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What’s the best way to prepare to live in a banana republic where the rule of law has been supplanted by the rule of vicious men who have captured a massive and corrupt central government?

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At a personal level, move to a community with shared values and, ideally, a functioning local legal system. At a political level, however you feel about Trump, I think it is imperative that he win the presidency, to show that this tactic will not be rewarded. There should also be some official retribution, to create a penalty for this kind of political prosecution.

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I have little confidence in the long term effect of retribution. Rather institutional changes are needed. For example, at the constitutional level there should be new amendments and laws that prevent one generation from making sovereign debt slaves of a future generation.

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And when you get to that local community, take a deep breath and run for office. Or support someone you believe in. Involvement matters. And if you have kids, no phones or computers in the bedrooms, at least one meal together a day, and ask to help with their homework. Go to the school meetings.

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100%

Seriously you read my mind! We need to build the next generation of conscientious leaders because there is currently a big dearth of them.

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Also, someplace where you can shoot someone on the most well-known avenue in your most populous city with impunity.

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We need to prepare to defend America, not prepare to live in a banana republic

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It might be too late to defend it — that should have started in earnest and with urgency at least 40 years ago, if not longer. It’s now a recovery mission.

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The American people have been asleep for 40 years, but over the last four years they have been waking up so I believe there’s still hope.

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Jun 1
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Beginning with the dystopian civil rights act.

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All I know is, everything works on the local level. Everything. Maybe we should just stop paying attention to the insane debacle that are presidential "elections." Too many people are emotionally invested in what is a de facto circus.

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Sage advice. Find neighbors of character and moral clarity and cultivate relationships with them.

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Yes it's effectively become largely a part of the MSM entertainment industry.... meanwhile the permanent Leftist techno-bureaucracy grinds on .... and on, pulverising our once great Western culture to a mush

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How do we win on the local level?? This is the answer but locally the politicians currently have bought their influence. EVERYONE hates Lindsey Graham but he owns the republican party and everyone who works in local gov so that sphere of influence is impenetrable without deep pockets motivating a community activism movement.

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"All politics is local", I believe, is attributed to Tip O'Neil. I will take that further with "All law enforcement and justice administration is local". I see the legal system as the old three-legged stool, police, prosecutor, judge. There has to be coherent functioning between all three or the wheels come off of the cart. When prosecutors refuse to seek an indictment to enforce a law, the police no longer arrest those who break that law. The judge can hold considerable sway over a trial by what they allow, don't allow, and the jury instructions. So many judges view the law as a living, evolving entity that needs to be changed if they see fit, rather than kicking it back to the legislative branch to "fix".

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Yes, well said.

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Not true. School boards are local but look at the hellishness they've done in recent decades.

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I agree 100%! I’m on a school board fighting the good fight and they don’t like OpEds. My only way to fight the bullies. Rebecca Hamman CT Examiner

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Good for you!! You're fighting the good fight.

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There have been victories against school boards. Some have been completely replaced. Also, maybe you can tell me what's easier: To remove a local representative, or a federal one.

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Yep. Dr. Pournelle taught me the political term 'Devolution':

Move power down as close to the people as possible; The other

ingredient in the cure is 'Transparency': No government secrets,

particularly in expenses.

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Our college who tracked EVERY DIME up until then suddenly got millions in Covid money they didn't have to track. Multiply that x all the other institutions. Where did all that money go? Into the pockets of all the corrupt a-holes carrying out the WEF/NATO directives (which includes color revolution, DEI, CRT, LGBTQWERTYUIOP+++3x, etc).

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I’m not kidding when I say, “Just vote ‘NO’!”

I wonder - if a sizable portion of Americans expressed their disgust at the polls in this manner, would it prove the weakness of the Beltway mandate and force a reckoning?

Well, no, but I really am at wit’s end with all of these clowns.

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Agreed! And shorten, "Just VOTE!," EVERY election!

In Ohio last year, Pro-lifers knew the latest November election had two Issues, 1) amend the Ohio Constitution to strengthen abortion rights, and 2) allow marijuahna sales over-the-counter. A double-whammy since Leftward voters tend to say YES on both issues. Leftward voters won both. The abortion amendment by 57% to 43% of a LOW voter turnout in November.

If you were Pro-life, you had an extra, earlier Primary election, months prior to November, where an even smaller voter turnout failed to add a different amendment to the Constitution, to require at least 60% of the vote in order to amend the Ohio Constitution. So a strong Pro-life vote in either election could have prevented the abortion rights being added to the Ohio Constitution.

Whichever side you are on, it is vital to show up and vote your way. Your vote can even be "stronger" during low voter turnout elections! Spread the word to like-minded voters! Ohio churches, state-wide, failed to get the vote out!

(In defense of the Ohio churches' ignorance, it has been decades since Ohio voters had a chance to vote on the abortion issue. So Pro-lifers failed themselves by being lax to rally their voters, in fear of losing tax-exempt status, which the Left never fears, they always get away with campaigning in church. Democrats are above the law in the USA, we know).

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I should add, my church totally ignored the first chance, to vote for 60% needed to amend the Ohio Constitution, despite everybody knowing this was meant to stop the November abortion amendment.

My church rallies hundreds for an annual Pro-life Young Mothers Center, walk and fundraiser, which we promote for a month before the event; but when it mattered the most, we were silent or reluctant to VOTE against abortion in Ohio. Which we only mentioned in church a week before the November election, with much apology for talking politics in a conservative church! Doh! We were innocent (and passive) as doves, but not wise as serpents, (we failed to apply Matthew 10:16 for success).

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It is time for new nations. This one cannot be maintained because there is no shared culture. It would be impossible after all the damage done to impose a new or rediscovered shared culture in a common area. That is necessary for a nation to be a nation. We need new nations. The sooner we realize that and get going the better.

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Yes!! I've been saying this for a while now. Perhaps 'Balkanization' is the answer. And yes, 'multiculturalism' has now gone too far. Look what happened to Sweden. Look what happened to us. When you have millions upon millions of illegals invading the U.S. WHILE CARRYING THEIR OWN FLAGS, it won't end well. Our shared Western culture along with its mores and morals was lost in the sixties when Commies took over the Universities. They followed, and still follow, Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," which was published, I believe, in the late sixties to early seventies. If you ever happen to find a copy, look at his "Rules." Absolutely horrifying because IT'S HAPPENING HERE. Right now.

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Yes, they want one multi-national, multiethnic, brown, bland, consumer culture in which people live desperate existences. WE need to pursue the opposite.

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Is the deepest struggle within us? How do we maintain a strong communal identity that is also respected by the outside? While living under an oppressive regime poses many challenges, one approach is to form close-knit communities with strong cultural and family ties, as many Mennonite communities have done successfully. Living according to principles of honesty, hard work and self-sufficiency within a supportive social network can help insulate people from corruption and instability in the outside world. Nurturing strong intellectual and moral development within such a community could also help establish rule of law in spirit, if not in name, providing stability and protection from the arbitrary rule of those in power. (Brave's Leo AI helped with some wording and content)

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Like MTG? Lol!!!!

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Regarding the banana republic... Alternatively, the banana republic is just a feature to help us give all political power to the antichrist. Big Tech could empower such a person to fully take over the world, who would inform policy manipulations using big tech AI.

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Can the American Association of Pediatrics be compelled to acknowledge the findings of the Cass report and the WPATH files?

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Yes, in time. Their reputation is suffering significant damage and doctors are becoming more bold in resisting this ideology. Push, push, push. Eventually they will cave.

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The administrative class will be the very last to accept reality. APA and AAP are not responsive to outside pressure. It will have to resolve as politics. You're already seeing that with the state bans on childhood sex lobotomies. We are now in the persuasion phase. If Christopher has a suggestion for getting Jamie Reed, Leor Sapir, and Hilary Cass more mainstream media exposure, I am all ears.

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The process is time-consuming and disturbing. Having abandoned religion (and philosophy), we have only "empirical" proof left, and only barely; those who immediately see the obvious were (in the 30's/40's) "premature opponents," and are now "civil rights violators."

Our relationship with reality has become tenuous.

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But don't give up. Reality is still there! And we can make it show.

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I have infinite hope in God - the creator and ongoing ruler of all things.

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Lmao, many thanks for your brave testimony, Virgin Mary. +10 Heaven points

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European Doctrine of Discovery? Genocide, colonization, slavery, and apartheid?

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What?

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Research the 'Doctrine of Discovery.'

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Don't forget the Harvard Pilgrim Study, just released in April showing bisexual women have a 37% increased mortality rate and lesbian women 20% from their heterosexual peers. So we have three legs of the LGBT showing either increased mortality with risky behavior, Trans is mental health per the Dr. Cass study. We know 1 million people are still infected with HIV/AIDs per year with gay men being the highest population from risky sexual transmission. Need to address Safety in all schools and remove risks, i.e, remove LGBT.

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May 31
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I tend to agree with you on this.

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Why is George Soros untouchable, his name is thrown around everyday and the destruction he's caused OUR country is immeasurable

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Because what he is doing is not illegal, and he has enough money to insulate himself from political consequences.

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Seems like Wealth can insulate one from justice in 99% of cases. Trump is the 1 % . If US Citizens don't wake up they will start the slide into the 1% which slowly become 50% or more.

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I’m worried about this.

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Exactly my thoughts

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He plays the J card. Or at least his supporters in the media do. Of course, it's the height of irony considering his childhood activities! lol

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How do we encourage/ask Elon Musk/Bill Ackman and similar others to startup STEM high-schools/universities in the vein of the University of Austin/TX? Such institutes could be "home" to the many talented students being rejected from ivy-land and encourage admission/credit based on merit.

The US is falling behind in STEM expertise.

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I think this initiative is well underway. But it will only represent a small fraction of universities, so reforming existing institutions is also critical.

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That's good to know. I don't see much happening (by way of new institutions) in STEM, however perhaps I'm unaware. Thanks Chris.

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When the vast majority of advisors in high schools strongly recommend a college education, it discourages many from going into individual businesses or the trades. Then the student gets a degree in LGBTQ basketweaving, has a serious student loan debt and gets a job working in a fast food restaurant.

The experts and advisors, in too many cases, are in need of a new viewpoint. Too many of them think that everyone else should follow in their footsteps but experts and advisors are not the ones who really power the economy.

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Thanks. Good point.

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UT Austin ? You have got to be kidding me. I was a student at UT Austin in the 70s and it was divided just like the USA . The liberal arts were leftist and Business and Engineering were Conservative. With very little mixture on either side. From what I know about UT Austin today the Conservatives are losing the battle even in the Bus. and Eng. side. But there is some turning now with so much CRT, DEI etc being exposed.

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University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) /= University of Austin (UATX)

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I think she meant the other, new university- I can’t remember its name.

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If so then I apologize. It sort of set me off even thinking about my time at UT being a Vietnam Vet. and having to take some of the lib arts classes required .

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University of Austin in Texas. Not, the University of Texas in Austin. :)

Thank you for for your service.

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They really need a more unique name, for branding purposes if nothing else.

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For some reason Eugine I can’t “like” this so I’m typing it out - thank you, this made me laugh 😂

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Why is communism not hated and looked down upon in the same way as Nazism, even though it was just as destructive (if not more)?

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This is a great question. I'm sure there is better historical research, but my sense is that the rhetoric of the Left has a sympathetic element—the utopian, egalitarian frame is persuasive to many people; and intellectuals were able to downplay the historical atrocities of the Left.

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You are precisely correct. The way they describe it, it sounds lovely, utopian. Unfortunately, it inevitably creates a tyranny with a wealthy, elite ruling class crushing the working class into grinding poverty. Our 'education system' seems to have quit teaching honest history since the Soviet Union collapsed and the fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union faded away. Thus the students never learn the other side of the story.

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👍

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There was a high-end restaurant in the high-end Cherry Creek business district of Denver called 'Mao' in the 2000's.

https://www.westword.com/best-of/2004/food-and-drink/best-gratuitous-use-of-joe-pantoliano-in-an-asian-restaurant-5078235

"Yes, Mao is the hippest, slickest, South Beach-iest joint to debut on the Denver restaurant scene in a long time"..."a restaurant dedicated to the happy memories of a murderous communist revolutionary."

Imagine that type of glowing write-up about a restaurant called 'Hitler.' Would never happen. Not an accident of our coordinated educational and media system.

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I think to get any even deeper understanding of it, to get to the human root of it, you have to look at psychology. Jordan Peterson does a good job of exploring this.

Envious, coveting, narcissistic tendencies are very human and we all possess them. They can be exploited to great effect on a large scale. Narrative is central to this and as Chris noted the concept of elgalitarian is at the root. Fairness is something that gets everyones attention! Give me enough pwoer and I will make things fair! I think at some level its an indulgence of venegnece and sadism that exists within all humans and is very exploitable, especially in a social context. The left harnesses this masterfully and the right underestimates it's allure and power until it's too late. Both sides have their hubris.

Power of course attracts psychopaths and without checks and balances.. well everyone knows the rest... The point is, I sense the right has finally stopped underestimating the left and is finally waking up. Ironic that the wokedness was needed on the right. I thought the might not ever wake up, but am glad to see embers beginning to shimmer.

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Capitalism/ classical liberalism alone is spiritually empty and unsatisfying, but its emphasis on freedom pairs well with religious expression. The result was a flourishing society like no other. The US was very religious in the past, but as religion declines a spiritual void is opening up. Communism and other misguided activist ideologies fill this spiritual void in a way by claiming to usher in a new sensibility or a higher state of being on Earth.

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🎯

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Communism taps into a values hierarchy that is widely embraced in Western societies. Consider two values

- Serve the common good

- Respect for the individual

These two values often compete against each other; for example vaccine mandates, gun control, Universal Basic Income. A significant percentage of western society will prioritize serving the common good over respect for the individual. With that priority the pitch for communism in the West is often easy. The Enlightenment disrupted this hierarchy, and this disruption’s first major instantiation was the US Bill of Rights.

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May 31Edited

Serving the 'common good' becomes a problem when it is forced on everyone, versus the people having personal freedom to choose. Developing a vaccine is a good thing if it works. Forcing everyone to take it when it has significant side effects and is unnecessary for most people is simply a show of power or a push for some to make a profit.

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In the case of human sacrifice serving the common good is a problem when it is forced on one individual.

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May 31
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it seems capitalism isn't too shabby either when it comes to totalitarianism... oh and it was the usa - uk and friends that funded germanys rise of nazism, so there is that too...

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May 31
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i don't think any of the systems are perfect, but the ragging on communism is over the top...

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May 31
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do the same with capitalism and i will be fine with it.. cheers..

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What would you recommend as the best resource to cover the basics of DEI prior to my discussion (as a public school board member) with a state organization?

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I would recommend the critical race theory chapters of my book! :)

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Excellent. I just added "America's Cultural Revolution" to my cart.

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I just read chapters 16 and 17. Thank you!

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To be clear, I believe I have a pretty grasp already, but I like to be as well-prepared as possible.

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James Lindsay/New Discourses is an amazing resource. He has pieced out every single bit of it.

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Chris, 'Deplorables' could have a lot of fun and have our voices heard with something like this.

From Perplexity AI:

Rush Limbaugh's involvement in the infamous "Dan's Bake Sale" event in 1993 started as an offhand joke but snowballed into a massive grassroots gathering of his fans. Here are the key details:

In March 1993, a caller named Dan Kay asked Limbaugh for a free subscription to his newsletter since he couldn't afford the $29.95 fee. Limbaugh quipped that Kay should try holding a bake sale to raise the money.

Kay took the suggestion literally and organized a bake sale for May 22 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Word spread among Limbaugh's audience, and fans from across the country made plans to attend and urged Limbaugh to go as well.

On the day of the event, an estimated 20,000 to 70,000 Limbaugh fans converged on Fort Collins, with some traveling from as far as England and Guam. Billboards along highways advertised "Rush to Dan's Bake Sale."

Limbaugh flew in by helicopter due to the traffic jams caused by the massive crowds. He spoke to the attendees for about 10 minutes, during which Kay presented him with the $29.95 check and a giant fortune cookie baked by a local restaurant owner.

The event, dubbed the "Conservative Woodstock," became a symbol of grassroots support for Limbaugh's brand of conservatism. However, Kay himself ran out of baked goods within minutes due to the overwhelming turnout.

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Wow, what a story!

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I totally remember this. Rush! What I’d give to hear his voice again.

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What will be the mechanism to help non woke Universities to be seen, advertised and treated as the new elite universities that do actual truth seeking and research and not _______ "studies" and cause the ivies to diminish in stature?

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State universities should simply shut down non-scholarly, activist "studies" departments.

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The rebranded TItle IX (which substitutes gender identity for "sex") in its wording is scheduled to be implemented by the Biden Administration in August. This will impact females (and also males with regard to due process issues) in many negative ways. Since this is a regulation/rule and not a law, could this be readily reversed by another administration? If so, what would be the procedure for doing so?

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It will impact females and how many of those females who vote will not vote in what is best for themselves, but for the Blue?

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How to expose the NGO's such as the Catholic Church . Surely the majority of , so called Christians are not in favor of their involvement in the millions of illegal immigration.

Also are we , the USA , going to have to go to War with Mexico and the Drug Cartels?

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One of my Logos Fellows did a great report on migrant NGOs: https://www.thefp.com/p/nonprofits-make-billions-off-migrant-children

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May 31Edited

The drug cartels should be declared terrorist organizations. They kill thousands of Americans annually. When the twin towers were destroyed on nine eleven we declared war. Those terrorists killed almost 3,000 Americans. The Mexican cartels kill about 100,000 Americans every year and we do essentially nothing to stop the slaughter. Makes me wonder who in our government are profiting from the actions of the cartels.

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You should definitely speak out about the cartels, human smugglers, drug runners, Catholic and Jewish charities facilitating human trafficking on the border. The main Jewish human trafficking cartel has ties to DHS secretary Mayorkas. Write to your representatives and push for a hot war on the border to defend your country. Also push for mass deportation of tens of millions of illegals.

American soldiers should be humiliated to be working overseas while their own nation is actively invaded. Tell them so. Speak up boldly about stopping ALL foreign military aid to Ukraine, Israel and the like so they can fight proxy wars for the US. This has VERY LITTLE American support. The majority of Americans don't care about Ukraine or Israel. they care about America.

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are there good ngos and bad ngos? how about all those colour revolutions funded by usa ngos??

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Yes, there are good and bad. Catholic Charities is up to their eyeballs in trafficking unaccompanied minors in the giant invasion of our nation. They are making bank with government $$. Sad to say.

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i don't know anything about this.. please offer a link with information about it, as i would read it.. thanks..

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Assume all secular NGOs are bad. With the religious ones it's maybe 50/50.

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Given the disaster that was the initial invasion of DEI & CRT at Evergreen University, why did it then spread to almost every other university within a year (or 3), and how was this so seamlessly coordinated?

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It's been building for years. It's very hard for university administrators to resist.

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I think that part of the problem is that those in control of the universities tend to live in an academic bubble and think they are smarter than the 'common folk'. The universities, as businesses, should be made to follow the same laws and regulations as other businesses.

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It's been building for decades, but as gluttonous administrative jobs outgrew teachers, nobody realized the communist bent until they achieved critical mass in the 2020's, when they now brag about their Marxist foundations.

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George Soros and company

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I want to know the method, though. How the pipeline works. Who does George inform, and how? Who is running each area (of colleges/universities, etc). How does the system work?

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Heather Mac Donald's 'The Diversity Delusion'.....which I reviewed here would go a long way to answering your question: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/how-diversity-narrows-the-mind

Here's a snippet..."it is a devastatingly compelling expose of “how race and gender pandering corrupt the university and undermine our culture.” To be a believer in personal responsibility in the contemporary West is to be continually assailed by invocations to feel guilty about the - largely baseless - alleged grievances of an ever-growing list of ‘victims of society’. This competitive victimhood narrative originated in academia but now oozes daily from the liberal media and has progressively been absorbed as orthodoxy in each and every one of our institutions, all the way from schools to armed forces....."

It is a mistake, in my view, to pin it all on individuals like Soros plus a few Marxist academics. Poisonous as these people have been, the problem is much bigger and more longstanding than that. The real problem is people's tendency to groupthink (and ironically high IQ university types are actually more prone to this than people lower down the social scale). Letting these people dominate academia for 50+ years and sheep-dip the young and ambitious future professional classes with all their bogus Social Justice nonsense....that is the answer to how the pipeline has worked. Plus the fact that conservative politicians only started to notice it all a few years ago by which time it was too late.

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Thank you!

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You are welcome! Hope you will find time to read the whole review and if you find it useful subscribe free to get my essays each month.

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The method, for Soros, is to fund institutional efforts and public demonstrations: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/politics/george-soros-racial-justice-organizations.html. An important question is why DEI, and the answer involves considering how western societies operate. That consideration involves behaviors and normative values: the lust for power and control over others, the inclination to marginalize the adept and protect the inept. The emotional reward many get from virtue signaling. It also involves the real returns to isome groups who, absent DEI, have little chance of success, and consequently support those who promote DEI. Remember LBJ's "We will have them voting for us for the next two hundred years?"

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