The purveyors of climate doom will not tolerate the good news of our planet thriving because of modest warming and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, a recent scientific paper concludes that an optimistic vision for Earth and its inhabitants is nonetheless justified.
Widely accepted data show an overall greening of Earth resulting from a cycle of natural warming that began more than 300 years ago and from industrialization’s additions of CO2 that started in the 19th century and accelerated with vigorous economic activity following World War II.
Also attributed to these and other factors is record crop production, which now sustains 8 billion people—ten times the population prior to the Industrial Revolution. The boost in atmospheric CO2 since 1940 alone is linked to yield increases for corn, soybeans and wheat of 10%, 30% and 40%, respectively.
The positive contribution of carbon dioxide to the human condition should be cause for celebration, but this is more than demonizers of the gas can abide. Right on cue, narrators of a planet supposedly overheating from carbon dioxide began sensationalizing research findings that increased plant volume results in lower concentrations of nutrients in food.
“The potential health consequences are large, given that there are already billions of people around the world who don’t get enough protein, vitamins or other nutrients in their daily diet,” concluded the The New York Times, a reliable promoter of apocalypse forever. Among others chiming in have been The Lancet, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the National Institutes of Health.
Of course, such yellow journalism lacks context and countervailing facts —elements provided in “Nutritive Value of Plants Growing in Enhanced CO2 Concentrations” published by the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia.
Any deficiency of nutrients from the enhancement of plant growth by elevated carbon dioxide “are small, compared to the nutrient shortages that agriculture and livestock routinely face because of natural phenomena, such as severe soil fertility differences, nutrient dilution in plants due to rainfall or irrigation and even aging of crops,” says the paper.
And while there is evidence of marginal decreases in some nutrients, data also show that higher levels of CO2 “may enhance certain groups of health-promoting phytochemicals in food crops” that serve as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, says the paper, which lists seven authors and more than 100 references. The lead author is Albrecht Glatzle, a member of the Rural Association of Paraguay and a former international researcher of plant and animal nutrition.
Among other points made by the paper are the following: Throughout a majority of geological history, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have been several times higher than today’s, which are less than optimum for most plants; atmospheric warming from even a quadrupling of CO2 concentrations would be small compared to natural temperature fluctuations since the last glacial advance more than 10,000 years ago.
Having virtually no scientific basis, the “green” movement’s hostility to carbon dioxide seemingly ignores the gas’s critical role as a plant food. As the paper notes, “CO2 is the only source of the chemical element carbon for all life on Earth, be it for plants, animals or fungi and bacteria — through photosynthesis and food chains.”
The so-called greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide— perversely exaggerated to support climate fearmongering— is a life-saving temperature moderator that keeps Earth from freezing over.
The obvious benefits of CO2 is “an embarrassment to the large and profitable movement to ‘save the planet’ from ‘carbon pollution,’” write the authors. “If CO2 greatly benefits agriculture and forestry and has a small, benign effect on climate, it is not a pollutant at all.
Mass protests have become popular with the radical Left because they work. They can achieve results unattainable through the political process or the courts by producing chaos and intimidating the cowardly leaders of our universities and government.
When the antisemitic, pro-Islamist demonstrations broke out on multiple university campuses this spring, most Americans assumed it was just naïve, ill-educated kids doing their thing. Why wouldn’t they? Protesting is a hoot. You’re showered with attention. You may even see yourself on the evening news. The gold star goes for being arrested and thrown in jail, where you are sure to be released the next morning.
The modern political protest movement began in 1968 with draft resisters who successfully opposed the Vietnam war. Another victory for the mob came from the assault on the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle in 1999. Those riots are credited with establishing the international anti-globalization movement and influencing the Clinton administration to issue an executive order requiring environmental reviews for trade deals.
In 2011, the “Occupy” Wall Street type movements were focused on income inequality. Again, victory was achieved when cowed Democrats subsequently backed higher taxes and more government handouts.
The George Floyd riots of 2020 were possibly the most successful of all. A single incident of bad policing by a rogue cop touched off riots in many American cities and even internationally. The “mostly peaceful protests” included vandalism, theft, and property destruction for up to 100 days in cities like Portland, Oregon.
The consequences were light, the rewards abundant. Kamala Harris supported a bail fund for criminal protesters, few of whom faced jail time anyway. The Democrat convention of 2020 decline to condemn the rioting.
Meanwhile, Democrat cities around the country slashed police funding, eliminated cash bail, and stopped making criminal arrests in response to the rioters’ demands. The predictable result was a spike in urban crime which is still raging, driving out businesses and further decimating once proud cities.
The image of well-meaning but ignorant students out on a lark was partly true. Many riot participants were in fact useful dupes, curiously uninformed about the activities of Hamas or other Islamist groups. They seemed unaware that their chant “from the river to the sea” was a call for eradicating Jews. The orderly rows of similar tents also suggested the protests were not entirely “organic.”
The Wall Street Journal uncovered the mystery by discovering an influential activist website directing affairs for anarchists like Antifa and other career radicals. Their mission is to create chaos and eventually overturn the social order.
Thus, “organizers should not concern themselves with de-escalation or remaining peaceful” they advise. “In order for this crisis to develop further, student occupations should take buildings wherever possible” to further the goal of “making it more expensive” for administrations to refuse their demands. Putting up tents is highly recommended because it defies school policy and elicits a response, which is the point of the exercise.
This is a crisis with enormous implications. President Biden is terrified of losing left-wing political support. In spite of the fact that a clear majority of Americans do not support Hamas or the campus protesters, he took a powder again, condemning the campus protestors but also “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
The clueless president of Columbia did the exact wrong thing by agreeing to negotiate with the campus terrorists on their demands. Despite the outpouring of hate and antisemitism on her campus, she praised them for fighting for the “rights of Palestinians” and against the “humanitarian tragedy in Gaza.”
The protesters’ demands are ambitious. They include the divestiture of funds from Israel which would have the effect of financially ostracizing Israelis and a cease-fire in the Gaza war, which would hand a critical victory to Hamas and condemn Israel to a future of perpetual Islamist attacks.
Psychologists and common sense tell you the behavior that is rewarded gets repeated. America’s enemies win again.
We are a constitutional republic with a structure artfully designed to make policies and resolve disputes based on majority rule, while respecting minority rights. Conceding to the Islamist- inspired mob the right to set American public policy is a grave mistake.
Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.
Americans consistently voice their disapproval on the state of the economy in recent polls, largely because of the stratosphericcost of living. But apologists for the Biden administration point to the low unemployment rate of 3.9% in April as proof of the economy’s strength.
Yet this is a hollow talking point since the real unemployment rate is likely between 6.5 and 7.7%.
The unemployment rate is the percentage of people in the labor force who don’t have a job. That means the unemployment rate can change if either the number of people unemployed or the total size of the labor force changes.
The shocking reality is that somewhere between 4.7 million and 7 million people who aren’t working today are not included when calculating the unemployment rate. That artificially reduces the figure.
The reason these millions of Americans are uncounted began with the events of 2020.
When the government instituted draconian lockdowns across most of the economy in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, over 17 million people became unemployed, and another 8 million people immediately left the labor force.
As the economy slowly reopened across the country, millions of people began returning to work. That, of course, drove down the unemployment rate by reducing the number of unemployed people. Some of those who left the labor force also returned and eventually found jobs, further reducing the unemployment rate.
But there were also millions who left the labor market entirely and never returned. As such, they were no longer counted among the unemployed nor in the labor force. This pushed the unemployment rate down even more.
If those millions of people were to suddenly look for work again, it would greatly increase the labor force, but it would also increase the unemployment rate, at least until those job-seekers found work.
Official government data point to just how many workers are missing from the labor market today. Several metrics show a large gap between their current reading and their pre-pandemic trends. These include the employment level, the number of non-farm payrolls, the employment-to-population ratio and those not in the labor force.
The gap is between 4.7 million and 7 million people, all of whom are not working but are excluded from the unemployment rolls. If they were still counted as jobless members of the labor force, the unemployment rate would jump to between 6.5% and 7.7%.
The latter figure is almost twice the official unemployment rate. Even 6.5% would represent a significant spike.
Looking only at the unemployment rate can give a distorted view of the labor market. If unemployed people are looking for work and then get jobs, that causes the unemployment rate to fall. But, if those same people give up looking for work and leave the labor force, it has precisely the same effect on this metric.
Using additional data provides a better gauge of the labor market’s health and workers’ jobs satisfaction. Real, or inflation-adjusted, earnings are a good example—and they have plummeted.
While the average American worker’s weekly paycheck has increased $147 from January 2021 through April 2024, those earnings buy $47 less because prices have risen so much faster than incomes.
This has caused many Americans to work extra hours or pick up a second job. Among renters, more than one-fifth of them have taken on another job in order to pay their rent on time in the last few months.
That’s noteworthy because whenever someone is hired, whether it’s that person’s first or fourth job, it’s still counted as an additional payroll in the government’s monthly job statistics. With millions of Americans picking up additional work to try and make ends meet for their families, the number of jobs has risen much faster than the number of people employed.
Simply touting a low unemployment rate provides a view of the labor market that is at best incomplete and at worst deceptive. A comprehensive view of economic conditions for the working class shows why they are so unhappy: inflation has made it impossible for them to get ahead, no matter how many jobs they work.
E.J. Antoni is a contributor to the Daily Caller News Foundation, public finance economist and the Richard F. Aster Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a senior fellow at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
I’ve looked in the face of many disappointed residents who told me they moved to the West Valley so their children could be educated in Peoria Unified School District (PUSD). To say these families are experiencing buyer’s remorse is an understatement. One wouldn’t have to search beyond PUSD’s current administration to grasp why the district is on a path of destruction.
For readers unaware, PUSD basketball coach and volunteer teacher Patrick Battillo—better known by his fanatic alter ego, Mr. ORNG—was recently arrested on allegations of soliciting lewd photos and videos from students with intentions to sell the images. Teacher Holly Holgate further betrayed the victims by tipping off Battillo after they came to her for help. Battillo, who pleaded not guilty to luring a minor for sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, was reportedly employed by PUSD for five years. Holgate, who’s charged with hindering prosecution and failure to report child abuse, has been employed for over 20 years.
Although the PUSD Governing Board voted unanimously to fire Battillo during the April 25, 2024, board meeting, it’s hard to imagine this wasn’t solely in response to public pressure. I say this because the NAACP descended upon PUSD at the April 11 board meeting. Not to mention press organizations have been crawling all over the district since Battillo and Holgate made headlines.
It’s no secret that Battillo replaced former employee William Roberts III, who was also charged with and pleaded not guilty to sex crimes against PUSD students. Unlike Battillo, Roberts was allowed to resign amid the controversy. Then, Roberts was acquitted after claiming he only had sex with a student after their 18th birthday. Battillo’s victims are said to be 17 and under. What are the odds that two men, who occupied the same role, were accused of sexually abusing students?
Board Member Heather Rooks formally apologized to the victims and their families. She also requested (but was not seconded) to have a closed discussion on why the principal of Peoria High School—where Battillo and Holgate worked—was quietly placed on paid administrative leave following the incident. Could it be PUSD is looking for someone to blame instead of owning its repeated failures to protect students from pedophiles on their payroll? Seriously, how many staff members knew something was “off” about Battillo, Holgate, and Roberts but an investigation was never launched? And where is the district sourcing its pool of applicants anyway?
Another red flag was raised when acting superintendent Kevin Molino unveiled 3D sketches of bathroom remodels for Cactus High School and Ironwood High School. Where there were once doors, there are no doors. Where there was once privacy, there is less privacy. Where there was once a clear distinction of boys’ and girls’ spaces, the district has revealed phase one compliance with the Biden administration’s illegal Title IX rewrite and the corrupt Ninth Circuit ruling.
Now you see doors:
Now you don’t:
Did you catch that urinals were removed from the boys’ bathrooms? Unless you’re going to allow girls inside, why would you eliminate that feature? There are also oversized service closets where a single-use bathroom should be, specifically for students who reject binary reality. In order to uphold the Department of Education’s erroneous interpretation of “sex” to mean “gender identity,” I wouldn’t be surprised if PUSD secretly plans to replace urinals with Tampon dispensers.
In PUSD’s current climate of sexual abuse, administrators are smart enough to sidestep any discussion on the dangers of transgender practices that leave female students vulnerable. So, the district’s official position is that the restrooms are being updated for “increased ADA accessibility” and “increased visibility and monitoring.”
During the April 25 board meeting, there was much talk about bullying, vaping, drugs, and fighting that allegedly reinforced the need for less privacy in school bathrooms. When I suggested disciplining problematic students before they enter closed spaces, Board Member Bill Sorenson said he didn’t agree with “targeting” students who are known to have behavior issues. This is typical, passive, “social emotional” language from Sorenson…whenever he cares to comment.
So, rather than enforce proper codes of conduct, the district’s solution is to have adults watch students go to the bathroom from the hallway. If this doesn’t make any sense to you, then you simply don’t know how to think like a leftist.
After attending the Listen, Learn & Lead event for the incoming superintendent, I was further convinced of how expendable PUSD constituents are to the district. During the breakout session, my table had the pleasure of hosting the presence of Chief Personnel Officer Laura Vesely. I held my tongue and conversations were all polite until a resident asked why “Community” was at the top of Molino’s updated organization chart, when it’s obvious the district doesn’t acknowledge concerns from the majority of the community.
Vesely said that “Community” was only at the top because they elect governing board members. Essentially, no other community input is required to run a school district. Consequently, when the same resident asked about Title IX compliance—and I finally spoke up to clarify that “sex” means biology, not gender identity—Vesely quickly shut down the conversation, stating that she, and the public relations representative at the table, weren’t responsible for answering those questions.
Well, I suppose PUSD constituents should just be grateful that rogue, unelected administrators are even letting them in on the discussion. Bless the voters’ hearts.
The last red flag I’ll mention is the district’s prejudice against Christians. Not only was Board Member Rooks censured for reading Scripture during her board comments, Board Member David Sandoval is inclined to outright discriminate against Christian students. Just like the extremists in a neighboring district, PUSD has shown a willingness to violate the First Amendment and, now, the 1984 Equal Access Act, which grants students (of any faith) the right to exercise religious freedoms on school campuses.
Sandoval’s statements were made during a podcast hosted by secularist Jeanne Casteen, who’s engaged in an imaginary fight against “the growing threat of white Christian nationalism in our state and our country.” Casteen is concerned about tax dollars funding religion in public schools. Notably, Christianity was the only objectionable religion throughout the discussion.
By Sandoval’s and Casteen’s logic, all government institutions that teach secular humanistic doctrines—such as evolution, climate change, and social justice—should be defunded. And perhaps Casteen is ignorant of the fact that her godless religion is protected under the First Amendment, and her belief system currently dominates every sphere of public education.
I’m glad to hear students are leaving PUSD. I hope enrollment continues to decrease as families take advantage of every opportunity to exercise their rights. As for the parents who can’t or won’t utilize alternative education, you need to show up for more than sporting events. The board members you elected, and the advocates you see in the boardroom and hear on the microphone every two weeks, are burning out fighting for your children.
Public education will never “get better.” I encourage every conservative, independent, and common-sense parent and teacher to find their voice, speak up, and take action before it’s too late.
Tiffany is the Founder of Restore Parental Rights in Education, a grassroots advocate for families, educators, and school board members. For nearly two decades, Tiffany’s creative writing pursuits have surpassed most interests as she continues to contribute to her blog Bigviewsmallwindow.com. She encourages everyday citizens to take an active role in defending and preserving American values for future generations.
A strong economy is a key piece of the foundation for any society. But while the Biden administration has been busy doing anything it can to destroy the economic climate in America over the past four years, Arizona is set up for success—not just for today, but for decades to come.
Last month, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its latest “Rich States, Poor States” report, and the Grand Canyon State received the number three ranking for economic outlook among all 50 states. Such a high rank is impressive enough on its own, but when you consider that our state was ranked 13 back in 2021, Arizona’s dramatic rise up the chart especially shines. So, how did we get here?
Pro-Growth Policies Have Led the Way
Arizona’s high ranking is a direct result of significant pro-growth income and property tax reform that have supercharged our economy. In just the last decade, we have cut taxes on capital gains and drastically reduced the property tax burden on small businesses. Then, in July 2021, the Free Enterprise Club helped lead the charge as the Republican-led legislature passed a 2.5% flat tax, delivering historic tax cuts for every single Arizona taxpayer. And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans also included tax relief for Arizona’s families in last year’s state budget to help with the growing cost of gas, groceries, housing, and energy under the Biden administration.
Each of these pro-growth policies have set up Arizona as a leader in the country with many other states looking to mirror these reforms, but if the left had gotten its way, we never would have been here.
The community school model establishes school-based health clinics and is championed by entities such as the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, big pharma, and Community-Based Organizations. This model is rapidly being implemented nationwide, leaving no state untouched. It increases governmental and powerful non-government organization (NGOs) control in K-12 public schools while driving a wedge between parents and children.
Concerns surrounding school-based health clinics include adopting models like the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC). These “community schools” serve as conduits for expanding governmental control over children. Of particular concern are issues related to parental consent and notification rights, especially concerning Medicaid billing and medical procedures carried out without parental knowledge or presence.
A Kentucky mom recently told her story on social media after her child saw a school dentist without her consent. The school authorized her daughter to receive anesthesia for a procedure the mother never agreed to. The family dentist later stated that her teeth were healthy and did not need the school’s dental care. That’s bad enough, but these government-run school-based health clinics are far more invasive than this.
This sounds eerily like a socialist healthcare agenda, particularly the Whole Child-Whole Community model advocated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This model not only undermines parental authority but introduces socialized healthcare into schools. Concerns include the potential for these programs to expand Medicaid coverage under the pretext of health equity.
School-based health clinics are backed by federal grants and championed by government organizations like the CDC. They aim to offer comprehensive primary health services directly within school campuses, encompassing physical and mental health care. The allocation of federal grants, such as the $50 million earmarked for school-based health services, and philanthropic investments of $23 million from entities like Melinda Gates’ company and Mackenzie Scott into organizations like the School-Based Health Alliance fuel apprehensions about these programs’ growing influence.
Funding for full-service Community Schools in the 2025 U.S. Budget has intensified these concerns. Such initiatives can deepen the medicalization of K-12 education and extend Medicaid coverage under the guise of health equity, potentially entangling the government further in family affairs. Recent developments include Biden’s expansion of Obamacare and the integration of mental health services into schools. Might this include a surveillance system akin to China’s social credit system?
Meanwhile, the partnership between schools and HRSA-supported health centers seeks to enhance access to comprehensive primary healthcare services for students and communities. These collaborations assert that they exist to promote health equity for families without healthcare. Yet, recent national survey data show that the uninsured rate among children (ages 0-17) fell from 6.4 percent in late 2020 to 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2022. In addition, it appears to justify significant government spending by pulling on heartstrings.
In Arizona, efforts to address students’ mental health needs directly on school campuses are underway through partnerships with organizations like Touchstone Health Services and Valle Del Sol. These services, also funded through tax dollars, cover a spectrum of mental health concerns, from anxiety and depression to social isolation and stress. In rural communities like Graham County, telehealth options like Dialogue by DialCare have been deployed to overcome shortages of mental health professionals, granting students access to licensed counselors through virtual or telephonic counseling sessions. These developments raise the red flag of school-based counselors engaging in conversations or therapy with students without parental knowledge or consent.
Then there are school-linked services, facilitated by school nurses and School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs), which aim to improve student and family access to health and human services by providing comprehensive, accessible, and coordinated care on and off school grounds. Again, these initiatives are touted as prioritizing students’ health and well-being. That sounds like the role of parents, not schools.
Arizona Women of Action is very concerned about the impact of Community Schools on families and education. These schools prioritize health-related issues over the traditional primary focus on academics in education. We encourage the ADE to reassess contracts with Medicaid and Public Consulting Group, considering the troubling implications of their equity-based approach.
In response to the growing presence of School-Based Health Clinics meddling in family affairs, one vigilant mother from X has issued a cautionary message and actionable steps for parents to take. She advises parents to request a comprehensive list of all personnel, including representatives from Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), who have access to students on school campuses and to actively engage in posing questions to school officials to monitor the funding sources entering their children’s schools closely.
Schools do not exist to function as health clinics, and parents should scrutinize the details of any forms or school registration documents, ensuring they understand the implications of granting access to various personnel and services regarding their child.
Tamra Farah has twenty years of experience in public policy and politics, focusing on protecting individual liberty and promoting limited government. She’s served at the director level at Americans for Prosperity-Colorado, FreedomWorks, and currently with Arizona Women of Action.
