News of the Week for May 5^th, 2024

• Election 2024
• Abortion
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

Election 2024

 

A Dead Dog in the Dakotas Derails VP Dreams
If the hullabaloo about a deceased dog and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem is to be believed, Cujo is loose in Pierre, S.D., and he’s hunting for the governor’s political aspirations of becoming Donald Trump’s VP pick.

Inside the far-right plan to use civil rights law to disrupt the 2024 election
At a diner just off the freeway north of Sacramento, a mostly white crowd listened intently as it learned how to “save America” by leaning on the same laws that enshrined the rights of Black voters 60 years ago.

Republican Firebrand Ted Cruz Now Courts Democrats to Win Re-Election
There are two sides to Ted Cruz, the Republican senator says.

 

Abortion

Dobbs Decision

 

Abortion is still consuming US politics and courts 2 years after a Supreme Court draft was leaked
Two years after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion signaled that the nation’s abortion landscape was about to shift dramatically, the issue is still consuming the nation’s courts, legislatures and political campaigns — and changing the course of lives.

Gun Rights

 

Pennsylvania Capitol Rally Showcases Steadfast Commitment to Second Amendment Rights
At the Pennsylvania state Capitol steps in Harrisburg, a determined group of over 100 pro-gun activists gathered to defend their Second Amendment rights in an annual rally that has become a hallmark for gun rights advocacy in the region. Despite a recent decrease in attendance, the passion and resolve of participants at this year’s event were as palpable as ever.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &“Green Energy”

 

A Small Miracle: A Completed New U.S. Nuclear Power Plant
A small miracle: Yesterday Georgia Power announced that the second new nuclear unit at Plant Vogtle entered commercial service, “the first new commercial reactors built from scratch in the U.S. in more than three decades.”

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Biden Giving Obamacare to 100,000 Illegal Immigrants Is Gross Executive Overreach
As James Lynch reports, the Biden administration has finalized a rule to give Obamacare to illegal immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

War & Terror

 

Europe planning new ‘nuclear umbrella’ with 300 French nuke missiles spread across continent for showdown with Russia
Russia warned it would ‘sink the British Isles’ with its nuke arsenal

China May Be Preparing To Deploy Economic ‘Nuclear Option’
China has been buying up commodities at a rapid clip, prompting analysts to wonder out loud whether Beijing is preparing to choose the economic “nuclear option.”

US Spies See China, Russia Militaries Working Closer on Taiwan
US intelligence officials assess that Russia and China are working more closely together on military issues, including a potential invasion of Taiwan, prompting new planning across the government to counter a potential scenario in which the countries fight in coordination.

Cuban mercenaries in Ukraine kill their abusive Russian commander
Whoa! All is not well on the Ukrainian front. Young Cubans fighting for Czar Vlad the Invader have set a shining example for their fellow Cubans back on the island by executing their Russian commander. Yeah. Don’t let anyone abuse you or turn you into a slave.

Victims of Communism Day — 2024
May Day should be a day to honor victims of an ideology that took tens of millions of lives. But we should also be open to alternative dates if they can attract broad enough support.

Manta Ray UUV Prototype Completes In-Water Testing
DARPA program exhibits modular, first-of-kind capabilities

Is Venezuela Serious About Invading Guyana?
President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela is an exuberant dictator, a lover of military salutes who is being investigated for crimes against humanity, but he’s not reckless enough to invade neighboring Guyana, is he? Would the leader of a country in an ever-deepening economic crisis risk starting Latin America’s first interstate war this century? Well, maybe.

North Korean weapons are killing Ukrainians. The implications are far bigger
On 2 January, a young Ukrainian weapons inspector, Khrystyna Kimachuk, got word that an unusual-looking missile had crashed into a building in the city of Kharkiv. She began calling her contacts in the Ukrainian military, desperate to get her hands on it. Within a week, she had the mangled debris splayed out in front of her at a secure location in the capital Kyiv.

 

National

 

Kids Online Safety Act receives bipartisan support despite censorship concerns
The Kids Online Safety Act is a proposed bill that’s received bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats, however critics are vocal about the potential chilling effects it will have on freedom of speech.

‘American Privacy Rights Act of 2024’ Sneaks In Quotas
In the name of preventing bias, APRA imposes quotas. And it imposes them everywhere.

US campus protests: Rival Gaza protest groups clash at UCLA
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as demonstrations over the war in Gaza continue across US campuses.

Louisiana Sues Biden Over Title IX Interpretation Allowing Males in Female Sports and Spaces
Idaho, Mississippi, and Montana joined the lawsuit.

Federal Court Again Rejects Texas’ Claim that Illegal Migration Qualifies as “Invasion”
The ruling builds on the same court’s two prior decisions to the same effect.

A U.N. Official Dares America to Slash Its Budgetary Contribution
On Wednesday, the United Nations’ top human-rights official, Volker Turk, practically dared Congress to slash America’s massive contribution to the U.N.’s main budgetary fund, called the regular budget, when he spoke out about “a series of heavy-handed steps taken to disperse and dismantle protests” across U.S. college campuses. He expressed concern that law enforcement was using force in a disproportionate way.

Violence erupts at UCLA as counter-protesters attack pro-Palestine camp
University vice-chancellor condemns ‘horrific acts of violence’ as footage shows people wielding sticks

UCLA Pro-Israel Demonstrators Counterattack After Pro-Hamas Mob Beat Jewish Protester Unconcious
Pro-Israel and Jewish students fought back after the school did nothing for days.

NYPD Retakes Columbia University From Illegal Occupiers
The occupation of a key administrative building was more than even the weak Columbia administration was willing to tolerate.

Obama’s Domestic Terror Buddy Bill Ayers Shows Up to Support Campus Occupiers at U. Chicago
“Ayers was hunted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in the 1970 bombing of the New York City Police Department headquarters, 1971 bombing of the United States Capitol building and the 1972 bombing of the Pentagon.”

Over $350,000 Raised to Thank UNC Pi Kappa Phi Brothers for Defending Flag Against Pro-Hamas Mob
“Throw ’em a rager.”

‘Possessed’ murder suspect ‘ate man’s face, eyeball and ear’ after killing him
A man has been accused of killing a convenience store customer before ‘eating’ his face in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cops in riot gear shut down UCLA encampment after showdown with anti-Israel protesters wielding fire extinguishers
Police in riot gear dismantled the anti-Israel protest encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles campus early Thursday, spraying tear gas and shooting what appeared to be rubber balls as they faced off with violent protesters wielding fire extinguishers and pepper spray.

Which States Are Enacting the Best DEI Bans?
The Martin Center looks at half a dozen attempts to regulate ideological extremism on campus.

Rutgers Caves to Pro-Hamas Mob, Agrees to 8 of the 10 Demands
A big one: Rutgers agreed to display flags of occupied people. So…Rutgers agrees that Israel is occupied land? The school agrees that the state of Israel is illegal?

Campus Riots a Marriage of ‘Year Zero’ Leftists and Eighth Century Islamists
“This is a serious situation. It’s the extreme left that wants to tear us down. Almost Khmer Rouge, go back to Year Zero and start over. And the extreme Islamists, who are worshiping Hamas, who want to take us back to the eighth century.”

Portland State: Police Recover ‘Improvised Weapons’ Left Behind in Library by Pro-Hamas Mob
The mob trashed the library. They stole rare books and comic books.

Kansas Board of Regents axes mandatory DEI statements
To comply with anti-DEI Kansas legislation, the state’s Board of Regents prohibited public universities from mandating DEI statements for students and employees.

Google Search results polluted by buggy AI-written code frustrate coders
Pulumi claims it has culled bad infrastructure-as-code samples

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
River rides, purple robes, and aesthetic injuries.

US colleges face their next big challenge: furious parents
Parents at Ivy League universities beset by Gaza protests are demanding refunds and arranging transfers

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Nissan Employees in New Jersey Decertify UAW
While the press was celebrating the United Auto Workers union’s win in a representation election at Volkswagen in Tennessee, it mostly ignored that other workers already represented by the UAW were in the process of voting the union out. A majority of Nissan employees at the company’s facility in Somerset, N.J., petitioned to decertify the UAW in early April, and the election was held on April 24.

 

International

 

14-year-old dead, 4 others injured after sword-wielding attacker goes on rampage in London
A man wielding a sword went on the attack in London early Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring at least four others, including two cops, after first driving a van into a house, according to authorities.

 

Opinion

 

The Power of Weakness
Modern liberals have distilled the true essence of Marxism, which is the idea that every human relationship is exploitative. Lenin summed it up as “who/whom”–who is doing what to whom?

Universities Reap the Protests They Sow
Banning campouts in common areas is the kind of reasonable, content-neutral restriction on public protest that should be easy for universities to enforce. Their failure to do so has damaged their reputations, and now the discussion of “amnesty” for the student protesters discredits them further.

It’s Worth Going Down Fighting in Ukraine
If you want a serious intra-conservative debate on U.S. aid to the Ukrainian war effort, I highly recommend listening to my colleagues Noah Rothman, Charlie Cooke, and Michael Brendan Dougherty on The Editors, a debate continued at director’s-cut length on Charlie’s podcast. I side mostly with Noah and Charlie — Michael is outnumbered here at National Review in opposing aid — but it’s a rigorous and passionate debate on both sides.

As Universities Falter, Grifters Prosper
Young men are drifting toward the wrong alternatives to four-year degrees.

Some on the Right Are Having a Moral Meltdown
My disdain for the Left began at a young age. From as early as I can recall, I hated evil, and I therefore always hated communism. When I realized the Left either supported communism or, at the very least, opposed anti-communism, I understood that leftism was a force for evil. Liberals and conservatives hated communism; leftists did not.

Pence and January 6
I listened to this week’s excellent first episode of The Editors podcast, which I highly recommend — and I am grateful to MBD for his kind words about this column.

The Tyranny of Relativism
I rarely turn to the work of British philosopher John Gray for anything approaching good cheer, and in this piece in the New Statesman he is true to form. The article begins with a story about the French writer, Julien Benda, the author of The Treason of the Intellectuals (La Trahison des Clercs), a book published in 1927 in which, as Gray puts it, Benda “denounced the intelligentsia of his day for betraying the truth for political ends.”