Three Things You Need to Know - September 5, 2017

Kim Jong Un's Nuclear Selfies

40 minutes. That’s how long New Yorkers would have before a nuclear missile from North Korea detonated. Hundreds of thousands dead in a matter of seconds. Thermal radiation would then spread past Yonkers in the north, and as far south as Staten Island. A large portion of New York City --- the greatest city in the world --- effectively wiped off the map.

On Sunday, North Korea claimed to have this capability. As we were packing up minivans and setting out on Labor Day weekend road trips, Kim Jong Un was taking selfies next to a miniaturized nuclear warhead. A poster display could be seen in the background, showing the warhead neatly inside the tip of an ICBM.

Hours later, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake was felt as far away as China. Windows rattled in buildings on the Chinese border. It was not only North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, it was the most powerful and significant one so far.

For years, the entire world underestimated North Korea’s nuclear program. Today, it’s accelerating at a frightening rate. The power of the bomb tested on Sunday far surpassed that of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Make no mistake, this bomb was a city-killer. That’s the power Kim Jong Un appears to now wield.

So what’s next? Could it be an oil embargo? This is what brought Kim Jong Un’s father to the table back in the 90s. But will it work for the son? Or might he consider an oil embargo an act of war just like Japan did during WWII. The attack on Pearl Harbor came soon after.

Remember the robotic voice of Joshua in the 1980’s movie Wargames? "Shall we play a game?" Kim Jong Un and President Trump are locked in their own game of nuclear chicken. Who will blink first? In Wargames, it took a computer to teach the humans that --- in some games --- "the only winning move is not to play."

That was a movie. Unfortunately, this is our life.

Behind the Holiday: Labor Day

That cookout you enjoyed on your day off yesterday --- what exactly were you celebrating? Do you know the complicated backstory of Labor Day? It involves Canada, Marxism, a union strike, riots, death and one of the sleaziest presidents in U.S. history.

In late 1800s America, labor unions gained traction to combat terrible working conditions in the factories and mines that fueled the Second Industrial Revolution. In many cases, unions were vital in helping workers deal with 12-hour work-days, 7-day work-weeks, no compensation for on-the-job injuries, low wages, no benefits, inadequate breaks and filthy, dangerous work spaces.

Generally, the Second Industrial Revolution helped widen the gulf between the wealthy and poor classes. This is the Marxist/socialist sweet spot --- manipulating the sense of unfairness that the poor worker feels. Their strategy is turning downtrodden workers into revolutionaries who will level the playing field by redistributing wealth.

Factory working conditions in America gave Marxists a foot in the door --- this is where guys like Peter J. McGuire come in. McGuire was an Irish Catholic from New York City and a devoted Marxist. In 1874, McGuire co-founded the Social Democratic Workingmen’s Party of North America --- the first Marxist political party in the U.S. He also co-founded the American Federation of Labor, which became the most powerful labor union in the country. McGuire’s goal was to convert America to socialism through labor unions.

In 1882, labor officials in Toronto invited McGuire to attend the labor festival that had been a fixture in Canada for a decade. McGuire ate it up. He scrambled back to New York City to organize a similar American labor march.

McGuire chose September 5th, since it roughly fell halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving. The Labor celebration was a hit --- 30,000-plus marchers skipped work for a day of picnics, speeches demanding an 8-hour workday and a parade through New York City.

The Labor march became an annual event and caught on around the country --- a way for laborers to demonstrate that Labor Lives Matter, well, as long as you weren’t black or Asian which disqualified you from joining the AFL. Five years after it started, Labor Day was an official holiday in 30 states.

Then in 1894, a pivotal strike occurred in Pullman, Illinois that made Labor Day a permanent fixture on our national calendar.

Because of an economic downturn, George Pullman’s Palace Car Company (which made luxury train sleeping cars) had to lay off hundreds of employees. For those that remained, Pullman lowered wages without lowering rent for the company houses where most employees lived. Marxist labor leaders couldn’t let Pullman, the evil capitalist, get away with this. They had to shut him down. So workers went on strike and sympathetic railroad workers around the country joined in.

The strike quickly turned violent. Rioters set hundreds of train cars ablaze. The unrest crippled the railroad business and interrupted delivery of U.S. Mail, which prompted President Grover Cleveland to send 12,000 troops to Chicago to break the strike. Troops and strikers exchanged fire and at least two strikers were killed.

President Cleveland’s unpopular response to the crisis was not good for Democrats in a mid-term election year. Congress rammed through a bill to make Labor Day a Federal holiday as a way to appease labor unions across the country. President Cleveland signed the bill just six days after the Pullman Strike was broken. Marxist terrorists had torched railroads and trains across the country and the President gave them the gift of Labor Day.

So, Labor Day was a Canadian idea, copied in America by the Marxist founder of the American Socialist Party, that was made a Federal holiday by a Congress and President trying to save face during an election year. It was the first of countless bones the Democratic Party would throw to labor unions over the next century.

By the way, remember Peter J. McGuire? The Marxist, racist, anti-immigrant, co-founder of the American Socialist Party, the AFL and our annual Labor Day celebration? In 1901 he was arrested for embezzling union funds. I guess for some people, socialism moves too slowly in redistributing the wealth.

And for the record, there is a statue honoring Peter J. McGuire in Pennsauken, New Jersey. It has an inscription in Latin that translates, "Labor conquers all."

Hurricane Harvey Update

Scavengers are stealing from flood victims in Houston.

We’ve seen the best of humanity during the rescue phase of Hurricane Harvey --- now the worst of humanity is rearing its head. Unreal, the idea of people returning to their ravaged homes, sifting through what’s left of their possessions, putting things in the yard to dry out, only to have thieves rob them.

This is rare so far in Houston compared to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. But it’s a reminder how much still hangs in the balance for southeast Texas.

On Sunday, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said, “I’m encouraging people: Get up, and let’s get going.” It’s the same can-do spirit conveyed in a Washington Post story with the headline, “Texans’ do-it-ourselves rescue effort defines Hurricane Harvey.”

This has been a big part of the Hurricane Harvey narrative so far – Texan resilience and independence. Neighbors having each other’s backs. But can this same do-it-yourself ethic continue through the rebuilding effort?

Current damage estimates are between $150-180 billion. Can Texas, a state with no income tax, be a model for a different kind of recovery effort, on its own, through innovative private/public partnership, without waiting for the Federal money truck to back up to Houston?

Remember all the FEMA debit card abuses and swindles after Hurricane Katrina? Federal money dumps are not an efficient solution. Besides, FEMA is still $25 billion in debt from Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. The federal government cannot afford this.

This is a perfect chance for President Trump, the businessman, to outline a different path for rebuilding – more private donations, less federal aid. Trump was in the real estate and construction business – this is his wheelhouse. This is an opportunity for him to lead in a unique and better way on a responsible rebuilding of Houston.

MORE 3 THINGS

COVID is back! Or that is what we’re being told anyway...

A recent spike in COVID cases has triggered the left's alarm bells, and the following institutions have begun to reinstate COVID-era mandates. You might want to avoid them if you enjoy breathing freely...

Do YOU think institutions should bring back COVID-era mandates if cases increase? Let us know your thoughts HERE.

Morris Brown College

Both of Upstate Medical's hospitals in Syracuse, New York

Corey Henry / Senior Staff Photographer | The Daily Orange

Auburn Community Hospital, New York

Kevin Rivoli / The Citizen | Auburn Pub

Lionsgate Studio

AaronP/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor | GETTY IMAGES

United Health Services in New York

Kaiser Permanente in California

Justin Sullivan / Staff | GETTY IMAGES

There was a time when both the Left and the Right agreed that parents have the final say in raising their children... Not anymore.

In the People's Republic of California, the STATE, not parents, will determine whether children should undergo transgender treatments. The California state legislature just passed a law that will require judges in child custody cases to consider whether parents support a child’s gender transition. According to the law, the state now thinks total affirmation is an integral part of a child’s “health, safety, and welfare.”

We are inching closer to a dystopia where the state, not the parents, have ultimate rights over their children, a history that people from former Soviet nations would feign repeating.

Glenn dove into the law AND MORE in this episode titled, "Parental Advisory: The EXPLICIT plot to control YOUR kids." To get all the research that went into this episode AND information on how YOU can fight back, enter your email address below:

If you didn't catch Wednesday night's Glenn TV special, be sure to check it out HERE!

The Biden admin has let in MORE illegal aliens than the populations of THESE 15 states

GUILLERMO ARIAS / Contributor | Getty Images

There are currently an estimated 16.8 MILLION illegal aliens residing in the United States as of June 2023, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). This number is already 1.3 million higher than FAIR's January 2022 estimate of 15.5 million and a 2.3 million increase from its end-of-2020 estimate. Even Democrats like New York City's Mayor Adams Mayor Adams are waking up to what Conservatives have been warning for years: we are in a border CRISIS.

However, this isn't the same border crisis that Republicans were warning about back in 2010. In the first two years of the Biden administration alone, the illegal alien population increased by 16 PERCENT nationwide, imposing a whopping net cost of $150.6 BILLION PER YEAR on American taxpayers. That is nearly DOUBLE the total amount that the Biden administration has sent to Ukraine.

This isn't the same border crisis that Republicans were warning about back in 2010.

These large numbers often make it difficult to conceptualize the sheer impact of illegal immigration on the United States. To put it in perspective, we have listed ALL 15 states and the District of Colombia that have smaller populations than the 2.3 MILLION illegal immigrants, who have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. That is more than the entire populations of Wyoming, Vermont, and South Dakota COMBINED—and the American taxpayers have to pay the price.

Here are all 16 states/districts that have FEWER people than the illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration.

1. New Mexico

Population: 2,110,011

2. Idaho

Population: 1,973,752

3. Nebraska

Population: 1,972,292

4. West Virginia

Population: 1,764,786

5. Hawaii

Population: 1,433,238

6. New Hampshire

Population: 1,402,957

7. Maine

Population: 1,393,442

8. Montana

Population: 1,139,507

9. Rhode Island

Population: 1,090,483

10. Delaware

Population: 1,031,985

11. South Dakota

Population: 923,484

12. North Dakota

Population: 780,588

13. Alaska

Population: 732,984

14. Washington DC

Population: 674,815

15. Vermont

Population: 647,156

16. Wyoming

Population: 583,279

POLL: Should the Government control the future of AI?

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

Earlier this week, tech titans, lawmakers, and union leaders met on Capitol Hill to discuss the future of AI regulation. The three-hour meeting boasted an impressive roster of tech leaders including, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and others, along with more than 60 US Senators.

Tech Titans and Senators gathered in the Kennedy Caucus Room.The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

The meeting was closed to the public, so what was exactly discussed is unknown. However, what we do know is that a majority of the CEOs support AI regulation, the most vocal of which is Elon Musk. During the meeting, Musk called AI "a double-edged sword" and strongly pushed for regulation in the interest of public safety.

A majority of the CEOs support AI regulation.

Many other related issues were discussed, including the disruption AI has caused to the job market. As Glenn has discussed on his program, the potential for AI to alter or destroy jobs is very real, and many have already felt the effects. From taxi drivers to Hollywood actors and writers, AI's presence can be felt everywhere and lawmakers are unsure how to respond.

The potential for AI to alter or destroy jobs is very real.

Ultimately, the meeting's conclusion was less than decisive, with several Senators making comments to the tune of "we need more time before we act." The White House is expected to release an executive order regarding AI regulation by the end of the year. But now it's YOUR turn to tell us what YOU think needs to be done!

Should A.I. be regulated?

Can the government be trusted with the power to regulate A.I.? 

Can Silicon Valley be trusted to regulate AI? 

Should AI development be slowed for safety, despite its potential advantages?

If a job can be done cheaper and better by AI, should it be taken away from a human?

Do you feel that your job is threatened by AI?