News of the Week for September 22^nd, 2013

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

 

Gun Rights

 

Illinois Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Gun Law
Illinois is one of the most anti-gun states in America, and its supreme court is appointed by its governor. The past two governors have been zealous opponents of gun rights: Democrats Pat Quinn and the notorious Rod Blagojevich. The court they appointed just struck down Illinois’ soon-to-expire law against carrying firearms as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

Texas AP Textbook Re-Writes Second Amendment
“As more schools try to revise US history, it has been found that Guyer High School in Denton, Texas is using an AP History book [United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination] that completely changes the 2nd amendment in an attempt to try to “’simplify’ what it says,” gunsnfreedom.com reports. As the gun blogger points out, simple here means dead wrong. “The people have a right to keep and bear arms in a state militia”?

Make Our Day: Brit Columnist Suggests World ‘Intervention’ Over US Guns
Henry Porter, a columnist for The Observer, doesn’t think much of America’s Second Amendment. Nor does he care much for America itself, judging by his condescending commentary. His Lordship is very, very concerned about gun violence in America. In fact, he is so concerned that he believes it may be time for the world to “intervene” and save us from ourselves…or something.

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Solar activity drops to 100-year low, puzzling scientists
Predictions that 2013 would see an upsurge in solar activity and geomagnetic storms disrupting power grids and communications systems have proved to be a false alarm. Instead, the current peak in the solar cycle is the weakest for a century.

Obama takes on coal with first-ever carbon limits
Linking global warming to public health, disease and extreme weather, the Obama administration pressed ahead Friday with tough requirements to limit carbon pollution from new power plants, despite protests from industry and from Republicans that it would mean a dim future for coal.

UN climate panel: Hmm, how can we selectively edit these inconvenient truths to outwit those anti-science denialists?
In a sneak preview of their first big “landmark” report on climate change since 2007, the big-government, progressive, eco-radical, globalist types on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the United Nations revealed in August that they are absotively, posilutely 95 percent super-duper certain that global warming is definitely happening to a dangerous degree and that human activity is the overwhelming cause behind it.

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

‘Too fat’ chef Albert Buitenhuis in NZ visa reprieve
A South African man facing deportation from New Zealand for being too fat has been given a 23-month reprieve.
However, Albert Buitenhuis will not be allowed any publicly-funded healthcare, a government official said.

Obamacare will question your sex life
‘Are you sexually active? If so, with one partner, multiple partners or same-sex partners?” Be ready to answer those questions and more the next time you go to the doctor, whether it’s the dermatologist or the cardiologist and no matter if the questions are unrelated to why you’re seeking medical help. And you can thank the Obama health law.

5 ways Obamacare could mess with your privacy
Obamacare’s start date, October 1st, is rapidly approaching. As the impending Tuesday draws nearer and nearer, new headlines are drawing attention to unsettling aspects of the system. Troubling enough was the NSA surveillance scandal this summer. Now, add sensitive medical information to the mix. Concerned citizens are raising privacy questions, from sex life to social security numbers, under the new system. How could your own privacy be affected by Obamacare?

Doctor Rationing Coming To California Soon
Over at Bloomberg View, Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, reports more bad health-care news coming out of California: The implementation of Obamacare will soon trigger doctor rationing.

Opt Out – The Exam – Creepy Uncle Sam

Supreme Court to Consider New Obamacare Case
Obamacare is before the U.S. Supreme Court again. On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) lawyers filed the first viable petition for Supreme Court review involving Kathleen Sebelius’ HHS Mandate, which requires employers to provide abortion-related insurance coverage, even if those employers have a religious objection to abortion.

House Votes to Defund ObamaCare
On Friday, the House voted to defund ObamaCare in a continuing resolution that keeps government open for several months. The vote was 230-189, with just two Democrats crossing the aisle to defund the health care law.

10 Creepy liberal reactions to creepy Obamacare videos
Two videos have been released by Generation Operation as part of a national campus push to convince young people not to sign up for Obamacare.

 

War & Terror

 

Armed EPA raid in Alaska sheds light on 70 fed agencies with armed divisions
The recent uproar over armed EPA agents descending on a tiny Alaska mining town is shedding light on the fact that 40 federal agencies – including nearly a dozen typically not associated with law enforcement — have armed divisions.

Spitting on Their Graves: Democrats Leave Benghazi Hearing Before Testimony From Families of Victims
During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.

Somali militant group claims Kenya mall attack
The al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group is claiming responsibility for the deadly attack on a mall in Kenya.

National

 

USC Student Workshop: White Males are Privileged and Cops are Racist
Students at the private University of Southern California spent the evening of 9/11 at an action-packed workshop held at the “Ground Zero” theater during which they talked about how oppressive and unsafe they think their campus is, called campus police officers racist and white males “privileged,” and celebrated transgenderism.

Native American tribe calls protesters who destroyed 9/11 memorial ‘disgusting’
The protesters who uprooted a 9/11 memorial display at a liberal arts college in Vermont claimed they were defending Abenaki tribal lands and taking a stand against U.S. imperialism.

On the Booker beat
Come November, Cory Booker will be the newly elected United States Senator from New Jersey. As mayor of Newark and Democrat on the make, Booker appears to have been insulated from close scrutiny in years past. Having taken a close look at a few of the stories he’s been retailing over the years, my daughter Eliana is finding that he is something of a compulsive liar. Consider, for example, the case of T-Bone, Booker’s imaginary friend, or Booker’s riff on the late Wazn Miller. (Eliana updated the T-Bone case yesterday in the post “Booker: T-Bone Is Real, and I Know ‘Literally Hundreds’ of Drug Dealers.”)

Republicans look to shake up race for Iowa Senate nomination
Two high-profile Iowa Republicans actively exploring bids for the state’s open Senate seat could be game changers in what has been a crowded but low-key primary to date.

Lhota Looks Forward to Debate With ‘Radical’ de Blasio
Republican mayoral contender Joe Lhota congratulated Bill de Blasio on securing his party’s expected nomination this afternoon and said he’s looking forward to a more mature and vigorous debate.

Sex-Ed at UCLA and Two Students’ Right of Conscience
Two UCLA freshmen Bella and Angelica Ayala just want to live according to their Catholic moral code and speak freely of their opinions, but that doesn’t work well with UCLA’s policy on sex education. When the Ayala sisters decided to not participate in a sex-ed orientation on, among other things, contraception and how to ask someone to have sex with you, they were reprimanded by the university and told they were required to attend the session, even if it violated their conscience.

Sex Ed at UCLA
Does a university’s liberal sexual agenda trump students’ conscience rights?

Tom DeLay money laundering verdict overturned
A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News.

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber
Today a group of paleontologists announced the results of an extensive study of several well-preserved dinosaur feathers encased in amber. Their work, which included samples from many stages in the evolution of feathers, bolstered the findings of other scientists who’ve suggested that dinosaurs (winged and otherwise) had multicolored and transparent feathers of the sort you might see on birds today. The researchers also presented evidence, based on the feathers’ pigmentation and structures, that today’s bird feathers could have evolved from dinosaur feathers.

Chuck Schumer Says He’s ‘Still Not Running for President’
Don’t start printing “Chuck 2016” signs just yet.

Professor runs “a study session for my STUDENTS OF COLOR ONLY”

Immigration Activist Featured by Time Magazine Busted on Kiddie Porn Charges
He was probably salivating at the thought of some fresh illegal meat coming in from Mexico. Now his dream is on hold.

Former NFL star threatened with lawsuit from parents of kids who trashed his house?
Surely, this can’t be right, right? I mean, I know we talk about the decline of Western Civilization and basic decency, but this? Former Pro Bowler Brian Holloway was staying at his primary residence in Florida when an estimated 300 teenagers crashed his house in New York and held a giant party. Teens being forward-looking and responsible, they naturally documented their destruction of his pad— estimated at $20,000 of graffiti, damaged floors, and stolen property— in photos, videos, tweets, and Facebook posts.

Nevada governor pushes GOP ideals to avoid shutdown
Amid threats of another federal government shutdown, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) on Saturday touted Republican solutions while urging both sides of Congress to work together.

Impotent Rage: The Liberal Superhero
Not safe for work, Grand Theft Auto V’s biting satire makes many legitimate points.

Hamilton College segregates diversity program by race
“this program is open to people of color only.”

Lumbee Indians Face the Ku Klux Klan, 1958
On the night of January 13, 1958, crosses were burned on the front lawns of two Lumbee Indian families in Robeson County, N.C. Nobody had to ask who was responsible. The Ku Klux Klan had risen again in North Carolina, its ranks swelling after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education calling for the desegregation of public schools. While the Court instructed schools to proceed with “all deliberate speed,” the Klan fought — often in the form of anonymous nighttime attacks — to slow the process of integration.

 

Economy
& Taxes

 

Greek unemployment rises to record 27.9 percent in June
Greece’s jobless rate rose to 27.9 percent in June from 27.6 percent in May, reflecting the impact of a six-year, austerity-fuelled recession, the country’s statistics service ELSTAT said on Thursday.

Italy floated plans to leave euro in 2011, says ECB insider
So, we now know: Silvio Berlusconi seriously floated plans to pull Italy out of the euro in October/November 2011, precipitating his immediate removal from office and decapitation by EMU policy gendarmes.

Nevada unions, far-left groups building ‘grassroots’ support for business ed tax…
The 2014 elections are still more than a year off, but teachers unions and other left-wing political groups in Nevada are already campaigning for a ballot initiative to increase taxes on businesses.

Nevada unions, far-left groups building ‘grassroots’ support for business ed tax…
The 2014 elections are still more than a year off, but teachers unions and other left-wing political groups in Nevada are already campaigning for a ballot initiative to increase taxes on businesses.

EU, IMF to Cyprus: So, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…
Larch March, there was an almighty uproar in Europe and around the world when the small island nation of Cyprus suddenly found themselves on the brink of exiting the eurozone and floated a teeny, tiny, involuntarily “deposit haircut” off of people’s life savings as a nifty method to quickly raise the money they’d need in order to convince Europe’s finance ministers to administer them the fifth in the series of euro-bailouts. The final bailout proposal included a levy on ‘only’ uninsured deposits over 100,000 euros, plus other measures that would force Cyprus to cut their budget, shrink their outsized banking sector, and privatize state assets.

Sex-Ed at UCLA and Two Students’ Right of Conscience
Two UCLA freshmen Bella and Angelica Ayala just want to live according to their Catholic moral code and speak freely of their opinions, but that doesn’t work well with UCLA’s policy on sex education. When the Ayala sisters decided to not participate in a sex-ed orientation on, among other things, contraception and how to ask someone to have sex with you, they were reprimanded by the university and told they were required to attend the session, even if it violated their conscience.

Sex Ed at UCLA
Does a university’s liberal sexual agenda trump students’ conscience rights?

Tom DeLay money laundering verdict overturned
A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News.

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber
Today a group of paleontologists announced the results of an extensive study of several well-preserved dinosaur feathers encased in amber. Their work, which included samples from many stages in the evolution of feathers, bolstered the findings of other scientists who’ve suggested that dinosaurs (winged and otherwise) had multicolored and transparent feathers of the sort you might see on birds today. The researchers also presented evidence, based on the feathers’ pigmentation and structures, that today’s bird feathers could have evolved from dinosaur feathers.

Chuck Schumer Says He’s ‘Still Not Running for President’
Don’t start printing “Chuck 2016” signs just yet.

Professor runs “a study session for my STUDENTS OF COLOR ONLY”

U.S. Textile Plants Return, With Floors Largely Empty of People
The old textile mills here are mostly gone now. Gaffney Manufacturing, National Textiles, Cherokee — clangorous, dusty, productive engines of the Carolinas fabric trade — fell one by one to the forces of globalization.

 

International

 

Public masturbation not a crime: Swedish court
A man who openly masturbated on a Stockholm beach has been acquitted of sexual assault in court after it was ruled he was not targeting a specific person, with the prosecutor saying it’s “okay” to play with yourself in public.

Painful Past Plagues German Greens
Support in 1980s for Legal Pedophilia Haunts Left-Wing Party as It Struggles to Redefine Its Message

New Australian PM abolishes climate watchdog
Australia’s new conservative government on Thursday abolished an independent climate change commission set up by the previous Labor administration, as part of its plans to streamline bureaucracy.

University of Toronto’s pedophile-friendly symposium on “childhood” for teachers
I know that if I were running an Education Department that got the most attention it ever received for having one of its senior academics arrested on charges of producing child pornography just a couple of months ago, I’d think twice about holding a symposium with a keynote speaker whose work demonstrates an obsession with a supposed “erotic appeal” of children.

Facing shortages, Venezuela takes over toilet paper factory
When you’re running low on toilet paper and getting desperate, what do you do?

China’s Ghost Cities… Are Multiplying
The fact that China has an unprecedented excess capacity glut, also known as an epic overinvestment/construction bubble, is by now well-known and acknowledged by even the most ardent Chinaphiles. Perhaps nowhere is China’s outlier nature in this regard more obvious than in the following chart showing per capita cement consumption vs GDP.

 

Opinion

 

Are We Rome? Ben Powell Compares the U.S. with the Roman Empire
“If we continue down the misguided path that the government is taking us, then the future does not look good,” says Free Market Institute’s Ben Powell.

Why a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016 may be far from inevitable
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Paul Kengor — political commentator, professor of political science at Grove City College and the author of the 2007 book “God and Hillary Clinton” — cast doubt on the inevitability of a Hillary Clinton campaign and presidency in 2016.

When Men Hoist the Pirate Flag
I have bad news. Men and women are different. Oh, I don’t mean that – vive la difference, right? – I mean men and women are different in the way they relate to others, the way they relate to society, the way they present.

Liberals Discover New Sacred Victim Group: The Ugly
The cultural Marxist campaign to turn America against itself requires that ever more people be established as sacred victims deserving of special privileges at the expense of demonized normal people. Blacks, Muslims, perverts, who is next? Why not ugly people?

Duping The Idiots: The Left’s Frankfurt School Denialism
It’s an interesting question. Why is it that the left doesn’t want mainstream liberals to know the history of the left?

The Decline of College
The four-year campus experience is becoming a thing of the past.

The Press and the IRS
Journalistic partisanship fed the scandal.

Special Orders Don’t Upset Them: Meet Some Fast-Food Workers That Won’t Unionize…Ever.
You’re probably already aware that union front groups–working at the behest of (and financially supported) by the SEIU–have been targeting fast-food workers nationwide for a while now.

Cory Booker, Mother Goose
The New York Post’s Michael Gartland has done more digging on the story of Wazn Miller. He is the teenager whose last moments the Newark mayor has relayed numerous times in paid speeches and on the stump, but a little fact checking as well as the police report made public after NR sued Booker and the city of Newark revealed that Booker has taken considerable liberties with the story, inflating his own role and, it appears, outright fabricating certain details.