Associated Press’ 2019 guidelines veer further left

Reporters instructed on retooling language in an effort to reconfigure attitudes

It’s not just about grammar and capitalization conundrums. Nope. Those zany folks at Associate Press are hard at work attempting to recraft your attitudes via 2019 stylebook guidelines. Though President Trump is not specifically mentioned, anti-Trumpism is always bubbling beneath the surface in news coverage.

The terms “racist” and “racism” are deserving of their own chapter. It is 2019, after all, and the stylebook’s audience is aimed at reporters who put a premium on dividing us according to ethnicity. African American has lost its dash with the removal of the hyphen. Americans who prefer to just be Americans are out’a luck. Are you unfamiliar with the term “Latinx?” It’s the gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative to Latino or Latina. AP is not simply a news agency. It also constructs language.

Illogically the focus on race is followed up with, “Consider carefully when deciding whether to identify people by race. Often, it is an irrelevant factor and drawing unnecessary attention to someone’s race or ethnicity can be interpreted as bigotry.”

In 2013, SRAZ posted, “Winston Smith: Alive and well at Associated Press. “

That was followed in 2017 by “AP reconfigures language, tries to control thinking — again,” in which the stylebook urged journalists to avoid making references in news stories that suggest there are only two sexes in the human race.

In 2010, the Diversity Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists called on news reporters nationwide to stop using the term “illegal immigrant” in their news coverage —- preferring “undocumented workers” or “undocumented immigrants.”

As early as 2008, at the height of the war on terror, we exposed the absurd guidelines from the Society of Professional Journalists, which called for grouping white supremacists and “radical anti-abortionists” with Islamic terrorists. Jihad was not only verboten, it was sympathetically referred to as “exert[ing] oneself for the good of Islam and to better oneself.” None dare call it what it is: A militant Islamic movement threatening Western civilization.

These two gems were specific in their instructions:

– When writing about terrorism, remember to include white supremacist, radical anti-abortionists and other groups with a history of such activity.

– Use photos and features to demystify veils, turbans and other cultural articles and customs.

The 2019 stylebook’s lead editor Paula Froke, slickly states, “Our first audience is journalists, but the audience is very broad.”

The indisputable fact is, American citizens are the intended audience for the double speak and attitude adjustments. The majority of what you see and hear is fabricated with these leftist threads. Students are inundated with it from kindergarten through graduate school. What was once heralded as the free press, has grotesquely transmogrified to purveyors of mind control.

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Leftist New Zealand PM irrationally blames guns for massacre

Gun restrictions are coming to low crime New Zealand

Following the horrific massacre killing at least 50 people and wounding another 50 in terror attacks targeting two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the government has responded with exactly the wrong message. In this Guardian article, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is gushingly and favorably compared to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes.

PM Jacinda Ardern — now wearing a wearing hijab, in a sign of solidarity — has announced New Zealand’s government will reform the country’s gun laws in the wake of last Friday’s carnage. The hate-based slaughter of Islamic worshippers in was perpetrated by 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, an Australian, who is a self-described white supremacist. He is in police custody.

Speaking after her weekly cabinet meeting, PM Ardern stated that government ministers had agreed “in principle” to reform gun laws. “Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” she said.

How much safer?  According the New Zealand police, there were 69 total murders with a firearm between Jan.1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2017 in the entire nation.

Obviously New Zealand is reeling from the unspeakable assault perpetrated by a vicious criminal. Yet vowing to enact tighter gun laws is not the answer. Had some of the people in the mosques been armed, they would have been able to respond to the murderous rampage. Gun restrictions only impact the law abiding. Those intent on evil will always find a way to carry it out. We’ve already witnessed vicious knifings and intentional vehicular homicides perpetrated in Europe. The United Kingdom has some of the toughest gun control laws in the world.

The U.K.’s Sun newspaper in an article headlined, “Endless Knife Crime,” reported the total number of attacks involving a knife or bladed instrument recorded in 2018 rose 16 percent to 40,147, a seven-year-high.

London’s Telegraph News covered the lengthy series of intentional vehicular homicides in this report headlined, “Europe from Westminster to Nice: Vehicle rampage attacks in UK and Europe.” The gruesome list culminated with the July 14, 2016 Bastille Day slaughter in which 87 celebrants, including families with children, were killed and 458 were injured near the seafront of Nice, France, when a lorry was intentionally driven into the crowd. No gun was used to perpetrate this mass slaughter.

Watch this interview with Second Amendment attorney Stephen Halbrook, as he explains the current generous local gun laws in New Zealand, which is a peaceable society.

Ed Supe Kathy Hoffman proves too much is never enough

Hoffman’s ‘State of Education’ speech demands additional teacher’s salary increases, as she thumbs her nose at 20% raises

It was easy enough to miss — but Democrat Kathy Hoffman, Arizona’s newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, delivered her fledgling State of Education speech.

A committed leftist, her campaign of smoke and mirrors promised a sound education benefiting Arizona’s school children, many of whom are in ESL classes and not up to speed in the basics. Yet Hoffman regards sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including clear policies, support groups, and activities for LGBTQ students on the top of her list.  Her campaign website stated, “Welcoming family diversity promotes exclusivity and must be a priority for our state.”

Hoffman’s intransigent opposition to charter schools is abundantly clear, with these irrational words addressing her fears, “I do not support the expansion of ESA vouchers and will be voting NO on Prop 305 come November. If passed, Prop 305 would further defund our public schools. This is terrifying.”

The proposition was ultimately defeated by the public school teachers’ union activists* who couldn’t compete with the proliferation of excellent Charter Schools and want to deny parents choice in the education of their own children. While public school teachers went out on strike, none of the charter or parochial school teachers joined their Socialist-led parade.

Paid month’s long maternity and paternity leave is another of the policies Hoffman advocates, saying such plans would help retain teachers. Apparently working a part-time job, with lengthy holiday vacation days and summer’s off isn’t enough of an enticement.

Kathy Hoffman notes she “proudly voted to walk out” with her fellow #REDSforEd striking teachers who abandoned a reported 840,000 Arizona students for over a week in violation of their contractual agreements as they followed Socialist Pied Piper Noah Karvelis a 24-year-old hip hop music teacher and avowed Socialist. She says she was “inspired by unity within the movement.”

Lacking any leadership experience, Hoffman has spent more time as a student than as a teacher, having taught preschool for two years and two additional years as a years as a speech therapist.

After initially rejecting the outrageous demands for a 20% pay increase for their part-time jobs, Gov. Doug Ducey caved in to their threats while lying about the lack of a tax increase, using inventive language to deceive Arizona taxpayers.

We’ve been had…by politicians of both parties.

* Center for Responsive Politics

Odd border comparisons underscore news dishonesty

“Mormon migration” was never illegal. LDS settlers were American citizens

The local newspaper is up to its trickery again. This one is so bizarre readers can be excused for wondering when the punch line was coming, thinking it was a gag —- as in funny story, not retch. April is months away, but this could have passed as the intro to an April Fools’ joke.

The Arizona Republic is simply reprising its old antics, but with a new twist. The difference between illegal aliens invading and Americans relocating is clear.

Reporter Dustin Gardiner begins his article about a proposed bell monument with these words:

Tens of thousands of Arizonans trace their roots in the state back to a mass migration of Mormon settlers, who made a harrowing journey from Utah over a century ago.

They walked hundreds of miles, through rugged desert and winding red-rock canyons. The most perilous portion of the journey came when they crossed the Colorado River, then a raging force without dams. At Lees Ferry, the only safe crossing between Utah and Arizona for hundreds of miles, they ferried or floated countless wagons and livestock across the untamed river.

They made the fraught journey in search of fertile farmland and new opportunity, directed by leader Brigham Young. Many had already fled religious persecution in the Midwestern United States. Today, the legacy of that migration can be seen throughout eastern and southern Arizona, where they established communities like Mesa, Gilbert, Safford and Snowflake.

It’s the sixth paragraph where the bell, being considered for a state monument, is described as being used at the Lee’s Ferry schoolhouse.

The obvious scheme is to entice readers to make the comparison to thousands of Guatemalans, Hondurans, and El Salvadorans caravanning from Central American through Mexico to breach the U.S. border, waving flags of their native countries and hurling rocks and bottles at ICE border agents as they stampede our border. Make no mistake, the magnet is birthright citizenship.

Drawing parallels between Mormon settlers and illegal aliens is the driving farce of this force — not a typo. The Mormons were Americans. There is a vast difference between invaders and Americans moving from one place to another. Facilitating moves within your own nation is how the Schoen family who founded the U-Haul trailer and truck rental empire became billionaires.

It’s easy to envision members of the open borders editorial board thinking this comparison was nothing short of sheer brilliance, especially on the heels of U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez’ (D-IL) sneering rant (brief video) comparing the birth of the Christ child to illegals, though he admittedly had his facts skewed. He then rudely walked out of the hearing before the response from U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

The AZ Republic, which inventively used the word “seekers” in place of the overused and erroneous “migrant,” in a recent front page headline, gets it wrong again.

Violent federal prisoners fast tracked to our cities via “reforms”

A Democrat-led contrivance, S. 3649 known as the“First Step Act,” touted as a bi-partisan criminal justice reform measure has passed the senate by a vote of 87-12.  Check out Arizona senator’s votes. This is the revised text of the 149-page bill. It now proceeds to the House.

Leftist members of congress who live in walled and gated communities, claim minorities are more frequently incarcerated for crimes, and S. 3649, a kid-glove solution to reduce recidivism is the answer to getting these good folks back among us.

When the far-left Washington Post falls into deep swoon mode heaping accolades on President Trump for this ineffectual response to rising crime rates, it should set the antenna of knowledgeable conservatives on high alert.

This laxity toward criminals is what former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay characterized as a “Hug A Thug” policy in 1994. Only the dates and players have changed.  The radical agenda remains the same. This inanity was pushed by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law in alliance with Illinois liberal Sen. Dick Durbin, who previously joined with Chuck Schumer and other radicals to push amnesty for illegals, as a member of John McCain and Jeff Flake’s ill-conceived Gang of Eight.

The legislation gives judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for “nonviolent crimes, particularly drug offenders.” Those who have personal experience dealing with drug users or sellers, whose targets are often teens, would be less likely to refer to them or their often deadly activities as “non-violent.”

Another warm and fuzzy aspect involves ensuring violent federal prisoners are incarcerated no more than 500 miles from home, making it easier for family to visit more frequently. Engaging in vicious criminal activity that results in federal prison sentences is for punishment, not reunions.  Expansion of home confinement rather than time in a cell is also in the mix.

Supervised early release of some minimum or low-risk prisoners who have earned credits by participating in programs to reduce recidivism —- setting up a risk-assessment system to determine whether an inmate is likely to commit more crimes when released and improved rehabilitation programs for former prisoners are among the more reasonable aspects of this otherwise questionable program, that ultimately releases more criminals into American neighborhoods.

There are no provisions in the bill to require the Bureau of Prisons to notify victims when a prisoner is released early or to track further arrests of ex-convicts.

In this National Review op-ed titled, “What’s Really in Congress’s Justice-Reform Bill,“ Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) makes his case for opposition to the measure, he calls “flawed legislation.” It’s well worth your time.

How will Ducey handle non-striking state workers seeking raises?

Sixteen state agencies* are reported to be “requesting” pay increases for their employees. Though merit based raises have provided some pay boosts, across-the-board pay hikes haven’t been given in nearly 20 years.

Unlike the left-wing, unionist public school teachers who abandoned 840,000 Arizona students as they walked off the job in the final weeks of last school year —- in violation of their contractual agreements —- the approximately 27,000 state employees have not followed a Socialist Pied Piper or made demands.

This randomly selected school calendar clearly shows the vacation days, half days for teacher planning and teacher collaboration, lengthy Spring break, and Spring holiday (once known as Easter), Winter break and Winter holiday (previously called Christmas) —- before being neutered by liberal educrats —- including months of summer vacation time.

State workers typically get two weeks of vacation and national holidays off. They work full days and don’t get paid time off to collaborate with co-workers.

Gov. Doug Ducey initially said he would not be held hostage to the teacher’s 20% salary increase demands, then quickly acquiesced. He should have emulated President Ronald Reagan (brief video) when the PATCO union air traffic controllers walked off the job in 1981. He ultimately fired 11,345 strikers who refused to return to work, and banned them from ever holding a federal job again.

Ducey appeased educrats again by putting a liberal Dem on the Arizona Board of Regents. This action came after they showed their gratitude with a unified take-down of Republicans during the Nov. 6 General Election.

*  Departments of Child Safety; Corrections; Economic Security; Health Services; Industrial Commission; Insurance; Liquor Licensing and Control; Public Safety; Real Estate; Registrar of Contractors; Revenue; School Facilities Board; State Parks and Trails; Transportation; Veterans Services; and Water Resources.

Higher education reaches its nadir*

Illegal invaders now charity recipients, courtesy of Berkeley

Gone are the days when a university degree was indicative of attaining a higher education. Nurtured in a curriculum of liberal indoctrination from the earliest grades, students are pawns in an ideological crusade. This appalling example from Edina, Minnesota is not an anomaly, but is reflective of teaching throughout the United States.

Is it any wonder that by the time the barely out of wet-diaper toddlerdom, kindergartners are propagandized, matriculating as brainwashed high school students, ultimately reaching institutions such as Berkeley or Princeton, they engage in full-throated lunacy?

The student government at the University of California, Berkeley, “voted to financially fund the migrant caravan in a resolution passed by the student senate,” as Breitbart reported. “US imperialism and white colonialism has been implemented in Central American countries,” said a teary-eyed student, adding that she would be ashamed to see anyone in the student senate vote against funding the migrant caravan. Once again students illiterate of history accuse anyone they disagree with as being “Nazis,” although there are no brutal labor camps with ovens specially constructed for humans or gas streaming from shower heads, killing men, women and children given bars of soap to make the victims more compliant. Janet Napolitano, formerly Arizona’s radically leftist governor and Obama’s appointee as a worthless Homeland Security chieftain, is now the president of the University of California system.

On the East coast, Princeton sophomore Noa Wollstein was so offended by the “toxic masculinity” expressed in the song, “Kiss the Girl,” she was moved to write to the student newspaper, The Daily Princetonian to complain.  She declared the Disney song performed by an all-male a cappella group, the Princeton Tigertones, was misogynistic and dismissive of consent. In the cartoon film, The little Mermaid, it is sung by Sebastian a talking crab, urging him to kiss Ariel, the little mermaid.

“Remove the context of magic and mermaids,” Wollstein wrote, “and the lyrics blatantly encourage a man to try to make physical advances on a woman without her consent.”

FrontPage mag exposed, “Another week of leftist lunacy,” writing, “One worrying illustration of this comes from – none other than – the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) with, chapters at more than 500 universities and colleges throughout the U.S. According to Campus Reform, the AAUP is urging its members to combat legislative proposals meant for “the protection of free speech” on campus.”

Imagine that?

* That’s ‘rock bottom’ for those of you who graduated from an Ivy League school.