News of the Week for April 28^th, 2024

• Election 2024
• Abortion
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

Election 2024

 

Inside the bizarre Las Vegas conference where Trump-loving sheriffs, felons and conspiracy theorists vowed to form militias to patrol polling places and seize voting machines to stop Biden
A recent CSPOA conference in Las Vegas drew attention for its controversial mix of attendees, including felons, disgraced politicians and sheriffs

Trump’s Unlikely Voter Problem
One of the foreseeable sources of irritation that will accompany the results of the 2024 presidential election is that the reasons for either candidate’s loss are so obvious today that the outcome, whatever it may be, will be seen as inevitable in retrospect.

Donald Trump Suffers Huge Vote Against Him in Pennsylvania Primary
Donald Trump suffered a blow in the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of Republicans refused to vote for him despite being the presumptive GOP nominee.

Building Trades Unions Endorse Biden
North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) endorsed Joe Biden for president in yet another blow to the theory that stereotypically blue-collar unions might be political allies to conservatives.

Maine and Nebraska Going Tit-For-Tat Over Trump?
The next battle in the new civil war may not be North vs. South, but rather East vs. Midwest. Republicans in Nebraska’s legislature have been working to enact a change to the state’s electoral college rules, making it the 49th state to award it’s presidential electors in a winner-take-all fashion. The only other state to split its electors in that fashion is Maine. But now Democratic leaders in Maine are saying that if Nebraska does this, they will try to do the same thing in the name of “restoring balance.” The choice is up to each of them, of course, but such a decision clearly gives the appearance of being cynical and political in nature. And like everything else in American politics this year, the action is yet again swirling around Donald Trump.

 

Abortion

Dobbs Decision

 

Arizona Republicans Who Supported Repealing an Abortion Ban Face Blowback
On social media, Arizona lawmakers are accused of being baby killers, cowards and traitors.

Gun Rights

 

Supreme Court Takes Up FPC, FPCAF Lawsuit Challenging ATF’s “Frame or Receiver” Rule
Today, the United States Supreme Court granted review in Attorney General Merrick B. Garland v. Jennifer VanDerStok, a Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s “frame or receiver” rule implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). As a result, the high court will decide the fate of the rule in its upcoming October 2024 term.

NY Judge: The Second Amendment Doesn’t Exist Here
There’s been a case in New York that I should have been following more closely. Dexter Taylor was a hobby gunsmith. He liked the nature of putting together guns from lawfully purchased parts.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &“Green Energy”

 

NY environmentalists’ next target? Individually wrapped cheese slices face ban under far-reaching bill
Individually wrapped cheese would be largely banned under a far-reaching bill getting pushed by New York environmentalists and politicians to reduce the use of plastics, The Post has learned.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

‘Pedagogical Malpractice’: Inside UCLA Medical School’s Mandatory ‘Health Equity’ Class
Top physicians, including former Harvard dean, say required course is riddled with dangerous falsehoods

War & Terror

 

Poland: We’re ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda said atomic sharing has been a topic of Warsaw-Washington talks.

Station Casinos says property’s workers seek to decertify union
Culinary Local 226 members at a Station Casinos property are taking steps to remove the union as their representative.

No, the Desire to Arm Our Allies Does Not Make One a ‘Warmonger’
On the menu today: The world took a step in the direction of becoming a little bit safer Saturday, thanks to the passage of a House bill that includes some more aid to Ukraine; some more military assistance to Taiwan; some long-overdue assistance to Israel; and, the cherry on top, bad news for TikTok. Alas, some lawmakers — Republicans! — believe that if you send arms to U.S. allies, you’re somehow hungry for war to start. No, pal, we’re sending arms to U.S. allies because we want to win the wars that have started and deter the war that is on the horizon. Republicans used to know that weakness was provocative. You would think the events of recent years would have reinforced that lesson.

U.S. Report Claims North Korea is Producing Pathogens for Germ Warfare Program
The rogue nation also launched a few ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan this week.

US, Russia set for a showdown at UN over nuclear weapons in space
The United States and Russia are set to face off over nuclear weapons in space on Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council, which is due to vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution calling on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space.

Former Maryland Governor, 2024 Senate Candidate Larry Hogan on Air with New TV Ad
Republicans in Washington are counting their lucky stars they have a top-tier candidate running for retiring Democratic Senator Ben Cardin’s open seat this cycle in Maryland, the state Joe Biden carried by more than 30 points in 2020.

Inside China’s ‘breathtaking’ space army that can blast targets around curve of Earth
US space chiefs are concerned by China’s massive army in space, an ever-expanding fleet of high-tech satellites that allow for long-range strikes on the ground and could pave the way for the invasion of Taiwan

Report: Gaza Terrorists Attack U.S. Humanitarian Pier During Construction Work
i24NEWS: “Gazan terrorists fired mortar shells on Wednesday towards the construction work on the humanitarian pier being built off the coast of Gaza.”

Seventy Israeli hostages have been killed, says captive
Hamas releases first ‘proof of life’ video of kidnapped American citizen, who says his existence is an ‘underground hell’

The Boxer is 2024 Navy’s Canary
ignore the excuses – see the waterfront

Blinken tells CNN the US has seen evidence of China attempting to influence upcoming US elections
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has seen evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and arguably interfere: with the upcoming US elections, despite an earlier commitment from leader Xi Jinping not to do so.

 

National

 

The Cass Review Won’t Fade Away
How youth gender medicine broke almost every liberal institution it touched.

As Predicted, the Fast Food Robots Are Here
We’ve been warning you about this here for years, but the future is now upon us. At National Review, Ryan Mills reminds us of the story of Mezli, a restaurant that opened in San Francisco in 2022 serving Mediterranean-style dishes for amazingly low prices. The eatery received rave reviews while it was in operation. But there was something different about Mezli. There were almost never any human beings there. The entire operation was handled by a robotic system that assembled the dishes from ingredients prepared in a central location, cooked them as required, and delivered them to the customers who paid for their food using a kiosk. The founder described the eatery as what would happen “if a vending machine and a restaurant had a baby.” But what does this mean for the future of fast food and the restaurant business in general?

Ben Shapiro Is on the Warpath to Purge the Conspiratorial Cranks from the Right
Last month, conspiratorial right-wing commentator Candace Owens was fired by The Daily Wire, the conservative media company Shapiro founded nearly a decade ago. Her ouster followed a months-long cold war with Shapiro largely fueled by her descent into overt, proud anti-Semitism.

McConnell Takes Swipe at Tucker Carlson over Ukraine
When outgoing Senate GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told a Kentucky radio host earlier this month he planned to spend his remaining days in leadership “fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party,” he meant it.

California Looks to Ban ‘Clear’ Service
Aggravation, of course, is exactly what the DEI crowd wants people to experience, and since more White people are likely to buy Clear, two California legislators are looking to ban the service.

Arizona Grand Jury Indicts Giuliani, Meadows, and Other Trump Allies in 2020 Election Probe
The indictment identifies Trump as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.”

Takeaways from the Supreme Court argument on Trump’s criminal immunity
The Supreme Court spent hours Thursday morning debating former president Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for allegedly conspiring to undo the results of the 2020 election. The ruling, which could come in June, could do far more than chart the course of Trump’s case; it may forever alter the boundaries of presidential power.

California Tries to Trample Parental Rights (Again)
Even in a state as blue as California, many parents have grown frustrated and alarmed by the transgender policies being put in place at their children’s schools. One of the biggest problems is a recurring situation where teachers and administrators are secretly indoctrinating children into trans ideology and hiding that information from parents and guardians. With that in mind, a group of concerned Californians began working on a ballot initiative that would require schools to notify parents if their child changed their gender identification, name, or preferred pronouns. The group had wanted to give the measure a name along the lines of “Protect Kids of California Act” and begin collecting signatures. But when the measure was submitted to the State Attorney General, he overrode them and said the signatures must be collected identifying the measure as one that “Restricts the Rights of Transgender Youth.” The state is clearly trying to torpedo the measure before it gets off the ground and the question is now heading for the courts.

Astronauts arrive at Kennedy Space Center as 1st crew for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft
It’s not just another ride for a pair of veteran NASA astronauts who arrived to the Space Coast ahead of their flight onboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

Columbia President Nemat Shafik Accused of Plagiarism
“This is wholesale intellectual theft, not subtle plagiarism.”

Administrative State Hits Warp Speed
As my colleague Ryan Young noted on X, this week’s Federal Register is a bumper edition of new rules and regulations, almost triple the normal pace.

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Reasonable SWAT mistakes, lying forensic pathologists, and de minimis injuries.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Post-Pandemic Resource Abundance Is Rebounding
Ever since the English cleric Thomas Malthus published his famous Essay on the Principles of Population in 1798, scholars have argued about the relationship between population growth and resource abundance. According to Malthus, population grows at a faster rate than resources, thus worsening scarcity.

California’s New Electricity-Income Tax Is Only Weeks Away
In a couple of weeks, California’s Public Utilities Commission will vote on whether or not to adopt a new fixed charge for electricity, one that will likely be based on income.

World’s billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers
Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis

‘Equity’ at the Heart of Biden Tax Proposal
There are lots of things to hate about Biden’s tax proposal. In fact, there is nothing to like about it at all.

Don’t Devalue the Dollar, Pence Group Says
Advancing American Freedom, the advocacy group led by former vice president Mike Pence, came out against rumored plans among Trump economic advisers to devalue the U.S. dollar.

 

International

 

Haiti warlord ‘Barbecue’ orders gangs to ‘burn every house you find’ & storm presidential palace amid bloody coup fears
The gangsters have turned a main hospital into a fortress to launch attacks on the palace and police

Why Saudi Arabia’s Neom Is Doomed
I’m not sure I’ve mentioned Saudi Arabia’s Neom project before, the plan to build a 170km long, 500m tall linear city arcology in the northwest Saudi desert.

Children could die because of Greenpeace’s Golden Rice activism
First, a word of warning. If you donate money to Greenpeace, you might think you’re helping save the whales or the rainforests. But in reality, you may be complicit in a crime against humanity. Last week, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and several other NGOs managed to stop the cultivation and use of vitamin A-enhanced rice in the Philippines, after the country’s court of appeal ruled in their favour.

Outrage over bizarre chicken sacrifice in Mexican Senate as politician in hot water
A politician in Mexico caused outrage after inviting two people to perform an ancient ritual – that involved brutally sacrificing a chicken – in the country’s Senate building

Long lines form and frustration grows as Cuba runs short of cash
Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, but when it was almost his turn, the cash ran out. He angrily hopped on his electric tricycle and traveled several kilometers to another branch where he finally managed to withdraw some money after wasting the entire morning.

China’s cities are sinking, putting tens of millions at risk
Major cities across China are sinking, putting a substantial portion of the country’s rapidly urbanizing population in harm’s way in the coming decades, according to a sweeping new analysis by Chinese scientists.

 

Opinion

 

Axis and Allies
There is a big picture right in front of your eyes

The Conservative Movement Is Defending Free Markets — from Both Sides
Limited government and free markets are under threat from the left and from some on the right. But principled conservatives are pushing back.

College students should study more
My crankiest old guy take yet

The Narrowest Ground for Deciding Trump v. United States
Holding that Jack Smith lacks defendant’s standing lets the Supreme Court avoid the fraught question of presidential immunity for criminal actions

Columbia Is in the Grips of a Perverse Selma Envy
National Review senior editor Charles C. W. Cooke said Tuesday that the escalating anti-Israel protests at Columbia University appear to reflect a desire on the part of the contemporary Left to “contrive” a kind of “great clarifying Manichaean moment,” even if they’re not living through one.

The Most Disturbing Part of It
The Big Ten, the PAC 12, and the Ivy League are overrun with antisemitic students protesting in favor of Hamas. They claim they support Palestinians, but “globalize the intifada” and “Palestine will be free from river to sea,” are explicit genocidal slogans of Hamas. Democrats insist words mean things. These words mean the students are terrorist sympathizers.

Student Movements Are Often Wrong
We shouldn’t assume that student political movements necessarily have a just cause. Far from it.

Beyond the Culture of Repudiation
Roger Scruton: modern conservative.

A Scruton Sampler
The great Roger Scruton would have been 80 this past February 27th, and to commemorate the event, Jash Dolani, a poster on X, put up a list of 11 Scruton quotes