News of the Week for June 21^st, 2020

• Riots & Revolution
• Corona Virus
• Election 2020
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Riots & Revolution

 

Calls to remove controversial Abraham Lincoln statue in Boston
Statue was vandalized again early Wednesday morning

UNH Franklin Pierce Law School May Drop Name Of 14th U.S. President (1853-57) Because He Did Not End Slavery
Boston Globe, UNH’s Franklin Pierce School of Law Considering Name Change

The Official Response To The Shooting Of Rayshard Brooks Should Alarm Everyone
By this time, you’ve probably already seen the video of an Atlanta police officer shooting and killing Rayshard Brooks in the parking lot of a local Wendy’s restaurant on Friday night. (You can view the video at this link from NBC News.) The shooting looks to me as if it should have been entirely preventable, as I’ll discuss below, but the official response to it has also been troubling, though for different reasons. Not even a day later, the officer who shot Brooks had been fired and the Police Chief had resigned. Saturday night, rioters burned the Wendy’s restaurant to the ground. And then, not even two full days later, authorities ruled the shooting to be a homicide.

Huffpo Wants to ‘Cancel’ Black Celebs Who Speak Out Against Riots and Destruction
Cancel Culture has ratcheted into high gear in the wake of the George Floyd riots, with a soccer player getting fired for his wife’s tweet, a church losing its lease over a pastor “liking” supposedly insensitive tweets, and New York Times op-ed editor James Bennet stepping down amid outrage that he published an op-ed by a U.S. senator. Huffpost’s Taryn Finley apparently wants to redirect Cancel Culture — against black celebrities who refuse to toe the line on the left’s race narrative.

CHAZ/CHOP Creates Conflict Resolution Council, and the Rules Are SPECTACULAR
How long until CHAZ or CHOP or whatever it is jumps the shark? Faster than a speeding uptwinkle! More powerful than a communal drum circle! Able to leap tall police horses in a single bound! It’s a bird … it’s a plane … it’s the CHAZ Conflict Resolution Council! Chief Seattle weeps.

Imagine there’s no police
The Minneapolis City Council has 13 members. Of the 13, 12 are leftist DFL loons. The 13th is a leftist Green Party loon. They are missing only a local member of the Legal Marijuana Now Party for the trifecta.

China Transformed by Elimination of “Four Olds”
One of the early objectives of the Cultural Revolution in China, which began in 1966 and goes on today, was to wipe out the “four olds”—old things, old ideas, old customs and old habits.

Five Risks To Consider Before Venturing Out During The Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic is still with us but slowly the lives of many people are beginning to move to a new post-lockdown normal. As we begin to venture out, there is a list of five risks to consider in your decision-making process. Is an activity or visit to a public area worth the risk of potential exposure to the coronavirus?

Broadway bars respond to COVID-19 citations, say it’s a double standard with protests
Metro Public Health issued more than a dozen citations to businesses violating COVID-19 Phase Two guidelines this weekend, three of which are bars on Broadway, including Underground and Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk.

After They Kill All the Cops, What Then?
One of the weirdest things about dealing with sociopaths is what it teaches you about human nature. If you are a decent person, you admire traits like honesty and kindness, and strive to uphold such values in your own life. Your interaction with the sociopath is shocking — emotionally disorienting — because the sociopath’s value system is the exact opposite. The sociopath takes perverse pride in his ability to deceive others, and gets a perverse thrill from sadistic cruelty. In the sociopath’s upside-down worldview, law-abiding decent people are chumps underserving of respect, who exist only to be swindled or otherwise exploited, and there is no one the sociopath hates more than those who, by the exercise of lawful authority, have the power to hold him accountable for his wrongdoing.

Nashville Holocaust Memorial Vandalized With Anti-Semitic Messages
“On Saturday afternoon, vandals attached a sheet painted with anti-Semitic and white supremacy messages and it was immediately removed.”

Media Silence On Armed Anti-Police Protestors And Private Guards Is Deafening
Suddenly confiscating guns isn’t a Democrat priority when Democrats like the people carrying the guns.

Seattle’s Liberal Elite Cheer Anti-Police Protesters Then Hire Their Own Private Security
Seattle’s taking a page from the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. When half of the New Orleans Police Department walked off the job before and after Katrina, private security firms answered the call. Today, Seattle’s swells, who cheered on anti-police protesters from their high-rises and Madrona manses, are doing the same thing.

Rolling Stone Editor Unloads On Media, Says “The American Left Has Lost Its Mind”
Rolling Stone magazine is a liberal rag, and editor Matt Taibbi is unquestionably a liberal. And yet, by some miracle, Taibbi has seen the light and isn’t afraid to point out what is so clearly obvious to conservatives. “It feels liberating to say after years of tiptoeing around the fact, but the American left has lost its mind,” Taibbi wrote. “It’s become a cowardly mob of upper-class social media addicts, Twitter Robespierres who move from discipline to discipline torching reputations and jobs with breathtaking casualness.”

Armchair Quarterbacking the Police: The Rayshard Brooks Situation
Rayshard Brooks died after being shot by a police officer at a Wendy’s in Atlanta. Mr. Brooks fell asleep in a drive thru. The police were summoned. The engaged with Mr. Brooks civilly for over thirty minutes. When they tried to handcuff Mr. Brooks, he turned violent, fought the police, grabbed a taser from one of the officers, and fled.

Olympia mayor who supported Black Lives Matter calls protest vandalism at her home ‘domestic terrorism’
Businesses were also vandalized by the group of rioters

Las Vegas Police Officer Shot During Protest Is Paralyzed, Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder
A Las Vegas police officer named Shay Mikalonis was shot during a protest earlier this month is paralyzed from the neck down. Over the weekend his family released a statement saying, “Shay is on a ventilator and will remains so. He is also paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak.” Here’s the full statement which was published on Twitter.

Portland School Displays Sign Saying ‘Our White Children Will Know the Names’
A public grade school in Portland put up a series of signs on its fence that begin, “Our white children will know the names,” followed by the names of blacks killed at the hands of police. The signs were apparently placed by a teacher employed by the Portland Public School system. The signs appeared about a week and a half ago, in apparent response the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Seattle’s Antifastan Is Getting Fortification and Decorations – at Taxpayer Expense
Seattle radicals are digging in for a long stay at CHOP/CHAZ and the acronym-challenged rioters are getting a big assist from, of all places, the city. And taxpayers, of course.

Anarchy in Central Seattle Isn’t a “Festive Zone”
Most revolutions don’t end in liberty; rather, they typically end in bloodshed and merciless tyranny.

Vermont School Principal Placed on Leave for Criticism of Black Lives Matter
“We do not intend to hire her back,” board Chair Elizabeth Burrows said. “We wanted to make sure we acted as quickly as we possibly could.”

Israeli scientists can eavesdrop conversations using a light bulb
By pointing a telescope at a hanging light bulb in the target room and passing the information through a standard laptop, researchers were able to eavesdrop from 25 meters away.

Raz of CHAZ Distributes AR-15s from Tesla Trunk
Just over a week ago, here in my home state of Idaho, word that Antifa was on its way to tear up the beautiful downtown of Coeur d’Alene made its way to our local militias. And they showed up by the hundreds—AR-15s and other various firearms in tow—not only to guard local businesses, but also to protect the First Amendment rights of the handful of Black Lives Matter protesters who also wanted no part of Antifa interfering in our neck of the woods. They did the same two days later in my hometown just down the interstate from CDA.

Hmmm: McConnell Daring Senate Dems To Filibuster GOP Police-Reform Proposal?
At this point, it seems crystal clear that some version of police reform will come out of Congress. Both parties now say they want it, the majorities of both chambers are producing roughly similar proposals, and the White House says Donald Trump will sign it when it reaches his desk. All that’s left is who will get to take political credit for it, and that … might hold things up for a while.

Minnesota Freedom Fund Slammed After Revealing Less Than 1% Of Donations Have Been Used To Bail People Out Of Jail
The Minnesota Freedom Fund received backlash Tuesday after admitting that only $200,000 out of the more than $30 million raised by the organization has been used to bail out protesters.

“Dog Whistle”? RNC Slams Durbin For Calling Scott-Led Police Reform Bill A “Token” Effort
Is this a case of a rhetorical fumble, or a dog-whistle slam on the Senate GOP’s black caucus member? Or just a case of Republicans pouncing? The RNC accused Dick Durbin of making a dog-whistle remark after he called Sen. Tim Scott’s reform package a “token” effort toward resolving policing issues in the US. That’s a fairly common term, but then again, if a Republican had said it …

The Future of Our Cities
In 1968, in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, a great many American cities were engulfed by riots. In one such city – Detroit – the mayor, a well-meaning liberal Democrat named Jerome Cavanaugh, made a fateful decision to rein in the police and let the riot burn itself out. To his judgment, the state’s governor – George Romney – deferred, and the riots went on for five full days. “Burn, baby, burn,” they said. And burn it did.

Officer who shot Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder
The Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in the back after the fleeing man pointed a stun gun in his direction will be charged with felony murder and 10 other charges, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Fulton County DA faces election runoff battle while under state investigation
Fulton County’s long-time district attorney faces two separate state investigations, but it could be voters who remove him from office.

MLK Labor Council votes to cut ties with Seattle Police Officers Guild
The King County Labor Council voted Wednesday evening to cut ties with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Atlanta police officer faces dubious murder charge
Garrett Rolfe, the Atlanta police officer who fired the shot that killed Rayshard Brooks, has been charged with murder, among nearly a dozen criminal counts. I await the analysis of those with more expertise in criminal law than I possess before reaching a definite conclusion. However, the murder charge strikes me as dubious, and I doubt that if the victim of the shooting had been white, such a charge would have been made.

Olympia mayor’s home, downtown vandalized during Friday night protest
On Friday night, two groups converged in downtown Olympia, and some became destructive, burning flags, smashing windows, and spray painting businesses and Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby’s home.

Portland protesters barricade streets and declare new “autonomous zone” outside mayor’s residence
Anarchists, protesters and activists have taken to the streets of Portland once again, this time establishing an “autonomous zone” outside the mayor’s home, after their demands were not met at a city hall meeting.

Mars Inc. Will “Evolve Uncle Ben’s Brand and Visual Identity” to Help End “Racial Injustices”
Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth will likely change soon.

Popular Mechanics Publishes Instructions on How to Take Down Statues “Using Science”
Uh-huh: “Popular Mechanics is not encouraging anyone to remove any statues.”

Seattle Adds Concrete Barricades To CHOP
The City of Seattle isn’t quite as big as it was a month ago. Well, technically, it’s the same size, but the among of real estate answerable to the local government is smaller by about six blocks.

The Cream Of Wheat Guy Is (Almost) Canceled
I feel like the sheer dreariness of the product might tamp down the righty backlash to this particular example of a-wokening. Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth, Uncle Ben’s — all pleasurable eating experiences, and so Americans naturally cling to the mascots.

Norm Coleman To Minneapolis City Council: How About Defunding And Dismantling … Yourself?
So much for the quiet, in both real and political terms. After police calls dipped below normal levels following the riots, Minneapolis had several shootings overnight. Eight people got hit, although all survived — at least one thanks to the quick response of the police, who saved the woman’s life.

High school principle suspended for mildly criticizing BLM. This should worry everyone. (Op-ed)
It has become painfully obvious that if one dares to question the modus operandi or tactics of Black Lives Matter, then they can expect ramifications – such as a high school principal in Vermont that has been suspended and will likely be terminated.

Portland protesters barricade streets and declare new “autonomous zone” outside mayor’s residence
Anarchists, protesters and activists have taken to the streets of Portland once again, this time establishing an “autonomous zone” outside the mayor’s home, after their demands were not met at a city hall meeting.

‘Playtime over’: Portland police dismantle autonomous zone outside mayor’s residence
Police removed barricades and tents as they reclaimed several blocks that protesters made into a temporary “autonomous zone” in Portland, Oregon, outside Mayor Ted Wheeler’s apartment.

The Revolution Comforts the Comfortable
The class war in our country isn’t a matter of the poor vs. the rich; it’s a matter of business class vs. first class, E-Class vs. S-Class.

Customer Gets Banned From Swampscott Restaurant For Talking About BLM For Their Support Of Killing Cops, Bartender Who Spied On Him And Shamed Him On Facebook Is Praised
Earlier in the day I published a blog about a Swampscott bartender who was fired after he listened in on a customer’s conversation, didn’t like the political opinions the customer expressed, and smeared the customer on a town Facebook page.

NYPD cops encouraged to “strike” on July 4 to give city its “independence”
A labor strike is brewing in the NYPD. A pair of flyers making their rounds among NYPD officers are encouraging them to call out sick July 4th — as retribution for police reform and a perceived anti-cop climate following the outrage over high-profile police killings of unarmed black men across the country, multiple cops told The Post.

No Chiefs In Duluth
Today’s nominee for Stupid Moments In Political Correctness: the City of Duluth has banned the word “chief.”

Equity Prime Mortgage Bends to the Mob and Fires Atlanta Officer Rolfe’s Stepmother
Talk about taking sins of the father to a whole new level. It was reported by Tucker Carlson last night that Officer Garrett Rolfe’s stepmother, Melissa Rolfe, was fired from her position as Human Resources Director at Equity Prime Mortgage LLC in Atlanta.

Ivy League law students BOYCOTT conservative professor who criticized Black Lives Matter
A Cornell law professor says there is an effort at his school encouraging students to boycott his classes.

Boy Scouts Launches Black Lives Matter Overhaul, Complete With New Eagle-Required Badge
The organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — it’s now Scouts BSA, because it includes not only girls but girls who identify as boys and boys who identify as girls — decided to signal its virtue this week, in an announcement complete with the statement, “we believe that Black Lives Matter.” Scouts BSA made four key promises, including creating a new “diversity and inclusion merit badge” that will be required for the rank of Eagle Scout.

Gramsci, Joker, and Protests in United States
Gramsci conceived the idea of “training” the people with socialist ideas before undertaking a Marxist revolution

Hispanics Fight Back Against Black Lives Matter Attacks
“Down with communism,” said Hispanics in Miami when they saw the communist hammer and sickle symbol obscuring the continent’s history

Mayor Ted Discovers Law and Order
You know how obnoxious the anarchist scum in Portland must be when they managed to turn Mayor Ted Wheeler into Dirty Harry

Garrett Rolfe’s Stepmother Fired By Mortgage Company
Melissa Rolfe is the stepmother of former police officer Garrett Rolfe, the man now facing 11 charges for the shooting of Rayshard Brooks. Until yesterday, Melissa worked for a mortgage company in Atlanta called Equity Prime Mortgage. But last night on his show, Tucker Carlson reported that Melissa had been fired.

Oakland Mayor: It Doesn’t Matter If The “Nooses” Found In Our Public Park Turned Out To Be Hand Swings
For your Friday enjoyment, a delightful mix of mistake, moral panic, and virtue-signaling by a left-wing politician willing to go any lengths, no matter how stupid and pandering, to prove how woke she is.

“Pure Terror”: Live Streamer Manhandled While Reporting On CHAZ
Say, wasn’t the point of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to show how we could all live without police? If so, then the wan clucking of tongues from the CHAZ “leadership” over this assault seems to indicate that some responsible authority is needed to keep the peace in an urban setting. Seattle’s KOMO-TV reports on the manhandling received by Shawn Whiting when he attempted to live-stream life within CHAZ or CHOP in what had been a public park.

After Finally Getting A-Klo’s Scalp, BLM Takes Aim At … Val Demings?
After four months of pounding from progressives and African-American activists in the party, Amy Klobuchar has bowed to the inevitable and finally exited the 2020 cycle. After achieving a short-lived bounce out of New Hampshire, Black Lives Matter advocates reamed Klobuchar for not getting tough with police officers in use-of-force cases. BLM managed to make the Myon Burrell case in particular so toxic that they forced the end of a Klobuchar rally in Minnesota by taking over the stage to protest his conviction.

Democrats call for replacing McCarran statue, renaming airport
All the Democratic members of Nevada’s congressional delegation have written a letter to Gov. Steve Sisolak and state legislative leaders, asking for them to replace the statute of former U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran in the U.S. Capitol.

Eskimo Pies to drop “derogatory” name over racial insensitivity
The maker of Eskimo Pies will change the 99-year-old brand name of the ice cream treat, the company said Friday — becoming the latest organization to overhaul the marketing of a product with a racially tinged moniker in recent weeks.

Cancel Culture Comes for Junipero Serra. Here’s His Real Legacy.
Finally, the mob has realized the need to be inclusive: now they’ve torn down a statue of one of America’s great Hispanics.

Grant, Too
So much for the idea that “Confederate monuments” are under attack. Last night in San Francisco, left-wingers pulled down a statue of Ulysses Grant, the man who did more than anyone except Lincoln to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Grant also, as President, did all he could to enforce Reconstruction and protect blacks in the South. He sent the military after the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina, worked to ensure passage of the 15th Amendment, and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Cancellation in the first person
In its forthcoming July/August issue, Commentary features the first-person account of our own Steve Hayward telling the story of his cancellation by the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Steve’s memoir/essay is “How I Ran Afoul of Campus Cancel Culture.” As always, Steve wears his learning lightly, but his characteristic humor is absent from this somber and infuriating account. Come for the farcically disgraceful story, stay for Steve’s telling selection of quotes from Goldman School founding dean Aaron Wildavsky. Highly recommended.

You don’t need a weather vane
On the colonial frontier Congregational minister Eleazar Wheelock established Dartmouth College as an institution to educate Native Americans. The college had its origins in the Indian missionary movement and in the mid-eighteenth-century evangelical revival. The college’s charter reflected its origins in Indian education even though it also provided for the education of “English Youth and any others.” (I borrow this account of the college’s history from Encylopedia.com.)

Albuquerque’s Response to ‘Defund the Police’ Is Going to Get People Killed
The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has decided to the “defund the police” in a way that makes a recent satire by The Federalist a reality. In the satire article, “I’m The Rapid Response Social Worker Who Replaced The Police,” writer Dave Marcus outlines the naivete of sending social workers into dangerous situations in response to the movement. For dramatic effect, he uses bank robberies and riots. However, the types of situations Albuquerque intends to send unarmed similarly trained professionals into can turn just as deadly and dangerous.

Report: Seattle’s Breakaway CHOP Is Now a Murder Scene UPDATED
If you listen to much of the media, Seattle’s anarchist-occupied section is part street party, part SJW indoctrination center. It’s certainly the latter, but it’s perhaps less of a carnival despite Police Chief Carmen Best’s insistence that it’s not a “cop-free zone.”

Millennial Transgender Writer Charlotte Clymer Defends Lenin Statue, Gets Schooled
Just as President Trump predicted, the Kancel Kulture Klub finally came for statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — and apparently that’s just fine for writer and “activist” Charlotte Clymer, who is happy to explain why you can’t touch a statue of Vladimir Lenin.

Muhammad Ali’s son says dad would have hated “racist” Black Lives Matter
On the fourth anniversary of his death, Muhammad Ali’s only biological son says that his father would be against Black Lives Matter, calling the movement “racist” and the protesters “devils.”

Georgia House Takes First Step To Abolish Police Department After Arbery Shooting
The Georgia House of Representatives voted in favor of an effort that would dissolve the Glynn County Police Department in response to its handling of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. The move is being touted as the first step in passing legislation that allows a county police department to be dissolved and move the authority to a county sheriff’s department.

Seattle’s Breakaway CHOP Now Also a Sexual Assault Crime Scene
Defunding and removing police from several blocks of Seattle opens the way to crime of all kinds. Criminals know where the police are, and where they aren’t.

Iran Turns George Floyd Into a Shi’ite Muslim Saint
Dr. Reza Parchizadeh, a political theorist and analyst, recently noted on Twitter that “the Iranian regime has turned the late #George_Floyd into Saint George, Shiite-style!” And sure enough, Parchizadeh posted a painting of Floyd depicting him in the way Shi’ite Muslims often depict their holy figures: in a green robe and surrounded by an aura of holy light.

King County Board of Health passes resolution declaring racism a public health crisis
The King County Board of Health on Thursday passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.

“There Is No Apolitical Classroom”
The culture war could be headed for public schools—whether parents like it or not.

What anti-racism really means and how to talk about it
In Critical Race Theory, “racism” means “systemic racism”, which is said to be “the ordinary state of affairs” in the United States

Iconoclasm as a Prelude to Woke Horrors?
A famous quote whose very words, in America at least, eclipse the name of its author or the play from which they derive goes as follows: “That was but a prelude! Where men burn books, they will end in burning men”. Even if the reader of these words does not know that today they are inscribed on the Empty Library Memorial in the Bebelplatz in Berlin, it will likely conjure up images in their minds of the Nazi burning of Jewish books which took place in the very place where that memorial now stands.

The Seattle Soviet
Column: The tragicomedy of Free Capitol Hill, CHAZ, and CHOP

When Everyone Kneels, Who Will Stand Up for Western History and Culture?
British post-colonial guilt is, however, having repercussions far larger than statues. There is, for instance, still total silence about persecuted Christians, according to a UK bishop leading a government review into their suffering.

Welcome to America’s Cultural Revolution
We’re in the dawn of a high-tech, bloodless cultural revolution, one that relies on intimidation, public shaming, and economic ruin to dictate what words and ideas are permissible in the public square.

Student Newspaper at Syracuse U. Fires Columnist for Calling Institutional Racism a Myth
“Say something the editors don’t like somewhere else, and you might find yourself out of a job.”

Michigan State University VP of Research Ousted Because of His Past Scientific Statements
He remains a tenured faculty member.

THE BOOK BURNERS
The local library is closed. So are all the book stores. You cant even get a magazine at the oil change joint or the doctor’s office these days. Essentially, books have been banned, unless you already owned them. You can get e-books no problem, libraries will still loan them out. You can still buy books off online sites and have them shipped to you, as if somehow they are sanitized by the mail, or something.

NYC Mayor de Blasio looks to South Africa for inspiration for new racial justice commission
A new city commission on racial justice will be “just like” South Africa’s famous Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Mayor de Blasio said Sunday.

 

Corona Virus

 

Beijing Blames the Salmon for the Latest Coronavirus Outbreak
The Chinese government is locking down neighborhoods again in response to an outbreak in Beijing — 36 cases — and many Chinese seem to believe that the virus is being spread through salmon

Following a Significant Coronavirus Outbreak, Beijing Shuts Down Its Seafood Market
Probes reveal China funded many NIH officials & Chinese scientist sent biological samples from Canada’s National Lab to Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Oxford Scientists Discover “Dexamethasone” is a Life-Saving Coronavirus Drug
A cheap steroid called dexamethasone has been found to reduce the risk of death by up to one-third among coronavirus patients with severe respiratory complications, University of Oxford researchers have said.

Beijing Raises Coronavirus Alert Level, Closes Schools And Cuts Flights
There’s a new outbreak of the coronavirus in China, this time in Beijing. In response, China has raised its virus alert level, closed schools, locked down certain neighborhoods and shuttered a massive food market where the virus appears to have spread.

Disappointing U.S. coronavirus numbers
Early in June, the number of new reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. was running at around 23,000 per day, down from a peak of around 35,000. There were around 1,000 deaths per day from the virus, down from a peak of around 2,500.

 

Election 2020

 

Biden’s greatest weakness is his greatest strength
For most candidates, it would be a death knell to frequently appear confused and feeble. Those characteristics, however, are Joe Biden’s greatest political strengths in his campaign against President Donald Trump.

Trump niece plans tell-all book, says she leaked tax info
President Trump’s niece has reportedly revealed herself as the source of an explosive New York Times investigation on her uncle’s taxes published last year in a new tell-all book she plans to release in August.

That Iowa Poll Showing Joni Ernst Trailing Is Worrisome
There’s not a lot to say about this apart from the obvious, which is that it wouldn’t be happening unless the national electoral climate suddenly looked bad for the GOP. There’s no reason specific to Ernst to explain why she’d be trailing a little-known Democratic challenger. She’s an incumbent; she’s likable; she won easily in 2014; Trump won her state easily in 2016. There’s no baggage or scandal that would account for voters turning on her. She hasn’t been on the wrong side of some key issue that might alienate independents.

Biden By 16 In Michigan: Fake News?
A ridiculous outlier, especially since the last poll of Michigan taken just a few weeks ago — by a Democratic pollster — showed a gap of just two points.

CHOP Cheers Theft… er… ‘Unplanned Donation’ as Cuomo Says Some People ‘Shouldn’t Have’ Police
CHOP must have been laughing their anarcho-commie bottoms off when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in an NPR interview on Monday that if the people of a city don’t want there to be a police department, then “they shouldn’t have it.”

‘The Good Place’ Producer Megan Amram Grovels for Forgiveness Over Bad Tweets
The Good Place was a funny NBC sitcom about a very strange version of the afterlife that you probably wouldn’t like if you have strong opinions about what happens after we die. For everybody else, it was a scream. And one of the people who made it so funny was a writer/producer named Meghan Amram. If you liked all the awful, punny names of the stores and restaurants in “The Good Place” — Knish from a Rose, Sushi and the Banshees, etc. — those were hers. She also wrote some of the more memorable episodes, like fan-favorite “Jeremy Bearimy,” which contains the silliest explanation of the time-space continuum ever committed to film.

‘We Are Just Sitting Ducks’: Seattle Residents Terrified After CHOP Cuts Them Off from Basic Protection
In our last dispatch on the CHOP occupying Seattle’s Capitol Hill, we learned that police and the fire department do not respond to calls from Americans inside the zone (who did not elect the junta in charge, as there never was a vote). This is not to blame police or fire for not responding. They’re under orders from Mayor Jenny Durkan, over the objections of her own top cop, Police Chief Carmen Best.

UChicago econ professor’s career being torn apart after criticizing “defund the police”
A distinguished University of Chicago macroeconomist has been suspended as editor of the Journal of Political Economy, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has cut ties with him, and he is under investigation by his university for alleged classroom “discriminatory behavior” regarding race.

Cornell law professor censured by dean after criticizing Black Lives Matter movement
Black Law Students Association also calls for students to boycott professor’s classes

“Black privilege is real” prof under fire: protest hits his home, students demand he be fired
He also faces an investigation by campus administrators

UNLV takes down statue of “racist” mascot
UNLV has removed a statue of its “Hey Rebel” mascot from the campus.

California to send every voter mail-in ballot for November
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday to require county officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for the November election, cementing into law the Democratic governor’s earlier order to mail out ballots statewide in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Republican Presidents and the Mighty Midwest
The historic heart of the Republican Party, particularly at the presidential level, is in the Midwest. The party was founded in the Midwest, it drew its early leadership mainly from the Midwest, and its success at the presidential level has almost always depended upon winning the Midwest. It is entirely fitting that Donald Trump’s presidency will likely rise or fall on his ability to repeat his strong performance in the Midwest in 2016.

Washington Post opens new front in the cancel culture wars
The Washington Post has opened a new front in the cancel culture wars, escalating an already toxic conflict into something far more sinister and dangerous.

Politico: Will The Greens Help Get Trump Elected — Again?
Did Jill Stein help elect Donald Trump the first time around? That claim apparently remains fixed in the mythologies of 2016, at least among Democrats who still need some explanation of it other than Hillary Clinton’s incompetence as a candidate. Politico plays along with the charade this morning, claiming that Team Biden blindness to Green Party nominee and declared “democratic socialist” Howie Hawkins could cost them the 2020 election, too

 

Gun Rights

 

Kopel: The pro-slavery origins of American gun control
The New York Times has recently unveiled a “1619 project” that will, in the words of New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay, demonstrate “that nearly everything that has made America exceptional grew out of slavery.”

Why Did the Roberts Court Punt on Ten Second Amendment Cases?
The most likely explanation is that neither of the Court’s ideological factions was confident enough of Roberts’s support to risk granting certiorari.

Does the Second Amendment prohibit slavery?
What Lysander Spooner argued in 1845 became the law of the land in 1868

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Study: Solar Geoengineering Could Weaken Rainfall
More bad news for geogengineering.

Blood Batteries? Climate Advocates Grappling with the Gruesome Human Cost of Renewable Energy
As calls for more renewables and a green Covid recovery mount, renewable energy advocates are facing uncomfortable questions about the vast quantities of raw materials required for their green revolution, and allegations of child slave labour which haunt the base of their specialty material supply chains.

To Solve Climate Change: “stringent eco-taxes …, wealth redistribution … a maximum income, a guaranteed basic income … reduced working hours”
h/t Dr. Willie Soon, Climate Depot; Sustainability scientists from the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, ETH Zürich and University of Leeds in Britain have outlined their solution to global warming.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

CHAZ Demands ‘Race-Based’ Healthcare, Which Is Illegal in the U.S.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone has made a lot of incoherent demands since they took over the city of Seattle, but their demand for “race-based” healthcare might be the most laughable.

Ezekiel Emanuel’s Convoluted Single-Payer Health-Insurance Scheme
Ezekiel Emanuel was a major architect of Obamacare, is currently an important adviser to the Biden campaign, and in my view, is a good chance for secretary of Health and Human Services if the former vice president is elected.

 

War & Terror

 

A History of the 2025 Sino–American War in the South China Sea
How an accidental war could break out, leading to even greater Chinese hegemony.

Poll: More Than 1/3 Think A Second Civil War Is Coming
How bad is the tension getting out there on the streets these days in the midst of all of the unrest, protests and rioting? According to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports, more than one-third of likely voters in America believe that a second civil war is likely within in the next five years. As depressing as that may sound, it’s an uptick from people who felt that way in recent years. And unsurprisingly, there are marked differences in the crosstabs as to who is more likely to feel that away along both party affiliation and racial lines. Considering how the first one went, I kind of hope that nobody is really seeing this as a good thing, even if you feel it looks inevitable.

ATF Offers $70,000 Reward Money For Help Identifying Arson Suspects From St. Paul And Minneapolis
The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms is offering $70,000 in rewards for help identifying 14 individuals believed to be responsible for setting fires in Minneapolis and St. Paul during recent protests.

Kim Jong Un’s sister threatens South Korea with military action
Kim Yo Jong promises “tragic scene” at liaison office that was established to help communications between the 2 Koreas.

Chinese And Indian Soldiers Killed After Fighting With Rocks And Clubs At A Remote Border In The Himalayas
A remote border between China and India has become the scene of skirmishes in the past few weeks. The BBC map above shows the area in dispute. Soldiers on both sides have been forbidden from firing their weapons at one another but that hasn’t stopped them from fighting with their hands, with rocks and, some reports claim, with clubs embedded with nails. Yesterday a confrontation between Chinese and Indian troops resulted in 20 deaths on the Indian side.

Poland “Accidentally” Invaded and Annexed Part of Czech Republic
Polish military imposed coronavirus lockdown restrictions outside their borders

North Korea Blows Up South Korea Liaison Office on Border
North Korea blew up a South Korean liaison office located just over the border in North Korea after threatening a “tragic scene” at the site a few days ago.

Australia exposes China’s many hidden hands
China’s activities and investments in Australia face tough new scrutiny as bilateral ties deteriorate

Shootout In Minneapolis
Criminals apparently are getting a jump on the prospect of a cop-free Minneapolis. Last night, there was a “large gathering of people” on Hennepin Avenue just north of Lake Street. For reasons yet unknown, people within that crowd began shooting at one another. It sounds like a gang battle, but again, no details are yet known. Twelve people were shot, and at least one has died.

China to Set Up “National Security Bureau” to Crush Dissent in Hong Kong
Hong Kong dissidents to be tried under Communist mainland laws, violating the “one country, two systems” policy.

 

National

 

SCOTUS Rules 6-3 to Protect LGBT From Job Discrimination
Gorsuch: “We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.”

“Suicide by Cop”: Why Did They Burn Down Wendy’s Over This Bulls**t?
The Rayshard Brooks Memorial Bonfire

Alito Dissents: This Isn’t Textualism
The U.S. Supreme Court held in a 6–3 decision today — with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing for the majority — that the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination in employment also outlaws such discrimination on the basis of transgender identity and sexual orientation.

Alito Warns SCOTUS Decision Is a Threat to Religious Liberty
“Briefs filed by a wide range of religious groups—Christian, Jewish, and Muslim—express deep concern that the position now adopted by the Court ‘will trigger open conflict with faith based employment practices of numerous churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious institutions.’ They argue that ‘[r]eligious organizations need employees who actually live the faith,’ and that compelling a religious organization to employ individuals whose conduct flouts the tenets of the organization’s faith forces the group to communicate an objectionable message.”

“A Pirate Ship … Sail[ing] Under a Textualist Flag”
In today’s much-awaited ruling in the Title VII cases (decided together under the caption of Bostock v. Clayton County), the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 6 to 3 that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status constitutes discrimination “because of … sex” in violation of Title VII. Justice Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by the Chief Justice and the four liberal justices. Justice Alito and Justice Kavanaugh each wrote dissents, with Justice Thomas joining Alito’s dissent.

The Supreme Court Decides Who Is a Woman
But it doesn’t admit that it’s doing so.

Scientists: There Are Three Dozen Other Intelligent Civilizations In Our Galaxy
Looking at the title, I would imagine the first question most of you have is… how do they know? Did someone accidentally dial into a massive Zoom call between the White House and all of these civilizations where they were planning which humans to abduct next?

Dem Sen. Kaine Claims United States “Created” Slavery and “Didn’t Inherit Slavery from Anybody”
Senator Tim Kaine (D., Va.) claimed during a Tuesday speech on the Senate floor that the United States “created” slavery and “didn’t inherit slavery from anybody.”

Prof says university “inclusion and diversity” efforts are a “smokescreen” that harm black students
In a recent interview, a university of Buffalo professor said that university “inclusion and diversity have been ways to hide the racial problems in America,” and in fact end up hurting black students.

Tim Kaine’s history lesson
Lost amidst all of the other good news from the 2016 elections was the fact that Tim Kaine didn’t get to be vice president. Unfortunately, he’s still a U.S. Senator.

Millennials horrified by vicious insults from younger generation: “Why are they so furious at us?”
Baby Boomers are known for being technologically challenged and intolerant to change. Millennials are apparently overly sensitive and kill everything. Gen Z is known for its obsession with social media and lack of focus.

The first vice president of color was a Republican elected over 90 years ago
Joe Biden’s pledge to choose a woman as his running mate, and his consideration of several black female officeholders for the role, has spurred considerable chatter about diversity in the nation’s second-highest office.

No, we haven’t ‘defunded education for years’
They say that if you repeat a lie often enough, it will become the truth.

Quaker Oats: “Aunt Jemima” Is Canceled
First they came for Aunt Jemima. And I did not speak out — because I don’t care.

Boy Scouts of America Now Include Diversity & Inclusion Badges
While plenty of organizations and companies have come out in support of Black Lives Matter after the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots and protests, Boy Scouts of America has gone a step further and introduced new restructuring efforts to battle racism.

Justice Department to Propose Limiting Internet Companies’ Protections
Action follows President Trump’s executive order seeking to weaken broad immunity enjoyed by Facebook, Twitter and other platforms

Diluting blood plasma rejuvenates tissue, reverses aging in mice
In 2005, University of California, Berkeley, researchers made the surprising discovery that making conjoined twins out of young and old mice — such that they share blood and organs — can rejuvenate tissues and reverse the signs of aging in the old mice. The finding sparked a flurry of research into whether a youngster’s blood might contain special proteins or molecules that could serve as a “fountain of youth” for mice and humans alike.

Adobe Flash will finally die on December 31, 2020
Flash content won’t run at all after end-of-life

Democrats Celebrate Their Heritage
And by “their heritage,” of course, I mean, slavery

Supreme Court Rules 5-4 That Trump Admin Cannot Cancel DACA
Trump: “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?”

Mexican-American Accused of Making “White Power” Sign by Overzealous SJW is Fired
A couple of weeks ago, San Diego Gas and Electric employee Emmanuel Cafferty was driving a company truck on a highway near where a Black Lives Matter rally was underway in Poway, CA. His arm hung out of his truck’s window.

Bolton Book: Trump Encouraged China To Build Concentration Camps, Said Journalists Should Be Executed
I sense we’re about to hear anti-Trumpers screech in unison: “WHY DIDN’T BOLTON TESTIFY TO ALL OF THIS IN NOVEMBER WHEN THE HOUSE IMPEACHMENT TEAM ASKED HIM TO?”

What Price Peace? UN Rights Chief Calls for Slavery Reparations
The UN’s Human Rights Council may be a joke to anyone with more than 2 brain cells working but the western media takes them very seriously. They love to be reminded that rampant corruption, brutal oppression, inept and incompetent government is the fault of white European nations that colonized most of the world and not the oppressed majorities in the world’s trouble spots.

The Supreme Court Requires Trump to Violate Immigration Law
For voters who care about this issue, that means it will be back on the ballot this fall.

Strunk and White Supremacy
An aggrieved young employee rejects the beloved style guide as a racial “microaggression.”

The 1st VP of Color Was Elected Over 90 Years Ago; He Was a Republican
It’s impossible not to notice that the left has made a cottage industry out of trashing Republicans and conservatives as racists and “angry white guys” while elevating Democrats as the party of racial diversity.

‘Sloppy’ Policy Making, Not Ideology, Cost Trump Two SCOTUS Cases
The right has been up in arms over Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts voting with the liberal majority in overturning Trump administration policy on DREAMers and the citizenship question on the 2020 census. But Roberts wasn’t giving his opinion of DREAMers or citizenship questions. Roberts’ ruling was entirely consistent with the law; specifically the Administrative Procedure Act.

Professor sues university for $7.9 million for destroying reputation with baseless grades-for-sex investigation
Opened another investigation when he refused to renegotiate “resignation agreement”

Juneteenth Jubilee and the Story of American Freedom
Earlier this week, I noticed a few people posting on social media about this new “Juneteenth” entry on their Google calendars. They wondered what it was and where it came from. It reminded me of the Lyle Lovett song, “That’s right, you’re not from Texas.”

After the Supreme Court’s DACA Ruling, What’s Next?
Dan’s piece on the home page nicely explains the absurdity of the Supreme Court’s DACA ruling. In his conclusion, he writes, “DACA repeal will still happen — if Trump is in office long enough for DHS to finish the task.” This is probably true, but not automatic.

Georgetown lecture series declares “oppressive language is violence,” directs funds to “black voices”
Among the violent languages listed is “theistic language” at the Catholic institution

Lindsey Graham Blocks Trump And Barr: Your Nominee To Replace The Manhattan U.S. Attorney Has To Go Through New York Dems First; Update: Trump Fires Berman; Update: Or Did He?
If you missed Jazz’s post this morning about the attempted firing of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, read it now. Even with everything else going on, it’s apt to be one of the biggest stories of the coming week. And maybe for weeks thereafter.

Stand-off with Attorney General Barr ends, as New York prosecutor agrees to resign
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman agreed to resign from his post on Saturday, after Attorney General William Barr said he would allow Berman’s deputy to take over the job until a permanent replacement can be installed.

To This East Texas Family and Town, ‘Aunt Jemima’ Is Inspiring Story of Overcoming
Quaker Oats announced last week that Aunt Jemima would no longer be the face and brand of its pancake mix. The move was mostly met with befuddlement, as protesters had not publicly targeted the flapjack brand yet.

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
A spectacular fossil, tree-shaped air fresheners, and protecting and serving the poop out of you.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Statute Limiting IMDb’s Display of Actor Ages
The interest in fighting age discrimination in employment doesn’t trump free speech rights.

Woman Who Claimed Justice Kavanaugh Raped Her Now Admits They’ve Never Even Met
Senate Democrats and abortion activists did their best to promote unproven allegations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh before his confirmation vote in the Senate. Now, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is looking for a possible criminal probe against people whose accusations appeared the most bogus.

The Problem With Claiming That Policing Evolved From Slave Patrols
History is complicated.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Idaho To Pay People To Go Back To Work
This is a subject that we’ve been covering here ever since the coronavirus stimulus bill was first being debated in Congress. Having passed a measure providing enhanced unemployment benefits with no cap on the amount of the payments based on the worker’s previous rate of pay, a condition was created where a majority of the unemployed are now collecting more than they did on their last job. That doesn’t provide much of an incentive to go back to work, particularly if you can point to your concerns about the virus as a reason to stay home.

US retail sales likely recovered partly from record plunge
U.S. retail sales likely recovered somewhat last month as the economy increasingly reopened from shutdowns caused by the coronavirus and more shoppers felt confident enough to spend.

How Can We Recover From the Shutdowns?
The shutdowns that almost every governor imposed in response to the COVID-19 epidemic devastated the nation’s economy, unemploying tens of millions and bringing many industries to a near halt. With the country now gradually beginning to re-open, the financial markets appear to be anticipating a rapid return to prosperity. But that will depend, in considerable part, on the wisdom of policies that are adopted at both the federal and state levels.

FB denies memo demanding jobs go to H-1B applicants over Americans
The confidential Facebook memorandum explicitly stated: “Priority may be given to H-1B applicants from China and Korea to foster larger communities of diverse workers at Facebook.”

Another 1.5 Million Americans Filed Unemployment Claims
It didn’t drop, but it also did not go up.

 

International

 

Chavismo Ready to Commit Another Electoral Fraud in Venezuela
The Chavista Supreme Court of Justice demanded that the National Assembly hand over the list of pre-selected candidates for the National Electoral Council

Canadian Museum for Human Rights employees say they were told to censor gay content for certain guests
Minister responsible for national museum says it should not be engaging in self-censorship

Venezuela’s Supreme Court Hands Control Of Two Opposition Parties To Pro-Maduro Figures
Venezuela is supposed to hold elections sometime this year, though the government of Nicolas Maduro hasn’t announced when that will happen. In advance of any voting the country’s Supreme Court, which is packed with Maduro loyalists, has removed the leadership of two opposition parties and replaced them with Maduro allies.

Neanderthals, Denisovans, humans genetically closer than polar bears, brown bears
Several genomic studies have previously shown that Neanderthals, Denisovans and anatomically modern humans interbred. Now, new research suggests the trio of populations were so genetically similar that they most certainly produced healthy, fertile hybrids.

Alcoholic killer monkey leaves one man dead and 250 injured after going on rampage when his booze supply dried up
The monkey was formerly the pet of an occultist who fed him hard liquor in India. But when his owner died, the booze-dependent imp went on the rampage. Named Kalua, he targeted women and girls in particular with his vicious fangs. He has now been captured and will spend the rest of his days in a cage at the zoo

Australia: University fees to be overhauled, some course costs to double as domestic student places boosted
The cost of studying humanities at university is set to double, but “job-relevant” course fees will be slashed under an overhaul of tertiary education announced by the Federal Government today.

Scientists use Neanderthal genes to grow tissue in a Petri dish
In a proof of concept study, published Thursday in the journal Stem Cell Reports, scientists successfully used human cells featuring Neanderthal DNA to grow tissue in the lab.

Police break up new protests in Belarus as Lukashenko warns of foreign plot
Police in Belarus arrested demonstrators and journalists on Friday evening to break up new protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, hours after he blamed foreign plotters for fomenting unrest.

In Venezuela, “Enforced Disappearance” Is Used By The Regime To Keep People In Line
Earlier this week I wrote about the continued deterioration of democracy in Venezuela. Specifically, the Maduro loyalists on Venezuela’s packed Supreme Court announced they were handing control of two opposition parties to individuals who had previously left the parties and joined the Maduro regime. But today a human rights group has published a report documenting how “politicallly-motivated detentions” have become a major tool of repression in Venezuela.

Police accused of political correctness after issuing an appeal for a sex attacker WITHOUT mentioning suspect was a man wearing womens clothes
Hertfordshire Police fail to mention wanted sex attacker wore women’s clothing

Scottish Man Who Called An Irish Man A “Leprechaun” Fined $350 By Court
A Scottish man was fined $350 in a court of law for calling his ex-girlfriend’s new Irish boyfriend a “leprechaun.”

 

Opinion

 

Religious-Freedom Arguments Aren’t Enough
I’m not qualified to wade into the legal details of today’s Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., in which Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the six-justice majority, determining that the prohibition on “sex discrimination” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to fire an employee on the basis of his sexual orientation or gender identity.

BAP’s Bait and Switch
The dissident Right has no idea where it’s going, but it knows it wants to get there fast.

“Controlling What People Think”: Kim Holmes on the Left’s Speech Policing Goals
Kim Holmes, author of “The Closing of the Liberal Mind” and executive vice president at The Heritage Foundation, joins The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss the resignation of New York Times opinion editor James Bennet after he ran an op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton, and the outraged reaction to J.K. Rowling’s essay on gender identity. Holmes also outlines the intellectual roots of the current speech and thought policing and why the left has become so close-minded.

A Cloud of Possibility
I do not surf, but I sometimes read The Surfer’s Journal, which contains beautiful photography beautifully printed and oddball little stories that provide a glimpse into a different world, as with Scott Hulet’s recent travelogue on surfing through cartel country in Sinaloa.

Bookmark the permalink.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s 6-3 majority opinion Monday in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County found that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barring workplace job discrimination on the basis of sex also covers homosexuals and transgendered, not just males and females.

There Will Be No Honest Talk About Race
If you want to understand why we will move on from this issue without resolution just like the nation moves on from so many other difficult issues, just consider Louie Giglio. The man is highly respected, well regarded across racial lines, a prolific Christian author, and a humanitarian. He also is being shamed for daring to try to have an honest conversation about race with LaCrae, a Christian rapper.

The Federalist Caper
So, Google was demonetizing the Federalist, and then it wasn’t. NBC News has the story, or it doesn’t.

Why so much trouble nominating reliably conservative Justices?
“I wonder: Has there ever been an ideological movement this incompetent? They only had one job to do: Distinguish conservative lawyers from liberal lawyers.”

The Tyranny in the Left’s Goal of Outlawing “Hate Speech”
Some Americans are working to outlaw so-called hate speech. In a recent paper, Arthur Milikh, formerly the associate director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation, calls the left’s effort to ban hate speech “the new tyranny over the mind.”

Is Google Stupid?
We know Google can’t be evil, because it says it’s not, and that’s how reality works now. But what about stupid?

Ban Germ-Line Genetically Engineered Babies
When a scientist in China proudly announced the birth of the first germ-line genetically engineered babies — meaning the alterations would flow down the generations — there was a firestorm. But notably, despite the screaming and arrest of the scientist by China (as if the authorities in the great tyranny didn’t know what he was up to), nothing was done to legally prevent other researchers from using the CRISPR technique to genetically engineer embryos and/or bring them to birth.

Don’t Start Tearing Plaques out of the Hall of Fame
Steven Goldman at Baseball Prospectus argues that the Hall of Fame should kick out ten members for racism. Specifically, he argues in favor of “a calculated insult to these player’s and executive’s memories” for their roles in resisting the integration of the game (or, in one case, drawing the color line in the first place). This is misguided in two ways. One, particularly in honoring ballplayers, the Hall should principally be in the business of memorializing the greats as players, not passing judgment on them as men. Two, once you open the door to Goldman’s “tear his plaque off the wall, melt it down, and pretend it was never there to begin with” posture, you can never again promise anyone immortality. The Pandora’s Box of making every plaque subject to revision can’t be closed again.

Should Juneteenth Be A Paid Holiday? Philadelphia, Companies Say Yes
Juneteenth is experiencing new publicity thanks to the Black Lives Matter protests. Companies are rushing to show how woke they are by making Juneteenth a paid holiday and some cities are doing the same.

The shooting of Rayshard Brooks was reasonable
Rayshard Brooks and George Floyd were both black men who died after interactions with white police officers. That doesn’t mean both situations show police brutality.

The Conservative Supreme Court Strategy Failed, So Now It’s Time For Reform
The Supreme Court’s radical betrayal of justice, freedom of association, and the plain letter of the law make clear that reform will have to precede any prospect for a truly conservative judiciary.

Know Your Place
In the new, progressive pecking order

It Is Time to Break Up Google
I’ve been thinking this for a while, but increasingly it is clear that Google has reached a level of monopolization that needs to be taken seriously as a threat to freedom, the free exchange of ideas, and political diversity.

The Emperor’s New Law
Magical thinking replaces jurisprudence at the Supreme Court.

How Cultural Revolutions Die — or Not
Unlike coups or political revolutions, cultural revolutions don’t just change governments or leaders. Instead, they try to redefine entire societies. Their leaders call them “holistic” and “systematic.”

What’s Up With the Supreme Court?
I am no longer a practicing attorney. Frankly, I hated being a lawyer. There were these things called clients and inevitably they were annoying people with easy to solve problems who hated other people so much they refused to do the practical and right thing in favor of being a pain in the butt.

Celebrating Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a testimony of how an imperfect nation bore the pain of death and division so that the right of liberty might expand its reach.

“It’s Table-Tossing Time”
The decision of the Fulton County District Attorney to charge Officer Garrett Rolfe with felony murder in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks has driven many conservatives to the point of despair. How could anyone looking at the facts of the case think this charge was appropriate?

Counsel of the Woke
Public-health experts have subordinated science to progressive politics.

Juneteenth Is an Occasion to Celebrate the Rule of Law
If the momentum behind policing reform is channeled responsibly, as it was in previous civil-rights struggles, then Americans will support it.

John Bolton vs. Donald Trump
The president’s supporters are making contradictory arguments about what’s wrong with Bolton’s book.

Father’s Day key to ending racial disparities
Fixing fatherlessness in the African American community would do more to solve what leftists call “systemic racism” than the government ever could.

The Constitution says no to DC statehood
It’s not by accident or oversight that the nation’s capital isn’t a state: the Founding Fathers designed it that way.

Similarities between today and Ulster in 1969
I need hardly remind readers that over the following 30 years some 3,000 people were killed and that even though now the killing has stopped the enmity remains.