News of the Week for October 18th, 2015
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Obama Scandals
Leaked Benghazi Docs Directly Implicate Barack H. Obama
The week that will supposedly define President Obama’s legacy just got a splash of cold water thrown on it. New documents have surfaced showing that President Obama and his officials were directly involved in the “blame the video” narrative following the terrorist attack in Benghazi in 2012
Obama’s Comments on Clinton Emails Collide With F.B.I. Inquiry
Federal agents were still cataloging the classified information from Hillary Rodham Clinton’s personal email server last week when President Obama went on television and played down the matter.
Gun Rights
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to lead California gun control ballot initiative
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday will introduce a measure for next year’s ballot that aims to stanch the proliferation of gun violence, including a provision to require ammunition buyers to undergo background checks.
Anti-Second Amendment New York State Complains About Rest of U.S.
While creating its own black market in firearms.
Clinton Praises Australian Gun Buyback Program
Confiscation “worth considering” on a national level
Salon/NPR/CNN Contributor: If You “Love Guns,” You “Need To Be Shot” to Purchase a Weapon
And so, the gun control debate has come to this. D. Watkins, an NPR and CNN contributor, has run to Salon (where liberals really get to emote) to advocate for a rather draconian form of gun control
Poll: Gun Control Far Scarier Than “Mass Shootings”
On October 13, Chapman University released its Survey of American Fears and revealed that more than twice as many Americans fear gun control than fear “mass shootings.”
Pres Obama Says Buying a Gun Easier Than Buying a Book
Even in context this is the most profoundly stupid thing President Obama has said about guns in a long history of saying stupid things about guns. You have to be willfully ignorant to buy this hogwash.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Top Physicist Freeman Dyson: Obama Has Picked The “Wrong Side” On Climate Change
The climate models used by alarmist scientists to predict global warming are getting worse, not better; carbon dioxide does far more good than harm; and President Obama has backed the “wrong side” in the war on “climate change.”
Judges plan to outlaw climate change “denial”
A semi-secret, international conference of top judges proposed to make illegal any opinion that contradicted climate change
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Painkiller crackdown sparks industry blowback
Healthcare industry groups are launching a preemptive strike against soon-to-drop federal guidelines meant to tamp down on the prescription of powerful painkillers.
Now for some Co-op Bad News
Another two Co-ops have called it quits. Several of these closings are directly related to not receiving funds from the risk corridor program.
War & Terror
Was Erdogan Behind Ankara Bomb?
The Ankara bombing of a peace rally organized by Kurds, labor unions, and civil society groups was the worst single act of terrorism in Turkish history. Among both Turks and those outside Turkey, it has shaken confidence in Turkey and its stability. No terrorists have issued a claim of responsibility.
British Companies Build Jamming System To Take Down Drones
Security through good cameras and bad signals
Women Will Likely Have to Register for the Draft, Army Secretary Says
Women will eventually have to register for the draft if :true and pure equality” is to be realized in the U.S. military, Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday.
Draft women? Why not?
President Obama and I agree: Equality for women should mean equal subjection to draft registration.
“They want to die in battle to get revenge for lost loved ones”: Heartbreaking images of children living in the ruins of Syria by Canadian model who went to fight ISIS
Canadian anti-ISIS fighter Hanna Böhman took photographs of children living in the ruins of Kobane, Syria
National
Chelsea asked if Bill preys on young girls
It must be tough being the child of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Liberals upset over execution of baby rapist, killer
Roughly ten months ago, Charles Frederick Warner was executed in Oklahoma. As with many capital crime cases, this one had been dragging through the courts for years and the actual execution had been delayed multiple times before the Supreme Court finally gave the state the green light to go ahead. Now, all these months later, there are still some in the progressive community who are stewing over the result.
Jerry Brown Vetoes Right to Try and Live Bill
This makes zero sense.
Student Wrongfully Expelled for Rape Triumphs in Court: Due Process Beats “Yes Means Yes”
The University of Tennessee shifted the burden of proof and violated the rights of accused student Corey Mock.
CNN Debate Moderator Was Member of Clinton Global Initiative
CNN host Anderson Cooper, who is set to moderate tonight’s Democratic debate, was listed as a “notable past member” the Clinton Global Initiative’s website along with a number of other big name journalists:
Bernie Sanders isn’t socialist enough for many socialists
Self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders isn’t socialist enough for many socialists.
Bush “plant” at Trump event?
If this question from a townhall in New Hampshire last night came as part of an aggressive strategy from Team Jeb! to attack Donald Trump’s weakness with women, it might create a little backfire.
“Thank God for Abortion Providers”: Episcopal and Methodist Clergy Bless Abortion Clinic
Some ordained ministers are throwing their support behind abortion providers. Last week, for example, clergy for Episcopal and Methodist churches were among religious leaders who gathered in Cleveland to bless an abortion clinic.
Clinton, Sanders revise history in Dem debate
Hillary Clinton revised history in the Democratic debate when insisting she’s not a flip-flopper on a trade deal she promoted as secretary of state but turned against as a presidential candidate.
Bill Flores Tests Waters on a Run for Speaker
Bill Flores on Wednesday sent a “Dear Colleague” e-mail to fellow Republican members of congress, expressing his interest in a run for Speaker — but only if Paul Ryan decides to pass on a bid.
The Dark Side of Governor Moonbeam
Jerry Brown The Evil Materialist
Scandiphilia and Income Inequality
Bernie Sanders channeled the id of liberalism with his deliberate shout out last night that we should “look at” Scandinavian welfare states, especially Denmark and Sweden. He probably doesn’t know that Sweden has lately made some significant cuts to its social spending programs. But why let facts get in the way of a religious narrative.
Free at Last, Dems Finally Come Out of the Socialist Closet
But they’re still a criminal organization masquerading as a political party.
The Supreme Court, 9-0, on student organizations’ “freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate'”
The recent UCLA controversy involving the fraternity and sorority Kim Kardashian/Kanye West party reminded me of the Supreme Court’s most recent pronouncement on university student speech.
Confederate flag supporters indicted under Georgia terrorism law
A Georgia grand jury formally charged 15 members of a group supporting the Confederate flag on terror charges following a July confrontation with a black family who was celebrating a child’s birthday, according to an indictment released Monday.
Hastert reaches plea deal
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has reached a plea deal with prosecutors on charges stemming from agreeing to make hush money payments to conceal past wrongdoing and lying to authorities, according to multiple reports.
Poll: Villaraigosa, Newsom on top early in race for governor
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom hold an early lead in voter support in the 2018 race for governor, according to a new poll.
Choir replaces “Jesus” with “Hillary” in gospel song
Todd Starnes: A “women’s alternative chorus” desecrated an old gospel song at an official campaign stop, replacing the word “Jesus” with the word “Hillary.” It’s not the first time Democrats have tried to deify their leaders.
Biden: “Cultural Norms” Make It “Kind of Hard to Say Yes” to Sexual Activity
Vice President Joe Biden mused at a Domestic Violence Awareness Month roundtable today that new rules about affirmative consent for any sexual activity can be “tricky.”
Sex partner must say “yes” every 10 minutes or it’s rape, 10th graders taught in California
It won’t be long before college compliance officers are earning seven figures, judging by the confusing education that high schoolers are getting on sex and consent.
Another Left-Wing Marvel Comics Provocation: Captain America Smashes Villainous Border-Controllers In The Face
Yawn. They really need to be boycotted — Marvel, Disney, ABC. The entire organization is an obnoxious (and very successful) propaganda machine.
FBI probe of Clinton email focused on “gross negligence” provision
Three months after Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address and server while secretary of state was referred to the FBI, an intelligence source familiar with the investigation tells Fox News that the team is now focused on whether there were violations of an Espionage Act subsection pertaining to “gross negligence” in the safekeeping of national defense information.
Investigation into Hillary’s email server focuses on Espionage Act and could get her 10 years in jail as FBI agent says she could be prosecuted just for failing to tell Obama
Federal law makes it a crime for security clearance holders to fail to tell superiors when “gross negligence” causes a security breach
Who’s a pretty boy then? Man cuts off his ears to look like a parrot
Ted Richards, 56, has already had his face and eyeballs tattooed, next he wants a surgeon to turn his nose into a beak
Is the FBI Actually Serious About Its Clinton Investigation?
Two stories indicate maybe, possibly yes. First, Fox’s Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne report that the FBI’s investigation is zeroing in on a specific, potential legal violation
Feds Quietly Put Pork Roast Back on Prison Menus After Questions From GOP Lawmaker
Bacon is still banned
Dayton blunt in MN forum: Anyone who can’t accept immigrants “should find another state”
Harsh words and heartfelt sentiment were exchanged by community members and local officials on racial issues in Central Minnesota at the St. Cloud NAACP Community Conversation with Gov. Mark Dayton.
Nevada regulates Daily Fantasy Sports, effectively banning it
As I discussed previously, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is sports gambling made into an efficient commodity. They pretend they’re not, as does the NFL, but they are.
Jesuit University Journal: End “Bourgeois” Institution of Marriage
A law professor at Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York is appealing for an end to the institution of marriage in America, which he describes as “religious, gendered, and bourgeois.” Ethan J. Leib published his essay in the Fordham Law Review.
Illinois Army vet, 75, saves 16 kids from knife-wielding teen reportedly plotting mass murder
A former Army vet is recovering from stab wounds after putting himself between 16 terrified children and a knife-wielding teen determined to kill at an Illinois public library this week.
1 killed, 4 wounded in ZombiCon shooting
A shooting left one dead and four others wounded at the ZombiCon festival in downtown Fort Myers on Saturday night, according to Lt. Victor Medico of the Fort Myers Police Department.
Economy & Taxes
Janet Yellen Keeping Interest Rates Low as Political Favor to Obama
The billionaire Republican presidential front-runner also said corporate inversions are on the rise.
Bernie Sanders’ economics destroyed by Bill Maher
I defer to no one in my contempt for Bill Maher. He is an unfunny little crapweasel. However, of late, he’s beginning to show an alarming pattern of non-reflexive-leftwing opinions that probably spell the end of his career.
International
Long-Sought Exotic Particle of Pure Force Detected –“Key Prediction of the Standard Model”
Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) have calculated that the meson f0(1710) could be a very special particle – the long-sought-after glueball, a particle composed of pure force. The prediction that glueballs exist is one of the most important of the Standard Model of particle physics that has not yet been confirmed experimentally.
As Part of Schoolwork: German Kids Required to Make Beds, Cook and Clean for Migrants at Centers
Germany will spend at least €6 billion this year on caring for the 1.5 million migrants expected to arrive in the country by the end of 2015.
German Migrants Sues Asylum Center For Not Giving Them Money Fast Enough
Just innocent needy refugees…
University of Toronto unexpectedly finds problems with letting boys in the girls’ showers
Like many American colleges, the University of Toronto has heard the calls for fairness across the “gender spectrum” and previously moved to a policy of having gender neutral bathrooms and shower / locker facilities on campus.
Tiny German Village Forced To Accept One Thousand Migrants: Officials Mystified By Complaints
Villagers in a tiny, rural area of Lower Saxony in Germany, are demanding answers after it transpired that their village with a population of just a few hundred will be forced to accept one thousand migrants due to Angela Merkel’s decision to throw open her country’s borders.
Red China is building a dissident scoring system. Here’s why that matters.
The People’s Republic of China is instituting a new Communist correctness credit score. The score will be tied to people’s government identification cards. While this is a government program, two private companies will be running the system: Tencent and Alibaba.
Teenage girl, 14, who was born after sperm donation and lives with her two mothers is ordered to stay in touch with her two fathers in an “extraordinary” high court case
Mother became pregnant using known donor while with another woman
Angela Merkel’s support slips as immigrants flood Germany
We haven’t checked in on the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe for a while but it’s back in the news this week. While other countries have already been in revolt over the flood of primarily “economic refugees” seeking generous social welfare states, including Denmark and others in the north, Germany has been the big leader for open door policies.
China: Harbinger of a Brave New World
Totalitarianism is a function of technology. Prior to recent times, governments might claim to be absolute, but they did not have the record-keeping, administrative capacity to make good on that claim. Now they can do so far more easily than ever before — without hiring armies of spies. All that they have to do is follow the population on the Internet and use computers to collect and analyze the data. What Google can do, governments can do — and in Xi Jinping’s China that is what they are going to do.
Sweden Close to Collapse
If the wave of migrants keeps coming, in 10-15 years, Swedes will be a minority in their own country. That there is, in fact, an exchange of populations going on, should be clear in any sober assessment.
Slovenia places army on alert as hundreds of migrants reach border
Hundreds of migrants reach Slovenian border crossing with Croatia after Hungary shut its borders, as German politician stabbed in the neck by man “angry over country’s refugee policy”
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign was part-funded by pro-Hamas terror supporter who has backed the recent wave of stabbings of Jews in Israel
Supporter of terror group Hamas donated to Corbyn leadership campaign
Left Wing Czech President Warns Migrants Will Follow Sharia, Chop Off Hands, And Stone Their Veiled Women
The President of the Czech Republic has warned that Muslim migrants will “respect Sharia instead of Czech laws,” possibly stoning women, and saying that they could increase the practice of veiling, “depriving” the nation of female beauty.
Opinion
OK, Let’s Fight
The free-for-all over choosing a new House speaker isn’t chaos; it’s democracy.
House Speaker Paul Ryan Would Only Escalate The GOP’s Civil War
Amid chaos in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, desperate GOP leaders are pleading for Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to save them by becoming the new speaker of the House.
A Liberal’s Ten Commandments
To better advance their causes, liberals should follow these modest Ten Commandments to live the rather “progressive” lives that they advocate for the rest of us.
Power Line’s Compleat Guide to Aquatic-Assisted Childbrith
For a coastal Californian, it borders on cultural negligence that I have not noticed before now the fad of dolphin-assisted childbirth. Yes—it’s a real thing among the sufi-yogan new age crystal-gazing gluten-conscious set. Apparently some devotees of this method believe that newborns will be acquire an innate ability to understand and communicate with dolphins. And of course it is a stupid idea.
Campus Feminists and the Rape Shortage
More than 17,000 students attend the University at Albany-SUNY. Feminists insist that 1-in-5 college women are victims of rape on campus, and this statistic presents a bit of a problem for Carol Stenger, director of the university’s Advocacy Center for Sexual Assault.
A Tale of Two Dead White Males
Ivy League academics make excuses for the racism of a progressive hero.
Appendix N Survey Complete
With this piece on Tolkien going up, I’ve done forty-three posts on Appendix N now. I read every book Gygax mentioned by name, at least the first book of each series, and I picked out one representative work for each of the entries that consisted of an author’s name alone. I also wrote about two thousand words on each book.
The Unbearable Racism of Social Justice Warrior Jerks
Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time knows how I feel about racism. It is the most primitive, irrational, repugnant version of collectivist pseudo-thought that I can possibly imagine. It allows pathetic, brainless mediocrities to glom onto one another and find a delusion of strength in numbers. (Thanks, Internet!) They have no ability to achieve individually, so they gather in groups to castigate and victimize others based on the one thing their enemies cannot control – their race. They have no other recourse. They put others down based on skin color, because they don’t have enough intellect and rational thought to constructively critique them in any other way.
Who Stands in the Way of a Feminist Utopia? Women
Radical feminism may pack its biggest punch on college campuses, where gender-identity issues can be injected into any academic topic and impressionable students are encouraged to see the world through a skewed feminist lens, but its impact ripples through society, seeping into political debates and the popular culture.
Would a Speaker Ryan Push Through Amnesty?
Right after the Senate passed Marco Rubio’s amnesty/immigration-surge bill, the Associated Press ran a story headlined “Dems pin immigration hopes on GOP’s Ryan.”
The Rachel Dolezal-ation of the Oregon Killer
Here’s the narrative: mass killers are almost always white men. The Daily Kos recently published a piece with this headline: “How come we can’t tell the truth about the White Mass Killer Problem?” It asks, “Just what the fracking hell is the matter with all these mass-murdering white people?” Certainly mass killers are almost always men. But they’re not almost always white men. Overrepresented? Perhaps. But almost always white? No.
Bad Regulations Can Kill: El Faro’s Sinking Is a Tragic Example
The search for survivors from El Faro has been called off, the crew consigned to the depths. We are left to mourn the loss of 33 brave mariners, 28 of whom were American. But as we mourn, we should also be angered, because their deaths may very well have been avoidable. Hurricane Joaquin wasn’t the sole culprit; it had an accomplice, and that accomplice is a monstrous piece of legislation known as the Jones Act.
Newest Feminist Crisis: Sports Jerseys Are Not Made in Women’s Sizes
This feminist wanted to buy an Eli Manning sports jersey — and was aghast to find there were no women’s sizes. Women usually bought children’s sizes, she was told.
6 Reasons Planned Parenthood’s Claim It Isn’t Selling Aborted Babies’ Organs Anymore is a Farce
Planned Parenthood has been caught red-handed, selling murdered babies’ body parts to pad “their bottom line.”
4 questions men should ask when searching for a college
In recent years, as academics have taken a back seat to social justice, the most pressing questions facing college students have to do less with whether a degree will get you a job, and more to do with whether your feelings will be properly validated.
Essential Feminist Quotes: “I’ve Gone Down and Dirty With Strangers”
Everything is connected in feminist theory, and who am I to question or criticize these eminent women?
Problematic Breakfast Sandwiches: The Washington Post’s Errantly-Named “WonkBlog” Has Concerns About the “Upscalification” of Egg Sandwiches
Before quoting any of this extraordinarily stupid little dry fart of a piece, it’s worth noting the academic-aligned left (which mostly includes academic poseurs) does very little these days except “problematize” minor and mundane elements of daily life.
Feminist Tumblr: “Broken People”
She describes herself on Tumblr as an “economics student” and “vegan bi sexworker” who is “neurodivergent,” which may or may not be a synonym for crazy.
The Debate Lesson: America Now Has an Openly Socialist PartyShare article on Facebook
Sure, this batch of candidates sounded like a bunch of loons. They contended socialism is mostly about standing up to the richest one percent and promoting entrepreneurs and small business; climate change is the biggest national security threat facing the nation; college educations should be free for everyone; all lives don’t matter, black lives do; Obama is simultaneously an enormously successful president in managing the economy and the middle class is collapsing and there’s a need for a “New New Deal” which is in fact an Old Old Idea, considering how FDR called for a Second New Deal in 1935.
The Debate Upshot: The Democrat Party is Now Openly Socialist
Anderson Cooper was a terrible moderator, adding nothing at all to the debate except interruptions. His principle role seemed to be insisting that a candidate shut up so that Hillary Clinton could respond to a mention of her.
The Deeper Significance of Hillary’s “Enemies” Gaffe
I agree entirely with Charlie below with regard to Hillary’s statement that the enemy she is most proud of is the Republican party. But I’d add a few things.
Republicans, let’s take a second look at Jim Webb.
Democrats and Republicans last night were equally confused at the tone and demeanor of Jim Webb, a former U.S. Senator and currently one of the guys that is still in the Democratic Primary for some reason. His numbers are atrocious and his general dislike of campaigning on this scale (also, his total lack of name recognition) have done irreparable harm to the campaign.
How Jerry Brown Has Undermined The Rule of Law in California
A recent report from the FBI claims to offer proof that violent crime is down in cities throughout California. However, the FBI stats do not include the affect of Proposition 47, passed in November of 2014.
Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and the Danish model
The Democratic presidential debate featured a clash between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton over Denmark. Clinton reminded Sanders that “the United States isn’t Denmark. The Vermont socialist responded with a stirring defense of the Danish model.
Progressivism Is New Puritanism – Conservatism Is New Counter-Culture
From e-cigarettes to sex classifieds, the once transgressive left continues to criminalize fun.
The Near-Infinite Malleability of Obergefell
After the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges was handed down, even commentators supportive of the result complained about the decision’s vague legal reasoning. So I did a little thought experiment: How much of the language from the Obergefell decision could be used verbatim to support the recognition of other fundamental rights to government benefits, such as unconditional welfare benefits? Remarkably few changes were necessary.
A Note to Entitled Millennials in the Workplace: Give Humility a Try
Imagine for a moment that you’re a middle-level manager, mentoring and leading an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of young employees. Some stay. Some go. But as is typically the case with entry-level positions, turnover is a constant problem. You want to do something about it — you really do — but there’s only so much you can do to make a person’s “first real job” all that glamorous.
America is due for a revolution
Here’s the good news: The chaos and upheaval we see all around us have historical precedents and yet America survived. The bad news: Everything likely will get worse before it gets better again.
Consent and Hook-up Culture at Odds
The movement on college campuses to establish clear, affirmative consent regulations has been fascinating to see unfold for a couple reasons. The first is that it leads to “Yes Means Yes” rules that abolish the “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” standard of law we as a nation pride ourselves on. A cop shoots a black man and it’s automatically a grave injustice that the law was so harsh, but two college students hook-up and the guy is guilty of rape and due process is not necessary.
