Hall Pass

All Talk
Muslim Parents on How They Talk to Their Children About Hatred and Extremism: A wave of recent attacks by extremists acting in the name of Islam — including in San Bernardino, Calif., this month — has contributed to a rise in anti-Muslim speech in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. We asked our readers who are Muslim how they talk to their children about these difficult times. (New York Times, 12/15/2015)

The New York Times wastes space on a virtually non-existent problem: anti-Muslim speech. The rationale is two-fold. First, the Times is never going to let an opportunity slip by to identify a potential group of victims. After all, finding new victims is its raison d'etre. Second, it conveniently ties back to its narrative that anti-Muslim sentiment is stirred up by Republicans. That's a Times two-fer!

The Times would never write the article headlined: American Parents on How They Talk to Their Children About Muslim Extremism. It would also never write the article: Muslim Parents of ISIS Terrorists on Where They Went Wrong.


Dreamers
Foreign policy is not in the business of making dreams come true—Arab-Israeli peace, Islamic liberalism, climate nirvana, a Russian reset, et cetera. It’s about keeping our nightmares at bay. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 12/15/2015)

Most of Stephens' column is harsh critically of Ted Cruz, giving us pause as we like both. Putting that aside, we liked this very insightful and thought-provoking quote.


Blame Game
Blaming mental health problems for gun violence in America gives the public the false impression that most people with mental illness are dangerous, when in fact a vast majority will never commit violence. Still, some legal changes should be made to reduce access to firearms among the small percentage of people with mental illness who are dangerous to themselves or others. (New York Times editorial, 12/16/2015)

No, most mentally ill people do not commit violence. But the ones who commit mass murder (James Holmes, Adam Lanza, et. al.) are mentally ill. The Times bravely wants to take away their guns when the real solution is to commit them to mental hospitals.  Of course, another category of gun violence is that committed by urban minorities. No word from the Times on that subject. 


Bound Up
With a unanimous City Council vote, San Diego, the country’s eighth-largest city, became the largest American municipality to transition to using 100 percent renewable energy, including wind and solar power. In the wake of the Paris accord, environmental groups hailed the move as both substantive and symbolic.

Other big cities, including New York and San Francisco, have said they intend to use more renewable energy, but San Diego is the first of them to make the pledge legally binding. Under the ordinance, it has committed to completing its transition and cutting its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2035. (New York Times, 12/17/2015)

It's a feelgood moment in San Diego. But what they just made legally binding will never happen. Liberals - including San Diego's Republican mayor - think that simply by enacting a law, good things will happen. It doesn't work that way. See Obamacare.