"Cornell University Students Vote Against Intellectual Diversity, on Grounds It Would Harm Diversity"

Althouse  "A funny headline on a piece over at Reason.com by Robby Soave. At Cornell, the Student Assembly voted down a resolution that called for a committee to look into the lack of political diversity in the Cornell faculty. The arguments against the resolution were summarized as:

(1) conservatives have not been historically oppressed as have other groups; (2) spending resources on intellectual diversity diverts resources from promoting other forms of diversity; and (3) conservative students are free to speak out in class if they find something disagreeable or wish to argue their own point of view....

"The headline isn't very fair to that 3-point objection to having this committee. It focuses on #2 and distorts even that. I rather doubt that the cute, clickable headline was written by Soave, because he disapproves of campus conservatives acting like leftist students by "playing the victim" and inviting speakers who are "provocateurs" and not serious experts in "philosophy and policy.' "  . . .

Cartoons added by TD

Watch the entire Trump-Media press conference

RedState  "He brought up his electoral college victory. He talked about the Congressional Black conference. He discussed executive orders, immigration, pipelines, the media, and his yuge crowds. This was in ONE press conference.
"And here it is. Watch if you dare."

Why we must vet Middle East refugees: 'Islam is taking over' Farage stunned as caller tells him fears for Britain

"Speaking about the Imam, Paul claimed: “He said - 'Allah has given us this country and every knee will bow at the name of Allah'." 

Weasel Zippers

UK: Express   "A caller phoned Nigel Farage on his LBC show as the host debated whether Europeans would support an immigration ban on citizens from majority-Muslim countries.
"Similar to Donald Trump’s controversial ban on people from majority-Muslim countries, Farage claimed Europe is in favour of a similar policy. 
"The former Ukip leader, speaking from Strasburg, revealed how a recent poll conducted by Chatham House said over half of people living in Europe questioned would be in favour of a similar ban. 
"A survey of 10,000 Europeans showed that 56 per cent would support an immigration ban on citizens from majority-Muslim countries, while a caller then suggested that Muslims were already taking over the UK." . . .
. . . "Speaking on LBC, Paul, from Liverpool, revealed how he had entered a Mosque and was shocked at what he heard from the Imam as he tried to get a grasp of the religion.

"Speaking about the Imam, Paul claimed: “He said – ‘Allah has given us this country and every knee will bow at the name of Allah’.

 '“Islam is a takeover movement, it believes that Allah has given them this country, they’ll just take it over." . . .

The world will see:

Philippians 2:10 King James Version (KJV)
 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Historic Trump presser signals mortal combat between MSM and president now a two-way fight

So far, I guess the Times would say. That CNN report, by the way, was authored in part by Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame. His son, Jacob, now works for the Times. The other night, at a fashion show in NYC, the younger Bernstein called First Lady Melania Trump a “hooker.”

Thomas Lifson  "Yesterday’s utterly compelling news conference by President Trump, held on short notice, signaled an entirely new era in relationships between a president and the major media. For decades, the ability of mainstream media to bully presidents has been part of the accepted landscape.  In 2004, then-influential Newsweek journalist Evan Thomas admitted that media bias was  “going to be worth maybe 15 points" to the Kerry-Edwards ticket, an estimate he alter scaled back to 5 points -- enough to swing most presidential elections.

President Trump does not accept that status quo. He fights back. And he and the media both know that if he continues to succeed in undermining the media’s power to sway pubic opinion, a permanent shift in the political balance of power will be accomplished. It would be a structural change, in effect." . . . Read more.

Chuck Todd Doesn’t Get it — Media Delegitimized Itself Before Trump
. . . "Todd is aghast. The Hill reports:

Chuck Todd: Trump’s treatment of the press is un-American
“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Thursday slammed President Trump’s efforts to “delegitimize” the media as “un-American.”

“This not a laughing matter. I’m sorry, delegitimizing the press is unAmerican,” Todd tweeted. . .

The media misses Obama:

The Left's Once Mighty Echo Chamber Is Losing Power  . . . "Of course you’re now saying, “Look at what they did to General Flynn, and what they’re doing to the Trump reputation!  They’re just as powerful as ever!” 

"I would counsel a little patience here.". . .

CNN Reporter Compares Trump To Hitler While Her Boss Buys Obama Photos

. . . "You may think Trump is too harsh on CNN.

"But take a look at how the network treated Trump back in November." . . .

MSNBC: Donald Trump Is A “Fake President”…

thefederalistpapers

"An idealogical Jim Crow" now rules in America

The Left Silences Debate    "This week the nation’s top debate coaches released their recognition of the top collegiate policy debate teams. This exceptional group of sixteen teams receives pre-bids to the National Debate Tournament at the end of March and will have strong potential toward winning the national title in debate at the tournament to be held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Two of the nation’s top teams that made this elite selection are from Berkeley, a campus recently racked by violent demands for the suppression of free speech. Incredibly, Berkeley’s teams and one other team from California who made the cut, will not attend the National Debate Tournament. That is because the state of California has banned all university related personnel from traveling to four states around the nation: Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, on the specious grounds that these states have all passed “anti-LGBT legislation.” All debate teams from California state schools are practically banned from attending the national debate tournaments being held in the state of Kansas in March. 

"As California continues upon a path of ideological ricochet that in many quarters seeks complete separation from the nation, the prospects for freedom of speech have declined to incomprehensible limits. America’s college campuses -- especially those in California -- are not simply victims of this trend, they are also important agitators for this breach of our most important civil rights. " . . .

Former Obama Officials, Loyalists Waged Secret Campaign to Oust Flynn

Washington Free Beacon  "The abrupt resignation Monday evening of White House national security adviser Michael Flynn is the culmination of a secret, months-long campaign by former Obama administration confidantes to handicap President Donald Trump's national security apparatus and preserve the nuclear deal with Iran, according to multiple sources in and out of the White House who described to the Washington Free Beacon a behind-the-scenes effort by these officials to plant a series of damaging stories about Flynn in the national media.

"The effort, said to include former Obama administration adviser Ben Rhodes—the architect of a separate White House effort to create what he described as a pro-Iran echo chamber—included a small task force of Obama loyalists who deluged media outlets with stories aimed at eroding Flynn's credibility, multiple sources revealed.

"The operation primarily focused on discrediting Flynn, an opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, in order to handicap the Trump administration's efforts to disclose secret details of the nuclear deal with Iran that had been long hidden by the Obama administration.

"Insiders familiar with the anti-Flynn campaign told the Free Beacon that these Obama loyalists plotted in the months before Trump's inauguration to establish a set of roadblocks before Trump's national security team, which includes several prominent opponents of diplomacy with Iran. The Free Beacon first reported on this effort in January.

"Sources who spoke to the Free Beacon requested anonymity in order to speak freely about the situation and avoid interfering with the White House's official narrative about Flynn, which centers on his failure to adequately inform the president about a series of phone calls with Russian officials." . . .

It’s time for the duplicitous “day without immigrants”

Hot Air  "If you happen to be in Washington DC, New York City or a few other major metropolitan areas today you may find some of your favorite restaurants and watering holes closed. No, it’s not a national holiday that you forgot about which is causing either the doors to be closed or the facilities to be on reduced service schedules. Activists who oppose the president have started yet another online “movement” in an attempt to disrupt normal services. In a highly dishonest and misleading campaign, they have declared today to be “a day without immigrants.” (New York Times)" . . .

. . .

"I have yet to meet a single person among the ranks of conservatives concerned about border security who is opposed to legal immigration or fails to value the contributions of those who come to our country following well-defined rules to make a new life."

. . .

"The truly nauseating portion of this is the fact that the entire concept is an insult to those who followed the rules, came to America and made a new life for themselves. This so-called protest is encouraging them to lose a day’s pay on behalf of those who refused to follow the rules and continue to break the laws set forth under the Constitution which naturalized citizens have sworn to defend." . . .

And if all that were not enough. there will be this:

Women’s March calls for General Strike and Day Without A Women

"Jezebel, however, is really excited, noting that there is no date on the calendar yet, though some activists are focusing on March 8:"

[a] women’s strike on March 8 that would be positioned “against male violence and in defense of reproductive rights” ….
Stay tuned, comrades!

Political Consensus Is Splintering Into Class Wars

Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog

"Understanding how these many wars will be waged is critical to surviving them intact."

In years past, we spoke of class war between the haves and the have-nots. It's no longer that simple. Now the traditional political consensus is splintering into multiple class wars between overlapping camps of the protected and the unprotected, those who've been promised entitlements and privileges that are no longer affordable and those expected to pay more taxes.

In Fiery, "Surreal" Press Conference, Trump Launches War On "Out Of Control" Press: Main Highlights

Zero Hedge  Numerous videos from the presser here.

"Many of our nation's reporters and folks will not tell you the truth and will not treat you with the respect you deserve," Trump said from the White House's East Room.

"Much of the media in Washington, D.C., along with New York, Los Angeles in particular, speaks for the special interests and for those profiting off the obviously very, very broken system.

The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people.

The press is out of control, the level of dishonesty is out of control" . . .

Humana exit highlights uncertainty about ObamaCare replacement plan

Weasel Zippers

"Humana’s decision to exit the ObamaCare exchanges at the end of the year could trigger a “domino effect” among insurers, with companies abandoning the marketplace and potentially leaving thousands with diminished or zero coverage options in 2018.

"Humana became the first insurance company to pull out of the exchanges for 2018 on Tuesday, amid uncertainty from Congress and the Trump administration about what an ObamaCare replacement will look like and when it might be implemented.
. . .
"And history shows that once one insurer drops out of the exchanges, others are likely to follow.

"For example, when Aetna announced last year that it would pull out of most of the exchanges, UnitedHealthcare and Humana also scaled back their participation.
“It did start to feel like a domino effect last year, and it could be something similar this year,” said Cynthia Cox, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation." . . .

Arabs, Trump and Israel

legalinsurrection

Did Netanyahu Just Tell Us What A Two-State Solution Looks Like?  "As I noted here, the Trump administration has effectively — and I think rightfully — decided to not pursue the same failed “Mideast peace process” we’ve chased like some will ‘o the wisp.

"The White House said that the agreement between Israel and the Islamofascist suicide bombers Palestinians must be worked out between those two parties and as long as that solution is supportive of peace and stability that the United States will support it. When coupled with the earlier statement that pointedly allowed Israel to build more housing within existing settlement areas, it clearly puts the onus on the Palestinians to either make a deal or to see a de facto border developed that might include more of the land they think is theirs than they would like." . . .

"Now let’s look at a map of Israeli settlement activity since 1967 and areas under Israeli control we see this:"

"How much of historic Judea do you think the Palestinians are going get to keep? I’m guessing you are looking at the maximum extent of Palestinian control and that area will be subject to shrinkage unless they reach a deal soon." . . .

California Schools Cut Meat, Cheese From Lunches To Fight Global Warming

Weasel Zippers/

Daily Caller  "Oakland schools partnered with the environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) to fight global warming by making student lunches climate-friendly.

"FOE gave kids a lunch menu designed to eliminate foods it says are “unsustainable for our planet.” The new menu features far less meat and more plant-based food. Any meat or cheese the school did use came from “pastured, organic dairy cows.” The student’s lunch menu went from beef hot dogs and pepperoni pizza to vegan stir fry tofu and vegan tostadas. The new FOE-approved menu served meat and cheese-less frequently and reduced the portion sizes.

“ 'This is a landmark moment for school food,” Jennifer LeBarre, head of nutrition services for Oakland Unified School District, said in a FOE press statement. “We were so excited to see how the data showed that we could reduce our carbon and water footprint by serving healthy, delicious food –– like the vegetarian tostadas with fresh made in-house salsa, that kids absolutely love –– all while saving money.”

"The district and FOE claimed the lunch program was healthier than before, but only on the basis that food from plants is typically healthier than meat. The study justifies its health claims by stating average poultry consumption fell. FOE did not undertake an actual study into whether or not the lunches improved student health." . . .