Seattle Learns A Painful Minimum-Wage Lesson
As a minimum wage increase looms in Seattle, the city is losing restaurants.
John Hayward
Latest News
Cartoonist Lars Vilks Wins Prize For Courage From Danish Free Press Society
Each year, the Free Press Society of Denmark gives out the Sappho Award — a prize for courage in the advocacy of free speech, named after the Greek poet who serves as the Society’s icon. This year’s winner is cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has been dealing with death threats from Muslims in Europe ever since drawing a dog with Mohammed’s head in 2007.
Facebook Plans to Crack Down on ‘Hate Speech’ Directed at Unspecified ‘Protected Groups’
That bit about suppressing content based on complaints from various governments is where the business of content restriction gets stuck, especially when it comes to “hate speech.”
Two Thousand Attend Funeral of German Woman Who Died Fighting ISIS
A crowd estimated at 2,000 turned out for the funeral of Ivana Hoffmann in Duisburg, Germany, over the weekend. Hoffmann, 19, was killed fighting ISIS in Syria as a volunteer in the Kurdish YPG force.
Politico Scrambles to Deflect Attention from Hillary with Silly Marco Rubio Hit Piece
If Politico’s bizarre hit piece on Marco Rubio is an example of Rubio’s “problems,” he’s in fantastic shape for a presidential run.
Kurds Claim ISIS Is Using Chemical Weapons
According to a statement from the Kurdish Regional Security Council, the Islamic State has crossed that fabled WMD “red line” by deploying chemical weapons against Kurdish peshmerga forces fighting along the Iraqi border with Syria, near the captive city of Mosul.
Selling Global Warming Mythology and Carbon Taxes As ‘The Reagan Way’
The American economy is sick with government control. Ronald Reagan would want to deal with that problem before he’d be willing to consider any fresh taxes aimed at providing “insurance” against “climate change” — which, in any event, hasn’t proven to be a threat in decades.
Iran-Backed Shiite Militia in Iraq Picks up 250 Sunni Recruits Against ISIS
The common cause of repelling the Islamic State from Iraq has brought about a sectarian team-up that was considered unthinkable before: Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a Shiite militia in Iraq, picked up 250 Sunni recruits and formed the first Sunni unit in its history.
New Alleged ISIS Video Surfaces, Shows Nine ‘Spies’ Executed in Fallujah
Argentine outlet Infobae has a video that purportedly shows masked Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists executing nine accused “spies” in the Fallujah province of Iraq.
Drunk Man Picks Fight with Elephant and Loses
There are many important lessons to be learned from the spectacle of a drunken man at the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka picking a fight with an elephant, chief among them: do not pick fights with an elephant. Particularly an elephant already known to have killed someone, as onlookers warn in this video.
Pakistani-Born Brothers in Florida Plead Guilty to NYC Bomb Plot
Guilty pleas were entered in Miami today from two Pakistani-born brothers, described as naturalized U.S. citizens, accused of plotting to carry out a “lone wolf” jihad bombing in New York City in 2012.
State Dept. Contradicts Hillary Clinton’s Claims About Automatic Archiving
Hillary Clinton assured Americans most of her email was being archived because she was sending it to other people with State.gov addresses. Turns out that’s not correct.
ISIS Spokesman: ‘We Want Paris Before Rome’
The latest communique from the Islamic State, alleged to contain the voice of spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, specifically mentioned attacks on Paris would come before the conquest of Rome.
Mark Cuban: Forgiving Student Loan Debt Would ‘Bail Out the Universities’
Debt, like fire, can be a dangerous instrument. A cynic might even think the point of getting government more deeply involved in student loans is to establish a dependency stranglehold over young people, whose votes could be purchased in one election after the next by promising to write off some of the insanely high debt they’ve incurred to pay absurdly inflated tuition rates for over-valued diplomas.
No, Giuliani Didn’t Say Obama Should Be Like Bill Cosby, Or Blame Him For All Black Crime
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani did not say that Barack Obama should be like Bill Cosby. What Giuliani is calling for is a direct confrontation with the racial grievance industry, which is very different from President Obama tossing off a speech here and there where he says intact families are nice.
Tsarnaev’s Bloody Boat Jihad Message Introduced At Court
The trial of surviving Boston Marathon jihadi Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has included much discussion of the boat he was hiding in when the police took him down. Tsarnaev wrote a message on the inside of the boat, which is somewhat difficult to read because it is punctuated with bullet holes and bloodstains.
EU Parliament Resolves to Defend Christians, Other Minorities from ISIS
The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday calling for the protection of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East from the depredations of the Islamic State. A call for the establishment of safe havens for ethnic and religious minorities in the Nineveh Plains is part of the resolution.
No One Read Hillary’s Emails Before Deleting Them
So many emails to read, so little time. It turns out Hillary Clinton’s lawyers deleted a lot of email without actually reading it. That, of course, raises new questions about whether she really handed over all work-related email to the State Department.
More Concerns About the Security Of Hillary’s Email Server
Hillary Clinton’s email scandal isn’t going away just because she has held a news conference. More questions are coming up every day.
ISIS Execution Video Boy Killer And His Mentor Identified as French Citizens
The Associated Press reports that the boy executioner and his adult mentor from the latest ISIS snuff film, in which the boy executes a 19-year-old Palestinian accused of being a “Mossad spy,” have been identified as French citizens. The older jihadi may be linked to a horrific attack on a Jewish school in France in 2012.
Canada Foils ‘Lone Wolf’ Plot To Bomb U.S. Consulate In Toronto
Reuters reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, using an undercover operative, have thwarted a plot by a Pakistani man to attack the U.S. Consulate and other buildings in the financial district of Toronto.
Greece Renews Threat to Seize ‘War Reparations’ from Germany
The eleventh-hour decision to extend Greece’s bailout a few weeks ago turns out to have been an even closer shave than it seemed at the time, with Reuters reporting that a massive revolt among German conservatives left the vote “hanging by a thread,” as one German legislator put it. Escalating tensions between sullen Greece and fed-up Germany could make the votes on further bailout extensions or new financing deals even tighter.
Did Hillary Clinton Destroy Subpoenaed Documents?
A full investigation will be needed. But it’s very difficult to imagine a scenario in which Hillary Clinton’s private mail server was not used to conceal, and perhaps destroy, documents covered by Freedom of Information Act lawsuits and congressional subpoenas.
Ireland Accidentally Legalizes Narcotics
Ireland’s tough new anti-narcotics law turned out to be a bit too tough, prompting a judge to rule against certain provisions. This had the unfortunate effect of “temporarily legalizing the possession of many street stimulants and hallucinogens,” as the Associated Press reports. The BBC lists specific examples including “ecstasy, crystal meth, and ketamine.”
‘Mr. Secretary, We’re Tired Of Endless War!’ Protesters Crash Kerry Senate Hearing
Protesters heckled Secretary of State John Kerry’s Senate testimony for the Authorization of Use of Military Force on Wednesday. Secretary Kerry responded sternly.
