An investigation is underway after a substitute teacher was allegedly caught watching adult content in class at a West Covina elementary school in California. The incident was reported at Cameron Elementary…

“Is American Journalism Headed Toward an ‘Extinction-Level Event’?” asks an Atlantic headline. The numbers are deadly. The grimmest news was from the Los Angeles Times‚ the biggest newspaper outside…

Earlier this month‚ the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that‚ at our current rate of spending‚ annual interest payments on the debt are expected to exceed the cost of our nation’s entire…

One in 500 births is affected.

This could be you.

Why would a president running for reelection refuse to meet with the Speaker of the House to discuss a national crisis that most voters blame on the president himself? This would be regarded as bizarre behavior under any circumstances‚ but it’s particularly perverse considering that the crisis in question is illegal immigration — the signature issue of Biden’s probable challenger in November. Moreover‚ according to the RealClearPolitics polling average‚ 63 percent of the voters disapprove of the way he has handled immigration. Yet Biden refuses to discuss the problem. It’s almost as if he thinks it somehow works to his advantage. Democrats may well have reached the conclusion that they can’t stay in power with legal votes by natural born or naturalized citizens. What benefit could Biden derive from letting millions of illegal immigrants into the country? House speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) provided the most plausible answer during a recent appearance on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria Bartiromo: “I genuinely believe that originally the idea was to bring people in‚ open the border‚ have the flow come in and turn them into voters‚ there’s no other reason that seems to make sense.” Predictably‚ this has been dismissed as a conspiracy theory by the White House‚ congressional Democrats‚ and their allies in the legacy media. Yet Biden himself has often made public statements that suggest Johnson is right. In 2016‚ when he was Vice President‚ he stated his position thus: You know‚ 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens. Teddy Roosevelt said it better: “Americanism is not a question of birthplace or creed or a line of descent. It’s a question of principles‚ idealism‚ and character.” These people are just waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard‚ 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans‚ in my view. All they want — they just want a decent life for their kids‚ a chance to contribute to a free society‚ a chance to put down roots and help build the next great American century. Setting aside Biden’s implausibly low estimate of the “undocumented alien” population (researchers from Yale and MIT estimate the actual 2016 figure was more like 22.1 million)‚ the key words that relate to voting are “contribute fully.” It will come as no surprise that serious research into how many of Biden’s “citizens” vote is very much discouraged in academia. In 2014‚ for example‚ a peer-reviewed article authored by Jesse T. Richman and Gushan A. Chattha‚ both of Old Dominion University‚ and David C. Earnest of George Mason University estimated that about 25 percent of non-citizens were registered to vote in 2008 and 2010. Moreover‚ they suggest that as many as 2.8 million of them actually voted. (READ MORE from David Catron: Biden’s Sound and Fury) Inevitably‚ the “vote fraud is rare” crowd descended on the authors of the study like so many flying monkeys. Their criticisms predictably focus on when and why they published their study rather than its findings. They suggest the study was purposely produced to provide fuel to “conspiracy theorists.” They also accuse the authors of timing it to affect the 2014 midterms. The article was published in the online version of Electoral Studies on September 21 — about five weeks before Election Day. It’s unlikely that this publication is included in the regular reading of your average voter. Richman and Earnest wrote a lengthy response to their critics in the Washington Post. Their general thrust goes more or less as follows: Our blog post and article on non-citizen voting have reached a wide audience‚ and have motivated several efforts to dispute our methods and conclusions … Although our estimates of non-citizen registration and voting are higher than previous estimates‚ this should not be surprising. To our knowledge‚ ours is the first study to use survey data to estimate non-citizen voting‚ while other studies have relied upon incidents of detected vote fraud. Estimates of illegal behavior based upon survey data are frequently higher than estimates based upon detection rates. This final point is driven home by the known level of detection rates for illegal voting. The Heritage Foundation maintains an Election Fraud Database that presents a sampling of recent instances of election fraud cases that have resulted in convictions. It does not purport to be exhaustive but it does contain the details of 1‚276 criminal convictions many involving large scale ballot harvesting operations‚ vote buying schemes‚ and ineligible voting by non-citizens. However‚ because academic grant money for major research into any kind of election fraud is all but nonexistent‚ serious studies like the one discussed above are rarely conducted‚ leaving most American voters in the dark about how many illegal immigrants vote. (READ MORE: Trump’s Swing State Challenge) All of which brings us back to President Biden’s refusal to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson about the border crisis. In May of 2023‚ the Republican House passed H.R. 2‚ the “Secure the Border Act‚” which would codify the mechanisms used by former President Trump to successfully control the border. It has been collecting dust in the Democrat-controlled Senate for nine months. Meanwhile‚ the Senate has produced an alternative bill that would make the current border crisis permanent. This is the legislation Biden supports. Typically‚ the President would meet with the House Speaker and work out a compromise. The White House‚ however‚ says there is nothing to negotiate. It’s Biden’s way or the highway. (READ MORE: Is This What Biden Meant By ‘Unity’?) Or is it Biden’s way? During the Fox interview discussed above‚ House Speaker Mike Johnson said‚ “I don’t think he’s allowed to do it. I’m not sure Biden’s actually making these decisions.” This may be true‚ but it is by no means inconsistent with his past positions. In the end‚ the Democrats may well have reached the conclusion that they can’t stay in power with legal votes by natural born or naturalized citizens. If this is true‚ it means they see uncontrolled illegal immigration as a feature rather than a bug of the Biden border policy. In the final analysis‚ they couldn’t care less who votes as long they remain in power. The post Non-Citizens Have Been Voting Since 2008 appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The traditional definition of “writer’s block” is a “condition in which an author loses the ability to produce.” It once exclusively applied to the writer’s own creative slowdown. For modern conservative scribes‚ however‚ it extends to the actual obstacles that the publishing and entertainment industries throw in their way. The entertainment establishment’s longtime liberal bias became full-fledged blacklisting during the Obama years‚ when I realized my Hollywood career was over. At the time‚ I could comprehend the professional obstruction of traditionalist storytellers. The Left understood the importance of cultural control to ideological supremacy a half century before the Right did. And art was the gateway. Conservatives generally avoided politicizing the arts for two reasons. First‚ fewer of them ever entered the field‚ having lives to live‚ families to raise‚ and frontiers to explore‚ so they preferred to enjoy screen product rather than create it. Second‚ they instinctively knew that the best stories are conservative. (READ MORE from Lou Aguilar: The Decline and Fall of Hollywoke) Because they’re about good versus evil‚ and good — despite shades of grey — is moral‚ loving‚ religious‚ civilized‚ and above all realistic. While evil is dysfunctional anti-human utopian fantasy that always leads to societal misery. See Marxism‚ baby-killing abortion‚ women-depressing feminism‚ butcherous “transgenderism‚” anti-white racism‚ legal crime‚ legal border invasion‚ and the hellscape every formerly spectacular major American city has become under Democratic rule. Give the men back their guts and the women their romance and sex appeal. Respect what made classic heroes so special. A new ABC analysis found that nearly all of the strong economic growth in the country comes from conservative Red states that voted for Trump‚ have lower taxes‚ better education‚ and tougher law enforcement. The ludicrous leftist media spin credited none of these factors‚ instead citing the warm weather and Blue governance within these states. Which doesn’t explain the total devolution of Los Angeles or the success of Miami. Neither can woke storytellers‚ a big reason why Hollywood is imploding. Their diverse progressive heroes and manly heroines only repel the finally awake traditional audience. They can’t create any character as popular as James Bond‚ Luke Skywalker‚ Spiderman‚ or Jack Sparrow. They can only replace‚ emasculate‚ or feminize them while leeching off the universes they could never form. (READ MORE: The Woke of Zorro) This is how you get a sexless Daniel Craig Bond (and have to kill him off)‚ an unfit Rey (Daisy Ridley) in Star Wars‚ a ridiculous Madame Web (the Spiderverse installment getting laughed off the screen last weekend)‚ and a black female pirate instead of Jack Sparrow in a future Pirates of the Caribbean entry. The producers know these movies will bomb‚ even suspect the hostility to them outside their liberal bubble‚ but they can’t change course. Or rescue their projects by firing leftist diversity-hire writers and hiring conservative ones like me. We know how to reinvigorate James Bond‚ Star Wars‚ Marvel‚ and Disney. Give the men back their guts and the women their romance and sex appeal. Respect what made classic heroes so special and don’t try to “modernize” them for the snowflake crowd. Even more incredible‚ we can create original characters and exciting stories that will launch new franchises and bring in new fans. And we don’t need Hollywood. I sure don’t. After I left LA last decade‚ I switched to my first love — fiction — and became a successful novelist. I wrote three books‚ all published and well received‚ one‚ Paper Tigers‚ adapted from a politically incorrect yet hot script that died the day Obama was elected. For my fourth novel‚ I entered my favorite literary genre‚ the detective thriller. I did not lack for inspiring role models going back to the nineteenth century — Charles Dickens’ Inspector Bucket (Bleak House)‚ Wilkie Collins’ sergeant Cuff (The Moonstone)‚ Edgar Allan Poe’s C. August Dupin (The Purloined Letter)‚ Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes‚ Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot‚ and others. But for my own contribution‚ I turned to the all-American immortal private-eye heroes‚ Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade‚ Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe‚ Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer‚ Robert B. Parker’s Spenser‚ Andrew Klavan’s Cameron Winter. What they did for San Francisco‚ Los Angeles‚ and Boston‚ making the cities almost another character‚ I tried to do for Washington DC‚ with all its political skullduggery. It was the most challenging fiction job I ever undertook. The mystery writer not only has to advance the plot and be stylish‚ he has to seamlessly leave clues that aren’t a cheat such as the butler did it. Not only this‚ I made the novel not just non-woke but anti-woke enough to make AOC shriek. Unfortunately‚ I knew‚ so would the majority of literary agents and top publishers‚ infested by cultural Marxism. Many of them wanted “feminist‚ gay” material‚ some even asked for pronouns. (READ MORE: Look What They’ve Done to My Song) I did get one funny pass from one independent publisher‚ The Book Folks: “Hi‚ Lou. Thanks for getting in touch. However‚ we are a sorry bunch of woke‚ god-fearing atheists‚ who believe in social justice and the demise and eternal damnation of the political right. May gremlins put jam in their shoes. So I don’t think we’d be the right fit for you.” I soon found a great publisher for my novel — Aethon Books. My pleasure turned to tension when they said they do really well with trilogies‚ and could I write two more in the detective “series” one year apart? So‚ if I end up in an opium den like Edgar Allan Poe‚ you’ll know the challenge was accepted. In any case‚ look for the exciting political thriller‚ The Apocalypse Mask‚ hopefully this fall. And help break the conservative writer’s block. The post The Conservative Writer’s Block appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin loves to mock the United States and everything we do. His poker-faced announcement that he has endorsed Joe Biden in the 2024 election was more than just mockery. Putin’s statement was a factual condemnation of Biden’s presidency. Putin said he prefers Old Joe over former president Trump because Joe is an old school politician with more experience than Trump. Biden’s predictability and his “old school” approach to defense and national security makes this nation less safe. Remember‚ please that Obama’s first Secretary of Defense‚ Robert Gates‚ said in his 2014 memoir that Biden had been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue for the past forty years. In the decade since‚ Biden has only maintained that record. Remember‚ too‚ that when Obama was deciding on the Navy SEAL raid that culminated in the killing of Usama bin Laden‚ Biden was the only person in the room who tried to talk him out of it. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Biden Blackmails Israel) That‚ of course‚ is the foundation of the real reason Putin endorsed Joe. He did so‚ in Putin’s word‚ because Biden is more “predictable.” He certainly is‚ but only in the ways our enemies find advantageous. Consider Joe’s major accomplishments. Biden said in his last campaign that he wanted to end our “forever wars.” When Biden created a debacle by suddenly withdrawing from Afghanistan in August 2021 he — predictably — left behind dozens (hundreds?) of Americans and our Afghan allies to the Taliban’s mercies. And he abandoned several billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment that the Taliban found immediately useful. Putin and the Taliban — not to mention the ayatollahs in Iran — must have found that action quite amusing. As Fox News and others have reported over and over‚ Biden’s predictable action in opening our southern border has let approximately eight million illegal aliens into our country. Among them are the about 1.5 million “getaways” — people who have evaded the Border Patrol — many of whom have the intention of spying‚ committing acts of terrorism‚ and otherwise damaging our nation. The illegals now charged with beating up New York City police officers are allegedly members of the hyper-violent Venezuelan “Tren de Araugua” gang.  And they are only the latest example. Fox News’ Griff Jenkins and Bill Melugin have reported that hundreds of Chinese illegals have come in. It’s obvious to all but Biden and his border chieftain Alejandro Mayorkas that many must be members of the Peoples’ Liberation Army or employees of the Chinese Ministry of State Security‚ their principle spy agency. Putin must be chuckling at the “wokeness” that Biden has imposed on the U.S. military. He promotes generals who are deeply invested in wokeness and the military academies are teaching it. Don’t forget the Navy’s initiative last year — following the success of Bud Light — when it was recruiting enlisted people — unsuccessfully — using a transgender sailor. (READ MORE: Foreseeable Consequences) Last week‚ the Navy announced‚ in what passes for a major initiative these days‚ that sailors will henceforth be allowed to keep their hands in their pockets and wear false eyelashes. Old Vladimir must have really enjoyed that one. As this column has said — repeatedly — our generals and admirals should be concerned only with the lethality and readiness of our forces. All of Biden’s actions detract from both. And there’s not a whisper of concern from the people Biden has put in charge of our military. (Don’t forget that when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin went missing for several days that no one — including Biden — missed him. If Donald Rumsfeld or Bill Perry or Frank Carlucci or Dick Cheney went missing for more than ten minutes‚ their presidents would have noticed.) Putin’s mind never wanders far from his goal of re-establishing the Soviet empire. As I’ve written elsewhere‚ Putin is a disciple of Alexandr Dugin. As Dugin wrote in his seminal work‚ “The Foundations of Geopolitics‚” if Ukraine isn’t brought under Russian dominance‚ he may as well not bother with the other countries that made up the Soviet empire. As the late Abba Eban wrote about the Palestinians‚ Biden never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. When the Polish government asked his permission to send about a dozen MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine in March 2022‚ Biden — predictably — objected and the aircraft weren’t sent. They could have‚ possibly‚ made the difference between victory for Ukraine and defeat. We’ll never know. Biden has never articulated the need to help Ukraine‚ so the American public is left to wonder and Republicans are‚ for reasons known only to them‚ blocking further aid. If Biden were a leader he would have made at least a few major speeches setting out the case for aid to Ukraine‚ but he hasn’t and what he has said has fallen on deaf ears. Russia is making progress in its effort to conquer. In the latest attack‚ Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the city of Avdiivka. That‚ in all likelihood‚ isn’t the result of the U.S. aid withheld so far‚ but our failure to help the Ukrainians will only help Putin. Biden’s predictability is factored into all our enemies’ calculations. Perhaps the worst proof of that is his pressure on Israel to accept a “peace” deal that would leave the Hamas terrorists in power in the Gaza Strip. He reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an a**hole in a recent conversation when Netanyahu refused to accept Biden’s terms. For Israel to accept Biden’s terms‚ it would have to agree not only to leaving Hamas in power in Gaza but also to accept a Palestinian state‚ the so-called “two-state” solution. Netanyahu said that giving the Palestinians their own state would be a “grand prize” for terrorism. (READ MORE: Biden’s Random Bombings) Biden has gone so far as to make further aid to Israel dependent on its obeying all U.S. humanitarian laws. Those aspects of the existential war Israel is fighting are beyond reason but Biden’s insistence is proof positive that‚ as Putin said‚ Biden is an old school pol. Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons. How will Biden prevent that? He won’t and at this stage he can’t. Will he defend Taiwan against a likely Chinese invasion? He has said he would four times and his minions have each time backed away from his promise. Biden is‚ as Putin said‚ predictable. In the olden days of the Reagan administration‚ our enemies knew there were boundaries to acceptable actions and they never knew how strongly the Old Cowboy would react. Predictability is not a characteristic that a president should be known for. Biden’s predictability and his “old school” approach to defense and national security makes this nation less safe.   The post Putin Loves Biden appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.