Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
How Do We Know That Baby is Human? Maybe He Identifies as an Adult Lesbian Hippo ~ Refreshingly logical analysis from John Zmirak at The Stream, makes you wonder how far down the rabbit hole western society will really fall ~

The smarter leftists know that by championing these “victims,” they’re also promoting something else. Namely, highly dubious moral principles, which could and would lead to even crazier outcomes. If you gave us those principles baldly, most people would reject them. So their advocates wrap them in “human interest” sob stories that disarm our rational defenses.

 
Unlicensed Pet Sitters: The Latest Victim of New York’s Regulatory State ~ As an occasional, neighborhood dog-sitter I found this story of authoritarian bureaucrats rather alarming ~

The New York City Health Department wants to ensure that pet sitters are licensed, and has warned a popular internet-based pet sitter service that its users are in violation of the law […]
 
Potentially, there is no end in sight for this “solution” that seems to be looking to find a “problem.”

Antifa v. Alt-Right in Charlottesville — and America ~ A comprehensive review of last week’s deadly debacle from Patriot Post ~

“It is the manners and spirit of a people, which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.” —Thomas Jefferson (1787)

Blinded by rage protesters desecrate ‘Peace Monument’ mistaken for Confederate memorial ~ Aren’t these little nihilists charming?

Atlanta – Apparently blinded by the need to attack something, the protesters climbed and spray-painted the 1911 sculpture of an angel standing above a Confederate soldier, guiding him to lay down his weapon…

 
Charlottesville Has Become a Pretext for Letting Antifa Run Wild ~ Here’s a short quiz to determine your understanding of the First Amendment as well as your critical thinking abilities ~

Anarchy protects nobody’s rights, except those of the strongest. Following your moral outrage to the point where you will use violence is a great way to turn the United States into Libya, Syria, or Venezuela. There nobody is protected.

Speaking of our South American neighbor ~ Desperate For Cash, Venezuela Gives Putin Control of Oil Assets ~ The government stole the oil industry from the productive, private sector, mismanaged the hell out of it and ruined Venezuela. Now they’re giving the country away to the Russians. #SocialismSucks

 
Missouri Democratic state senator says she hopes Trump is assassinated ~ If you don’t follow social media or listen to talk radio you probably missed this latest outrage from an unhinged, elected(!) leftist. Even Dems were calling on Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal to step down, but ~

“There is no way in hell that I’m resigning,” she said.

 
Sticker Shock: Iowa’s only ObamaCare insurer seeks 57 percent rate increase ~ Gotta love that Affordable Care Act ~

In one of the biggest 2018 premium hikes sought to date, Iowa’s only ObamaCare insurer is looking for a 57 percent rate increase – that’s 13 percent more than they asked for just two months earlier.
 
It’s a troubling trend that’s been spreading across the country as jittery insurers stay stuck in a holding pattern waiting on Congress and the Trump administration to decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act.

It’s never going away folks.

 
Trump’s FDA Commissioner Transforms the Government’s Policy on E-Cigarettes Some welcome, common sense changes. (Never could figure out why progressives were so opposed to e-cigs anyway? And on the other hand, they’re pushing to legalize pot all over the country…) ~

On July 28, new Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a bold shift in the way the FDA regulates tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine. Dr. Gottlieb should be applauded for endorsing a scientific reality that has been well understood for decades but largely ignored by tobacco-control groups and U.S. policymakers: People smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar and carbon monoxide produced by combustion.[…]
 
Ensuring that adult smokers and former smokers have access to safer, non-combustible nicotine-delivery products will demonstrate that the FDA is serious about reducing the preventable deaths of almost half a million American smokers from lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and stroke every year.

 
Case against Wasserman Schultz’ ex-IT aide expands with 4-count indictment ~ Well, well. Will be keeping an eye on this one… (You can bet the mainstream media won’t!)
 
The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect Is a Disgrace to Its Namesake’s Memory ~ What a travesty. This deceitful organization is hijacking history to promote a Leftist agenda. Their Twitter feed purports to speak for a 15 year-old Jewish girl who died in a Nazi death camp ~

On immigration, she supports no ban, no walls, and no raids. On the stubborn issue of North Korea, she favors the Kim regime over the Trumps. She supports transgender soldiers in the U.S. military. She has declared the 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down key portions of the Voting Rights Act “one of the worst in history.” She thinks the Trump administration is waging “vicious wars” against “women, people of color, [and] LGBT people.” And she has bragged about “DESTROYING” (her capitalization, not mine) President Trump.
 
Of course, Anne Frank had never heard of the Kim regime or transgender soldiers as a schoolgirl in 1940s Amsterdam. Her most precious gift to the world was a deep optimism, summed up by her most famous line: “In spite of everything . . . people are really good at heart.”

The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect is an appalling sham.

 
Fleas test positive for the Plague in Coconino, Navajo Counties ~ Muchas gracias Obama, sanctuary cities and open borders. Soon we’ll be a third-world country ~

Arizona – According to Public Health officials with Navajo County, fleas collected in the area of Taylor, a town approximately 16 miles (25.75 km) north of Show Low, tested positive for Yersinia pestis, in tests conducted by the Center for Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University.

 
General Pershing, Pigs, Philippines and Islamic Terrorism ~ The media is calling Trump a liar over his comment about General Pershing’s method for burying Muslims killed in fighting. Guess who’s right? ~

“These Juramentado attacks were materially reduced in number by a practice that the Mohamedans held in abhorrence. The bodies were publicly buried in the same grave with a dead pig. It was not pleasant to have to take such measures, but the prospect of going to hell instead of heaven sometimes deterred the would-be assassins.” ~ Gen. John J. Pershing

 
Sometimes the Good Guys Win ~ The left is always shocked to learn that at least half of America doesn’t agree with it. Leftists tried and failed to prevent conservative author, radio show host – and occasional orchestra conductor – Dennis Prager, from conducting the Santa Monica Symphony last Wednesday night.