News of the Week for Oct. 17th, 2021
- Riots & Revolution
- Corona Virus
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Riots & Revolution
Garland son-in-law’s education company recommends book featuring Bill Ayers
The left-wing education company co-founded by Attorney General Merrick Garland’s son-in-law recommends that teachers read a book in which the first essay is written by Bill Ayers, the former domestic terrorist group leader and Chicago educator who helped lead the Weather Underground.
Critical Race Group Targets Diverse List Of Anti-CRT “Frontline Spokespeople”
I am listed among a distinguished (and diverse, did I mention diverse?) group of “frontline spokespeople.” I am not worthy! But they misspelled my name, which is a micro-aggression.
Harassment Of Providence Anti-Critical Race Whistleblower Teacher Ramona Bessinger Intensifies
Taunting and threatening messages were put on Bessinger’s classroom whiteboard, and then photos of the messages were tweeted at her, while her “pre-disciplinary” hearing was an aggressive inquisition trying to put words in her mouth.
Corona Virus
Newsom: Mandates for thee, not for me?
Only in California could a politician this incompetent and hypocritically elitist avoid getting tossed out of office. Ten days ago, Gavin Newsom imposed a vaccination mandate on all students above the age of 12, including both public- and private-school enrollees. As it turns out, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday in a buried lede that Newsom has made one exception — his own daughter.
Gun-Rights Advocates Threaten Lawsuit Against California Law Disclosing Gun-Owners’ Private Info
National gun-rights groups are speaking out against a new California law mandating the release of gun owners’ personal information. AB 173 was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) last month. It directs the California DOJ to disclose all the information the state collects about firearm and ammunition purchasers, including details such as their name and address, to accredited gun violence research institutions.
Does a Medieval English Statute Supersede the Second Amendment?
New York takes a long shot at saving its firearm carry ban.
Gun Rights
State of the Nation: The Explosive Growth of Concealed-Carry Permits
If you are a conservative you undoubtedly have one or more friends who don’t just own guns, but love guns, live guns, and breathe guns. Driving to the store this morning I was behind a minivan that had replaced the traditional stick-family decal with one showing all the guns he or she owns. Now, if you are a progressive you probably know someone who owns at least one gun. Actually, you probably know several people. They just haven’t gotten up the courage to tell you yet.
Kyle Rittenhouse Case: Is the Gun Charge A Sinister Attack on Kyle’s Self-Defense?
Rittenhouse’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 1, 2021. And thanks to the kind sponsorship of Legal Insurrection, we’ll be here live.
Gun-Rights Advocates Threaten Lawsuit Against California Law Disclosing Gun-Owners’ Private Info
National gun-rights groups are speaking out against a new California law mandating the release of gun owners’ personal information. AB 173 was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) last month. It directs the California DOJ to disclose all the information the state collects about firearm and ammunition purchasers, including details such as their name and address, to accredited gun violence research institutions.
Amnesty International: Allowing New Yorkers to Carry Firearms Would Violate International Law
[Amnesty International] argues that “The Constitution was . . . drafted with international law as a set of background norms, and this Court should construe the Constitution accordingly.” However, none of the alleged “background norms” that AI cites existed in 1791 when the Second Amendment was ratified, or in 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment made it enforceable against the states.
Amnesty International brief against right to bear arms
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to enforce the Second Amendment right to “bear arms” in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, an amicus brief from Amnesty International argues that doing so would violate international law. In this post, I’ll examine the arguments in the AI brief.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
California to ban small gasoline engines
California will soon ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, a move aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year than passenger vehicles.
How Climate Scenarios Lost Touch With Reality
A failure of self-correction in science has compromised climate science’s ability to provide plausible views of our collective future.
The End of Green Dreams?
Every day brings fresh news of the how the edifice of “green energy” has hit the wall. It turns out that when nations recognize they need more energy, they are all turning to . . . energy that actually works at scale.
‘The Green Lobby Is Running Biden’s Brain’—Windmills Edition
Among those of us who are honest about current events, there has been no shortage of opinions about who might be in charge of Joe Biden’s brain this year. We know it isn’t him. DOCTOR Mama Jill no doubt has some influence. The voices in his head certainly can’t be discounted.
70s Redux
Europeans are looking forward to a cold, dark winter. Natural gas is scarce and expensive, and the “green” energy in which European countries have invested many billions of dollars can’t produce reliable electricity. So panic is starting to set in.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Democrats’ dilemma: How to keep health care expansion in their big spending bill
BFor President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats, the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill was a chance to fulfill their longstanding dreams of expanding health care coverage.
War & Terror
China has won AI battle with U.S., Pentagon’s ex-software chief says
China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances, the Pentagon’s former software chief told the Financial Times.
U.S. State Department: There’s No “Firm Figure” on Americans Who Want to Leave Afghanistan
It is now almost standard for U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price to get a question about how many American citizens and how many green card holders are still trying to get out of Afghanistan in each briefing, and for Price to say a lot without giving much of a number, estimate, or range. During last Thursday’s briefing, Price once again insisted that progress was being made, despite having the same number of evacuees to offer as Monday.
Russia’s Most Advanced (And Stealthly) Nuclear Submarine Ever Just Went to Sea
Russia’s second Severodvinsk-class submarine K-561 Kazan, which is a modified Project 08851 Yasen-M design, went to sea for the first time for builder’s trials on September 24.
Will America Come to Taiwan’s Defense?
Beijing’s growing belligerence coincides with declining U.S. military power.
Taiwan’s president said her people ‘will not bow’ to China and China didn’t like that
As Jazz pointed out over the weekend, Xi Jinping’s latest statement about reunification with Taiwan was more diplomatic than other recent comments on the topic. One day after Xi’s speech, Taiwan celebrated the 110th anniversary of its founding and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen made very clear that independent, democratic Taiwan has no interest in being subjugated by communist China. She said Taiwan would not “take the past China has laid out for us” and that its people would not “bow to pressure.” Here’s a bit of her full speech translated to English.
China’s control of the supply chain is more dangerous than its nukes
In California, at the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors, more than a third of the cargo coming in from overseas – a huge portion of that from China – has traditionally flowed smoothly into the nation. In 2021, that suddenly changed for a variety of reasons either directly or indirectly traceable back to the pandemic. There are currently huge lines of container ships lined up as far as the eye can see. Some are waiting in line for up to three weeks before they have a chance to unload their cargo. This is driving up shipping costs massively and those price increases are being passed on to consumers in the form of steadily rising inflation.
US warship intercepted by Russian Navy while trying to sail into country’s territorial waters, Moscow says amid drills with China
Russian sailors were scrambled to head off the American missile destroyer USS Chafee as it set course to violate their country’s maritime borders in waters closed off for military exercises, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense has said.
UK counterterror officers lead probe in lawmaker’s slaying
A long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, an attack that united Britain’s fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene.
Terror police will probe murder of Sir David Amess: Cops arrest ‘Somalian man, 25’ after Tory MP was stabbed repeatedly at his church constituency surgery amid screams from onlookers as police launch ‘immediate’ security review for all politicians
Sir David, 69, had been holding a surgery for constituents when he was attacked by the knifeman at midday
Attack Submarine USS Connecticut Suffers Underwater Collision in South China Sea
This post has been updated with additional details on the injuries to the crew of USS Connecticut and the location of the collision.
China fires hypersonic nuke “right round the Earth” as terrifying display of advanced weapons “leaves US reeling”
CHINA has fired a hypersonic missile around the globe with the US left reeling by the terrifying display of military strength.
China tests new space capability with hypersonic missile
China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding towards its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught US intelligence by surprise.
National
Police: Wendy’s Manager Doused Patron With Oil
Victim suffered serious burns following drive-thru dispute
Superman Comes Out, as DC Comics Ushers In a New Man of Steel
The new Superman, Jonathan Kent — who is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane — will soon begin a romantic relationship with a male friend, DC Comics announced Monday.
Hand Overplayed: Two School Board Associations Denounce NSBA, Reject AG Garland’s Threat Against Concerned Parents
School boards and parents must continue to take a stand.
Mom Sues Cops Who Arrested Her for Leaving 14-Year-Old Daughter Home Alone
“When my daughter was 12 she’d walk down the streets of Shanghai to get donuts,” says the mom, Megan McMurry.
Art Institute of Chicago volunteers lose their positions to promote equity and diversity
If you have some free time in Chicago, you might be tempted to spend part of it at the Art Institute of Chicago. That’s what Ferris, Cameron and Sloane did on their day off back in 1986. More recently the museum has been voted the best museum in the world by Trip Advisor. Whatever they have been doing there seems to be working.
Politico: Dems warn that “the president’s decline is alarming”
That doesn’t mean what you think it does, but nor does it mean what Democrats think it does, either. The alarming decline they highlight is in Joe Biden’s polling rather than his cognition, which has fallen precipitously over the last two months. Politico reports on Democrats’ recent focus group efforts in Pennsylvania among party voters to determine the cause of Biden’s fall from grace
NYC “bail reform” law producing predictable results
New York’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, recently signed the “Less is More Act” into law. allowing for the release of hundreds (if not thousands) of prisoners who are behind bars for parole violations following previous convictions. Many of these inmates have multiple offenses, including violent felonies, but literally hundreds of them have been released just from the detention facility at Rikers Island. The Governor and the prisoner advocates who support her insist that all of the prisoners in question were only behind bars for “technical violations.” But those were only the violations that violated the conditions of their parole. The original crimes that landed them behind bars in the first place were often far more serious. Now the Governor is getting an earful from the state’s parole officers who are challenging this program as an unfunded mandate that is making the city less safe. And when it rolls out in full next year, the situation will only be compounded.
California Wages War on . . . Gendered Toy Aisles
Beginning on January 1, 2024, any large retailer in California that fails to provide “a reasonable selection” of products in a “gender neutral section . . . regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or boys” will be fined $250. Subsequent violations of the new gender-neutrality mandate — which will still allow gender-specific toys and aisles at stores — will cost them $500. Assembly Bill 1084 was signed into law by California governor Gavin Newsom this past Saturday, purportedly justified by the fact that gender-segregating “clothing and toys sections of department stores . . . incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is appropriate,” according the bill’s author, Assemblyman Evan Low (D., Silicon Valley).
Zoning Emerging as a Political Issue
Two big developments indicate that zoning may be on the cusp of emerging as a high-profile political issue. This is in direct response to growing moves by Democrats at the federal and state levels to kill off single-family zoning. Control over zoning is a core function of local government, which means that federal and state efforts to choke off local control are direct assaults on our federalist system.
Superman Gets Woke
The new Superman (son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane) is going to begin a relationship with another man, DC Comics has announced.
A Conservative Professor Sues over Retaliation against Him
The level of intolerance in American higher education keeps rising. “Progressives” have long been prickly about criticism of their ideas and have in recent years become increasingly bold in targeting anyone who disagrees. They praised freedom of speech and dissent when it served their purposes, but now that they have power, they’re eager to silence those whom they dislike.
Inside Rikers: Dysfunction, Lawlessness and Detainees in Control
With a staffing emergency disrupting the basic functions of the jail system, detainees have had free rein inside.
Biden’s Education Department moves to install racial quotas in school discipline policies
As National Youth Justice Action Month is marked in October, the Biden administration is again voicing allegations of racial disparity in juvenile misconduct prosecution, with a September 30 proclamation decrying such bias.
Pole Dancing Classes for 7-Year-Olds
Moral degeneracy is at the core of the liberal agenda. The ultimate prize in this regard is the corruption of children. As America succumbs to leftism, girls in grade school are taught to pole dance at Tiff’s Pole Fitness in Jasper, Indiana.
Virginia Democrats Panic
Paul has been covering the tight race between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe for Governor of Virginia. Youngkin has pulled even or ahead in some polls, and the formerly confident Democrats are beginning to panic. Now they want to change the election rules in the middle of the game
Walgreens closes five more San Francisco locations, citing “organized retail crime”
Walgreens is closing five more San Francisco locations as drug stores from the Bay Area to the Big Apple are besieged by rampant shoplifting and lax enforcement.
Loudoun County Public-School System Suddenly Discovers Due Process
As I noted on the Corner yesterday, Virginia’s Loudoun County public-school system has been inundated by an explosion of negative media coverage surrounding credible allegations that school officials covered for a transgender student accused of raping a ninth-grade girl in the women’s bathroom — and aggressively prosecuted the victim’s father for his angry response. Now, LCPS has released a vague, bureaucratic statement that says a lot of words without saying almost anything at all.
Yale Law student told to apologize over a party invite some students decided was racist
The Washington Free Beacon published a story today about a second-year law student at Yale who is a member of two groups. One of those groups is the conservative Federalist Society and the other is the Native American Law Students Association (NALSA). Back in September, the student announced a party which would be co-hosted by both groups. His invitation was clearly designed to make the party sound like it would be fun.
“Brown Sugar” Gets Canceled
After hearing the record thousands of times, I was unaware that the Rolling Stones’ classic “Brown Sugar” is about enslavement because I can’t understand anything Mick Jagger says in the entire first verse. All I hear is: “uh uh uh uh uh uh JUST AROUND MIDNIGHT.”
Seattle school cancels Halloween over “equity,” says Black kids don’t celebrate
A Seattle elementary school canceled Halloween activities over concerns about student equity and inclusion. Specifically, Seattle Public Schools says Black males do not celebrate and, more generally, students of color feel marginalized by the holiday. One parent, however, thinks this is an “exercise in affluent white vanity that is wokeism.”
The Rolling Stones cancel themselves
The group is canceling a “problematic” hit, but that could sum up half their repertoire
California’s Continuing Collapse
There are several stories that can write themselves every morning, such as the failure of green energy, the failure of the Biden Administration, the failure of the wokerati to acquire any common sense, etc.
Govt. Predicts Heating Bills Will Be Between 30% to 54% More Than Last Winter
The officials predict we will have 3% more heating days than last winter.
Parents Kicked Out Of North Carolina School Board Meeting
“At the direction of the Orange County Public Schools board of education chair, parents and members of the public were ejected from the Oct. 11 board meeting by Orange County sheriffs’ deputies.”
Students support diversity quotas…until it comes to football
‘It doesn’t make much sense…it should be based on skill.’
Virginia Democrats Voted to Allow Schools to Refrain from Reporting Sexual Battery in 2020
Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly voted for — and Governor Ralph Northam signed — a law allowing schools to refrain from reporting instances of sexual battery, stalking, violation of a protective order, and violent threats occurring on school property in 2020.
Democrats Rely on Big Guns in Virginia as Early Voting Plummets
Crucial governor’s race pits Democrat Terry McAuliffe against Republican Glenn Youngkin
William Shatner Reacts to Prince William’s Disapproval of Space Race
William Shatner is responding to Prince William’s criticism of space travel. ET’s Nischelle Turner spoke with the 90-year-old actor on Thursday, one day after he traveled to space, and Shatner was quick to defend his journey, and space travel as a whole.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Votes to Withdraw From NSBA Over “Domestic Terrorists” Letter
It has fomented more disputes and cast partisanship on our work on behalf of school directors, when we seek to find common ground and support all school directors in their work, no matter their politics.”
Non-Essential Worker Pete Buttigieg Secretly Was on Paid Paternity Leave Since August and No One Noticed
“While U.S. ports faced anchor-to-anchor traffic and Congress nearly melted down over the president’s infrastructure bill in recent weeks, the usually omnipresent Transportation secretary was lying low.”
Horrified Loudoun County Parents Tell School Board: Fire Superintendent Immediately
Any school board member that failed to take action after learning of the first incident needs to tender their resignation now. And more parents need to wake up and demand accountability from their elected representatives.
Parents of Girl Allegedly Assaulted in School Bathroom to Pursue Legal Action Against Loudoun District
The family of a girl who was allegedly assaulted in the bathroom of a Virginia high school plans to pursue legal action against Loudoun County Public Schools over the incident and the aftermath.
Loudoun County Schools Failed to Report Multiple Rapes Over Years
Loudoun County Schools in Virginia failed to report multiple sexual assaults over a period of years — and in violation of state law, according to a blockbuster report by Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak.
Trafalgar poll of Virginia: Youngkin 48.4, McAuliffe 47.5
Maybe late deciders are choosing to roll the dice on a Republican after 12 years of Democratic rule with an establishment retread as Team Blue’s nominee this year.
Mike Pence’s moment of truth
As Donald Trump tweeted through November and into December that the “rigged” 2020 election was “far from over,”? Vice President Mike Pence’s top advisers were sketching out a deliberate and strategic blueprint for the post-vice presidency. It would keep the conservative stalwart front and center in the Republican consciousness over the next couple of years. It would prime the pump for a campaign for the GOP nomination for president from Pence’s planned home base and political headquarters — Indiana — when the time was right. Job one would be to stand up a political nonprofit organization, a 501(c)(4), that includes as advisers Trumpworld insiders and is adroitly constructed to promote Pence without getting him crossways with the 45th president or the legion of loyalists clamoring for the return of their king. Advancing American Freedom launched in April 2021, ahead of Pence’s first trip to South Carolina as an ex–vice president. The group’s advisory board included a cross section of Republicans, including, as planned all along, some key Trump administration veterans, such as former chief White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, plus all-around Trump cheerleader Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives.
Documents In Ashli Babbitt Shooting Produced
Following a FOIA request and a lawsuit, Judicial Watch has obtained around 500 pages of documents from the D.C. Metropolitan Police that relate to the shooting of Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 riot. The documents are here; you can read them and make of them what you will. Judicial Watch’s commentary on the materials is here.
Woman raped on train as bystanders did nothing, police say
A woman was raped by a stranger on a commuter train in suburban Philadelphia in the presence of other riders who a police official said “should have done something.”
Math nerds enter mapping process that could sway power in Washington
State judges bedeviled by weirdly shaped and obviously partisan congressional district maps can now get expert help from an unusual source: math nerds.
WSJ Editorial: Providence (RI) Schools Seeking “Pretext” To Fire Teacher Ramona Bessinger For Opposing Critical Race Curriculum
“Education Horror Show, Continued – A teacher is targeted after she described the baleful effect of critical race theory.”
Walmart Critical Race Training Teaches Employees They’re Guilty of “Internalized Racial Superiority”
“American executives—the most privileged people on the planet—can collect accolades and social status by pledging allegiance to DEI and telling workers they’re racist oppressors.”
Texas poised to redistrict Jackson Lee or Green out of Congress
Texas Republicans have come up with a congressional redistricting plan. The plan would, in the loaded words of the Washington Post, “siphon[] off thousands of [Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s] Black constituents and potentially forc[e] her into a primary election against her neighboring Black incumbent, Rep. Al Green.”
The secret Supreme Court: Late nights, courtesy votes and the unwritten 6-vote rule
Much of the US Supreme Court’s business occurs in private, as the nine justices meet alone around a rectangular table in a small oak-paneled room.
Superman Changes Motto to “Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow,” Says DC Chief
Jim Lee, chief creative officer and publisher of DC, announced on Saturday during the virtual fan event DC Fandome that the Man of Steel’s motto will be “evolving” from the well-known mantra that he fights for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
The Loudoun bathroom teen rape situation just keeps getting worse
I’ve been following Ed Morrissey’s coverage of the ongoing horror show in the Loudoun County, Virginia school district where multiple rapes of children inside school buildings were covered up by the school board. That lasted until the father of one of the victims who had been raped in a school bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt went public. There’s been a different sort of coverup taking place since then in the form of a near-total mainstream media blackout of the story, with a few incomplete exceptions. Despite the fact that the school board clearly appears to have violated state laws regarding sexual assaults, it still seemed as if nobody in the school system was going to be held accountable.
Child brides are still a thing in the United States
NBC News published a report this week on a subject that we’ve tackled here in the past, though generally without any comprehensive, satisfactory solution emerging. The topic is child marriage in America and the complicated legal and moral questions surrounding it. They feature the story of a woman identified as Chloe who is now working as an activist to end the practice of allowing children to enter into marriages.
Is Mozilla Firefox Getting Sketchy?
This week, Mozilla released Firefox 93 and revealed that its flagship browser would come to the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 and 11 by the end of the year. But lost amid all that good news are two troubling updates that the organization quietly made to Firefox as well.
Vivaldi 4.3 Adds PWA, Sync, Download Improvements
This week, Vivaldi upgraded its flagship desktop web browser to version 4.3, adding several useful new improvements while allowing users to block Google’s latest privacy invasion.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Liquor Licenses, Kosher Cheesecake, and Forgotten Firearms.
Economy & Taxes
A Drama in Three Parts
1. Government creates a tax break. 2. Taxpayers take advantage of the tax break. 3. Scandal.
The Damage Done by Deficit Financing
The federal government racks up tremendous amounts of debt every year and the pace has been accelerating. But is this anything to worry about? Statist intellectuals scoff at the idea. We owe the money to ourselves, and besides, deficit spending stimulates the economy. So chill.
Nearly 80,000 shipping containers are piled high in the Port of Savannah, a report says, as the supply chain crisis shows no sign of stopping
The Port of Savannah is overwhelmed with shipping containers as the supply chain crisis continues. There are nearly 80,000 containers stacked up on the docks, The New York Times reported. The head of the Georgia Ports Authority said some ships were waiting for nine days before getting a slot.
Nevada: Cegavske won’t allow tax petitions off 2022 ballot
Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has informed the attorney general’s office she will not allow the authors of two petitions to increase the state sales and gaming taxes to withdraw those measures from the 2022 ballot.
This just in: Inflation rising
The AP reports that inflation has risen 5.4 percent from a year ago — unexpectedly. (Where have we heard that before?)
Winter heating bills set to jump as inflation hits home
Get ready to pay sharply higher bills for heating this winter, along with seemingly everything else. With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday it expects households to see their heating bills jump as much as 54% compared to last winter.
Putin Sees European Gas Crisis as Russia’s Golden Chance
Fresh from crowing over Europe’s gas crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin now sees a chance to capitalize on it.
Watch Out for Those Billionaires Wielding $601
Janet Yellen says that the IRS needs to look into all banking transactions that exceed $600 because otherwise billionaires will cheat on their taxes
That 70s Show: Inflation spikes to 13-year high
Remember when the Biden administration assured us that inflation was only “transitory”? Good times, good times. Not only is inflation not going away, it’s getting progressively worse, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Yanking our supply chain
If there was ever an administration unequal to the challenge of mitigating product shortages and lowering inflation, it must be the Biden administration. They know they have to do something, but they do not have a clue except in the public relations department. In the real world, the administration’s actions and proposals either have aggravated or will aggravate the underlying problem(s).
Supply-chain experts to Reuters: No really, cancel Christmas
Too little, too late. That’s the verdict coming from experts about Joe Biden’s proposed moves to get supply chains operating at normal capacity, especially in time for the fast-approaching Christmas holidays. They tell Reuters that Biden’s solutions are perhaps not even too little and more non-sequiturs, but Reuters manages to make the story about Republicans first
Forget What You’re Being Told. Here’s the Real Reason for California’s Trucker Shortage.
By now you’re familiar with the chaos at the Port of Los Angeles, where container ships have been backing up for months, causing shortages of consumer goods and increased inflation.
Suburban Dems flee from ‘defund the police’
There’s no conclusive evidence that the “defund the police” movement seriously damaged Democrats in 2020. But candidates aren’t taking any chances.
Summers: Don’t count on wokeness-obsessed Fed to stop inflation
Up to now, a wokeness obsession seemed more of a secondary issue at the Federal Reserve, whose money-printing policies have vastly contributed to the current inflation spike. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warns, however, that the central bankers don’t have their eyes on the ball these days. They’re more worried about social-media plaudits over wokeness than in regulating the money flow, and perhaps even openly hostile to the economic system they’re helping to regulate
Supply Chains: It’s Not Just Us
With all the focus on America’s shipping delays, it’s easy to forget that the world’s biggest shipping backup is in southern China, not southern California.
The U.S. Supply Chain Makes No Sense
I wrote for Politico today on how we crimp our logistics with a bunch of rules and practices that are completely irrational
What Has Biden’s “Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force” Been Doing Since June?
Does Biden really want to tell the world that he told Buttigieg, Raimondo, and Vilsack to focus on this problem four months ago, and the current messes, headaches, and worsening problems are all they have to show for their efforts?
Ireland Gives up Its Tax Policy, for What?
For years Ireland defended its low corporate-tax rate, 12.5 percent, as a matter of national sovereignty and part of an overall economic strategy that lifted the country out of poverty and into becoming one of the richer nations in Europe. The idea was to facilitate foreign investment in Ireland’s English-speaking workforce. American companies that wanted access to the European Union’s market did just that. Just a few years ago, government ministers there would call Irish taxation policy it a “red line” issue. Both parties currently running the government in Ireland ran on protecting Ireland’s tax sovereignty.
Federal court rules California’s AB 5 applies to trucking, dealing blow to owner-operator model in state
The leased owner-operator model in California suffered a severe blow Wednesday as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an injunction that had exempted the trucking industry from state’s AB 5 law and the ABC test for determining validity of any independent contractor classification.
Carter blues again
We did not reach the full flowering of the catastrophic Carter era until the final year of Jimmy Carter’s single term as president. Carter achieved failure on a grand scale in both domestic and foreign policy, culminating in the Iran hostage crisis and related fiascos. This is of course ancient and unknown history to most Americans today.
International
New treatment destroys head and neck cancer tumours in trial
Exclusive: combination of drugs causes tumours to vanish in some terminally ill patients, study finds
He was high on magic mushrooms when he killed his father. Canada’s top court will consider whether he can use ‘extreme intoxication’ as a defense.
The basic facts of the case aren’t in dispute. In December 2015, Thomas Chan gathered with some pals in his mother’s basement and consumed magic mushrooms. He’d done so on a few occasions before without incident. Failing to get high, he used more.
Met police drop investigation into Prince Andrew in Virginia Giuffre case
Officers made decision after reportedly talking to Giuffre and a review of documents
BBC describes Alfred Dreyfus as ‘notorious Jewish spy’
Alfred Dreyfus, subject of the antisemitic Dreyfus Affair that inspired Zionist founding father Theodor Herzl, was described in a BBC drama summary as a “Jewish spy” despite being exonerated.
Russian population decline largest ever recorded
In the past year, Russia had its most significant peacetime population decline of all time. Since last October, Russia’s natural population has declined by 997,000, according to The Washington Post. The natural population is determined by the difference between the country’s death rate and birth rate.
“Jewish supremacy” conspiracy theory spread on Irish parliament floor
The term “Jewish supremacy” is an accusation of Jews trying to take over the world lobbed at Israel by its opponents
Norway bow and arrow attacks: Man charged after five killed in Kongsberg before ‘confrontation’ with police
Police were called to the incident, in the centre of Kongsberg, at 6.30pm on Wednesday with additional resources sent from other areas, including Oslo.
Apple took down a Quran app and a Bible app in China on the request of Chinese officials
Apple has censored a Quran app and a Bible app in China, the company confirmed to the BBC.
Mystery beast with no eyes, ears or mouth stuns diver in depths of the Red Sea
Lukas Ostertag, from Heidelberg, Germany, was one of those who encountered the freaky sea beast, which he described as being a “long square rubber pipe-like thing”, while diving.
New Zealand council ends contract with wizard after two decades of service
Ian Brackenbury Channell was paid $16,000 a year to provide “acts of wizardry” for the city of Christchurch
As Afghanistan Sinks Into Destitution, Some Sell Children to Survive
U.N. warns that 95% of Afghans aren’t getting enough to eat as winter approaches
Lord of the plants: death metal eco-baron rewilds Irish estate
Randal Plunkett, the 21st Baron of Dunsany, strides out of his Irish castle in a T-shirt bearing the name of death metal band “Cannibal Corpse” in bloody lettering.
Venezuela jails American hostages after extradition
As if we didn’t already have enough problems with other adversarial nations on our plate, the situation with Venezuela has started heating up again this weekend. The United States moved to extradite Alex Saab to America to stand trial on charges of money laundering. Saab is a Columbian businessman and a close associate of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro who had previously been indicted on these charges before fleeing to the island refuge of Cape Verde. He had originally been arrested while traveling to Iran on Maduro’s behalf and we’ve been trying to extradite him ever since.
7-Eleven breached customer privacy by collecting facial imagery without consent
The OAIC has found 7-Eleven breached customers’ privacy by collecting and storing their facial images as part of efforts to understand the demographic profile of its customers.
Opinion
Columbus Day in Pictures
John has already dilated the self-abuse of liberals with regards to Indigenous Peoples Day Columbus Day, so I won’t add more here (except to say that when it comes to the supposed sin of “assimilation,” people ought to meditate on the deeper meaning of the seldom-noted clause in the Constitution which reads “excluding indians not taxed”—there’s a serious principle embedded in that seemingly technical phrase that is totally lost on today’s leftist identity mongers).
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
Tomorrow is Columbus Day. Or, at least, it used to be. In many places around the country, like Minnesota, Columbus is out of favor. Last year, “activists” encouraged by the state’s governor and lieutenant governor tore down the statue of Christopher Columbus that stood on the grounds of the Minnesota Capitol. The statue has never been restored, and its removal exemplifies a new intellectual order premised on the belief that it would have been better if Europeans had never come to the Americas.
Podcast: The Legacy of Columbus
The controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus has spanned decades. To some, Columbus serves as a symbol of bloodthirsty colonial expansion, a petty tyrant hellbent on pillaging native lands. To others, Columbus is a misunderstood and unjustified target of anti-American scorn who should be praised for his tolerance and kindness.
Time to end the race-based law that harms Native American children
More than a dozen states have recently chosen to recognize the second Monday in October not as Columbus Day but as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in an effort to acknowledge the nation’s indebtedness to Native Americans, as well as the many injustices they have experienced over the centuries. It’s fitting, then, that the Supreme Court is now poised to consider a case involving one of the greatest injustices ever inflicted on Native Americans.
The Tyranny of the 21st-Century Crowd
Mobs that form from the bottom up may prove even harder to defeat than totalitarian regimes.
Low Voter “Passion” Is Good for the Republic
Jim Geraghty pointed to a Washington Post column in which Karen Tumulty wrings her hands about women “taking a break” from politics. Indeed, diminished political “passion” or low voter turnout isn’t necessarily undesirable, as it’s often a sign of general contentment with the state of the world. The outsized role government plays in our lives has sparked a destructive religious fervor in politics. This obsession — from our misguided celebration of “engagement and activism” to the politicization of every cultural event — has damaged the fabric and comity of American life. Politics is a poor substitute for family, faith, work, or community. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, this ebb in passion will motivate voters to once again seek out more rewarding and decent religions than politics, because a fixation with elections rarely leads to any constructive place. As George Will helpfully pointed out in a recent Reason podcast, authoritarianism isn’t about barring people from politics but rather engulfing their entire existence in it.
The myth of the “stolen country”
What should the Europeans have done with the New World?
Is America Becoming Rome Versus Byzantium?
In A.D. 286 the Roman emperor Diocletian split in half the huge Roman Empire administratively — and peacefully — under the control of two emperors.
No, The Personal Is Not Political
The truism that is tearing at the fabric of liberal democracy.
