News of the Week for April 16th, 2023
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
Colorado offers safe haven for abortion, transgender care
A trio of health care bills enshrining access in Colorado to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications became law Friday as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care.
Gun Rights
Second Amendment Roundup: To Preserve Liberty, Not Slavery
Carl Bogus invented the fiction that the purpose of the Second Amendment was slave control.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
New Report: Biden’s Green Energy Policy Strengthening China
“The Biden administration’s ‘ongoing war’ against domestic U.S. oil and gas production, the report continues, puts America’s energy security, and its national security, in real jeopardy.”
US Government May Launch New Effort To Seize Private Property, Says JPMorgan CEO – Here’s Why
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says the US government may need to seize private property to fuel one of its most high-profile initiatives.
Case for Nuclear Strengthens as First New Reactor in Decades Goes Online
America and the world are experiencing heightened energy insecurity. Nuclear power provides a reliable and clean source of energy — if the government lets it.
A time for charging
The Biden administration’s effort to impose electric vehicles on the car-buying public should at least be noted. It is taking place under power delegated to the Environmental Protection Agency by Congress under the regime of administrative law that controls so much of the way we live now. Forgive me for citing my own review “A new old regime.”
Washington Post Totally Knows What’s The Biggest Impediment To Everyone Driving An EV
The Biden administration just unveiled some of the most aggressive auto climate rules in the world – the latest step for an administration that has gone all-in on EVs. But America’s EV transition could soon stumble: not because of high car costs or a lack of automaker support, but thanks to the country’s broken and dysfunctional public charging system.
Edison monthly bills could change for many customers due to new state law
Customer monthly bills will include a fixed charge based on income
California power companies roll out fixed-rate bill proposal
That’s the basic idea behind sweeping changes proposed by California’s three largest power companies that will impact your electricity bill.
California’s Cautionary Clean Energy
Despite their advocates’ urgent claims, renewable energy sources are still intermittent, unreliable, and far more expensive than advertised.
Race to zero: Can California’s power grid handle a 15-fold increase in electric cars?
Despite expecting 12.5 million electric cars by 2035, California officials insist that the grid can provide enough electricity. But that’s based on multiple assumptions — including building solar and wind at almost five times the pace of the past decade — that may not be realistic.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
DOJ seeks pause of ruling that struck down Obamacare preventive care requirements
Last month, a federal judge struck down provisions that required insurers to provide some free preventive care services, such as screenings for cancer and drugs that prevent HIV.
Dutch Expand Euthanasia to Children Ages One to Twelve
Because of course they do. Once euthanasia is accepted by a society, it is a one-way street, continually expanding the killable castes.
War & Terror
Chinese state TV shows chilling Taiwan invasion blitz video as Beijing’s forces practise sealing off island
CHINESE state TV has shown a chilling video of a simulated full scale attack on Taiwan as Beijing’s forces practised sealing off the island.
How Putin saved NATO
When Finland cleared the last hurdle for NATO membership last week, major Western newspapers buried the story. Yet Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto justly celebrated ‘these historic days’—the end of 75 years of neutrality. As of this week, Finland is formally in, and Sweden, another eternal neutral, will soon follow, once Turkey stops blocking its membership.
Poland Becomes First NATO Country to Send Fighter Jets to Ukraine
Poland announced Thursday it will send a dozen or more Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to war-torn Ukraine — at least half its combat-ready inventory — becoming the first NATO country to do so. Like many former Warsaw Pact countries, Poland retains Soviet-made hardware. Much of it, including the “Fulcrum” jets going to Ukraine, has received modern upgrades.
‘There Was a Whole Appeasement Psychology for a Long Time’
Returning the peninsula of Crimea to the control of the Ukrainian government is a high priority of the Ukrainian government. It is not quite as high a priority to the U.S. government. Forcing the Russian military forces back to the pre-February 2022 border lines would represent a huge achievement and represents a daunting challenge at the moment. Reversing the consequences of a bad decision from 2014 is another challenge for another day.
U.S., Chinese Aircraft Carriers Operating Near Taiwan, Chinese Carrier Shandong Launched 80 Fighter Missions in Weekend Drills
Both a U.S. and a Chinese carrier strike group are operating near Taiwan as political tensions continue to simmer following a Taiwanese presidential meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), USNI News has learned.
Egypt secretly planned to supply rockets to Russia, leaked U.S. document says
President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi in February planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia and instructed officials to keep production and shipment secret ‘to avoid problems with the West’
U.S. Not Ready to Quickly Produce and Ship Weapon Systems, Panel Says
The United States no longer has the capacity to quickly produce needed wartime assets, like 155 mm artillery shells, or to repair vital sophisticated systems, like radar, rapidly in theater, a panel of expert logisticians said last week.
Russia posted a $29 billion deficit in the first quarter as energy revenue plummets — and it could spell trouble for the country’s military bills
Russia’s spending jumped 34% in 1Q to 8.1 trillion rubles, or $99 billion, amid the Ukraine war. However, energy revenues plunged 45% to 1.6 trillion rubles due to boycotts and sanctions. As a result, Russia posted a deficit of 2.4 trillion rubles in the first quarter of 2023.
Ukraine war: Leak shows Western special forces on the ground
The UK is among a number of countries with military special forces operating inside Ukraine, according to one of dozens of documents leaked online.
China wants to vassalize the West — Trudeau and Biden want to let it
As in imperial times, China’s goal is not to replicate the crude imperialism of the European type, but to create vassal states beholden to Beijing
NYT identifies military leaker as … an Air National Guardsman?
Does anyone else get the feeling that the people who are supposed to be looking for the leaker are lagging behind the people who are reporting on it? First, the Washington Post reported on the Discord gamer-chat group where the leaked intelligence first appeared.
Russia says China agreed to secretly provide weapons, leaked documents show
China approved “provision of lethal aid” to Russia in its war in Ukraine earlier this year and planned to disguise military equipment as civilian items, according to a U.S. intercept of Russian intelligence revealed in leaked secret documents.
China’s Xi Jinping, Brazil’s Lula Take United Stance Against U.S.
Brazilian president says the two countries will work to ‘balance world geopolitics’
National Guardsman Jack Teixeira Faces Two Counts Under Espionage Act for Allegedly Leaking Classified Documents
The documents included information about Ukraine and how America supposedly spied on South Korea.
Explosive thrown at Japan PM at campaign event; 1 hurt
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated unharmed Saturday after someone threw an explosive device in his direction while he was campaigning at a fishing port in western Japan, officials said. Police wrestled a suspect to the ground as screaming bystanders scrambled to get away and smoke filled the air.
As a Tiny Island Is Militarized, India Worries About China’s Growing Footprint
Satellite images track a decade of construction on Myanmar’s strategically located Great Coco Island
National
California bill would create missing persons alert ONLY for black women, children
A new bill proposed in California would create an “Ebony Alert” system to specifically notifiy the public when black women and children go missing. While the state already has a missing persons alert system, this one would only be for black women and children.
Will Gavin Newsom run for president? Experts say it’s not if, but when.
While California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has repeatedly denied that his sights are set on the White House, experts believe that it’s not a question of if he will run for president, but when.
Settlement reached in defamation lawsuit against Lou Dobbs, Fox News
A settlement has been reached in a Venezuelan businessman’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News and host Lou Dobbs over statements accusing him of helping tilt the 2020 presidential election.
FBI Links Words Like ‘Based,’ ‘Red Pill,’ ‘Looksmaxxing’ With ‘Violent Extremism’
It’s all very…sexual. The FBI targets “incels,” people who are “involuntary celibate” and want to “commit violence in support of their beliefs that society unjustly denies them sexual or romantic attention, to which they believe they are entitled.”
American IQ Scores Have Rapidly Dropped, Proving the ‘Reverse Flynn Effect’
Are we really getting less intelligent? Here’s the truth.
‘The Snakes of Transphobia’
Unfortunately, I believe this expelled member of the Tennessee legislature, Justin Pearson, has some star power, but this not a sermon anyone should have to listen to an Easter Sunday, even at a Unitarian Universalist church.
San Diego county supervisor sex scandal blowing up big time
Back in January, I painted a little picture for you of what a socialist, woke hellhole the formerly idyllic San Diego had become. Between banning natural gas, proposed mileage taxes, and rigging the scales so the votes of Democratic supervisors and their reps from populated sections of the county were weighted more than the rest, it certainly has meant good times for the ruling progressive junta.
Whole Foods Closes San Francisco Flagship Store Over Employee Safety Concerns
One of the City Supervisors is using this event to get a measure on the ballot re-establishing minimum police staffing levels.
Biden Admin New Emission Standards Could Force Over 67% Vehicles be Electric by 2032
I cannot find an obvious fact in the White House press release. How much will installing an electric power station in their homes cost? How much will electricity bills go up to charge one or two cars?
Psych prof revises lecture after categorizing conservatives as ‘guilty, anxious, and unable to handle stress’
A Wake Forest University psychology professor updated her language about conservatives after calling them ‘guilty, anxious, and unable to handle stress well as children’ during a fall 2022 lecture.
Boston teachers unions suddenly not such big fans of “diversity”
As in most large cities, enrollment in public schools has declined noticeably since the pandemic. There are a variety of reasons for this, including families either fleeing areas with high crime rates or moving their children into private schools. Boston is no exception and the obvious result has been a need to consolidate some services and reduce staffing. This has led to something of a civil war breaking out between various elements in the teachers’ unions. Some progressive advocates are endorsing a measure that would prioritize diversity in terms of which teachers get the boot and which ones are kept on staff. But in Boston, that would mean that many newer teachers of color would be kept while predominantly white teachers with more seniority would be told to clean out their offices. And most of them are having none of it.
18,000 Cattle Die in Texas Dairy Farm Explosion
Overheated electrical equipment is suspected as the cause of the blaze, which ignited the methane-rich cow waste.
Media Hoax: No, the Diary of Anne Frank Has Not Been Banned From Florida Schools
“Anne Frank’s diary gives a child’s face to the Holocaust’s incomprehensible truths. It often constitutes what the @HolocaustMuseum calls ‘the first, and sometimes only, exposure many people have to the history of the Holocaust.’ Who would want to ban it?” – Nat Geo writer David Beard tweeted.
Leftist Groups: A “Hardship” For People of Color to Write Their Own Name
Florida voter registration laws are being challenged by dark money groups who say it’s a hardship to provide an original signature.
Bates College mandates ‘Race, Power, Privilege and Colonialism’ curriculum
After a lengthy debate, Bates College is will mandate that students fulfill a graduation requirement on race and privilege.
Florida Health Agency Reviewing Report of Two Pregnant Women Denied Proper Care
The Florida agency in charge of regulating health-care facilities in the state is reviewing a report in the Washington Post that two pregnant women were not provided the proper standard of care when their water broke before viability.
Does the Governance Commission Care About UNC Governance?
Recent meetings suggest a focus on race and ideology, not institutional oversight.
Is Childbirth Racist?
Everything else is, so why not? This question is prompted by the revelation that the University of Minnesota paid a diversity consultant more than $200,000 to develop an online anti-racism training course for the University’s hospitals and maternity centers.
Trans Florida teacher ‘Ashlee’ who allegedly said they were ‘going to shoot the kids’ then themselves remains in classroom despite parents’ complaints
During a home visit, a deputy removed the three firearms and ammunition that Renczkowski possessed.
Protester arrested for harassment at Riley Gaines’ U Buffalo event
As Riley Gaines spoke at the University of Buffalo about protecting women’s sports, campus police officers arrested a protester for harassment and disorderly conduct.
Why People Are Fleeing Blue Cities for Red States
There are a lot of us in the Northeastern media who properly spend a lot of time slamming the Republican Party for what a mess it’s become. I have only one question: If we’re right, why are so many people leaving blue states so they can live in red ones?
Mike Pompeo Will Not Run for President in 2024
“And frankly, this race, I hope, isn’t about people. I hope it’s about these ideas.”
Protesters storm the stage as DeSantis delivers speech in New Hampshire
Two women rushed the stage as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a speech to New Hampshire Republicans Friday night. DeSantis spoke during the Amos Tuck fundraiser in Manchester. The women ran up on the stage carrying a banner that read “Ron Desantis: Loves Israel, Hates Jews” and yelled, “Jews against DeSantis.” Security took them away.
Engler of Michigan
If you’re in the mood for a podcast, of a political flavor, I’ve got one for you. My latest Q&A is with John Engler: here. Engler was governor of Michigan for three terms, 1991 to 2003. In our podcast, he and I talk about the Republican Party, past and present. (Engler is a Republican.) The Democratic Party, past and present. The media. U.S. presidents. Detroit sports (not an especially happy topic).
Wholesalers Must Be Hammering Anheuser-Busch
But it is a sign that wholesalers are, in all likelihood, (1) taking it on the chin as retailers need less Bud Light and (2) letting Anheuser-Busch hear about it.
Mandatory Sex Ed for Third Graders Unless Parents Opt-Out
Assembly Bill 357 requires teaching statewide ‘evidence-based’ and factual information about puberty, pregnancy, parenting, body image, and gender stereotypes
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Vaccinated jurors, a parking monopoly, and plant-based meat.
Unanimous Supreme Court Affirms Right to Challenge Federal Agencies in Federal Court
Those claiming they are subject to unconstitutional agency proceedings need not wait suffer through agency proceedings before bringing their claims to federal court.
NYT: Youngkin a no on 2024 too
In most presidential election cycles, especially for the party out of power, the challenge is in keeping up with the people getting into the race. For observers of the 2024 Republican nomination steeplechase, keeping track of who’s getting out may be more of a challenge.
‘Kids Can’t Read’: The Revolt That Is Taking on the Education Establishment
In suburban Houston, parents rose up against a top-rated school district, demanding an entirely new reading curriculum.
Chicago: Two Teens Shot During Violent, Chaotic “Wilding” Episode
Where are the parents?
Economy & Taxes
Even Hell’s Kitchen?
This is an amusing and gratifying report about the hit Bud Light is taking over its recent marketing campaign.
Walmart Closing Four Stores in Chicago, Saying They Lose Millions Annually
“The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago”
About That Welfare State
The New York Times practically wet itself the other day noting that during COVID the United States “built a European-style welfare state,” and isn’t it a tragedy that we gave it all up
Edison monthly bills could change for many customers due to new state law
Customer monthly bills will include a fixed charge based on income
The ‘housing first’ approach is a failure in California for obvious reasons
If you would like to see graphic evidence of the catastrophic failure of the “Housing First” model to address what is called the homelessness crisis, look no further than the story of the Skid Row Housing Trust in Los Angeles.
International
Cubans seek solutions and solace in Santería amid crises
From a two-room concrete home on the fringes of Cuba’s capital, the rumble of wooden drums spills out onto the streets.
King’s coronation: 3 crowns, 2 carriages and a shorter route
King Charles III plans to take a shortcut and smoother ride to Westminster Abbey for his coronation, trimming the procession route his mother took in 1953 as he aims for a more modest event that will include some modern touches, Buckingham Palace said Sunday.
Cuban dictatorship offers seafood, coffee, and other foodstuffs to Belarus that are severely scarce in Cuba
Apartheid in Castrogonia is not limited to the tourist industry. Apartheid governs all decisions by the military junta that owns the whole island and governs it with an iron fist, just like any old-fashioned Latrine American military junta or crime syndicate.
Irish politicians launch effort to bring Cuban slave doctors to the Emerald Isle
Some politicians in Ireland are eager to see Cuban slave doctors working in their nation’s hospitals and clinics. Never mind the slavery part. As is the case in every other country that employs Cuban doctors, opposition to the use of enslaved doctors will be minimal.
Colombian woman convicted of racist remarks about Black Veep
Before you start thinking that this brouhaha involves Kamala Harris, it doesn’t. This story involves a different Black Vice President. That would be Vice President Francia Márquez of Colombia. Back in September, the ongoing protests and unrest in that country resulted in an angry crowd showing up in front of Colombia’s congressional building. A female protester named Luz Fabiola Rubiano was asked by a local reporter to comment on the protesters’ demands. She launched into a tirade against Márquez (who is Black) including racist rhetoric and the subsequent video went viral. She was later arrested and pleaded guilty to “discrimination and harassment. Next month she will face sentencing and may wind up getting three years in prison… for saying things.
‘Zero Capacity to Save’: Argentines Buckle Under 103% Inflation
Argentines, painfully accustomed to decades of spiraling prices, say that the current 102.5%-and-climbing inflation rate is on another level and is making it almost impossible to get by.
Young New Zealanders are being rushed into medical gender transition
Rushed medical transitions can have tragic consequences for vulnerable young people. One example is the story of Zahra Cooper, as told by the New Zealand Herald in a compelling video documentary. Zahra is a young New Zealand woman who “after searching the internet and watching YouTube videos about transgender people… realised she felt… like she was trapped in the wrong body”. She was assessed by a psychiatrist, who failed to detect her autism spectrum disorder. Her psychiatrist diagnosed her with gender dysphoria (a clinical term for profound discomfort with your biological sex).
Previously unknown isotope of uranium discovered
A team of nuclear physicists affiliated with multiple institutions in Japan, working with a colleague from Korea, has discovered a previously unknown uranium isotope with atomic number 92 and mass 241. In their study, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group forced the isotope to reveal itself and tested the results of their efforts to show that what they had found was indeed uranium-241.
Los Angeles Elites Scrambled to Sell Homes ahead of New “Mansion Tax”
New tax likely to contribute to California’s ever increasing economic turmoil and affordable housing crisis.
Young people drive bullfighting’s resurrection in Spain
Álvaro Alarcón plays out the moment when he will enter Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring for his final challenge as a “novillero,” or apprentice bullfighter.
A Japanese Island Where the Wild Things Are
Most Japanese schoolchildren know the kappa as a trickster who looks like a cross between a frog and a turtle with an indented head. If you’re not careful, it could drag you into the river to drown. The tengu, identifiable by its bright red face and long nose, lurks in the woods. Beware of the tanuki, a supernatural variation of a raccoon dog, for it may make a fool of you when it crosses your path.
The “Koranation” of King Charles III
There are many reasons to be concerned about King Charles III. His general kowtowing to ‘wokery’ is risible, since the Left desires nothing more than his abolition. What concerns me the most, however, is his Islamophilia.
Gunmen Kill 7, Including Child, At Resort Swimming Pool In Mexico
At least seven people were killed, including a 7-year-old child, when a group of gunmen stormed a resort teeming with vacationers in central Mexico on Saturday.
Jeeves and Wooster stories censored to avoid offending modern readers
PG Wodehouse classics the latest to be rewritten as Penguin also includes trigger warning that the texts use ‘outdated’ language
Opinion
Can the Democrats’ Structural Advantages Be Overcome?
American Experiment’s Bill Glahn has done a detailed analysis of campaign finance in Minnesota’s 2022 election cycle. He provided links to his findings here. In this Twitter thread, he sums up his thoughts about the structural advantages that Democrats enjoy in Minnesota, and, to one degree or another, across much of the United States.
How can Democrats win the culture wars? Look to Newsom’s red-state tour
The national Democrats may finally have found their champion in the culture wars: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. His recently announced appearances in Southern red states, the “Campaign for Democracy” mark a significant tactical turn for Democrats, whose hesitancy to engage on cultural issues has frustrated the governor.
Law School Free Speech, Wokeness, and “The Etiquette of Equality”
As a general rule, essays on “wokeness” and law school free speech debates shed more heat than light. But I found this essay from Harvard Law professor Ben Eidelson, “The Etiquette of Equality,” to be a particularly interesting read. Eidelson offers a middle ground that probably won’t make advocates on either side happy, but I think he makes some illuminating points along the way.
The Left has killed our great cities
Mark down Tuesday, April 4, as the night Chicago died. That’s when we learned that Second City voters narrowly elected Brandon Johnson as their next mayor. This is a city that was flattened during the reign of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who lost in the first round of voting for Chicago mayor because she didn’t finish in one of the top two spots. Lightfoot, elected in 2019 after a career as a federal prosecutor who then held several appointed positions in Chicago, shut down the city for more than a year during COVID-19. She also bankrupted small businesses, allowed rioters to burn down whole neighborhoods, presided over the worst crime wave in 50 years and let the schools go to hell.
What Kind of Environment Will GOP Senate Candidates Run in Next Year?
Below, Jeff laments that Doug Mastriano wants to run for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, and that 2024 is threatening to be little better than a wan replay of the mistakes of the 2022 cycle. We should not be surprised that the quality of potential Republican Senate candidates is declining sharply, cycle by cycle.
Actually, Let’s Not Disaggregate More Educational Data By Race
Calls to do so are politically motivated and ignore statistical reality.
The Hillary-DeSantis Voters
A new class of voter is waiting to shake up our politics.
Winning Purple: Here’s How
National journalists and astroturf outside groups relentlessly attacked Michelle for having the audacity to challenge subversive Communist influence
For Democrats, failure is the only option
The San Francisco Standard reported, “One of the largest supermarkets in Downtown San Francisco—the Whole Foods Market at Eighth and Market streets—intends to shut down at the close of business Monday just a little more than a year after the store opened, company officials told The Standard.”
Which Party Is Stronger Going Into 2024?
It all depends, writes Michael Barone, the dean of American political analysts. Barone says that Republicans have a clear advantage on the issues
DeSantis against the GOP’s ‘Culture of Losing’
An interesting report from a DeSantis event in Ohio — the subtext of all this, of course, is that the GOP can’t afford to go with Trump again
The Politics of Vengeance
Media coverage gives the impression, perhaps only coincidental, that suspects or convicted persons claiming some political identity receive either greater leniency or more severe treatment depending on their position in the pantheon of woke correctness. For example, the Department of Justice recommended zero jail time for a transgender individual who vandalized the St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Wash. But for differential treatment to exist would not be unusual. In many societies there are social hierarchies and individuals with higher social status are customarily treated more leniently by the justice system than those with lower status, a phenomenon known as “privilege”.
What Adam Smith Problem?
German social scientists in the 1800s came up with lots of bad ideas. One of them was the idea that Adam Smith’s thought is inconsistent. They believed that Smith’s two books, 1759’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments and 1776’s The Wealth of Nations, are opposed to each other and called the resulting challenge of interpretation “the Adam Smith problem.”
The Adam Smith Solution
The relationship between Adam Smith’s two great books is famously complicated. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759, and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, take up related but distinct subjects, and Smith never explained how he understood their connection.
Florists’ free speech: Liberals in Tennessee appear to be making the case for conservative justices
Alex Vaughan and Quinn Kiesow are florists on a mission. In establishing the FLWR Shop in Belle Meade, Tenn., they announced that they intended to be “the very best flower shop, not just in Nashville, but well, ever!” It appears, however, that that their “passion for unique and elegant flowers” does not extend to Republicans.
