<h2>Understanding synthetic biology (synbio)</h2><h3>What it is</h3>We've been hearing a lot about synthetic biology in terms of synthetic foods, yet synbio is more than just an attempt to recreate food, which Frontline News has <a href="https://frontline.news/post/got-milk-it-may-not-be-real" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">written</a> about in relationship to synthetic “milk.” Synbio genetic engineers are also interested in reproducing biological organisms and creating new biological products not found in nature. Following are a few definitions of synbio to show what it encompasses:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> - making new biological products or redesigning existing ones:<blockquote>Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms, and it applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nature. -&nbsp;</blockquote><a href="https://www.newhope.com/industry-insights/synthetic-biology-test-could-force-the-natural-products-industry-to-define-its-position" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Hope Network</a> - using fermentation as mini-factories to recreate natural products:<blockquote>Ultimately, synbio is an attempt to re-create something that occurs in nature by using microorganisms to act as mini-factories,” explains Dana Perls, food and technology program manager at Friends of the Earth.&nbsp;</blockquote><a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Synthetic-Biology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genome.gov</a> - redesigning organisms for new purposes and recreating substances in nature through artificial means:<blockquote>Synthetic biology is a field of science that involves redesigning organisms for useful purposes by engineering them to have new abilities. Synthetic biology researchers and companies around the world are harnessing the power of nature to solve problems in medicine, manufacturing and agriculture.Redesigning organisms so that they produce a substance, such as a medicine or fuel, or gain a new ability, such as sensing something in the environment, are common goals of synthetic biology projects.&nbsp;</blockquote><a href="https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/culture-of-disruption/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jim Thomas, in an interview with Eco Farming Daily</a> - treating biology as a computer program (Jim Thomas is a technology historian and long-time critic of the biotech industry):<blockquote>The core assumptions of synthetic biology are that life is a sort of computer program, that DNA is like a code and that a cell or living organism is like a computer or a machine. As long as you can “reprogram” the DNA — the instructions — then you can engineer the machine to do whatever you want it to do.&nbsp;</blockquote><h3>Products created using synthetic biology</h3><a href="https://www.newhope.com/industry-insights/synthetic-biology-test-could-force-the-natural-products-industry-to-define-its-position" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Hope Network</a> author Melaina Juntti said that many synbio products are already in many foods and are finding their way into dietary supplement supply chains, also. She referred to the Non-GMO Project's director of marketing and communications, Hans Eisenbeis, who said that some synbio products have already been commercialized or are in development such as “vanillin and other flavorings, several colorants, CBD, collagen, plant-based proteins, dairy proteins, vitamins, omegas, probiotics and dairy milk proteins.”&nbsp;In addition to Eisenbeis's list, Health Research Institute–HRI Labs chairman and chief scientist, John Fagan, Ph.D., added “astaxanthin, resveratrol, and squalene to the growing list.”<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20122-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nature</a> provides this list of synbio&nbsp;generated products:<ul><li>Hemme used to make the “blood” for the Impossible Burger: “The yeast Pichia pastoris was engineered to produce soy leghemoglobin, which improves meaty flavors and aromas when added to a plant-based burger.”</li><li>Other synbio products created by fermenting yeast include Vitamin E, stevia, and milk whey. Plant pathways to pharmaceuticals include taxadiene (Taxol precursor), steroids, THC, and opiates. “An early landmark achievement to make the anti-malarial Artimisin was taken into production by Sanofi, but was discontinued because the cost was higher than sourcing it from the plant.”</li><li>Januvia (sitgaliptin) is a diabetes medication manufactured by Merck. “It is the 95th most-prescribed drug with ~107 prescriptions and $1.35 billion in annual sales.”</li><li>Hyaline transparent and flexible film for electronics.&nbsp;</li><li>ProveN fertilizer being applied to corn. “Pivot Bio has created the first biological fertilizer for corn based on a γ-proteobacterium (KV137) that associates with corn roots and has the necessary genes to fix nitrogen. However, the genes are off when most needed, so synthetic biology was used to turn the genes on, which guided the remodeling of the KV137 genome.”</li><li>Kymriah, a treatment for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia by Novartis, is produced by genetically modifying a patient’s T cells and is deemed an “effective living therapy.” Using engineered living cells for therapeutic purposes has been considered to be the “3rd pillar of medicine.” &nbsp;Kymriah (Tisagenlecleucel) is the first of its type to receive FDA approval.</li><li>Calyno high-oleic oil from soy “is the first product from a genome-edited plant to enter the United States food supply.” Calyno manufacturer Calyxt edited the soy genome to reduce the amount of unstable linoleic acid to create an oil containing 80% oleic acid rather than 20% in unmodified oil. To do this, Calyxt inactivated two fatty acid desaturase genes that reduce the production of the unstable linoleic acid.&nbsp;</li></ul>Nature author Chris Voigt provides a futuristic look at what else might be done with synbio such as bee-copters to transport people and trees that grow into houses. Scientists are looking to create biology-derived components. Voigt says that “[t]he next decade will see more products that derive their superior performance and affordability from engineered biology.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Synthetic-Biology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genome.gov</a> provides some examples of what scientists are producing with synthetic biology,:<blockquote><ul><li>Microorganisms harnessed for bioremediation to clean pollutants from our water, soil and air.</li><li>Rice modified to produce beta-carotene, a nutrient usually associated with carrots, that prevents vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness in 250,000 - 500,000 children every year and greatly increases a child's risk of death from infectious diseases.</li><li>Yeast engineered to produce rose oil as an eco-friendly and sustainable substitute for real roses that perfumers use to make luxury scents.</li></ul></blockquote><h2>What could go wrong?</h2>According to Thomas, original GMOs which involved moving a single gene from one organism to another consistently produced unexpected results. Synthetic biology which is more complex will certainly lead to a greater degree of unexpected results. One such scenario, he said, would involve an organism engineered to break down cellulose that gets out into the environment:<blockquote>Let’s say you have an organism engineered to break down cellulose. If it got out into the environment, there is plenty of cellulose in our houses, clothes and fields to survive on. And we don’t know how it would change with evolution or whether it would produce toxins. Those are some of the worrying scenarios.</blockquote>Thomas wasn't pulling an example out of the air, either. He recounted a previous experience with a GMO bacteria that was designed to break down cellulose, but astute researchers discovered that it would yield unwanted results and were able to halt its release before it could do damage:<blockquote>Klebsiella planticola was a bacterium genetically engineered to break down cellulose. Fortunately, a couple of researchers looking at its impacts in the soil found that it would produce an alcohol that would kill plant roots and they were able to halt the release before it happened</blockquote>Living systems have a will to live.<blockquote>In fact, a lot of the initial work in synthetic biology sought to engineer organisms to break down cellulose into alcohol for ethanol production. If instead you break down cellulose and turn it into vanilla and that gets into the soil, we don’t know if that’s a problem. And that’s assuming that it’s going to do the thing it’s expected to do. These are living systems that evolve and have a will to live.</blockquote>New Hope further quoted Dana Perls saying that we don't understand nature well enough to know that what we are doing is totally safe.&nbsp;<blockquote>&nbsp;The problem is we don’t understand enough about how nature works to do it in a way that we can be sure is safe for human health and the environment and sustainable for small farmers.Despite biotech and agribusiness’s insistence that synbio is safe and eco-friendly, nobody knows for sure whether that’s true. Unlike first-generation GMOs—primarily plants modified with DNA from another species—this new form of gene editing is totally unregulated. USDA and FDA limit their oversight of genetically engineered products to those containing foreign DNA, which synbio ingredients typically do not have. Thus, the DARK Act of 2018, which mandates labeling of “bioengineered” foods, is of little use.</blockquote>Claims of “natural” are not accurate.<blockquote>New biotech companies are trying to pull the wool over FDA and USDA by claiming to be making ‘nature-identical’ products. But these products are not natural and are far from identical—they are genetically engineered.</blockquote><h2>Consumers and food manufacturers in the dark</h2>Consumers, New Hope's Junti wrote, are mostly unaware of synbio, even those who want GMOs labeled. And, it's not just the consumers who don't know what they're buying, she says, but the “[m]any food and dietary supplement manufacturers are also unaware of the true identity of ingredients they’re purchasing.”Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/got-milk-it-may-not-be-real">Got milk? It might not be real</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/equating-lab-grown-meat-with-animal-meat-is-kooky-thinking-alliance-for-natural-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Equating lab-grown meat with animal meat is 'kooky thinking' - Alliance for Natural Health</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/lab-grown-meat-not-slaughter-free-not-climate-friendly-as-claimed-can-it-cause-cancer-too">Lab-grown meat not slaughter-free, not climate-friendly as claimed. Can it cause cancer too?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/a-little-bit-of-pfizer-in-your-cheese-fake-rennet-bypassed-additive-approval-process">A little bit of Pfizer in your cheese? Fake rennet bypassed additive approval process</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/can-t-digest-cheese-maybe-you-can-tolerate-cheese-made-with-natural-rennet-instead-of-pfizer-s-gmo-version">Can't digest cheese? Maybe you can tolerate cheese made with natural rennet instead of Pfizer's GMO version</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-milk-inferior-to-real-milk-experts-find">Fake milk inferior to real milk, experts find</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-sales-plummet-amid-falling-demand">Fake meat sales plummet amid falling demand</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-industry-continues-to-plunge">Fake meat industry continues to plunge</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/italy-becomes-first-country-to-ban-fake-food">Italy becomes first country to ban fake food</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fakefood-another-safe-ingredient-may-pose-health-threat">#FakeFood: Another ‘safe’ ingredient may pose health threat</a></li></ul>

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Technology

'These products are not natural and are far from identical—they are genetically engineered'

What is synthetic biology and why should you care?

<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Faux milk gaining ground</h2>The synbio (synthetic biology) industry is developing synthetic animal proteins including <a href="https://frontline.news/post/equating-lab-grown-meat-with-animal-meat-is-kooky-thinking-alliance-for-natural-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lab-grown meat</a> and <a href="https://frontline.news/post/got-milk-it-may-not-be-real" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">synbio milk</a>. In its coverage of synbio milk, Frontline News referred to a review by Su-Jit Lin of the HuffPost about Bored Cow, a company selling its synbio milk as "The first milk alternative to do it all."&nbsp;“All,” in this sense, means animal-free, vegan-friendly, nutritionally equivalent to milk, and useful in foods, cooking, and baking in the same ways as real milk, as Frontline News reported:<blockquote>Lin reported Ben Berman, co-founder, and CEO of Bored Cow, made, stating that Bored Cow was created to “replicate the taste, texture, nutrition and functionality of conventional dairy milk” and has a nutrition panel nearly identical, if not better than the generic milk he had in his fridge.&nbsp;</blockquote>Several other companies, as Frontline News highlighted, were also producing faux milk and cheese products, making the same claims as Bored Cow, that their products are good for animals, people, and the environment. &nbsp; &nbsp;<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Reason to doubt</h4>Frontline News has previously reported on <a href="https://frontline.news/post/lab-grown-meat-not-slaughter-free-not-climate-friendly-as-claimed-can-it-cause-cancer-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claims</a> by manufacturers of lab-grown meat which didn't hold up. Similarly, <a href="https://frontline.news/post/child-slave-labor-in-producing-ev-batteries-raises-serious-questions-about-clean-green-technologies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claims</a> by proponents of EV cars turned out to be dubious. It was, therefore, natural to wonder about the veracity of claims made by synbio milk manufacturers.<blockquote>Considering the magnitude of the synbio dairy industry, it is important to ask if the claims made by Bored Cow and other synbio dairy manufacturers are accurate.&nbsp;</blockquote>That is the topic of this article.<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">What could possibly go wrong?</h2>Despite Lin's enthusiastic report, there are many problems associated with synbio milk.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Specious claims</h3>Faux milk is promoted as being the same as real milk since the “precision fermentation” process used is based on a yeast genetically modified to produce whey protein, as <a href="https://anh-usa.org/frankenfoods-v2-exploiting-the-bioequivalence-principle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explained</a> by the Alliance for Natural Health:<blockquote>Bored Cow is made with whey protein produced through a process called “precision fermentation,” a form of synbio. This involves taking a gene for whey protein and inserting it into a GE yeast. The yeast is put into fermentation tanks with other nutrients to help it grow. At the end the GE yeast is supposed to be filtered out, leaving only the milk protein. Bored Cow takes this protein and adds vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients to mimic the taste, consistency, and nutritional content of real cow’s milk.</blockquote>As Lin reported, Ben Berman, co-founder, and CEO of Bored Cow, boasted that his company's synthetic milk is as good as cow's milk. Berman said that Bored Cow has a nutrition panel nearly identical, if not better, than the generic milk he had in his fridge. &nbsp;However, as ANH explained, it is not likely that synbio milk is equivalent to real milk, because of the complexity of real milk. Cow's milk is more than just the vitamins listed on the nutrition panel.<blockquote>[It is not] very likely that Bored Cow is nutritionally equivalent to real milk. Just as meat is more than just protein, milk is far more than a simple combination of whey and various vitamins and minerals. Milkfat contains 400 different fatty acids. Milk has two types of proteins, whey and casein—and there are several different types of these two proteins contained in milk, and a whole bundle of other compounds like lactoferrin and bioactive peptides that help prime the immune system.</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Nutritional dark matter - 92 unknown compounds&nbsp;</h3>When the Iowa-based Health Research Institute (HRI) tested Bored Cow's faux milk using full-spectrum molecular analysis technology, they discovered 92 compounds that are yet to be identified, and the presence of which are not noted on the nutritional panel. As Ken Rosenboro, editor for the Organic and Non-GMO Report <a href="https://non-gmoreport.com/not-so-precise-fermentation-lab-finds-92-unknown-compounds-in-synthetic-biology-milk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a>, HRI's chief science officer John Fagan was concerned that they could not identify those compounds.<blockquote>Calling them completely novel to our food,” he says. “They are things that we haven’t consumed as human beings.”Fagan scanned scientific literature and databases to determine whether the molecules had nutritional or other beneficial properties and found nothing.“I couldn’t even find the scientific name for the vast majority of the molecules present in the Bored Cow product. They are nutritional dark matter,” Fagan says.Fagan speculated that the unknown molecules could either be nutrients or waste products created during the fermentation process, stating that if they are waste products you wouldn't “necessarily want them in your food.”</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">GMO without the designation</h3>Rosenboro noted that Bored Cow and Perfect Day, the company that manufactures the whey protein Bored Cow uses, avoid using the term genetically engineered to describe the yeast used in the production of the whey protein, preferring “microflora” instead.&nbsp;<blockquote>Bored Cow and Perfect Day use the term “microflora” to avoid using “genetically engineered” or “GMO.”&nbsp;</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Not cow protein&nbsp;</h3>As if the 92 unidentifiable compounds were not enough of a problem, HRI also found that the fake milk's protein, assumed to be cow protein, was mostly from the GMO yeast and not the milk protein.&nbsp;<blockquote>Perfect Day and Bored Cow both claim the milk protein is identical to the protein in cow’s milk but HRI’s tests found that the protein in Bored Cow’s milk was mostly from the GMO yeast and not the milk protein.</blockquote>The amino acids in the product were also different from those in real milk.<blockquote>“The amino acid composition of the protein that’s present in the Bored Cow milk is strikingly different from the amino acid composition of real milk,” Fagan says. “We have data that shows this is the case.”</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Have some GMO DNA with your Bored Cow</h3>Fagan said that the GMO-derived microflora or yeast, which was supposed to have been removed during fermentation, was still found in the final product, Rosenboro also reported:<blockquote>“The (genetically engineered) DNA in these products is broken up or fragmented but is certainly still there,” Fagan says.Further he says tests are being developed to detect the GMO DNA in synthetic biology products like Bored Cow.</blockquote>GMO DNA in synbio products would have to be labeled as such under the bioengineered food disclosure law.<blockquote>“The reality is that all that’s required is to do a little bit of molecular biology and a GMO test can be developed for synbio products,” says Fagan who pioneered creating laboratory tests for GMO corn and soybeans when they were first commercialized in the late 1990s.The presence of GMO DNA in Bored Cow and other synbio products would mean that they would have to be labeled under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Bioengineered Food Disclosure law. Right now, such products don’t require labeling.</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">No safety assessments</h3>Rosenboro explained that the FDA does not require safety assessments for synbio milk. That milk, however, with its 92 unknown compounds, would have to undergo testing in Europe and Canada as a novel food.&nbsp;ANH <a href="https://anh-usa.org/frankenfoods-v2-exploiting-the-bioequivalence-principle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elaborated</a> on the lack of safety assessment, explaining that Perfect Day, the manufacturer of the synbio whey protein used by Bored Cow, like some food manufacturers, claimed on its own that its product was GRAS (generally recognized as safe), utilizing the FDA's expedited process of GRAS <a href="https://qualitysmartsolutions.com/self-affirmed-gras/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">self-affirmation</a> which does not require FDA review.<blockquote>The FDA must be on top of this, right? Wrong. Bored Cow has not undergone safety testing at the FDA. Perfect Day, the manufacturer of the synbio whey protein, determined it was “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) and voluntarily notified the FDA of this determination; in response the FDA said it had no questions. Given how rife the GRAS process is with conflicts of interest, this is akin to taking the company’s word for it that its novel synbio whey protein is safe.</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Climate-friendly? Not so fast&nbsp;</h3>Rosenboro referred to an article in Forbes by Errol Schweizer, partner of food and agriculture at Impakt, IQ, who questioned the claim that synbio is sustainable and climate-friendly. He wanted to know how the waste material would be disposed of; the amount of energy and resources used as compared to animal-based products; and the use of high-fructose corn syrup to feed the yeast as corn production is energy intensive and polluting.&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Biology doesn't work like a computer program</h3>Synbio products are being likened to a computer program so all that needs to be done is to program the DNA like a computer, a flawed assumption according to Fagan. The analogy doesn't hold water, he says, since even yeast is infinitely more complicated than computer programs.<blockquote>An article in FoodNavigator USA even describes GMO yeasts being “programmed” to produce proteins. The problem is that the internal functioning of even the simplest organisms like a yeast is vastly more complex than computer programs.“It is a hollow analogy because it implies that you have the same kind of precise control in synthetic biology that you have programming a computer. It’s much more complex,” Fagan says. “Here we have an example of 92 unpredicted compounds being produced, and only a trace of the whey protein that you really want. It’s nothing like precision.” &nbsp;</blockquote>In the tweet below, Millions Against Monsanto links to a lecture by John Fagan about precision fermentation.<blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Listen to Dr. John Fagan’s Concerning New Findings: <a href="https://t.co/FruJ15ACrz">https://t.co/FruJ15ACrz</a> "His latest research takes aim at the synthetic biology industry, also called 'precision fermentation.'" <a href="https://t.co/3ZCZdgRuWW">pic.twitter.com/3ZCZdgRuWW</a>— Millions Against Monsanto (@againstmonsanto) <a href="https://twitter.com/againstmonsanto/status/1759246872303087825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div></blockquote>Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/danger-ahead-changing-the-natural-world-with-genetic-engineering-and-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Danger ahead! Changing the natural world with genetic engineering and artificial intelligence</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/got-milk-it-may-not-be-real" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Got milk? It might not be real</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/equating-lab-grown-meat-with-animal-meat-is-kooky-thinking-alliance-for-natural-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Equating lab-grown meat with animal meat is 'kooky thinking' - Alliance for Natural Health</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/lab-grown-meat-not-slaughter-free-not-climate-friendly-as-claimed-can-it-cause-cancer-too">Lab-grown meat not slaughter-free, not climate-friendly as claimed. Can it cause cancer too?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/a-little-bit-of-pfizer-in-your-cheese-fake-rennet-bypassed-additive-approval-process">A little bit of Pfizer in your cheese? Fake rennet bypassed additive approval process</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/can-t-digest-cheese-maybe-you-can-tolerate-cheese-made-with-natural-rennet-instead-of-pfizer-s-gmo-version">Can't digest cheese? Maybe you can tolerate cheese made with natural rennet instead of Pfizer's GMO version</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-milk-inferior-to-real-milk-experts-find">Fake milk inferior to real milk, experts find</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-sales-plummet-amid-falling-demand">Fake meat sales plummet amid falling demand</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-industry-continues-to-plunge">Fake meat industry continues to plunge</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/italy-becomes-first-country-to-ban-fake-food">Italy becomes first country to ban fake food</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fakefood-another-safe-ingredient-may-pose-health-threat">#FakeFood: Another ‘safe’ ingredient may pose health threat</a></li></ul>

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No FDA safety testing

'Nutritional dark matter' in Bored Cow's synbio milk - 92 unknown compounds

<h2>Genetic engineering puts the natural world at risk</h2>Genetic engineering going from the lab, to the field, to the wildYou may have heard about the genetically modified mosquitos <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01070-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released</a> in Florida to mitigate a Florida invasive species spreading zika and dengue, yet that is only one aspect of how synthetic biology (synbio) can affect nature. Jim Thomas of ETC Group (Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration) <a href="https://www.etcgroup.org/content/video-lab-field-forest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spoke</a> about the potential dangers synbio may have on biodiversity and how we look after, conserve, share, and use the natural world.The video below, in which Thomas discusses the threats and new trends we'll have to start dealing with, gives us a window into a world that most of us may not be aware of, but should. His talk results from a discussion held by the Convention on Biological Diversity's Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group.&nbsp;Thomas brought forward the following three issues associated with the technology and nature:1. Tools of genetic engineering are being put out into the field. Previously, genetically engineered organisms would have been created in the lab. Now they can release genetically engineered viruses or organisms into the field that can genetically engineer other organisms out in the field. Examples he called "crazy" include a “project by the US defense establishment called ‘insect allies to genetically engineer plants’.” He expressed “worry about it being a potential bioweapon but also a big shift in terms of doing the genetic engineering in an uncontrolled environment and changing nature.”2. &nbsp;Synbio is being used for conservation applications. Previously, biodiversity and conservation were about protecting the natural world. Now synbio is being used for such projects as eradicating invasive species by releasing synthetic organisms or genetically engineering corals to withstand climate change. “The idea that conservation could be done by making synthetic ecosystems is a really big shift” he said.. . . . [N]ow you've got these proposals of turning the natural world into a kind of synthetic version of itself and that could really upturn how we protect the wild and natural world.&nbsp;3. Machines and algorithms, artificial intelligence, and robots are taking over genetic engineering.&nbsp;<blockquote>Large automated genetic engineering foundries called biofoundries that use artificial intelligence to make tens of thousands of organisms at a time, not from a human's mind but to design them using artificial intelligence, . . . &nbsp;and one day to go out into the environment. And, it raises a real safety question because, if you have something go wrong, you potentially don't understnd why it went wrong. With artificial intelligence, it's a bit of a black box. . . . If you're asking artificial intelligence to redesign nature and release that into the environment then you've got a big problem in terms of trying to understand safety and if something goes wrong understanding what went wrong.&nbsp;</blockquote>The group of experts, Thomas said, all “felt that there needs to be a process for scanning the horizon and monitoring and assessing new developments in genetic engineering. We began to set out what that should be . . .”<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e7ES6ZYNTjA" title="From the lab to the field to the forest: synthetic biology" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

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'The idea that conservation could be done by making synthetic ecosystems is a really big shift'

Danger ahead! Changing the natural world with genetic engineering and artificial intelligence

<h2>Faux meat, meet faux dairy</h2>You may not have heard as much about synbio (synthetic biology) milk as about lab-grown meat, which Frontline News recently <a href="https://frontline.news/post/equating-lab-grown-meat-with-animal-meat-is-kooky-thinking-alliance-for-natural-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brought</a> to readers' attention. Lab-grown meat is produced by replicating cells from a cow. Synbio dairy is produced by “precision fermentation,” a process that uses genetically engineered yeast to replicate a whey protein. The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) <a href="https://anh-usa.org/frankenfoods-v2-exploiting-the-bioequivalence-principle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">describes</a> how the Bored Cow company uses precision fermentation to make its synbio milk.<blockquote>This involves taking a gene for whey protein and inserting it into a GE yeast. The yeast is put into fermentation tanks with other nutrients to help it grow. At the end the GE yeast is supposed to be filtered out, leaving only the milk protein. Bored Cow takes this protein and adds vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients to mimic the taste, consistency, and nutritional content of real cow’s milk.</blockquote><a href="https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/new-gmo-alert-animal-free-dairy-products-to-watch-out-for/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According</a> to the Non-GMO Project Standard, all products of genetic engineering, including synthetic biology, are GMOs.Bored Cow's synbio milk is <a href="https://tryboredcow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sold</a> in stores such as Sprouts Market, Fairway, Save Mart, and others. It advertises its genetically engineered faux milk as "The first milk alternative to do it all."&nbsp;Does it really “do it all?” For people interested in fake foods, synbio milk certainly seems to fit the bill; it's animal-free, vegan-friendly, said to be nutritionally equivalent to milk, and can be used in foods, cooking, and baking in the same ways as real milk. In her article about Bored Cow for HuffPost, Su-Jit Lin <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bored-cow-dairy-milk-no-animal_l_646292d2e4b018d846bf9f1f" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sings</a> the faux milk's praises.&nbsp;<h3>Animal free&nbsp;</h3>Lin explains that the milk-like product does not involve any animals because the genetic sequencing of the Montana cow named Dominette used to make it was already on file with the Bovine Genome Project. Because no animals were involved, the company claims it is vegan-friendly, although unsafe for those with milk allergies.<h3>Better than the real thing?</h3>Ben Berman, co-founder and CEO of Bored Cow, stated that their product, created to “replicate the taste, texture, nutrition and functionality of conventional dairy milk,” has a nutrition panel nearly identical to, if not better than, the generic milk he had in his fridge, according to the report:&nbsp;<blockquote>Like other milk alternatives, we combine our protein with plant-based ingredients, vitamins and minerals.” But unlike those alternatives, in a side-by-side comparison to the generic market milk I had in my fridge, I found the nutrition panel to be nearly identical, if not better.“Just like conventional dairy milk, a serving of Bored Cow has 8 grams of complete protein, amino acids and all, and is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D and B12,” Berman said.</blockquote><h3>Bored Cow passes the cereal and coffee tests</h3>Lin stated that Bored Cow was similar to 2% milk in taste and texture in her cereal and coffee and, according to Berman, it could be used in the same ways as milk.&nbsp;<blockquote>The viscosity of it in a glass, in cereal, and in my iced coffee mimicked that of 2% or whole milk, and unlike plant milks, didn’t break in hot coffee. Even better news, Berman said: “It froths, foams, cooks and bakes just like cow’s milk.”</blockquote><h3>Real milk is much cheaper</h3>The only downside she reported was pricing, since it was much more expensive per quart than real milk and some families who drink a lot of milk would be hard-pressed to buy Bored Cow's. She hoped that, as it gained popularity and production increased, the price would come down. &nbsp;<h2>Bored Cow has a lot of company &nbsp;</h2>Bored Cow is not the only company developing synthetic milk based on precision fermenting.&nbsp;This tweet by Organic Garden Coach &amp; Business Strategist links to an article by the Non-GMO Project highlighting the price difference between Bored Cow and real milk and reviewing companies in Europe that are developing their own versions of synbio milk.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">"For example, currently, four 32-oz containers of Bored Cow milk made using Perfect Day’s synbio dairy proteins, cost $26, which is approximately three to four times the cost of a gallon of real organic milk." <a href="https://t.co/f3m1b4SmY9">https://t.co/f3m1b4SmY9</a>— Organic Garden Coach &amp; Business Strategist (@debbyward1) <a href="https://twitter.com/debbyward1/status/1752361295695708271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Other companies that produce synbio dairy by precision fermentation include the ones below, which were <a href="https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/new-gmo-alert-animal-free-dairy-products-to-watch-out-for/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reviewed</a> by the Non-GMO Project. These companies also claim, on their websites, that their faux dairy products are equivalent to the real thing yet better for cows, people, and the environment.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.remilk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ReMilk</a> - Real Dairy. No Cows.™"<blockquote>Dairy crafted Remilk's way is healthy and clean, with no cholesterol, lactose, hormones, and antibiotics – just 100% yum without the scum! It’s identical in taste, requires a fraction of the resources and is 100% cruelty-free. Holy cow!</blockquote><a href="https://formo.bio/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Formo</a> - “Cheese. This Time Animal-Free.”<blockquote>To keep our fondues gooey, forests healthy, cheese boards stinky and climate stable, it’s time to dump industrial dairy and start the path to a better food system.</blockquote><a href="https://www.changefoods.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Change Foods</a> - maker of synbio cheese.<blockquote>. . . by keeping the cows blissfully uninvolved, we can ensure our cheese contains all the good stuff and none of the nasties.Yes to protein, calcium, and deliciousness. Hold the cholesterol, hormones and antibiotics.10x less water. 100x less land. 5x less energy. 25x less feedstock.</blockquote><a href="https://imagindairy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Imagindairy</a> - “Not all dairy is created equally.”<blockquote>By combining our admiration for dairy, concern for the planet, and expertise in science, we’ve created dairy proteins that possess the same bold flavour, functionality, experience, mouthfeel, and nutrition as the cow-required dairy you’ve always known and enjoyed. Our animal-free dairy products are also lactose-free, growth hormone-free, and cholesterol-free.</blockquote><a href="https://www.newculture.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Culture</a> - “Cow Cheese Without The Cow”<blockquote>We love ‘em all, but for the-love-of-pizza we had to start with mozzarella. Our mozz has the same taste and stretch that you expect from your favorite pie, which is why we’re bringing our cheese to pizzerias first.By the time it’s on your plate, it’s just as melty and creamy as the original. But it’s also animal-free, lactose-free, and planet-friendly. And above all, it makes a killer pizza.</blockquote><h2>Faux dairy where you don't expect it</h2>Synbio milk is being used as an ingredient in food products produced by other companies and about which consumers are likely to be in the dark, as the following tweet by B. Maat shows.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The Urgent Company, California Performance Co. and Betterland Foods. Even General Mills now sells products made with synbio milk, according to Bored Cow. Perfect Day also lists partnerships with Nestlé, Mars, Myprotein, Renewal Mill and Bel Group— b. maat (@bmaat99) <a href="https://twitter.com/bmaat99/status/1740343277684179206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2>Is fake milk truly equivalent to cow milk?</h2>As Frontline News has shown, the <a href="https://frontline.news/post/lab-grown-meat-not-slaughter-free-not-climate-friendly-as-claimed-can-it-cause-cancer-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claims</a> made by manufacturers of lab-grown meat don't hold up, nor do the <a href="https://frontline.news/post/child-slave-labor-in-producing-ev-batteries-raises-serious-questions-about-clean-green-technologies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claims</a> of environmentalists and government authorities promoting the use of EV cars.&nbsp;Considering the magnitude of the synbio dairy industry, it is important to ask if the claims made by Bored Cow and other synbio dairy manufacturers are accurate. That will be the topic of our next article on synbio milk.Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/equating-lab-grown-meat-with-animal-meat-is-kooky-thinking-alliance-for-natural-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Equating lab-grown meat with animal meat is 'kooky thinking' - Alliance for Natural Health</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/lab-grown-meat-not-slaughter-free-not-climate-friendly-as-claimed-can-it-cause-cancer-too">Lab-grown meat not slaughter-free, not climate-friendly as claimed. Can it cause cancer too?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/a-little-bit-of-pfizer-in-your-cheese-fake-rennet-bypassed-additive-approval-process">A little bit of Pfizer in your cheese? Fake rennet bypassed additive approval process</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/can-t-digest-cheese-maybe-you-can-tolerate-cheese-made-with-natural-rennet-instead-of-pfizer-s-gmo-version">Can't digest cheese? Maybe you can tolerate cheese made with natural rennet instead of Pfizer's GMO version</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-milk-inferior-to-real-milk-experts-find">Fake milk inferior to real milk, experts find</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-sales-plummet-amid-falling-demand">Fake meat sales plummet amid falling demand</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fake-meat-industry-continues-to-plunge">Fake meat industry continues to plunge</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/italy-becomes-first-country-to-ban-fake-food">Italy becomes first country to ban fake food</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fakefood-another-safe-ingredient-may-pose-health-threat">#FakeFood: Another ‘safe’ ingredient may pose health threat</a></li></ul>

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'Even General Mills now sells products made with synbio milk'

Got milk? It might not be real

<h2>The Biden Administration keeping pornography in the public schools</h2>Most Americans believe the health and well-being of children should always be first and foremost, yet child pornography has now found its way into public school libraries. This has sparked a fierce debate among parents and officials about what children should be exposed to, as Frontline News recently <a href="https://frontline.news/post/pornography-now-in-public-school-libraries-did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>. &nbsp;While parents all over the country have been fighting local school boards and some states have passed legislation giving parents control over sexually explicit materials in schools, the federal government may have just made the parents' job more difficult. A Fox News report by Hannah Grossman in July 2023 <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-admin-disrupting-parents-removing-pornography-schools-frighting-civil-rights-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explained</a> that the Biden Administration “is starting to weaponize [the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights] to combat parents' efforts in local districts under the threat of withholding funding, according to education experts.”Grossman quoted Max Eden, a research fellow focusing on K-12 education at the American Enterprise Institute who said “[t]he move signals that the DOE can investigate a district for simply reviewing parents' concerns about sexually explicit content in schools.”Oli London tweeted highlights from the Fox News article:&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The Biden administration has began weaponizing the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to punish schools that remove sexually explicit books targeting children from libraries. The DOE can investigate a school district simply for reviewing parental concerns about… <a href="https://t.co/V3KGKRAW1L">pic.twitter.com/V3KGKRAW1L</a>— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1682191529341861888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In another article, Grossman <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/rhode-island-dad-accuses-district-sick-agenda-use-abuse-children-pornography-book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> on a Fox News Digital interview with Rhode Island father Rob Chiaradio who has been fighting the Westerly School District board to remove the book “Gender Queer,” which includes pornographic images, from its library bookshelves. Chiaradio told Fox that he believed that schoolchildren are being used and abused for a sick agenda:<blockquote>Rather than teaching these kids about math, English, and science…, these kids are being used and abused in order to help these people achieve some kind of sick agenda that they have.</blockquote>He also expressed concern that “destroying” children is one way in which officials may ultimately take down the country:<blockquote>These… so-called leaders of the district are trusted by these kids. The only thing that I can think of here is that these people have other motivations," he said. "And that's the thing that really, really gets me. Because the best way to take down a country or a society… is to destroy a generation of its youth.".</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">"Rather than teaching these kids about math, English, and science, these kids are being used and abused in order to help these people achieve some kind of sick agenda that they have," Robert Chiaradio told Fox News Digital in an interview. <a href="https://t.co/KhZM1dydVf">https://t.co/KhZM1dydVf</a>— (@DIHart1727) <a href="https://twitter.com/DIHart1727/status/1616828379914715141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Books in school libraries “unequivocally erotica”</h3>Senior Fellow of the Education Freedom Center for the Independent Women’s Forum Nicole Solas <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/ED/ED14/20231019/116471/HHRG-118-ED14-20231019-SD004.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">penned</a> a Written Statement Before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Hearing: Combatting Graphic, Explicit Books in School Libraries. In her October 19, 2023, statement, she described the gravity of the situation including what is in the pornographic and sexually explicit books available to public school children.&nbsp;<blockquote>. . . This is not an occasional problem. On the contrary, the amount of sexually explicit books in school libraries is extensive and vast. . . . These books do not simply provide clinical sex education describing anatomy and reproduction. They contain numerous pornographic passages and pictures meant to instruct children on sexual pleasure, sexually excite children, or push a radical, ideological viewpoint of sex and sexuality. In many cases, these books are unequivocally erotica with both homosexual and heterosexual storylines framed against the youthful backdrops of high school, family, and friends. In one reported incident, hardcore pornography for adults was removed from a high school library and you can read an excerpt.&nbsp;</blockquote>Solas included a list of the books and links to excerpts, imploring the committee members to “take some time to review the listed excerpts and graphics list provided. . . You will be astonished,” she wrote.<h3>Significant harm to children</h3>To explain the impact that pornography has on children, Solas referred to the American Academy of Pediatrician's description of its harm to children:<blockquote>These negative effects include mental disturbance and unrest for the young school age child, including acting out and violent behavior. Because of its harmfulness to children, pornography must never be used as a tool to teach children human sexuality.”&nbsp;</blockquote>The Academy is quite <a href="https://acpeds.org/position-statements/the-impact-of-pornography-on-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detailed</a> in its description of the harms that pornography holds for elementary school children. The academy lists maladaptive behaviors and psychopathology that young children who have viewed pornography may display.<blockquote>. . . Pornography exposure at these young ages often results in anxiety for the child. &nbsp;Children also report feelings of disgust, shock, embarrassment, anger, fear, and sadness after viewing pornography. These children can suffer all of the symptoms of anxiety and depression. They may become obsessed with acting out adult sexual acts that they have seen, and this can be very disruptive and disturbing to the child’s peers who witness or are victimized by this behavior. Children under twelve years old who have viewed pornography are statistically more likely to sexually assault their peers. In sum, children exposed to pornographic material are at risk for a broad range of maladaptive behaviors and psychopathology.</blockquote>The Academy referred to a study done in the 1980s to explain the effect pornography had on older adolescents and young adults, They found that their moral compass was skewed and that their attitudes toward marriage, rape, and fidelity were compromised.&nbsp;<blockquote>The following observations were noted regarding young adults exposed to pornography compared to the control group:<ul><li>Male subjects demonstrated increased callousness toward women.</li><li>Subjects considered the crime of rape less serious.</li><li>Subjects were more accepting of non-marital sexual activity and non-coital sexual practices such as oral and anal sex.</li><li>Subjects became more interested in more extreme and deviant forms of pornography.</li><li>Subjects were more likely to say they were dissatisfied with their sexual partner.</li><li>Subjects were more accepting of sexual infidelity in a relationship.</li><li>Subjects valued marriage less and were twice as likely to believe marriage may become obsolete.</li><li>Men experienced a decreased desire for children, and women experienced a decreased desire to have a daughter.</li><li>Subjects showed a greater acceptance of female promiscuity.</li></ul></blockquote><h3>UK concerned about effects of porn on kids, too</h3>A 2023 <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/pornography-and-harmful-sexual-behaviour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> by the UK's Children's Commissioner regarding online pornography, in preparation for an online safety bill, emphasizes the harm that pornography inflicts on children. The report was the result of an analysis of 502 cases reports of child-on-child sexual abuse. The commissioner reported that it shapes and fuels violence against women and girls and promotes harmful sexual behaviors and children abusing children. Much of the abuse is like that depicted in pornography. &nbsp;<blockquote>It is incredibly concerning that I found references to specific acts of sexual violence commonly seen in pornography in half of the interviews carried out following these cases of sexual abuse. Additional review of some of these cases found children suggesting direct links between pornography exposure and the harmful sexual behaviour exhibited.</blockquote><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Books that help parents teach kids to stay safe</h2>Fortunately, there are books to help parents educate their children to recognize pornography when they see it and know what to do, as Louise Chambers <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/porn-proof-your-children-mom-pens-book-after-friends-son-sexually-abused-his-siblings-5610160" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> for The Epoch Times. <a href="https://www.defendyoungminds.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kristen Jensen</a> who was shocked to discover that a friend's son sexually abused his siblings after exposure to pornography was surprised that she could find no resources to help the family and soon found herself on a mission to address the issue.&nbsp;To do this, Chambers explained, Jensen met with parents, read a lot, and watched videos on YouTube by experts on the neurological effects of pornography. Her efforts have resulted in the books “Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids“ for children aged 7 to 11, and ”Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Protect Young Minds“ for children aged 3 to 6, and other resources for parents and children.&nbsp;<blockquote>Mrs. Jenson’s book offers an age-appropriate definition of pornography so kids can recognize porn when they see it.“Bad pictures show the private parts of the body that we cover with a swimsuit,” reads the book, which goes on to explain why these “bad pictures” are harmful, and offers a plan so that kids know what to do when they see them.Mrs. Jenson said: “Educating kids on the harmful effects of pornography gives them good reasons to reject it. The book for older children describes the process of addiction, while the book for younger children presents the analogy of ‘picture poison.’”</blockquote>The books appear to have been successful at accomplishing their goals, as Chambers shared Jensen's stories about two children's experiences with recognizing pornography and reacting appropriately. The first happened on the school playground where one child showed porn to another child.<blockquote>One mom shared on social media that she read ‘Good Pictures Bad Pictures’ to her 9-year-old son, and three days later, he was shown pornography by another student on the playground during recess. Her son came home and told his mom what had happened. He said, ’I was scared, but I knew what to do.' Can’t you just feel the burden coming off of his young shoulders? No child deserves to face the porn industry alone!</blockquote>The second incident occurred when an adult approached a child, showing him porn on his cell phone.&nbsp;<blockquote>The second anecdote came from a mother who had read “Good Pictures Bad Pictures” to her 6-year-old son. The incident occurred while dining at a friend’s home.Recounting the incident, Mrs. Jenson said: “A renovation project caused their friends to put the children’s toys downstairs, so each child was allowed to run down and grab a toy to play with. While the 6-year-old stayed looking at the toys, the man who rented the downstairs apartment approached him and showed him a video of gay porn on his phone. The boy immediately recognized that he was seeing porn, and he ran up and told his mom. He got himself out of a very harmful situation.”&nbsp;</blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:auto;">Look inside the books</h3>Below are two book reviews of Good Pictures Bad Pictures and Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.&nbsp;The first is by Katie “a wife and home school mom of 6 kids who range from 13 years to 4,” on her YouTube channel “Life in the Mundane.”&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wWr9-3PYah0" title="The BIGGEST Mistake We Can Make When Protecting Our Kids Online" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>The second is by Sarah Kimmel on her channel Family Tech. She is a “Microsoft Certified IT Manager, who is also a mom. She currently helps families understand and manage the technology in their homes.”<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kHwQkLW8Mlk" title="Unveiling the hidden gems in Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr and the Standard Version - Book Review" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>In a day and age when parents are being marginalized and bypassed, when it comes to their children's welfare, these books can give parents a little peace of mind, knowing they have a resource to help their children navigate a potentially less-than-friendly world.&nbsp;Learn more:<ul><li><a href="https://www.defendyoungminds.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Defend young minds</a> (Jensen's website with additional resources)</li><li><a href="https://www.truthloveparent.com/taking-back-the-family-blog/tlp-339-good-pictures-bad-pictures-kristen-jenson-interview-part-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Taking back the family</a></li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/family-and-trauma/202308/silent-educator-the-impact-of-porn-on-young-minds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Silent Educator: The Impact of Porn on Young Minds</a></li><li><a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/6-things-to-do-if-your-kid-sees-pornography" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">6 Things to Do If Your Kid Sees Pornography</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64451984" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Children as young as nine exposed to pornography</a></li><li><a href="https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/marriage-and-family/parenting/should-we-teach-kids-about-porn-s-harms-yes-and-here-s-how.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Should We Teach Kids about Porn's Harms? Yes, and Here's How</a></li><li><a href="https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/effects-pornography-children-and-young-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The effects of pornography on children and young people</a></li><li><a href="https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2022/helplines-insight-briefing-legal-but-harmful-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Children's experiences of legal but harmful content online</a></li></ul>Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/pornography-now-in-public-school-libraries-did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pornography now in public school libraries. Did you know?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/appellate-court-upholds-texas-right-to-protect-children-from-online-porn">Appellate court upholds Texas' right to protect children from online porn</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/virginia-school-board-official-sworn-in-on-child-pornography-books">Virginia school board official sworn in on child pornography books</a></li></ul>

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US News

wokeness

Education

'Educating kids on the harmful effects of pornography gives them good reasons to reject it.'

How to porn-proof your kids and why you need to

“The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy has become excessively rigid, acting as speech and thought police. With increasing frequency, they have encouraged student mob behavior silencing those with different viewpoints.”&nbsp;Dr. Kenneth Fisher&nbsp;<h2>Only certain viewpoints are “diverse”</h2>The above quote by Dr. Fisher was <a href="https://authenticmedicine.com/2023/05/dei-and-stanfords-law-school/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">included</a> in his article “DEI And Stanford’s Law School,” published in Authentic Medicine, as a criticism of DEI policies in law schools and academia in general. The quote, however, may be just as true for business as it is for education. And, apparently, it's also true for the government.The Thomas Moore Society, as <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-christian-worker-fired-lgbt-pride/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">republished</a> by LifeSite News, is defending metalworker Daniel Snyder, who was fired from his lead operator position at Arconic’s lightweight metal engineering and manufacturing facility in Davenport, Iowa in June 2021.&nbsp;<h3>“Diversity Policy” doesn't include religious beliefs</h3>Snyder says he was fired for his religious beliefs as he objected to the use of the rainbow as a symbol of "gay pride month" in a survey, stating his biblical belief that the rainbow should not be used in this manner as it is offensive to God; the rainbow “is not meant to be a sign for sexual gender.”Arconic notified Snyder that another employee was offended by his comment. Snyder was suspended and ultimately terminated for allegedly violating the company's “Diversity Policy.”<hr>For readers who may not be familiar with the biblical meaning of the rainbow, it is <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8173/jewish/Chapter-9.htm#v12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found</a> in Genesis 9:12-15, after the flood in which Noah, his family and select animals were saved but during which the rest of humanity and the animal kingdom were destroyed. The rainbow, God told Noah, would stand as a sign of His covenant with mankind that even though they may be sinning and deserving of destruction, He will remember his promise and not destroy the world with another flood. Hence, the rainbow is more than just a marvel in the sky; it contains significant religious meaning to those who follow the Bible:<blockquote>This is the sign I am making, testifying to the covenant between Me and you and all living souls, forever: I have put my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Myself and the world. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember the covenant between Myself and yourselves and all living souls, and there will never again be a flood to destroy all life.</blockquote><hr><h3>Feels like a setup</h3>Making the termination even more egregious, according to Snyder's attorneys, is the fact that Snyder did not even know that the expression of his religious beliefs was going to be shared publicly. According to the “Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Appellant” <a href="https://assets-global.website-files.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/655d49ea71e92add0f4ee146_Filed%20-%20Opening%20Brief%20of%20Plaintiff-Appellant%20Daniel%20Snyder%20-%2011-21-23.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">filed</a> on November 21, 2023, Snyder thought he was responding to an anonymous survey, not a comment on an article about the survey, that appeared online:<blockquote>Defendants-Appellees Arconic, Corp., and Arconic Davenport, LLC (“Arconic”), a large aluminum manufacturer [sic], fired Plaintiff-Appellant Daniel Snyder for making a single religious comment on the company’s employee website opposing its use of the rainbow to promote “Pride Month.” He explained that he thought he was responding to an anonymous company survey, although the statement appeared as a comment to an article about the survey. Arconic fired him anyway.</blockquote><h3>No trial</h3>Snyder filed a suit for religious discrimination, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, yet his case was dismissed with the judge saying Snyder failed to make a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prima%20facie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prima facie</a> case that it was religious discrimination before it ever got to trial.<blockquote>Snyder sued Arconic for religious discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Iowa Civil Rights Act (“ICRA”). He moved for summary judgment on the discrimination claims, and Arconic moved for summary judgment on all claims. The District Court granted Arconic’s motion and denied Snyder’s on the ground that he allegedly failed to establish a prima facie case.</blockquote>Snyder's lawyers argued that this case raises important issues regarding Title VII's "application to non-disruptive religious expression in the workplace, and the Supreme Court’s new “undue hardship” standard in Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447 (2023)" and duly requested 15 minutes for oral arguments. Their request was approved.<h2>EEOC fights against employees expressing religious freedom</h2>Ironically, the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said Thomas More Society senior counsel, Michael McHale, was to be in court to defend the employer, Arconic, on April 9, 2024, when oral arguments were to be presented before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.<blockquote>“Ironically,” noted McHale, “Arconic is the one refusing to respect the diversity of Mr. Snyder’s beliefs or to acknowledge that he was offended by the company’s choice to co-opt the rainbow to promote ideologies that conflict with the Biblical understanding of marriage and sexuality. And Arconic’s outright refusal to acknowledge that he was just trying to answer a company survey, rather than impose his views on others, was illegal.”</blockquote><h2>Presidents determine religious freedom by executive order</h2>Government opposition to religious freedom has become “an Executive Order Battle,” as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/934505425/religious-freedom-arguments-give-rise-to-executive-order-battle" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">described</a> by NPR in its 2020 article by Tom Gjelten recounting its Morning Edition talk, "Religious Freedom Arguments Give Rise To Executive Order Battle." As such, the battle over religious freedom morphs depending upon who is the U.S. president at the time, and the turn it has taken with the current administration was expected at the time of his election in 2020.Gjelten recalled that:&nbsp;<blockquote>In 2014. . . President Barack Obama unilaterally issued an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring practices on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.</blockquote><blockquote>Four years later the Trump administration weakened that order with a unilateral move directing that contractors facing a discrimination claim under Obama's order should be entitled to a “religious exemption.The Labor Department then proposed a rule that would give the directive the force of law and permit faith-based contractors to give hiring preference to individuals with particular religious beliefs, such as an opposition to same-sex unions or transgender identities.</blockquote>With the change of administration in 2021, Gjelten stated, this was again set to change, and indeed it has.<blockquote>Such back-and-forth executive orders are now set to continue under President-elect Joe Biden, who has promised to reverse President Trump's hiring directives.</blockquote><h2>Companies divesting from diversity</h2>This lawsuit, and the government's support of Arconic's "Diversity Policy," comes at a time when many companies are beginning to rethink DEI policies now being recognized as racist, as depicted by this tweet from KTHR News.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Many companies beginning to sour on DEI initiatives. Melissa MacKenzie of the American Spectator says companies see just how bad it is. "They are starting to see the downsides...there are people suing over these racist policies...it is all a big scam," she says. <a href="https://t.co/uncfPVuKsw">pic.twitter.com/uncfPVuKsw</a>— KTRH News (@ktrhnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ktrhnews/status/1777977468726477016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

rainbow.jpg

Legal News

EEOC, designed to protect employees, asks court to approve termination in name of 'diversity'

Fired for not supporting pride rainbow; government sides with employer

<h2>Education has changed over the last 40 years!</h2>Someone recently returned a library book that was 37 years overdue to the Riverside Library and Cultural Center in Weld County, Colorado. The book “Psychedelics” which was checked out in 1987, finally found its way home last month, with a Post-it note inside stating: “Sorry so late! It’s been a long, strange trip,” beside a drawing of a smiley face.The most interesting aspect of the book's return, though, may be its designation as a “young adult” book. Were children on a higher academic level 40 years ago? Community relations and marketing manager for the library district, James Melena, <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/overdue-library-book-returned-37-years-late-with-funny-note-inside-heres-what-the-borrower-wrote-5615381" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> Louise Chambers, in an interview for The Epoch Times, that today this book would be considered college-level psychology.&nbsp;Now, “young adult” books call to mind books like "The Hunger Games." Melena added “it really might be just showing a sign of the times that the term ’young adult' meant a lot more, or meant something very different, back then.”<h2>Pornography bared from TV, offered in school libraries</h2>The change in what's considered “young adult” isn't the only shift in education that's taken place. Public schools, long thought to be safe havens for children, have become dangerous places in some localities as many public school libraries now carry sexually explicit books.Pornography and indecency have long been understood as being inappropriate for children. Television programming had been severely restricted during those hours when children were expected to be awake and watching. Yet, today, children are picking sexually explicit books off the shelves of public school libraries across the country.&nbsp;Articles such as <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/virginia-public-schools-toxic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Virginia Public Schools Are Toxic</a>, written by Julie Gunlock in November 2021 for The Western Journal, explain what students are being exposed to. Gunlock, who removed her three sons from the public school system, shared the following:<blockquote>Consider this: It recently came to light that numerous Virginia high school libraries stock a graphic novel (a genre geared to preteens) that includes extreme and violent sexual content. Parents understandably objected.. . .A parent brought the existence of this book to the attention of the Fairfax County school board and read sections of the book out loud, revealing the obviously inappropriate content. The school board pulled the book from the libraries and is reviewing whether it should continue to be carried.</blockquote>Not only was the book's material inappropriate for children, but for adults as well, Gunlock continued.<blockquote>Independent Women’s Voice created an advertisement to raise awareness about this issue, which included images from the book. The ad was rejected as too explicit to run during the 11 p.m. hour on television in Virginia. Think about everything you see on TV and imagine what it takes for a television station to decline to run an ad that late at night.Parents and citizens should be asking one question: Why are our schools so much less protective about what high school students as young as 14 are exposed to than TV stations catering to adults?</blockquote><h3>Back on the shelves</h3>The books, “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, were both removed from Fairfax County library shelves only to find their way back not long ago. Reasons given for their return included that the books “reflect the student population” and that they would be helpful to children who could relate to them, as Heather Zwicker <a href="https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fcps-reinstates-pornographic-books-to-school-libraries/article_cf63abf2-53ab-11ec-affa-cbfc8074da6a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> for the Fairfax County Times. &nbsp;The anonymous committee that reviewed the books in question also determined that they don't violate any legal codes.<blockquote>The committee determined that the images in the book do not qualify as obscene per the definition in Virginia Code 18.2-372 and is also not harmful to juveniles as defined in 18.2-390. They also found Code of Virginia 18.2-376 inapplicable and said “the book aligns with FCPS Regulation 2603 supporting members of the gender expansive community and affirming individuals in their identity.” They found that the book was an appropriate addition to library collections in accordance with FCPS Regulation 3013.</blockquote>Two years later, at the end of December 2023, as Frontline News previously <a href="https://frontline.news/post/virginia-school-board-official-sworn-in-on-child-pornography-books" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">covered</a>, a Fairfax County, Virginia man was sworn in as a school board official on a stack of pornographic books aimed at children rather than on a Bible.<h2>Some kids get it, even if adults can't</h2>While some adults don't seem to identify pornography as inappropriate in a school library, there are students, such as Knox Zajac, who do. “Nick and Charlie” is a sexually explicit book that he found displayed in his Maine middle school library and brought to the attention of his father, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/11-year-old-speaks-out-against-pornographic-content-maine-middle-school-admin-should-be-prosecuted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to Fox News's Joshua Q. Nelson. When he went to check out the book to show his father, the librarian asked him if he wanted others and if he wanted the graphic novel version. He is 11 years old and in sixth grade. The age advisory in the book is 14 years of age and older.Knox Zajac is seen reading from the book at a school board meeting in the tweet below.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">An 11–year-old sixth grader reads a sexually explicit book "Nick and Charlie" in front of the school board in Maine. The book was on display at his middle school library. These are the books being offered to kids in public schools. <a href="https://t.co/rLzxlFoNmZ">pic.twitter.com/rLzxlFoNmZ</a>— 3sidedstory (@3sidedstory) <a href="https://twitter.com/3sidedstory/status/1629505943569584129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2>School board members protect their ears</h2>Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, Sr., <a href="https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/this-is-immoral-pastor-slams-nc-school-board-over-pornographic-library-book-john-amanchukwu-north-caolina-asheville-city-perfectly-normal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">confronted</a> a North Carolina school board about a book in their library called “It's Perfectly Normal,” asking the school board who gets to decide what's normal. Even school board members didn't want to listen to pornography — they cut him off as he was about to read from the book:<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Pastor <a href="https://twitter.com/REVWUTRUTH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@REVWUTRUTH</a> confronts NC school board over 'pornographic' library book 'It's Perfectly Normal,' board cuts him off when attempting to read a passage. <a href="https://t.co/0DrE4zYMpH">pic.twitter.com/0DrE4zYMpH</a>— Crisis in the Classroom (@CITClassroom) <a href="https://twitter.com/CITClassroom/status/1658884132577869843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Learn more about the debate on pornography in public schools:<ul><li><a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2024/02/23/ryan-walters-says-library-books-contain-porn-what-do-experts-say/72697294007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ryan Walters claims 'Glass Castle,' 'Kite Runner' contain porn. What do experts say?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/oregon-school-district-books-contains-pornographic-sex-acts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oregon school district books contain pornographic imagery of sex acts, according to portal</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/16/dearborn-parent-reads-graphic-passages-in-revolt-against-pornographic-books-in-school-libraries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michigan mom reads graphic passages in revolt against pornographic books in school libraries</a></li><li><a href="https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/parents-objecting-pornographic-material-school-libraries-arent-book-banners" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parents Objecting to Pornographic Material in School Libraries Aren’t “Book Banners”</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2022/10/24/heres-how-many-utah-parent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here’s how many Utah parent complaints have been filed — so far — about ‘pornographic’ books in schools</a></li><li><a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/ED/ED14/20231019/116471/HHRG-118-ED14-20231019-SD004.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Independent Women's Forum: Written Statement Before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Hearing: Combatting Graphic, Explicit Books in School Libraries</a></li><li><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-libraries-book-challenges-1.6851688" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Libraries are being accused of offering child porn. Librarians explain why that's not true</a></li><li><a href="https://yaf.org/news/illinois-to-defund-schools-public-libraries-that-protect-children-from-graphic-sexual-content/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Illinois To Defund Schools, Public Libraries That Protect Children From Graphic Sexual Content</a></li><li><a href="https://www.whqr.org/local/2022-07-08/nhcso-investigated-schools-for-obscene-and-pornographic-books-da-found-no-unlawful-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NHCSO investigated schools for ‘obscene and pornographic’ books, DA found no unlawful content</a></li><li><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/do-these-books-belong-public-school-libraries-you-judge-opinion-1802689" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do These Books Belong in Public School Libraries? You Be The Judge | Opinion</a>&nbsp;</li></ul><h2>How to porn-proof your kids</h2>While parents can become more vigilant about what their children are being exposed to in their schools, as Gunlock and others have done, children can be exposed to pornography by many other means.&nbsp;In an upcoming article, Frontline News will show parents how they can help keep their children safe from pornography.Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/appellate-court-upholds-texas-right-to-protect-children-from-online-porn">Appellate court upholds Texas' right to protect children from online porn</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/virginia-school-board-official-sworn-in-on-child-pornography-books">Virginia school board official sworn in on child pornography books</a></li></ul>

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'Why are schools so much less protective about what high school students as young as 14 are exposed to than TV stations catering to adults?'

Pornography now in public school libraries. Did you know?

<h2>Dumbing down education to fight “racism”</h2>School districts that promote social justice DEI agendas may be causing more harm than good. &nbsp;A case in point is the Seattle, Washington school board which is closing down its “Highly Capable Cohort” (HCC), a program for high-achieving students, because there were more white students in the program than black, Hispanic, Asian, and multi-racial students, <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/seattle-mothballs-program-for-gifted-students-chooses-to-dumb-down-entire-classrooms-all-for-equity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> Pat Dorney for Law Enforcement Today.&nbsp;Referencing KTTH-770’s Jason Rantz's report on the dissolution of the program, Dorney explained that from 2015 to 2021 the percentage of students of different ethnicities increased, yet, it was not good enough for those looking for equal representation.<blockquote>In 2015, the Seattle Public Schools hired an “equity specialist” whose charge was to address (in other words, find) so-called racial inequities. Three years later, the HCC served 13% multiracial students, 11.8% Asian, 3.7% Hispanic, and 1.6% black. In 2021, those numbers had increased to 20% multiracial, 16% Asian, 8.2% Hispanic, and 3.4% black. In other words, most cohorts virtually doubled their participation, while Asian participation saw a 25% increase. However, that wasn’t good enough for critics who complained the program was “racist” and had to go. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote>Minority parents ignoredRather than searching for more non-white students who would qualify for the program, and despite protests from minority parents whose children had been benefiting, the program will be closed. In the coming 2024-2025 school year a whole-classroom model will be implemented, which Dorney quotes Rantz as arguing, is “unworkable.” Students of varying levels will all be placed in one classroom but they will not be taught in the same way forcing teachers to adapt lessons to both students who can barely read and those "reading two advanced books a week:”<blockquote>[Rantz] explained that students of all learning abilities would be included in the classroom, with each teacher responsible for between 20-30 students of differing learning abilities, with no additional resources and limited new training. Rantz argues it will make it impossible for teachers to create individualized programs for students with such disparate needs.“It’s not likely that a teacher can help a student who can barely read while simultaneously challenging a classmate who is reading two advanced books a week,” Rantz wrote. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote><h3>7% gap was too much</h3>Benjamin Ryan tweeted about the disbanding of the Highly Capable Cohort; including one mother's comment that it was of tremendous help to her highly gifted son with ADHD who was reading Harry Potter books at age 5.Pie charts, included in the tweet, show the apparent disparities between the racial/ethnic makeup of the Seattle public school student body and the Highly Capable Cohort. While 45% of the student body is white, the HCC was 52% white.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/lIBp0jmO6K">https://t.co/lIBp0jmO6K</a> <a href="https://t.co/3O9rJrxiD7">pic.twitter.com/3O9rJrxiD7</a>— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) <a href="https://twitter.com/benryanwriter/status/1775894011968160065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>What will happen to extremely gifted students?Rantz, Dorney continued, recounted the “typical” school day for a whole classroom model, as depicted in the Seattle Times, as “hardly impressive:”<blockquote>According to a recent Seattle Times feature, it examined a “typical” day in the whole classroom model, which Rantz called “hardly impressive.”On a recent day in a first-grade classroom, seven advanced learners sat on the floor reading silently on their iPads. Several others wrote independently at their desks. A special education student wrote with a paraprofessional at their side. The rest of the class sat in a front corner of the classroom while the teacher read a book out loud.In other words, Rantz said, advanced learners were sent back to the scourge of COVID-19 learning, “relegated to impersonal iPads,” while other students are writing, alone at their desks, somehow avoiding the distraction of the teacher loudly reading a book out loud.”</blockquote><h3>Less advanced students will not be lifted up</h3>Rather than lifting the underachievers, the move will dumb down the gifted students, according to Rantz.<blockquote>The move to dumb down the gifted kids to the level of their less advanced peers is “another lazy move,” Rantz argues. Instead of trying to lift the underachievers up, they dumb everyone else down. Is it any wonder that test scores are in the basement?&nbsp;</blockquote><h3>A program that helps no one</h3>In conclusion, Dorney argued, the school board was failing to support the more gifted students as well as those for whom they were aiming to provide equity.<blockquote>By mothballing a program that lifted kids up and was working for the lowest common denominator, the progressives on the Seattle school board are failing not only their high-achieving students but the very students whose “equity” they are trying to achieve.&nbsp;</blockquote><h2>There's nothing like a quality education</h2>Those who made it up from poverty, such as economist, social critic, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution for Public Policy Research Thomas Sowell and teacher Dena Simmons, attest to the difference a proper education makes.&nbsp;<h3>Thomas Sowell: "fairness not an option"</h3>Sowell, Frontline News <a href="https://frontline.news/post/the-injustice-of-social-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, appreciated the lack of fairness he experienced in an era before affirmative action and DEI. Growing up with hard-working parents who never made it past 7th grade, Sowell's teachers expected him to leave school knowing as much as children from more affluent homes that had books and magazines that his did not. Never was there consideration that he might not be able to succeed and needed “assistance” to make up for his underprivileged background. During his 1999 talk at the Harvard Club, which is depicted in the below After Skool cartoon of his talk, Sowell said:<blockquote>Whenever I hear the notions of fairness in education, I think back to my own education and I think, “Thank God my teachers were unfair to me.”</blockquote><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1711546091/image_39f9cd3cd5.png"></figure>He believed that had his teachers lowered their standards, as they are doing today, he would have been doomed to failure. However, he continued, “with a good education, change can happen in one generation. This was shown time and time again,” Sowell said in the clip below, using the late Jamie Escalante as an example. Escalante's Hispanic students did surprisingly well on their calculus exams astonishing the testing company.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xkDMVdEci4Q?si=mr9aXi2WsYSoqs1w&amp;clip=UgkxcS4VxLtJao5pUTSIoGv7sOgIthYDfgTx&amp;clipt=EOGTYxiQ6WU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;<h3>Dena Simmons: “empowering my students to take ownership in their learning”</h3>In the 2013 TEDx Teacher's College talk below, Simmons recounts her early years growing up in New York City's Bronx borough. After receiving her degree and returning to the Bronx in order to give back to her community, she discovered that there was a big difference between her and her students; she was now living there by choice while her students were there, as she had been as a child, because of economic circumstances.&nbsp;Simmons did not talk about diversity, equity, or inclusion, although she did recognize the difference “privilege” made and now considered herself privileged. Ironically, the privilege she had was her mother's hard work and her own diligence. Nevertheless, wanting the best for her students, she became more mindful of her students' experiences, working to empower them and give them a sense of self-worth, stating (@10:00):<blockquote>I celebrated my students by reading writers whose stories resonated with theirs, by constantly adjusting my teaching to meet the needs of my students, and by empowering my students to take ownership in their learning.Actually, one activity that I did in my classroom was dedicating a day to celebrate each student. My students and I would write warm fuzzy messages on sticky notes and then I would collect these sticky notes and give them to that student. My students would keep these messages of love and support on their desk for weeks. As a class we celebrated each other's assets.&nbsp;In essence, a mindful educator is a culturally responsive educator. She pays precise attention to what students bring to the classroom, to what excites and engages them, to what upsets and offends them, and to what makes them feel important and powerful.</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="964" height="542" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8VjpIfrwB7g" title="It's 10pm. Do you know where your children are? Dena Simmons at TEDxTeachersCollege" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>Good teachers strive to prepare underprivileged students to succeed in life. They don't expect them to fail absent special help and/or lowering the standards.Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/the-injustice-of-social-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The injustice of social justice</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/medical-school-only-if-you-re-willing-to-disrupt-power-imbalances-suffered-by-racialized-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Medical school? Only if you're willing to 'disrupt power imbalances' suffered by 'racialized people'</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/medical-school-takes-bold-stand-against-dei-ideology">Medical school takes bold stand against DEI ideology</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/new-university-promising-free-discourse-opens">New university promising free discourse opens</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/american-medical-schools-suffer-from-diversity">American medical schools suffer from ‘diversity’</a>&nbsp;</li></ul>&nbsp;

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School district ignores requests from parents of gifted minority children 

Seattle closes gifted class because minorities are 55% of student body but only 48% of program 

<h2>A stealth maneuver to require electronic cattle tagging?</h2>Did the recently passed 2024 Omnibus spending bill include “trojan horse” agricultural measures that will mean trouble for America's small ranchers? The spending bill, meant to keep the government operating through September 2024, includes $15 million allocated for RFID (radio frequency identification) infrastructure for tagging cattle and bison moving across state lines. Proponents of the measure claim it will improve tracing in cases of livestock diseases.Bringing to light the stealth maneuver, Law Enforcement Today's Pat Dorney <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/provision-tucked-inside-massive-omnibus-spending-bill-could-spell-the-end-of-small-ranchers-in-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> that,&nbsp;<blockquote>[m]any people have long warned about items hidden inside 1,000-plus page omnibus spending bills. The devil is in the details.</blockquote><h3>Culling the herd?</h3>Dorney cited ZeroHedge's report on the bill, which stated that,<blockquote>the recently passed spending bill in Congress directs $15 million to electronic livestock tracking, stoking fears that the ever-radical government could weaponize this system to limit beef consumption, long a dream of environmental extremists.&nbsp;</blockquote>Dorney also cited The Epoch Times's interview with cattle rancher Shad Sullivan who believes the new electronic tags will mean the end for U.S. small ranchers:<blockquote>“They are going to use it as a taxing mechanism to eventually control the livestock,” Sullivan said. “In the European Union, they used these measures under the guise of climate change lies to limit the cattle supply and if they do that here, it will destroy our industry.”&nbsp;</blockquote><h3>In the name of efficiency</h3>As described in the video below, proponents of the electronic tracking system believe it will streamline operations and make life easier.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DzT6aaOW_qQ" title="Livestock Tracking with RFID Ear Tags" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;<h3>Resistance</h3>Alexia Kulwiec, an attorney and executive director of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund <a href="https://www.farmtoconsumer.org/blog/2024/03/11/the-burden-of-electronic-rfid-animal-identification-on-independent-livestock-producers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explained</a>, that Big Tech and Big Agriculture have been trying to implement electronic tagging for decades but have faced too much opposition:<blockquote>For decades, multinational meatpacking corporations and high-tech companies have pushed mandatory electronic identification for livestock, to promote international trade and maximize the meatpacking companies’ profits. In 2010, the initial proposal for electronic ID was defeated by massive opposition from organic farmers, conventional ranchers, sale-barn owners, homesteaders, and consumers who want to buy from American producers.</blockquote><blockquote>The 2013 Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) rule requires that all dairy cattle and adult beef cattle that cross state lines have some form of “official identification.” &nbsp;The rule specifically provides that people can use either electronic or traditional forms of ID. In 2020, the USDA APHIS issued a mandate that cattle and bison be tagged with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Following litigation, in March 2021 this mandate was revoked.</blockquote>In May 2021 KOSU's Jonathan Ahl <a href="https://www.kosu.org/technology/2021-05-04/lawsuit-against-usda-over-electronic-livestock-tags-continues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had been unsuccessful in its attempts to compel livestock producers to use electronic ear tags to track their animals.&nbsp;The USDA tried in 2019 and 2020 to compel the use of the radio frequency tags by 2023 but backed off due to opposition from a variety of livestock producers. In order to totally quash the measure, he continued, the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a lawsuit alleging that the USDA's information on RFID usage was obtained illegally:&nbsp;<blockquote>The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Wyoming, alleges the committees the USDA created to get information on RFID usage violated its rulemaking process. Specifically, the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) from 2013.</blockquote>Properly following rule-making procedures would have revealed overwhelming opposition to the rule.<blockquote>Hageman said following the proper rulemaking process will show the overwhelming opposition to electronic ear tags. . . .</blockquote><blockquote>“They said they are going to go through a rulemaking procedure,” Hageman said. “What we’re trying to do stop them from doing is being able to use the work product from these two illegal committees in order to further that effort.”</blockquote><h2>Deck stacked against ranchers</h2>Rather than creating an impartial committee, the USDA chose committee members who were known to support the measure, stacking the deck in favor of tagging.&nbsp;<blockquote>“They handpicked people they knew were in favor of RFID,” said Harriet Hageman, an attorney working on the suit. “We’re going to continue holding them to the law, which is they have to comply with the administrative procedure act.”</blockquote><h2>Too heavy a burden</h2>Kulwiec <a href="https://www.farmtoconsumer.org/blog/2024/03/11/the-burden-of-electronic-rfid-animal-identification-on-independent-livestock-producers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detailed</a> the burden the RFID tags would place on those who could least afford them. She argued that “[t]he proposed rule will not improve traceability and will disproportionately harm small ranchers and farmers.”&nbsp;(Original emphasis.)&nbsp;The first problem with the rule, which she observed, was that independent ranchers would bear most of the program's costs. A 2009 study showed that tagging would only cost large operations $2.48 per head whereas independent ranchers would pay almost three times as much, or $7.17 per head.<blockquote>Problems with the Rule 1. &nbsp;. . . costs of the program will disproportionately be borne by independent producers. A 2006 Kansas State University report found that costs of an RFID-based system are significantly higher for people with smaller herds due to the expense of the electronic infrastructure. USDA’s 2009 analysis affirmed this by finding that significantly greater costs would be imposed on small producers. Specifically, the agency found that large operations would pay $2.48/head as compared to $7.17/head for what the agency termed the “smallest operations.”</blockquote>The other problem she found with the rule, was that it would not increase livestock traceability. She cited a 2010 Congressional Research Service Report that found that the cattle producer participation in the national animal identification system, which was 18% at the time, was too low to be effective. Yet, the USDA had previously estimated that the new rule would affect only 11% of America's cattle.<blockquote>2. The Proposed Rule Will not Improve Traceability: USDA-APHIS and multinational corporations claim that the rule will improve disease traceability. Yet the USDA-APHIS previously estimated that the new rule will impact approximately 11 million cattle per year, or only 11% of the cattle in the country. This is in part due to the allowance for group identification described above. In a 2010 Congressional Research Service Report, the CRS noted that 18% participation by cattle producers in the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was too low to be effective, and to respond effectively to animal disease outbreak.</blockquote><h3>Technical issues</h3>The measure would also increase error rates.<blockquote>In addition, the proposed rule will be ineffective because of the probable error rate in implementing the program. The proposed rule provides that the EID tags will include visual ID numbers so that they can be read either electronically or visually. Yet error rates that exists with current nine-digit tags will surely increase with the proposed 14-digit codes.</blockquote><h3>No need</h3>Independent farmers have not had a problem with traceability. So why the need for tags?<blockquote>Moreover, traceability from independent ranches and farmers has not been found to be a problem. When consumers purchase from their local ranches or farms, they know where the meat is produced and can easily trace any illness back to that producer if necessary (which the USDA has not established is in fact necessary).</blockquote>Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who himself owns livestock, also opposed the measure, in this tweet, shared by Dorney. Massie contends that this is an illegal measure that will be used by climate change proponents to limit beef and by Big Agriculture to small ranchers.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Hidden in this week’s Omnibus: Lobbyists got $15 million dollars to implement ELECTRONIC TRACKING of all cattle in the U.S. No law authorizes this! It will be used by the GREEN agenda to limit beef production, and by the corporate meat oligopoly to DOMINATE small ranchers. <a href="https://t.co/jNsmDcxUGT">pic.twitter.com/jNsmDcxUGT</a>— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1765362003080527903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2>Where's the consumer?</h2>Missing from the discussion is the consumer, whose voice is unheard but also stands to lose if the measure is used to jack up prices for small farmers and contract the beef industry.

smart livestock farming.jpg

surveillance

'EU used these measures under guise of climate change lies to limit cattle supply'

Spending bill's 'trojan horse' - RFID livestock tagging may lead to cattle limits

<blockquote>The top five complaints of teachers from 1940-1962 — talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls and getting out of turn in line — to rape, robbery, assault, burglary and arson from 1963 to present.</blockquote>From: <a href="https://catholiccitizens.org/views/77893/education-expert-removing-bible-prayer-public-schools-caused-decline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Education Expert: Removing Bible, Prayer from Public Schools Has Caused Decline</a><h2>Less God - more violence</h2>How did public school teachers go from sending notes home about gum chewing to reporting rapes?&nbsp;Since the Biblical story of Creation was replaced with evolution and the practice of picking students to start the school day with a non-denominational prayer over the PA system was banned from government schools in 1963:&nbsp;<ul><li>Academic achievement has plummeted, including SAT scores.</li><li>There has been an increased rate of out-of-wedlock births</li><li>There has been an increase in illegal drug use</li><li>There has been an increase in juvenile crime</li><li>There has been a deterioration of school behavior</li></ul><h4 style="text-align:center;"> From: <a href="https://catholiccitizens.org/views/77893/education-expert-removing-bible-prayer-public-schools-caused-decline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Education Expert: Removing Bible, Prayer from Public Schools Has Caused Decline</a></h4><h4>&nbsp;</h4><h4>Even murder:</h4><blockquote>Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Education without morals is like a ship without a compass, merely wandering nowhere.” That crucial moral fiber is like those Common Core morality classes – not found in public schools. In fact, that moral fiber is banned from schools.A Professor of Education at CSU, William Jeynes explains . . . “One wonders if far fewer school shootings would have occurred if students from these schools, especially the assailants, had been given training in forgiveness, anger management, loving others, showing respect, defending the children who are bullied, and dealing with others tenderly.”According to Richmond Alarm, a school security company, “The mass school shootings list confirms that most K-12 school shootings have occurred at public institutions. As of 2017, private K-12 academic institutes have been, for the most part, spared from large-scale mass shootings”. Public schools are not to blame for these events. It’s the banishing of God that is to blame.</blockquote>From: <a href="https://clarion.olsh.org/1186/life/god-and-school-violence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">God and School Violence</a>&nbsp;<h2>Indianapolis minors and gun violence</h2>Seven minors were wounded late Saturday night in a shooting near the Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis, Indiana, where a large group of juveniles had gathered. While the nature of the gathering was unknown, this was the third consecutive weekend that Indianapolis police responded to a mass shooting, <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/shooting-in-downtown-indianapolis-leaves-seven-children-injured" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> Law Enforcement Today's Eddie Killian in his report on the shooting.Walter Straiten tweeted this Fox News report on the shooting.<blockquote>[L]ocal Fox affiliate reported officers arrived at the scene and discovered a large group of juveniles including 6 with apparent gunshot wounds. . . . a seventh victim arrived at a hospital with an apparent gunshot wound.&nbsp;No suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the shooting but investigators say that more than 1 weapon was used.</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/eXDf2FVoMT">https://t.co/eXDf2FVoMT</a>— Walter Straiten (@WalterStra86430) <a href="https://twitter.com/WalterStra86430/status/1775246836531400734?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h3>Parents need “to be more vigilant about their children’s whereabouts”</h3>Deputy Chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Tanya Terry, &nbsp;expressed concern about the incident and the need for parents to be more mindful of where their children are, Killian recounted: &nbsp;<blockquote>Deputy Chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Tanya Terry, expressed deep concern over the incident, stating, “It is extremely concerning to us that so many of our young people have been victims of gun violence this evening. Once again, we have a situation where young people are resolving conflict with gun violence, and it has to stop.”. . .&nbsp;In response to the recent surge in gun violence, Terry disclosed that over 25 officers were patrolling the downtown area on Saturday night to prevent such incidents. She emphasized the need for parents to be more vigilant about their children’s whereabouts, especially during late hours. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote>Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, Killian shared, was also concerned that young children are out and unaccompanied so late at night:<blockquote>Mayor Joe Hogsett made the following statement on the shooting, “This Easter Sunday, I am heartbroken for the young people whose lives have been impacted by what occurred last night. Let me be clear: a 12-year-old child has no business being out late at night anywhere without parental or adult supervision. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote><hr><h3>Youth homicides on the rise in Indianapolis</h3>The increasing gun violence affecting Indianapolis youth is <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/indianapolis/2023/12/12/indy-homicide-youth-rate-gun-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">depicted</a> in the following graph by Axios Indianapolis:<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1712146304/image_987941fd4b.png"></figure><hr><h3>Why are children wandering about at night?</h3>In a shooting incident on the west side of Indianapolis just a couple of days prior to the above shooting, two juvenile shooting victims were found in the area where an adult shooting victim was found dead when his car crashed into a home. The police suspect the children, who were not cooperating with police, were in the car with the adult victim. As Kaitlyn Kendall and the WRTV News Staff <a href="https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/1-dead-2-injured-in-shooting-on-citys-west-side" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, the police captain wondered why children were out so late at night:<blockquote>Captain Don Weilhammer with IMPD Night Watch described both surviving victims as "juveniles.""It's possible they were on spring break. If it's not spring break, it's school time. Why are they out wandering around in a car this time of night?" Capt. Weilhammer said. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote><h2>U.S. “terrible at protecting children from gun violence”</h2>Children are not just affected by gun violence in Indianapolis. Children are more likely to die from gun violence in the United States than in any other high-income country, as NPR's Laurel Wamsley <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/28/1101307932/texas-shooting-uvalde-gun-violence-children-teenagers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>. In her article titled “The U.S. is uniquely terrible at protecting children from gun violence,” she shared the CDC's graph, below, showing that in 2020 gun-related deaths overtook auto accidents as the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the U.S.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1712152785/image_36e512bb26.png"></figure><h2>"It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?"&nbsp;</h2>These appeals, for parents to be responsible for their children and know where their children are, bring to mind the Public Service Announcement (PSA), “It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?” aired before the 10 pm news from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, as <a href="https://wikimili.com/en/Do_you_know_where_your_children_are%3F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WikiMili</a> explained :<blockquote>"Do you know where your children are?" is a question used as a public service announcement (PSA) for parents on American television from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. Accompanied by a time announcement, this phrase is typically used as a direct introduction for the originating station's late-evening newscast, typically at either 10:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m.&nbsp;While the phrase itself had appeared in newspapers as early as the 19th century, usage of it in broadcasting started in the early 1960s following the enactment of nightly youth curfews for minors in multiple large cities.&nbsp;</blockquote>Fox 5 News shared the history of the PSA in the video below.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PTCrgovX3mc?si=B6_H-4KIHwQ2VWgx" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>A renewed nightly reminder for parents to be responsible for their children may be a good thing, today. This is especially so since some cities are <a href="https://slate.com/business/2023/01/teen-curfews-philadelphia-chicago-crime.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">implementing</a> nightly curfews, just as they did when the original PSAs were aired.<h2>Good communication between parents and teens key to safety</h2>The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/factsheets/parental_monitoring_factsheet.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">offers</a> the following suggestions for good communication between parents and children which can help keep children safe:<blockquote><ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>Talk with your teen about your rules and expectations, and explain the consequences for breaking the rules.</li><li>Talk and listen to your teen often about how he or she feels and what he or she is thinking.</li><li>Know who your teen’s friends are.</li><li>Talk with your teen about the plans he or she has with friends, what he or she is doing after school, and where he or she will be going.</li><li>Set expectations for when your teen will come home, and expect a call if he or she is going to be late.</li><li>Ask whether an adult will be present when your teen is visiting a friend’s home.</li><li>Get to know your teen’s boyfriend or girlfriend.</li><li>Get to know the parents of your teen’s friends.</li><li>Talk with your relatives, your neighbors, your teen’s teachers, and other adults who know your teen. Ask them to share what they observe about your teen’s behaviors, moods, or friends.</li><li>Watch how your teen spends money.</li><li>Keep track of how your teen spends time online, and talk about using the Internet safely.</li><li>Pay attention to your teen’s mood and behavior at home, and discuss any concerns you might have.</li><li>If your teen does break a rule, enforce the consequences fairly and consistently.</li><li>Make sure your teen knows how to contact you at all times.</li></ul></blockquote>All good advice, of course. But what the children are learning, and what they're not learning, may be no less important.

Caryn Lipson

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