News of the Week (August 16th, 2020)

Posted on August 16, 2020 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for Aug. 16th, 2020


 

Riots & Revolution

 

Over 100 People Arrested in Chicago Overnight Amid Rampant Rioting and Looting
“Criminals took to the streets with the confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions.” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown

Chicago police met with anger after man shot in Englewood, sparking looting
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile looted by rioters hours after Englewood shooting

Looters Rampage Through Chicago’s Magnificent Mile
You know it’s bad when a city has to resort to raising its drawbridges to prevent it from being sacked, like some medieval castle

Professor who may be fired for refusing to undergo diversity training is not backing down
A professor at Converse College, a private, liberal arts school in South Carolina, has refused to complete required diversity trainings, and he may be suspended or lose his job over it.

Probably Not Trump Voters: Looters Smash Stores in Downtown Chicago
Democrats are all about social justice, and by “social justice,” I mean smashing windows and looting luxury stores

3 Key Concepts That Woke “Anti-Racists” Believe
In our summer of discontent, of protests and then riots in what many view as a racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, we’ve seen previously radical ideas such as defunding the police become the norm.

Group behind “Occupy Wall Street” planning 50-day “White House Siege” through Election Day
“It’s time again for dramatic, decisive action. Which is why, on September 17th, in the original and enduring spirit of Occupy, we and tens of thousands of our fellow citizens will stream into Lafayette Square, in Washington. D.C.”

The Upper West Side in New York City Is a Preview of Biden’s Disastrous Housing Policy
Joe Biden has proposed the most radical housing policy in our nation’s history. It will remove responsibility for zoning in local communities from city councils and put it in the hands of the federal government. When you combine this policy with the Unity Platform on criminal justice, the results will be disastrous.

Shooting Near the White House: President Trump Removed From Press Briefing
The president left a press briefing abruptly on Monday after a Secret Service agent whispered something to him. President Trump immediately left the room with security. Members of the press reported that there was a security threat and possibly shots fired near the White House that prompted the move. Here’s the moment it happened.

Kim Gardner Says The McCloskeys Are Turning Their Prosecution Into “Political Theater”
Last month the McCloskeys filed twin motions to have St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner disqualified from their case. Their argument was that Gardner had used their case for political fundraising both before and after charging them. After referencing the case, the fundraiser concluded, “Kim needs your help to fight back! Her election is only weeks away.” Last week, Kim Gardner responded to those motions and her response accuses the McCloskeys of turning their prosecution into “political theater” and claims there was nothing wrong with mentioning the case in fundraising appeals

Andy Ngo Reveals How Antifa Rioters Get Out of Jail and Keep Terrorizing Portland Night After Night
On the 72nd straight night of violence in Portland, antifa rioters again targeted the Portland Police Association (PPA) — which they had lit on fire the night before — and turned the streets around it into a war zone. They erected barricades, lit fires on the street, and fired mortar fireworks at police officers, wounding two of them. In a memorable exchange, a man on the street assured antifa rioters that they should not worry even as they were getting arrested. Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, explained why this man reassured them, and why antifa rioters can keep themselves out of jail to return to the streets, night after night.

Car Caravan and U-Haul Aid Looters in Ransacking Chicago After Misinformation Sparks BLM Outrage
In the wee hours of Monday morning, a mob of looters swept through downtown Chicago, likely inspired by looting following the Black Lives Matter rallies in Minneapolis in the wake of the horrific police killing of George Floyd. They ransacked a mall, a Tesla dealership, a Walgreens, and more. Armed looters got into a brief shootout with police, although it remains unclear if anyone was injured. Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), who vocally condemned gatherings of people on the beach this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic, has remained silent on this looting but will address it in a press conference Monday morning.

The Upper West Side in New York City Is a Preview of Biden’s Disastrous Housing Policy
Joe Biden has proposed the most radical housing policy in our nation’s history. It will remove responsibility for zoning in local communities from city councils and put it in the hands of the federal government. When you combine this policy with the Unity Platform on criminal justice, the results will be disastrous.

Carmen Best, Seattle’s top cop, emails resignation notice to officers: report
Her retirement is expected to take effect on Sept. 2

Report: Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best is Resigning
Good job, BLM.

BLM Advocates Looting
The American press has a long history of sanitizing radical leftist movements. These days the main beneficiary of the press’s airbrush is Black Lives Matter, a racist, Marxist organization that sponsors, in reporters’ words, “mostly peaceful” riots. As with other far-left groups, BLM does not hide its true colors. It just relies on the press to misreport them.

Chicago Black Lives Matter Leader Declares Looting Gucci and Macy’s “Is Reparations”
“I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats. That is reparations,” proclaimed a BLM Chicago leader as a “loot back” sign was displayed behind her.

T-Shirt Company Refuses to Bow to Antifa, Even After Getting Smeared as ‘Fascist’
On Friday, the e-commerce company Teespring announced it would ban all antifa designs from its platform, citing a “recent increase of violent content.” The group Antifa International did not take kindly to the news, but Teespring stood firm despite accusations of fascism. Teespring is a platform that allows people to create and sell custom apparel.

Five Civil Rights Under Attack
It has been a hard year for civil rights. Rights that few of us imagined would be threatened, are threatened in 2020. Rights that we thought were settled are under attack.

Portland Prosecutor Likely to Drop Charges Against Rioters Who Injure Cops, Citing ‘Instinctive Reaction’ to Police
Well, we’ve heard it all now. Rioters have been given what is tantamount to carte blanche in Portland. It’s open season on Portlanders, open season on cops, and open season on the rule of law.

Countering the Destructive ‘1619 Project’ Marxist Redefinition of American History
On Monday, RealClearPolitics launched a new portal to push back on the misleading and destructive “1619 Project,” a New York Times revisionist history that seeks to redefine America. The project claims America was really founded in 1619 with the arrival of the first slaves (the first slaves actually arrived before that, by the way) rather than in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. The project is arguably fueling the destructive riots that spread across the country after the horrific police killing of George Floyd and have continued in Portland, Seattle, and Chicago.

Antiracist Racists
Racism is a problem in America because moonbats make it a problem. Virtually nonexistent white supremacists aren’t oppressing blacks; “antiracist” moonbats are. Larry Elder is right when he says, “The Left does not want a color-blind society. They don’t really want the vision of MLK. They want a color-coordinated society, as long as they’re the ones who are going to coordinate it.” By “coordinate,” he means “rule.”

BLM “Protester” Released After Assault, 6 Hour Standoff With Cops
During Friday’s edition of the “peaceful protests” in New York City, one self-described leader of the local Black Lives Matter chapter was seen assaulting an NYPD officer using a bullhorn. Nearly a dozen police responded to the incident, seeking to take Derrick Ingram into custody, but Ingram’s supporters swarmed onto the scene, leading to a six-hour standoff between the mob and the cops. In the end, Ingram escaped the area but then showed up to turn himself in at the local precinct on Saturday. And because this is New York City, he was immediately released without bail to go back out to the streets and pick up where he left off. To say that the police are displeased by this turn of events is an understatement.

District Attorney Mike Schmidt to Limit Criminal Charges Against Protesters
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt has announced a new policy that will limit the types of charges pressed against protesters in Portland.

The Thin Veneer of American Civilization
In a flash, it’s been blown away, revealing the barbarism beneath. The seeds of destruction were planted long ago.

Chauvin, Lane, Kueng, and Thao: The George Floyd Fall Guys
The four policemen charged in George Floyd’s death acted entirely according to the training and guidance provided them by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Ferguson Effect: Crime Data Shows Rise In Violent Crime In U.S. Cities
The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice just released a report on crime rates in U.S. cities before and after the pandemic. The report looked at public data from 27 cites and focused on 11 categories of crime. It concludes that as the pandemic took hold and stay-at-home orders set in, some types of property crime decreased.

Chicago looters attacked Ronald McDonald House with sick children inside, charity says
The Ronald McDonald House in Chicago was vandalized during looting early Monday morning while families and their sick children huddled inside, the charity said Tuesday.

Seattle BLM Protesters To Strangers: “Give Up Your House. Give Black People Back Their Homes.”
Last night a group of anti-gentrification protesters in Seattle marched through a section of town for a couple hours to complain that white people were living on stolen land. Well, not stolen exactly. They aren’t claiming the black people who used to live in this neighborhood were pushed out at gunpoint. But they are claiming that an injustice has taken place because white people are now living in new homes in this formerly black neighborhood.

Seattle BLM Protesters To Strangers: “Give Up Your House. Give Black People Back Their Homes.”
Last night a group of anti-gentrification protesters in Seattle marched through a section of town for a couple hours to complain that white people were living on stolen land. Well, not stolen exactly. They aren’t claiming the black people who used to live in this neighborhood were pushed out at gunpoint. But they are claiming that an injustice has taken place because white people are now living in new homes in this formerly black neighborhood.

BLM Chicago Organizer: You’d Better Believe We Support Looting As A Form Of Reparations
Did everyone misinterpret the statement on Monday from Black Lives Matter Chicago? In their response to the organized pillaging of the Windy City’s Magnificent Mile, BLM Chicago claimed that “these corporations have ‘looted’ more from our communities than a few protesters ever could,” suggesting that they saw the attack as a form of restorative justice.

The Humiliations Will Continue Until Morale Improves
“A can-do attitude,” “striving toward success,” being “results oriented,” and “operating from principles and conscience.” At first glance, these sound like the kinds of qualities one might appreciate among employees – say, among employees at a nuclear research and development lab. But no, dear reader. How foolish you’ve been.

Minneapolis Two Months After The Riots: “A Desolate Wasteland”
Earlier today I wrote about the small business owners in Chicago who are trying to decide what to do next after having their businesses looted twice in three months. And then I came across this video from Minneapolis. This clip is nearly 15 minutes long and, for most of it, the person filming is completely silent as he tours the area where he used to live. Then about 8 minutes in he said, “So if you’ve noticed I haven’t talked very much in this video.” He continued, “I’m quiet in this video because I don’t really know wha to say. My mind is blown…I used to live not too far away from this…This is where I did my grocery shopping, where I would go out to eat, where I would meet up with friends, go out to a bar…”

Renowned law professor: Antifa is on campus, expel them if they commit violence
But one national security analyst argues the group should not be allowed on campus at all

Oregon State Police To Portland: If You’re Not Prosecuting Rioters, We’re Leaving
“Certainly fighting words there,” KOIN reporter Lisa Balick says without a hint of irony about the declaration from Oregon state police. Their leadership has ordered a withdrawal from Portland despite their role as guarantor of security for the federal courthouse, allowing DHS to withdraw its own law-enforcement personnel. The state police issued a statement saying they prefer to put their resources into areas where prosecutors take their jobs seriously, unlike Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt

Austin City Council Votes To Defund Police – And The Vote Wasn’t Even Close
Austin City Council voted unanimously to defund the Austin Police Department on Thursday. The vote was in favor of taking one-third of the police department’s funding away and moving that money to something called the Decouple and Reimagine Safety funds. How very Austin-sounding this move is. Sadly, this doesn’t come as a surprise.

Lecturegram About Mongo: HBO Max Adds “Proper Social Context” To Blazing Saddles
It’s often been said that Hollywood wouldn’t dare make Blazing Saddles in these days of political correctness. Now they won’t even show it — at least, not without an opening paternalistic lecture about the “social context” of Mel Brooks’ broad social satire against bigotry and racism. HBO Max has given Blazing Saddles the Gone With The Wind treatment, the Hollywood Reporter related yesterday, even though the two films couldn’t be farther apart in messaging and “social context”

Trigger Warning Attached to Blazing Saddles
I was watching Shrek 2 with my kids the other night and there was joke about the wolf who lies in wait for Little Red Riding Hood being “gender-confused.” Uh-oh. In about five seconds, that phrase is going to be about as welcome as the N-word in a kids’ movie. Shrek 2 dates from 2004. In The Hangover, Bradley Cooper calls out, “Paging Dr. Faggot.” The Hangover dates from 2009.

Fear Mounts Among Seattle Business Owners Amid Calls to Defund Police
“Sadly it’s become routine; we’ve gotten good at calling the insurance company, boarding up windows and protecting the store. It’s just exhausting”

Landscape of rubble persists as Minneapolis demands taxes in exchange for permits
In St. Paul, officials have waived the tax rule so property owners can clean up.

Protests Outside People’s Homes (Residential Picketing) and the First Amendment
They can be banned, so long as the ban is content-neutral, and so long as people remain free to generally march through the neighborhood (as opposed to protesting right outside the target’s home).

New DA in Portland admits he is ‘old buddies’ with an Antifa militant
Newly-elected District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who refuses to prosecute Portland rioters, admits he is “old buddies” with an Antifa militant campaigning to defund the police, abolish prisons, and demand reparations.

Penn State student gov plans to ‘interrogate’ members to check for ‘internal biases’
As part of the student government election process, all candidates at Penn State must participate in a workshop about “bias.”

“Social Justice” Is Extortion
The Mafia is not as good at extortion as “social justice” activists. Feminists and race activists have successfully invoked moralism to demand preferences, special benefits, and power. The legal cover for this extortion comes in the form of “affirmative action” and “diversity.”

More Than Sixty 9-1-1 Calls Go Unanswered During Portland Riot
Saturday was the 80th consecutive night of riots in Portland with no sign that the urban terrorists have any intention of letting up.

The many, contradictory meanings of “Black Lives Matter”
You can’t have a fruitful discussion when terms mean different things to different people. Consider Black Lives Matter.

 

Corona Virus

 

Moment megaphone wielding anti-mask activists storm Morrison’s and demand shoppers ‘resist the new world order’ and take off their face-coverings that are ‘so bad’ for them
Protest group stormed supermarket telling shoppers ‘Your masks are so bad for you’ as they tried to buy food

Scorned Governor Punishes Casino That Helped Christians Fight Lockdown Order
As many of you know in the State of Nevada churches are not allowed to have more than 50 people in attendance however, casinos are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.

Cuomo’s Deadly Mistake Was Likely Even Worse Than First Reported
Yesterday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who signed an executive order forcing nursing homes in his state to accept patients who tested positive for the coronavirus in March, informed reporters there was no need for an independent inquiry into his deadly mistake because no one can be deemed reliable enough to investigate him.

Teacher Worries Virtual Classrooms Will Let ‘Conservative’ Parents Hear Them Brainwashing Their Kids About ‘Gender/Sexuality’
Do you need another reason to homeschool your kids? You’re about to get one.

Americans Growing More Opposed To Reopening Schools And Daycares
The White House’s hard push for school reopenings appears to have failed to gain traction — and may be losing support the closer we get to the school year. A new Morning Consult poll shows that the majority which opposed it last year has grown, which threatens not just the economic recovery on which Donald Trump counts but also its Phase 4 relief proposal.

 

Election 2020

 

Willie Brown to Kamala Harris: Don’t join Biden’s ticket
Willie Brown was instrumental in launching Kamala Harris’ political career, so I guess he has standing to give her career advice. His advice is that Harris should say “no” to Joe Biden if he offers her a place on the Democratic ticket.

Trump Will Deliver Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech at Either Gettysburg or the White House
Incorrect Confederacy allusions abound

Oh Good, Willie Brown Has Career Advice for Kamala Harris
Right now, Kamala Harris is on the verge of what could be a life-altering and historic moment. Some people in Joe Biden’s circle think his running-mate options are down to Harris and Susan Rice. As many have noted, with Biden’s current lead in the national polls and the swing states — and the widespread expectation that Biden would not finish his first term — Biden may well be selecting the 47th President of the United States. Few people whose presidential campaign ended before the first primary end up with such a fortuitous turn of events.

The Allegedly Indispensable Michigan Governor
A New York Times article talks about Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer as a potential Joe Biden running mate, and uses part of this quote from a Democratic activist in the headline

“Slow Joe and Phony Kamala” – First Attack Ad On Kamala VP Pick
Trump campaign brands Harris as Phony, and shifts from Sleepy Joe to Slow Joe.

5 Things to Know About Biden’s VP Pick, Kamala Harris
On Tuesday, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden announced his running mate, the Democrats’ Great Intersectional Black-Asian Female Hope, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Harris ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary but she dropped out last December after lackluster debate performances, citing insufficient funds to continue the campaign.

Kamala Harris Backs Publicly Funded Health Care for Illegal Immigrants
In May of 2019, Kamala Harris unequivocally told CNN’s Jake Tapper that she would make no distinction between American citizens and illegal immigrants on a broad array of measures. When Tapper referred to benefits for “people who are in this country illegally,” Harris replied: “Let me just be very clear about this. I am opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education or public health, period.”

Kamala Harris’s Anti-Catholic Bigotry
Someone might want to remind Joe Biden, who’s just picked progressive California senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, that his vice-president-to-be believes Catholics are unfit to serve in our nation’s courts. (Biden, of course, as I considered at length on the homepage today, has spent his entire political career invoking his Catholic faith.)

Atlanta prosecutor loses big in primary
I’m happy to report that Paul Howard, Fulton County, Georgia’s district attorney, has gone down to crushing defeat in his primary race. Howard, who has been the DA for more than two decades, lost his runoff race with Fani Willis by more than 45 points.

Kamala Harris Lies Repeatedly in First Press Conference as Biden’s Running Mate
“The president’s mismanagement of the pandemic has plunged us into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Harris said.

Kamala Harris’s Threat to “Pack” the Supreme Court
Senator Kamala Harris has said that she is “open” to increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court, in order to reverse the conservative majority (as she sees it) and pave the way for the progressive agenda. This position and the implied threat behind it deserve a lot more attention than they’ve gotten.

Natural Born Citizen: Kamala Harris
There are many reasons to vote against Kamala Harris, but she is eligible to be Vice President (and potentially, President), just as were Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz.

Trump: We Can’t Fund The Postal Service Or Else It’ll Encourage Universal Mail-In Voting
“Did the president just admit to sabotaging the post office for the purpose of suppressing voter participation?” asked reporter Tim Alberta of the clip below.

The Distraction over Whether Kamala Harris Is a “Natural-Born Citizen”
Everyone’s buzzing about a Newsweek piece by John C. Eastman contending that Kamala Harris might not be a “natural-born citizen” — in which case she would not be eligible for the vice presidency — because her parents were not citizens, and may have merely had student visas, when she was born.

QAnon-er who won Georgia House primary was once a 9/11 Truther too, of course
The thing about people with one really bad idea is they never have only one really bad idea.

Kamala Harris Is Good News for GOP Senate Candidates
Kamala Harris makes for a highly unusual running mate in that most Americans believe (according to at least one poll) that she herself will shortly be president. Any attempt she makes to rebrand herself as being supportive of Joe Biden’s “moderate” platform (it isn’t) will be seen, and properly so, as contingent upon his endurance, which is in question. Her actual policy ideas stand an excellent chance of being implemented should Biden–Harris win in November, and everyone knows it.

More than 223K mailed ballots returned undelivered in primary
More than 223,000 mailed ballots were returned to Clark County as undeliverable mail during the June primary, according to a report by the conservative-leaning Public Interest Legal Foundation and confirmed by the Review-Journal.

NYC Police Union Makes First Presidential Endorsement
The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (NYCPBA), a New York City law enforcement union did something on Friday that the union has never done before – it announced an endorsement in the presidential race. NYCPBA announced its endorsement of President Trump’s re-election.

Photo about removing mailboxes goes viral, but USPS says it’s replacing old ones
A social media post, appearing to show someone putting USPS boxes into a truck gained a lot of traction online.

Michigan Rejects 846 Mail-In Ballots From Dead Voters
The state of Michigan has one of the better records in keeping their voter registration lists current. So it’s heartening that the state election authorities rejected 846 ballots from people who were dead and another 1,100 ballots from people who had moved.

 

Gun Rights

 

The Decline and Fall of the National Rifle Association
And the rise of something sinister

When Should the Government Dissolve Nonprofits?
At Lawfare, Alan Z. Rozenshtein argues that the National Rifle Association should be reformed, not dissolved. But as he notes, there are serious allegations of financial impropriety against the organization’s leadership — and in such cases, the state of New York (where the NRA is registered) grants its attorney general wide discretion to seek dissolution rather than other remedies, such as replacing the board or placing the organization into receivership.

Gun Permit Applications Backing Up, Process More Difficult in Cities Defunding Police
“Firearm-related background checks reached 3.9 million nationally in June, the most since the tracking system was created more than two decades ago”

Appellate Court Throws Out California Ban On High-Capacity Ammo Magazines
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s protection of the right to bear firearms.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Reliance on Wind and Solar Will Lead to Blackouts
With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris firmly committed to a radical version of the Green New Deal, it is a good time to ask: what would happen if we actually tried to rely on wind and solar for electricity generation? South Australia gave us a preview of the answer in 2016 when its lights went out due to reliance on wind energy.

Rolling Blackouts in California? Who could have guessed?
Residents asked to reduce power during the California heat wave

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Belgian Neonatologists Support Eugenic Late-Term Abortion and Infanticide
German doctors were hanged at Nuremberg for killing disabled infants — part of the medical Holocaust.

 

War & Terror

 

Chinese hackers have pillaged Taiwan’s semiconductor industry
Operation Skeleton Key has stolen source code, SDKs, chip designs, and more.

After initiating much sea-borne chaos, China now wants a seat in an international tribunal for maritime disputes
Australia and Malaysia push back against China’s South Sea claims as Ecuador says China agrees to a “monitoring” of its fishing armada.

After initiating much sea-borne chaos, China now wants a seat in an international tribunal for maritime disputes
Australia and Malaysia push back against China’s South Sea claims as Ecuador says China agrees to a “monitoring” of its fishing armada.

Free Speech Arrested: Hong Kong Police Arrest Pro-Democracy Publisher For “Collusion” Under The National Security Law
The collapse of free speech continues in Hong Kong under the new national security law. Today a police raid targeted pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and his newspaper Apple Daily. After rounding up Lai at his mansion, 200 police officers went to the offices of Apple Daily.

Arrests in Hong Kong
Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong democracy activist and the publisher of Apple Daily, has been arrested under the new national-security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. The arrest featured a massive raid featuring hundreds of police. He’s not the only prominent person arrested today. So were his two sons. And so was Agnes Chow, another renowned activist. These arrests highlight that democratic political speech is subjected to the law, not just “rioting” or demonstration.

Roughly 20,000 counterfeit driver’s licenses from China, other countries seized at Chicago airport
Customs and Border Protection officers have seized nearly 20,000 counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses at Chicago’s O’Hare airport within the first six months of 2020, according to reports.

TikTok Tracked User Data Using Tactic Banned by Google
The tactic, which experts in mobile-phone security said was concealed through an unusual added layer of encryption, appears to have violated Google policies

More Evidence of “Organs on Demand” System in China
China has been repeatedly and credibly accused of organ harvesting the Falun Gong and other political prisoners, usually for the black market, in which rich foreigners needing a transplant travel there and buy their lives at the cost of ending someone else’s. It is an evil trade, and one for which China should be shunned by the international community.

China’s Naval Ambitions Are a Global Threat
Despite the widespread international criticism China has received in recent weeks over its brutal suppression of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, there is little sign that Beijing is prepared to adopt a more conciliatory tone.

 

National

 

UNC Insists on “Equity” Rather Than Equality
The buzzword this year in higher education is “equity.” What the people who use it mean is that the treatment of underrepresented minorities must result in equal outcomes for each group. It’s not good enough that all students, no matter their supposed group, have equal chances to succeed. The results must be equalized, and that’s going to require a lot of new programs.

Massachusetts: Accused Rapist Bailed Out of Jail by Liberal Bail Fund Group Charged With Raping Again
Also, Alleged VA Rapist Released Due To COVID Charged With Killing Accuser.

Probably Not Trump Voters: 20 Shot When Gunfight Breaks Out at D.C. Party
Dubois Place is a block-long street in an area of southeastern Washington, D.C., that is overwhelmingly black and, by “overwhelmingly black” I mean like Mogadishu, it’s so black. Despite the draconian COVID-19 policies imposed by the city’s mayor, some residents of the community decided to hold a massive block party Saturday night, which they advertised on social media, attracting hundreds of revelers.

Over 100 People Arrested in Chicago Overnight Amid Rampant Rioting and Looting
“Criminals took to the streets with the confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions.” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown

Car Caravan and U-Haul Aid Looters in Ransacking Chicago After Misinformation Sparks BLM Outrage
In the wee hours of Monday morning, a mob of looters swept through downtown Chicago, likely inspired by looting following the Black Lives Matter rallies in Minneapolis in the wake of the horrific police killing of George Floyd. They ransacked a mall, a Tesla dealership, a Walgreens, and more. Armed looters got into a brief shootout with police, although it remains unclear if anyone was injured. Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), who vocally condemned gatherings of people on the beach this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic, has remained silent on this looting but will address it in a press conference Monday morning.

Andy Ngo Reveals How Antifa Rioters Get Out of Jail and Keep Terrorizing Portland Night After Night
On the 72nd straight night of violence in Portland, antifa rioters again targeted the Portland Police Association (PPA) — which they had lit on fire the night before — and turned the streets around it into a war zone. They erected barricades, lit fires on the street, and fired mortar fireworks at police officers, wounding two of them. In a memorable exchange, a man on the street assured antifa rioters that they should not worry even as they were getting arrested. Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, explained why this man reassured them, and why antifa rioters can keep themselves out of jail to return to the streets, night after night.

The Worst Mass Shooting You Never Heard About (This Year, Anyway)
In the early hours of the morning yesterday, there was a massive party taking place on the 3300 block of Dubois Place in Southeast Washington, D.C. The good times came screeching to a halt when sustained gunfire broke out. When the smoke cleared, one 17-year-old male was dead and another twenty people had been shot. Among them was an off-duty police officer who had responded to the violence and was left “fighting for her life.” No suspects have been identified.

Shooting Near the White House: President Trump Removed From Press Briefing
The president left a press briefing abruptly on Monday after a Secret Service agent whispered something to him. President Trump immediately left the room with security. Members of the press reported that there was a security threat and possibly shots fired near the White House that prompted the move. Here’s the moment it happened.

Ghislaine Maxwell to court: Put me in the general prison population — please
Doesn’t this seem a little … counterintuitive? When FBI agents swooped in and arrested Ghislaine Maxwell in a raid last month, people openly wondered how long a jet-setting accused abuser of underage girls would survive if put among all the other inmates. Yesterday, however, Maxwell’s attorneys demanded that prison officials take her from their suicide-watch status and heightened supervision, and put into the general population.

Music professor threatens to sue university for investigating him over defense of “racist” composer
“At least one individual” was “coerced” into signing petition against him

USC student gov vice president resigns amid ‘anti-Semitic’ attacks
The Vice President of the University of Southern California student government has resigned amid “anti-Semitic” attacks.

One Professor Pushes Back against Duke’s “Anti-Racism” Crusade
Back in June, the president of Duke University decreed that the institution needed to fully embrace anti-racism. Today the Martin Center publishes an open letter by emeritus professor John Staddon in response to it. He is troubled by the assumptions behind the anti-racism crusade and the actions it will entail.

Woke Foundations
Some of America’s most august charitable institutions are embracing radical politics.

Wright State Economics Professor Says School Restricting Enrollment In Course Critical of Marxism
“Osborne taught the class as an honors elective before in 2014 to counter the ‘dumb’ criticisms of capitalism he said students were exposed to.”

Transgender Surgery Does Not Improve Mental Health, Academics Belatedly Admit
Last year, a groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) claimed to prove that transgender surgery improves the mental health of people suffering from gender dysphoria (the persistent and painful identification with the gender opposite one’s biological sex). Earlier this month, however, AJP issued a “correction” that acknowledged key flaws in the study and admitted that the true results “demonstrated no advantage of surgery.” This represents a severe blow to the transgender ideological takeover of American medicine.

New Title IX Rule Will Take Effect Friday After Judge Refuses To Strike It Down
This has been a long time coming. Education Sec. Betsy DeVos announced plans to reconsider Obama-era Title IX guidance to college administrators on dealing with incidents of sexual assault back in 2017. The proposed revision to the rules appeared in 2018. This week two different courts refused last minute efforts to block the new rules so they will take effect on Friday.

Another judge refuses to halt DeVos sexual misconduct regulation: “rooted in the text of Title IX”
Nothing remotely “arbitrary and capricious” about it

Federal Judge Proposes Letting ACLU Determine Who is a Journalist
Obama appointed judge was a partner in the law firm of Perkins Coie

Eighth Circuit Reinstates Pro-Life Laws in Arkansas
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a preliminary injunction that a lower court had placed on several pro-life laws in Arkansas, sending the case back to the district judge for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on abortion policy.

DOJ Accuses Yale of Illegally Discriminating Against White and Asian Students
After a two-year investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Yale University has illegally discriminated against “dozens of white and Asian” students in its admission process.

UCLA students call “timing” of new Black Student Resource Center “convenient”
UCLA has given in to demands to create a Black Resource center, after pressure from students.

Power restored as California ISO lifts Stage 3 Emergency
PG&E has been directed by the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to begin shutting off power as CAISO has declared a statewide Stage 3 Emergency due to excessive heat driving up electricity use and putting strain on the grid.

Connecting Dots in Clinesmith’s Russiagate Guilty Plea
Some interesting things to note about the false-statements charge which former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith is pleading guilty today.

Court axes “Save James” ruling, mom who wants gender “transition” for 8-yr-old regains decision rights
The order, issued without a proper hearing, allows mother Anne Georgulas power over her son James’ medical decisions – and apparently forces James’ father to pay for pro-trans counseling that costs $5,000 a month.

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Cuban ballplayers, regulating Puerto Rico, and the male-only military draft.

A method has been developed to study extreme space weather events
Scientists at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), together with colleagues from the Karl-Franzens University of Graz & the Kanzelhöhe Observatory (Austria), Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology (USA), Helioresearch (USA) and Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) developed a method to study fast Coronal Mass Ejections, powerful ejections of magnetized matter from the outer atmosphere of the Sun. The results can help to better understand and predict the most extreme space weather events and their potential to cause strong geomagnetic storms that directly affect the operation of engineering systems in space and on Earth. The results of the study are published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Chicago: “Find Some Place to Loot”
Say hello to Aaron Neal, criminal mastermind

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Many Businesses Look At Fleeing Minneapolis
A few days ago, John explored the story of how as many as one-third of the currently serving police officers in Minneapolis may be taking an early exit from their careers and the dearth of potential replacements available. While it’s hard to blame the cops for considering clearing out of town under the current conditions, they may have company as they’re loading up the U-Haul rental trucks. A number of business owners in Minneapolis appear to have had it with their properties being smashed, emptied and set on fire. And if so

The Complications of That Payroll-Tax Cut
Jim Tankersley explains how it could end up being a lot smaller than advertised

NY Dems push for law mandating 500 hours of training for “shampoo assistants”
Washing hair is about to get a lot more complicated if a trio of Albany Democrats have their way.

New Unemployment Claims Fall Below One Million for First Time Since March
The U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday that 963,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, the first time jobless claims have fallen below 1,000,000 since March.

California Democrats Propose A Wealth Tax Which Taxes You Even After You Leave The State
The pandemic has put a $50 billion dent in California’s finances and Democrats are busy coming up with new ways to raise more tax money. Plans to consider a tax hike on those making more than $1 million was just put off until next year, but now a California Assemblyman has proposed a wealth tax on top earners

 

International

 

Election protests in Belarus – 3,000 arrested
Sunday was election day in Belarus and shortly after voting ended the government announced the results of an exit poll which said President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994, would win another term.

Lebanon’s government resigns in wake of Beirut explosion; what will Hezbollah do?
This truly represents “a dangerous moment” for Lebanon, as Sky News reports today, but it’s not the first this country has faced. In the wake of the massive blast in Beirut — which almost everyone now blames on ruling-class negligence and incompetence — the government resigned en masse today. Current PM Hassan Diab will stay on as a caretaker leader while a new government forms, but the political leadership faces new pressure to discard the “sectarianism” that has defined government since the end of the civil war.

‘Woke’ professor panned for calling for phrase ‘the British people’ to be banned because it’s ‘divisive’
Media hungry physicist Brian Cox has found himself at the center of a storm of controversy after calling for the phrase “the British people” to be banned because, apparently, it’s “inflammatory and divisive”.

Rowan Atkinson invokes wrath of cancel culture for raising concerns about controversial “hate crime” bill
Comedian Rowan Atkinson has incurred the wrath of woke warriors on social media after voicing his opposition to a controversial hate crimes law which he believes will stifle free speech and rational debate.

More Shortages: Venezuela Running Out of Iranian Gasoline
Maduro’s tyrannical regime sent fuel to Cuba but has no way of dealing with the shortage of gasoline once again

Some Humans Are Carrying DNA From an Unknown Ancient Ancestor
A new analysis of the genomes of the most famous of ancient humans – Neanderthals and Denisovans – has revealed an as-yet-unidentified ancestor for our species – a branch of our distant family tree without any known label to put to it.

Israel and UAE strike historic deal to normalise relations
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalise relations, US President Donald Trump has announced.

Cuban farmers warn UN a Stalinesque Holodomor famine is coming to Cuba
Independent farmers in Cuba fear the socialist Castro dictatorship is employing similar tactics used by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to unleash a famine on the island. In a letter sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the agricultural producers say they see another Holodomor approaching on Cuba’s horizon.

Bolivia Investigates Evo Morales’ Affair with a Minor
The former President of Bolivia allegedly started a relationship with a 14-year-old girl when he was in office. Authorities analyze photos, videos, and conversations

Protesters Arrested In Belarus Say They Were Beaten And Tortured By Police
After a rigged election in Belarus Sunday, protesters turned out in the streets and faced off with police for several nights. Nearly 7,000 people were arrested and now, under international pressure, many of those people are being released. They describe beatings and torture while they were detained and many have the bruises to prove it

U.S. Seized 1.1 Million Gallons Of Iranian Gasoline Headed To Venezuela
Back in May, Iran sent five tankers full of gasoline to Venezuela which was in the midst of a gas crunch because its refining capacity has plummeted. Iran and Venezuela attempted a second round but this time tried to deliver the gasoline covertly by using ship-to-ship transfers and four foreign-flagged tankers. In July the DOJ filed a “forfeiture complaint and warrant” with a federal court on the grounds that profit from the sale of the gasoline would go the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and be used to support terrorism. A judge issued a warrant and right around that time the four tankers involved in the scheme turned off their tracking signals.

Maduro Frontman Tried to Bribe Cape Verde: “Venezuela Can Help More Than the United States”
“As my country’s special envoy, I can help Cape Verde more than the United States will in 100 years,” Maduro’s frontman said

United States Sanctions Break Chávez-China Company
CV Shipping was a company founded by Hugo Chávez in 2008 when China was looking to strengthen its ties with Venezuela.

Workers Join Belarus Protests, as Leader’s Base Turns Against Him
Demonstrators at a huge state-run factory in the capital gave an ultimatum: Unless a fair election is held, they will strike, in a new test of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko’s rule.

“Drag Queen Story Hour” posts tweet deemed pedophilic, locks account after pushback
The “Drag Queen Story Hour U.K.” Twitter account recently posted a tweet that many users deemed pedophilic. The group subsequently deleted the tweet and locked their account after pushback.

Ten more arrests in investigation into Rotherham abuse allegations
Ten more men have been arrested as part of an investigation into the abuse of four girls in Rotherham, alleged to have taken place around 20 years ago.

 

Opinion

 

The Wall Street Journal: “It’s Time To Revive The Anglosphere”
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Roberts explains the logic of migration, trade and foreign policy agreements between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and the need for CANZUK to work alongside the United States for promoting prosperity and global security.

Sasse: Trump’s “Executive Lawmaking Is Unconstitutional Slop”
Nebraska GOP senator Ben Sasse weighed in on the executive actions taken by President Trump over the weekend because of Congress’s stalemate over another COVID economic-relief bill

A Vice President, a Constitution, and a Time for Adults
I wish that faith was as foundational a principle in our nation as it was during our Founding Fathers’ time, or even during my growing-up time 60 years ago. Were it so, we would not be in this awful situation calling good evil and evil good as an amoral society.

What People Fear Most About “Cancel Culture”
A new survey shows that rising numbers of Americans are clamming up, regardless of age, race or even politics.

Do Americans Even Care If There’s a Constitution?
Yuval Levin and Adam J. White covered almost all that needs to be said about the most recent Trump executive orders, the spiritual descendants of Barack Obama’s declaring “I have a pen and a phone” and deciding to enact the DACA and DAPA programs without congressional concurrence, authorization, or action.

WSJ On Trump’s EOs: Yes, Obama Did It First — And It’s Still A Bad Idea
Political masterstroke? True enough, declares the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board. By issuing his executive orders this weekend — actually one EO and three other action types — Trump escaped from Nancy Pelosi’s trillion-dollar pork trap. Walking away was the right choice, the editorial declares — but the EO raises more potential for executive overreach than it allows for problem-solving in the short term.

Did the DACA Ruling Bury Constitutionalism?
In reacting to President Trump’s recent executive orders, Jim Geraghty asks “Do Americans Even Care If There’s a Constitution?” He reluctantly suggests that the answer is “no.”

“Stakeholder Capitalism”: Roundtable for One
Last year the Business Roundtable issued a grand-sounding “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation”, which basically rejected the quaint idea that a company’s primary duty was to its owners (the shareholders) and replaced it with a commitment to “stakeholder capitalism”.

Bloc Heads
Welcome to The Tuesday, a cheery little weekly newsletter about the existential despair Irving Kristol indicated when he noted that Western civilization is collapsing “but it’ll take a long time, and, meanwhile, it’s still possible to live well.”

Democrats Might Regret Killing the Filibuster
The nuclear option would change Congress for the worse

Millenarian mobs
The consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic will be with us for a long time, yet our descent into mobocracy may be the most notable development of 2020. It is the subject of Angelo Codevilla’s essay “Millenarian mobs” in the just-published Summer issue of the Claremont Review of Books. He calls it “an old and dangerous story.”

Why Reagan’s Call to Conservatism Needs to Be Heard Again Today
Today, America has a choice of two paths. We can embrace the foundational principles that created this nation of limited government and individual liberty. Or we can veer down the path of bigger, more intrusive government that promises to solve all our problems if we just turn over more of our freedom and our paychecks.

Defending the Declaration
Americans have natural rights all wrong, Cameron Hilditch maintains

On Navigating Intra-Conservative Debates
A frustrating aspect of intra-conservative debate in the Trump era is the tendency of some to pretend that genuine disagreements over policy are questions of understanding or even courage. This tendency was exemplified by a recent tweet from Greg Price, who runs the Daily Caller’s social-media platforms. Responding to a query about how Republicans would feel about a Marco Rubio–Nikki Haley GOP ticket in 2024, Price derided the hypothetical pairing as desirable if and only if ” . . . your understanding of the GOP comes solely from Tuesday night College Republicans meetings.”

The Insufferable Wokeness of Ben & Jerry’s
The makers of overpriced ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s U.K., have decided once again to lecture the British public on their political virtue. The multimillion-dollar company’s official Twitter account took aim at the British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, in response to her promise to deter migrants from making the illegal and perilous boat journey across the English Channel.

Against the Democrats’ Court-Packing Scheme
A terrible idea is getting new support

The Diminishing Returns on “Owning the Libs”
There is something about presidential-election years that drives partisans toward a self-destructive fantasy. In the three years before an election, partisans loyal to the party that lost last time make genuine efforts to understand what went wrong, to reach an understanding with the victors, and to compromise in pursuit of limited and incremental gains. And then, in year four, all that goes out the window. It is replaced with a tantalizing but illusory temptation: Why expend any effort seeking a covenant with the other guys when they can just be destroyed?

“Abolish the United States of America”: Radical “Youth Liberation Front” Active in Portland Encourages Violence, Explicitly Rejects Peaceful Protesting
A radical group credited with organizing anti-police rallies in Portland openly cheers violence and explicitly rejects efforts to keep protests peaceful, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.

Progressive Sex Education and the Battle for Our Children
Progressive activists seek to expand sex education in schools across America to include topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity. Their proposed curriculum also promotes abortion.

“Saving Higher Ed From Cancel Culture”
Join me and three distinguished panelists (Robert Shibley of The FIRE, Joshua Katz of Princeton, and Jason Hill of DePaul) to discuss cancel culture in Higher Education, and what can be done to save Higher Ed from itself.

Our “Leadership” Class That Refuses to Lead
On the home page, our Robert VerBruggen has a really smart and insightful piece on the breakdown in talks about pandemic economic relief, concluding that there has “rarely been a better example of a longstanding problem in American politics: Congress doesn’t feel like doing its job, and the executive branch doesn’t feel like staying within its constitutionally established role.” I would add just three points.

A Way around the College Cartel
Going to college isn’t about learning, but about credentialing — for most students anyway. They take a smattering of courses, the content of which they quickly forget, have fun, and blow through a great amount of money. At the end, a school gives them a piece of paper attesting to their “education.”

A skeptical note on Israel’s deal with the UAE
In a deal brokered by the Trump administration, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalize relations. In exchange for normalized relations, Israel agreed to suspend its West Bank annexation plans.

Our Collapsing Cities
Let us take as our text for the day a passage from Sir Roger Scruton’s book How To Be a Conservative

Rather Than Reopen, It’s Time to Rethink Government Education
There is no better time to make a change than right now, when public education is in chaos.

I’m a Former Teacher. Here’s How Your Children Are Getting Indoctrinated by Leftist Ideology.
Your children are being indoctrinated. The education system designed to teach them how to think critically has been weaponized by the radical left to push an anti-American agenda.

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