News of the Week for February 23^rd, 2014

• Election 2014
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Obamacare
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Election 2014

 

South Carolina Is About To Get Interesting
Out of all the Republican primaries taking place across the country, there is only one that I have taken an active interest in seeing a particular outcome. Senator Lindsey Graham has given voters a litany of reasons to doubt his loyalty to the ideals of small government conservatism. But really it boils down to this: why should we have to have a “good enough” Senator in a state like South Carolina in the first place?

How Likely Are Democrats to Lose the Senate?

Gun Rights

 

Bloomberg’s latest stats on school gun violence ignore reality
Are schools and colleges dangerous places, with lots of gun violence?

Growth chart of right to carry
As of 1986, slightly less than 10% of the U.S. population lived in states where there were objective and fair procedures for the issuance of concealed handgun carry permits. About a third of the population lived in states where there was not even a process to apply for a permit. The majority of the population lived in states where issuance in permits was highly discretionary, and many issuing authorities refused to issue to ordinary law-abiding citizens.

Want fewer guns on California streets? Open carry may be the answer.
Letting people tote their guns around on their hips sounds dangerous. But think again.

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Blackburn to Obama: Stop funding green firms that benefit Chinese investors
The Chinese auto conglomerate Wanxiang Group has bought electric automaker Fisker Automotive, marking the second time they snatched up a failed green firm that received taxpayer dollars.

Another dubious linkage to ‘climate change’: Modeled increase in Arctic Cyclones
I don’t put much merit in this study especially when we see statements like “statistically significant, though minor, increase in extreme Arctic cyclone frequency” because we really haven’t had good observational capability until the satellite era to check their model output against back to 1850. Recent improved observation would have more effect than anything, but that isn’t even a factor in this case, it’s a model simulation.

The Official Forecast of the U.S. Government Never Saw This Winter Coming
Surprised by how tough this winter has been? You’re in good company: Last fall the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that temperatures would be above normal from November through January across much of the Lower 48 states.

Steyn countersues Mann for 10 millon dollars
Mark Steyn has decided to countersue Michael Mann for $10 million.

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

Republicans open investigations into ObamaCare’s disaster sites
Republicans are launching investigations into three state-run ObamaCare exchanges that are failing disastrously.

ObamaCare tax cost 33,000 jobs, medical trade group says
A new ObamaCare tax on medical devices has already resulted in the loss of about 33,000 jobs in the industry, according to a prominent health-care trade association.

Nevada’s Health Exchange Director to Resign
Nevada’s insurance exchange director, Jon Hager, announced his resignation Thursday, days after he had described “a difficult month” for the online insurance portal set up under the federal health care law.

 

War & Terror

 

Slaying of South Korean tourists signals turn in Egypt’s Islamist insurgency
An explosion ripped through a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Sunday and killed three people, the deadliest attack on vacationers here in years, signaling a potential escalation in the fight by Islamist militants against the Egyptian government.

U.S. Combat Exercises in Thailand Seen as Warning to China
Over the past weekend the U.S. “dropped a crack airborne task force into central Thailand” as part of what many see as a clear message to Beijing regarding China’s behavior toward its neighbors.

‘Star Wars’ at sea: Navy ready to deploy laser system this summer
US Navy ready to deploy laser system this summer; rail guns aren’t far behind

National

 

Common Core Curriculum Now Has Critics on the Left
The Common Core has been applauded by education leaders and promoted by the Obama administration as a way to replace a hodgepodge of state standards with one set of rigorous learning goals. Though 45 states and the District of Columbia have signed on to them since 2010, resistance came quickly, mostly from right-leaning states, where some leaders and political action groups have protested what they see as a federal takeover of local classrooms.

Kathleen Willey: ‘Hillary is the war on women’
‘Just pack your bags. You’ve had your 15 minutes’

Obama Is Now Underwater…in Minnesota
Having worked politics and punditry in Texas for a few years now, Battleground Texas amuses me. They believe that they can turn red Texas blue just by waiting around on demographics. They believe that policy doesn’t really matter, and that their longstanding disagreement with the majority of Texans on a range of issues won’t really halt their inevitable path to power.

This is Child Abuse, Progressive Style
Mommyish writer Marly Pierre-Louis writes that before her baby was even born, she and her partner intended to “gender bend the hell out of it.”

University textbook claims Reagan was sexist, conservatives view people as incapable of ‘charity,’ ‘lazy’
Insinuates Reagan was sexist, failed to appoint women to positions of power.
Mandated reading claims wealthy people “find that having a social class of poor people is useful,” it “allows them to look down on classes below them.”

Texas Begins Crackdown On Unsafe Abortion Clinics
Late last week, the Texas Medical Board suspended the medical license of Dr. Theodore Herring after discovering he had continued performing illegal abortions under new law. Texas’ new abortion safety law – aimed at improving women’s healthcare – requires that doctors have hospital admitting privileges within thirty miles in the case of procedural complications.

Darrell Issa in New Hampshire, Prompting Speculation
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is spending part of the congressional recess wooing fellow Republicans in New Hampshire this week, prompting some to wonder if Issa is laying out the foundations of a presidential run in 2016.

Girl Scouts Threaten Legal Action Against Critical Pro-Life Groups
The Girl Scouts of the USA has sent threatening letters to at least two small pro-life groups that have been critical of Girl Scout collaborations with Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups.

South Texas Vote Buyer Convicted in Federal Court
Evidence of voter fraud continues to emerge in Texas as a federal judge sentenced Donna resident Rebecca Gonzales for one count of election fraud in a 2012 local school board race. Gonzales was one of three campaign workers or “politiqueras” originally arrested by the FBI in December 2013 after a targeted investigation.

Report: Family Dog Shot by Police for Barking at Officer
As Charles Cooke wrote in November, a surprising number of dogs are shot by police officers. Unfortunately, Delilah, a three- to four-year-old Boxer, can be added to that list.

Union chief ‘bitterly disappointed’ with Obamacare reaches out to GOP leader
The head of the national hotel workers union that says it is “bitterly disappointed” with the Affordable Care Act met on Tuesday with the Senate Republican leader who is a leading foe of the law.

600 year old mystery manuscript decoded by University of Bedfordshire professor
Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics, has just become the first professional linguist to crack the code of the Voynich manuscript using an analytical approach.

California Cattle Leave for Texas
How bad is the California drought? So bad that California ranchers are selling their cattle to Texas ranchers–even though Texas, too, is going through a major dry spell. It is the latest migration from California to Texas–and another sign that California’s southwestern rivals are managing the drought conditions more successfully.

Debate at Cal State L.A. over ethnic studies requirement heats up
A debate at Cal State L.A. over an ethnic studies requirement turned heated Tuesday as several students tried to shout down faculty members who responded by chanting “Let her speak, let her speak.”

O’Keefe Busts Illegal Voter Scheme to ‘Turn Texas Blue’
In an apparent violation of state law, Battleground Texas officials are exploiting legally protected information to turn voters out to the polls as part of the Democratic party’s quest to paint the Lone Star State blue, a new undercover video from James O’Keefe reveals.

Report: Farmers’ Almanac more accurate than government climate scientists
This exceptionally cold and snowy winter has shown that government climate scientists were dead wrong when it came to predicting just how cold this winter would be, while the 197-year old Farmers’ Almanac predicted this winter would be “bitterly cold”.

State Sen. Ronald Calderon, brother indicted in corruption scandal
State Sen. Ronald S. Calderon and his brother, Tom, have been indicted on public corruption charges, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office confirmed Friday.

Baltimore’s people of the woods: Inside the hidden homeless camps made of milk crates, wooden doors and tarps on the outskirts of town
Photographer Ben Marcin’s series ‘The Camps’ captures makeshift settlements near railway lines, gas stations, Walmarts and bridges
He said many of Baltimore’s homeless feel safer in the woods than in shelters
While most homes are made from tarps, some more elaborate constructions use milk crates and wooden doors

NYC: More Black Babies Killed by Abortion Than Born
In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion (31,328) in New York City than were born there (24,758), and the black children killed comprised 42.4% of the total number of abortions in the Big Apple, according to a report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

#WarOnWomen: ‘Obamacare bully’ Rep. Gary Peters tries to silence mom battling cancer
Ah, yes, the always charming Left. How does Rep. Gary Peters sleep at night?

Economy & Taxes

Food prices soar as incomes stand still
Writer Jen Singer, the mother of two teenage boys, wrestles with her grocery list every week to keep the household budget from getting away from her.

Did the Fannie and Freddie Bailout Involve Securities Fraud?
The U.S. Treasury decided that private shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would receive no future profits from the firms — but it neglected to mention that crucial fact to investors.

Stimulus Signed 5 Yrs Ago Today, Still Waiting For Recovery
On February 17th, 2009 President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law (AKA the Stimulus).

The U.S. Middle Class Is Turning Proletarian
The biggest issue facing the American economy, and our political system, is the gradual descent of the middle class into proletarian status. This process, which has been going on intermittently since the 1970s, has worsened considerably over the past five years, and threatens to turn this century into one marked by downward mobility.

Bipartisan Bills Want Olympic Medals to be Tax-Exempt
Both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation to keep 2014 Olympic medalists and beyond from having to pay taxes on their newly acquired metals.

Coming soon to New York: Mandatory state-run parenting classes?
Via Ace. “Not only would parents have to attend” if they want their kid to pass sixth grade, notes Walter Olson at Cato, “but for good measure the bill would require employers to bestow a paid day off each year for employees who are parents to do so.” Sounds good to some New Yorkers, as you’re about to see.

 

International

 

Clegg and Farage are squaring up for a saloon-bar brawl
If David Cameron saw Nigel Farage coming down the street, he’d dive into the traffic to avoid him.

Media largely ignores violent Venezuela crackdown on opposition
Marco Rubio tries to put spotlight on the conflict

Lace underwear ban irks Kazakh women
News of an upcoming ban on lace underwear by former Soviet Union countries has compelled some women in Kazakhstan to take to the street, who say that wearing the garments is “a personal choice.”

The day Venezuela died
Hugo Chavez is dead, but his legacy lives on.

Pakistan warns Iran not to send in troops after guards kidnapped
Pakistan warned Iran on Tuesday not to send troops across the two countries’ shared border to retrieve five kidnapped Iranian border guards, an incident that threatens to exacerbate regional and sectarian tensions.

Disgraced Illinois Democrat Arrested on Child Porn Charges in Zimbabwe
He’s already a convicted rapist after being booted from Congress for sleeping with a minor back in the 1990’s. Considering he’s a Democrat, it’s also ironic he’s being charged with violating immigration laws.

Ukraine: Deadly clashes around parliament in Kiev
Violent clashes have erupted during anti-government protests in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, with at least nine people, including two policemen, dead.

Dead Chicken Sex Aficionados Horse Whipped By Cossacks
Dead Chicken Sex Aficionados Pussy Riot

Ukraine: Executive committee of Lviv region’s council decides to take power in region in its hands
The executive committee of the Lviv region’s council, the People’s Rada, is assuming full responsibility for the fate of the region and citizens, the Lviv region’s council said in a statement.

Lefty Meltdown Leads Latin Revival
Are we about to witness a big power shift in Latin America?

Nice Try, Venezuela, But Your Censorship Backfired
Beginning last week, massive student-led protests all but shut down several of Venezuela’s major cities, including the capital. There have been at least five deaths and scores of injuries and arrests, coming to a head on Wednesday night when armed, pro-government militias (the so called “colectivos”) descended on demonstrators in the nation’s bloodiest act of repression in recent history. But, taken in context, the protests are tragically unremarkable in Venezuela. After all, opposition minded university students involved in the first protests against the Chávez regime would today be in their mid to late thirties. And there have since been a great many others: each wave had goals, each worked hard, and still the socialist revolution soldiers on….

Ukraine parliament votes to remove president
Ukraine’s parliament voted Saturday to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, according to multiple reports. The move comes hours after the embattled leader fled the capital city of Kiev as protesters seized the president’s office.

“Genderbread” Person Being Used At Ontario Teachers’ Federation Retreat

OISE Hosting Talk On “Indigenous Perspectives On Decolonizing Education”
Meanwhile an OISE lesson plan for grades 7-12 “business studies” courses tells students to re-design the Chicago Blackhawks logo because it is racist.

 

Opinion

 
Victor Davis Hanson: Let’s Save California Now!

Transgender kids: Have we gone too far?
What happens when your son tells you he’s really a girl?

Good Samaritan Backfire
or How I Ended Up in Solitary After Calling 911 for Help

President’s Day: George Washington’s Republican Virtue
In his first inaugural address as president of the United States, George Washington said, “The sacred fire of liberty and destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

NY Times perpetuates myth of Andrew Breitbart’s misleading Shirley Sherrod video
As we approach the second anniversary of Andrew Breitbart’s death, we need to keep fighting the smear against him regarding the Shirley Sherrod tape.

What Is ‘Homophobia’ Anyway?
Homophobic until proven tolerant, it seems like we’re all bigots unless we sanction and celebrate homosexuality.

Sympathy for the European Devil
I know that conservatives are supposed to hold high the banner of Western Civilization, but I have an arm cramp at the moment.

Passive Microaggression
Claiming microaggression is a way to control others.

It’s Happening Again. Communism Fails.
Communism* is nothing more than an organized crime ring run by the state. It just extorts, parasitizes, and kills everything it touches, and then fails. Always. Always, and again. Punitive redistribution absolutely requires the creation of a brutal tyranny to carry it out.

Fake Homophobia & The Noble Lie: The New “Fake But Accurate”
Give credit to the American left: they have impeccably mastered the art of being utterly shameless.

Three Ukrainian lessons for the United States
The United States is not Ukraine, so, I hope, we don’t find ourselves living in interesting times.

“Social Justice,” a nonsensical concept
The estimable Peter Wehner writes a defense of “social justice.” But does the concept make sense?

Lessons of World War I
Much of what we think we know is false; what really happened matters desperately to us today.

One Election Away from Losing Our Freedom
Putin’s little fingers in the Ukraine, Cuban agents in Venezuela and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt all remind us how uniquely vulnerable democracy is totalitarianism. In the United States, cities aren’t burning and streets aren’t filling up with bloodied bodies, but the government of phone and pen also shows us that we are always one election away from losing our freedom.

Yes, Jesus Would Bake A Cake for a Gay Person
Jesus Christ would absolutely bake a cake for a gay person. He’d bake a cake for a straight person. He’d bake a cake for a girl, a boy, a person who isn’t sure what they are, a black person, a white person — Jesus would bake that cake if it, in some way large or small, drew that person closer to Him.

On “social justice” — a reply to Peter Wehner (With Comment from Steve)
Peter Wehner has written a thoughtful response to my post which questioned his conservative case for social justice. I appreciate Pete’s kind words and his level of engagement with my argument.

LGBT Activist Declares: ‘We Need to Start Making Their Lives a Living Hell’
Have you ever heard of Dr. Scott Lively? Me neither, but he’s a conservative Christian who leads a group called Defend the Family International. Dr. Lively has been branded a hatemonger by the Southern Poverty Law Center, so I figure he must be a Great American.