Let’s Hit Left-Wing Colleges Where It Hurts

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Parents, taxpayers, and donors have little idea of the levels of lunacy, evil, and lawlessness that have become features of many of today’s institutions of higher learning.

Parents, taxpayers, and donors who ignore or are too lazy to find out what goes on in the name of higher education are nearly as complicit as the professors and administrators who promote or sanction the lunacy, evil, and lawlessness.

As for the term “institutions of higher learning,” we might start asking: Higher than what?

Let’s look at a tiny sample of academic lunacy.

During a campus debate, Purdue University professor David Sanders argued that a logical extension of pro-lifers’ belief that fetuses are human beings is that pictures of “a butt-naked body of a child” are child pornography.

Clemson University’s chief diversity officer, Lee Gill, who’s paid $185,000 a year to promote inclusion, provided a lesson claiming that to expect certain people to be on time is racist.

To reduce angst among snowflakes in its student body, the University of California, Hastings College of the Law has added a “Chill Zone.” The Chill Zone, located in its library, has, just as most nursery schools have, mats for naps and beanbag chairs.

Before or after a snooze, students can also use the space to do a bit of yoga or meditate.

The University of Michigan Law School helped its students weather their Trump derangement syndrome—a condition resulting from Donald Trump’s election—by enlisting the services of an “embedded psychologist” in a room full of bubbles and play dough.

To reduce pressure on law students, Joshua M. Silverstein, a law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, thinks “every American law school ought to substantially eliminate C grades and set its good academic standing grade point average at the B- level.”

Today’s academic climate might be described as a mixture of infantilism, kindergarten, and totalitarianism. The radicals, draft dodgers, and hippies of the 1960s who are now college administrators and professors are responsible for today’s academic climate.

The infantilism should not be tolerated, but more important for the future of our nation are the totalitarianism and the “hate America” lessons being taught at many of the nation’s colleges.

For example, led by its student government leader, the University of California, Irvine’s student body voted for a motion, which the faculty approved, directing that the American flag not be on display because it makes some students uncomfortable and creates an unsafe, hostile environment.

The flag is a symbol of hate speech, according to the student government leader. He said the U.S. flag is just as offensive as Nazi and Islamic State flags and that the U.S. is the world’s most evil nation.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, New York University Provost Ulrich Baer argued:

The idea of freedom of speech does not mean a blanket permission to say anything anybody thinks. It means balancing the inherent value of a given view with the obligation to ensure that other members of a given community can participate in discourse as fully recognized members of that community.

That’s a vision that is increasingly being adopted on college campuses, and it’s leaking down to our primary and secondary levels of education.

Baer apparently believes that the test for one’s commitment to free speech comes when he balances his views with those of others.

His vision justifies the violent disruptions of speeches by Heather Mac Donald at Claremont McKenna College, Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley, and Charles Murray at Middlebury College.

Baer’s vision is totalitarian nonsense. The true test of one’s commitment to free speech comes when he permits people to be free to say and write those things he finds deeply offensive.

Americans who see themselves as either liberal or conservative should rise up against this totalitarian trend on America’s college campuses.

I believe the most effective way to do so is to hit these campus tyrants where it hurts the most—in the pocketbook. Lawmakers should slash budgets, and donors should keep their money in their pockets. (For more from the author of “Let’s Hit Left-Wing Colleges Where It Hurts” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The 1 Change the Government Could Make to Drive Down College Prices

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Over the past 20 years, the price of wireless service has fallen 46 percent, the price of software has fallen 68 percent, the price of televisions has fallen 96 percent, and the quality of these services and technologies has improved markedly.

But over that same time, the price of college tuition has risen 199 percent, and most parents would agree that the quality has not greatly improved.

But if prices typically fall as competition spurs quality advancement, as seen by the technological achievement of the last two decades, how has that not happened in education?

There is no one simple answer to this question, but the different regulatory environment facing higher education is a significant factor.

One hundred years ago, there were six regional, voluntary, nongovernmental institutions that helped universities and secondary schools coordinate curricula, degrees, and transfer credits. These institutions had no power to prevent the creation of higher education institutions.

This changed with the 1952 GI Bill.

After congressional investigators found thousands of sham colleges were created overnight to take advantage of the benefits provided in the first 1944 GI Bill, the federal government turned these voluntary institutions into accreditors.

As the federal government steadily ramped up its financial support for higher education benefits, it continued outsourcing the vetting of higher education institutions to these regional accreditors.

This makeshift system worked well for decades, but in recent years these regional accreditors have come under heavy criticism for both lax oversight over some online institutions and a heavy hand in killing some promising innovations.

No regulator is ever going to be perfect, but if they are going to be gatekeepers for a sector of the economy as important as higher education, they must be transparent and accountable to the American people.

Unfortunately, our nation’s regional accreditors are neither. They do not share how they make their accrediting decisions with anyone and their board members do not face accountability at the ballot box.

This needs to change.

That is why I have introduced the Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act. This bill would allow states to create their own accreditation system for institutions that want to be eligible for federal financial aid dollars.

Each state could then be as open or closed to higher education innovation as they saw fit. They could even stick with their current regional accreditors if they chose to do so.

But they could also enable innovators like Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, who recently signed a deal with the online provider Kaplan University, to go even further in their mission to expand higher education access to those who had limited access before.

Our higher education system should not be held captive to 100-year-old institutions that were never intended to be regulatory gatekeepers in the first place.

Instead, we should allow those communities that want to experiment with higher education policy the freedom and accountability to do so. (For more from the author of “The 1 Change the Government Could Make to Drive Down College Prices” please click HERE)

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Facebook Now Targeting, Suspending Pages of Ex-Muslims Who Criticize Muhammad

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Yesterday, Facebook restricted and then shut down the public pages of Ex-Muslims of North America (24k followers) and Atheist Republic (1.6 million followers) – groups that advocate secularism and provide support to “apostates” (people who leave Islam and who often face persecution).

In fact, the ex-Muslim group claims that for the last several years, Facebook has been continuously blocking groups like it. The ex-Muslims have written an open letter to the social media giant, calling on it to “to stop exercising intellectual persecution” against atheist and ex-Muslim organizations and to “whitelist” such vulnerable groups from organized false flagging attacks.

On Monday, Muhammad Syed, the president of the Ex-Muslims of North America took to Twitter to report that the Facebook pages of Ex-Muslims and Atheist Republic were restricted (and the next morning shut down) “in violation of Facebook’s community standards”. No details were given as to what standards were violated . . .

Syed believes the pages had been targeted in coordinated attacks by Muslim fundamentalists using “simple and effective” Facebook flagging tools to report that pages falsely for standards violations. Facebook, Syed said, isn’t doing enough to protect “groups vulnerable to malicious attacks”. (Read more HERE about Facebook now targetting ex-Muslims and others).

Miss USA Winner Stirs Controversy With Answers on Health Care, Feminism

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Kára McCullough was crowned Miss USA Sunday night. But before being pronounced winner, Miss District of Columbia sparked a social media controversy with two of her answers during the Q&A round.

Host Julianne Hough asked McCullough, 25, about health care.

“Do you think affordable health care for all U.S. citizens is a right or a privilege and why?”

“I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege,” the scientist responded. McCullough works at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She continued:

As a government employee, I am granted health care. And I see firsthand that for one, to have health care you need to have jobs, so therefore we need to continue to cultivate this environment that we’re given the opportunities to have health care as well as jobs for all the American citizens worldwide.

McCullough’s response drew cheers from the audience, but criticism on Twitter.

The Washington Post noted another of McCullough’s answers that drew ire. Host Terrence Jenkins asked McCullough, “What do you consider feminism to be, and do you consider yourself a feminist?”

McCullough said she preferred to “transpose the word feminism to equalism.” She added that she believes men and women are equal “when it comes to opportunity in the workplace.”

McCullough said she has witnessed the “impact” of leadership from women in offices and in medical science.

“As Miss USA, I would hope to promote that kind of leadership responsibility globally to so many women worldwide.”

Disappointment quickly followed on Twitter.

Other Twitter users praised McCullough for her responses to both questions.

The Post reported that McCullough helps teach children in her community about science.

“My plan is to inspire and encourage so many children and women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields,” she said. The Post also noted that producers called her “one of the most intelligent contestants in recent memory.”

McCullough was preceded in her Miss USA title by Deshauna Barber, a U.S. Army Reserve captain. McCullough is the second consecutive representative from Washington, D.C. to win the pageant. Miss USA 2017 first runner-up was Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg.

Watch McCullough’s full responses to the health care and feminism questions below.

(For more from the author of “Miss USA Winner Stirs Controversy With Answers on Health Care, Feminism” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Christian Pastor in Bible Belt Admits Personally Worshiping Allah

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A former church has been taken over and converted to a mosque in a rural North Carolina county, and a group of Christian pastors took part in the conversion ceremony in an effort to “show mutual respect” for their Muslim neighbors.

Crosses have been removed from the former church’s facade and steeple, and mosque leader Ali Muhammad turned them over to the group of pastors.

“What they were attempting to do is honor our tradition and so they wanted to turn the crosses over to us,” said the Rev. Jim Melnyk, pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Smithfield, a small town in Johnston County about 45 minutes south of Raleigh. “They were reaching out to us, and we were reaching out to them.”

Melnyk said he was joined by pastors from the United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ and three different Baptist congregations at Saturday’s ceremony, which marked the official conversion of a former Pentecostal church into a mosque. One lay person from the local Presbyterian Church was also present for the “celebration.”

Melnyk told WND the mosque had reached out to the local churches through an interfaith group in Raleigh and was hoping to strike a welcoming and respectful tone for the two faiths. (Read more from “Christian Pastor in Bible Belt Admits Personally Worshiping Allah” HERE)

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The People of the Bubbles

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Imagine you are flying over an American suburb in Middle America, say in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, or Pennsylvania.

You hover over a cul de sac, where kids ride tricycles and Moms share a glass of wine after work and chauffering their charges around to soccer practice.

In fact, you can see that most of the homes are inhabited by two-parent families. If you asked the parents’ primary motivation for living in suburbia, most would tell you they’ve moved for the K-12 education the local school district affords.

These families have also moved for a certain quality of life, mobility and access to grocery stores and malls. Life for many is relatively easy. Certainly there are worries: how to pay for college 10 years hence or how to fund the roofing contractor who says he can fix the worsening leak in the family room.

For good or bad, these families are living in a bubble of our society’s creation. Problems in this bubble are those of the First World.

Now imagine you are soaring over an inner city, the south side of Chicago, for example, or downtown Newark, or the east thirties in Indianapolis.

Life is harder in this bubble, where homicide is an everyday occurrence and gangs of both domestic and illegal alien lineage dominate black market commerce. Grocery stores are few and far between; liquor stores, payday loans, and bail bonds are the growth industries.

For the depressed neighborhood over which we are poised, single-parent families make up the majority of households. The single-parent route is an easy choice to make for many, incentivized as it is by government child care payments, food stamps, and WIC vouchers.

Inhabitants of the first bubble, those of suburbia, seldom cross over the perimeter of the second.

And the ability of those residing in the second bubble to permeate the membrane into the first is hampered by a lack of family support, a restricted ability to choose schools best suited for a particular student, and a societal fabric rooted in the life style of criminal gangs, drug abuse and violent crime.

With that said, residents of the second bubble can also be said to be extraordinarily wealthy compared to most.

Because if the second bubble can be thought of as an outer concentric ring to the first, it’s worth imagining that there is a third bubble outside the second.

The third circle consists of the vast majority of the world’s population. Water, basic sanitation, food and shelter are constant concerns. Disease and tribal violence have reduced the lifespan of the average third-bubble resident by a decade or two or three.

The third bubble consists of billions of people, and their plight is largely invisible to residents of the first and second circles.

Poorly educated in civics, first- and second-circle residents take for granted the magnificent compact and civil society that surrounds them with life’s every convenience. The most difficult decision some first- and second-circle residents will make on a daily basis is which of the 1800 television channels to watch at 8pm.

Our complex legal system, rooted in thousands of years of human experience, manifested itself in two magnificent legal documents that charted the course for the most successful republic in human history.

And yet there is little — and for many, no — appreciation by residents of the first and second bubbles for the masterful work of art that our nation’s highest law represents.

Demagogues of all political persuasions, men and women lacking in virtue, have placed the priorities of their party, their ethnic group, or their ahistorical social constructs, over country and principle.

Which brings me to the fourth bubble, a circle within the first. Call it the zeroth bubble.

In it are the self-proclaimed elites of government and media. The residents of the zeroth bubble reside in coastal enclaves and surrounded by elaborate systems that protect them from those who live in the first, second and third bubbles.

The residents of the zeroth bubble often secure permanent employment in the form of government sinecure or job-hopping between government, media, academia, lobbying, and public relations.

Their personal security is assured by heavily-armed forces that offer many of them around-the-clock protection.

There is little crossover from the zeroth bubble to the first. And certainly less still between the zeroth and the second.

It’s also safe to say that the device has yet to be invented that can measure the empathy that the elites feel for the residents of the third bubble.

Which helps explain why illegal immigration — from human- and drug-smuggling to MS-13 — is of no concern to the Chamber of Commerce, or your typical Senator, or Thomas Friedman of The New York Times.

The zeroth bubble people wouldn’t ever see the results of the open borders policies they espouse and support, nor can they even countenance them.

In fact, they’re sufficiently disconnected from the residents of the first bubble that they missed the entire Trump phenomenon.

The eponymous Z Man has popularized a simple dichotomy of two worlds in which the coast elites (“the cloud people”) rule over the largely invisible rabble (“the dirt people”) in flyover country.

But this view is insufficient, in my opinion.

One way to explain our country’s polarization, its angst, and its current squabbles is by imagining a set of four concentric circles, or bubbles.

Residents of each bubble lack a sufficient understanding that the other bubbles exist, and are thereby blinkered, unsympathetic, and — most of all — ungrateful.

The zeroth bubble — that of the elites — is apoplectic over its increasing and irreversible irrelevance, which explains the daily attacks on the President intertwined with its unflagging support for flatly illegal or extra-constitutional activities when the President is a Democrat.

As each bubble has become less porous and more opaque, empathy and apprecation for our society’s blessings are in very short supply.

Recognizing that the four bubbles exist is, perhaps, a step in the right direction. (For more from the author of “The People of the Bubbles” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Ann Coulter Ready to Jump Ship on Trump Over Obama Amnesty, the Wall, Other Broken Promises

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Conservative author Ann Coulter was one of the most vocal supporters of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign.

She wrote “In Trump We Trust” and proclaimed that she worships him like the “people of North Korea worship their Dear Leader – blind loyalty.”

Coulter described herself as a single-issue voter during the election and was drawn to Trump due to his “Mexican rapist speech” and him calling for a border wall to be built.

In an interview Sunday with The Daily Caller, Coulter let it be known she still has hope in the Trump presidency, but is ready to jump ship.

[Question:] So there’s no wall, and Obama’s amnesties look like they are here to stay. Do you still trust Trump?

[Answer:] Uhhhh. I’m not very happy with what has happened so far. I guess we have to try to push him to keep his promises. But this isn’t North Korea, and if he doesn’t keep his promises I’m out. This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues. (Read more from “Ann Coulter Ready to Jump Ship on Trump Over Obama Amnesty, the Wall, Other Broken Promises” HERE)

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McMaster on WaPo Claim Trump Gave Russians Highly Classified Info: ‘I Was in the Room, It Didn’t Happen’

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The Washington Post ran a story late this afternoon claiming Donald Trump, in his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador, disclosed highly classified information, including information that could reveal sources and methods.

Despite the length of the story, the allegations of substance are all in this single paragraph:

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States learned only through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence-gathering method, but he described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.

From that, WaPo argues:

The identification of the location was seen as particularly problematic, officials said, because Russia could use that detail to help identify the U.S. ally or intelligence capability involved. Officials said the capability could be useful for other purposes, possibly providing intelligence on Russia’s presence in Syria. Moscow would be keenly interested in identifying that source and perhaps disrupting it.

Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support President Bashar al-Assad.

(Read more from “McMaster on WaPo Claim Trump Gave Russians Highly Classified Info: ‘I Was in the Room, It Didn’t Happen'” HERE)

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Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Build the Wall

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It’s that time of year again. Financial reserves from our December fundraiser have been slowly depleted and VDARE.com is staring down a funding shortage as we creep into summer. In order for us to survive until the fall, we have to bring a total of $80,000 right now. We all need to pull together to make it happen.

Earlier this week, our intrepid editor, Peter Brimelow, noted that “This is the spring of our discontent” – in other words, although we’re all discontented with Trump’s lack of progress so far, the fact is, there are tremendous opportunities right now because the Trump administration exists at all. We must build the wall. We must restrict legal immigration. We must deport illegals, for the sake of America. These things will only happen if organizations like VDARE.com have your support.

Of course, no matter how generous the funding, if we didn’t have concrete plans for changing the tide, nothing would happen.

So what are our plans?

Here’s a sample of what we can do immediately with the right funding:

VDARE Book Club: The discussion over Steve Bannon’s edgy reading list has created a major stir in the Main Stream Media and opened the opportunity for a VDARE Book Club. We have an incredible lineup of books that examine the roots of our movement and look ahead to where we go from here. We just need an initial capital investment to roll it out.

VDARE Campus Speaking Tour: Peter Brimelow and John Derbyshire were doing campus talks before they were cool. For that matter, they were protested against and blacklisted before it was cool. Now, with anti-Free Speech activism taking over college campuses, we cannot back down. We have several invitations that we’re eager to accept and we’d like to add as many more as possible.

VDARE Conferences: It’s no secret that public meetings of American patriots can be tricky to pull off. We will not be cowed by the strong-arm tactics of Cultural Marxist enforcers. Conferences provide a space for the most significant thinkers in America today to come together and work out solutions to keep America American, plus our attendees have the opportunity to get to know fellow patriots. The show must—and will—go on!

VDARE Merchandise: A strong defense of culture cannot overlook the importance of social signaling, and the most effective way for us to harness that power is by getting VDARE.com’s brand and ideas in people’s daily lives. Clothing, bags, lapel pins, bumper stickers, Christmas ornaments—it’s time to develop witty, beautiful, powerful merchandise for our audience.

All of these projects will chip away at the Mainstream Media blackout on our issues (patriotic immigration reform and questions of American national identity). Together, they will strengthen the VDARE.com brand, reach new audiences and open possibilities for ever more effective execution of our mission.

The mission of the VDARE Foundation is education on two main issues: first, the unsustainability of current US immigration policy and second, the “National Question,” which is the viability of the US as a nation-state. We do this through the VDARE.com webzine and VDARE Books, public speaking, conferences, debates and Mainstream Media appearances.

In this capacity, VDARE.com has accomplished a great deal. Already, we have taken our place as the voice of patriotic immigration in America. Our country need that voice – now more than ever – to get louder and louder until it is impossible to ignore.

Our ultimate goal is to become a far-reaching patriotic media conglomeration. VDARE.com will always be our flagship operation and we want to expand into hard-hitting podcasts, professional videos and books that can reflect the paradigm shift America so desperately needs. VDARE.com can amplify the most interesting and disciplined voices of this movement we have created, and unite the community under the shared interest in keeping America American. But none of this is possible without your help. What do you have to give? (For more from the author of “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Build the Wall” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Migrants in Sweden Suspected of Converting to Christianity to Get Asylum

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The Swedish migration agency is handing out pop quizzes on the Bible to make sure migrants aren’t converting to Christianity to receive asylum.

Risk of persecution because of one’s religious faith can boost a person’s chances of gaining asylum. The Swedish migration agency is making unannounced visits to asylum seekers to quiz them on the Bible and make sure their conversions are genuine.

“How many books are in the New Testament?” and “What is the difference between Orthodox and Protestant churches?” are examples of questions converts have to answer.

Immigration lawyers have criticized the measure, but the agency defends the questions as knowledge true Christians should know.

“There are reasonable demands that the [asylum] applicant should have certain knowledge based on what they’ve told us and how they’ve gained knowledge of the Bible,” Carl Bexelius of the Swedish migration agency told state broadcaster SVT in an article published Saturday. “This knowledge should be there naturally, and it shouldn’t be something they need to read up on.” (Read more from “Migrants in Sweden Suspected of Converting to Christianity to Get Asylum” HERE)

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