Author Archive: Stephen Green

THAT SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT:

And from the replies: “Always great to see the so-called antifascists talk so openly about how they will seize more power when given the opportunity.”

Today’s Democrats certainly aren’t shy about how brutally they’ll wield power, the next time they take it.

JUDGE HIM BY THE WAR-CRIME APPLAUDING COMPANY HE KEEPS:

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: A deep dive into Colorado’s billion-dollar budget deficit.

In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* public affairs TV show, Devil’s Advocate, host Jon Caldara and the state’s chief economist, Greg Sobetski, dive deep into Colorado’s more than one billion-dollar budget shortfall, finding, among other things, pandemic-era funding, rising Medicaid costs, and federal tax changes as major culprits.

Sobetski explains that during COVID, Colorado enjoyed a glut of federal aid and higher-than-expected revenues. Rather than using that money for short-term needs, the legislature instead spent down those reserves propping up ongoing spending obligations, leaving lawmakers scrambling to sustain a bigger state budget without the one-time money that had been keeping things afloat.

The two also look at runaway Medicaid spending, with Caldara arguing Colorado expanded the program too far, including able-bodied adults and illegal immigrants, and now risks harming more vulnerable recipients when the inevitable cuts come.

The podcast is titled, “Is Colorado Broke?”

We’re still on the “gradually” part, but the “suddenly” part always comes, well, suddenly.

COLONIALISM, STRAIGHT UP:

Ask yourself why Western elites freak out about any kind of colonialism — except Islamic.

RELIGIOUS FERVER: The Legacy of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” 20 Years Later. “Gore’s orations perfectly followed the script of the “New Apocalypticism”: The identification of an existential crisis, the diagnosis of human sin as its cause, the urgency of transformation, and the comfort of redemption for those who heed the warning. The climate science community readily embraced this script and adopted the language of believers and deniers to differentiate those with faith and those yet to be converted, and who risked excommunication.”

Whatever that is, it ain’t science.

GRAY ZONE? NO, THAT’S RIGHT IN THE RED:

MORE FROM DOWN UNDER:

Key bit:

It is 2026. The accused, who happens to be the most decorated Australian living veteran, was arrested for accusations dating back 16 and more years ago.

This isn’t justice in any way shape or form. This is something else altogether.

If he were to be charged, it should have been a decade and a half ago, at the latest.

They’ve already bankrupted him last year with legal fees in a defamation trial where he has been asked to pay $30 million dollars (Australian) in legal fees.

Between this and what the UK is doing to pensioners who served in Northern Ireland decades ago, there is something very wrong in the Commonwealth with our Five-Eyes allies.

“Allies” is pushing it these days. Which feels very strange to say, after growing up with the “special relationship” and the knowledge that Australia fought alongside us in all of our wars since 1945, including Vietnam.

WELL, YES: Europe should secure the Strait. “The US has too many other interests — both in the Middle East and beyond — to be Israel’s unconstrained ally in its endless fight for survival. And then there is the sharp “post-heroic” asymmetry between the two nations. American tolerance for war casualties is certainly still higher than Europe’s, where President Macron abandoned 1.9 million square miles across the Sahel, long secured by just 5,000 French troops, to the jihadis, apparently terrified that 10 might be killed at once. When that number of French troops died on a single day in Afghanistan, President Sarkozy’s presidency was irredeemably ruined.”

Europe should, but can’t.

NOPE, NEVER WAS:

But this is illegal:

WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT THEY’LL DO, BELIEVE THEM:

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Iran hangs another young man as regime steps up executions of protesters under cover of war.

Most of those executed are young men, including teens, alleged to have been either involved in the protests that were brutally suppressed by the regime — with thousands shot dead in the streets — or members of banned opposition groups.

Undeterred by the war, the Islamic Republic continues to exact its revenge, and exiled opposition groups and rights organizations said they feared that hundreds more could be executed in the coming days.

Ali Fahim, 23, was hanged Monday after being found guilty of involvement in an attack on a Tehran base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij militia during the protests, according to rights groups who have followed the case.

Iranians need guns.

MOST INDICATIONS ARE THAT TRUMP’S CEASEFIRE TALK ARE A SIDESHOW TO KEEP MARKETS CALM AND EUROWEENIES FROM YAPPING TOO MUCH:

CHUTZPAH:

I’m so old, I remember when California’s reputation as the Golden State required no burnishing.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Illinois gun owners plan rally in wake of Supreme Court order.

The Illinois State Rifle Association says gun owners have run out of options in a case challenging the state’s prohibition of carrying concealed firearms on mass transit.

The case Schoenthal v. Raoul dealt with whether the state’s ban of carrying firearms on mass transit, even for those with concealed carry permits, is constitutional.

A district judge said the measure is unconstitutional. An appeals court differed. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday turned down a petition to hear the case.

“We are very disappointed by the Court’s decision, especially since law-abiding public transportation riders in Illinois are less safe as a result of the law,” attorney David Sigale, who represents plaintiffs, told the The Center Square. “We know that groups like the ISRA will continue to fight this prohibition in the legislative and political arenas, as well as the courts, so that Illinoisans’ Second Amendment rights will be respected.”

Richard Pearson with the ISRA said they’ve run out of options for that challenge. But, there are other cases the Supreme Court could take up.

“They have the Wolford [v. Lopez] case in front of them, which is from Hawaii, which is about public spaces and actually public transportation. So we’ll see what they do with that,” Pearson told The Center Square Monday. “So we were kind of hoping for a favorable ruling, at least to take our case. And that didn’t happen.”

Certainly disappointing.

SHE NEEDS HELP:

HE IS A COMMIE, AFTER ALL: