News of the Week for Oct. 22^nd, 2017

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

 

Gun Rights

 

A Woman Fought Off This Deranged, Knife-Wielding Kidnapper With Her Gun
A woman used her legally-obtained, concealed gun to fight off a knife-wielding man with a history of mental illness who tried to kidnap her in a parking lot in Moline, Illinois last week.

WHAT!!!!?…ARE THEY REALLY THAT CRAZY???!!!
A man enters a hotel room in Las Vegas, loaded to the gills with guns. He installs surveillance equipment so he can see if cops or security guards are coming to find him. He loads the guns, and looks out his window at a crowd gathering below. He quietly loads his guns, and stares at the people below. He raises the gun to his shoulder, breaks his window, and then starts methodically killing the people below, shooting them at random with no thought as to who they are, and who is hurting with his behavior. His actions are cold, calculating, evil, and destructive. He is a murderer.

The Las Vegas Shooting Is Still Very, Very Strange
Before I begin, let me re-emphasize what I stated in a post the afternoon after the shooting. Do not read this post as implying any sort of conspiracy theory. In fact, even now — more than two weeks after the terrible event — we don’t even know enough facts to concoct a conspiracy. We do know, however, that the story keeps getting more bizarre.

Dying Boy Denied Organ Transplant Over Donor Gun Charge
A two-year-old child named A.J. Burgess is dying.

The one figure you probably haven’t heard about mass shootings
Barring some major break in the investigation, we may never know what spurred the Las Vegas shooter to take so many lives. But watching the continuing coverage of that horror show, there’s one thing we do know for sure. These mass shootings are growing more and more frequent no matter what we do to try to prevent them, right?

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Trump’s EPA sets precedent by becoming first agency to end ‘sue and settle’ practice
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday became the first of President Trump’s agencies to issue an order barring the agency from being drawn into court settlements that alter environmental outcomes to the liking of environmental and other special interest groups.

Trump’s EPA Chief Charts a New Course: An Interview With Scott Pruitt
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt spoke to me earlier this week at The Heritage Foundation’s annual President’s Club meeting in Washington. We discussed his leadership of the EPA, the agency’s top priorities, and what Pruitt considers true environmentalism. An edited transcript of our interview, along with the full video, is below.

Alaskans Want More Drilling. Trump and Congress Are Working to Make It Happen.
The Trump administration is attempting to do what past administrations have either failed to do or blocked: open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling.

Renewables Advocates Trash Talk Nuclear Fusion
According to renewables advocates, renewables will soon be so cheap it won’t be worth pouring more money into researching nuclear fusion.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Cost Sharing Reductions: It’s Not Sabotage. It’s Not a Bailout: Part 1
Congress and the media are hyperventilating over the Trump Administration announcement that they will end Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR). The result is news feeds full of over-exaggeration, misrepresentation, blatant lies, and name calling. One side of the political aisle calls it sabotage. The other says it’s an insurer bailout. Reality is, it’s neither.

Cost Sharing Reductions: It’s Not Sabotage. It’s Not a Bailout: Part 2
In Part 1, we learned the difference between subsidies and the much misunderstood CSR’s, and why ending the latter isn’t a bailout. Now we learn why it’s also not “sabotage.”

 

War & Terror

 

ISIS Loses Raqqa to U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebels
ISIS held the city since 2013.

Isil’s caliphate ‘capital’ in Raqqa falls after last jihadists surrender
US-backed Syrian forces liberated the city of Raqqa from Isil militants on Tuesday, a senior commander for the force said, adding that clearing operations were underway to remove land mines left behind and search for the extremist group’s sleeper cells.

Civil War Reenactors Targeted with Pipe Bomb
“We’re historians. We’re not hate groups.”

Sweden bomb: Powerful explosion heard at entrance to Helsingborg police station
Prime Minister says blast is ‘an attack on our democracy’

Woman Freed from ISIS Control in Raqqa Celebrates by Ripping off Mandated Clothing
Special moments like these show what real oppression of women looks like.

 

National

 

Toronto school district will remove “chief” from job titles to avoid offending Indigenous people
In one of the latest eye-rolling instances of political correctness, the Toronto District School Board will begin replacing the term “chief” from job titles “out of respect for Indigenous peoples.”

Physicians Claim Ideological Attack Over Gender Issues
More than a decade ago, pediatrician Michelle Cretella treated a male patient named “Andy.” Andy enjoyed playing with girls’ toys and made friends with girls more easily than with boys. He was eventually referred to a therapist for his gender confusion.

California governor vetoes anti-due process bill that would enshrine campus kangaroo courts
“We haven’t yet ascertained the full impact of” affirmative-consent law

Jerry Brown Sides with Betsy DeVos on Title IX
Today Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill from the California state legislature that would have codified the previous Title IX “guidance” about sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.

Evergreen banned criticism of Black Lives Matter through its bias response team
The Evergreen State College had previously banned criticisms of Black Lives Matter, saying somewhat innocuous posters critiquing the movement hung on campus “diminish the disparities experienced by people of color” and are a violation of the school’s non-discrimination policy.

Women Denounce Harassment in California’s Capital
The groundswell over sexual harassment that has rocked Hollywood moved into California’s capital on Tuesday as more than 140 women – including legislators, senior legislative aides and lobbyists – came forward to denounce what they describe as pervasive sexual misconduct by powerful men in the nation’s most influential legislature.

Fairfax Dropped From Northam Literature Three Weeks Before Election
Looks like the Dems have decided that Justin Fairfax is a tow anchor on the ticket — dropping him from literature three weeks out.

Gingrich: Why is Steve Bannon fighting Republicans when he could be fighting Democrats?
Eh, by this logic it was wrong for tea partiers to primary establishment Republicans in 2009-10. Every insurgent political movement answers this question the same way: “We can’t fight the enemy effectively until we install better generals of our own.” And every time, that answer is disingenuous. It’s not about appointing better generals to defeat the other side. That’s salesmanship. It’s about an ideological takeover of your own side. It’s a coup.

McConnell Floats Names of Failed Tea Party Candidates in Response to Bannon Threat
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) floated the names of several failed Tea Party candidates for the upper chamber in response to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s declaration of “war” on the GOP establishment.

Timeline: The Clintons, the Russians, and Uranium
I created most of this timeline more than two years ago but with the recent revelations about Russian bribery and extortion efforts within the U.S., I thought it was time for an update. Most of the links are to articles published by the NY Times which ran several important pieces on this topic in 2015.

CA High-Speed Rail Contractor Gets 18% Raise After Missing Completion Date
Gov. Jerry Brown, Anne GustCalifornia High-Speed Rail agreed to increase payments to its construction manager by 18 percent after failing to complete its first 32-mile section within the seven-year deadline.

Socialist group calls for ‘extermination’ of capitalists
The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) chapter at Iowa State University has repeatedly posted threatening tweets about conservatives, but the school maintains that the comments are a form of free speech.

Liberal student calls out peers for ‘superficial activism’
A representative of the Columbia University Black Students’ Association called out her white liberal classmates for their “empty activism” in a recent op-ed.

Students storm library, shut down College Republicans meeting
A College Republicans meeting at the University of California, Santa Cruz was taken over by protesters screaming that the group’s existence is a threat to the safety of students.

“Creating inclusive communities” college training uses stereotypes to assign “privilege”
Overwhelmingly white female audience

Out: Halloween. In: Black and Orange Spirit Day
Wait… I thought we only did this at Christmas? Okay, we had to take a whack at Columbus day because… racism. But since when did we start politicizing Halloween?

Still bruised from Clinton loss, left takes aim at Electoral College in court
A liberal-led push to overhaul the Electoral College could be moving from the op-ed pages to the courtroom, as a Harvard professor who flirted with a dark-horse Democratic presidential bid last year vows litigation to change the system.

Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded
Last March, five women gathered in a home near here to enter a secret sisterhood they were told was created to empower women.

White, male student under fire for defending diversity of thought: “punchable, drag him, expel him”
A white, male student at Chapman University has been maligned on social media after penning an op-ed for his school newspaper that argued campus diversity efforts, while seemingly offered with good intentions, actually breed radicalism and silence dissent.

Protesters shut down UCLA event on “civil discourse” and “hate speech”
Anti-fascist agitators successfully disrupted and effectively shut down a panel discussion Tuesday night at UCLA focused on civil discourse after hijacking the question and answer portion of the event and forcing it to relocate.

Daylong conference at UCLA to explore how capitalism is “persisting racial inequality”
A workshop taking place today at UCLA will explore topics such as “Diasporas of Racial Capitalism,” imperialism and “settler-colonialism” as part of a nationwide initiative focused on exploring how capitalism contributes to “persisting racial inequality,” according to organizers.

The Perfect Location For a Future Moon Base Has Finally Been Confirmed
We’re totally going back.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

This Japan Metals Scandal Could Impact The Auto Industry And End Catastrophically
The Japanese corporate world is getting rocked by the country’s third-largest steelmaker, Kobe Steel, which admitted last week to falsely labeling products supplied to over 500 companies across the world, including the largest automakers. While the extent of the damage is currently unclear=no reports of safety issues or injuries from affected products have been reported yet-it’s shaping up to be a scandal of monumental proportion.

Senate narrowly passes 2018 budget, paving way for tax reform
Senate Republicans took the first step Thursday evening toward passing a tax plan and fulfilling a long-held campaign pledge.

Next Year, a Californian City Will Launch the First Basic Income Experiment in the U.S.
Stockton, California, is about to become the first city to test government-supported universal basic income in the U.S. The program is the idea of the city’s 27-year-old mayor and will be primarily funded by the basic income advocacy group Economic Security Project.

 

International

 

Venezuela’s regional elections went about as well as you’d expect
You might have missed it in the flood of other news over the past week, but there were elections held in Venezuela! No… not new presidential elections or selections of an actual legislative body. (Don’t be silly… Nicolas Maduro was never going to go for that.) But there were regional elections to select the governors of the various regions, the mayors of the cities and other municipal and regional positions.

Pakistani Police Beat Christian Student to Death in Latest Sectarian Lynching
Pakistani police burst into a classroom last week, dragged 14-year-old Arsalan Masih out, and beat him to death in what appears to be the latest sectarian lynching targeting Pakistan’s besieged Christian minority.

Iraqi Government Takes Control of Kirkuk, Undermining Kurdish Independence
U. S. announces it will not take sides

A Race to the Bottom in Britain as Parties Offer Plans for Housing Crisis
Fall is political party conference season in Britain. This year, it’s also the scene of a race to the bottom for dismal economic policies.

Catalan independence leaders jailed in Spain
High Court also bars Catalan police chief from leaving Spain

Pole dancing in line to become Olympic sport
One has its origins in Ancient Greece when long spears were used for vaulting the walls of besieged cities, the other traces its roots to the strip club boom of the 1980s.

The World Should Be Wary Of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Consolidation Of Power
There’s never been a regime that oppressed its own people domestically yet accomplished good for the rest of the world. Xi is no exception.

China’s Xi Jinping Slams the Door on Taiwanese Appeals for Independence
Communist Party Congress opens as Taipei demands restoration of diplomatic contact with Beijing

Catalonia crisis: Spain moves to suspend autonomy
Spain is to start suspending Catalonia’s autonomy from Saturday, as the region’s leader threatens to declare independence.

Spain is about to stamp out that Catalonian independence bid
The last time we checked in on the Catalonian independence movement things were in something of a holding pattern. They held their referendum (which Spain refused to even acknowledge as having taken place) but were holding off on a formal declaration of independence. The Catalan leadership apparently wanted to give diplomacy a chance first, allowing time for the Government in Madrid to meet with them and talk over the options.

Europe’s New Official History Erases Christianity, Promotes Islam
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière’s proposal to introduce Muslim public holidays shows that when it comes to Islam, Europe’s official “post-Christian” secularism is simply missing in action.

Maduro’s Venezuela: Maybe we should do those five elections my party lost over
Last week we looked at the highly dubious (to say the least) regional elections which just took place in Venezuela. Regional governors and municipal leaders were selected in the 21 Venezuelan states and, almost miraculously, the ruling socialist party of Nicolas Maduro managed to win in 18 of them, despite the armies of starving people protesting his regime every day.

Germany: Full Censorship Now Official
Courts Rewrite History

Actress Flees Italy as “Sophisticated” Europeans Side With Harvey Weinstein
Our “allies” are so thoughtful and enlightened.

Spain Moves to Remove Catalonia Government, Impose Direct Rule
Catalan officials call the plan a “coup”

UN scientific group edits data in key study targeting weed killer component
Safe chemical deniers.

Belgium: Fathers banned from school activities to attract “mothers of foreign origin”
Belgian newspaper De Morgen reports that in Belgium, some schools are trying to lower the threshold for parents with a migration background by only welcoming mothers of pupils to school events and activities. Through this, they hope to attract mothers from a foreign origin into school.

 

Opinion

 

Crowdsourcing Victimhood: The Downside of #MeToo
I’ve been thinking about how to write this with a delicate hand since yesterday, when I first started seeing “Me Too” pop up on social media as a status from women who were interested in letting people know they, too, have been victims of sexual harassment/assault. I wanted to be especially careful because so many of these women I like and admire, and I’ve no wish to downplay their experiences.

Is the Left Cracking Up?
Forget the civil war on the left. Thermonuclear meltdown may be the better analogy. While Trump has created huge internal divisions on the right between never-Trumpers and conservatives who like Trump’s positive disruptive capacities, we should entertain the possibility that Trump is pushing the left into full blown madness. Every day brings so many new signs of total leftist meltdown that I can’t keep up.

Starting a New Business Shouldn’t Be This Hard
A new National Bureau of Economic Research study has quantified the impact of America’s generation-long decline in business startups, and the results are not pretty.

Author Dan Brown Gets Smacked Down by Physicist He Referenced in Novel
The best-selling author of the purely fictional books The Da Vinci Code and Inferno is not known for letting facts get in the way of his stories. The problem isn’t so much Dan Brown, though. It’s the legions of readers who believe that the drivel he spills onto the paper is true. There are reasons why I used the qualifier “purely fictional”: many people believe that the history and theology in Dan Brown’s books are correct. They’re not.

The Right Side of History: War on the Electoral College Shows That Progressives Don’t Care About Middle America
“The Right Side of History” is a podcast dedicated to exploring current events through a historical lens and busting left-wing myths about figures and events of America’s past.

The dubious science behind implicit racial bias
Last week City Journal published a piece by Heather Mac Donald about the history of the implicit association test (IAT) and how it came to be cited by academics and many on the left as proof that everyone has implicit or unconscious racial bias.

The Transgender Cult: Parents Speak Out About “Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria”
“How can she decide she is not a woman when she hasn’t finished being a girl?” That was the comment of a mother in rural Ireland whose daughter got caught up in – but now seems to have escaped from – the online transgender cult.

Ted Cruz Hits a Home Run Against Bernie Sanders: ‘He Fundamentally Misunderstands Robin Hood’
We all know that Bernie Sanders is a babbling old man. We can, of course, feel sorry for him and refrain from criticizing him, purely because, well, he simply isn’t very smart. Or eloquent. Sadly, however, he does have a large and loyal following, which is why a) he has to be taken seriously nonetheless and b) it’s so incredibly important to explain that and why he’s full of it.

I Watched the Sanders Cruz Tax Debate So You Didn’t Have to
A civil discussion despite being worlds apart.

Conspiracy to censor Internet
The political representatives of the American ruling class are engaged in a conspiracy to suppress free speech. Under the guise of combating “trolls” and “fake news” supposedly controlled by Russia, the most basic constitutional rights enumerated in the First Amendment are under direct attack.

What Two Former Trans Men Want You To Know About All The Lies
“I seem to be either a de-sexed monstrosity, or I’m a damaged, mutilated male. I’ve been alone a long time. I’ve been forced into celibacy. I yearn for mere conversation and cuddling.”

The State of California Continues Its Descent Into Madness
Here at RedState, we’ve carefully documented the incessant stream of crazy that pours out of the State of California. Somehow, the news is simultaneously shocking yet routine.

The Fusion collusion
If we were ever to get to the bottom of actual collusion in the course of the 2016 election, it would be that of the Democrats with the Fusion GPS smear outfit. Kim Strassel’s Wall Street Journal column updates the story of the appearance of two Fusion GPS principals before the House Intelligence Committee. In “”The case of Fusion GPS,” I noted the intention of company witnesses to claim the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to maintain their silence. They refuse to tell the committee who paid for the infamous Trump Dossier or whom their clients were.

The devolution from “move on” to “me too” Oct18
irony – a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

Putting People in Boxes
No, I’m not talking about undertakers. I mean, the natural human desire to categorize things, and how that’s been perverted by leftists.

A Generation With No Past
Most of humanity’s earliest stories are designed to explain “where do we come from?” and “How did we get here?”

Secret mission in the culture wars
It’s been one hell of a ride, ladies and gentlemen. I’d love to tell you where I was and what I was doing, but the privacy of my family is best served by not inviting legions of trolls to pour poison on my healing, but still tender soul.