Category: Goobermint

Oregon removes writing, reading, and math mastery from high school graduation requirements

The Oregon State Board of Education unanimously voted on Thursday to remove proof of mastery in reading, writing, and math in order to graduate from high school until 2029.

The board argued that requiring all students to pass one of several standardized tests or to create an in-depth assignment their teacher judged as meeting state standards was a harmful hurdle for students of color, disabled students, or those learning English as a second language. The standardized tests will still be given but will not play a role in determining whether students receive their diplomas.

“We haven’t suspended any sort of assessments,” state board member Vicky Lopez Sanchez said during the board meeting. “The only thing we are suspending is the inappropriate use of how those assessments were being used. I think that really is in the best interest of Oregon students.”

Opponents of the new order argued that removing the requirement devalues an Oregon diploma. The opponents argued that helping students with low academic skills through extra instruction in writing and math has helped them. However, supporters claim that forcing students to spend extra time on schoolwork eliminates their opportunity to take an elective and does not translate to how they perform after graduation.

“We are unable to ethically make a different decision at this point. It is also unethical for us to continue to require this when we know it can continue to cause harm and has had no change in how students are performing,” Board of Education Chairwoman Guadalupe Martinez Zapata told ABC’s KATU-2.

Hundreds of state residents have filed public comments on the subject, and most are in favor of keeping the requirements. But mastery is not the only graduation requirement. Students also need to earn a certain amount of credits and create an education plan that helps them achieve their goals after high school.

The pause was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when schools across the country were forced to shut down

Biden’s Real Meeting With An Israeli PM, And His Support Of Israel In Hamas War

Twice since the Israeli war with Hamas began, Joe Biden falsely claimed that he met with Golda Meir just before the 1967 Six-Day War. However, Biden’s story was a lie. Levi Eshkol was Prime Minister until Feb. 1969, when he had a fatal heart attack. Golda Meir became PM a month later, in March 1969, a year and 8 months after the Six-Day War. President Biden got his law degree in 1968 and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969, almost two years after the Six-Day War.

During the Israeli war to protect herself against Hamas, President Biden has been an excellent ally of Israel, but there are reasons to wonder how long that will last. During his Senate career, Biden was not a great friend. He even refused to participate in easy ways to look pro-Israel. He refused to sign his name to non-binding pro-Israel letters most of his senate colleagues supported.

As a young senator, Biden did get some time with an Israel Prime Minister.

On June 22, 1982, PM Menachem Begin testified before the  Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  

During that committee hearing, at the height of the Lebanon War, Sen. John Biden (Delaware) had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened that if Israel did not immediately cease this activity, the US would have to cut economic aid to Israel.

“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

When Begin said, “Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens.” He wasn’t talking about the American heroes and those of our allies who put their lives on the line or lost their lives fighting Hitler. He discussed that FDR could have saved up to 200,000 of Hitler’s victims but didn’t want more Jews in the US. Churchill could have saved tens of thousands but lacked the courage.

Not learning his lesson, Senator Biden Senator raised his voice at Begin and banged twice on the table. Begin responded.

“This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.”

The NY Times reported on the aftermath of the meeting

After the meeting, Mr. Begin said: ”I enjoyed the session very much. I believe in liberty, that free men should freely discuss problems and if they have differences of opinion they should voice them in sincerity.”

”I said it was a lively discussion,” he said. ”If you want to use other adjectives. …” He paused, then said, ”Lively is enough.”

Biden began his Presidency by selecting Israeli haters and/or Iran apologists to join his team.

However, since October 7, 2023, the war with Hamas, Biden changed his opinion about the Jewish State. So far, the war has been a great friend of Israel. Changed his policy, not just the speeches but also arms, warships, and other military equipment. Next year, in Nov. 2024, there will be a Presidential election in the United States. It is expected to be close, perhaps, even less than one percent. Will Biden change his pro-Israel strategy to solidify the support of his supporters, will he be the man who banged his desk attempting to intimidate Menachem Begin, or will he remain the Joe Biden he’s been since October 7? Well, we will know soon.

Weapons of War: What They Are and Why We Need Them

The new gun control buzzwords being used today by the left are getting more and more creative. They have to keep coming up with new jargon and slogans to keep up their fear-mongering campaign about how guns are bad and why we must ban them. Today, however, we will discuss one such term that is both ridiculous and true at the same time: “weapons of war.”

The phrase is a relatively new one being used by the left, in fact, it’s the new favorite of high-profile Democrats like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. They both tweet about them quite frequently in their attempts to gaslight the owners of sensible firearms, but more importantly, they use them to gin up fear from people who are already ignorant of what these guns are. Their fear-mongering campaign is quite effective too.

So what exactly are weapons of war, and why are they so scary? Why do they pose such a threat to society that we must ban them entirely? Depending on who you talk to, weapons of war can mean a lot of things, but the most infuriating part of that is the Democrats can’t define them because they know it will destroy their narrative. A weapon of war is just that, a weapon that is used in war; it’s pretty simple. But the argument gets convoluted from there because that definition applies to most of all firearms past and present. Again I ask, what is a weapon of war?

Here’s one bona fide weapon of war, an M1903 Springfield rifle. The rifle was the general issue rifle to all U.S. Soldiers and Marines during World War I and II, with total service in U.S. military usage until 1970. It is a five-round magazine-fed, bolt action rifle that is chambered in the 30-06 caliber cartridge. It isn’t a semiautomatic rifle; it doesn’t have a detachable magazine, doesn’t have a pistol grip or a flash hider on the muzzle. But it is most assuredly a weapon of war that American forces have used in at least three separate conflicts. The rifle is legal to own, with no restrictions, and is used by countless Americans for hunting, recreational shooting, and even long-range competitive shooting matches. But they won’t mention that because then it wouldn’t be scary enough.

Another example of a gun used in war is the Mossberg M500A2 12 Gauge shotgun. This weapon is used by the Marines, Army, and other branches of the military for a wide range of missions. It is a pump-action shotgun that holds between six and nine rounds depending on the configuration. Even with a pistol grip attachment on the stock or forend of the firearm, it does not make it fire any faster or make it any more deadly than it already is. The one modification that this shotgun can have is what is known as a choke, which is inserted into the muzzle and can either reduce or increase the spread of the pellets when they exit the muzzle. Once again, this shotgun, and many like it, is used by millions of Americans for home defense, property protection, hunting, recreational shooting, and more. But again, the Democrats and gun control advocates cannot use that as an example of a weapon of war because it just isn’t scary enough.

The weapons of war the Democrats want to ban are like the one I am using in the featured image of this story. It is an LWRC M6 SPR (Special Purpose Rifle), chambered in 5.56mm, and is a lightweight, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed, shoulder-fired semiautomatic rifle with a maximum effective range of approximately 800 yards. The round it fires is also about the same size as a .22 caliber bullet, one of the smallest sizes of bullets on the market. It can only be fired as fast as I can pull the trigger. It does not create a massive hole in one’s body when shot, and it most certainly does not blow organs out of the body either.

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All successes, even (and maybe especially) that of opponents, should be studied for lessons to be learned.

Hamas attack exposes gaping eye-in-the-sky blind spots
Crucial gaps in satellite surveillance coverage underline need for more integrated US system – including to foresee a China invasion of Taiwan

Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel has exposed the limits of space-based surveillance, putting into question the adequacy of existing heavenly watch intelligence-gathering technologies and spotlighting the need for a more integrated approach that better synergizes artificial intelligence (AI) with human guidance and insight.

Defense One reported that the recent Hamas assault on Israel has highlighted the need for persistent coverage from orbit, as space-based sensors are not a “cure-all” for US intelligence needs.

The report says that while the US Pentagon via the Space Development Agency has commenced building a network of military satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) known as the “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” Hamas’ ability to avoid detection will likely spur nations to increase the capacity and coverage of their space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, including those that use radiofrequency sensing.

Defense One notes that while the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is working with other intelligence agencies to ensure that US satellites are capable and relevant and that it remains confident in its ability to detect threats around the world, officials are still investigating why preparations for the attack went undetected while seeking further intelligence on Iran’s possible role in the assault.

The report says that Hamas appears to have used “old-school techniques” such as in-person communications to share information. Defense One notes that relying on ISR techniques that use technology to remote-monitor adversaries can be dodged if the subject can avoid signals or movements easily detected and analyzed from space or electronic sensors.

The report also suggests that the US should use more AI-enabled algorithms to assess information including human intelligence, social media posts and physical movements.

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BLUF
In order to support Ukraine, the U.S. has expended its missile and artillery round stockpiles. The most optimistic estimates claim it will take six to eight months to replenish them.
In order to support Israel, the U.S. has moved naval assets to the Indian Ocean and eastern Mediterranean.
Does this expose the western Pacific to Chinese attack? In a U.S.-China war in the western Pacific, sea power will play the preeminent role. And right now, the U.S. Navy is short of warships.
If a TV admiral says otherwise, he’s lying.

On Point: Beijing, Pay Attention: Don’t Let Ukraine-Gaza Lead to WWIII Taiwan

FACT ONE: A major land war rages in Europe. Twenty months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine without provocation and the horror grinds on with mass casualties and World-War-I-like attrition.

FACT TWO: War in the Middle East. An Iranian proxy army, Hamas, launches a complex and well-planned attack on Israel. Mass atrocity by Islamist terrorists shocks the civilized world — at least what’s left of civilization.

OK, the Gaza Strip is a confined space.

FACT THREE: Iranian proxies have fired into northern Israel — from Syria and Lebanon. Israel could hit the proxies, then retaliate against Iran. Thus the Hamas War can quickly escalate to a regional conflict involving the Persian Gulf’s energy-exporting states. The global economic effects are dire.

Is war in Asia the next explosion igniting World War III?

To be accurate, several wars afflict Asia — and several of these wars involve powerful communist China.

China wages a frozen war with India in the Himalayas — the Sino-Indian War of 1962 is not over. Since the 1990s China has waged a slow but calculated war of territorial aggression in the South China Sea. In July 2016, The Hague’s international arbitral tribunal, relying on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty (UNCLOS), issued a ruling supporting the Philippines’ claims that China had violated Filipino territory in the South China Sea by seizing islets and “sea features.”

Despite having signed the U.N. treaty (and accepted the arbitration process), China’s communists disdained the court’s authority and ignored the verdict.

By ignoring the verdict, the Chinese Communist Party declared war on international order. Yes, that’s a world war of a subtle but dangerous sort.

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BLUF
Now, I don’t think for a minute that Biden is “directing all of this” — he’s getting directed by his staff. But even CBS is now throwing him under the bus by questioning his age and ability to do the job. You know how bad the interview truly was when that’s the takeaway.

More on Disastrous Biden Interview: Scott Pelley Has to Help Him Finish Sentence, Says President ‘Tired’

I wrote earlier about a couple of the teaser clips from the “60 Minutes” interview with Joe Biden.

Those were bad, but the complete interview was even worse.

First, we should note that there was a little bit of water-carrying for Joe Biden with host Scott Pelley saying that the president was fitting them into his busy schedule on Thursday.

Biden had his 10 a.m. daily briefing and a 4:30 meeting where he just had to sit and listen to CEOs, how is that busy? Maybe it’s “busy” for an 80-year-old who has so many issues. But that’s why he shouldn’t even be there.

Biden seemed completely at sea throughout the interview, and so old.

Pelley asked if he could foresee U.S. troops involved in the Israeli war. Notice his answer: it wasn’t “no.”

It was “I don’t think it’s necessary” because “Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country.” Um, Joe? Israel is its own country, it’s not part of the U.S., what are you even saying here? In what country?

Then he threw Israel under the bus with this confusing remark, saying they should not reoccupy Gaza, that he thought that would be a “big mistake.” Funny, that’s just what Iran was hoping Joe would say, and there he is right on cue. You can see him struggling to answer this question.

Pelley asks what was his message to “Hezbollah and its backer Iran.” Biden’s response wouldn’t exactly send fear down any bad actor’s back, and Pelley even had to finish his thought for him.

I’m sure Iran is quaking in their boots right now.

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All your printers are belong to us

Background checks for printer purchases

New bill intro by Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, A-8132, Requires a criminal history background check for the purchase of a three-dimensional printer capable of creating firearms; prohibits sale to a person who would be disqualified on the basis of criminal history from being granted a license to possess a firearm.

From the bill memorandum:

Three-dimensionally printed firearms, a type of untraceable ghost gun, can be built by anyone using an $150 three-dimensional printer.

Three-dimensional printed guns are growing more prevalent each year. There were 100 taken off the streets of New York City in 2019. That number skyrocketed to 637 in 2022.

Concurrently, ghost gun shootings have risen 1,000% across the nation. Currently, three-dimensional printers allow people to make, buy, sell, and use untraceable guns without any background checks.

This bill will require a background check so that three-dimensional printed firearms do not get in the wrong hands.

Burning Down (The Economic) House?
Food Prices UP 20% Under Bidenomics, Credit Card Delinquencies Now Higher Than During Covid As Credit Card Debt Grows To All-time High To Cope With Inflation

Is Biden trying to burn down the economic house? Under Bidenomics, America’s middle class and low wage workers are suffering from a wild, wild life in terms of inflation.

First, food prices are up 20% since December 2020. Talk about destruction of middle class wealth!

That is in addition to gasoline prices are up 64% under Biden while rent growth is up 252%. Well, Biden waived through millions of illegal immigrants and rent had to rise. Biden and Washington DC’s broken borders is Livin’ La Vida Loco.

To cope with inflation (that Paul Krugman claims is over but the last inflation report showed that the tinders of inflation are hard to extinguish), consumers have turned to credit cards to survive. In fact, credit cards have expanded 38% since April 2021 despite rapidly rising interest rates. And credit card delinquency rates are rising and are now above Covid-era economic shutdown levels.

Despite Krugman and Yellen’s screaming that inflation has been crushed, US household are anticipating FASTER inflation. To paraphrase the Emperor of Austria from “Amadeus,” “You are passionate Krugman and Yellen, but you do not persuade.”

And Billions Biden has just recorded the third largest deficit in history.

AIDAN JOHNSTON: Israel Needs A Second Amendment

A day after Hamas terrorists paraglided across the border from Gaza into Israel, trucked machine gun-toting killers into a music festival, mowed down families and took women, children, and grandmothers hostage, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced a series of actions to loosen Israel’s strict gun control laws.

The minister announced his intent to “allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves and protect themselves and their environment when necessary.”

Of course, with videos of terrorists kicking in doors in an Israeli village near the border and desecrating the dead bodies of babies and teenagers, it’s not hard to understand why someone would make such a decision. And as an American, I can confidently say our Founding Fathers sure understood.

The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms is “necessary to the security of a free state.”

But as the death toll rises and terrorists are still on the loose, one must also ask: is the Israeli government doing too little, too late?

Just after Russia invaded Ukraine, the country repealed its gun control laws, enacted a national right to carry and started passing out machine guns.

Ukraine waited until after it was invaded by a nuclear world superpower, and we asked the same question.

Lucky for Ukrainians, the remarkable shift in firearms policy helped the country hang on while the United States and other allies prepared military aid.

While Israel is also purchasing thousands of machine guns and handing them out now, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spent the last few years confiscating guns from local civilian security forces.

So, while Hamas terrorists invaded with machine guns, grenades and missiles, these Israeli gun owners were forced to fight back with only a single handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition each.

According to one gun owner, “the IDF took our rifles recently, they left us with just a few. We repelled a Hamas commando terror cell with just pistols.”

Gun control left self-defenders outgunned while hundreds of completely disarmed Israelis were tortured, raped and murdered by vicious terrorists in this surprise attack.

And while the new changes in Israel’s Firearms Licensing Division are intended to help self-defenders held up by bureaucracy and paperwork, Gun Owners of America found the application portal offline and “unavailable,” leaving only a message from the National Forms Service stating “we apologize for the inconvenience.”

Even if the website worked, a newly eligible applicant would still have “to undergo a telephone interview” and may have to wait up to “a week” for approval.

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New Jersey faces challenge to ‘assault’ weapons ban

(The Center Square) — New Jersey is facing a challenge to its ‘assault’ weapons ban, with Second Amendment groups asking a federal judge to strike down the law.

In a new filing in U.S. District Court, the plaintiffs in three related lawsuits challenging New Jersey’s ban and other firearm restrictions argue that the gun control measures are unconstitutional and request a summary motion in favor of their claims.

The lawsuits were filed by the Association of New Jersey Rifle, Pistol Clubs and Firearms Policy Coalition and others on behalf of gun owners who argue the state’s ‘assault’ weapons ban violates the Second Amendment and a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision “upholding the right of honest citizens to carry firearms for personal protection.”

“The common thread tying them together is the righteous claim that, at its core, New Jersey’s regulatory scheme blatantly violates the fundamental rights of the state’s law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in common use for self-defense and other lawful purposes,” plaintiffs wrote in the motion.

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demoncrap SOP for decades; Throw money at the problem.

Appeasement in Real Time
Biden and Blinken pay the Dane-Geld

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:–

For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:

“We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”

Rudyard Kipling, Dane-Geld (closing verses).

LESSONS OF MUNICH – WEAKNESS INVITES AGGRESSION.

Showing weakness has long been regarded as an invitation to aggression and war. Perhaps the most infamous example in modern history is Neville Chamberlain’s sit-down with Adolph Hitler in Munich in 1938, where he agreed to appease Hitler by agreeing to Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland, in exchange for “peace for our time.”

But history has taught us that, like paying the Dane-Geld, such appeasement is more likely to cause war and indescribable suffering than it is to prevent it.  Despite those blood-soaked lessons, the appeasement gene continues to proliferate among cowardly politicians. 

There are countless examples of this in modern history, but it is beyond the scope of this short article to attempt to catalogue them here.  Each reader will think of examples.

Often the end results of policy decisions and statements, and how they invite more aggression and war, are not fully apparent until sometime later when it is too late because the damage has already occurred.  Joe Biden’s statement that a limited Russian invasion of Ukraine might be somewhat tolerable or at least met with dissention among the Western allies, is a good example.  Predicting what Russia would do, he said, “it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not do.” Even though Biden and his handlers tried to “walk back” (the press’ euphemism of correcting a dumb statement) that invitation, the damage was already done – Biden had sent a signal to Putin of his thinking, and it was a signal of weakness.

To the extent that we can, it therefore is important to call out such projections of weakness and appeasement in real time, as they are occurring. Because of the homicidal intent of the Islamists in the Mideast – indeed, across the globe – it is of over-riding importance to shine a light – no, to focus, focus and focus – on the most recent examples of this appeasement that are certain to cause more bloodshed, not only in Israel and the Mideast, but in the United States, Europe, and other countries worldwide.

I am referring to the blatant lies and craven cowardice by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his ostensible boss, Joe Biden, which have further encouraged Iran in its support for its and its proxies’ murderous jihad against Israel (and potentially the U.S. and Europe) about the supposed non-involvement of Iran in the barbaric atrocities Hamas is perpetrating upon Israeli civilians. These are not civilian “collateral damage” caused by bombing, when Hamas attempts to hide among civilian shields or has situated its arms caches near hospitals and mosques.  And, contrary to some attempts by our media to equate the two, they most decidedly are not in any way comparable to the IDF’s targeting and killing of the barbaric Hamas fighters terrorists.

Blinken led off on Sunday, October 8, with his claim that our government has no evidence that Iran is behind Hamas’ bloody and barbaric attacks on women, girls, babies, and other civilians. And his weasel-worded statement encourages both Iran and Hamas with its blatant evasions and flat-out lies.

BLINKEN’S WEASEL-WORDED EVASIONS AND DENIALS

 Sunday, on NBC’s Meet the Press, and CNN’s State of the Union.  Blinken said, “In this moment, we don’t have anything that shows us that Iran was directly involved in this attack, in planning it or in carrying it out.” “In this specific instance, we have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.”

What a weasel-worded evasion.

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He was over an hour late getting to make this teleprompted speech.
Must have had a bad reaction to the uppers he’s getting loaded with and had to have the dosage regulated.
But just look at him. He’s reading off a screen and still slurs words, repeats himself, and trips over his own tongue, then shuffles off stage without taking a question, or a look back. The thrashing his handlers must have been giving him for his going off script looks to have sunk in.

How Obama Paved the Way for the Iran-Promoting, Israel-Pummeling, Squad-Like Biden White House.

Why would the Biden administration take a position indistinguishable from that of The Squad in calling for Israel to stand down via “ceasefire” — as its people, and among them some Americans, are brutally murdered and held hostage by Hamas’ genocidal jihadists?

Why would the Biden administration have tabbed a Hamas-tied Hezbollah apologist, and all-around Third World Man like Rob Malley as State Department Envoy to Iran — enabling him apparently to build a spy ring for the mullocracy?

Why would the Biden administration have so empowered Iran and its proxies, while putting the screws to Israel in the first place — helping create the conditions for the catastrophe that has unfolded, which could well expand into a regional if not world war?

To understand all of this, you have to understand how President Barack Obama normalized the unholy intersectional progressive-Islamist alliance that has now come to dominate the Democrat Party, including this White House.

I sought to explain the seemingly inexplicable in a book I wrote three years ago, American Ingrate: Ilhan Omar and the Progressive-Islamist Takeover of the Democratic Party, which foretold what we are seeing play out today.

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