News of the Week (February 8th, 2015)

Posted on February 8, 2015 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for Febuary 8th, 2015


 

Obama Scandals

 

ICE: Transgender Illegals Guaranteed ‘Right to Hormone Therapy’ in Detention
An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified Friday during a discussion on immigration detention facilities, hosted by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that transgender individuals are guaranteed “a right to hormone therapy.”

U.S. pressing Cuba to restore diplomatic ties before April
The United States is pressing Cuba to allow the opening of its embassy in Havana by April, U.S. officials told Reuters, despite the Communist island’s demand that it first be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Report: IRS Seized Thousands of Bank Accounts Without Filing Criminal Charges
IRS practiced a “seize first, ask questions later” strategy

IRS “structuring violations” and the slide into serfdom
This strikes anyone as insane. If you move less that $10,000 in cash — maybe because you have less than $10,000 in cash — you are liable to have your money seized and never be charged with any crime. What you are seeing here is the flip side of the egregious civil forfeiture laws than enable police forces to seize your home, your car, your bank account, and your business without ever having to go to charge you with an offense other than they want it.

 

Gun Rights

 

11-Year-Old Girl Uses Shotgun to Save Herself From Home Invader
An 11-year-old girl in Michigan was able to defend herself from a man who broke into her home late last week. The girl hid in a closet after a man entered her house while she was home alone. Unfortunately for the robber, when he opened the closet door he found the girl aiming a shotgun right at him, Michigan Live reports.

Marin County Prosecutor wants to make sure citizens think twice about self-defense
I have been engaged engaged in a running battle . . . er, discussion with a Progressive acquaintance about the Castle Doctrine. This is the doctrine derived from the ancient Anglo-Saxon principle that “a man’s home is his castle” and he has a right to be safe within its wells. In practice, the Castle Doctrine means that, if someone breaks into a home, that person is presumed to have lethal intent, giving the homeowner the right to use lethal force in his defense.

An update on the self-defense trial in Marin County
James Simon, the doctor who shot a man who followed him home, tried to pull into the doctor’s garage, and started storming the house, has pled “not guilty” to felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and negligently discharging a firearm. The judge also refunded him his $160,000 bail, finding that the 71-year-old doctor is not a flight risk. Something interesting is going on here: This is now the second Marin County Superior Court judge — let me repeat again “Marin County” — who seems to be taking a stand in favor of gun rights against the local prosecutor.

At Aspen Institute, gun grabber Mike Bloomberg talks disarming minorities
Michael Bloomberg, who poured millions of his own money into Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun control group he helped found during a summit at Gracie Mansion, was back to talking about guns Friday night to a sold-out crowd at the Aspen Institute.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

 

Another Victory for Fracking in Colorado
Trustees of a small town straddling Colorado’s conservative Weld County and liberal Boulder County narrowly voted down an “emergency” one-year fracking moratorium last week.

The fiddling with temperature data is the biggest science scandal ever
New data shows that the “vanishing” of polar ice is not the result of runaway global warming

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

More C.A.R.E., less Obama: Column
GOP proposal scraps taxes, opens choice, retains continuous coverage.

The Burr-Hatch-Upton Obamacare Replacement
For those who are interested, I have a detailed write-up of the new Burr-Hatch-Upton Obamacare replacement plan over at Forbes. I agree with Yuval below that the plan handles the “tradeoffs [of health reform] in a particularly plausible and promising way.” However, I disagree with him that a uniform tax credit — in which low- and high-earners get an equal subsidy from the government — is a better system than the one that Burr, Hatch, and Upton propose. Indeed, the opposite is true.

Obama’s budget screws his Big Pharma allies
This is just pure schadenfreude. It might even be schadenfreude a la mode with a bourbon chaser.

 

War & Terror

 

Iraq Kurdish forces retake oil field, villages from IS
Iraqi Kurdish forces and police retook an oil field in Kirkuk province Saturday that was seized by the Islamic State group overnight, and freed 24 workers who had been taken captive, officers said.

China’s Secret Strategy Exposed
Beijing Plots to Surpass U.S. in Coming Decades

Calls for louder global ‘voice’ as China, India, Russia meet
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday hailed his country’s relations with India and Russia during meetings that heard calls for developing economies to have more say on the global stage, rivalling US influence.

Drones Are Now Appearing on Afghan Rugs
Art imitates life as carpet-makers weave images of war into their creations.

ISIS Appears to Kill Jordanian Pilot in New Video
A Jordanian pilot held by ISIS appears to be killed in a new video released by the terror group today.

Jordan to execute jailed would-be bomber, jihadists
Jordan will execute Wednesday an Iraqi would-be suicide bomber on death row and other jihadists after having vowed to avenge the murder of a Jordanian pilot by Islamic State jihadists, an official said.

ISIS Releases Video Showing Jordanian Pilot Burned Alive
The Islamic State’s media wing, Al-Furqan, just released a horrific video titled “Healing of the Believer’s Chest” showing the murder of Jordanian air force pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh.

After ISIS execution, angry King Abdullah quotes Clint Eastwood to U.S. lawmakers
Members of the House Armed Services Committee met with Jordan’s King Abdullah Tuesday not long after news broke that ISIS had burned to death a Jordanian pilot captured in the fight against the terrorist group. In a private session with lawmakers, the king showed an extraordinary measure of anger — anger which he expressed by citing American movie icon Clint Eastwood.

Report: U.S. Prepared To Rely Upon Iran For Regional Stability In Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria
European officials have reportedly relayed a message to Israeli officials about the Obama administration’s plans concerning the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. The U.S. and Iran are reportedly closing in on a deal that would allow the Ayatollah’s regime to keep the vast majority of its centrifuges running, while also allowing for Iran to be in charge of stabilizing its surrounding region.

Tom Cotton: Guantanamo Bay Prisoners “Can Rot in Hell”
An impassioned Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) slammed the Obama administration’s efforts to close Guantanamo Bay, and made his own thoughts on the matter quite clear during a Senate Armed Services hearing this morning.

White House Unveils Call for “Strategic Patience”
Critics accuse the administration of being too slow to act in Syria and Russia. In a new strategy document, the White House will say that was the plan all along.

Afghanistan War Hero Stripped of Silver Star
Feature: Army Major Matt Golsteyn betrayed by cowardly leaders

Saddam’s Noose is Up for Auction
If you have the cash, the noose used to hang Saddam Hussein can now be yours.

“We Need People to Stand for Us” — The Yazidis Escaping Sexual Slavery in the Islamic State
At 17 years old, “Adira” has already tried to take her own life. A Yazidi teenager kidnapped by the Islamic State as it swept through northern Iraq last summer, herding thousands of members of the minority group into a brutal enslavement, she spent the first few days of her captivity locked in a room with several other girls, sobbing with fear and desperately trying to evade their fate.

Iran’s Sphere of Influence Grows: Houthis Dissolve Yemeni Parliament
Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels announced today that they have dissolved the Yemeni parliament and installed their own “transitional national council of 551 members” plus a five-member “presidential council” to rule the country for at least two years, as reported by CBS News. A new national constitution is to be drafted by the revolutionary government.

The U.S. Navy’s New Railgun Can Fire Projectiles Up To Mach 7
The U.S. Navy publicly unveiled its latest futuristic weapon at the Future Force Science and Technology Expo in Washington, D.C. this week — the electromagnetic railgun, which can fire projectiles at an air-splitting 5,300 miles per hour.

Putin attacking Baltics – scaremongering or a real danger?
As Nato decides to establish a command unit in Estonia, former chief warns that Putin could attack Baltic states.

 

National

 

Atom-Thick Silicon Makes Crazy-Fast Transistors
An exotic form of silicon, called silicene, could enable a new generation of faster computers.

Report: Federal Government Issued Nearly 5.5 Million Work Permits to Foreign Nationals Since 2009
More than 5.46 million foreign nationals received work permits from the federal government since 2009, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies. Data uncovered from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency reveal that approximately 982,000 work permits were given to illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals unqualified for admission, most of whom crossed the border without inspection.

Report: 5.5 million Additional Work Permits Issued Since 2009 In “Shadow” Authorization System
The Obama administration has been issuing millions of work permits over the limits set by Congress, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Rand Goes Full Paul on Vaccines
Vaccines are the media’s new “Birth Control Pills” question for the GOP — injecting an out-of-nowhere wedge issue question into the debate just because it hurts the GOP.

University of California Students Chant ‘Allahu Akbar’ During Anti-Israel Vote
Pro-Hamas students at the University of California at Davis chanted “Allahu akbar” at Jewish students filing out of a student government vote calling on the college to divest from companies who do business in Israel.

Support Of Israel Reason House Was Tagged With Swastikas, Frat Says
On Saturday morning – the holiest day of the week for Jews – swastikas spray painted in red on their Jewish frat house were the last thing these brothers expected to wake up to.

Saint Louis University to erect monument honoring anti-police protest
Saint Louis University has commissioned a sculpture to be erected on campus that administrators say they hope “captures the spirit and importance” of a weeklong “Occupy SLU” protest last fall on the urban campus that decried oppression, racism, racial profiling and police tactics.

The FAA: regulating business on the moon
The United States government has taken a new, though preliminary, step to encourage commercial development of the moon.

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Jindal Declares War on the Wonks
The Louisiana governor throws down the gauntlet on “Democrat-lite” alternatives to Obamacare.

The Democrat/Media Complex Attacks: Vaccinations Are the New Birth Control
Remember this? Who doesn’t? With one out-of-left-field question, the former Clinton hack masquerading as a newsman, George Stephanopoulos, altered the course of the 2012 election, and the “war on women” was well and truly underway.

Wealthy L.A. Schools’ Vaccination Rates Are as Low as South Sudan’s
Hollywood parents say not vaccinating makes “instinctive” sense. Now their kids have whooping cough.

Why the “Prius Driving, Composting” Set Fears Vaccines
Journalist Seth Mnookin’s new book, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, explores the public health scare over vaccines and autism. The 1998 paper in The Lancet by British physician Andrew Wakefield that sparked the panic has long since been debunked and retracted, and Wakefield himself has been barred from practicing medicine and accused of fraud. But that hasn’t stopped thousands of people from refusing to vaccinate their children out of fear that they could become autistic.

When Obama and Mother Jones pandered to anti-vaxxers

Couple Leave Two Toddlers in Freezing Car While Going Wine Tasting
A couple left two children, a 22-month-old boy and his slightly older sister, alone in a gray Volvo on a Washington, D.C. street Saturday afternoon while they went to a wine-tasting at a restaurant down the street. The temperature was 28 degrees, and not only did neither child have gloves or a hat, the boy had no shoes or socks. Police said the girl was “hysterically crying.”

Rand Paul in 2009 Interview with InfoWars: Vaccines the First Step Towards “Martial Law”
I think we can safely say that he is his father’s son.

Columbia student fights back amidst rape allegations
When the media narrative doesn’t match corroborated evidence: Part Infinity

Calif. day care closes due to measles in baby too young to be vaccinated
A Southern California day care has shut down because an infant there — who’s too young to get vaccinated — contracted measles, another case in the re-emergence of the disease on the West Coast.

Five Ways Liberals Ignore Science
For some conservatives, harmonizing issues of faith and science can be tricky. What excuse do Democrats have?

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler: This Is How We Will Ensure Net Neutrality
After more than a decade of debate and a record-setting proceeding that attracted nearly 4 million public comments, the time to settle the Net Neutrality question has arrived. This week, I will circulate to the members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed new rules to preserve the internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression. This proposal is rooted in long-standing regulatory principles, marketplace experience, and public input received over the last several months.

Jesse Ventura on Chris Kyle: ‘Do You Think the Nazis Have Heroes?’
Former Minnesota governor and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura took a vicious swipe at Chris Kyle on Tuesday, comparing the deceased SEAL sniper to a Nazi soldier in World War II.

Jon Stewart Mocks GOP Over Vaccines — But Once Gave Anti-Vaxxer Airtime on his Show
On Tuesday, Daily Show host Jon Stewart savaged Republican presidential hopefuls Rand Paul and Chris Christie for statements expressing cautious misgivings over childhood vaccinations. “Oh, for f***’s sake,” the comedian sighed, after Senator Paul said he’d “heard of many tragic cases” where children developed mental disorders after being vaccinated.

Lesbian Police Officer Accused of Illegal Sex With 17-Year-Old High School Girl
Make her a “school resource officer.” What could go possibly wrong?

Senator Reid’s brother accused of DUI, battery on an officer
Authorities say the 73-year-old brother of Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid was arrested on misdemeanor driving under the influence, weapon and battery on an officer charges after he was found in a vehicle parked in a dirt median of a state highway in southern Nevada.

Obama’s Government Takeover of WiFi
Tying up innovators in a wireless world

Compton Vaccination Rate: 93.80% Beverly Hills: 78.33%
Elementary schools in the inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton have a far higher vaccination rate against diseases like measles than schools in wealthy Beverly Hills, state data show.

Jon Stewart DESTROYS Noted Republican Anti-Vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
I think that’s correct. RFK Jr. is a Republican, right? I mean, why else would he be nutty enough to say anything critical about vaccines?

Illinois Governor’s Stern Medicine for Unions and Their ‘Corrupt’ System
Bruce Rauner is the first Republican Illinois governor not to go to prison elected in the last 20 years. He faces clear Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature. But Rauner didn’t back down one iota from the campaign rhetoric that elected him in an upset last November.

With the election safely behind, the media is suddenly interested in Oregon Governor’s scandals
Back in October I asked the entirely hypothetical question of whether or not the shady activities Oregon’s First Lady (the fiance, not wife, of Governor John Kitzhaber) might endanger the Governor’s reelection chances. Of course, in a blue state like that, he was never in any real danger and won another term with a fairly comfortable six point margin. The media wasn’t much help, though. To find out much about the various adventures of Cylvia Hayes, the aforementioned fiance, you had to go to conservative blogs. We did some searching and did manage to find the mainstream media talking about it a bit, but it was mostly section B “local news” which was generally pinned on his girlfriend.

Dave Weigel and the Mystery of the 8-Year-Old Transgendered Kid
The caper started innocently enough. Listicle site and national joke Buzzfeed posted an article purporting to display an “adorable” note written by an 8-year-old who is allegedly transgender. Dave Weigel, as a relatively normal person who’s been around 8 year olds before, asked what many might consider to be a naturally occurring question.

After Gay Marriage Flap, Marquette Moves to Fire Tenured Prof
Disregarding freedom of speech, academic freedom, and its own policies, Marquette University will attempt to revoke Professor John McAdams’s tenure and fire him.

The FCC Will Make The Internet A Public Utility
The move will make net neutrality much easier to enforce, and make a whole lot of ISPs unhappy.

Teacher attacked 1st grader for having too much food at lunch
A Louisiana teacher is out of a job after police allege she kicked and slapped one of her first grade students last month.

West Feliciana teacher resigns amid accusations she kicked, slapped and berated a first-grader
West Feliciana educator resigns post

The skimpy, moldy, mysterious and downright gross Michelle O lunches Congress should see
As Congress readies to reauthorize Michelle Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act this year, students and parents continue to post photographic evidence of the program’s shortcomings.

Jindal to Obama: ‘Medieval Christian Threat is Under Control’
Bobby Jindal on Friday released a statement responding to the president’s remarks on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in which he cautioned Americans from getting on a “high horse” when taking a stance against radical Islam because people have committed “terrible deeds” in the name of Christianity, too.

How to Assimilate: Bobby Jindal Has It Right
Following up on Joel’s post about Governor Jindal’s comments on assimilation yesterday, here’s my top-ten list of what we should expect from those who want to become Americans (and those who are already Americans, for that matter).

Why Was All Ex-Im Data Removed from Data.gov?
Last summer, I mentioned that the public dataset about the Export-Import Bank that I’d been using to conduct analyses and visualizations of its activities for the Mercatus Center had been removed from Data.gov, the federal government’s information site. Thankfully, we had downloaded a clean copy of the full data before it was removed, so I can still use it to debunk the misleading claims made by Ex-Im defenders. Data.gov still listed a few other files with application data and other pdfs that could still be accessed, but the data were gone.

UC Berkeley Lecture: It Is “Necessary” to Apply Transgender Studies to Agriculture
Oh, and apparently 9/11 is also somehow involved.

Scandal Rocks Fox News Over Saudi Terror Link
Fox News Correspondent James Rosen reported on Wednesday night that a “major investor in the parent company” of Fox News has been implicated in financing the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Rosen made the embarrassing disclosure in a story on the channel’s “Special Report” show hosted by Bret Baier.

How many Senators will retire in 2016?
Possibly not that many: “Of the 34 senators facing re-election next year, just one has announced retirement. A CQ Roll Call survey of the entire Senate class showed only one more senator publicly undecided about re-election, plus three additional senators considering bids for other offices.

Co-author of UCSA resolution needs to disclose affiliations
On Feb. 8, the University of California Student Association (UCSA) will vote on a resolution to divest from eleven companies that do business with Israel. The legislation was authored by Students for Justice in Palestine members across the country including Rahim Kurwa, a UCLA graduate student who has played a leading role in promoting similar campaigns within the Undergraduate Students Association Council here at UCLA.

Wife divorces husband for refusing to abandon Down Syndrome son
He chose life and lost his wife

State senator says all white people are racist and “polluted” his blood
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers said all white people are racist and that his blood was “polluted” by white people last week while filibustering a bill and lambasting a state education board member who has rejected calls for his resignation after his blog called the president a “half-breed.”

Amodei expects big returns for Nevada from Congress Feb6 by Thomas
As the 114th Congress gets under way, Rep. Mark Amodei, whose district covers the northern half of the state, is optimistic the House can pass legislation to allow Nevada and other Western states to take control of some portion of federal lands within their borders, though he is not sure about how it will fare in the Senate.

Tribe constructs casino honoring racist author
The American Indian tribe leading the movement to change the name of the Washington Redskins plans to open a $20 million casino that pays homage to the work of L. Frank Baum, who was born in this village outside Syracuse and later wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Survey Says Millennials Think Gender is a Myth
The survey, which polled 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 34 on topics including politics and race issues, found that 50 percent of millennials felt that gender is actually a spectrum, and that “some people fall outside conventional categories.”

 

Economy & Taxes

 

Voters Take Aim at Low Wages, Kill Bookstore
Don’t believe minimum wage hikes hurt real people? After March 31, a famed sci-fi bookstore on Valencia St. in San Francisco’s Mission District will no longer be able to cater to your taste in fantasy

Trickle-down economics is a Leftist lie
Progressive journalists around the world were united in their approval. Last month’s OECD report, in the words of Britain’s Guardian, “dismissed the concept of trickle-down economics”.

DOOM is a word for the things we do together
Mean old Monday morning, my groovy babies. You know what that means: the DOOM train is pulling into the station. Please stay back from the platform until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

Obama wants a one-time tax on the $2 trillion of profits that US companies are hoarding overseas
President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget would impose a one-time 14 percent tax on some $2 trillion of untaxed foreign earnings accumulated by U.S. companies abroad and use that to fund infrastructure projects, a White House official said.

Obama says he won’t accept budget that doesn’t raise spending
President Obama said Monday he will reject any budget from Congress that doesn’t boost spending on both defense and his own domestic priorities, saying the spending “sequesters” need to go.

Obama Quietly Adds 5.46 Million Foreigners To Economy
President Barack Obama has quietly handed out an extra 5.46 million work permits for non-immigrant foreigners who arrived as tourists, students, illegal immigrants or other types of migrants since 2009, according to federal documents released by a Freedom of Information Act request.

Tax Reform This Isn’t
There is a clamor in Sacramento for “tax reform.” But for every political pundit, politician and bureaucrat in the room, there is a different definition of “tax reform.”

Hostage to the Child Tax Credit
The Rubio-Lee plan prioritizes “pro-family” policies over growth.

Gov. Sandoval details new business fee plan to fund Nevada education reform
Gov. Brian Sandoval said Thursday that his proposed business license fee to raise $438 million to fund much of his public education agenda would mean lower tax collections than under myriad other tax proposals debated in Nevada over the past dozen years.

Obama’s Taxed Himself into a Corner
Absent serious entitlement reform, Democrats will have no choice but to raise taxes on the middle class.

 

International

 

Norway banishes ‘hate preacher’ to remote village
A court in Oslo on Monday authorised police to banish Iraqi Kurd “hate preacher” Mullah Krekar to a remote Norwegian village.

Mother-of-six with learning disabilities could be sterilised after authorities ask court for permission to force entry into her home
A mother-of-six with learning disabilities could be sterilised after health authority and social services bosses asked a judge for permission to force entry into her home, restrain her and take her to hospital.

UN: No genocide in either Croatia or Serbia during Balkan wars
Is ethnic cleansing genocide? According to the UN’s International Court of Justice, not always. In dismissing competing claims from former Yugoslavia republics Serbia and Croatia accusing each other of genocide, the forced removal of populations only amounts to genocide when such a move is made with the intent to destroy the population

Murdered Argentine prosecutor had draft arrest warrant for President Kirchner
Do you believe in coincidences?

The Nigerian Crack-up?
Nigeria’s upcoming national elections certainly will be contentious and most likely violent, but no matter who wins they’re not likely to change the country’s fundamental political and economic realities.

Shame of grooming cover-up: Cynical councillors could be going to jail after report says they systematically hid truth
National Crime Agency is investigating after damning new report out today

Rotherham: Officer to victim: ‘Don’t worry – you aren’t the first girl to be raped by XX and you won’t be the last’.
A criminal investigation has been launched today after a damning new report found Rotherham Council is “not fit for purpose” and still “in denial” about the 1,400 young girls who were abused in the town over 16 years.

Poisoned Ex-KGB Agent Accused Vladimir Putin of Being a Pedophile
Ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a pedophile a few months before he was poisoned in 2006. He gave Putin the nickname “The Kremlin Pedophile” after he kissed a young boy’s stomach in public.

UKIP Demand “Immediate Election” In Rotherham After Child Abuse Failure
UKIP are demanding the local elections in Rotherham are held on the same day as the general election, after Eric Pickles ordered a full local election in May 2016. The election was announced after the borough was taken over by centrally appointed commissioners folliowing a damning report into their failure to deal with child abuse.

Political correctness raped Rotherham’s children
Now it’s official: A culture of political correctness led to the rape and abuse of thousands of children in Labour Rotherham. This is what multiculturalist ideology has led to, and all those in media and politics who pushed the PC agenda should now hang their heads in shame

Pentagon Report Claims Vladimir Putin May Have Asperger’s Syndrome
USA Today has uncovered a 2008 Pentagon report that claims Russian President Vladimir Putin has exhibited symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism. The Office of Net Assessment (ONA), a Pentagon think tank, compiled the report.

Assisted Suicide, Now a Constitutional Right in Canada
This description sure makes it sound as though the Supreme Court is making a lot of determinations that one would think should be reserved for the legislature. The legislation also strikes me as very bad in principle, and in its effects. In singling out a class of people as having a right to suicide, I don’t see how you avoid the implication that the state thinks suicide makes more sense for them than for others.

Rotherham Council on Child Abuse Scandal: Never Happened, Overblown, Not Our Problem
In August, U.K. professor Alexis Jay spearheaded a report contending that the local government, child-social-services agency, and police department of Rotherham, in Great Britain’s South Yorkshire, had ignored at least 1,400 instances of child sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013, primarily because the perpetrators were Muslim men of Pakistani heritage.

The No.1 mullahs dating agency
Iran’s government tries to play matchmaker

Outback woman
Boulia, far-west Queensland. They’re a whole different breed out there. Great people.

Outback Girl

Free Speech Rankings find restrictions at 80 per cent of universities< A new study has found restrictions on freedom of expression at four out of five UK universities

Rotherham: Where Some Cultures Are More Equal Than Others
Did you hear about the gangs of white taxi drivers in the market towns of Southern England who over a period of decades have been grooming, drugging and serially raping under-age girls of Pakistani Kashmiri heritage?

 

Opinion

 

Dinosaur-sized bigotry
The word for when a person erects in his mind a false image of a group of people, and sees them only as that image, that false stereotype, and moreover it is a despicable stereotype, one that robs them not just of dignity, but of their very humanity.. that word is bigot.

Court and Constitution: The Argument Against Judicial Supremacy
The GOP often concedes too much to the courts–a notion of judicial supremacy at odds with the best of the Republican Party’s history.

Hands up – Don’t Bother (with the facts)
The problem is, it never happened.

Every Teenager Should Be Required to Work a Grubby JobMelanie Howard
Our over-scheduled, pampered kids need part-time jobs to learn humility.

Feminist Mother Questions, Praises Her Ability to Indoctrinate ‘Princess’ Daughter
Over at the New York Times, gender feminist Sally Kohn chronicles her recent experience taking her five-year-old, princess-obsessed daughter to Disney World for her birthday. To read her account of the event, you’d presume the mother would’ve rather experienced a root canal without anesthesia than be forced to spend quality time celebrating her daughter’s birth. Every choice her five year old made, from wearing dresses to having her hair done at the Bippity-Boppity Boutique, drew nothing more than a cringe from her self-described “tomboy” mother, who whined and moaned through the article, oddly enough, like someone her daughter’s age

The Left is Slowly Devouring Itself
If you’ve ever wondered “What the Hell Does ‘Politically Correct’ Mean?” and would like to hear the Marxist origins of the phrase, and how it mutated into one of the catchphrases of the 1990s until today, Jesse Walker has you covered at Reason. Everyone on the right knows what it’s like to argue with someone whose been infected by the PC virus, a “word fetish,” as novelist John C. Wright dubs it, in pungent terms. “What the Leftist does in debate is utter his idiot word fetishes and slogans with the sneering hauteur of a card player displaying his trump card, or a chessmaster a checkmate,” Wright notes.

The Left Realizes Too Late that Political Correctness Is a Virus
And now it’s eating their movement from within.

The Anglosphere: A Viable Global Actor or Simply a Culture?
Given that I am of Scottish and English descent, grew up in Australia, did my doctorate in Britain, and now live and work in America, I am about as much a product of what is often called “the Anglosphere” as it gets. That such a sphere exists, culturally speaking, has never seemed in doubt to me, even beyond the common linguistic and historical connections to the British Isles of this grouping of nations.

In Which a Grumpy Lesbian Offers Her Feminist Understanding of Men
You know, just once, it would be nice if we heard a married grandmother’s analysis of male psychology, sharing insights from her happy life with her husband, raising sons and daughters, observing their experience of dating and marriage and so forth.

Europe: Outmanned and Outgunned by Islam
The European determination to remain insensible to the moral threat of Islam is truly amazing to behold

A candidate with appeal to both suburban and countryside Republicans?
Can a single speech at an Iowa political event change the course of a presidential nomination race? Maybe.

New J-Lo Movie Makes “First Edition ‘Iliad'” a Thing
“Oh crap. Western Civilization is screwed.”

Leslie Eastman Chats #LikeAGirl on San Diego’s KOGO AM 600
Leslie talks Super Bowl commercials—and earns a convert!

Behind the Scenes in Mordor
I do not know who Fredrik deBoer is, but this piece is fascinating. He expands upon Jon Chait’s lament over political correctness. I do have to say the funniest piece in response to Chait was some idiot at Vox who denied political correctness even exists.

Think that the Democrats will retake the House in ’16? Fine. Name the seats.
You’re going to see a lot of these types of stories in the next year or so: “House Democrats retake the House? It’s a long shot, but they’re getting ready to try.” At least, if the 2012 and 2014 election cycles are any indication.

Hostility to Tradition
In the nineties, the Clinton Administration formed a bipartisan coalition to pass the federal “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” or “RFRA.” Nineteen states followed suit. The legislation came in response to a Supreme Court decision that had seen an American Indian suffer legally for having used a drug during a well established American Indian religious ceremony.

Are We Smart Enough for Democracy?
In December, MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, had to explain to Congress several remarks he had made about the “stupidity of the American voter,” as he put it in one speech. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh frequently uses the more diplomatic phrase “low-information voter” to explain why bad policies or incompetent politicians succeed. And numerous polls of respondents’ knowledge of history and current events repeatedly imply the same conclusion––that the American people are not informed or smart enough for democracy.

Vaccinations are a Red Herring
Predictably, the measles epidemic is morphing onto a political hot potato, much like global warming. Prospective Republican presidential candidates are being quizzed about vaccinations and whether or not they should be mandatory. The assumption is that the current measles outbreak is due to low measles vaccination rates, yet no questions or answers have been put forth addressing the far more likely cause of the outbreak — illegal immigration.

For the First Time in History, “Conservatives” Are at the Forefront of the Cultural Revolution
In recent days we have seen a sequence of events – establishment endorsement of Islamic groups post-Charlie Hebdo, harassment of Christian schools by Ofperv inspectors, legalisation of eugenic experimentation via the creation of three-parent children, etc – that have highlighted the exponential advance of Cultural Marxism.

John Kitzhaber must resign: Editorial
After endorsing Governor John Kitzhaber’s re-election, The Oregonian’s editorial and commentary editor discusses why the board believes he should now resign

In the gender identification wars, life imitates the movies
Life of Brian Loretta sceneOnce upon a time, even Hollywood recognized that, just because you called yourself something, it didn’t mean you were that thing. Indeed, Hollywood could even joke about it. In the 1950s, sex had nothing to do with the joke about meaningless labels.

If You Read This, You “Have Blood On Your Hands”
After the Family Research Council was put on a hate list by gay rights groups, Floyd Corkins showed up to gun down the place.

The Absurdity of Transgenderism: A Stern but Necessary Critique
We should make public policy and encourage social norms that reflect the truth about the human person and sexuality, not obfuscate the truth about such matters and sow the seeds of sexual confusion in future generations for years to come.

Sexual Disorientation
Caitlin Stasey (@caitlinstasey) is a 24-year-old Australian actress who became a child star at age 12 in a series called The Sleepover Club. Her smiling face, however, concealed a world of inner emotional turmoil. Growing up in a sex-obsessed society seems to be a profoundly frightening experience for many girls nowadays. The decline of marriage and the destruction of moral norms are part of a cultural syndrome that produces what I have called “a sort of social epidemic of bipolar hysteria, in which minds unmoored from cultural tradition constantly shift between utter confusion and radical certainty.”

Obama’s “Root Causes” Crusade
And you thought Nationwide’s Super Bowl ad was depressing. The President spoke at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, but instead of focusing on faith, hope and love, he dwelt on violence, anti-Semitism and the Crusades.

Fundamental Concepts – Laffer, the best medicine.
This week’s thread may be shorter than usual. I’ve been flat on my back with the flu for the past three days, and last night I just didn’t have the mental acuity to write. Instead I dreamed about what I was going to say all night long, tossing and turning as my subconscious tried to write this thing in my sleep (the things I go through for you Morons).

Queer agriculture and the melon of ecstasy
I’m not even going to try tor write a healine

Facts Are the New Hate
In Canada, a group called “Emerging Leaders” proclaims its mission to create “a more vibrant, inclusive, and dynamic . . . community for the future” in London, Ontario. If you suspect “vibrant, inclusive, and dynamic” are just a roundabout way of saying flamboyantly gay, you’ve probably heard about the survey these Emerging Leaders conducted “to examine attitudes in London’s queer community and understand its demographics.” Their theory is that “a key to shifting from London’s declining manufacturing economy into a diverse, innovative, knowledge sector economy” is to make their town as queer-friendly as the Castro district of San Francisco during the annual Gay Pride Parade.

Marcusean Intolerance
Students of radicalism know that “political correctness” is not a joke, but is a totalitarian tactic of Cultural Marxism, which originated with the theoretician Georg Lukacs, but is especially associated with intellectuals of the Frankfurt School including Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Erich Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse.

Laxalt right to join in lawsuit over Obama executive order on immigration Feb7 by Thomas Mitchell
The primary thrust of Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s decision to join 25 other states in suing over the president’s executive orders blocking deportation of millions of illegal immigrants is strictly about the rule of law and the limited powers granted by the Constitution.

We Don’t Need Your Heteronormative, Patriarchal Harmonies
In order to prove their equality a bunch of feminists allowed a man to talk them into doing —– well, this.

Mark Steyn: I hate to say I told you so. Actually, I don’t. I love it
As I have said, section 13 is not a right-left thing

The Rise and Fall of the Parties
The Democrats should be worried.

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