News of the Week (February 2nd, 2025)

Posted on February 2, 2025 by The Political Hat

 

News of the Week for February 26nd, 2025


 

Abortion

Dobbs Decision

 

Aborted Baby Born Alive Struggled for Life for 15 Minutes
A medical tribunal has heard that a baby boy who was aborted because of “severe genetic defects” at an NHS hospital was born alive and clung to life for 15 minutes.

Gun Rights

 

The 5th Circuit Says the Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to Young Adults Is Unconstitutional
The government failed to persuade the appeals court that 18-to-20-year-olds are not part of “the people” or that the age restriction is consistent with the “historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &“Green Energy”

 

New Zealand Mountain Named a ‘Person’ with ‘Rights’ and ‘Responsibilities’
This is irrational and illustrates how environmentalism is going off the rails. A geological feature has been declared to be a living person! Again!

Ivanpah Solar Plant: The Flaming Failure That’s Finally Being Put Out of Our Misery
It’s finally happening. The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, the behemoth of bureaucratic blundering and incinerated wildlife, is circling the drain. Once celebrated as a game-changer for renewable energy, it’s now being quietly escorted off the stage with a “nothing to see here, folks” attitude. After just 11 years of struggling to justify its own existence, Ivanpah is headed for closure. Good riddance?.

Peter Hitchens tears Net Zero to shreds, to the dismay of BBC panellists and audience members.
“We didn’t just close down our coal fired power stations, we blew them up, we were so certain we were right to do so. At the same time, China is building the equivalent of two new coal fired power stations a week. India has a vast expansion programme of coal fired power stations.”

 

Obamacare

Government in Healthcare

 

A program to close insurance gaps for Native Americans has gone largely unused
The program allows tribes to buy health insurance for people living in their service area, including Native Americans from other tribes.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has an Excited Fan Club: Conservative Christian Moms
Anna Gleaton and her husband operate a small homestead on 60 acres outside Gainesville, Texas, a rural town just south of the Oklahoma state line. Their farm, which operates on the principles of regenerative agriculture, includes pigs, goats and a dairy cow, which Ms. Gleaton described as “an adventure.” Another adventure: home-schooling their nine children, ages 2 to 16.

Illinois, Other States Lose Access to Medicaid Portal Amid Funding Freeze
Illinois and other states are cut off from the portal that’s used to request and manage Medicaid spending, according to officials in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.

Medicaid portals ‘down in all 50 states’ after Trump’s federal funding pause says US Senator Ron Wyden
Senator Ron Wyden warns that Medicaid portals are down nationwide following a federal funding freeze, putting millions of Americans’ healthcare at risk

Man charged with carrying Molotov cocktails into the Capitol was targeting Johnson, Hegseth, Bessent
Ryan English turned himself in to Capitol Police, admitting he was carrying knives and two Molotov cocktails fashioned out of 50 milliliter Absolut Vodka bottles.

Trump says that Iron Dome construction will be ‘immediate,’ signs executive order
Trump commended Israel’s Iron Dome, called for one to be made in the U.S.

In the Pocket of the Abortion Donor
Fred Stanback is a progressive donor to major abortion and environmental causes. He seems to be one of those people who think we need less people.

Why Spending on Chronic Diseases Has Grown
There are plenty of problems with U.S. health care spending, which is why it’s a shame that Donald Trump has nominated for secretary of health and human services someone who doesn’t understand what they are. One of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top conspiracy theories is that food companies poison their products to encourage chronic diseases, from which pharmaceutical companies profit.

War & Terror

 

Sweden Captures Ship Suspected of ‘Sabotage’ in Undersea Fiber Optic Cable Rupture
Today’s incident is not an auspicious start to NATO’s “Baltic Sentry” naval protection program, which officially began in early January.

Watch drone and armed robodog fight to death sparking fears of ‘first machine war’
Watch the full robo fight in the video

Images Show China Building Huge Fusion Research Facility, Analysts Say
China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research centre in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organisations say, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation.

Will the ‘Restrainers’ in the Pentagon Throw Taiwan to the Wolves?
The Pentagon is filling up fast with skeptics of American hegemony.

Trump’s Necessary and Urgent ‘Iron Dome’ Executive Order
On Monday, President Trump issued his missile defense Executive Order: “The Iron Dome for America.” President Reagan started the job in 1983. President Trump has now focused his administration on finishing it by bringing the technology and resources to bear to fulfill government’s most essential responsibility to its citizens.

After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.

The Russian spy ship in Britain’s waters preparing ground for war
A confrontation with Yantar may have looked peaceful but for Royal Navy, the fight is below the surface

Pentagon Official Floats Reopening Chinese Outpost That Trump Shut Down over CCP Espionage
A Pentagon official wrote last year that the U.S. should pursue a form of détente with Beijing, a process that he said could include reopening a diplomatic outpost in Houston that President Trump shuttered in his first term because of its role in facilitating the Chinese government’s espionage programs. He also opposed the imposition on any new sanctions or higher tariffs on China.

Fighter jets scrambled from Alaska and Canada as Russian warplanes spotted in the Arctic, NORAD says
A combat air patrol of American and Canadian fighter jets was scrambled this week after multiple Russian warplanes were spotted in the Arctic, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Thursday, marking the latest military incident to unfold in a region that is drawing increasing scrutiny.

Chinese-Made Patient Monitor Contains a Secret Backdoor
The backdoor on Contec CMS8000 patient-monitoring devices could allow an IP address at an unnamed university to remotely download and execute unverified files, according to CISA.

Rubio embarks on mission impossible: Retake the Panama Canal
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to arrive in Panama on Saturday with a lofty assignment: Retake the Panama Canal, the U.S.-built waterway that President Donald Trump laments should have never been relinquished to the Central American country 25 years ago.

US military conducts airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia
The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term.

 

National

 

Mile-wide volcano could erupt off US West Coast this year, say scientists
An undersea volcano located near the West Coast of the US is likely to erupt at some point this year, scientists have said. Axial Seamount lies around 480km off the coast of Oregon and has previously erupted three times, in 1998, 2015 and 2011.

GOP takes lead over Democrats in Nevada for first time in nearly 20 years
Republicans have taken the lead over Democrats in Nevada’s voter registration numbers, marking the first time in nearly 20 years the GOP has outnumbered Democrats in the battleground state.

Conservative events repeatedly blocked at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
University allegedly would not allow YAF to host pro-life or pro-Israel events but did allow a pro-transgender event

Indiana man fatally shot by sheriff’s deputy identified as Jan. 6 defendant
A Jasper County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot 42-year-old Matthew W. Huttle during a traffic stop in northwest Indiana on Sunday after an altercation in which Huttle reportedly resisted arrest and was armed.

Surprise: Pete Buttigieg Might Prefer Senate Grandstanding to Being Michigan Governor
Gary Peters to the rescue. Just as my quite considerable appetite for mocking the pretensions and aspirations of Pete Buttigieg — former mayor of South Bend (Indiana’s fourth-largest city), then somehow after that a plausible Democratic presidential nominee, then somehow after that Biden’s secretary of transportation — was coming perilously close to being satisfied, Peters, the senior Democratic senator for the state of Michigan, announced that he will not run for reelection in 2026.

Trump’s Victory Over Colombia Now Looks Less Clear Cut
A deportation arrangement with Colombia that the White House presented as a total victory for Donald Trump looks less clear two days later.

Trump administration orders sweeping freeze of federal aid
In a two-page memo, the Office of Management and Budget ordered all federal agencies to temporarily suspend payments.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives.

Minnesota Democrats Hang On, Barely
On Saturday, I looked at the scramble for partisan control of the Minnesota legislature after a mess of a 2024 election. Things have unfolded there more or less as I predicted since then: The Republicans in the Minnesota state senate lacked the votes to expel the cat burglar meteorologist, and the tiebreaking special election to replace the deceased former state senate majority leader was won by the Democrat on Tuesday with almost 91 percent of the vote.

Trump’s White House Rescinds Federal Aid Freeze
On Tuesday, a judge temporarily halted the funding freeze.

Americans sour on some of Trump’s early moves, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Americans have a dim view of some of President Donald Trump’s early barrage of executive orders, including his attempt to do away with so-called birthright citizenship and his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Powerless, Democrats Debate Just How Deep in the Wilderness They Are
Democratic lawmakers, activists and strategists across the ideological spectrum are engaged in a fierce debate over how badly damaged the 2024 election left the party’s brand, a consequential internal argument that is already shaping early efforts to rebuild.

American Airlines plane, Army helicopter collide outside Reagan National Airport near Washington DC
An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. A D.C. fire official said Thursday that “we don’t think there are any survivors from this accident” and “we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

How disaster over the Potomac unfolded: Minute-by-minute reconstruction shows how American Airlines jet carrying 64 hit Black Hawk helicopter in mid-air before plunging into river, leaving no survivors
America suffered a fresh tragedy when a packed passenger jet collided with a US Army helicopter and plunged into Washington DC’s Potomac River. The collision took place as the American Airlines flight carrying 64 people made its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport shortly before 9pm ET.

House Democrat Urges Mike Johnson to Increase Capitol Security Following Oath Keeper Visit
“Mike Johnson has a responsibility to protect people, to protect the public, and he’s not doing that,” Rep. Robert Garcia told NOTUS.

The Government Says Money Isn’t Property—So It Can Take Yours
In a jaw-dropping argument, the Department of Justice claims seizing $50,000 from a small business doesn’t violate property rights because money isn’t property.

Decision to dump water from Tulare County lakes altered after sending locals into a mad scramble
Water managers were relieved Thursday evening after the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to back off of a sudden decision earlier in the day to dump massive amounts of water from Kaweah and Success lakes.

Education Department employees placed on leave for attending diversity training
Federal employees at the Education Department could be placed on administrative leave for previously attending a diversity training.

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Right whales, premium cigars, and tax evasion.

F.A.A.’s Main Warning System for Pilots Is Down, U.S. Official Says
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration was using a backup system while it worked to address the problem.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

The Meme Coin Is Just the Beginning
The Market for Foreign Government Business Under Trump’s New Ethics Policy

Trump To Tariff Chips Made In Taiwan, Targeting TSMC
The tariffs would ensnare cutting-edge smartphone and PC-related chips for Apple, AMD and Nvidia if enacted. But Trump is betting his plan will bring more chip production to the US.

The Facts About U.S. Union Membership
Media-fueled imagery of assembly-line workers and guys in hard hats, alongside breathless national stories about local organizing drives, contribute to a perception of U.S. labor unions that is not in line with reality. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual union membership report on Tuesday, so it’s a good time to refresh our knowledge of the facts about organized labor in the United States.

Trump says 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico coming Saturday: ‘We don’t need what they have’
“That’s coming on the 1st, Saturday,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office — appearing to dash doubts that he would make good on his threat to slap levies on America’s neighbors over dangerous drug imports and illegal immigration.

What Will U.S. Tariff Policy Be Tomorrow? Nobody Knows
Are tariffs coming on Saturday? The White House press secretary says they are, but there are still no specifics on what they will look like or how they will work.

Trump set to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada starting on March 1, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce new tariffs against Canada and Mexico that will begin on March 1, but will include a process for the countries to seek specific exemptions for certain imports, three people familiar with the planning told Reuters.

Trump adds Europe to the list of US trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs
President-elect Donald Trump on Friday added the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods.

…And the Really Stupid Sh*t Begins
Trump’s first few weeks have been a mix of good and bad for this libertarian, all against a backdrop of horror at how Imperial the presidency has become. But as of today, perhaps the most destructive and stupid initiative has begun

Hedge funds bet billions on market crash in Trump’s America
Goldman Sachs reports a surge in short bets against US stocks

Canada, Mexico, and China Strike Back Against Trump’s Tariffs
Late Saturday, Canada, Mexico, and China responded to Trump’s executive order imposing tariffs over their alleged failure to curb the fentanyl crisis. Just hours after the order was signed and set for implementation on Tuesday, all three nations announced strong retaliatory measures.

SEC’s Republican-led commission tightens oversight of probes, sources say
Lawyers at the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have been told they need to seek permission from the politically appointed leadership before formally launching probes, two sources briefed on the matter said, in a marked change in procedure that could slow down investigations.

 

International

 

France Is Furious Over a Few Stained-Glass Windows in Notre Dame
President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to live forever is getting panned—and may be headed for court

Dwarf planet Ceres may have received organic material from space objects
The organic material found in a few areas on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is probably of exogenic origin. Impacting asteroids from the outer asteroid belt may have brought it with them.

How Japan took the lead in the race to discover element 119
After a breakdown in US-Russia relations, Riken finds itself ahead of its rivals. And Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory chases element 120

So Much for Germany’s Alternative to American Capitalism
The country’s much-praised model of manufactured exports, organized labor, and big government has led to years of stagnation.

Chile Says Venezuela Orders Consulates to Close as Spat Worsens
Venezuela says diplomatic ties with Chile are ‘suspended’. Case of murdered Venezuelan dissident also stressing relations.

 

Opinion

 

A Brief Response to Will Cain and Company
Nevertheless, given the centrality of my remarks to the topic of discussion, I figured it is worth trying to sort out where, in Cain’s estimation, I’ve committed “bad analysis intellectually and politically.”

Some Reasons for Skepticism about Trump’s Colombia ‘Win’
The question is whether Trump’s was a good method for the U.S. to use to achieve this goal. There are several reasons to believe it was not

Senators, vote ‘no’ on RFK Jr. — who’s still a ‘radical left lunatic’ hazardous to our health
It was less than a year ago, in April 2024, that then-candidate Donald Trump went on a late-night tear against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Are We Willing to Admit That We Need Parents?
Individuals don’t necessarily need kids. But society does.

Contempt of the Courts
Why Donald Trump’s pardons are worse than Joe Biden’s.

Tom Cotton on Trump and Pompeo, Bolton and Hook
The GOP Senator says the President would be wise to reverse his denial of security to his former Iran advisers.

Trump’s Citizenship Decree Signals His Willingness To Flout the Constitution
The executive order contradicts the 14th Amendment and 127 years of judicial precedent.

Stop the Nonsense and Confirm Tulsi Gabbard
Conservatives of all stripes have enjoyed the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency. The events of the past week have made it very clear that President Trump has come in well-prepared and is laser-focused on fulfilling the many promises that won him the election. Whether it’s securing the border, breaking the DEI cartel, or ending DOJ lawfare, the president is executing his agenda with unprecedented energy and aggression.

Tulsi Gabbard, Edward Snowden and Intelligence
Does the U.S. want a director of national intelligence who excuses mass leaking of secrets?

How Long Will Trump’s Mandate Last?
The Drudge Report is leading today with two stories noting Trump’s relatively weak polling numbers at the start of his term.

The Beatings Will Continue . . .
The bad news just keeps coming for Democrats.

What worked for Hegseth probably won’t work for Gabbard and Kennedy
Pete Hegseth shared a conservative outlook with GOP senators. Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. do not.

RFK Jr. is not your hero
More than half a century after his father’s promising presidential bid was cut short by assassination, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a bid to unseat Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. Despite Biden’s status as the incumbent, a USA Today poll published the day Kennedy began his campaign found that the political heir has the support of 14% of Democrats, a stunning showing against a president who only managed to maintain the favor of two-thirds of his party, according to the poll.

Republican senators normalize RFK Jr.’s nuttery
It was odd watching Senate Republicans trying their best to put an unhinged leftist like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into a position of power. Perhaps the only thing odder was watching Democrats doing their best to stop them. But nowadays, our principles hinge on the whims of one man.

I’m a Sucker for America
Patriotism is a good thing. Whatever the right is doing these days isn’t.

Assessing Trump’s Higher-Ed Orders
For colleges used to unsupervised radicalism, the party may well be drawing to a close.

You Know Why
One of the dispositions that serve conservatives well is their understanding that good intentions do not excuse disastrous results. I am not sure why Michael seems inclined to dispense with that understanding in Gabbard’s case, save that it has become inconvenient.

Trump’s War on Bureaucrats Is the Anti-Student Loan Bailout
There are many arguments — both legal and policywise –to be had about President Trump’s efforts to rein in the federal workforce by mandating in-person work and offering modified buyouts to those willing to resign. Noah wrote about some of them yesterday. But in terms of the politics, this fight strikes me as a shrewd, and in terms of how it is likely to play out demographically, is the opposite of the politics of Joe Biden’s student loan bailout efforts.

Charlatan RFK Jr. lies his way through senate hearing
The operative name in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “Kennedy.”

Two Unconvincing Defenses of Tulsi Gabbard
In the spirit of the high-minded intellectual debate National Review encourages, I was eager to read two pieces recently published in these pages in support of former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. I regret that I have been deprived of that opportunity. It isn’t just that the arguments are not compelling, though they aren’t. Their biggest problem is that they elide the fact that the only quality that makes Gabbard a unique candidate for the role for which she was nominated is also precisely why she should not be confirmed.

The Basis of Classical Liberalism
We are not God. We cannot become God, make God, or speak with the authority of God. This is axiomatic and the beginning of wisdom and prosperity.

The Aloha Nonsense Machine
On the menu today: For decades, we’ve seen nominees in confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate distance themselves from past controversial statements. But yesterday, Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee to be the next U.S. director of national intelligence, took the practice to new heights before the Senate Intelligence Committee, declaring she no longer held emphatically stated positions she had held, in some cases, just half a year ago. As the editors of NR declare today, “Her sudden shift is as stark as a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union suddenly endorsing Jägermeister shots during lunch breaks.”

The Federal Government Is Not a Startup
Tech billionaires aren’t the bean-counters that balancing the budget will require.

A Dunning-Kruger Plane Crash
The Dunning-Kruger Effect is in full force these days. It posits that those with less knowledge of a subject have more certainty about the subject. For example, a layman is far more certain about the big bang than the astrophysicist. The arm chair aviation expert is far more certain of the plane crash cause than the aviator.

Big Pharma Saved My Life
My wife and I are here thanks to God and the companies that develop lifesaving drugs.

America’s Dangerous Flirtation with RFK Jr.
Having nobody in charge of public health might be better than emboldening someone who is dangerously wrong.

The Two Competing Democratic Parties
The off-ramp is clear. It’s a wonder that more Democrats don’t just take it.

The Democratic Party Is in a Ditch. There Is a Way Out.
The Democrats are a party controlled by elites, liberals and special interest groups. They are out of touch with America’s middle class. They are personified by a president who let inflation get the better of him and world events spin out of his control. As a result, the Democrats lost the White House as well as control of the Senate.

Trump and the Collapse of the Old Order
A disquieting Washington visit leaves me with a sense that America is making a big break from the past.

Bill Cassidy’s Finest Hour
Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy deftly conveyed his reservations about voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Service at his Thursday hearing.

Challenge Trump’s Tariffs Under the Nondelegation and Major Questions Doctrines
Recent Supreme Court precedent suggests such challenges might prevail, though success is not guaranteed.

Quotations from Chairman Tucker
Watching Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan argue is like the war between Iran and Iraq. As Henry Kissinger said of that war, “It’s a pity both sides can’t lose.” In the their recent conversation for Piers Morgan Uncensored, however, both can and do lose at various points (whole thing here, live from Riyadh).

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