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Coming November 9…

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Heather Mac Donald, a member of the Manhattan Institute, is author of “The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture.”

Register here.

Erica Ausch: The Last Holocaust Survivor in Hampton Roads?

Erica Ausch flanked by daughter Jodie Woodward and granddaughter Liza Woodward

by Kerry Dougherty

More than 80 years ago the Nazis began “cleansing” Europe of Jews. The reign of terror began with hate and harassment. It moved on to expulsion and finally to the death camps. Initially the rest of the world didn’t know what was happening.

By the time they noticed, six million Jews were dead.

Maybe, if the world had seen what happened to the Reisner family in an idyllic Austrian town at the start of the Holocaust, many lives could have been spared.

The horror of what happened two weeks ago in Israel is a raw reminder that there are those in the world who still want to eradicate Jews.

As a result, 89-year-old Erica Reisner Ausch is worried.

This cheerful and energetic Virginia Beach resident, who teaches water aerobics in the summer and plays Mahjong with her friends all year long, has spent the last two weeks fretting about what the deadly attacks on innocent Israelis means for the future.

Erica Ausch was a married woman with children before she learned the truth about her family: They were not refugees from Austria as she’d been told by her parents who wanted to protect her from the truth, but Holocaust survivors. She was two years old when Germany annexed Austria and when the Nazis stormed her little town of Kittsee. Continue reading

Jeanine’s Memes

From the Bull Elephant

 

Quote of the Day: Abigail Spanberger

“For me there is no equivalence between armed, individual militants going into a home, shooting parents in front of their children, killing children, lighting babies on fire, burning down entire kibbutz and military action going after military targets, terrorist perpetrators of a horrible massacre. Those are different things.”

So said Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in an exchange with a University of Virginia student yesterday. The Daily Progress has the story here. — JAB

Jeanine’s Memes

From The Bull Elephant

Abigail Shrier Will Be Livestreamed Tonight

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Abigail Shrier, author of “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” will be speaking tonight (Oct. 11) at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Virginia. Register here.

If you can’t make it to Charlottesville, you can livestream the event by clicking here.

A Native Virginian Hero

Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller (USMC)

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

A family plot in the cemetery of a church in the Northern Neck completed in 1714 is the final resting place of a Virginia native who was one of the United States’ modern heroes.

A highway historic marker caught my eye this weekend while I was exploring the Northern Neck on my way back home from a conference in the Newport News area and I decided to visit the grave site of a man whom I had heard much about:  Marine Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller.

Puller was the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. He was awarded five Navy Crosses (second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor for the Navy), the only person to receive that many. In addition to the Navy Crosses, he was awarded the Army equivalent, the Distinguished Service Medal, as well as the Army Silver Medal. Along with those medals and other awards, he was awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded in battle. Continue reading

Jeanine’s Memes

From the Bull Elephant.

Free Speech and the Abigail Shrier Event

by James A. Bacon

It is gratifying to see the editors of The Cavalier Daily engage in an exchange of ideas, albeit indirectly through dueling editorials, with conservative proponents of free speech at The Jefferson Independent, the University of Virginia’s independent student publication, and The Jefferson Council.

It is even more gratifying to see that the CD editors embrace a principle in an editorial yesterday with which we whole-heartedly agree: “Free speech does not guarantee comfort” (even though we’re pretty sure that it’s our comfort that deserves no guarantee, not their own).

However, even as they tout the University of Virginia’s No. 6 ranking in the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) 2024 free speech survey, the authors argue that there are justifiable limits on speech — and that those limits should apply to people at UVa whose views they happen to dislike.

The event precipitating the editorial is the impending visit to UVa of Abigail Shrier, a journalist whose writings about the role of social contagion in the spread of transgender identity among adolescent girls has triggered trans activists across the country. “We must … recognize that certain types of speech simply should not be tolerated here on Grounds,” writes the editorial board, “even if this speech is technically permissible under the law.” Continue reading

A Progressive Dirty Trick: Tell Republican Voters that the Democrat is a Republican

by the staff of Liberty Unyielding

Voting is underway in Virginia’s legislative elections, where early voting started on September 22. To try to win a very close race, progressives are telling Republican voters that the Republican candidate is a Democrat, and the Democratic candidate is a Republican. This is occurring in House District 97, which the Virginia Public Access Project rates as one of Virginia’s most “competitive” legislative districts.

The progressive Policy Information Center sent mail to Republican voters in the district telling them that the Republican incumbent, Karen Greenhalgh, is a Democrat, and that Michael Feggans, the Democratic candidate, is a Republican. Here is an image of the mail that was sent:

The Policy Information Center is a facade for Forward Majority, a progressive PAC that claims that “Our democracy is in crisis” because of a “systematic assault” by the “GOP.”

Pundits such as Chaz Nuttycombe say the race in House District 97 is too close to call. Nuttycombe says the Virginia Beach seat is one of three House seats that is a “toss-up.” Continue reading

The Fog of Political Campaigns

Del. Kim Taylor (R) Photo Credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

During the campaign season, I often get so frustrated with the pronouncements of candidates that I wish I could publicly pose questions that they would have to answer. The most recent example comes from a story in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch about the highly competitive House race in the Petersburg area.

The incumbent, Del. Kim Taylor (R) says she “wants harsher punishments for opioid dealers.” To be fair to the delegate, that is a common refrain among a lot of politicians. I have two questions:

  1. The type of opioids that are primarily abused are Schedule I or II drugs. The current statutory penalty for the distribution of Schedule I or II drugs is a sentence of five to 40 years. For the second conviction, the sentence range is five years to life, with a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. If the possibility of a 5 to 40-year sentence is not enough of a deterrent, what sentence would you propose?
  2. You have been in the legislature for two years. Why haven’t you introduced a bill to increase the sentence for opioid dealers?

The three top priorities of her Democratic opponent, Kimberly Adams, are

Kimberly Adams (D) Photo credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch

“building affordable housing, keeping the community safe from violence and preserving abortion rights.” Who could argue with building affordable housing and keeping the community safe from violence? The question I would ask is: What specific actions do you propose to accomplish these goals? As for abortion rights, she was specific on that. She supports the current law.

Jeanine’s Memes

From the Bull Elephant

LaRock Launches Senate Write-In Campaign

by Jeanine Martin

A message from Republican Del. Dave LaRock:

“I believe people are tired of Democrats destroying our Country and our communities and trying to run our lives. The people of Senate District 1, me included, deserve to be represented by a reliable conservative, someone who shares their values and can be trusted to represent them well, to serve the people, not the special interests.

“I’m extremely honored to have served the Northern Shenandoah Valley in the House of Delegates for ten years. SD-1 is already losing the influence and experience of Senators Jill Vogel and Mark Obenshain and Delegate Webert.

“If we go forward without the strong conservative voice I bring to the legislature, many conservative leaders are convinced that we are going to miss out on meaningful reforms and see our rights further eroded. Continue reading

Doesn’t Anyone Read These Things To See If They Make Sense?

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

In preparing my recent article on tax cuts, I was going to include a section on the need for increases in teacher salaries. In researching the issue, I discovered that the Department of Education (DOE) submits to the General Assembly a survey of teacher salaries in Virginia.

I was delighted because that was exactly the type of data I needed. However, as I went through the numbers, I came to the conclusion that I could not use them. There were so many anomalies that I could not trust the numbers. Continue reading

Jeanine’s Memes


From the Bull Elephant