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from American Military News
Media/News Company in New York, NY
The U.S. Department of State on Thursday put 33 Russian officials – including alleged spies, military and intelligence officials – on a sanctions blacklist, as well as sanctioned a Chinese entity for purchasing Russian military equipment.
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from Asia Times Online
News & Media Website
Shooting down of Russian warplane on Monday was caused by bad equipment and incompetent operators of a Syrian air-defense system; claims that high-speed Israeli jets were 'hiding' behind the lumbering surveillance plane are nonsense.
Nepal was one of the first countries to welcome the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It expressed its desire to be a part of the project hoping to benefit from the investments in infrastructure. This was perceived as an attempt by Nepal to reduce its dependence on its southern neighbor India. In the past two decades, there has been an increasing effort within the Nepalese leadership to find ways to get out of the Indian sphere of influence. The most logical alternative, then, is China.
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from Competitive Enterprise Institute
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS
In a joint letter released this week, thirty free-market groups urged House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) to oppose “any effort to expand the current electric vehicle tax credit in any way.”
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from Faith & Freedom
blog.faithandfreedom.us
blog.faithandfreedom.us
Supreme Chaos---Will She, or Won't She?
Christine Blasey Ford, the accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, is having a difficult time deciding whether to show up to testify on Monday---or not. The hearing that has been called to give her an opportunity to tell her story, is scheduled for Monday. The Republicans say they will hold the hearing regardless, and they plan to vote by the following week on Kavanaugh's nomination.
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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
George Washington's Warning on Disunity
Sept. 19 is the 222nd anniversary of the publication of President George Washington’s Farewell Address. Appearing in newspapers nationwide, it announced Washington’s intention to retire from public life after his second term. For most of American history, the Farewell Address was required reading in grade schools across the nation and was continually invoked in the public discourse.
Yet, in recent decades, the address has faded into obscurity. That’s a shame, as it is a treasure trove of wisdom from the man who did the most to create our country—who knew, as well as anyone else, what it took to create a modern, large-scale republic.
Why a $0.25 Federal Gas Hike Is a Terrible Idea
The federal government imposes a gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. Lobby groups are pressing for an increase, and President Trump has suggested he may support one. But a federal gas tax increase makes no sense. Also consider that gas taxes used to be a more pure user charge for highways, but these days gas tax money is diverted to inefficient nonhighway uses such as transit. Politicians say, “We need a gas tax increase to fix our crumbling highways,” and then they spend the money on other things. It is a bait-and-switch.
Why It's so Easy for My Fellow Students to Criticize “Greedy Profiteers” during Disasters
As Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated the coastline. The storm uprooted both trees and families as a scramble for plane tickets, gasoline, and necessities ensued. Meanwhile, my friends and I at Duke University prepared to spend hours confined to the comforts of our dorm rooms, our electricity—and our Wi-Fi—supplied by a world-class electric grid powering one of the premiere medical centers in the country. As part of a generously endowed university, the administration and employees were among the first to stock up on additional supplies. My peers and I could walk into a fully stocked lobby shop and have our selection of snacks just hours before the storm. Outside of our bubble, however, shelves were empty and gas pumps were dry. Because North Carolina has instituted anti-gouging laws for the simple aim of protecting consumers, we have chosen to restrain the powers of prices and unleash the damages of storms.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's $3,500 Suit Fits a Longstanding Socialist Tradition
Few observers missed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ interview and photoshoot last week in which the rising, avowedly-socialist N.Y. congressional candidate wore a $3500 suit and shoes while hobnobbing with construction workers. Her opponents lambasted her as just another in a long line of collectivist hypocrites, while Ocasio-Cortez’s supporters dismissed the criticism as petty. She noted herself that the outfit she wore was not, in fact, hers and had to be returned after the shoot. Practically speaking, the process of proselytizing and mobilizing a population, consolidating power, and converting an economy to central planning—to say nothing of running it—starts and ends with a small, elite corps of ruling intellectuals. That over time they accord to themselves the trappings of the moneyed class they simultaneously assail is neither surprising or hypocritical. Collectivism of every stripe— democratic socialism, national socialism, communism, syndicalism— cultivates a new, political aristocracy.
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from HumanProgress.org Education Website
Barack Obama once referred to income inequality as “the defining challenge of our time.” And, to be fair to the former U.S. President, income inequality within countries has been increasing in recent decades. Some reasons for that increase, such as corrupt dealings between politicians and crony capitalists, are deplorable and should be stopped. Others are, probably, unavoidable. Increasingly, for example, men and women find their life partners in college or grad school. Their households tend to be richer and their children more fortunate. That leads to greater income and social stratification that, being voluntarily entered into, should not be interfered with by the state. Income inequality on a national level, in other words, is unlikely to go away. International or global inequality, in contrast, is declining.
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from Psephizo Blog
Why don’t men come to church?
I am feeling very nervous about posting on this particular gender-related issue. I know I will get lots of flak from all corners for making gross generalisations and such. But here’s the thing: a religious movement, started by a man, with a predominance of male leaders from the beginning, and in which some groups are struggling very hard to let go of male hegemony, has, for at least 600 years (in the West at least) been dominated as a movement by the presence of women. I’m not suggesting that this is a Bad Thing, but, by any measure, it is a Big Thing. For a start, it is a real paradox. For another, it is just very odd in the context of thinking about religious movements. I don’t think any other global religious movement exhibits the same phenomenon. Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam are all controlled by men and appeal to men. Not so with Christian faith. So anyone interested or involved in Christian ministry, in whatever form, needs to consider it.
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from Rorate Caeli
International Traditional Catholic Web Log
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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Gavin Williamson commits extra British troops in Ukraine to stop Russia 'reversing Cold War outcome'
Britain will increase military support to its ally by sending Royal Marines later this year and increase the presence of Royal Navy patrols in the Black Sea in 2019. Odessa, Ukraine’s biggest port, located in the west of the country, is expected to come under pressure from the Russian Navy over the coming months as they try to effect an economic blockade. Tension with Russia after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014 led to separatists, backed by regular Russian military units, seizing Crimea and a large swathe of Ukrainian territory along the border. More than 10,000 lives have been lost in the conflict.
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from The Telegraph (UK)
Gavin Williamson commits extra British troops in Ukraine to stop Russia 'reversing Cold War outcome'
Britain will increase military support to its ally by sending Royal Marines later this year and increase the presence of Royal Navy patrols in the Black Sea in 2019. Odessa, Ukraine’s biggest port, located in the west of the country, is expected to come under pressure from the Russian Navy over the coming months as they try to effect an economic blockade. Tension with Russia after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014 led to separatists, backed by regular Russian military units, seizing Crimea and a large swathe of Ukrainian territory along the border. More than 10,000 lives have been lost in the conflict.
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