Is it humanitarian empathy, or a nihilistic death cult that desires a legal rationale for population control?  The legislative push for government assisted euthanasia in the western world is one of the most guarded topics in establishment media.  Nothing negative or critical can be said and all concerns are dismissed as “conspiracy theory”.  The government run suicide apparatus is a pure and loving function of progressive society…and how dare you suggest otherwise.

This month officials in England, Wales and Scotland will be considering legislation to legalize government assisted euthanasia (End Of Life bills), with laws similar to those passed in Canada in 2016.  

The legislation proposes letting terminally ill people end their life if they:     

– Are over 18, live in England or Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months.   

– Have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free  from coercion or pressure.    

– Be expected to die within six months.    

– Make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die.    

– Satisfy two independent doctors that they are eligible with at least seven days between each assessment.

This type of legalized suicide should be treated as distinct from the “physician assisted suicide” made available in the US in ten different states.  There is a stark difference between an individual going out on their own to seek a doctor to help them commit suicide while suffering a terminal condition, versus the government actively encouraging the public to commit suicide and helping them do it using your tax dollars.

There is plenty of room for debate in both cases, but without a doubt no government should be in the business of mass euthanizing the population.  There is far too much temptation for the practice to be expanded beyond people who are already dying.

Case in point: Canada’s euthanasia system has been in place for less than a decade and already the government is expanding suicide guidelines for people simply in need of treatment as well as people with mental health issues.  This is well beyond the scope of terminal illness.   

Keep in mind that the original argument for government euthanasia in 2016 was that it would only happen in very rare cases and only for people with severe illness and suffering great pain.  By 2017 after the first government suicide programs were put in place, officials were already arguing for wider application of the program, asserting that euthanasia could save their socialist medical system over $130 million per year in costs (this is one reason why socialist medicine is a bad idea).  In other words, killing people is much cheaper than trying to save them.

By extension, it’s also expensive to treat people for mental illness and mental illness could, technically, qualify as terminal suffering.  So why not offer them suicide options as well?  Canada has made mental illness legal grounds for government aided suicide, but the law does not go into effect until 2027.  That said, there are multiple reports of such measures being offered already, including accounts by Canadian military veterans with PTSD being told they could qualify for euthanasia.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Canadian lobby groups are calling for the legalization of government euthanasia for children; people they refer to as “Mature Minors”.  Such programs are currently in place in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands and there are efforts to do the same in Canada.  In 2022, the federally funded Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada paid for a study which argued in favor of MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying) for “mature minors”, or children over the age of 12 that were deemed mature enough to make personal medical decisions.

In other words, MAID programs start out as suicide for the terminally ill, then quietly tip-toe out to the mentally ill, and then children who are ill, and no doubt they will eventually apply to mentally ill children. 

We’ve seen this kind of Orwellian tip-toe before, but this is a highly sensitive and explosive topic.  For decades now, establishment elites have argued for carbon emissions controls and medical treatment controls in the name of supporting socialized medicine.  Government funded euthanasia is a natural consequence of these agendas.

Of course, the carbon pollution and climate change narratives are a farce (there is zero concrete evidence of causation between carbon emissions and climate change), and if socialist medicine requires a shrinking population in order to function then socialized medicine is a failed project that needs to be abandoned.

In terms of mental illness, it seems as though governments are taking advantage of people in moments of weakness and confusion and offering them an easy way out instead of a way to get better.  They don’t want the public to get better, they want you dead.

It’s interesting that the activism around legalizing suicide for minors coincides with the activism to give children medical independence without parental oversight. The transgender issue and the suicide issue appear to intersect when it comes to medical emancipation.    

Should Britain and the rest of the UK adopt government suicide programs like Canada, expect them to also exploit healthcare costs and mental health problems as reasons for more death.  As of 2024, 1 out of every 20 deaths in Canada was a government assisted suicide.  If they bring children and people dealing with mental illness into the equation, that ratio will skyrocket even further.  This is not a rare procedure, it’s a social mainstay.  

If the west continues on this path, forget about trying to reverse the decline in population growth.  Get ready instead for a swift population collapse.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

If you go to the Vancouver International Auto Show, you can see all the new models. However, if you want to see a Tesla, you must go down the road to check out a car without a political litmus test. The organizers are just the latest group to join the mob retaliating against Elon Musk for working with the Trump Administration to remove waste and fraud in government through his DOGE program. What was most striking was the pathetic rationalization of the organization for engaging in political retaliation.

According to the Canadian Auto Dealer, the organizers claimed a common rationalization for political discrimination: security. As we have seen on college campuses for years, where conservative speakers are barred due to security concerns, the Canadians claimed that they could not protect innocent parties if a single Tesla was allowed on the floor. Furthermore, they blamed Tesla, insisting the company was given “multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw.”

In other words, we only cancelled Musk when he refused to cancel himself.

Tesla already had a booth set up and had to take it down.

So, the solution to extremists is to give them precisely what they demand.

After all, some on the left are committing political violence and claiming that they were triggered by the mere appearance of Teslas or other symbols. This week, another person wearing a MAGA hit was assaulted. The woman was triggered by the hat on the head of a 72-year-old man so she attacked him.

The Canadians appear willing collaborators in this retaliation. Rather than simply posting proper security, they banished the victim of the political violence. By blaming it on Tesla, they can throw up their hands and say “we tried” but Tesla was unreasonable.

It is the same rationalization heard from those arrested for political violence.

For example, Natasha Cohen, 46, is a New York therapist, was arrested for vandalizing Teslas and explained that she is “living in terror every day.” It is a familiar refrain as the rise in political violence becomes undeniable. On Friday, New York Times Chief White House Correspondent and MSNBC Political Analyst Peter Baker came under fire for admitting that leftist violence is on the rise, but noting that Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric “might excite people to take action.”

Cohen explained that it is all Elon’s fault:

“Every time I see those cars, I see Elon Musk saluting the country as a Nazi…I made a mistake because I’m basically living in terror every day that the country is turning into Nazi Germany. I’m truly terrified, because Elon was unelected and they’re deporting migrants without a trial.”

However, people like Cohen are now safe from being triggered at the Vancouver International Auto Show. The organizers are only banning those who refuse to ban themselves.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Putin warned in March 2024 that Russia might set up a “security zone” inside Ukraine in response to cross-border strikes and raids, which it then began to do two months later that May after Russian troops made a fresh push into Kharkov Region at the time. Regrettably, the incursion didn’t penetrate too deeply, and later that summer Ukraine launched a sneak attack against Russia’s Kursk Region. It was only earlier this year that Russia finally expelled all Ukrainian troops from there with North Korean assistance.

Nevertheless, Putin just announced late last week that “a decision has been made to create a buffer security zone along the Russian border” with Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk Regions, thus meaning inside the corresponding Ukrainian regions of Kharkov (once again), Sumy, and Chernigov. Unlike last year’s attempt, this latest one might be more successful due to the very different context within which it’s being pursued, particularly as regards the conflict’s new diplomatic and military dynamics.

Regarding the first, “The Devil’s In The Details As Trump Announced ‘Immediate’ Russian-Ukrainian Ceasefire Talks” right after his latest call with Putin, the details of which readers can learn more about from the preceding hyperlinked analysis. Its relevance to Putin’s newly announced buffer zone plan is that his declaration might initially be intended as a form of pressure upon Zelensky to coerce him into having Ukraine finally comply with Russia’s demanded concessions for politically resolving the conflict.

As for the second, it was assessed in mid-March that “Russia Might Expand Its Ground Campaign Into Sumy, Dniepropetrovsk, And/Or Kharkov Regions”, with Dniepropetrovsk being mentioned instead of Chernigov since Russian forces are approaching its border from Donbass after going around Pokrovsk. Crossing that administrative frontier into a region that Russia doesn’t (yet?) claim as its own could circumvent Ukraine’s formidable defenses in central Zaporozhye and lead to that region’s swift capture.

In connection with these dynamics, RT chief Margarita Simonyan clarified that the Russian delegation in Istanbul didn’t threaten that their country would claim an additional Ukrainian region if Ukraine doesn’t withdraw from the four disputed ones, but four more for a total of eight regions (not counting Crimea). These could conceivably be all or part of Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov, and Dniepropetrovsk Regions given Russia’s latest buffer zone plan unless Ukraine agrees to its demanded concessions before then.

With that plan in mind and seeing as how those four regions, Kiev, Cherkassy, and Poltava are either entirely or partially east of the Dnieper, Russia might add to its list of demands by calling for the creation of a totally demilitarized “Trans-Dnieper” region controlled by non-Western peacekeepers. This could either complement its original demand for demilitarizing the entirety of Ukraine or be presented as a compromise in exchange for letting Ukraine do whatever it wants on the other side of the river.

Regardless of whether that proposal is put forth, Putin’s newly announced buffer zone plan shows that Russia is expanding its goals, which makes sense considering that it’s winning and that Ukraine still refuses to comply with its demanded concessions for politically resolving the conflict. The longer that Ukraine refuses to agree to peace on Russia’s terms, the more land that it stands to lose, which might ultimately be much more than anyone expects if the US soon abandons Ukraine in order to cut its losses.

Another ballistic missile fired from Yemen has targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel on Friday, in reportedly the third such attack on Israel within 24 hours.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the fresh attack in a televised statement, saying “The Houthi forces targeted Ben Gurion Airport with a hypersonic ballistic missile” and that the attack “successfully achieved its goal.”

While the Houthis have repeatedly claimed “hypersonic” missile attacks over several weeks, there’s as yet no evidence that they possess this advanced technology. Still, it has become clear that Israel’s advanced air defense systems at time have trouble intercepting the inbound projectiles, as a May 4th attack demonstrated.

The Houthis spokesman claimed of this new Friday attack that it caused “millions of Zionist settlers to flee to shelters and halted airport operations.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged an inbound missile, which set off warning sirens in central Israel, but did not indicate any ground strikes or damage:

Early on Friday morning, sirens blared across Tel Aviv as a result of the Yemeni missile. The Israeli army said in a statement that it intercepted the missile. 

A Yemeni missile was also intercepted by Israeli air defenses on Thursday afternoon, following an earlier missile attack, which Tel Aviv also said it intercepted.

The Houthis have been stepping up attacks on Israel in recent weeks, and after a few major waves of Israeli strikes on Yemen, which destroyed the international airport in Sanaa. 

While such Israeli retaliation has clearly caused much damage and death inside Yemen, the constant Houthi fire is also impacting Israel – at least on an economic and logistical level. 

Times of Israel reports Friday on more foreign carriers suspending operations at Israeli airports:

British Airways joins the growing list of companies extending their cancellation of flights to and from Israel following the Houthi missile strike near Ben Gurion Airport at the beginning of the month.

Hebrew media reports that British Airways has extended its suspension until the end of July.

Below is a montage of images from the May 4th ballistic missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport:

The fact that the US military is drawing down its Red Sea anti-Houthi operations, after the Trump-proclaimed ceasefire earlier this month, appears to have freed up the Houthis’ ability to focus more firepower directly on Israel.

Last Friday the Israeli government announced an expansion of Gaza operations – so these missile attacks out of Yemen will likely only grow. The Houthis have further said they have added Haifa port to its target bank.

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

On the road in Iran – The International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) is one of the most crucial geoeconomic/infrastructure projects of the 21st century. 

It unites at its core three key BRICS nations – Russia, Iran and India – branching out to the Caucasus and Central Asia.

When fully operational, the INSTC will offer a full trade/connectivity corridor sanctions-free, cheaper and faster than the Suez canal to a great deal of Eurasia. The geoeconomic consequences will be staggering.

To re-visit Iran in these times of geopolitical trouble, relentless “maximum pressure”, red lines on uranium enrichment and bombing threats could not be more pressing – and enlightening.

Total Connectivity: Highway, Mosque, Bazaar

By an auspicious turn of events, the old school reportage/investigation actually became the plot line of a documentary, produced in Iran, shot by an outstanding crew, and to be broadcast in several parts of Eurasia, including Russia. Here we offer the broad strokes of our travel to the heart of the INSTC.

We started with a series of interviews in Tehran, with Central Asia analysts and most of all Mostafa Agham, the top expert of Behineh Tarabar Azhour, a transportation and logistics firm specialized in Eurasia railway corridors. These analyses offered contrasting points of view on where the INSTC should go next and what are its main challenges.

Travel along Iran’s main artery, from Tehran to Bandar Abbas, was a must – as it will conform the trans-Iran north-to-south highway axis of the corridor. That doubles of course as a cultural and spiritual pilgrimage, which in our case featured plenty of auspicious overtones.

We arrived at fabled Isfahan past sunset, which allowed us to visit the Masjed-e Shah – or “Royal” – mosque virtually undisturbed. The Royal mosque – one of the highlights of Islamic architecture – sits on the south side of the Naghsh-e square in Isfahan, one of the most extraordinary public squares in the history of art and architecture, rivaling, and arguably surpassing San Marco in Venice.

A visit to the Isfahan bazaar is also inevitable. I was looking for an old friend who sold nomad carpets – in the end, because of slow business, he relocated to Portugal – just to find his sort of heir, young, energetic, who apart from pointing me to a spectacular, rare tribal rug from northeast Iran close to the Afghan border, gave me a crash course on the effects of sanctions and the perpetual demonization of Iran in the West (“Turkey has 40 million tourists; we have two or three”). Isfahan’s neat and extremely organized bazaar offers quality handicrafts to rival Istanbul, but there’s essentially domestic tourism, sprinkled with a few foreigners mostly from Central and South Asia and some from China.

On the way back to Tehran we learned that, being a Tuesday, the revered Haram of Fatima Masumeh, the daughter of the 7th Imam Musa, in Qom was open all night. Nothing prepares the pilgrim for an arrival at nearly two in the morning to an apotheosis of gold and crystals in the heart of Qom, Iran’s second most sacred city after Mashhad. Only a few pilgrims paying their respects, some strolling around the shrine with their families or reading the Quran. A moment of quiet illumination.

Afterwards it was time to hit the Caspian, and the port of Bandar Anzali, the proverbial “international bridge” where, in theory, cargo ships from Astrakhan in the Russian Caspian, as well as other Caspian-bordering states will start arriving ern masse via the INSTC. In Bandar Anzali, Iran essentially imports petrochemicals, construction materials, minerals, and iron products and exports grains (soybeans, corn, barley, wheat) and crude oil.

In Tehran, Mostafa Agham, the connectivity expert, had explained in detail that perhaps the multimodal drive of the INSTC across the Caspian may not be the best idea. The Russians prefer to build a railway bordering the western margins of the Caspian; and another possibility is to use a network of already functioning railways from southcentral Russia, across Kazakhstan all the way to Aktau, by the Caspian, and then connecting across Turkmenistan to Tehran.

It’s only via a close up on Bandar Anzali that one understands the Russian rationale. One of our cameramen, in delightful broken English, coined an instant hit: “Port no exist”. Translation: the infrastructure has not been upgraded in decades, which brings us to the devastating effects of sanctions, visible in several nodes of Iran. China will have a lot of work to do as part of their 20-year strategic partnership, where energy-for-infrastructure is a central plank.

Break To The Border!

Bandar Abbas, in the Persian (italics mine) Gulf, is a completely different story. That’s Iran’s main port, and a key node of the INSTC, to be connected to Mumbai and already connected to the big ports in eastern China. We had all the hard-to-get necessary permits to explore Shahid Rajae-i Special Economic Zone, crammed with containers from shipping firms such as West Asia Express and unloading scores of Chinese container cargos. The uber-strategic Strait of Hormuz is only 39 km to the south. A few days after our visit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian went straight to the point, referring to proverbial Trump threats: “Block our oil, and we’ll block the world’s energy.” Iran can do it – in a flash; were that to happen, the collapse of the global economy is guaranteed.

Additionally, port authorities explained that the recent explosion on Shahid Rajae-i – attributed to “negligence”, still under investigation and somewhat mired in controversy – was not in the port itself, but in a storage area 10 km away.

From the Persian Gulf we fly to the Sea of Oman – and infrastructure problems ride again: there are only two flights a week. We arrive at a minuscule military airport outside the future superstar of the INSTC: the port of Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Baluchis are exceedingly cool, cousins to the ones on the other side of the border, in Pakistan. In bustling Chabahar, the lineaments of a boom town are quite visible.

A long walk in the port side by side with Alireza Jahan, a logistics expert and then a conversation with Mohammad Saeid Arbabi, the Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of the Chabahar Free Trade Zone could not be more enlightening.

Jahan explains how Chabahar is essential to Iran’s East Axis, serving over 20 million people not only in huge Sistan-Baluchistan but also three other Khorasan provinces, and further on to Kerman. So Chabahar is the port for an enormous hinterland, while its competitor, Gwadar in the Arabian Sea in Pakistan, only 80 km away or so, is virtually isolated.

Jahan also explains Indian investment. Tehran is investing heavily in the infrastructure and superstructure of Chabahar port, while India is investing in equipment: the Italian cranes around the port came from India. Arbabi, at the Free Trade Zone, expands on the international profile of Chabahar, which will be an absolutely key node not only for landlocked Afghanistan but also the Central Asian “stans”.

And that brings us to the local highway saga: Chabahar to Zahedan, in the Afghan border, 632 km, already an “acceptable road”, and with a companion railway to be built within the next three years, everything 100% financed by the Iranian government.

Progress at the port is steady – slowly but surely. For the moment Chabahar receives three ships from India a month and two ships from China, plus three from the Persian Gulf. The distance from Mumbai is only 4 days, and from Shanghai, 15 days. The potential for expansion is limitless.

From Chabahar, it’s on the road bliss along the spectacular, strategic, oil-drenched, semi-desert Makran coast, bordering the immaculate Sea of Oman all the way to the Arabian Sea. History looms large: this is where Alexander the Great lost as much as 75% of his army to dehydration and starvation when he was retreating across the desert to Macedonia after his tortuous two-year invasion of India.

Due to a concert of economic and ecological reasons, there have been plans for quite a while to relocate the capital, Tehran, to the Makran coast. Chabahar in this case would be the ideal candidate: free port, INSTC connectivity between Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. India – which needs to step up its geoeconomic game – has noticed it. And China certainly did; Chinese companies are bound to invest massively in Chabahar – the de facto key node for South Eurasia integration.

By Emily Sturge of CampusReform

This graduation season, three universities in California and a university in Washington will hold “UndocuGraduation” ceremonies to celebrate illegal immigrant students. 

Universities paired the event announcements with commitments to protect the identities of student attendees by not releasing any “data related to immigration status” unless presented with a “judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order,” according to a message on behalf of the California State University system. 

“Immigration enforcement is the responsibility of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not the university,” a message from California State University Long Beach states. 

California State University, Longbeach (CSULB) will host a “Beyond Borders Graduation Celebration” for illegal immigrant students on May 10, according to a university webpage. 

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) will host an “UndocuGraduation” ceremony May 3, according to an Instagram post. 

“Join us at UndocuGraduation to honor your achievement as an undocumented, DACAmented, or mixed status graduating Matador,” the event page states. 

The event will be hosted by CSUN’s DREAM Center, which is part of the university’s student union and provides resources such as an “Immigration Preparedness Toolkit.”

CSUN is also instructing students to report “ICE sighting[s] on campus” and sharing guidelines explaining what to do if you are an illegal immigrant approached by immigration officers. 

The university is providing “red cards” that direct illegal immigrants on how to act if approached by law enforcement and instructing illegal immigrant students to “give the red card to the agent,” per a social media post. 

“Do not open the door…do not answer any questions…do not sign anything,” the red card reads. 

California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) will host an “Undocu Recognition Celebration” May 3.

The website describes the ceremony as “an event where we celebrate the undocumented graduating students and their accomplishments through their higher education career.”

It will be hosted by the university’s “Titan Dreamers Resource Center,” a campus resource dedicated to providing resources to illegal immigrant students, including “immigration legal services, personal and professional development programs, and connecting students to financial and academic resources.”

The Titan Dreamers Resource Center at CSUF is also holding a “Pan-Afrikan Recognition Celebration” in partnership with the university’s Black Faculty and Staff Association, an “Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American Recognition Celebration,” a “Nuestra Graduación” for “Latinx students,” and a Lavender graduation ceremony for LGBTQ+ students. 

In a nearby state, the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle will hold an “Undocu Graduation Celebration” on May 23. 

The ceremony will be hosted by the university’s Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, which previously held an “Undocu Student Wellness Day” event for illegal immigrant students in January.

At the January event, the university invited illegal immigrant students to “Join us for destressing through arts and crafts, grabbing a snack, and watching a movie,” the Ethnic Cultural Center shared on Instagram. 

UW will also hold a Black Graduation Celebration, Filipino Graduation Celebration, Latine Graduation Celebration, Native Graduation Celebration, and Pasifik Graduation Celebration. 

“CSU Fullerton and all Cal State Universities work to ensure all students feel welcomed and have the tools they need to succeed, regardless of immigration status,” a message from the university states. 

The retail price for regular-grade gasoline in the United States on May 19, the Monday before Memorial Day weekend, averaged $3.17 per gallon (gal), 11% (or 41 cents/gal) lower than the price a year ago. Thanks to the ongoing slide in oil prices, after adjusting for inflation (real terms) average U.S. retail gasoline prices going into Memorial Day weekend are 14% lower than last year, according to EIA calculations. They are in fact, lower than where they were coming into Memorial Day every year this decade except 2020, in the immediate aftermath of covid.

Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest travel weekends of the year, and many of those travelers will go by car. The American Automobile Association (AAA) expects 39.4 million people will travel by car over Memorial Day weekend this year, an increase of 3% compared with last year.

Substantially lower crude oil prices, the main component of retail gasoline prices, have kept retail gasoline prices lower than usual going into spring. From May 1 to May 19, Brent crude oil prices averaged $64 per barrel (b), 20% less in real terms than in January and 26% less than in May 2024. Concerns about future economic growth, record-high U.S. crude oil production, and, more recently, announcements that OPEC+ will accelerate crude oil production increases have contributed to falling crude oil prices.

Retail gasoline prices on the Monday before Memorial Day weekend are only 4% (or 13 cents/gal) higher than on the first Monday of January. Retail gasoline prices typically increase much more than that as gasoline demand increases going into the summer driving season and retailers are required to start selling more expensive summer-grade gasoline. Over the last 10 years and excluding 2020, retail gasoline prices increased 19% (or 49 cents/gal) on average from January to May.

U.S. gasoline prices vary regionally, reflecting local supply and demand conditions, state fuel specifications, and state taxes. Retail gasoline prices are usually the highest on the West Coast because of:

• The region’s limited connections with other major refining centers
• Tight local supply and demand conditions
• Higher-than-average state taxes in several West Coast states
• Gasoline specifications for California that make gasoline more costly to manufacture

On May 19, West Coast prices averaged $4.29/gal, down 10% in real terms from this time last year.

Gasoline prices on the Gulf Coast are usually the lowest of any U.S. region. Gulf Coast states are home to more than half of U.S. refining capacity, and more gasoline is produced than is consumed in the region. Gulf Coast states also have lower gasoline taxes than the national average. Gulf Coast prices on May 19 averaged $2.79/gal, down 13% from this time last year.

On the East Coast, which has the most gasoline demand of the five regions, retail gasoline prices averaged $2.99/gal, down 17% from 2024.

Prices are also down in the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains compared with last year. Midwest prices averaged $3.03/gal, down 15% from the previous year, and Rocky Mountains prices averaged $3.13/gal, down 12% from 2024 after adjusting for inflation.

By Micaiah Bilger of The College Fix

3 in 4 parents of college-age students also oppose men in women’s spaces

A majority of parents with college-age students want universities to stop prioritizing race in hiring and scholarship decisions, a new poll from Defending Education found.

The results showed a majority of parents “are at odds with our country’s higher education institutions on several contentious issues that are consistently in today’s political dialogue,” according to a news release. Defending Education works to rid education of ideological agendas.

In the poll, which involved parents of 15- to 21-year-old students, 54 percent said universities should not prioritize a student’s race when awarding scholarships, and 57 percent said the same about hiring employees.

Racial preferences are still a problem at universities, College Fix investigations have found.

Recently, the University of Michigan-Flint revised a physical therapy training program to no longer exclude students on the basis of race, following a federal civil rights complaint and a College Fix inquiry.

The University of Rhode Island prioritizes hiring people “of color” in its strategic plan, according to another recent Fix report.

Meanwhile, the University of California Los Angeles medical school is facing a lawsuit alleging it discriminates against white and Asian students in its admissions process, The Fix reported earlier this week.

The Defending Education poll found strong concerns among parents about other issues as well, including men in women’s sports and antisemitism.

Three in four parents said men who identify as women should not be allowed to use women’s restrooms or compete in women’s sports.

Nearly 70 percent also said universities should discipline students who disrupt campus events because they disagree with them.

Other results from the poll include:

– 88 percent of parents support universities being required to disclose any money accepted from foreign governments.

– 67 percent of parents support universities offering or requiring more training for faculty and staff to properly address and identify antisemitism and Jewish discrimination on campus.

– 84 percent of parents feel that it is concerning universities are launching remedial math courses since high school graduates are not coming prepared for college level math courses.

Paul Runko, director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, said in a news release that the results did not surprise him.

He said most parents and students believe college should be “academically rigorous, open to diverse viewpoints, and focused on preparing graduates for meaningful careers.”

“Colleges and universities should take note when families express concern about campus climates—calling for environments free from political extremism, ideological agendas, antisemitism, and campus disruptions,” Runko stated.

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis says that China represents an “existential threat” to the United States and that the agency’s top priority is outpacing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a high-stakes technological arms race that spans semiconductors, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence.

“China is the existential threat to American security in a way we really have never confronted before,” Ellis told Axios in an interview published on May 21, adding that a key CIA objective is to help U.S. companies maintain a “decisive technological advantage” to counter the CCP’s malign actions against the homeland.

In separate remarks, including an interview at the beginning of May with investor Anthony Pompliano, Ellis emphasized that President Donald Trump’s intelligence team is laser-focused on denying China any strategic edge, especially in advanced technologies that underpin both the economy and national defense. 

However, fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing are not areas that the U.S. intelligence community (IC) has traditionally been much involved in—and the CIA is looking to change that.

“The IC is very good at … counting Soviet tanks … to be ready for a possible conflict in Europe in the Cold War,” Ellis said. 

“But … when you ask the IC to look at issues … where Chinese companies are in artificial intelligence research, it’s not one that we’ve been well-positioned historically to think about.”

As part of its shift in focus toward the tech race against adversaries such as China, the CIA is looking to develop more resources, including personnel, Ellis said, adding that this includes recruiting people with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“We need more people with science and technology backgrounds, which is again a little different than the global war on terrorism mindset of the last 20 years,” he said, adding that the CIA is also increasingly looking at partnering with private-sector leaders—including recent consultations with Elon Musk—on how to cut waste, adopt artificial intelligence tools, and stay ahead of adversaries using emerging technologies like drone swarms.

The deputy director’s remarks echo a sharply-worded warning from former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who, before his resignation, called the Chinese regime “the defining threat of our generation” after revealing that hackers linked to the CCP had infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure and were waiting for the right moment to strike a “devastating blow.”

Ellis’s concerns are also reinforced by the intelligence community’s latest threat assessment, which identifies China as “the most active and persistent cyber threat” facing the United States—particularly when it comes to government systems, critical infrastructure, and the private sector.

Beijing’s cyber campaign includes operations such as Volt Typhoon, a state-backed effort to infiltrate key U.S. systems and maintain covert, long-term access to vital infrastructure. A more recent campaign, known as Salt Typhoon, has targeted U.S. telecommunications networks, underscoring the regime’s expanding digital reach and operational sophistication in targeting critical infrastructure in America.

The report warns that in the event of a looming military conflict with Washington, especially over Taiwan, China could launch aggressive cyber strikes against U.S. military and civilian networks. These would be intended to disrupt command decisions, generate chaos among the public, and hinder the rapid deployment of American forces.