March 24, 2023 — John Hinderaker
It’s a tough competition, I know. But I nominate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as the worst of the worst. This short clip from a press conference earlier today illustrates why. A reporter asks Walz about this post by Bill Walsh at AmericanExperiment.org. Bill went through Governor Walz’s budget proposal, which lists proposed staff increases for all state agencies. Bill tabulated proposed increases of 2,349 employees in this chart. It doesn’t
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March 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker
There are certain peoples that one has long thought of as solid and common-sensical. Like the Australians and the Scots. But those images have been tarnished badly in recent years. In Australia’s case, it was one of the world’s most maniacal (and futile) covid shutdowns. In Scotland, it is the weird gender virus. The Telegraph has the appalling story: Scottish children as young as 11 are being taught in school
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March 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker
If you haven’t been following the news from France, that country is being roiled by President Macron’s attempt to reform the pension system. The current age of eligibility for government pensions is 62, the lowest in Europe, and Macron wants to raise it to 64. This London Times article is as good a place as any to catch up with what is happening: An increasingly violent and radical protest movement
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March 22, 2023 — John Hinderaker
In Minnesota, our legislature is considering a proposal to mandate the teaching of “Ethnic Studies” in all classrooms, starting in kindergarten. “Ethnic Studies” basically means wokeism or critical race theory, telling students that America is a hopelessly racist society, that white kids have it easy and black kids are doomed. (Asian kids don’t fit into this narrative.) This proposal, like so much of what we see coming from the Left,
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March 21, 2023 — John Hinderaker
In an interview with Piers Morgan that will be broadcast on Thursday, Ron DeSantis finally takes aim at Donald Trump. Until yesterday, he had remained silent in the face of Trump’s usually childish attacks on him. No more: Morgan provides a preview: [I]n a series of jabs at his likely biggest Republican nominee rival, DeSantis slammed Trump over his character failings, chaotic leadership style, and for his handling of the
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March 21, 2023 — John Hinderaker
The First Amendment is under unprecedented attack, as the Democratic Party has weaponized one federal and state agency after another to go after its opponents. An important instance of this phenomenon is the effort by Democratic banking regulators to deprive disfavored organizations of access to our financial system. The issue is raised in NRA v. Vullo (the link goes to Eugene Volokh’s discussion of the case). The facts underlying the
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March 20, 2023 — John Hinderaker
For the last 50 years or so, public policy in the U.S. has trended toward the view that everyone, more or less, should go to college. This was a sharp departure from the historical norm, when higher education really was higher, and only a small minority obtained four-year degrees. It has become increasingly evident that the payoff for sending most kids to college is minimal, both for them and for
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March 19, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Enormous amounts of money are being made by “green” fraudsters, utilities and politicians who tell us we are in the midst of a transition from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. In fact, no such transition is underway; fossil fuel consumption is higher than ever. And no such transition will take place, ever, either in America or anywhere else in the world. Why? Because wind and solar are both
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March 19, 2023 — John Hinderaker
We last saw Sarah Idan when she was Miss Iraq in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant. She made international news when Miss Israel posted a photo of the two of them on Instagram, with kind words about Ms. Idan. That caused predictable blowback in the Arab world, causing Idan to issue an apology in Arabic. It wasn’t enough; her Iraqi citizenship was revoked and her family fled to another country.
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March 18, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday Joe Biden made the mistake of listening to a question from a reporter at the White House, and briefly trying to answer. I understand that the reporter was from another country; I don’t suppose a liberal American “reporter” would be so bold as to question Slow Joe on the subject of his China connections: Two points to note. First, even in this very brief clip, Biden’s mental and physical
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March 18, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Ron DeSantis struck a moderate note in his recent comments on the war in Ukraine, drawing criticism from many Republicans. The Wall Street Journal headlines: “Pence and Other Potential GOP 2024 Rivals Pounce on DeSantis Over Ukraine Aid.” Former Vice President Mike Pence, without mentioning Ron DeSantis by name, rebuked the Florida governor Saturday for his isolationist approach to the war in Ukraine. Isolationist approach? Seriously? A sharp divide inside
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March 17, 2023 — John Hinderaker
With their one-seat (by 321 votes) Senate majority giving them control of Minnesota’s legislature, Democrats are on a rampage. They are passing radical measures on every front. In some instances, they are proceeding by executive order. Thus, far-left Governor Tim Walz has made Minnesota a “sanctuary” where minors can suffer permanent genital mutilation in a manner that would be illegal where they live. Is that something to be proud of,
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March 17, 2023 — John Hinderaker
We have written (here and here) about the Dutch government’s war on its own people. In service to the mythical god of global warming, the Netherlands is driving its farmers out of business. Which is not only bad for the farmers, it is bad for the Dutch economy, since that country is the number two exporter of food products in the world. Not to mention that it is bad for
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March 16, 2023 — John Hinderaker
I wrote here about Hennepin County, Minnesota’s left-wing prosecutor who let off two juveniles (the older aged 17) who murdered a woman in the course of a home invasion. This was part of her stated rationale: [County Attorney Mary] Moriarty has said she is simply “following the science,” which she says is conclusive about adolescent brain development. According to Moriarty, the human brain is not fully developed until 25 years
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March 16, 2023 — John Hinderaker
A dark horse candidate for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination has been identified: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. If that sounds far-fetched, consider this Daily Beast puff piece: “Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz Is the Anti-DeSantis. Dems Should Take Note.” It is actually true that Walz is the anti-DeSantis. His policies are the negative image of Florida’s governor’s. But you would have to be deeply delusional to think that the comparison is
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March 15, 2023 — John Hinderaker
A Biden administration Consumer Product Safety official said that regulation of gas stoves, including a potential ban, was in the works. Conservatives (and people who like to cook) were then up in arms, but were reassured by numerous “fact checkers” that it was a false alarm. Just another right-wing fantasy: the Biden administration has no such plan. So the CSPC just made it up, apparently. Only it turns out that
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March 15, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Some Democrats are suggesting that talk about possible bank failures should be censored, lest there be a run on the banks. Jonathan Turley reports: While some rushed to get their money after the collapses, at least one leading Democrat is pushing for censorship of those who do not have faith in the banking industry. *** Subjects from climate change to gender identity to COVID to elections have been gradually added
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