News of the Week for Dec. 1st, 2019
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Gun Rights
Man Stripped of Guns After Lawsuit Rival Files Red Flag Complaint
An incident in New Jersey is testing just how far red flag laws can be pushed, and the results aren’t pretty.
Virginia bill to make firearms training an “illegal paramilitary activity” and felony?
Virginia legislators have clearly lost their minds on this latest bill that was drafted and filed this month, which will be open to discussion come January 2020.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Sending one less ‘unnecessary’ email a day could save 16,000 tonnes of carbon a year, study finds
Sending just one less unnecessary email per day could reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 16,000 tonnes per year, according to research.
Giving thanks for the fossil fuel industry
You live in the richest country in the history of the world and one of the freest. Despite what Democrat presidential candidates claim, the benefits of wealth aren’t limited to the 1 percent. The amenities most people take for granted – a vehicle, washing machine, hot water on demand – would have been unimaginable luxuries for most of human history. Of the U.S. households the government defines as living in poverty, more than 96 percent have a TV. More than 80 percent of poor households have a cellphone and more than 93 percent have a microwave.
Swedish Schoolkids Tasked With Defending Greta From Critics as Eco-Activist Becomes Part of “Religious” Curriculum
“Greta is practically painted as a saint.”
GRETA SNAPS: “Change Everything,” “Climate Crisis” About “Colonial, Racist, And Patriarchal Systems Of Oppression,” Fossil Fuel “Literally” Killing Us
Far-left climate extremist Greta Thunberg unloaded on the world in an op-ed published on Friday, claiming that fossil fuels “are literally” killing mankind, and that they are a threat to “our very existence” as she said that her “climate crisis” agenda is not just about the environment, but about fighting the “colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression.”
Don’t despoil public lands with wind and solar power
Nevada Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen recently announced she is co-sponsoring a piece of legislation titled the Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019, which is touted as bipartisan legislation to promote the development of renewable energy on public lands – which is the vast majority of the land in Nevada.
SCOTUS Takes a Pass on Michael Mann’s Defamation Suit (at least for now)
Justice Alito dissents from the denial of certiorari in National Review v. Mann
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
I Left England Because of Socialized Medicine. My Life Depended on It.
Imagine strapping your infant child into a car seat, only to see his body suddenly jerk forward or backward, arms and legs stiffening, and eyes rolling back in the head.
Finland’s healthcare system still flounders, Dems’ “Medicare for All” hardest hit
Bernie: “Take a look at what Finland, the happiest country in the world, is doing. If Finland can provide everyone with health care, send everyone to college for free and provide affordable child care, why can’t the US?”
Democratic Governor: Medicare for All “Makes People Feel Afraid”
Democrats are growing increasingly skittish about Medicare for All, the $30 to $40 trillion proposal that would abolish private insurance and replace it with a health-care system run by the federal government.
Locked up naked on a soiled mattress: Venezuela’s mental health nightmare
Diagnosed decades ago with severe schizophrenia, 49-year-old Blanca Livia Arcineiga once managed her condition. Not so long ago, she was stable enough to work part time as a maid. She helped her elderly mother in the kitchen. They slept in the same bed.
Tennessee Becomes a Laboratory of Radical Medicaid Reform
It’s often said that our federal system of government allows states wide latitude to experiment with ways to make government more efficient or just work better. There are numerous examples where pilot programs begun at the state level end up being adopted by Washington.
It’s All About the Optics
Recently it came to light that Google and Ascension Health have entered into an agreement wherein Google has been given access to medical health data held by Ascension. It now appears that Congressional Leaders have requested information from Google on “Project Nightingale”. Google has until December 6 to respond to the four Democratic Leaders of Congress.
War & Terror
Does Anybody Really Care?
One of my daughters sent me this: “Data leak reveals how China ‘brainwashes’ Uighurs in prison camps.” Her question: “Why does literally no one care/talk about this?”
One Man Shot by Police, Many Wounded in London Bridge Attack
London Metropolitan Police closed down London Bridge after a stabbing that injured many people. One man, a suspect, has been shot by police. Authorities are treating the attack “as though it is terror-related.”
London Bridge Attacker Identified as Paroled Terrorist with Links to Al Qaeda
Paroled terrorist convicted in 2012 for plotting bomb attacks on London Stock Exchange, U.S. Embassy
National
RBG, Steve Jobs, Cancer, and the Public’s Right to Know
In the absence of facts, or anything in the way of investigative reporting to bring us facts, sometimes a little conjecture is called for. As we watch Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her long decline, I’m reminded of another American figure of immense power with similar public-yet-barely-acknowledged health issues: Apple’s late co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs.
Colorado has spent hundreds of millions to help kids read. Now, it will spend up to $5.2 million to find out why it’s not working.
Colorado’s education department will spend up to $5.2 million over six years on a consultant charged with determining why the state’s 2012 landmark reading law failed to produce significant gains for struggling readers.
CNN Determined to Normalize ‘Throuple’ Queen Katie Hill
I left California to avoid things like this. Katie Hill was elected after my departure from the Golden State, and if I had never found out anything about her I would have been happy.
Twitter Suspends Andy Ngo For Reporting Facts About Trans Murders
Andy Ngo, Editor-at-large for The Post Millennial, was suspended from Twitter on Monday after responding to Chelsea Clinton’s tweet about the number of trans murders in the United States.
Notre Dame students demand to read fewer white male scholars
One of several demands lodged by “End Hate at ND” student group
Indiana Wesleyan Student Kicked Out of Honors College for Questioning Cultural Appropriation
Bias incident reports, safety concerns, and harassment charges, all because of a slightly trollish Facebook post.
America 2.0: Where You’re Now a Racist if You Love (or Hate!) Indian Food
Welcome to America 2.0. The country that used to celebrate wild and offensive freedom has now boiled down to people screeching “RAAAAAACIST” at one another over the Internet for not enjoying pork vindaloo. For real. The world’s greatest country — which freed entire nations, saved the world more than once from murderous thugs, invented indoor plumbing, sent men to the moon, and brought you the automatic clothes washer — is now crumbling into tribal warfare at a mind-numbing speed. And I do mean mind-numbing. I am now dumber for having followed what I’m about to report to you.
“Save the Children from Howard Zinn”: Oregon scholars challenge school-mandated reading of historian
University declines to co-sponsor anti-Zinn event because author is “not a historian”
Students say it’s NOT okay to celebrate Thanksgiving
“Based off of the genocide of indigenous people”
Students dish on Thanksgiving as celebration of genocide
Eduardo Neret asked University of Florida students if Thanksgiving is a celebration of the genocide of Native Americans.
Dark Money Network Funneled $600 Million to Liberal Initiatives in 2018
Democrats adopt once-derided strategy, building a massive money network that shields donors from scrutiny
MA town launches experiment to give 16 year olds the vote
This should be interesting. If the state gives its approval, the town of Brookline, Massachusetts will gain a lot of new voters in the future. At a town meeting last week, residents voted to extend the right to vote in municipal elections to 16 and 17-year-olds. The vote wasn’t even close either, with the measure passing by a two to one margin. The reasons given by supporters are a bit on the dodgy side, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
SCOTUS blocks House subpoena of Trump financial records
The President had another good day at the Supreme Court yesterday, at least for the time being. The House Oversight Committee (formerly chaired by Elija Cummings) has been trying to get Trump’s tax returns since April and lower courts have backed their demand. But the President has been appealing those rulings and yesterday the Supreme Court blocked the request. It’s not permanent, however. This simply represents a delay until all of the formal appeals can be filed.
In a Blue State, Parents Beat Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed Push
Worcester, the second largest city in solidly blue Massachusetts, was the scene of a sex ed showdown between Planned Parenthood and concerned parents and church leaders. Last February, more than 75 of those parents and church leaders stood up alongside the Massachusetts Family Institute to outnumber pro-Planned Parenthood voices at a meeting of a local school committee.
Universities teach students how to “decolonize” their Thanksgiving
As college students across the nation head home for Thanksgiving, they’re armed with the knowledge of how to “decolonize” their holiday.
Giuliani’s Ties to Venezuelan Oligarchs Could Hurt Trump in 2020
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Rudy Giuliani represented Venezuela energy executive Alejandro Betancourt López in a Florida money-laundering case.
SCIENCE teachers are told to tell students that all differences in the outcomes of people are due to bigotry and racism… it’s CONSENSUS!
Wasington STEM, a nonprofit social justice organization focused on the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math in education, recently held a symposium where the group’s Impact Director, Jeneé Myers Twitchell, basically told a group of teachers that these four core areas of academics are “racist,” simply because “minorities” tend to underperform at them.
Court: Expelled Johnson & Wales male student gets trial on claim of unfair disciplinary process
Male not given copy of complaint, not able to question complaining female, there was no record of the hearing, and so much more led court to rule student gets trial on whether JWU breached its promise of a “fair” hearing.
Social justice program says teachers should “reject and resist” parents who disagree with it
Corwin official repeatedly dodged questions about the instruction
Prominent historians criticize the NY Times’ 1619 Project as “biased,” “anti-historical”
The NY Times’ 1619 Project was a sprawling effort earlier this year to convince Americans that slavery was part of the DNA of America. Made up of various pieces by different authors, the 1619 Project seemed to promote an idea that matched current far left sentiment about the importance of identity with an underlying anti-capitalism. The Times is now promoting the Project for inclusion in high school curricula, so it’s likely it will be with us for some time. But where did all of this material come from?
Baltimore Will Have Bought-a-Less: The City’s Museum of Art Announces it Won’t Buy Any Works if They’re Made by Men
If you’ve been wanting to appreciate art lately but’ve been deterred by the genitals of people creating it, take heart: In order to fight the patriarchy, the Baltimore Museum of Art has made a promise – in 2020, they will refuse to purchase any composition if it was made by a guy.
BIDEN GONE WILD — Video surfaces of Joe talking about children touching his hairy legs, Joe chewing on wife’s finger
Democrats should be afraid, very afraid
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
A pizza shop vandal, FOIA/RICO/1A, and the Case of the Polite Bank Robber.
Dad who saved son’s life by armed, three-hour hospital standoff is freed from prison
George Pickering the Third suffered a massive stroke last January. Doctors diagnosed the 27-year old as “brain dead,” and the hospital ordered his life support progressively shut off in a fatal procedure they call “terminal wean.”
Economy & Taxes
The Battle Over the Future of Proposition 13 Is Underway
While some took the weekend as an opportunity to decompress from the workweek, others took it as a chance to get a jump start on what may be the largest political battle over state taxes in next year’s election: the future of Proposition 13.
CCEA promises that this time — really — more money will improve education
The Clark County Education Association’s plan to pass the biggest tax increase in Nevada history depends on public ignorance. That strategy has worked before.
California Plans to Hike Tax on Legal Marijuana, Threatening New Market With Rapid Extinction
Revenues from the state’s first full year of recreational marijuana sales declined, thanks to taxes and regulations.
Venezuela Proves That Socialism Eventually Kills Even Wealthy Economies
For thousands of years prior to the 18th century, authoritarian rule and limited commerce prevented rapid improvement to general human economic conditions. Since then, economic freedom has allowed humans to fly through the air, walk on the moon, conquer numerous diseases, develop hundreds of life-saving medical treatments, more than double our average lifespans, massively improve dentistry, enable billions to live without hunger, and invent conveniences such as appliances, lights, photography, air conditioning, cell phones and indoor plumbing. All of this progress depended on economic freedom: private property rights including the right to trade.
Higher taxes will not solve education woes
It’s never enough. Despite lawmakers funding 3 percent teacher raises in this year’s legislative session and lawmakers increasing taxes by $750 million a year in 2015 to fund public education, the Clark County teachers’ union is launching a petition campaign that would ask voters statewide to increase taxes by $1 billion a year for public education.
International
Taiwan ruling party says China ‘enemy of democracy’ after meddling allegations
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling party denounced China as an “enemy of democracy” on Monday following fresh claims of Chinese interference in the island’s politics ahead of presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11.
Data leak reveals how China ‘brainwashes’ Uighurs in prison camps24 November 2019
Leaked documents detail for the first time China’s systematic brainwashing of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in a network of high-security prison camps.
Hong Kong Stocks Rally After Pro-Democracy Groups Dominate Polls
Hong Kong stocks climbed after pro-democracy candidates swept the board in district council elections, putting pressure on the city’s government to address issues that have fueled months of protests.
How China Is Slowly Becoming The World’s Largest Imperialist Power
To formulate a strategy, one needs to understand what one is dealing with. Recent actions in China are a clue.
Hong Kong’s Finest Hour
Since massive protests for freedom, justice and democracy erupted here almost six months ago, China’s puppet chief executive for Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, has been trying to impose “calm” and “order” by way of threats, force, emergency laws, tear gas, water cannon, bullets and more than 5,000 arrests. Call it the Communist China method. It hasn’t worked for her.
China Issues Warning After Hong Kong’s “Change Election”
“No matter how the situation in Hong Kong changes, it is very clear that Hong Kong is a part of Chinese territory.”
Council to sell original Magna Carta for £20,000,000 to fund office refurb
A rare copy of the Magna Carta is on display before it is auctioned off at Sotheby’s New York to a phone bidder for $19 million December 18, 2007 in New York City. The document is often referred to as the birth certificate of freedom. The Magna Carta is the most important document ever auctioned at Sotheby’s. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images) There are only seven copies of the Magna Carter – A charter of rights drawn up in 1215 – in existence (Picture: Getty) Locals are fuming over their town council’s plans to sell a medieval copy of the Magna Carta.
Her Majesty’s Government and Hong Kong
What with the brutal suppression of student riots in Hong Kong, the beatings and imprisonment of anti-Mullah demonstrators in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, the imprisonment and execution of Christian converts or those accused of blasphemy in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, the transformation of the whole of China into one vast panopticon prison and of its Uyghur province into its punishment wing by the Beijing government, and many other violations of human rights and civilized behavior, the world is going to hell in a handcart at an accelerating speed.
Turkey’s transition in a post-Erdogan era will be long, painful
Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish member of parliament and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Howard Eissenstat, associate professor of Middle East History at St. Lawrence University and senior non-resident fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy, discuss possible scenarios for Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies when one day power changes hands.
‘We are really grateful’: Hong Kong protesters throw ‘Thanksgiving rally’ to celebrate US support
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong gathered to celebrate the legislation signed by President Trump in support of their autonomy from China.
Hundreds of Banks Torched in “Vast” Anti-Regime Protests, Iran’s Ayatollah Admits
731 banks, 140 regime offices set on fire by protesters, says Ayatollah Khamenei.
Thoughts on the British election
Yesterday, John wrote about the upcoming election in Britain. Having just returned from England, I thought I might add the following observations
Women say they heard protesters chant ‘Go back to the ovens’ at York U. event
“What I heard was ‘Go back to the ovens’ and ‘Kill the Jews.’ It was disgusting.”
General election 2019: Labour to change strategy with two weeks to go
Insiders told the BBC that in the first half of the election campaign, a key error was that the Liberal Democrat threat had been overestimated, while the willingness of Leave voters to switch from Labour to the Conservatives had been underestimated.
‘There are no words’: Samoa buries its children as measles outbreak worsens
In six weeks, a measles outbreak has infected 3,000 people out of a population of 200,000, killing 42, mostly children
French prosecutors drop murder charges against Jewish kindergarten teacher Sarah Halimi’s killer
Psychiatric experts say Kobili Traoré had smoked cannabis and may have been unaware of his actions
Bolivia Restores Diplomatic Ties with Israel
Israeli Foreign Minister Katz: “The departure of President Morales, who was hostile towards Israel, and his replacement by a government friendly to Israel allowed the process to materialize.”
Merkel to German parliament: “Freedom of expression has its limits”
A viral clip from a few days ago that’s making the rounds this weekend.
Man Accused of Hate Crime for Refusing To Have Sex with Transgender Who Has Male GenitaliaBy Cade Almond
A British transgender model named Ria Cooper has filed a complaint against a man who rescinded an offer of sex and photography, according to Hull Live.
Strong Belgian beers are rich in probiotic microbes that kill harmful bacteria
If you like beer, pick a strong, Belgian one, a scientist said. These have “very healthy” gut-friendly bacteria.
Canadian Comedian Ordered to Pay $35,000 over a Joke
Canadian comedian Mike Ward has lost his appeal and has been ordered by a Quebec judge to pay $35,000 because of a joke he told about a disabled boy.
Almost 30,000 Asylum Seekers Have Returned to Germany After Leaving – Report
Germany receives hundreds of thousands asylum applications every year, with nearly two million people having entered the state upon since 2010, according to government data.
Law should treat social media companies as publishers: Attorney-General
Attorney-General Christian Porter says social media platforms should be treated the same as traditional publishers under defamation law, a change that would present a fundamental new challenge for global companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
Opinion
For Brexit to work, power must be stripped from the quangocrats – and returned to people we elect
When Donald Trump entered the White House, his then senior adviser, Steve Bannon, set out the administration’s three priorities. First, “national security and sovereignty” (hurrah!) Second, “economic nationalism” (boo!) Third, “the deconstruction of the administrative state” (huh?)
The move to cancel Gauguin could kill off Western culture
At a current Paul Gauguin exhibition at London’s National Gallery, visitors are warned that the famous French painter had sexual relationships with young girls, including two with whom he fathered children
Yes, There Is Such a Thing as Elective Late-Term Abortion
Last weekend, I wrote an opinion article for the Outlook section of the Washington Post, called “How Democrats purged ‘safe, legal, rare’ from the party.” The piece detailed how Democratic politicians now nearly uniformly support policies protecting elective abortion, with no restrictions whatsoever, at any stage of pregnancy.
About That “General Welfare” . . .
Oren Cass, in the great tradition of college sophomores throughout the ages, discovers in the words “promote the general Welfare” a general constitutional license for federal action. Well. The preamble of the Constitution also speaks to concerns about “tranquility,” but I do not think that this empowers Washington to round us up and put us into camps to listen to Deepak Chopra lectures, and I come to this conclusion because of what comes right after the poetical language of the preamble: the establishment of a federal government of limited enumerated powers. I will confess to being lost about what Nicholas Cage has to do with this. Sounds like a question for Kyle Smith to me.
Bioethicist Wants to Morally Cleanse Medical Schools
Entry into medical and associated professional schools may soon depend on possessing the proper moral views as well as good grades.
Let’s Be Thankful for Private Property
Families will argue this Thanksgiving.
American’s first socialist republic
On Thanksgiving, it is customary that Americans recall to mind the experience of the Pilgrim Fathers. We have much to learn from the history of the Plymouth Plantation. For, in their first year in the New World, the Pilgrims conducted an experiment in social engineering akin to what is now contemplated; and, after an abortive attempt at cultivating the land in common, their leaders reflected on the results in a manner that Americans today should find instructive.
These 2 Cases Show Why Trans “Rights” Could Upend the Rights of All
The battle over the rights of “transgender” and “cisgender” people continues to escalate in one of the most influential arenas: our nation;s schools.
Understanding the Roots of the War on History
I am a historian by trade. One of the most important moments I experienced in my graduate training was when a professor explained that her doctorate was in the “philosophy of history,” not history itself. It is an important distinction because people equate history with mastering historical trivia. The possibility that there is a philosophy of or a way to think about history is rarely raised.
Slavery? We Were a Footnote
Liberals are trying to rewrite American history, teaching our children that the only thing that ever happened here-until they came along a year or two ago!-was slavery. The New York Times’s 1619 Project, which is being enthusiastically adopted by the nation’s public schools, is the culmination of years of left-wing propaganda. The liberals’ task is made easier by the fact that world history is mostly terra incognita to America’s young people. Thus, there is little fear of anyone putting American slavery into a global, historical context. But let’s do it anyway.
In a Time of Distraction, an Education Focused on Timeless Ideas
What does it mean to truly be educated? Great Hearts Academies, a series of charter schools in Texas and Arizona, is focused on a classical curriculum. “We are trying to provide a form of education where our students’ loves are tapped into. They begin to learn to love what is true. They are drawn to what is beautiful. They recognize that goodness is desirable and they want it for themselves,” says Robert Jackson, the chief academic officer of Great Hearts Academies.
Capitalism vs. Socialism: Facts vs. Opinion
Opinion: Capitalism is a corrupt system, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Fact: Capitalism has created more wealth for more people, than ever in the history of the world. Fact: The poor in America are still richer than about 70% of the rest of the world. My opinion: Capitalism in itself is not a corrupt system; people are easily corrupted and the system need not be replaced.
