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The Illusion Of Freedom

The Illusion Of Freedom

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain,…

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The Illusion Of Freedom

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” – Frank Zappa

“The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.” ― George Orwell, 1984

The quote from Frank Zappa has truly come to fruition during the first two weeks of 2021. We have been living in a Surveillance State since the introduction of the Patriot Act in 2001 (Biden has boasted that he wrote the bill years before). Until Snowden and Assange revealed the depth and depravity of this un-Constitutional intrusion into our lives only the Deep State cabal knew the truth.

Most Americans ignored these revelations, as they continued to be distracted and entertained by their iGadgets and new social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and others. These social media companies parlayed people’s narcissist need for affirmation, likes and followers into multi-billion-dollar conglomerates with near monopolistic control over the distribution of news, opinions, and on-line communication of the masses.

They have gathered personal data on hundreds of millions, used that data to create an addiction to their platforms, created algorithms to maximize their monetization of you, and colluded with government surveillance agencies to spy on you. The illusion of free speech provided by these Silicon Valley billionaires was extremely profitable for the last couple decades, so now with virtually total control of internet communication, these left-wing oligarchs have conspired with the Deep State traitors, the Democrat party, and the Davos crowd to pull back the curtain and reveal the brick wall at the back of the theater.

They began moving the tables and chairs with the manufactured global pandemic for the Chinese bio-weapon lab virus in March. The psychopaths, who wield the real power, have no concern for humanity. They seized upon this “crisis” to implement a plan to remove Trump through using Covid as an excuse to roll-out a mail-in ballot scheme (supplemented with Dominion voting machine rigging) to commit just enough fraudulent votes to throw the election to basement Biden, a senile bumbling clown who drew tens of tens to his massive rallies.

The social media autocrats gave the first inklings of extinguishing the illusion of freedom as they needed to ramp up the fear and panic from a flu with a 99.7% survival rate, so they began censoring doctors and other dissenters who dared to question the approved narrative of a deadly pandemic requiring mass lockdowns, small business closures (not Wal-Mart or Target) and mandatory masking.

When the effectiveness of Hydroxychloquine + zinc + zpack and Ivermectin were scorned, ridiculed and censored by the social media titans, you knew they were in cahoots with Gates, Fauci and Big Pharma to generate billions in profits rather than save lives. Despite unequivocal proof lockdowns and masks do nothing to stop the spread of a flu that has negligible impact on people under 70, the corporate mainstream media and social media companies promoted falsehoods and censored the truth.

They needed to destroy the economy to remove Trump. The scenery was taken down when the media conglomerates colluded to completely bury the Hunter Biden laptop story and the proof of influence peddling by the Biden crime family with China, Ukraine and Russia, and the Big guy – creepy, sleepy Joe taking his 10% cut. Anyone presenting the facts of these criminal activities was immediately banned, including the NY Post and dozens of other real journalists.

The curtain was inched back on the night of the election and in the weeks thereafter, when their master plan of fraudulent mail-in votes was failing and they needed to stop the counting in all swing states to manufacture more votes to put the senile kid groper over the top. The Silicon Valley authoritarian censorship police went into overdrive, suppressing documented proof of mass fraud, covering up video evidence and hundreds of written affidavits documenting fraud, banning dissenters from their platforms, promoting the false narrative of the fairest election ever, shadow banning opposing viewpoints, placing warnings on the accounts of anyone who presented facts about election fraud, and deleting tweets and Facebook posts of the president.

Biden should have been moving back to his basement, where DOCTOR Jill Biden could feed him oatmeal and wipe the drool off his chin, waiting for dementia to finally consume one of the most corrupt politicians in the history of this country. But instead, on January 20, he will be propped up on stage to be sworn in as president, until his handlers decide to use the 25th Amendment and install the new BJ in Chief – Kamala. The Trojan horse has entered the gates.

The curtain has been torn down and the tables and chairs tossed aside in the last week, as the social media tyrants have shown their true colors and the four-year collusion cavalcade has reached its illusory climax, with a solid brick wall blocking the exits.

The enemies of the people (aka billionaire oligarchs, Silicon Valley conspirators, corporate fake news media, traitorous Deep State spooks, and corrupt politicians) took advantage of Trump’s failure to comprehend the risk of drawing a few hundred thousand of his most inflamed devotees into Washington on the same day Congress was meeting to confirm the electoral college vote counts, by infiltrating the rally with ANTIFA operatives. Their intent was to paint Trump followers as dangerous domestic terrorists, and the narrative has been propagandized unceasingly by the left.

Trump delivered the standard speech he gave many times during the campaign and specifically told his followers to “peacefully” protest at the Capitol to let our representatives know how they felt about the fraudulent election steal which took place on November 4. There is absolutely nothing he said or did during that speech which can possibly construed as a call for mob violence. He urged the crowd to make their voices heard by the corrupt corporate bought politicians meeting to confirm the stolen election.

Based upon the hundreds of videos documenting the supposed “insurrectionist” attack mob, it is clear most of the idiots were let into the Capitol by the police, there were numerous ANTIFA thugs creating havoc, none of the insurrectionists had guns, taking selfies, and posing in congressional offices for Facebook posts was the main accomplishment, and one unarmed woman was shot to death by a policeman after being urged to go through a window by BLM leader John Sullivan.

There were a few hundred thousand Trump supporters at the rally and maybe a few hundred who meandered into the Capitol building, broke a few windows, took selfies with policemen, and had five hundred or so corrupt politicians pissing their pants because their constituents are angry about asinine lockdowns and stealing an election through blatant fraud.

Nothing was burned, there was 99% less violence than any BLM “peaceful protest” over the summer, and the only things looted were Pelosi’s podium and her laptop. She’s probably angry because it had nude selfies, she sent to Fartman Swalwell and Cryin Chuck. This was a perfect setup by those wielding the true power in this country to destroy Trump and brand his 75 million followers with a Scarlet T. They never let an opportunity like this go to waste. AOC and the rest of her squad took to social media to describe the terror of almost dying in this armed insurrection without arms. Maybe they thought they might be gored to death by this paid actor goofball.

Every moment since January 6 has been used by the Big Tech/Big Gov/Big Corp oligarchy to promote the fake news “insurrection” against a government that absconds with your money at gunpoint, uses the U.S. Constitution like toilet paper, is spending future generations into unpayable debt servitude, has as much vision as Ray Charles and the morality of a $2 whore. I apologize to all $2 whores, who at least provide a service. The compliant media mouthpieces were given the script to propagandize the terms “insurrection”, “sedition”, “coup”, and “armed rebellion” for the last two weeks, beating it to death like a clubbed seal.

The Big Lie method is being used by the Goebbels/Bernays acolytes at CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox, as they perpetuate the falsehood of an armed rebellion, when absolutely no one used firearms as they were ushered into the Capitol by police. They have unleashed the rabid dogs in a blatant search and destroy mission to decapitate Trump and force his supporters into submission by threat of job loss, pariah social status, and inability to freely associate with other like-minded individuals on social platforms.

As this second impeachment farce plays out, and the nation is engrossed and entertained by bloviating cretins disguised as elected representatives, spewing white supremacy gibberish, confirming Mencken’s belief those we elect prove voters are as moronic as the imbeciles they elect, the real economy remains in a government mandated depression, foodbanks are overwhelmed, small businesses continue to be purposely destroyed by despot governors, while Big Corp and Big Tech prosper, thrive and vacuum up more wealth.

Nancy Pelosi and her team of diverse mouth breather swamp scum have now impeached Trump for a phone call about the truthful accusation that Joe Biden used undue influence to have a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden’s blatant peddling of Biden influence for millions, and now for the incitement of an insurrection by giving a speech in which he told a crowd to peacefully protest an election racked by online computer vote switching schemes and counterfeit mail-in ballot fraud.

In both cases there was zero chance of Trump being convicted and in the current instance these feckless troglodytes spent a couple hours of vacuous race posturing before voting to impeach and would have to conduct a Senate trial after Trump has moved back to Florida. This is nothing but pure putrid politics in an attempt to make Republican politicians grovel and cower, while attempting to shame Trump voters into seclusion.

The cowardly RINOs showed their true colors by voting with Pelosi’s posse, led by neo-con establishment warmonger Liz Cheney. Within a week the FBI supposedly determined the “storming” (aka being let in by the police) of the Capital was coordinated and planned weeks before using Facebook groups and other social media means. That poses the question, how could Trump’s speech incite an insurrection that was already planned and being executed while he was still speaking? Is Facebook being shutdown for the good of the country?

For over a week the Big Tech/Big Media/Big Gov oligarchs jammed the insurrection bullshit down our throats with their pontificating and painting of all Trump supporters as white supremacists conducting an armed uprising against our “noble” government swamp creatures slithering around the halls of congress. The FBI has done their part by hyperventilating about “potential” armed protests in every state capital on January 20.  The FBI, along with CIA, DOJ, and military, have been in on the plot to unseat Trump before he took office, and they continue to do their part in the never-ending coup to discredit him and insure he can’t run again in 2024.

This is nothing but fearmongering to further discredit Trump supporters and force them to cancel themselves under the threat of being canceled by the woke leftist mob. The only armed attacks on state capitals would be planned, funded, and equipped by the FBI after convincing some dupe to go along with their plan, creating their needed false flag for gun confiscation or acting like they foiled their own plan at the last second to the accolades of the leftist media.

CNN and the rest of the fake news media, along with the mini-despots Dorsey, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, are doing their totalitarian censorship damnedest to bury the John Sullivan (BLM terrorist) and ANTIFA videos proving they provoked, initiated, and took part in the violence in the Capitol. CNN even interviewed this lowlife scumbag on air after the Capitol kerfuffle as if he was a journalist, rather than radical leftist criminal.

The First Amendment is so inconvenient for these tyrants and their communist cohorts – AOC and her squad of Maoists. Anyone not in agreement with their warped psychopathic narrative must be sent to re-education camps, and if that fails, to the gulag. This is the mindset of those now in control of all the levers of our government. Next, we will be segmented into districts and subjected to Hunger Games level subjugation and tyranny. They are not satisfied with beating Trump and his 75 million followers, they must re-educate and change them to achieve everlasting victory.

“We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.” ― George Orwell, 1984

The incomprehensibly cosmic degree of duplicitous hypocrisy from Pelosi, Schumer, their radical extremist brethren, and their lapdogs in the fake news media knows no bounds. As the terms “insurrection” and “armed revolt” are ejected from their pieholes like diarrhea after eating gas station sushi, these myopic deceitful weasels suffer from lack of self-awareness or willfully ignorant amnesia regarding the events of this past summer. CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the far-left media complex cheered on the riots, beatings of innocent bystanders, looting, burning of government buildings and police vehicles, assaults on police, destruction of small businesses, and skyrocketing murder rates, all in the name of social justice, because a couple felons and drug addicts died while resisting arrest.

The smarmy double standard applied when reporting actual violent uprisings by BLM and ANTIFA terrorists versus a Trump rally where 99% were peaceful and 1% were paid actors to incite violence, reveals the duplicity of these faux journalists. Trump always had them pegged perfectly with his “Fake News” moniker, and that accurate portrayal has driven them insane with rage to destroy him.

The Silicon Valley ministers of propaganda and censorship not only allowed these planned riots to be coordinated on their social platforms, but openly supported and encouraged the violence and mayhem. Burning downtown districts, police under siege, murder, and anarchy gripped dozens of Democrat run cities for months, but they were reported as fiery but mostly peaceful protests by the irresponsible media. Kamala and Hollywood elites bailed out killers and anarchists. Not a peep out of Pelosi, Schumer or basement Biden about insurrection, armed mobs, or violent revolt.

So, Twitter and Facebook allowed violent criminals to coordinate and carry out hundreds of uprisings and violent mob attacks attempting to overthrow the authorities in dozens of cities with zero consequences or moral outrage. Did Amazon shut down their servers? Normal law-abiding citizens of this country were provided a glimpse into a future controlled by Big Tech/Big Media/Big Democrat Gov and should have resisted this left-wing surge of anarchy. Instead they sat back and watched it on their boob tubes while passively accepting the lockdowns imposed by their governors. Now it is too late.

I realized the oligarchy no longer even feigned to believe in the rule of law or freedom of speech with the coordinated snuff film episode of Get Parler. This was a coordinated takedown of a website which was inconveniencing the Big Tech oligarchy of Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon. If ever a clearer example of anti-trust collusion was exhibited, this was it. But these amoral tyrants know they have sleepy Joe in their pocket because they went all in on the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression and pale face Zuckerberg “donated” $400 million towards helping swing state election officials commit fraud to guarantee a Biden victory.

The banning of Trump by Twitter and Facebook and the purge of those unwilling to go along with their Marxist ideological narrative caused hundreds of thousands to head for the exits towards Parler & Gab, where freedom of speech still existed. Freedom of speech is no longer allowed on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.

As conservatives flocked towards Parler, the Big Tech oligarchs pulled back the curtain to reveal the brick wall. They all simultaneously began peddling the provably false narrative the dreadful “assault on freedom”, with no weapons, at the Capital was solely coordinated and planned on Parler. It is absolutely provable and factual that any planning was done using Facebook private groups.

Parler and Twitter are where keyboard warriors fight verbal battles to the death, wearing sweatpants and scratching their asses in their basement. It is a battle for likes and followers. No insurgency is plotted on these platforms. Parler was on the verge of stealing millions of former Twitter users after they gave Trump the boot. Parler’s app was the number one downloaded app in the Apple store and Google store. So, they removed it. But people could just get there from their website. So, Amazon shutdown their servers. Parler users are now staring at a brick wall.

I’m reminded of the theater scene in the Tarantino movie Inglorious Bastards. The Trump supporters are now all classified as white supremacist nazis, so not only are the exits blocked by a brick wall, but Dorsey, Zuck, Bezos, Gates, Soros, Pelosi, AOC and Schumer want to set the theater on fire and machine gun the crowd. The incessant painting of all Trump voters as white trash racists is meant to dehumanize them in preparation for the retribution from the left-wing authoritarian fascists. They will use all means necessary to destroy those who do not bend the knee. Your rights, freedoms and liberties are inconsequential to these psychopaths.

The illusion of freedom has dissipated faster than a Biden cogent thought, as Jack Dorsey was secretly recorded declaring the silencing of Trump was just the beginning, with the cancellation of anyone with a dissenting viewpoint to follow. They no longer even pretend to be neutral or accepting of different perspectives or opinions. They now feel unleashed and can attack their enemies like rabid rottweilers as their pliable puppet president owes his illegitimate assumption of power to their propaganda and censorship schemes.

Controlling the presidency, the house, the senate, most of the biggest states, traditional media, social media, FBI, CIA, DOJ, and most of the major cities, has emboldened these totalitarian Marxists to seize this country by the throat and force their treacherous agenda upon a passive, docile, willfully ignorant public. You may not know it, but you are at war, and you are losing.

Just as they used 9/11 as the excuse to implement the pre-written 300 page (Biden written) Patriot Act to fight the War on Terrorism, they will use this faux insurrection as the excuse to implement an already pre-written 20,000 page domestic terrorism law to be used against the millions of “white supremacist” Trump supporters. Within weeks of the 9/11 attack, the Patriot Act ushered in the surveillance state, unleashing unaccountable conspirators like Brennan and Clapper to implement un-Constitutional Orwellian measures, recording every electronic communication of every American.

Until Snowden and Assange revealed the unlawful and deceitful actions of these traitors, this was all done in secret. The patriotic whistleblowers are now treated as criminals. Their banishment as traitors tells you how far this country has degenerated into a totalitarian dystopia. The world has gone mad, but we need millions to rise up with the courage to tell the truth. It starts with yourself.

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” ― George Orwell, 1984

Now that the Party has attained power through illicit means, they have no intention of ever relinquishing that power. They will solidify their control by overturning the filibuster in the senate, make Washington DC and Puerto Rico states, packing the Supreme Court with leftist judges, enacting MMT, centralizing control in the hands of the oligarchs and permanently installing their election fraud scheme in the necessary states. Big Tech will further crackdown and de-platform enemies of the state (aka conservatives and libertarians), while gladly providing their customers’ personal information to the state surveillance agencies, and either promoting the Party narrative or censoring the truth – for the good of the Party.

They will continue to use the China flu as a means to control the masses. Super mutant strains will be reported to keep the sheep docile and frightened. Masks will become a permanent fixture to dehumanize you and make you believe every stranger is a disease spreading parasite. They will require a vaccination passport to travel, attend sporting events, eat out, and work. The green new deal will be jammed down out throats at the point of a gun. Your guns will be outlawed and/or be made prohibitively expensive to buy or own.

These totalitarian Marxists have no interest in the betterment of humanity, the sanctity of the nuclear family, decency, common respect, community standards or the welfare of future generations. Our modern-day Room 101 doesn’t have rats ready to gnaw on your face, it has Covid-19 ready to attack your lungs and suffocate you. Orwell would be impressed by our current day Big Brothers (Gates, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Dorsey), as their means of control and fear is so much more efficient. Their revolution is about the acquisition of power for the sake of power. They have no qualms about being the boot stomping on your face forever. Know your enemy and subvertly start fighting now, or your fate will be sealed over the next decade.

“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives.

They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.” ― George Orwell, 1984

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden Sun, 01/17/2021 - 16:10

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Government

Chinese migration to US is nothing new – but the reasons for recent surge at Southern border are

A gloomier economic outlook in China and tightening state control have combined with the influence of social media in encouraging migration.

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Chinese migrants wait for a boat after having walked across the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama. AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

The brief closure of the Darien Gap – a perilous 66-mile jungle journey linking South American and Central America – in February 2024 temporarily halted one of the Western Hemisphere’s busiest migration routes. It also highlighted its importance to a small but growing group of people that depend on that pass to make it to the U.S.: Chinese migrants.

While a record 2.5 million migrants were detained at the United States’ southwestern land border in 2023, only about 37,000 were from China.

I’m a scholar of migration and China. What I find most remarkable in these figures is the speed with which the number of Chinese migrants is growing. Nearly 10 times as many Chinese migrants crossed the southern border in 2023 as in 2022. In December 2023 alone, U.S. Border Patrol officials reported encounters with about 6,000 Chinese migrants, in contrast to the 900 they reported a year earlier in December 2022.

The dramatic uptick is the result of a confluence of factors that range from a slowing Chinese economy and tightening political control by President Xi Jinping to the easy access to online information on Chinese social media about how to make the trip.

Middle-class migrants

Journalists reporting from the border have generalized that Chinese migrants come largely from the self-employed middle class. They are not rich enough to use education or work opportunities as a means of entry, but they can afford to fly across the world.

According to a report from Reuters, in many cases those attempting to make the crossing are small-business owners who saw irreparable damage to their primary or sole source of income due to China’s “zero COVID” policies. The migrants are women, men and, in some cases, children accompanying parents from all over China.

Chinese nationals have long made the journey to the United States seeking economic opportunity or political freedom. Based on recent media interviews with migrants coming by way of South America and the U.S.’s southern border, the increase in numbers seems driven by two factors.

First, the most common path for immigration for Chinese nationals is through a student visa or H1-B visa for skilled workers. But travel restrictions during the early months of the pandemic temporarily stalled migration from China. Immigrant visas are out of reach for many Chinese nationals without family or vocation-based preferences, and tourist visas require a personal interview with a U.S. consulate to gauge the likelihood of the traveler returning to China.

Social media tutorials

Second, with the legal routes for immigration difficult to follow, social media accounts have outlined alternatives for Chinese who feel an urgent need to emigrate. Accounts on Douyin, the TikTok clone available in mainland China, document locations open for visa-free travel by Chinese passport holders. On TikTok itself, migrants could find information on where to cross the border, as well as information about transportation and smugglers, commonly known as “snakeheads,” who are experienced with bringing migrants on the journey north.

With virtual private networks, immigrants can also gather information from U.S. apps such as X, YouTube, Facebook and other sites that are otherwise blocked by Chinese censors.

Inspired by social media posts that both offer practical guides and celebrate the journey, thousands of Chinese migrants have been flying to Ecuador, which allows visa-free travel for Chinese citizens, and then making their way over land to the U.S.-Mexican border.

This journey involves trekking through the Darien Gap, which despite its notoriety as a dangerous crossing has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Venezuela, Colombia and all over the world.

In addition to information about crossing the Darien Gap, these social media posts highlight the best places to cross the border. This has led to a large share of Chinese asylum seekers following the same path to Mexico’s Baja California to cross the border near San Diego.

Chinese migration to US is nothing new

The rapid increase in numbers and the ease of accessing information via social media on their smartphones are new innovations. But there is a longer history of Chinese migration to the U.S. over the southern border – and at the hands of smugglers.

From 1882 to 1943, the United States banned all immigration by male Chinese laborers and most Chinese women. A combination of economic competition and racist concerns about Chinese culture and assimilability ensured that the Chinese would be the first ethnic group to enter the United States illegally.

With legal options for arrival eliminated, some Chinese migrants took advantage of the relative ease of movement between the U.S. and Mexico during those years. While some migrants adopted Mexican names and spoke enough Spanish to pass as migrant workers, others used borrowed identities or paperwork from Chinese people with a right of entry, like U.S.-born citizens. Similarly to what we are seeing today, it was middle- and working-class Chinese who more frequently turned to illegal means. Those with money and education were able to circumvent the law by arriving as students or members of the merchant class, both exceptions to the exclusion law.

Though these Chinese exclusion laws officially ended in 1943, restrictions on migration from Asia continued until Congress revised U.S. immigration law in the Hart-Celler Act in 1965. New priorities for immigrant visas that stressed vocational skills as well as family reunification, alongside then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s policies of “reform and opening,” helped many Chinese migrants make their way legally to the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s.

Even after the restrictive immigration laws ended, Chinese migrants without the education or family connections often needed for U.S. visas continued to take dangerous routes with the help of “snakeheads.”

One notorious incident occurred in 1993, when a ship called the Golden Venture ran aground near New York, resulting in the drowning deaths of 10 Chinese migrants and the arrest and conviction of the snakeheads attempting to smuggle hundreds of Chinese migrants into the United States.

Existing tensions

Though there is plenty of precedent for Chinese migrants arriving without documentation, Chinese asylum seekers have better odds of success than many of the other migrants making the dangerous journey north.

An estimated 55% of Chinese asylum seekers are successful in making their claims, often citing political oppression and lack of religious freedom in China as motivations. By contrast, only 29% of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the U.S. have their claim granted, and the number is even lower for Colombians, at 19%.

The new halt on the migratory highway from the south has affected thousands of new migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. But the mix of push factors from their home country and encouragement on social media means that Chinese migrants will continue to seek routes to America.

And with both migration and the perceived threat from China likely to be features of the upcoming U.S. election, there is a risk that increased Chinese migration could become politicized, leaning further into existing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Meredith Oyen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Government

Is the National Guard a solution to school violence?

School board members in one Massachusetts district have called for the National Guard to address student misbehavior. Does their request have merit? A…

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Every now and then, an elected official will suggest bringing in the National Guard to deal with violence that seems out of control.

A city council member in Washington suggested doing so in 2023 to combat the city’s rising violence. So did a Pennsylvania representative concerned about violence in Philadelphia in 2022.

In February 2024, officials in Massachusetts requested the National Guard be deployed to a more unexpected location – to a high school.

Brockton High School has been struggling with student fights, drug use and disrespect toward staff. One school staffer said she was trampled by a crowd rushing to see a fight. Many teachers call in sick to work each day, leaving the school understaffed.

As a researcher who studies school discipline, I know Brockton’s situation is part of a national trend of principals and teachers who have been struggling to deal with perceived increases in student misbehavior since the pandemic.

A review of how the National Guard has been deployed to schools in the past shows the guard can provide service to schools in cases of exceptional need. Yet, doing so does not always end well.

How have schools used the National Guard before?

In 1957, the National Guard blocked nine Black students’ attempts to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. While the governor claimed this was for safety, the National Guard effectively delayed desegregation of the school – as did the mobs of white individuals outside. Ironically, weeks later, the National Guard and the U.S. Army would enforce integration and the safety of the “Little Rock Nine” on orders from President Dwight Eisenhower.

Three men from the mob around Little Rock’s Central High School are driven from the area at bayonet-point by soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division on Sept. 25, 1957. The presence of the troops permitted the nine Black students to enter the school with only minor background incidents. Bettmann via Getty Images

One of the most tragic cases of the National Guard in an educational setting came in 1970 at Kent State University. The National Guard was brought to campus to respond to protests over American involvement in the Vietnam War. The guardsmen fatally shot four students.

In 2012, then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, proposed funding to use the National Guard to provide school security in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The bill was not passed.

More recently, the National Guard filled teacher shortages in New Mexico’s K-12 schools during the quarantines and sickness of the pandemic. While the idea did not catch on nationally, teachers and school personnel in New Mexico generally reported positive experiences.

Can the National Guard address school discipline?

The National Guard’s mission includes responding to domestic emergencies. Members of the guard are part-time service members who maintain civilian lives. Some are students themselves in colleges and universities. Does this mission and training position the National Guard to respond to incidents of student misbehavior and school violence?

On the one hand, New Mexico’s pandemic experience shows the National Guard could be a stopgap to staffing shortages in unusual circumstances. Similarly, the guards’ eventual role in ensuring student safety during school desegregation in Arkansas demonstrates their potential to address exceptional cases in schools, such as racially motivated mob violence. And, of course, many schools have had military personnel teaching and mentoring through Junior ROTC programs for years.

Those seeking to bring the National Guard to Brockton High School have made similar arguments. They note that staffing shortages have contributed to behavior problems.

One school board member stated: “I know that the first thought that comes to mind when you hear ‘National Guard’ is uniform and arms, and that’s not the case. They’re people like us. They’re educated. They’re trained, and we just need their assistance right now. … We need more staff to support our staff and help the students learn (and) have a safe environment.”

Yet, there are reasons to question whether calls for the National Guard are the best way to address school misconduct and behavior. First, the National Guard is a temporary measure that does little to address the underlying causes of student misbehavior and school violence.

Research has shown that students benefit from effective teaching, meaningful and sustained relationships with school personnel and positive school environments. Such educative and supportive environments have been linked to safer schools. National Guard members are not trained as educators or counselors and, as a temporary measure, would not remain in the school to establish durable relationships with students.

What is more, a military presence – particularly if uniformed or armed – may make students feel less welcome at school or escalate situations.

Schools have already seen an increase in militarization. For example, school police departments have gone so far as to acquire grenade launchers and mine-resistant armored vehicles.

Research has found that school police make students more likely to be suspended and to be arrested. Similarly, while a National Guard presence may address misbehavior temporarily, their presence could similarly result in students experiencing punitive or exclusionary responses to behavior.

Students deserve a solution other than the guard

School violence and disruptions are serious problems that can harm students. Unfortunately, schools and educators have increasingly viewed student misbehavior as a problem to be dealt with through suspensions and police involvement.

A number of people – from the NAACP to the local mayor and other members of the school board – have criticized Brockton’s request for the National Guard. Governor Maura Healey has said she will not deploy the guard to the school.

However, the case of Brockton High School points to real needs. Educators there, like in other schools nationally, are facing a tough situation and perceive a lack of support and resources.

Many schools need more teachers and staff. Students need access to mentors and counselors. With these resources, schools can better ensure educators are able to do their jobs without military intervention.

F. Chris Curran has received funding from the US Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the American Civil Liberties Union for work on school safety and discipline.

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International

Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says “I Would Support”

Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says "I Would Support"

Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump…

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Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run - Musk Says "I Would Support"

Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump into the race to become the next Senate GOP leader, and Elon Musk was quick to support the idea. Republicans must find a successor for periodically malfunctioning Mitch McConnell, who recently announced he'll step down in November, though intending to keep his Senate seat until his term ends in January 2027, when he'd be within weeks of turning 86. 

So far, the announced field consists of two quintessential establishment types: John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota. While John Barrasso's name had been thrown around as one of "The Three Johns" considered top contenders, the Wyoming senator on Tuesday said he'll instead seek the number two slot as party whip. 

Paul used X to tease his potential bid for the position which -- if the GOP takes back the upper chamber in November -- could graduate from Minority Leader to Majority Leader. He started by telling his 5.1 million followers he'd had lots of people asking him about his interest in running...

...then followed up with a poll in which he predictably annihilated Cornyn and Thune, taking a 96% share as of Friday night, with the other two below 2% each. 

Elon Musk was quick to back the idea of Paul as GOP leader, while daring Cornyn and Thune to follow Paul's lead by throwing their names out for consideration by the Twitter-verse X-verse. 

Paul has been a stalwart opponent of security-state mass surveillance, foreign interventionism -- to include shoveling billions of dollars into the proxy war in Ukraine -- and out-of-control spending in general. He demonstrated the latter passion on the Senate floor this week as he ridiculed the latest kick-the-can spending package:   

In February, Paul used Senate rules to force his colleagues into a grueling Super Bowl weekend of votes, as he worked to derail a $95 billion foreign aid bill. "I think we should stay here as long as it takes,” said Paul. “If it takes a week or a month, I’ll force them to stay here to discuss why they think the border of Ukraine is more important than the US border.”

Don't expect a Majority Leader Paul to ditch the filibuster -- he's been a hardy user of the legislative delay tactic. In 2013, he spoke for 13 hours to fight the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director. In 2015, he orated for 10-and-a-half-hours to oppose extension of the Patriot Act

Rand Paul amid his 10 1/2 hour filibuster in 2015

Among the general public, Paul is probably best known as Capitol Hill's chief tormentor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul says the evidence indicates the virus emerged from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. He's accused Fauci and other members of the US government public health apparatus of evading questions about their funding of the Chinese lab's "gain of function" research, which takes natural viruses and morphs them into something more dangerous. Paul has pointedly said that Fauci committed perjury in congressional hearings and that he belongs in jail "without question."   

Musk is neither the only nor the first noteworthy figure to back Paul for party leader. Just hours after McConnell announced his upcoming step-down from leadership, independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr voiced his support: 

In a testament to the extent to which the establishment recoils at the libertarian-minded Paul, mainstream media outlets -- which have been quick to report on other developments in the majority leader race -- pretended not to notice that Paul had signaled his interest in the job. More than 24 hours after Paul's test-the-waters tweet-fest began, not a single major outlet had brought it to the attention of their audience. 

That may be his strongest endorsement yet. 

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/10/2024 - 20:25

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