Texas Conservatives Should Not Support Banning Land Sales to Foreigners
They can't pick the land up and take it back home with them
The Texas legislature is considering a bill that would ban Chinese, Iranian, North Korean, and Russian individuals and entities from owning land in the state. Republicans supporting this bill seem unaware that it would undermine our American free-enterprise system rather than protect us from those authoritarian regimes.
Senate Bill 147, introduced by Rep. state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, would target not only government entities, but also private companies and citizens from those countries. Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to sign the legislation.
Sen. Kolkhorst claims that the “past several years have seen more Texans alarmed by the increased acquisition of land by primarily Chinese interests,” and that the, “growing ownership of Texas land by some foreign entities is highly disturbing and raises red flags for many Texans. Unfortunately, among Texas Republicans, she appears correct.
A recent poll by the Defend Texas Liberty PAC found that 82% of registered Republicans surveyed agreed that “Texas should prohibit the Chinese government or Chinese citizens from purchasing land in Texas,” while only 10% disagreed. It’s unfortunate that so many Texas Republicans, who often identify as conservatives and supporters of free enterprise, don’t understand that this bill would undermine our economic freedoms.
Private property rights are the bedrock of any capitalist economy, and these rights include the freedom to choose to whom and on what terms owners sell their land. Sen. Kolkhorst claims that “passing this law delivers some basic safeguards to ensure Texans remain in control of Texas land.” But it would do no such thing. Instead, a government prohibition would take away from Texas property owners the option of selling their land to people from these countries. Replacing private decision-making, which responds to market forces, with government orders is what the authoritarian regimes in China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran do. It’s not something freedom-loving Texans should embrace.
The bill of course would interfere with Texans’ freedom to engage in international trade, which improves our living standards.
No need to worry about our so-called trade deficit with China. International trade accounting puts items traded into either the capital account, which consists of assets, or the current account, which consists of goods and services, but a trade deficit counts only the flow of goods and services between countries. Yet international trade always balances in the sense that a good, a service, or an asset is traded by both sides of any exchange. People who worry about the trade deficit don’t understand that assets aren’t counted when calculating trade deficits and surpluses, making the picture incomplete.
The U.S. trade deficit with China, which stood at $20.4 billion in late 2022, means that, on net, Americans imported $20.4 billion more in goods and services from China than the Chinese bought from the Americans, and that simultaneously Americans sold $20.4 billion of assets, which includes land, to the Chinese, on net, to finance those imports.
This Senate bill could even undermine our foreign-policy interests. Economists have long provided empirical evidence showing that greater international trade promotes peace between countries by increasing the cost of war. Other studies have shown that when more-economically free countries, like the United States, trade with less-economically free countries, like those targeted by this bill, economic freedom tends to be promoted in the less-free countries.
The Chinese, Russian, North Korean, and Iranian governments are valid national security concerns. But those concerns are best dealt with by targeting specific security threats from those governments. This bill needlessly includes innocent foreign citizens and companies and regulates Texas land sales that would have no security implications. In the process it makes Texas a little more like those authoritarian states and a little less of a beacon of freedom for less free countries to emulate.
https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=14401&omhide=true&trk=title
***********************************************Sports Media in Hysterics Over Provorov Citing Religion for Refusal to Skate in LGBT Jersey
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to take a pregame skate Tuesday night in the team’s LGBTQ+ warmup jersey, citing his preference “to stay true to myself and my religion,” which is Russian Orthodox. “I respect everyone. I respect everybody’s choices,” said the only player who refused to participate in Pride Night.
You can imagine the hysterics Provorov’s apostasy sparked among the enlightened sports commentariat.
Canadian television sports network TSN’s Pierre LeBrun claimed Provorov “obviously does not respect ‘everyone.’ If he did respect everyone, he would have taken part in warm-up and worn the Pride Night jersey. Don’t hide behind religion.”
The “don’t hide behind religion” jibe is one of the dumbest and laziest smears going. It’s a favorite of bullies who act like they can bore into the souls of the heretics.
It’s bad enough that LeBrun contends that the only possible reason someone might be disinclined to celebrate same-sex marriage or the sweeping “+” of LGBTQ+ (I wonder if Lebrun could coherently explain what it means?) is deep-seated bigotry. But when these amateur theologians declare that dissenters are “hiding” behind faith, they’re not only arguing that religion is a mask for bigotry but that no genuine faith could possibly have a problem with the cultural norms he adopted about five minutes ago.
Of course, many orthodox faiths, not only Russians but Orthodox Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Lutherans, and so on, believe same-sex relationships are sinful. Their adherents have believed that for centuries, if not millennia.
A person of good faith can “respect” others—they can even respect people for taking a stance—without celebrating their choices. In a truly open and diverse society, we don’t demand everyone abandon their tradition and critical thinking to skate lockstep in a rainbow flag. Dear Lord, it’s such vacuous virtue signaling.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that the LGBTQ+ movement encompasses an entire open-ended ideological agenda, not merely the ability of gay people to live in peace or marry. Some of the other Flyers, for instance, spent time celebrating the achievements of a “nonbinary” 13-year-old.
As old-fashioned atheist, I don’t care who you sleep with, but I do still cling to the antiquated notion that humans have immutable biological characteristics and that objective truths can’t be wished away. To my mind, that 13-year-old kid is a victim of an irrational, destructive, and trendy pseudoscience. Yet folks like LeBrun will help normalize the quackery while hiding behind the idea of “tolerance.”
Most of the National Hockey League press also groused that hypocrite coach John Tortorella, a long-time figure in the NHL, hadn’t suspended Provorov for his sins. As coach of the U.S. national team, Tortorella once threatened anyone who refused to stand for the national anthem with a benching (a stance he regrettably reversed).
The obvious difference is that those players weren’t asked to endorse the lifestyle choices of strangers but were voluntarily representing the United States—and every person in it—at international tournaments. That so many people are unable to distinguish between the act of honoring your country and celebrating who people sleep with says a lot about how warped our values have become.
Indeed, the notion that Provorov is bringing this acrimony on himself because, as a bigot, he simply couldn’t get himself to put on a jersey with a rainbow, seems preposterous. Provorov takes on all risk, with no reward. He will be forever smeared by the closed-minded people who write about him.
In today’s world, dissenting from the progressive faith takes a lot of spine. Most players—most people—would rather not risk being denigrated and bullied by the mob. Who can blame them?
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Ron DeSantis denounces ‘woke conceit’ of NHL seeking diverse workforce
The faceoff continues between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the National Hockey League ahead of next month’s All-Star Game in the Sunshine State.
At issue is not the play on the ice, but rather the chill from the Governor’s Office in the wake of what the NHL called an “informational session” seeking a more diverse workforce.
The so-called “Pathway to Hockey Summit,” to be held Feb. 2 in Fort Lauderdale during the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, was originally tailored to “diverse job seekers who are pursuing careers in hockey,” but the NHL backed off of that condition after pressure from the administration.
Despite that resolution, the Governor laced up his boots and fired some shots on goal on the friendly “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino” program on the Fox News Channel during a pre-taped segment Saturday night, framing efforts to bring a more diverse workforce to the NHL as a “woke conceit.”
“We’re against racial discrimination, but that’s all discrimination. We’re not going to indulge in this woke conceit that it’s OK to discriminate against some people if that’s politically correct to do so and so we made it very clear to the NHL that they were running afoul of our laws. They reversed course very quickly. And our society’s better when we’re all treated equally and all treated as individuals and not as members of groups.”
The Governor uses the word “woke” often. Under oath last year, the administration’s General Counsel defined the term as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” However, it’s clear DeSantis believes that in defending the prerogatives of majority groups here, he is addressing his own conception of “systemic injustices.”
As DeSantis continues to heat up the issue, the NHL clearly would like to get beyond it, per comments made by Commissioner Gary Bettman this week when he was asked about the Governor’s position
“The answer is we’re planning to be in Sunrise and celebrate our sport at the All-Star Game,” Bettman told The Athletic on Thursday when asked. “I don’t want to get way into all of this, but the fact is what the summit is, and was, has been mischaracterized. It’s not a job fair. It was an informational session so that people could learn more about us.”
Bettman said he didn’t want to “increase the debate on it.”
The Athletic framed the summit as “part of the NHL’s response to its first diversity and inclusion report, which the league released in October.” That report suggests there is little diversity in the NHL workforce.
Nearly 84% of league and team employees are White, with 4% being Asian, and under 4% as either Hispanic or Black. More than 63% of NHL league and team employees are male, and less than 4% of the workforce identifies as LGBTQ+.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/582874-woke-conceit-desantis/
*************************************************Fox News analyst slams woke Miami restaurant for throwing him out for his conservative views as he discussed politics with friends
A political commentator for Fox News was asked to leave a North Miami bookstore and restaurant as he discussed politics with friends.
Gianno Caldwell had been eating a meal with a group of people at Paradis Books and Bread then he was asked to vacate the premises.
'I can't believe what just happened. I met up with friends for breakfast at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami & while we were having discussions about politics we were told by the owner that we were not welcomed there because we aren't politically aligned. Outrageous,' he explained in an initial tweet.
'No matter your politics you should not be discriminated against. I was discriminated against for being a conservative and told to leave a restaurant in North Miami because my politics didn't "align" with the owner. This is NOT okay,' he stated in a follow-up posting.
Caldwell has said the incident was a clear case of discrimination and the bookstore's actions were promoting a sort of political segregation reminiscent of the Jim Crow South.
'In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King said: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." My experience at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami is a clear case of discrimination that should not be tolerated in Florida or anywhere in America,' Caldwell said to NBC6.
'Whether liberal or conservative, no one should ever be asked to leave a place of business for engaging in political conversation in a respectful dialogue. Paradis is promoting a sort of political segregation that hearkens back to the days of the Jim Crow South and runs counter to the restaurant's harm reduction policy.'
The bookstore, which is owned by five friends, Brian Wright, Bianca Sanon, Sef Chesson, Ben Yen, and Audrey Wright opened in December 2021.
It has since closed its doors and posted on Instagram that they were starting its winter break early due to the incident.
The bookstore stated that the group's behavior and language made other customers and staff uncomfortable and that they stood by their 'zero tolerance' policy.
Social media users were unimpressed by the restaurant's antics. 'Freedom of Speech seems to have become a subjective issue,' wrote Glenn D Stewart.
'I just saw this. I am shocked. Florida is supposed to be a conservative state. Sue sue sue!' tweeted Linda.
'Slippery slope when businesses invade the privacy of your conversation & feel some kind of way about your freedom of speech & kick you out. Remember the pendulum swings both ways & this country is headed towards political and racial segregation,' posted Lashaun Turner.
'It is time to introduce some Atifa type tactics for patrons of that restaurant and perhaps it is time to have it inspected for ADA compliance ...and for good measure a discrimination lawsuit is certainly in order. The owner needs to relocate to Seattle / no room in Florida for her.'
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See 
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