News of the Week for February 26^th, 2017

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

 

Gun Rights

 

Knife Rights’ bills filed in Texas and West Virginia
With the start of the 2017 legislative sessions in the various states comes a flurry of press activity from Knife Rights. We have been reporting on efforts in the legislatures of Georgia, Virginia, and New York, and today comes word that West Virginia and Texas are also in their figurative cross hairs. They have introduced a preemption bill in the former, and in the latter they seek to right one of the greatest ironic injustices in the country – namely the fact that it is illegal to carry a Bowie Knife (and a few other styles of blade) in the Great State of Texas.

The Fourth Circuit Runs Roughshod over Heller and the Second Amendment
In upholding Maryland’s “assault weapons” ban, the court employed dubious legal reasoning to trample on American constitutional rights.

New Hampshire Governor Signs Constitutional Carry Into Law
Today was a great victory for gun owners in New Hampshire when Gov. Chris Sununu signed Senate Bill 12 into law, allowing law-abiding New Hampshirites to carry their firearms in the manner that best suits their needs.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Dakota Access Pipeline protesters burn structures as deadline looms
Today is the deadline for the few hundred remaining protesters at Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota. Some protesters have decided to end their time at the camp by burning down structures that were built on the site.

Pres. Trump Chooses Science Advisor
I’ve been waiting to find out who will be Pres. Trump’s science adviser. It appears to be physicist Dr. William Happer, a physicist currently teaching at Princeont University, and former Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science from 1991–1993. He’s no slouch as a scientist. His work for the Air Force on the sodium guidestar laser platform for the military’s missile defense program provided information on the tropopause layer in the upper atmosphere, which is where atmospheric wave fronts distort both starlight and laser emissions, and where heat either begins to leak into space or does not, depending on how much and what kind of gas is blocking heat radiation.

Meet “Cheyenne”, the coal-powered climate predicting supercomputer
There’s been some buzz in the last week as it was announced that NCAR’s new climate supercomputer was finally online.

The Climate “Deus ex Machina” is shown to be a false God
Some say that “God” might reside in a computer…the Deus ex Machina, literally means “god from the machine”. Amongst those individuals are those divining climate with climate computers in which are embedded general circulation models. This has generated a belief system…belief that all variables which drive global climate at all time scales have been identified, quantified as to individual contribution and interactions, and that chaotic variability is foreseeable. At the current state of scientific knowledge, such belief is intellectual hubris masquerading as achieved scientific endeavor.

A Trifecta of Green Lunacy: The law of unintended consequences kicks in
Green Lunacy #1: £450 Million Lost Over Failed Green Power That Is Worse Than Coal

Hundreds of scientists urge Trump to withdraw from U.N. climate-change agency
MIT’s Richard Lindzen says policies cause economic harm with “no environmental benefits”

Shale Is Reshaping America’s Oil Trade Balance
America’s crude trade balance is changing. On the import front, the decision by petrostates to cut production (with the intention of erasing a global oil glut to help induce a price rebound) is expected to reduce the amount of oil the U.S. buys from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Those OPEC members have been constraining output since the beginning of the year, but because it takes roughly six weeks to ship crude from the Middle East to the Americas, we haven’t yet started to see a reduction in supplies from the region.

New EPA Administrator Emphasizes Federalism, Rule of Law
“The future ain’t what it used to be at the EPA.”

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

California to weigh single-payer, universal health care plan
In a surprise move made in response to President Donald Trump’s push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, two California lawmakers Friday introduced legislation to replace private medical insurance with a government health care system covering all 38 million Californians — including its undocumented residents.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of House Republicans’ Obamacare “Replacement”
Going down the same failed Obamacare approach of more taxes and more spending will not lower health costs. And lower costs is what Republicans should prioritize.

Dutch Doctor Forces Assisted Suicide Dose On Sedated, Protesting Patient
This is the exact opposite of the standard of choice advocated by many proponents of physician-assisted suicide.

The ObamaCare Success Story: Zip, nada and zilch.
Not that this is really news, but it’s nice to have confirmation of something we’ve known all along

 

War & Terror

 

Missouri man charged with attempting to aid in “ISIS-sponsored terrorist attack”
Twenty-five year-old Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr. was arrested Friday in Columbia, Missouri and charged with attempting to give support to ISIS. Hester believed he was participating in a President’s Day terror attack in Kansas City which would be 10 times more deadly than the Boston marathon bombing.

The Offer that Turns the Gaza Strip into Singapore
Last week, Hamas received an offer that no sane entity would turn down. The offer did not come from Hamas’s allies in Iran and the Islamic world. The offer, to turn the impoverished Gaza Strip into “the Singapore of the Middle East,” came from Israel.

Nikki Haley’s epic Moynihan-like defense of Israel at U.N.
“I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore”

Grand jury indicts 5 more people on felony rioting charges from Inauguration Day
A grand jury in the Superior Court of D.C. indicted five more people and charged them with felony rioting in connection to events that happened on Inauguration Day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports.

British Muslim convert “who planned to join ISIS wanted to buy himself a nine-year-old virgin slave girl”
Stopped as he tried to board flight from Gatwick to Istanbul in August with £3k

Russia to Deploy Division on Kuril Islands in 2017
Russia plans to deploy a division on the Kuril Islands this year, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

 

National

 

OC Register declares war on college that booted student for recording prof’s anti-Trump rant
The Orange County Register, the daily newspaper of record for the large coastal swath of Southern California known as the “OC,” has effectively declared war on Orange Coast College, which recently suspended a student for recording his professor’s anti-Trump rant.

UCLA students blocked from enrolling in conservative professor’s “Free Speech on Campus” class
A conservative communications professor at UCLA claims his department chair is effectively blocking students from enrolling in his popular “Free Speech on Campus” class in a decision that’s likely politically motivated.

College Writing Center Declares American Grammar A “Racist,” “Unjust Language Structure”
An “antiracist” poster in a college writing center insists American grammar is “racist” and an “unjust language structure,” promising to prioritize rhetoric over “grammatical ‘correctness.'”

11-Year-Old Docked Points for Not Bashing Trump
To say that some people dislike Donald Trump may well be the understatement of the year. It’s hard to imagine any duly elected president seeing so many protests in his first two months in office, yet here we are.

Yale Women’s Center ticked that white woman replaced slaveholder on building name
Trying to distract from “continuous perpetuation of white supremacy” at Yale

Students protest pro-traditional marriage campus talk, host LGBTQIA-only safe space to counter it
A Lutheran pastor’s talk at Washington University in St. Louis on Monday night on the goodness and importance of procreation and marriage between a man and a woman prompted two separate protests by students and professors who accused the event and its speaker of hate-mongering.

Law professor who slammed kangaroo courts could lead Trump’s education civil rights office
“Clear and convincing” evidence standard is better “in at least some situations”

Nearly 2 million non-citizen Hispanics illegally registered to vote
Survey bolsters analysis by professors

Trump May Kill Off AmeriCorps, a Bill Clinton Creation
AmeriCorps sounded like a good idea. Create a program where American youth could basically earn free college by working and helping their communities. On the surface — and if you don’t understand the inherent issue with any government program — it sounds like a great way to help people get their educations.

Flush With Cash, ACLU Produces Weird “Pee With LGBT” Video.
A while back I posted about the insane spike in donations the ACLU received in the wake of Trump’s inauguration. Now we can see how that money is being spent. Check out this gem about “bathroom bills” which is apparently the biggest issue facing America.

Twitter is “ghost” deleting tweets it deems to be offensive without informing users
Tweets that have been ghost deleted still appear on feeds but not in public

Trump May Kill Off AmeriCorps, a Bill Clinton Creation
AmeriCorps sounded like a good idea. Create a program where American youth could basically earn free college by working and helping their communities. On the surface — and if you don’t understand the inherent issue with any government program — it sounds like a great way to help people get their educations.

Bill would mandate LGBTQ training for Nevada foster families, social workers
Foster parents and social workers would be trained in gender identity and understanding the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth under a bill heard Monday the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services.

Debate rages on whether Nevada should pass Equal Rights Amendment
Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment failed three times in the Nevada Legislature in the 1970s, but the measure has been resurrected and was heard Monday in a Senate committee.

DHS Issues Guidelines on Dealing With Illegal Immigration
Steps include hiring more agents, ending catch and release, but will allow those under DACA to stay.

Trump to leave protections for U.S.”dreamer” migrants
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will leave protections in place for immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, known as “dreamers,” but will consider all other illegal immigrants subject to deportation, according to guidance released on Tuesday.

James O’Keefe says he has HUNDREDS of HOURS of undercover video from a MAJOR news channel
James O’Keefe’s next project sounds pretty yuge – he says he has hundreds of hours of undercover video from a major news network and a lot of people think it’s CNN.

CA budget guts middle-class aid, keeps scholarships for illegals
California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing cuts to higher education scholarships for middle class students while increasing scholarship funding for illegal immigrant students.

Columbia clamps down on Dinesh D’Souza talk after campus riot against Israeli ambassador
College Republicans: “That wasn’t in the agreement”

Middle schoolers charged for throwing part of a 2×4 at President Trump’s motorcade
A quintet of Palm Beach, Florida middle schoolers tossed a piece of a 2×4 at President Trump’s motorcade on Friday morning as the chief exec was on his way to his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“Kill some Jews” tweet gets Texas pre-school teacher suspended
A pre-school teacher in Texas has been suspended from the classroom pending an investigation into her encouraging social media followers to “kill some Jews,” The Algemeiner has learned.

Chicago Will Require Kindergarteners to Take Sex Ed
A new policy that was created in part with the consultation of Planned Parenthood of Illinois will require Chicago Public School students from kindergarteners and up to receive sexual health education instruction beginning in 2015.

These Senators Opposed Vouchers Backer Betsy DeVos But Send THEIR Kids To Fancypants Private Schools
At least seven of the 46 Senate Democrats who voted against Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s newly-minted education secretary, currently send or once sent their own children or grandchildren to expensive private schools.

Indiana Bill Would Make Sanctuary Universities Illegal
“passage through Corrections and Criminal Law committee on a 6-2 party-line vote”

Cabinet picks clash with White House over hiring
The Trump administration’s Cabinet picks are finding themselves in a staffing tug-of-war with White House aides.

Conservative forces clash in Trump’s early days
Milo Yiannopoulos represented the conservative movement’s struggle with powerful and conflicting forces in the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency, even before he lost his job and speaking slot in this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference.

Obama’s Feds Tried to Hack Indiana’s Election System While Pence Was Governor
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials tried to hack Indiana’s state electoral system with at least 14,800 “scans” or hits between Nov. 1, 2016, to Dec. 16, 2016, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.

Over 100 student languages in Iowa school district
Teachers in Des Moines Public Schools are using special accommodations to help a flood of immigrant and refugee students — who come to school speaking 100 different languages — to learn English.

Vice President Pence visits Jewish cemetery which was vandalized earlier in the week
Vice President Pence visited a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis which had been vandalized earlier in the week. Pence and Governor Greitens stood for a prayer in Hebrew and then spent some time raking leaves and cleaning up the cemetery.

California’s travel ban against anti-LGBT states is keeping athletes from games and students from conferences
UC Davis senior Acacia Keith was excited to present her research on the anti-abortion movement at what would have been her first national conference this spring.

“So many people think you have to look like a man, play like a man to get respect. I was the opposite.”
“I was proud to a be a woman, and it didn’t fit well in that culture,” said Candice Wiggins, speaking about the culture within the Women’s National Basketball Association. She’s abandoning her stellar career 2 years early, because of her “mental state.” She says she was bullied for her femininity and heterosexuality.

Trump to revoke Obama-era transgender bathroom guidance for schools, source says
The source confirmed to Fox News that the Trump administration will issue new guidance, saying the Trump White House believes this is an issue better left to the states.

#CalExit is now a Comic Book!
Surely, the villain’s resemblance to President Trump is purely coincidental.

Scientists discover 7 Earthlike planets orbiting a nearby star
A newfound solar system just 39 light-years away contains seven warm, rocky, Earthlike planets, scientists say.

Protesters Descend On Anaheim, Demand Arrest Of LAPD Officer
Scores of protesters clashed with police in the streets of Anaheim Wednesday night as they called for the arrest of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer who was caught on video firing his gun during a confrontation with teens outside his Anaheim home Tuesday afternoon.

Arizona Senate votes to seize assets of those who plan, participate in protests that turn violent
Claiming people are being paid to riot, Republican state senators voted Wednesday to give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn bad – even before anything actually happened.

Town Hall Project Founded By Former Clinton Staffer
Parent company located at same address as Soros-funded group

Watch How One Congressman Handles a Rowdy Town Hall Meeting
Rep. Dave Brat shocked the political establishment in 2014 when he defeated then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the GOP primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. On Tuesday, Brat was back in the spotlight at a town hall meeting in rural Blackstone, Virginia.

Democrat Governor Wants to Cut Taxpayer Funding for Public Broadcasting to Zero
At a time when President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly considering cuts to public broadcasting, one Democrat governor already has proposed to eliminate taxpayers’ subsidies for his state’s TV and radio affiliates.

Campus free speech commitment would become law in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget
We missed something in our recent report on the higher-education proposals in Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s budget for Wisconsin: It would also codify the state’s commitment to free speech on public college campuses.

Becoming transgender convinces student to accuse former lover of sexual assault
To avoid him in the men’s room

We like them, we like them not: Americans rank other countries
Safely ensconced on the immense North American continent, Americans are not famed for knowing or caring a lot about the rest of the world. But they do know one thing: The countries they like and the ones they don’t.

Florida teacher at predominantly Latino school reassigned to administrative duties after making pro-Trump Facebook post supporting mass deportation during school hours
Veronica Fleming said she was “glad about massive deportation” on Thursday

Bias Response Teams: Encouraging Students to Snitch on Each Other
Orwellian.

Spicer hints: Yes, we’re going to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states where the drug is legal
He makes a distinction between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, but it’s easy for the feds to back off of policing medical marijuana given the thorny politics of taking away a prescribed drug from people who are sick or in pain. The hard question is the recreational question. How much deference is the president willing to show states where the drug is legal by exercising his discretion as chief prosecutor to not come after legal users?

A wild, secret sex party is coming to NYC
Snctm — the members-only club where rich and powerful pleasure-seekers indulge their wildest fantasies — is set to touch down at clandestine penthouses throughout the city for monthly masquerades.

UMich students demand no-whites-allowed space to plot “social justice” activism
A student activist group at the University of Michigan is demanding campus officials provide them with “a permanent designated space on central campus for Black students and students of color to organize and do social justice work.”

Nevada Assembly passes bill for automatic voter registration
The Nevada Assembly on Wednesday passed a measure that could bolster the ranks of registered voters ahead of the 2018 election.

Senator introduces bill to ban sexual orientation conversion therapy in Nevada
A bill to prohibit sexual orientation conversion therapy on youth was introduced Wednesday in the Nevada Senate.

College Lecturer Suspended for Assaulting Republican Student
A lecturer at Cal State Fullerton is sitting at home today rather than teaching his class after he reportedly assaulted a student member of the school’s College Republicans. The lecturer, Eric Canin, allegedly struck a student participating in a counter-protest as he conducted a “no ban, no wall” demonstration earlier this month.

Dear White Male? Students?: You Are? T?rash
This photo, initially posted on Reddit, has quickly become viral. An unnamed teacher in Massachusetts, believing that her students were as shocked by Trump’s election as she was, posted these equality-enforcement proclamations on the classroom wall

Illegal fundraiser for the Clintons made secret tape because he feared being ASSASSINATED over what he knew – and used it to reveal Democrats’ bid to silence him
DailyMail.com has obtained a video in which convicted illegal Clinton fundraisers Johnny Chung gave secret testimony while in fear of his life

California state senator removed after criticizing Tom Hayden
A Republican legislator and Vietnamese refugee was dragged from the state Senate floor Thursday morning when a Democratic leader ordered her removed after she tried to criticize the late Tom Hayden, a former state senator and vocal opponent of the war in Vietnam.

Female GOP State Senator Speaks Out About Commie Sympathizer, Silenced by Dem Majority
California State Senator Janet Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam about a year after the city fell. Her family came to the United States as refugees when she was five, and was raised in Southern California. She is the first Vietnamese-American state legislator, representing a heavily Vietnamese area of Orange County.

Biology is Hard: Tucker Carlson Schools DNC Operative in Transgender Debate
“What’s the science, exactly? That you are what you say you are?”

Arkansas Supreme Court gets dragged into LGBT “protections” law question
If you’ve been following the various “LGBT protection” law debates in the news lately you’ll probably be hearing about yet another case which has boiled over in Arkansas.

Here’s how liberal activists astroturfed town hall protests against Rep. Tom Reed (#NY23)
Organized, Not Organic.

Most scientists “can’t replicate studies by their peers”
This is frustrating clinicians and drug developers who want solid foundations of pre-clinical research to build upon.

Judge rules San Diego State railroaded accused student by denying him adequate defense
“The disparity of these circumstances is enough to shock the Court’s conscience”

PANIC: The Left Is Worried Republicans Will Re-Write the Constitution
In a truly delightful freak-out, Salon published an Alternet post speculating on the upcoming “Constitutional Apocalypse.” Their worry is that, with control of the branches of government at the federal level and in a wide array of states, Republicans will set out to amend the Constitution in some authoritarian way.

Darrell Issa Calls For A Special Prosecutor
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said on Friday that a special prosecutor needs to lead an investigation into the alleged ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s regime.

High school band won’t purchase music by white composers this year
Band directors at Spring Lake Park High School have pledged to include at least one piece by a female composer and one by a composer of color in each concert for each of the school’s bands, National Public Radio reported – and the sentiment also extends to spending decisions.

GOP Leaps on Congressional Review Act to Kill Obama Rules
Little-used law now wielded to tremendous effect, but could see legal challenges

Crime Increasing in California After “Prison Reform”
Out here on the Left Coast, it is beginning to dawn on people that when you release criminals from custody in the name of “prison reform,” it is only the prisons themselves that are reformed. The criminals, those who are ushered out the prison gates into an unwary society, remain as un-reformed as ever.

California State Sen. Janet Nguyen Removed From Senate Floor for Voicing Differing Opinion
California State Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), was forcibly removed from the Senate Thursday morning for offering a different perspective on the late Sen. Tom Hayden, a Democrat with a well-known and lengthy history of communist sympathies.

Dems elect TOM PEREZ new Chair of DNC
At its winter convention, the Democratic National Committee just elected Tom Perez the new Chair of the DNC.

How to Get Back to the Moon in 4 Years–This Time to Stay
The answer is pretty straightforward: turn to private industry

Watch foul liberal protesters LOSE IT when Louisiana townhall opens with PRAYER!
Wow, you won’t believe this video. Apparently the far left liberal protesters hate Christianity so much they scream out in horror like demons stuck in a pig when Jesus’ name is mentioned.

COPS: TX teacher demands pay raise if administrators “don’t want to burn alive”
A Dallas high school teacher faces terrorism charges after he allegedly emailed administrators demanding “Master Teacher Salary” and back pay if they “don’t want to burn alive.”

Many Americans Disapprove of Trump but Are Open to His Agenda, Poll Finds
WSJ/NBC News poll shows negative views at a historically high level for a new president but support from a “critical middle”

Seattle Mayor Holds State of the City address… at Mosque
In doing so, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray forced every non-Muslim in attendance to submit to the sharia – as seen in the picture. He proceeded to announce his vow sue the feds for enforcing federal laws which he also vowed not to enforce.

Lawyer: Racist Note Given To Black Waitress In Virginia Is A Fake
A black waitress who received thousands of dollars in donations after she claimed she received a racist note and no tip from a patron last month fabricated the incident, the customer claims.

#CPAC2017: Witches vs. Trump
While thousands of Conservative Political Action Conference attendees were celebrating their movement’s success here – the Breitbart luau was among the many parties Saturday night – witches gathered at midnight at Trump Tower in New York to cast a “binding spell” against our president.

The journal Nature is going to begin requiring reproducibility in submitted papers
From the Journal of Irreproducible Science – over 2/3s of researchers say they are unable to replicate study results

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Latest Beneficiary of D.C. Cronyism: The Most Valuable Company in the World
In Washington, D.C., cronyism takes many forms. There is the obvious handout from Congress – for example, a tax code that has ballooned to more than 74,000 pages. Then there’s what happens behind the scenes with an all-too powerful regulatory environment.

Ontario will test universal basic income in three cities in 2017
Our neighbor to the north, Canada, has always been a greater champion of socialist-leaning public policies than even our Democratic Party (though that seems to be changing), but the province of Ontario is set to take a giant step down the road to full-on socialism: Providing a “basic income” to people by the spring of this year.

 

International

 

Yes, the people of Venezuela are literally starving to death
Last week John Sexton looked at a story which described the dire conditions of Venezuelans reaching the point where they were eating dogs, cats, donkeys and even pink flamingos simply to survive.

Filmmaker Confirms Numbers on Refugees And Crime in Sweden
“The murder rate [in Sweden] is up almost 70 percent”

Brazil graft scandal to mushroom abroad, prosecutor says
A vast corruption scheme that started in Brazil but morphed into a giant international scandal is about to spread even further, a top prosecutor warned on Monday.

Majority of Canadians distrust government
In a recent Edelman poll, only 43 per cent of Canadians say they trust their government – down from 53 per cent a year earlier.

Race-hate attacker who SPAT into a nine-month-old BABY’S face and shouted “white people shouldn’t breed” at her mother walks free
Rezzas Abdulla has previous convictions for race-hate attacks on white women

Le Pen cancels meeting with Lebanese Grand Mufti, refuses to wear headscarf
Still facing an uphill battle in the coming elections, French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen continued to make news this week with a trip to Lebanon where she sought to shore up her foreign-policy bona fides. After meeting with her first head of state and other influential figures, Le Pen was apparently informed that a scheduled meeting with the Grand Mufti would require her to don some sort of scarf or other head covering in accordance with Muslim traditions. True to form, Le Pen’s response was rather brief, amounting to little more than, “send him my best.”

The Turkish people may have finally noticed that their president is becoming a tyrant
I get tired of writing about horrible things happening in Turkey and the tragic decay of democracy in a once thriving and recently revitalized nation. That’s why it is with guarded optimism that I was pleased to read what might be some of the first good news coming out of that country in over a year. President Erdogan has nearly completed his months long march to vastly expand the powers of the presidency and cement his position as potential tyrant for life, but there was one step left to go. In April there will be a public referendum where the voters will have to approve his bid for ultimate power.

Iceland’s president wants to ban pineapple on pizza
Pineapple on pizza would be a forbidden fruit, if the president of Iceland had his way.

Sweden: Hate Speech Just for Imams
In Sweden, comments that object to sexual violence against women in the Quran are prosecuted, but calling homosexuality a “virus” is fine.

Actually, Sweden is having big trouble with Mideast refugees
As if on cue, riots broke out in a heavily immigrant suburb of Stockholm as soon as the media mocked President Trump for a vague warning about immigration-related problems in Sweden.

Egyptian Christians abducted, burned alive by militants in Sinai
Two Egyptian Christians were attacked by unknown militants on Wednesday after they were abducted from their home in the Sinai Peninsula.

How Venezuela’s socialist regime crushed the hope of reformers
People in Venezuela have struggled for years to remove the socialist regime that continues to destroy their country. But after years of rallies and protests, some with hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, President Maduro and his socialist cronies have maintained their stranglehold on power through a combination of intimidation, abuse of power and control of the media.

Ecuador Rejects Leftist Incumbent, Votes for Economic Freedom
Last weekend, Ecuadoreans did something they haven’t done since 2006: They voted in significant numbers against the socialist Alianza Pais party of three-term leftist President Rafael Correa.

Tories take Copeland: Jeremy Corbyn refuses to stand down as Union boss calls on Labour leader to accept responsibility for historic defeat
Labour MPs have urged Jeremy Corbyn to stand down after the party suffered a humiliating by-election defeat last night and lost Copeland to the Conservatives.

Possible mole in security detail of Dutch frontrunner Wilders
A Dutch secret service agent who was part of the team responsible for protecting Geert Wilders, the frontrunner in next month’s election, has been suspended on suspicion of leaking details to a criminal organization, the secret service said on Wednesday.

Germany apparently spied foreign journalists
From the British BBC to the news agency Reuters to a telephone connection of the “New York Times”: According to SPIEGEL information, the German foreign secret service has monitored the world’s media.

Marine Le Pen savages Merkel
To her face in EU Parliament

Le Pen now polling 44% in France
Following looting and rioting in France, the latest poll has Le Pen’s support increasing again. In a second-round run-off against Francois Fillon, she’s polling 44%, more support than most believed she could ever achieve.

 

Opinion

 

“Anti-Feminists … Are F-king Evil. They’re Such Disgusting Human Beings”
Her Tumblr blog announces: “I’m Rain. black. bi. woman. witch. vegan.. learning about radical feminism one step at a time.” She launched her YouTube channel in December, calling herself “Rain Lawless.”

Are The Human-Animal Hybrids Scientists Make Human, Beast, Or In Between?
Recently, researchers created a human-pig hybrid. Should it be treated like a pig, or like a human, and at what ratio of human to animal cells?

@DavidBenkof: Disagreement != *Phobia
I’m so tired of pieces like Attacks On Milo Yiannopoulos Are About Homophobia, Not Pedophilia that I’m almost too bored to respond

“Popcorn Shooting” Defendant Has Self-Defense Immunity Hearing
Goal: Show that shooting was more likely than not self-defense

Why We Need Edmund Burke Now More Than Ever
Edmund Burke advocated for a political version of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.” Take the old, and revive it. Fix what’s broken—don’t just start over.

The American Identity Is Not Just About Ideas, But Also Its People And History
America is no longer a nation in any meaningful sense—because it has neither Europe”s “blood and soil” nationalism, nor a robust ideas-based nationalism.

“Feminist Witchcraft,” Mental Illness and the Demonic Dangers of the Occult
It is true that emotionally vulnerable people are attracted to the occult, and that their involvement in the occult tends to exacerbate their problems.

Milo Yiannopoulos Quits Breitbart
Implosion complete

When the Enemy of Your Enemy Is — Your Enemy
Ideas and values should matter more than tribal identity.

The ethical quandaries of genetic editing
I’ve been doing a lot of reading over the last year on the subject of genetic engineering, particularly in light of the advent of CRISPR technology. If you haven’t heard of that yet you might want to look into it. It’s an amazing scientific advancement which allows scientists to go in and conduct some surgical stitching of the genetic code which defines the physical makeup of all living things. While that sounds tremendously exciting, it’s also pretty darned frightening when you stop to think about it. Potential advancements in medical technology aside, there are also a number of ethical and even religious questions which become immediately tangled up in the debate. Christine Emba published an excellent article on the subject at the Washington Post this week.

4 Tips For Talking With Your Kids About Transgenderism
More and more parents are being put in the unwelcome position of having to discuss adult issues with young children, often without much guidance.

Staying true to principle in the age of Trump
Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens, a prominent conservative opponent of Trump recently noted that he is now more popular on the left than in the past, but despised by many of his former fans on the right.

Right to try, right to buy, right to test
Each year, 2,000 to 3,000 individuals with leukemia and other forms of bone marrow disease die while waiting to receive another person’s bone marrow cells. It’s not that strangers are indifferent to their plight, but that suitable biological matches are hard to find. And even when a match is found, there is a 1-in-2 chance that the needle-in-a-haystack donor either can’t be located by registry personnel or, incomprehensibly, refuses to donate even though he had earlier volunteered to be tested.

Why Are Some Conservatives Still Defending the Abhorrent Milo Yiannopoulos?
Milo Yiannopoulos is neither a free speech martyr nor a conservative. Rather, he is a flamboyant and provocative troll. Ross Douthat accurately describes him this way.

How Trump Could Spark a New GOP Split – or Maybe a Love Fest
Republicans, populists, and conservatives have not had it this good in at least a decade, and perhaps not ever – collectively, at least. Populists lifted Donald Trump to the presidency, while Republicans and conservatives continued an eight-year crescendo in majorities in the House, Senate, state legislatures, and gubernatorial seats. The Grand Old Party has its best opportunity since perhaps Reconstruction to remake government from the federal level all the way down to the counties and cities, while at the same time clear the regulatory decks for economic expansion.

Straightforward From Here To The Left’s Fascist, Maybe Violent, Endgame
The Democrat Party, its Media serfs, and Social Justice Incorporated are all outraged because we uppity normals are again presuming to rule ourselves, and their agony is delightful. Less delightful is how, in the process of trying to claw their way back into power, they are incinerating the norms and rules that preserve our political order. That stuff Hillary babbled about honoring the legitimacy of elections? Yeah, no. There’s an invisible asterisk only liberals can see that explains that the norms and rules are void when liberals lose.

Manufactured Rage
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787 there was debate over the final form of the legislature. Anyone with an iota of knowledge of those debates knows that they decided on a bicameral legislature with the big states (at that time)- Pennsylvania, Virginia and Massachusetts- getting their way with representation based on population and the small states getting their way with equal representation in the Senate.

Our under-incarceration problem, California edition
Keith Boyer, a police officer in Whittier, California, was shot and killed earlier this week. The killer is believed to be Michael Christopher Mejia.

Truth, Terror and Nikki Haley’s Challenge at the UN
Bravo yet again to Nikki Haley, America’s new ambassador to the United Nations. Speaking at an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Haley called out Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism

If your TV rats you out, what about your car?
It’s not that hard to believe future connected cars will be creepy about what data they track.

An Adjournment in Memory of Fallen Vietnamese And Refugees Seeking Freedom and Democracy
I and the children of the former South Vietnam soldiers will never forget the support of former Senator Tom Hayden for the Communist government of Vietnam and the oppression by the Communist Government of Vietnam for the people of Vietnam.

Equal pay bill is a waste of time and money
If you ever seek to land a government contract in Nevada – paving roads, scrubbing floors, selling typing paper – under a proposed law you will be guilty until proven innocent.

Equal pay bill is a waste of time and money
If you ever seek to land a government contract in Nevada – paving roads, scrubbing floors, selling typing paper – under a proposed law you will be guilty until proven innocent.

Bad Medicine
I’ve previously mentioned the taxpayer-funded race hustler Dr Caprice Hollins, whose efforts to empower black Seattle school pupils included dismissing grammar and foresight as “white values” and expectations thereof as “cultural racism.”

The Heinlein Standard
Moe Lane asked, As in: love or hate JRR Tolkien as you please, but you may not ignore him when it comes to the fantasy genre. Venerate or despise HP Lovecraft for any number of reasons, but when we talk about horror we are ultimately using concepts and conceits that he defined and developed. But if there’s a single figure of the science fiction field that similarly towers over the landscape, I do not know his or her name. Bob Heinlein comes close. So does John Campbell, although that would have been more true thirty years ago.