I’ve Joined the Cancel Culture!
Special announcement: Today, I’m excited to announce our keynote speakers at FreedomFest. Our “early bird” discount (save $200) ends on Jan. 31, next week. See details below.
“In the new order, socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.” — Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)
I used to subscribe to both Sports Illustrated and Scientific American.
Alas, Sports Illustrated started going downhill when it began publishing its “swimsuit” issue, which bordered on porno lite. It had little or nothing to do with sports. Otherwise, I loved the well-written stories and great still shots that you couldn’t see in motion pictures or video.
But then came 2020, when all sporting events were dropped in an overreaction to the Covid pandemic. So, I reluctantly canceled my subscription to Sports Illustrated. What was the point of subscribing when there were no sporting events?
From Woke to Broke
I’ve never been back. I only recently learned that the publishers had gone woke:
2022 Sports Illustrated puts an obese woman on the cover.
2023 Sports Illustrated puts a transgender (wo)man on the cover.
Not surprisingly, subscriber reaction has been negative, not unlike the Bud Lite controversy. Last week, it was announced that the publishers had laid off their entire staff. A classic magazine has apparently gone under.
From Hard Science to Political Science
As for Scientific American, the country’s oldest science magazine was famous for its in-depth science articles and colorful graphics that allowed laymen like me to keep up on the advances in the scientific community.
But then the editors became social activists, and the hard sciences became political science.
I stopped subscribing to Scientific American when they endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2016. That was a bridge too far. They also canceled Michael Shermer’s column around that time. He was the lone libertarian on the staff. It was the end of an era.
Now SciAm is “ScAm.”
Back in the 1930s, Italian communist Antonio Gramsci proposed in his prison diaries that, instead of trying to take over the world by violent revolution (as Marx and Lenin had advocated), they take over the world by gradual infiltration and indoctrinating higher education, media, Hollywood, corporate boards and other cultural institutions. It took them a couple of generations, but now they have done it. Right under our noses.
How Do You Get Rid of a Bad Idea? With a Better Idea!
It’s time to fight back. We are engaged in a battle of ideas, especially in 2024, a critical election year.
That’s why I started FreedomFest in 2007, because I felt we were slowly but surely losing the fight for freedom.
We all live busy lives, but we owe it to ourselves to gather together once a year as freedom lovers to learn, network, socialize and celebrate liberty. FreedomFest is the annual gathering of freedom lovers. Come join us and make a difference.
There’s something for everyone — a three-day investment conference, the Anthem film festival, the latest in geopolitics, the elections, science and technology, healthy living, you name it. We have over 200 speakers.
This year’s theme is especially relevant: “Are We Entering A Brave New World?” One that is changing our culture, our politics and our economy in dangerous way?
NEW SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT!
Steven Pinker will give a keynote address at FreedomFest Vegas.
Sign Up Before the Super Early Bird Rate Ends Jan. 31!
We have officially confirmed our first round of speakers for FreedomFest Vegas: “Brave New World?” at the CAESARS FORUM conference center July 10-13, 2024! Over 200 experts will speak on investing and finance, politics, medical science and more and we will add them to our website regularly over the next couple of months. Today, we are highlighting two standout speakers and our 2024 emcee!
Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist from Harvard University, will give a keynote address this summer entitled, “Why I’m an Optimist, Even for Harvard!” Pinker is a provocative speaker who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In today’s world, it will be refreshing to hear from an optimist.
“’Enlightenment Now’ is not only the best book Pinker’s ever written. It’s my new favorite book of all time.” — Bill Gates on “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress” by Steven Pinker
Podcaster extraordinaire Tom Woods, producer of the popular “Tom Woods Show,” will also be joining the lineup at FreedomFest this year. He will be speaking on his two latest books, “Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself During COVID Mania” and “National Divorce: The Peaceful Solution to Irreconcilable Differences.” In 2019, he won the Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austrian Economics Center in Vienna.
She’s back! Our fearless emcee, Lisa Kennedy, is returning again this year to entertain you with her outrageous costumes, hilarious commentary and clever speaker introductions. Kennedy hosted FOX Business Network’s primetime program “Kennedy” for many years and appears frequently on FOX News Channel’s “Outnumbered” and “The Five.” She hosts a podcast on FOX News Audio entitled “Kennedy Saves the World.” She got her start in television as an MTV VJ in 1992. Oh, the stories she could (and does!) tell!
Don’t forget — the super early bird rate ENDS Jan. 31. STAY TUNED for another BIG speaker announcement next week!
See you in July!
Special Announcement: Giants Book Now on Audio!
Good news. The audio version of “There Were Giants in the Land: Episodes in the Life of W. Cleon Skousen” is now available on Amazon. It is narrated by Adam Skousen, Cleon’s grandson, and he did a great job. Both Jo Ann and I, as compilers and editors, narrated the introduction to my uncle’s story.
You can listen to the thrilling three-minute introduction of Cleon’s account of his appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1961, a highlight in his political career. Listen to it here.
This is the story of a great American, who was an FBI agent under J. Edgar Hoover, had incredible encounters with the mafia and Hollywood, gave over 10,000 speeches on communism, the Constitution and Christian thought… With over 100 photographs.
See what’s special about this book and why it was banned in China.
The Giants book is available in hardback on Amazon, or at a discount (only $29.95) at http://www.skousenbooks.com. All copies are autographed and mailed at no additional charge inside the United States.
We are also working on an e-book (Kindle version) to be available in the next month.
Former congressman Bob McEwen said it best: “All over the world I am asked, ‘Where can I best learn about the principles of liberty and economic prosperity?’ I have one answer. Start with “The Five Thousand Year Leap” and then anything else by Cleon Skousen. No one better communicates the three-legged stool of liberty: economic, political and spiritual. Now, this compilation of his wise counsel and story, compiled and edited by Jo Ann and Mark Skousen, will be a greatly valued resource for freedom lovers anywhere, for ages to come.”
Good investing, AEIOU,
Mark Skousen
You Nailed it!
Victory! FBI’s Civil Forfeiture Scheme Stopped.
This week, Scott G. Bullock, president and general counsel of the Institute of Justice, sent me this announcement:
“Today, we secured a resounding win for the Fourth Amendment and against civil forfeiture. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled that the FBI’s raid of over 700 security deposit boxes at U.S. Private Vaults was unconstitutional.
“Paul and Jennifer Snitko never had any trouble with the law. They are upstanding citizens who simply wanted a private space to store their most prized possessions — such as Paul’s flight log and his father’s watches — which led them to U.S. Private Vaults in Southern California.
“Then, in March 2021, the Snitkos and hundreds of others found themselves in a waking nightmare. The FBI executed a raid of U.S. Private Vaults, broke into every security deposit box, seized their contents and then initiated civil forfeiture proceedings against the property without telling box holders what they were accused of doing wrong.
“Moreover, to obtain a warrant to seize the property of U.S. Private Vaults, the FBI misled a federal magistrate judge and concealed critical details about its plan for the individually rented security deposit boxes. The FBI claimed they were only interested in the company’s property, but secretly FBI agents had already decided they would use civil forfeiture to take every asset in every customer’s box that was worth over $5,000.
“But, as you know, the Institute of Justice believes that the government can’t steal your property and force you to prove your innocence.
“So, the Snitkos teamed up with us and several other victims to file a federal class action lawsuit to hold the government accountable and affirm that the FBI never should have opened any of the security deposit boxes in the first place.
“And today, in a fiery opinion, the 9th Circuit unanimously agreed, invoking a powerful comparison between the FBI’s raid and the “writs of assistance” that British authorities used to conduct limitless searches in colonial America, saying, ‘It was those very abuses of power, after all, that led to the adoption of the Fourth Amendment in the first place.’”
What a victory for our liberties. It’s too bad this sort of federal abuse goes on.
Oh, how the FBI has strayed from its original mission, compared to what it was when my father Roy Skousen and my Uncle Cleon were FBI agents in the 1940s and 1950s.
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — Lord Acton
It’s victories like these (the Goldwater Institute is another one) that cause me to give money to organizations that actually make a difference. They don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk. We like to highlight them at FreedomFest and will do so again this year.
