News of the Week for Aug. 2^nd, 2020

• Riots & Revolution
• Corona Virus
• Election 2020
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Riots & Revolution

 

Origins of an Error
Success does not need excuses, and the United States has been arguably the greatest success story in world history. Scarcely 150 years from the establishment of the first English colonies here, the American nation developed such strength as to be able to win its independence in a protacted war against the British empire which was at the time the greatest naval and military power on the planet.

Poll: “a majority of 56% holds the view that American society is racist”
Ben Shapiro: “Either the majority of Americans believe that their family, friends and neighbors are actually racist … or they believe that the institutions of American society are so deeply corrupt and systematically racist that they have to be razed to the ground.”

Chaos: Armed Militia Group Joins BLM Protest In Louisville, Three Members Shot
A protest was held Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky over the death of Breonna Taylor. No arrests have been made of the police officers involved in her death during a drug bust gone wrong using a no-knock warrant. Joining in the protest, organized by Black Lives Matter, was an armed militia group.

In Minneapolis, Armed Residents Set Up Patrols Amid Calls to Defund the Police
The city council approves its first permanent cuts to the police budget; crime has surged in the past two months

Poll: 77 percent of Americans are concerned about crime in our cities
The Hill reports on a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll in which 77 percent of respondents said they are concerned that crime is rising in the nation’s cities. 46 percent of respondents said they are concerned about rising crime in their own communities. Although reported by The Hill, the poll apparently has not yet been posted.

Demonstrators target NYPD vehicles, light fires in chaotic city scene
Anti-cop demonstrators wreaked havoc in Lower Manhattan on Saturday night, setting fires and vandalizing several NYPD vehicles.

Portland Police Recover Molotov Cocktails, Ammunition During Violent Protests
Portland police officers recovered Molotov cocktails and rifle ammunition late Sunday evening near the U.S. courthouse that has been the site of recent protests.

Federal Agents in Portland: “I am Worried for My Life, Every Time I Walk Outside of the Building”
Federal agents in Portland hit by fireworks, have concussions from hammers, and blindness from lasers.

Students see spike in reported violent crime after University of Minnesota cuts ties with Minneapolis Police Department
Students saw a sudden uptick in public safety announcements detailing local violent crimes soon after UMN announced it would cut ties with local police.

Seattle Police Chief: Sorry, Business Owners. You’re On Your Own
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and her Chief of Police, Carmen Best, have tried to present a unified front in response to the riots gripping their city but it hasn’t been easy. We’ve mostly seen them attempting to shift the blame (and the anger in the streets) against President Trump and the DHS officers protecting federal property in the city. That’s worked to a certain extent, but the anarchists are still going after the Seattle PD and local businesses with equal abandon.

Breaking — It’s Dangerous to Have Rioters Shoot Fireworks at You, Laser You, and Throw Heavy Objects at You
Until now, the federal officers protecting federal property in Portland have been portrayed in the press almost exclusively as provocateurs randomly arresting people. To his great credit, an AP reporter spent time over the weekend inside the courthouse with officers and his report is harrowing

“Nonsensical, Political Theater”: U.S. Attorney For Oregon Rips Portland Officials Over Handling Of Riots
The U.S. attorney for Oregon ripped elected officials in Portland for using violent clashes between law enforcement and rioters as an excuse for “political theater” rather than working to end the unrest.

Portland Football Coach Fired Because He’s a Cop
Last week, a high school football coach in Portland learned that he would not be returning when play resumes in the fall. The reason? He says it’s because he’s a sergeant with the Portland Police Bureau.

#DefundThePolice: Murder Rate Spikes 10-50% in Major Cities
#DefundThePolice might not poll well with ordinary Americans, but emboldened murderers are taking full advantage of demoralized police, killing in numbers some cities haven’t seen in years.

Universities suffer more than $100k in damages amid violent weekend protests
Demonstrations held in support of Portland protesters resulted in at least $100,000 worth of damage at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Cultural Marxism and Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter did not spring out of nowhere. The founders of Black Lives Matter admit to being trained Marxists. They are implementing a communist strategy that has been known at least since G. Edward Griffin accurately described it 51 years ago. Griffin has expressed kooky views, but his description of Marxist strategy is eerily accurate in light of BLM/Antifa.

Black Lives Matter Road-Block Tactic Ambushes Drivers, Leading To Dangerous Confrontations
Recent incidents show the tactic of blocking people from being able to drive through has become increasingly dangerous and deadly.

“Segregated Waves”: Now Surfing and the Ocean are Racist
“That’s threatening to a local… who feels this like deep entitlement because of their whiteness and their privilege.”

DOJ: 22 People Were Charged After Violent Weekend In Portland
The Department of Justice published a press release yesterday detailing 22 individuals who were arrested and charged with various crimes after a violent weekend in Portland. This summary breaks down all of the arrests by day, starting with last Thursday night

Oregon Governor Declares Victory Over Feds, DHS Says We’re Not Going Anywhere Yet
DHS needs assurance that nothing will happen to federal property.

Biden’s VP front-runner Karen Bass was an ORGANIZER for the KGB/Cuban-Intelligence founded Venceremos Brigades, and often visited Cuba to assist the Soviet puppet Castro regime
“In the mid-1970s, California Congresswoman Karen Bass, who is now under consideration to be Joe Biden’s running mate, was an organizer for the Venceremos Brigade, according to several contemporaneous media accounts and an interview with the future congresswoman published in a 1996 Ph.D. dissertation.” An event blurb in an October 1975 issue of the communist Daily World newspaper describes Bass, then 22, as “leader of the Venceremos Brigade in southern California….As a ‘brigadista’ and then organizer for the Venceremos Brigades, Karen visited Cuba every 6 months.”

Corrupt St Louis prosecutor exposed again
We have noted that, in addition to her many other defects, St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner is ethically challenged. She used contributions to her last campaign for personal expenses.

Good Luck With That: Portland City Commissioner Fines Feds For ‘Illegal’ Fence – $200k and Counting
Need more proof that Portland City Commission lives in la-la land? Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has issued the maximum fine allowed—$500 every 15 minutes—to the federal government for the fence around the federal courthouse at the center of nightly riots, because the fence blocks bike lanes. Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who is in charge of PBOT, issued a statement announcing the fines, and it’s full-on crazy train.

Conservative student group threatened with blacklisting for refusing to sign BLM letter
Students at the University of Illinois are demanding that the school’s Federalist Society speak out in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement, despite the group’s claim that its national leadership prohibits such statements.

Sen. Tom Cotton proposes bill to defund New York Times’ 1619 Project curricula
Sen. Tom Cotton introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to teach the New York Times 1619 Project.

Black faculty at Columbia demand school start ‘unlearning whiteness’
An alliance of Black faculty from a Columbia University graduate school made demands for ways in which the school can challenge “whiteness” and “white supremacy.”

NYPD To AOC, MSNBC’s Hayes: This Is *Not* A Kidnapping — It’s An Arrest; Chief Of Detectives: Here’s Why We Arrested The Woman
Wouldn’t the first clue have been all of the uniformed police that responded to protect the arrest? A warrant squad arrested a woman on the streets of New York City yesterday, hauling her into an unmarked van. The video of the arrest went viral yesterday, leading MSNBC host Chris Hayes to call it a “kidnapping”.

The media’s insane whitewashing of Portland’s violence
If the media covered pandemics like they do the Portland riots, the coronavirus wouldn’t be dominating the headlines.

Seattle’s Office of Civil Rights has developed a “race and social justice” curriculum for all 10,000 city employees.
I’ve obtained new documents from the city’s segregated “whites-only” trainings, which induct white employees into the cult of critical race theory.

A Few Tips In Case You Find Yourself In A Mandatory “Anti-Racism” Struggle Session
Lenin, Stalin, and the other creeps who created the Soviet system of totalitarianism in the early twentieth century, were far from the brightest maniacs ever to play at the game of evil dictator; but they did make a few effective innovations that enabled their rule to last much longer than it otherwise might have. One thing they figured out early on was that the best way to stifle all potential dissent was to require subjects to vow adherence to the regime and/or the party line in some form every day. Failure to articulate the required expression of loyalty on any given day, or even to express it with less than the mandated degree of enthusiasm, would get you marked as a troublemaker. You could then be deprived of your job, of deprived of all food, or you could even get sent off to the Gulag.

Physical Therapist And Social Worker Arrested For Assault On State Sen. That Took Place Last Month
Last month a Democratic state Senator named Tim Carpenter was assaulted by a group of people as he walked toward the Wisconsin State Capitol around midnight. That night groups of people had been tearing down statues on the capitol grounds. When he saw a group of people outside, Carpenter took out his phone and started to record video. The crowd noticed him and shouted at him. Then two women ran forward and attacked him

Nevada sheriff told library supporting Black Lives Matter not to ‘call 911 for help’
A Nevada sheriff told a public county library supporting Black Lives Matter not to “call 911 for help: in a Monday letter.

Police ‘No-Go Zone’ in Area Where George Floyd Died; Violence Spirals Out of Control
The area in Minneapolis where George Floyd died while in police custody has become something of a shrine to the movement for racial equality.

1619 Project Founder Admits It’s ‘Not a History,’ But a Fight to ‘Control the National Narrative’
On Monday, Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of The New York Times’ “1619 Project,” admitted that her project is not a history and that the battle over it is about “memory” — a fight to “control the national narrative.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has moved to defund schools that teach the project.

The Left Eats Their Own, Portland Edition: Wall of Moms Collapses, Accused of Anti-Blackness
Portland’s Wall of Moms has apparently fallen apart, after one of its founders decided to capitalize on the group’s new-found fame without the approval of other members of leadership. Pardon me, I’m going to need an industrial size vat of popcorn for this.

Catholic university calls ‘White Privilege’ America’s ‘original sin’
In a recent virutal event, Sacred Heart University explained to students how “white privilege” is a sin.

Cornell students compile massive list of courses on race and racism
A student-created resource list is pushing students to take one of 39 racial injustice classes.

Why Can’t We Have a Rational Conversation About the Founders and Slavery?
When Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) allegedly called slavery a “necessary evil” for the Founders, leftists had a conniption.

BLM protesters impede pregnant woman, and nurses in SLO
The video shows a man and a woman pleading with Black Lives Matter protesters who had blocked Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo, to let them take a pregnant woman in labor to a hospital.

Dozens charged with federal crimes in Portland riots
Federal law enforcement in Portland has arrested 74 people and charged 60 of them with federal crimes for actions they allegedly took against federal police and facilities in the Oregon city, according to the Justice Department.

Seattle Launches Investigation After Supply Van Full Of Weapons Found Trailing Behind Rioters
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best held a press conference Wednesday to announce an investigation was being launched into the riots which took place in the city over the weekend. One aspect of the weekend’s events the Police Chief discussed was a van which was seen following a small group of violent rioters. Witnesses saw people taking weapons out of the van and police later seized it and found it was full of homemade weapons and armor.

Inside the Portland riots – this is what the media calls peaceful?
The media will have you believe that the Portland protests are peaceful….spoiler alert…they are not.

ACLU sues Portland police, challenging bureau’s livestreaming of protests
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau, challenging its livestreaming of protests.

Seattle Mayor Again Blames Trump After Rioters Blew Open a Police Station Using a Van Full of Explosives
Days after antifa rioters terrorized Seattle, driving a van full of weapons and explosives with the mob in order to set fires and attempt to blow up police departments, Mayor Jenny Durkan focused her attention squarely on President Donald Trump, accusing him of running a “dress rehearsal for martial law.” She claimed that Trump’s efforts to bolster local law enforcement to combat a rising tide of crime and violence have “decreased public safety.” In a press conference addressing the antifa riots, Durkan claimed “the president wants” the violence.

McCloskeys File Motion To Disqualify Kim Gardner Over Fundraising Emails Sent Before Charges Were Filed
Wednesday an attorney for Mark & Patricia McCloskey filed two motions to have St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner disqualified from their case. The twin motions allege that Gardner used their case for campaign fundraising both before and after charges against them were filed.

Leftist Rioters, Like their Marxist Muses, Are Literal Revolutionaries
How do we make sense of the nonstop craziness going on in our society? Is there a common denominator, or is it all happening randomly?

Army Sergeant Identified as Driver in Austin Protest Shooting; Lawyer Says He Shot in Self-Defense
The attorney for the man who shot armed protester Garrett Foster in Austin on the night of July 25 has been identified as an active-duty sergeant in the United States Army, reports the Austin American-Statesman. He is identified as Army Sgt. Daniel Perry. The AAS reports Perry was driving for a ride-hailing company on the night of the unpermitted protest. Foster was carrying an AK-47 rifle on the night of the protest.

Vandals target piece of Berlin Wall at California college
A part of the Berlin Wall, on display at Chapman University, was vandalized.

Man Who Asked Seattle Protesters To Quiet Down Was Harassed And Beaten
A group of 80-100 protesters were walking through a residential neighborhood early Thursday morning. They had come to protest at the home of Seattle City Council member Teresa Mosqueda. But according to neighbors, Mosqueda doesn’t live in the neighborhood anymore. The protest group was noisy and one resident who was unable to sleep went into the street to confront them and ask them to quiet down. A small group of protesters became angry that the man was filming his encounter with them on his phone

ABC: Black/White Split Widening In Portland Demonstrations; Calming Down?
Last week, the head of the local NAACP, E.D. Mondainé, warned that the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Portland had started becoming a “white spectacle.” Yesterday, the BLM-affiliated group Don’t Shoot Portland accused the white leadership of Wall of Moms of “anti-Blackness.” ABC News reports today that problem has gone all the way down to the streets, with black demonstrators attempting to stop violence in order to keep the protests from turning into riots — and that white agitators are pushing back.

Seattle City Council Moves to Abolish the Police
The Seattle City Council is moving to abolish the entire Seattle Police Department and replace it with a “civilian led Department of Community Safety & Violence Prevention.”

Is This a Scene From Nazi Germany? No, It’s the Portland ‘Peaceful Protesters’ Burning Bibles
On the 63rd night of riots in Portland, antifa rioters set a bonfire in front of the federal courthouse. Since they care so much about the death of George Floyd, they decided to burn Bibles. Seriously, they threw copies of the Bible on the fire.

Man, 32, who ‘set fire to Portland’s police headquarters’ during the city’s riots is arrested after cops spotted his name tattooed on his back in security footage
Edward Thomas Schinzing, 32, was charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to the Justice Center in downtown Portland on May 29

Portland Rioters Set Fire to Bloody Pig’s Head With Cop’s Hat on U.S. Flag
Flashback to 2014 in Ferguson: “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon.”

Portlandia Forever
Having spent a lot of time in Portland (I probably acquired a quarter of my rather too large library at Powell’s City of Books, where I’ve been coming out the front door with heavy full bags since 1977), I always regarded the TV show “Portlandia” as a documentary rather than fictional satire. Clearly the show needs a gritty reboot, with an episode that tries to lampoon the “Wall of Moms” that has been trying to shield “protestors” (the Portland euphemism for anarchist rioters). It might be hard to lampoon the Wall of Moms (WOM for short, though if you want to use WOMbats, that’s okay too) since the WOM is so successfully lampooning itself.

No injustice, no peace
Darren Wilson is the former Ferguson, Missouri police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, who assaulted him. The shooting was a wholly justified act of self defense. Yet, it triggered the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s fitting that a phony justice movement originated with a phony claim of police misconduct.

Louisville Black Lives Matter Using ‘Mafia Tactics’ on Hispanic Business Owners
The Louisville cadre of Black Lives Matter activists sent a letter to many downtown businesses demanding they “diversify” their employees. But at least one Cuban-American business owner objected to the threatening tone of the letter and posted his displeasure on Facebook.

The Troubling Goals of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Politicians and various social justice groups have long used labels that have nothing to do with the real intent of legislation, or an organization, to dupe the public. But, to paraphrase Shakespeare, a rose by any other name is still a rose.

Black Lives Matter: “We Are Trained Marxists” – Part I
Black Lives Matter is a Marxist revolutionary movement aimed at transforming the United States into a communist dystopia. BLM states that it wants to abolish the nuclear family, police, prisons and capitalism. BLM leaders have threatened to “burn down the system” if their demands are not met. They are also training militias.

Black Lives Matter: “We Will Burn Down This System” – Part II
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than two-thirds of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement. While Gatestone Institute and doubtless many others wish that blacks and all minorities benefit from the equal opportunities and protections offered by the U.S. Constitution, the high level of backing raises the question: How much does the public really know about BLM?

Minneapolis police tell residents to obey criminals and “be prepared” to be robbed
Police say that Minneapolis residents should obey criminals and “be prepared” to be robbed amid a wave of violent crime in the city.

Boston “Abolishes” Special SWAT Team That Captured Marathon Bomber
If you happen to be an aspiring domestic terrorist, particularly in or around Boston, with a hankering to blow up a marathon or some other large, public event, it’s been a pretty good week for you. First we learned that Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death penalty sentence has been revoked. (At least temporarily.) And now we find out that the elite Boston Transit SWAT team that was widely celebrated for bringing Tsarnaev to justice has been unceremoniously disbanded. Officers assigned to the highly-trained unit were told to turn in their special equipment and return to more regular duty.

Austin Police, Texas State Troopers Prevent Violence and Arrest Many
Rumors and intel flew around for days leading up to Saturday, August 1. Dozens of activists were being bussed into Austin, Texas from Portland and Seattle to do to this city what they have done to both of those. Rumors suggested they wanted to destroy Austin police headquarters, the Texas state capitol, or both.

 

Corona Virus

 

3 food suppliers in L.A. County ordered to close after “significant” coronavirus outbreaks not reported to health department
Three food suppliers in Los Angeles County were ordered to close due to “significant” coronavirus outbreaks among their employees, officials said Monday.

Poll: If The Vaccine Is Approved, Will People Actually Take It?
There’s been plenty of progress lately in the hunt for a viable vaccine to protect people from the novel coronavirus. Both the Oxford vaccine and the Moderna version have entered phase three of their clinical trials. Patients receiving both have been shown to produce more antibodies, with the Oxford vaccine additionally leading to an increase in T-cells. Vaccines have also entered the ongoing political debates, with Ed Morrissey recently asking if a successful vaccine could wind up being Donald Trump’s “October surprise.”

States Are Working to Expand School Choice during the Pandemic
As I wrote on the homepage earlier this week, Republican senators Tim Scott (S.C.) and Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) are proposing to reallocate 10 percent of the CARES Act’s education funding so that states can award one-time grants to scholarship organizations, offsetting costs for families who need help funding private-school tuition or homeschooling. The same legislation would create a permanent federal tax-credit scholarship program, capped at $5 billion a year, giving federal taxpayers a dollar-for-dollar credit for any money they donate to scholarship organizations.

The people with hidden immunity against Covid-19
While the latest research suggests that antibodies against Covid-19 could be lost in just three months, a new hope has appeared on the horizon: the enigmatic T cell.

Mask-Wearing and the Common Good
Much fuss has been made in recent months about the question of facial coverings, and it isn’t worth recounting in detail what has been said on all sides of the subject. To my mind, the perspectives at either extreme (the hyper-partisan, unflinchingly pro- and anti-mask perspectives) are obviously wrong and not worth responding to.

 

Election 2020

 

Trump loyalists are already setting up scapegoats for a November loss
Let’s get down to brass tacks. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is one of the most conservative members in the House of Representatives and the highest-ranking woman in the Republican conference. She signed off on nearly 100% of President Trump’s legislative agenda and voted against impeachment.

Is the Democrats’ Race-baiting Working?
The Democrats have chosen to make a dishonest attack on white people the centerpiece of their 2020 campaign. Seems like a weird strategy, since whites make up something like 65% of the electorate. But we live in strange times, so who knows? Maybe it could work.

The Latest, Fast-Moving Developments in the 2020 Election Season
I often write about the latest developments in the election area, including court decisions and legislative and regulatory changes. An unprecedented number of lawsuits have been filed by the radical left (at last count over 150 and counting) trying to use the COVID-19 health crisis as an excuse to nullify state requirements like voter ID laws.

USPS Fails Mail-In Ballot Test
CBS News decided to test the system upon which the government will entrust the sanctity of the ballot this November. And the U.S. Postal Service flubbed it.

Ronald Reagan Foundation To Trump, RNC: Stop Using The Gipper For Campaign Fundraising
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation is fiercely protective of the former president’s legacy, as it should be. One way of protecting the former president’s name and memory is to rein in people or organizations trying to cash in by using Reagan’s likeness in fundraising. The foundation quietly demanded that the Trump campaign and the RNC stop using Reagan last week and the RNC quickly agreed to do so.

Voters Start Casting Ballots in about Eight Weeks
Today marks 99 days until Election Day. But Americans will start voting much sooner than that. In 2016, 16 states had more than half of their votes cast early, by mail or via absentee voting. With the coronavirus pandemic unlikely to be resolved by autumn, it is likely that more Americans than ever will partake of absentee and early voting options.

Biden Unveils Plan to Fight Racial Inequality
If there was a Hall of Fame for political pandering, Joe Biden would be a sure-fire first-ballot winner.

Biden “Racial Equity Plan” would enrich wealthy lawyers at employers’ expense
Joe Biden released his “racial equity plan” on Tuesday. Some of it deals with racial issues, like a major expansion of affirmative action and lots of race-related government spending.

The Trumpism That Will Continue past 2020, No Matter Who Wins in November
Watching some of the exchanges in the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, featuring chief executives Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and Sundar Pichai of Google, I realized that no matter how the November election shakes out, the underlying dynamic is not likely to change in the coming year.

CBS Affiliate: We Tried Mailing Ballots, And It Went About As Good As You’d Expect
Forget vote fraud for the moment, while we try to forget delays too. Are Americans willing to suffer a 3% failure rate or higher in ballot submission in adopting mass vote-by-mail systems in a presidential election? Or even in local elections? Augusta CBS affiliate WRDW tried an experiment in mailing ballots, and had three out of a hundred go missing.

Donald Trump’s Weak, Self-Defeating Call for Delaying the Election
Donald Trump went and kicked the beehive again this morning on Twitter, and it was even worse than usual

Trump: Hey, Maybe We *Should* Postpone The Election
Good grief. For months, Donald Trump’s allies and even a few of his critics have blasted Democrats and a handful of media figures for their baseless theories that the president would cancel or delay the national election. Joe Biden got ridiculed for saying in April, “Mark my words: I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” even though the law and the constitution are clear that presidents can’t do that.

Hey, Guys, That “Letter of the Law” Thing Matters
USA Today turns over some op-ed space to David Rothkopf, host of Deep State Radio, who declares that “the threat posed by Trump’s musing about illegally delaying the election must be seen not in terms of the letter of the law but of Trump’s intent, of his situation and of his history.”

The Identity of Biden’s Veep
It’s not the sort of thing that is likely to affect the outcome of the race, but I think Biden has botched the veep-selection process. The crucial mistake was announcing early that he was going to pick a woman. It was a mistake to say it even if was planning to do it.

What Would Be the Best Way to Run against a Biden-Rice Ticket?
Over on the home page, I take a look at 20 things you probably didn’t know about Susan Rice — and Benghazi isn’t one of them, because you almost certainly already know about that. In about a week, that list is going to look prescient and important . . . or quickly forgotten. And I noted in today’s Jolt that if Joe Biden instinctively surrounds himself with familiar faces he already knows and trusts, then I think Rice is the most likely selection.

Countering G.O.P. on Courts, Democrats Will Call for “Structural” Change
Progressives pushed for the platform language after President Trump’s drive put 200 conservative judges on the federal bench and Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s nominees.

Hmmm: Trump Campaign Pauses All TV Ads While It Reworks Its Messaging Strategy
We can only guess what the next batch of advertising from TrumpWorld will look like but I know what my money’s on. Three words: Hydroxy, hydroxy, hydroxy.

McConnell: Vulnerable Candidates Should Consider Distancing Themselves From Trump
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been signaling vulnerable GOP Senate candidates over the last few weeks that they should distance themselves from Donald Trump if they feel it’s necessary.

Donald Trump’s October Surprise: Aliens?
While some recent movement in the polls shows the presidential race tightening in the battleground states, there’s no denying that President Trump is far from assured a second term at this point and he has plenty of work in front of him between now and November. And if the pandemic keeps the economy in the dumps across much of the nation and the employment numbers don’t start bouncing back, that could be a tough job indeed. But does the President have a Trump card (pardon the pun) up his sleeve in that event?

 

Gun Rights

 

Report: Court Conservatives Ducked Gun Rights Cases Because They Feared Roberts Would Vote With The Liberals
Maybe Josh Hawley should incorporate a Second Amendment pledge into his new SCOTUS litmus test too. Sounds like we might need it going forward.

Dry Practice is Critical During Ammo Shortages
I was at my local gun store this morning and, to say the least, the ammo shelves were virtually empty. I’m told that it’s that way all across the country. So, with all the trouble and chaos that’s going on around the country, you probably ought to be hanging on to what ammunition that you already have. On top of that, a lot of the public shooting ranges are closed to meet various health mandates. And, my friends, this is not really the time to interrupt your important defensive practice.

4 Essential Elements of Self-Defense
If you say “personal defense” to most people, I expect they would immediately start thinking about guns. I like guns and have made my living for my entire adult life with guns, one way or another. But let me suggest a few things, in no particular order, that might be just as important as guns for personal defense.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

The Reason Renewables Can’t Power Modern Civilization Is Because They Were Never Meant To
Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world.

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Hundreds of Sick Canadians Euthanized over Loneliness
Good grief. We are told that euthanasia is “compassion.” But how compassionate is it when last year in Canada, hundreds of sick people were euthanized because of loneliness?

 

War & Terror

 

China Sends Its First Domestically Built Icebreaker to the Arctic, Moves to Procure Gold Mine in Region
BONUS: Status update on Trump’s scheme to purchase Greenland.

States issue warning about mysterious seed shipments possibly from China
Agriculture officials call seeds shipments a scam, advised people not to plant them

The Upcoming Partisan Fight over Nuclear-Test Funding
Last week, both the House and Senate passed their respective drafts of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with veto-proof majorities. Congress will go on to workshop a final product together behind closed doors. Once both sides are satisfied with a final compromise, the $740 billion bill goes on to the president. This traditionally bipartisan bill has seen compromise on issues such as the renaming of Confederate bases. Friction does lie ahead, however, as the House and Senate have opposing provisions on nuclear testing, a continuation of a larger debate over the merits and demerits of nuclear-testing readiness.

Virginia, Maryland, federal officials warn of more mystery seeds in the mail from China
Hundreds more people in Maryland and Virginia have reported receiving mysterious packets of seeds in the mail that look like they’ve come from China. The Department of Agriculture is working to identify them and there is concern people could be planting an invasive species.

The Burning of USS Bonhomme Richard and Our Shockingly Brittle Navy
The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) — an aircraft carrier in all but name — is almost certainly lost, a burned-out useless hulk lost during peacetime in American home waters.

China “Buys” Half of Africa, Expands Territory to Conquer World
The new Chinese Silk Road has facilitated China’s political domination of African countries and consolidated its influence over multilateral organizations

Mysterious Seed Packets from China Are Showing Up in U.S. Mailboxes: ‘Treat Them Like They Are Radioactive,’ Officials Warn
If you’re not a big fan of the Chinese Communist Party these days, join the club. No matter how the CCP and their well-funded enablers in American media try to distract and gaslight you, the fact remains that China is directly responsible for the massive disruption that the coronavirus has caused in all our lives. The virus is a fire, and the arsonist is China. Say what you want about Trump’s competence as our fire chief, but he did not do this to us.

Pentagon Releases Plan for U.S. to Withdraw 12,000 Troops From Germany
The Pentagon announced a long-anticipated plan to reposition and withdraw about one-third of the American troops in Germany. The military is saying the move is part of a long-term plan to restructure American forces to meet the threat of China and Russia in the Middle East.

Alarm over discovery of hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels near Galápagos Islands
The fleet, found just outside a protected zone, raises the prospect of damage to the marine ecosystem

The Latest Research on Beijing’s Concentration-Camp Lies
In the most comprehensive accounting of Beijing’s Xinjiang-related disinformation efforts to date, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a Washington-based NGO, launched a report yesterday on how the Chinese Communist Party has worked to stall international action on its actions in the autonomous region, which a growing chorus of observers describes as a genocide.

National Security Law: Hong Kong Police Arrest Four Students For Posting Pro-Independence Statements Online
We all saw it coming. Back in May China announced plans to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong through its own one-party system. In doing so, China to effectively put an end to the “one country, two systems” commitment they had made when Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997. China promised to respect Hong Kong’s semi-independence for at least 50 years but 23 years later it’s clear that nothing approaching freedom of speech exists in Hong Kong any longer.

Appeals Court Vacates Boston Marathon Bomber Death Penalty
“Dzhokhar will remain confined to prison for the rest of his life, with the only question remaining being whether the government will end his life by executing him.”

U.S. sanctions China’s paramilitary in Xinjiang
The Trump administration has announced it will sanction the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a paramilitary organization operating in Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities, aided by the XPCC, are perpetrating a cultural and demographic genocide against ethnic minorities.

‘China is powerful now’: Beijing’s aggressive global stance sparks wave of nationalism
As China comes under attack abroad, nationalist sentiment at home is being stoked – at the expense of other voices

Ecuador on alert after armada of Chinese fishing boats seen off Galapagos Island
As the fleet’s arrival suggests that China has a food supply problem, Ecuador finds itself deep in debt to the Asian giant without any of the prosperity that was promised.

So Were The Mystery Seeds A Chinese Bio-Attack?
Roughly one week ago, Ed looked at the strange story of people all over the country receiving mysterious, unrequested packages of seeds in the mail. Many of the packages had what appeared to be Chinese characters on them, leading some observers to suspect that the Chinese Communist Party was up to some sort of nefarious shenanigans. Governments in every state were quick to issue warnings for people to not just go randomly planting the seeds in their gardens for fear of some sort of invasive species sprouting and further disrupting the natural balance of plants and animals in North America.

China uses Hong Kong security law against US and UK-based activists
Arrest warrant issued for campaigner and US citizen Samuel Chu

 

National

 

Parasitic infection linked to bagged salad spreads to 641
The Food and Drug Administration said 641 people have now been sickened in 11 states in an outbreak linked to a bagged salad mix recalled more than a month ago.

Universities Brand “Drama Therapy” And “Journalism” as STEM Majors to Circumvent Immigration Policy
Several American universities are expanding the scope of their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in an attempt to circumvent U.S. immigration law, which allows international students who major in STEM subjects to stay in the country two years longer than counterparts who major in the humanities. New York University, for example, now includes journalism, classics, and drama therapy under its STEM umbrella.

Retired conservative SDSU professor targeted by effort to revoke his emeritus status
Stuart Hurlbert, a San Diego State University professor emeritus of biology, has come under fire from both a faculty resolution and a petition from the university’s biology graduate student union.

Prof says he’ll ‘stomp’ and ‘beat’ students ‘within an inch of your life,’ denies making a threat
According to President Neeli Bendapudi, the University of Louisville had received at least 75 faculty complaints regarding Jones’ statements.

Netflix’s Sinister Endorsement of ‘Transgender’ Children
A 9-year-old Texan boy called Joseph, who now identifies as a girl called Kai, is playing a transgender girl called Bailey for the Netflix remake of the 1990s show The Baby-Sitters Club.

Oh My! Ghislaine Maxwell May Have Turned Over “Nude Videos Of Individuals”
The saga of now-deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s “fixer” Ghislaine Maxwell continues to grind on, generating headlines that the New York Post and the Daily Mail in the UK simply can’t resist. And let’s be honest… neither can many of the rest of us. The Daily Mail has uncovered (pun intended) yet another gem from the disgraced madam’s upcoming court proceedings. If the reports turn out to be accurate, the court now has videos of a very provocative, if not pornographic nature involving unnamed “individuals” who may have been with some of Epstein’s young victims. And until some names are attached to these purported films, there have to be a lot of people out there who are suddenly looking very nervous. But at least for the present, the public won’t be viewing the videos. They will only be made available to the attorneys involved in the case in closed rooms with no copies being offered.

More charges dropped for pro-life journalists who exposed Planned Parenthood
Additional charges against two pro-life investigative journalists have been dropped in the case of The People of the State of California vs. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). In a hearing held over Zoom on Tuesday, two of the 10 charges against Merritt and one of the 10 against Daleiden were dropped, according to My Valley News.

Reclaiming their time
The Washington Free Beacon’s David Rutz has compiled SUPERcuts video #792 of the House Judiciary Committee Democrats “reclaiming their time” from Attorney General Barr at yesterday’s committee hearing (below). The Democrats refrain put me in mind of Bob Dylan’s “Pledging My Time” from Blonde on Blonde: “I got a poison headache / But I feel all right.” They gave me a poison headache. While they were reclaiming their time, as I wrote in the adjacent post, I thought they should have reclaimed their minds.

14 Parents Sue a School District Over Secretive Transgender Policy
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia last week sued the Trump administration in federal court over the president’s rollback of transgender health care.

Rest in Peace, Herman Cain
Herman Cain died today of complications of COVID-19 after a long hospitalization. Cain, the long-shot candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, inspired the Tea Party generation of activists to stick firmly to principles, to persevere in the face of adversity, and to enjoy the entire process. Gone too soon at 74.

Conservative students attacked at Binghamton last fall sue university over melee
Attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Young America’s Foundation and College Republicans against the State University of New York at Binghamton administration and others involved in several incidents last fall that aggressively targeted and silenced conservative students on campus.

University of Texas “increased its reliance on race” after Supreme Court admissions ruling, lawsuit says
“Holistic” process also benefited “politically connected individuals”

UT Austin Proposes Political Litmus Tests for Hiring and Promotion
The University of Texas at Austin is plunging head-first into the murky waters of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” as per a recently proposed plan issued by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. The National Association of Scholars obtained the draft proposal, titled the “Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Strategic Plan” from a UT Austin employee who shall remain anonymous.

NPR Remains Journalistically Incompetent
If you would like an example of how it is that our political discourse gets dumber by the day, tune in to NPR. This morning, Morning Edition host David Greene interviewed Senator James Lankford (R., Okla.) about unemployment benefits.

‘I Would Assassinate Jesus of Nazareth,’ Says TA Teaching at UCSB’s Religion Department
Over the weekend, a teaching assistant at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) tweeted that if he were sent back 2,000 years in a time machine, he would “assassinate Jesus of Nazareth” before Jesus’ ministry.

St. Louis Prosecutor Reopens Michael Brown Case in Secret, Still Can’t Prove Darren Wilson Committed a Crime
“Hands up, don’t shoot.” That was the left’s rallying cry after the 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Those were alleged to be Brown’s last words. Never mind that there’s no evidence he actually said that. Most of the eyewitnesses said he charged at Officer Darren Wilson and tried to wrestle away the cop’s gun. Which would be consistent with Brown’s behavior earlier that same day.

Communist student senator praises CCP, wants ‘death to America’
A member of the student government at Arizona State University has been met with criticism for controversial remarks condemning America and praising China.

UCLA Beclowns Itself in Fighting “Racism”
Academic freedom now takes a back seat to the tender feelings of social-justice warriors on campus. Just how bad have things gotten? A recent incident at UCLA tells us.

“Zombie cicadas” infected with mind-controlling fungus re-emerge
Humans aren’t the only ones susceptible to the psychedelic chemicals found in magic mushrooms. “Zombie cicadas” — under the influence of a parasitic fungus — have reemerged in West Virginia to infect their friends, and now scientists have a better understanding of how it happens.

Less stress, better grades: With schools closed, some kids thrive
Those annoying puffy spots under the eyes of eighth-grader Natalie Alvarez began to disappear, followed by the 10 a.m. hunger bouts and the midafternoon yawns — much to the Carson girl’s delight and surprise.

TikTok’s Chinese Owner Willing To Completely Divest U.S. Operations To Avert Banning By Trump
If your choice is between losing your share of the U.S. market by government edict and losing your share of the U.S. market by cashing out, your choice is a simple one.

ASU publishes ‘black male privilege checklist’
Arizona State University published “checklists” for various demographics.

Netflix Sneaks Transgender Ideology Into “Baby-Sitters Club” Series
Netflix has released an “original” series based on a popular book series from my childhood, “The Baby-Sitters Club.”

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Apple permits, laser beams, and Nazis in Skokie.

Faculty and Student Pledges
Universities can ask members of the community to stay safe during the COVID pandemic. But they cannot prescribe what shall be orthodox.

Judges May Continue to Participate in the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society
From yesterday’s memorandum from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, quoting the report of the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct

College Student Expelled for Racist Social Media Content, Then Reinstated Because She Didn’t Post it
“We will ensure she transitions seamlessly back into campus life when the fall semester begins. She has our full support.”

Quantum physicists say time travelers don’t have to worry about the butterfly effect
What if I told you all your favorite time-travel films and books were actually created by big tech in order to wrest control of the time-travel industry from the proletariat?

Bored Kids Turn To Old-School Entertainment… Classic Mattel Toys Make A Comeback
Mattel is seeing sales beat expectations and that is good news during the days of the coronavirus pandemic. The credit can be given to bored kids stuck at home and desperate parents trying to keep them entertained.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Goldman Warns Dollar’s Role as World Reserve Currency Is at Risk
The U.S. dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency is coming under threat, as evinced by the recent surge in gold prices, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

In Boston, The Eviction Crisis Is Already Slamming… Landlords
A few weeks ago we discussed the “eviction crisis” that has been on the horizon for a while now. The subject came up again this week, at least tangentially, with the release of the Senate’s version of the next pandemic relief bill. (It contained a moratorium on evictions through the end of the year.) Some government actions have provided benefits for renters who lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 outbreak, if only in the short term. But one group of people who have not been getting much in the way of help are landlords.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tweets “Nile is Ours,” Drawing Ire of Egypt and the U.S.
Thousands of years of history would argue otherwise, and Egypt plans to protect its historic and essential water interests.

China Food Crisis? Rising Domestic Prices And Large Import Purchases Send A Signal
Rising demand, floods, insect infestations, and rumors of spoiled inventories are all contributing to China’s developing food related woes.

Q2 GDP Plunges Nearly 33%; Update: Jobless Claims Edge Upward Again
Gulp. We knew the Q2 number would be bad, but this is perhaps at the outer marker of expectations. Economic output dropped almost ten percent in real terms in Q2, which translates to an annualized loss of 32.9% for the quarter. That loss follows on a -5% annualized GDP result in Q1.

The Fed and Racial Equality
Biden says that he wants to add to the Federal Reserve’s mission: It should promote economic equality among races as well as low inflation and unemployment. This idea hasn’t gotten much attention — CNN’s write-up of the speech where Biden unveiled it didn’t mention it. At Bloomberg Opinion, I argue that it would be a mistake to distract the central bank from its basic mission of stabilizing the business cycle.

Manhattan just lost its stranglehold on white-collar workers
For half a century, New York City was home to an archetypical white-collar worker: he (and later she) who would perform feats of creativity, daring and endurance — to get to work.

Pittsburgh Launching Guaranteed Income Program
This is a trend that started on the west coast in Stockton, California, later expanding to a discussion of doing it for the entire state. And now it’s jumped across the country to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We’re talking yet again about the idea of a basic income guarantee program, where select citizens are assured some level of income even if they are unable or unwilling to work. The Mayor of the city that’s home to the Steelers is Bill Peduto and he sounds as if he thinks this program could be a real winner.

 

International

 

Downtown park now a campsite
One of the best places to camp during this hot Ontario summer is at Trinity Bellwoods Park.

‘A naked brutality worthy of the Nazis’: EDWARD LUCAS on the harrowing evidence of Beijing’s concentration camps dedicated to ‘re-educating’ a million or more Muslims
Dawn breaks in the crowded prison cell. Not everyone is asleep — conditions are so cramped in the 70-square-yard space that 15 of the 60 inmates have to stand to give others their turn to lie down.

Zimbabwe Signs $3.5 Billion Compensation Deal With White Farmers
Zimbabwe’s government signed a $3.5 billion deal to compensate White commercial farmers who were evicted from their land two decades ago.

‘I Love JK Rowling’ Billboard Removed From Edinburgh Rail Station For Being ‘Too Political’
Harry Potter author, JK Rowling has been widely criticised recently over comments she made online that many have described as transphobic and offensive. Several actors who starred in adaptations of her novels including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne have spoken out against her.

China’s Plans to Win Control of the Global Order
The Chinese Communist Party leadership believe they are in the midst of an “intense, ideological struggle” for survival and that to win they must defeat the West

‘We Are All Hong Kongers Now’
China’s top communist, President Xi Jinping, aspires to dominate the world order — and if you want a preview, take a look at China’s assault on the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong. You don’t even need to start as far afield as Hong Kong itself. Xi’s Hong Kong flunkies, in their zeal to obliterate the territory’s democracy movement, are now targeting Hong Kong democracy advocates not only at home, but abroad, in places such as London and Washington. On Friday, according to Reuters, Chinese state television reported that “Hong Kong authorities had issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy activists who fled the city and are suspected of violating a national security law that came into effect on June 30.”

 

Opinion

 

The Habsburg Moment
While the European Union may be on the verge of its “Hamilton moment,” the United States flirts with decline.

Josh Hawley’s Litmus Test
The Republican senator from Missouri says that he will vote for only those Supreme Court nominees who go on record saying that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.

Founding-Era Antislavery and the Overheated Freakout Over Tom Cotton’s History of Slavery
As John McCormack notes, Tom Cotton may have been awkward in his phrasing, but there is nothing shocking in saying of slavery, “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.”

Really?
When did conservatism become incompetent? What has happened to the movement that I have long been a part of? This is so depressing to see.

Problematic Women: Transgender Movement Seduces Teenage Girls
A disturbing new trend has emerged among teenage girls. Abigail Shrier, author of “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” says some groups of young female friends are making the decision together that they’re transgender.

The Systemic Racism Canard’s Consequences
Over several decades “racial disparity” has subtly morphed into “racism” and “discrimination.” The process has accelerated in the months following the killing of George Floyd.

The Progressive Patriarchy Advances
A while back, I wrote a piece here at NRO about why I believe feminism and radical gender ideology are incompatible. The occasion for those thoughts was the participation of Angela Ponce, a biological male who identifies as a woman, in the 2018 Miss Universe pageant and the general acclaim with which most of the media greeted this individual.

The Sad Cult of Esoteric Trumpism
Those conspiracy theorists who have clung to a stubborn faith in the president look set to soon find that he’s abandoned them in a world he hardly changed.

The Confederate Roots of the Administrative State
Bureaucratic, unelected, managerial government in America had a surprising birthplace: the Confederate States of America.

The case for charter schools
Kevin Williams reviews Thomas Sowell’s new book on charter schools in the July 27 issue of National Review. The review is published under the headline “The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools.”

‘I’m telling you, I haven’t got an iPad!’ – Sent from my iPad
Careless autoreplies cripple email at the heart of local government

Two conflicting visions of America
There are currently two conflicting visions of America and our powerful institutions are trying to make the dystopian version a reality.

Socialism, not Colonialism, Keeps Africa in Perpetual Poverty
African leaders’ anti-capitalist, pro-socialist attitudes have caused far more damage than European colonialism.