Free Republic

An internal ruling made by the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, published on Tuesday, January 27, in state newsletter Gaceta Oficial, legalizes the use of lethal weapons by the national armed forces (FANB) against protesters. [snip] Under Venezuelan law, the Defense Ministry does not have the authority to override or ignore the Constitution and the norms contained therein. María Esperanza Hermida, coordinator for enforcement in Venezuelan NGO (Provea) argued that the measure violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as transferring competencies to the military which are the...

The chairman of the National Committee of the Communist Party USA has penned a 2,023-word manifesto making the critical point that American Communists are eager to work with the Democratic Party to advance the modern communist agenda and achieve communist goals. Communist Party chairman John Bachtell published his essay last week at People’s World, a “daily news website of, for and by the 99% and the direct descendant of the Daily Worker.” “[L]abor and other key social forces are not about to leave the Democratic Party anytime soon,” Bachtell promised. “They still see Democrats as the most realistic electoral vehicle”...

Around the world, institutional investors — including pension funds, insurance companies, philanthropic endowments, and universities — are grappling with the question of whether to divest from oil, gas, and coal companies. The reason, of course, is climate change: Unless fossil-fuel consumption is cut sharply — and phased out entirely by around 2070, in favor of zero-carbon energy such as solar power — the world will suffer unacceptable risks from human-induced global warming. How should responsible investors behave in the face of these unprecedented risks? American universities are on the front line of this debate, pushed by their students, who are...

Millions of Americans are about to get their first taste of the Obamacare tax. Last year the tax penalty for failing to buy private health insurance is $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater. Because the media hyped the $95 end of the tax, millions of people are unaware that their taxes are more likely to increase far more. The tax increases to $325 or 2% this year, it increases further in 2016. For many taxpayers, it’s going to be a rude awakening when they discover that Obamacare is going to cost them in tax much more than they...

As the first major snowstorm of 2015 bears down on the Northeast, many pundits have taken the opportunity to mock the idea that humans are changing the climate. After all, it's very difficult to think "global warming" when your car is buried in snow. Still, all this doesn't necessarily mean that this particular blizzard was caused by, or made more intense by, human activity. Spotting the fingerprints of climate change in the middle of a blizzard is no easy task. But here's one thing we do know: As the climate continues to change, we can expect more weather like this.

WASHINGTON — Mortgages with low down payments can be just as safe if other underwriting conditions are met, a federal housing regulator said Tuesday. Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee, after Fannie Mae FNMA, +0.47% and Freddie Mac FMCC, +0.47% both started making mortgages available to those who make down payments of just 3%. That has raised the ire of Republicans, who say the move risks a repeat of the housing bubble. “All things being equal, is a 3% down loan riskier to the taxpayer than...

NEW DELHI — President Obama pressed India on Tuesday to do more to curb the pollution that is choking its capital and contributing to global climate change, as he wrapped up a visit that yielded no meaningful breakthrough on the issue. While India and the United States agreed to cooperate in promoting cleaner energy, Mr. Obama left after three days without the sort of specific commitment to curbing greenhouse gases that he won in China last year. Instead, he used a farewell speech before his departure to argue that India had an obligation to step up, despite its economic challenges.

* Almost 90% of Obamacare enrollees in California qualified for financial help based on their income last year. * Average monthly Obamacare subsidy in California was $436 per household last year. * A big challenge for California's health insurance exchange is signing up more middle-income people. Californians received $3.2 billion in Obamacare premium subsidies during the rollout of the federal health law last year. Those individuals and families paid $1.1 billion in premiums themselves, meaning for every dollar they spent the federal government paid an additional $3 to their health insurer. Health policy experts said the fact that subsidies covered...

In his 2015 State-of-the Union address, President Obama lamented the unfairness of a society where only the few do spectacularly well. He proposed to rectify this injustice by expanding government programs that would offer pittances to a broader number of people who comply with specified behaviors. One stark example was the President’s proposal to penalize individuals who set aside money for their own children’s education with higher taxes that would be used to partially fund community college for all. “Why should those who have the means to finance their own children’s college be permitted to do so when the children...

The first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos was dominated by calls for 2015 to be a year of action on climate change. But while some in the business community worry about sustainability, there is plenty of evidence that the vast bulk of business executives give it no consideration at all. “We are seeing the accelerated impact of climate change,” World Bank boss Jim Yong Kim said in a speech on Wednesday. “Last year was the hottest on record. That matters. Extreme weather is real. It’s a complete no-brainer to move towards cleaner, more livable cities.” Yet according...

Greeks began voting on Sunday in an election expected to bring to power the radical leftist Syriza party, which has pledged to take on international lenders and roll back painful austerity measures imposed during years of economic crisis. Barring a huge upset, victory for Syriza, which has led opinion polls for months, would produce the first euro zone government openly committed to cancelling the austerity terms of its EU and IMF-backed bailout programme. After its most severe crisis since the fall of the military junta in 1974, Greece's economy has shrunk by some 25 percent, thousands of businesses have closed,...

FRISCO — With the EPA set to decide in May whether aircraft carbon pollution endangers public health or welfare, the battle over airline industry emissions in heating up. This week, six major green groups called on the EPA and the Federal Aviation Administration to move quickly to set emission standards to curb greenhouse gas pollution from the nation’s aircraft fleet. “The Obama administration needs to finally hold the airline industry accountable for its massive greenhouse gas emissions,” said Vera Pardee, a senior attorney with the Center’s Climate Law Institute. “The EPA has delayed action for years, and our climate is...

Medi-Cal applicants who have been waiting for more than 45 days can receive temporary health benefits while officials determine eligibility for the public insurance program, a state Superior Court judge ruled this week. The suit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court by a coalition of health advocates and legal services groups, cited delays in enrolling pregnant women, children and adults with life-threatening conditions. Advocates said many either had to postpone treatment or pay cash to see doctors. Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid, the publicly funded insurance program for poor and disabled residents. Prompted by the Affordable Care...

The symbolic doomsday clock moved to three minutes before midnight on Thursday because of the gathering dangers of climate change and nuclear proliferation, signalling the gravest threat to humanity since the throes of the cold war. It was the closest the clock has come to midnight since 1984, when arms-control negotiations stalled and virtually all channels of communication between the US and the former Soviet Union closed down. $cientists suggested that the greater danger lay in the failure of leaders to recognise and act on climate change. “Stunning government failures have imperiled civilisations on a global scale,” Benedict said. “World...

Liberal Fascism   By David ForsmarkFrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Liberal FascismThe Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of MeaningBy Jonah GoldbergDoubleday, $27.95, 487 pp.Review by David ForsmarkThat "thwack" you hear from coast to coast is conservative book-writing pundits smacking themselves on the forehead and exclaiming, "Why didn't I think of that?" The reason is National Review editor Jonah Goldberg's new book, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, as it racks up huge sales and dominates best-seller lists.It's a natural — even obvious...

United States senators are now on the record on the question of whether climate change is "a hoax." The Senate on Wednesday passed a measure stating that "climate change is real and is not a hoax" by a margin of 98-1. The amendment was designed in part as a jab at GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who has questioned the science of climate change. Inhofe voted for the measure, arguing that the true "hoax" is that climate change is the result of human activity. "Climate is changing, and climate has always changed, and always will, there's archeological evidence of...

Mitt Romney’s opening pitch for a third shot at the White House left many Republicans scratching their heads, in part because his plans to fight poverty and tyranny seemed to borrow the lexicon of liberals like FDR, LBJ and Woodrow Wilson. With a full house of Republican National Committee members listening aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, Mr. Romney implored his party last week “to lift people out of poverty” and “to make the world safe.” The first phrase is a favorite of liberals who gush over Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs...

You were considered a hoarder and a slacker if you still resisted turning over your gold to the government. ... most of those who voted for FDR never expected him to confiscate private holdings of gold coins, bullion, and certificates. Roosevelt called the measure a temporary one (it wasn’t), and he followed it up by invalidating gold clauses in private contracts that obligated payment in gold dollars, which had the effect of devaluing the assets of bond and contract holders. ... By January 1934, Roosevelt increased the dollar price of gold from $20.67 to $35, thus devaluing the dollar by...

China’s leadership has issued guidelines requiring universities to strengthen ideological controls in classrooms and telling professors to champion Marxism, traditional culture and socialist core values. The orders come as President Xi Jinping tightens his grip on political power and cracks down on the encroachment of supposed Western values such as press freedom and civil society groups. […] … Willy Lam, a political analyst at Chinese University in Hong Kong, said other professors were reporting tighter controls, including government monitors filing covert reports on classroom lectures. Control over professors has significantly tightened since Xi took power in late 2012, Lam said....

Tom Steyer is telling potential supporters that if he were to run for Senate in California, he would set policy goals related to climate change, taxes and public education. If he does not meet certain goals in six years, Steyer would pledge not to run for a second term. The billionaire environmentalist and former hedge fund manager spent $74 billion in the midterm elections in an effort to elect more lawmakers who want to fight climate change. Steyer also wants to ensure that the highest income earners pay effective tax rates that are at least the same level as the...