News Weakly - 1/5/19

Welcome to 2019.

Mixed Messages
In recent times we've seen a bunch of "Women's Marches." They're angry about stuff. Like Trump getting elected. Or their right to killing their babies being threatened. They were going to march in California but canceled it because it would have been "overwhelmingly white." You see, there are women's issues, but they have to be carefully defined. Like if you're conservative and pro-life women, you can't be part of a Women's March. And if it's too white, it's not allowed. Because Women's Lives Matter ... sometimes.

All Sorts of Bad
British counter-terrorism police are investigating a multiple stabbing at Manchester Victoria station New Year's Eve. According to a witness, Sam Clack, a BBC radio producer, a suspect reportedly shouted "Allah" and declared, "As long as you keep bombing other countries, this sort of s**t is going to keep happening." The government is instituting more stringent knife control legislation and the BBC producer was fired for religious profiling. Oh, wait ...

Global Warming Update
Arizona made the news this week with seriously cold temperatures. While New York City enjoyed relatively balmy highs in the upper 50's, temperatures in the Sonoran desert fell below 30°F. If this global warming keeps up, we're all going to freeze to death.

Important Legislation
Congress has a pretty important job. They are the legislative branch. They make the laws. Now, they can't seem to make a budget and they can't seem to improve immigration laws. They can't pass gun legislation or reasonable economic policies. But, hey, at least they're hard at work at making sure that President Trump discloses 10 years of tax returns. Now that is important legislation. Oh, the Constitution doesn't require it and no president has ever been called on to do it, but we demand it. Why? Well, because we hate Trump, of course. Sheesh! Try to keep up.

All We Are Saying ...
... the song says, "is give peace a chance." So China's president this week said that Taiwan's unification with China must be the ultimate goal of any talks over its future. Taiwan's president urged China to peacefully settle disputes over the island and to allow them to retain self-rule. China's President Xi indicated that Taiwan's break with China was not legitimate, that unification was unstoppable, and that they'd be willing to use force if necessary. China has already demanded that the Taiwanese government not be recognized and has blocked access to all who do. "China would respect the Taiwanese people's religious and legal freedoms in a unified 'one country, two systems' framework, Mr. Xi said." This from a country that is already shutting down Christian churches. "We make no promise to abandon the use of force, and retain the option of taking all necessary measures," the president said. I mean, who could resist such a friendly request? "Give peace a chance! Surrender or die." Look for good times for Taiwan in 2019.