Current Events and History Write-Up: 9/15/2018

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.  Actually, this is more of a History Write-Up, but most of these articles bring up the past within the context of Current Events discussions.

Townhall: “Wonder Where All the Government’s Money Goes? Look to the Lawsuits,” by Bruce Bialosky.

“Every governmental entity is grappling for money. They all have gargantuan unfunded liabilities for employees’ retirement and health benefits that already are impacting their annual budgets. The federal government has underfunded Social Security and Medicare costs. Despite this, these governmental agencies are spending massive taxpayer sums suing each other to the detriment of us all.”

Mother Jones: “California Wants All Its Electricity Carbon-Free. How’s That Possible?”, by Nathanael Johnson.

Challenges and possible solutions.

The Federalist: “The ACLU Has Become A Big Fat Hypocrite On Free Speech,” by Jay Hobbs.

How the ACLU is inconsistent in which free speech cases it will take, and how it has changed from its former free speech absolutism.  The article also discusses corporatist attempts to stifle free speech, and corporatism is a topic of interest of mine.

The Federalist: “Read A Pile Of Top Nazis Talking About How They Love Leftist Marxism,” by Paul Jossey.

This article argues for the typical right-wing “The Nazis were liberals, not conservatives” spiel.  (Not an exact quotation, but the substance of the argument.)  Still, it is an interesting article.  It talks about Hitler’s private views on Marxism, religion, and the occult, his tolerance for private enterprise, and the racist and nationalist tendencies of prominent Communists.  I am currently reading Mein Kampf, and I will discuss Hitler’s views on Marxism there when I do my Book Write-Up of it.

National Review: “Did France’s Gun Control Hurt Its Resistance to the Nazis?”, by Robert Verbruggen.

Discusses a book by a Second Amendment lawyer.

Persephone Rising: “Patterns: Why I Am Nervous About the Far Right Fringe.”

To add balance, check out this old post, which argues that the Nazis were right-wing, not left-wing.

Reason: “The Alt-Right Loves H.L. Mencken. The Feeling Would Not Have Been Mutual,” by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers.

Menken fought for civil rights.

Tomgram: “Sandy Tolan, Was Oslo Doomed From the Start?”

Why did the Oslo accords in the 1990’s fail?  Tom’s introduction to the article also criticizes President Trump’s reduction of aid to the Palestinians.