News of the Week for April 9th, 2023
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
Abortions Increase in Ireland
This week, Ireland’s minister for health, Stephen Donnelly, announced that 8,500 abortions were performed in Ireland in 2022. Abortion became legal there in January 2019, after a May 2018 referendum in which voters repealed the pro-life Eighth Amendment from the Irish constitution. Abortion numbers in Ireland were fairly consistent in 2019, 2020, and 2021. However, the 8,500 abortions performed in 2022 represent a substantial increase of more than 27 percent since 2019.
Gun Rights
Second Amendment Roundup: Persons Aged 18-20 Are Entitled to Carry Firearms
Young adults are included in ‘the people’ protected by the Second Amendment.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Energy Department moves forward with light bulb ban
LED lights use 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent. DOE warned retailers in January that ban goes into full effect in August. Halogen bulbs and compact fluorescent lights will also be banned.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Dutch Euthanasia Deaths Soar, Mentally Ill Also Killed
Canada’s increasingly enthusiastic embrace of euthanasia has received most of the attention lately, but the Dutch also continue to blaze a path to the lethal practice’s normalization.
War & Terror
Turns Out the Chinese Spy Balloon WAS Able to Collect Intelligence Data
Many Americans were horrified that President Joe Biden allowed an enormous, high-tech Chinese spy balloon to float across the U.S. mainland in February, moving slowly over strategic military installations as it went, collecting data and sending it off to Beijing in realtime, before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Biden Administration’s Inept Response to the Chinese Balloon Likely Cost Us Valuable Intel
According to NBC, the Chinese spy balloon that hovered over the American landscape in early February successfully collected data from secure nuclear sites, such as Malmstrom Air Force Base.
Finland joins NATO in major blow to Russia over Ukraine war
Finland joined the NATO military alliance Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland’s Joining NATO Is ‘Embarrassment’ to Russia, National Security Expert Says
Finland is joining NATO, and Victoria Coates says Russia is less than pleased.
Report: Biden Admin Working on a ‘New’ Nuclear Deal With Iran
Axios: Biden’s deal proposes “some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran freezing parts of its nuclear program.”
Second look at Vietnam: Did we have it won?
In the fifty years since the Paris Peace Accords ended our military involvement in Vietnam, a consensus has long been locked in place about America’s war in southeast Asia. The effort to defend democratic(-ish) South Vietnam was an imperialist folly and an immoral war of choice using the Vietnamese as proxies. We never had a chance to win the war, and efforts to do so only strengthened our enemies.
Ukraine is preparing to strike back against Russia. Timing will be key
That has been the mantra of Ukraine’s military for months, one echoed by senior US and NATO officials since the winter.
Putin prepares for an invasion of Crimea: Beaches are covered with trenches and tank traps to repel an amphibious landing as Zelensky ‘prepares spring offensive’
Beaches have been rendered virtually unusable wiping out the summer season
Leaked Documents Reveal Depth of U.S. Spy Efforts and Russia’s Military Struggles
A trove of leaked Pentagon documents reveals how deeply Russia’s security and intelligence services have been penetrated by the United States, demonstrating Washington’s ability to warn Ukraine about planned strikes and providing an assessment of the strength of Moscow’s war machine.
Chinese military rehearses encirclement of Taiwan
China’s military is rehearsing the encirclement of Taiwan during three days of military drills.
Russia confiscates passports from senior officials to stop defections
Kremlin tightens Soviet-era travel restrictions in ‘sensitive’ areas
Police in Northern Ireland disrupt plan for a terror attack to overshadow President Joe Biden’s visit this week amid fresh warnings of violence
Biden is due to arrive in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday at the start of trip. Local media reported dissident republicans of the New IRA were planning attack. However, a search is believed to have disrupted the plot to overshadow visit.
National
Brain-Damaged John Fetterman Gets ‘Democrat Helper’ Served by CBS News
The best way to understand how liberal media bias operates is to think of it as a heavy wind, blowing into the faces of Republicans — at least a 10-point disadvantage from this hostile headwind — while providing Democrats with an equally powerful tailwind. Everything Republicans do is made to seem wrong and scandalous, while everything Democrats do is noble and courageous. There are occasions when this is so obvious that it’s like the media are serving up Democrat Helper™ — a steaming dish of one-sided bias. Just add a Democrat politician and stir.
NASA Announces the Crew of the First Manned Artemis Mission
On Monday morning, NASA, in conjunction with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), announced the four astronauts who will venture around the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II mission in the fall of 2024.
The Diversity Mania Includes Unequal Pay
We all know that the diversity mania in higher education means preferences for those who happen to have ancestry that puts them into a “diverse” category. But it appears that one state university also pays more for those individuals.
Bragg won’t charge wounded NYC garage worker who shot suspected thief
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will not prosecute the parking-garage attendant who shot a suspected thief after getting wounded himself, the DA’s office told The Post on Sunday.
Parents’ Survey of Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoric Kids Finds Preexisting Mental-Health Issues and Pressured Parents
A new survey of parents whose children experienced rapid-onset gender dysphoria contains some very interesting information.
L.A. Supervisors propose “depopulating” prisons with catch and release
I would have thought that all the rain in California would dilute whatever insanity-inducing poison is in the water.
New Hampshire Poll: Trump 42, DeSantis 29, Sununu 14, Haley 4
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‘I Felt Bullied’: Mother of Child Treated at Transgender Center Speaks Out
Got Milk? Not This Generation.
To the marketers trying to reboot milk as a sports drink for Generation Z, Yvonne Zapata seemed like the perfect ambassador. An exuberant 24-year-old marathoner from Brooklyn, she describes herself as a proud Latina runner. Her nickname is Miss Outside.
Trump returns to New York to face historic criminal charges
Former President Donald Trump returned to New York on Monday to face his historic booking and arraignment on hush money charges related to allegations of sexual encounters. The nation’s largest city bolstered security and warned potential protesters it was “not a playground for your misplaced anger.”
Repeating radio signal leads astronomers to an Earth-size exoplanet
Astronomers have detected a repeating radio signal from an exoplanet and the star that it orbits, both located 12 light-years away from Earth. The signal suggests that the Earth-size planet may have a magnetic field and perhaps even an atmosphere.
Feds Planning New Commission to Regulate ‘Harmful’ Social Media Content
The federal government says it is designing a new “regulatory structure” that could include a commission tasked with enforcing social media platforms to specifically target “harmful content” online.
Pitt students draft demands for trans ‘medical leave,’ no police, and mandatory gender class
Pitt transgender activists created a Discord group chat that was used to plan protests.
Nevada: Lawmakers look to build out response to sexual violence on K-12, college campuses
After legislators attempted to tackle issues of sexual violence and misconduct at the state’s colleges and universities in 2021, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocates are again looking to expand the scope of those policies — in part by putting more power in the hands of legislative appointees.
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ To Remove Half-Species From Player’s Handbook, Claims The Entire Idea Is “Inherently Racist”
In their latest step forward on their long march to lost profits, Wizards of the Coast has revealed that they will be removing the concept of ‘Half-‘ species from the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook on the grounds that they are “not comfortable” including an “inherently racist” concept in the game.
Supreme Court rules West Virginia transgender athletes can compete on female sports teams
The Supreme Court has ruled that transgender athletes in West Virginia can compete on female school sports teams in response to a challenge by the state to allow it to enforce a law that prohibits such athletes from doing so.
NASA Embraces DEI Policies, Appoints ‘Diversity Ambassador’
“Now more than ever, NASA is leading all of humanity on an unprecedented journey of discovery, exploration and innovation. To be successful in our missions, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility must continue to be at the forefront.”
Another Intellectually Dishonest Book Goes down in Flames
A nasty book was just published arguing (no, “declaring” would be a more accurate word) that those of us who believe in minimal government have been duped by a gigantic conspiracy. It’s just a myth, you see, that big government has bad consequences. If you think otherwise, you’ve been taken in by sinister forces using clever mind-control techniques.
Supreme Court Tells Maine to Stop Religiously Discriminating. Maine Gets Creative, Does It Anyway.
Last term, in Carson v. Makin, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Maine could not prevent parents from using otherwise generally available state school choice funds at religious schools simply because those schools provided religious instruction. But the state is back at it again, discriminating against families and the religious schools they want to send their kids to.
Maine Mother Suing School for Allegedly Hiding Her Child’s Gender Transition
“This was no accident: my daughter’s public school counselor deliberately tried to keep me in the dark, encouraging my daughter’s gender transition and encouraging her to hide it from me”
Scholars say DEI is having a potentially disastrous impact on the hard sciences
Ahead of MIT’s DEI debate, Heather Mac Donald and Patanjali Kambhampati sat down with the National Association of Scholars to describe how identity now trumps objectivity in science.
10 Disturbing Responses by LGBTQ+ Activists After the Nashville School Shooting
In the 10 days since a transgender individual shot and killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, many LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and progressives have posted insensitive or disturbing images online or stormed state capitols and statehouses.
Transgender Colorado woman, 19, is arrested over plot to shoot up THREE schools and churches by cops who found detailed plans and communist manifesto four days after Nashville massacre
A transgender teen was arrested after she allegedly plotted to shoot up three of her former schools
School superintendent: male coaches don’t want naked girls in locker room, but they should
Assistant Superintendant of the Glendale California Unified School District Kelly King explained in a video call that male coaches feel uncomfortable being in a locker room with trans-identified males walking around naked.
Kansas: Democrat who defied Party on trans sports threatened with death by colleagues
KS Representative Marvin Robinson (D-KCK) was told to “go die” by a colleague and that he had “blood on his hands” for voting to override Kansas Governor Kelley’s veto of a bill banning boys from playing in girl’s sports.
Nevada: Democratic Judiciary Chair Prohibits Question From Assemblyman Gray During Gun Control Hearing
Republican Assemblyman Gray was interrupted when trying to ask a question about maturity and transgenderism
Yet Another Federal Agency Goes Woke: NIST Offers “Inclusive Language Guidance”
Many scientists are now raising the alarm about the rising politicization of research as the ideological capture of our scientific institutions accelerates.
In California, Parents May Soon Effectively Lose Custody of Kids 12 and Older
In California, “stranger danger” may be about to acquire a whole new meaning.
Tax Hikes Consume Nevada Legislature
Nevada Democrats mimic the policies of their California colleagues in the numerous tax hikes proposals making their way through the Nevada legislature
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Scooter injuries, loyalty oaths, and Canadian barrels.
Biden Administration Proposes New Title IX Rule That Would Force Schools to Embrace Gender Identity in Women’s Sports
“For a party that claims to care about women, the left sure is intent on depriving them of the opportunity to fairly compete”
Economy & Taxes
OPEC Cuts Oil Production, Generating Renewed Concerns about Inflation
The signs appear to be pointing to recession.
A National Disaster 90 Years Ago
On April 5, 1933, FDR issued his executive order seizing gold from American citizens. Lawrence W. Reed recounts the dirty deed here.
Oh, by the way – longshoremen shut down 2 CA ports today
This could potentially not be fatal, but certainly, it’s not good.
International
Suella Braverman: My mission to ensure there really is no hiding place for the evil gangs grooming our vulnerable young girls
The time has come to right one of the greatest injustices seen in Britain in modern times. The systematic rape, abuse and exploitation of young girls by organised gangs of older men – and the disgraceful failure of the authorities to act despite ample evidence – is a stain on our country.
Finland’s Election — Marin Sunk
The victory of the center-right opposition in Finland’s election will mean that prime minister Sanna Marin of the center-left SDP has lost her job. Marin deserves credit for steering Finland into NATO, something that perhaps only someone on her side of the aisle could have managed. But, with Turkey finally having given its approval, Finland’s NATO membership is now imminent. The election won’t change that. That’s good news. Finland will likely prove a useful addition to the defense of the alliance’s northeastern flank. Moreover, with Finland as a member, and Sweden as something close to it, the Baltic states will look much less like the exposed NATO “peninsula” that they have been.
Sobbing child rapist who attacked girl, 13, walks free from court
A SOBBING rapist who attacked a 13-year-old girl in a park walked free from court today.
Moment six police officers raid a pub and seize 15 golliwog dolls after customer made hate crime complaint
Benice Ryley, 61, quizzed by officers after police received an anonymous tip
United Nations to Begin Accepting Applications for Deep-Sea Mining
Eco-activists hardest hit. And guess which country is a leader in deep-sea mining!
Swedish Police Appeal Court Decision on Quran-Burning Protests
Swedish police, in a press release published on Thursday, April 6th, announced that they had appealed the decision by Sweden’s Court of Administrative Law to overturn a decision by the policing authority to ban Quran-burning protests.
Opinion
Republicans Risk Running Headlong Into The “Rally-Around” Trap
Team Trump tactically is conflating defending against the attacks on Trump with the necessity of having him be the nominee. That’s understandable as a campaign tactic, but there’s no reason Republican voters need to go along, at least not this early.
‘There Is No Substitute for Victory’
If Donald Trump is going to be defeated in the primaries, this is going to be a big part of the message.
Trump’s indictment will warp our politics for years to come
Political hypocrisy always comes in dueling versions. Republicans who chanted “Lock her up!” about Hillary Clinton in 2016 are now complaining that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Donald Trump amounts to weaponizing the law against political opponents. Democrats who saw authoritarianism in that chant are now eager to see Trump’s mug shot.
The end of cities
I recently reviewed the results of the mayoral election in Chicago, which appear to have sounded the death knell for America’s third-largest city. The buildings will remain and the people without the means to escape will still huddle in their homes (at least those who have homes), hoping to avoid being the next statistic in a crime wave that shows no signs of abating. Commerce has slowed to a crawl and its once-famous entertainment district is now too dangerous for most to risk an evening out on the town. At the Washington Examiner, Stephen Moore takes a similarly dim view of Chicago’s prospects, but he notes that the Windy City is not alone in its downward slide. Many cities across the United States are simply becoming unlivable. And the real tragedy in all of this is that the decline was completely avoidable. But an epidemic of suicidally dangerous liberal policies has opened the gates for the barbarians that were always waiting outside.
Magna Carta and Alvin Bragg
“The failure of our education system to teach America’s young people their own history,” I wrote nearly four years ago, “is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that almost no one under 40 today knows anything about Sam Adams except as a popular brand of beer.” And many have suspected that this historical ignorance is not accidental, but rather that the dumbing-down of American education serves a specific political agenda, as those who are conscious of the pedigree of their liberty are apt to be more zealous in defense of their rights. Our liberties were “purchased . . . with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood,” Sam Adams declared in 1771, and thus Americans should never allow themselves to be cheated out of their inheritance.
On “Nice” Liberals and “Mean” Conservatives
I got a lot of responses to my article about reaching out to the younger generation and encouraging it to at least consider conservative ideas. One of the most interesting came from a Twitter follow of mine who’s a whippersnapper but also whip smart: For his generation, conservatives are the mean and nasty ones while the liberals are nice and compassionate. Many young people might have nuanced views on wokery and cultural liberalism, but if pressed, they’d rather be woke than wankers.
Obscure Online ‘Celebrities’ and the Fragmentation of Popular Culture
Once upon a time (he says, as if speaking of a distant and possibly mythical past) there were three major national TV networks, which was where practically all “famous” people were seen. During the 1980s, the proliferation of cable TV channels began to change this equation, and one of the responses to the challenge of cable — which cut into the audience and advertising revenue of the “Big Three” networks — was the rise of “reality TV” series. Survivor made its debut in 2000 on CBS, and The Bachelor premiered on ABC in 2002. The people who appeared on such programs became regarded as “celebrities,” as they were seen by audiences numbered in the millions, but these audiences were mere fractions of the population, much smaller proportionately than the viewership of the Big Three networks in earlier decades.
For Some Trump Voters, Legal Drama Is Latest Reason to Move On
Independents, key to reclaiming White House, show signs they want a different Republican nominee in 2024 contest
