News of the Week for September 14^th, 2014

• Election 2014
• Obama Scandals
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Election 2014

 

Polling avalanche: GOP leads in eight races for Democrat-held Senate seats
Jim Geragthy, acclaimed author and National Review’s chief campaign analyst, has been grousing about the lack of quality polling in key Senate races this year. His frustration is well-founded.

Poll: Independent candidate now tied with Pat Roberts in race for Kansas Senate
The latest KSN News Poll, conducted by SurveyUSA exclusively for KSN-TV, released Monday indicates that, if the race for the U.S. Senate were held today, September 8, and Chad Taylor’s name remained on the ballot, Independent Greg Orman and incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts are effectively tied. Orman would get 37 percent of the vote, while Sen. Roberts would get 36 percent of the vote.

They Told Me If I Voted for the Establishment, This Would Not Happen
In this year’s Republican Senate primaries, the establishment went full nuclear on grassroots candidates and the voters that supported them, burning bridges with committed activists and engaging in shameful Democrat tactics to slander TEA Party candidates along with anyone who worked with them or for them. The ostensible reason for this absurd, scorched-earth campaign was the stated belief that TEA Party campaigns had cost Republicans possible victories, and with a Republican Senate majority in sight, we could not afford to throw away winnable seats.

Actor in Pennsylvania politician Tom Wolf’s campaign ad starred in ‘torture porn’ films
Before Alan Benyak — a lawyer and Army veteran — was featured in a campaign spot for Tom Wolf, who’s the Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate, he had lead roles in pornographic flicks. ‘Breeding Farm’ and ‘Lucifer’s Unholy Desire’ focused on the torture and debasement of women.

Democrats very interested in female GOP candidate’s “personal relationships”
I suppose this is today’s update on the War on Women, but it once again seems to be coming from the opposite side of the aisle than you’d expect if you’re watching cable news. Our story comes to us from New York’s 21st congressional district, also locally known as “the North country” for its rural, mountainous nature. Many long time election fans will better remember it as it was known before the last census redistricting when it was NY-23 and the site of the 2009 special election debacle featuring Dede Scozzafava.

 

Obama Scandals

 

Letter: Holder Aide Accidentally Calls Issa Staff for Help Spinning IRS Scandal
A senior communications aide to Attorney General Eric Holder seemingly called House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa’s staff by accident and asked for their help spinning new revelations about the IRS scandal, Issa said in a September 8 letter to Holder.

Gun Rights

 

Last American jurisdiction with a total handgun ban?
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is part of U.S. sovereign territory. It also (1) totally bans handguns, (2) bans carrying all guns, even in the home, (3) requires licenses for long guns, which are allegedly not granted for months on end, though theoretically they are supposed to be granted within 60 days, and (4) bans all ammunition except .22 cartridges, .223 cartridges, and .410 shotgun shells. Radich v. Guerrero (D.N.M.I. Sept. 5, 2014) argues this violates the Second Amendment, and surely that must be so

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Why the Hysteria About Climate Change? Follow the Money
Global warming hysteria, as we wrote yesterday, is not science. The models on which it rests are known to be wrong, since they are refuted by observation. So why, then, does climate change hype persist?

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

House OKs Cassidy’s ‘keep your plan’ bill
The House passed legislation Thursday to allow people to keep their insurance plans under ObamaCare even if the coverage doesn’t meet all of its requirements.

 

War & Terror

 

Army is worried too many white men lead combat units
Sociologists worry lack of black officers will have detrimental effect on minorities

Pentagon tests jetpack for troops on the battlefield
Researchers at Arizona State University were asked by the Pentagon’s research arm if they could come up with robotic devices to give individuals superhuman abilities. It was at that point that the “4 Minute Mile” Project (4MM) was born.

Islamic State’s Centuries-Old Strategy
The debate over how to think about Islamic State has mainly centered on important but abstruse questions — is it evil or not? — and on what combination of military and economic pressure might be necessary to prevent the establishment of a caliphate.

Child pornography conviction overturned because the government violated the Posse Comitatus Act
United States v. Dreyer (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2014) (2-to-1 vote); here are excerpts from the majority, the concurrence, and the dissent:
A special agent of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) launched an investigation for online criminal activity by anyone in the state of Washington, whether connected with the military or not. The agent found evidence of a crime committed by a civilian in the state and turned it over to civilian law enforcement officials. The civilian, Michael Dreyer, was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to eighteen years in prison. We hold that the NCIS agent’s investigation constituted improper military enforcement of civilian laws and that the evidence collected as a result of that investigation should have been suppressed….

National

 

Democrats Move to Partially Repeal First Amendment
Tonight the Senate voted 78-18 to advance the Democrats’ proposal to amend the Constitution to give Congress the power to prohibit or restrict participation in political campaigns. A number of Republicans voted to advance the bill, but will oppose it in debate and will vote against it. Charles Grassley said, “We should have debate on this important amendment. The majority should be made to answer why they want to silence critics.”

Planned Parenthood opposes GOP plan to expand access to contraception. No, really.
Planned Parenthood claims it is a neutral advocacy organization focused on advancing the needs of women and safeguarding their interests. On Monday, Planned Parenthood shed this façade when they came out against proposals which would increase access to contraceptives. Why? Some Republicans have come out in favor of them. It is the clearest indication yet that Republican triangulation on an issue central to the “war on women” meme is succeeding beyond Republicans’ wildest expectations.

College Is Back in Session
And that means the long-awaited return of the privileged children of the UCSB Microaggressions Facebook page. The moderator kicks off the new year by once again railing against the oppression that has landed him or her at a highly ranked university on the beach.

Black Girl Beaten for Acting White
Soon the prime progressive objective of a white minority USA will be achieved. It will not be a pleasant country to live in for whites — or for anyone who even reminds people of whites

Gaming the college system
LIKE other parents with teenagers starting their final year in high school, Babbage is learning how fraught the whole process is these days of applying for a place at one or other university his daughter hopes to attend upon matriculation. Given The Economist’s demographics, many readers are likely to fall into a similar category. Babbage would welcome the chance to learn from their own experiences.

Text of the Citizens United Constitutional Amendment

NSFW: Fighting Radical Feminism one piece of sushi at a time!

‘In Defense of Christians’ Summit Features Supporters of Hezbollah
Questions surround a Washington, D.C. conference whose stated purpose was to gather lawmakers, Eastern and Western churches, community leaders and a variety of Christian groups to confront the problem of genocide being perpetrated against Christians by ISIS.

Assyrian Christians Support Cruz After Walkout
Assyrian Christians are standing with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after he was booed for his support of Israel by some Middle East Christians gathered in Washington, D.C. Wednesday at an event hosted by an organization called “In Defense Of Christians.” Yet not all of the Christians present disagreed with Cruz–and some have begun speaking out in favor of Cruz’s view that defending Israel and defending Christians in the Middle East go hand-in-hand.

Pro-Israel Ohio U. student arrested for reading Legal Insurrection blog post out loud during protest (#ousenate)
Protests erupt at Ohio Univ Senate meeting over President’s “blood bucket challenge” — President has protesters arrested.

Senate Dems Fail, Free Speech Prevails
Reid’s anti-freedom agenda—and November optimism—is circling the drain.

Teacher asks middle schoolers to compare Hitler and Bush for homework
Washington, D.C. parents are up in arms today after a sixth-grade teacher sent students home with Venn diagrams comparing Adolf Hitler and former president George W. Bush.

Militia Threatens to Block Traffic at International Bridges
Law enforcement officials and city leaders from across the Rio Grande Valley are preparing for what they say could result in tense moments or violence.

Silent Coup
Harry Reid’s plan to hand America to liberal billionaires

Woman in her twenties discovers that she was born without a cerebellum
She found out when she checked herself into the hospital because of a bad case of nausea

Newly Discovered ‘Tetraquark’ Fuels Quantum Feud
In August 2003, an experiment at the KEKB particle accelerator in Japan found hints of an unexpected particle: A composite of elementary building blocks called quarks, it contained not two quarks like mesons or three like the protons and neutrons that constitute all visible matter, but four — a number that theoretical physicists had come to think the laws of nature did not permit. This candidate “tetraquark” disintegrated so quickly that it seemed a stretch to call it a particle at all. But as similar formations appeared in experiments around the world, they incited a fierce debate among experts about the correct picture of matter at the quantum scale.

Hillel wants Ohio U to apologize for arrest of pro-Israel students
Campus police acted on orders of controversial anti-Israel student Senate President who was subject of protest

More Africans Entered US in Last Decade than During 300 Years of Slave Trade
More people from Africa have entered the United States in the last decade than were forced to come to America during “more than three centuries of the slave trade.”

School bans ‘offensive’ Chick-fil-A sandwiches
Feathers have been ruffled at California’s Ventura High School, where the principal this week banned the football booster club from selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches over fears that people might be offended.

College: Students must agree ‘why’ they had sex to avoid sexual assault charges
At Ohio State University, to avoid being guilty of “sexual assault” or “sexual violence,” you and your partner now apparently have to agree on the reason WHY you are making out or having sex. It’s not enough to agree to DO it, you have to agree on WHY: there has to be agreement “regarding the who, what, where, when, why, and how this sexual activity will take place.”

Kentucky State University drops a quarter of its students for not paying bills
Kentucky State University President Raymond Burse announced Wednesday the school was dropping 654 students for unpaid tuition and room and board payments.

Economy & Taxes

 

The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship
Start-up companies are the reason America’s economy is more innovative, prosperous and dynamic than the economies of other industrialized countries around the world.

Japan says economy contracted 7.1 percent in 2Q
Japan’s economy shrank more sharply in the second quarter than first estimated and the latest indicators suggest only a modest bounce back since then.

 

International

 

Yazidi girl tells of horrific ordeal as Isil sex slave
17-year-old says she is one of about 40 Yazidi women and girls, some as young as 12, still being held captive and sexually abused on a daily basis by Isil fighters

Carleton student leaders apologize for mocking safe space policy
Carleton University’s president calls incident ‘extremely disappointing’

NO CHANGE IN ROTHERHAM
More than 1400 cases of girls and young women being abducted and sexually abused in Rotherham over 16 years – and it is still happening

Actor From Country That Coddles Muslim Rape Gangs Whines About Homophobic ‘Christian Far Right’ In America
Shut up and read your lines.

Now for a Really Destructive Innovation: A Europe-wide State
The best hope for the European Union would be for it to eventually evolve into an enormous Belgium. More likely, it will evolve into an enormous Yugoslavia circa 1990, which will not be quite so good.

Manila proposes autonomous zone for Muslims
The president of the Philippines proposed on Wednesday to give Muslims in the south the ability to run their own government under their own flag, part of a peace plan aimed at ending a four-decade rebellion that has killed 150,000 people.

Two straight men get married to each other to win a radio contest; marriage horrifies gay rights groups
Travis McIntosh and Matt McCormick wrote their wedding vows yesterday, brimming with”nervous excitement” about their big day.

Doug Ford enters Toronto mayoral race as Rob Ford drops out
One hour before the deadline for finalizing the candidates in the Toronto mayoral race, Rob Ford has withdrawn his candidacy, and Doug Ford has stepped in to take his place.

If Scotland Goes, Bankers Fear Britain Could Exit European Union
Tremors over a possible breakup of the United Kingdom have been felt here in recent days, as markets gyrate and banks make contingency plans.

UKIP MEP Sent Death Threats After Slamming Rotherham Council Over Child Abuse Scandal
UKIP’s Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire, Jane Collins, has reported that she has been on the receiving end of death threats and warnings about her staying away from Rotherham after she attacked the local council for its negligence in the ongoing child abuse scandal.

UKIP Death Threat MEP: Labour Should Rebrand Itself the ‘Paedophile Protection Party’
UKIP MEP Jane Collins has slammed the Labour Party’s attitude to child abuse, accusing Mr Miliband’s organisation of trying to “keep quiet and ride the storm” during scandals such as the one that has gripped Rotherham over the past decade.

In Jordan, Ever Younger Syrian Brides
The bride-to-be was so young and shy, she spent her engagement party cloaked in a hooded robe that swallowed her slim figure but could not quite hide the ruffled pink dress her fiancé’s family had rented for her.

 

Opinion

 

Gamergate: Journalism as a Social Justice War game
Encyclopedia Dramatica explains Gamergate as one seedy game designer’s dramatic exposure of “wide scale collusion in the indie game industry, benefiting developers, reviewers, journalists, and everyone else involved. That is, everyone except for you, the gamer.”

Wil Wheaton’s Divisive Tweeting < Andrew W.K.’s Inclusive Partying
My favorite thing famous people on Twitter do is to tweet something really, really silly and then complain about all the people pointing out that what they just said was really, really silly. We saw a prime example of this last night, when Sharknado 2‘s Wil Wheaton* tweeted the following

The Rocky Horror Parenting Show
Most parenting “trends” are bad. In general, as a parent, you should strive to be as old-fashioned as possible. Even if your children subsequently rebel against your authority — as, predictably, most kids do — you need to give them an actual authority to rebel against. And then you crush the rebellion like Darth Vader wiping out Alderaan.

Harry Reid is mad that Republicans didn’t obstruct his bill
After all his complaints about Republican obstruction this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed frustration last night after Republicans helped guarantee a floor vote on a measure he supports.

Andrew Klavan on the Newest Threat on College Campuses: Microaggression
In which our brave and compassionate host, Andrew Klavan, takes a look at some real-life examples of microaggression and the deep harm such assaults can really do.

Super Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson Doesn’t Understand Statistics
Neil deGrasse Tyson is super smart. Super duper smart. Super duper scientist smart. So smart, that this is what Google auto-fill suggests when you search for “neil degrasse tyson smart”

Large government out of place in a society based on small technology
“Twentieth-century technology,” writes economic historian Joel Mokyr in the Manhattan Institute’s excellent City Journal, “was primarily about ‘large’ things.”

From Blue to Red Overnight
The fall of the Arkansas Democrats.

Sessions v. Zuckerberg, a Knockout
A year ago, most observers thought that immigration “reform” was a foregone conclusion. The entire Democratic Party wanted it, including union leaders who were happy to sacrifice their members’ interests; the Chamber of Commerce wanted it; quite a few libertarians were OK with it; and just about every rich person (and political donor) in America, it seemed, was on board. Democrats and the media confidently declared that Republicans had to go along with amnesty and other “reforms,” or cease to exist.

A non-PC History of the Arab Muslim [Slave] Trade Of Africans
Historians say between the 8th and 19th century, 10 to 18 MILLION Africans were bought by Muslim Arab slave traders and taken from Africa across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara desert.

Young Families and Student Debt
Studies that show student loan debt increasing are a dime a dozen these days. But while a new report from the Federal Reserve Board reinforces the idea that more Americans are taking on more debt to finance their postsecondary education, it also suggests a slowing of that trend in the last three years.

Is polygamy next in the redefinition of marriage?
That question applies in the US — and possibly in some surprising places elsewhere. Let’s start in the US, where the march of court opinion has moved steadily over the last decade from the inherent right to sexual privacy and choice in Lawrence v Texas to the mandate for government recognition of partnership choices in the emergence of same-sex marriage as an equal-treatment issue. During the latter period of that arc, opponents of SSM warned that the same arguments deployed in that effort could be made to force recognition of polygamist relationships as marriages too, which SSM advocates hotly denied.

What’s Wrong With California in One Map
Remember Barry Goldwater’s famous line that the country would be better off if we sawed off the Atlantic seaboard and let it drift out to sea? Well, the same thing should be said of coastal California.

This Obnoxious Video About Ferguson Was Made to Sell T-Shirts and Blacks Are REALLY Angry About it
Ok sit back and read a great story about race-baiters hating other race-baiters about their race-baiting for money. Trust me, if you enjoy it as much as I do, it’ll be worth it.