Observations From the Back Row

By Rich Kozlovich

Where did federal district judges get the idea they were in charge of the nation's immigration polices?  First of all, illegal aliens are all ..... all.... criminals because entering the nation illegally is a felony, so deportation should be an automatic.  The only due process they merit is to determine if they're here legally or not.  If not, that ends due process and goes right to deportation.   Federal courts are even demanding illegal aliens who are known members of criminal gangs with have a history of serious crimes be returned to the United States. 

Americans are now second class citizens in their own country in favor of illegal migrants costing taxpayers billions.  In fact, we're now seeing judges and governors openly breaking the law protecting them and attempting to prevent deporting them.  

• Clinton Judge Halts Deportation of Suspected Tren de Aragua Gang Members Under Alien Enemies Act, Orders Them Released
• Another Milwaukee County Judge Joins Rebellion, Floats “New Courthouse Policies” in Response to Radical Judge Vowing to Shield Illegals from ICE Agents
• Lock Him Up:  Lawless Wisconsin Governor Issues Guidelines to State Employees to Shield Illegal Aliens from ICE Agents
• Gov. Tony Evers Helps Illegal Aliens to Avoid Ice
• Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Announces Punitive Actions Against El Salvador in Defense of Deported MS-13 Illegal Alien – “The State of Illinois will Stand Up for the Rule of Law”

This is all part and parcel of Joe Biden's scheme to assure unending control of America by the Democrat party.  He allowed hundreds of thousands to swarm over the border and then shipped them inland as quickly as possible never to be seen again, with a due process scheme that would take ten years.  In the meanwhile they're having children.  Then the left claims since they now have children who are America citizens they can't be deported.  Wrong, they can be deported, and taking their children with them isn't like Nazis sending children to the gas chambers.  

• Update: 5:40 PM: 'Unsecured a border ON PURPOSE': Watch Tom Homan erupt on Biden's national treachery - "Joe Biden was the first president in the history of this nation who came into office and unsecured a border on purpose"...........
  

This wasn't an original idea by Joe Biden, if he ever had one, and it's now clear he had no idea what was going on in his administration.  It turns out there were three auto-pens in the White House, and the far left staff controlled all three.   This has been in the works for decades.  It's the Cloward-Piven scheme to destroy the nation by creating a massive welfare state then over loading and collapsing the system in order to create a crisis so grave it would justify overturning the Constitution and imposing a tyrannical system of socialism on America.   These illegal alien schemes are the perfect fit to that corrupt treasonous scheme.

The Canada Free Press asked why Trump is the focus in their election instead of the Liberal party’s scandalous mismanagement?  The author points out "Canadians have long hated any Republican in power, having been conditioned to do so by a longstanding Marxist media", with writer after writer pointing out leftists are ruining Canada.  Well, apparently Canadians like being ruined because within three hours of the polls closing they called the election for the leftists who are there now, globalist tyrants all.   All of whom want to pick a fight with Trump.  Good luck with that Canada. 

And we want to make Canada America’s fifty-first state why?  They refuse to control their borders, crime is rampant, everything costs more there, their health care system is a mess, rights as we know them do not exist in Canada and their citizens are abused by their government, free speech is punished, Canada is not a free nation.  Not to mention the fact there would end up being so many more leftists in the Congress conservatives would never gain control again.  Canadians are not Americans and it's fairly clear their frozen country is a banana republic. 

Finally, these globalists who go into apoplectic hysteria over people flying from one destination to another claiming the world will burn up into a cinder if that's not stopped, are all flying to Davos, in private jets, for the meeting of the World Economic Forum, to which USAID gave $68 million dollars.

Bernie Sanders, a long time advocate of climate change tyranny, along with AOC, traveled all around the nation.... in a private jet..... to express their outrage at the rich.  And she wants to be President of the United States.  A young energetic bartender who, like Bernie Sanders, wants to be one of the rich she hates.  Imagine that!

 

Observations From the Back Row With News and Views for 3/25/25

By Rich Kozlovich

Why do we think that way we do?  Machiavelli noted there are only two groups of people in the world. The privileged and the common people. The privileged only want to maintain their privileges, or expand them, and the common people only want security. They want to be able to house, feed, and clothe their families in safety.  That is what molds everyone’s thinking, except for the misfits who hate both, and want to destroy both.

The issue isn’t why people think what they think, it’s how many think what they think in each category, and very often that’s a result of where we are in the stream of historical cycles.  I've read three books on historical cycles and they all agree we're in an end cycle, which epitomized instability, economic downturns, and violence. 

Turkish President Erdogan apparently believed the guy running against him had a good chance of winning, and that was just unacceptable, so he had his opponent arrested on trumped up charges.  I’ve been following Erdogan's antics for some years. First, Turkish Islam has always been a bit different than traditional Islam, and it’s been far more secular, so pushing all this Islamic radicalism on Turkey and his tyrannical failures may have been part of the bridge too far construction against him.   As a result, this action filled the streets thousands and thousands of demonstrators who are outraged at this act.  Will there be a new president as a result?

The last time I remember a nation having this many people running wild in the streets over politics was Romania in 1989. That resulted in Nicolae Ceausescu being overthrown and very unceremoniously shot later on along with his wife.  Erdogan is afraid, make no mistake about that, and he has reason to be.  

If there is a new President, I’m of the opinion a new President would moderate a lot of Turkey’s policies that were promulgated by Erdogan, who created a lot of instability involving energy, trade, foreign policy, domestic stability, and economics, and that’s a big one, because Turkey’s economy is in trouble and is in very real need of stability, which I've stated for some years, and in opposition to all the "experts" who kept claiming Turkey was doing great and would be a big force in the Middle East.  Experts entirely too often are expert at ignoring the basics, and embracing preconceptualism, which means ignoring the things known because they're inconvenient, and making up the things not known, just like Henry Kissinger. More Here, and Here. 

If there is a new president, and he has any sense of geopolitics, he’ll want to find common ground with Trump. There will always be tension between Russia and Turkey, so looking North isn’t their answer, and they have issues with Iran.  I also think we would see a move for Turkey to have a much more harmonious relations with Israel, especially involving trade. Stability  Israel is no threat to Turkey, versus the radicals being supported by Iran.   This will be interesting to watch.  

Recently there was an article discussing how one of the first things Trump did was to restore Winston Churchill's bust to its rightful place in the oval office, which Obama had removed, which generated some conversation about his years in the “wilderness” after his failures during WWI, and it played havoc with his ego.  At one point it’s been claimed he considered suicide, although I’ve wondered how true that is, especially since during those years he set up an unofficial intelligence and spy network, all volunteers, of some of the smartest and well connected people in Europe. People who saw the dangers developing with Hitler and Mussolini.

Those people created what became the foundation for the official intelligence services when the war started and was headed up by, “Intrepid”, William Stephenson. I recommend reading the book, A Man Called Intrepid.

Those who read a lot of history are aware he did things that would have been considered despicable now, and would have ended his career today. The legend of Churchill is much bigger than Churchill, but that’s true of every hero in history. Churchill was a 19th century man of empire, and all his views and actions were predicated on that.

But one thing is clear. I never read about anyone in England that could have taken his place when doom was upon them. There may not be one now, and make no mistake, doom is upon them, and the same is true of Germany.  Unless there’s a major political upheaval, Germany is doomed also.

I keep seeing conservative writers coaching the Democrats about what they're doing wrong, and what they need to change.  And I have to wonder why? 

Actually, it really doesn’t matter what sane advice they’re given as long as they have great minds, like Mad Maxine, who claims what Trump really wants is civil war, in spite of the fact it's the left that just about has a monopoly on political violence.  And that great democrat seer, America’s very own Smeagol, James Carville, who insists Trump has put the very existence of America in jeopardy, and believes the Trump administration was going "collapse" within 30 days".

And as for those who allegedly have been educated in this arena, I have serious doubts about them also. Take AOC for an example. She graduated cum laude from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in international relations and economics. And while I may be overstating this, I think she’s dumb as dirt, nothing personal mind you.

They, along with a host of leftist celebrities and nitwits in general, just can’t keep from saying stupid things. They really are gifts that keeps on giving. They will follow the example of their moral leader, Dan Rather, and deny, deny, deny, and go down the drain together.  Or, they could change and embrace truth, but that would be a stab in their hearts because they would have become conservatives, admitting all they believed in and promoted is evil.

They’ll choose denial and go down the drain.  

I keep hearing how Donald Trump is a dictator whose goal is to destroy American democracy forever. If that’s true, why didn’t he do it during his first term?  If the Democrats were going to help America, why didn’t she do it during the 12 years of Obama and Biden?  As for being tyranny, it seems clear none of those on the left took a civic class in high school.  

Leftism is the term that encompasses communism, fascism, progressivism, environmentalism, liberalism, and a host of other "isms", but they're all scions of socialism going back to the foundation of socialism, the French Revolution.  As for groups like Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and the Occupy Wall Street, all violent misfits, they're the American left's modern version of the Nazi "Brown Shirt" thugs.  Different names, same purpose!  But the underlying social philosophy is socialism. If calling them communists pleases you, I'm fine with that.

As one write noted, the Democrat party views the Bill or Rights as the Bill of Permissions, and has worked for decades to create centralized power bases, that are not to be questioned, dealing with every aspect of human life, including the economy. They want to tax more, spend more, borrow more, regulate more, end the use of economically sound and effective energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, while imposing totally ineffective. and expensive, alternative energy programs on America.  

By dictate they wish to force everyone to buy electric vehicles that are a disaster,  under the pretext of saving the world from global warming, the greatest scientific fraud ever perpetrated on humanity.  All in order to justify making everyone live in centralized communities they're calling "walkable communities", which will be small and condensed, making them easier to control.   Taking away the people's right to choose is what dictators do! 

Trump wants to decentralize power transferring it to local governments which the people can more easily control.  He wants less taxes, less spending, less regulations, and less government interference in people's lives by unelected tyrannical bureaucrats to choose how to live their lives, spend their money, and live where and how they please.   That's not what a dictator does!

 "The Democrats are rudderless, divided, and leaderless. The positions that form the core of their agenda are beyond unpopular. All they have is theater, and it’s veering into acts of domestic terrorism." - Matt Vespa

Africa

• Black terrorists talk ‘seizing the means of production’ in South Africa - As the South African government ramps up the persecution of and aggression against white Afrikaners, having passed a new “land reform” law (legalized land seizures without compensation) in January of this year, a clip from a six-year-old Lauren Southern documentary is going viral, reminding the West (and everyone else) that not only is the anti-Boer agenda in South Africa very evil, but very Marxian as well..........
• Dismantling USAID Services in Africa - The potential dismantling of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) services in Africa presents both opportunities and challenges. While some view this as a loss of critical support, others see it as an opportunity for African nations to assert greater control over their own development. The true impact of this decision will hinge on how African countries navigate the shift, leveraging the advantages of independence while managing the risks that come with it......

My Take - Let's not be delusional, all this foreign aid going to these petty dictatorships is going into the corrupt pockets of their leaders.  It's always been that way, and everyone knew it was that way.  So why continue?  American's aren't benefiting from this scam at all!  But I'm betting some large multinational corporations are at the expense of American taxpayers.     RK 

Canada

• Go, Canada! Breaking Up Is Not Hard to Do - Canada is finally waking up to a bitterly cold, hard truth: its freeloading days are numbered. The maple syrup cartel isn’t keeping the economy afloat, and the national security situation is downright embarrassing. Justin Trudeau is about to hit the unemployment line, presumably with a fresh bottle of Just for Men, jeggings, and a box of tissues. With Donald Trump back in the White House and looking to balance the ledger on trade, tariffs, and defense spending, Canada is realizing that the gravy train may be reaching its final stop miles short of Tim Horton’s..........
• Eurologic: Danes, other Europeans, vow to fight back against America by ... not buying their arms

Covid

• Waiting for an investigation of COVID-19 crimes  -  Recently, even the left-stream media has acknowledged the lab leak origin of SARS-COV-2, which it called a conspiracy theory five years ago. It is time to take another look at crimes that the Democrat party and its accomplices perpetrated on the American people at the time of the pandemic, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans by denial of treatment.........

Dark Money

• Liberal Dark Money Network Arabella Advisors and Other Progressive Non-Profits Are Behind the Push for the IRS’s Direct File Initiative - A network of progressive non-profits has quietly spent years pushing the IRS’s new “Direct File” service. Progressive supporters of Direct File claim to advocate for low-income taxpayers. Research shows that key organizations promoting Direct File are closely tied to Arabella Advisors and its billion-dollar network of left-leaning dark money groups...........

Democrats

• Democrats and their digging- Our friend Ruy Teixeira is back with another message for Democrats.  My guess is that they won’t like it.  It ain’t pretty, to say the least.  Teixeira is telling Democrats that Trump may be underwater in some polls, but they are more like 20,000 leagues under the sea (to remember Captain Nemo).  Here are the 4 points driving the party down:.........
• Jasmine Crockett Confesses: 'I Don't Care About Legislation, Just Want to Take Down Trump'  - In a shocking admission, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) revealed her true priorities, stating that she has little interest in passing legislation and is focused solely on taking down President Donald Trump. Her blatant disregard for productive governance highlights the growing trend among some Democrats, prioritizing partisan attacks over meaningful policy work that could actually benefit the American people. It's a clear indication that, for some, political vendettas are more important than delivering results for their constituents.
• Jasmine Crockett: I Have Never Promoted Violence Against Elon Musk -During a Sunday appearance on MSNBC, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) denied playing any role in promoting the violence waged against Elon Musk’s brand, Tesla. The Texas Democrat acknowledged participating in the so-called “Tesla takedown,” which she maintained was a “large protest.”..........
• Dems 2025: Stalingrad II or Keystone Kops? - I am wondering about the ongoing District Judge Blitzkrieg and the Tesla Blitzkrieg and the Bernie-AOC “Fight Oligarchy” Blitzkrieg Tour. Could this be the Democrat equivalent of the Battle of Stalingrad? If so, the question is: which Democrat astroturf outfit is going to play the role of the German 6th Army?........
•  The Democrat Party’s Identity Crisis is Far Worse Than Most of the Media Is Reporting - Ever since the 2024 election, the Democrats have been embroiled in a crisis. They have no message, no leader, and no strategy. As we have seen in recent weeks, all they have to offer the American people at the moment is rage and protests. Some people in media have acknowledged that the Democrats have a problem, but it’s far worse than anyone is admitting. Axios is a liberal media outlet, but they have published a piece that highlights how bad things are.  Here are some highlights:............
• California Shows Without Death Penalty, Murderers Keep Killing - Who needs the death penalty anyway? Certainly not California. Just lock the murderers up at a modest cost of buying a nice house a year and everything is fine. Of course, you can’t keep them in solitary or deny them visitations because that would be inhumane............

Editor's Note: This next article by Daniel Greenfield is a must read article: RK

• An Assassination Has Ties to California’s Political Elite, Including its Possible Next Governor - In a scene right out of a movie, cars with stolen license plates parked outside a home in the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland, made famous by BLM rioters when a career criminal was shot during a fight in a train station, and the men inside opened fire on the homeowner.  The homeowner grabbed his gun and returned fire..............Worse was yet to come.........Did the toxic mix of green energy, turning shipping containers into housing for the homeless, police defunding and corrupt political connections in the upper echelons of progressive politics turn into a murder plot? The answer to the question may determine California’s next governor............

 DOGE

• Low-hanging fruit is not enough - No one was more pleased than I over Trump’s executive orders to cut government costs, remove DIE organizations and indoctrination, fire excess government non-workers, and prohibit men from competing with women in sports. Initially, for these actions, there is plenty of “low-hanging fruit” to be taken down.   The headlines in the news are replete with the administration’s claims of increased safety, better efficiency, and reduced costs. Promises made, promises kept.
• Elon Musk Claims DOGE Discovered $330 Million in SBA Loans Given to Kids - Elon Musk revealed that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered the Small Business Administration (SBA) had given more than $300 million in loans to children under 11 years old.

• Elon Musk: 'No More Loans' After Discovering Baby Took Out $100,000 Loan 

Energy

• Trump Makes Coal Great Again - Unlike his predecessor, President Donald Trump understands that abundant and affordable energy is absolutely essential to the future of America. Since his return to the Oval Office, Trump has made energy dominance a keystone of his domestic agenda.......

Education 

• Trump begins to dismantle Department of Education - On Thursday afternoon, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at dismantling and reorganizing the Department of Education at the federal level, shifting responsibility to the states.  This move aligns with Trump’s longstanding stance on reducing federal intervention in local governance, especially in areas such as education.  He has consistently advocated for increasing school choice and reducing federal oversight in favor of local control..............
• Public School Teachers: The Stupidest Creatures on the Planet - Quite the statement, eh? Let me explain. I’m well into my 60s and for my entire adult life I’ve heard that public school teachers are underpaid. It has been repeated as a mantra for decades. Ignoring for a moment whether it is true or not -- and the answer to that is generally, it depends -- let’s accept the mantra and analyze why public-school teachers are still underpaid after all these years.......

Immigration

• Birthright citizenship in America vs. in the world - Today, the United States recognizes children of foreigners and non-citizens who are born in this country as U.S. citizens.  President Trump believes that if the parents are foreign-born or non-citizens, and they happen to give birth to a child in the United States, that child does not automatically become a citizen of the United States and therefore is not entitled to all the benefits a U.S. citizen has earned and is eligible for.  Many support and many are in opposition to the president’s view........
• Trump Hits Venezuela With Economic Sanctions for ‘Purposefully and Deceitfully’ Sending Illegal Alien Gang Members to U.S. -  President Donald Trump has announced secondary tariffs on foreign countries that purchase oil and gas from Venezuela. The tariffs are in response to Venezuela “purposefully and deceitfully” sending illegal alien gang members, including those with Tren de Aragua, to the United States via the southern border.......

Lawfare

• Exclusive — Rep. Michael Rulli: Congress Must Write Laws to ‘Prevent’ Lawfare from Happening Again - Congress must write laws to “prevent” lawfare from happening again, Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, discussing the judges who are attempting to halt President Donald Trump’s agenda......

Middle East

• Report: U.S. Warns Egypt to Accept Gazans or Lose Billions in Aid - President Donald Trump’s administration has delivered a “final offer” to Egypt to accept up to 700,000 Gazans, according to a new report which says the proposal includes billions of dollars in economic aid and a warning that the same deal will be offered elsewhere if Cairo refuses....... 

My Take - Why are we giving these misfits billions of dollars in the first place.  Especially since they're building up their military, and its being speculated that's being done to invade Israel?  RK

Trump

• Trump Didn't Kill the Old World Order -- He Just Pronounced It Dead - In the first 60 days of his second administration, President Trump has made it clear that he intends to end the Old World Order that has shaped our planet since World War II. Free trade is out; tariffs are in. Nation-building is out; territorial acquisition is in. Wars of ideology pitting democracy against communism are out; trade deals are in. Foreign aid to win hearts and minds is out; bare-knuckled mineral deals are in. America as policeman of world is out; America First is in.............
• The president and his policies do make a difference - The main goal of Joe Biden and the Democrats was to make the government more centralized, controlling, and powerful. They want to tax more, spend more, and regulate more. They wanted to destroy oil, coal, and natural gas companies, and to take away freedom of choice on what type of vehicles to drive...........

Wokeness is a Neurological Disorder

 

• Marlow: Why Does Bob Iger Still Have a Job After ‘Snow White’ Debacle? - On Monday’s “Alex Marlow Show,” host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Disney and its “Snow White” remake. Marlow said, “Bob Iger’s got to be really bad at his job, it’s just like no one ever mentions this. He seems like he’s terrible at his job. So, why does no one ever say this guy should get fired and move on to a different part of life?”.............
• Marlow: Why Does Bob Iger Still Have a Job After ‘Snow White’ Debacle? - On Monday’s “Alex Marlow Show,” host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Disney and its “Snow White” remake. Marlow said, “Bob Iger’s got to be really bad at his job, it’s just like no one ever mentions this. He seems like he’s terrible at his job. So, why does no one ever say this guy should get fired and move on to a different part of life?”..............
• Has Women’s History Month served its purpose? - Phew! Women’s History Month (WHM) is finally drawing to a close. Next year, it’d be great if President Trump doesn’t issue the annual proclamation recognizing the month..............
• “A New World Order With European Values”: The Unholy Union of Globalism and Anti-Free Speech Measures -  “A New World Order With European Values.” Emblazoned across banners and signs, those words met the participants at this week’s meeting of the World Forum in Berlin.  Each year, leaders, executives, journalists and academics gather to address the greatest threats facing humanity. This year, there was little doubt about what they view as the current threat: the resurgence of populism and free speech............
• Does Dr. Mehmet Oz still support transgender medicine?  Senator Josh Hawley has persistently asked Dr. Oz questions about his views on transgenderism. The doctor, who is the president’s nominee to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has a history of endorsing transgender medical interventions on his television show—up until a few short years ago, Oz openly supported the use of transgender surgeries for minors and cross-sex hormones........... 

My Take - Listen up Donny, this is nuts.  Here are my articles on:

1. The Weirdness of Oz.   
2. Trump Picks The Weirdness of Oz to Lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 
3. More Lunacy in the Land of Oz 
4. My Take on the Land of Oz

When Tyranny Comes to Call

This could be the case of a generation that determines the direction of the country for many years to come

By David Robb ——Bio and Archives--December 14, 2022

• Brazil seems poised on a knife edge between being a free and democratic nation, and falling to a communist dictatorship.  
• The once free nation of Canada has succumbed to a tyrannical cabal in Ottawa headed by Mr. Trudeau.  
• Farmers in the Netherlands are protesting the theft of their farms to satisfy the Marxist agenda of certain European parliamentarians.  
• Klaus Schwab wants to establish a one-world government, with those he selects in charge.  
• The Communist Party of China controls its people with social credits and lethal punishment for dissent.  Everywhere we look, including within our own borders, there seems to be a plethora of leaders with the idea of totalitarian control. 

Whether it is called Communism or Socialism or Fascism or Marxism, or some other ism, it is all about the control of a populace by a small number of “elite” rulers - with the best of intentions, of course. Whatever name it is called by, the end result is a return to a primitive time of kings and aristocracy and autocratic rule even though we don’t use those terms any more.  The end result is still the same.

Who rules? ............To Read More....

 

Viewpoint: Public’s support for Canadian neonicotinoid ban obscures bigger threats to bee health

Health Canada held a news conference to explain why it was banning neonicotinoid insecticides.

Robert Arnason | Western Producer | August 29, 2018

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency proposed a three- to five-year “phase out” of two neonicotinoids: clothianidin, a Bayer product and thiamethoxam, a Syngenta insecticide.

The first question from the media was telling. “What took so long? We’ve heard, for years, about the effects of (these) pesticides on pollinators and other insects,” Eric Atkins of the Globe and Mail asked in a tone suggesting the federal government should have banned the insecticides years ago.

Questions like that illustrate the gap that exists between the general public’s opinion and the opinion many in the agriculture sector have about the harm caused by neonic pesticides ….To Read More....
 
My Take - This is another example of how the lunatic left has dominated the media and government in Canada.  As for them banning neonics....good!  That makes it better for American farmers.  Make no mistake about this - if Canada wasn't sitting right next to a nation that's been - from it's very begining - a natural capital generator and the biggest economy the world has ever known - it would be a third rate crap hole, just like Europe is fast working to become.  All of which will be good for the U.S. as it won't be long before companies will be moving here or coming back to the only stable economic and political entity that will soon be left in the world.  The U.S. 

The Bretton Woods era is over, and Canada will only survive because it next to the U.S. 

Did anti-GMO groups plant ‘rogue’ GMO wheat in Canada to deliberately disrupt markets to manipulate public opinion?

Henry Miller, Rob Wager | Genetic Literacy Project | July 20, 2018

In the summer of 2017, a contractor applied the popular weed-killer glyphosate (brand name Roundup®) to clear some weeds along an oil and gas service road. (Glyphosate is a very effective herbicide that controls hundreds of different weeds.) When wheat plants did not die after the contractor applied the herbicide, he contacted the authorities. 

The Alberta government determined the wheat was an herbicide-tolerant variety that had been genetically engineered (GE) with molecular techniques. GE wheat had been field-tested (not in recent years, however), but no developer has ever applied for or received regulatory approval for cultivation or sale of a GE wheat variety in Canada or the United States. 

Detailed investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) uncovered some very strange facts. The GE wheat found in Alberta contained the same herbicide-tolerance (HT) gene (designated MON71200) that was field tested by the Monsanto Company (now Bayer) between 1998 and 2000, but those field trials were no closer than 180 miles from where the sample was found. 

Most puzzling to the investigators, however, was that the genetics of the newly found wheat plant itself not only didn’t match any of the approximately 450 registered varieties of wheat allowed to be grown in Canada, but it didn’t match any wheat plant anywhere of which the Canadian authorities were aware. 

Could the newly discovered GE wheat have escaped from a field trial and survived for nearly two decades? The findings of the CFIA don’t support that thesis.........To Read More....

Ontario’s new premier must save the province

Neither Ontario nor any country should follow its example on energy and environmental policies

Dr. Tim Ball and Tom Harris

On March 8, 2018, former US Vice President Al Gore visited Ontario, Canada in an attempt to help then-Premier Kathleen Wynne win the June 7 provincial election. Gore said, “I travel all over the world, and I cite Ontario as an example of a provincial government that is doing it right: creating jobs, building the base for economic progress, while also staving off the severe danger that the climate crisis poses to all of us.”

In reality, Ontario’s approach to climate change and so-called green energy has been a disaster – an extreme example of what governments around the world should not do. That may be part of the reason Ms. Wynne lost to Doug Ford.

Ontario’s situation is dire. In “Ontario MPP ‘proud’ of province’s debt and ‘would do it again’”  (April 1, 2018), National Post writer Triston Hopper explained:

“Ontario’s debt, which currently stands at $311.7 billion, is the most held by any sub-sovereign government in the world. It has also grown precipitously under the current Liberal government, who first took government when Ontario’s debt stood at $138.8 billion.”

To fix the province’s woes, new Conservative Premier Doug Ford must first understand the causes of the problems. A major issue has been crippling energy and environmental policies.

The real rot in Ontario began in 1992, when then-premier Bob Rae appointed businessman and former UN Under-Secretary-General Maurice Strong to be the Chairman of Ontario Hydro, the province’s publicly owned electricity utility.

At the time, Ontario was an economically sound, prosperous province. All this started to change when Strong applied the energy and environmental policies he proposed for the entire world through his creation of the United Nations Environmental Program and his chairmanship of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit (officially, the UN Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED).

At UNCED, Strong introduced Agenda 21, a global energy and environment policy of world-shattering implications, and got it ratified. It was also at the Earth Summit that world leaders signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC’s primary objective was defined as achieving “stabilization of greenhouse gas [GHG] concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic [human-caused] interference with the climate system.”

Under this scheme, the fact that in 1992 (and even today) we had no idea what concentration of GHGs would lead to “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” was immaterial. The die was cast. The world-wide climate alarm had begun.

The UNFCCC even redefined the basic guidelines for the UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The guidelines now restrict “climate change” to include only variations due to human activity. Specifically, Article 1 of the UNFCCC treaty states:

“‘Climate change’ means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over considerable time periods.”

The definition predetermines the outcome of the IPCC’s work. In particular, since the IPCC is required to support the Framework Convention, it had to change its mandate from its original purpose of studying all causes of climate change to the UNFCCC’s political definition of manmade climate change.

So the IPCC’s mandate was changed to assessing “the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change.…”

The problem is, you cannot determine the human effects unless you first know the extent and cause of natural climate change. The fact that we cannot meaningfully forecast the weather beyond 72 hours in advance demonstrates how little we understand about natural climate change and its causes.

But the new IPCC mandate worked perfectly to support Strong’s anti-development agenda. He needed “science” to prove that increasing GHG emissions from industrial activities (especially carbon dioxide or CO2) would cause dangerous global warming. Since rising emissions are a natural outcome of increasing global production, energy use and prosperity, linking emissions to alleged climate changes and extreme weather events allowed Strong to target the world’s major energy source: fossil fuels.

Once the science was determined, the bureaucracies of national offices such as Environment Canada could push policies to cripple energy production, industry and development. Other countries and regions were slow to adopt these principles, but in Ontario Strong was able to use his position at Ontario Hydro with impunity, to implement the crippling policies he orchestrated in Rio.

In so doing, he stopped nuclear programs, closed coal plants, and diverted funds to alternate energies that were already shown not to work. . As one report summarized:

“The electrical scam in Ont. started with the Bob Rae NDP government when Maurice Strong, Rae’s god-father, broke up Ontario Hydro. The electricity scam continued through the Harris and McGuinty Governments. Today Premier Kathleen Wynne and the liberal party administer the Enron styled electrical rate manipulation scam.”

Other premiers since, right through to Wynne, tried to privatize Ontario Hydro. But all failed to deal with the problem. Meanwhile, the cost of energy became an increasing drag on the economy and cost of living.

When Strong started as Ontario Hydro Chairman, the province had one of the most powerful provincial economies. It was consistently classified as a “have” province in the federal government equalization program, which begun in 1957 and designated provinces as “have” or “have not” based primarily on their ability to generate tax revenue.

In the ensuing grand socialist scheme, between 2012 through 2018, nearly C$121 billion was transferred from the “have” provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan to the “have not” provinces of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec – and Ontario. (See the table.)

From Strong’s tenure onward, Ontario energy costs continued to sap the vigor of its economy. Once an industrial powerhouse and the home of hundreds of thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs, Ontario lost many of these jobs when companies either left the province or went bankrupt. Contributing to the downward spiral were skyrocketing electricity prices.

For consumers and small businesses, electricity prices have increased from 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for all times of the day in 2002 to 13.2 cents per kWh in 2018 during peak usage times – a 200% rise. Electricity rates for larger businesses follow the market rate and so vary widely throughout the day. For example, at 5 pm on June 26, 2018, the rate was 22.14 cents per kWh!

Independent energy researcher and former Ontario Independent Electricity Market Operator board member Tom Adams concludes, “The root cause of Ontario’s power rate cancer started with the coal phase-out” – which went from 7,587 megawatts of coal-based electricity in 2003 to zero by 2014!

To supposedly “lead the world” in “stopping global warming,” the provincial government closed all of Ontario’s coal-fired electricity stations, which provided about 25% of the province’s then-inexpensive electricity in 2002. And yet, even in 2003, Ontario accounted for a measly 0.5% of global CO2 emissions.

So regardless of what one believes about the causes of climate change, the sacrifice was worthless.

Making matters even worse, the Ontario government spent billions of dollars erecting about 8,000 industrial wind turbines. In a report co-authored by University of Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick, Mr. Adams noted: “Solar and wind systems provide just under 4 percent of Ontario’s power but account for about 20 percent of the average commodity cost.”

Electricity market expert and University of Montreal professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau has observed, today “Ontario is probably the worst electricity market in the world.”

And so, Ontario went from being an economic powerhouse to joining the ranks of “have not” provinces that receive payments from Canada’s equalization program.

Not surprisingly, access to abundant, reliable, inexpensive energy has been a major factor differentiating the “have” and “have not” provinces. Mostly because of Hibernia oil, Newfoundland and Labrador became a “have” province. The other “have” provinces are also energy-rich: Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

So, the question now is: Can premier-elect Doug Ford get Ontario back on track with a sound energy policy? There is no better place for him to start than by publicly opposing the myth that human CO2 emissions are causing dangerous global warming.

There is plenty of scientific evidence to support this. Ford need only consult the reports of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change,  which summarize thousands of studies from peer-reviewed scientific journals that either refute or cast serious doubt on the climate scare.

Let’s hope Ford uses this important tool – and that the next example Ontario sets for the world is how to rebound from a green energy disaster.

Dr. Tim Ball is an environmental consultant and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. Tom Harris is executive director of the Ottawa-based International Climate Science Coalition.