Saturday, December 31, 2022

The Year 2022 Comes To Its End

Technically, the title milestone will occur at midnight, but the last day of the year 2022 has arrived.  In making the last few year-end posts, I've invoked the phrases "interesting times" and more recently, "hold my beer".  I'd say that 2022 certainly deserved to have its beer held.

In what might be the most significant and largely unexpected event of the year, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which sends the issue of abortion back to the states and their legislatures.  This, of course, by no means resolves abortion as an issue.

This past February, Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine, the invasion still going on today.  Unlike Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and its war against Georgia in 2008, this campaign did not result in a swift victory.  Western countries such as the United States have poured a lot of aid into Ukraine, some of which has brought consternation from various U.S. congresscritters.

Inflation in the U.S. continued to increase from its rate in 2021, reaching just over 9 percent this June before decreasing to just over 7 percent in September.  One reason was gasoline prices, whose average hit a record $5.02 per gallon in June, but has since then fallen to just over $3.00 per gallon.  Some of this was the result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its effect on oil prices, but gas prices had already started rising before the invasion.

The Republicans, as they are often said to do, managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the midterm elections, except for winning control of the House of Representatives.

Despite previously calling the coronavirus pandemic as a "pandemic of the unvaccinated", vaccinated and boosted President Biden still tested positive for the virus in July.  Meanwhile, a disease called monkeypox broke out, but later subsided.  The World Health Organization eventually decided to rename it to MPOX, allegedly to avoid racist stereotypes.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk bought the company Twitter for $44 billion, calling himself the "Chief Twit" and changing some of the rules under which some accounts were suspended.  Using a poll to guide his decision, he reinstated the previously suspended account of former President Trump, who so far has declined to resume posting there.  According to revelations called the "Twitter Files", Trump did not violate any of its policies.

Of course, the above items are just a few of the notable events of 2022.  Other things happened in various parts of the world.

As with any year, 2022 included the deaths of many notable people.  Perhaps the most notable of all was the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in her country's history.  Among many who deserve to be mentioned are actor Sidney Poitier, drummer Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, singer known as Meat Loaf, diplomat Madeleine Albright, basketball star Bob Lanier, singer Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts, actress Angela Lansbury, businesswoman Ivana Trump, country singer Loretta Lynn, rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, actress Kirstie Alley, and singer Irene Cara.  There is an old saying that celebrity deaths sometimes occur in threes, which appears to have taken place in the last few days with the deaths of soccer star Pelé, journalist Barbara Walters, and retired Pope Benedict XVI.  Another group of celebrities I regard as a trio, even though the third one died months after the first two, are singers Olivia Newton-John, Judith Durham of the Seekers, and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.

On a personal note for the year, for the first time since 2017, I flew on airplanes, sometimes accompanied by obligatory groups from the TSA, as you could sometimes expect.  I got to travel to Tennessee, Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even some previously unexplored parts of Virginia.

Now that my summary of events in the old year is concluded, I hope that everyone who reads this blog has a happy new year.  The way things have gone in recent years, you might want to keep on holding those beers.

Saturday Stories For The End Of 2022

On the last day of this year, here are some things going on:

From National Review, it was a good year for pro-lifers in the U.S.

From Townhall, Wall Street has its worst year since 2008.

From The Washington Free Beacon, one nominee for Man of the Year is a 50-year-old marathon runner known as Uncle Chen, who smokes when he runs.

From the Washington Examiner, schools in my part of the world are "drastically" failing their students.

From American Thinker, a mandate for the incoming Republican-controlled House.

From Vatican News, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at his residence in the Vatican at age 95.  (via CNS News)

From NewsBusters, liberal journalists who were shown the door in 2022.

From Canada Free Press, Benedict XVI was a pope who kept the faith.

From TCW Defending Freedom, where are the members of the U.K.'s coronavirus gang now?

From Snouts in the Trough, "how we're being manipulated" when it comes to climate change.

From Free West Media, the migrant rescue organization Sea-Eye calls on the German government to protect them from the Italian government.

From EuroNews, Spain reports the highest number of murders of women in 20 years.

From The North Africa PostPresident Abdelmedjid Tebboune is "a façade of an Algeria in disarray".

From The New Arab, ten events that shaped the Middle East and North Africa in 2022.

From Times Now, the chairman of the All India Imam Association predicts that between 50 and 100 years from now, the Rama temple in Ayodhya, India will be destroyed and replaced with a mosque.  (The article refers to the deity to whom the temple is dedicated as "Ram", but I'm more familiar with the spelling "Rama".)

From Gatestone Institute, reports of the death of the Iran nuclear deal are greatly exaggerated.

From The Stream, remembering the newly departed Pope Benedict XVI.

From The American Conservative, suspensions by the Chief Twit imposed on certain accounts on Twitter show the left-wing hypocrisy about free speech.

From BizPac Review, the University of Idaho murder suspect's alleged Reddit account is revealed.

From the Daily Caller, the top seven times when the U.S. military went woke in 2022.

From The New York Post, the biggest challenges for New York City Mayor Eric Adams in 2023.

From Breitbart, the top nine times when Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) worked against conservatives in 2022.

From Newsmax, former President Trump responds to the January 6th Inquisition Committee's interview with Ray Epps, which was buried in its report.

And from Sky News, Scarborough, England gets a dose of goo-gook-a-joob.

Friday, December 30, 2022

The Final Friday Phenomena For The Year

As the sunny and mild weather continues on the last Friday of 2022, here are some things going on:

From National Review, the World Boxing Council decides to create a transgender category.

From FrontpageMag, if congresscritter-elect George Santos (R-NY) should resign, so should President Biden.  (If lying disqualifies people from public office, would there be anyone left in office to govern us?)

From Townhall, El Paso, Texas is worried about public health and safety due to thousands of illegal migrants in its streets.

From The Washington Free Beacon, how California got even crazier in 2022.

From the Washington Examiner, homeless residents of Los Angeles commandeer the city's electric vehicle charging stations.

From The Federalist, Biden's top 10 blunders of the year, which show that he's in cognitive decline.

From American Thinker, those who seek election integrity could benefit from fishing.

From CNS News, while actress Whoopi Goldberg is wrong in her statements about the Holocaust, she was right about one aspect of it.

From NewsBusters, networks go Sgt. Schultz over the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill being flow to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

From Canada Free Press, the real-life spy novel to eliminate former President Trump and Russian President Putin.

From TeleSUR, the Venezuelan economy grew by an annual rate of 27 percent over the first eight months of 2022.

From TCW Defending Freedom, today's Nazis "are on the march".

From Free West Media, the Swiss reject introducing a third gender in their country's official documents.

From EuroNews, the sale of silent fireworks jumps in Denmark, much to the relief of man's best friend.

From Euractiv, the E.U. urges more checks for coronavirus variants due to the surge in China.

From ReMix, Switzerland might have a referendum to limit its population to 10 million.

From Balkan Insight, Vukovar, Croatia votes to end official use of the Serbian language and Cyrillic alphabet.  (The city is located on the Danube River, which in the area is also the border between Croatia and Serbia.)

From The North Africa Post, former Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal gets seven years in prison for corruption.

From The New Arab, according to the U.S. military, the U.S. and its allies sent almost 700 suspected ISIS terrorists to their virgins in 2022.  (I must acknowledge that "sent to their virgins" is my own terminology, not that of the U.S. military.)

From WION, ISIS is blamed for an attack in eastern Syria that killed at least 10 oil workers.

From The Times Of Israel, Iranian author Mehdi Bahman is sentenced to death "espionage" after criticizing the Iranian government and urging normalization with Israel.  (If you read Hebrew, read the story at Channel 13.)

From Gatestone Institute, 12 questions for the end of 2022.

From The Stream, let's be consistent on standards for our politicians.

From Space War, the aforementioned President Putin tells Chinese President Xi that he wants to ramp up military cooperation between the two countries.

From The American Conservative, the financial firm BlackRock "plots to buy Ukraine".

From The Daily Signal, the CDC urges school teachers, administrators and nurses to adopt the LGBT curriculum.

From BizPac Review, a "Karen" in San Francisco posts her own tantrum after a rescue squad blocks a bike lane

From ABC News, a 28-year-old graduate student at Washington State University is arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania in connection with the murders of four students at the University of Idaho.  (via The Daily Wire)

From the Daily Caller, federal a judge rules that New York's ban on guns in churches is unconstitutional.

From Breitbart, the seven biggest revelations about the Biden family business from 2022.

From Newsmax, Biden pardons six people convicted of murder or offenses related to alcohol or other drugs.

And from the New York Post, a man in East Meadow, Long Island welcomes his new robot overlords.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Thursday Things

On a sunny and mild Thursday, the last of the year, here are some things going on:

From National Review, was Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg asleep at the switch during the Southwest Airlines holiday implosion?

From FrontpageMag, a group led by a Swiss billionaire funds the Democrat defense of First Son Hunter Biden.

From Townhall, China is trying to hide its latest coronavirus surge, which should not be a surprise.

From The Washington Free Beacon, one nominee for Man of the Year is Dr. Clifton Chen, a campaign donor to Senator-elect John Fetter(wo)man (D-PA).

From the Washington Examiner, some voters want revenge against Democrats who released former President Trump's tax returns.

From The Federalist, members of the TF staff choose their winners and losers for 2022.

From American Thinker, two military commanders were punished for being right about Pearl Harbor.

From CNS News, according to congresscritter Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), our problems are "getting worse" under the Biden administration, and "Republicans will be different".

From LifeZette, South Park nukes FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

From NewsBusters, CBS moans that oppressed Chinese citizens got their country's zero-coronavirus policy lifted.

From Canada Free Press, the January 6th Inquisition Committee fades away with no media attention.

From TeleSUR, Brazilian soccer player Pelé dies at age 82 after having colon cancer.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the buildings in Britain know that something is amiss.

From Free West Media, German Economics Minister Robert Habeck invents a new unit of measurement.

From EuroNews, the Ukrainian government decries Russia's latest missile assault.

From Euractiv, Russia steps up its shelling of Kherson, Ukraine and dismisses President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace plan.

From ReMix, Hungarian police chase a suspected human smuggler driving through Budapest with 35 migrants claiming to be from Syria or Morocco.  (If you read Hungarian, read the story at Magyar Hírlap.)

From Balkan Insight, the Merdare border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia is reopened.

From The North Africa Post, the Democratic Republic of Congo dismantles a spy network based in Rwanda.

From The New Arab, according to a human rights watchdog, 447 civilians have been killed in Yemen in 2022.

From Arutz Sheva, a reported 47 percent of murders committed in Israel are by Israeli Arabs.

From Leading Britain's Conversation, according to a "damning" report, Islamist groups which support the Taliban are given taxpayer money.

From TimesNow, the Indian Muslim organization Raza Academy urges young Muslims to avoid New Year's parties.

From Gatestone Institute, to solve the problem of Big Tech censorship, stop misreading the case Zeran v. AOL.

From The Stream, the "outrageous spending" by Congress.

From The Daily Signal, the aforementioned January 6th Committee withdraws its subpoena of the aforementioned Trump.

From The American Conservative, when it comes to the war in Ukraine, "distrust and verify".

From BizPac Review, the Chief Twit causes leftist heads to explode with his new policy on "following the science".

From The Daily Wire, the $1.7 trillion 4,000-plus-page omnibus spending bill will be flown down to St. Croix, Virgin Islands where President Biden will sign it.  (Is there a plane big enough to carry it?)

From the Daily Caller, Boston's public school district considers bringing back mask mandates.

From the New York Post, congresscritter-elect George Santos (R-NY) claimed that his mother died in the 9/11 terror attacks, but she actually died in 2016.  (He isn't the first politician to lie about a family member's death.)

From Breitbart, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon warns of more job cuts.

From Newsmax, a Chinese jet comes within 20 feet of a U.S. Air Force RC-135.  (This time, the U.S. aircraft didn't make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan.)

And from Check Your Fact, reports of the shutdown or rebranding of Hooters have been greatly exaggerated.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Wednesday Whatnot

Now that I'm back home and the temperatures are milder, here are some things going on:

From National Review, what should be done about congresscritter-elect George Santos (R-NY)?

From FrontpageMag, America's "bipartisan Apache dance".  (I realize that this term might be unfair to real Apaches.)

From Townhall, the IRS delays its controversial $600 threshold for transactions made via Venmo and other platforms.

From The Washington Free Beacon, one nominee for Man of the Year is the illegal migrant known as Alfonzo.

From the Washington Examiner, while apprehensions are six times as much as "normal", "inadmissibles" are causing a new crisis.

From The Federalist, there's a better reason for cheering the Supreme Court's temporary continuation of Title 42.

From American Thinker, remember the "horse paste" kerfluffle about the drug ivermectin?

From CNS News, according to Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), the FBI interfered in not one but two presidential elections.

From NewsBusters, the Media Heroes Award for the worst of the year 2022, and the runners up.

From Canada Free Press, the World Economic Forum and other globalists should know that when the winter snows melt away, we'll still be here.

From TeleSUR, soon-to-be-former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro might visit the U.S. to avoid attending the nomination of his successor Lula da Silva.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the rise of WEF leader Klaus Schwab.

From Snouts in the Trough, we're moving from the age of reason to the age of insanity.  (The article is a day old, but since I didn't post anything yesterday, I'll make an exception.)

From Free West Media, according to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, weapons intended for Ukraine are turning up in Africa.

From EuroNews, Pope Francis asks for prayers for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who is "very ill".

From Euractiv, Kosovo closes its largest border crossing with Serbia.

From Balkan Insight, in a snub to the E.U., Albania decides to allow visa-free entry for Chinese citizens.  (During the Cold War, Albania was a satellite country, not of the USSR, but of China.)

From The North Africa Post, rights watchdogs condemn Algeria's shutdown of Radio M and the arrest of its journalist Ihsane El Kadi.

From The New Arab, Tunisian prosecutors move to have 13 judges tried for alleged "terror" offenses.

From OpIndia, al Qaeda targets India over alleged blasphemy by politician Nupur Sharma and asks Muslim nations to expel Hindus.

From Rueters, Iranian chess player Sara Khadem competes in a tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan without wearing a hijab.  (via The Times Of Israel)

From Gatestone Institute, Turkish President Erdoğan's gambit in Syria.

From The Stream, leftists defend people who won't let their kids see their own conservative grandparents.

From Space War, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sets new goals for his country's military.

From The Daily Signal, as far as teachers unions are concerned, parents and children come last.

From The American Conservative, remembering "baby bones" on the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

From BizPac Review, the Buffalo, New York police department forms an anti-looting unit to deal with looting amid the recent blizzard.

From the Daily Caller, schools are open but absenteeism is very high.

From the New York Post, congresscritter Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) sides with the aforementioned George Santos against his critic former congresscritter Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).

From Variety, comedian and convicted sex offender Bill Cosby is reportedly planning a comeback tour.  (via the New York Post)

From Breitbart, the 15 most outlandish lies in the career of President/former Vice President/former Senator (D-Del) Biden.

From Newsmax, the Chief Twit reveals that former Twitter employees had a slack channel called the "Fauci Fan Club".

And from the Genesius Times, Disney's Hall of Presidents attraction reopens with an animatronic President Biden that recites his speeches about "Corn Pop" and "leg hair".

Monday, December 26, 2022

Stories For The Feast Of Stephen

On the day after Christmas, when some of us, especially those of Slavic heritage, might remember the Duke of Bohemia looking out at snow, here are some things going on:

From National Review, according to the "Twitter Files", the platform suppressed true information from medical experts around the coronavirus.

From FrontpageMag, a Muslim Students Association gets a professor fired over a painting of Mohammed.

From Townhall, how medical doctors were censored on Twitter on behalf of the government.

From The Washington Free Beacon, one nominee for Man of the Year is the "cartel monkey" found dead along side his drug-trafficking human.

From the Washington Examiner, according to an editorial, year three of President Biden's border crisis will be even worse than the first two.

From The Federalist, 2022 in six minutes.

From American Thinker, there was an insurrection, but not by former President Trump.

From CNS News, Customs and Border Protection announces its statistics for this past November, as compared to the same month in 2020 and 2021.

From NewsBusters, a fact-check on the movie The Woman King.

From TeleSUR, a supporter of soon-to-be-former Brazilian President Bolsonaro tries to detonate a bomb in Brasilia.

From TCW Defending Freedom, a story of wokeness in the U.K.

From Snouts in the Trough, the 12 days of global warming.

From Free West Media, the E.U.'s €22 billion for Hungary are on hold.

From EuroNews, Ukraine drone-strikes back at Russia.

From Euractiv, Russia places a Bulgarian journalist on a wanted list.  (What is this "freedom of the press" you speak of?)

From Balkan Insight, people who made a difference in the Balkans during 2022.

From The North Africa Post, Moroccan soccer coach Walid Regragui is a candidate for the best national coach in the world.

From The New Arab, the Omani parliament votes to expand its law boycotting Israel.

From RAIR Foundation USA, a woman is reportedly raped by five Syrian migrants in a park in Malmö, Sweden.

From Gatestone Institute, minorities in India are treated well, contrary to accusations in the media.

From The Stream, more on the latest from "Twitter Files".

From The American Conservative, America needs some linguistic housecleaning.

From The Daily Signal, "are universities doomed?"

From BizPac Review, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem literally gets fiery.

From The Daily Wire, over 50 people have died in this winter's extreme weather in the U.S.

From the Daily Caller, according to emails, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had deep ties to current and former crypto regulators.

From the New York Post, West Point starts removing Confederate monuments on its campus.

From Breitbart, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) makes his annual "Festivus" observance, with its list of grievances about government waste.

From Newsmax, over 100 attacks against the U.S. power grid took place in 2022, which is a yearly record.

And from The Babylon Bee, Canada's new version of the game Operation simply has the players murder the patient.

Saturday, December 24, 2022

A Sasquatch's Dozen For Christmas Eve

Now that I've driven to my undisclosed location in Virginia to celebrate Christmas with my extended family, I've got a little bit of time to present these things going on:

From National Review, on (Western) Christmas Eve, Russia shells Kherson, Ukraine, killing seven people.

From Townhall, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) presents the most ridiculous things on which government spent your money this year.

From The Washington Free Beacon, one nominee for Man of the Year is the ghost with whom President Biden shook hands.

From the Washington Examiner, although the left may believe otherwise, "Christmas is not a hate crime".

From American Thinker, we will deny you life-saving medical care if you don't take this vaccine, which could possibly end your life anyway.

From NewsBusters, eight Christmas-trashing quotes from members of the left-wing media.

From TWC Defending Freedom, how many more people have to suffer from the coronavirus vaccine before it is declared to be a danger?

From ReMix, at Christmastime, we should remember Christians persecuted for their faith.

From OpIndia, a wrestling coach in the Indian state of Haryana converts to Islam in order to marry a 16-year-old Muslim girl.

From BBC News, Taliban members use water cannons to disperse women protesting against the ban on women attending university in Afghanistan.

From The American Conservative, a reflection on strange things during Christmas.

And from The Stream, "the truth about Christmas".

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Some Thursday Things Before Traveling

On a cold rainy Thursday before my Christmas traveling, here are some things going on:

From National Review, we now live in an age of economic disinformation.

From FrontageMag, the left is very persistent.

From Townhall, the Senate passes the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, with a continuing resolution as a backup.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted the company Tiandy, but you can still buy its surveillance cameras on Amazon.

From the Washington Examiner, what can the House do about congresscritter-elect George Santos (R-NY)?

From The Federalist, congresscritter AOC (D-NY) is wrong about abortion being a "Jewish sacrament".  (I know that the Catholic and Mormon churches have sacraments, but I've never heard of any sacraments in Judaism.)

From American Thinker, five ways to deal with mass shootings, without depriving anyone of their freedoms.

From CNS News, according to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), money for Ukraine is an investment in American interests.

From NewsBusters, an ABC fill-in anchor interviews a woman whom the Biden administration left behind in Russia.

From Canada Free Press, no, former President Trump did not call for the Constitution to be terminated.  (Full disclosure:  I used to listen to a BlogTalkRadio show hosted by the article's author, and met him in person while on vacation in California in 2009.)

From TeleSUR, Dominican Republic Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Alvarez asks the U.N. Security Council to send a multinational military force to Haiti.

From TCW Defending Freedom, in a democracy, every human body should be protected.

From Free West Media, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prepares a decree to deal with the rush to claim asylum.

From EuroNews, the Scottish parliament passes a law making it easier for people to change their gender for legal purposes.

From Euractiv, the European Commission gives permission for bird choppers to have increased capacity.

From ReMix, according to German media outlets, most German war criminals from World War II were never properly prosecuted.

From Balkan Insight, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis makes a historic visit to minority ethnic Greeks in Albania.

From The North Africa Post, Pakistan invites Morocco to participate in the 8th Naval Exercise Aman in 2023.

From The New Arab, three members of Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council are killed in an explosion.

From The Jerusalem Post, British Airways sends a dog bound for Nashville, Tennessee to Saudi Arabia instead.

From RAIR Foundation USA, a Pakistani man is arrested in Spain for allegedly trying to force his daughter into an arranged marriage.

From Albawaba, according to an Islamic cleric, saying "Merry Christmas" is haram.  (via OpIndia)

From Israel Hayom, three fake Starbucks coffee shops operate in Baghdad, Iraq.

From Gatestone Institute, China exploits the cooling of relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

From The Stream, what our own cultural artifacts say to and about us.

From The American Conservative, "misdirected compassion" from the Biden administration.

From The Daily Signal, the FBI would rather moderate content on Twitter and investigate parents with concerns about school curricula than follow up on tips about mass shooters.

From BizPac Review, right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson alleges that Congress loves Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy more than they love American citizens.

From The Daily Wire, 18 Republican Senators join their Democrat colleagues to pass the omnibus spending bill.

From the Daily Caller, two employees of the Chinese company ByteDance reportedly monitored two reporters via their accounts on TikTok, which is its subsidiary.

From the New York Post, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Nogales, Arizona seize over a million fentanyl pills in a week.

From Breitbart, a local politician in Linz, Austria claims that integration "value courses" will prevent violent migrants from being violent.  (If you read German, read the story at Österreichischer Rundfunk.)

From Newsmax, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, facing trial on fraud charges, is released on a $250 million bond package.

And from the Genesius Times, soon-to-be-former Speaker Pelosi (D-Cal) complains that she gave $100 billion to Ukraine and all she got in return was a "lousy flag".

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Wednesday Wanderings For The First Day Of Winter

On a sunny but cool Wednesday which includes this year's winter solstice, here are some things going on:

From National Review, according to a study, big safety nets in blue states are driving Americans out of work.

From FrontpageMag, the ugliest federal government building in San Francisco will be renamed after Speaker Pelosi (D-Cal).

From Townhall, Pelosi compares Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the new omnibus spending bill includes a ban on government funding for crack pipes.

From the Washington Examiner, the omnibus spending bill contains these 12 woke earmarks.  (I refrain from using the term "pork" because likening these earmarks to pork would be unfair to pigs.)

From The Federalist, everything wrong with Congress giving Zelenskyy money for Christmas.

From American Thinker, it's not the votes that count, it's the ballots.

From CNS News, Republican congresscritters oppose a continuing resolution, but Republican Senators are divided about it.

From NewsBusters, a trans student allegedly assaults a girl in her high school bathroom, and the media go Sergeant Schultz about it.

From Canada Free Press, must transgenderism be accepted if it's "inborn"?

From TeleSUR, Brazilian police arrest the alleged mastermind behind the murders of a British journalist and a Brazilian ethnologist.

From TCW Defending Freedom, will the  U.K. ever be able to produce enough hydrogen to allow it to achieve "Net Zero".

From Snouts in the Trough, young people should be careful about wishing for socialism.

From Free West Media, according to a study, diesel-powered vehicles are more climate-friendly than electric cars are.

From EuroNews, the Swiss government decides against introducing third-gender and no-gender for official records.

From Euractiv, U.K. minsters proclaim that British fishermen will be allowed to catch 30,000 tonnes more fish that they were allowed before Brexit.

From ReMix, Polish europarliamentcritter Dominic Tarczyński discusses the corruption scandal in the European Parliament.

From Balkan Insight, an illegal builder in the Albanian capital of Tirana is linked to the country's governing Socialist Party.

From The North Africa Post, King Mohammed VI and his fellow Moroccans give a hero's welcome to Morocco's World Cup soccer team.

From The New Arab, an airstrike by the Iraqi military sends five ISIS terrorists to their virgins.

From Jewish News Syndicate, Palestinians vandalize archaeological antiquities in Samaria National Park in the West Bank.  (This park should not be confused with a park on the Greek island of Crete having the same name.)

From Dawn, four people are arrested for allegedly burning a woman during a "faith healing" in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

From Allah's Willing Executioners, a woman in Blois, France is beaten by her Muslim ex-partner.  (If you read French, read the story at TF1 and FDeSouche.

From OneIndia, India's National Investigation Agency discovers radical Islamic "hit-squads" who intend to kill or convert Hindus.

From The Times Of Israel, the gradual crackdown by the Taliban against women's rights and education in Afghanistan.  (The last five stories come via The Religion Of Peace.)

From Gatestone Institute, the persecution of Christians in November 2022.

From The Stream, Old Man Winter arrives today, and he's in a foul mood.

From The Daily Signal, according to congresscritter James Comer (R-KY), who will soon be chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the omnibus spending bill must be stopped.

From The American Conservative, what can we really learn from the midterm election results?

From BizPac Review, the University of Oklahoma bans students and staff from using the Chinese platform TikTok.

From Fox News, according to their tax forms, nonprofits connected to left-wing billionaire George Soros gave millions of dollars to anti-police groups and initiatives in 2021.  (via BizPac Review)

From The Daily Wire, a "Twitter Files" journalist chosen by the Chief Twit to release internal messages tells right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro about the "dangerous incentive" created by the FBI.

From the Daily Caller, congresscritters Jim Banks (R-IN), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Rodney Davis (R-IL) release a report on security failures during the January 6th Capitol riot.

From Breitbart, El Paso, Texas prepares to shelter 10,000 illegal migrants due to the possible end of Title 42 and a polar vortex.

From Newsmax, the Chief Twit expects Twitter, Inc. to break even in 2023.

And from the New York Post, you can rent a "hobbit hideaway" in Scotland, starting at $181 per night.

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

A Late Sasquatch's Dozen

Having been busy for much of the day, I return to present 12 things going on:

From National Review, Democrat congresscritters urge Facebook to keep suppressing political speech.

From FrontpageMag, why Democrats want Puerto Rico to become a state.

From Townhall, the omnibus spending bill allots money for border security - in other countries.

From The Washington Free Beacon, colleges in California find more expressions to ban.

From The Federalist, the main lessons which investors should learn from the collapse of FTX.

From American Thinker, if former President Trump is convicted of any charges proposed by the January 6th Inquisition Committee, he could still run again, and wouldn't be the first American to run for president while in prison.

From NewsBusters, CBS and NBC lament China's lifting its zero coronavirus policy.

From TCW Defending Freedom, a British woman recounts what happened to her after she was vaccinated against the coronavirus.

From ReMix, according to a poll, the Greeks, Hungarians, Austrians and Slovaks are the most opposed within the E.U. to sending weapons to Ukraine.

From Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Authority lauds a terrorist who murdered 7 Jews.

From Gatestone Institute, a deal between China and Saudi Arabia is a disaster for U.S. President Biden.

And from Guinness World Records, a man in Kuna, Idaho sets a world record for hanging Christmas ornaments - on his beard.  (via the New York Post)

Monday, December 19, 2022

A Bit Of Monday Mania

On a sunny but cool Monday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, the January 6th Inquisition Committee makes a criminal referral against former President Trump.

From FrontpageMag, the allegedly endangered polar bears are actually doing quite well.

From Townhall, after spending $3 million, here's what the January 6th Inquisition Committee came up with.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the University of North Carolina prohibits white students from applying for a fellowship that studies nutrition and health.

From the Washington Examiner, why politicians who support Democrat policies do not run as Democrats.

From The Federalist, six big takeaways from the "Twitter Files", part 6.

From American Thinker, the federal "misinformation" scam.

From CNS News, according to congresscritter Chip Roy (R-TX), illegal migrants should be detained and turned away, not apprehended and released.

From Red Voice Media, an interview with the founder of Gays Against Groomers.  (via LifeZette)

From NewsBusters, pro-abortion vandals attack a pro-life pregnancy center in East Pointe, Michigan and the house of one of its board members.  (If anyone wishes to object to my use of the term "pro-abortion" instead of "pro-choice", I regard anyone who vandalizes a pro-life pregnancy center as "pro-abortion".  If such people were really pro-choice, they would have no problem whatsoever with such pregnancy centers or with the women who choose to use them.)

From TeleSUR, the Brazilian Supreme Court strikes down soon-to-be-former President Jair Bolsonaro's secret budget.

From TCW Defending Freedom, U.K. authorities still won't listen to stories of harm from coronavirus vaccines.

From Snouts in the Trough, will U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "do a Blair" when it comes to illegal migrants?

From Free West Media, Christmas food in Sweden is much more expensive this year.

From EuroNews, what helped cause the corruption scandal in the European Parliament?

From Euractiv, E.U. countries support a watered-down regulation to tackle methane emissions.

From ReMix, German politicians move toward banning the party AfD after police raids on members of the Reichsbürger movement.

From Balkan Insight, the trial of a Serbian man for allegedly "publicly inciting" terrorism starts in the capital city of Belgrade.

From The North Africa Post, is the Algerian government trying to distance itself from Russia to avoid having problems with the U.S.?

From The New Arab, Syria increases its wheat exports from the Russian-controlled region of Crimea.

From DuvaR, a Turkish filmmaker is arrested for filming a police car.

From OpIndia, Indian parliamentcritter Abdul Khaleque claims that claims that Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi was born in the Indian state of Assam.

From Morning Star News, Muslim extremists lure a Christian teacher from his home and then beat up him and his son, who had converted away from Islam.  (via Christian News)

From Gatestone Institute, the Biden administration and the two-state "delusion".

From The Stream, a review of a book warning about surrendering to Caesar.

From The Daily Signal, six falsehoods in the post-Title 42 immigration plan proposed by the DHS.

From Space War, Russia announces that some of its ship will participate in naval drills with Chinese vessels.

From The American Conservative, why it's good to attend church on this coming Christmas Sunday.

From BizPac Review, New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) expects the city to have a flood of migrants after Title 42 expires.

From The Daily Wire, the Chief Twit learns that he should be careful about what has asks for.

From the Daily Caller, according to Donald Trump the Younger, the Republicans cannot defeat President Biden unless they play the same games as the Democrats do.

From the New York Times, over a dozen Republican-led states file an emergency appeal to keep Title 42 in force.

From Breitbart, according to a survey, Trump would beat Biden in a hypothetical 2024 presidential race.

From Newsmax, recently defrocked priest Frank Pavone says that he "will not be silenced".

And from The Babylon Bee, on second thought, the Chief Twit will stay on as Twitter's CEO due to mail-in votes being counted.

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Some Sunday Stuff

On a cool partly sunny Sunday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, the mayor of El Paso, Texas declares a border emergency.

From Townhall, let's talk about President Biden's latest gaffes.

From The Washington Free Beacon, a review of the docuseries Harry & Meghan.

From the Washington Examiner, the Chief Twit finds out that Schiff happens.

From American Thinker, while eating supper at the home of a Jewish merchant in Easton, Pennsylvania, General George Washington recounts learning about Hanukkah from a Jewish soldier a year earlier at Valley Forge.

From Red Voice Media, video footage shows entrapment at the Capitol riot.  (via LifeZette)

From NewsBusters, according to congresscritter James Comer (R-KY), the FBI had its own "ministry of propaganda".

From Canada Free Press, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life is stripped of his priesthood.

From TeleSUR, in the World Cup final, Argentina defeats France in the penalty kick round.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the world's oldest Christian nation is threatened with genocide.

From Free West Media, the former German colony of Namibia offers help to Germans suffering from its energy crisis.  (During its colonial period, Namibia was called South West Africa.  It was colonized first by Germany and later by South Africa.)

From EuroNews, after the latest round of bombardment by Russia, heating is restored in Kyiv, Ukraine.

From ReMix, a 16-year-old boy in Fenton, England is attacked by 10 masked "Asian" gang members.

From The North Africa Post, after a record low turnout in Tunisia's parliamentary elections, President Kais Saied is urged to resign.

From The New Arab, nine policemen are killed in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk in an attack suspected to have been carried out by ISIS terrorists.

From The Jerusalem Post, Israel deports a Palestinian lawyer, who also has French citizenship, to France for alleged security offenses.

From Allah's Willing Executioners, a Muslim punches a critic of Islam in the face in Bonn, Germany.  (If you read German, read the story at JouWatch and PINews.)

From Gatestone Institute, a view of global prospects from Germany.

From The Stream, getting real during the Christmas season.

From The American Conservative, an Evangelical pastor repents of his past mocking of simple preachers.

From BizPac Review, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell comes out swinging after being reinstated on Twitter.

From the Daily Caller, according to a report, Harvard University's discrimination problem goes beyond its race-based admissions policy.

From the New York Post, North Korea test-fires two ballistic missiles that might have been able to reach Japan.

From Breitbart, ICE arrests an illegal alien wanted for allegedly raping a young victim after he is released from custody by a sanctuary county in New Jersey.

And from Newsmax, according to a poll, almost two thirds of Americans believe that the country is going in the wrong direction.

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Data

In April of 2021, I retweeted a Tweet on Twitter which contained a graph from Our World in Data showing annual carbon dioxide emissions by each country.  For whatever reason, the account which Tweeted the graph got suspended, which resulted in the graph no longer being linked in my retweet.  Recently, however, the suspended account was restored, thus also restoring the link in the Tweet which I retweeted.  This means that I'm once again able to access the information contained in the link from OWiD.

The link contains a graph of yearly carbon dioxide emissions by country, which can be modified to include any country you want.  It can also be adjusted to show such data all the way back to 1800, but I've chosen to start with 1990.  The graph can be presented in either linear (as I have it) or logarithmic form.  The link also has buttons to present the data as a map or a table showing each country.

One reason I want to present the link on this blog is to have it for reference, in case the account I retweeted it from either gets suspended again or deactivated by its creator.  I like to point out that the world's national carbon dioxide emitter is not a Western country such as the U.S., but China, so I want to have the data on hand to back up my point.  So when climate activists glue themselves to roads or attack paintings in museums in Western countries, I can allege that they're barking up the wrong tree and instead should be protesting in front of Chinese embassies or consulates.

Here's the link.  Take a look at the data and modify the graph/table/map to your liking.

Saturday Stuff

On a cool cloudy Saturday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, after conducting a poll, the Chief Twit reinstates some suspended accounts.

From Townhall, the father of the Highland Park, Illinois parade shooting suspect is charged in connection with the shooting.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos starts giving money from her divorce settlement to far left groups.

From the Washington Examiner, what Republican congresscritters should and should not investigate.

From American Thinker, the Republican Party needs to apply some border security policy to itself.

From NewsBusters, media double standards regarding impeachments.

From TCW Defending Freedom, how Britons will be frozen or starved.

From Free West Media, retired French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen is acquitted of the charge of provoking racial hatred.

From EuroNews, German police recover €113 million worth of diamond and gold treasures stolen from the Green Vault Museum in the city of Dresden in 2019.

From The North Africa Post, Morocco loses to Croatia and thus finishes 4th in the 2022 World Cup.

From The New Arab, Tunisians votes in a "sham" parliamentary election, which some opposition groups boycott.

From The Tribune, a mosque in Srinagar, India forbids men and women from sitting together in its lawns.

From OpIndia, an Indian Islamic cleric lambastes Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for lambasting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From Gatestone Institute, the West should completely sever its ties with the Iranian mullahs.

From The Stream, the stench of wokeness is reaching to high heaven.

From The American Conservative, welfare reform and the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.

From BizPac Review, former President Trump announces his endorsement for House Speaker.

From the Daily Caller, the "Twitter Files" reveal a bitter irony about Democrats.

From Breitbart, according to Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, the FBI's reaction to the "Twitter Files" shows its contempt for ordinary Americans.

From Newsmax, Ukraine works to restore electricity and water after a missile attack from Russia.

And from the New York Post, the Pentagon is not saying that it's aliens.