News of the Week for Oct. 1^st, 2017

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

 

Gun Rights

 

D.C. Circuit lets stand concealed-carry ruling, cheering gun-rights activists
A federal appeals court let stand Thursday a decision that it is unconstitutional to require firearms owners prove a “good reason” in order to carry legally a concealed handgun in the nation’s capital — a win for gun rights advocates that has the potential to send a significant Second Amendment case to the Supreme Court.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

The State of Colorado Is Being Sued by…the Colorado River?
The Colorado River is about to have its day in court – and not as the subject of a lawsuit, but as the plaintiff.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

I Was On Medicaid For Years. It’s Horrible And Should Be Cut, Not Expanded
Since most in the media and on Capitol Hill come from upper-middle-class households, few seem to spend time talking to those Americans on Medicaid rolls.

The Right Prescription
Obamacare Repeal: Is There Life After September 30?

Graham-Cassidy Dead, Will Not Get Floor Vote
The GOP’s “last ditch” effort to try and fix the Affordable Care Act is officially dead, according to sources.

If you love how sports were politicized, just wait for your next visit with Dr. Progressive
No place left to hide.

Trump preparing executive order to let Americans purchase health insurance across state lines
President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace.

When the Single Payer Becomes the Single Player
American medical care and its financing have been transformed over the last century. Up until about 1920, American medical care in was quite primitive. It is quite possible that before then, it would have been healthier for the average person to not visit a doctor. But then several factors coalesced. There were new pharmaceuticals, widespread acceptance of the germ theory, improved anesthesia and surgical techniques, vaccination, and standardization of medical education. People began to gain confidence that if you were admitted to a hospital that you might actually go back home instead of dying, as was the previous experience. Although these new advances look inexpensive to us, the cost was onerous for its time. People dreaded the cost of hospitalization.

Crossing the line… The state line, that is.
“Trump preparing executive order to let Americans purchase health insurance across state lines”

 

War & Terror

 

As the Kurds vote for independence, Turkey paves the way to invade
There are plenty of purple fingers all over the northern region of Iraq again today. At the time of this writing, the Kurds in that region are concluding a non-binding referendum on the question of independence from Baghdad and the formal creation of an independent Kurdistan from what’s now known as the Kurdish autonomous region. (That region is seven hours ahead of east coast time in the U.S.) But even a non-binding vote is causing trouble on both sides of the border.

Man who threw flare into cop car during May 1 protests gets 5 years
A 23-year-old man who threw burning flares into a Portland police cruiser and the downtown Target store during May 1 protests that overran downtown Portland admitted guilt Monday and will be sentenced to five years in prison.

Another Left-Wing Fascist Movement on the Rise
RAM informs us that slavery in America never actually ended.

Russia left troops in Belarus after wargames
Russia has left troops behind after staging war games in Belarus despite promising not to, Ukraine’s Commander in Chief Viktor Muzhenko told Reuters.

Reports: Terror Attacks in France, Canada
Two dead in Marseille, five wounded in Edmonton

 

National

 

Professor says he was investigated for sexual harassment because he disagreed with women
Using Title IX to “punish other people for expressing views they don’t like”

Sanders Donor Clarifies She Doesn’t Want DeVos to Be Raped, Just Tortured
“I would love to see that woman metaphorically castrated”

8th-Graders Made to Lie in Dark with Wrists Taped, Watching ‘Roots’ at Calif. School
One of the things I enjoy is history re-enacting. I’ve re-enacted various eras of history at different times in my life, and I’ve always found it a unique way to learn about and understand the people from that era. It’s easier to understand the misery of the Civil War when you’re standing in a line wearing a wool uniform in 95-degree weather, something the history books tend not to discuss, for example.

Dianne Feinstein Laments Return of Due Process
Senator Dianne Feinstein is just one of a number of people who are less than pleased with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at the moment. After all, the secretary removed Obama-era rules that require colleges to set up systems best described as “kangaroo courts” to deal with allegations of sexual assault.

New Mexico school board to recite Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish at meetings
A New Mexico school board is planning to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish at public meetings starting next week.

Taking a stand: Male student senator refuses to announce his preferred gender pronouns
“If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s safe to assume it’s a duck”

Clemson students given ‘Heterosexual Questionnaire’ in class
Criminal Justice majors at Clemson University are reportedly being required to take a “Heterosexual Questionnaire” that paints heterosexuality in a decidedly negative light.

Jared Kushner has Used Private Email Account to Conduct White House Business
Do. Not. Use. Your. Account.

11th Circuit: Gay Man Cannot Deduct Costs To Father Children Through In Vitro Fertilization As Medical Expenses
This is a tax case. Fear not, keep reading. In determining whether the IRS properly denied a taxpayer’s claimed deduction on his 2011 return, we must decide two important and (as it turns out) interesting questions. First up: Was the money that a homosexual man paid to father children through in vitro fertilization – and in particular, to identify, retain, compensate, and care for the women who served as an egg donor and a gestational surrogate – spent “for the purpose of affecting” his body’s reproductive “function” within the meaning of I.R.C. § 213? And second: In answering the statutory question “no,” and thus in disallowing the taxpayer’s deduction of his IVF-related expenses, did the IRS violate his right to equal protection of the laws either by infringing a “fundamental right” or by engaging in unconstitutional discrimination?

After University Apologizes For Political Incorrectness, One Man Shares Photo That Speaks Truth To Thousands
My guess is not a single one has ever been in a cotton field.

California considers its own ban on combustion-engine cars
The internal combustion engine’s days could be numbered in California, where officials are mulling whether a ban on sales of polluting autos is needed to achieve long-term targets for cleaner air.

White Woman Discusses Her “Black Woman” Transition on Maury
Martina Big started out as a white woman, and now she’s here … with Maury Povich, explaining why she chose to drastically change her appearance. The plastic-surgery-obsessed Big appeared on Maury, wearing a gigantic “Black Girls Rock” necklace and her best kinky weave. Even as the audience sat dumbfounded and confused, you could tell Maury was thinking, “I should have just done my usual paternity-testing show.”

West Point grad promotes communism while in uniform
A West Point graduate and self-described communist is being investigated after posting controversial tweets showing him sporting pro-communist attire under his uniform.

Study claims “microaggressions” associated with racism in white college students
Researcher claims that certain “conservative ideological beliefs” linked with racism

Trump waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico
What a difference a day makes, eh? Yesterday, Donald Trump offered a blunt assessment on why action to waive the Jones Act for the Puerto Rico crisis was unlikely. Others pointed out that even a waiver wouldn’t really help, since shipping capacity for Puerto Rico vastly outstrips logistical capabilities for distribution in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Comics Artist Tweets Death to All GOP
#Comicgate is gaining speed. Reminiscent of Gamergate, the video gaming fandom uprising against leftist influences, Comicgate has pulled back the curtain on the carnage being inflicted on the comics industry by leftists with a mission to push their worldview onto the culture. No longer can childhood favorites like “Jem and the Holograms” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” be kid-friendly entertainment. No, they’re now soaked in LGBTQWTF fantasy with an extra dose of Trump Derangement Syndrome just for fun.

The Supreme Court’s 5 most contentious cases and how experts think they’ll rule
Onlookers who expected fireworks at the Supreme Court over President Trump’s travel ban are unlikely to be disappointed by the other battles set to begin Monday as the high court begins its new term.

“Whoville is SO white!” Librarian who refused free books from Melania MOCKED on #RacistSeuss
As Twitchy readers know, librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro refused free books from Melania Trump because … well, we’re not entirely sure. She rambled on about it in a blog post and made digs at Betsy DeVos, said Seuss is boring and redundant and then went as far as to say Seuss used racist propaganda in his books.

Study claims anger linked to conservative economic views
Nevermind Bernie Bros and Occupy Wall Streeters who vehemently demand income equality and socialism; it’s the conservatives who are really pissed.

John Kelly Is Now in Charge of All Travel by Cabinet Officials
This just came out of the Office of Management and Budget

No Tax Returns, No Presidential Election Ballot, California Democrats Tell Trump
Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor, has no doubt someone will back a court challenge to legislation aimed at forcing President Trump to release five years of his income tax returns before the 2020 election.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

GDP growth raised to 3.1% in second quarter
Higher inventories of farmer crops give nudge to GDP

 

International

 

Sweden: Only eight percent of rapes investigated by police
Fewer rapes have been solved in Sweden so far in 2017 than by the same stage a year before, new figures from the country’s National Council on Crime Prevention (Brå) suggest.

No business, no boozing, no casual sex: when Togo turned off the internet
When young people started mobilising online against Togo’s president, the state switched off the internet. In the week that followed, people talked more, worked harder and had less sex – all of which proved bad news for the government

Enormous Turnout for Kurdish Independence Referendum
Nearly 80% turnout as tensions escalate with Turkey and Iran

Official sacked after Yoda image appears on Saudi textbook
Saudi authorities fired a senior education official and other supervisors after a school textbook was found that included a photo-shopped image of the late King Faisal seated next to “Star Wars” movie character Yoda, Saudi media reported on Tuesday.

Japan’s Abe Triggers Early Elections
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called early elections for next month, invoking the North Korean threat to argue for a renewed mandate.

Clergy and Lay Scholars Issue Filial Correction of Pope Francis
The initiative, the first time such a mechanism has been used since the Middle Ages, accuses the Pope of “propagating heresies” and respectfully asks that he teach the truth of the Catholic faith in its integrity.

Is Spain Going to Explode Over Catalonian Secession?
The conflict reveals a deep tension between ethnic groups who want self-determination, and countries seeking to maintain their borders and sovereignty.

UN peacekeepers in Congo hold record for rape, sex abuse
She had been orphaned by a brutal conflict, but the 14-year-old Congolese girl found refuge in a camp protected by United Nations peacekeepers.

New World Order: Muslims to be majority in Europe within two generations
Within 40 years, given current demographic trends, the white population in France and the rest of old Europe will recede, creating a Muslim majority, a French researcher says.

Why Italy has not yet suffered Islamist terrorism
Unlike other European countries, Italy has avoided jihadist outrages

Chinese Police Order Xinjiang’s Muslims to Hand in All Copies of The Quran
Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered ethnic minority Muslim families to hand in religious items including prayer mats and copies of the Quran to the authorities, RFA has learned.

Irony Alert: Ryerson’s “Anti-Racism Comedy Night” finds humour in race-based jokes
Did you hear the one about a white heterosexual male who went to an anti-racism comedy night at Ryerson University only to find the show was NOT as advertised? There were race-based jokes aplenty but their punchlines tended to be straight white males.

That Catalonia independence bid is off to a rocky start
I’ve made more than my fair share of wisecracks here about encouraging California to “Calexit” their way into having their own country. But that’s something that’s far easier said than done, as a couple of regions on the other side of the ocean have been demonstrating this past month. The latest is the Catalonia region of Spain, which has long been making noises about breaking away from Madrid and planting their own flag. Against the demands of the Spanish government, Catalonians headed to the polls today to vote in a non-binding referendum on independence.

Letting my son, 11, wear high heels and twerk on stage is not sexualising my children says pageant mum
Tiffany Coker, 28, emphatically defends her decision to allow her daughter, Crystal, four, to wear make-up and skimpy outfits and son Harvey, 11, to dress up

That Catalonia independence bid is off to a rocky start
I’ve made more than my fair share of wisecracks here about encouraging California to “Calexit” their way into having their own country. But that’s something that’s far easier said than done, as a couple of regions on the other side of the ocean have been demonstrating this past month. The latest is the Catalonia region of Spain, which has long been making noises about breaking away from Madrid and planting their own flag. Against the demands of the Spanish government, Catalonians headed to the polls today to vote in a non-binding referendum on independence.

Swedish children’s book says ‘Grandpa has 4 wives’
Muslim conquest of Europe is expressed in children’s books, indoctrinating children to accept Sharia law.

New Swedish children’s book: “Grandpa has four wives”
A new book aimed at children in Sweden is entitled Grandpa Has Four Wives in another example of how Sharia law is being normalized as the country takes in thousands of Muslim migrants.

Catalan independence referendum: “Catalonia has won the right to statehood”, says region’s President
The leader of the Catalan government has said the region has won the “right to statehood” following its referendum on independence which was marred by violent clashes.

 

Opinion

 

Bring the NFL to its knees…
Heh.

How Did Marriage Become a Mark of Privilege?
Marriage, which used to be the default way to form a family in the United States, regardless of income or education, has become yet another part of American life reserved for those who are most privileged.

Three wild speculations from amateur quantitative macrohistory
In How big a deal was the Industrial Revolution?, I looked for measures (or proxy measures) of human well-being / empowerment for which we have “decent” scholarly estimates of the global average going back thousands of years. For reasons elaborated at some length in the full report, I ended up going with.

The Black Family Is Struggling, and It’s Not Because of Slavery
That the problems of today’s black Americans are a result of a legacy of slavery, racial discrimination, and poverty has achieved an axiomatic status, thought to be self-evident and beyond question.

To Be Great the U.N. Must Defend Democratic Sovereignty
For decades, the U.N. has presented the spectacle of its member dictatorships claiming to protect human rights or terrorist regimes speaking for supposed shared goals of a common humanity. It is a farce. Trump’s attacks, with his American alternative, exposed the twisted logic that led to these absurdities. They are the creation of Woodrow Wilson, who was both the prominent political scientist of his day and 28th U.S. president, a theorist who-unfortunately-was afforded the opportunity to put his ideas into practice.

You Will Be Made to Conform
It has already been widely noted that Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Alejandro Villanueva has apologized for “making his teammates look bad” by his act of standing by himself on the sidelines for the national anthem. His jersey has become the most popular NFL item sold online this week, even as NFL viewership on TV continues to slump. (I think the real reason viewership is slumping is that people are catching on that the Super Bowl was fixed in favor of the Patriots. . . Cue Infowars in three, two. . .) I can only imagine what kind of pressure coach Mike Tomlin (who hosted a fundraiser for Hillary last year) put on Villanueva. I still think he should ask to be traded to the Cowboys.

Trump’s Latest Travel Order Is Common Sense
If you haven’t heard many details about the latest proclamation signed by President Donald Trump, it’s probably because critics—including media-don’t want anyone reading it.

Is Your 50-50 Relationship Ruining Your Marriage?
Despite the gains women have made economically, most don’t want to be providers and protectors. And men don’t want to be dependent on their wives.

Hugh Hefner’s Legacy Is About More Than Sex
Hefner’s life will be derided as profane, but his work celebrates the sexual complementarity that has bound men and women together since the dawn of time.

Socialism in One Lesson
How far is it from Paradise to Hell? About a half-hour, by air

Why Didn’t They Shoot the German?
I was watching a World War II movie in a theater, with an Asian immigrant friend, when I learned a lesson in culture that no university could have taught better. In one battle scene, there is a cease-fire order, and a German soldier approaches the British position, under a white flag of truce. The British commander steps forward, completely vulnerable, but the Germans do not shoot. There is a brief exchange of words, as the Germans demand surrender, and the British commander declines. Both men then return to their positions, and the deadly fighting resumes.

A Reckoning for Silicon Valley Coming?
I’m not closely following the vote for independence going on this weekend over in Catalonia, but the news caught my eye that Google has acceded to the ruling of a Spanish judge that it must shut down the mobile phone app that referendum supporters had ginned up. Maybe this is the proper course, though it should also raise questions about whether it is a case study in what happens when you don’t have robust protections for free speech.

Feminism 2017: @Rose_Resistance – Communist Lesbians Against America
Erika Heidewald is a German-born lesbian feminist and Democrat Party activist who hates capitalism, Christianity and white males, not necessarily in that order. Before last year’s election, Ms. Heidewald was busy with her immigrant girlfriend Frida on YouTube promoting homosexuality and also, of course, campaigning for Hillary Clinton.