News of the Week for Feb. 17th, 2013
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Gun Rights
NJ Plans 24 Gun Control Laws
The Democrat leadership in the New Jersey Assembly plans on ramming through 24 different anti-gun measures on Feb. 13 and 14.
Defensive gun ownership
A subreddit dedicated to cataloging incidents in the United States where legally-owned guns are used to deter or stop violent crime
New Jersey: Fireworks in Trenton
Yesterday, the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee passed twenty anti-gun bills over the vehement protest of gun owners. Their hearing was moved to a larger committee room when it became obvious gun owner turnout was going to exceed expectations, but the room still wasn’t big enough. Audio was piped into another overflow room and still more gun owners gathered outside the Capitol. The state police issued an emergency demonstration permit due to the estimated crowd of more than 500 gun owners in attendance.
And Your Little Dog, Too
It’s time to control government’s guns, to protect humans . . . and canines.
Newburgh resident fends off three armed burglars with loaded shotgun
NEWBURGH Police say three masked men with handguns entered a home on South Plank Road in the Town of Newburgh Sunday evening, threatened the residents and demanded money, but were ultimately driven away by a shotgun-wielding resident of the home.
What’s to talk about with concealed-carry law in Illinois?
Public hearings set for later this month to focus on concealed-carry legislation
Obama’s Ammo-Buying Binge
Why do you suppose the Obama Regime has been amassing such gargantuan quantities of ammunition for extra-military purposes?
Gun Companies Refuse Sales to State Governments with Strict Gun Laws
Six gun companies have announced plans to stop selling any of their products to any government agency in states that severely limit the rights of private gun ownership.
Gun Rights: Are There Any Peaceful Solutions Left?
Throughout history, citizen disarmament generally leads to one of two inevitable outcomes: Government tyranny and genocide, or, revolution and civil war. Anti-gun statists would, of course, argue that countries like the UK and Australia have not suffered such a result. My response would be – just give them time.
Mistake in gun bill could defeat the effort
One of the major gun-control efforts in Olympia this session calls for the sheriff to inspect the homes of assault-weapon owners. The bill’s backers say that was a mistake.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
10 killer questions for climate extremists
Germany, Spain Set To Pull The Plug On Green Energy
Over ten years ago, when Europe was a bright and shining example of experimental monetarist “brilliance”, and when the money was flowing, the continent decided to do the ethical thing and actively promote the pursuit and development of renewable energy through countless government subsidies.
Power At The Power Company
When you think of power at the Power Company, you might visualize electricity, natural gas, solar, wind, and geothermal power. That, however, would be missing the greatest source of power at the Power Company in Nevada, political power. This is NV Energy’s greatest natural resource, which they use very effectively.
Solar industry grapples with hazardous wastes
Homeowners on the hunt for sparkling solar panels are lured by ads filled with images of pristine landscapes and bright sunshine, and words about the technology’s benefits for the environment – and the wallet.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
California lacks doctors to meet demand of national healthcare law
Lawmakers are working on proposals that would enable physician assistants, nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists to diagnose, treat and manage some illnesses.
War & Terror
Bear Bombers Over Guam
Russian nuclear bombers circle Guam
Ron Paul Supporters Slam Rand After Republicans Block Hagel Nomination
National
Democrat Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks arrested for domestic battery, obstructing officer
Sunday morning, just before 12:30 a.m., Las Vegas police responded to the 6000 block of Tuttle River Avenue, to investigate reports of a domestic battery.
Maker’s Mark waters down its bourbon to meet rising demand
Maker’s Mark just got a little less stiff. The bourbon brand, known for its bottles sealed with red wax, told customers today that it’s reducing the amount of alcohol in the beverage in order to meet rising global demand.
City Outlaws Roommates
Last week, city council members in Watertown, New York, which is 70 miles north of Syracuse, voted 3-2 to outlaw roommates.
Boehner to Host Union Leader at State of the Union
Senate Republicans have tried to pull the immigration issue out from under President Obama by beating him to the punch on a bipartisan framework.
Millions Improperly Claimed U.S. Phone Subsidies
The U.S. government spent about $2.2 billion last year to provide phones to low-income Americans, but a Wall Street Journal review of the program shows that a large number of those who received the phones haven’t proved they are eligible to receive them.
Gropez even ‘ogled’ a child: Accusation he made creepy comments on 14-year-old intern
There’s a creepy new accusation in the sexual-harassment probe of Assemblyman Vito Lopez — that he even leered at a 14-year-old intern and made comments about her sexy attire, sources told the The Post.
Las Vegas constable arrested
Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura has been arrested on a DUI charge.
Should Law Reviews Consider Race When Selecting Articles?
I recently discovered that Scholastica, a competitor to Expresso in the electronic journal submission process, allows authors to submit demographic information, including an author’s gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and a box to explain “economic hardship and diversity” (it suggests “Additional comments that demonstrate diversity (for example; socioeconomic, status, geographic region, race, ethnicity, gender, etc.”).
“..the study found that stereotypes seemed to be holding boys back.”
Parents Complain About School Ad Excluding Whites From Tutoring Program
A school principal said no white children were allowed at an after-school tutoring program, and now some parents call it discrimination.
For $57,232 per year you get what at Brown University?
Sex change operations and nudity workshops.
Economic-Liberty, Healthcare-Choice, Now Private Property?
Recently, I tuned my television to the local public access channel in order to view the live feed of my local Anne Arundel County Council proceedings and was taken aback by comments made by an elected official purporting to uphold the public trust. Unfortunately, these comments were indicative of a growing trend amongst our new political aristocracy. That growing trend involves ensuring your seat at the policy making table, although the policy being debated is not just malicious but antithetical to our very foundational beliefs.
New Jersey: Lautenberg Won’t Seek Re-Election
Occupy LA to Christopher Dorner: ‘Rest in Power’
Occupy Los Angeles has chosen to honor Chris Dorner in the wake of his death, despite the body count he apparently amassed.
USDA ‘Civil Rights Training’ Video Revealed
In response to a number of allegations of civil rights violations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack mandated in 2009 that all political appointees in the department attend government-sponsored, government-funded “civil rights training” sessions. The training was made available to other department employees as well.
1 Billion Rising San Francisco
February 14 used to be Valentine’s Day, but this year Eve Ensler hijacked the date to mark the climax of her worldwide anti-rape dance/protest known as 1 Billion Rising. I attended the San Francisco 1 Billion Rising rally, where “dancing is a revolution.”
Dr Fredric Wertham Lied And Lied And Lied About Comics
The Illinois News Bureau reports, (with the most condescending and predictable headline you can imagine, even for Bleeding Cool) that Dr Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction Of The Innocent, the book that inspired government hearings about the content of comic books, saw sales plummet from the bad publicity, and eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code – was made up. Or at least large chunks of his supporting data was.
Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies from heart attack
The second unofficial spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas has died from an apparent heart attack.
Massachusetts: Gomez Pulls Papers for GOP Senate Run
Massachusetts Republican Gabriel Gomez, a private equity investor and former Navy SEAL and aircraft carrier pilot, pulled nomination papers Monday for a Senate bid in the special election, a Republican official confirmed to CQ Roll Call.
Students Told to Stop ‘USA!’ Chant, Take Off American Flag Bandanas
Four California high-school students were reportedly suspended for chanting “U.S.A! U.S.A!” and wearing American flag bandanas during a basketball game. While their punishment has since been rescinded, school administrators said “the incident is far from over.”
Cornell Conservative Students Push Back Against “Social Justice” Course Requirement
Earlier this week, College Insurrection reported that the student government of Cornell has proposed a social justice requirement. Opponents of the proposal are now fighting the idea
American Women, not Koch Brothers, birthed the Tea Party Movement
Most of the original “Tea Party” organizers joined the developing national-scale protest in 2009 because we were deeply concerned about our children’s futures. Between the enormous expenditures of the Toxic Asset Relief Program and the “Stimulus Package”, many of us were reeling over the fact our taxpayer concerns were being ignored, and the result would be making our children indentured servants of the state to pay off the enormous debt.
OWS Anatomized
It turns out not to be the Tea Party.
“Occupy Wall Street: Short-Selling America”
An investigation of the Occupy Wall Street protesters’ deep motivating values, provides rich intelligence for social scientists, commentators, and civic leaders who seek a scientific basis for understanding this emerging segment of political activists.
Dozens of pro-Dorner protesters rally at LAPD HQ
Dozens of protesters rallied outside Los Angeles police headquarters Saturday in support of Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD officer and suspected killer of four who died after a shootout and fire this week at a mountain cabin following one of the biggest manhunts in recent memory.
When the Nerds Go Marching In
How a dream team of engineers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google built the software that drove Barack Obama’s reelection
The age of the “fertility panic” arrives
When we think of governments getting involved directly in the business of modulating population growth, one of the first – and most horrible – examples that comes to mind is China. But they’re looking to reduce the population. What about government programs which seek to invest in creating more people? Apparently it’s not a new idea, as explained in an essay by Doug Sanders, dealing with the “fertility panic.”
Economy
& Taxes
Just 6 in 10 Millennials have jobs, half are part-time
A comprehensive new Harvard University report on Americans under 30, the so-called Millennials, shows that the economy is having a crushing impact, with just 62 percent working, and of those, half are toiling at part-time jobs.
CEOs: Anywhere But California
When corporate CEOs in your state are ready to exchange HQs with Pacific Ocean views for those of a landlocked desert, you know you’re doing something wrong. That’s what’s happening in California, where nearly two dozen firms are considering dumping the Golden State for its drab and arid neighbor, Arizona.
Fighting Over Scraps in the Ruins of San Bernardino
Police and firefighter unions in bankrupt San Bernardino want to sue the city for cutting members’ pay and benefits. Last year the city became the first in California to unilaterally stop paying into the California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), and the unions who represent these pensioners aren’t happy. Since the city’s bankruptcy hearing is still pending, none of its creditors, Calpers included, are currently allowed to sue for money owed. But the unions are trying to change that.
New York City hikes taxes on Sandy-hit houses
Homeowners in an exclusive waterfront enclave in Brooklyn thought Hurricane Sandy was as cruel a blow as they could suffer — until the taxman proved them wrong.
California: Already Stoking the Next Big Financial Crash?
The next financial market meltdown may already be brewing: not in the housing market, this time, but in municipal bonds. Greedy bankers, opportunistic politicians and hobbled regulators are putting a time bomb in the muni market that could set off another devastating crash.
European GDP Takes a NoseDive
EU GDP drops huge. In 2012, they didn’t have a single quarter of growth. One of their remedies is to place a transaction tax on trading. Massive mistake. Massive. A tax on trading will only make markets less transparent, less liquid, and drive transactions into the private unregulated marketplace. The tax will also cause capital to flee to other places at a time when the EU needs capital to come to it.
The Incredible Shrinking Eurozone
All of the major countries of the Eurozone, Germany included, posted losses in the fourth quarter of 2012 as the continent slides deeper into recession. This marks the third consecutive quarter in which the European economy shrank
Facebook Gets a Multibillion-Dollar Tax Break
It hasn’t drawn much attention, but Facebook’s first annual earnings report contains an accounting gem: a multibillion-dollar tax deduction for the cost of executive stock options and share awards.
International
Pope Benedict XVI in shock resignation
Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of this month after nearly eight years as the head of the Catholic Church, saying he is too old to continue at the age of 85.
Wrestling dropped from 2020 Olympic Games
IOC leaders dropped wrestling from the Olympic program on Tuesday, a surprise decision that removes one of the oldest Olympic sports from the 2020 Games.
Fast fibre: A community shows the way
After deciding that they were never likely to get a fast broadband connection from one of the major suppliers, a group of local people across this sparsely populated area decided that sitting around moaning about it was not an option. Instead they began a DIY effort, digging channels across the fields and laying fibre optic cables.
China’s new leader: Let’s avoid the Soviet Union’s mistakes and keep this thing locked up
The jingoistic, self-protecting band of plutocrats currently running China have been talking a tentative but at least slightly encouraging game lately on the possibilities for some free-enterprise and personal-freedom type reforms to the communist country’s institutions, like perhaps lightening up a bit on all of the Internet censorship and allowing their people more access to the ideas of the outside world, or maybe tackling some of the rampant corruption and cronyism that takes a mega-sized bite out of China’s GDP?
The end of a free press in Taiwan?
With everything happening back here at home these days, it’s easy to lose track of some of the stories taking place half a world away. This weekend, I wanted to take a moment to touch on one story of eroding freedom in a long time ally of the United States, Taiwan. Erika posted a story earlier about how China’s new leadership is leaning hard on old fashioned communist suppression moving into the future, and I have to wonder if they aren’t looking at similar tactics in Taiwan. On the island nation, Chinese interests are gobbling up the press market, a move which may soon put independent journalism on the endangered species list.
Ecuadorean President Correa claims re-election victory
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, giving him a new four-year term to continue his socialist revolution and strengthen Latin America’s alliance of leftist leaders.
Opinion
The Federal-State Crack-up
For decades, Democrats and Republicans alike have invested heavily in governance schemes that erode the Constitution’s separation of powers and mar its proper functioning. The Federal judiciary has uniformly rubber-stamped these schemes. The consequence has been an unsustainable spree of borrowing, spending and overregulation at the Federal level, cyclical fiscal crises at the state level, and less accountable and less representative government at every level.
Sorry Left AND Right, No Job Requires A College Degree
Recently this writer participated as part of a television panel in which it was asked if there aren’t enough jobs that require a college degree for the coming glut of college grads. The question was a funny one, one that conferred on college grads skills much greater than those possessed by the average individual. Maybe, but not asked enough is what job requires a college degree? The truth is no job does, though politicians and policy analysts would have us believe otherwise.
Bureaucracy in America
Bureaucracy in America may well be the subject and therefore the title of my next book, and its theme would be Tocqueville meets James Q. Wilson. Tocqueville, as I mentioned in my note about the nanny state here a couple weeks ago, described the form of “soft despotism” that America needed to fear, but which he didn’t quite have a name for. James Q. Wilson’s 1988 book Bureaucracy is still perhaps the best general treatment of the subject, but is a bit dated in some ways, as the administrative state (the more comprehensive term for how we are misgoverned today) has advanced in several important ways since Wilson wrote.
Modern Manliness and the Perpetual State of Low Expectations
When it comes to the glorification of adolescence in modern times, and the delayed (or ignored) embrace of traditional male roles such as husband and father, this self-serving, circle-shaped template of “progress or bust” is jammed through the square-shaped reality that not everything before Friends and Radiohead and vodka-laced Red Bull concoctions was in need of changing.
Where Have The Good Men Gone?
Kay S. Hymowitz argues that too many men in their 20s are living in a new kind of extended adolescence.
Putting Capitalism on Trial at the ICC
Sometimes you have to wonder whether the editors of the New York Times have a secret wish to sabotage the causes they promote.
Michael Barone: It wasn’t just redistricting that gave Republicans their House majority
Here’s something to think about for those who say that the only reason Republicans won a majority of House seats last November is favorable redistricting. I agree that Republicans did have a net advantage in redistricting in the 2010 Census cycle, but not an overwhelming one
A message to Obama served cold
In an earlier era, Dr. Benjamin Carson’s speech before the National Prayer Breakfast last week would have been a really big deal rather than mere fodder for a brief squall on Twitter and cable news.
Be Afraid of Cory Booker
Cory Booker is a rock star. The Newark, New Jersey mayor is young and exciting. He heroically rescued a woman from a burning building. He was named America’s sexiest mayor. He is considered to be a rising star among Democrats and even a potential presidential candidate in the future and now he is exploring a run in the race for a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey.
Google: The Democrat’s Private Intelligence Agency
Last week, Neil Stevens raised the alarm about Google selling out conservatives on policy issues. He’s right, but a number of conservatives and Republicans think there is an even bigger problem for GOP.
So total is the Left’s cultural ascendancy that no one likes to mention the socialist roots of fascism
‘I am a Socialist,’ Hitler told Otto Strasser in 1930, ‘and a very different kind of Socialist from your rich friend, Count Reventlow’.
Welcome To Your 21st Century Global Educational System
We are entering into a new era of education with a global curriculum designed by the United Nations that will be implemented not just in developing countries, but right here in the United States.
Dear Lotus King: I’ll see your minimum wage increase and raise you…
Though he may not consider himself an emperor (at least not yet), this last Tuesday, I came to the decisive conclusion that Barack Obama is King of the Lotus Eaters.
Lessons From a Chinese Family
As President Obama promotes his plan to offer universal pre-school, an account of a poor Chinese family’s drive to send their daughter to college offers a contrast to the American education and poverty industries.
Upworthy — or, How we are losing the internet to lowest of low information young liberals
I previously wrote about how BuzzFeed Politics has combined “the culture” and savvy crafting into a highly effective tool for undermining Republicans with subtle and not-so-subtle mockery. “Look at the goofy cat, look at the goofy celeb, look at the goofy Republican” is more dangerous to us than a 5000-word article in The New York Times Sunday Magazine.
