News of the Week for Aug. 23^rd, 2020

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

 

Riots & Revolution

 

Professors devise racial history curriculum that emphasizes “common ground,” not blame
Response to racial tensions spurred by Michael Brown’s shooting

College warns students against “fatphobic” phrases like “you have such a pretty face”
Mount Holyoke College’s diversity office posted a guide with “fatphobic” phrases.

The Invention of “Systemic Racism”
It is now the official view in government, industry, and education that African Americans and certain other “people of color” perform poorly in schools and the workforce, but nonetheless must be treated as if they perform well. The statistically weak performance of African Americans, according to the official view, is not their fault; it is the fault of other people. Namely, as we have been told ad infinitum, it is the fault of American slavery. No less than the “newspaper of record,” The New York Times, has in its “The 1619 Project” advanced the thesis that slavery and only slavery is the foundation of America, and, as America’s “original sin,” has shaped and corrupted America through racism ever since. The alleged facts supporting the historical claims of The 1619 Project have been proven to be false by historians, and the lead author, Nikole Hannah-Jones, now admits that the Project is not history, but an attempt to change “the national narrative.”

The Oppressive Liberation of the Left
To be truly liberated, you must enslave others.

Seattle cop tells BLM protester he’s quitting force: “You guys won!”
A Seattle cop was caught in a viral video announcing that he was quitting the force because of the Black Lives Matter protests — telling a demonstrator: “I’m leaving. You guys won!”

Students demand university offer ‘safe’ rides home at night after defunding police
Students at Binghamton University are calling on the school to reinstate its Safe Ride program during late night to early morning hours.

Students demand university offer ‘safe’ rides home at night after defunding police
Students at Binghamton University are calling on the school to reinstate its Safe Ride program during late night to early morning hours.

Democratic State House candidate suggests Minnesota suburb be burned down: ‘I didn’t come here to be peaceful’
The situation got intense at a Black Lives Matter protest at the head of the Minneapolis police union’s home

Black Lives Matter, Antifa Crowd Beat Man Unconscious in Portland
A crowd of Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters in downtown Portland beat a white man unconscious Sunday night after dragging him from his truck, video footage of the incident shows.

Antifa Is Evil
Portland is a dead city, a nightmarish dystopia ruled by criminals associated with Antifa and Black Lives Matter. (Is there still a distinction between those groups? They seem effectively to have merged.) We are all indebted to Andy Ngo for documenting the depths to which Portland has descended. Here, Antifa/BLM criminals viciously assault a man who was driving a truck, finally kicking him in the head, knocking him unconscious and leaving him for dead

Black Lives Matter protesters harass neighbors of Minneapolis Police Union chief
“You think we give a [expletive] about burning Hugo down?”

Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley Calls for “Unrest in the Streets”
Suggested the public target GOP officials who are continue to “carry water” for the Trump administration

VA State Senator Charged With Two Felonies In Destruction Of Monument
The recent months of riots have featured the tearing down or destruction of a wide variety of monuments and statues around the country. Although most of these incidents were caught on camera and gleefully broadcast on social media, frequently by the perpetrators and/or their friends, you never seem to hear about any arrests being made or charges being filed as a result of this destruction of public property. But that’s no longer the case in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Non-Woke Grad Students Need Help
It is increasingly difficult for tradition-minded grad students in history to find support. Few faculty members are interested in working with students who aren’t enthused about looking at the world through the standard lenses of race, gender, and oppression. Moreover, financial support is drying up for students who don’t want to pursue “progressive” projects.

Minneapolis City Council, mayor sued by residents for letting police force crumble
About 111 officers are on some type of medical leave, including 40 officers who submitted PTSD claims, according to the lawsuit.

BLM speaker in Portland says police should have been strangled by their umbilical cords and she’s ready to shoot them
Protestors in Portland, Ore. took their fight of over 80 days to the Justice Center on Aug. 16 and declared war. Speaking to the gathered crowd, Letha Winston said “This is war you guys. We are at war, are you guys ready?” As the crowd cheered.

Should America Be Guided by “Narratives” or Truth?
In a recent interview, Attorney General William Barr said of the dominant news media: “They are projecting a narrative. When the word ‘narrative’ came into currency, I knew we were in trouble, because the word narrative suggests that there’s no objective truth. There’s no real story of what happened, it”s just everyone has their own narrative.”

Goodyear Tires: “Black Lives Matter” Okay At Work, “Blue Lives Matter” “All Lives Matter” “MAGA” Prohibited
Welcome to 2020. “Equality” without regard to skin color is off the table, “equity” based on skin color is mandatory from campus to culture to corporations.

BLM Mob Beats Piñatas of Minneapolis Police Union Chief and His Wife Outside His Home
On Saturday, a Black Lives Matter mob led by a Democratic candidate for state representative and the leftist group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) marched to the home of Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll and his wife, reporter Liz Collins. They shouted into microphones and beat piñatas designed to look like Kroll and Collins.

Portland Antifa Rioters Almost Got a Corporate Sponsor…
On Monday, the company Otter Pops offered to send free ice pops to antifa rioters in Portland. By Tuesday morning, the company had realized its mistake and dropped the offer.

New Jersey BLM leader charged with punching elderly man during rally
A Black Lives Matter leader in New Jersey has been charged with punching an elderly man in the face — knocking him to the ground — when he tried to confront him at a boardwalk rally.

Girlfriend Describes Assault Of Adam Haner: “They Were Just Looking To Fight Somebody”
There were reports Monday that the woman seen in the video with Adam Haner was his wife. I think he even refers to her as his wife in one of the clips but according to this interview with Fox 12 Oregon, Tammie Martin is his girlfriend. They were in downtown Portland that night because he was driving her to pick up her car. And then Adam Haner saw a trans-woman being assaulted and tried to intervene. That’s when the small group of BLM supporters turned on them.

Injured Seattle Police Officer: Rioters Are “Very Violent, Very Destructive”
If the headline above sounds familiar that’s because it is. Last month I wrote a story headlined “Seattle Police Officer Injured In Last Weekend’s Riot: “There’s Just So Much Hate'” That was about an officer named Ellie who had an injured knee after someone threw a rock at her outside the police precinct.

The Rolling Kristallnacht
The rolling Kristallnacht of “mostly peaceful” protests organized and sponsored by the unholy union of Antifa and BLM continues unabated in those mostly progressive Democrat party municipalities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, and New York. Give the protesters, rioters and looters credit for stamina; they’ve kept it up for nearly two months now, and look to be going strong, still. They haven’t much dared venture out and away from those progressive sanctuaries, although half a dozen did make a trip to Sturgis to provoke the bikers rallying there, which futile bit of resistance theater they did from behind a screen of local police. Which brings to mind Insty the Blogfaddah’s oft-repeated observation that the police – which the Antifaites and BLM protesters wish to abolish – are there to protect accused criminals from the rest of us. Frankly, it would have been laugh-out-loud comic if the bikers in Sturgis had been allowed to pants the Antifaites and run them out of town naked, but there you are. Obviously the Antifaites and BLMmers are hoping to provoke an over-the-top violent reaction and a blooming new crop of martyr Horst Wessels; they must be quite annoyed that so far, the rest of us have kept our temper. Although there was that incident in Austin late in July, wherein a protester learned too late that brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner towards a driver who is a licensed concealed-carry holder and an active-duty soldier moonlighting as an Uber driver … might just have an adverse outcome.

Facebook Removes Antifa Group That Incited Rioting Across the Country
On Wednesday, Facebook announced that it would remove the pages of groups that support violent riots, including many antifa organizations. Among many others, Facebook removed the Pacific-Northwest Youth Liberation Front, an antifa group that incited violent riots across the country on July 25. Facebook did not just remove antifa groups, but also militia organizations and organizations linked to the QAnon conspiracy.

Antifa Rioters ‘Embedded Themselves’ Among Peaceful Protesters to Wreak Havoc in Richmond
On Monday, Richmond, Va., Police announced they had arrested 12 people after a riot on Sunday night. At a press conference, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith said every suspect was affiliated with antifa to some degree or another. He also noted that antifa activists had embedded themselves among peaceful protesters.

“Black linguistic justice”: Professors demand end to standard English as the norm
Abolish “White Mainstream English,” English professors argue

Portland: BLM Mob Terrorizing Residential Areas, Yelling “Wake Up Mother ****er, Wake Up!”
“Right here is another example of a white man feeling comfortable. I’ve bet you’ve never had a struggle in your life! Ever!”

Probing with Bayonets
Earlier this week, footage emerged of a Black Lives Matter mob in Portland beating a man unconscious after dragging him out of his truck. The incident began at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday when the gentleman in question was attacked while still in his car. Panicked, he sped off as the mob gave chase before crashing into a tree and a nearby building, bringing the vehicle to an ignominious halt. The driver was then quickly pulled out of his truck and onto the ground whereupon he was savagely beaten as he pleaded with his captors to no avail. Eventually, one of these common criminals ended this collective paroxysm of violence by kicking his helpless victim in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious as his skull crashed against the pavement. There is also a sobbing woman in the background of the footage, visibly distressed at what is unfolding before her eyes and calling for an end to the violence, but she is restrained by the Black Lives Matter criminals as they rifle through their victim’s truck, looking for anything of material value.

Marquise Love Turns Himself In, Now Facing Three Felony Charges
As recently as yesterday afternoon police said they hadn’t been able to locate Marquise Love, the suspect in the assault on Adam Haner in Portland Sunday night. But this morning, Love finally turned himself in.

Portland’s Rioters Weaponize Waste as the Violence Keeps Escalating
Portland’s rolling riot took several disturbing new turns Friday night.

This Red State Governor Signed A Bill Increasing Penalties On Protesters
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee quietly signed into law increased penalties for protesters. Lee, a former businessman, was elected in 2018. The bill signed into law is a no-nonsense response to two months of frequent protests outside the Capitol. The increased penalties include losing the right to vote for breaking certain laws while protesting.

This Week in Racial Retribution
I have previously referred to Kurt Vonnegut’s famous 1961 short story “Harrison Bergeron,” which is a mordant satire of the tyrannical world of perfect equality. If you’ve never read it, here’s the first paragraph

Our under-incarceration problem, Portland beatdown edition
Marquise Love is the thug who was caught on video viciously assaulting Adam Haner in Portland, Oregon the other day during a “protest.” Love knocked Haner unconscious. Police now have Love in custody.

Antifa clash with Proud Boys in Portland, as police refuse to declare a riot & let violent brawls “resolve themselves”
Portland police have explained why they chose not to intervene in violent clashes between heavily armed right- and left-wing groups, insisting they “willingly engaged in physical interactions” which “quickly resolved themselves.”

Chinese Consulate in Houston Intervened in US Political Movement
Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an article explaining the reason that the U.S. closed China’s Consulate in Houston.

Portland Riot: Vandalism, Naked People, Poop Balloons And Nine Arrests
Another riot was declared in Portland last night. I think that makes four this week. Last night the focus was the north precinct and Antifa vandalized a police car. While they were there they also vandalized a van for the Boys & Girls Club which is not part of the police bureau.

 

Corona Virus

 

Gottlieb says U.S. likely “a long way” from herd immunity to virus
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday that the United States is likely a “long way” from achieving herd immunity from the coronavirus, even as the number of confirmed cases continues to climb.

Michigan College To Trace Students’ Every Move 24/7
If you’re a parent who happens to be preparing to send your child off to Albion College in Michigan this semester, you’ll want to make sure that they have a charger for their cell phone and that it’s loaded up with the latest hot app that all the cool kids will be using this year. In fact, it’s not just the cool kids. Every student will have the app on their phone because the school is making it mandatory. But rather than some fun new game like Candy Crush, this app is a mobile spying tool that will monitor each student’s location every hour of every day, along with personal health information. And it’s all being done in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus. Don’t you just feel safer already?

Merkel’s Government Faces Backlash Over Proposed Carnival Festival Ban After Backing Large BLM Protests
After backing massive BLM-style rallies across Germany, Berlin considers ban on traditional carnival festivities.

 

Election 2020

 

The Suburbs Issue: Trump and Carson Speak
President Trump and Secretary Carson have co-authored a strong op-ed entitled “We’ll Protect America’s Suburbs.” This piece is the administration’s most important attempt to date to break the media blockade on substantive discussion of the suburbs issue. Up to this point, instead of exploring the implications of Biden’s housing plans — including his promise to restore the AFFH (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing) regulation, and to kill single-family zoning by withholding road repairs from suburbs — the media has cried racism instead.

The Disparate Coverage of Lunatic Candidates Who Win Primaries
Last night, Republican primary voters nominated an infamous conspiracy theorist for a House seat . . . again.

They’re Coming for Your Guns
Analyzing The Democratic Party’s Gun Control Platform

Not the Onion: The DNC Includes Elizabeth Warren in Native American Caucus
On Tuesday, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) apparently included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in its Native American Caucus meeting. While Warren has apologized for claiming a Native American identity after her disastrous DNA test flop and President Donald Trump has repeatedly mocked her as “Pocahontas,” it seems the DNC decided it would be a good idea to highlight the controversy.

KS Socialist Teen Sent Revenge Porn But Wins Primary
This is what happens when voters don’t pay attention: a KS teen and avowed socialist, a kid who once sent revenge porn, won his Democrat primary for state representative. What’s more, he defeated a seven-term KS lawmaker on a platform of pure socialism. Even worse, since he has no GOP opponent, come November, this kid may sail into the Kansas statehouse in Topeka.

Laura Loomer and the Illusion of the Useful Fringe Candidate
Republican primary voters in Senate and House races have done a fairly solid job this year of rejecting some of the party’s best-known toxic figures, such as Steve King, Roy Moore, and Kris Kobach. Arthur Jones didn’t sneak by again in Illinois’ Third District, where the Democrats were purging the most prominent pro-lifer left in their party. But every cycle, a few nuts slip through. One is QAnon believer Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia’s 14th District, and another is Laura Loomer in Florida’s 21st District. Loomer got 42.5 percent of the vote in a six-way race that included another QAnon believer and a former exotic dancer.

DNC speaker is prof who wants to make ‘revolution irresistible’
A Colorado State University professor who spoke at the Democratic National Convention has a history of social justice activism and advancing liberal ideas.

Trump and His Campaign Are Being Outclassed
Joe Biden delivered a solid, if overhyped, speech last night accepting his party’s nomination for the highest office in the land. It effectively put a cap on the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and summed up the Democrats’ case thus: Joe Biden is a good and kind man; Donald Trump is not. Biden’s decency has been hugely exaggerated, as my colleague Ramesh Ponnuru has explained at Bloomberg Opinion, but he does seem a Boy Scout compared with his opponent. Moreover, excepting the woman who accused Trump of killing her father and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s cringeworthy polemics last night, the DNC was specifically and effectively built around highlighting the gap in their characters. Biden, the lifetime public servant persevering through unthinkable personal tragedies, and who spends his free time mentoring children with the same stuttering problem he was once afflicted with, was persuasively contrasted with Trump, the president of Charlottesville and QAnon.

New Jersey Election Invalidated Because of Mail-In Voter Fraud
A New Jersey election has been invalidated by a judge, and a new election has been ordered to be held, due to rampant mail-in voter fraud.

The Left-Wing War on America’s Suburbs
The Trump administration recently rescinded a fair housing rule adopted in the early months of the Obama administration.

Trump looks to Republican convention for optimistic campaign reboot
Republicans will open their national convention Monday with an urgent mission: To convince voters pessimistic about the state of a country battered by the novel coronavirus, economic recession and racial upheaval that President Trump deserves four more years at the helm.

 

Gun Rights

 

NY AG’s Efforts To Dissolve NRA Look Even Worse Upon Closer Examination
When Allahpundit covered the announcement that New York Attorney General Letitia James was trying to dissolve the entire National Rifle Association, he found probable cause to look askance at Wayne LaPierre’s handling of the organization’s finances, but also noted that dissolving the entire organization would be nearly unprecedented. It also stinks to high heaven when you consider that we’re in the final months of a presidential election and she’s set herself up as attempting to take out a political enemy rather than addressing any possible corruption in the group’s upper management. As it turns out, AP wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines. The Free Beacon has a nice roundup of some of the legal authorities who have weighed in on the subject and find it equally troubling. And that group includes liberals who go out of their way to bash the NRA and its pet cause while still saying that James is simply going too far.

Ammo Shortage May Last Until 2021
Vista Outdoor CEO Christopher Metz’s quarterly earnings call, which took place earlier this month, indicates the current ammunition shortage may continue at least until 2021—perhaps longer.

Mass. Firearms Storage Law Applies to Gun Stores, Not Just Ordinary Gun Owners
From Goudreau v. Nikas, decided Monday

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Rolling blackouts warning issued for 3 million California homes
The agency running California’s power grid warned that millions of homes could be hit by rolling blackouts imposed on Monday to manage overwhelming energy demands caused by an extreme heat wave baking the state for a fourth straight day.

CU-Boulder looks to pay ‘underrepresented’ students up to $20/hr for ‘eco-social justice’ jobs
The University of Colorado Boulder Environmental Center is looking to hire students to help organize events around environmental justice and sustainability starting the fall of 2020.

Democrats Promise to Bring California-Style Blackouts to Everyone
Gotta say, it was bold of Democratic Party convention organizers to let voters know they plan on passing federal energy policies that would transform the rest of the country into California. The Golden State is experiencing rolling blackouts even as the Democrats speak. Millions of people are having their electrical power turned off in the middle of a heat wave — more specifically, their air conditioners. Blackouts aren’t merely an inconvenience, it is an economic drag and dangerous to vulnerable populations.

The Green New Deal means monumental disruption
Not just for energy, but for every aspect of our lives, living standards, culture and freedoms

Arctic ocean moorings shed light on winter sea ice loss
The eastern Arctic Ocean’s winter ice grew less than half as much as normal during the past decade, due to the growing influence of heat from the ocean’s interior, researchers have found.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Stanford scraps admission test requirement for medical students
Stanford University will remove admissions test requirements for the upcoming school year in response to COVID-19.

Medical Kidnapping. Wait. What?
You may have read about a young teenager named Justina Pelletier, from West Hartford, CT. In 2013 Justina was kidnapped by a hospital where she had been admitted for treatment. Her kidnapping and other similar incidents have given rise to the term “medical kidnapping”. Medical Kidnapping is a growing phenomenon that bears watching.

 

War & Terror

 

Confessions of a Xinjiang Camp Teacher
Qelbinur Sedik reveals the horrors she witnessed in the camps, where she was forced to teach Mandarin in 2017.

Army, Texas A&M develop ‘Terminator’-style material that can ‘heal itself’
The materials have fueled comparisons with the shapeshifting T-1000 character in the movie ‘Terminator-2: Judgement Day’

China Seeks to Use Access to Covid-19 Vaccines for Diplomacy
Beijing’s top officials and its drugmakers have offered Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and the Philippines priority in receiving doses and other deals

Chinese hospitals aborted late-stage pregnancies and killed newborns as part of a campaign to purge the Uighur culture, report says
Hospitals in Xinjiang, China, aborted late-stage Uighur pregnancies and even killed newborns, Radio Free Asia reported on Monday.

China unveils its 1,100lb precision-guided stealth missile ‘Sky Thunder’ that can drop 240 bombs
Beijing’s state broadcaster revealed details of the airborne weapon on Friday

China under renewed scrutiny amid reported Uighur infanticide, forced abortions
The State Department is reiterating its criticism of the Chinese government amid a Uighur obstetrician’s allegation that Xinjiang hospitals are committing infanticide and forced abortions to maintain family planning limits.

Does China Already Control the South China Sea Militarily?
An interesting interactive illustration from a prominent think tank appears to raise the question as to the extent to which China already controls the majority of the South China Sea.

As US tells colleges to divest from China, students use code names to evade CCP
Professors at Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Amherst College are taking precautions to protect students from the CCP.

Historic United States-Taiwan Arms Deal Scares China
U.S. and Taiwan agreed to a 62 billion USD arms deal that is worrying the Chinese Communist Party.

On Point: State and Commerce Declare War on Chinese Malware and Malgear
This past week, the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Commerce launched new diplomatic, economic and legal initiatives designed to counter communist China’s global malware and malgear offensive.

Uyghur Babies Killed by Doctors
The evil that is Communist China is increasingly visible for anyone with eyes who want to see.

 

National

 

SIERRA NEVADA’S SLICK NEW SPACE PLANE DITCHES CAPSULES FOR THE SHUTTLE ROUTEContributed by
Soaring into the wild blue yonder and beyond, the planet’s only non-capsule, private orbital spacecraft, Dream Chaser, is slated to make its first flight sometime next year shuttling supplies and cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.

Northern California wildfire spawns rare firenado
Northern California was alerted to a rare tornado warning unlike any other by the National Weather Service — a fire tornado.

The Cavalry Arrives at the Civil Rights Commission
The eight-member U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has had a 6-2 progressive majority for the last seven years. During that time, the Commission has issued a number of reports supporting or promoting progressive policy positions on policing, illegal immigration, voting rights, hate crimes, prison reform, trans rights, education funding, “environmental justice,” school discipline, and religious freedom (more accurately, suppression). If you want to have a clear picture of what the Left has planned for America in 5–10 yea’s, come to a Civil Rights Commission hearing today. Unerring.

Rocket Lab aims to launch private Venus mission in 2023
The mission would likely hunt for signs of life in Venus’ clouds.

Iowa State professor forbids students from criticizing BLM, gay marriage, abortion
Professor forced to correct syllabus by administrators

Asian-American “experts” back discrimination against Asian-Americans
Asian-Americans comprise the group most acutely victimized when colleges and universities dole out preferences in admission to African-Americans. The reason is obvious. Racial preferences minimize merit, as it has always been judged in this context — grades, test scores, and extra-curricular activities — and Asian-American students as a group are the most meritorious large racial/ethnic group of high school students.

Fired for Accidentally Calling a Transgender Student “She,” Teacher Takes Case to Court
But a Virginia school district stripped the French teacher of the ability to impart these passions in high school classrooms when it fired him for not using pronouns preferred by a transgender student.

Mississippi now has 5 state flag options. Which one will go before voters?
The commission to select a new Mississippi state flag narrowed the list from eight to five on Tuesday morning.

Professor quoted n-word from textbook. He beat a racism investigation – and is still in trouble.
Diversity chief reportedly said he can’t use the word in any context

This workshop teaches “white-identifying students” ‘what it means to be anti-racist’
Ithaca College hosted a series of virtual meetings talking about race relations in the U.S.

Betelgeuse Is Dimming Again
Just as you thought it was safe to go back to ignoring Betelgeuse, the red giant star started acting up again. After its first round of dimming, and then brightening, Betelgeuse has now started to dim once again.

A Blow to Women’s Sports
A federal judge moved to block an Idaho law designed to prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports. U.S. District Judge David Nye — a Trump pick, no less — explained his decision in that the ACLU’s suit seeking to repeal the law was “likely to succeed.”

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon arrested on charges of defrauding donors in fundraising scheme
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been arrested after being charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Donates $10 Million to Ibram X. Kendi, Who Wants To Make Racism Unconstitutional
“This research will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change.”

Three Jewish student government leaders at USC forced out by leftist activists in span of two months
Emerging precedent is that being pro-Israel “makes you unfit for an elected position,” warns Jewish former student government leader

The Prometheus Award
Prometheus Awards’ 40th Anniversary Ceremony

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
A UK-based company’s plan to purposefully release hundreds of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes into Florida may sound like a science-fiction story, but it has received local authorities’ blessing to become a reality.

Dem Senator Tom Carper Admitted to Giving His Ex-Wife a Black Eye
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) admitted to hitting his then-wife so hard that it left her with a black eye.

Stockton drops final charge against student who used Trump as Zoom background
Stockton University officially cleared doctoral student Robert Dailyda of all code of conduct charges.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Says Her Business Emails Are None Of Your Business
Baltimore has a new Mayor coming in January, which is probably a relief to many of the residents of Charm City since the one they had before the current, interim Mayor is currently in prison on corruption charges. At the same time, many of her colleagues at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) Board of Directors are under investigation to see just how many people had their fingers in the cookie jar. But now that crew may not have to feel all alone in the world. The City’s State’s Attorney, Marilyn Mosby is currently under investigation by the city’s Inspector General as well.

Wylie ISD apologizes for school assignment that likens police officers to KKK, slave owners
Wylie ISD has apologized after some of its students recieved a political cartoon as part of a lesson that likens modern day police officers to the KKK and slave owners.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

California Proposes 16.8% Income Tax Rate Plus .4% Wealth Tax
Most people these days are still reeling from the pandemic. The IRS and state governments are feeling the revenue pain too. California proposed to increase it’s already stratospheric top 13.3% tax rate, raising it to 16.8%. Not shocked yet? The newest tax some golden state legislators want to collect is a .4% wealth tax. The “leader” in state taxes already, this would be first-in-the nation wealth tax targeting the very wealthy. This isn’t on income they earn, mind you, but on their wealth itself. A summary of the bill says, “AB 2088 establishes a first-in-the-nation net worth tax, setting a 0.4% tax rate on all net worth above $30 million.” California Assembly member Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, proposed the legislation. The tax would be applied to the net worth of about 30,400 Californians, “raising approximately $7.5 billion annually,” the summary claims. “The tax takes into account all assets and liabilities held by an individual, globally, capturing the immense levels of accumulated wealth held by the top 0.1% of Californians.”

Wealth Tax: A New Bad Idea for California?
Among the subjects touched upon in the latest Capital Note are some new proposals to increase taxes in California (yes, it’s a day ending with a y). They are all bad, and in all likelihood, self-defeating (yes, it’s a day ending with a y), but it’s worth noting that they include a wealth tax, something that appears, increasingly, to be in the air. The Wall Street Journal has some of the grisly details here.

The EU’s Slow, Sneaky Attempt to Engineer a Fiscal Union
Brussels is using the fiscal and economic turmoil of the euro zone to turn a currency union into a fiscal one, too.

App Shrugged: Will Uber Go Galt in California?
At this point, it’s still a game of chicken between the state and the company.

Why California’s Latest “Soak the Rich” Tax Proposals Are Likely to Backfire
One big problem: Nearby states such as Nevada have no income tax at all.

Why Apple’s antitrust fight could spell the end of iOS as we know it
While both Apple and Google are in US and EU crosshairs, Apple is in a far more precarious position. Are iOS users ready for the pros and cons of opening Pandora’s app box?

 

International

 

UAE Rejects Iran’s Terror Threats Over Israel Peace Deal
Iran’s regime-affiliated media: Peace deal with Israel makes UAE “into a legitimate and easy target.”

Scientists turn seawater into drinkable freshwater using metal compounds, sunlight
Researchers have successfully turned brackish water and seawater into clean, potable freshwater using metal-organic frameworks, MOFs, and sunlight.

Physicists Finally Nail the Proton’s Size, and Hope Dies
A new measurement appears to have eliminated an anomaly that had captivated physicists for nearly a decade.

Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader ‘poisoned’
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is unconscious in hospital suffering from suspected poisoning, his spokeswoman has said.

United Nations removes survey asking staff if they are ‘yellow’
The United Nations has been accused by some of its staff of racism after it issued a survey that included a question asking how they identify themselves, and offered “yellow” among the possible responses.

Why China’s Food Crisis Could Get Worse Amid Pests, Pestilence
For the past 18 months, China’s farm and agriculture sectors have been pummeled by two different infestations.

Venezuela’s foreign minister says Canada causing his country’s collapse to ‘take control’ of its wealth
‘Canada has been in the centre of these events and this means that they want to create the conditions in order to attack Venezuela, to invade Venezuela’

China Announces Authoritarian Campaign To Combat Food Waste
Despite the campaign’s supposed focus, it appears to be a response to food shortages.

Belarus protesters demand Lukashenko’s resignation
The EU has rejected the results of the election and has vowed to sanction Belarusians responsible for ballot fraud.

 

Opinion

 

Ben Shapiro DEBUNKS Viral ‘Systemic Racism Explained’ Video
Ben Shapiro takes a look at some of the arguments made in the viral ‘Systemic Racism Explained’ video

A Broad-Based Campaign Coalition to Defeat Proposition 16
Proposition 16 Rejects the American Creed of Equal Opportunity

Is The Constitution Undemocratic?
While I realize that the title question is a bit counterintuitive (or just silly, depending on your preferences), it becomes an interesting one with a little more context. Saturday, at Outside the Beltway, Steven Taylor published an essay titled The Consequences of Design. I’ll warn you in advance that it’s a very anti-Trump analysis of what the author sees as a potential electoral crisis in November. This would be brought about by a combination of three things: a decrepit election infrastructure, including the Post Office, flaws in the original Constitution, and, of course, the Bad Orange Man and his nefarious plans.

The Philosophy Of Wokeness: Tracing The Intellectual Heritage Of The Modern Left
Spencer Klavan, host of “The Young Heretics” podcast, joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky for a conversation focused on the philosophy of the modern left, from Nietzsche to Foucault to Darwin. Klavan also contextualizes this moment of cultural anxiety from a historical perspective and discusses how unprecedented technology is influencing our politics and culture.

Conformity to a Lie
Academia’s monolithic belief in systemic racism will further erode American institutions and the principles of our civilization.

Some Great Picks Trump Should Consider for Supreme Court
President Donald Trump recently announced that by Sept. 1 he would release “a new list” of conservative Supreme Court nominees, “which may include some, or many of those already on the list.”

The Challenge of Marxism
For a generation after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, most Americans and Europeans regarded Marxism as an enemy that had been defeated once and for all. But they were wrong. A mere 30 years later, Marxism is back, and making an astonishingly successful bid to seize control of the most important American media companies, universities and schools, major corporations and philanthropic organizations, and even the courts, the government bureaucracy, and some churches. As American cities succumb to rioting, arson, and looting, it appears as though the liberal custodians of many of these institutions—from the New York Times to Princeton University—have despaired of regaining control of them, and are instead adopting a policy of accommodation. That is, they are attempting to appease their Marxist employees by giving in to some of their demands in the hope of not being swept away entirely.

“Harrison Bergeron” and Equity
Kurt Vonnegut, in his short story “Harrison Bergeron,” explores the logical end to equity — the use of state power to effect ostensibly equal outcomes in society. He depicts a world where everyone must be handicapped to the lowest common denominator so that no man, woman, or child has a competitive advantage over another. Whenever I see the “Office of Equity and Inclusion” on a college campus, or BLM signs demanding equity, this story leaps unbidden to the mind.

The War Against Judgment
Something that has been turning over in my mind lately is the way some people reject the entire idea of judgment — or, rather, they say they are against judging people. In reality, such people are often extremely judgmental. “Don’t judge me!” they angrily exclaim, but if you pay attention, you’ll notice these people never hesitate to judge you.

Cut the Diversity Officers, Cost-Share via Zoom
A recent discussion about higher education’s obscene fixed and semi-fixed costs had me considering some ways of reducing expenses without needlessly harming the education product. The University of Michigan employs nearly 100 diversity officers, a quarter of whom are paid over $100,000 a year. The diversity office collectively costs the school — by which I mean the tuition-paying students — upwards of $12 million a year. What if instead of keeping this financially burdensome staff, Michigan cut the entire department except for one individual? Then, the university could subscribe to an online hub of diversity officers who can be reached via phone and Zoom from the privacy of a student’s dorm room. This “diversity call center” would be staffed by just as many people as currently work at U of M, but the call center would offer its services to dozens of universities, defraying the expenses for any single institution. Businesses and the general public do this with various professionals: accountants, lawyers, and air-conditioning repairmen; why not apply the same cost-sharing to diversity officers?

We Must Not Give In to Academic Outrage Mobs
The nastiest development in recent years on our college campuses is the rise of academic outrage mobs. They consist of people are so certain of their righteousness that they eagerly assail anyone who dares to disagree. Such individuals are bad and must be silenced if not driven out completely.

Noam Chomsky: The First Tankie
?”Tankie” is a “pejorative” term that basically means, in the post-Soviet era, a pro-communist or just communist. A commie bastard if you will. In practice back in the day, it meant someone who was pro-Soviet. Based on this definition, Noam Chomsky is easily the most notorious tankie of his era. While the man is still alive, he is so old that he was a tenured professor before JFK committed ground troops to Vietnam. He was a professor at MIT before Kennedy was even elected president! Dude’s been around for awhile, is what I’m saying.

Here We Go With Birtherism 2.0
Trump shows that he’s trying to run his 2016 campaign again in 2020. But it’s not 2016 anymore.

Welcome to the United States of San Francisco
Back in 2018, in these pages, I wrote about the San Francisco-ization of the state of California.

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Moss piglets, Costco at Tiffany’s, and murder-for-hire.

Judge Willett (CA5) Finds That June Medical Rendered Whole Woman’s Health An “Invalid Legal Standard”
Willett agrees with Justice Kavanaugh, and the Eighth Circuit, in applying the Marks Rule to June Medical.

There is No “Straight News” Anymore
The New York Times, once very careful about mixing news and opinion, is now an overtly partisan newspaper

When Did Patriotism become a Subversive Act?
Have you heard about the attacks on people flying American flags outside their homes? Or simply carrying a flag? Or simply saying that you will not protest the flag?