Sen. Paul Requests DOJ Criminal Probe Into Fauci
BREAKING:
Reports are now saying that Senator Rand Paul has announced that he’s sending a criminal referral to the DOJ to investigate Dr. Fauci.
“I will be sending a letter to Department of Justice asking for a criminal referral because he has lied to Congress. We have scientists that were lined up by the dozens to say that the research he was funding was gain-of-function,” the Kentucky Republican told Sean Hannity of Fauci on Tuesday evening’s “Hannity” program.
FOX NEWS REPORTS:
“He’s doing this because he has a self interest to cover his tracks and to cover his connection to Wuhan lab,” Paul continued.
Intelligence agencies convene ‘Havana syndrome’ panel to look at cause of mystery illnesses
A panel of experts led by senior intelligence officers has met in recent weeks on “Havana syndrome” as the investigation into unexplained health incidents among American personnel enters what one U.S. official described as a new and intensive phase.
The panel — which is focused on identifying the cause and potential mechanisms of the mysterious illnesses — is led by senior officers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA, and includes scientific experts from outside government who are already cleared to access classified material.
“The intelligence community has convened a panel of experts from across the U.S. government and private sector to work collectively to increase understanding of the possible mechanisms that are causing these anomalous health incidents,” an intelligence official told McClatchy.
The intelligence panel is one of two set up by President Joe Biden last month to study the strange sensory phenomenon that has baffled and concerned the government since at least 2016, when American diplomats in Cuba became ill with mysterious ailments.
Since then, over 130 American officials stationed overseas — including in Britain, China and Austria — and at home in the United States have reported symptoms.
The U.S. diplomats, CIA officers and National Security Council officials have described experiencing sudden sound pressure or heat, vertigo, nausea, and head or neck pain that government physicians have been unable to diagnose.
A second panel is primarily focused on trying to identify protective measures for U.S. personnel going forward. Neither panel is time-bound.
The Biggest Source Of ‘Misinformation,’ Lies, And Delusion Is Leftist Corporate Media
Why would people believe so-called misinformation? It’s a pivotal question, and the left can’t bring themselves to answer it because it damns them.
Talking heads throughout the Democrat establishment and corporate media echo chamber are all saying the same thing: People are dying, it’s Facebook’s fault, and left-of-center politicians must save the day by “helping” to quiet views that threaten their messaging monolith.
Joe Biden says Facebook is “killing people.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar says people aren’t getting vaccinated “because they’ve gotten something off of social media.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki insists it’s information on Facebook “that is leading to people not taking the vaccine, and people are dying as a result.” Don Lemon asserts, “Misinformation is killing us and our democracy.”
But why? Why are people looking to unconventional sources for their coronavirus cues? How is a Facebook meme more persuasive than health agency guidelines or a presidential press conference? Setting aside the obvious problems with Big Tech censorship and Facebook operating as an extension of the federal government’s PR arm, these are questions that need to be asked.
CNN host Brian Stelter, known for his Russia hoaxing and regular meltdowns over whatever Fox News happens to be doing, actually offered an apt observation. “Disbelief about election results, distrust of public health officials, disregard for democratic principles — it’s all connected,” Stelter wrote with Oliver Darcy in their Thursday newsletter.
In other words, he’s claiming the people with concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election are the same people who are hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and the people who push back on the idea that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was an “insurrection” (especially in light of the media-downplayed summer of rage) are “also susceptible to other types of misinformation,” according to Stelter.
Stelter has a point. Many of the people who doubted the election are likely the same ones who now hesitate to stick themselves with an emergency-use mRNA vaccine. And perhaps those who rightly question “sedition” and “insurrection” language for the Capitol riot are reluctant to trust other media narratives.
But that’s the extent of the CNN host’s accuracy in assessment. He then veers sharply off course. In Stelter’s summation, these political opponents of his are the problem. They’re gullible conspiracy theorists who foolishly fall for all types of misinformation — and this “information crisis,” Stelter and his media cronies surmise, is “killing us.”
While the corporate media’s total lack of self-awareness is not its most nefarious failure, it is still a shocking shortcoming. When things go south, Stelter, Lemon, and the folks over at the Washington Post always look outward. They don’t look within. And they should.
While it’s unsurprising when someone like Psaki runs cover for Biden and diverts blame to opponents — because it’s her job — the corrupt media have wrongly made it their job too. When the moment calls for introspection, their knee-jerk reaction is to revert to Democrat talking points and make their foes on the right out to be the bad guys.
This brings us back to the question of why, a question Stelter, Democrat politicians, and their ilk refuse to grapple with honestly. Why would people believe so-called misinformation? It’s a pivotal question, and the left can’t bring themselves to answer it because it damns them.
As Stelter says, these things are connected: “Disbelief about election results, distrust of public health officials, disregard for democratic principles.” His third point is a ubiquitous left-wing insult that’s lost all meaning, but what about the other two? What connects the “disbelief” and “distrust” he identifies?
Maybe we can answer the question with a question. Might a person be justified in disbelieving media-touted election results concerning the defeat of Donald Trump if that same media spent four years delegitimizing his presidency, lying about collusion, weakening election integrity mechanisms, and then throttling stories unfavorable to his opponent? Might they have grounds for distrusting the public health officials who lied about masks, covered up the likely COVID-19 origin, kept kids home from school unjustifiably, and tanked the economy?
This “disbelief” and “distrust” are inextricable from the media, which obediently carry water for the Biden family and Anthony Fauci and anybody else they believe will accomplish leftist goals. When Republicans reject those narratives and lose faith in the institutions overrun by left-wing hegemony, the media impugns motives such as “white supremacy” or smears them as conspiratorial QAnon nutbags.
But do factions of conservatives really embrace “misinformation” because they’re all off their rockers? Or is it because would-be trustworthy sources of information have repeatedly failed them, lied to them, gaslit and slandered them?
FTX raises largest-ever VC round for a crypto company
FTX, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange that launched in 2019, raised $900 million in Series B funding at an $18 billion valuation.
Why it matters: It’s the largest-ever VC round for a crypto company, let alone for an exchange that prohibits Americans from trading on its primary marketplace.
What FTX is tweeting: “We’d like the fanciest bean bag you have sir.”
Investors include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, SoftBank, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Third Point, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter, BOND, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Willoughby Capital, 40North, Senator Investment Group, Sino Global Capital, Multicoin, the Paul Tudor Jones family, Izzy Englander, Alan Howard, VanEck, Hudson River Trading and Circle.
For your ears: Axios Re:Cap digs into the conflict between climate and crypto, with investor Anthony Pompliano.
Republicans Trust The Church Twice As Much As Democrats Do, Poll Finds
A recent Gallup survey reveals that Republicans trust the Church twice as much as Democrats do.
The Christian Headlines reported the annual Gallup survey showed Democrats trusted the media and public schools more than they trust the church and the police as Republicans do, indicating a wide partisan gap when it comes to confidence in the church and the police.
As per the survey, only 31% of Americans who identify as Democrats have confidence in the police while 76% of Republicans show confidence in local law enforcement. Democrats also expressed 26% confidence in the church while Republicans showed 51% confidence in organized religion.
The survey also showed that 35% of Democrats expressed confidence in newspapers while only 8% of Republicans say they do. While 25% of Democrats show confidence in television news against the 6% of Republicans. Despite these results, Christian Headlines pointed out that both political parties show poor confidence in the media even though Democrats are more likely to trust them.
Democrats also showed 43% confidence in public schools against 20% of Republicans.
As per Gallup, the overall results of the survey show that Americans’ confidence in major institutions in the United States have declined last year.
“Americans’ average confidence in major U.S. institutions has edged down after increasing modestly several months into the coronavirus pandemic last year. Currently, an average 33% of U.S. adults express ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in 14 institutions, marking a three-percentage-point dip since 2020 and a return to the level seen in 2018 and 2019,” Gallup said.
McCarthy pulls his 5 GOP members from 1/6 committee
BREAKING:
Reports say that House Republicans have now rejected participating in the House committee that’s investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol unrest on Wednesday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of the five Republicans House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had tapped for the panel.
Be Heard: A Guide to Making Public Comments at School Board Meetings
Masks in schools, Critical Race Theory, social distancing, and vaccinations are among the many polarizing issues impacting public schools.
As a K-12 educational leader, I will often receive questions from parents and community members asking: how can my voice be heard? With schools getting ready to open for the 2021-22 school year, it is important to empower others to speak out about the big decisions that are being made about our children. In order to do that, this article seeks to offer guidance about working with local school boards and the best communication methods to effect change.
School board members – often referred to as the Board of Trustees – are elected officials who physically reside within the boundaries of the district that they represent. Often, board members represent a specific “neighborhood” or zone within their district. While county offices of education, state departments of education, and the federal government regulate laws, funding, and certain mandates, each school district is independently governed by its school board.
The school board meeting is where all of the action happens. Most meetings will begin with a closed session where the board members vote on confidential matters such as the termination of an employee or a lawsuit settlement. Meetings then move to open sessions, which as the name implies, are open to the community.
This is a key point: school board meetings are not just for the parents and employees of a school district but also for residents and community members who live in that district (or even outside of the district). Schools can influence property values, traffic, and most importantly, the future generation of our great nation.
In my experience, PUBLIC COMMENTS made during a school board meeting are the best way for parents and community members to address their concerns in a way that will result in action. Sure, board members receive emails all of the time, and their contact information can easily be found on any school district’s website. In many cases, however, these emails get routed back to the employee who can best address the concern. For example, if a parent emails a board member and complains about their child’s math placement test score, the email will likely go to the principal or someone in the Educational Services department. Concerns involving day-to-day situations such as homework, a bullying incident, or a student’s academic needs are best left to the teacher or principal to first try and find a solution.
Board member involvement is more meaningful when issues cannot be resolved by school site or district personnel along with broader issues that impact an entire school district, such as what is done when a child refuses to wear a mask at school.
All school districts have a policy and time allocated at every school board meeting for public comments. Nevertheless, the actual process of making a comment can vary from district to district. For example, some districts require a very simple piece of paper to be completed at the beginning of the school board meeting indicating the name of the person who will be making the comment. Whatever the process, it can usually be found on a district’s website or by calling the district office.
During the height of the pandemic and social distancing, it was not uncommon for districts to require all comments to be submitted electronically, in advance of the meeting, and then read aloud (by an employee) during the meeting. Now, most school boards are back to meeting in person, and public comments are made in the traditional way.
All of this information begs the question, if you are making a public comment, what do you need to know? Public comments usually have a time limit such as a three to five-minute maximum. Therefore, some people find it helpful to write out what they want to say. In some instances, one parent or community member will make a comment on behalf of a larger group (such as the 1st-grade parents at Noname School). At other times, several individuals will band together and make multiple comments about the same topic, which communicates the seriousness of the concern to the board. School boards also follow rules of decorum and decency, so comments that use vulgar language or involve name-calling are not tolerated. It should also be noted that many school districts record their school board meetings and broadcast them on platforms such as YouTube.
Due to the agenda requirements, the school board is usually not able to respond to public comments in the moment. They do, however, investigate the issues brought forth, and I have seen many instances where changes have been made as a result of public comments.
School board meetings are a great way to become involved in civics and local government. Watch a school board meeting online, attend in person, and speak out on behalf of our children and community. Your voice matters, and it needs to be heard.