Gem State Patriot News

Category: Opinions

  • School Choice? The Balkanization of Education

    School Choice? The Balkanization of Education

    Some interesting information was released over the last month that shed light on school board races and the new landscape facing education. The so-called Covid pandemic that closed the majority of schools beginning in 2020 was the catalyst for revolt and change but the reasons were much deeper than that. Parents showed up en-masse at Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls school districts locally and were rewarded with a rejection of their pleas and a rejection of the science. The Lakeland District did listen and planned a relatively normal school year with no issues.

    What is interesting is what happened the fall of 2020. The CDA school district lost 10% of their students as parents walked away to home schooling, charter or private education. The districts continued to lose students after that and the numbers this fall continue that story. The CDA district lost nearly 5% more of their students and the Post Falls district lost 2.67% according to Education News. The West Bonner School District that had a school board recall lost over 13% of their student body. Idaho’s population grew by 1.8% and is likely more in Kootenai County but there are about 1,500 fewer students in Idaho government schools this year. Parents looked at the results and made an informed decision.

    This report came on the heels of the release of test scores in Idaho. Not only were standardized tests not improved or down in nearly all government schools there was a unanimous response that “the tests are bad” or “we don’t really need to look at test results”. More money is the “cure”! There seemed to be a lack of curiosity linking the two stories together- fewer students and sinking scores. The logical answer is this; parents that want their students to achieve are putting them into charter or private schools where the academic achievement is outstanding or homeschooling and that has a dramatic effect on the government school. Now we are seeing school districts across the nation ignoring testing, ranking of schools and more concerned with teaching a “Critical Race Theory” or “Diversity Equity Inclusion” curriculum.

    The Washington Post last week found that the number of homeschooled children in the US has jumped from 1.5 million in 2019 to as many as 2.7 million this year—some estimates say 3.7 million—suggesting that many children did not return to schools when they reopened during the pandemic. The analysis—from a liberal paper- which looked at 60% of the school-aged population in 7,000 school districts across 32 states and Washington, D.C.—found that homeschooling defies political, geographical and economic borders. 

    For example, while Republican Florida has the largest homeschool population with 154,000 homeschooled children, Democratic New York is showing the fastest growth with nearly 52,000 children homeschooled, more than double since 2017. New York City boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx saw the highest growth rates with the homeschool population in some districts surging over 300% in the last six years. Florida’s Hillsborough County has become the nation’s homeschool “capital” with 10,680 homeschoolers in the district. “Today, Hillsborough homeschoolers inhabit a scholastic and extracurricular ecosystem that is in many ways indistinguishable from that of a public or private school,” reports the Washington Post. “Home-schooled kids play competitive sports. They put on full-scale productions of ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Les Misérables.’ They have high school graduation ceremonies, as well as a prom and homecoming dance. “But studies show that homeschoolers outperform their state-educated counterparts in nearly all areas. Standardized tests reveal that homeschoolers on average score over 30 percentage points higher than public schoolers in core studies such as reading, language and math. SAT test results show that homeschooled children score higher than state-educated children by as many as 70 points in critical reading and 48 points in writing. They are also more likely to achieve higher GPAs.

    Minority children who attend homeschool also show higher results than their counterparts. Black homeschooled students, for example, have been shown to outscore Black public schooled students by 23–42 percentage points. According to government figures, 41% of homeschoolers are Black Asian, Hispanic, and others (i.e. not White/non-Hispanic. The Post estimates that there are now between 1.9 million and 2.7 million home-schooled children in the United States, depending on the rate of increase in areas without reliable data.

    In Idaho, there are countless home schooling “co-ops” where teachers share instruction and plan field trips or extra-curricular activities. Many states have followed Arizona in allowing the money to follow the student. The parent can decide where to spend $7,000 (As in Arizona) a year at a private school, charter school or home schooling. This is coming to Idaho.

    Will the flight from government schools continue? It will as school districts, libraries shut out parent involvement and push sex education into elementary books. Parents want the basics to be taught- a love of country and American History and Government that emphasizes freedom and why America is a great country. Statistics show that as many as one out of three students is now home schooled or enrolled in a charter or private school. This will affect funding of government schools and have a profound effect on bond issues going forward. As of now the employees of a school district and their families can have a large impact on local voting. The results of this last election showed that, but the times are changing!!

  • Raul Labrador: Paying Tribute to Those Who Serve!

    Raul Labrador: Paying Tribute to Those Who Serve!

    On Veterans Day we pay tribute to the brave men and women who have served our nation in uniform, honoring those in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard. Their service has been characterized by selflessness and a sense of greater purpose. And for making that choice, we are eternally grateful.

    We must also take a moment to recognize that when a service member joins the military, it’s a family commitment to our country. For each deployed service member, there are often family members here at home supporting them. Whatever accolades we bestow upon our service members and veterans, let us always remember to also bestow upon their families. America owes each of them a debt of gratitude.

    I am so proud of our military men and women in Idaho. And I am humbled by the opportunity they provide us to live peacefully in the greatest country in the world. May we remember our veterans not just on Veterans Day, but every day. 

  • Attorney General Labrador Leads 22-State Coalition Defending Parents’ Free Exercise of Religion Rights

    Attorney General Labrador Leads 22-State Coalition Defending Parents’ Free Exercise of Religion Rights

    Boise, ID – Attorney General Labrador led a coalition of 22 states challenging California’s discrimination against religious observers in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Attorney General Labrador filed a brief last week urging the Ninth Circuit to overturn a confusing and erroneous California federal district court decision that upheld a California law that makes public funding available for private schools, but only for “nonsectarian” schools.

    The California law’s “nonsectarian” requirement prohibits parents from receiving any of the funds if their children attend a religious private school. Such blatant discrimination plainly violates the First Amendment. But it also flouts three recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have repeatedly held that government cannot condition generally available public funding on religious status.

    “The law is clear: regardless of how a government defines it, generally available funding cannot be withheld solely on the basis of religious affiliation,” Labrador said. “The Supreme Court has gone to great lengths to stamp out that type of religious discrimination. We will always defend the First Amendment rights of citizens.”

    Attorneys General from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia joined the brief led by Idaho.

    The full brief can be read here.

  • Labrador Letter on Adult Entertainment Act

    Labrador Letter on Adult Entertainment Act

    Recently, my office joined 17 states to file an amicus brief urging the United States Sixth Circuit Court to overturn a federal Tennessee district court decision, which invalidated a law designed to protect children from obscene performances. The Tennessee legislature passed the Adult Entertainment Act (AEA), a law which sought to prevent minor children from being exposed to certain sexually explicit performances. The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee ruled that the law was unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it improperly sought to suppress the speech of certain performers who seek to “impersonate a gender that is different from the one with which they are born.”

    The law was criticized as an outright ban on drag performances. That characterization is not true. The law restricted the locations at which certain forms of adult-oriented entertainment may be performed. The statute restricts, in certain locations, performances that include “nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse.” This law imposes the same restrictions on drag performers as any other sexually explicit performances, based on longstanding laws applicable to adult establishments. Simply, a drag entertainer can’t perform sexually explicit performances at a library, or anywhere else where children may be present. The same rules apply for anyone, whether they are an exotic dancer, a drag performer, a character in a play, a stand-up comedian, a musician, or so on.

    The District Court in Tennessee made a significant error in ruling against the law. We have a moral and legal obligation to ensure this ruling does not stand. I am proud to join other Attorneys General in appealing this wrong decision. 

    The amicus brief to the court explains that, like Tennessee, the 18 states filing the brief “have long sought to safeguard the physical and psychological well-being of minor children. As part of these efforts, many States have enacted constitutionally permissible obscenity laws, which are designed to ensure that certain obscene materials are not distributed to or accessible to minors.” The brief further states, “The district court disregarded decades of precedent that respects the role of legislatures—and state legislatures in particular—in shaping public policy.” We also emphasized that the provisions of the statute were “copied verbatim from longstanding laws governing adult establishments and adult cabaret. The text of the AEA clearly demonstrates a good faith purpose of the Tennessee legislature to protect children from exposure to sexually explicit performances rather than to restrict the expression of drag performers.”

    I am encouraged to know there are other Attorneys General that will stand with me as we fight to protect children and the values that so many families in Idaho, and our country, hold dear. These battles are worth fighting.

  • Who is BRICS?

    Who is BRICS?

    As the Israeli and Ukraine wars rage on, and protests by a minority receive inflated media attention, there is a more ominous story brewing that is not in the media spotlight.

    BRICS is the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South America. Goldman Sachs first used the term BRIC in its Global Economics Paper in 2001. Russia, India, and China leaders met informally at the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006, with foreign ministers from these countries meeting formally at the United Nations General Assembly later in 2006. The first BRIC Summit was held in Russia in 2009 with South Africa joining in 2010, changing the name to BRICS. Supposedly, these countries gathered primarily for the purposes of creating an easier trade system between their countries. What should one think, knowing that major dictators like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are part of a group leading an economic transformation opposite of the western world? 

    These countries have a “shared commitment to restructure the global political, economic, and financial architecture to be fair, balanced and representative, resting on the important pillars of multilateralism and international law.” The general feeling is that these “developing”, or Global South countries have always been left behind from the developed countries in economic matters. As far as the World Economic forum (WEF) is concerned, this is fine as “America’s dominance” will be over by 2030.

    Traditional G7 “developed” countries are comprised of the U.S., UK, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Canada. However, BRICS does perceive itself as a “mechanism to counter the global influence of the G7″ and reduce the “dominance of the U.S. dollar in international trade and finance.” The fact that this group is comprised of significantly different cultures and political ideology makes advancement a little difficult, and that pesky China poses a challenge. But as always with despots, the greed of money and more power can glue them together. Indeed, China is urging that “more countries join…to make global governance more fair and reasonable.”

    Formidable advances have been made by this group, in 2020 “BRICS (31.4 percent) overtook the G7 (30 percent)” in GDP with China and India in the lead. Perhaps the new “Global South” will be the new dominant force for the new world order.

    Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will join BRICS in 2024 with other prospective members in the future. This “expansion signifies an important move in the attempt to reshape the global order into a multipolar world, with voices from the Global South at the center of the international agenda.”

    With Saudi Arabia and the UAE, BRICS will have “more influence over global energy supplies” giving the group production “over 42 percent of global oil supplies and 37 percent of the world’s gas.”

    In 2014 BRICS established its own bank, The New Development Bank, which expanded to include Bangladesh, UAE, and Egypt. Its focus is projects that support a full blown implementation of sustainable development goals (SDG). China is generally considered to be the leader of BRICS, is calling for more expansion, and urging “members to let more countries join…to make global governance more fair and reasonable.”

    BRICS has also given consideration to developing its own currency, one way being similar to what the European Union did with the euro. Its existence has also contributed to the de-dollarization that has been occurring. There have also been talks about developing a digital currency.

    One could view this as a buildup of economic power rather than the traditional build up of armament and troops. With the addition of the other countries in 2024, BRICS will have almost half the world’s population (47%), will produce a third of GDP (37%), and possess “the lion’s share of the world’s oil and gas reserves, as well as a huge endowment of other natural resources.” How much possible economic damage could BRICS cause the rest of the world with these statistics? As usual, there are those who downplay the significance of BRICS, and there are multiple varying opinions from armchair experts.

    However, the United Nations (UN) is certainly in support of BRICS for a “multipolar” world “based on the UN Charter and international law.” In the BRICS Declaration, it avows the “central role of the United Nations in the international system” (#13), and its full support of Agenda 2030 (#35). It also wants a reform of the Bretton Woods institutions, that have been in place since WWII.

    In its most recent meeting, held in August, 2023, BRICS created its new Declaration II, with an overall, general, endorsement of the UN. The document itself sounds like a conglomerate of countries joining hands for Agenda 2030, the EU having already adopted it. The U.S. is surrounded by a world of sustainable development. Folks, this transformation of the world is really closer than you may think.

    What is the U.S. government response to BRICS? “Participating in BRICS is a sovereign decision for member countries”. Interestingly, the U.S. State Department reported “When it comes to the BRICS, we’re deeply engaged with its leading members.” Engaged about what? With the U.S. pointing fingers at Iran as being a backer of terrorism, how will Iran fit into the BRICS Counterterrorism Working Group?

    Demands from this group are not limited to economic concerns. It also wants more representation in leadership positions through the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), “”comprehensive reform” of the UN which Beijing regards as central to global governance”, and increased representation by developing countries in the United Nations Security Council.

    One theory about BRICS is that it is part of an intentional collapse of the economic system in order to create a one world economic system, and bring in a digital system that would in turn force everyone into the digital world. 

    What can Idaho do to thwart this threat? The simpleton solution seems to be the creation of its own economic power. Maybe create its own state bank, placing more emphasis on gold and silver as legal tender for a shield, investing more into Idaho resources that can be used to support the state, and reducing dependence on federal dollars. In other words, can Idaho stay out of the global economy as much as possible? After all, BRICS sees what they are doing as an economic protection from sanctions, why can’t Idaho do the same by protecting itself from outside economic forces?

    In 2015, the world was forewarned about this by Christiana Figueres. “…we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years…”.

    There are many economically savvy individuals in Idaho, some of whom have written about the way in which Idaho should shift its economic future. Those opinions would be welcome on this subject.

  • Congressman Fulcher Praises Continued Expansion of GTN Express Project To Benefit Idaho

    Congressman Fulcher Praises Continued Expansion of GTN Express Project To Benefit Idaho

    KAMIAH, ID – At the conclusion of a crowded Congressional Town Hall in Kamiah, Idaho, Congressman Russ Fulcher reiterated his support for the approval of the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTN Xpress) by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to benefit his constituents in Idaho.

    The approval of the GTN Xpress project will allow an extra 150 million standard cubic feet per day in an existing pipeline. The project approval does not build out new pipelines – but rather upgrades existing facilities in Athol, Idaho and two other locations operated by TC Energy in Washington and Oregon. The upgraded facilities will provide increased reliability for natural gas supplies to Idaho-based shipper, Intermountain Gas Company. 

    Congressman Fulcher commented, “Despite the Biden Administration’s anti-liquid natural gas and other proven fuel policies, simple projects to increase supply are finally moving forward for Idahoans to increase energy reliability. Projects like the GTN Xpress utilize existing infrastructure with new technology to provide additional value to consumers in the Northwest. In the future, I expect FERC to have a streamlined process for technological advancements on previously approved projects. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Energy & Commerce Committee to deliver more energy wins for the American people.” 

    Background:

    TC Energy filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on October 4th, 2021, to upgrade software, modify turbine compressors, and add additional gas cooling at three facilities in Athol, Idaho, Starbuck, Washington, and Kent, Washington. The existing pipeline infrastructure has been in service since 1962 and serves customers primarily in the Pacific Northwest. 

    On October 23rd, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the upgrades to the existing pipeline infrastructure operated by TC Energy to allow for an increase of 150 million standard cubic feet per day in service to shippers in the Pacific Northwest. 

  • Carbon Dioxide is Vital Plant Food

    Carbon Dioxide is Vital Plant Food

    Carbon dioxide has been called a poison, yet it is actually the sustainer of all life on Earth. Plants grow from the carbon in carbon dioxide in the air, and animals grow from the carbon in the plants they eat. So, carbon dioxide cannot be a poison.

    Turn on the television any day of the week and there is apt to be some discussion or news about some aspect of energy use.

    All these programs are based on one very important foundation. That is the belief that as carbon dioxide levels rise the earth will get warmer, and will continue to warm until, with positive feedbacks, it burns up with us on it.

    Few have ever taken the time to see if the foundation upon which they were operating was actually true. Few even dared to ask a working scientist for the Truth in the matter.

    The truth is that carbon dioxide is needed by every plant on the earth. Trees, bushes and plants of all kinds are made mainly of carbon and hydrogen, and the carbon comes from the tiny amount of carbon dioxide that is in the air.

    At the present time our atmosphere is made up of about 417.06 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide. That isn’t much, but from that tiny portion comes all the plants we can see around us, from vegetables in our gardens to the trees that shade our yards or the ones on the mountains from which we harvest the lumber to build our homes.

    There is no question that carbon dioxide is increasing. It has been increasing for about 200 years. The only result has been a greening of the earth. In fact, with higher levels of carbon dioxide things grow better. Even the deserts are getting Greener.

    Most officials have continued to blame man for increased carbon dioxide and rising temperatures. It is far more likely that rising temperatures have been caused by changes in the Sun. Those changes have continued to warm the oceans, and as they have warmed, they have given up quantities of carbon dioxide. There is about 50 times more carbon dioxide in the Ocean than there is in the atmosphere. The oceans are very deep and they change temperature very slowly so they will continue to give up carbon dioxide for a very long time. In fact, there are methane compounds at the bottom of the ocean that include ice. These are called Clathrates.

    They tell us that this year is the warmest the earth has ever been. Even if that were true (and it is not) it would only amount to a small portion of a degree. When the temperature goes from 100 degrees in summer to minus 30 degrees in winter, a part of a degree would hardly appear to be a problem.

    Not only that, the earth has been a lot warmer in the past with a lot more carbon dioxide. Even within recorded history the earth has been Warmer in the past. (1936)

    Every time there is some kind of a disaster, we are told that it was caused by climate change, and that man is the main cause of climate change. Even some children have gotten into the act, with one challenging the world with her comments, “How dare you“.

    One group of children in Montana sued the state over Climate Change and actually won the case. This is hard to believe.

    The numbers, however, do not support what they have been saying. None of the natural disasters have increased in recent years. There have not been More Floods, Hurricanes, Droughts, or Wildfires, in recent history. These have all gone down in frequency. Some disasters, like hurricanes, have become more expensive, but that is primarily because many beautiful and expensive homes have been built in the natural paths of these storms. The storms, themselves, have actually decreased in frequency.

    2005 saw one of the worst natural disasters with the Katrina hurricane. The town of New Orleans was mainly flooded. Many people lost their lives. Yet, as far as hurricanes go this one was only a category 3, not one of the worst. It seemed so bad that even worse storms were predicted for the next year. But there were actually no more serious hurricanes for the next ten years (Hurricane Harvey, 2017).

    It is bad enough that many of these programs have been built on a false foundation, in truth many of them have not been really beneficial.

    Large solar farms are built on the desert, but in just a few years the projects have Failed.

    Wind turbines wear out, catch fire and break down totally. They presently cannot be Recycled and must be buried. The only parts that can be recycled are in the generator itself.

    One city bought several electric Buses, but in just a short time quit using them as being impractical.

    Electric vehicles may be practical to drive from home to office and back again, but not very practical on long trips. It is necessary to stop every few hours and charge the batteries, and sometimes it is very Difficult to find a proper charging station.

    Those who have lived near the coast have seen their cars flooded with sea water, then their cars caught fire as their batteries shorted out.

    Not only that, but the driving range is radically reduced when driving in summer (air conditioning) or when using them in winter (heater). With an internal combustion engine, the waste heat is removed with the radiator, and that same heat is used to heat the car inside.

    Electric vehicles were manufactured about the turn of the Twentieth Century, but people quit using them after the internal combustion engine was invented.

    Modern civilization has been built on the wise use of energy. The first oil that was refined into kerosene maybe saved the whales, since whale oil was no longer needed for kerosene lamps. (First kerosene made from coal, called “coal oil”.)

    Our electricity is primarily produced by hydroelectric, coal, nuclear and natural gas. Our cars run on gasoline, and we drive across the country without giving it much thought.

    Our fertilizer, that is so vital for agriculture, is manufactured using natural gas (methane, CH4). This has allowed our agriculture to soar. If we quit using natural gas in this way much of the world will simply starve.

    They say they want to eliminate fossil fuels. They do not know what they are talking about. Someone has documented over 6,000 things made from fossil fuels. Stand in any isle in the grocery store and imagine no plastic, no plastic containers, no plastic bags, nothing. Even some of the foods we eat are made from fossil fuels.

    Our highways are made from fossil fuels, our roofs covered with tar-based roofing. Our fences are made of vinyl, our plumbing of vinyl, much of our siding is vinyl, a form of plastic.

    Those who want to eliminate carbon dioxide need to find out why carbon dioxide is so important before they try to move ahead.

    Jim Hollingsworth is a graduate of Pensacola Christian College with a master’s degree in Biblical studies. He has written several books:

  • Government is designed to answer to the people

    Government is designed to answer to the people

    After three weeks of deliberation, negotiation, and nominations, in which conservative and moderate candidates were elevated and then rejected, every House Republican voted to elect Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the 56th Speaker of the House on Wednesday afternoon.

    This is what our republican system of government is supposed to look like. The American people deserve transparency from their government, not backroom deals. The battle we’ve witnessed over the last few weeks within the Republican Party over who should be Speaker did not cause chaos and dysfunction, it exposed an already dysfunctional system that has been hijacked by powerful special interests at the expense of Republican voters.

    The US Constitution opens with the words “We the people.” Section 2 of the Idaho Constitution proclaims that “All political power is inherent in the people.” The American people are sovereign, not subject to a ruling class that has authority to command us.

    Elected officials, from city council members to congressmen, are not elected to rule, but to serve, to represent the sovereign people of this nation.

    The election of a conservative like Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House is a small step in the right direction. The past three weeks have brought into the open how many of our elected representatives serve lobbyists and special interests rather than the people. How much time was spent debating foreign aid rather than the problems we face here at home? Border security remains one of our most glaring vulnerabilities, while the tragedies like the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio and the yet unexplained catastrophic fires in Lahaina, Hawaii have already been forgotten.

    The American people are waking up and demanding a government that is accountable to them, not special interests. Elected representatives who have been in office for decades don’t see what is happening in this country. They’ve become too comfortable as yes-men to their big donors.

    You see it happening in Idaho too. Any legislator who stands up for the people can expect to be tarred, smeared, and attacked by special interests that think they own our government. But the people of Idaho have grown wise to this game. They’re looking past the slick mailers and TV ads and learning who the candidates are truly accountable to. 

    Our founders did not intend for us to live under a monarchy, a dictatorship, or an oligarchy. They gave us a republic, if we can keep it. The American people have the freedom and the awesome privilege to choose their own government, and then hold that government accountable. The fight over the Speaker of the House was the republican system of government at its best, not its worst.

  • Why the MHCA is a Threat to Idaho

    Why the MHCA is a Threat to Idaho

    It may be confusing to understand how a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposal in Montana, the Missouri Headwaters Conservation Area (MHCA), has anything to do with Idaho. Rule one, understand that federal agencies share the same ideological bed with non-governmental organizations (NGO). Rule two, they all share the same objectives and mission. And Rule three, not only is there government money, actually your tax dollar supporting them, millions of dollars are pouring in from other sources with the same dogma.

    So the map of the proposed MHCA area extends north to Deer Lodge, east to Ennis, not quite reaching Wyoming, and south to the Montana-Idaho boarder that captures the tip of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) controlled Centennial Mountain range.

    As the fact sheet suggests, the objective is to acquire land, 250,000 acres of conservation easements, for the purposes of protecting wildlife habitat, open space, connectivity, and wildlife migratory corridors, but not property rights. Think of corridors as roads for wildlife that lead them to the next habitat area. In the imaginary world of environmentalists, this is called connectivity, in that the corridor, or road, leads, or “connects” wildlife, to the next habitat. Isn’t that brilliant? Those same individuals also believe humans are nothing but car wrecks in the path of these animals, preventing them from getting to their next habitat. Thus, the need to take land and control it for wildlife and nature.

    MHCADownload

    There are a couple of mother ships for NGOs, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) which is international, and the Network for Landscape Conservation (NLC). NLC partners with CLLC, the USFWS along with several other federal agencies, and other supporters. Other partners to both outfits are NGOs such as Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y), Wildlands Network, and Wild Montana.

    NLC also partners with the Heart of the Rockies Initiative (HORI), which is a group of land trusts in Idaho and western states and Canada. In turn, HORI collaborates with a conservation partnership called the High Divide Collaborative (HDC). HDC partners with government agencies including the USFWS, CLLC, Centennial Valley Association (CVA), several land trusts, and other NGOs. HDC works on a defined area called the High Divide. As can be seen by this map of the High Divide, the proposed MHCA is swallowed along with Idaho land, the whole area ripe for control by HORI and HDC. However, this pales in comparison to the larger land objective held by HORI according to this map.

    Remembering all of these organizations isn’t crucial. Just understand that it is one big syndicate family that is bound and determined to undermine land use and property rights, and leads all the way to the United Nations affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that includes the USFWS and other federal agencies, the CLLC, and Y2Y. In fact, the CLLC President Gary Tabor works with the IUCN.

    These groups consider land as a garden for them to design, which includes restrictions on use. 

    One funder for this agenda is the Wilburforce Foundation which granted $75,000 to Wild Montana in 2023 for use in the Y2Y program in Wilburforce priority areas, one of which is in the MHCA. Other donations included $250,00 in 2022 and 2023 to HORI. The CVA is “friends” with several of these groups (last page) and has received donations from HORI. One larger funder is the Wyss Campaign for Nature which has donated to Y2Y and the Idaho Conservation League.

    USFWS claims the plan is to “acquire up to a proposed 250,000 acres of conservation easements, with no fee title acquisition, within the proposed 5.7-million-acre Conservation Area boundary”, using federal Land and Water Conservation Fund money. It even has a “realty team” for this purpose. The USFWS can then plop that land right into the hands of their HORI land trust buddies. According to CVA (pg 4), following scoping a Land Protection Plan may be developed. 

    Somehow this all concludes with the ability to continue using and working the land. To the average eye it just looks like the government is buying up more land for its possession and control. The land owner is still stuck with the taxes, however, because the land can no longer be developed its worth may decrease with resulting lower taxes for the landowner, and in turn less revenue for the county in which it resides. Conservation easements do come with restrictions, in some instances there can be continued, but regulated, use.

    The point of all of this information is to alert Idahoans to the larger plan that many forces are working within government to meet international organizational objectives, and that the MHCA proposal is really about a much larger land area than what is revealed. This taking of land is a very incremental process and before you know it the frog is boiled to death. As can be seen, there are major bucks flowing into this agenda, and it also disregards sovereign state boundaries.

    Idahoans, don’t be deceived, the MHCA is a major threat to Idaho and your active involvement in opposition to this proposal is needed. Send an email to the USFWS at MOHWCA@fws.gov by November 27, 2023 and voice your opposition to this proposal. Alert your county commissioners to the operations of these NGOs and the government, use local land use plans to prohibit these actions, and educate others on the dangers of conservation easements.

  • Labrador Letter — Addressing the Homelessness Crisis

    Labrador Letter — Addressing the Homelessness Crisis

    Four weeks ago, my office led a coalition of 20 states in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to grant a writ of certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s widely criticized decision in Johnson v. City of Grants Pass. The decision controversially asserted that the Constitution allows individuals to sleep and camp on sidewalks, playgrounds, and other public lands. The decision has been disastrous for state and local governments, preventing them from meaningfully addressing the homelessness crisis. 

    The Ninth Circuit’s flawed ruling stripped authority from state and local governments in addressing homelessness. In 2022, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit ruled that Grants Pass couldn’t enforce its ban on homeless individuals sleeping on public property. A similar 2018 ruling in Martin v. Boise preceded Johnson v. City of Grants Pass. In the Boise case, the Ninth Circuit declared that cities couldn’t charge someone with a crime or give them a ticket for sleeping in a public space.

    The consequence of Western cities being unable to enforce homelessness ordinances has led to unregulated public encampments, giving rise to a multitude of public health and safety crises. A resurgence of medieval diseases like typhus, shigella, and trench fever has been observed in these encampments. Rats and fleas infest these areas, affecting nearby public buildings and residences. Additionally, these camps have resulted in unsightly and unsanitary conditions on public pathways and playgrounds, contaminated with human waste, discarded needles, and other biohazards.

    The coalition of Attorneys General, led by my office and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, called on the Supreme Court to correct the Ninth Circuit’s unprecedented decision and return power to state and local governments to address homelessness. Homelessness is a distinctly local issue, and the U.S. Constitution leaves such matters to state and local governments. State and local governments need the freedom to protect their communities from the adverse public health and safety risks of surging homelessness.

    The people of Idaho have witnessed the homelessness crisis engulfing neighboring states. To address this issue, Boise endeavored to enact ordinances that would have prevented homeless encampments. However, the Court, in an activist manner, curtailed the authority of local governments by asserting an imagined constitutional right to housing on the streets. The Supreme Court must rule in favor of local and state governments, enabling us to prevent the unfortunate developments seen in California, Washington, and Oregon from occurring in Idaho.

    As always, I am dedicated to keeping power out of the hands of the federal government and in the hands of the states in matters of the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens.

    The full brief can be read here.

  • Local Elections Matter Most

    Local Elections Matter Most

    It’s election season yet again. Early voting starts on October 23rd, leading up to Election Day on November 7th. There are many important races on the ballot this year, so make a plan to go vote!

    Races for mayor, city council, school board, and other municipal offices are technically nonpartisan, so you won’t see party affiliation on the ballot. The original idea was that candidates for these positions would “rise above” party politics and work directly for their constituents. However, you and I both know that there is no such thing as “nonpartisan” anymore.

    Take a look at Boise, where the supposedly nonpartisan mayor flew the pride flag over city hall, pushed a city ordinance protecting abortion, and wasted more than half a million taxpayer dollars trying to find racism in the police department. It’s pretty clear which party she identifies with, isn’t it?

    That was why the Idaho Republican Party passed a resolution at the 2022 Summer Convention urging the Legislature to make ALL Idaho elections (except judges) partisan. Voters deserve the whole picture.

    Partisanship is not a bad word! On the contrary, it’s a clear way of identifying what principles a candidate stands for. If he wants to raise your taxes, grow government, set criminals free, promote abortion and child sex change surgeries, then he’s probably a Democrat, and he should proudly affiliate that way.

    On the other hand, a candidate who supports low taxes, small government, law and order, and protecting children should be proud to fly the Republican banner. Our platform stands for faith, family, and freedom, and we are not ashamed of that.

    Make no mistake, these elections matter. Your mayor, council members, and school board trustees have more influence over your quality of life than presidents or senators. They decide what your children are learning in school, how much you pay in property taxes, how much police coverage your community will have, and what kind of parks and amenities your family will enjoy.

    These local elected officials are also the most accessible. They are your neighbors, fellow parishioners, and the parents at your child’s school. You have a tremendous opportunity to get to know them and share your concerns.

    Ideology matters here too. A candidate’s principles show through in every situation, from managing a city budget to how they interact with the public.

    It is so important that you plan to vote in the upcoming election on November 7th. Whether you vote early (early voting begins this Monday!), vote by mail, or vote in person on Election Day, what is important is that you vote. Make your voice heard. Take an active role in shaping the future of your community. I cannot emphasize enough how important that is.

  • RINO Mike Simpson Proves an “R” After Your Name Means Nothing

    RINO Mike Simpson Proves an “R” After Your Name Means Nothing

    Congressman Simpson has been in Congress from Idaho for the past 24 years and that “magic R” after his name has kept in office along with campaign contributions from the corporate interests. He spent 14 years prior to this in the Idaho House of Representatives so for nearly 40 years he has been living at the public trough learning how to convince the voters that he actually has conservative principles and listens to his constituents. The mask has been dropping off amid the professionally Republican class in the fight for conservative leadership in the House of Representatives. Many of the members of the House view themselves as something more than representatives of their constituents.

    Mike Simpson’s office has been bombarded by the people of Idaho asking him to vote for Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House and take on the important issues of spending, debt, world conflicts and most importantly the border crisis. In public response to the requests of the voters, Idaho’s Second Congressional District Representative Mike Simpson reminds voters that their opinion means nothing.

    For your information, Steve Scalise has voted for Jim Jordan along with Kevin McCarthy. Mike Simpson was one of over 21 congressmen not voting for Jordan and proud of the fact that he “will not” listen to his voters. With a cocky flair he states that “intimidation and threatening tactics do not- and will not- work.” Perhaps bankrupting of our nation with spending might work? 12 million illegals coming across our border with no vetting might work? Thousands of deaths from fentanyl brought across the border might wake up Mike Simpson? What events would wake up this representative from Idaho to become a patriot? Who is paying for Mike Simpson? Because apparently, he doesn’t think the voters matter much.

    This is not the only issue where Simpson has ignored common sense and Republican platforms before. He was appointed to the House Energy and Water committee which gave him a voice for one of his favorite issues – “saving the salmon by removing the Snake River Dams”. You can imagine the response to that knuckle headed $35 billion proposal. Even Governor Little came out with this statement, ” I remain unconvinced that breaching the dams is a silver bullet for salmon recovery,” Little said. “Breaching the dams would have devastating impacts on Idahoans and vital segments of Idaho’s economy.” Duh! Other opponents of this idea were even more condemning. Fire up more windmills and solar farms with tax breaks and see how that works for you.

    The state of Idaho GOP (IDGOP) joined a growing number of frustrated Idaho voters expressing their disappointment in Simpson. The House has ground to a halt for more than two weeks following the ouster of Speaker McCarthy, and the IDGOP rebukes Simpson for engaging in “inside-the-Beltway political games rather than focusing on the pressing business that truly matters to our constituents is disappointing.” The statement from the IDGOP ends with, “We urge our Congressman to reconsider his position and refocus his efforts on addressing the significant issues confronting our constituents—rather than waste his time engaging in protest votes and parliamentary delay tactics. The people of Idaho expect Mike Simpson to represent their concerns and prioritize their needs above political games and partisan divisions. The true measure of his success will be in his steadfast defense of the Constitution and the tangible benefits he delivers to the hardworking families of Idaho. We will be watching.”

    Maybe the people of Idaho need to be asking how did we end up with this entrenched member of the deep state? Why hasn’t someone defeated him in the primaries in the past? Oh, I forgot… he had an “R” after his name. Don’t let that deceive you in the primary in May!

  • Didn’t We Try That Before?

    Didn’t We Try That Before?

    As conflicts continue to pop up around the world, the United States has vowed to take sides with the oppressed victims of the aggressors. Promising “no boots on the ground”, many other types of assistance are given to these countries. Pretty much everyone has heard the old adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

    This stance is similar to the one taken by the U.S. in 1940. In spite of watching the aggressive actions by the Nazi regime against neighboring countries, the position remained one of being neutral. However, assistance with providing weaponry was given to England, even pilots volunteered to help during the Battle of Britain. And the same was given to China. Meanwhile, the aggressor marched on until eventually the U.S. was brought into the problem.

    Currently, the same stance seems to be in play, no boots on the ground in Ukraine, well, no troops that is. And although there are no troops in Israel at the moment, there is plenty of naval backup waiting to assist if needed. The U.S. has also been providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and for several years has fulfilled the same for Israel. 

    Now both aggressive actions towards these countries are conducted by known adversaries of the U.S., Russia and Iran. But the same hostility was held by the Nazi leader, wanting to engage the U.S. in a war long before the Pearl Harbor attack. How long have Iran and Russia declared the same?

    And of course, there are always those wackos out there who think they know how to solved the problem, or at least opine their summary of the situation, with the media flaming all of it with its pundit rhetoric.

    Seems there are several similarities in these two scenarios, not getting involved other than providing aid and support. But how long will it take before the U.S. is eventually targeted to become involved? The current administration is already playing around with nuclear weapons in preparation for a potential conflict. 

    And what connection does all of this have with the World Economic Forum? Let’s see, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Benjamin Netanyahu seem to have some connections with the global organization, and Russia with Iran. And what is Newsome doing on his trip, taking strategic plans from Israel to China? Where is President Eisenhower when you need him?

    It seems the only way in which the U.S. and other countries were able to finally end WWII was by a devastating obliteration of Nazis in Germany and tragically, Japanese civilians. Given the enormity of this current war with the incremental involvement by other countries, and protests erupting across the world, even inappropriately by government folks, what can one do except sit back and watch?

    We have a corrupt government that is placing all of us in danger by conniving with the enemies in the world, and because these despots have become so powerful, maybe the time has come that all should prepare for their ultimate world destruction plan. At least that is how the previous one ended, and it seems we are now on the same path having embedded ourselves across the world as a result of WWII. 

    One theory is that this is nothing more than a plan to disrupt the world so badly, at our expense, in order to justify a new governance system that the world will be begging for, called global governance, permanently placing all of us in a virtual prison, called the Great Reset, living a life of sustainable development. To some degree, that is what happened after WWII with the creation of the United Nations, which can now be easily seen as a threat to our sovereignty through so many of its international rules and laws, in spite of the intent of it being a peace-making body.

    Who knows. It just seems so much history is being repeated here. Despots never change.

  • Defending Idaho’s Student Bathroom Privacy Law

    Defending Idaho’s Student Bathroom Privacy Law

    I want to bring your attention to another significant win as my office continues to defend Idaho’s new student bathroom privacy law.

    This case concerns Senate Bill 1100, a law enacted by the Legislature during the 2023 session to protect students’ privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms. More specifically, Senate Bill 1100 requires that every public-school restroom or changing facility be designated for use by male persons only or female persons only and be used only by members of that sex. “Sex” is defined in the law as biological sex “determined at conception and generally recognizable at birth.” Additionally, the law requires separate sleeping quarters for members of each sex during school events where overnight lodging is shared. The law also provides accommodations for any student uncomfortable with using multi-occupancy public facilities by ensuring the availability of single-occupancy facilities.

    Plaintiff Rebecca Roe, and the advocacy group, Sexuality and Gender Alliance, brought this lawsuit against Idaho claiming this law was unconstitutional. They requested a motion for preliminary injunction which would prevent the new law from going into effect. To obtain a preliminary injunction from the court, the plaintiffs were required to prove that they are likely to succeed when the court holds the full trial in which the judge will issue his final ruling on their arguments. On Thursday, October 12, the United States District Court for the District of Idaho denied the motion for a preliminary injunction. 

    The Court agreed with our arguments and concluded “the Court is not convinced Plaintiffs can prevail on their equal protection claims.” The Court also held that the Plaintiffs are not likely to prevail on their additional Title IX and privacy claims. 

    The Court ordered that the bathroom privacy law go into effect 21 days from the date of the order, on November 2, so that it can immediately start protecting students. The Court explained that 21 days “should provide enough time for school districts to identify and designate restrooms, changing facilities, and overnight accommodations in a manner consistent with S.B. 1100. Once the 21 days have elapsed, S.B. 1100 will be in full force and effect.”

    This is a significant win. SB 1100 is a law designed to protect students. Society has separated these intimate facilities for time immemorial, and it is particularly important that the safety and privacy interests of minor students are protected. SB 1100 strikes the necessary balance in protecting those interests for all students.

    Next Steps:

    This case will also move forward to the full trial. We prepare for the trial with great confidence because of the District Court’s October 12 decision. The judge acknowledged that the full trial is yet to come, but he indicated the likelihood of our success on the merits when he said, “And while [the Court’s] decision today is still not a full adjudication on the merits, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have not shown they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims.”

    You can access the ruling here.

    As I have said before, I take great pride in the efforts of my team to secure this victory. Thank you for standing with me as we fight together to preserve Idaho from outside special interest groups who aim to challenge our conservative values.

  • We must all stand for life, for peace, for civilization

    We must all stand for life, for peace, for civilization

    Like you, we watched the events in Israel over the past week with sadness and horror. Such demonic barbarity is a reminder of the fallen nature of mankind and the absolute necessity of resolute strength in a dangerous world.

    Unfortunately, the last three years of national leadership has been the opposite of strength. The Biden Administration has issued vague and contradictory statements while many of their most ardent supporters have praised brutal and heinous acts of terrorism.

    As Republicans, we firmly believe in peace through strength. As Ronald Reagan said, “We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted.”

    Tyrants worldwide are being tempted by the weakness they see in Washington DC. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan just over two years ago showed the belligerent powers of the world that America would retreat in the face of aggression, cower behind platitudes, and leave our allies defenseless.

    The Idaho Republican Party overwhelmingly passed a resolution at last year’s State Convention in support of Israel. “Israel, like the USA, is a country born from the aspiration for freedom and stands out among the nations as a beacon of democracy and humanity,” it said. The Idaho GOP called upon Idaho’s congressional delegation to “support the state of Israel in order to maintain its sovereignty rights, and its ability to defend itself against terror attacks.”

    We renew that call today. The right to self-defense is the most beloved of all our constitutional guarantees, and that extends to the right of nations to defend themselves from invasion and terrorism. All Americans should appreciate Israel for showing strength and resolve in defending her people from barbarism.

    Unfortunately, the other images we have seen this week—of Democratic Party constituencies waving Hamas and ISIS flags and celebrating the wanton murder of innocent men, women, and children—are reminders of the stark differences between our parties. Republicans stand for life, for peace, and for civilization. Many on the other side want to tear those things apart.

    We should also resist calls for expanding the conflict to nations such as Iran. The chief duty of our government is to protect the lives of the American people, and so any direct action must come only after deep deliberation by our elected officials.

    Yet there can be no debate over the moral issues at hand. Hamas is driven by an insatiable bloodlust that sees no distinction between soldier and civilian, or government and people. The Idaho Republican Party stands for civilization, for a true lasting peace, and we stand with Israel.

  • Protect Your Kids

    Protect Your Kids

    Several years ago, my father, my brother, and I were camped along a small stream in the middle of Utah, near the town of Moab. Not far from us another family was camped. The family was a mother, a father, and a pre-teen boy.

    One evening about dusk the boy must have done something dreadful and all of a sudden, the mother broke out in a tirade of swearing the likes of which I had never heard from a woman before (and have not heard since). I wondered at the time how this boy was going to grow up having a healthy respect for his parents when they treated him so badly.

    Most people truly love their kids. Mothers, especially, like a panther, “You touch my cub and I will claw your eyes out.” Most are very protective of their children.

    And yet, for some reason I am unable to explain, parents continue to place their children in circumstances that are tailor-made to turn them against what is good and wholesome.

    There are many public school teachers who love America and American traditions and who fight for the good that is in America. However, most colleges, and especially most teacher’s colleges are staffed by professors who are often Marxist in viewpoint. It was even that way when I attended college many years ago.

    Because of that, many teachers graduate with a Marxist, collectivist idea that the government is the answer to every problem, and they pass that viewpoint along to the children they teach. They may not even be aware they are doing so.

    Parents who truly love their kids leave them in these government schools year after year and are then puzzled when at graduation those wonderful kids turn against them. It is the tragedy of our present age, and is pretty general throughout the country. This philosophy is aided by the Marxist teachers’ unions and textbook publishers.

    Some parents have seen the problem, but appear helpless to do anything about it. They know they ought to remove their kids from these schools but are helpless to do so. It is simple: In order to make ends meet both mother and father have to work just to balance the home budget. Neither of them can quit to home-teach their own children.

    The question, then, comes down to this: What is more important to you? Is it your job, your fancy home, your new furniture, and your wonderful car, or is it your children? Parents who understand the nature of the present battle, and who truly love their kids have moved into an older home, drive an older car, own used furniture, and spend their days loving and teaching their kids. It is interesting how all their important arguments fade away after just a few months of teaching their own children. They are amazed at how much quieter and kinder their kids are and how rewarding it is to teach them.

    It is difficult to find anything good that came out of being locked down for a couple of years during the pandemic. Many businesses went bankrupt, and some closed their doors forever, especially restaurants.

    However, one benefit that was the result of closed schools is that parents had to teach their kids or have them go uneducated. Once they saw what they were actually being taught in the various public schools many parents determined never to send their precious kids there again. Not only that, but after they had basically taught their kids for two years it helped overcome their fear of teaching. They realized that if they could teach their kids how to tie their shoes, they could teach them other subjects as well. Going online they found there is a rich literature of helps for anyone who needs help getting started at home schooling. You can also write to me if you have a particular question about schooling. If I do not know the answer, I will find one.

    Our children are precious to us and it is criminal that we leave them in public schools to be indoctrinated in left-wing philosophy year after year. The end result of public education is that our great children graduate with an unhealthy reliance on government, little respect for our founding and our history, and often have no appreciation of our free enterprise system of economics.

    It is an amazing system. We never think about it, but go into your local grocery store and look at the various items packaged there and then realize that someone had to invent all the packaging and even the products themselves. This rarely happens under a socialist system.

    Our children need to learn how America became the greatest nation on the earth. They need to realize that being free and having the ability to do productive work is a winner at all times. We may fail, but we also succeed. Thomas Edison said that he conducted various experiments a thousand times before he found one that was successful.

    Our schools have become proving grounds for any new philosophy that may come along. The current issue is transgender. Children are conditioned to believe that they may be living in the wrong body and that the great body that God created for them is not sufficient and needs to be changed. Unfortunately, we have learned that all these great changes for our teenage children have life-long negative effects. Once these impressionable children reach adulthood, they realize that they are neither man nor woman and that they will probably never be able to bear children, or nurse them if they are successful in bearing them.

    It is possible that some teachers actually believe that what they are attempting to teach is true, but the truth is that most of this teaching about changing your body to something other than what God created is just plain evil. Children who are given puberty blockers grow into adults with the organs of a small child. This is a terrible travesty, and one has to wonder why any practicing doctor could ever prescribe such dangerous drugs, or perform such mutilating surgeries.

    Some states have realized the importance of parents protecting their children and have taken strong stands against these unwholesome measures. However, some schools have worked to ensure that parents never find out what is happening with their children at school. Our own children are precious to us. We need to take steps to protect them. That may include removing them from the public school system. When you do you may be surprised at what a blessing teaching your own kids can be.

    Jim Hollingsworth is a graduate of Pensacola Christian College with a master’s degree in Biblical studies. He has written several books:

    jimhollingsworth@frontier.com

  • The Next Illegal Scam

    The Next Illegal Scam

    This scheme is nothing more than an illegal way to deprive Americans from using both private and public land, and using their money to enrich the corporate world.

    As part of this administration’s agenda to implement the international 30×30 plan, that is, placing 30% of land into conservation by 2030, it only makes sense to weaponize federal agencies. In this particular case it is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). 

    One perfect place to execute this plan is in Montana, called the Missouri Headwaters Conservation Area. While this map shows the boundary map clearly within the Montana border, it isn’t clear what that red boundary line extending into Idaho means, but it does capture Centennial Valley.

    (click to enlarge)

    First some background, but one almost needs some sort of economic background to get the gist of what is being done. 

    Globalists began looking at the environment as having “Natural Assets“, meaning the environment could be used as justification for economic gain. a “key to sustainable development”. Natural assets are defined as assets of the natural environment that consist of wild or produced biological assets, land, water, ecosystems, subsoil, and air. Basically anything in the environment. These assets are sometimes called “ecosystem services“. 

    Using climate change hysteria, globalists plotted the latest snow job called Nature Based Solutions (NBS). Since climate change allegedly destroys everything, NBS “are actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural ecosystems”, or natural assets, especially if those solutions address societal challenges such as water security and disaster risk reduction, while providing biodiversity benefits.

    Alas, since natural solutions receive little financing for preventing greenhouse gas emissions, globalists designed a new financial market that uses the environment for economic gain. The White House is on board with its National Strategy plan. Initial funding for this atrocity came out of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was really intended to fundamentally transform America towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). 

    On page 112, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was allocated $1 billion for a “pre-disaster mitigation program” which of course will be used for nature based solutions, promising “monetary…benefits…economic growth, green jobs, increased property values and better public health”, all hornswoggle. In this April, 2022 Executive Order 14072, Section 4, the administration announced its plan for nature based solutions, which was followed in November, 2022 by the White House Nature Based Solutions Resource Guide. Of course this idea didn’t come from the people, it came out of the United Nations (UN) COP 27 as a way to fight “climate change” and increase resilience to life. Ah yes, this president’s brilliance will lead to protection for all. And the World Economic Forum (WEF) is drooling over how much money corporations can suck from us with this sham they created.

    Heck, the White House has already put into place a “roadmap” to assist moneygrubbing schmuck globalists by “Unlocking funding for domestic and international projects, and encouraging Federal agencies to do more to prioritize nature-based solutions in funding decisions.” For those who are morbidly curious, a full review of potential funding avenues can be found here. No matter which way you look at it, the cost will be borne by us serfs to the elite.

    The really tough part in understanding this is how profits are made. One thing for sure, it does involve restoration, protection, and conservation of nature. But money will be made now that new economic markets have been created.

    Natural Asset Companies (NAC) were created for this specific purpose, “to develop an asset class that converts the value of nature and the ecoservices designed to sustain it into financial capital.” An NAC allows “investors to financially back services that directly benefit the planet”. Intrinsic Exchange Groups (IEG) are a type of company “whose equity captures the value of natural assets and the ecosystem services they produce.” IEG basically determines how much value will be assigned to nature. 

    Wall Street is on board but Whitney Webb hit the nail on the head, “The ultimate goal of NACs is not sustainability or conservation – it is the financialization of nature, i.e. turning nature into a commodity that can be used to keep the current, corrupt Wall Street economy booming under the guise of protecting the environment and preventing its further degradation”, her words validated by this author. It is nothing more than another form of Environment, Social Governance (ESG).

    This author does a fine job in explaining with one example how to make money from this scam when it comes to water. Buy property, create a mitigation bank (buy cheap land and restore it to some ecological state that’s deemed to be functional), and investors come in. As he explains it, it is like building houses only you are building wetlands. It is no wonder the corporate saturated WEF supports NBS. The World Bank might have given NBS a more appropriate name in this video, “green infrastructure”.

    Enough of the economic lesson, back to Montana. The American Stewards for Liberty wrote an article about this land grab by the feds, indicating that central Idaho will be involved in it. While the article describes the agenda to connect protected lands together in Montana, Idaho is in the crosshairs for the same expansion, that area being within the red box in the map. Private land will also be usurped in this scam whether voluntary or not and property owners will be forced to comply with restricted and controlled land use. Private property rights will go down the drain. The article also talks about NACs and describes hybrid areas as part of the plan.

    At the end of the article there is an excellent link that explains how this whole scheme is only about monetizing nature, and notes the same bewilderment, “no investment professional can explain how investors will make money”, but rest assured, these scallywag globalists are figuring it out.

    Both the USFWS and Bureau of Land Management have conservation areas. However, according to the Department of Interior “national conservation areas are designated by Congress” (page CRS-8) and only by the Bureau of Land Management, not the USFWS. Is the USFWS using a slight of hand by leaving out “national” or mixing national in with other wording? Or is this really just another White House violation of the law?

    Public scoping on this action ends November 27, 2023. The American Stewards article has recommendations for action at the end. Although the deadline for amendments has passed, H.R. 4821, sponsored by Rep. Mike Simpson, has little chance of passing. Regardless, Idahoans should contact congressional representatives (especially Simpson) and state representatives, ask them what Idaho can do for protection against this 30×30 agenda, the proposed conservation area, and ban NAC activity. Perhaps everyone should consider putting together a bill for state reps to sponsor.

    Definitely send an email to the USFWS at MOHWCA@fws.gov and let them know it appears they are proceeding without congressional approval, and if anything, this action requires an Environmental Impact Statement. There is so much more to be written on this as it does extend into every aspect of our lives. This isn’t being done for the environment, it is about taking away land use through conservation easements and ruling over how people live.

    You did not bear the shame.
    You fought back.
    You gave the great,
    Forever tireless
    Sign of change,
    Sacrificing your glowing life
    For freedom,
    Justice, and     honor.

  • Attorney General Labrador Successfully Defends SB1100 Which Protects Students’ Privacy in Bathrooms and Locker Rooms

    Attorney General Labrador Successfully Defends SB1100 Which Protects Students’ Privacy in Bathrooms and Locker Rooms

    Boise, ID – The United States District Court for the District of Idaho denied a motion for a preliminary injunction and upheld Idaho’s SB 1100 as lawful.

    On Thursday, Judge Nye of the US District Court denied the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have barred the implementation of Senate Bill 1100. Brought by a California plaintiff, Rebecca Roe, and the Sexuality and Gender Alliance, the lawsuit challenged as unconstitutional Idaho’s law to protect sex separation for school bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight stays. Senate Bill 1100 requires that every public-school restroom or changing facility accessible by multiple persons simultaneously be used by only members of that sex. Additionally, the law requires separate sleeping quarters for members of each sex during school events where overnight lodging is shared. The law also provided accommodations for any student uncomfortable with using multi-use public facilities by ensuring the availability of single-use facilities.

    The District Court agreed with Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s arguments regarding the law and denied plaintiffs’ request to enjoin the law. In short, the Court held that “S.B. 1100 is substantially related to the Government’s important interest in protecting the privacy and safety of students from those of the opposite sex while they are engaged in personal and private functions.” Contrary to the plaintiffs’ claims, the Court held that SB 1100 does not discriminate against transgender students.

    In response to this legal victory, Attorney General Labrador said, “This is a significant win for our office. SB 1100 is a law designed to protect students. Society has separated these intimate facilities for time immemorial, and it is particularly important that the safety and privacy interests of minor students are protected. SB 1100 strikes the necessary balance in protecting those interests for all students.”

    This case will move forward to trial, and the Attorney General will continue to defend Idaho’s laws in the district court and on any appeal to the Ninth Circuit, where he remains committed to upholding Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.

    Notably, the Civil Litigation and Constitutional Defense, under the leadership of Lincoln Wilson, successfully briefed and argued this case.

    You can access the ruling here.

  • Defending Election Integrity

    Defending Election Integrity

    I want to bring your attention to a recent victory we have had in the Attorney General’s office. 

    This case concerns House Bills 124 and 340, laws enacted by the Legislature during the 2023 session to impose certain criteria for voting. Specifically, these laws do not recognize student IDs as valid voter identification. To fortify our elections, the Legislature deemed it necessary to restrict this type of identification because Student IDs rarely have a date of birth, address, or proof of citizenship.

    The advocacy groups Babe Vote and League of Women Voters quickly challenged HB 124 and 340, claiming the bills were a form of age discrimination. The Legislature, recognizing that some voters might not be able to afford a voter ID, would provide an ID at no cost to the voter. Despite this provision, Babe Vote and the League of Women Voters insultingly contend that specific individuals cannot access a free ID. 

    On Monday, October 2nd, the Fourth District Court of the State of Idaho dismissed the suit with prejudice. Judge Hoagland rejected the claims of age discrimination by the advocacy groups, noting that not all young people are students and not all students are young people. He added that the new laws passed by the Legislature are rationally related to their stated purpose to create uniformity by accepting only reliable forms of identification.

    Judge Hoagland also defended the rights of the Idaho Legislature to establish voting qualifications, remarking: “The Idaho Constitution guarantees the right of free and lawful suffrage to the people, and delegates to the legislature the authority to prescribe qualifications, limitations, and conditions necessary for the exercise of the right.”

    Next Steps: 

    It is anticipated that the advocacy groups will file an appeal with the Idaho Supreme Court. In addition, other interest groups have challenged Idaho’s election integrity laws in federal court. For instance, the gun safety group March for Our Lives Idaho, recently filed a suit alleging that our laws violate the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I believe these lawsuits are meritless and will share the same fate as the recently dismissed state lawsuit. 

    We are committed to ensuring that every eligible voter exercises their right to vote in our great state. In the most recent election, we achieved the highest voter turnout for a non-presidential election year since the Secretary of State began recording in 1980. However, it’s essential to emphasize that we will never compromise the integrity of our elections in the pursuit of higher turnout. 

    I take great pride in the efforts of my team to secure this victory. Our state remains a target for special interest groups who aim to challenge our conservative agenda. I implore you to stand firm in this battle and continue to support our office.

    I thank you for standing with me, and together, we will continue our fight to preserve Idaho’s right to self-governance. 

  • Understanding The Conflict

    Understanding The Conflict

    We are hearing a revised history not based on fact.

    Anti-Semitic sentiment has infiltrated many American churches, both Mainline Protestant and Catholic, with leakage starting to seep into Evangelical churches too … allegedly as part of promoting “social justice,” “anti-racism,” and (lately) “decolonization.” That last one is just a fancy word for ethnic cleansing, aimed at Westerners, Jews included.   

    The name, “Palestine,” was originally invented for sinister purposes. In 135 AD, the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, in an attempt to sever all ties of the Jewish people to their homeland, not only changed the name of Israel to Palestine, but also changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitalina. The name, Palestine, is still being used as a propaganda tool today. The name has made its way into textbooks and even into some of the maps in our Bibles. And the term “Palestinians,” as applied to a group of people, is also an invented term and was never even used until 1964. It was no-doubt chosen to conform to the contrived name of the land. There is no Palestinian race. They are Arab immigrants from neighboring Arab countries. Arafat himself was born in Egypt, according to his own biographer. There never was a “Palestinian” nation or people group.

    The Arabs that were living in the area were advised to leave prior to the 1948 battle for independence that Israel fought after the British left and abandoned Israel to their fate. A West Point general once said that although they study wars from all over the world, they do not study the 1948 War for Independence or the Six-Day War of Israel because “West Point is interested in understanding strategy and tactics, and these wars don’t make any sense at all. “In 1948, Israel and all its territory officially became a nation. Two years later (1950), Jordan illegally occupied the West Bank, but there was no outcry then, even from the Palestinians. But when Israel regained control of the land—that was already theirs—in the Six-Day War, somehow that was occupation.

    God promised Abraham and his descendants the land (Genesis 15:18-21) and reaffirmed that promise to Moses about 600 years later. (Numbers 34:2-12) God reiterated the promise yet again some 800 years after Moses through the prophet Ezekiel, even while the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon. (Ezekiel 47:17-20) The boundaries of the land were very specific, and the most detailed description is the Numbers 34 account. When you overlay that description on a modern map, there are varying opinions by different scholars on the ancient landmarks. However, what’s clear is that Israel’s current borders make up less than half of what God promised them. Israel’s original inheritance was all of present-day Israel—including all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip—plus parts of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

    Nolan Lewallen has written great articles about this history and his description of the return to Gaza by President George W. Bush is a classic. “The international community has pressured Israel to give up some of its “land for peace” for decades. It’s easy to be generous with another country’s land. In 2002, President George W. Bush promoted the “Roadmap to Peace” that outlined a two-state solution, which included giving away some of Israel’s land, such as the Gaza Strip. Part of Phase One was “End of violence by Palestinians.” I wonder if Bush raises unicorns on his Crawford, Texas, ranch. That was and is a pipe dream. The PLO’s founder, Arafat, reportedly once said he didn’t want his daughter to grow up knowing that her father had agreed to a peace agreement with Israel. Current Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has said, “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.” Palestinians even name their schools and streets after suicide bombers who died bombing Israelis and spend tens of millions of dollars every month rewarding their survivors.”

    In 2013, Obama gave Iran $150 billion of which $1.7 billion was in cash and $400 million of that cash was flown to Tehran in the form of untraceable foreign currency. Biden just released $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran. Several reports suggest that some of the $90 billion in weapons Biden left the Taliban in Afghanistan have gotten into the hands of Hamas and are being used against Israel. Meanwhile, millions of illegal migrants’ stream across our border with little or no vetting. America has been a haven for those immigrants who wanted to become Americans and support their country. Over 90% of all Jews live in Israel or America and value our freedom and protection. This sanctuary is at risk with the leadership and decisions we are making. The corruption of churches reminds us that this is primarily a spiritual problem and will require primarily a spiritual solution. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” (Psalm 122.6)