Nancy and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year!
To help put into context how the "revolutionary good news" of this season "confronts cults of faith, secularism, religion & politics," please consider my "Christmas Spirit in Space and Time."
AFP reports:
Deserted streets and closed stores surround the imposing statue of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in his birthplace of Sabaneta, 20 years after the enigmatic figure launched the country's revolution.
Sabaneta, in Barinas State, has not forgotten its most illustrious son and commemorates him with almost fanatical devotion, marking out important sites from his life in much the same way as Holy Land tours paying homage to Jesus Christ.
The "Route of Conscience" visits the house of Chavez's grandmother Rosines, where he was born on July 28, 1954.
It includes the house he grew up in, his school and a tree under which South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar once camped -- and from where Chavez launched the campaign for his last election.
Yet Sabaneta has not been spared the crippling financial crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans in poverty.
Read more here.
Related
Venezuelans Lament Gun Ban: Allows Gov't to Dominate Them
Socialist Venezuela: Blackouts Force Doctors to Perform Surgery in Darkness
Joe Schoffstall reports at the Washington Free Beacon:
Liberal billionaire George Soros provided $1.35 million to a "nonpartisan" government watchdog organization last year that is hitting the Trump administration with a steady flow of complaints and lawsuits in an attempt to "damage" his presidency, according to tax filings provided to the Washington Free Beacon.
Separate state filings also reveal that the "nonpartisan" watchdog shares employees with the liberal Media Matters for America, an organization that was founded by Democratic operative and Clinton loyalist David Brock. Confidential documents handed out by Brock to big money donors in early 2017 and obtained by the Free Beacon previously shed light on how Brock planned to attack Trump over the course of his presidency using his constellation of organizations.
"Soros gave $1.35 million to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does not reveal its donors," according to Schoffstall.
"The group has been involved with a number of high-profile lawsuits and complaints against Trump and other Republicans," Schoffstall reports. "Its top members regularly appear on news programs attacking the administration and members of the GOP but are rarely identified as having a left-wing mission by the outlets and on-air personalities."
Schoffstall also reports that "Soros's donations to CREW came from two entities in his Open Society Foundations network including $1,250,000 from the Foundation to Promote Open Society and $100,000 from the Open Society Policy Center, according to a review of his groups' most recent tax forms covering the 2017 fiscal year that were provided by Soros's spokesperson."
Read more here.
In her report at CNSNews.com Emily Ward provides the following transcript from the Mark Levin radio show:
So, this government shutdown business: Will the government shut down, or not? Friday night, midnight! Will the government shut down, or not?
They don't even tell you --what does that mean, "the government shut down"?
First of all, that phrase is a lie; the government doesn't shut down. You'll be long dead -- your children and your grandchildren too -- before this government shuts down, unless it shuts down from a financial and economic collapse.
But, legally? No.
"Seventy-five percent of the government['s] already been funded" -- are you aware of this? -- as they point out at CNSNews.com.
He signed a minibus appropriations bill -- the president did -- "that funded the Department of Energy; Military Construction [and] Veterans Affairs; [and] the . . . Legislative Branch for the entirety of fiscal [2019]."
That doesn't end until September 2019, the 30th.
"Then, on Sept. 28, Trump signed another 'minibus' law funding the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health [and] Human Services [(HHS)] and Education through the end of [the] fiscal year" again
-- September 30, 2019.
And, so, 75 percent of the government's funded.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are specifically, as a matter of statute, carved out to be protected. The United States military and federal law enforcement: specifically carved out to be protected, should there be a government shutdown.
Now, that's 25 percent of the government that's subject to a shutdown -- but that's not even true -- because, of that 25 percent, they have what' called essential and nonessential employees and tasks.
A significant percentage of the 25 percent is said to be essential. And as I've told you before, many years ago, when I had Paul Ryan on this program, when he was actually conservative -- I think he was heading the appropriations committee -- he said, that under the worst of circumstances, 17 percent of the government is effectively shut down when we have a full shutdown.
So, we cry crocodile tears.
Now, those of us who live in the private sector, a shutdown is a shutdown.
Those of us who live in the private sector, when you're given a pink slip, you're not reimbursed, later, for every dollar you would've earned but for the fact that there was quote, unquote, a shutdown.
So, even nonessential employees never lose out. They might be inconvenienced, but in the private sector, you actually lose your d--- job.
I just discussed with you, in 3 1/2 minutes, something you have never heard on a cable TV show, on a network TV show or a satellite TV show -- something you have never heard on a prime-time news program.
Moreover, since the 1976 Budget Act -- excuse me, 1974 Budget Act -- 20 different occasions in which the government has shut down, quote, unquote shut down.
Do you remember any of them in any significant way? Were you harmed by it? Were you harmed by it?
No, you weren't harmed by it, and yet, it is the only tool available to a president to get spending under control or to force his priorities on left-wing radical kooks, like Pelosi and Schumer, who do not believe in protecting the American people from criminals, terrorists and drug lords.
To Levin's comments I would only point out that when you hear today the phrase "Government Shutdown," note that the government in mind is the Federal Government.
All other levels of government are still operating -- state, country, city, etc., governments are still operating.
As our Declaration of Independence makes clear, the American ethos is not rooted in government.
Rather, our republic of human freedom and dignity is rooted in a real-world, testable Creator who endows unalienable and publicly actionable human rights.
In this body politic, government is good -- but not ultimate. Government per se is good -- but not ultimate.
The federal government is merely one level of order in the American political ethos -- an expression of order among many other levels of order in the American ethos.
A free and strong people can easily survive the temporary shut down of the federal government.
We created it. It did not create us.
Cheryl K. Chumley writes at the WTimes:
The Democratic mayor of Pittsburgh, William Peduto, has reacted to a recent Tree of Life Synagogue killing spree that left 11 dead by proposing bans on certain firearms, bump stocks and magazines that he deems high capacity.
He also wants the power to issue "extreme risk protection orders" to give courts the right to confiscate firearms from those deemed by police or family members to pose a "significant danger," according to the draft of his proposed legislation.
And all the legal gun owners in America should go: You first, Mr. Mayor.
You first give up your armed security detail, your office guards, your hired protection forces -- and then maybe, just maybe, your proposal won't sound quite so hypocritical.
"The proposal will, however, still break Second Amendment rights," Chumley continues.
"No matter how 'common sense' these newest anti-gun proposals are being sold, they’re still clear violations of the Second Amendment. That's already been established, more than once."
Read more here.
Related
Venezuelans Lament Gun Ban: Allows Gov't to Dominate Them
Why Women Own Guns
Hank Berrien reports at Daily Wire: "On Sunday evening, famed atheist Sam Harris fired off a tweet announcing he would delete his Patreon account on Monday to protest Patreon banning several content creators from using their platform."
I just checked Harris' Patreon page, and the following message appears: "This Page Has Been Removed."
Read more here.
Oliver J.J. Lane reports at Breitbart:
Germany's parliament has voted to recognise a third gender for government documents, meaning that citizens can now be recognised in the European country as male, female, or diverse.
The change in law came late Thursday night and follows a 2017 court ruling which required the German government to either allow a third gender or to scrap gender classification altogether.
Read more here.
Related
Nancy Pearcey on Mike Huckabee TV: Transgenderism
Feminist Germaine Greer: Transgender Surgery Does Not Make a Man a Woman
Go here to watch Tucker refute anti-wall CNN, Pelosi, Schumer, and various usual race-baiters.
See also
Pelosi Details Plans for Open Borders
McCarthy: I'm 100% Sure We Have Votes to Pass $5 Billion in Wall Funding
Ian Hanchett reports at Breitbart:
On Tuesday's broadcast of the Fox News Channel's "The Story," House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) expressed 100% confidence that he has the votes to pass a bill that has $5 billion in border wall funding.
Host Martha MacCallum asked, "[A]re you guys going to be able to pass a bill that has $5 billion in wall funding before you leave for the holidays, or are you going to be here throughout Christmas, and perhaps throughout New Year's?"
McCarthy answered, "Well, the answer here is yes in the House. The question is, it takes 60 votes in the Senate, would Senator Schumer (D-NY) want to have another shutdown like he had before?"
Read more here.
Daniel Horowitz writes at CR:
For those of you living in free states, here is a glimpse of the living hell endured by those residing in blue states.
When the clock strikes midnight Tuesday morning, anyone in New Jersey who owns a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition is officially in possession of illegal contraband and is deemed a fourth-degree felon.
Unlike previous magazine bans, this one retroactively bans people from even owning such magazines in their homes, even though they had been purchased legally.
At the same time, the most violent criminal aliens will be actively shielded from deportation by state officials, against federal law.
The inmates are running the asylum, while the law-abiding citizens and federal law enforcement are treated like criminals.
"While the courts create insane rights for violent criminal aliens, they refuse to recognize the most unambiguous right to bear arms or the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws," Horowitz continues.
"New Jersey has become a sanctuary to the most dangerous criminal aliens and gangs, many of whom engage in gun trafficking, but peaceful citizens are stripped of the right to self-defense and treated like criminals."
Read more here.
Thomas Lifson writes at American Thinker:
Trump Derangement Syndrome has always been ugly, but the release of sentencing memoranda for Michael Cohen in which allusions are made to purported Cohen crimes "directed" by "person one" (known to be Donald Trump) has unleashed visions of impeachment and conviction.
More disturbingly, there is a lust for vengeance against Trump-supporters becoming visible.
Whatever the merits of this interpretation and the likelihood of an actual indictment, the haters are excited at the prospect of not just removing Trump from office, but also wreaking vengeance upon those who supported him.
Witness this tweet from NeverTrump Peter Wehner:
It looks very much like 2019 will be the year the Trump presidency comes crashing down. A similar fate awaits those who hitched their wagon to him; who have been his sycophants, courtiers and court pastors. The blast radius from the Trump presidency will be enormous.
-- Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) December 10, 2018
I have never met, nor have I paid much attention to Wehner, so it is unlikely he is thinking of me as one of those deserving vengeance from within the "blast radius," but I do take it personally. For the crime of supporting someone he hates, I deserve an awful "crashing down" -- whatever that means. . . .
Read more here.
Related
Election 2016 -- Spiritual Terror vs. Human Liberty: The Dream Called America Dodges a Bullet
Breck Dumas writes at The Blaze:
After nearly seven years of teaching French at West Point High School in West Point, Virginia, Peter Vlaming is out of a job.
The school board unanimously agreed to fire the educator Thursday over his refusal to use new pronouns when addressing a transgender student.
A West Point ninth-grader who was born female transitioned to identifying as male over the summer, and the student complained that Vlaming made the student feel uncomfortable and singled out by not specifically referring to the student as "him," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported . . . .
Read more here.
Related
Feminist Germaine Greer: Transgender Surgery Does Not Make a Man a Woman
Tyranny: Students Should Report Peers Who Call Trans Pupils by Factual, Biological Sex
Nancy Pearcey in-Studio Guest on Mike Huckabee TV Show
Katie Franklin writes at LiveAction:
Over the years, college campuses have grown a notorious reputation for being over-zealous echo chambers that suppress free speech -- particularly that of conservative and pro-life students who don't toe the pro-abortion line.
So it's surprising when a school does just the opposite and protects the rights of students who disagree with abortion radicals.
This month, the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz did just that. In a refreshing move that pro-choice politicians should take note of, the school stood by its relationship with a life-affirming pregnancy help center -- The Bravo Center -- defending its presence on campus and opting for neutrality.
"We must remain viewpoint neutral and even handed when we make determinations [regarding guests]," SUNY-New Paltz official Mike Patterson told the school newspaper, Franklin writes.
"If we had a Planned Parenthood, then it is only fair to have The Bravo Center," Patterson said, according to Franklin. "It protects the interests of those students that might want this. That means you're going to have different viewpoints and ideologies."
Read more here.
"The Bill Clinton-linked financier accused of sexually abusing women on his 'Orgy Island' getaway agreed to a last-minute settlement that likely means none of his accusers will testify in court," WND reports.
"Jeffrey Epstein, 65, allegedly operated a sex ring at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, a residence in New York City, and his private-island estate in the Virgin Islands, dubbed by some 'Orgy Island'," according to WND.
"The deal was announced Tuesday as jury selection in a civil lawsuit brought by a lawyer for his accusers was set to begin, Fox News reported," WND states.
"Fox News said court documents it obtained in 2016 showed former President Bill Clinton took at least 26 trips on Epstein's private jet, known as the 'Lolita Express'," WND reports.
Read more here.
Cheryl Chumley writes at WTimes:
Once upon a time, Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and ex-vice presidential candidate, called out the government-run health care plan known as Obamacare for its death panels -- or, in bureaucratic lingo, its Independent Payment Advisory Board -- and for that, was soundly mocked and scorned by both members of the media and Democrats.
Now, one of the left's own darlings, the newly elected congresswoman from New York, socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is using Palin's line to describe private health care plans as a means of advancing her own policy pursuit of "Medicare for all," which is to say taxpayer-funded Medicare for each and every American.
"Talk about a twist on truth," Chumley counters and then cites the following Tweet from Ocasio-Cortez:
Actually, we have for-profit "death panels" now: they are companies + boards saying you're on your own bc they won't cover a critical procedure or medicine. Maybe if the GOP stopped hiding behind this "socialist" rock they love to throw, they'd actually engage on-issue for once.
"Here's how Jim Hanson, the president of the Security Studies Group, responded" to Ocasio-Cortez, Chumley notes:
Nice try.
But commercial insurance gives people choices about what coverages they want & decide to pay for.
Your single payer nightmare will replace that with a one size fits none "choice" decided by faceless bureaucrats.
Coverage for all. Treatment for few. [italics added]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez boasts a nice smile and happy face, as befits a saleswoman -- but what she is selling is socialist snake oil.
For a real-world understanding of the nightmare that happens to people when socialists like Ocasio-Cortez have their way -- when centralized government control supplants the diversity of human freedom and human choices -- consider this Oct. 23, 2018 report from the Miami Herald on "Blackouts Force Venezuelans to Live and Work -- Even Perform Surgery -- in Darkness."
Read more from the Chumley column here.
Emily Zanotti reports at Daily Wire:
Dick's Sporting Goods is warning investors that its decision to remove certain "assault-style" weapons from its Field & Stream stores cost it dearly and may limit its future gains.
The sporting goods retailer was forced to confront angry shareholders late last week after its stocks tanked more than 4.5% and financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded Dick's shares, saying the company was "overweight." . . .
Dick's says it can trace the downturn not just to an overall retail downturn, but also directly to its decision to take action on "gun control," banning the sales of "assault-style" rifles at its Field & Stream affiliated retailer and discontinuing any gun sales to people under the age of 21.
Read more here.
