News of the Week for Aug. 1st, 2021
- Riots & Revolution
- Corona Virus
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Riots & Revolution
Wokeness Hits Home: BLM Group Demands Parents Pledge to Hold Back Their Kids’ Education
As the scourge of “woke” social justice ideology spreads across the nation, most Americans seem ambivalent. What does it matter to them if Major League Baseball moves the All-Star Game out of Atlanta? They still get to watch it. What does it matter if Disney and Coke subject employees to trainings about being “less white”? That’s somebody else’s problem.
D.C. mayor wants to re-fund the police
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., says she will ask the city council to spend $11 million to hire 20 police officers in the next few months and 150 police officers in fiscal year 2022. With homicides and shootings up in D.C., and with George Floyd fever finally starting to break, one can understand Bowser’s decision.
Murderapolis redux? Record number of murders in Minnesota after police-abolition effort
When I first moved to Minnesota, the Twin Cities had just recently been named “Murderapolis” thanks to waves of violence in Minneapolis. Improvements in law enforcement, and a broader decline in criminal activity nationwide, eventually transformed the urban centers into relatively safe environments. According to a new report from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, all of those gains got lost in a single year as the state set a new record for homicides.
Corona Virus
Here’s a Biden nominee the Senate might not confirm
Joe Biden has been very successful in having his nominees, no matter how radical, confirmed — especially considering that the Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. As far as I know, only one Biden nominee has failed. Biden had to withdraw Neera Tanden’s nomination to head the OMB because she had insulted a number of Senators.
COVID Pandemic Makes Homeschooling Popular Across the Nation
LOVE IT: “There’s no turning back for us now. The pandemic has been a blessing — an opportunity to take ownership of our children’s education.”
D.C. mayor parties maskless — after ordering new mask mandate
The best part of this fiasco is that technically she wasn’t breaking the rules. But under the circumstances, that may be worse than if she was.
Gun Rights
The ACLU Promotes an Absurd Conspiracy Theory about the Second Amendment
The ACLU has bought into the preposterous lie that the Second Amendment is intrinsically racist
Joe Biden is still talking about banning 9mm handguns
We’re still hearing reports that Joe Biden is pondering doing something along the lines of introducing new gun bans and he’s being heavily lobbied by anti-Second Amendment groups to do so quickly. It’s unclear whether he’s talking about supporting legislative action or if he’s actually crazy enough to try to go it alone and do it via executive order. Even more curious is the specific nature of his suggested proposals. He’s on board with the gun-grabbing groups’ call for a ban on scary-looking “assault rifles,” but he’s also talking about banning handguns. Not all handguns, however. Just 9mm handguns with detachable magazines. The NRA-ILA reminds us of when he launched into a diatribe on this subject during a recent CNN Town Hall.
Nikki Fried suspends concealed carry permits for alleged insurrectionists
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday suspended concealed carry weapons permits for Floridians arrested for involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Biden’s ATF nomination doing a Francisco Franco?
It’s been months since Joe Biden tapped gun-control advocate David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. A month ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Chipman’s nomination, forcing Chuck Schumer to force the nomination to the full Senate. And there it sits, dead in the water, as the Washington Post reports, because Schumer can’t corral all of his fellow Democrats to support Chipman, which the Post blames on “contentious dynamics of gun politics”
Judge rejects challenge to Second Amendment sanctuary effort in Oregon
An Oregon judge sided against local officials and a gun control group on Thursday as he dismissed a challenge to a Second Amendment sanctuary ordinance that was previously approved by voters.
Does the Second Amendment Protect Non-Citizens?
Judge Menashi finds that Heller limited the Second Amendment to “citizens.”
‘Grandmas buying shotguns’: US dealers see ammunition shortage as sales surge
Gun store owners say bullets are selling out as pandemic fuels public fears around safety and crime
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
We’re Paying the Price for Refusing Controlled Burns
Terribly large and destructive wildfires in the West are now a summer ritual — and with it, the insistence that the fires are further evidence of climate change.
LA Times: Maybe we shouldn’t follow California’s example on electric cars
Two months ago, the New York Times and CNN raised warning flags on the environmental costs of transitioning to electric cars. Last week, the Los Angeles Times followed suit, although in this case it’s the California dog that doesn’t bark that should be of greatest interest to that question. Even without the obvious questions about energy for recharging, however, the LAT raises a series of environmental issues with the necessary mining to sustain production of EVs.
Flex alert fatigue: Is the power going to go out in California again this summer?
You may remember that last August California had rolling blackouts on two particularly hot days. The blackouts hit on a Friday about the time the sun was going down. That wasn’t a coincidence. As the sun gets low in the sky, power generation from solar farms drops off sharply and the state is forced to find other sources. Last year it couldn’t fine enough power and so the blackouts were ordered to prevent the entire power grid from going down.
California’s Nuke Follies
Of all of the endless follies of California these days—I know, it’s hard to enumerate all of them let alone put them in rank order—closing our last nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon ranks perhaps at the top of the list. It provides more than 10 percent of California’s electricity, and can run 24/7, unlike wind and solar power. As one of the last nuclear power plants built and brought online in the 1980s, it easily has another 40 years of potential service left in it, if not more.
California and Five Other States Ban… Gaming Computers?
Six states, led by California’s fulltime climate alarmists, this week enacted a ban on the sales of high-end gaming computers.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Families could get rewards for healthy living in new war on obesity
Lifestyle habits such as taking part in a regular run or walking to school daily could be linked to free treats in pilot scheme
Med Schools Are Now Denying Biological Sex
Professors are apologizing for saying “male” and “female.” Students are policing teachers. This is what it looks like when activism takes over medicine.
Biracial doctor demoted for objecting to BLM-inspired segregation policy, files lawsuit against hospital
A Harvard-educated biracial doctor filed a complaint with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last month. Her complaint revolved around a demotion she received after her personal opinions became known about the Black Lives Matter movement. She is now taking legal action against the hospital.
AMA to Urge End of Sex ID on All Birth Certificates
It is astonishing how the transgender moral panic has swept actual science aside. The American Medical Association Board of Trustees (BOT) just passed a resolution that will have the AMA lobbying to end the designation of sex in all future birth certificates.
Remove Sex From Public Birth Certificates, AMA Says
Sex should be removed as a legal designation on the public part of birth certificates, the American Medical Association (AMA) said Monday.
Annals of Government Medicine
The Telegraph reports that documents from Britain’s National Health Service, dated 2017 and 2018, indicate that the NHS contemplated denying medical care to those over 70 in case of a “serious flu epidemic.”
War & Terror
Why has China’s president, Xi Jinping, visited Tibet?
The timing and initial silence about it in the Chinese press suggest unease about the legitimacy of Chinese rule there
Hong Kong protester convicted in 1st trial under Chinese security law
In an historic ruling, a 24-year-old man became the first person convicted in Hong Kong under China’s expansive and contentious national security law on Tuesday. Leon Tong Ying-kit, a former restaurant cook, volunteered as a medic during the 2019 pro-democracy protests that rocked the city. He was convicted of terrorism and secession and faces a possible sentence of life in prison.
Chinese state hackers breached over a dozen US pipeline operators
Chinese state-sponsored attackers have breached 13 US oil and natural gas (ONG) pipeline companies between December 2011 to 2013 following a spear-phishing campaign targeting their employees.
Navy charges sailor with starting the fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard
Someone’s gotta pay the $3 billion bill.
US sets new Cuba sanctions as Biden meets Cuban-Americans
The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Friday against Cuba’s national revolutionary police and its top two officials as the U.S. looks to increase pressure on the communist government following this month’s protests on the island.
Space Force sees “advantages and opportunities” in nuclear-powered space missions
Thompson: Nuclear propulsion ‘holds the potential for significant advantages in terms of efficiency compared to standard chemical rockets’
Xi Jinping Calls on China to “Make Preparations for Military Struggle”
China’s Xi: “We must persist in strengthening the overall planning of war and make preparations for military struggle.”
National
A calling out of hypocrites or a reductio ad absurdum?
The following passage is from a letter that reportedly was circulated by an outfit called Dallas Justice Now (DJN), a “racial equity group.”
The Telos of Leftist Racial Ideology
When I first saw the letter reproduced here from something called “Dallas Justice Now,” calling on wealthy whites living in the affluent Highland Park neighborhood of Dallas not to have their kids apply to elite colleges so that there would be more room for minority applicants, I assumed that it was a satire or a hoax.
Gavin Newsom plays with fire
I’ve been following the campaign to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom, although not closely. My impression from reports and polls is that Newsom is likely to survive, but that his survival is not assured.
Minnesota Fourth-Grader “Very Nervous and Uncomfortable” When Told Not to Tell Parents About Equity Survey
“I got very confused and kind of nervous after a boy asked his mom after the teacher explained that we cannot tell our parents anything.”
USA Men’s Basketball Team May Be Woke, But They Can’t Beat France at Olympics
It’s a good thing most of the USA men’s basketball players don’t care much for the United States — the nation they’re supposedly playing for at the Olympics. Otherwise, the Americans’ 83-76 drubbing at the hands of France might have really hurt.
The jet fuel shortage is upon us
If you’ve found yourself waiting a very long time at the airport while attempting to fly out of town, there are a number of reasons for that. Most of the airlines remain severely understaffed due to a lack of planning and foresight. It’s also possible that your flight was delayed because someone decided to punch out a flight attendant after being ordered to wear a mask. But now you can add one more issue to the list, particularly at airports in the western part of the country. Even if everything else is going smoothly, most of the airlines are running into a shortage of jet fuel, leading to delays while they wait to get enough juice in the tanks to get off the ground. But the reason for the shortage isn’t being caused by a lack of production at the refineries. It turns out to be yet another byproduct of the pandemic that we’ve dealt with here before.
12 month U.S. population growth: just about zero
We already learned from the last census that the rate of population growth in the United States from 2011 through 2020 was the slowest seen in all but one decade in the nation’s history. (That was during World War 2.) But now that we’re getting some of the numbers tracking these statistics over the course of the pandemic, the next decade is starting off even worse. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this week that the population growth rate in the United States from July 1, 2020, through July 1, 2021, was very close to zero. So close, in fact, that the smidgen of growth that was observed was little more than a rounding error. As a result, the lower end of the currently projected range suggests that it’s still possible that we’ll actually wind up with a lower population at the end of 2021 than when the year began.
It Isn’t Just Conservative Parents Opposing Critical Race Theory in Schools
A long report from Politico out this morning reveals that the ongoing discontent over critical race theory in public schools isn’t confined to conservative or right-leaning parents. In reality, parents across the political spectrum have a host of complaints about what’s going on in public schools these days, including the recent push for including CRT’s controversial tenets and arguments in public-school curricula.
“People are scared”: Democrats lose ground on school equity plans
Moderate and suburban voters share concerns about education changes and say national Democrats dismiss their arguments.
Bezos’ Blue Origin to NASA: We’ll pay to build you a lunar lander
Earlier this month Jeff Bezos flew about 66 miles up on his Blue Origin New Shepard launch vehicle. Today, Bezos is making a play for the next step in Blue Origin’s development. He’s asking NASA to reconsider it’s decision to award Space X the sole contract to bring astronauts back to the moon. Space X won that contract in April
Unions Spent At Least $1.8 Billion in the 2020 Election Cycle
A new report is out today summarizing the political activities of unions in the 2020 election cycle. It says unions spent $1.8 billion, and that is actually an underestimate.
Former Sen. Barbara Boxer robbed and assaulted in California
Former Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was attacked and robbed, according to a post on her Twitter account.
Shut out of Arizona audit, Ken Bennett raises concerns about transparency
Arizona Senate liaison Ken Bennett said Monday that he’s being shut out of the Cyber Ninjas-led audit of the 2020 Maricopa County election, and he raised concerns about the contractors’ lack of transparency.
Is Critical Race Theory Illegal?
Teaching critical race theory in the public schools is immoral, but it is legal unless the legislature in a given state has banned it. On the other hand, for an employer to inflict CRT training on employees against their will can be legally problematic. And even in the public schools, promoting CRT while discriminating against expression of other viewpoints may violate the First Amendment.
Democrats and Media Already Trying to Spin 2022 Losses Over Voter ID
“Interviews with more than three dozen Democratic elected officials, party operatives and voting rights activists across the country reveal growing concern”
Politico: Democrats “Scared” Over Critical Race Pushback
The pushback is real. And it’s spectacular.
Texas Democrats Who Fled the State Scorched for Asking for Care Packages
“How about instead we donate these things to people who are actually in need — anyone know a good charity in Dallas?”
Critical Race Theory Backers Get Predatory
Nationwide, backers of critical race theory seem to be shifting their tone. They’re done defending their heinous racial beliefs and are shifting their actions.
AOC says she wants ‘to abolish our carceral system’
‘I want to abolish our carceral system that’s designed to trap Black and Brown men,’ Ocasio-Cortez said
Father Considers Lawsuit Against Gender Clinic For Affirming 9-Year-Old Autistic Son As Transgender Lesbian
“They’re sweeping kids toward the cracks.”
Just deserts: Trump spurns George P. Bush, endorses Ken Paxton in Texas AG race
There are few things more enjoyable in modern Republican politics than watching Trump crush the dreams of his most obsequious ass-kissers.
Minnesota legislator: Help, help, I’m being oppressed by Democrats’ demands to resign
Have Democratic governor Tim Walz and his DFL colleagues in the legislature turned into “oppressors”? Or is state representative John Thompson just desperate to escape the consequences of his own actions and law-enforcement record? I’m betting on the latter while passing plenty of popcorn, as the oh-so-avoidable nightmare for Minnesota Democrats continues.
Shock poll: Newsom might lose the recall after all
I want to believe. The Los Angeles Times and a new poll from UC Berkeley (!) have me questioning my skepticism over the potential for success in November’s recall of Gavin Newsom. In a reversal of Newsom’s previous momentum, California voters split into a virtual tie on jettisoning their governor
When teachers say “don’t tell your parents” there’s a big problem
Something has gone very wrong at Riverview intermediate school in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District in Minnesota, and likely in many other public schools around the nation. Earlier this year, a class of 4th-grade students was given an “equity survey” to complete by their teacher. The survey focused on issues of race (as in Critical Race Theory) and gender. The gender questions had nothing to do with medical science or human reproduction, instead, asking these children which gender they “identified” as. When at least two of the students pointed out that they were confused and wanted to ask their parents about these questions, the really alarming part of this story unfolded. They were told that they were not allowed to mention the survey to their parents or repeat the questions on the survey to anyone else.
Culture Warrior
Catherine Lhamon is poised to resume her efforts against due process and school discipline.
Ed Buck convicted in meth overdose deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean
Ed Buck, a longtime fixture
Why Critical Race Theory now?
Bob Moses, the civil rights leader, died a few days ago. He led voter registration drives in Mississippi during the 1960s and later founded the Algebra Project to teach math to Black students in rural areas and inner cities.
My Professors Thought Calling Conservatives “Crazy” and “Hicks” Would Sway Me to the Left. They Were Wrong.
When I was looking at colleges during my senior year of high school, I knew that I wanted to attend an institution that focused on education rather than indoctrination. My impression was that my professor’s role was facilitating students’ ability to think critically, not indoctrinating them to a point where they thoughtlessly repeat their teachers’ views on any given issue or topic.
Students can now become a DOCTOR of ‘equity and social justice in education’ at this Illinois university
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale started a doctoral program for “equity and social justice in education.”
Bassist Dusty Hill dead at 72
Dusty passed away at his home in Houston, TX — this according to his bandmates, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard.
Politico: Georgia Democrats Say ‘We’re F***ed’ With Voter ID Required, a ‘Turnout Catastrophe’
On Monday, Politico channeled the freakout from Georgia liberals. The eye-grabbing headline
“Judge Overturns SF School Board Decision To Cover Up Controversial Mural”
The rationale: The Board violated the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires Environmental Impact Reports before actions that affect the environment or objects of historical significance.
Anti-anti-crime policies are ruining American cities
Let’s get the myths out of the way: COVID wasn’t the main driver behind the recent crime surge
The Moment in 1986 When Critical Race Theory Ousted the Civil Rights Movement
“Critical race theory isn’t so much a thing as a way of looking at a thing,” Kimberlé Crenshaw assured MSNBC host Joy Reid last month. Crenshaw is a law professor at UCLA who, as a law student at Harvard, was one of the founders of critical race theory in the 1980s. The cable news segment – headlined “The GOP’s Fact-Free Freakout Over Critical Race Theory” – portrayed CRT as unobjectionable: “It’s a way of looking at race,” Crenshaw said, smiling. “It’s a way of looking at why, after so many decades – centuries, actually – since the emancipation, we have patterns of inequality that are enduring.”
Trump-Endorsed House GOP Candidate Loses Texas Primary Runoff Election
On Tuesday, Jake Ellzey defeated Susan Wright in the House GOP primary runoff election in Texas 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent.
Special election upset: Jake Ellzey defeats Susan Wright in TX-06 race
The results are in for the special election in TX-06 between Susan Wright, widow of Rep. Ron Wright, and Texas state Rep. Jake Ellzey. In an upset, Ellzey defeated Wright. She was the presumed favorite right up until election day on Tuesday. She was the top vote earner in the primary election. Ellzey came in second behind her, barely squeaking out a victory against the third-place candidate, a Democrat.
Some medical schools now teaching that biological sex is a social construct
Last month Katie Herzog published a piece in which doctors warned that woke ideology was taking over the field of medicine. “Wokeness feels like an existential threat,” one doctor told Herzog.
Why Private Schools Have Gone Woke
Meet the National Association of Independent Schools, which enforces diversity, equity, and inclusion standards as a requirement for accreditation
In an upset, Trump-endorsed Texas candidate loses congressional race
Tuesday was election day in a special race to select a successor to Rep. Ron Wright in Texas’ Sixth Congressional District. Wright died from the Wuhan coronavirus.
Tsunami warning canceled after 8.2 offshore earthquake sent people in many Alaska coastal communities to higher ground
The largest Alaska earthquake since 1965 caused a tsunami warning and local evacuations along the southwest Gulf of Alaska coast late Wednesday. After tsunami waves of less than 1 foot arrived onshore, the warning was canceled and coastal residents returned home.
Harris’s bad polls trigger Democratic worries
Vice President Harris has some ground to make up in order to be perceived more favorably by the public, a complicating factor for the Biden administration as it maps out its midterm strategy.
U.S. breaks world record … and doesn’t win gold
A Katie Ledecky-led U.S. relay broke the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle on Thursday … and lost. The race was expected to be a showdown between the favored Australians and the Americans, and to some degree it played out that way. Both bested the world record (7:41.50) set by Australia in 2019. But so did China, bettering the two powerhouses in a somewhat stunning upset.
California city to serve vegan meals in jails
The city of Berkeley will start serving vegan food at public events, jails, senior centers and other city buildings after the city council approved an ordinance that calls for the progressive city to cut by half its spending on animal-based products by 2024.
In a bizarre twist, astronomers detect light coming from behind black hole
A team of scientists detected a series of bright flares of X-ray light coming from one of the least expected places: behind a supermassive black hole.
Diversity Staffers Outnumber History Professors at Some Schools
“At Georgia Tech, there were 3.2 times as many DEI staff people as history professors.”
Seventeen Senate Republicans Vote Yes to Move Infrastructure Bill Forward
The Senate will encounter a few bumps during the debate and eventual final vote of the package.
Michael Knowles on How Political Correctness Has Upended American Culture
What is political correctness? When did it start to seep into mainstream culture? How is political correctness destroying American society? Michael Knowles, host of “The Michael Knowles Show” at The Daily Wire, joins me on “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss. We also chat about his new book “Speechless.”
Critical Race Theory bans by state
States are proposing, and in some cases have passed, legislation that would ban Critical Race Theory in their schools.
Diversity bloat: Many major universities have more diversity staff than history professors
The Heritage Foundation published a report yesterday which looks at the size of diversity, equity and inclusion staffing at 65 major universities around the country. The selection of schools wasn’t random. Instead, Heritage looked at Power Five universities, i.e. schools that are part of major athletic conferences such as the PAC 12. The point of selecting these universities was to select major, mainstream schools rather than smaller or more exclusive ones.
Ron Popeil, infomercial icon, dead at 86
The inventor coined the phrase, ‘Set it and forget it’
Countering the Whitewash of Critical Race Theory
The statists who are promoting critical race theory (CRT) in our educational institutions would have us believe that it is merely teaching “accurate history.” But this history is warped and its proposed remedy — government-enforced discrimination against whites — would not bring about anything except endless group strife. And, of course, it would make jobs for lots of “diversity and inclusion” apparatchiks.
Climate, Entomophagy, and a Moral Debate (for Some)
Writing the other day about meat and its enemies, I suggested that the drive to persuade people to eat more insect-based food in order to help save the planet might run into objections from vegans (and some vegetarians)
Biden the truck driver? C’mon man.
Yesterday, Joe Biden claimed that he “used to drive an 18-wheeler, man.” Biden said this to workers at the Mack Truck Lehigh Valley operations facility. Biden was there to pitch a new rule whereby any product purchased by the federal government must have at least 60 percent of the value of its component parts manufactured in the United States.
Kamala Harris Becoming a Liability for Democrats in 2022
“As of right now, I think she has the potential of doing more harm than good for some of these candidates”
47 percent of Republicans say time will come ‘to take the law into their own hands’: poll
About 47 percent of Republicans believe that a time will come when “patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands,” according to a George Washington University poll on Americans’ faith in election systems and democratic values.
Senate moves to legalize pot at federal level. What are the chances?
The Senate is preparing to wade into a controversial conversation about federal policies on marijuana after Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, released draft legislation this month that would legalize weed at the federal level.
Former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan’s longest-serving senator, dead at 87
Carl Levin, the longest-serving U.S. senator in Michigan history and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has died at age 87.
Nervous Newsom: Democrats should worry about what recall election means for 2022
California’s Governor Newsom sounds worried. His recall election was supposed to be a walk in the park. Instead it seems to be turning into a bit of a nightmare. A poll published earlier this week showed that Californians were almost evenly split between those who still support Newsom and those who want to see him go. Newsom has clearly seen the numbers and now he sounds a bit shaken. He gave an interview to the editorial boards of four California papers in which he warned that his loss could be a sign of more losses to come for Democrats in 2022
Abolishing America: Biden and Bettina Love
If you care about the battle over critical race theory (CRT) in the schools, you need to know about Bettina Love. The Biden administration recently got caught promoting a guidebook from her group, the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN). The booklet asks teachers to “disrupt Whiteness and other forms of oppression.” Following that revelation, the administration disavowed ATN and claimed that touting its program had been an “error.” Almost certainly, however, Biden’s support for Bettina Love’s ATN was no slip-up. Bettina Love is all the rage among progressive educators (i.e., the entire education establishment), including leading members of Biden’s Education Department. Love may be less well known to critics of CRT than Ibram X. Kendi, Nikole Hannah-Jones, or Robin DiAngelo, but that is our mistake.
Don’t Eat Insects! They are Sentient
Rejecting human exceptionalism turns the world upside down and people’s brains inside out. We have seen opponents of human exceptionalism promote animal rights and nature rights. We have even seen one professor declare the supposed personhood of peas. Now, it is insects’ turn at being anthropomorphized.
Seattle: Homeless man attempted to rape a woman inside the county courthouse
This incident is not going to be a shock to anyone who works near the King County Courthouse in Seattle. In fact, people in the area have been complaining about unsafe conditions for months. Just last month a group of 33 judges who work at the courthouse sent a letter to the city about the conditions near their workplace. There is a large homeless encampment in City Hall Park which has made the area a danger to both employees and the public. The letter asked the city to close the park and clear out the camp.
The lonesome death of America Thayer
The brutal murder of America Mafalda Thayer is heartbreaking, horrifying, and enraging at the same time. She was beheaded in broad daylight on Thursday in Shakopee, Minnesota. America appears to have been a delightful Cuban immigrant; she legally changed her name to America when she became a citizen.
Team Biden’s love of CRT is real, not inadvertent
Bettina Love is a leading proponent of the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Stanley Kurtz calls her 2019 book We Want to Do More Than Survive “arguably the single most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the ideology of the CRT movement in education.” I call it incendiary, and if you read Kurtz’s summary of the book, you will probably agree. So might Love.
Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect
Thanks to a reworked menu and long hours, Jeannie Kim managed to keep her San Francisco restaurant alive during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sarah Palin teases 2022 Senate run in Alaska
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she may yet jump back into politics, teasing the possibility of a Senate run in 2022 against incumbent Lisa Murkowski.
L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s House Vandalized After Limiting Homeless Encampments
The ordinance forbids “temporary shelters within 500 feet of schools, daycare facilities, libraries and other locations throughout the city of Los Angeles.”
Minnesota Lawsuits Allege Critical Race Theory Teaches Racism, Intolerance
The lawsuits come from people in healthcare, the state government, and. school district: “I see a racist and divisive ideology of race essentialism taking over our nation and my institution.”
“Communism Taking Root in America,” Critical Race Theory Foe Warns
About 350 concerned residents crowded into a church in Georgetown, Delaware, on Thursday evening to hear from a panel of experts about critical race theory—one of whom likened its spread throughout American culture to Mao Zedong’s communist Cultural Revolution in China.
‘Protect Nikole’: Emails reveal UNC dean asked ABC News for favorable Nikole Hannah-Jones coverage.
In an email obtained by ‘Campus Reform,’ the dean of the journalism school at the University of North Carolina asked a reporter at ABC News to ‘protect’ Nikole Hannah-Jones amid the tenure controversy this spring.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Web design, pork production, and the Second Amendment at the Second Circuit.
University refuses to rehire math professor who criticized slavery reparations
Saint Joseph’s University will not renew its contract with math Professor Gregory Manco despite the fact that a three-month investigation into his Twitter history found he had not violated any campus policies.
Trump urged Justice officials to declare election “corrupt”
President Donald Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the results of the 2020 election “corrupt” in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation.
Trump to acting AG, according to aide’s notes: “Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me”
President Donald Trump pressed senior Justice Department officials in late 2020 to “just say the election was corrupt [and] leave the rest to me” and Republican lawmakers, according to stunning handwritten notes that illustrate how far the president was willing to go to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.
Harvard Lecturer Attacked for Saying There Are Two Sexes
“To ignore or downplay the reality of sex and sex-based differences is to perversely handicap our understanding and our ability to increase human health and thriving,” Harvard lecturer Carole Hooven said in a recent interview.
Economy & Taxes
Los Angeles voting on guaranteed basic income… for a few people
While a number of California cities have attempted to enact universal basic income pilot programs and it’s become a favorite topic among progressives, Los Angeles County will be voting today to try it out in a larger, more densely populated area. The County Board of Supervisors will be deciding whether to move forward with their own pilot program that will pay more than $1,000 per month to at-risk youth. But if you’re wondering how they can possibly afford to do this for all of the impoverished young people in such a densely populated area, they’re not. As with other tests of this sort, the money will only be going to 150 young people, and they will be selected from a pool of people who are already participating in other programs designed to keep them on the straight and narrow.
Ocasio-Cortez Misunderstands Inflation
The socialist congresswoman said last week that if we had “an overall inflationary issue, we would see prices going up in relatively equal amounts across the board no matter what the good is.” She notes that we have instead seen “very sector specific” price increases, “which means that these are due to supply chain issues.”
The Essential UCLA School of Economics
Marvelous news! David Henderson’s and Steven Globerman’s The Essential UCLA School of Economics has just been published by the Fraser Institute. Having read the manuscript, I can attest that it’s excellent. You can download it free of charge here.
Senate Republicans announce agreement on infrastructure deal’s “major issues”
The chatter this morning had a bipartisan deal on infrastructure within reach sometime today. This time the rumor mill had it right — so far, anyway
Inflation: “Transitory” Taking Longer to Transit
Full transcript of Fed chairman Powell’s statement here.
U.S. GDP Trails Forecast Even as Consumer Spending Surges
U.S. growth missed forecasts in the second quarter as the effects of supply-chain constraints reverberated through the economy and took the shine off one of the biggest gains in consumer spending in decades.
Pending home sales drop in June — more evidence of a housing turnaround
Pending sales of existing homes in June as measured by signed contracts fell 1.9% from May, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Brace for Higher Prices for Ice Cream, Beer and Bottled Water
Food and drink companies say pandemic recovery is buoying sales but leading to higher costs for ingredients, packaging and transport
Fed Chair Makes an Ominous Admission About Inflation
As prices continue to rise, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell admitted that “inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expected,” but he repeated President Joe Biden’s line that there’s nothing to see here. He insisted that inflation indicators “appear broadly consistent” with the Fed’s goal, and he promised that if it truly gets out of hand, the Fed would step in to change policy.
Whiff: Q2 GDP misses expectations at 6.5%
The Associated Press calls this “growth, but economists expected much more — especially with the amount of cash Congress and Joe Biden pushed into the economy. Growth hit an annualized GDP rate of 6.5%, adding to the also-less-than-stunning 6.3% expansion in Q1 following a relief package at the beginning of that period as well
How a Landlord Making $75,000 a Year Could End Up in the Millionaire Tax Bracket
Paul Settle hoped to retire on the proceeds from the sale of his rental property. President Biden’s proposal to raise capital-gains taxes has put his plans in limbo.
For Tenants Nationwide, a Scramble to Pay Months of Rent or Face Eviction
For almost a year, a federal moratorium on evictions allowed tenants who suffered economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic to stay in their homes.
Samsung Hikes Chip Production Prices: GPUs, SoCs Set to Get More Expensive
Samsung to expand S5 fab to meet demand for advanced chips.
The decline of the West
David Goldman (also known as “Spengler”) summarizes with approval the analysis of Chinese professor Jin Canrong.
Will China bail out Biden?
Prominent Chinese academic’s warning that inflation might bankrupt the US government will be read carefully in Washington
International
Finns Turn against Puberty Blockers for Gender Dysphoria
First, it was the Brits and then the Swedes. Now, the transgender moral panic is receiving more pushback from the Finns.
U.S. joined by 21 nations in condemnation of Cuban dictatorship: No West European or G7 nations on that list
From our Bureau of Quixotic Gestures And Lists that Seem Incomplete
‘Armed robber’ is beaten up with a sex toy: Cashier grabs 18-inch ‘weapon’ and bashes knife-wielding ‘thief’ at Russian sex shop
CCTV shows a sex shop saleswoman chasing an ‘armed robber’ with a large dildo
Norwegian Muslims, Vegans Team Up in Protesting All Burgers Being Fried on the Same Grill© CC0 / DagnyWalter
Lashing out against the so-called cross-contamination that occurs when eateries prepare their meals, Norwegian Muslims have found unexpected partners in vegans, who also oppose the same routines for various kinds of foods.
The Chinese Government Really Doesn’t Like Unflattering Photos of Their Olympic Athletes. Here Are 20 of Them.
Cry more, commies
“Some Incredibly Bad Luck Lately”: Five Cuban Generals Mysteriously Died Over The Past Ten Days
According to Periódico Cubano — a Florida-based news outlet that seeks to establish “a communication bridge between Miami and Havana” — reported on Tuesday that Brigadier General Armando Choy Rodríguez passed away. A Cuban university — which first shared the news with the public — offered no details on the cause of his death.
China Court Jails Billionaire Sun Dawu For 18 Years For ‘Provoking Trouble’
A Chinese court sentenced agricultural tycoon Sun Dawu to 18 years in jail on Wednesday for a catalogue of crimes including “provoking trouble” after the outspoken billionaire and grassroots rights supporter was tried in secret.
Hong Kong’s urban farms sprout gardens in the sky
With their heads in the clouds and their hands in the soil, a group of office workers are busy harvesting the fruits of their labour on the roof of a Hong Kong skyscraper
A Black uprising is shaking Cuba’s Communist regime
Millions around the world know “Patria y Vida” — “Fatherland and Life” — the scintillating music video that inverted the Cuban Communist Party’s slogan — “Fatherland or Death” — and became the anthem of protests in Cuba on July 11.
Cuba: The Truncheon Utopia
“All the political calculations related to Cuba these last few decades were all based on fear. Except they didn’t call it fear, they called it support, backing, or even acceptance or resignation when their ‘search for utopia’ became an epic game of hide and seek or regurgitating the same lines to each other. And then suddenly one Sunday an entire country loses its fear (or had already begun losing it from before and we didn’t notice), destroying that image of a frozen revolution that the self-righteous world was keeping in a special drawer of curiosities.”
The activists sabotaging railways in solidarity with Indigenous people
People coming to the aid of the Wet’suwet’en nation to stop a pipeline are using direct action that is prompting terror charges
South Africa Is Falling Apart
In the past few weeks, South Africa was gripped by the biggest explosion of unrest in decades. Shopping malls and warehouses were looted, supply trucks attacked and businesses destroyed. At least 337 people died.
Fitbit-wearing baboons reveal price of social cohesion
As anyone who has ever gone hiking as a family or taken their toddler to the zoo knows, keeping pace and staying together can be a challenge — it’s not much different for baboons.
EU plans to make Bitcoin transfers more traceable
Proposed changes to EU law would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect details on the recipient and sender.
Sixth high-ranking Cuban military official in ten days mysteriously dies
The apparent purge of military leadership by the communist Castro dictatorship is now getting ridiculous. A sixth high-ranking military official in Cuba — in a span of just 10 days — has suddenly died.
Forty arrested for historic child sex abuse in West Yorkshire
Forty people have been arrested as part a major investigation into alleged historic child sex offences.
Japanese Olympic athletes targeted for online abuse after beating Chinese rivals
If you look at the Olympic medal count for gold medals at this moment, China is leading with 19 medals and Japan is in second place with 17. The US is currently in third place with 14 gold medals, though the US has 41 medals overall which is one more than China at 40. But the tight competition for medals and prestige has really set off some Chinese nationalists who get angry any time a Japanese athlete wins.
Bulgarian President Hands Pop Star Shot at Forming Government
Bulgaria’s president gave pop-folk singer and talk-show host Stanislav Trifonov’s party the chance to form a government, though doubts remain over whether he can muster sufficient support to end the Balkan country’s political crisis.
Qaddafi’s Son Is Alive. And He Wants to Take Libya Back.
Ten years ago, near the remote Libyan desert town of Awbari, a band of armed rebels ambushed a small convoy that was fleeing south toward Niger. The gunmen stopped the cars and found a youngish bald man with bandages covering his right hand. They saw a face that had been ubiquitous on Libyan state television: Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the second son of the country’s notorious dictator and one of the rebels’ chief targets.
Neandertal and Denisovan blood groups deciphered
Blood group analyses for three Neandertals and one Denisovan by a team from the Anthropologie Bio-Culturelle, Droit, Éthique et Santé research unit (CNRS / Aix-Marseille University / EFS) confirm hypotheses concerning their African origin, Eurasian dispersal, and interbreeding with early Homo sapiens. The researchers also found further evidence of low genetic diversity and possible demographic fragility. Their findings are published in PLOS ONE (28 July 2021).
‘Batman’ Cartoonist Frank Miller Canceled From Comic Convention For ‘Anti-Muslim Hate’
Comic book artist Frank Miller, whose credits include Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Sin City, was all set to appear at the Thought Bubble Yorkshire Comic Art Festival this November in England; in fact, he was listed first among the luminaries who were set to attend. But now he has been dropped and the great minds behind Thought Bubble have apologized for ever inviting him, because, you see, he has committed an unpardonable sin: fifteen years ago, he wrote something that some people have taken as negative toward the Left’s favored religion, Islam.
Opinion
Liberalism as Organized Ignorance
Because I watch a lot of police videos, the YouTube algorithm is always recommending more, the same way it’s always recommending more “how to play” guitar videos for classic rock songs. So in between watching breakdowns of guitar riffs (e.g., “Spirit in the Sky”) Saturday night, I watched a June press conference where police in San Jose, California
Immigration Policy, Ensuring the Worst of Both Worlds
Why is the U.S. government spending considerable and not-yet-publicly-released sums to ship migrants, whose vaccination status cannot be verified, to various corners of the U.S., while at the same time, not allowing vaccinated foreign citizens to enter the U.S.?
Critical Race Theory Is No More Scientific Than Witchcraft Theory
National Association of Scholars president Peter Wood here likens today’s mania over critical race theory to the ancient belief in witchcraft.
Yesterday Once More
The Upswing proffers progressivism as the solution to our problems without examining progressivism’s role in creating those problems.
It’s Time to Allow Bourbon in Our Mailboxes
In 2021, American alcohol laws remain needlessly complex and archaic. It’s time to move toward a freer and more commonsense system.
On David French on Structural Racism
David French writes much with which I agree. And I agree with many particular points that he makes in his recent essay titled “Structural Racism Isn’t Wokeness, It’s Reality.” But I disagree with some other particular points, as well as with his overall theme and conclusion.
Wisdom From a Whore
Excuse the plain English in the headline, but we live in an age in which politically correct euphemisms are employed to conceal the ugly truth, and the truth about prostitution is about as ugly as it gets. You can call them “sex workers” if you wish, but they’re still whores, and no amount of fancy pseudo-academic jargon will change that fact.
There’s No “Deep Divide” over Male Athletes in Female Sports
Covering a new poll on whether athletes should compete against members of their own biological sex, regardless of gender identity, Axios reports that Americans are “deeply divided.”
Donald Trump? That Guy Couldn’t Even Win a House Seat in Texas
I’ve been led to believe that Trump remains extremely powerful in the GOP. That he can’t even ensure the election of the widow of a deceased candidate, in a safe Republican seat, during a run-off between two Republicans, would suggest that this might not be as true as some think.
A critical moment in the history of Critical Race Theory
One of the key problems with the national discussion of Critical Race Theory is that the proponents of the theory tend to downplay the scope and significance of their own work as a way to discount public concern about it. That’s how you get CRT proponent Kimberlé Crenshaw on MSNBC saying anodyne stuff like, “Critical race theory isn’t so much a thing as a way of looking at a thing.”
I live in a state where it’s legal to buy weed, but not high-end gaming PCs
It’s a strange, strange new world, boys and girls!
Do the Liberal Arts Still Have Any Place in Higher Education?
There are many who contend that higher education should just focus on occupational studies and get rid of “elitist” liberal arts courses that merely support “whiteness.”
