Monthly Archives: May 2017
May 27, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My take on the Fourth Circuit’s decision travel ban decision differs from John’s. He says the decision makes him “sad rather than angry.” It makes me angry and a little sick. You need not have attended law school to analyze this case properly. During his presidential campaign, Trump spoke at times of a travel ban on Muslims. But as president he did not impose one. His temporary travel ban extends
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May 27, 2017 — Scott Johnson
American Enterprise Institute fellow Charles Murray must rank among our most prominent living social scientists. At a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee convened by Senator and JEC vice chairman Mike Lee last week, Murray was included on a panel of social scientists testifying on the state of social capital in America — the subject of a new report released by the committee. Testifying along with Murray on the panel
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May 27, 2017 — Steven Hayward
So the Democrats got body slammed in another election this week. It’s to be expected in the Year of the Liberal Freakout. I expect Elizabeth Warren’s foreign policy platform in 2020 will be “Get the United States Out of Montana!” Meanwhile, liberals continue to hunt for the motive for the Manchester terror bombing. It’s almost as if liberals have a motive not to find a motive. What could that be?
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May 26, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Reuters reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Ramadan. Reuters cites two U.S. officials. The State Department has been hosting such dinners for two decades. The practice began in 1998 under Madeleine Albright. Tillerson issued a statement on Friday to mark the start of Ramadan. He called it “a month of reverence, generosity, and self-reflection.” “Most importantly,” he added, “it
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May 26, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Can a Western welfare state defend itself against Islamic terrorism? Perhaps, but it will require fundamental changes. The Telegraph reports that last week’s terrorist attack in Manchester was funded by the British government: The Manchester suicide bomber used taxpayer-funded student loans and benefits to bankroll the terror plot, police believe. Salman Abedi is understood to have received thousands of pounds in state funding in the run up to Monday’s atrocity
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May 26, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The Lancet is a renowned medical journal headquartered in England. The current issue includes an article on Venezuela, titled “Data reveal state of Venezuelan health system”. The data in question come from the Venezuelan government, after two years in which it released no reports. No doubt the picture the government paints is, if anything, optimistic. Still, the facts are grim: Maternal and infant mortality have skyrocketed in Venezuela in the
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May 26, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Did you hear? Hillary Clinton hacked her way (in every sense of the work “hack”—see the second video below) through a commencement address at her alma mater Wellesley College today, where, among other things, she claimed we live at a time when truth and reason are under assault. This is supposed to be an attack on Trump, of course, but as I have argued here before, it is the postmodern
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May 26, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) commands $842 million in assets. The Rockefeller name, coupled with RBF’s financial clout, make this institution a pillar of American philanthropy. Thus, it’s disappointing, though perhaps not altogether surprising, to learn that RBF is a substantial contributor to the boycott Israel movement. According to this superb article by Armin Rosen in Tablet, since 2013, RBF has contributed at least $880,000 to groups working to advance
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May 26, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court order that found President Trump’s second travel ban to be unconstitutional. This is one of those news stories that make me sad rather than angry. The decision is ridiculous. The court’s majority relied heavily on candidate Donald Trump’s stump speeches in which he talked about a ban on all Muslim immigration. The court found that this “context” demonstrated a
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May 26, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The massacre in Manchester this week seems to have prompted attention to the arrest of brothers Abdullah and Majid Alrifahe in north Minneapolis on May 11. Inside the parked car they were sitting in was a stash of guns, ammo, drone parts and an inert hand grenade. The arrest report provides an inventory of the stash officers found in “a cursory search” of the vehicle: “a loaded AK 47-type assault
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May 26, 2017 — Scott Johnson
As a conservative fellow with his own anger management issues, I was pulling for Fightin’ Greg Gianforte to pull out his race against Singin’ Rob Quist in the Montana special election to fill Montana’s seat in the House of Representatives. I feared having to suffer the joy of Democrats and their rabid media adjunct celebrating the victory of a flaky left-wing country singer with a yen for nudist venues and
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May 26, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll has posses on some widely applicable advice: USE EXTREME CAUTION! She writes: No, my dear friends, that is not a warning which must be legally appended to the New York Times, Washington Post, or Red Star of the North Tribune, to prevent you from taking any information therein with anything but a grain of salt substitute. I have recently been on yet another long road trip from Arizona
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May 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The polls closed in Montana closed a little less than an hour ago. Early returns in the congressional race between Fightin’ Greg Gianforte and Singin’ Rob Quist appear to be slightly favorable to Gianforte, the Republican. However, the early counting may be unduly weighted towards early voters — those who voted before Gianforte beat up Reportin’ Ben Jacobs. Thus, it’s way too early to draw any conclusions about how this
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May 25, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis of the current version of the House health care bill that was trumpeted by Democrats because it projected that 23 million people would “lose” their health insurance if the law went into effect. However, as Guy Benson points out, this claim is false, since “the large bulk of those who are said to be ‘losing’ coverage do not currently have coverage.” Further,
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May 25, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I made a burrito for lunch today, because I wanted to commit a gross act of cultural appropriation. Have you heard the latest out of Portlandia? The appropriately named Kooks Burritos was forced out of business after being attacked for white supremacy because these kooky burritos were being made and sold by white women. Seriously. The Portland Mercury, whose title may explain its mindset because only something like lead or
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May 25, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Even if we credit an Alex Jones-style conspiracy theory that Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs is a perfect ass who was trying to provoke GOP congressional candidate Greg Gianforte into some kind of indiscretion, there really isn’t much excuse for Gianforte’s complete loss of discipline and composure. If Gianforte wins the election today, the House GOP leadership will face a dilemma about whether to use its constitutional powers to refuse to
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May 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Middlebury College announced its punishments this week for the students involved in the protests against Charles Murray — protests that devolved into violence and resulted in injury to a Middlebury professor. Most of the protesters who faced the possibility of discipline were placed on probation. None was expelled or suspended. The school announced that 67 students have been disciplined. Forty-one students received sanctions from the College administration for participating in
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