I dont really watch YouTube. Rather, I listen to it. Youll find an overwhelming amount of podcasts, lectures, and music playlists in my recommendations and yes, I keep my phone screen lit 24/7.

Naturally, the YouTube Premium ad came for me. It popped right when Joe Rogan asked Jordan Peterson a tricky question. Obviously, time expanded right then, and I couldnt bear waiting. So I took my phone out of my pocket to skip the ad. Yet, instead of pressing the button, I froze. My observant eye caught a subtle marketing trick.

The message box didnt say skip ad, it said skip trial.

Its not a random choice of words. YouTube marketers were leveraging a specific psychological trait which is loss aversion.

According to psychological studies, our minds are more sensitive to losses than to gains. It is especially the case for objects and possessions say, a month of free trial, for example.

Roughly speaking, losses hurt about twice as much as gains make us feel good. If we wanted to measure the difference using an imaginary emotion-meter, itd mean that finding $10 brings 100 positive emotional points while losing the same $10 strikes 200 negative emotional points.

YouTube subtly used loss aversion as a marketing tool. Marketers didnt ask me if I preferred to skip the ad, but to skip the trial. The former translates into merely ignoring a commercial, while the latter meant that I was giving up on something.

When I saw the message box, I hesitated. Does this mean that Ill never get this offer again? I thought. Frankly, I hate being interrupted by ads I should probably consider subscribing. Besides, my battery will thank me for it.

All it took was one word to seduce my attention and make me consider subscribing

But what can the rest of us learn from this? Were not YouTube. We dont have the same resources nor the same reach. Nevertheless, we could still leverage loss aversion in our marketing.

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YouTube sells subscriptions with just one word heres how you can emulate it - The Next Web

To reduce risk, it is necessary to avoid a portfolio whose securities are all highly correlated with each other. Harry Markowitz

Yesterday I had the supreme experience of having lunch in La Jolla, California, with the father of modern portfolio theory, Harry Markowitz. He is considered to be a legend on Wall Street.

The lunch was arranged by Rob Arnott, a successful financial consultant who is known as the godfather of smart beta. He is also a strong advocate of value investing and will be a keynote speaker at this years FreedomFest.

Your editor in between the Father of Modern Portfolio Theory and the Godfather of Smart Beta.

Markowitz is a legend in the investment world. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990 based on a single article he wrote in the Journal of Finance in 1952 called Portfolio Selection.

The eureka moment came when he discovered that investors could increase their returns and reduce their risk by properly diversifying their portfolios into stocks, bonds and cash.

He wrote, In choosing a portfolio, investors should seek broad diversification. Modern portfolio theory recommends that you diversify with a balance of stocks and bonds and cash thats suitable to your risk tolerance.

For example, during the stock market crash in March 2020, stocks fell and bonds rose. Thus, a portfolio of both stocks and bonds would have survived intact. Ditto for the financial crisis of 2008.

If you made the mistake of only being invested in stocks, you were in trouble. If you only invested in bonds, you missed out on the mother of all bull markets from 2009-2020. But by investing in both, you survived and prospered.

Markowitzs message is clear. Its vital to have non-correlated investments that move in opposite directions during crises. He states, To reduce risk, it is necessary to avoid a portfolio whose securities are all highly correlated with each other.

During the most recent bear market, most stocks, ranging from financials to utilities, fell together. However, many online-related tech stocks rose.

Gold and Real Estate as Non-Correlated Investments

I brought up gold as an excellent non-correlated investment that often moves opposite to the stock market. The precious metal has held up well in 2020. But I was surprised to learn that gold doesnt interest him.

Instead, he favors Californias real estate. He has a condo on the beach, which he says is benefiting from rising demand and cheap mortgage rates.

Harry is amazingly alert for a man who is 92 years old. He was born in the year that Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs 1927! He was two years old when the stock market crashed in 1929. He has lived through it all World War II, the inflationary 1970s, the 1987 stock market crash, the dotcom boom and bust and the longest bull market in history.

What is the Most Important Lesson of Investing?

Markowitz has survived and prospered throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Near the end of our luncheon, I asked Harry what he thought was the most important lesson of investing after all these years.

He hesitated, so I suggested one of my favorite quotes from The Maxims of Wall Street.

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Wall Street exaggerates everything.

Both Harry and Rob nodded in agreement. Thats why diversification is so important, stated Markowitz. It reduces the risk.

They were both intrigued by my new 7th edition of the Maxims, and we spent the rest of the time reading, smiling and commenting in response to various quotes from the book.

Here are some of their favorites:

Psychology is probably the most important factor in the market and one that is least understood. David Dreman

You cant worry and hit home runs. Babe Ruth

Know value, not prices. Arnold Bernard

Take calculated risks, but dont be rash. General George Patton

Harry especially liked this one:

Im not a bull. Im not a bear. Im a chicken. Charles Allmon

Harry was delighted to receive an autographed copy of my book.

Rob Arnott Buys a Box of Maxims!

Rob Arnott was so impressed that he decided to buy an entire box of 32 copies, which I sell for $300. He plans to give them out to his best clients.

I offer a super bargain price for the Maxims. The first copy is $20, and all additional copies are $10 each. They make a great gift to friends, family, clients and investors.

I autograph each copy, number them and mail them at no extra charge. If you order a box (32 copies), you pay only $300.

To order go to http://www.skousenbooks.com, or call Harold at Ensign Publishing, 1-866-257- 2057.

Dennis Gartman said it best: Its amazing the depth of wisdom one can find in just one or two lines from your book. I have it on my desk and refer to it daily.

Jack Bogle, the legendary founder of the Vanguard Group, wrote, What a treat! Its great to have all these sayings in a single spot.

Alex Green says, Its a classic!

Updates Regarding FreedomFest

Rob Arnott will be one of our featured speakers at FreedomFest from July 13-16 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. He will speak on Value Investing Why Its Not Dead and will debate Steve Moore on Inflation vs Deflation: Whats Ahead in the Economy and What It Means to Investors. Both are not to be missed!

He will attend every day of FreedomFest.

Meet Dr. Drew and Bestselling Author Dave Rubin in Vegas!

Now for a special announcement: I am pleased to report that Dr. Drew, the famous M.D. and television personality, will be our keynote speaker at FreedomFest in Vegas, July 13-16.

Dr. Drew (Pinsky) is known for his outspoken views on the pandemic and his warning to the media to stop the hysteria. Stop it, just stop it! he warned.

He will give us the latest update on the COVID-19 virus. He is also an expert on addiction and the social impact of the lockdown.

He will be joined by Dave Rubin, the host of the popular online show The Rubin Report and the author of the bestselling book Dont Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason.

Dave Rubin is also famous for his sellout 12-week 12 Rules for Life tour with Dr. Jordan Peterson.

Just in: Tom Woods, the top economist at the Mises Institute, will be the judge in the most important trial of the new decade: The Pandemic on Trial!

Exclusive Who Sold in May With So Much Cash on the Sidelines?

And Professor Allan Litchman, the author of Keys to the White House, will give us his surprise prediction on the November elections! Right now, the election betting is showing that the Democrats are gaining on President Trump and the Republicans. The Democrats may even take the Senate! Thats why our emergency meeting, hosted by Steve Forbes, on July 13 is so important.

Heres Your Chance to be a HERO

It is not often in life that you have a chance to make a difference in the world and proudly say, I was there to mutually pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor in defense of our First Amendment right to freedom of assembly.

FreedomFest will be the FIRST live conference in Vegas (if not the country). We are determined to defend our constitutional rights.

On this day, choose who you will serve the state or the individual. Declare your independence in July.

Please read the Open Letter to All Freedom Lovers that can be found here.

FreedomFest starts next month. Caesars Entertainment is so thrilled to host the FIRST live convention in Vegas that it has moved our conference from the Paris Resort to their premier property, Caesars Palace.

It is rolling out the red carpet for YOU: Hotel rates have been cut to $119 a night at Caesars Palace. And they are only $57 a night across the Strip at the Flamingo Resort.

Plus, FREE PARKING is back!

Only 50 Tickets Remain for my 40th Anniversary Celebration!

We are filling up fast. So far, 150 people have signed up for the 40th anniversary celebration of my newsletter, and attendance for this special event and reception is limited to 200 subscribers. Everyone who attends will receive (a) a 2020 American eagle silver dollar, (b) an autographed, numbered copy of The Maxims of Wall Street and (c) the name of my favorite penny stock (its moving up!). Plus, a special reception will be held where attendees will have photo opportunities with celebrities such as Steve Forbes, Alex Green, Jim Woods, Hilary Kramer and others.

To sign up for FreedomFest and receive all three benefits, please click here. Or call 1-855-850-3733, ext. 202, be sure to mention you are a Investor Cafe subscriber and use the code FF20EAGLE. If you have already signed up, email me at mskousen@chapman.edu, and I will send you the name and symbol of the stock, as well as all the details.

To All Those Who Cant Make It This Year

I know a lot of you are fearful of traveling or going to a conference this year. Please consider sponsoring students who want to come to this years FreedomFest. The price for each student is only $150. Im hoping to bring a dozen students from Chapman University, but we need your help. To make a contribution, click on rates at http://www.freedomfest.com.

Good investing, AEIOU,

Mark Skousen

You Nailed It!

Chapman University Leads the Way

The overweening Governor Gavin Newsom here in California has mandated that all state universities (USC, UC Berkeley, etc.) stay locked down for the rest of the year. This means that they will have to teach online, despite all the evidence that young people are not threatened by the coronavirus.

Exclusive 6 Gold Investments to Buy for Limiting COVID-19 Risk

But Chapman University, a private school where I teach, is bucking the trend and plans to open up for regular classes this fall. Good for them!

President Daniele Struppa was reluctant to close the campus in the spring semester, but was forced to do so under extreme pressure from students and parents. (By the way, President Struppa will be a speaker at FreedomFest come join us and meet this hero of modern times.)

It turned out to be a rushed judgment, as the evidence is growing that the virus is no where near as fatal as was believed, especially among students. Even medical experts at Stanford University, the first major university that closed its campus, agreed that students should never have been sent home.

I taught the first half of my Financial Economics class in the spring in the classroom as I normally do. Yes, we had a few students who stayed home for a week with the flu. They were self-quarantined. Perhaps they had the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China. Who knows?

We were forced to go online, and I have to tell you, I hated it. Teaching on Zoom or Panpto cant hold a candle to teaching in person and interacting with students. In their course evaluation surveys, students concurred. Online education is a poor substitute for the real thing.

A Teachers Dream

I had an interesting experience last week. I had a total of 44 students in my spring course, and I needed to finish grading all of their work so that I could submit their final grades.

Only one student had an incomplete as I never received his 10-page paper. He had done all the quizzes and had taken the midterm and final, but I couldnt find his paper. He was a football player who was a cancer survivor.

I made every effort to contact him. I called, texted and emailed him two to three times, with no response. I even called one of his football buddies, but he couldnt reach him either. Finally, I tracked down his parents and left a message on their voicemail.

His father called me one night and apologized for his son. He said that his son has had memory problems since the chemo treatments and had forgotten about the paper. He said that his son would do the paper and send it to me.

Then he said something Ill never forget. He stated, Prof. Skousen, I just want to thank you for going the extra mile for my son. I graduated from Ohio State, and I can tell you that no professor at Ohio State would have taken the time to reach out to a student. Thats what makes Chapman so special. My son will be back in the fall.

We ended our conversation on a lighter note I told him that my family and I are huge Gator fans and cant stand Ohio State. We even had a good laugh talking about Coach Urban Meyer.

If you want to send your son or daughter to a great liberal arts college, you cant do much better than Chapman University.

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Avoid This #1 Mistake and You Will Be Rich - Stock Investor

Dave Rubin speaks at the 2019 Young Americans for Liberty Convention in Austin, Texas, September 6, 2019. (Gage Skidmore) Don't buy Dont Burn This Book. But don't deny Rubin's appeal.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE R ecently on Twitter I saw someone make a thread of their favorite meals the best meals theyd ever eaten. It was all Italian countryside this, New York hole-in-the-wall that, Asian metropolis, Michelin star, and so on, complete with gorgeous pictures. I could remember a few meals Id had like that. But I found it easier to remember the first times Id eaten certain things: sushi from a grocery store; roasted peppers on soggy bread with a tapenade whatever that is in a college dining hall; and, most of all, grilled chicken and rice pilaf at a Dennys near a hotel in, I think, Philadelphia. I love grilled chicken; Ive eaten a lot of great grilled chicken since then. But theres a sense in which it all started at that Dennys. If I went to Dennys today, Id probably hate their grilled chicken. But if Id never gone to that Dennys to begin with who knows?

You may be wondering what Dont Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason, the new book by Dave Rubin the host of The Rubin Report, interview show and centerpiece of the so-called Intellectual Dark Web has to do with Dennys grilled chicken. Well, you see, Dave Rubin is the Dennys the memorable if unspectacular entryway of a certain brand of cultural politics, a brand with which Ive become somewhat entangled. Some problems with Rubins book have already been pointed out. For instance, he gets some facts wrong and makes some incoherent arguments (my favorite: He says that the idea of reverse psychology came from German philosopher Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, back in 1970, but Adorno died in 1969), he talks a lot about ideas but doesnt seem to have any of his own, and he may have taken one of the books best ideas from Bridget Phetasy. Ill add another problem right now: There are several spelling and grammatical mistakes in the book, hallmarks of the poor editing endemic to contemporary publishing. (They get pretty egregious: His brother is acknowledged as Jonat]han, and I dont think Elon Musk named him.)

But what I really want to know is: What makes Dave Rubin, like Dennys, seem both so good to people who are new to this to the so-called Intellectual Dark Web and its process of questioning progressive pieties and so bad to people who have some experience with it? How can the process of acquiring a taste lead you to so strongly dislike the thing that introduced you to that taste to begin with? If we dont like Rubin anymore and hes faced plenty of criticism from fellow members of the Intellectual Dark Web does that mean we have to start hating the things to which, in our own experiences, sampling our share of Rubin led?

Rubins book starts out as a bit of a time capsule, a recapitulation of the greatest hits of Internet outrage from the mid 2010s. Rubin had been a stand-up comedian and then a talk-show host affiliated with the progressive Young Turks. Having himself been a progressive for most of his life, his experience being associated with progressive media, and the general distaste for disagreement and free thinking he felt he observed in progressive circles led him first to lose his hair an episode he describes in the book, which does elicit some sympathy in the reader and then his faith in progressivism. After describing his own experiences, Rubin covers Ben Afflecks tussle with Sam Harris on Bill Mahers show, the failure of some progressives to adequately condemn the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and the cancellations of figures such as Bret Weinstein, Lindsay Shepherd, and James Damore. Rubin explains that witnessing these excesses of progressivism led him back into the political philosophy of classical liberalism which had been abandoned by the regressive left. How? Well, the main factor seems to have been that the progressives became obsessed with group identity, while the classical liberals saw individual rights as paramount. This is a bit confused in Rubins presentation. He writes: Progressivism has traded a love of individual rights for paternalistic, insincere concern for the collective. It judges people based upon their skin color, gender, and sexuality, thus imagining them as competitors in an Oppression Olympics in which victimhood is virtue. Of course Rubin thinks progressivism is wrong, but why does he call it insincere? And whats the relationship between a focus on groups and a focus on victimhood? Individuals can be victims too, and individuals can parlay all sorts of victim narratives that have nothing to do with their membership in any sorts of groups.

Rubin provides a list of classical-liberal principles. The first item on the list is DRUGS. The discussions in this section are a bit uneven. For instance, about abortion he avers that life begins the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. But he gives abstract reasons, from the realm of political theory, that abortion should still be legal: Personal views of morality and public standards of law butt heads in an intractable opposition. . . .This is the constant push and pull between the private and the public. . . . The belief in individual freedom must extend to having confidence in people making the best decisions for themselves even if we personally believe they are ethically and morally wrong. Rubin never says exactly why abortion presents a unique challenge for this sort of balancing.

On free speech, too, which should be one of Rubins strengths, his ideas arent quite clear. He writes that people are scared of being unpersoned by social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. . . . As private companies, theyre free to do whatever they want, but censorship is not a solution to bad ideas. Then, writing about Colin Kaepernick, he says: The NFL teams owners were . . . free to decide if they wanted to keep Kaepernick or let him go for being too much of a distraction. . . . Nobody was silenced; everybody got to make their point. I dont doubt that there are ways of differentiating the Kaepernick case from the Big Tech cases, but Rubin doesnt even try! In the one case, he simply says that a private companys decision is censorship; in the other, he simply says that nobody was silenced. At least some awareness of likely counterarguments would be nice.

But the examples in Rubins tale of leaving the left, hackneyed as it may be by now, are well-picked, and the stories are not always poorly told. Some are very familiar. Some involve Rubin himself, such as a story about a New York Times cover story The Making of a YouTube Radical. Apparently this YouTube radical watched Rubins program, and so Rubin was blamed in part for his radicalization and that of countless others in which web surfers are seduced by a community of far-right creators by the YouTube recommendation algorithm, which sees that a surfer enjoys videos of a particular political bent and proceeds to show them more, and may travel all the way to neo-Nazism or stop at milder forms of bigotry. But the subject of the story, Rubin writes, ended up watching far-left content. Yes, thats right. The article about YouTube radicalizing people to the far right ends with the subject becoming a lefty. You cant make this s*** up. But this is a little glib on Rubins part. In fact, the article describes its subject spending five years in a vortex of far-right politics, and it describes some lefty YouTubers trying quite intentionally to combat the alt-rights YouTube style in order to deradicalize people like the articles subject. So Rubin has, without outright lying, given a false impression of the Times story. However, his instinct to dismiss the Times narrative is probably right. Researchers Mark Ledwich and Anna Zaitsev have found that YouTubes recommendation algorithm has an overall deradicalizing effect, not a radicalizing one.

Mainstream handwringing about alt-right videos often comes from journalists who are upset to see even one recommendation for content they disagree with. Unfortunately, Rubin expresses a similar sort of idea, writing that our factory settings everything the system teaches us to believe are programmed into us from a young age. For Rubin, ideas like Democrats = good, Republicans = bad are easily swallowed by the idealistic and impressionable youth. The message is even more appealing when its constantly reinforced through academia, the media, and celebrity [sic], which make it look cool and credible. But this is a theory of entertainment radicalizing a gullible consumer not unlike the one advanced in the New York Times story to which he objected. So which is it: Are people gullible and easily brainwashed, or can they be trusted to think for themselves? Though he has some good instincts and interesting takes, Rubin cant quite corral facts or principles into a coherent, consistent argument without a guest or partner of some sort helping him out. On his own, in this book, he seems to end up flailing.

Rubin is at his worst when hes trying to explain and argue for his own views. But he is at his best in at least a few places in the book, as the interviewer-cum-character hes developed and made so popular. There is a certain kind of magnanimity to this character that dissipates any mystery about why former guests on his show are by and large so loyal to him. Rubin takes many opportunities in the book though maybe not quite as many as he should to shift the focus from his own views to those of various guests hes had on his show. He admiringly describes his interactions with Jordan Peterson, the Michael Jordan of psychology, on some sort of international tour: I realized that [Peterson]s moments of humility were something I had implemented in my own work. In fact, it was a founding principle of my (frequently criticized) interview approach. Sometimes Id be seeking knowledge or clarity as much as the viewer at home . . . and wasnt afraid to ask for it. (Ellipsis in original.) And he describes in detail being owned by conservative commentator Larry Elder when Elder appeared on The Rubin Report before Rubin had fully left the left. Throughout, Rubin presents himself as just an amateur trying his best to make sense of the world, helped out by people he really admires: his guests.

Rubin once famously said during an interview: I have to say that my brain is still in recovery mode from taking in so many high-level, important ideas. The listener gets to see things from his perspective and begin to take in new ideas. This is the sense in which Rubin is both a character and an interviewer, as I suppose most interviewers are and his character is the protagonist, the audience stand-in, who leaves home for the first time and sees a whole world open up before them. Rubin spends a lot of time writing about the stress and sometimes illness that for him came with becoming politically homeless. Hes the hobbit, not the powerful wizard; its all a bit much for him.

Heres one theory. What makes Rubin bad is precisely what makes Rubin good. The sort of dull charm that makes him smilingly uncomprehending of disagreement in one case helps him bulldoze through obstacles in another. So, for instance, when a journalist scolds him for having two ex-Muslims on his show, he writes that the journalist heavily implied that Im somehow Islamophobic, which seems more disturbing to him than [one guest]s arranged marriage or [the other guest]s brother being killed by jihadists. I think of what my own reaction would be. I might try to understand the charge, to see how I might defend myself. But Rubin just waltzes through it. The real issue isnt what hes been accused of; its what the journalist is focused on. And hes right! Rubin is right that its the journalist, and not him, who comes off as inhumane and opportunistic. Now, theres no sophistication in seeing this. Its an intuitive piece of human psychology. It has all the class of the grilled chicken at Dennys. But it works. And this sort of straightforward judgment, backed only by sheer human instinct, will seem sophomoric to those with more than a few days of experience with these debates for just the same reason that it will seem refreshing to those who are new to them. It was refreshing to me, too, once, to think that I could employ such instincts in addition to the muck of academic theories and empirical data I always muddled through in order to make my own arguments. But this can only be the start of a new way of thinking about things. Right now, though, thats the best that Dave Rubin can manage.

Probably nobody should buy this book. And definitely nobody should burn this book among other bad consequences, that would drive up sales. But nobody should deny Rubins appeal, either. In an overwhelming world where everyone is trying to seem like the expert with all the answers, Rubin bumbles along, wide-eyed, a daring escapee from his former friends on the left to the towering figures he now interviews for a living. Its a coming-of-age story about a man who hasnt yet come of age.

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On the Limits of Dave Rubins Cultural Politics - National Review

Many are optimistic about what the Arizona Cardinals can do in 2020. However, no one appears to be more publicly bullish about the team than cornerback Patrick Peterson.

He already recently declared that this roster of players is the best team, at least on paper, he has been on in his almost decade in the league.

After four postseason-less seasons and only eight wins combined in the last two years, he is putting no limits on what this team can achieve.

The sky is the limit for this football team, he said in a video conference with the media this past week. I truly believe we can go as far as we want.

Both in a previous interview he gave on a podcast and in this meeting with the media, he emphasized how it is on the players to perform and that they must have a common vision, trust each other and commit to the goal to be able to be as good as they can be, but he isnt shying away from giving lofty expectations for the potential of the team.

It started with the offseason, he said.

The offseason has been great for us. The draft has been great for us, he said. We really hit all areas in this offseason to give not only the fans something exciting to look forward to but also putting us in the best opportunity to win. I definitely think this is a championship-caliber team from top to bottom.

The trade to acquire receiver DeAndre Hopkins got Peterson excited. General manager Steve Keim started with a bang.

The acquisition of DeAndre, that was huge for us, Peterson said. To add a top-two receiver to your roster, that just doesnt happen. That just doesnt fall in your lap. For that trade to be pulled off, I thought (it) was a great sign and a great start to the offseason.

So what makes this team so potentially special?

He described both the defense and the offense.

He began with the defensive backfield, where he plays.

The youth we have in the back end, I believe that speaks for itself, he said. We have young talented players that love the game that can cover sideline to sideline, that can be the enforcer. I believe that is very important for a football team.

Peterson himself returns for a full season after missing six games to suspension. Cornerback Robert Alford comes back after missing the season with a broken leg, which is going to be huge, Peterson said.

At safety, they have Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson. He called Baker the enforcer and a Tasmanian Devil. He raved about how Thompson played late in the season when he saw Thompsons confidence go through the roof.

He then moved to the defensive front seven, noting the presence of linebacker Jordan Hicks, the addition of rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons and the pass rushing of Chandler Jones.

With the signing of Jordan Phillips, the return of Jonathan Bullard and the selection in the draft of Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence, youve got pass rush, youve got D-line, youve got rotation now.

Then, on offense, he spoke of quarterback Kyler Murray.

I believe its going to be a huge year for him, he said. We all know he hasnt even scratched the surface yet.

With running backs Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds, Murray has a great backfield to help him out.

Then, with the addition of Hopkins to the receiver room with Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk, the Cardinals have three receivers that you pretty much cant double.

Kylers going to be like a kid in a candy store, Peterson added. Hes going to be able to pick whatever candy he wants. Youve got the opportunity to throw touchdowns to red-zone Fitz, take shots with DeAndre, anddownfield shots with Christian as well.

When you look back at the teams that Ive been a part of, thats everything we had, he said, thinking back to the seasons from 2013-2015 when the Cardinals won 10 games or more a year. But I believe the only thing different in this group is were a little bit faster and we got younger and having that youth in this day in age is big for us.

It isnt a prediction for what will happen, but it is a declaration of what is possible.

If we all come together, focus on our one goal, we can take definitely take it the distance, he said.Im very optimistic about where we can be at the end of the year, but right now were just a good team on paper.

It gives Cardinals fans a reason to get excited.

We have everything that you need, and if youre trying to build a championship-caliber football team, we have the players, he said. This is that type of roster.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wires Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 267

Ep. 266

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Patrick Peterson sees 'championship-caliber team from top to bottom' in Cardinals - Cards Wire

Lower Dauphin High School recently announced its third-quarter distinguished honor roll and honor roll. Distinguished Honor Roll requires all As or perfect marks. For the Honor Roll, a student must earn all As and Bs. There will be no fourth-quarter honor rolls.

Distinguished Honor Roll

Grade 12: Kayla Ajala, Sophia Balshy, Madison Baumgardner, Morgan Besic, Sarah Blouch, Kylie Boyer, Juliana Bramley, Ian Bruce, Leonardo Bueno, Ashleigh Cake, Kellie Chandler, Morgan Chiara, Anna Duncan, Elijah Durantine, Natasha Ebersole, Troy-Thomas Elhajj, Abdelrahman Elsaid, Colby Flohr, Isaac Fox, Daniel Geisel, Phoebe Gesford, Nicholas Giampetro, Christian Gingrich, Anastasia Hahnlen, Brandelynn Heinbaugh, Bryce Hickey, Kendall Hixon, Madelyn Hoke, Ryan Hsing-Smith, Isabelle Johnson, Sullivan Johnson, Donavan Kann, Kaleigh Kindall, Mitchell Kleman, Ryan Klingensmith, Aubrie Koser, Thomas Kropp, Zachary Landis, Dakota Lawson, Helen Lemarr, Christopher Leslie, Hunter Lohmann, Katherine Lynch, Emily Martz, Emma McQuinn, Morgan Mosco, Micah Nye, Emma ONeill, Delainey Olinger, Sienna Pegram, Sofia Pendolino, Annalisa Petrascu, Gabriela Ponce, Eva Pumo, Trey Sadler, Kate Sarsfield, Gracie Scheaffer, Tori Schrader, Carly Shaffer, Elizabeth Sharp, Colby Shaver, Alexandra Sierer, Nidhi Singh, Kyla Smith, Benjamin Spangenberg, Kameron Stepp, Shenandoah Stull, Abigail Tarczynski, Janel Thompson, Cora Tse, Aiden Turner, Clayton Ulrey, Michael VanGavree, Aiden Walmer, Destiny Waugh, Jessica Weaver, Carson Wendling, Kira Wertz, Willow Wisniewski, and Rebecca Yeager.

Grade 11: Nischal Adhikari, Zoe Baer, Nicole Baker, Maya Bayhart, Natalie Bennett, Adam Bonawitz, Emma Bretz, Caroline Brubaker, Emily Brubaker, Coryn Buck, Sophia Bunting, Josalyn Byers, Kennedy Cannon, Alexandra Cassel, Hailey Clouser, Olivia Cormack, Alvin Coulbourn, Caiden Covell, Grace Craig, Eva Day, Mason Dillon, Sophia Ditty, Gabriella Dixon, Kiara Dougherty, Abigaile English, Sophia Farole, David Feria Figueroa, Katherine Foley, Daniel Fombu, Bella Fry, Amelia Gaither, Caleb Gibbs, Anthony Hannan, Brooke Hofsass, Tyson Hofsass, Maya Hoover, Lauren Hunter, Christina Isabella, Logan Kephart, Kaden Kirchhoefer, Lauren Kirsch, Ella Klinger, Kyla Knauber, Timothy Koons, Aaron Krasley, Daniel Kreiss, Marguerite Kutz, Abby Lauer, Curtis Lin, Kate Little, Briona Lookenbill, Makayla Lookenbill, Julian Loraschi, Joshua Mackrell, Steven Mannetta, Cole McCulley, Clarissa McQuain, Tristan McQuiddy, Alec Merry, Trevor Millhimes, Robin Mitchell, Mackenzie Mowery, Kayla Pedersen, Jacob Pegher, Avery Price, Melina Putt, Miran Rezhan, Cole Rife, Alaina Riley, Deyanery Rodriguez, Janie Rost, Vaughn Sarago, Valentina Scottodicarlo, Elijah Sells, Cameron Shearer, Daniel Sheffer, Kilee Sims, Sierra Slentz, Cameron Snelbaker, Ana Snowden, Hannah Stickel, Marissa Vandernick, Mason Wahlers, Emma Walt, Catherine Walter, Grace Walter, Bridget Wappman, Lillie Weaver, Katherine Weigle, Luke Wren, Brody York, Madison Zerbe, and Julia Zewe.

Grade 10: Kristen Ajala, Margo Albarano, Delanie Batula, Paige Berzinski, Paige Bitting, Avery Book, Clara Breidenstine, Britley Brubaker, Sarah Brubaker, Emma Dickinson, Adam Dotts, Todd Dowhower, Alana Earley, Benjamin Ebert, Brianna Espenshade, Ethan Espenshade, Katherine Estes, Adam Fellin, Emma Foley, Joseph Frank, Matthew Giampetro, Joshua Given, Gabrielle Goodman, Conor Grubb, Makaylee Hale, Sarah Hanula, Christianna Harchuska, Nicholas Harhaj, Alexia Hedrick, Justyce Hollenbach, Alicia Jones, Tevon Kerr-Hornbaker, Andrew King, Chloe Krasley, Adam Lemarr, Anne Linker, Hailley Lynch, Sydnee Lynch, Shalee McGowen, Matthew Newman, Lilian Nop, Carolynn ODonnell, Nina Pace, Gabriella Pagano, Sarah Pikhit, Madison Ploutz, Ella Rafferty, Benjamin Rodemaker, Isabelle Rodemaker, Carlos Rodriguez, Elyza Roush, Alexa Shaffer, Lindsey Stine, Ryan Stoe, Leah Tierney, Cassandra Tipa-Bowman, Grant Tredinnick, Madeline Turjan, Colton Waters, Cailynn White, Saige Wilt, James Winninger, Celleste Wohlfarth, and Ryan Woolf.

Grade 9: Riana Agili-Shaban, Cameron Barber, Ella Blazi, Abigail Carter, Jacob Collins, Ethan Covell, Riley Fisher, Kylee Flohr, Devin Harris, Ryan Jorich, Emily Kline, Isaac Mende, Audrey Meyers, Abigail Nissley, Lekhana Pa, Andi Pagano, Ethan Parker, Kaiden Redcay, Makenna Robinson, Logan Rosenberry, Julia Ruzzi, Luke Schnoor, Andrew Seacord, Ian Sharp, Amanda Shultz, Makayla Shutt, Lauren Wahlers, Madelyn Weaver, True Weaver, and Eric West.

Honor Roll

Grade 12: Chloe Bomgardner, Matthew Brian, Lillian Carney, Paulimar Coll, Justin Curtis, Samuel Davis, Emily Dether, Aidan Ferguson, Colby Gaylor, Anna Given, Alayna Graeff, Axel Grater, Andrew Harnsberger, Claudio Hernandez, Seth High, Brenna Holland, Heidee Johnson, Elisabeth Jones, Kyle Jorich, Joshua Koteles, Richard Laychock, Meghan Lehew, Jack Levi, Daniel Little, Matthew Little, Malachi Lockard, Noell Long, Alex McQuain, Olivia Meyers, Madison Miduri, Amy Miller, Cole Miller, Mauricette Musser, Angela Orwan, Dustin Petrovic, Hunter Reifsnyder, Lexis Rhoads, Andrew Rhodes, Amanda Ruch, Claudia Rutledge, Ryan Sanson, Adriana Scheaffer, Kane Schrum, Olivia Sharrow, Erin Shifflet, Benjamin Sierer, Emily Singiser, Amber Snody, Katelyn Sparks, Trevor Spurlock, Micaiah Stiffler, Hunter Thomas, Ethan Varnicle, Ethan Westerberg, Jason Woolf, Austin Yohn, Nuvia Zaragoza, and Rylee Zartman.

Grade 11: James Abraham, Casey Ahern, Sophia Alterio, Kara Arnold, Linda Arredondo Sandoval, Madison Balmer, Ava Bell, Zachary Bixler, Rachel Blessing, Gabriella Branchi, Jackson Bruce, Brennen Brydun, Randy Burkhardt, Cassidy Burton, Olivia Carnes, Jason Carver, Kiara Cressinger, Hernandez, Diaz Nicholas Dirkman, Sierra Endy, Sofia Feeney, Thomas Gahring, Daniela Garcia Santiago, Miguel Garcia, Kylie Gerst, Steven Goss, Nathan Helmer, Jaylen Hernandez, Travis Hershey, Zoe Hobbs, Faith Hollinger, Kayla Horting, Caroline Hummer, Tyler Kobielnik, Noah Leach, Abigail Lennox, Mario Leon-Fuentes, Mya Macfarlane, Annabel Mauger, Derek McGlaughlin, Zachary McIntire, Jack McNally, Derwin Merca, Noah Miles, Matheus Neves, Ethan Peterson, Hannah Pho, Matthew Piermattei, Luis Radanovic, Madisyn Renninger, Yessenia Reza, Madison Riccio, Benelli Risser, Brianna Risser, Morgan Roth, Sebastian Salinas, Dale Sanders, Madalyn Sanders, Madison Seymour, Vijesh Singh, Nicole Smarsh, Sarah Snavely, Mikayla Spangenberg, Alexis Stockton, James Taylor, Ashlynn Tolbert, Marissa Vyhonsky, Emily Wealand, Olivia Weigher, Erin Wenrich, and Halie Woodring.

Grade 10: Natalie Allman-Sheibley, Gabriel Andrews, Tessa Barone, Chelsea Blazina, Ezra Bulgrien, Jackson Burger, Olivia Byers, Morgan Clouser, Gwen Daily, Zack Davis, Emily DeNotaris, Cody Dent, Logan Devine, Ava Donohue, Morgan Earley, Brooke Eberhard, Alyssa Eckman, Lauren Eisenhour, Samantha Farace, Isaiah Fisher, Peter Foran, Emma Fure, Ksanet Gebreharyat, Megan Geesaman, Luke Gibbs, Larisa Goodman, Elaria Gregg, Josephine Grundon, Katelyn Hanft, Abigail Hannan, Dylan Hassinger, Anna Hess, Delaney Hoover, Tate Ingram, Luke Johns, Cadence Kanode, Miranda Kelley, Payten Kirk, Maxwell Klingensmith, Logan Klinger, Braden Landis, Austin Little, Colton Matako, Samantha McGowen, Shaine McMonagle, Mikhaela Merca, Hayden Milic, Hudson Millar, Ethan Miller, Sydney Miller, Andrew Monuteaux, Matthew Mosco, Hannah Murray, Olivia Murray, Hadley Orth, Novani Patel, Cameron Patterson, Angelica Peluso, Fatima Perez, Ethan Piegzik, Aidan Powell, Austin Rabert, Anya Ray, Lina Rehr, Gisell Reza, Kisla Rhoads, Cody Rosati, Angelena Rossi, Cameron Saich, Geraldine Salinas, Samuel Sandy, Elyse Shenfeld, Jarrett Simonetti, Grayson Smith, Hunter Stroble, Morgan Stumpf, Tyler Swartz, Caitlyn Umidi, Sam Walker, Sofia Walsh, Jackson Weber, Gracie White, Adam Yalcinanahtar, Wyatt Yeakle, and Brandon Zelusky.

Grade 9: Paige Adelman, Digby Althoff, Shannon Angerer, Abbigail Auringer, Kelly Bastian, Raphael Bastos, Brooke Becker, Lauren Berstler, Regan Bixler, Hannah Bloomer, Jordan Care, Olivia Carter, Jaiden Dissinger, Lily Ditty, Katelyn Economopoulos, Kristen Economopoulos, Isaiah Edmonds, Kelsey Epoca, Riley Fanning, Timothy Fausnight, Ella Fields, Tyce Fischl, William Foley, Cole Garber, Joseph Goduto, Collin Gourley, Alysa Harbilas, Leyna Harner, Chloe Haslup, Parker Hayes, Rylan Helmer, Valerie Hevner, Ean High, Kyler Holland, Alyssa Johnson, Payton Killian, Faith Kingsbury, Mayson Klopp, Ava Kulp, Jeffrey LaRuffa, Kenzie Laudermilch, Bridget Lawn, Rylee Malseed, Antonio Mardegain, Felicity Martin, Nicole McCloskey, Hannah McConnell, Emerson McCulley, Mia McEvers, Marielle McGurrin, Jacob McIntire, Cory Miduri, Katelyn Miller, Raeann Miller, Shannon Miller, Aaron Moyer, Jacob Neithercoat, Caelyn Nikoloff, Abrianna Nissley, Connor OBarr, Ashlyn OSick, Sara Olweiler, Megan Orris, Brahm Parks, Mena Patel, Alexandra Raser, Jolie Revenis, Bawan Rezhan, Dylan Robinson, Katherine Ross, Thomas Royer, Kayley Schell, Anna Schmidt, Brynn Shaffer, William Sierer, Julia Singiser, Chase Smith, Laylah Snow, Morgan Sparks, Cailin Stepanian, Carly Stephens, Piper Taylor, Tyler Tharp, Sophia Tse, Loren Tucker, Miranda Ulrey, Tobias Waters, Aden Weigle, Alexandria Wells, Collin Whitley, Allison Wilbert, Eden Williams, and Reghyn Wilson.

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Lower Dauphin High School releases final honor rolls of school year - Middletown Press and Journal

The University of Alberta has fired Kathleen Lowrey from her role as associate chair of undergraduate programs in the Department of Anthropology, for saying biological sex is a reality.

Kathleen Lowery, an academic at the University of Alberta, has been fired from her role as associate chair of undergraduate programs in the Department of Anthropology for expressing gender-critical feminist ideas, according to the Centre for Free Expression.

It was in March that Lowrey was asked to resign from her position. She was told that the reasons for this were that the learning environment she created was "unsafe" for students. This was as per the University, "on the basis that one or more students had gone to the Universitys Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights and the Dean of Students, Andr Costopolous, to complain about her without filing formal complaints."

Her employer empowered students to damage their teacher's career and livelihood. It is the type of power which todays' students are accustomed to wielding, much as the Red Guards routinely punished their teachers for "wrong thinking" during the Cultural Revolution.

Universities were once known as hives of critical thinking, intellectual engagement, and the advancement of knowledge. However, as postmodern ideas took root, certain types of knowledge have become verboten. One of the most taboo subjects is biological sex, and the social impact of being born female or male.

The trend seems to have started at Evergreen College, a "progressive" liberal arts school in Washington State. From there, it spread like a virus to college campuses across the US, crossing the border to Canada, and jumping the Atlantic to the UK.

The University of Alberta justified its decision on the basis that a student, or students, informally complained to its Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights that Lowery made the learning environment feel "unsafe" for them by voicing gender critical feminist ideas.

As a teacher of young people with curious minds, Lowery said her method is to summarize her views on the first day of any course about sex or gender, along with a declaration that students are not required to agree with her. She took this approach to her 2020 course on the "Anthropology of Women."

It is difficult to imagine how a teacher could communicate knowledge on that topic without reference to biological sex, as opposed to the relatively recent academic trend of gender identity. However, Lowery's employers felt that her reference to the importance of biological sex broke with orthodoxy to such an unacceptable degree that she had to go.

The University did not give any reasons for dismissal, other than the fact an informal complaint had been received. They said that "it is not in the best interests of the students or the University" for Lowery to continue in her post. In effect, an institution of learning claims it is "protecting" its anthropology students from confronting the reality, and importance, of biological sex, because the students dont want to have to think about it.

For a sense of just how bizarre and unrealistic it is for a any university to prevent such teaching, imagine a science professor being sacked for asserting that an understanding of the laws of Newtonian physics is necessary to study the mechanics of objects. You can't teach anything useful without the material, factual foundations in place.

It is remarkable how much power the students now haveover female teachers, at least. All they need to do is whisper the magic word "transphobia" behind closed doors for the institution to show her the door.

Clearly, ideological purity, conformity of thought, instilling orthodoxy andcrucially - disciplining difficult women - are more important than factual teaching for the University of Alberta. Instead of a place to learn about all manner of different ideas, debate and critique them to arrive at something approaching the truth, a University is now remade as a "safe space" where students are to be cosseted by teachers chanting the liturgy of gender.

What parents paying tuition fees and accommodation for their offspring think about the quality of humanities education available at the University of Alberta remains to be seen.

The dictum "Go Woke, Go Broke" certainly seems to apply to Evergreen College, which saw enrollment drop following the students' de facto takeover of the institution. Alberta sacked Lowrey out of concern that students would avoid the anthropology department, but perhaps they should be more concerned about the effect of this negative publicity on parental appetite to pay for higher education there.

Either way, it shows that the marketization of universities is incompatible with academic values.

As a parent myself, this decision to sack a feminist academic does not inspire confidence and trust but their opposite. It appears that students with mental health issues, or misogyny issues, or both, are running the show, rather than capable adults with a commitment to academic values.

Academic freedom is under threat under the guise of "protecting" minorities, particularly young people steeped in the belief system of gender ideology. For them, even to speak of the reality of sex is a form of "harm."

Of course, crying because you've been exposed to an idea which doesn't sit neatly with your current world view is a way to shut down debate, discussion and dissent. When deployed against heterodox academicsand it should not be considered heterodox to know that sex is realit is cry-bullying, and it is now endemic within academia in the West.

Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology, publicly opposed the compelled speech element of Bill C-16 without losing his job. In fact, he tallied his battle with preferred pronouns into a stand-alone media and publishing career. Could it be that his sex makes him a higher-caste member of the academic community than Lowery, whose femaleness is inescapable?

There is a pattern emerging whereby the capture of institutions of learning by gender ideology - including the funding which comes from pharmaceutical companies, and charitable trusts connected to them - culminates in the bullying, harassment or sacking of gender-critical women. Instead of backing them up, the institution folds at the first whiff of student grumblings. It is a short cut to declaring their own conformity with demands of their new paymastersboth funders and students.

In England, the universities at which Professors Kathleen Stock and Rosa Freedman teach backed them in the face of harassment by gender ideologues. However, otherssuch as Professor Selina Toddwere not supported to the same extent. Women subject to accusations of gender heresy have been deplatformed from even guest speaking slots at universities.

The University of Alberta should have backed up a woman who was simply doing her job. Unfortunately, there is emergent pattern of thoughtful women being sacked for doing their jobs. Consider Maya Forstater, who was sacked by the Think Tank she worked for on the grounds that she initiated a conversation about the difference between sex and gender, and the reasons why sex matters in international development. Her feminist test case is currently on appeal.

Such is the power of the student as consumer, in an age of intense conformity of thought within liberal institutions. All it takes is hearsay from one or two students for the usual rules of employment disputes to fall away: no formal complaints process, no transparency regarding the nature of the accusations made, no disciplinary process.

Under the banner of "progressivism," we have regressed to a stage where careers and livelihoods can be destroyed behind closed doors, where any deviation from orthodoxy is framed as a damnable heresy, where matters of individual conscience and freedom of thought and expression fall by the wayside.

All of this shows us just how fragile gender ideology is, if one woman teaching an anthropology course can be made out as public enemy number one just because she knows sex is real, and that it matters.

Welcome to the new Dark Ages where irrational dogma dominates our universities, even though dogma is supposedly antithetical to the academic mission.

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University of Alberta fires anthropology professor for saying biological sex is real - The Post Millennial

AllCardinals publisher Howard Balzer joined SI.com's Madelyn Burke to discuss how the Arizona Cardinals are managing the elevated expectations on them since acquiring DeAndre Hopkins, arguably one of the best wide receivers in the league, among other new additions. The hype surrounding the Cardinals has grown exponentially and their players are mediating them and working on a defense that lacked in the 2019 season.

The full transcript is below. You can access our full story here.

Burke: The Arizona Cardinals had a splashy offseason headlined by the trade for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. But despite the overwhelming hype surrounding the squad, the Cards are doing their best to temper expectations. Joining me now is Howard Balzer of SI's AllCardinals and Howard, acquiring arguably the league's best wide receiver is a big move for this Cardinals team, yet how is this team navigating these expectations?

Balzer: Well, the big thing is they're saying all the right things and they all have a lot of confidence so that this can be a good year for them. But they always then say, "The sky's the limit." But then they say, "But, of course, that's only on paper." They're concentrating on the things they have to do to come together as a team because of the confidence they have. One of the biggest aspects, as you mentioned Hopkins, of it is the improvements on defense because that's where this team had some struggles. Last year, they were better towards the end of the season and everyone believes that they can pick up where they left off and have the makings of a well-balanced team this season.

Burke: And balance, obviously, the key. I mean, we've seen in the past and in recent history, even with the Browns, with the addition of Odell Beckham Jr. and the hype that that team struggled to live up to. How key are some of these other moves outside of this DeAndre Hopkins trade?

Balzer: Well, a lot of moves are very strong: of course, they got Kenyan Drake re-signed on the transition tag and on defense, the moves that they made with Jordan Phillips and De'Vondre Campbell and Devon Kennard and then drafting Isaiah Simmons. One real key that is overlooked a little bit is that Robert Alford, who was supposed to be a starting cornerback last year, missed the entire season with an injury and Patrick Peterson missed the first six games because of a league suspension. So, they get those players back to go with everything else. Plus, being in the second year of Vance Joseph's system and that's where a lot of the confidence is building from on this team. As I mentioned, it's with that defense.

Burke: "Defense wins championships" is the old adage, Howard Balzer, thank you so much for the insight.

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Howard Balzer on Cardinals Tempering Expectations - Sports Illustrated

I recently watched No Safe Spaces, a 2019 documentary about the controversies of free speech on todays college campuses.

One can view it, for a fee, at NoSafeSpaces.com, or order the DVD. The film features conservative talk show host Dennis Prager and comedian Adam Carolla, former co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program Loveline. Carolla is now a successful podcaster. The film also features many other commentators on both sides of the political aisle, such as political analyst Van Jones, professor Jordan Peterson, and YouTube interviewer Dave Rubin.

The film does a great job of revealing how free speech is increasingly under assault at colleges across the country, showing conservative speakers being shouted down, or even riots taking place when a college invites a speaker which the left finds offensive.

One thing that stood out for me was the fact that so many of the young people who attend college see themselves as victims. Whether they are women, people of color, transgender or anything other than a straight, white, male, the left has convinced them they are a victim of some kind of oppression. Once you view yourself as a victim it can be a horrible obstacle, but also a powerful weapon.

In the film Prager states hes convinced that a certain percentage of unhappy people are addicted to being unhappy. Talk show host Dave Rubin agreed with Prager, stating, Think about how empowering it is to say, your problems are not because of you . . . the system is against me. Rubin is a former liberal who no longer identifies with the left, due to what he calls their close-mindedness and hostility toward anyone who does not follow the liberal orthodoxy.

Shelby Steele, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, also is featured in the film. He condemned the victimization culture, which is especially embraced by his fellow blacks.

At some point down the road, he said, we as blacks, are going to realize the degree to which we identify our aspirations, in victimization. The degree to which we rely on it, not just as an excuse, but as self-definition.

Steele does not deny the existence of racism in America but is concerned that far too many young blacks use racism as an excuse for failure. Or they use it as a reason to act out in an aggressive manner, such as shouting down speakers they disagree with, which is common on college campuses.

The film also features a clip from a speech by conservative talk show host Ben Shapiro, given at the University of California, Berkeley. This was a presentation that was greatly protested by the left, and required $800,000 in security, because Shapiro made controversial comments, such as, America is the greatest country in human history. You are not a victim. If you are a victim of something, you need to show me what you are a victim of and I will stand beside you. But do not blame the freest, most civil society in the history of planet Earth for your failures, because thats on you.

But, why do so many young people at our colleges view themselves as victims, and then act out in an aggressive manner? There are many reasons, but perhaps the main thing is it is easier to attack someone rather than take responsibility for your own failures. A persons grief at being a victim becomes a grievance. An IOU becomes a you owe me, according to the magazine Psychology Today.

In one of his books, conservative black author Larry Elder writes of a time when he was ready to take an academic test with a group of people, among them another young black man. After they took the test and were waiting for the results, the other black man told Elder there was no way either of them was going to pass the test, because the system was stacked against them. When the results came in and the other person failed, he told Elder, See, I told you so, and then walked out. Elder, however, passed the test and ended up completing the course. For Elder, it was one of his first realizations that far too many of his fellow blacks use their skin color as an excuse for their own failings. We used to advise young people to get a thick skin, such as sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Now, we seem to be intolerant of insults, even if unintentional. For example, on some college campuses it is considered offensive if you ask a student, Where are you from? I even came across a diversity seminar where the presenter advocated that words are just as harmful as bullets!

If you view yourself as a victim of oppression or stand up for others who are perceived as victims, you are going to view yourself as holding the moral high ground. You are going to tend to divide people into good and bad, or victims and oppressors. The problem is that when you view the other side as bad people, then you feel justified in your aggression. And that is why many young people advocate restricting speech. But they are not against all speech, just hate speech. And they will be the ones who define what hate speech is, which means they have the power.

Unfortunately, this power does not translate into resilience, as some colleges have established safe spaces: areas where students can get away from anything that may be causing them stress. Sadly, as the documentary No Safe Spaces shows, it is the entire college that a conservative speaker is not allowed, not just a safe space. Thus, freedom of speech is the actual victim of oppression. And this is one victim we should all be concerned about.

Tom Kuiper lives in Sibley. He may be reached at thomaskuiper85@gmail.com.

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Kuiper: Stop playing the victim | Opinion | nwestiowa.com - nwestiowa.com

Three years ago, an esteemed Canadian magazine published a fine essay titled, What Happens When Authors Are Afraid to Stand Alone?, in which author Jason Guriel noted that, The idea of the writer as an individualistic outsider has acquired a layer of dust. We used to be OK with literary types asserting independent, fortified egos. Poets and novelists were almost expected to be aloof, even anti-social. But today, were too savvy to indulge such a romantic myth. The aloof rebel is nothing more than an affectation.

Anyone who has tried to produce art, or even write a half-decent essay, will recognize the almost tautological truth of Guriels argument. It is absolutely correct that there are plenty of people who write important tracts dedicated to the interests of this or that community. Those tracts are laws, press releases, pamphlets and tweets. If youre trying to write something fresh and original while also bending the knee to this or that community, on the other hand, youre certain to fail at the former, and likely the latter as well.

Long before it was co-opted by the likes of Ayn Rand, this truth was anchored within the foundations of the hell-raising Jacobin left. Jean-Jacques Rousseau himself famously announced his scandalous La Nouvelle Hlose by warning that, This book is not made to circulate in society and is suitable for very few readers. As Nicole Fermon commented, Rousseau despised the society of Paris, which he judged to be almost completely vitiated by never-ending demands of self-interest or amour propre. And in adapted form, his bold individualistic spirit came to infuse every countercultural movement tilting at establishment conventions, from beat poetry to postmodern literary subcultures.

But now that the central fixation of salon society is an insistence on salon societys own irredeemable bigotry, Rousseaus countercultural postures have turned in on themselves like an ouroboros. And so the highest calling in literature and art now is imagined to be a retelling of the same stencil-set messages about privilege and victimhood, dogmas that have come to be enforced by a salon establishment that still masquerades as a Rousseauvian insurgency. Which is why What Happens When Authors Are Afraid to Stand Alone? attracted so much controversy, by suggesting that people should simply write what they want. In a rebuttal published in the same magazine, English Prof. Paul Barrett argued that Guriels putative lone genius is but the unknowing heir to an invisible community of privilege, since the history of Canadian literature is the forgery of a white Canadian definition of literary excellence. By contrast, non-white writers simply dont have the luxury of believing that there is a voice outside of community; community participation and esthetic excellence are not merely related they are politically and culturally inextricable.

Now the central fixation of salon society is an insistence on salon societys own irredeemable bigotry

Ive met Guriel, and can attest that hes almost as white as me. And based on his university web page photo, Paul Barrett seems to have us both beat. And so I dont really expect many Indigenous and black writers and artists to be particularly interested in this lily-white forge-o-rama three-way. But for what its worth, Id say that Barrett might have things backwards: as the recent furor surrounding Cree artist Kent Monkman attests, the strictures imposed by community can, in some instances, be even more stifling when theyre applied to minority artists.

As some of my regular readers know, I often like having a bash at the government-subsidized amateurs who populate the field of Canadian arts and letters. (Its not their fault: when the government pays for something, you often get too much of it.) But Kent Monkman is very, very much not in that category. He produces big, colourful epics that dramatically mash up the visual idioms of Judeo-Christian historical tradition with Indigenous characters and narratives. He often inserts an alter ego he names Miss Chief Eagle Testickle to (as he puts it) reverse the colonial gaze to challenge received notions of history and Indigenous peoples. This all sounds rather pretentious, I realize, but art either works or it doesnt. And Monkmans works well enough that he can charge $175,000 a pop, which is approximately $175,000 more than your average art-school grad. Whats more, he is a living, breathing advertisement for the value of diversity in art by which I dont mean diversity of bloodline, which is meaningless, but diversity of perspective. No white person could have produced his masterpieces any more than Mordecai Richler could have written The Handmaids Tale.

No white person could have produced his masterpieces any more than Mordecai Richler could have written The Handmaid's Tale

Great art often is produced by outsiders as, either by choice or necessity, they are the ones who can stand back from a societys accepted conventions, and who assign themselves the most moral latitude in defining or satirizing them. This not only explains how my people took over Hollywood, but also why Rosedale hedge-fund managers are climbing over each other to plunk down the cost of an Audi R8 so that dinner-party guests can enjoy the image of if you will forgive my lapse into sophisticated gallerist parlance Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on all fours after taking it hard and bloody.

What I am describing here is Monkmans new painting Hanky Panky, an image of which, I am hoping, accompanies this column. (For reasons described below, certain other media outlets are treating it like those 2005-era Muhammad cartoons that were originally published in Jyllands-Posten. But I give my own National Post editors marginally more credit.) The thing is classic Monkman: violent, shocking, subversive and brutally original. It also fulfills that trite but true definition of art as that which makes you think. And much will be thunk by those who gaze upon dozens of Indigenous women laughing hysterically as sallow white patriarchs from out of Canadas past look on at the #MeToo-ing of a none-too-pleased-looking Justin Trudeau.

Over time, we have become numb to the endless calls for solemnity and contrition over the legacy of residential schools, MMIWG and the rest of the horrors that whites have visited upon Indigenous people. Its all become predictable and performatively morose, which is why every new commission or inquiry has to keep ramping up the genocide rhetoric to keep our attention. It takes a true artist to find new ways to shock the conscience, to elevate our focus from the tragedy of each brutalized life to the dark comedy of a confused Canadian nation that remains caught between proud old fables of John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier and lacerating self-loathing. Like every country on earth, Canada is a bolted-together gag-ball of hypocrisy and myth. And the women in the picture are absolutely right to laugh at us insofar as we are metaphorically represented by the humiliated prime minister and the passed-out victim in red serge. (Oh right, forgot to mention: an RCMP dude also gets the #MeToo treatment.)

But of course, the first rule of social justice is: thats not funny. And on Canadian Twitter, fury predictably erupted. Not among progressive white Canadians alarmed at seeing their prime minister sexually humiliated on canvas. Rather, the hue and cry was raised in the rarified cancel-culture circles presided over by the likes of Indigenous author Alicia Elliott, the unofficial church lady of Canadian arts and letters. Before retiring in a state of claimed emotional exhaustion, Elliott declared on Twitter last weekend that Monkman took Indigenous womens laughter, which is one of the most healing sounds in the world, into a weapon he could utilize to titillate and shock white folks. I dont care if he claims the Trudeau lookalike was consenting.

She then went on, in all-caps, like some CanLit version of Donald Trump, HE USED A MMIWG2S SYMBOL THAT IS ABOUT GIVING WOMEN A VOICE AS A BUTT PLUG, THEN DISMISSED INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND 2SQ FOLKS WHO COMPLAINED. AKA SILENCED THEM. AND DOESNT UNDERSTAND THE IRONY. (Yeah, this is definitely someone we want deciding what art gets produced.)

Like every country on Earth, Canada is a bolted-together gag-ball of hypocrisy and myth

In my ideal world, Monkman would have dashed off a new painting, indicating to Elliott exactly where she could stick her complaints. But Monkman is in a tough place, as he is not only a successful artist but also a much-admired member of the Indigenous community, a community that, as he is constantly told, he must listen to and support. And so he walks a fine line.

The Globe and Mail headlined its coverage, Provocateur Artist Kent Monkman Apologizes for Painting Depicting Sex Assault. But thats actually not true. In a statement posted to Facebook on May 18, he did say he deeply regret(s) any harm that was caused by the work, and acknowledge(s) that the elements I had included to indicate consent are not prominent enough. But he isnt destroying or renouncing the work. I know this for a fact because I inquired about buying it, figuring that the controversy surrounding the piece might lower its price and provide me with a singular opportunity to get a real Monkman at a big discount, this being the way of my people. But this hope proved to be very much misguided. So the Hang in There! poster with the cat on the tree branch wont be coming down anytime soon.

Perhaps the surest sign that Monkman sits at the absolute pinnacle of Canadian artistic excellence is that he is now being treated to the same tall-poppy-cutting treatment as the few non-Indigenous Canadians who have risen to his level of fame and influence. In its old-stock national soul, Canada embraces a cult of mediocrity when it comes to artists and writers. Having worked (as a fraud) in the boiler room of one particular CanLit institution, I can attest that the most venerated figures among the toiling acolytes often are righteous obscurities who subsist on grants and church-basement vernissages. Once someone shows true skill and gets feted in New York and London, Canadas great and good worry that hell overshadow everyone else (take up too much space, in the Twitter parlance), and, possessing the financial means necessary to shake off the constraints imposed by funding councils, go ideologically rogue.

And so it is no coincidence that almost every Canadian whose work is culturally influential outside Canadas borders Margaret Atwood, Steven Galloway, Jordan Peterson, Joseph Boyden has at one time or another attracted a mob of pious nobodies seeking to take them down. Until now, Monkmans Indigenous identity had protected him somewhat. But no longer. Indeed, his perceived obligations to community make things more complicated, as all it takes is one slip-up to get smeared as a two-spirited Judas. According to one Indigenous poet on Twitter: Its become disturbing clear that (Monkmans) work was never for us. It was never intended to keep us safe, nor empower us. In fact, it trivializes many of our experiences with sexual assault.

Canada embraces a cult of mediocrity when it comes to artists and writers

Such critiques, widely retweeted over social media in recent days, show how a fixation on community can be just one more burden on non-white artists and writers: despite all the dumb things Ive written over my career, never once did a white guy ever respond by tweeting that Jonathan Kays work was never for us.

Three weeks ago, well before the controversy over Hanky Panky began, Canadian Art magazine ran a scathing attack on Monkman, bitterly denouncing the installation of two of his paintings in the central interior entrance area of New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art. When it comes to identity politics, Canadian Art is well known to exist in a land beyond parody. But this article particularly stood out because of the absurd jaccuse question embedded in the headline: Who is the Audience for These Works?

After dispensing with the pro forma bafflegab about Monkmans failure to question art-historical inequalities between settlers and Indigenous peoples, the author proceeded on a tedious brushstroke-by-brushstroke hunt for neo-colonial esthetic heresies, like an old Papist inquisitor rifling through a Portuguese merchants ledger-book for a doodled penis or boob. Only at the end did we get to the main indictment that these paintings are made for a predominantly white audience, presented in an institution historically composed of white cultural workers and displayed in harmony with, rather than in contradiction of, a colonial institution. Oh, how much more pure the world would be if Monkman had instead burned these masterpieces and focused on putting on culturally authentic Cree-language puppet shows outside his home in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Hey, maybe hed even get a grant for it.

For those whove never been to the Met, I can attest that its full of white people. A lot of museums are even, horror of horrors, right here in Canada. If you tell an Indigenous artist that he shouldnt be pitching his work to this audience, youre basically telling him to go live off charity for the rest of his life, just like all those downwardly mobile white kids churning out triptychs about their pronouns from the rec-room space over their parents Woodbridge garage.

I, too, belong to a community. Its the community of white cultural workers that Canadian Art dislikes so much (even if most of the magazines own staff resemble the standing-room section at a David Sedaris book reading). And if I may presume to speak on behalf of this community, Id like to say that Hanky Panky suits our colonial white gaze just fine. By which I mean that it makes us think about our country in a different and more honest way, and that it challenges a lot of what we think we know. These are the things that a great artist does, notwithstanding the spirit of self-interest and amour propre that suffuse the hectoring of lesser talents.

Email: jonkay@gmail.com | Twitter:

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Jonathan Kay: It takes a true artist to find new ways to shock the conscience. Kent Monkman has done that - National Post

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Members of the Westby Area High School Class of 2020 include (front, from left) Chloe Stellner, Jordan Gettelman, Bree Hatlan, Liza Jackson; Row 2: Kaydan Jothen, Karley Anderson, Estelle Fisher-Fortney, Eva Lee, Haley Nelson; Row 3: Dakota Bakkestuen, Robbie Purvis, Tyler Lasky, Bobby Frydenlund, Izaak McCauley, Finn Trautsch Row 4: Devin Nelson, Mitchell McKittrick, Logan Turben, Zach Harris, Evan Peterson, Manuel Chavez, Josh Gunderson; Row 5: Karolyn Jaeger, Logan Paduano, Evan Hendrickson,, Kaili Swanson, Jaden Cronn, Austin Mowery, Tyler Christianson; Row 6: Payten Nelson, Faith Gardner, Sedona Radke, Katie Wollman, Melody Berg, Rebecca Buckles, Linda Schmitz, Savana Radke; Row 7: Gabe Engh, Claire Griffin, Molly Stenslien, McKenna Manske, Alayna Winterfield, Alexis Ellefson, Haley Hagen, Anna Ofte, Theresa Wintersdorf; Row 8: Ty Milutinovich, Cooper Lipski, Carlos Gastelum, Lucas Wieczorek,, Noah Benish, Jake Krause, Davontae Spears, Adam Teadt, Austin Hall; Row 9: Mason Mageland, Andrew Bechtel, Brendan Griffin, Noah Nelson, Andy Role, Dominic DelMedico, Conor Vatland, Zeke Santiago and Haley Kittle.Not pictured: Joe Armbruster, Josi Bishop, Luke Bjorkund, Jackson Bunch, Kyle Falkers, Gabriella Felten, Cohner Fish, Riley Hagen, Ashton Hill, Abbie Larrington, Tyler Madison, Amanda Marshall, Cody Meyer, Jullian Nagle, Gavin Olson, Cora Ostrem-Hanson, Cole Peterson, Benjamin Schmidt, Kassandra Sherpe and Dylan Songer.

Due to restrictions related to COVID-19, the graduation ceremony will be postponed to a date to be determined in July.

Valedictorian: Joseph Armbruster. Salutatorian: McKenna Manske.

The class motto is 2020: A class with a vision. The class flower is a white rose with red tips. The class colors are red, black and silver.

Class of 2020 officers: President Conor Vatland, Vice president Bree Hatlan, Secretary Claire Griffin, Treasurer Josi Bishop.

Candidates for graduation: Karly Anderson, Joseph Armbruster, Andrew Bechtel, Noah Benish, Melody Berg, Josi Bishop, Luke Bjorklund, Rebecca Buckles, Jackson Bunch, Manuel Chavez, Tyler Christianson, Jaden Cronn, Dominic DelMedico, Alexis Ellefson, Gabriel Engh, Kyle Falkers, Gabriella Felten, Estelle Fischer-Fortney, Cohner Fish, Robert Frydenlund, Faith Gardner, Carlos Gastelum, Jordan Gettelman, Brenden Griffin, Claire Griffin, Joshua Gunderson, Haley Hagen, Riley Hagen, Austin Hall, Zachary Harris, Bree Hatlan, Evan Hendrickson, Ashton Hill, Liza Jackson, Karalyn Jaeger, Kaydan Jothen, Hailey Kittle, Jake Krause, Abigail Larrington, Tyler Lasky, Eva Lee, Cooper Lipski, Mason Mageland, McKenna Manske, Amanda Marshall, Izaak McCauley, Mitchell McKittrick, Cody Meyer, Ty Milutinovich, Austin Mowery, Jullian Nagle, Devin Nelson, Haley Nelson, Noah Nelson, Payten Nelson, Anna Ofte, Gavin Olson, Cora Ostrem-Hanson, Logan Paduano, Cole Peterson, Evan Peterson, Robert Purvis, Savana Radke, Sedona Radke, Andy Role, Ezequiel Santiago, Benjamin Schmidt, Linda Schmitz, Kassandra Sherpe, Dylan Songer, Davontae Spears, Chloe Stellner, Molly Stenslien, Kaili Swanson, Adam Teadt, Finnegan Trautsch, Logan Turben, Conor Vatland, Lucas Wieczorek, Alayna Winterfield, Theresa Wintersdorf, Katherine Wollman

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Graduation 2020: Westby Area High School - The Westby Times