MONEY WITHOUT SCRUTINY: Big, Very Rich and Dangerous: Time to Rein in Private Charitable Foundations.

A few years ago, Mark Steyn sagely observed, “In America today, few activities are as profitable as a ‘nonprofit.’” Nothing warrants changing that assessment now. President-elect Trump has a lot on his plate if he plans to turn around the ship of state. But if it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to add one more item to his agenda: a substantial rewrite of the laws respecting our tax-exempt sector, reining in private foundations. . . .

Together, private and public charitable foundations are apparently sitting on trillions of dollars of assets.

These organizations have grown to massive size — and are poorly, if at all, regulated. Instead of meeting the charitable needs of citizens that government funds were inadequate to provide for, foundations are regularly being misused to fund organizations and outfits antithetical to our best interests, disenfranchising us and working at cross purposes to the desires and beliefs of most Americans. The achievements of a few big foundations include undermining the war on terror, Balkanizing our universities and society, lobbying for open borders, and undermining our economy with radical environmentalism. –

The most egregious offenders in terms of size seem to be those foundations categorized as private “non operating foundations” such as the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation –which exist primarily to give grants to others, and it will be these to which I refer here. (Operating foundations function rather like public charities, providing direct support to a school, a hospital, or another specific charitable program, and are not the subject of this article.)

The Foundations that are my focus are those like the Tides Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.

There’s a burgeoning interest among legal scholars, in business associations and tax, in reining in and scrutinizing nonprofits.

JOHN HINDERAKER: Russian “Meddling” In Election: Most Overblown Story Ever?

BUT NOW IT’S A BIG DEAL BECAUSE NARRATIVE: Obama and Congress Knew About Russian Hacking—And They Did Nothing.

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CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN APPROACHES, I GUESS. CHARLIE STROSS, CALL YOUR OFFICE! Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Tweets “We are all in Danger. It is evil itself.” “As has been reported by worldwide media, US Secretary of State John Kerry recently traveled to the South Pole, allegedly to become better informed about ‘Climate Change.’ Kerry was the highest ranking US government official ever to visit the South Pole, and his visit struck many as unusual. Few saw any purpose whatsoever to sending America’s top Diplomat to the farthest reaches of the earth to see . . . ice.”

The DEEP SEVENs are coming up, and we want to enlist them against the alien invasion. Duh.

SCHRODINGER’S PRESIDENCY: The Time That Reality Forked Right in Front of You.

We’re living in one of the most interesting times in human history. We just witnessed reality forking into two separate paths right in front of us. . . .

The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States has effectively forked reality into two versions that are running in parallel. Clinton’s supporters believe they are living in a world that is a repeat of 1930s Germany, with Trump playing the part of Adolf Hitler. See this reaction for a typical example.

Meanwhile, the other half of the country believes we elected a highly-capable populist who will “drain the swamp” and bring a business approach to government along with greater prosperity.

So how do you know which reality is the real one? The fast answer is that you can’t know. As I said, the human brain did not evolve to understand reality. But just for fun and education, I’ll tell you the best way dig down to the next layer of truth: Look for the Cognitive Dissonance trigger.

Read the whole thing.

MEDIA MYTH ALERT: Old media’s century worth of fake news.

Oh and, “Speaking of Fake News: The Washington Post’s ‘Jimmy’s World’ Scam” in 1980.

MAYBE NOT TELLING THEM THEY’RE IGNORANT, RACIST BIGOTS WHO DESERVE TO DIE OUT WOULD BE A GOOD START: Democrats search for a path back into rural America’s good graces.

THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH OF PC: Young Military Academy Cadets Mocked Left-Wing Causes Mercilessly At the Army Navy Game.

Related: President Obama Was Nowhere To Be Found At Army-Navy Game, But Trump Was Literally Everywhere.

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I’M SURE THE NEW TRUMP-APPOINTED FBI DIRECTOR WOULD BE BIG-LEAGUE TERRIFIC: Harry Reid: Comey is ‘the new J. Edgar Hoover’ and should resign.

Don’t these people ever think anything through?

Plus: “The Obama White House had the same information Reid is now suggesting Director Comey was sitting on. Why isn’t Reid upset with the White House for failing to release it? More to the point, if the CIA was confident of this in October, why didn’t DHS and the DNI mention it then? . . . Of course it’s possible Reid knows something the public does not but usually when we start down that road it turns out Reid is just lying. The most likely explanation for Reid’s outburst is that President Obama doesn’t make a convenient villain to help explain why Hillary lost the election, whereas James Comey does. As we’ve come to expect from Senator Reid, this is about scoring partisan political points and not about telling the truth.”

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NO. NEXT QUESTION? Did Democrats Learn Anything From Their Attack on the Filibuster? “One of the reasons we value tradition, norms and process is that we don’t know what the future holds. But, you’ll note, these Democrats don’t regret their vote for majoritarianism or power grabs. They regret that Trump (and it would be the same for Mitt Romney or any moderate Republican, for that matter) will now be able to operate under the rules they set for themselves.”

But I think the GOP has learned that there’s no point retaining it in the hope that Dems will return the courtesy when they’re in the majority. Harry Reid’s crossing of the nuclear threshold has put paid to that.

Plus: “Although each party detests the filibuster when it is in power, progressives hold an enduring contempt for it because they hold an enduring contempt for federalism in general. Even today, some liberals are trying to figure out ways to work Senate procedure to put Chief Judge Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court. As if Republicans wouldn’t then simply turn around and load the court themselves. This kind of arms race sets dangerous precedents. It’d be nice if the nation realized it.”

A successful ruling class needs self-discipline and an ability to think long-term. Ours lacks both.

BARBARA WALTERS FEELS ABC EXECS HAVE ‘RUINED’ LEGACY OF ‘THE VIEW:’

Barbara Walters thinks ABC execs have ruined “The View” and fears the show will be remembered for its petty backstage bickering and revolving door of talent.

“She feels they’ve ruined the franchise that she and Bill Geddie built. Instead of focusing on smart, educated women with strong talent, they cast uninformed child actors on the show. The legacy has been compromised because of poor casting and bad leadership under ABC News,” a source told us.

As the left continues to pass the December “silly season” obsessing over “fake news,” it’s worth remembering that Walters, who made her bones in the newsrooms of NBC and ABC, gave a platform to both a 9/11 truther, and a NASA truther. That will be the ultimate legacy – if any – of The View.

WALTER OLSON: Imagine if Harvard thumbed its nose at, say, Title IX the way it does at immigration law.

THE DEMOCRATS HAVE LEARNED NOTHING AND FORGOTTEN NOTHING: Clinton Basically Admits She Learned Nothing From Losing to Trump.

Clinton chose to issue a call to action against the “epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year.” Fake news is an issue, but Clinton’s rhetoric fails to acknowledge her part in propagating it.

Her campaign had Super PACs run by David Brock spreading disinformation on the internet. One of these is Blue Nation Review, which was was included, among other Clinton propaganda sites, as part of the problem on various lists identifying untrustworthy sites. Brock’s Super PAC Correct the Record, spent at least $1 million to create fake social media profiles to “correct” criticisms about Clinton online. WikiLeaks-released emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta show the Clinton campaign was manufacturing favorable news coverage through a vast network of friendly journalists in nearly every mainstream media outlet.

Where was Clinton’s outrage over fake news and propaganda when the Bernie Bros myth was being propagated to portray Bernie Sanders and his supporters as sexist white males? Why didn’t Clinton disavow Brock’s alarming disinformation tactics? Where was Clinton’s outrage when DNC vice chair Donna Brazile overtly helped the Clinton campaign cheat by providing them with questions in advance of debates, undermining the integrity of the debates?

Clinton’s “call to action” against fake news is a facade to rebuild her image, and a continuation of the trend she has exercised throughout her career in refusing to take actual stances on issues unless they serve her political agenda. . . .

This trend of prioritizing political expediency over reacting on principle to support the working and middle class on important issues has been a significant contributor to the decline of the Democratic Party that remains in denial over how far it has fallen. President Obama presided over the worst collapse of House and state house seats in U.S. history. Clinton’s election loss to Trump isn’t some anomaly that can be attributed to fake news, Russia, sexism, Sanders, third parties or the variety of other scapegoats the Democratic Party establishment has used to avoid accountability for its mistakes.

Yep.

WELL, SOME PEOPLE’S MAYBE: The View Tackles The Important Issues: Trump’s Ruining People’s Sex Lives.

If your wife won’t put out because you voted for Trump, get a better wife.

GOOD: Education Dept’s Overreaching Office of Civil Rights Fears the End Is Near.

Simply abolishing it is not enough, as universities will likely keep the draconian policies put in place under OCR’s “guidance.” Rather, there must be new regulations requiring fairness and due process. Then OCR can be abolished.

IT’S COME TO THIS: All Hail The Rise Of “Cat Men,” The Antidote To Toxic Masculinity. “For too long, there’s been a stereotype about cat guys. Unmanly. More soft than rugged. More feminine than masculine.” Well, on the one hand, Robert Heinlein liked cats — and so do I, and I’ve been accused of hypermasculinity. On the other hand . . . the photos of men in this article.

WAIT, I THOUGHT THEY ALREADY HAD THE “ARNIE BECKER RULE” ON THAT: New California law would ban sex between lawyers and clients.

I BLAME RUSSIAN HACKERS: The Dem Senate nominee in Louisiana couldn’t even crack 40% in run-off. A state that till ’05 had 2 Dem senators.

TERRORISM: Cairo Cathedral Bombing Killing 25 During Church Service Fits a Familiar Pattern.

CHANGE: Genome Editing of Pluripotent Stem Cells could forecast the next decade of biotech.

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Sexual harassment common among middle school children, study finds. “Nearly half – 43 percent – of middle school students surveyed for the study reported they had been the victims of verbal sexual harassment such as sexual comments, jokes or gestures during the prior year.”

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