 Baldwin siblings live in the area. He lives in Camden, the county seat, and works on business ventures with family in Gees Bend and pastoring the flock at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in nearby Coy.

Not one to slow down, Baldwin was also tutoring at an afterschool program in the community of Vredenburgh, until a rusty nail took him out this summer. He was at his church inspecting some repairs when he stepped on it.

Baldwin preached that day despite the pain, and finally hobbled into the local medical center the next day. Loaded up with antibiotics and a tetanus shot, he thought he was on his way to recovery. He was not.

Another two medical interventions, including lancing the wound, failed. The bone was infected and he had to have surgery on his right foot at Grandview Hospital in Birmingham, in September, where he was hospitalized for 10 days. They also discovered he had diabetes, which had contributed to the festering wound.

Although he didnt think hed lose his foot, he said there were times it looked pretty grim.

Baldwin still keeps an eye on the renovation of the historic church, and continues to preach while they meet temporarily at another Baptist church.

On the ground next to the church building is a cement slab with plumbing already installed that will be the home of the Mt. Zion Family Resource Center. Pastor Baldwin envisions a community gathering place where people can come together for hot meals, tutoring, prayer, counseling, and learning from each other, one generation to the next, in a community marked by generational poverty.

Its a big task and expense for a small congregation to take on with a pastor in his 70s. But Pastor Baldwin has done the math. And he figures with the Lord, its possible:When the Lord gives you something to do, you just have to do it, regardless of your age.

Christine Weerts, author of "Heroes of Faith: Rosa J. Young," is a researcher with the Alabama Black Lutheran Heritage Association. She won a commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute in 2020 for her historical writing on race. A freelance writer, she has degrees in music (BA) and religion (MA).

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This Veteran Has Served Our Country In Amazing Ways His Entire Life - The Federalist

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Vaping of marijuana on the rise among teens | National …

Posted: at 6:24 pm

Findings from the 2019 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey demonstrate the appeal of vaping to teens, as seen in the increased prevalence of marijuana use as well as nicotine vaping. Results from the 45th annual MTF survey, a nationally representative sample of eighth, 10th and 12th graders in hundreds of U.S. schools, were announced today by the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, along with the University of Michigan scientist who leads the research team. The self-report survey is given annually to students who respond to questions about their drug use and attitudes.

Past year vaping of marijuana, which has more than doubled in the past two years, was reported at 20.8% among 12th graders, with 10th graders not far behind at 19.4% and eighth graders at 7.0%. Past month marijuana vaping among 12th graders nearly doubled in a single year to 14% from 7.5%the second largest one-year jump ever tracked for any substance in the history of the survey. (The largest was from 2017-2018 with past month nicotine vaping among 12th graders). For the first time, the survey measured daily marijuana vaping, which was reported at 3.5% among 12th graders, 3.0% among 10th graders, and 0.8% among eighth graders. The MTF investigators documented more detailed findings on teen vaping of marijuana in a research letter released today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. High rates of nicotine vaping reported in the MTF survey were released in September.

Marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug by adolescents. After remaining mostly stable for many years, daily use of marijuana went up significantly since 2018 among eighth and 10th gradersnow at 1.3% and 4.8% respectively. However, overall past year marijuana use rates remain steady among teens (35.7% among 12th graders; 28.8% among 10th graders; and 11.8% among eighth graders).

Past year rates of any illicit drug use, other than marijuana, remain relatively low among 12th graders; past year use was 3.6% for LSD; 3.3% for synthetic cannabinoids; 2.2% for both cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy); and 0.4% for heroin. Other drug use, including the misuse of prescription medicines and the use of alcohol as well as tobacco cigarettes, continues to decline.

"We are heartened to see the continuing decline in the use of many drugs, particularly non-medical use of prescription opioids; however, teens are clearly attracted to vaping products, which are often concentrated amounts of drugs disguised as electronic gadgets," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow. "Their growing popularity threatens to undo years of progress protecting the health of adolescents in the U.S."

To highlight the MTF survey findings, NIDA will post two infographics on its website: one related to vaping and the other on several other drug categories.

The survey, conducted since 1975, is funded by a government grant to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is the only comprehensive, large-scale federal government survey on teen drug use that releases findings the same year the data is collected. In 2019, questions were added on daily vaping to address public health concerns about e-cigarettes and vaping devices. This year, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned the public about lung illnesses and deaths related to vaping, with some patients as young as 13. The CDC posts periodic updates and recommendations for the public.

The MTF investigators have published several papers and research letters related to these findings:

Overall, 42,531 students from 396 public and private schools participated in this year's MTF survey. The survey has generally been administered to students in paper form, but investigators have been transitioning to electronic tablets. The survey will be fully electronic by 2020. The survey measures drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes in eighth, 10th and 12th graders nationwide. Survey participants generally report their drug use behaviors across multiple time periods: lifetime, past year, past month, and in some cases, daily. NIDA has provided grant funding for the survey since its inception. MTF is funded under grant number DA001411.

For additional information on the MTF Survey, see:

Follow Monitoring the Future 2019 news on Twitter at @NIDANews or join the conversation by using: #MTF2019. Information on all drugs can be found on NIDA's website.

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Preventing Youth Vaping At The Expense Of Smokers – Africa.com

Posted: at 6:24 pm

As noble global efforts to reduce smoking rates move into a higher gear with the fast-approaching Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), member countries are running the risk of sacrificing the interests of smokers on the unfounded fear of an explosion in youth vaping.

Scheduled for 8-13 November 2021, COP9 will bring together governments, policymakers and anti-tobacco campaigners from across the world to discuss various ways to reduce smoking within the guidelines of the FCTC. The role of Electronic Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENNDS) within the tobacco harm reduction agenda will also be thrust into the spotlight. Based on published Conference documentation, it is expected that youth vaping will feature prominently in the discussions.

The WHO has frequently raised concerns about the potential of ENNDS to appeal to young people and non-smokers, and act as a gateway to smoking, despite available scientific data not supporting this fear. On the contrary, emerging evidence from Canada, France, the UK and New Zealand seems to show fast declining smoking rates co-incidence with the rise in popularity of ENNDS.

According to 2020 data from Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH), e-cigarette use remains relatively low amongst young people in the UK. The study reveals that the majority of young people had never smoked nor vaped, and that between 0.8% and 1.3% of young people who had never smoked were current vapers. According to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), teen use of electronic cigarettes fell sharply, marking another year of major declines. The survey, administered between 18 January and 21 May 2021, noted that 11.3% of high school students reported that they currently vape down from 19.6% in 2020 and even lower than the 27.5% reported in 2019. Overall, the evidence seems to indicate that ENNDS use among youth may have been a passing curiosity related to risk-taking behaviour inherent in young people.

While the goal of ensuring that young people do not use ENNDS should never be abandoned, this should be balanced with the need to ensure that adult smokers are not robbed of the opportunity to access reduced-harm alternatives to combustible tobacco. Reputable institutions such as Public Health England (PHE) and the UK Royal College of Physicians have found that ENNDS are 95% less harmful than combustible smoking. ENNDS provide a breakthrough in tobacco harm reduction and to some extent, smoking cessation. The Cochrane Library found that ENNDS are a more effective smoking cessation tool than Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs).

Regrettably, the overwhelming evidence in favour of ENNDS has not been enough to convince the WHO otherwise. Instead, the world body is intent on regulatory guidelines that will effectively deny smokers access to information about less harmful alternatives.

Youth vaping can be curbed through practical measures to discourage access and embark on education and awareness campaigns to teach young people about nicotine addiction and that vapes are not completely harmless, even though it is significantly less harmful compared to tobacco smoking. In South Africa, for example, the Vaping Products Association South Africa (VPASA) has taken the initiative to have its members sign a code of conduct and pledge not to sell vaping products to young people under the age of 18.

As the COP9 nears, it is important for the WHO and governments to ensure that they conduct a fair and balanced evaluation of the available evidence to support the development of appropriate ENNDS regulations. While there remains a genuine need to ensure that young people do not take up vaping, it would be a huge disservice to the WHOs tobacco control agenda if ENNDS regulatory guidelines are developed based on ideology and instinct rather than scientific evidence. Ultimately, a non-scientific approach to regulating ENNDS will come at the expense of adult smokers looking for a less harmful alternative to smoking.

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Preventing Youth Vaping At The Expense Of Smokers - Africa.com

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ITC Institutes Investigation (337-TA-1286) In Certain Oil-Vaping Cartridges – Intellectual Property – United States – Mondaq News Alerts

Posted: at 6:24 pm

10 November 2021

Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P

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On November 4, 2021, the ITC issued aNotice ofInvestigationinCertain Oil-Vaping Cartridges,Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same(Inv. No. 337-TA-1286).

By way of background, this investigation is based on an October4, 2021complaintfiled by Shenzhen SmooreTechology Limited of China ("Smoore") alleging aviolation of section 337 by 38 respondents in the U.S., Canada, andHong Kong in the unlawful importation and/or sale in the U.S. ofcertain oil-vaping cartridges, components thereof, and productscontaining the same by reason of infringement of (1) certain claimsof Patent No. 10,357,623 ("the '623 patent"); U.S.Patent No. 10,791,763 ("the '763 patent"); U.S.Patent No. 10,791,762 ("the '762 patent"); and U.S.Registered Trademark No. 5,633,060 ("the '060mark").

According to the complaint, the '623 patent relatesgenerally to a vaporizer/atomizer device, which includes a liquidstorage cavity, where that cavity expressly excludes the presenceof a wick or other liquid-storage medium; the '763 patentrelates generally to a vaporizer/atomizer device, which includes aliquid storage cavity open at a mouthpiece end to the outsidebefore a mouthpiece is installed; and the '762 patent relatesgenerally to an electronic cigarette that includes avaporizer/atomizer assembly and a liquid storage cavity. The'060 mark is a standard character CCELL mark under which Smooremarkets, advertises, and sells vaporizer products, such aselectronic cigarettes, oral vaporizers for smokers, and vaporizescartridges. The accused products are atomizers, cartridges,mouthpieces, vaporizers, and vaping products used to inhalecannabidiol ("CBD") and/or marinal("THC"). Smoore is requesting that the Commissionissue limited exclusion orders and permanent cease-and-desistorders directed to respondents. According to the Notice ofInvestigation, the Office of Unfair Import Investigations willparticipate as a party in the investigation. Lastly, ChiefALJ Charles E. Bullock issued anoticeindicating that ALJ Clark S. Cheneywill preside in the investigation.

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ITC Institutes Investigation (337-TA-1286) In Certain Oil-Vaping Cartridges - Intellectual Property - United States - Mondaq News Alerts

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