<a href="https://americasfrontlinedoctors.org/2">America's Frontline Doctors</a> Founder Dr. Simone Gold last July personally implored Vice President Mike Pence to advocate a presidential executive order making hydroxychloroquine available for over-the-counter purchase as a means to drop death rates to "near-zero" and incidentally enhance President Donald Trump's electoral advantage in last November's elections, it was revealed.

In an interview last week on the Brad Barton Podcast, Dr. Gold expressed "frustration" that President Trump was not given the chance to decide on the move himself, concluding that "it would have changed the outcome of the world." Dr. Gold also revealed that a draft of the executive order prepared by legal experts was presented to Pence, saying "it's tragic that the President himself never heard this."

"When you looked around the world, hydroxychloroquine was over-the-counter in much of the world," said Dr. Gold. "So I was advocating for making hydroxychloroquine over-the-counter. And I was being, thankfully, put forward in Washington D.C. to talk to more and more people, and I eventually got up to the Vice President of the United States, and we had more than an hour together.

"And I said, 'Mr. Vice President: The way you win the election in November is that the President signs an executive order making hydroxychloroquine over-the-counter. He can do that, he can have Secretary [of Health and Human Services Alex] Azar do that, and then if he makes it over-the-counter, there's nothing that Congress can do, there's nothing that doctors and pharmacists could do to stop it, and if you do that, once hydroxychloroquine's over-the-counter, people will go buy it - if you don't want it, you don't get it, but if you do want it you'll get it - and cases will go down to essentially zero, and Mr. Vice President, you will sail into November if you take that plan, path, that approach'."

Relevant section begins at 5:34 of the video:

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She continued: "That is actually what I was working on for months. That message did not reach the President, and to this day I feel tremendous sorrow that the President was not able to make the decision himself. Had he - I believe he would have made that decision had he heard that option, and life would have been different.

"I want everyone listening to know that I was sitting with him for an hour, and I specifically said, let's say it again: 'Mr. Vice President, please ask the President to have an executive order making hydroxychloroquine over-the-counter. In this way, death rates within a month of that will go to near zero, just like they are in Africa - near zero - because hydroxychloroquine is over-the-counter there. And if you do that, you will sail into November.

"That meeting was the end of July... I specifically said that the reason this is critical information, it's life saving information: When you looked at other nations where hydroxychloroquine was over-the-counter - you knew they were going to hold the coronavirus thing over him - the death rate went down to zero. It would have been beautiful. And I didn't understand how I met obstruction at every, every level, and as hard as I tried, let me tell you, I tried really, really hard."

"This is the first time I'm saying it in this sort of public setting. I've said it individually to people, there were many witnesses, there were about six doctors with me, plus the Vice President, plus two of his staff people. This is not a secret, there's records of it. But it's tragic that the President himself never heard this. And the reason it's especially tragic is I know that the President himself was an advocate of hydroxychloroquine, he knew this in his heart, and he knew this in his soul. He ended up tweeting me out - he doesn't know me - a couple months later on something that had to do with hydroxychloroquine, so I knew the issue was still in his mind. It was around October, he retweeted something that I had said about hydroxychloroquine, so I know the issue was still at his mind.

"I would like to say to anybody who has the reach, to maybe share with the President, if you can reach him, that I sat with the Vice President, and I begged and I said, 'Please, ask the President if he's interested in an executive order making it over-the-counter. In this way he will sail through November.'

"And by the way, we had written up the executive order - I hired attorneys who wrote it up; we had an executive order ready, actually presented it to the Vice President, it was ready to go."

In June, Dr. Gold contracted with a Texas law firm to research and assist in drafting an executive order for the President to sign, saying that doctors may prescribe hydroxychloroquine off-label, just as doctors have always done. About 20-30% of FDA-approved drugs are used off-label, which refers to the manufacturer’s ability to market an item, not safety or efficacy.

The executive order draft submitted by Dr. Gold for the President's signature said: "American doctors have discovered a safe, legal, inexpensive, and effective prophylactic and treatment plan that pressure within the medical community has stopped people from getting. The American people deserve to choose, with the advice of doctors they trust, to try any and all possible effective treatments for COVID-19.  People trust their doctor with their personal health decisions, not bureaucrats.  I will empower America’s doctors with as many tools as I have at my disposal to get our people well.  Together, we will defeat this disease and get the economy going again."

The draft continues: "Despite the proven safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19, doctors who have used this treatment have experienced opposition and negative pressure from state Governors, state departments of health, and state medical licensing boards."

For example, in an April 2, 2020 Statement Regarding Improper Prescribing of Medications Related to Treatment for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Medical Board of California wrote: "The California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is aware of recent news and social media reports of prescribers wrongfully hoarding and prescribing for themselves and family members certain medications referenced in the media relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)."

The email continued: "Several states have recently issued emergency restrictions on how the drugs can be dispensed. Many require that medications be prescribed and dispensed only to patients with a legitimate and current medical condition. Further, the FDA recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization to allow for the use of hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate products donated by the Strategic National Stockpile for certain hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

"DCA, the Medical Board of California, and the California State Board of Pharmacy remind health care professionals that inappropriately prescribing or dispensing medications constitutes unprofessional conduct in California. Prescribers and pharmacists are obligated to follow the law, standard of care, and professional codes of ethics in serving their patients and public health."

In contradiction to the threatening actions the States were taking toward physicians, federal law for decades has clearly permitted the off-label use of hydroxychloroquine even in the absence of emergency authorizations. The executive order draft handed to Vice President Pence would have had the President merely affirm the status-quo, that off-label use is valid and patients have a right to the drug under federal law.

After observing no change in FDA policy following her meeting with Pence, Dr. Gold and ten other physicians later submitted an independent Citizen’s Petition to the Department of Health and Human Services. Their attached declaration stated: “HCQ has the potential to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as well as reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.

"As a prophylactic, HCQ may prevent up to 75% of individuals from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. This can be an additional layer of protection for not just healthcare workers and first responders, but also for the American people as they go back to work. Early treatment with HCQ can decrease viral load, hospitalization and mortality.

"By decreasing viral load, there will be a decreased chance and shorter period of time that an infected person can transmit the disease to healthy persons. By reducing need for hospitalization, hospital systems will be less likely to become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients—effectively “flattening the curve” without the need for lockdowns and stay-at-home orders.

"Lastly, HCQ will decrease mortality, particularly in older vulnerable populations such as those in nursing homes."

Indeed, a <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20054551v2">multi-national database</a> with almost one million cases of hydroxychloroquine use concludes there is no excess risk
of serious adverse events identified with 30-day usage, and that short-term hydroxychloroquine treatment is safe.

This is the largest-ever analysis of the safety of such treatments worldwide, examining over 900,000 hydroxychloroquine and more than 300,000 hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin users respectively. The results on the risk of serious adverse events associated with
short-term (1 month) hydroxychloroquine treatment as proposed for COVID-19 therapy are reassuring, with no excess risk of any of the considered safety outcomes compared to an equivalent therapy.

The CDC has an <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html">information sheet</a> about HCQ. That sheet includes the following questions/answers:
<blockquote>Q: Who can take hydroxychloroquine?
A: Hydroxychloroquine can be prescribed to adults and children of all ages. It
can also be safely taken by pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Q: Who should not take hydroxychloroquine?
A: People with psoriasis should not take hydroxychloroquine.
Q: What are the potential side effects of hydroxychloroquine?
A: Hydroxychloroquine is a relatively well tolerated medicine. The most common
adverse reactions reported are stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache.
These side effects can often be lessened by taking hydroxychloroquine with food.
Hydroxychloroquine may also cause itching in some people.
Q: How long is it safe to use hydroxychloroquine?
A: CDC has no limits on the use of hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of
malaria. When hydroxychloroquine is used at higher doses for many years, a
rare eye condition called retinopathy has occurred. People who take
hydroxychloroquine for more than five years should get regular eye exams.</blockquote>
Interviewer Tim Greer to Dr. Gold: "What was his reply?"

Dr. Gold: "It was noncommittal. He heard what I said, and said something along the lines that he would take it under advisement; it was very frustrating. I was working on this for three months; I'm still upset about it. As a physician - I'm a doctor and a lawyer - so I was upset for the patients, really upset for the patients, because there's no question it works.

"By the way, right now there's more than 300 studies that show hydroxychloroquine or budesonide or ivermectin early treatment works. More than that, there's tens of thousands of physicians who have attested to this, there's many physicians who have attested, under oath, in Congress, that it works. Of course it works. So on the human level we had to do this, we had to make it available. Countries where hydroxychloroquine or a version of are over-the-counter have very low death rates. That's a fact. Facebook which was censoring you and censoring me for saying this finally retreated themselves, like 'Oh, I'm sorry,' they did that back in January, February. They said, 'Oh, we shouldn't censor doctors saying this,' but the damage was done.

"And then on the policy level, it would have changed the outcome of the world if we had done this. And I'd love the President to hear this message."

Do you think the other doctors who were there with you would testify to what you said?

"Oh, of course, absolutely; there were many witnesses. I don't think the Vice President would deny it... We have records of the meeting.  There is a paper trail of what I was advocating. You can't deny this. Definitely not. And if you're looking to find me and you think I'm not saying the truth, my name is Dr. Simone Gold, Stanford University-educated lawyer and board-certified emergency physician. I stand by what I'm saying."

Former Vice President Mike Pence did not respond to an America's Frontline Doctors request to comment on the report.

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revealed-dr-simone-gold-implored-vp-pence-to-support-executive-order-making-hydroxychloroquine-available-over-the-counter.png

Revealed: Dr Simone Gold implored VP Pence to support executive order making hydroxychloroquine available over-the-counter

The Supreme Court has requested a response from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to a petition from a peaceful J6 protestor who is appealing his conviction for disorderly conduct.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>99% rejected</h3>The High Court only agrees to grant certiorari, i.e., review a request for appeal, in about <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/11/24/how-the-supreme-court-decides-which-cases-to-hear" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eighty out of seven to eight thousand </a>petitions for “a writ of certiorari” each year. Normally, the justices do not give an indication of whether they are inclined to include a particular case in the one percent that get to the next stage, which includes additional briefs and oral arguments, until after receiving a response to the petition and the petitioner's reply to the response.&nbsp;<h3>Confident feds</h3>In the case of J6 protestor Russell Alford, however, the justices may have already signaled that they are inclined to grant certiorari, a decision which would require the agreement of four of the nine justices. Alford filed his petition to cancel his conviction with SCOTUS in early April and the government had 30 days to respond. Instead of responding, however, the DOJ penned a single <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-7158/307520/20240412164019362_Waiver%20Letter%20-%2023-7158.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sentence</a> to the High Court:<blockquote>The Government hereby waives its right to file a response to the petition in this case, unless requested to do so by the Court.</blockquote>The justices then announced that they do indeed <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-7158.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">want the DOJ to respond</a>, giving it a May 23, 2024 deadline, indicating their interest in the matter.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">As Josh Gerstein just reported at Politico, SCOTUS requested a response from DOJ in petition for writ of cert filed by Russell Alford, convicted by a DC jury of 4 misdemeanors for J6. This doesn't mean SCOTUS will take up the case but it does mean they want some answers. The… <a href="https://t.co/esI7QgEbam">pic.twitter.com/esI7QgEbam</a>— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) <a href="https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1782798939562905608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>1 act, 13 minutes, 4 convictions</h2>Most J6 defendants, facing multiple charges for the one act of trespassing, waived their right to argue that their entrance into the Capital was an unknowing trespass, <a href="https://frontline.news/post/feds-pressure-jan-6-defendants-to-falsely-confess-to-knowingly-trespassing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fearing the potential for multiple prison sentences</a>. Alford, like America's Frontline Doctors' (AFLDS) Creative Director <a href="https://frontline.news/post/bureau-of-prisons-overrides-own-scoring-system-to-incarcerate-j6-defendants-in-more-dangerous-locations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Strand</a>, was one of the few J6 defendants to refuse a plea deal.Alford's trespass was <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/23-3023/23-3023-2024-01-05.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">described</a> by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.<blockquote>Alford remained inside the Capitol for approximately thirteen minutes…&nbsp;While inside, he mostly stood to the side and observed. He filmed protestors chanting “stop the steal” and pounding on a door that led to the floor of the House, behind which sheltered dozens of Congress members. [Emphasis added.]</blockquote>The court added that Alford left within three minutes of police telling the crowd to leave:<blockquote>Police arrived within about ten minutes of Alford’s entry and began physically and verbally directing the crowd back out through the Upper House Door. Alford initially moved further down the hallway before turning and making for the exit … He left once someone managed to open the second double door.&nbsp;</blockquote>For this, the trial court convicted Alford on four separate counts, all stemming from that 13-minute walk during which he did <a href="https://www.conservativenewszone.com/articles/big-supreme-court-signals-it-may-throw-out-1000-january-6-convictions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not so much as yell</a>. He was given the maximum sentence for each charge, to be served concurrently, resulting in a 12-month sentence for:<ol style="list-style-type:decimal;"><li>Remaining in a restricted building</li><li>Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building</li><li>Disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol Building and parading</li><li>Demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building [Emphasis added.]</li></ol><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Overcharging banned; not banned</h3>The DOJ is actually <a href="https://frontline.news/post/feds-coerce-jan-6-defendants-to-waive-right-to-appeal-jail-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prohibited</a> from engaging in so-called overcharging, particularly in the the District of Columbia Circuit, in which Alford's trial court sits, where the circuit's appellate court has, for more than 50 years,&nbsp;explicitly <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4792425287924462607&amp;q=Scott+v+United+States,+135+US+App+DC+377&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=2003">banned the practice of overcharging defendants</a> where the intent is to coerce a guilty plea on a lesser charge:<blockquote>. . . the prosecutor&nbsp;clearly cannot have carte blanche to apply whatever&nbsp;tactics he wishes&nbsp;to induce a guilty plea.&nbsp;A policy of&nbsp;deliberately&nbsp;overcharging defendants with no intention of prosecuting on all counts simply in order to have chips at the bargaining table would, for example,&nbsp;constitute&nbsp;improper harassment&nbsp;of the defendant. [Emphasis added.]&nbsp;</blockquote>Nonetheless, J6 protestors have been uniformly subjected to multiple charges in the absence of separate actions. Technically, though, Alford's case does not fit this classic definition of overcharging, since the DOJ, perhaps sensing a jury pool antagonistic to J6 protestors, did in fact prosecute Alford on multiple charges. But it is not, in any case, overcharging that is at issue in the petition to the Supreme Court.&nbsp;<h3>Not disorderly; disorderly</h3>Alford appealed his convictions on the two charges requiring the government to prove “disorderly or disruptive conduct.” The trial court refused Alford's motion to acquit on those charges, despite the lack of any evidence of such conduct, arguing that he should be held guilty on account of the actions of (a small minority) the other protestors:<blockquote>Mr. Alford’s mere presence inside the Capitol disturbed the public peace or undermined public safety” and that “his presence was an aspect of the disorder and disruption of the Capitol.” [Emphasis added].</blockquote><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>“Even passive, quiet and nonviolent conduct can be disorderly”</h2>The appellate court <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/federal-court-rules-even-passive-jan-6-protestors-who-were-inside-capitol-can-be-convicted/ar-AA1my8bN" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">agreed</a> with prosecutors and the lower court:<blockquote>The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that trespassers in the Capitol during the riot did not need to be acting "disorderly" or "disruptive" to be found guilty of disorderly conduct, because such definitions “are nebulous but time has given them concrete contours in two ways important here.”"First, it is well-established that whether conduct qualifies as disorderly depends on the surrounding circumstances," the court wrote …"Second, it is equally clear from caselaw that even passive, quiet and nonviolent conduct can be disorderly," the ruling continued. [Emphases added].</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">JUST IN: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCOTUS</a> signals it may undermine more common <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jan6?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Jan6</a> charges as justices ask DOJ to respond to petition challenging 'disorderly or disruptive' charges v. Russell Alford. DC Cir ruled charges valid even for nonviolent protesters. Earlier: <a href="https://t.co/QMDbF9UM7z">https://t.co/QMDbF9UM7z</a>— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/joshgerstein/status/1782793703788077417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div>It is this ruling, that "passive, quiet and nonviolent conduct can be disorderly,” that is at issue in Alford's appeal to the Supreme Court.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>High Court may help … others</h4>Should the nation's highest court rule that such peaceful behavior as Alford's cannot be the basis for a disorderly conduct conviction, it may not actually benefit Alford, as his two convictions for “remaining” and “demonstrating” in the Capital would still stand and for each he was sentenced to the maximum prison time, as mentioned above, to run concurrently.&nbsp;Since the maximum sentence for the charge of merely remaining in a restricted building is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1752" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one year</a>, even vacating the two disorderly charges would still leave Alford facing a year in prison, though he could argue that, without the disorderly charges, one year is excessive for trespassing.Alford is far from the only peaceful J6 protestor to be charged with disorderly conduct, however. <a href="https://www.conservativenewszone.com/articles/big-supreme-court-signals-it-may-throw-out-1000-january-6-convictions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According</a> to Conservative Zone, 1,156 of those protestors were charged with disorderly conduct despite their peaceful conduct.<blockquote>1,156 peaceful January 6 protesters have been charged with engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct. 1,021 have been charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building. About 1,000 of them have been hit with both misdemeanor charges. These are the most common charges that the 1,300+ total January 6 peaceful protesters have been hit with.None of the people facing these charges did anything violent or caused any property damage. They were welcomed into the building by police officers who were high-fiving them and holding doors open for them, they wandered around for a while, and they peacefully left when asked to do so.</blockquote>&nbsp;<h4>See our other coverage of Jan 6 defendants:</h4><ol><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/mr-biden-wheres-dr-golds-pardon-for-peaceful-capitol-speech">Mr Biden - Where is Dr Gold's pardon for peaceful medical speech at Capitol?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/feds-coerce-jan-6-defendants-to-waive-right-to-appeal-jail-time">Feds coerce Jan 6 defendants into waiving right to appeal jail time</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/feds-pressure-jan-6-defendants-to-falsely-confess-to-knowingly-trespassing">Feds pressure Jan 6 defendants to falsely confess to ‘knowingly’ trespassing</a></li><li><a href="https://www.frontline.news/post/judge-in-dr-gold-case-applauded-anti-free-speech-socialists-disrupting-scotus">Judge in Dr Gold case applauded anti-free speech socialists disrupting SCOTUS</a></li><li><a href="https://www.frontline.news/post/fbidojcourt-jail-dr-simone-gold-for-trespass-politicizing-medicine">Politicizing medicine: FBI/DOJ/Court jail Dr Simone Gold for trespass</a></li><li><a href="http://frontline.news/post/fbi-no-time-to-interview-rape-victims-plenty-for-jan-6-trespass">FBI - No time to interview rape victims; plenty for Jan 6 trespass</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/aflds-founder-waives-selective-prosecution-defense-accepts-misdemeanor-plea-deal-for-delivering-medical-talk-on-govt-property">AFLDS founder waives ‘selective prosecution’ defense; accepts misdemeanor plea deal for delivering medical talk on gov’t property</a></li><li><a href="https://www.frontline.news/post/congressman-introduces-j6-bill-to-counter-political-prosecutions">Congressman introduces ‘J6 Bill to Counter Political Prosecutions’</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/judge-allows-doj-to-hide-exculpatory-evidence-from-january-6-defendants">Judge allows DOJ to withhold exculpatory evidence from J6 defendants</a></li><li><a href="https://www.frontline.news/post/j-6-prisoner-of-conscience-punished-with-isolation-after-jailhouse-interview-analysis">J6 prisoner of conscience punished with isolation after jailhouse interview - analysis</a></li></ol>

SCOTUS.jpg

US News

High Court could vacate more than one thousand sentences 

SCOTUS asks DOJ to defend disorderly conduct convictions of J6 protestors who were not disorderly

<h2>Smartphones dangerous for children</h2>A new book by NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt may confirm what many parents have already deduced and may be eye-opening to others — the harmful effects of smartphones on children and youth. His book, "<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729231/the-anxious-generation-by-jonathan-haidt/">The Anxious Generation</a>: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness," is “downright alarming” according to John Sundholm <a href="https://www.yourtango.com/self/psychologist-urges-parents-end-phone-based-childhood?utm_medium=amp-mid-recent-block" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">writing</a> for Your Tango. Haidt says that smartphones, social media, and helicopter parenting have altered childhood for Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha, resulting in greater mental illness, social ineptness, and declining academic achievement.<hr><blockquote>According to <a href="https://www.today.com/specials/generation-z/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Today</a> teens:Gen Z was born between 1997 and 2012 and is considered the first generation to have largely grown up using the internet, modern technology and social media. Members of Gen Z are sometimes known as zoomers.Alex Doyle, a 20-year-old Gen Z’er from South Carolina, says she thinks the relationship with technology is what distinguishes Gen Z from the other generations.“I feel like it’s unique how we know the world before social media but also have seen how it can be useful, whereas the generations before us are more averse to that and Gen Alpha are iPad kids and, like, can’t read,” Doyle said.Gen Alpha is the youngest generation to date, encompassing those born from 2011 to 2024. This generation is known for being digital natives, even more so than Gen Z, having been born into a world that is fully integrated with technology, social media and global connection.</blockquote><hr>Haidt's research, based on many studies and CDC statistics, showed that rates of depression and anxiety, which had been stable during the 2000s, increased by over 50% during the 2010s. Worse still are the rates of suicide which have increased by 48% for children from 10-19 years and by 131% for girls from 10-14 years of age. Haidt documented the increased loneliness and friendlessness among teens and plunging academic achievement.&nbsp;Gen-Z adults, he said, have more problems with mental illness and difficulty integrating into society than previous generations, as Sundholm reported:<blockquote>It's well known that Gen Z adults have much <a href="https://www.yourtango.com/news/study-finds-gen-z-struggles-more-mental-health-previous-generations">higher rates of mental illness</a> than other generations, and Haidt pointed&nbsp;to data showing they are also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37104750/">more shy and&nbsp;risk-averse</a>, more socially isolated,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-03/young-adults-less-sex-gen-z-millennials-generations-parents-grandparents">especially with respect to dating</a>, less confident, less successful — the list goes on and on.</blockquote>In a discussion about his book on MSNBC's Morning Joe (see the video below), Haidt voiced the concerns raised by parents and teachers:<blockquote>&nbsp;What I hear from most parents and most teachers, which is, “It's a hell of a problem, it is ruining everything. We're losing control but what are you going to do? The problem is too big. We'll never solve it.” It is resignation. . . .&nbsp;</blockquote>He also offers hope:<blockquote>We parents and teachers — we can solve this if we act together. . . . &nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="964" height="542" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yrL_ksihP3w" title="How a phone-based childhood is having disastrous effects" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;<h2>Not exclusive to U.S.</h2>The phenomena noted by Haidt are not exclusive to American youth but are found in countries around the world and point to two issues, he said. The first issue is the advent of smartphones and social media, “the neurological, psychological, and developmental harms of which are well established by myriad scientific studies.”The other issue he identified as “helicopter parenting,” which began in the 1980's:<blockquote>Second, the loss of independence and exploration for kids due to parenting changes since the 1980s (like so-called "helicopter parenting")."In the 1990s, American parents began pulling their children indoors or insisting that afternoons be spent in adult-run enrichment activities," he wrote in The Atlantic. "Free play, independent exploration, and teen hangout time declined."</blockquote><h2>“The entire internet in their pockets”</h2>Sundholm quoted Haidt, further, noting that the internet completely changed childhood:<blockquote>"Once young people began carrying the entire internet in their pockets, available to them day and night, it altered their daily experiences and developmental pathways across the board," he went on to say. "Friendship, dating, sexuality, exercise, sleep, academics, politics, family dynamics, identity — all were affected."</blockquote><h2>“The Great rewiring of childhood” &nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>During an interview about Gen-Alpha smartphone addiction at the ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) November 2023 conference, as seen in the video below (5:06-6:40), Haidt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1SyCZwMqfY&amp;t=400s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">describes</a> some of the significant changes in childhood development brought about by smartphones, particularly the end of &nbsp;in person, play-based childhood:<blockquote>Childhood is about building up your brain and you do that through play. Anyone who had a puppy knows it's all about play. So we had play-based childhoods up until around 2010. . . . Kids used to actually see each other in person and once they all got phones and loaded with social media for the girls, it's video games for the boys, childhood stops being play-based, which is what a mammal brain needs to wire up properly.&nbsp;It stops being play-based, it becomes phone-based where phone includes video game consoles all the stuff that makes your social interactions virtual, often asynchronous, disembodied, transitory. So it's a complete what I'm calling it “The Great rewiring of childhood.” &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="964" height="542" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k1SyCZwMqfY" title="Smartphone Addiction and Gen Alpha | Jonathan Haidt, Social Psychologist" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;<h2>The remedy — smartphone-free children</h2>To combat these phenomena, Haidt makes several suggestions including giving children simple flip-phones until high school just so parents can remain in contact with their children, removing phones from school, and giving children more independence and responsibility:<blockquote><ol><li>No smartphones before high school, suggesting&nbsp;parents&nbsp;opt for simple flip phones in order to remain in contact with kids.</li><li>No social media before the age of 16.</li><li>Phone-free schools, which Haidt discussed, tend&nbsp;to have myriad positive benefits in schools, with even some students saying they prefer a phone-free experience.</li><li>More independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world. &nbsp;</li></ol></blockquote><h2>15-year-olds reading like 8-year olds &nbsp;</h2>Removing smartphones from children and adolescents may be what's needed to turn things around as the experience of this New Jersey high school teacher shows. She is considering quitting, as Lauren Reams <a href="https://www.yourtango.com/self/teacher-considers-quitting-because-high-school-students-cant-read" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> for Your Tango. Her 10th-grade students, she realized, were reading on a second to third-grade level.&nbsp;<blockquote>The teacher in New Jersey shared in a Reddit post that the past couple of years have been very stressful for her, but the straw that broke the camel's back was when she realized her 10th-grade students could not read at their grade level. In fact, they could barely read at all.She explained that instead of reading books at a high school level, these sophomores are reading 2nd and 3rd-grade books like "Charlotte's Web" and "The Bridge to Terabithia."&nbsp;</blockquote>Her experience is not unique, Reams wrote. Other teachers she turned to had the same experience:<blockquote>In absolute shock, she turned to fellow teachers in her school for advice. As it turns out, her experience wasn't limited to her classroom, but many teachers observed that students homeschooled during the pandemic, versus students exposed to the virtual classroom, were much more advanced.The parents are mad because the kids are failing, but there's not much she can do,&nbsp;especially when it comes to their behavior&nbsp;which she categorized as “rude, always on their phones, destructive.”</blockquote>

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'Neurological, psychological, and developmental harms are well established by myriad scientific studies'

Mental illness and suicide in children and adolescents linked to smartphones

By Alex NewmanSheriffs have the power and the duty to stand for the U.S. Constitution they swore an oath to uphold, and to protect the rights of the people in their counties, regardless of what state or federal authorities might do, explained a wide range of speakers including sheriffs, media personalities, victims of political persecution, businessmen, and military leaders.Respect for the oath of office to the U.S. Constitution was one of the clear messages from the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association’s (CSPOA) “Resist the Temptation” conference on April 17. That constitutional mandate applies to everything from elections and immigration to free speech and even the protection of order from lawlessness, the lawmen and their allies heard.The event made headlines worldwide and was broadcasted globally by FrankSpeech, reportedly being seen live by more than 50,000 people. Videos from the event continue to circulate widely on social media and beyond. &nbsp;Organized by CSPOA founder Sheriff Richard Mack and CEO Sam Bushman, a syndicated radio host, the summit brought together an impressive array of Trump insiders, lawmen, elected officials, and experts. Each had unique insights and perspectives to share. Taken together, the speakers offered a long list of action items for the law-enforcement community and for citizen activists concerned about America.Sheriff Mack, who served two terms as sheriff in Arizona, sued the Clinton administration in the ’90s over a gun-control bill that he refused to enforce. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of sheriffs and against the Clinton gun-control scheme.In the landmark decision,&nbsp;Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court, citing the 10th Amendment and more, ruled once again that the federal government could not “commandeer” state or local governments. Known as the “anti-commandeering doctrine,” the case upholds the Constitution’s reservation of powers not delegated to the federal government to states and the people. &nbsp;Numerous speakers at the event touted the ruling as key, not just for sheriffs but also for state and local governments. Hundreds of sheriffs nationwide are members of CSPOA and have been trained on their authority under the U.S. Constitution and common law, as well as the details of the 1997 ruling.Unsurprisingly, federal supremacists and totalitarians seeking to centralize coercive power in Washington, D.C., are on the warpath against Mack and CSPOA. And the dishonest attacks by the media offered fresh evidence that constitutional sheriffs are a major thorn in the side of those who would run roughshod over the rights of Americans. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Several sheriffs offered ideas for their colleagues in other counties. One of the lawmen who spoke at the conference, Klickitat County, Washington, Sheriff Bob Songer, explained how sheriffs across the nation could deputize citizens and form a posse. Sheriff Songer, whose posse includes some 150 carefully screened citizens, even offered his department’s policy manuals and guidelines for other sheriffs across the nation who may wish to set up their own.In an interview with&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;magazine, Sheriff Songer noted that the radical left was furious about his decision to supplement his department’s ranks with everyday citizens. However, considering the savings to taxpayers and the need for more manpower in everything from search and rescue to dealing with potential threats to the community, Songer said creating a posse could be helpful to law-enforcement nationwide.Another chief law-enforcement officer (CLEO) with experience deputizing citizens was Sheriff Glenn Hamilton of Sierra County, New Mexico, who went on stage with Pastor Caleb Cooper of New Hope Revival Church. When state authorities demanded lockdowns and claimed churches were not essential during Covid, Cooper knew he could not close his doors.The only thing worse than having somebody die from Covid because his church stayed open, Cooper told state police, would be having somebody die of Covid without having heard the Gospel and ending up in hell. “We just could not close our church,” Cooper told&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;magazine, emphasizing the importance of the Church continuing to shine the light in dark times. “We&nbsp;are&nbsp;essential.”Cooper and Sheriff Hamilton devised a plan. Because law enforcement was considered essential and was therefore not subject to the lockdown orders, Sheriff Hamilton went to New Hope Revival Church right before Resurrection Sunday and deputized the entire congregation. “I would have deputized every man, woman, and child in my county if that is what it took,” Sheriff Hamilton told&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;in an interview.The whole saga was featured prominently in the documentary&nbsp;Non-Compliant 2&nbsp;by KrisAnne Hall. It was contrasted with the outrageous behavior of an anti-constitutional sheriff in Florida, who arrested a pastor for refusing to shut his church before Governor Ron DeSantis shut down the rogue sheriff by declaring churches essential. As Sheriff Hamilton explained, almost all New Mexico sheriffs also resisted unconstitutional abuses against gun rights in the state. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A third lawman who spoke at the summit, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, offered details of his ongoing investigations into irregularities in the 2020 election. Upon being given evidence of alleged criminal acts, Sheriff Leaf said he had a duty to investigate. And yet, instead of helping get to the bottom of it, state officials including the far-left attorney general responded by waging war on Sheriff Leaf and his efforts. &nbsp;“It’s been nothing but walls and having to knock down walls to get to the information that I need to get to,” Leaf told&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;in an interview before his talk. “The walls being put up are probably the most frustrating — and walls put up by people you’d think would be helping you out in an investigation, like the attorney general’s office and the secretary of state.”Considering the enormity of the crimes being alleged and the significance of them, Sheriff Leaf told&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;that there should have been a task force of local, state, and federal law enforcement investigating. “Everybody should have been involved in it,” he said. “There’s a lot to this. I think we would have had this all resolved by now if we had done that.”“You’re talking about, potentially, the greatest fraud ever committed in the world — committed on the American people,” added Sheriff Leaf. &nbsp;&nbsp;Numerous other sheriffs have also opened investigations into widespread reports of voter fraud and election crimes. In fact, at a previous CSPOA event in Las Vegas, this writer interviewed more than half-a-dozen sheriffs for&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;who were trying to get to the bottom of it all, only to be viciously attacked by the far-left media, the Democratic Party, and their allies.Other highlights of the conference included a speech by former National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn (Ret.), who also served as a top intelligence official responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, tribal, and international intelligence. Among other topics, Flynn discussed his new documentary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flynn-Michael/dp/B0CT9JVB4F">Flynn</a>, exposing how and why the Deep State targeted him as the first one of Trump’s key officials. In an interview with&nbsp;The New American, he noted that the DVD was number one in Amazon’s “Special Interests” category. “Remember, local action for national impact,” Flynn told the crowd. &nbsp;Pointing to the open border and the ongoing invasion of hostile military and terrorist forces, veteran Boone Cutler, an associate of Flynn’s who helped write the book on Fifth Generation Warfare, announced a new training program for law enforcement on irregular warfare. Saxon Aerospace founder John Ferguson also offered resources to help law enforcement prepare for tough times ahead, later telling&nbsp;The New American&nbsp;that the nation might already be lost. &nbsp;Also speaking was MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a leading voice calling for election reforms to restore confidence and integrity to voting. In an interview with&nbsp;The New American, he called for citizens to sign the petition at&nbsp;<a href="https://lindelloffensefund.org/">LindellOffenseFund.org</a>&nbsp;for paper ballots and hand counting in elections. Especially urgent: getting rid of the machines that can be hacked.Popular radio host Wayne Allyn Root enthusiastically called on Americans to get involved in the freedom fight, too.Former Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk Tina Peters, who uncovered serious problems with the election and has been ruthlessly persecuted for speaking out, gave an update on her efforts. And former Arizona Representative Mark Finchem, who is running for state Senate and is endorsed by Donald Trump, also gave an update on his lawsuits against election fraud.Dr. Richard Fleming, a medical doctor, attorney, and physicist, discussed the bioweapon attack on humanity in the form of the Covid injections. He urged viewers to contact their state attorneys general with a letter demanding action.FreeAndEqual.org chief Christina Tobin, who is seeking to provide a platform for candidates outside the two-party duopoly, spoke on how the establishment seeks to keep Americans trapped in either the Republican or Democratic parties.Several victims of the January 6 persecution by the Biden Department of Justice, including Casey Cusick and Tom Hamner, spoke about the horrors they endured, and yet offered a message of hope.Also speaking were two congressmen targeted by the Deep State for speaking out, Steve Stockman of Texas and Steve King of Iowa.Former Congressman Stockman explained how the Obama administration went after him with a vengeance, squandering over $20 million in tax dollars and going through multiple grand juries until they could find one willing to help in the persecution. He was eventually jailed in federal prison and treated terribly until Trump commuted his sentence. He urged Americans to pray for and write to former Arkansas State Senator Jon Woods, who was also persecuted by the same forces and remains behind bars in atrocious conditions. &nbsp;Former Congressman King of Iowa, meanwhile, was smeared by the far-left media with fake allegations of racism until he was run out of office. During his talk, he exposed the “carbon capture” scam, the ongoing attack on private-property rights, the globalist undermining of national sovereignty, and more.South Dakota farmer Jared Bossly, a victim of the “carbon capture” scheme, shared details of what is happening in his state and beyond. &nbsp;&nbsp;Entrepreneur Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock.com, gave a detailed presentation on Deep State activities and how to fight back.This writer, who served as the emcee, also spoke on the importance of the oath of office and the biblical foundations of law and resistance to tyranny.Estimates cited in news reports suggest about 10 percent of the nation’s sheriffs are members of CSPOA.As always happens when influential conservatives gather to effectively oppose tyranny and globalism, the establishment media, which was crawling all over the event, pretended to be outraged. The far-left U.K.&nbsp;Guardian, for instance, ran a propaganda piece demonizing the event before it even happened under the headline “‘Danger to our democracy’: fears over Trump allies’ summit with far-right sheriffs.”Shortly after the conference finished, fringe left-wing activist Brandy Zadrozny, who repeatedly cackled as political prisoners shared horrifying details of abuse in federal prison, ran a vicious hit piece attacking the gathering. “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/constitutional-sheriffs-las-vegas-conference-rcna147487">A sheriff, a felon and a conspiracy theorist walk into a hotel. They’re there for the same conference</a>,” screamed the headline. “The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is urging lawmen to form posses, seize voting machines and investigate baseless claims of voter fraud.”Virtually all of the attack pieces masquerading as journalism misrepresented the CSPOA and what it teaches its members, the public, and the nation’s sheriffs. The NBC “News” report by Zadrozny, who several attendees said has a reputation for lying and dishonesty, offered a representative example of the lie: “The group sees sheriffs as the highest authority in the U.S., more powerful than the federal government.”Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Not one person at the summit or at CSPOA has ever claimed that a sheriff has more power than the federal government. However, it is a fact that sheriffs are the chief law-enforcement officers in&nbsp;their&nbsp;jurisdiction, that they are not accountable to or employed by the federal government, and that they all have an obligation to obey their oath of office to the U.S. Constitution and their state’s constitution — not enforce federal regulations and statutes. &nbsp;Virtually all of the establishment media left before the press conference, when they would have had the opportunity to ask most of the speakers anything they wanted. Instead, they simply lied or distorted what the speakers said and what the CSPOA and its members stand for.<a href="https://libertysentinel.org/author/admin/">Alex Newman</a> is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, and consultant who co-wrote the book “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.” He writes for diverse publications in the United States and abroadRead more at <a href="https://thenewamerican.com/featured/constitutional-sheriffs-event-offers-solutions-fake-media-loses-it/">The New American.</a>

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Sheriffs not accountable to federal government; have obligation to obey oath of office to state and federal constitutions

Constitutional sheriffs event offers solutions

<h1>Correct, now go to the principal's office</h1>North Carolina high school student Christian McGhee was suspended for asking his teacher which of two possible meanings was intended by the word “alien” included on a vocabulary list the class was instructed to learn. Law Enforcement Today <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/debate-ignites-free-speech-vs-cultural-sensitivity-at-central-davidson-high" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recorded</a> the teen's question, as relayed by his mother:<blockquote>Christian McGhee’s teacher assigned vocabulary words during class last Tuesday, including the word "alien." According to his mother, Leah McGhee, Christian responded to his teacher, asking, “Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?” [Emphasis added].</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">NEW: North Carolina high school student Christian McGhee was suspended from school for saying "illegal alien" in the classroom. Calling an illegal alien and illegal alien is not offensive, it's just a fact. McGhee was suspended for three days after doing an assignment in… <a href="https://t.co/TUPX0sRmtg">pic.twitter.com/TUPX0sRmtg</a>— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1780341543439602050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Threaten fellow student - get him suspended</h2>The teacher might have been expected to be impressed with the 16-year-old student, as he demonstrated a familiarity with both possibilities for the word's definition. Perhaps the teacher would have been, had it not been for another student who “took offense to the question and threatened physical violence against Christian.”At that point, one might assume that the teacher would refer the student who threatened Christian for administrative action. But it was Christian who, after being sent to the assistant principal, received a three-day suspension, prompting concern from his mother that he may lose out on college scholarship opportunities with an infraction for racist language now on his record.<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>It's OK when the government does it</h3>Christian argued that he did not anticipate his question being objectionable since, “‘illegal alien’ is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary.” X users bolstered his argument, noting that the federal government refers to migrants from foreign nations as "aliens,” and suggested that he file a lawsuit that would get him at least as much as a scholarship would offer.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">Hey Christian McGhee’s Mama… Stop worrying. Sue them. It’s a term used in our DHS handbooks. Your boy may have just gotten his tuition covered This is one screen shot with alien throughout — head to the website, and it’s like a treasure trove of the word “ALIEN” … <a href="https://t.co/X5NNz9Qpv6">pic.twitter.com/X5NNz9Qpv6</a>— Heatherheather007 (@LibertyValkyrie) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibertyValkyrie/status/1780344554949951962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Let's get political</h3>Education is a hot issue with voters and Christian's punishment for using vocabulary accurately could make it easy for politicians to score points in an election year. One presidential candidate appears to have weighed in already on the controversy:&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Donald Trump invited Christian McGhee and his family to join him yesterday at his rally! Hate it had to happen this way but glad to see the support for this family. This was the student suspended for using the term "illegal alien". <a href="https://t.co/tki3WXUyJO">pic.twitter.com/tki3WXUyJO</a>— Haley Kennington (@ladykennington) <a href="https://twitter.com/ladykennington/status/1782056146548695419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Been there</h2>Christian is not the first to suffer censorship and punishment for perfectly appropriate use of language. In 1999, David Howard, an aide to the then mayor of Washington, D.C., was pressured to resign when other city employees were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_14" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">offended</a> that he “used the word ‘niggardly’ in describing how he would have to manage a fund's tight budget.” &nbsp;[Emphasis added].<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Bill Maher: Remember David Howard fired for using the word "niggardly", which means stingy. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeathByPC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DeathByPC</a> <a href="https://t.co/tw146Zs4fh">pic.twitter.com/tw146Zs4fh</a>— Butch Mailhot (@ButchMailhot) <a href="https://twitter.com/ButchMailhot/status/871024582140076032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div>The word has caused a problems for others as well, despite both its meaning and its use having nothing to do with race. The word is thought to have developed in northern Europe in a <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/niggardly" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">homogeneous</a> racial environment with reference <a href="https://twitter.com/mikacooper/status/1105964911618912259" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">only</a> to the use of money.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">Niggardly As in the manner many people are paid. <a href="https://t.co/t03L7AvF9x">pic.twitter.com/t03L7AvF9x</a>— Джим Робинсон (@528i) <a href="https://twitter.com/528i/status/1780737096334119359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div>And in 2002, an elementary school teacher from the same state as Christian wound up with a <a href="https://www.johnderbyshire.com/Opinions/Culture/niggardly.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reprimand </a>and mandatory retraining after a parent complained about her use of the word to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120117090222/https://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article/?ArtNo=209040302&amp;Category=NEWS&amp;Date=20020904&amp;Profile=1004&amp;Ref=AR&amp;Site=WM&amp;template=printart" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">describe </a>a literary character:<blockquote>Stephanie Bell, a fourth-grade teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina, has been reprimanded for using that word in a classroom discussion about literary characters. A parent, one Akwana Walker, declared herself offended by the usage. Ms. Bell has been hustled off to “sensitivity training”… [Emphasis added].</blockquote><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Pushback</h2>Not all such “infractions” have ended in punishment, however. A University of Wisconsin professor guilty of using the same word in 1999 escaped punitive action and even inspired <a href="https://www.badgerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Still8.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">resistance</a> to the attempt to censor him:<blockquote>A junior enrolled in Professor Standish Henning’s class on English literature, [Amelia] Rideau came to the Faculty Senate to complain of his use of the word “niggardly” — which means stingy or miserly — in a classroom discussion about Geoffrey Chaucer’s medieval classic, “The Canterbury Tales…Rather than chalk it up as a lesson in mistaken homophony (also not an offensive term, by the way), Rideau took the classroom incident to another level. She brought three black friends to her next class with Henning for “support,” and then cited her experience to the Faculty Senate … [Emphasis added].</blockquote>A backlash ensued that included editorials in local papers supporting the professor:<blockquote>“So, what other words are to be purged from our vocabulary because they sound like words that may offend?” wrote history professor John Sharpless in a Wisconsin State Journal “guest column” a few days later. “Thespian? Philatelist? Tips? Peanuts? Homogenous?”</blockquote>&nbsp;<h4>You knew, and you're still offended?</h4>&nbsp;It didn't help Rideau's case that she informed the Faculty Senate that she knew what the word meant.<blockquote>But wait, it got better: Rideau said she knew what niggardly means but was upset that too many people associate that word with the slur. She did not claim ignorance as a defense. Rather, she was upset that some classmates spelled the word as “niggerly” in their notes. In the real world outside the Madison campus, this produced a curious reaction.&nbsp;Shouldn’t taxpayers be upset that students in a fairly sophisticated UW-Madison class on English literature have never heard the word “niggardly” or, at least, cannot spell it? &nbsp;… [Emphasis added].</blockquote>&nbsp;<h4>Victory</h4>Rideau had hoped to use the incident to make the university's existing faculty speech code more stringent so that it would cover even unintentional offenses. Instead, the university cancelled the speech code altogether:<blockquote>In a matter of days, protectors of the code were in a retreat that would lead to its virtual repeal within a month. The same university that had been the first in the nation to adopt a faculty speech code in 1981 would soon become the first to abandon it — a remarkable step away from the “politics of identity” that threatens to ruin some of America’s finest colleges and universities.Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found. [Emphasis added].</blockquote>&nbsp;<h4>Related Article:</h4><ol><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/homeschoolers-top-government-schooled-children-in-everything">Homeschoolers top government-schooled children in … everything</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/reagan-and-trumps-vows-to-defund-government-education">Reagan's and Trump’s vows to defund government education . . .</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/pay-twice-to-escape-government-education">Pay twice to escape government education?</a></li><li><a href="http://frontline.news/post/fox-censoring-tucker">Who's behind Fox censoring Tucker? Third rail issues blocked</a></li></ol>

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Constitutional sheriffs event offers solutions

Student suspended for asking whether 'alien' on vocabulary list means 'space aliens' or 'illegal aliens'