News of the Week for Sept. 16th, 2018
- Election 2018
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Election 2018
Castro Valley man allegedly cursed Trump, tried to stab GOP congressional candidate
A Castro Valley man shouting profanities about President Trump attacked a Republican congressional candidate who was working an election booth at a town festival, threatening him and trying to stab him with a switchblade, authorities and the candidate said Tuesday.
Republican Insiders Prepare for Electoral D-Day
I’ve been holding off on election projections, but as I always point out, the president’s party normally loses seats in the midterms. Even with the strong economy, I don’t expect this year to be all that different, especially in the House. I doubt the Democrats will take the Senate, though, since they’re defending like 25 seats, and 10 are in states in which President Trump won (in some cases by double digits).
New generic ballot polling: Midterms shaping up to be either catastrophic for the GOP or … possibly not too bad!
Thank goodness we have polls to give us a reliable insight into the mood of American voters.
New Mexico Supreme Court blocks straight-party ballots
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver from bringing back straight-party voting for the November general election, ruling that the secretary of state does not have the authority to unilaterally make the policy change.
Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema;s anti-war flyers depicted soldiers as skeletons advancing “U.S. terror”
Kyrsten Sinema is currently a Democratic member of the U.S. House but she is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake. Before her career in politics really kicked off, she was an anti-war protester who co-founded a group called Local to Global Justice. Today, CNN published a story about the group which highlighted three of the flyers it used to promote its events
Gun Rights
California Ban on Handgun Ads at Gun Stores Violates First Amendment
So a federal judge just held.
California tells NRA to stop selling insurance policy
California has ordered the National Rifle Association to stop selling an insurance policy that covers legal costs for injury or damage from legally using a gun.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Jerry Brown signs 100% renewables bill to fight ‘existential threat of climate change’
Opponents warn that ambitious goal will hike energy prices
At Jerry Brown’s climate summit, one deadline will overshadow all the others
The political leaders coming from around the world for Gov. Jerry Brown’s climate action summit this week will grapple with a lot of urgent deadlines to drive down emissions, but one date is especially exasperating.
Elizabeth Warren Proposes More Futile Progressive Legislation in Prep for 2020 Run
“The Climate Risk Disclosure Act”
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Medicare for All/Single-Payer FAQs
Normally, my writing focuses on technological and structural innovation in health care – factors that can bring better health to more people at lower cost. But with the 2018 and 2020 elections approaching, single-payer health insurance is back on America’s front burner – especially the “Medicare for All” (M4A) bill proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Medicare4All to see
What could possibly go wrong?
War & Terror
The mystery of a Russian satellite attacking others
It’s a mystery how we missed this recent mystery. But Russia has launched a military satellite that, according to U.S. officials, is behaving strangely. And they say concerns are mounting that it is a test for some kind of military weapon, perhaps designed to cripple or silence an adversary’s satellites.
Surprised? Obama’s “Gender Integration” Agenda Is Wrecking the U.S. Military
There are some things which must be excluded from military life if morale and esprit de corps are to be maintained. The stark insanity of rescinding Article 125 of the UCMJ was accompanied by a “gender integration” agenda, with predictable results.
Lawsuit Claims Military Draft “Discriminates Against Men”
The nation’s oldest men’s group has filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the Selective Service System (SSS), alleging that the military draft amounts to “discrimination against males” and “unconstitutional” treatment of young men.
National
“Trans puppet” videos assist children who are “exploring gender issues”
A trio of videos created by a Canadian foundation is now available to help young people and their families deal with the “exploration” of gender issues.
California: 700 Parents Show up at School Board Meeting In Show of Force Against Sex Ed Policies
Parents alone have a right to decide the proper course of sex education for their children, regardless of the state’s perverted determinations.
Bolton Vows to Not Cooperate with International Criminal Court, Threatens Sanctions
National Security Advisor John Bolton threatened sanctions against the International Criminal Court, which Bolton opposed long before joining the Trump administration, and hailed the State Department announcement that the D.C. office of the Palestine Liberation Organization would be shut down.
Maxine Waters on Pence: After we impeach Trump, “we’ll get him, too”
Maxine Waters was receiving an award Saturday and gave a speech in which she offered a progressive audience the kind of red meat they obviously crave, i.e. talk about impeaching Trump and, when that’s done, impeaching Pence as well. From the American Mirror which published a video of the event Sunday
“Shut Up And Die”: Abortion Activists Throw Spray-Paint And Condoms Onto Pro-Life Lawmaker’s House
“It was my wife’s car so they got the wrong car.”
Appeals court cites “My Cousin Vinny” to require cross-examination in Title IX proceedings
Plausible anti-male bias, too
College’s ‘diversity in astronomy’ push is out of this world
The chair will be tasked with ’embody[ing] the spirit of diversity’ in a department where women already make 50 percent of the students.
Memo: Google Tried to Help Hillary Win by Driving Latino Vote
I’ve written several times about the fact that the Left has outsourced censorship to the giant tech firms of Silicon Valley. Given that much political debate now takes place on social media, generally thought of as a public space, it is a handy way around the First Amendment. But the role of the giant tech companies goes beyond suppressing conservative voices, to include promoting liberalism and the Democratic Party.
Report: Las Vegas professor shot himself in arm to protest Trump
A longtime College of Southern Nevada sociology professor is facing felony gun charges in connection with an on-campus shooting on the second day of classes.
Zinke seeks more state wildlife management on federal lands
Interior Department land managers have been ordered to review hunting and fishing regulations on department lands to determine how they conflict with state regulations.
Sen. Angus King Says Russian Election Meddling Is Just Like 9/11 At Victims Memorial
There have been some hot takes on the 17th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks, but Sen. Angus King (D-ME) may have the hottest – and most disturbing – telling a group gathered to honor victims of the attacks that alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election is both akin to and a continuation of the Al Qaeda-sponsored terrorism that left more than 3,000 Americans dead.
U.S. Doctors Are Performing Double Mastectomies On Healthy 13-Year-Old Girls
Thirty-three of these girls were under 18 at the time of surgeries a taxpayer-funded researcher is studying to validate transgenderism. Two were only 13 years old, and five were only 14.
Remember the public domain?
You do and I do and Van Dyke Parks does – on his famed Song Cycle album, there’s a song called “Public Domain,” and what’s more, there’s a song called “Van Dyke Parks,” credited to Public Domain — but Congress never thinks about it except to ignore it and extend already-distended copyrights. It’s almost mechanical with them – and, for that matter, YouTube/
College Dems host TA who compared whites to “autistic kids”
The University of Georgia’s Young Democrats chapter hosted a TA who has compared whites to “sociopaths” and he also compared President Donald Trump to a “chemo that kills the cancer and usually the host”
Transgender instructor compiled secret list of academics to shame
“All the named academics were women”
A More Ambitious Agenda at Carson’s HUD
Ben Carson was, for a brief period of time, one of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, so it’s come as something of a surprise that he’s kept such a low profile since joining the Trump administration. Part of the story is that Carson is serving as HUD secretary, which was always an odd choice. He had little to say about the federal role in housing or urban development during his decidedly unconventional 2016 campaign, which made his appointment seem a bit, well, random. Carson is best known for his prodigious accomplishments as a surgeon, not for his experience steering a large bureaucracy. Critics on the left warned that he would gut the department and vitiate its desegregation efforts. Skeptics on the right, meanwhile, feared that Carson would be out of his depth, and would wind up leaving HUD pretty much untouched. Both agreed, though, that President Trump didn’t really care all that much about the department’s mission, and that it would fade into the background.
Public university dumps professor because she was expert witness for rape defendant
Other professors forced into Title IX training after asking for “leniency”
University announces “White Awake” safe space for white students
The new group is now one of four in the university’s “Diversity Issues” program series.
Student council members: Ice cream is not ‘inclusive’ enough
Student council members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are asking the school to change the ingredients in its official ice cream to be more ‘inclusive.’
STUDY: STEM diversity efforts have ‘unintended consequences’
Female participants who viewed videos on gender bias in STEM felt “decreased anticipated belonging and trust”
Cruz campaign buys ad spots during Beto’s appearance on Colbert show
We are now 54 days out from the 2018 mid-term elections. Last night the Democrat challenger to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was in New York for some fundraising and made a guest appearance on the Late Night with Stephen Colbert show. Hollywood loves Rep. Beto O’Rourke and would love for him to bring in the big blue wave in Texas this year. His campaign uses an endorsement from Ellen DeGeneres on social media, for example. She doesn’t live in Texas, of course, but she endorses him.
Students Learn About Bullied Boy Named “Osama” on 9/11
While most Americans were commemorating the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, a group of boys and girls at Glen Meadow Middle School were learning about a bullied Muslim boy named Osama.
Puerto Rican mayor, two other gov officials arrested on corruption charges
A mayor and two former government officials in Puerto Rico face public corruption charges in separate cases that involve a total of $8 million in federal and local funds, authorities said Thursday.
“I thought he might inadvertently kill me”: Kavanaugh accuser goes on the record, passed a polygraph; Update: Senate GOPers respond; Update: Schumer calls for delay
A friend in politics emailed me on Friday night to say it was silly of Republicans to base their defense of Kavanaugh on the fact that his accuser was still unknown. After all, that could change soon and almost certainly would. The confirmation vote is Thursday; every prominent Democrat in America would be working behind the scenes to pressure this woman to reveal herself and accuse him on the record, ideally with some contemporaneous corroboration of the incident. Then we’d have a true “he said, she said” (or rather, a “he said, he said, she said,” since Kavanaugh’s high-school chum who was allegedly in the room during the incident also denies that anything happened). What would Collins and Murkowski do then? If the case for dismissing this accusation out of hand is the accuser’s anonymity then you’ve handed Democrats the power to destroy your case. All they need to do is convince her to come forward.
Taco Bell employee refuses to help client who doesn’t speak Spanish
A video of an argument with a Taco Bell employee in Hialeah has unleashed a wave of indignation on social media.
Economy & Taxes
Barbershop Workers Quit After CA Supreme Court Ruling Redefines “Independent Contractor”
California’s #1 Rule: The Law of Unintended Consequences
California regulates barber and tattoo shops out of business
What’s this? California establishing more burdensome regulations that hurt local businesses and send people fleeing the state? Say it isn’t so!
L.A. rent control plan is how capitalism fails
If you happen to live in the Los Angeles area and own some rental property, be on the lookout. You may want to unload your apartment buildings while you can and flee with your wallet intact. The county is currently working on yet another set of regulations aimed at capping rent increases and making it harder to evict tenants who are not in compliance with the rules.
Feds Collect Record Individual Income Taxes Through August; Still Run $898B Deficit
The federal government collected a record $1,521,589,000,000 in individual income taxes through the first eleven months of fiscal 2018 (October 2017 through August 2018), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.
International
Sweden Faces Deadlock as Nationalist Party Gains in Sunday’s Elections
“We will will have an immense influence over what happens in Sweden in the coming weeks, months, years,” says Sweden Democrats’ leader
Venezuelan Healthcare Shutdown Leads to Measles Epidemic in Brazil
As Venezuela’s healthcare system heads towards total shutdown, thousands of Venezuelans seek treatment in Brazil, and bring infectious diseases with them.
Pole-dancing at Chinese nursery school shocks parents
A Chinese nursery has come under fire for having a pole dancer perform at its welcome ceremony, it’s reported.
European MPs vote in favor of controversial copyright laws
The ruling could change the internet forever.
Police Called as Mogg’s Children & Nanny Ambushed By Leftist Protest Outside Home
A group of leftist “class warriors” launched a vile attack on Jacob Rees-Mogg and his children outside his home yesterday, bearing a banner proclaiming that “we must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live.”
U.K. Police Urge Citizens To Report Neighbors For “Offensive Or Insulting” Speech
Freedom from criminal investigation and arrest may now be subject to someone else’s feelings or perceptions in England thanks to hate crime laws.
‘The Soviet Union was committed to rehabilitation’: Fury as hard-left student group at London university mounts extraordinary defence of notorious GULAG worker camps
Over 1 million people were murdered in the gulag camps in just 20 years
Second monkeypox case recorded in England: report
A second case of monkeypox was reportedly discovered in England, just days after the first-ever case in the country was confirmed in Cornwall.
Brazil candidate recovering from surgery after stabbing
Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is recovering after a successful emergency surgery to repair tissues of his intestinal walls.
Chutzpah in Strasbourg
Chutzpah, an Aramaic word for unbridled effrontery, came to America via Yiddish. It’s the man who enters a revolving door after you and comes out first. It’s the fellow who murdered his parents and asks for clemency because he’s an orphan. And now it’s the backers of an unelected supranational European government casting a vote of censure against Hungary.
European Union Parliament Votes to Sanction Hungary Due to “Breaches of the EU’s Core Values”
“We have a different picture about the nature of Christianity in Europe,” Hungarian Prime Minister tells EU parliament
Ezra Levant’s NEW interview with Tommy Robinson!
Tommy Robinson is the last lion of the United Kingdom. What he tells us in this exclusive interview is heartbreaking, enraging, inspiring, desperate…
Officials destroying crosses, burning bibles in China
China’s government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China.
On Election Day, the Swedes Disappoint
For much of this summer, and right up until September 9 — Election Day in Sweden — media around the world predicted that voters in that country would switch, in massive numbers, to the Sweden Democrats, the much-maligned and, until recently, very marginal anti-Islam party. “Swedish politics,” reported Reuters on September 5, “are set to lurch to the right in Sunday’s election.” On September 8, a Daily Mail columnist explained why “the most liberal country in Europe” was “lurching to the Far Right.”
Poland says it will block any EU sanctions against Hungary
Poland, the biggest former communist country in the European Union, said it will oppose any sanctions imposed by the bloc on fellow member Hungary, accused of flouting EU rules on democracy.
In Venezuela, Huge Hike in Minimum Wage Forces 40 Percent of Stores to Close
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro decided that the best way to deal with the country’s hyperinflation was to raise the minimum wage.
Opinion
Dan Hannan: The West is losing liberalism
We’re slipping backwards. The steady progress which Western societies had been making toward empiricism, rationalism and tolerance is going into reverse.
How the 2018 Midterms Will Shape 2020
Every midterm election is, in one form or another, a referendum on the president. What’s more, the last three consecutive midterms have been awful for the president’s party – 2006, 2010, and 2014.
“The Tonight Show” Cancellation Of Norm Macdonald’s Appearance Is Cowardice
“The Tonight Show” cancelled an appearance by Norm Macdonald over controversial statements about the #MeToo movement. Conservatives must have his back.
Norm Macdonald Is Conservative And Brave, A Rarity Among Comedians
Macdonald is refreshingly self-deprecating about his political awareness in a time when comedians advertise their political sophistication.
You think you know where US immigrants come from? But actually, you don’t
Everybody knows who’s immigrating into the United States. Or thinks they do.
The Government Can’t Love You
We are weaponizing norms, using them as a battle shield when they can protect us and as a sword when they can hurt our enemies.
Enter the labyrinth
The fire which destroyed as many as 20 million artifacts in Brazil’s national museum was caused perhaps by the most trivial of accidental circumstances. The Brazilian culture minister’s explanation that the blaze was likely caused “by either an electrical short-circuit or a homemade, paper hot-air balloon that may have landed on the roof” was greeted by riots because mischance does not satisfy the human urge to blame someone when things go wrong.
Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey” Illustrates Why Manners Matter
Jane Austen finds value in the social conventions of her day throughout the pages of ‘Northanger Abbey,’ because manners do matter.
Over protected and under challenged – our students have turned their backs on the Enlightenment
It’s the suddenness that’s so shocking. Until around five years ago, no one had heard of “safe spaces”, “trigger warnings”, “cultural appropriations” or “micro-aggressions”. Now, university life seems to revolve around them. From one moment to the next, undergraduates became apparently incapable of dealing with challenging opinions.
Seventeen years later
September 11, 2001 brought down more than the twin towers. It collapsed the old Arab order. “The traditional great powers—Egypt, Iraq, and Syria— [became] barely functional states.” It also warped the ‘Global World order’. If the Bush years were an attempt to restore the promise of the turn of the century through American power, Obama represented an abandonment of that effort. After 2008, despite the Surge, the West no longer seemed resolved to turn back the calendar. Instead it would try to adapt to the new circumstances.
Amazon Bans Roosh: How Love Became “Hate”
Has the Left declared war on heterosexuality?
Thinking About Liberal Presumptions
Thesis: the presumption of liberalism that they have absolute truth and perfect justice on their side—that theirs is “the side of history”—makes liberals intellectually lazy and unable to think seriously.
Dr. Carson’s misguided alternative to Obama’s AFFH rule
For the most part, Ben Carson has maintained a low profile as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Early on in the Trump administration, he announced that HUD will “reinterpret” the ultra-instrusive Obama housing rule known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH).
