Sunday, May 20, 2018
Why ‘White People’ Are Toxic on America’s Elite Campuses - Minding The Campus
"If you’re white, you’re a blight.
This past winter Yale University became the latest of dozens of colleges across the country to roll out a course aiming to teach undergraduates how to understand and counteract “whiteness”—a sinister force that, according to its official description, is “a culturally constructed and economically incorporated entity, which touches upon and assigns value to nearly every aspect of American life and culture.”
The professor in charge, Claudia Rankine, is a poet and MacArthur “genius” grant winner who was recently hired away from the University of Southern California to hold an endowed chair in poetry in the Yale English department.
The website The College Fix obtained a copy of Rankine’s syllabus for the course titled, “Constructions of Whiteness,” which makes the possession of pale skin sound menacing indeed, examining such topics as “white prosperity,” “white masculinity,” “white spaces,” and “white imagination.” The course’s goal, according to the syllabus, is to “create a lab for the construction of counternarratives around whiteness.”
Rankine’s obsession with skin color extends to her other professional endeavors.
Her play The White Card, which opened in Boston in March, struck dutifully liberal Boston Globe theater critic Don Aucoin as marred by “stilted dialogue” but otherwise praiseworthy as an “inquiry into structural racism and an interrogation of whiteness.”...
Read on!
Liberal prof tries to ban book about Robert E. Lee's horse
Liberal prof tries to ban book about Robert E. Lee's horse: - Washington and Lee University temporarily stopped selling a book written by a former employee about Robert E. Lee's horse, Traveller, after a professor raised "concerns" about its content.
- W&L claimed that it suspended sales of the book because it had not been peer-reviewed, but did not restore the 37-page volume to its shelves for nearly a month.
On March 9, the Washington and Lee University Bookstore and the Lee Chapel Museum Shop removed a book from their shelves after a Washington and Lee (W&L) professor accused the book of painting a sympathetic picture of the Confederate States of America and the Old South.The book in question was a children’s book written about Robert E. Lee’s beloved companion and most trusted warhorse, Traveller...."
Read on!
Sweden Funds Holocaust Memorial Trips to Tackle Surging Anti-Semitism
Sweden Funds Holocaust Memorial Trips to Tackle Surging Anti-Semitism:
"Sweden has faced increasingly heavy scrutiny of its immigration and integration policies after a series of shootings, grenade attacks and car bombings in Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm.
The country has received more immigrants relative to the size of its population than any other European country in recent years and many of the them have been Muslim.
The rise in anti-Semitism that has followed saw Jewish organisations issue travel warnings over Malmö, the southern Swedish city that has served as a gateway into the country for many immigrants and which has seen a growing number of anti-Semitic incidents."
The country has received more immigrants relative to the size of its population than any other European country in recent years and many of the them have been Muslim.
The rise in anti-Semitism that has followed saw Jewish organisations issue travel warnings over Malmö, the southern Swedish city that has served as a gateway into the country for many immigrants and which has seen a growing number of anti-Semitic incidents."
Credit Card Perks: How Everyone Subsidizes the Heavy-Hitters | RealClearInvestigations
Credit Card Perks: How Everyone Subsidizes the Heavy-Hitters | RealClearInvestigations:
"...a new privileged class, credit card sophisticates who are showered with freebies and lavished with attention by major banks grateful for their spending habit.
But there is, of course, no such thing as a free trip to Bali.
Someone picks up the tab for all these pricey benefits, and those people are hardly a secret.
Banks charge merchants a transaction fee for swiping their cards, and the merchants pass on the cost to all customers, rich and poor, imposing an invisible fee even on customers who pay with cash.
On top of that, financial institutions collect monthly interest payments from the majority of card holders who don't, or can't, pay off their bills every month.
The effect this funding redistribution has on the poor is complex and disputed, but the riches flow back to credit card spenders in a pattern that consumer advocates call the reverse Robin Hood effect.
...In a consequence probably not anticipated by reformers in Congress, banks now compete for well-heeled customers by paying them to charge their personal needs and business expenses while offering them high-status experiences with star power.
"It's a cross-subsidization in which the poor are subsidizing the rich through the payment system," said Aaron Klein, an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. "This entire stream is reverse to income."...
Read all!
"...a new privileged class, credit card sophisticates who are showered with freebies and lavished with attention by major banks grateful for their spending habit.
But there is, of course, no such thing as a free trip to Bali.
Someone picks up the tab for all these pricey benefits, and those people are hardly a secret.
On top of that, financial institutions collect monthly interest payments from the majority of card holders who don't, or can't, pay off their bills every month.
The effect this funding redistribution has on the poor is complex and disputed, but the riches flow back to credit card spenders in a pattern that consumer advocates call the reverse Robin Hood effect.
...In a consequence probably not anticipated by reformers in Congress, banks now compete for well-heeled customers by paying them to charge their personal needs and business expenses while offering them high-status experiences with star power.
"It's a cross-subsidization in which the poor are subsidizing the rich through the payment system," said Aaron Klein, an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. "This entire stream is reverse to income."...
Read all!
Crime Plague in the Alamo City | City Journal
Crime Plague in the Alamo City | City Journal:
"...And in one of those problem areas—crime—San Antonio is, unfortunately, a leader.
According to FBI data, the diverse, progressively run Alamo City had the highest rate of “serious crime” among the country’s 15 largest cities in 2016.
...in 2017, heavily Hispanic San Antonio has had a major crime problem since the 1980s.
With more than 1,200 drive-by shootings in 1993, many gang-related, San Antonio earned the nickname the “Drive-By City.”
...San Antonio also has one of the nation’s worst rates of auto theft.
In the National Council for Home Safety and Security’s 2018 ranking of Texas cities, San Antonio came in at 215 out of 224, making it “one of the most dangerous cities in the nation.”
...the police department has long prevented officers from asking detainees about their immigration status.
...Democrat-majority cities with heavily minority populations sometimes face a political dilemma concerning crime control.
Should the elected officials encourage aggressive policing, at the risk of antagonizing groups claiming to represent minority communities, or favor a hands-off style that appeases the minority community while turning a blind eye to illegal-immigrant offenders?
It appears that San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, a left-leaning activist who defeated centrist incumbent Ivy Taylor in 2017, and a city council dominated by progressives (on which Nirenberg previously served), have chosen the lenient approach, sacrificing public safety to maintain the support of noisy immigrant groups..."
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"...And in one of those problem areas—crime—San Antonio is, unfortunately, a leader.
According to FBI data, the diverse, progressively run Alamo City had the highest rate of “serious crime” among the country’s 15 largest cities in 2016.
...in 2017, heavily Hispanic San Antonio has had a major crime problem since the 1980s.
...San Antonio also has one of the nation’s worst rates of auto theft.
In the National Council for Home Safety and Security’s 2018 ranking of Texas cities, San Antonio came in at 215 out of 224, making it “one of the most dangerous cities in the nation.”
...the police department has long prevented officers from asking detainees about their immigration status.
...Democrat-majority cities with heavily minority populations sometimes face a political dilemma concerning crime control.
Should the elected officials encourage aggressive policing, at the risk of antagonizing groups claiming to represent minority communities, or favor a hands-off style that appeases the minority community while turning a blind eye to illegal-immigrant offenders?
It appears that San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, a left-leaning activist who defeated centrist incumbent Ivy Taylor in 2017, and a city council dominated by progressives (on which Nirenberg previously served), have chosen the lenient approach, sacrificing public safety to maintain the support of noisy immigrant groups..."
Read all!
Rep. Devin Nunes Says Trump Campaign Might Have Been Set Up, Predicts Embarrassing Outcome for FBI, Justice Department
Rep. Devin Nunes Says Trump Campaign Might Have Been Set Up, Predicts Embarrassing Outcome for FBI, Justice Department:
"Devin Nunes of California, chairman of the House intelligence committee, said the Trump campaign might have been set up by the federal government back in 2016.
“Let’s talk about how did this get started? You had Fusion GPS that was hired by the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign to draw up a dossier on the president—or as the president was running for president,” Nunes said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends.” “What happened with that is that in [Glenn Simpson’s] testimony he mentioned that there was a source within the campaign.”"
“Let’s talk about how did this get started? You had Fusion GPS that was hired by the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign to draw up a dossier on the president—or as the president was running for president,” Nunes said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends.” “What happened with that is that in [Glenn Simpson’s] testimony he mentioned that there was a source within the campaign.”"
Answer "NO!"-----Short Circuit: The High Cost of Electric Vehicle Subsidies | Manhattan Institute
Short Circuit: The High Cost of Electric Vehicle Subsidies | Manhattan Institute
"Many claim that “zero-emissions vehicles” (ZEVs), especially battery-powered electric vehicles, should replace most, if not all, cars and trucks powered by gasoline-burning internal combustion engines.
The primary rationale is to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
And at what cost?
A review of the literature finds few cost-benefit studies on these key questions...
"Many claim that “zero-emissions vehicles” (ZEVs), especially battery-powered electric vehicles, should replace most, if not all, cars and trucks powered by gasoline-burning internal combustion engines.
The primary rationale is to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
To effect this change, governments are spending billions of dollars to subsidize electric vehicles.
These subsidies include state and federal tax credits for purchasing ZEVs and programs to subsidize the installation of vehicle-charging infrastructure in businesses, households, and along highways.
Several states also have mandated the sale of ZEVs.
For example, an executive order signed by California governor Jerry Brown in January requires 5 million ZEVs to be on the state’s roads and highways by 2030.
Will these subsidies and programs accomplish their objectives? And at what cost?
A review of the literature finds few cost-benefit studies on these key questions...
Rear it all!
Hillary to Dems: We're going to take back our country -- and I'll be there every step of the way
Hillary to Dems: We're going to take back our country -- and I'll be there every step of the way:
"The polling news has been nothing but good lately for the GOP, yet Democrats were still narrowly favored to retake the House....
"The polling news has been nothing but good lately for the GOP, yet Democrats were still narrowly favored to retake the House....
If Solar And Wind Are So Cheap, Why Do They Make Electricity So Expensive? | Power Line
If Solar And Wind Are So Cheap, Why Do They Make Electricity So Expensive? | Power Line
"We are constantly hearing about the declining cost of wind and solar energy.
Yet electric rates keep rising, especially in areas that have invested heavily in these “green” technologies. How can that be?
Michael Shellenberger answers that question in a guest post at Watts Up With That?
"We are constantly hearing about the declining cost of wind and solar energy.
Yet electric rates keep rising, especially in areas that have invested heavily in these “green” technologies. How can that be?
Michael Shellenberger answers that question in a guest post at Watts Up With That?
Over the last year, the media have published story after story after story about the declining price of solar panels and wind turbines.People who read these stories are understandably left with the impression that the more solar and wind energy we produce, the lower electricity prices will become.And yet that’s not what’s happening. In fact, it’s the opposite.Between 2009 and 2017, the price of solar panels per watt declined by 75 percent while the price of wind turbines per watt declined by 50 percent.And yet — during the same period — the price of electricity in places that deployed significant quantities of renewables increased dramatically.
Electricity prices increased by:* 51 percent in Germany during its expansion of solar and wind energy from 2006 to 2016;* 24 percent in California during its solar energy build-out from 2011 to 2017;* over 100 percent in Denmark since 1995 when it began deploying renewables (mostly wind) in earnest.What gives? If solar panels and wind turbines became so much cheaper, why did the price of electricity rise instead of decline?
Especially since, during the same time, the cost of natural gas plummeted while coal and nuclear were flat.
So what’s happening?
So what’s happening?
...The reason? Their fundamentally unreliable nature. Both solar and wind produce too much energy when societies don’t need it, and not enough when they do...
This is exactly what has happened in Minnesota, as documented by Steve Hayward and Peter Nelson in their paper for Center of the American Experiment titled Energy Policy In Minnesota: The High Cost of Failure..."
Read on!
Read on!
WATCH: Sarah Sanders DESTROYS Media Over Trump's MS-13 'Animals' Comment | Daily Wire
WATCH: Sarah Sanders DESTROYS Media Over Trump's MS-13 'Animals' Comment | Daily Wire:"On Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders slammed the media and the Democrats for spreading a malicious lie about President Donald Trump's comment on Wednesday where he referred to MS-13 gang members as "animals.""
How schools in Israel keep students safe and prevent mass shootings - CBS News
How schools in Israel keep students safe and prevent mass shootings - CBS News
"TEL AVIV -- It's an inescapable fact that school shootings are rare outside the United States, and virtually unheard of in Israel.
So, what are the Israelis doing differently?
"TEL AVIV -- It's an inescapable fact that school shootings are rare outside the United States, and virtually unheard of in Israel. So, what are the Israelis doing differently?
At one high school in Israel, we saw a typical scene -- an armed guard outside the main entrance.
Since 1974 there have only been half a dozen terror attacks on Israeli schools.
Principal Nati Stern says there are about 145 teachers at the school, and none are armed with guns.
"We have at least one security guard," Stern said. "I think it provides us with everything we need."
Security in Israel is the job of the police, the job of the state, Stern explained..."
Read on.
History for May 20
History for May 20 - On-This-Day.com
Dolley Payne Madison 1768 - U.S. First Lady, wife of 4th President James Madison, Honore de Balzac 1799 - Novelist, John Stuart Mill 1806 - Editor, philosopher
Jimmy Stewart 1908 - Actor (Philadelphia Story [1940]; The Glenn Miller Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Joe Cocker 1944 - Singer, songwriter, Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre) 1946 - Singer (Sonny & Cher), actress (Moonstruck [1987]; The Witches of Eastwick, Silkwood, Mask)
1506 - In Spain, Christopher Columbus died in poverty.
1674 - John Sobieski became Poland’s first King.
1873 - Levi Strauss began marketing blue jeans with copper rivets.
1916 - Norman Rockwell’s first cover on "The Saturday Evening Post" appeared.
1927 - Charles Lindbergh took off from New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis." The trip took 33 1/2 hours.
1939 - The first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean began with the take-off of the "Yankee Clipper" from Port Washington, New York.
1961 - A white mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, AL. The event prompted the federal government to send U.S. marshals.
1993 - The final episode of "Cheers" was aired on NBC-TV.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Why Reagan Remains Highly Relevant Almost 30 Years Later | The Heritage Foundation
Why Reagan Remains Highly Relevant Almost 30 Years Later | The Heritage Foundation:
"Reagan led America out of a great psychological depression caused by the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and the misery index of the Jimmy Carter presidency.
Second, Reagan applied the principle of limited government to the economy, cutting taxes and initiating other supply side measures such as deregulation and reduced federal spending, which produced an unprecedented period of economic prosperity lasting well into the 1990s.
He insisted that if you reduced tax rates and allowed people to spend or save more of what they earned, “they’ll be more industrious, they’ll have more incentive to work hard, and money they earn will add fuel to the great economic machine that energizes our national progress.”
As a result, during the 1980s, economic growth averaged 4.6 percent annually, the gross national product doubled, and 17 million new jobs were created."
Second, Reagan applied the principle of limited government to the economy, cutting taxes and initiating other supply side measures such as deregulation and reduced federal spending, which produced an unprecedented period of economic prosperity lasting well into the 1990s.
He insisted that if you reduced tax rates and allowed people to spend or save more of what they earned, “they’ll be more industrious, they’ll have more incentive to work hard, and money they earn will add fuel to the great economic machine that energizes our national progress.”
As a result, during the 1980s, economic growth averaged 4.6 percent annually, the gross national product doubled, and 17 million new jobs were created."
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