Category: Economics

13-45 Battle Lines Have Been Drawn | Oregon Censorship Lawsuit Filed

13-45 Battle Lines Have Been Drawn | Oregon Censorship Lawsuit Filed

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Show 13-45 Summary: A split show this week. First up, we talk about the battle to get School Choice in Oregon on the November 2024 ballot. There’s been some confusion out there about the funding and how the typical strings-attached could impact home schoolers. Except that is not the case in this case. Find out why. But the bulk of the show is discussing the Oregon censorship lawsuit just filed this week. We bring on the lawyer in the case to discuss why it was brought. And what was so incendiary in Oregon’s “election disinformation” surveillance system. Don’t miss the state’s response to some Republican senators who dared question the state. The war is on.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: Nov 11th & 12th, 2023 | Guests: Donna Kreitzberg and Stephen Joncus

This Week – In the Trenches

There was a flurry of letters this week as opposing sides squared off over our 1st Amendment rights and, what many feel, is Oregon’s government attack on its own citizens. And from an office no less, that is the supposed to be the defender of Oregonians’ rights—the Secretary of State.

Two weeks ago, we brought you the shocking story of the Secretary of State seeking to hire an AI firm to track, monitor, and report anything the SoS Office deems “mis-, dis-, or mal-information” about the elections. (See Show 13-43, “Oregon’s New Surveillance System to Track, Censor “Election “Disinformation.”) The RFP they posted sought an Orwellian tech company that would surveil social media, websites, blogs, podcasts, and even radio broadcasts.

As we continue to cover this developing fight to protect our rights, there have been some breaking news items as the Secretary of State rightly felt the heat. Among the developments are a new lawsuit filed in federal court, thanks in large part to I Spy listeners’ multiple donations and generosity.  A big thank you to all who donated to make this legal defense of our First Amendment possible.

Also, the Republican Senators and Representatives sent a letter to the Secretary of State, admonishing the government’s actions and demanding that they stop.  But, not surprisingly, the government effectively responded with “It’s no big deal, we’re just monitoring.  And oh by the way we did the same in 2022 and see, no big deal. Plus, other states are doing it too.”

Great way to build trust, Oregon.

This week, we take a look at the legal issues behind this horrible idea.

Questions about School Choice Funding and Regulations

Map: Astounding Home Schooling Student Enrollment Increases by State, via Washington Post
Click map for full size

But first up we bring on Donna Kreitzberg to bring us a quick update on the hard work to get school choice  on the November 2024 ballot. I Spy Radio has fielded a lot of questions about the funding mechanism for this ballot initiative. Why? Because we have smart listeners. And people know that whenever there is government funding, there are strings attached. So wouldn’t that mean that stay-at-home parents who home school their children will be facing regulations tied to that funding?

The short answer is no. Not in this case.

Because we really dig deep into how Education Freedom for Oregon’s ballot initiative specifically protects against that. It will add an amendment to Oregon’s constitution that protects the choices parents make about their children’s schools.

That constitutional amendment ensures the funding attached to the children does not open the door to government regulations. This is especially true for home schooling — parents choices will be protected and puts a firewall between parents and government regulation. And that will keep government out of the classroom.

Have you signed the school choice ballot initiative petitions? You can download a single-signature petition or a petition with room for ten signatures. Head here to get your petitions and be part of the solution! Be sure to sign both of the ballot initiatives.

Note: there is a third school choice ballot initiative being floated by lobbyists that would not protect parents and home schoolers. In fact, it will almost likely inadvertently open the door to it and even religious based private schools.

Lawsuit to Block Oregon’s Free Speech Surveillance System

Then we welcome Oregon attorney Stephen Joncus, who filed the Oregon censorship lawsuit suing Governor Kotek, Secretary of State Griffen-Valade, and Elections Director, Woon. We discuss the impact the surveillance would have on Oregonians, the destruction of our privacy, and the suit’s request to put a halt to this contract.

Tune in to hear about the Oregon censorship lawsuit, why it was filed, what was so wrong with the State’s RFP for

To nutshell things, the entire problem is the State operates behind closed doors and is doing its best to keep it that way. They sue people who want to look. Or ask for access to public databases. They keep things behind a wall of secrecy, and now they want to block and control communication and discussion about a situation they have kept hidden. And then wonder why people question the integrity of the elections. And will attack anyone who does questions — to paint them with the Yellow Star of “disinformation.”

Read the Oregon censorship lawsuit, Thielman, et al. v. Kotek, the letter from GOP legislators demanding the SoS cease and desist, and the Secretary of State’s response to the legislators about their Orwellian RFP. As we predicted, it’s “Oh, we’re not really stopping free speech.” Sure. Threats don’t have a chilling effect on speech, does it Oregon?

Where are the democrats in all this? U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is against the government monitoring its citizens. So where are other democrats? Unless you speak out against censorship, you’re for it.

And, oh, by the way, it turns out there’s already another surveillance system already in place. That was news to us too. Don’t miss this important show!

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

School Choice Segments

Oregon Censorship Lawsuit Segments

13-44 Green Hydrogen Can Work – Just Ignore Economics and Common Sense

13-44 Green Hydrogen Can Work – Just Ignore Economics and Common Sense

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Show 13-44 Summary: People have been chasing the elusive dream of hydrogen as a fuel source for decades and decades. Billions have been poured into it before now. But there’s no such thing as a bad idea as long as the government is willing to pour even more billions into it. But now it’s even worse as they chase “green hydrogen.” Tune in to hear why hydrogen isn’t viable as a mass production “fuel,” how it isn’t even a fuel, and even far more expensive than it already is if we try to make it the way the Greenies want. And remember how CO2 is the enemy? Yeah not so much, apparently.

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Original Air Dates: November 4th & 5th, 2023 | Guest: Frank Lasee

This Week – Why Green Hydrogen Doesn’t Make Sense

Hydrogen has been the elusive clean energy society has been chasing for decades. Well before G.W. Bush threw nearly $2 billion at (which went nowhere), scientists were trying to use hydrogen back into FDR’s days and even before then. (The Hindenburg largely derailed the whole idea.) But if clean hydrogen was a pipe dream, green hydrogen is a fanciful nightmare. Especially if you don’t care about things like economics or common sense.

The elusive dream of green hydrogen. Hydrogen is not cheap. And if not handled well, can go boom. See the Hindenburg.
The Hindenburg derailed hydrogen. Rightly so.

In a nutshell, green hydrogen costs 5–6 times more than current methods and does not return as much energy as it costs to produce.

But why let a few dozen billions of narrow-minded taxpayer dollars stand in your way of your grand vision? Especially when states like Oregon and Washington just got handed a billion dollars each of free taxpayer dollars to create hydrogen hubs.

But First: A Big Win!

Thanks to public outcry, which CFACT helped mobilize, Orsted has cancelled its two planned offshore wind farms in New Jersey waters. The Danish company our American taxpayer dollars was funding, pulled the plug. Despite a $100 million penalty for failing to complete delivery. And wrote off a $4 billion loss. Amazing how these “green energy” schemes cannot work without massive government subsidies.

Public outcry works. Don’t be silent. And let’s do that here in Oregon. See Show 13-42 for more information.

Green Hydrogen Defined

We welcome first-time guest, Frank Lasee, a former Wisconsin state senator, president of Truth in Energy and Climate, and a senior policy advisor to CFACT. As you might be able to tell from the name of his organization, there’s not a lot of truth out there in either climate or energy. And nowhere is that more true than green hydrogen.

First off, hydrogen is itself not really a fuel. It’s more akin to a battery because while it has energy, it first has to be created. It would be a bit like creating oil out of various elements first before drilling for it.

Hydrogen must be made; it is not a fuel. It is a storage device, like a battery. If not handled properly, it can go boom! In a great big ball fire.
– Excerpt from “Hydrogen – Will this Green dream prove an expensive nightmare?” by Frank Lasee

What is green hydrogen? The label “green hydrogen” is all about how the hydrogen is made. There are several ways to make hydrogen. One is a simple electrolysis method, applying a current to water that splits the molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.  Your high school science teacher might have demonstrated this. Another is gasification that extracts hydrogen (and other elements) from natural gas with high-temperature steam.

Green hydrogen is extracted from whatever source but must use “renewable” energy to do so. The most common being pushed right now is to use solar and wind as the energy source.

How Green Hydrogen is Made

Except there’s a major problem with “green” wind and solar. They do not produce energy 70% of the time. Barely any wind. No wind. Not enough sun. Darkness. But to make clean, green hydrogen at scale takes enormous amounts of electricity. And water. Lots of water.

To make one kilogram of hydrogen (which has roughly the same potential energy as a gallon of gas), you need 13 kg of water to split. The water is heated to 2,000 degrees. That’s a lot of electricity. And then after it’s split, it has to be superchilled to near absolute zero so it can be pressurized and stored. And that takes another 40 kg of water to cool it.

So for every 1 kg of hydrogen produced, it takes 53 kg of water — and a massive amount of electricity.

What happens if the wind’s not blowing? Or it’s night time? You don’t have to be a paid TV scientist to realize this is not a process you can start and stop because of the unreliability of your “green” power sources. Gosh. You’ll have to supplement all intermittent green energy with coal. Or have massive batteries.

The Green Hydrogen Dilemma

One notion to get past the unreliability of so-called green energy and its unreliability is to tap into hydroelectric dams. Which the Pacific Northwest has plenty of. Except for the last decade, the environmentalists have been busily trying to yank them all out. To “save the salmon.”

Now what? Save the salmon or have green hydrogen?

In fact, the hypnotic allure of billions free taxpayer dollars has put a halt on at least one lawsuit to force the government to pull out dams on the Snake River.

Whoops.

But it’s not just the dams. You’ve got California, which on Thursday emptied 7 billion gallons (7,559,743,200 gallons to be precise) of fresh water from its reservoirs into the ocean. Why? To adjust the salinity levels in a delta to “save the fish.” The Delta Smelt. Of which a grand total of zero Delta Smelt have been seen in annual Fall Surveys since 2017.

Well there goes 142,636,664 gallons of hydrogen they could have made.

Fish or dams for hydrogen? What to do, what to do…

Green Energy: It’s All About Money

Tune in to hear how “green energy” is not green. And it’s not really about energy. What it’s really all about is the money.

And it’s not about “Climate Change” either. Why? Because while we’ve been shrieked at about CO2 emissions for two decades, it turns out they will not only sacrifice fish to get those billions. They’re also willing to emit more CO2 to get those billions.

Just like wearing the inappropriate “green” label for green hydrogen, to get the label “clean hydrogen” all you have to do is not emit more than 2 kg of carbon dioxide per hydrogen produced.

Read it for yourself: The National Clean Hydrogen Standard is 2 kg CO2e/kg H2. That’s 2x the amount of CO2 for every one Hydrogen (H2). See page 75 of the H2IQ Presentation from the U.S. Dept of Energy.

Yes. You can emit twice the CO2 you get of hydrogen. So much for CO2 as the enemy.

Don’t miss the show. That’s just one of much of the green hydrogen nonsense.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Articles/Info Mentioned During the Show

  • Frank Lasee’s website is TruthinClimateandEnergy.com. Be sure to check out this website for great articles and information.
  • Major wind energy developer scraps two big offshore projects (NBC News, Nov 1, 2023)
    • The move by Orsted, a Danish company, adds fresh uncertainty to an industry supporters see as a way to help end the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels.
  • Read it for yourself! Page 75 of the H2IQ Presentation (Dec 2021) from the U.S. Department of Energy states “clean hydrogen” allows for twice the amount of CO2 emissions as the hydrogen produced.
  • Interview with Frank Lasee: “Biden Sabotaging U.S. Energy Grid, Warns Expert” (Conversations that Matter, via YouTube, March 13, 2023)
    • Great example of replacing a gasoline car with a solar cars. Now you’re paying for 3 cars to get the same reliability you had in one.
  • Hydrogen – Will this Green dream prove an expensive nightmare? – (CFACT, Oct 26, 2023)
      • Hydrogen embrittles nearly every metal it comes in contact with.
    • Needs 13x more water than hydrogen made, 40x to cool it
    • The hydrogen lobby duped Congress into $9.5 billion for hydrogen hubs and $100s of billions more for subsidies to make it. These hydrogen jobs will last only as long as the subsidies do.
  • Great Analysis! Why Hydrogen Cars Flopped (YouTube, April 12, 2021)
  • The decades-long elusive dream: “The Truth About Hydrogen” (Popular Mechanics, Oct 31, 2006)
  • Study: ‘True Costs’ Of Electric Vehicles Far Higher Than Most Believe (The Daily Wire, Oct 27, 2023)
  • Auto execs are coming clean: EVs aren’t working (Business Insider, via Yahoo News, Oct 26, 2023)

Oregon’s Green Hydrogen Scheme

More of Frank Lasee’s Terrific Articles & Interviews

  • Bidenomics Is Scarier Than A Haunted House On Halloween (Frank Lasee, Oct 31, 2023)
  • Interview with Frank Lasee from Truth in Energy and Climate (Alliance for Free Citizens, Sept 7, 2022)
    • 8,000 square miles of solar panels to make enough electricity for the U.S. plus 1 million wind mills. We have 75,000 now.
    • Bi directional batteries – so the cars can power the grid, which got its power off the grid.
  • Joe Biden’s Hydrogen Slush Fund Means More Dollars Wasted On The Green Energy Boondoggle (ShoreNews Network, Feb 26, 2023)
  • Don’t Buy Green Hydrogen Hype (Iowa Climate Science Education, Apr 12, 2023)
  • Bidenomics at Work: ‘Green’ Hydrogen Is a Very Expensive Waste of Money (RealClearEnergy, Oct 6, 2023)
  • Frank Lasse article: “The Expensive Impossibility of Green Hydrogen From Part-Time Wind and Solar” (Truth in Energy & Climate, October 25, 2023)
    • “The fact that the world is desperately short of lithium and cobalt for electric vehicle batteries, at the scale they want to force, is dawning on them”
    • “Wind and solar produce little or no energy 70% of the time.”
  • Frank Lasee: Joe Biden’s Hydrogen Slush Fund Means More Dollars Wasted On The Green Energy Boondoggle (ShoreNews Network, Feb 26, 2023)

Related Stories

 

13-42 Winds of War: Billions from Offshore Wind Farms – and Fighting Back

13-42 Winds of War: Billions from Offshore Wind Farms – and Fighting Back

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Show 13-42 Summary: Do you remember how environmentalists used to want to “save the whales”? And they were angry at “greedy corporations”? Now, those same environmentalists have figured out they can make billions from taxpayers by forcing states to take definitely-not-green offshore wind farms. Whales be damned. Calling it “green” doesn’t make it environmentally friendly. Calling it “saving the planet” doesn’t make it less greedy. This week, learn about the expensive, inefficient, and environmentally damaging wind farms the Biden administration is eager to shove down states’ throats. And how to fight back. Because right now, they’re trying to shove a windfarm off Oregon’s Southern Coast.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: October 21st & 22nd, 2023 | Guests: Craig Rucker & Jennifer Hamaker

This Week – The Lunacy of Wind Farms

It’s always easy to spend someone else’s money. Just ask any politician. It’s even easier to spend it if those billions (trillions!) you’re spending are going to people who will help re-elect you. Ever since I Spy Radio’s first year in 2011, we recognized that the environmental movement had become anti-development, anti-free-market, and decidedly anti-American.

It just so happens another organization got its own start with much the same realization: The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Or CFACT. CFACT started back in 1985 and since then, they have grown into one of the most trusted, most respected sources of real information and real action to push back against the Far Left environmental movement. And win.

Right now, the Biden administration is giving out billions of free taxpayer dollars in a spending spree making the $130 billion (and counting) to Ukraine look like pocket money. Biden is shoving 100s of billions into wind farms. And, in particular, offshore wind farms.

CFACT on Offshore Windfarms

This week, we welcome Craig Rucker, the president and co-founder of CFACT, to talk about green energy, the billions the Left is making from it, and the billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on these offshore wind farms.

If you are not familiar with CFACT, you should be. Check out their great work, articles, videos, and a lot more on cfact.org.
And if you’re looking for good, reliable, and real facts about “green energy,” Global Warming, and more, be sure to visit CFACT’s Climate Depot.

It turns out these offshore wind farms are most definitely not environmentally friendly. On the East Coast, where there are already more than 3,000 wind farms spread out of 2.3 million acres. And since then, whales have been washing ashore, dead, in unprecedented numbers. Including the highly endangered Right Whale, of which there are less than 300 animals remaining. Why? Here’s a hint. It’s not Global Warming. The only thing that changed in their environment were these wind farms.

But what can we do to stop these? Especially here in Oregon, where greedy developers and government bureaucrats eager to spend 100s of billions of mandated taxpayer dollars have their sights on Oregon’s beautiful Southern Coast.

Tune in to hear how CFACT is successfully fighting back. And how the economics of “green” isn’t green when they start losing taxpayer subsidies.

Don’t miss: Conservation Nation’s (a CFACT project) video, “Save the Whales from Ocean Industrialization.”

Offshore Wind Farms off Oregon’s Southern Coast

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has targeted Oregon’s pristine Southern Coast for one of Biden’s costly offshore wind farms. We bring back Jennifer Hamaker, the president of Oregon Natural Resource Industries (or ONRI), to talk about this multi-billion-dollar windfarm project.

Jennifer, whose family on her dad’s side were commercial fishermen, talks to us what it’s like to grow up in a fishing family. What the way of life means to them. And how these offshore wind farms will endanger that way of life, the fish and birds and mammals in the sea, and the coastal communities.

And for what? A multi-billion-dollar wind farm that will only generate about 1.2 gigawatts of electricity. So greedy green companies can make billions, endangering the marine life environmentalists claim they want to protect, only to generate not even 10% of Coos Bay’s yearly electric? Really?

Help Stop Oregon’s Planned Offshore Wind Farm

ONRI is helping organize resistance to the offshore wind farm scheme. They have gotten the word out about public meetings. And are alerting people to get their public comments in to oppose this windfarm.

Screenshot public comment page for BOEM's offshore wind farm off Oregon's Coast
They kind of hide the comment button. (Click for full size.)

And it’s been working. There has been so much push back, especially at these public meetings, that the bureaucrats have pushed back the deadline for public comments until October 31, 2023.

Submit your public comments today about the planned offshore wind farm off Oregon’s coast. Go here for the main page to read the document if you’d like. Note that they kind of hide the comment button (see the picture before you head there). Or just go here to jump directly to the comment page.

Don’t be silent! Public outcry has been proven to stop these ugly, expensive, colossal taxpayer swindles. Skeptical? Then listen and learn.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. See the full list of podcast options.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Craig Rucker from CFACT (Segments 1–3)

  • Craig Rucker’s organization is The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow or “CFACT.” Visit them at cfact.org.
  • Be sure to read Craig’s excellent op-ed in The Hill: “A New Study Zaps Biden’s Plan to Transform the Electrical Grid” (Craig Rucker, The Hill, October 3rd, 2023)
    • “The problem is not the addition of wind and solar. The problem is the subtraction of coal, gas and other dispatchable resources [that] we need during this transition…The grid has to have power being fed into it every second of every minute of every hour of every day to keep the lights on.”
  • Want good information to push back against Climate Change insanity and the cult of Global Warming? Then you definitely will want to go to Climate Depot, a project of CFACT.
  • Don’t miss: Conservation Nation (a CFACT project) video, ” Save the Whales from Ocean Industrialization.”
  • “Save the whales” CFACT boats protest offshore wind construction (CFACT.org, Rucker, July 25, 2023)
  • Green cannot survive without massive taxpayer dollars: “New York denies offshore wind developer request to raise rates, throwing more projects into doubt” (Just the News, Oct 13, 2023)
  • Bill Gates sees ‘a lot of climate exaggeration’ out there (Fortune, Sept 20, 2023)
  • Climate Activists Cutting, Burying Trees (Epoch Times, Oct 13, 2023)

Jennifer Hamaker on Oregon’s Offshore Wind Farm Scheme (Segments 4–6)

 

13-39 Marxism in America | Cultural Marxism in our Schools and Spending

13-39 Marxism in America | Cultural Marxism in our Schools and Spending

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Show 13-39 Summary: Thanks to Joe Biden and the party formerly known as “democrats,” Marxism in America is on the rise. In our economy and in our society. We see it in our schools, as states push woke ideology on our children. And now, Marxism is a a core part of teacher hiring practices. We see it in government regulation. And a key element of Marxism is to break a country so it can be refashioned into a socialist utopia. Except they don’t exist and have never existed. But with our out-of-control government spending, we’re about to go broke.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: September 30th & October 1st, 2023 | Guests: James Hirsen and Joe Penland, Sr.

This Week – Cultural Marxism

In the wake of World War 1 and the disaster of Russia’s Marxist revolution, which left millions of dead Russians, Marxists the world over began to realize Marx focused too much on economics and not enough on culture. So they began infusing Marxism into culture, like how it was “greedy” to be successful. Or that the family unit needed to be attacked and torn down. So people would turn to the State as their family. And on and on it went. Until we arrive at today’s situation. Where Marxism in America is everywhere, even if you don’t know it.

But cultural Marxism isn’t just in Hollywood films and classrooms. Now it’s a hiring criteria for teachers. We check in with best-selling author, James Hirsen, about yet another new Marxist attack on our country: “Cultural Marxism Being Used in Teacher Hiring.”

That’s the title of James’s terrific new article—among many others. Check out all of his brilliant and insightful commentary on his website, JamesHirsen.com.

Marxism in Our Government

Thanks to FDR, who flooded the federal government with socialists, and to Harry Truman, who flooded the federal government with National Socialists (a.k.a., “Nazis”), our federal government — wait for it — is flooded with Marxists. Socialists, communists, and full-blown Marxists.

As a result, the conversion of our one-time-American government to Marxism is nearly complete. And we’re quickly speeding down the tracks to the last stop on the line.

Marxism in America isn’t always hidden. Sometimes, it’s right in our faces. Like our spending on socialized giveaways.

Our federal government has been spending trillions outside of its budget. Whenever you spend more than you budgeted, you have a deficit. And we’ve been spending about 20-30% beyond our budget every year for decades. Our national debt, which stands at $33 trillion (and growing fast), is the accumulation of all those years of spending more than our income.

We welcome first-time guest Joe Penland Sr., a successful businessman who also has over 26 years of banking experience. For the last year, he has been trying to wake Americans up to the tipping point of debt we are fast approaching.

All that debt and for what? When a business borrows, it’s typically to buy land or equipment. Hard assets. Which they will then use to generate more money. Effectively, they are borrowing the means to pay off the money they are borrowing. Not so with government. We are giving money away and getting no assets in exchange for those giveaways. (Unless you consider votes for more giveaways to be an asset.)

We talk to Joe about the hard decisions ahead.

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Joe Penland’s Segments

Related Marxism in America Info

  • The Deep State Behind the Deep State (Liberty Sentinel, Sept 26, 2023)
  • Marxism hates the family structure. Check out this article: “AI girlfriends are ruining an entire generation of men” (The Hill, Sept 26, 2023)
    • It’s the statistics here that are so troubling: “America desperately needs people to have more babies, but all the signs are pointing toward fewer relationships, fewer marriages and fewer babies. There have been 600,000 fewer births in 2023 in the U.S. relative to 15 years ago. The number of children per woman has decreased by more than 50 percent in the last 60 years.”
    • “In 1940, there were 42 workers per beneficiary of Social Security. Today, there are only 2.8 workers per beneficiary, and that number is getting smaller.”

 

 

13-38 Get Educated – School Choice, Woke in Corporate Boardrooms

13-38 Get Educated – School Choice, Woke in Corporate Boardrooms

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Show 13-38 Summary: This week, it’s about getting an education – and pushing back on the woke society is pushing on us. In our school systems and pushing back on woke corporations, like Disney, that think they know better about what society needs than what we Americans think. But what happens in those board rooms? And just how much power do activist shareholders have — who want to make a company go woke or, conversely, stop a company going woke? We also catch up with the effort to get real school choice on the ballot here in Oregon. And how a terrible personal accident has reignited the effort.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: September 23rd & 24th, 2023 | Guests: Donna Kreitzberg and Scott Shepard

This Week – Get Educated on Woke

This week, we are talking about woke in the corporate boardroom. And its negative impact on a corporation’s share prices and profits. So why do they do it? And when it comes to going woke even when it hurts shareholders, there is no better example of Bob Iger’s transformation of Disney and marching to the Left’s ideology. And did he set up his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek — only to swoop in and clean up the mess he himself left?

But first, we talk about real school choice. We catch up with Donna Kreitzberg to hear how things are going to get real school choice on the ballot for Oregon’s 2024 general election. Education Freedom for Oregon just came through their summer events. So how did they do? How far along are they in their petition drive?

Have you signed one yet? Head to this link to download a signature form — then print it, sign it, and and mail it back.

We also wanted to talk to Donna because she recently had a horrible accident, that required her to be life-flighted out of the Montana wilderness. Hear how this personal tragedy has reignited her passion to get this on the ballot and to help kids get out from schools where they feel trapped.

And did you know real school choice will not only help kids trapped in bad schools but it can help free teachers too. Tune in to find out how.

Get Educated: On Woke Corporations and their Boardrooms

The Supreme Court recently overturned affirmative action as a gate for higher education. But what impact with that ruling have on woke corporations and their DEI initiatives? DEI being “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” DEI also being Leftist codespeak for, “exclude people who don’t share our political ideology.”

Yes, Bud Light gets the attention when it comes to “go woke, go broke.” But Disney is the true leader when it comes to going woke. Think about it. Did Bud Light ever have the pro-family, pro-America reputation that Disney once had. And Disney is now actively pushing a woke, transgender ideology at kids. Bud Light isn’t exactly pushing their products at kids.

Woke for thee but not for me. Disney reports DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusiveness for its employees but not its own board members or executives
Disney’s DEI for employees—but not the board? (click image for full size). Source.

We talk with Scott Shepard, the director of the Free Enterprise Project, which is the original and premier opponent of the woke takeover of American corporate life. Disney is back in the news as its revenues continue to crater, losing money on woke, box office flops, and bleeding Disney+ subscribers. And even at its parks, its one source of profits, attendance is down.

Could it be because they’re pushing transgender at kids even at their parks? Nah! Couldn’t be that!

We also talk with Scott about a broader view of corporations and their boardrooms. If, say, an activist shareholder wanted to take a corporate woke, could they? Just how much power do they have? Or what if a shareholder wanted to protect a pro-America company from an activist board?

You never knew corporations and free enterprise could be so interesting and entertaining.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Donna Kreitzberg’s Segments (1–3)

Scott Shepard Segments (4–6)

Articles from National Center and the Free Enterprise Project
Disney’s Corporate Wokeness
Bob Iger: Determined to Take Disney to Ideological Ruin
  • Disney CEO Bob Iger: Marvel Diluted Audience’s Focus and Attention by Making So Many Disney+ TV Shows (Variety, excerpt via Slashdot.ord, July 17, 2023)
  • Bob Iger Reveals His Master Plan to Restore the Magic at Disney (Bloomberg, Feb 9, 2023)
  • Bob Iger Isn’t Having Much Fun: Eight months after returning as Disney’s CEO, he is straining to put out fire after fire, including streaming losses, an activist investor and TV woes (WSJ, July 14, 2023)
  • Is Bob Iger screwed up at Disney because of woke content, the removal of Disney+ content, and the possible sale of Lucasfilm? (David Mullich, via Reddit, June 15, 2023)
  • Politicization of Disney Gives Bob Iger Path to White House (Real Clear Politics, May 14, 2022)
    • Iger is (or was) considering a run for the presidency.
  • Bob Iger Lambasted For CNBC Comments About Strike: “He Came Out Of Retirement To Make $54 Million In Two Years And Says This” (Deadline, July 13, 2023)
    • One tweet: “Hollywood writers, on average, are paid $69,510 a year. Bob Iger is paid $74,175 a DAY.”
  • Disney Is in a Death Spiral and I Don’t See Bob Iger Reversing It (The Street, July 14, 2023)
    • A marked decline in attendance for Summer 2023 at Disney World and Disneyland
    • “According to boxofficemojo.com, Disney only has three of the top 10 grossing films thus far in 2023.”
Related
13-35 The Habitat Conservation Plan Designed to Destroy Habitat

13-35 The Habitat Conservation Plan Designed to Destroy Habitat

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Show 13-35 Summary: From all appearances, Oregon’s Board of Forestry seems determined to press forward with their disastrous habitat conservation plan (HCP), regardless of how much opposition there is against it. But there are still a couple of chances to stop it. We talk with Jennifer Hamaker of Oregon Natural Resource Industries about the looming vote in Salem this week and what can still be done to stop Oregon from abandoning its state forests for 70 years. Plus, where is all this heading? Are Oregon’s other natural resource industries also on the chopping block?

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Original Air Dates: September 2nd & 3rd, 2023 | Guest: Jennifer Hamaker

This Week – The Habitat Conservation Plan

We check in with Jennifer Hamaker from Oregon Natural Resource Industries (ONRI) to get an update on Oregon’s disastrous “plan” for it’s state forests: abandon them for 70 years under a Habitat Conservation Plan. The board had originally pushed the decision back to November but suddenly moved it back to September 6th and 7th — this week. For a 70 year plan, you’d think they’d take the time to get it right. But as we learn, the reality is, they were going to do it regardless. Once again, government has forgotten it works for the people.

Anyone else think they just laugh and laugh at that thought behind closed doors?

Board of Forestry Salem Meeting

Oregon’s Board of Forestry is meeting in Salem, September 6th and 7th, to decide to rubber stamp this disastrous plan. We say rubber stamp because if you read their resolution, the wording is all but identical whether they pass it or not. They will still pursue an HCP. See for yourself:

ODF chair's resolution regarding the Oregon habitat conservation plan
It’s the identical except for “current process.” (click image for full size)

But all that is needed is for one board member to flip their vote to delay the process. A seventy year project needs more discussion. Especially since affected state agencies and school districts, like the Jewell School District, have not known the full consequences or extent of the loss of funding. And the state still has no plans to make up the lost revenue. Revenue, which Tina Kotek calls an “outdated funding model.”

Want to go to the Salem Meeting? The comment period is from 8am – 10 am both days, September 6th and 7th. The Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters is at 2600 State St, Salem (Google map). Even if you can’t testify (all the spots are currently taken), you can drop off written testimony. And just being there in opposition sends the message.

Oregon’s Habitat Conservation Plan Won’t Work

Because Oregon is abandoning 53% of its state forests, with no human activity allowed, this habitat conservation plan — despite its (allegedly) good intentions —  will destroy the habitat it’s intended to protect. Why? Because here in Oregon, we get forest fires. Lots of them. And with lack of management, we get more of them. What do you think will happen in “protected” areas that have zero management. Does the State think squirrels will don fire gear and put them out?

Find out more about Oregon’s HCP at Oregon Stronger Together

What’s this about “no human activity,” you ask? But Oregon’s habitat conservation plan doesn’t do that, you say. They tell us so.

Yes, they do. But like so much of government, the HCP is just one layer. While Oregon’s habitat conservation plan doesn’t rule out human activity, the next layer does. The Forest Management Plan. Ah, yes. There is always another layer to bureaucracy. That way, they can scoff, honestly, about the HCP not stopping human activity. Silly citizens! Oh, but the Forest Management Plan? The plan we’re not talking about? Well, yes. As you’ll hear from Jennifer Hamaker, that plan will keep humans out of the forests.

And the bigger question is: where is all of this heading? If the state is taking these lands offline, in contravention of its own laws, what’s next? Fishing? Farming?

Perhaps this article will give you a clue: “These 14 American Cities Have a ‘Target’ of Banning Meat, Dairy, and Private Vehicles by 2030.”

And that’s why this effort by the “environmentalists” to seize Oregon’s state forests and lands needs to be stopped. Now.

HCP Lawsuit

If the state plows through with its plan, the answer is to do what the environmental Left is already doing. Sue the state. According to a Statesman-Journal article, the multiple lawsuits brought by environmental groups to do more to protect endangered species. ONRI is currently looking for a lawyer to take on this case. That will take a lot of money. Please consider helping them hire an attorney. Unlike leftist “non-profits,” ONRI does not get millions in taxpayer dollars from Global Warming.

We’ll have Jennifer on again to get updates later on in the fall.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Jennifer Hamaker is president of Oregon Natural Resource Industries, or ONRI. Their websites are www.onri.us and www.oregonstrongertogether.com . Please donate to help ONRI stand up for Oregon’s natural resources! Right now, they need to raise funds for an attorney.

Why does Oregon need a Habitat Conservation Plan to govern state forests? (Statesman Journal, Aug 19, 2023)

3 years after historic wildfires, report suggests state contributed (Statesman Journal, Aug 18, 2023)

What’s coming next? “These 14 American Cities Have a ‘Target’ of Banning Meat, Dairy, and Private Vehicles by 2030” (The Federalist, Aug. 19th, 2023).

13-34 The Next New Phases of Global Warming | Totalitarianism

13-34 The Next New Phases of Global Warming | Totalitarianism

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Show 13-34 Summary: Trained scientist and meteorologist Chuck Wiese debunks the Global Warming doctrine, especially as it is used as the blame for Maui’s fires and California’s rain. Hottest summer ever? Hardly. But why this matters is because of where those pushing this religion (it’s most certainly NOT science) want to take society. And if you listen close, you’ll hear the stepping stones of the path they’re laying down to Global Warming totalitarianism.

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Original Air Dates: August 26th & 27th, 2023 | Guest: Chuck Wiese

This Week – The Left’s Totalitarianism

This week, the political Left dropped all pretense that they don’t really want totalitarianism with the arrest and accompanying mug shot of a former president. Attacking one’s political opponent is a hallmark of totalitarianism, which, as good little Marxists, is exactly their end goal.

Think about how completely anti-American that is. Our very first amendment guarantees the right to an opinion and to express it. Now, a former president has been arrested and charged, and his mug shot released for exercising his first amendment rights. For daring to question an election.

If you want to prove to people an election was rigged, a great way to do it is to arrest people who question it.

Blame it on Global Warming

Earlier in August, the Willamette Valley and a lot of the U.S. went through a heat spell — formerly known as “summer.” Now, it’s ALL global warming. And, it was the “hottest summer EVER (!!!)” — emphasis theirs not ours. But was it? We bring Chuck Wiese on to talk about it.

And as if the warmist shrieking wasn’t enough, global warming was immediately blamed (as is literally every single weather event) for the Maui fires and Hurricane Hilary flooding California. Were they?

Global Warming: it’s like racism but for weather

Global Warming Totalitarianism Lawfare

But it’s no longer just global warming marketing and spin to push their ideology to ensure billions of taxpayer dollars flows into the Left’s political allies’ pockets. No, that’s for punters. We’ve entered a new phase of pushing their ideology.

There is no climate emergency. But there is global warming totalitarianism.
But there is global warming totalitarianism. See the report.

Call it Climate Change totalitarianism or Global Warming totalitarianism, the Left has now decided to use the justice system to force its ideology on American society.

This week, we talk about a new ruling out of Montana (see links & info below for more details) that found by Montana granting “fossil fuel extraction” permits, the state was violating its constitutional duty to provide a clean and safe environment.

This is a unique case because Montana is the only state to have a “constitutional right” for a clean environment. Montana’s constitution provides “The state SHALL maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations.”

It’s lawfare. And now the global warmists must be smelling blood in the water because they will soon push constitutional amendments in other states to use the new state constitutional “rights” to force their global warming ideology. And there won’t be any stopping them. Because it’s in the constitutional.

Yeah, well, so was the first amendment.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Global Warming Totalitarianism

Blame it on Global Warming

Trump / Voter Integrity (More on this next time with Chuck)

 

13-30 An Unbelievable Number | Oregon’s Healthcare Transformation

13-30 An Unbelievable Number | Oregon’s Healthcare Transformation

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Show 13-30 Summary: Lisa Lettenmaier, a former accountant and current insurance expert, has been tracking Oregon’s healthcare system for decades. We take a deep dive with her into Oregon’s healthcare system and the completely unsustainable path its on — unless you want to eventually spend every penny on “free” healthcare.

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Original Air Dates: July 29th & 30th, 2023 | Guest: Lisa Lettenmaier

This Week – Oregon’s Healthcare is Unsustainable

This week, we’re looking into Oregon’s health care system. And, in particular, the tidal wave of spending, endless spending, we’re dumping into what Oregon thinks is a “free” system. Or that’s the goal. It will just take a few hundred billion to get there — and another few hundred billion to keep up the illusion of “free.”

Oh, and doctors are looking to form a union. Because that always makes government expenditures go down, right? Yikes.

We talk with Lisa Lettenmaier, our go-to expert on insurance as well as the inner workings and financial health of the healthcare system.

Diagnosis: the patient is sick.

Oregon’s Healthcare Transformation

There’s a saying I’m sure you know: “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Along those lines, “Those who do not learn from Oregon are doomed to repeat its mistakes.”

Oregon’s forest management polices often lead to more forest fires. Which is stupid because all we need to do is to do something. Like the most obvious: open the forests up and let timber companies harvest — especially in areas prone to fires. Plus the government makes money. Twice. They get a payment from the sales of timber and they get all those taxes from good-paying jobs and companies making profits.

But the government would rather not do that (logging sounds like hard work) so they would rather spend money on putting out forest fires than make money doing things that would prevent the problem.

Oregon is pretty much setting its health care system on fire. And, once again, it’s a problem they caused — and then they set it on fire.

Tune in to find out just how bad it all is. Yes, the state of Oregon’s healthcare system will make you sick.

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13-29 Bidenomics is Killing Capitalism and The Little Guy

13-29 Bidenomics is Killing Capitalism and The Little Guy

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Show 13-29 Summary: This week, we’re looking into Bidenomics and what’s happening in the wider economy, what’s supposedly real (allegedly booming) and what’s real (it’s not booming). We also take a look at the hand-in-glove relationship between Big Government and Big Business — as they partner to make each other stronger, bigger, and more powerful. Meanwhile, there’s small businesses and the taxpayer but government’s relationship with them is more hand-in-pocket. And, as one might expect, Oregon dropped two spots in the latest Rich States/Poor States ranking of state economies. We discuss why.

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Original Air Dates: July 22nd & 23rd, 2023 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – Bidenomics Killing Capitalism

It’s no secret that socialists hate real capitalism and the free market system because it means government is not in control. People are. And it makes the little guy wealthy and independent of government. And that’s the mortal enemy of socialism.
Enter Bidenomics. Which is the perfect (for socialism) answer to capitalism. Bidenomics marries Big Government with Big Business providing the socialist kill shot for capitalism.

Under Bidenomics, Big Business flourishes. Why? Because Big Government squeezes out Big Business’s competitors by using regulations to choke smaller companies’ profits while Big Business plays by different rules. In a regulation-heavy market, guess who wins? The ones who can afford the most lawyers and lobbyists.

Take a listen to this brief video mentioned during the show to see how Bidenism is causing a lurch toward monopolies in the banking sector. To squeeze out their smaller competitors. (The original tweet is from Dr. Peter St. Onge.)

Jonathan Williams of ALEC

We talk Bidenomics with Jonathan Williams, the Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist for ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is the nation’s leading economic policy think tank, working directly with state legislators to pass free-market solutions to Big Government’s constant overreach.

Jonathan discusses what’s really happening with Bidenomics. No surprise, the Biden admin is on full spin mode trying to make people disbelieve the evidence of their own eyes. Inflation, high prices that keep getting higher, and more. But we’re told but the Bidenomics priesthood this is all a good thing.

And we talk about the corruption happening now in Washington, D.C., which Jonathan likes to call, the Land of Make Believe. Did anyone ever expect to see this much corruption and no one do anything about it? Not even pretend to be interested?

And what about that lurch away from capitalism to monopolism — where Big Government works hand-in-glove with Big  Business to kill off their competitors.

Finally, we talk about ALEC’s latest Rich States, Poor States edition, which came out in April 2023. Oregon dropped a couple of spots. Which probably surprises no one who lives in Oregon. But find out why.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Visit Jonathan Williams’ terrific organization, American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC. And urge your state representatives and senators to get become part of ALEC.
  • You can follow Jonathan on Twitter at @TaxEconomist
  • How did Oregon do in the 2023 edition of Rich States, Poor States? Not so good. Explore all the states or jump to Oregon’s rankings.
  • Disney Might Sell Off TV Assets Like ABC, CEO Bob Iger Says (Forbes, July 13, 2023)
  • Disney CEO Bob Iger in ‘damage control’ mode over possible sale of ABC, ESPN (NY Post, July 19, 2023)
  • Millions of U.S. Jobs Are at Risk From Climate Policy: Joe Trotter in Delaware Valley Journal – American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC, June 22, 2023)
  • Kotek doles out 22% raises, $1500 inflation bonus (Oregon Catalyst, July 19, 2023)*The end result is the latest agreement for these Oregon government employees which includes a 6 point 5 percent raise this December and another 6 point 5 percent raise in 13 months. Other employees will be getting between 13 and 22 percent raises. It also includes a one-time $15 hundred dollar bonus to handle inflation.

Not Mentioned but Related

  • Field Office, Defaults on $73.8 Million Loan (Willamette Week, July 17, 2023)*Field Office, a 2 hundred 90 thousand-square-foot office complex near the Willamette River, have defaulted on their $74 million dollar loan. It’s due to being unable to find enough tenants.
  • Oregon Doctors seek to form a union (Oregon Catalyst, July 17, 2023)*Doctors seek unions due to being pressured and negatively impacted as they’re forced to accept more patients. More and more doctors are being forced into consolidation and away from smaller, family care environments. Along with more rules and legal requirements. A result from heavy handed taxes, fees, red tape, and legal impositions imposed by governments.As Oregon hospitals lost nearly half billion dollars in just a half year.
  • Lebanon considers asking voters for new tax (Democrat Herald, July 17, 2023)*Lebanon elected officials are considering raising taxes to avoid depleting the city’s general fund by 2024 and operate at a deficit by 2026. The city was up against a $1 point 2 million dollar shortfall when its fiscal year started this July.
  • The Rise and Fall of the Chief Diversity Officer (Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2023)

 

13-28 How Not to Destroy Oregon’s Forests

13-28 How Not to Destroy Oregon’s Forests

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Show 13-28 Summary: This week, we’re checking in with Jennifer Hamaker of Oregon Natural Resource Industries, to hear what happened over at the Board of Forestry’s meeting in Sisters, back in early June. ONRI is focused on stopping the HCP, Oregon’s plan to abandon 53% of its state forests. But it’s more than just abandoning them. Oregon’s HCP would hand them over to an abusive kidnapper.

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Original Air Dates: July 15, 2023 | Guest: Jennifer Hamaker

This Week – Fighting for Oregon’s Forests

We talk with Jennifer Hamaker of Oregon Natural Resource Industries, to hear what happened over at the Board of Forestry’s meeting in Sisters, back in early June. We interviewed her twice in the weeks leading to the BoF meeting (Show 13-19 and Show 13-20) as they worked to stop the HCP. But what happened?

They didn’t win the war but they did win the first battle. Winning outright would have meant the Board of Forestry rejected the onerous Habitat Conservation Plan on the spot. But that’s too much to expect from any bureaucracy. But. They did win a reprieve. And that first battle was a huge win! After ONRI showed up in force, the Department of Forestry pushed back the final decision by a minimum of two months — from September 2023 to November 2023.

Stopping the HCP: Oregon’s disastrous “Habitat Conservation Plan” would abandon over 53% of Oregon’s state forests for over 70 years and end millions of dollars currently generated from sales of timber on state lands.

But is there even more to all this?

We talk to Jennifer Hamaker, the president of ONRI to find out what could be happening behind the scenes and why else the BoF and DoF could be backing away. Because we know it’s not common sense.

Stopping the HCP

It turns out that stopping the HCP is more than just derailing Oregon abandoning the forests. For 70 years. Instead, there’s another element to all of this. Because the HCP doesn’t just abandon the forests. The HCP hands over the forests to a kidnapper.

What’s this, you ask? Yes. The HCP means not just abandoning forests. It hands control of them over the federal government.

We told you there was more to this than meets the eye. Don’t miss this highly insightful show!

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Find out more about Oregon Natural Resource Industries at ONRI.us. And please donate something to help them get the word out, hire an attorney and other critical expenses. Look under the “shop” tab or just go here.
  • Have you signed the petition to stop Oregon’s Habitat Conservation Plan? You can do that at OregonStrongerTogether.com. It literally takes less than 30 seconds to say “No!” to government overreach.
  • It’s back! The ugly, timber-industry-destroying, Al Gore Northwest Forest Plan is getting a revival. “USDA Forms New Forest Advisory Committee” (Northwest Observer, July 8, 2023)
  • Video (Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities)
  • The US has appointed a new panel for Northwest Forest Plan Advisory Committee (OPB, July 12, 2023)
  • Remember when NASA acknowledged climate change occurs because of changes in Earth’s solar orbit, not because of SUVs and fossil fuels? (Sign of the Times, Aug 30, 2019)
  • There Is No Climate Emergency, Say 500 Experts in Letter to the United Nations (AEI, Oct 1, 2019)
  • Milloy climate tweet sets Twitter abuzz; Even Musk admits he is no believer (Junk Science, Jan 2023)