News of the Week for Aug. 7th, 2022
- Election 2022
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Election 2022
KLAS To Host Nevada Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate Debate In October
But with moderators like these, will Joe Lombardo and Adam Laxalt attend?
Dr. Oz, Losing Ground Since Winning the Pennsylvania GOP Senate Primary
Towards the end of June, I called Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Mehmet ““the wildly underperforming Ford Pinto of Republican Senate candidates,” a line that Frank Bruni of the New York Times quoted this weekend.
Peter Meijer: Democrats ‘Subsidizing’ MAGA Challenger’s ‘Entire Campaign’
This morning, Representative Peter Meijer published a scathing op-ed in Common Sense entitled, “Why the Democrats Are Funding My Far-Right Opponent.” He details alarming spending from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Michigan’s third congressional district
Kansas Votes to Uphold Constitutional Right to Abortion in First Ballot Measure since Dobbs
In a surprise upset Tuesday night, Republican-dominated Kansas voted to keep a constitutional right to abortion in the state constitution, upholding a pre-existing state supreme court decision that prevented the legislature fr0m enacting pro-life laws, in the first such ballot measure since the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Stop the steal: Kari Lake surged into the lead in Arizona thanks to late-night ballot dumps
To be clear, the headline is tongue-in-cheek. But it’s a joke with a point.
Primary night: Missouri GOP dodges a bullet, setback for Kansas pro-life cause
Looks like Republicans in Missouri — and in the US Senate — can breathe a sigh of relief. For a while this year, it appeared that scandal-drenched former governor Eric Greitens might ride a comeback wave that could imperil GOP efforts to hold the Senate seat now held by the retiring Roy Blunt. Instead, Greitens’ support collapsed in the stretch, and he finished a distant third to Attorney General Eric Schmitt
Kari Lake Cried Foul at Election Results. Then She Started Winning
When the initial votes in Arizona started rolling in Tuesday night and Kari Lake was trailing, she and her fellow MAGA allies resorted to a familiar election-night tactic: They cried foul.
The Least Surprising Development in the Michigan Primaries
In probably the least surprising development possible in Tuesday’s Michigan primary, Ryan Kelley, who was arrested at his home back in June for allegedly entering the Capitol during the January 6 riot, is rejecting the results of the gubernatorial election primary.
Tim Walz meets the voters
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and GOP gubernatorial nominee Dr. Scott Jensen faced off in a debate at FarmFest in Redfern, Minnesota today. Walz is running for reelection this November.
Funny how election ‘stealing’ ceases when Kari Lake surges ahead
Opinion: In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, when ‘no one was watching,’ Kari Lake went from trailing to winning. Funny how that’s not a problem now.
Gilbert’s crying wolf over election fraud distracts from valid concerns
If Joey Gilbert wanted to discredit legitimate concerns about voter fraud, it would have been hard to pick a better strategy than his current path. Last month, Sheriff Joe Lombardo won the Republican gubernatorial nomination. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Lombardo was the front-runner for most of the race. A super PAC spent millions boosting him. Donald Trump endorsed him when the race tightened. Lombardo was well ahead in public polling.
Poll Finds Voters Blame Biden and Dems for Recession, Despite White House Spin
“Democrats inherited an economy that was primed for an historic comeback, and promptly ran it straight into the ground.”
“Collective freakout”: GOP consultants urge candidates to endorse exceptions to abortion bans after Kansas vote
This is a logical first step as the two parties each feel their way towards the majority’s preferences. Dems are starting from the position of abortion on demand throughout all nine months, and they’ll have to come down from that eventually — but not just yet. Between the end of Roe and the quick scramble by red states to impose strict bans, the public attention’s is momentarily focused on Republican overreach. It’s the GOP that’ll have to make the first incremental move towards a national compromise, which will probably eventually settle on something like a ban after 12 weeks. And the logical first step towards that is to keep those new state bans in place while being more generous with exceptions than some pro-lifers are currently willing to be.
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
Kansas Is Not a Bellwether on Abortion
As Ramesh Ponnuru noted in a post early this morning, pro-lifers in Kansas lost by a large margin last night on a ballot measure that would’ve undone a state supreme court ruling finding a right to abortion in the Kansas constitution.
Gun Rights
California Handgun Roster Faces New Lawsuit
One of the Golden State’s more unusual gun-control laws is facing its first new challenge in a post-Bruen landscape. The California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) filed a lawsuit in federal court against Attorney General Rob Bonta (D.) on Monday. The suit takes aim at the state’s Unsafe Handgun Act (UHA), alleging that the law’s requirements for a handgun to be deemed “safe” for sale in the state represent an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment.
After Supreme Court ruling, it’s open season on US gun laws
The Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights threatens to upend firearms restrictions across the country as activists wage court battles over everything from bans on AR-15-style guns to age limits.
The Biden Administration Has Found a Sneaky Way to Compile an Illegal Gun Registry
The Biden Administration has made no secret about its desire to insert itself into the lives of Americans as much as possible — especially when it comes to guns.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Now It’s the Irish Farmers’ Turn
Over the weekend, I noted how, undaunted by the uproar in the Netherlands over the impact on farmers of rules limiting nitrogen emissions, Canada’s government was now looking to go down a similar route. Well, I should have mentioned Ireland, too.
Shops in Spain must keep doors shut and limit air conditioners to save energy
Spanish offices, shops and hospitality venues will no longer be allowed to set their cooling systems below 27C in summer nor raise heating above 19C in the winter under a new set of energy-saving measures.
“Green” Is Unsustainable
The administration’s “green” energy proposals, like those that have been adopted in Europe, are leading this country toward an economic, social and strategic disaster. It is hard to think of any set of policies, adopted by any government at any moment in history, that rival our “green” mania for sheer destructiveness. Although, that said, Sri Lanka’s brief commitment to “sustainability” comes to mind.
Geothermal plant wins appeal but pauses Nevada construction
The developer of a geothermal power plant facing legal challenges in Nevada agreed Monday to suspend construction just hours after a U.S. appeals court had refused to halt the project that opponents say would harm an endangered toad and destroy sacred hot springs.
Climate Scientist Andrew Dessler Proves Renewable Energy is Useless
You would think after spending uncounted trillions on renewables, there should be some evidence of decoupling between electricity prices and the cost of fossil fuel.
Give War a Chance?
You might be a “climate change” fanatic if . . .
Europe’s energy crisis: Controversy as Spain bans air conditioning from dropping below 27°C Access to the comments Comments
A debate has been sparked after Spain’s government moved to prevent offices, shops and other venues from setting air conditioning below 27°C in the summer.
Biden Administration Calls For Censorship On Energy
This is shocking, or would be in a sane world: Gina McCarthy, the Biden administration’s National Climate Advisor, is openly calling on tech companies like Facebook and Twitter to censor any dissent from the administration’s “green” fantasies. McCarthy says the tech companies “have to stop allowing” people to disagree with Biden.
What Does Energy Security Actually Mean?
It is economic and energy-security concerns — not climate change — that have driven countries such as China, India, and Japan to ramp up their clean-energy investments.
The Coming War on Agriculture
You probably know about what has happened in Sri Lanka, where the government’s attempt to impose organic farming led to food shortages, impoverishment, and a revolt that caused that country’s prime minister to flee. Also the Netherlands, where the government’s attempt to drastically reduce fertilizer use has led to massive protests by farmers that continue to this day.
Radical farmers pledge ‘hardest action ever after nitrogen talks
Radical farmers have promised to escalate their protests against the government’s nitrogen pollution plans, with Mark van den Oever from the Farmers Defence Force promising ‘the hardest action ever’.
The Big Green Lie Almost Everyone Claims to Believe
What bothers me most about the climate crisis is the opportunity cost, the needless economic pain people endure. In the USA gasoline prices have skyrocketed, because Brandon’s rabid green administration refuses to allow domestic energy providers to drill for more oil, and refuses to build new pipelines like Keystone.
China Strikes Back, Will No Longer Help Environmentalists Destroy American Economy
Give the Chicoms some credit, they know exactly what will strike terror into the hearts of Pelosi’s donor base.
John Kerry: Not in China’s Lane
One of the more appalling moments in a political career lacking much in the way to celebrate was the time when John Kerry appeared to shrug his shoulders at genocide. He had more important things to worry about, you see.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Biden Administration Declares ‘Open Season’ on Religious Hospitals That Object to Gender Transitions
In 2016, the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule that would have forced doctors across the country to assist in transitioning patients out of their biological sex, regardless of a provider’s medical opinion or conscience objections.
The ‘conversion therapy’ canard
Biden is doing trans activists’ bidding and young Americans will suffer
10,000+ Canadian Euthanasia Killings in 2021
Canada has gone all in for euthanasia, and it is going to get worse now that the “strict guidelines to protect against abuse” — in the movement’s parlance — have expanded to people with chronic and disabling conditions, and will soon expand to those with dementia and mental illnesses.
Cuba’s healthcare system ‘in tatters’ and its Covid statistics are lies, says UK publication that has always praised it
From our Bureau of Shocking Revelations That Can Only Shock Gullible Condescending Fools Who Have Willfully and Steadfastly Refused to Accept the Truth for Six Decades
War & Terror
That Taiwan trip
According to Senator Tom Cotton, the leak of Nancy Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan “came straight from the White House.” The AP reported yesterday that Taiwan was omitted from the itinerary of her Asian trip, but security concerns must have had something to do with that. Today comes word that Taiwanese and US officials expect her to visit Taiwan.
Pelosi to visit Taiwan, local media say, despite China warnings
China has warned that its military would never “sit idly by” if Pelosi were to visit Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.
Hawley: I won’t vote to add Sweden and Finland to NATO
As we have covered here over the past few months, Finland and Sweden have both filed applications to become NATO members. It’s a process that has traditionally taken years for countries to complete, but there has been a palpable sense of urgency among the members of the alliance to push Finland and Sweden to the head of the line. This expansion would presumably create more of a bulwark against Russia and make Vladimir Putin less likely to attack either of these countries, particularly Finland. But the governments of all the members must vote in favor of the applications if they are to gain entry. Congress is preparing to consider and vote on the request soon. But it won’t be unanimous. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has published a letter explaining why he will be a “no” vote on allowing these new members to join. It’s not that he has anything in particular against Finland and Sweden. It’s just that he believes we’re looking at the wrong threat and this proposal could weaken us further.
China moves to buy deep-water port in Solomon Islands
Earlier today we were discussing the threat China poses all across the Pacific and what we may need to do to prepare for serious aggression by the Chinese Communist Party. One clear indicator of the CCP’s long-term plans has been their moves to establish new military and naval facilities in some of the Pacific nations they have been pulling into their orbit. Yet another of these signs popped up in the news this week. It turns out that a Chinese company has been sizing up some property in the Solomon Islands that includes a deep-water port where such a naval presence could be readily established. And it sounds like they are close to closing the deal.
Air Force Base Hosted Drag Show During its ‘Diversity’ Festival
Harpy Daniels, the Navy Drag Queen, performed.
Furious China fires missiles near Taiwan in drills after Pelosi visit
China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest-ever drills in the Taiwan Strait, a day after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a solidarity trip to the self-ruled island.
Taiwan Official Leading Missile Production Died of Heart Attack, Report Says
The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room, succumbing to a heart attack, according to the official Central News Agency.
Chinese Military Rehearses Invasion of Taiwan, Island Officials Say
UK daily The Guardian: “Beijing on Saturday continued some of its largest-ever military drills around Taiwan – exercises seen as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of the island.”
There are Millions of Cameras Around the World Made by a State-Run Chinese Company. Guess Whose Servers They Tried Connecting To?
The exhaustingly politically correct Brits decided they needed to install cameras made by the Chinese throughout the UK. I’m not suggesting they went with a Chinese company due to “wokeness,” but I will say this: they recently arrested a decorated veteran for “causing anxiety” with a Twitter post.
Top Russian hypersonic missile scientist arrested on treason charge
A leading Russian scientist in hypersonic flight was arrested on suspicion of treason on Friday, according to Russian state media.
National
Hayward CA School District Approves Noxious “Liberated Ethnic Studies” CRT Curriculum
California school district prepares to spend millions promoting race hatred in the guise of “ethnic studies”
Wait, have the Murdochs really turned against Trump?
Last week two of Rupert Murdoch’s papers ran editorials critical of Trump on the same day, causing the commentariat to chatter about whether it was a coincidence or something more. Probably a coincidence, I thought. What are the odds that the 91-year-old Murdoch or his powerful son Lachlan is dialing up editors to push some official anti-Trump line from the very top of NewsCorp?
Google’s AI chatbot: Sentient, smart, and really racist
It’s been a little while since we checked in on Blake Lemoine, the former Google engineer who was suspended and then fired after revealing what he believed to be evidence that Google’s AI chatbot LaMDA had achieved a level of sentience. Lemoine doesn’t have any regrets about the way the story played out for him, personally or professionally. But he’s also not done telling his story and he continues to have concerns over the way that Big Tech is developing Artificial Intelligence systems and some of the assumptions they rely on while doing so. He also remains convinced that LaMDA has indeed “woken up” at least to some level, assuming Google hasn’t killed it since he left. Oh, and he does want you to know one other thing about the super-smart chatbot. It’s pretty racist. But he doesn’t blame LaMDA for that.
The Clinical Steps To Grooming Kids Match Exactly How They’re Being Taught In Schools
The steps predators take to groom children for sexual abuse bear a remarkable resemblance to some modern lesson plans in American elementary schools, according to descriptions clinical experts provided to the Daily Caller.
Living hell in Minneapolis
The Phillips neighborhood just south of downtown Minneapolis should not be the hellhole it has become. It has proved a popular area for homeless encampments that have plagued the neighborhood, but it wasn’t always like this and there is no good reason it should be this way now.
Arizona AG Investigation Debunks Claim That Hundreds of Dead Voters Cast Ballots in 2020
Hundreds of hours of research by the Arizona attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit debunked claims that 282 dead Arizona voters cast a ballot in 2020, state attorney general Mark Brnovich revealed Monday.
Four Kids Attack, Beat 70-Year-Old Asian Woman in San Francisco Complex
“They used their fist to hit my head multiple times and then they pulled me down and kept kicking me.”
Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski Killed in Car Crash
Republican Representative Jackie Walorski of Indiana was killed in a car crash on Wednesday, along with a member of her county’s GOP and a member of her congressional team.
Arizona Republicans Who Fought 2020 Election Certification Silent on New State AG Report
Several Republican state legislators in Arizona who signed a resolution urging Congress not to accept the state’s electoral votes for Joe Biden in 2020 remained silent this week after an investigation by the state attorney general debunked claims that 282 dead Arizona voters cast a ballot in 2020.
DeSantis Suspends State Attorney for Refusing to Enforce Bans on Child Sex Surgeries, Abortion Restrictions
“In June of 2021, he signed a letter saying that he would not enforce any prohibitions on sex change operations for minors. [Sex changes] are really disfiguring these young kids and he said “It doesn’t matter what the legislature does in the state of Florida.'”
Senate Republicans Introduce Bill to Prevent Chinese Communist Party From Buying Land in U.S.
“foreign investors now hold an interest in nearly 37.6 million acres of agricultural land in the U.S.—an area larger than the state of Iowa”
Higher Ed Establishment v. Asian Students at SCOTUS
Our column in The NY Post about amicus briefs filed against the Asian students in the Harvard/UNC Supreme Court discrimination cases: “The educational establishment’s uniformity and vigor in supporting racial preferences is staggering.”
Debate tournament banned White students from competing
Northeastern and Boston College co-hosted a debate tournament for students who ‘do not identify as white.’
The Higher-Ed Establishment Circles the Wagons for ‘Affirmative Action’
One of the biggest cases the Supreme Court will hear this fall is the challenge to the legality of racial preferences by colleges and universities brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA). As expected, the higher-education establishment is fighting tooth and nail to preserve its ability to use racial quotas to get student bodies that have the right racial mixture.
Ex Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery
Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, marking the first time that a former leader of the U.S. territory faces federal charges.
Kids Are Back in Classrooms and Laptops Are Still Spying on Them
As the post-Roe era underscores the risks of digital surveillance, a new survey shows that teens face increased monitoring from teachers—and police.
Brace Yourselves for the Supreme Court’s Racial-Preferences Case to Be Argued Before Election Day
The biggest Supreme Court cases of the 2022 term are expected to be the challenges to the use of race in admissions for Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The two cases were recently un-consolidated so that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who promised the Senate that she would recuse herself because of her role at Harvard, could nonetheless sit on the UNC case. That upset one common assumption about the cases; a second was that the Court would not want to inject itself further into electoral politics by hearing the argument before the midterm elections. After all, the actual decisions are very unlikely to come until many months later, and the justices hate to have their questioning treated as a political football.
Gang Fight at the Mall of America
This afternoon gang violence erupted inside the Mall of America. Details are still sketchy, but apparently members of rival gangs got into an altercation in or outside of the Nike store at the mall. One or more of the participants pulled guns, and a number of shots were fired. Apparently at least one person was wounded, but no one stayed around to talk to the police. As of this moment, there is no report of an arrest.
Adams asks for photos of city job applicants in effort to increase diversity: report
Mayor Eric Adams is collecting headshots of potential city workers in a thinly-veiled effort to increase diversity, according to a new report.
Teaching Transsexualized Boys to Pole Dance in Public
If moonbats forbid you to say something, it is probably true. Twitter recently banned the word “groomer” on the grounds that it is an anti-LGBT slur. This was done because the LGBT crowd is composed largely of perverts who prey on children — a.k.a. groomers.
Anchorage police officers violated policy in traffic stop where woman used ‘white privilege card,’ deputy chief says
The Anchorage Police Department found that two officers violated policy during a July traffic stop in which a woman showed them a “white privilege card” instead of a driver’s license, but it’s unclear what — if any — disciplinary actions resulted.
Amazon Buys Roomba Company, Will Now Map Inside of Your House
The corporate giant has purchased a company that uses robots to map the interior of people’s homes. Also, it vacuums.
Polio virus found in another New York county, officials say
New York health officials say they have detected the polio virus in wastewater samples in another county, just days after the virus was found in Rockland County.
LA prosecutor under investigation for misgendering sex offender who may be gaming the system
One of the most embarrassing moments in the tenure of Los Angeles DA George Gascon happened in February. A 26-year-old man named James Tubbs had been arrested in connection with a crime that happened 8 years earlier when he was just two weeks shy of his 18th birthday. That’s when James Tubbs entered the woman’s bathroom of a Denny’s restaurant and sexually molested a 10-year-old girl.
WaPo wonders: Why aren’t health officials urging a certain kind of “social distancing” in monkeypox outbreak?
Good question, especially since the same health officials had no problem ordering lockdowns and perpetual mask mandates for COVID-19, no matter the strength of the variants in question. Public health officials and elected leaders are announcing emergencies in the spread of monkeypox, the transmission of which has almost exclusively come from unprotected sex between males.
What We Can Learn from the Public Response to Monkeypox
According to this new report on monkeypox from the Washington Post, public-health officials still aren’t ready to treat the emerging disease like a real threat, because to do so would encroach on our society’s central religion: total sexual license.
Congressional staffer spent his off-hours pretending to be an FBI agent
This story from the Daily Beast about a congressional staffer impersonating an FBI agent is just crazy. In 2020 a couple of Secret Service agents in Washington, DC noticed what appeared to be an unmarked police car but something about the license plate looked off. It turned out it wasn’t a real undercover police car, it had just been made to look that way by a congressional staffer named Sterling Carter
80-year-old granny banned from YMCA after demanding biological male leave women’s locker room where little girls were undressing
Port Townsend, Wash. police said she “had an emotional response to a strange male being in the bathroom and helping a young girl take off her bathing suit.”
Woke Maine School Board Gets Busted for First Amendment Violation
Conservatives learn to fight fire with fire.
New York City’s Growing Behavior Gap
The removal of swift consequences for criminal behavior has led to an explosion of violence for even trivial slights.
Federal Prosecutor Sets Up Hotline for Reporting, Among Other Things, People “Espousing … Hate-Filled Views”
“In Massachusetts, we have recently seen multiple incidents of groups espousing deeply offensive and hurtful ideologies displayed on our streets.”
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Measles, tough weeds, and a COVID hoax.
Assaulted bodega worker flees NYC for the safety of… the Dominican Republic
You may recall the story of Jose Alba, the New York City bodega worker who was attacked in his store by an ex-felon. Alba fought back, stabbing his attacker to death, but was in turn stabbed by the thug’s female accomplice. For his trouble, Alba was tossed in prison at Rikers Island on $250,000 bail while the woman who stabbed him was released on her own recognizance. The charges were finally dropped and he was released, but now it turns out that the experience has soured him on life in the Big Apple. His friends tell reporters that he’s no longer working in the bodega and is currently packing up to move back to the Dominican Republic. This unfortunate tale says far more about the conditions in New York City (and most of America’s other large cities) than it does about Jose Alba.
ESPN analyst Jalen Rose wants to cancel the term ‘Mount Rushmore,’ Kristi Noem fires back: ‘Not on my watch’
ESPN analyst Jalen Rose is attempting to cancel the term “Mount Rushmore” because he believes it is “offensive.” However, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is fighting back.
San Francisco: Asian Commissioner-at-Large Brutally Beaten Outside His Home
“He was riding his bike and he actually dropped his bike and assaulted me.”
Economy & Taxes
Maduro Embraces Stock Market in Latest Venezuela Nod to Normalcy
Venezuela’s stock market was derided by the late President Hugo Chavez as a tool of the rich, pummeled by years of recession and avoided by international investors as the nation’s currency became nearly worthless.
Reject Biden’s Regulatory Push
Using the agency rule-making process to pursue policy is a troublesome, last-ditch effort to deliver on campaign promises.
GEICO closes all California offices, lays off workers: report
Californians can still obtain policies through a computer or a mobile device
China and the Sovereign-Debt Crisis
Writing for the Financial Times, Alan Beattie warns of a wave of defaults from developing countries around the world. The basic mechanisms causing the instability are inflation, rising interest rates in the developed world, and overall uncertainty about globalization due to geopolitical factors.
Investors Bought Nearly a Quarter of U.S. Homes Last Year, Driving Up Prices
Investors bought 24% of all single-family houses sold nationwide last year, up from 15% to 16% annually going back to 2012
Amazon’s $1.7 billion purchase of Roomba maker iRobot sparks privacy fears: ‘Homes were your last data sanctuary’
Amazon’s deal to purchase Roomba maker iRobot, which comes hot on the heels of the tech giant’s deal to acquire One Medical health clinics, is sparking more privacy fears.
Payrolls increased 528,000 in July, much better than expected in a sign of strength for jobs market
Nonfarm payrolls rose 528,000 for the month and the unemployment rate was 3.5%, easily topping the Dow Jones estimates of 258,000 and 3.6%, respectively. Wage growth also surged, as average hourly earnings jumped 0.5% for the month and 5.2% from a year ago, higher than estimates. Traders are now pricing in a higher likelihood of a 0.75 percentage point hike for the next Federal Reserve meeting in September.
‘What recession?’: US employers add 528,000 jobs in July
U.S. employers added an astonishing 528,000 jobs last month despite flashing warning signs of an economic downturn, easing fears of a recession and handing President Joe Biden some good news heading into the midterm elections.
DeSantis Won’t Allow Florida Fund Managers to Use ‘Woke’ Banking’s ESG Standards
“So, the upshot of all this is, we want to stop these kind of masters of the universe’ from trying to do through economic power what they cannot achieve at the ballot box. And it’s really an end-run around democracy, where they’re trying to impose these things.”
SEC’s Argument for Climate-Disclosure Rules Doomed to Fail
The Securities and Exchange Commission is only pretending that its climate-disclosure rules pass legal muster.
“Inflation Reduction Act” would make IRS among the largest agencies in government
Tucked away in the hilariously-named “Inflation Reduction Act” that Joe Manchin has been working on with Chuck Schumer is one significant bit of spending that has been mostly flying under the radar. The measure would fund a massive expansion of the Internal Revenue Service to the tune of eighty billion dollars. And we’re not using the word “massive” in a hyperbolic fashion here. This money would go toward hiring an additional 87,000 employees for the detested agency, more than doubling the size of its workforce. As the Free Beacon points out this week, that would make the IRS larger (in terms of manpower) than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and the Border Patrol combined. And what do they plan to do with that many people? Do you really need us to tell you?
Reports Indicate a Global Shortage of Epidural Kits
Baby formula and contrast dye shortages continue.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s Stock Buyback Tax Shows ‘Government Knows Best’ Attitude Toward Investing
Congress “invested” in the American economy to the tune of $7 trillion over two and a half years. The result? Inflation is through the roof, the economy is stagnant at best, and more than 60% of Americans now report living paycheck to paycheck.
International
British Veteran Arrested for ‘Causing Anxiety’ After Sharing Swastika Made Out of Progress Pride Flags on Social Media
“Someone has been caused anxiety based on your social media post. That is why you have been arrested.”
Britain regains some of its sanity on trans “transitioning” for children
Following the lead of American trends in what is claimed to be sound medical science, the Tavistock Clinic in London has been treating tens of thousands of youths claiming to have gender dysphoria. This so-called “gender-affirming care” has included the administration of puberty-blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even surgery, just as has been seen in the United States. But this month, the Tavistock Clinic is being shut down. Why? Because parents have complained of the “shoddy” or even dangerous procedures being performed there. And experts who have finally begun weighing in on the matter are pointing out that the efficacy of these treatments is simply not supported by the science, and studies claiming otherwise appear to be dubious at best.
‘Oppressed’ Sky engineer wins racism case
A mixed-race engineer has been awarded £14,000 after her white colleague told her she must have been oppressed because of her Latino heritage.
Nicaraguan parish remains under siege after police raid
Police on Thursday continue to surround a church in the Nicaraguan city of Sébaco, as its parish priest and five parishioners remain inside, as part of a siege that began Monday night.
Top scientist admits ‘space telescope image’ was actually a slice of chorizo
A French scientist has apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of chorizo, claiming it was an image of a distant star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Mexico’s AMLO pays the Cuban dictatorship over $1 million a month for slave labor
With the help of Mexico’s socialist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the communist Castro regime continues to operate its modern-day slave trade with nary a word uttered by the civilized world.
General Secretary of Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin arrested
General Secretary of Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin has been arrested by the Police, a short while ago. It is reported that he was arrested for conducting a protest violating a court order.
Concerns as Sri Lanka arrests top protest leader Joseph Stalin
The arrest is part of an ongoing crackdown against people protesting against the government over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Dad invents flamethrower for kids to play with at home: ‘Best toy ever’
It brings new meaning to the phrase “burn, baby, burn.” Fun-loving Canadian dad Daniel Hashimoto successfully converted a household leaf blower into a flamethrower that his children use to “scorch” around their backyard.
Vigilante mobs beat illegal miners and torch their camps in violent backlash after heavily-armed men gang-raped eight models filming music video in South Africa
Local residents form mobs to go after illegal miners accused of gang rape
European Nightclubs Plagued by Needle Prick Attacks on Customers
In addition to Spain, “Waves of needle pricks at nightclubs and musical events also have confounded authorities in France, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.”
Ketchup, mayo ice cream flavors being offered to London consumers
Some people in London are trying some rather unique “cupboard classics” ice cream flavors as they endure the hottest summer ever.
Opinion
A clown-car administration
President Biden is the Clown-in-Chief of the big circus that is the Biden administration. He has half a mind to be president. There is nothing funny about it. His administration is a circus colloquially speaking. President Biden and senior administration officials are not serious people. They have manifested as political hacks.
Introducing The Reset: The Great Reset Docuseries
Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, a highly-influential organization known as the World Economic Forum has been under scrutiny for using the global crisis as a means of advancing their own agenda.
‘Equity’ sounds good, but it’s actually a bad thing
Equity, which is not the same as equality, is an unjust, Marxist-inspired, redistributionist concept that is antithetical to excellence and doesn’t even address the real problem.
Responding to Defenders of the Federal Civics Bill
Last Friday, Former Nebraska Republican senator and Obama Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and former Alabama Democratic senator Doug Jones published a piece laying out three key defenses of the federal Civics Secures Democracy Act. Here is why those defenses don’t hold up.
A Civics Curriculum for the 21st Century
In his recent column, Stanley Kurtz mischaracterizes my civic-education work. And so I invite him and every reader to learn directly what I do.
Stop Drowning Us in Campaign Fundraising Emails
Every new development in the financing of political campaigns has its good and bad sides. The Internet has democratized financial support, enabling candidates to tap directly into the grassroots. On the upside, that has allowed talented, vigorous, more ideologically consistent candidates to emerge even when they were not favored by the party establishment. On the downside, whereas campaigning and fundraising used to pull candidates in the populist and elitist directions at the same time, offering balance, today’s grassroots fundraising has made politics dumber, more demagogic, more paranoid, more hysterical, and more impractical and uncompromising. It has weakened both parties, to their electoral detriment.
Silence Is Okay, Actually
Xochitl Gonzalez’s essay in the Atlantic today, “Why Do Rich People Love Quiet?” (subtitle, “The sound of gentrification is silence”), frames the author’s experience in moving from a noisy minority neighborhood to a quieter, wealthy white college campus as evidence of pervasive class- and race-based oppression: “It took me years to understand that, in demanding my friends and I quiet down, these [wealthy white] students were implying that their comfort superseded our joy,” Gonzalez writes. “Some white students resented that we self-segregated. What they didn’t understand was that we just wanted to be around people in places where nobody told us to shush.”
GOP Consultants: Stop Blaming Others For the Problems You Created
The New York Times ran a big story last week on how GOP online donations are down 12% even as GOP enthusiasm seems to be surging. The consultant class of the GOP is pushing the mythology that Google and Apple are flagging their emails because tech companies hate Republicans. I’ve spent a week on the phone with many Republican consultants, including those tied to campaigns whose emails make it to my inbox. They all tell me the same thing — the problem is not Google or Apple, but the GOP consultant class.
Don’t Tread On Me!
The Gadsden flag has been around for 247 years, but recently, like many other things, has become controversial. The FBI flagged it as one of a number of symbols that are popular with “Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremists.” The FBI describes the Gadsden flag as a “Historical American symbol, representing gun rights and limited government.” Imagine that.
‘Radical Gender Theory’ Is the Perfect Catch-All Term for Our Current Gender Madness
Over the last few years, the left has become increasingly obsessed with gender. No matter where we go, we can’t escape the left’s gender-mania.
Should Republicans Be More Worried about the Ohio Senate Race?
For much of the year, the conventional wisdom has been that Ohio is an increasingly red state that is drifting out of reach for Democrats. In 2018, a really good year for Democrats in the upper midwest, Mike DeWine won by about four percentage points. Trump won the state by about eight percentage points in 2020, suggesting it’s no longer a swing state. The state is currently represented by twelve Republican members of the House and just four Democrats.
How many states would pass a pro-choice referendum like Kansas’s if it were on the ballot?
The long answer: No way to know for sure, of course. Different states have different cultural dynamics that would influence the vote. Kansas, for instance, has been said this week to have a habit of being “Republican but not necessarily conservative.” That’s obviously not true of southern states. Kansas’s referendum was also aimed at a ruling of the state supreme court which found a right to abortion in the state’s constitution. All the winning “no” vote did was decline to overturn that ruling. If Kansas voters had been asked to vote on the merits of a six-week ban, a 15-week ban, a ban after viability, and so forth, it’s anyone’s guess how they’d go.
The Supreme Court Really Did Move Right
Even beyond high-profile cases and slanted media coverage, the statistics do show a shift.
Fighting Isolationism on Two Fronts
Once-distinct camps on the left and right are starting to sound similar.
