News of the Week for Mar. 11^th, 2018

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

 

Gun Rights

 

Florida Senate rejects ban on assault weapons, votes to arm teachers
The Florida Senate rejected a proposal to ban assault weapons, and voted for a measure to arm some teachers, weeks after 17 people were killed in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

Age Discrimination Suit Against Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart for Refusing to Sell Rifle to 20-Year-Old
Oregon law generally bans discrimination in selling goods based on age, so this lawsuit looks like a winner.

Connecticut governor: NRA is a ‘terrorist organization’
Connecticut’s Democratic governor accused the National Rifle Association of being a “terrorist organization” as the gun control debate has stalled in the U.S. Senate, with no sign that anything will happen soon.

Progressives Might Not Want to Look to the Old West for Gun Control Ideas
A frequent criticism levied at those who oppose widespread gun control is that they want to return to a kind of “Wild West” of violence and criminality.

Baltimore Mayor Uses Taxpayer Money to Send Students to Gun-Control Event
If the Democrat Party didn’t demonize police as “racist,” while turning criminals loose on the streets, maybe cities like Baltimore would be safer.

Illinois House passes measure to raise assault-style weapon buying age to 21
Possession of assault-style weapons by anyone under 21 would be illegal under legislation that the Illinois House endorsed.

Nick Freitas of Virginia on gun control
He’s talking about gun control, but it’s a primer on how to talk about heated issues in general.

NRA sues against new gun law in response to Florida mass murder – here’s why
The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit Friday against a law narrowly passed through the Florida legislature and signed by Republican Governor Rick Scott in response to the horrific Parkland massacre.

Teen Second Amendment Advocate Pulled from Speakers Lineup at School Gun Assembly
A 17-year-old student at Farmington High School, a public school in Connecticut, has been advised by the student activities director that she will not be allowed to speak during a school assembly on March 14 to support the nationwide student walkout for gun control. The student, Ashley Dummitt, was originally asked by the organizers of the rally to give her conservative, pro-Second Amendment views to the assembly in the name of bipartisanship, but the school administration has since blocked her participation.

Florida School Shooting Survivor Counsels Alternatives to Gun Bans
Employing veterans to guard schools and making mental health counseling available to students could help prevent mass shootings, says a survivor of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Now There’s a Play Called ‘Kill Climate Deniers,’ Because Why Not
Do you know anyone who denies that there’s such a thing as climate? Do you know anybody who hears the word “climate” and says, “Nuh-uh! You can’t fool me, that’s just made up!” I don’t. Yet whenever somebody questions any aspect of the prevailing global warming orthodoxy, he or she is labeled a “climate denier.” It’s a clever little bit of deceptive rhetoric, linking climate change skeptics with deniers of the Holocaust. A Holocaust denier is an awful thing to be, so a “climate denier” must be just as bad.

The Ninth Circuit Just Allowed Children To Sue Trump Over Global Warming
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in favor of 21 children and young adults suing the U.S. government for not doing enough to protect their constitutional right to a stable climate.

OUT: One less climate alarmist
From Fritz Vahrenholt and Sebastian Lüning at their website Die Kalte Sonne, comes this bit of good news.

The Source Of The Heat
The change in just absorbed solar radiation alone is more than enough to explain the entire change in total absorbed radiation at the surface

With the sun spotless – cracks are forming in Earth’s magnetic field
While the sun is completely blank today, and has been for 8 days, some new things are happening in space in the electromagnetic relationship between the sun and the Earth – cracks are forming in Earth’s magnetic field that are allowing solar wind particle’s into Earth’s upper atmosphere.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Obamacare Medicaid expansion is causing more disabled people to die on waitlists, new report says
Medicaid expansion under Obamacare has contributed to bloated enrollment waiting lists for disabled individuals, according to a new report. Many of those on the lists die waiting as funding goes toward coverage for thousands of able-bodied – and sometimes fraudulent – Medicaid recipients, the Foundation for Government Accountability said.

Horrors Occurred at VA Medical Center in D.C. While Officials Did Nothing
Here at RedState, we often report on the atrocious conditions at veterans’ hospitals and medical centers nationwide. There has been mistreatment, dismissal, wait-listing, and even downright cruelty. That our military men and women, who have sacrificed years of their lives in service to the nation, have endured any of this is inexcusable.

Elderly Couple’s Joint Assisted Suicide Celebrated
The suicides of elderly couples were once mourned as a great tragedy. Now, with the coming of legalized assisted suicide, we are beginning to see them celebrated.

For Years the VA Department Knew About the Serious Conditions at D.C. Hospital
VA Director Shulkin announced plans to reorganize the agency from top to bottom.

Assisted-Suicide Pushers Want Forced MD Participation
Except, sometimes they show their true hands. For example, when the Canadian Supreme Court imposed a broad right to lethal-injection euthanasia – certainly not limited to the dying – Compassion and Choices (formerly the Hemlock Society) issued a laudatory press release – later scrubbed because it told the truth about the movement’s true goals.

British Govt Encouraging Women to Give Birth to Disabled Babies to Harvest Their Organs
British government officials are considering a new program to encourage women to consider giving birth to babies diagnosed with fatal illnesses, rather than have an abortion, so that the babies’ organs can be harvested after they die.

 

War & Terror

 

German army problems ‘dramatically bad’, report says
Shortfalls in the German army’s personnel and equipment are “dramatically” hindering its readiness for combat, according to a new report.

Don’t Be Alarmed But China Now Has A Naval Base A Few Miles From A U.S. Military Base In Djibouti
President Donald Trump has routinely called China out on its relentless attempts to take advantage of the United States. His administration should turn an eye to the unlikely contender for China’s latest gambit: the African nation of Djibouti, where erratic president Ismail Omar Guelleh recently claimed a landslide victory in legislative elections widely acknowledged to be a farce, and then forcibly seized control of the Doraleh port from the Emirati company, DP World, which had leased the harbor since 2006.

Utah Teen Tries To Detonate Bomb At High School, Allegedly Flew ISIS Flag
On Monday, law enforcement officials in Utah arrested a teenager after he brought a homemade bomb to school and tried to detonate it, which authorities said would have led to a significant loss of life.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un invited President Trump to meet and offered to suspend nuclear missile testing
Officials from the South Korean government have delivered a letter from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to the Trump White House, NBC News is reporting, citing a senior American official.

The Case for a 21st-Century Battleship
In World War II, the Japanese super-battleships Yamato and Musahi each mounted nine 18.1-inch guns, the largest naval guns ever deployed, but they never sank a single American ship. In a conflict decided by naval aviation, Yamato and Musahi were used mainly as flagships and troop transports. Despite their huge armaments, they were steel dinosaurs from an earlier strategic age.

 

National

 

Portland State University panel discussion: “Is Intersectionality a Religion?”
“I hope the irony is not being lost on anyone that three liberal atheists are being sponsored, their event is being sponsored, by the most conservative groups on campus,” Dr. Peter Boghossian said. That statement kicked off an hour-long discussion (plus an hour of Q & A) on the question “Is Intersectionality a Religion?” The discussion took place at Portland State University a couple weeks ago, just days after another group hosted a talk with former Google engineer James Damore.

MIT librarian: Tech workplaces plastered with Star Trek posters, other geeky stuff is non-inclusive to women
The top librarian at MIT recently argued that to make tech workplaces more inclusive and welcoming to women, ditch “Star Trek” posters and other geeky stuff cluttering office walls.

Bernie Sanders’ stepdaughter loses bid for mayor
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ stepdaughter on Tuesday lost her bid for mayor of Vermont’s largest city, where Sanders got his political start.

U.S. Justice Department Sues California Over “Sanctuary” Policies
The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of California over so-called “sanctuary” policies that try to protect illegal immigrants against deportation, ramping up a confrontation over whether local police should enforce federal law.

Department of Justice Decides to Obey the U.S. Constitution and Release Fast & Furious Documents to Congress
This is nothing but good news. The people involved in this debacle need to be publicly named. If possible, they need to be prosecuted. If there was an intimidation of witnesses, that definitely needs prosecution. But most of all, people need to understand exactly the level their government is willing to stoop to in order to achieve a policy end.

Study: Babies who look like dad likely to get more attention, be healthier
Researchers say that nonresident fathers spend more than two days more per month with children they resemble, and those babies tend to be healthier one year after birth.

Antifa Is Violently Threatening Norwegian Heavy Metal Bands Now
Over the past two weeks, noted radical leftist organization Antifa decided (rather arbitrarily) to impose its own interpretation and enforcement on what should and should not be consumed by American music fans. Norwegian black metal band, Taake, was set to perform a number of shows on its upcoming North American tour but ran into trouble as Antifa members reportedly threatened venues where Taake was performing. Antifa members also appear to have threatened concertgoers and individuals involved in the production of Taake’s shows.

Georgia Tech publishes 2-page “inclusivity checklist” for campus events
In an effort to promote diversity and inclusion at campus events, Georgia Tech’s student government has created a 2-page “Inclusivity Checklist” that offers some 45 different guidelines for campus organizations to consider when hosting events at the public university.

This Discovery of Bizarre Dying Mechanism in Worms Could Help Us Cheat Death
When it comes, it’s unstoppable. An inescapable wave of cellular death no Earthly organism can deny – but it doesn’t happen the same way for everybody.

Ryan Bundy plans to run for Nevada governor as independent
The eldest son of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy says he’ll mount an independent campaign for Nevada governor as a states’ rights fundamentalist.

Public university sued for requiring Christian club to accept non-Christian leaders
Wayne State threatened to take “aggressive measures” when challenged

Student barred from class for claiming there are two genders
A student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was recently barred from attending a religious studies class that he needs in order to graduate after he questioned his instructor’s claims regarding the “reality of white male privilege.”

UW-Madison music clinic gives 11-year-olds chance to identify gender as “zie,” “zirs” and “something else”
Policy stems from parent and student requests for “more inclusive language”

Mexican presidential hopeful vows support for illegal immigrants as he hits campaign trail–in California!
A candidate running for president of Mexico who slams President Trump and supports illegal immigrants may not seem so unusual.

Rand Paul attacker pleads guilty
The Kentucky man who tackled Sen. Rand Paul last year pleaded guilty Friday to one felony charge of assaulting a member of Congress resulting in personal injury.

Graffiti at Evergreen State College equates science with white supremacy
Friday, President George Bridges of Evergreen State College sent an email to “colleagues” about a recent incident of graffiti on campus. The full email was published by former Evergreen Professor Bret Weinstein on Twitter (see below).

So the Democrats have decided to run on abolishing ICE
Dear Democrats: Is this really the hill you want to die on? If so, please be our guests.

Weird stuff – type VII water ice found inside diamonds
Unique diamond impurities indicate water deep in Earth’s mantle. Scientific analysis of diamond impurities — known as inclusions – reveal naturally forming ice crystals and point to water-rich regions deep below the Earth’s crust

At Univ. of Delaware, conservative students voice alarm over professors’ extreme liberal bias
At the University of Delaware, multiple conservative students have said they face extreme bias from professors and peers at the state’s flagship campus.

2020 Presidential Hopeful Kamala Harris Supports Oakland Mayor’s ICE Raids Warning
“I think Mayor Schaaf is doing exactly what’s in the best interest of her community, and I support that 100%.”

 

Economy & Taxes

 

You’ll never guess what CA’s bullet train will cost – or when it will finish
That may sound like a clickbaity headline, but it’s proving to be literally true. Apparently, no one can guess it, least of all the California High-Speed Rail Authority that is running the bullet-train project. Their latest projection shows total predicted cost has jumped 20% to $77 billion, with a completion date moved out four years to 2033.

Democrats Release Tax Hike Plan
This week, Congressional Democrats released a detailed tax hike plan that they promised to implement if given majority control of the House and Senate after the 2018 midterm elections. So much for the crocodile tears about the deficit–Democrats want to raise taxes not to reduce the debt, but rather to spend that tax hike money on boondoggle projects.

Woman Fought the Government for Right to Teach Makeup Techniques – and Just Won
Proponents of small government, and those who believe in the right of the people to pursue their potential without the government standing in the way of success, earned a victory this week when one state backed down from enforcing an unnecessary government obstacle in the form of occupational licensing. After a six-month battle, the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners has agreed not to require a woman to obtain an unnecessary license.

 

International

 

Victory for Eurosceptic, populist parties shocks the establishment in Italy election
Italian voters have flocked to anti-establishment, Eurosceptic parties and rejected mainstream, traditional political parties, the latest predictions from the country’s election indicated on Monday.

Right-wing victory in Italy was even larger than predicted
Yesterday, when we looked at the final polling going into the Italian elections, it appeared that the coalition of right-wing parties seeking to curb forced migration would take roughly a combined 32 to 35 percent of the vote. As it turns out, they did even better, coming in with an estimated 37%. This is still short of a single-party majority, but impossible to ignore. It adds up to what is likely 123 seats in the lower house of the legislature where they previously held 22.

The Italian Earthquake
Italy is known for severe earthquakes from time to time, and as Paul noted yesterday, Italy’s voters just delivered an 8.0 magnitude political earthquake. As the dust settles, it is clear this was no mere minor swing in the vote.

Antifa shuts down debate at King’s College London
Yesterday a libertarian student group at King’s College in London hosted a debate between objectivist Yaron Brook and right-wing YouTuber Carl Benjamin (aka Sargon of Akkad). Antifa organized a protest which led the school to deny entry to the event to any ticket holder who was not a student.

Protester breaks window at Queen’s University, resists arrest
Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto psychology professor, stopped at Queen’s as part of a tour to support his bestselling book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. The lecture he gave was titled The Rising Tide of Compelled Speech in Canada. […] Police searched [the] backpack [of the woman who broke the window] and inside they found a weapon inside. Commonly known as a garrote, the weapon consists of metal wire with handles on each end.

Saudi crown prince shocks Islamists with bold moves in Egypt
It is hard to overstate the significance of a hugely symbolic move by the reformist crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). American media mostly are clueless about religion and lack any understanding of the momentous changes underway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the full support of the Trump administration.

Arlene Foster says fears of N Ireland violence being used as Brexit ‘bargaining chip’
The Northern Irish politician believes raising fears of post-Brexit violence over the Irish border is an “insult”.

South African Parliament approves “Internet Censorship Bill” – What happens next
The National Assembly has approved legislation that aims to allow the FPB to regulate the distribution of online content in South Africa.

‘Hair-Raising’: Sharia Law Makes Its Debut in Swedish Court
“The man stems from a good family, unlike the woman.” With this argument, a Swedish court has acquitted an Iraqi man charged with abusing his wife, sparking outrage over the first instance where “Sharia Law” was applied by the Nordic nation’s legal system.

Italy’s first black senator: my election shows far right is not anti-immigration
Toni Iwobi, originally from Nigeria, says his election for the League shows far right party has no problem with “legal migration”

Iranian woman who removed headscarf jailed for two years
An Iranian woman who publicly removed her veil in protest against Iran’s compulsory headscarf law has been sentenced to two years in prison, the judiciary said on Wednesday.

Sick Venezuelans flee to Colombia in mounting refugee crisis
In a cramped hospital near Colombia’s border with Venezuela, migrants fill stretchers bearing the wounds of the deteriorating nation they left behind.

Sweden Opens Fist Klingon Tourist Center in Our Part of the Galaxy
Star Trek Fans looking to brush up on their Klingon lore need not travel to distant worlds or even watch countless hours of their favorite sci-fi series. All they need to do is head to Stockholm, Sweden, where the first Klingon tourist center in Alpha Quadrant recently opened its gates to visitors.

The far-right’s push to enter the German judicial system
With thousands of “lay judge” positions needing to be filled by next year, far-right groups are calling on their members to apply and “ensure justice” is done. Despite concerns, officials say there’s no cause for alarm.

Live by the socks, die by the socks – Liberals slump as Trudeau-s popularity fades
The little things that seemed so charming at first, all those dashing gestures and glam photo ops, might well come to seem, at first frivolous, then irritating.

‘We are cutting the throat of whiteness’ – Malema on plans to remove Trollip
Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema has explained that his party is specifically aiming to remove Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip because he is white.

‘Girls must be saved from going through this hell’: Call for public inquiry into Telford sex scandal as it emerges up to 1,000 children as young as 11 were drugged, beaten and raped over 40 years
Gang in Telford, Shropshire, has been sexually abusing teen girls since the 1980s

 

Opinion

 

This Will Not End Well
Do you pay much attention to events in Africa? Me neither. It appears, however, that South Africa is determined to head down the same bloody path as Zimbabwe – that of radical Land Reform and racial retribution.

Early Voting Numbers in Texas a Wake-Up Call for Republicans
It appears that the hysteria ginned up by Democrats and their media allies against Donald Trump is having its intended effect. It has terrified Democratic voters to the point that a blue tide threatens to overwhelm the GOP this November.

How Silicon Valley went from “don’t be evil” to doing evil
Once seen as the saviors of America’s economy, Silicon Valley is turning into something more of an emerging axis of evil. “Brain-hacking” tech companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon, as one prominent tech investor puts it, have become so intrusive as to alarm critics on both right and left.

From Disruption to Dystopia: Silicon Valley Envisions the City of the Future
The unaffordable Bay Area, Google’s new neighborhood “built from the internet up,” and China’s police state each offer glimpses of what the tech giants plan to sell the rest of us.

Ted Cruz Is Right to Worry About This One Thing Last Night
For a year now, Ted Cruz has been ringing the bell warning about the coming Democrat wave in Texas. One key fact last night confirmed his fears.

In Rejecting U.S. Immigration Law, California Has A Role Model: The Confederacy
Illegal Immigration: The Justice Department’s decision to sue California for violating the U.S. Constitution by obstructing federal immigration enforcement wasn’t made lightly. But given the enormous stakes involved it was necessary, and California deserves to lose, big time.

If Feminists Want Equality, Why Are They Mysteriously Quiet About This Major Example of Inequality?
On International Women’s Day, feminists typically go nuts about how unequal women are to men, and circulate repeatedly disproved claims such as the gender wage gap.

This Case Could Help Prevent Congress From Outsourcing Its Power
How much authority can Congress give to the attorney general to effectively write the criminal laws?

How “International Women’s Day” Created The Soviet Union And Destroyed The 20th Century
“Unprecedented horror”

Why Are Schools Busing Students to Protests?
Today the Star Tribune reported that hundreds of students “walked out” of their schools to protest against guns and school shootings at the Capitol in St. Paul.

Sex Reassignment Doesn’t Work. Here Is the Evidence.
Sex “reassignment” doesn’t work. It’s impossible to “reassign” someone’s sex physically, and attempting to do so doesn’t produce good outcomes psychosocially.

How the West Was Unwon
Frank Miele, editor of the Daily Inter Lake, devotes three columns to the unraveling of our civilization in an effort to explain why it happened. His columns are well worth your time.

Connecticut on the Brink
The wealthy northeastern state’s progressive fiscal model is unsustainable.

Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” Erases Book’s Bible Quotes, Cuts Jesus, Christian Figures From History
As Disney adapted the beloved children’s book “A Wrinkle in Time” (1962) into a major motion picture — with no less than Oprah Winfrey on the star-studded cast list — the studio cut out a great deal along the way. Bible quotes, a reference to Jesus, and even Christian historical figures all got the boot. Could the excising of God help explain why the movie is projected to struggle at the box office?

When Harry Became Sally
Transgender ideology is being disproportionately aimed at children, teaching them that they are not the inherently valuable image bearers God created them to be.

The Worst College President in America
The competition for the Worst College President in America is surely hard fought, but George Bridges of Evergreen State College in Washington State has to be the early favorite at the betting window.

So you’d like children as young as 14 to vote, eh?
Today we’ll dip into the annals of political inconsistency for a moment and revisit an article from Jonathan Bernstein at Bloomberg from a few weeks ago. It was published just as the fallout from the Florida school shooting was hitting a crescendo and pundits, impressed with the activism on display by the more liberal students from the school, began asking why we shouldn’t just let them vote. Bernstein was among them, publishing an article with the simple title, Let Teenagers Vote. There have been some other events complicating the scenario since then and they put this theory into context a bit better.

It’s Official. “A Wrinkle in Time” Is A Disastrous Adaptation Of The Book
Twin brothers from the book are missing entirely from the movie, which may be a blessing, considering that political correctness probably would have dictated they be played by a Native American dwarf and a disabled transsexual.

Our Society Needs More Masculinity, Not Less
It’s trendy these days to blame our problems on men– mass shootings, sexual assault, war. All of these, feminists say, can be traced back to what they call “toxic masculinity” – the infectious disease of maleness that we’ve let pervade society for far too long. Since, they purport, men are the common denominator in so many of the tragedies our country endures, they must be the root of our unrest.

There’s a Nazi on the Ballot: How Could Illinois GOP Let This Happen?
This year, Arthur Jones was able to do what the Illinois GOP never allowed him to do before. He’s running unopposed for the party’s 3rd Congressional District nomination on March 20, and there is no doubt that he will win, fulfilling a dream the former leader of the American Nazi Party has had since the 1970s.

Border arrest video inflames debate ahead of Trump visit
The illegal immigrant whose arrest by Border Patrol in southern California has gone viral online was a fairly high-level operator in an alien smuggling ring affiliated with a cartel, sources told The Washington Times.

How schools must handle diverse gender identities
In 2017 Nevada legislators passed a bill requiring schools in the state to establish policies for “addressing the rights and needs of persons with diverse gender identities or expressions.”

Transparency by secrecy
Well done world. Basically, you’ve stuffed it up royally.

The Psychology of Progressive Hostility
Recently, I arrived at a moment of introspection about a curious aspect of my own behavior. When I disagree with a conservative friend or colleague on some political issue, I have no fear of speaking my mind. I talk, they listen, they respond, I talk some more, and at the end of it we get along just as we always have. But I’ve discovered that when a progressive friend says something with which I disagree or that I know to be incorrect, I’m hesitant to point it out. This hesitancy is a consequence of the different treatment one tends to receive from those on the Right and Left when expressing a difference of opinion. I am not, as it turns out, the only one who has noticed this.

Roger Scruton: How Fake Subjects like Women Studies Invaded Academia
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton is an English philosopher and writer who specialises in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views.