News of the Week for Feb. 3rd, 2019
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Gun Rights
Washington state sheriffs not planning on enforcing new gun laws
The state of Washington passed a raft of new gun control laws that went into effect this year and they have another batch making its way through the legislature right now. These regulations cover everything from most semiautomatic rifles and magazines above a given capacity to the minimum age to purchase a firearm. But not everyone in Washington is thrilled with these changes. Gun control may be popular in the major cities, but sheriffs out in the more rural counties are not, with some of them going on record saying that they have no plans to enforce these laws.
Harris: No Reason to Have Assault Weapons in a Civil Society
During a CNN-sponsored town hall in Iowa Monday night, Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) said there is “no reason” to have assault weapons in a civil society.
Supreme Court’s conservatives appear poised to expand Second Amendment gun rights
The late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia was asked in 2013 whether the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms stood on equal ground with other constitutional protections, such as freedom of speech.
Pink’s Husband Carey Hart Claps Back After He’s Slammed for Teaching Daughter, 7, How to Shoot a Rifle: “You Are Completely Ignorant”
Defending himself! Pink’s husband, Carey Hart, had something to say when Instagram users bashed his latest video of Willow, 7, shooting a rifle.
South Dakota Becomes Latest Permitless Gun-Carry State
NRA says law allows ‘South Dakotans to exercise their fundamental right to self-protection in the manner that best suits their needs’
Second and Fourth Amendments
“Since openly carrying a handgun is not only not unlawful [in Washington], but is an individual right protected by the federal and state constitutions [as the Washington Supreme Court had earlier held],” it cannot “be the basis, without more, for an investigative stop.”
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Gov. Gavin Newsom Appoints Environmental Justice Warrior To Key Post
Newsom’s top picks: California Globe will feature Newsom’s top appointed staff members in articles
Nevada delegation bashes Rick Perry for secretly shipping weapons-grade plutonium into their state
Nevada Democrats took aim at Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday for secretly trucking weapons-grade plutonium cross-country to Nevada last year, vowing to introduce legislation to block the Trump administration from making any future trips.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Harris: Do you like your health insurance? You can’t keep it
At least this won’t get a Lie of the Year award, although the rest of Kamala Harris’ argument might not be as immune. The Democratic contender held a townhall forum on CNN last night, where moderator Jake Tapper asked about Harris’ support and sponsorship for a Medicare for All bill. Some people like their private insurance plan, Tapper noted. What about them?
Heart-Harvesting Euthanasia Promoted in Transplant Journal
My first anti-euthanasia column (Newsweek, 1993) worried that once euthanasia became normalized, it would lead to conjoined organ harvesting “as a plum to society.”
Scary Health “Care” Tricks
And for once, it’s not about The MVNHS© or CanuckCare©, but in our own Golden State
War & Terror
Incendiary Devices Found Outside Eugene Police HQ after Police Shooting of Armed Antifa Radical
Following the shooting death of a local antifa radical earlier this month, police in Eugene, Ore., on Monday found incendiary devices planted outside their headquarters. “I don’t know what kind of damage they could have done,” Lt. David Natt said. “This is not a hoax device. These are very serious matters.”
China’s military-run space station in Argentina is a “black box”
The stated aim of the space station is peaceful space observation and exploration. But the compound, which includes a powerful antenna,operates with little apparent oversight by Argentine authorities.
National
“The Case for Colonialism” at Texas Tech: How 23 professors and a president almost shut down debate.
“We don’t need our students thinking ideas advocating colonialism are valid”
Calif. board of trustees scraps Pledge of Allegiance over ‘white nationalism’ history
Robert Miller, president of the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees, said that the board would no longer be reciting the pledge, claiming that it was “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.”
CCSD principal pushes transgender ideology on kindergarteners
A Clark County School District principal wants kindergartners to consider whether they’re transgender.
Obligatory “Bernie Sanders on honeymoon drunk, half-naked and singing in Soviet Union 1988” video
How will Democrat Russia Collusion conspiracy nuts react?
WaPo poll: 56% say they definitely won’t vote for Trump next year
By comparison, notes WaPo, the worst number Obama pulled during his first term when people were asked if they definitely wouldn’t vote for him for reelection was 46 percent. Coincidentally, or not coincidentally, his opponent in 2012 went on to win 47 percent of the national vote.
New Mexico bill would force colleges to believe accusers in sexual assault proceedings
Funding threatened if schools use impartial procedures
Irate Pro-Choice Staffer Yells, Kicks Pro-Life Students Out of Art Gallery
Pro-life students from California State University, Sacramento claim they were booted from an art gallery on Saturday when a staffer saw their pro-life signs from the Walk for Life earlier that day. An angry staffer chased after the students as they left, yelling at them and making lewd gestures.
Virginia Governor Defends Letting Infants Die
This morning on WTOP’s “Ask The Governor,” Virginia governor Ralph Northam defended the new abortion bill introduced by state Democrats this month, the Repeal Act, which would legalize abortion up to the point of birth.
Yes, the Virginia Abortion Bill Is Just as Barbaric as You’ve Heard
I’m beginning to see some pushback online against claims that Virginia’s so-called “Repeal Act” is as barbaric as pro-life activists claim – or as barbaric as its own sponsor testified. In a now-viral video clip, Democrat delegate Kathy Tran confirmed that the bill would permit third-trimester abortions even when the mother “has physical signs that she’s about to give birth,” including when she’s “dilating.”
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Deadlocked juries, shooting at truckers, and the Adventure of the Seas.
Federal Judge: Court Should Block Enforcement of Tampa ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban
On Wednesday, a federal judge urged the district court to temporarily suspend the city of Tampa’s ban on so-called “conversion therapy” – counseling efforts to help clients overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria. Licensed marriage and family therapists Robert Vazzo and David Pickup, along with the Christian group New Hearts Outreach, sued Tampa for violating their free speech rights, in addition to other claims, back in December 2017.
Poll: Trump would lose a three-way race if a strong third-party candidate jumps in
Maybe this will convince the left to dial down their meltdown over Howard Schultz’s candidacy from “Chernobyl” levels to a more manageable “Three-Mile Island.”
Pennsylvania admits to thousands of registered “on-citizen voters”
The battle to publicize the findings of an investigation into non-citizens registered to vote in Pennsylvania is finally over. Governor Tom Wolf had been blocking the release of the information since last summer, fighting requests for the data in court. But now the governor has conceded defeat and allowed the public to find out what’s been going on. How many non-citizens are on the voter rolls in the Keystone State? More than 11,000.
More than a quarter of young Republicans have a positive reaction to the word … “socialism”
Some say that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be president someday.
University drops requirement to “respect all cultures” for Ben Shapiro event after outcry
“They hadn’t made us do that for any other events”
Indiana Univ. segregates blacks from whites at ‘Racial Literacy’ event
Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis is hosting a “White Racial Literacy Project” speaking series for all students.
A “Right” to Laser Hair Removal?
If health care becomes a “human right,” guess what becomes health care?
Labor leader Tommy White talks about attempts to recall Steve Seroka
Laborers Local 872 wants to recall Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Seroka over his opposition to development at the Badlands Golf Course. Local 872 secretary-treasurer Tommy White says that effort is doing “fantastic” and hinted they may organize more recalls in the future. White also said that while his union has endorsed Republicans, he doesn’t think it will endorse President Donald Trump.
How a Twitter Mob Derailed an Immigrant Female Author’s Budding Career
Months away from publishing her debut novel, a young Asian author and rising star of YA fiction just killed her own book to appease a social media mob condemning her work as racist despite the fact that they most likely hadn’t read it
Harvard creates a ‘hostile environment against men,’ complaint says
After Yale and USC, one California doctoral student is targeting Harvard with a Title IX complaint.
NYC Bans People From Talking To A Therapist About Discomfort With Sex
In New York City, a therapist can tell a man with gender dysphoria that he is a reincarnation of Napoleon, but not that he is a man.
Washington D.C. Now Has an “Inspector” to Enforce the Ban on Plastic Straws
“Being found with a straw can earn you an $800 fine.”
The Latest YA Twitter Pile On Forces a Rising Star to Self-Cancel
The world of young-adult fiction is no stranger to controversy, whether it’s a weeks-long war against a problematic book or a whisper network accusing a badly behaved male author. But even against this backdrop of continually percolating dramas, the saga surrounding Amélie Wen Zhao’s Blood Heir was unusually dramatic: a scattering of small, apparently disconnected fires started by persons unknown, all abruptly extinguished by the author herself yesterday when she called for her own book to be canceled.
Duke to Methodist Church: Change your beliefs for inclusivity
Duke University became the latest Methodist-affiliated school to call on the denomination to embrace LGBTQ+ inclusiveness.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Inoperable fuzes, sweetened sugar beverages, and sexed cow semen.
Economy & Taxes
Oregon’s Progressive Politicians Want Rent Control for All
Development restrictions make housing expensive, but lawmakers blame landlords instead.
House Dems offer bill to expand Social Security
More than 200 House Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced legislation to expand Social Security by increasing benefits for recipients.
Warren’s Folly
Imposing a “wealth tax” would be unwieldy-and probably unconstitutional.
International
Maduro Turns to Special Police Force to Crush Dissent
The agents barged into the home of Yonaiker Ordóñez, 18, on Sunday morning as he slept. Dressed in helmets and carrying rifles, the men grabbed the teenager and forced him to another room without explaining why they came, his family said.
Citgo considers bankruptcy amid Venezuela turmoil: Report
U.S. oil refiner Citgo, which is majority owned by Venezuela’s socialist government, is considering filing for bankruptcy amid an ongoing fight over control of oil revenues – and political leadership – in the poverty-stricken country.
In Venezuela, Maduro may be losing the military
It’s still a bit early to be getting our hopes up for the people of Venezuela, but even someone as skeptical as myself might be daring to hope that the oppressed people of that nation may finally break free of the grip of their dictator, Nicolas Maduro. The one significant development that may justify such optimism is that some additional senior military personnel have made the decision to abandon the tyrant and declare their support for Juan Guaido as interim president of the country. As the Telegraph reported this weekend, an Air Force general announced that he was no longer supporting the dictator and riot police were seen standing down and refusing to repress crowds of protesters.
Opinion
The Feminist Mission to Undermine Heterosexuality
Well, it’s official: the worst aspects of feminism are winning: not the let’s all play nice kind that actually wanted equal, not special, rights and opportunities for everyone, but the crazed we’ve-got-to-destroy-men kind; the kind that saw feminism as a zero-sum game and composed fantasies of worlds without men, or with only enough men to keep the species going until even that problem was resolved; the kind that forgot how awful junior high school girls can be to one another (and grown women too, now that I think of it), and pretended only boys cause suffering and problems. Like other noxious concepts arising out of politics run amok, “toxic masculinity” has finally become not a slur but a mere description.
Prejudice and Error
If the basis of your investigation is a belief that witchcraft is the source of social problems, you’ll probably find some witches soon.
Liberals’ Holy War on Christian Orthodoxy
When Sen. Dianne Feinstein told Amy Coney Barrett, who is now confirmed as a judge for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and is a potential Supreme Court nominee, that “dogma lives loudly within” her and “that’s of concern,” she wasn’t voicing concern over the nominee’s religious orthodoxy as much as she was revealing her own.
6-Year Old Texas Boy On Track For Repressed Puberty Due To Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis
Little James is comfortable being a boy when he’s around his dad and other friends. So why is his mother dressing him as a girl and calling him Luna?
Madness Take Its Toll
The woman spoke with a Russian accent, and she wanted someone to listen. We were in the lobby of the Heritage Foundation after Monday’s event “The Inequality of the Equality Act: Concerns from the Left,” where the ideology of “gender identity” had been critically examined by a panel that included two board members of the radical Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF). The woman’s daughter, now 29, had begun identifying as transgender in 2013, after working on President Obama’s re-election campaign. “She cut us all off!” the woman said, explaining that her daughter – her only child – had blocked any communication with her family via Facebook, telephone or email. “It’s a cult!”
Which Sweden Do Progressives Want to Be?
Denmark repealed its wealth tax in 1996. Sweden repealed its wealth tax more than a decade ago. Iceland repealed its wealth tax in 2007 and instituted some other very business-friendly tax reforms.
In Defense of Assimilation
Immigrants can become wholly American while making a distinctive contribution to our national culture.
The Left Strikes Where It Hurts–Debate
I had a misspent youth. Not primarily because I haunted South Dakota pool halls, although I did some of that, but because I devoted most of my energies to high school and college debate. Paul did, too: we became friends as members of the Dartmouth debate team. Competitive debating had its faults, but there was never any doubt that facts, evidence and logical argument were all that counted.
When Feelings Don’t Care about Facts
Phoenix restaurant says this is a photo of coal miners. But I see offensive blackface.
Is There Any Intellectual Value in “Gender Studies”?
The academic “discipline” of gender studies (including women’s studies and the like) recently got all hot and bothered because it was mocked by the famous Portland State hoaxers. How dare anyone make fun of them!? They’re doing cutting-edge analysis of society’s ills!
On Assimilation
The idea of rapid assimilation, integration, intermarriage, and Americanization was once melting-pot clear. Immigrants arrived in the U.S. eager to find something better (whether economically, politically, culturally, or socially) than what they left behind.
Why We Are Quitting RedState
For more than a decade, RedState was a solid voice in the world of online conservative commentary. Unfortunately, the allure of Trumpism has left the once great site a shell of its former self.
Homophobia and the Modern Trans Movement
Two and a half years ago, I spoke in Vancouver at Q2Q: A Symposium on Queer Theatre and Performance. After I delivered my paper, I became a focal point for criticism—though not because of my the content of my presentation.
Why politicians hate homeschool
Homeschooling families are familiar with the antagonism and hostility that local governments often direct at them. But why does that hostility exist in the first place? Why do so many politicians dislike homeschoolers?
To Anyone Who Thinks the Ralph Northam Controversy Is Insignificant
Controversy erupted this week after Virginia’s Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, not only defended a late-term abortion bill but also insinuated that babies could be left to die after birth.
