News of the Week (December 20th, 2015)

 

News of the Week for December 20th, 2015


 

Obama Scandals

 

Kerry says Paris agreement crafted to avoid Congress
Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the climate agreement reached this week in Paris did not contain any enforcement provisions because Congress would not have approved them.

 

Gun Rights

 

N.Y. Judge Who Struck D.C. Gun Regs Wasn’t Authorized to Hear Case
D.C. Circuit says Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. was wrongly assigned to latest gun case.

With Few Gun Laws, New Hampshire Is Safer Than Canada
Pew recently reported on how the homicide rate in the US has been cut in half over the past twenty years, even as gun ownership has greatly expanded in the US. The US public, meanwhile, thinks the murder rate is increasing.

Toy guns blocked for sale in NY
Three dozen online retailers will no longer be able to sell realistic-looking toy guns, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

The Unintentional Comedy of the Paris Climate Conference
The Paris conference on global warming as a result of greenhouse-gas emission was a wonderful example of unintentional comedy. I know next to nothing about the technicalities of the subject, but caught on television news bulletins great wafts of hot air. It was highly enjoyable to hear President Obama claiming to be saving the planet that his foreign policy has done much to endanger. More forlorn than usual as he worked in a phrase to and for unborn generations, Secretary of State Kerry had the air of a man in a dark room fumbling for the light switch but unable to find it. Some official is quoted saying that the final two days of the conference were “among the most chaotic I have ever seen.” Lo and behold, all countries have signed up to report how they are doing by way of reducing emissions, but there’s no supervision, let alone compulsion to do what they have agreed. To cut to the chase, $80 billion are to be paid every year by rich countries to poor countries. Lots of pretty young women from all over the world then appeared on the screen smiling in praise of the unearned wealth they expect to be coming shortly.

Climate deal “signals end to gas cookers”: They’ll have to be phased out to meet new targets, experts claim
The Paris climate change deal spells the beginning of the end for cooking and heating with gas, experts claimed yesterday.

Winter death toll “to exceed 40,000”
Campaigners say the figures are a “tragedy” and that more should be done to help vulnerable elderly people

The EPA’s Illegal Propaganda
The Environmental Protection Agency misused tax dollars in the service of public propaganda, according to a legal opinion just handed down by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The misdeeds came during the agency’s public-relations blitz to drum up support for its new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation.

Biggest Storm This Season Breaks Daily Snowfall Record In Denver
The biggest winter storm to hit Denver so far this season has also broken a daily snowfall record for the city.

NOAA Admits Global Warming Isn’t Causing Warm Winter Weather
NOAA admitted Wednesday global warming is playing an “insignificant role” in the warm temperatures enveloping the East Coast this December.

NOAA Relies On “Compromised” Thermometers That Inflate US Warming Trend
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s reliance on poorly-sited weather stations to calculate surface temperatures is inflating the warming trend of the U.S. and maybe even the rest of the world, according to a landmark study looking at three decades of data.

What’s Really Going On With the Earth’s Climate
The Earth’s climate is changing, as it has for millions of years. Recent changes, however, are mild and benign, as opposed–for example–to being plunged into another ice age. The most accurate record we have of modern temperatures comes from satellites.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Greasing the Skids for Age-Based Healthcare Rationing
The big problem with Obamacare isn’t the exchanges for me. It is the centralized control.

 

War & Terror

 

Bowe Bergdahl Referred to Court-Martial
U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his post in Afghanistan, has been referred for a trial by general court-martial, the Army announced Monday.

Chinese Submarine Practiced Missile Attack on USS Reagan
Cruise missile targeting of carrier risked naval shootout

New Taiwan Arms Sale to Rankle Beijing
Disruption of Pentagon’s military exchange program at stake

Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses linked to Department of Work and Pensions
Teenage computer experts unveil astonishing web of unpublicised interactions linking extremist social media mouthpieces to the British government

Arrests in Austria in connection with Paris attacks
According to the prosecutors’ office, two people were arrested over the past few days at a Salzburg shelter for refugees. A spokesman declined to give the nationalities of those arrested.

Yazidi slave forced to become an ISIS child soldier reveals boy prisoners were lined up and told to raise their hands… and anyone with armpit hair was killed on the spot
Ahmed Aslef was just ten when terror group massacred 800 in his village

Plumber sues Ford dealer after truck with company logo was used by extremists in Syria
The black Ford F-250 started life as a truck for a Texas-based plumbing company, carrying toilets, pipes and other supplies. But then it was sold to a Ford dealership in Houston, and after that, shepherded off to parts unknown. Until, that is, it appeared as the focal point of a post from a supposed extremist last December.

ISIS Selling Yazidi Women and Children in Turkey
This month, the German television station, ARD (Consortium of Public Broadcasters in Germany), produced footage documenting the slave trade being conducted by the Islamic State (ISIS) through a liaison office in the province of Gaziantep (also known as Antep) in Turkey, near the border with Syria.

Air France bomb scare: Kenya says explosive device found in toilets of plane carrying 473 people from Mauritius to Paris
Two suspects held by Kenyan authorities

Yazidi Used as Sex Slave for Islamic State Speaks to UN
Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad Basee Taha described to the United Nations Security Council the horrific ordeal she endured while the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) used her as a sex slave.

 

National

 

Sam’s Club CEO Rosalind Brewer told CNN how she deals with the white patriarchy
Walmart is the lily-white of lily-white corporations, and Brewer is a token

Surrogate mom carrying triplets refuses demands from birth parents to abort one of the fetuses
Brittneyrose Torres, 26, from California is in desperate bid to save female fetus she was reportedly ordered to abort

High School Removes “Huckleberry Finn,” Cites Student Discomfort
A high school guided by Quaker philosophy has removed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from its 11th grade curriculum, citing students feeling “uncomfortable” with the book’s portrayal of blacks and the frequent use of the N-word. It is most certainly not the first time the book has come under attack, and Twain’s classic is one of the most frequently banned books in the U.S.

All LAUSD schools closed by ‘credible threat” of violence
Officials have closed all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses Tuesday morning after receiving a “credible threat” of violence involving backpacks and packages left at campuses.

Unit 3 at the Indian Point nuclear facility shut down. The cause is currently unknown
A thorough investigation of this shutdown is underway and we will make sure the safety of New Yorkers is not compromised

Teen’s photo featuring American flag rejected from yearbook
A high school senior in Massachusetts is frustrated that a photo of her featuring an American flag was rejected from her school’s yearbook.

College suspends student for six months for saying black women are “not hot”
Student says he was assumed guilty for writing much worse comments on Yik Yak

Far-Left “Nation” and “Rolling Stone” Columnist: “Get Rid of Private Housing”
He vacuously attempted to elaborate on one of those five ideas, namely: “Let’s get rid of private housing.”

Posh Hotels And Pricey Airfare: Meet the Senate Candidate Driving Democrats Crazy
Kamala Harris has splurged on luxury cars, airline tickets, and first-class accommodations, raising questions about the California front-runner’s spending habits.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris scrutinized for luxury travel, expenses
The California Senate race front-runner’s luxury hotel use, campaign staff turnover and disproportionate expense totals.

Public School Students Told to Practice Calligraphy by Writing “There is No God but Allah”
Students at Riverheads High School in Greenville, Virginia, were told to practice calligraphy by writing out the statement “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” The assignment was given by classroom teacher Cheri Laporte.

First Freddie Gray Trial Ends in Hung Jury; Mistrial Declared
The jury could not reach a decision in the first trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray.

Arizona senator seeking McCain’s US Senate seat to step down
Arizona state Sen. Kelli Ward is set to formally resign her seat to focus on her Republican primary challenge to U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Christian Makeup Artist Sues M.A.C. Cosmetics for Forcing Him to Wear Lipstick, False Eyelashes
Married minister, father and makeup artist Barry Jones has filed suit against cosmetic powerhouse M.A.C. Cosmetics in a federal religious discrimination lawsuit. Jones “alleges that M.A.C. required him to wear makeup if he wanted to obtain certification to become a full-time makeup artist with the company.”

Oberlin College students circulate 14-page Demand List
Seek to “deconstruct imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, and a cissexist heteropatriarchy” and to divest from Israel.

Professor Aims To Turn Elementary Students Into Social Justice Warriors
A professor at the taxpayer-funded Montclair State University in New Jersey is hoping to train teachers to get excited about social justice.

Mizzou students asked to fill out Bias Reports because of “offensive” pro-life display
Students were encouraged to fill out Bias Incident Reports if material a pro-life group displayed “disturbed” them.

What led to mistrial for Officer William G. Porter in Freddie Gray case
Prosecutors and defense lawyers have sparred for days on many issues in the trial of Officer William G. Porter, who faced four charges in the April death of Freddie Gray. Jurors have not specified why they were deadlocked, but here’s a summary of key conflicts that confronted jurors

Yale fail: Ivy leaguers sign “petition” to repeal First Amendment
Looking to understand just how controversial the debate over free speech on our college campuses really is, filmmaker and satirist Ami Horowitz recently traveled to Yale University, one of our nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, to speak directly to students.

Illinois School Battles Feds Over Transgendered Student Civil Rights Complaint
A man who complained the decision of his suburban Chicago school board in Palatine, Ill., to allow a transgendered boy to shower in a high school girls’ locker room spoke for hundreds of angry parents when he said, “The rights of this one person are trumping the rights of everyone else.”

Major Republican donor buys Nevada’s largest newspaper
And it was Sheldon Adelson’s newest employees that uncovered the clandestine purchase. The man who invested $92 million in the GOP’s 2012 efforts has taken Glenn Reynolds’ oft-offered advice to conservatives to invest in media outlets instead.

Harvard placemat serves up social justice for Christmas
The placemat was created by the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in collaboration with the Freshmen Dean’s Office and were distributed in an undergraduate dining hall.

Play Asia Announces “Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3” Price Drop Due to High Number of Pre-orders
Loyal readers of Breitbart Tech will recall our coverage of the Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 debacle. The game, which features scantily clad women playing beach volleyball, was due to not receive an American release as publisher Koei Tecmo attempted to head-off the inevitable backlash to the game’s titillating content.

Massachusetts Court Rules Catholic School Must Hire Man In Homosexual “Marriage”
As our soon-departing Dear Leader, Erick Erickson, has often said, you can’t ignore the culture war raging the United States because you will be made to care. The left has successfully managed to get virtually every known evil, like abortion, and perversion, like homosexual marriage, declared a Constitutional right. After that point, resistance brings with it the attention of the coercive force of the state.

Up next: a minimum age for kids buying soda
Having solved all other problems plaguing our society, New York Times opinion author (and food journalist) Mark Bittman has his eye on the big prize.

Trump piles on Scalia; supports racial preferences
I had missed this story, but catching up with NR’s Bench Memos today I learned from Carrie Severino that Donald Trump joined in the criticism of Justice Scalia’s pertinent questioning during oral argument in the Fisher case. Readers probably recall that Scalia raised the problem of the “mismatch” that arises when blacks students receive preferential admission to college and must then compete with students who have significantly better credentials.

Former L.A. Mayor: Jeb Bush Used My Name Without Permission
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, one of California’s most prominent Republicans, told Breitbart News and others Wednesday that the Jeb Bush campaign used his name on a fundraising invitation without permission.

A Little Less Autonomous: California’s New Rules Prohibit Driverless Cars
The California Department of Motor Vehicles just enacted a whole spate of new laws aimed at regulating the testing of self-driving cars—and major players like Google are not happy.

Movement to Primary Speaker Paul Ryan Out of Congress Picks Up Steam
On Thursday Speaker Ryan passed a trillion dollar budget deal that was widely praised by Barack Obama and Democratic leaders. They got everything they wanted.

Domestic Violence Awareness Video Claims Abuse is “Just Something Boys Do”
A few months ago, it was a book claiming that boys were budding little rapists. Now it is a domestic violence awareness video. I find the video even more jarring, more offensive than the book. The voiceover—a little girl in utero—declares that abuse is “just something boys do” as the video shows a series of earnest-looking young boys, about 6-12 years old.

Hillary Clinton Campaign Funding the Democratic National Committee
The Hillary Clinton campaign is quietly making cash transfers to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to fund state party efforts in the South.

In: Transgender “chestfeeding” in new mom breastfeeding support groups
Out: Dissent at KellyMom.com’s breastfeeding Facebook page

Wisconsin “John Doe” anti-conservative hunters become the hunted
Scott Walker eliminates state agency that helped target conservatives, while legislative investigations of prosecutors in the works.

Here Are the 95 Republicans Who Opposed the Omnibus Spending Bill
The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill sailed through the House on Friday by a vote of 316-113.

Billionaire Tom Steyer’s Profanity-Laden Tirade on California
Billionaire Tom Steyer launched into a profanity-laced rant when interviewed by the Sacramento Business Journal about his plans for the state.

Sharia in Boston: Judge Orders Pastor to Learn and Study Islam
After the Boston jihad bombing, it appears that the city of Boston has utterly surrendered and submitted to Islam. “Boston Strong,” my eye.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Tax deal doles out year-end goodies for NASCAR tracks, racehorses, college students
Agreement reverses GOP’s budget gains

Fed finally lifts key interest rate from near zero
The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates from record lows set at the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, a shift that heralds modestly higher rates on some loans.

 

International

 

Marine Le Pen: fiery but pragmatic, and defiant in defeat
A fiery orator but also a pragmatist, Marine Le Pen has steered France’s far-right National Front (FN) from pariah status into the mainstream.

Now She Tells Us: Multi-Kulti a “Sham” Says Mutti Merkel
In other words, the entire scheme was simply to get more bodies into the aging German work force and hope like hell, in less than a single generation, Muslims from the ummah would become post-Christian Germans.

McDonald’s customers step over disabled man as he chokes to death
People step over man dying in wheelchair after ball of food blocks oesophagus so they can reach counter of Cheltenham restaurant, inquest hears

Venezuelans Using Animal Drugs as 85 Percent of Pharmacies Close to Shutting Down
Venezuelans have resorted to using home remedies, procuring veterinary medications, and looking for black market drugs on social media as government-imposed price controls and rations have led to a scarcity of medicine so severe, 85 percent of the nation’s pharmacies are in danger of shutting down.

 

Opinion

 

Cutting Off A Child’s Body Parts Is No Prank
Kerry McFadyen found her toddler gesturing at his privates with scissors. Rather than teaching him not to self-harm, she’s going to let doctors finish the job.

How the Left really sees Republicans: neo-fascist white people
Donald Trump is truly bringing out the best in everyone this Christmas season and that’s just as true among liberals as conservatives. (I’ve given up on sarcasm tags in these articles.) Seriously, if you’d like a look at the type of honest debate partners who are staring across the aisle at you this season, look no further than the Daily Beast’s own Michael Tomasky. He’s very worried about the current state of the GOP and wants to warn you all against slipping further into a futile maelstrom of racism and hate. With that in mind, he reminds us that Republicans are A Neo-Fascist White-Identity Party. And make no mistake… white people are a big problem in the party of old white people.

Being a Man and Having a Traditional Family Is a Rebel Act
The leftists won a key battle: the fight to make the personal political. Thanks to the creepy fascism inherent in their nature, they examine everything under a microscope and divide it into categories like “Problematic” and “Microaggressions.” That’s especially true of how we choose to live our lives as adult men.

Is DHS Director Jeh Johnson Part Of An ISIS Sleeper Cell?
As we learn more and more about the activities of the radical Islamic couple who murdered 14 innocent people at a holiday luncheon, the more it becomes clear that there were more than ample warning signs that could have led authorities to minimize, if not entirely prevent, the incident.

News from Trump City: Fear and Loathing in Where Else?
I’m trying to channel my inner Hunter Thompson but it’s so effing cold here in Vegas, forget the mescaline, bring on the hot toddies. I want to curl up under the covers and drift off to Bing Crosby singing Christmas carols over and over until my brains thaw out. This kind of weather makes you think the Russians were right all along and we are headed for global cooling. I mean Obama and Kerry can blather on all they want about global warming, but why is it whenever they have one of their dimwitted climate conferences we get an unbearable cold snap? And in Las Vegas!

What, Exactly, Is a Fascist?
It’s hard to find a self-respecting liberal these days who doesn’t denounce Donald Trump as “a fascist.”

It’s All About “Muscle”
Understanding the campus unrest

Parents, It’s Time To Realize Big Government Is Your Enemy
In the war between government and parents over who will steward children, government is winning. That’s bad for everyone.

Great News! Freedom-Hating Lesbianic Socialist Harpies From The UN Still Hate America
As we approach Christmas, we remember in story and song the three wise men who visited the newly-born Jesus and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense, and the other one, acknowledging him as King of Kings.

The Book Fetish
What happens when homes have no books? (You’ll have to imagine me saying these words in a rather aghast tone, much as one might use when asking what happens in homes that don’t have flush toilets.)

Most Students Can’t Afford Campus Protests
The leisured class can afford to drop out of college or be placed on academic probation, but less privileged campus protesters mostly harm themselves.

As Marco Rubio Stalls, The Left Goes Bonkers At the Idea Of A Ted Cruz Candidacy
As Marco Rubio falls behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz by more than the margin of error in several polls, the left is beginning to have much in common with the GOP establishment, they would much prefer Marco Rubio as the GOP nominee than either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. And given the choice between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, those same people would much prefer Donald Trump because Trump will make a deal.

The GOP Establishment Continues Its War On the Poor
Tomorrow the Congress is scheduled to vote on a $1.1 TRILLION omnibus spending bill. There is very little to like about the bill. It is typical of past funding bills that were crafted in back rooms with limited transparency, it is chock full of trinkets and pork to ensure it passes. Buried in the bill is a provision that accomplishes nothing beyond paying obeisance the US Chamber of Commerce… and hurting American workers.

Harvard University does its bit to make Christmas a living Hell for its undergrads.
Please stop doing this.

Fear and Loathing: An Oberlin Feminist on Men, Republicans and Heterosexuality
Kaela Elias attends Oberlin College (annual tuition $50,586) and describes herself on Tumblr as “a queer introverted feminist” whose “blog is a space for me to unapologetically love myself.” Being from Berkeley, California, where so many of her friends “aren’t straight” and her parents are “accepting” of her “confusing” sexuality, Kaela;s feminism is inspired by her “fear” of males, especially “cishet” males. As incredible as this may seem, some male students at Oberlin College are actually Republican, so she’s “scared.”

Our Gang
Is Bruce Jenner allowed to think for himself?

Maybe The Wrong Guy Is Threatening To Run Third Party
So why exactly is this Washington Post story such a big deal?

The Long March
I’m mostly alive, and sorry to be so late, but yesterday for reasons I can’t explain lest we all be commited, husband, older son and I felt a necessity to walk seven miles, uphill, through snow. Younger son picked us up when we realized we simply didn’t have it in us to walk back.

You weren’t raped. You’re a whore. Join the club.
One of the very first posts I ever wrote for this blog, and I stand by every word of it. There is no such thing as rape culture, and holding men accountable for what drunk women do is the very definition of “patriarchy”.

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