News of the Week for January 12th, 2025
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
New Mexico Supreme Court Strikes Down Local Abortion Restrictions
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against several local ordinances in the state that aim to restrict distribution of the abortion pill.
Montana AG asks Supreme Court to uphold law requiring parental consent for a minor’s abortion
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal of a ruling handed down by his state’s highest court invalidating a 2013 law that requires minors seeking an abortion to obtain notarized written consent from a parent or guardian.
Gun Rights
John Cornyn Introduces Bill Allowing Concealed Carry Permits To Work In All 50 States
Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill Thursday to allow concealed carry license holders to carry their guns in any state.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
“There Is, Technically, No Snail Darter,” But the Snail Darter Still Delayed the Tellico Dam
A case study in how the Endangered Species Act encourages the politicization and distortion of science.
Rhode Island College English course to teach students about ‘eco-Marxism’
Eco-Marxism asserts that Marxist thought is the solution to the degradation of the environment by capitalism. The course is the latest example Campus Reform has found of “eco-Marxism” being taught on campus.
Biden moves to bar oil, gas and geothermal development in a Nevada mountain range for 20 years
President Joe Biden’s administration said last Monday it is taking steps to bar oil, gas and geothermal development for 20 years in northeastern Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
Will ‘Nature’ Sue to Prevent Mining of Huge Lithium Deposit
Here’s the good news. A massive deposit of lithium has been discovered on the border of Oregon and Nevada.
Gov. Pete Wilson: California had a plan to store storm water, but Democrats blew it
George Skelton’s question of why the state and federal governments don’t store more stormwater before it escapes to the sea is not a new one.
Pay Up, Mr. Mann
For more than eight years, the climate scientist Michael Mann harassed National Review through litigation over a blog post — until, eventually, the First Amendment brought an end to his attack. This week, a court in our nation’s capital ordered Mann to pay us $530,820.21 worth of attorney’s fees and costs, and to do so within 30 days. It is time for him to get out his checkbook, and sign on the dotted line.
Massive Recovery in Antarctica Sea Ice Unreported by Net Zero-Obsessed Mainstream Media
Remember all that alarmist guff about Antarctica sea ice recording lower levels in winter a couple of years ago? Georgina Rannard of the BBC wrote a story headed ‘Antarctic sea ice at “mind-blowing” low alarms experts’, while Clive Cookson at the Financial Times gave us his suggestion that the area “faces a catastrophic cascade of extreme environmental events… that will affect the climate around the world”. The scare story caravan has moved on to pastures new these days, not unrelated to the fact that at the end of 2024 the extent of sea ice in Antarctica was roughly the same as the 1981 to 2010 average. According to the U.S.-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), “this provides a sharp illustration of the high variability of Antarctica sea ice extent”. It does indeed, and it also provides us with a classic case study of how a short-term natural variation, well understood by many scientists, is weaponised by activists in science, politics and journalism to induce mass climate psychosis with the aim of promoting the political Net Zero lunacy.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Supreme Court to weigh reinstating Obamacare care requirements struck down by lower court
Challengers raised religious and procedural objections to some of the requirements.
War & Terror
New Report: TikTok Brainwashed America’s Youth
China’s ‘indoctrination isn’t hypothetical. It’s real.’
U.S. uncovers hacking campaign targeting Guam’s critical infrastructure — suspected Chinese Volt Typhoon hacks could disrupt the defense of Taiwan
Guam’s infrastructure is essential to U.S. Navy operations in the Pacific.
Iran Pulls Most Forces From Syria, in Blow to Tehran’s Regional Ambitions
Thousands of Iranian military personnel and militia allies fled after Assad’s fall, leaving behind weapons and equipment
Is Russia Pulling Its Subs from the Mediterranean?
Depending what comes after it, the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime may not be an undiluted boon to peace and security in the Middle East — though no one anywhere will be shedding a tear for the Butcher of Damascus or his entourage. There’s no doubt, however, that the pulling up of Assad’s decade-long welcome mat for the Russian military in Syria is in the U.S. interest.
NATO sends a fleet to guard Baltic Sea cables
The decision follows a spate of suspected sabotage incidents on underwater cables.
The elite special forces eliminating Putin’s troops before they realise what’s happened
A Ukrainian Special Operations Forces team defeated a Russian platoon in one of many daring missions carried out on enemy ground in Kursk.
China Suddenly Building Fleet Of Special Barges Suitable For Taiwan Landings
China is building at least five new special purpose barges which appear tailor made for amphibious assault. The barges may provide the PRC (People’s Republic of China) with a unique way to offload large numbers of tanks directly onto Taiwanese roads.
The ‘Havana Syndrome’ Coverup Exposed
An interagency fight appears to be brewing within the outgoing Biden administration over the origins of so-called “Havana Syndrome.”
US announces $25m reward for arrest of Venezuela’s Maduro
The US has announced an increased $25m (£20.4m) reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the day he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office.
NATO allies worry the US can’t defend Europe and counter China, but there’s a way
NATO allies worry that the growing threat China poses may distract the US from Europe. A seapower expert argues the forces needed in Europe are different than in the Asia-Pacific. A confrontation over Taiwan would be primarily a naval fight; Europe would be a land battle.
National
New Jersey Teachers No Longer Required to Pass Basic Literacy Test
Under Act 1669, individuals seeking an instructional certificate in New Jersey no longer need to pass a basic skills test for reading, writing, and math.
“Humanpods” Equipped With Suite of AI Personas to Be Unveiled at CES 2025
Designed by startup Natura Umana, the earbuds offer different AI personas based on the users needs, whether it be a therapist or a fitness trainer.
UNC spring course catalog features ‘Queer LatinX Environmentalisms’
UNC Chapel Hill will offer a three-credit course called ‘Queer LatinX Environmentalisms.’ ‘This course examines queer LatinX literature from the late 1980s to the present as it intersects with ecological and environmentalist concerns,’ a descriptions reads.
Higher-Ed Reform’s Coming of Age
In North Carolina and elsewhere, policymakers hoping to revive universities must clarify their goals.
Outcry as Arizona tattoo shop inks girl, 9, who wanted picture of Trump on her neck
An Arizona tattoo artist has been slammed after inking a nine-year-old girl who asked for a portrait of Donald Trump on her neck.
FIRE to defend veteran pollster J. Ann Selzer in Trump lawsuit over outlier election poll
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression announced today it will defend veteran Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer pro bono against a lawsuit from President-elect Donald Trump that threatens Americans’ First Amendment right to speak on core political issues.
Challenge to California Policy Limiting Teachers’ Disclosure to Parents of Student’s Changed Gender Identity …
can proceed (under the First Amendment and under parental constitutional rights law), the court says, though there’s no actual decision on whether the plaintiffs (parents and teachers) will prevail.
Daystar televangelists leave Christian TV network amid child sex abuse scandal
Lance Wallnau and Jack Graham are just some of the prominent Texas faith leaders exiting the network.
Colleges limit AP credits to maximize tuition revenue: study
‘[T]ens of thousands of Americans are attending schools that don’t give them full credit for their AP work,’ report states
Mayor Out of the Country as Los Angeles Burns, Residents Plead for Help
On the menu today: Los Angeles County is burning, tens of thousands are evacuated, and we’re a long stretch away from the end of these devastating wildfires.
The Conspiracy Theory That Trump Can Evade the 22nd Amendment
There’s a hot new panic sweeping the Left, especially the legal Left: that Donald Trump will find some way to stay in office after his term ends on January 20, 2029, notwithstanding the extremely clear and explicit language of the 22nd Amendment: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” The 22nd Amendment was adopted and originally understood for precisely one purpose: to prevent anyone from repeating Franklin D. Roosevelt’s accomplishment of serving beyond the two terms that had been the presidential norm since George Washington. Republicans built their 1940 and 1944 presidential campaigns around FDR’s breach of that norm, and after he died in office early in his fourth term in 1945, the very next Republican Congress passed it two months into its tenure, in March 1947. It was ratified in 1951.
DOJ Relents on Mar-a-Lago, but Will Publish a Final Special Counsel Report on January 6
The Biden-Harris Justice Department has explained that it intends to make public a portion of a final report special counsel Jack Smith has prepared for Attorney General Merrick Garland with respect to the January 6 (J6) investigation, but Garland will withhold publication of Smith’s final report on his Mar-a-Lago (MAL) documents investigation. The concession on the latter is due to the case pending against two men who were indicted along with (now) President-elect Trump — although disclosure of Smith’s MAL report will be made, with conditions, to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
MAGA Influencers Paid to Promote WIND ENERGY in Texas
“We are generally paid per signature.”
House cat in Washington County died after contracting bird flu from raw frozen pet food
A house cat in Washington County contracted bird flu and died after eating Northwest Naturals raw frozen pet food, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Vermont State University hosts ‘Building Anti-Racist White Educators’ workshop to deal with so-called ‘unconscious biases’
‘White teachers, even those with experience and compassion, can unconsciously cause pain to students of color in their classrooms,’ the event description alleges.
St. Lawrence University ‘Great (S)expectations’ course to consider ‘alternatives to marriage’ like ‘polyamory’
‘Why might one choose monogamy versus polyamory? What are the alternatives to marriage?’ the course asks.
Art Deco style is popular again, a century after its heyday
A century after it was formally introduced at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, in Paris, Art Deco is enjoying a resurgence in decor, fashion and more. A new generation is appreciating the style’s unapologetically glamorous roots and translating it into something new.
Harvard offering course on ‘Sexual Life of Colonialism,’ will cover ‘queer desires’ and ‘transgender rights’
The course will ‘cover many forms of sexuality, including interracial relationships between colonizer and colonized peoples.’
Trump sentenced without penalty in New York hush money case
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to “unconditional discharge” in his criminal hush money case.
Free speech group calls on Cal State system to revise ‘unconstitutionally vague’ new harassment policy
A free speech group has called on the California State University system to revise its new “Other Conduct of Concern” discrimination and harassment policy, calling it overbroad and unconstitutionally vague and arguing it would impermissibly chill expression.
TikTok’s Bad Day at the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has been hearing arguments this morning on whether to uphold the federal law requiring the Chinese company ByteDance to either divest from TikTok or cease operating the platform in the United States. Based on how the arguments went, there may not be even a single vote to strike down the law or even pause it until Donald Trump can be sworn in.
How Policy Decisions Exacerbated the Devastating Los Angeles Wildfires
On the menu today: As noted in Wednesday’s edition of this newsletter, the combination of intense Santa Ana winds and an ongoing drought ensured that Los Angeles County was destined to face an unprecedented wildfire risk. There is no policy, at the federal, state, or local level that can eliminate the threat of wildfires. But policy choices can mitigate or exacerbate those risks and the consequences of those fires, and unfortunately, the bad decisions of Southern California have piled up, year by year, decade by decade. Today’s newsletter takes a deep dive into those policy decisions.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Hemp reform, private conversations, and police memes.
Left Behind
Senate Democrats move right on immigration.
VLC Media Player will soon allow for real-time AI translated subtitles
VLC Media Player developer VideoLAN announced an upcoming feature that will allow users to receive translated subtitles in real-time through AI.
The Great Los Angeles Fire Turns Eastward, Putting UCLA Campus in Crosshairs
As five separate blazes continue to burn, law enforcement says some LA area fires are due to arson.
Economy & Taxes
What the ATF Does—and What It Doesn’t Do
The “F” in ATF stands for “firearms,” and, in the matter of overseeing the sale of these, the ATF is a damned peculiar creature: It is a law enforcement agency dedicated to regulating transactions between federally screened, licensed sellers and a population of buyers from which serious criminals (felons, domestic abusers, those under indictment for such crimes) are excluded. It may not exactly shock you to learn that very few American criminals are carrying firearms legally purchased from a licensed retailer (murderers and armed robbers are not famously punctilious about lesser crimes) but just how small that share is may surprise you: It is less than 2 percent.
The ATF Is a Tax Collector
For about 200 years, the United States of America got along without the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. And, for much of that history, most Americans lived under a firearms-regulation regime that was relaxed or, in many places, effectively nonexistent. It is worth considering that there is a parallel between the Second Amendment and the First Amendment, with early firearms regulations often taking the same form as permissible restrictions on speech and other communication: time, place, and manner regulations. Americans had generally unrestricted rights to acquire firearms but might have been prohibited from carrying them in certain urban areas or restricted places (such as saloons) or while drunk, which was a real consideration in the hard-drinking 19th century.
Governor Reeves declares full income tax elimination top goal for 2025 legislative session
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves isn’t wasting any time advocating for the full elimination of the state’s income tax as lawmakers gavel in to begin the 2025 legislative session on Tuesday at noon.
Mar-a-Lago meetings to include an offer on SALT cap
The administration plans to offer to expand state and local tax relief and, in return, expects so-called SALT Republicans to fall in line behind the GOP policy agenda.
Chick-fil-A’s Lemon-Squeezing Robots Are Saving 10,000 Hours of Work
The company is outsourcing a tedious job that caused countless injured fingers to an automated factory
Fed officials are worried about the inflation impacts from Trump’s policies, minutes show
Federal Reserve officials at their December meeting expressed concern about inflation and the impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could have on efforts to reduce it.
Markets Aren’t Good Because They’re Efficient. They’re Efficient Because They’re Good
Samuel Gregg and Richard Reinsch have written an article for the most recent issue of National Affairs in which they argue for free markets against the recent bipartisan tendency to bash them. In it, they rely heavily on the thought of German economist Wilhelm Röpke, who stood up to the Nazis in his arguments for human dignity and liberty. After World War II, Röpke was instrumental in the market reforms that allowed West Germany to take off while East Germany suffered under decades of socialism.
Unions Still Hate Trump
In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory and his nomination of pro-union one-term House member Lori Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of labor, there has been some talk about how being more accommodating to unions could help Republicans, or that unions might be starting to move over to the Republican column. It’s certainly true that many union members are Republicans, and they have voted that way for decades. But it’s not true that unions as organizations are going to be friends of Republicans.
Urgent warning to Americans as key economic indicator hits highest level since 2008 financial crisis
US corporate bankruptcies hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis – as Americans tighten their belts.
Prospect Medical Holdings files for bankruptcy after owners took hundreds of millions in payouts
A Los Angeles-based company that owns more than a dozen hospitals in four states filed for bankruptcy late Saturday night, the second major system acquired by private equity to collapse in less than a year.
International
Trudeau to resign as prime minister after Liberal leadership race
PM asked Governor General to prorogue Parliament until March 24
Major country re-introduces strict Covid rules as mystery new Chinese virus spreads
Members of the public are advised to avoid public places and to wear masks in public if they are showing symptoms of Human Metapneumovirus.
The United Kingdom’s Long-Delayed Reckoning on ‘Grooming Gangs’
On the menu today: I must warn you, today’s newsletter makes for disturbing reading, but there’s no way to accurately describe the actions of the United Kingdom’s notorious “grooming gangs” without being disturbing. The perpetrators would likely prefer for you to look away, to find the whole thing so horrifying and difficult to read that you click away.
The Song, and Rapper, Inspiring Mozambique’s Youth Uprising
“Povo no Poder,” or “People in Power,” by the rap star Azagaia, has become the unofficial anthem of the protests over a disputed election.
Americans Are Flocking to Spain Despite End of Golden Visas
Spain has drawn a flood of Americans in recent years, lured by its warm climate and more affordable lifestyle. The question now is whether the end of the country’s golden visa program will stem the tide.
Pakistan Airlines advert shows plane flying into Eiffel Tower
Pakistan’s national airline has come under fire for a “tone deaf” advert that appears to show a plane flying into the Eiffel Tower.
Opinion
January 6 Is Over
The political force of the 2020 election contest and the Capitol riot are spent.
Written by the Victors
How will Americans remember January 6?
More on Birthright Citizenship and Undocumented Immigrants
Legal scholars Amanda Frost and Paul Gowder have both published notable new articles on the subject.
Against Guilty History
Settler-colonial should be a description, not an insult.
Quality over Quantity
“Does might make right? No. Neither does popularity. (And popularity can be a form of might.)” This is a statement from the opening item of my Impromptus today. The first several items are about politics. Then I go on with music, sports, language, and the rest.
The Protectionist Fallacy Makes Expansionist Wars More Attractive
Many serious people across the American political spectrum either affirmatively support or do not oppose the peaceful acquisition of Greenland. No serious political observer endorses the blisteringly stupid notion that the United States should incorporate Greenland by force — to say nothing of the other obnoxiously frivolous threats Donald Trump issued from the podium on Tuesday against American allies like Canada and Denmark.
Politics and rose gardens, &c.
On Trump and Trumpism; human guardrails; a South American dictator; a musical ‘point of light’; and more
Saving Face
Trump, Facebook, and free expression.
The Case for ‘Boring’ Family Policy
“Family policy” doesn’t have to mean a bunch of new government programs. Politicians often talk about it that way, with proposals for federally funded child care, federally funded paid leave, federally funded baby bonuses, and more. But if what families need from the government is a growing economy with stable prices, communities safe from crime and disorder, and the space to form and join civic and religious institutions, then a lot of the same old stuff conservatives have been talking about for years will be the best family policy available. That’s especially true when the welfare state is already too big and the government’s ability to fund new programs is already too small.
The Crisis of Democratic Overconfidence
The boutique priorities of the few have crowded out elementary good governance — a problem pronounced in California but apparent wherever the ‘blue state model’ is practiced.
Elon Musk’s Ill-Informed Foray into Shutdown Politics
The neophytes should not be setting the agenda.
Trump and Hubris
Understanding politics is partly about understanding ideas and policies — their power, their persuasiveness, and their practical effects. It is also partly about understanding people — the personalities of leaders, the sentiment and pulse of voters, and the demographic trends that shape both. But there’s also an indefinable extent to which political events and careers tend to follow certain patterns and trajectories that often repeat themselves across time and place. If I can be forgiven for a little interlude of MacGuffinization of politics, that’s been on my mind as we enter the second Trump term.
Instant Analysis of the TikTok Oral Argument
A few moments ago, the Supreme Court wrapped oral argument in the TikTok case. It stretched nearly three hours, but could have easily been finished in one.
The Chagos Islands betrayal shames Britain. Here’s how we stop it
As an MEP, I represented many Chagossians living in the UK. I know a a moral and mutually beneficial way to solve this crisis
The DARVO of “You’re Divisive!”
DARVO is an acronym that refers to a particular abusive behavior that applies when the abuser is caught or called out. It stands for Deny, Attack, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender: DARVO. DARVO takes many forms, but in wedge operations it very frequently takes the form of being divisive and then accusing the people who call it out of being divisive. It fits the mold: Deny: “I’m not divisive!” Attack: “You’re divisive!” in such a way that it Reverses the roles of Victim and Offender. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay explains this simple, common, Machiavellian trick used to steal power by divisive elements.
