Welcome to Wednesday …

Of course the Brew’s thoughts this morning are for the people of Florida as Hurricane Idalia takes angry aim.

Hurricane Idalia

The latest dangerous storm is set to hit the Gulf Coast side of Florida this morning. Idalia could hit as a Category 3. Worries about a potentially “catastrophic” storm surge are growing.

Evacuation orders have been issued for 23 counties as of Tuesday afternoon. Florida has mobilized 1,100 National Guard members. They’ll have 2,400 high-water vehicles and 12 aircraft at their disposal for rescue and recovery efforts. The White House has already approved an Emergency Declaration that gets Federal assets on the move and in position.

Our prayers are with the people of Florida and the first responders.

FEMA … Amid Fires and Hurricanes … Forces “Diversity” Training

A hurricane is set to slam Florida, with other storms likely to follow in what could be a busy hurricane season. A thousand people, including hundreds of children, are missing and likely incinerated on Maui. Lahaina is leveled. Residents there are outraged at the lack of effective FEMA response. (See our video below with longtime Hawaii resident and human rights activist Jason Jones.)

But what’s flooding and flame and suffering today compared to America’s historic inequities?

This month and next, FEMA is holding mandatory “diversity” training for thousands of employees. The Free Beacon is reporting that FEMA’s “resilience” division is forcing employees to take one of three three-hour diversity training models between August 1 and September 28.

You’d hope FEMA’s sole focus would be to save lives and manage emergencies in the United States, right? Unfortunately not in a nation that FEMA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training materials call “rooted in extreme extraordinary violence”?

No, according to a July email about the diversity training, the effort is “part of our ongoing commitment to instill Equity as a Foundation of Emergency Management.”

FEMA has about 20,000 employees. That means 60,000 man-hours in the midst of existing and pending disasters and emergencies will be wasted indoctrinating workers about how “systematic racism and oppression exist.”

Think Idalia cares about anybody’s skin color or personal pronouns?

FEMA is having a bad run of it. Just last week, the agency was caught putting FEMA officials up in $1000 a night rooms at swank Maui resorts. FEMA defended the decision, saying the officials were paying a government rate of $345 a night.

What? N95 Masks and Paper Straws Can Be Unhealthy?

As election season gears up, here comes the “COVID”-related mandates. Joe Biden’s talking about a new vaccine he wants every American to have. Some schools are even torturing children with new calls for remote learning. Several universities and entities are forcing people to wear masks.

This as a new study shows that N95 masks pose a health risk. A study published by NIH suggests N95 masks may expose wearers to a dangerous level of “toxic volatile organic compounds” (TVOCs). Researchers in South Korea studied two types of disposable medical-grade masks and several reusable cotton masks. Seems they had eight times the recommended limit of TVOCs.

Dr. Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, warned the Daily Mail about drawing too strong a conclusion about the study. However, he did also suggest there’s increasing evidence of the ineffectiveness of mask-wearing and “there seems to be diminishing returns on the need for masks.”

Masks aren’t the only item shoved in our faces that has turned out to be bad for you. Paper straws? You know those straws that turn to mushy mess before you’re halfway done with your drink? The ones some restaurants force you to use because plastic straws are evil? Turns out paper straws are laced with toxic “forever chemicals” that build up over time in your body and can pose a problem for long term health.

Oh, they also pose a danger to the environment. In fact, more of these “forever chemicals” are found in paper straws than in plastic straws.

Yes, plastic straws pose other issues. But like the mask mandates, “the science” seems to show the cure is worse than the disease.

You can find the Belgian study at the peer-reviewed journal Food Additives and Contaminants.

Biden Sent Quite a Stack of Emails Under Fake Names While VP

The National Archives has roughly 5,400 emails and other records sent by Joe Biden under different names while he was V.P., NARA made the admission under an FOIA request by the Southeastern Legal Foundation. They did not turn over the emails.

Biden’s pseudonyms are known to include “Robert Peters,” “Robin Ware” and “JRB Ware.” The trove of emails includes exchanges with son Hunter and associates concerning Ukraine. Gateway Pundit reports two emails from Biden aide John Flynn to Joe and Hunter involved an official Biden phone call to then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

According to a White House read-out of the call, Biden and Poroshenko went on to speak, among other things, of “continuing to institute reforms of the Office of the Prosecutor General.” Who was the Prosecutor General? Viktor Shokin, guy whom Hunter Biden was hired by Burisma to clear out of their way. The guy Biden got fired. Hunter was in the loop for a call talking to the Ukrainian President about Shokin?

Oversight Chairman James Comer is demanding NARA turn over all the emails, unredacted.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden, fresh off claiming destitution in his child support case in Arkansas, has moved into $16,000 a month digs in Malibu. His Secret Service detail has inhabited a ritzy villa nearby, ocean views and all. That pad also runs about $16,000 a month to rent. Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who’s footing the bill.

“The Secret Service is paying $16,000 a month now to stage near Hunter Biden in Malibu. Who’s paying for that?”

“That’s a question for the Secret Service.”

According to the Daily Mail, the answer is the Secret Service. The answer is you.

Finally … 12-Year-Old Tossed From Class for Gadsden Flag Patch by Teacher Ignorant of History

Teachers will make mistakes. But man, this is a rich one. A 12-year-old named Jaiden was removed from a Colorado Springs charter school after officials got bothered by a Gadsden Flag patch on his backpack. Child suicides and depression up. Anxiety up. Social isolation up. Test scores way down. Children one wrong pill away from a Fentanyl overdose. And we’re worried about a patch? Let alone one that’s a famous American symbol touting “Don’t Tread on Me”?

But that’s not the amazing part. In throwing the kid out of class, the Vanguard School messed up the history of the flag.

“The reason that they do not want the flag displayed is due to its origins with slavery and the slave trade,” an official is heard in the now viral video clip.

Meet 12yo Jaiden who was kicked out of class yesterday in Colorado Springs for having a Gadsden flag patch, which the school claims has "origins with slavery."

The school's director said via email that the patch was "disruptive to the classroom environment."

Receipts in the 🧵 pic.twitter.com/qQ8jK1zSpR

— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 29, 2023

The Gadsden Flag … as the boy’s mother repeatedly tries to point out … has its origins in the Revolutionary War. The fight for liberty and freedom. The fight against unjust laws. The Founders, she says, stood up for what they believed in … a character trait she hopes to instill in her son. (Go, Mom!)

The official pitches that the patch has racial implications that could bother other kids. How? First off, what 12-year-old is going to be bothered by another kids’ patch, let alone know what that patch is besides a cool looking snake? And if some kid is triggered, rather than ban the patch, why not teach the Gadsden Flag’s role in our nation’s founding? Then again, if you’re teaching America has been racist from its founding, no wonder you’re worried students would be bothered. If that’s the case, forget about pulling out a one-dollar bill with that slave owning George Washington.

MAJOR UPDATE: The Vangard School Board of Directors held an emergency meeting and … Jaiden won. The school affirmed the historical value of the Gadsden Flag and declared young Jaiden is welcome back to school, with the Gadsden Flag patch on his backpack.

We won! #JusticeForJaiden pic.twitter.com/Y8dX43e9Sp

— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 30, 2023

Kudos to young Jaiden and his mom for standing up.

Along The Stream

The new “Conversations With Christians Engaged” is up. In part two of a six-part series on our nation’s founding documents, Ben Quine dives into our Constitution and how it has been such an oasis of stability and freedom in the midst of this chaotic and despotic world. Why has it lasted so much longer than the average?

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.