It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
While the Liberals Income Trust leak a year ago benefited their pals on Bay Street the Tories Income Trust Halloween surprize rewarded their pal Gwyn Morgan. It is more than likely that it was Encana's plans to become an Income Trust, moreso than either Telus or BCE , that forced the Tories hand. The haste by which the Tories made the decision to smack down the Income Trusts was due to their insider knowledge courtesy of Mr. Morgan. They knew Encana's plans. They sacrificed consultation and breaking an election promise to act to benefit their insider, Gwyn Morgan. Now will the RCMP investigate this Income Trust leak as they did with the Liberals leak?
It's certainly a theory that got some traction yesterday, as EnCana Corp. made the stunning admission that it wanted to convert about 40% of itself -- worth $20-billion -- into an income trust.
What lent credence to it is that Mr. Morgan, the founding chief executive of EnCana -- and the company's heart, mind and soul until he resigned abruptly exactly a year ago -- publicly criticized the trust model as bad for Canada even as his proud creation was on the verge of doing the deed.
Plus, there were these head-scratchers: His resignation as CEO happened two months after EnCana put in motion the trust plan, hiring legal, tax and financial advisors and seeking a tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency.
And despite his 30-year history with EnCana and its predecessor, Alberta Energy Co., two weeks ago Mr. Morgan stepped down from the company's board, just days before the federal government announced it would put an end to trusts in Canada.
Here are exerpts from Gwyn Morgans speech to the Fraser Institute. He says more, on immigration, crime, coloured folks, etc. But this is his anti-union rant.Oh and in being anti-monopoly he is of course not speaking of corporate monopolies, but of the public sector.
Which reminds me of when Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute at a Labour Arbitration Conference in Calgary referred to unions as parasites on the back of workers. Really I thought the parasites were the bosses and the ruling class. But then as I told Mr. Walker he really was a wannabe Ayn Rand in drag.
Tonight, I will follow the Fraser Institute's example of calling a spade a shovel by looking at facts. Now that I've got the shovel out, let's dig down to the root cause of some key issues.The first one is the relationship between unionization and economic competitiveness. It has been demonstrated time and again that private sector unionization eventually leads to an uncompetitive business. One only has to look at the union vs. non-union auto plants in North America and the rest of the world for proof of this ... The highly unionized auto sector in Germany is in deep trouble, while auto plants in eastern European countries are thriving. The former industrial heartlands of the United States in upstate New York and Michigan are in deep trouble, while non-union plants in the Carolinas thrive. The "big three" unionized auto manufacturers in Ontario are in trouble, burdened by uncompetitive cost structures and rigid work rules. The downward drift into the abyss continues, while union leaders and politicians focus only on the symptoms. It's sad to see people who have put in decades of dedicated service put out of a job, when their own unions have made their employers uncompetitive. How can an organization that is fighting with itself compete with organizations where everyone is aligned to outperform the competition?The reason that the private sector has become less and less unionized is because a lot of unionized businesses fail ... Unions thrive on monopolies. Monopolies rarely go out of business — they simply pass on their increasing costs and inefficiencies. And the public sector is, by definition, brimming with monopolies. So we see the phenomena of spiralling public sector costs combined with inefficient and low-quality public sector services. Now let's get our shovel out again and dig into another issue that is crucial to both Canadians' social stability and productivity — the immigration system.
Presto Manning was on CTV Question Period this morning shilling for Big Oil and whining about the Alberta Royalty compromise produced by Eddie Stelmach.
Presto was following up on criticisms he made earlier this week in a comment piece he wrote in one of them 'damn eastern newspapers'; the Globe and Mail, aka Canada's National newspaper. Preston Manning: The Stelmach royalty uncertainty principle Which of course is owned by the same folks who own CTV. Presto has upset folks even on the right like Neil Waugh at the Edmonton Sun.Whose side is Presto on? Presto engaged in some political prestidigitations on Question Period about how this will hurt Eddie in the polls when the election comes. And as usual with the rose coloured glasses of the Calgary right wing he predicted that it won't benefit the Liberals or NDP or even the would be right wing rump parties, but rather it would be because conservatives will stay home.
"I don't see votes going to the Liberals or the NDP, I think their biggest danger is another 150,000 people staying home who voted Conservative the last time," he said.
Well at least they have homes. It's not just the royalty deal that is driving a stake in the heart of the Tired Old Tories it's stories like this Halloween surprise.
"The province needs to step in. Every other province has some form of rent control," said Rob Picard, angered by his skyrocketing rent.
On Halloween night, Picard was spooked by an 86% increase to his rent. The three-month notice means the rent on his two-bedroom 700-square-foot apartment in the River Park Glens, also known as the Syncrude Towers, is jumping from $1,425 per month to $2,650.
"I work for Suncor. I make good money, but I can't afford this. The illusion that this is Fort McMurray and everybody can afford this is just wrong," said the heavy equipment operator.
He's not the only one complaining.
Gunner Antos has a two-bedroom apartment in the same building and will see his rent go from $1,500 a month to $2,700. Those prices could even drive highly paid workers away.
"They're crying for workers and they're raping us," said Antos.
"You've got people who have jobs living in tent cities. They have people with jobs living in the bush."
Service Alberta spokesman Eoin Kenny said the government is not looking at rent controls at this time.
"With this type of hit, even though I work for Syncrude, I may be forced to take a room this late in life," said Gerald Morrison, who has lived at the complex for more than 20 years.
"I always thought Fort McMurray was fair and square, but they're gouging now."
The landlords left a note on apartment doors Wednesday afternoon saying the change will be effective Feb. 1.
Mr. Morrison said his three-bedroom apartment is going from $1,800 a month to $2,950 - without utilities - despite a leaky roof, carpenter ants and unpainted walls. Two years ago, his rent went from $1,100 to $1,500, and then to $1,800 last February.
David Campkin said the one-bedroom apartment he and his wife share rose to $2,250 from $1,450. He said the unit's condition is "absolutely appalling" with a carpetless concrete floor and none of the promised security.
The provincial Residential Tenancies Act passed in April requires landlords to give tenants three months' notice before raising rent once a year. River Park Glen appears to have met the conditions.
There is no ceiling on rent increases in Alberta, where a sizzling economy is attracting workers from outside the province and making affordable housing scarce. A government-appointed committee suggested rent controls to Premier Ed Stelmach earlier this year, but he rejected the recommendation.
Lets do some quick math shall we. 500 units X $1500=$750,000. Rolling in the dough while not providing tenants with repairs. Can you say high rise slum lord. Another whiner from Alberta is Harpers pal the ex-CEO of Encana, Gwyn Morgan who also published a comment attacking the royalty compromise in that same eastern rag. The irony is that populism was what got Presto elected and made the Reform/Alliance/Conservative party possible. And Gwyn makes the same case that Presto does in attacking Farmer Ed.
From Monday's Globe and Mail October 29, 2007 at 6:30 AM EST
Experience has taught me that populist politics are seldom principled. It's not that populists don't want to do what's right and best; it's just that if a choice has to be made as to which has priority, what is popular wins.
The second matter of principle Mr. Stelmach's government has violated is reneging on oil sands royalty commitments under which capital has already been invested. Except in the case of Syncrude and Suncor, the money was invested without a contract binding the government to honour the terms.
Nonetheless, investors rightly see this unilateral change as a clear case of doing what is popular rather than what is right. And in terms of doing what is best, the damage to Alberta's reputation certainly illustrates the wrong choice.
Industry is still in shock, but the computer models used to compare before and after investment feasibility are grinding away. Companies with investment opportunities outside Alberta will be looking at them a lot closer. The natural gas drilling and development service sector was already suffering, so expect an even worse downturn. New project decisions in the oil sands will have to factor a much higher government take into a business already replete with risk.
Mr. Stelmach states: "I'm confident we've made the right decisions for today and for Alberta's future."
As for me, I continue to believe that populist politics are seldom principled.
Populism is what kept Ralph in power for years. Of course in Ralph's case that was populism that benefited the oil boys in Calgary. So that was principled.
Which includes a link between former Encana President Gwyn Morgan and Anderson consulting. Anderson of course was involved in the Enron scandal and years before that was involved in Bernie Cornfelds mutual fund swindle, which operated out of Ontario in the 1960's. Under Mike Harris Anderson returned to Ontario to work as an advisor on contracting out public services, as did Gwyn Morgans other company, Acceture. Both cost taxpayers millions in cost overruns. Something about a tiger not changing its spots me thinks.
That being said one has to wonder why the Liberals continue to lie about Harpers donors? Rather than expose them. Oh right cause they also donate to the Liberals. Makes it kinda hard to expose them as bad guys, right.
The idea perhaps originated in the PMO after last election. Being a minority government who knew when King Stephen might get kicked from office. So lets find a legacy project for Steve. And viola what should appear on the horizon but the National Portrait Gallery. And as I pointed out here suddenly it was being moved out of Ottawa, lock, stock, and special atmospheric preservation equipment, to the Calgary riding of the PM.
Until last week when the whole idea was shelved, cause Calgary no longer looked like a shoe in for best P3 deal.
In a scathing editorial in the National Post entitled Portrait of Incompetence it is all made painfully clear. The P3 bid opened up to other cities was a mere fient, the fix was in for Calgary, until Edmonton put in two bids both lower than the Calgary costs.
The thoroughly depressing history of the project has been covered exhaustively -- but here is a capsule summary. Sheila Copps' original 2001 brainwave for a permanent centre at the old U. S. embassy in Ottawa ran headlong into cost overruns, belt-tightening in the national capital district and a new Liberal regime that was none too keen on building an expensive legacy for its leading critic. Paul Martin's government vacillated, and when it was ousted by the Conservatives, they seized upon the opportunity, first engaging in backdoor negotiations to find room for the gallery in downtown Calgary, and then opening the whole thing up to private-public bids from major cities across the country. Edmonton threw a spanner in the works by coming up with not one but two bids that would have been extremely easy on the public purse; this led to the deadline being quietly extended so that Calgary could improve the terms of its proposed deal. Meanwhile, Ottawa's partisans put on a full-court press, arguing chauvinistically that the right place for a national gallery could not possibly be anywhere but the national capital. These master logicians told an ostensibly pretty story about the Portrait Gallery serving as a locus of educational tours of the capital, but failed ever to mention the real truth -- that in downtown Ottawa the building would probably remain a poor cousin to Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, the Museum of Civilization and other competing sites. The nation's capital Ottawa may be, but not many schools can afford to send children on the week-long field trips that the city perhaps deserves.
And speaking of Shelia Copps she has her own take on this mini-boondoogle.
The decision of Stephen Harper's Conservative government to cancel the National Portrait Gallery was a smart move to get out of a poorly conceived plan to build the museum as a public-private partnership, says former Liberal heritage minister Sheila Copps. "I think that was a bit of a way of getting themselves out of a pickle that they'd created," Copps said Saturday. Heritage Minister James Moore announced on Friday that the gallery would be cancelled. Moore said none of the proposals submitted by developers in a nationwide competition was acceptable and the government must act prudently in a time of economic instability. But Copps said she didn't buy that excuse. She described the competition as "poorly thought-out" and a "no-win" political situation that would pit the losing cities against the government.
This was always about Calgary. It was a sop to Encana, and the ideology of P3's. Encana of course is the company that Gwyn Morgan used to run. Harpers old political/business pal whom he tried to get appointed as the newly created Federal Government Appointments Commissioner after the 2006 election. But that too failed to pass.And like the National Gallery cancellation the post of Appointments Commissioner was never filled.
Encana was also a victim of the Harpocrites about face on Income Trusts so having the National Gallery in Calgary built by Encana was simply payback.
This was about moving a National Gallery to Calgary to show that political power had shifted west, to the Petro Bay Street of Canada. It was also about selling off the Gallery to Encana. Thus Canada's National Portrait Gallery would have been the Encana National Portrait Gallery of Canada.
The new Conservative government killed that project in 2006 and tried to forge the EnCana deal. When that failed in the face of withering criticism from Ottawans and others, the government resorted to the bidding process. Now cities across the country have spent money preparing bids and $11 million has been wasted renovating the U.S. embassy location. The machinations surrounding the gallery have been a sorry display of government inefficiency and inept politics.
Once again the neo-con ideology of Privatization bites the bullet.
Almost a year since the first national rail strike was called, another series of stoppages loom. Passengers who have been spared the usual round of disruptive bank holiday engineering works this weekend won’t be so lucky in the second half of the half-term break. Strikes by drivers and crew will more or less wipe out services on Wednesday and Saturday, shred schedules on Friday, and add a bit of scattergun disruption in between.
This time in 2022, the mere prospect of the biggest rail strike in decades was causing consternation. Now, though, the latest guaranteed upheaval has not even produced a round of talks between unions and industry – let alone ministers – to try to head off the disruption.
A gloomy stalemate has taken hold in recent months, and it is hard to see from where any imminent change will come. The one tectonic shift in a year of attrition was the settling of a 9% pay deal with staff at Network Rail in March: a moment that both deprived the biggest union, the RMT, of its greatest leverage in strikes, and also fuelled belief in government and the industry that a similar deal could be done at train operators.
Instead, a pay offer that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) negotiators made to RMT general secretary Mick Lynch crumbled, whether due to duplicitous legalese in the written detail (as the union maintains) or because Lynch could not persuade a hardline union executive (as the train companies maintain).
The RDG and ministers have refused to budge, and demand a referendum of union members. But the deal in detail holds even less for the train operators’ staff, and union members have voted for another six months of potential strikes, starting with Friday’s.
Since then, some informal contact is understood to have taken place between industry and union – but Lynch’s recent call for a summit with government was met with a scathing RDG rejoinder that the only summit the RMT needed was “between its negotiating team and its executive committee”. This is a political dispute created by the Tories. Any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of governmentDave Calfe, Aslef
The union is likewise reballoting for another six months of strikes in England – while announcing a whopping deal for drivers in Wales, a 20% rise over the next two years to £71,000, when a further guaranteed inflation-linked increase applies.
The Welsh bonanza, according to the union, delivers what the government claims to want – changes to terms and conditions, extra productivity and “modernisation”, not just gold-plated pay.
But while driver delegates in Cardiff this week for Aslef’s annual assembly will have been toasting their hosts, it’s hard to see any kind of similar resolution elsewhere.
At Westminster, ministers have freely admitted that any pay deal is now seen in the context of wider public sector pay disputes with nurses and teachers – even if the rail staff are employed by private firms. For some in government, the £1bn-plus in lost revenue is worth it to cap wider pay; for others, some suspect, in latter-day Thatcher versus the miners mode, victory over the unions is all.
The irony in the ideological dispute is that train drivers, backing renationalisation, have seen pay soar under privatisation. And in normal times, with their own money at risk, private train operators would rather shell out for drivers than face them down and lose much more in stoppages.
In Cardiff, Aslef’s president Dave Calfe told drivers to “keep the faith”, adding: “This is a political dispute, created by the Tories, and any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of government, which is still 18 months away.”
Both sides might want to be careful what they wish for. Much-needed passengers, meanwhile, might simply be careful not to rely on the train for a long time yet.
Monday, December 22, 2025
ALL WHITE KIRK KULTISTS
Here's what you missed at Turning Point's chaotic convention
JONATHAN J. COOPER and SEJAL GOVINDARAO Updated Sun, December 21, 2025
TOPSHOT - Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, widow of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, speaks during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2025. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
PHOENIX (AP) — When Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest convention reached its halfway point, Erika Kirk tried to put a smiling face on things.
“Say what you want about AmFest, but it’s definitely not boring,” said Kirk, who has led the influential conservative organization since her husband Charlie was assassinated in September. “Feels like a Thanksgiving dinner where your family’s hashing out the family business.”
That's one way to put it.
Some of the biggest names in conservative media took turns torching each other on the main stage, spending more time targeting right-wing rivals than their left-wing opponents.
The feuds could ultimately define the boundaries of the Republican Party and determine the future of President Donald Trump's fractious coalition, which appears primed for more schisms in the months and years ahead.
Here are some of the most notable moments from the four-day conference.
Shapiro criticizes podcasters
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative media outlet Daily Wire, set the tone with the first speech after Erika Kirk opened the convention. He attacked fellow commentators in deeply personal terms, saying some of the right's most popular figures are morally bankrupt.
Candace Owens “has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years,” he said.
Megyn Kelly is “guilty of cowardice" because she's refused to condemn Owens for spreading unsubstantiated theories about Kirk's death.
And Tucker Carlson's decision to host antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast was “an act of moral imbecility.”
Shapiro's targets hit back
Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to “deplatform and denounce” people who disagree with him.
“I watched it,” he said. “I laughed.”
Others had their chance the next night.
“Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” said Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser.
Kelly belittled Shapiro as a marginal figure in the conservative movement and said their friendship is over.
“I resent that he thinks he’s in a position to decide who must say what, to whom, and when,” Kelly said.
Owens, who has spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's death, wasn't welcome at the convention. But she responded on her podcast, calling Shapiro a “miserable imp."
A schism over Israel and antisemitism
Israel came up repeatedly during the conference.
Some on the right have questioned whether the Republican Party's historically steadfast support for Israel conflicts with Trump's “America First” platform. Carlson criticized civilian deaths in Gaza in remarks that wouldn't have been out of place in progressive circles.
Some attendees dug deep into history, highlighting Israel's attack on the USS Liberty off the Sinai Peninsula in 1967. Israel said it mistook the ship for an Egyptian vessel during the Six Day War, while critics have argued that it was a deliberate strike.
Bannon accused Shapiro, who is Jewish, and others who staunchly support Israel of being part of “the Israel first crowd.” Kelly said criticism from Shapiro and Bari Weiss, the newly installed head of CBS News, “is about Israel."
Vance says loving America is enough to be part of MAGA
In the conference's closing speech, Vice President JD Vance declined to condemn extremism or define a boundary for the MAGA coalition. The movement should be open to anyone as long as they “love America," he said.
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” Vance said Sunday.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on the first night of the convention. Vance would be the 48th president if he takes office after Trump.
Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a massive volunteer network around the country that can be especially helpful in early primary states.
Newsom is political enemy No. 1
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading Democratic presidential contender, was a favorite punching bag.
“It looks like they’re going to nominate a California liberal who’s presided over rolling blackouts, open borders and unchecked violent gangs,” Vance said. “They’re just trying to settle on whether it’s going to be Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris.”
Rapper Nicki Minaj, who made a surprise appearance, belittled the California governor, using Trump's favored nickname for him, Newscum.
“Please tread lightly," Minhaj said during an on-stage conversation with Erika Kirk. "That’s what I would say to Gabby-poo.”
A representative for Newsom did not respond to a request for comment.
MAHA teams up with MAGA
The Make America Healthy Again movement had a big presence at Turning Point, signaling its quick rise in the right-wing ecosystem.
MAHA is spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. However, there has been friction with other parts of the Make America Great Again coalition, particularly when it comes to rolling back environmental regulations.
Wellness influencer Alex Clark, whose podcast is sponsored by Turning Point, asked the crowd whether the Environmental Protection Agency is “with us or against us?”
“Big chemical, big ag and big food are trying to split MAGA from MAHA so things can go back to business as usual, but we don’t want that, do we?” Clark said.
Clark and others have asked for Trump to fire EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who responded by reaching out to MAHA activists. The EPA also said it would release a MAHA agenda for the agency.
Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)(ASSOCIATED PRESS) CEO and Chair of the Board of Turning Point USA Erika Kirk (L) speaks with US rapper Nicki Minaj during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, 2025. This year's conference commemorates the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on a Utah college campus in September, sparking an outpouring of grief among conservatives and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten a crackdown on the "radical left." (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images) Conservative political commentator and podcast host Tucker Carlson speaks at Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference, in remembrance of late right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2025. Kirk was shot dead on a Utah college campus in September, sparking a wave of grief among conservatives, and threats of a clampdown on the "radical left" from President Donald Trump. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 21: Erika Kirk interviews surprise guest Nicki Minaj on the final day of Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest conference at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 21, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. Minaj spoke about her frustrations with California Governor Gavin Newsom, and about why she has embraced the conservative movement. (Photo by Caylo Seals/Getty Images)(Caylo Seals via Getty Images)
A prerecorded message from President Donald Trump is displayed on a screen after his son Donald Trump Jr. called him from the stage to address the audience by phone during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, 2025. This year's conference commemorates the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on a Utah college campus in September, sparking an outpouring of grief among conservatives and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten a crackdown on the "radical left." (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
First Turning Point USA conference without Charlie Kirk exposes rifts in Christian right
PHOENIX (RNS) — At AmericaFest — where ICE merch is sold beside ‘Jesus Won’ T-shirts — the idea that conservative values are God-ordained may be the biggest unifying factor.
Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk and now CEO of Turning Point USA, takes the stage during AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
PHOENIX (RNS) — On a stage framed by glinting red-white-and-blue lights, Michael Knowles, a podcaster for the political outlet The Daily Wire, recalled Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the New Testament’s signal call for mercy and hope.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” Knowles read on Thursday (Dec. 18) at opening night of AmericaFest, the annual conference of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth activist organization co-founded by Charlie Kirk.
There was no doubt that Kirk, who was assassinated in September, was the peacemaker Knowles had in mind. He was one of several speakers at the Phoenix Convention Center in the following days to paint Kirk as a spiritual unifier who connected disparate parts of the American right and reached out to progressives.
If Kirk had that power, this year’s AmFest, which closes on Sunday, has brought home how badly U.S. conservatism needs that kind of uniting presence. The movement’s cohesion has been tested in recent months by Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with antisemitic internet influencer Nick Fuentes and by disputes over American support for Israel. It’s also been shaken by ongoing revelations tying Trump world figures to sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and by roiling conspiracy theories, such as former Trump adviser Candace Owens’ suggestion that TPUSA is complicit in its own co-founder’s murder.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, acknowledged these rifts in her opening speech to the conference, saying: “We’ve seen fractures. We’ve seen bridges being burned that shouldn’t be burnt.”
Her warning went largely unheeded at AmFest, judging by speeches made from the stage, where Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, Carlson, former White House strategist Steve Bannon and journalist Megyn Kelly all used their speaking slots to swipe at each other.
Attendees record photos and videos during a speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
On the floor, however, the college and high school students who make up the rank and file of Turning Point USA remained optimistic. Roughly one-third of the 31,000 who came to Phoenix for AmFest were students. Many said their campus chapters, which go on door-knocking campaigns ahead of elections and man tables to promote conservative values, are gaining traction in the wake of Kirk’s death.
Two Generation Z attendees, one from California and another from Louisiana, said they joined TPUSA chapters in response to Kirk’s assassination. In her speech, Erika Kirk told the audience that more than 140,000 students have applied to get involved with TPUSA Sept. 10, when Kirk died, bringing its student membership to more than a million. The organization is getting help from states such as Florida and Texas, which are working to make it easier to establish TPUSA Club America high school chapters.
Sixteen-year-old Sage Tousey, president of the Hamilton Southeastern Club America in Fishers, Indiana, told Religion News Service that her chapter swelled from 20 students to nearly 50 since Kirk was shot and that it has become more religious in outlook as it focuses on service projects such as placing wreaths on soldiers’ graves.
Tousey, a nondenominational Christian, suggested that religion is a more cohesive force than politics. “We will always say Christ first, politics second,” she said.
Attendees arrive for AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
On Thursday’s warm, sunny morning in Phoenix, conservative politics and faith seemed to live side by side, with pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement T-shirts being sold beside ones reading “Jesus Won.” And while Kirk’s death hung over the meeting, the young conservatives, their blue lanyards bright against the brown and gray streetscape of downtown Phoenix, were volubly excited for the sold-out event.
“It’s a bit of a homecoming,” said Jackson Heaberlin, 18, who serves as the outreach chair of the Clemson College Republicans at Clemson University in South Carolina. “You have all these months of very upsetting news, story after story of a left-wing radical violence, and then now you’re insulated in an environment of conservatives who are young and passionate.”
Even the disagreements among the headliners were taken as a sign of health. Attendees contrasted the sniping from the podium with cancel culture, which they see as standard procedure on the left. “In the conservative movement, we will not always agree on things, but we know that we can always come together under religion,” said Tousey.
Though TPUSA does have an arm that organizes pastors, TPUSA Faith, the core organization isn’t explicitly Christian — it describes its purpose as organizing students for limited government and free markets. Still, AmFest was saturated with religion. Attendees raptly listened to British comedian Russell Brand, who was baptized in 2024 and faces rape charges in Britain, urge the audience to build a Christian nation. Shapiro, who is Jewish, said the idea that God imbued humans with “creative capacity and the power to choose” is the “essence of conservatism.”
Kirk himself seemed to deepen his faith over his decade and more in the spotlight, and observers were watching the rhetoric at AmFest to see how much the organization will burnish its Christian brand moving forward.
“They want to promote this kind of above-politics thing with Charlie’s legacy,” said Matthew Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia who has studied TPUSA. Boedy pointed to a “clear divide” between the Christian ethic shown by Erika Kirk, who emotionally forgave the killer at Kirk’s Sept. 21 memorial service in nearby Glendale, Arizona, and Trump’s stating flatly on the same day: “I don’t forgive my enemies.”
Merchandise booths sold a variety of t-shirts, hats and other products during the AmericaFest event hosted by Turning Point USA on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
In an interview last week, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asked Andrew Kolvet, who has taken over as host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, whether conservative politics could use more “of the Erika Kirk spirit” than “Trumpian attitude.” Kolvet advocated for “a more conciliatory tone at times than our president,” while saying he appreciates Trump’s unapologetic approach.
At AmFest, the Rev. Lucas Miles, senior director of TPUSA Faith, described Erika Kirk as a “well-discipled” Christian, and Trump as a newer believer. “I think we’re just seeing a spectrum of … maturing in Christ and being conformed in the image of Christ,” he said.
The divide echoed a related debate among conservative Christians about guarding against empathy for immigrants — a theme that has puzzled even some prominent evangelical Christians as counter to Jesus’ teaching.
“The toxic empathy is getting so exhausting,” said Katie Turnbull, 25, who attended AmFest with her husband. “You hear huge pastors with huge churches preach to their congregations that love is love, and that we get to define love as opening the floodgates of our borders and bringing in the Third World.”
Attendees at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Dec. 19, 2025, in Phoenix. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
Some of those who addressed the conference, on the other hand, argued for making room for difference in U.S. society. On Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican candidate for president now running for Ohio governor, pushed back on the anti-immigrant sentiment that was in the air at the conference. A Hindu and the child of immigrants from India, Ramaswamy told the audience that normalizing hatred toward any ethnic group has “no place in the future of the conservative movement.”
These kinds of sentiments were a minority view, however. While at times critical of Trump’s tone, most attendees viewed the president’s aggressive anti-immigrant policy as above reproach. Several younger attendees hoped for broader restrictions even on legal immigration and combined concerns about immigration with broader fears about the rise of Islam, which they view as vehemently anti-Christian.
Gwyn Andrews, 22, who founded a TPUSA chapter at the University of West Georgia, expressed concern about the “Islamic faith issue that has been infiltrating our cities, our colleges,” adding that “a big issue for me personally is to make sure that people truly understand the Islamic faith and how that directly ties to socialism, as we’ve seen in New York City with Mamdani,” referring to New York’s Muslim mayor-elect. She said that for American society to thrive, Muslim immigrants need to assimilate, a word that cropped up consistently at AmFest. “The goal is for them to understand that when you assimilate here, you can’t go to Dearborn, Michigan, and turn the entire place into a Third World country and then try to implement Shariah law,” she said.
Anti-Muslim sentiment is nothing new to TPUSA. Kirk long argued that Islam is not compatible with the West and that to be American requires that you “worship God, not Allah.” In a recent episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Jewish conservative political commentator Josh Hammer argued that to be considered an American, one ought to “publicly assimilate into the Protestant-majority inherited culture.”
But in Phoenix, Miles framed assimilation as a faith question, saying God instructed his followers to welcome foreigners passing through, but stressed that those who stayed, like the biblical figure Ruth, chose to assimilate. Those wanting to “keep their own identity and maybe usurp and take advantage,” he said, “the Hebrews were warned … to keep them at bay.”
Alex Clark takes the stage at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
AmFest’s insistence on Christian dominance over national policy, said Christina Littlefield, associate professor of communication and religion at Pepperdine University, veers into Christian nationalism, the idea that the government should privilege a particular vision of Christianity at the cost of democratic pluralism.
Portraying Kirk, who often argued that America should be a Christian nation, as a martyr is “radicalizing” for many conservatives, said Littlefield, co-author of “Christian America and the Kingdom of God” with Richard T. Hughes, a dynamic she called dangerous. “Someone killed him because they did not like his political beliefs, which I condemn, but he did not die as a martyr for the faith.”
While TPUSA is openly mourning Kirk’s death, it’s also leveraging his story to rally Christian pastors and recruit voters. Miles told RNS that TPUSA Faith’s network jumped from 4,200 member churches prior to Kirk’s death, to 9,500, and is now planning a “Make Heaven Crowded Tour,” hosting faith events at churches in more than 25 cities. A new, free curriculum, First Truths, examining the fundamentals of the Christian faith is already available, and next year, the group will release another curriculum critiquing Islam.
At AmFest, Miles and other speakers appealed to faith to end the infighting seen on the stage, imbuing the organization’s political power with spiritual stakes.
“If we don’t unify as the body of Christ, then we are in a position where we are vulcanized, we’re fractured,” Miles told attendees at a breakout session. Christian unity, he said, is needed to hold the line “when it comes to Marxism, when it comes to Islam, when it comes to progressivism, when it comes to abortion.”
Don't become a pilot as there are no jobs just huge debts, says union
Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent Thu, 5 November 2020,
Photograph: Thomas_EyeDesign/Getty Images
The pilots union, Balpa, has warned prospective pilots from starting any training courses, saying they would be left with huge debts and no prospect of employment.
Trainee pilots could end up owing more than £100,000 and would not find a job to pay back loans, the union said.
About 200 trainee pilots in UK flight schools who were set for jobs with easyJet have already had their conditional offers of employment withdrawn, after the airline looked to cut hundreds of pilot jobs in the summer as the effects of Covid-19 battered the industry.
Balpa said it was an extraordinary step for them to issue the warning, but it would be irresponsible not to act.
Wendy Pursey, its head of membership and careers, said there were about 10,000 unemployed commercial pilots across Europe, including 1,600 in the UK, while many others were working part-time or on reduced pay. The easyJet trainees now had “no clear route to even a licence, far less a job”, she said.
Others attempting to enter the aviation industry have been hard hit, including 122 trainee air traffic controllers at Nats being laid off before gaining a licence.
The difficulties were underlined by British Airways telling staff on Thursday that many more of them would be placed on furlough, as the airline scales back flights through November. Its few remaining long-haul services from Gatwick will be suspended.
Under the lockdown rules that came into effect on Thursday, all holiday or leisure travel is banned with fines for breaches starting at £200.
A BA spokeswoman said the airline had been “urgently reviewing” its schedule but would be operating flights to “bring home thousands of customers currently abroad, and ensuring people who are permitted to travel in and out of the UK can continue to do so.”
The industry body Airlines UK said the extension of the furlough scheme, which announced on Thursday, was welcome but warned that carriers would “urgently need access to further liquidity measures to shore up their balance sheets”, with more flights grounded. EasyJet confirmed it had had talks with the German government about available support measures, but denied it had made a formal request for funds.
A mushroom that grows on insects could help treat cancer and viruses, according to new research.
Scientists say the cordyceps fungus contains a compound called cordycepin that could be used in new cancer drugs and antiviral medicines.
The compound has been difficult to grow in a lab but a new method, where the mushroom feeds on insects instead of brown rice, enables it to produce 100 times more of the compound.
Growing more of the compound will give researchers more opportunities to study it, in turn helping them find new medicines for devastating illnesses.
Until now, the mushroom has been best known for its gruesome eating habits.
Its spores infect and kill insects before growing into fruiting bodies that sprout from the insect's flesh.
Cordycepin is also an antimetabolite that can stop cancer cells multiplying and spreading to other parts of the body.
Recent studies have also suggested the compound could be used to treat coronavirus.
The mushroom is usually grown in a lab on grains such as brown rice.
However, the researchers noticed that levels of the cancer-busting compound were very low when it was collected from mushrooms grown on grains.
They suspected the protein content of the grains simply wasn’t high enough to feed the mushroom.
Given what the team knew about the compound’s potential, they were keen to find another way of growing healthy mushrooms in the lab and using large volumes of the compound in medical research.
For the study, the South Korean team cultivated cordyceps mushrooms and fed them insects for two months before harvesting them.
The mushrooms were given crickets, silkworm pupae, mealworms, grasshoppers, white-spotted flower chafer grubs and Japanese rhinoceros beetles.
The mushrooms grew biggest on mealworms and silkworm pupae, which are eaten in parts of South Korea as a snack.
They grew least well on grasshoppers and chafer larvae, which are a type of scarab beetle.
However, the mushrooms that grew tallest did not produce the largest amounts of cordycepin.
In fact, the mushrooms grown on Japanese rhinoceros beetles didn’t grow as big but produced 34 times more cordycepin than silkworm pupae, which produced the least.
The team found the crucial ingredient for cordycepin production was the fat, not protein, content of the insect.
High levels of oleic acid may be needed for the compound to be produced.
Adding the acid to a low-performing insect food caused the amount of the compound produced to grow by 50 pe cent.
Study author Professor Mi Kyeong Lee from Chungbuk National University said: “Our research convincingly shows that a potential strategy for boosting cordycepin production in the growth of cordyceps would be to use insects with high oleic acid content,
“The cultivation method of cordyceps suggested in this study will enable the production of cordycepin more effectively and economically.
“However, securing edible insects is not yet sufficient for scale-up to industrial level.
“It is also thought that more efficient production may be possible through the use of other insects, which needs to be demonstrated by further study.”
UK bus privatisation breached basic rights, says ex-UN rapporteur
Report blasts ‘more expensive, unreliable’ routes outside London that have cut people off from communities and essential services
A report has criticised the deregulation of bus services, calling it a ‘masterclass in how not to run an essential public service’. Photograph: Ashley Crowden/Athena Pictures
Britain’s bus services outside London were so damaged by privatisation that people were unable to access basic needs such as work, education and healthcare, according to a scathing report by the former UN special rapporteur on human rights.
Many people in Britain had lost jobs and benefits, been forced to give up on education, or been cut off from communities and healthcare as bus services grew more expensive, unreliable, and dysfunctional after the 1985 reform, the inquiry found.
The report is co-authored by Philip Alston, a New York-based academic whose UN reports in 2018-19 denounced the “social calamity” of austerity policies in the UK which he found had caused widespread poverty.
Alston said the deregulation of buses, brought in under Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, had “provided a masterclass in how not to run an essential public service, leaving residents at the mercy of private actors who have total discretion over how to run a bus route, or whether to run one at all”
He added: “In case after case, service that was once dependable, convenient, and widely used has been scaled back dramatically or made unaffordable.”
The authors interviewed passengers across Britain who described a broken, fragmented system with falling ridership as fares soared.
Alston said the UK could afford a world-class bus system if it chose. “Instead, the government has outsourced responsibility for a vital public service, propping up an arrangement that prioritises private profits and denying the public a decent bus.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Services across England are patchy, and it’s frankly not good enough.”
They said the strategy unveiled this year would “completely overhaul services”, adding: “We will provide unprecedented funding, but we need councils to work closely with operators, and the government, to develop the services of the future.”
The Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents private bus operators, said reliable journeys, well-equipped buses and competitive pricing were goals everyone shared. A spokesperson said: “These are best delivered where operators and local authorities work in partnership without local people having to take on the financial risk and cost of council control.”
Transport unions said the report was “completely right in its assessment”.
The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said the government needed to urgently rethink its strategy “and stop caving to the private operators”, adding: “It needs to reverse the ban on new municipal bus companies, and provide sufficient ringfenced national funding for all local authorities to deliver the bus services their local communities require.”
