Dan Calabrese

Another Ebola case, and more liberal lectures against 'panic'

I don't know about you, but I have yet to witness a single person panicking about Ebola. I don't even hear many people talking about it. I read about it in the media, sure, and we've had our share of things to say about the federal government's handling of the problem. But ordinary people freaking out in fear and panic? Not one. Not a single time.

Media not too eager to tell you Ottawa shooter was Islam convert

Just about everyone newly insured under ObamaCare is on Medicaid

We all know about the problems ObamaCare has caused - people losing their coverage after being promised they wouldn't, premiums soaring, networks narrowing, prescriptions no longer covered, ER waits expanding, doctors leaving the profession, the web site crashing - yeah, you know all that, but, the Democrats hasten to add, it's all worth it because so many more people are now covered!

Liberals attack First Amendment in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Idaho

The Wall Street Journal has lately been performing a real public service by chronicling the efforts of Wisconsin lawmakers, prosecutors and some judges to basically obliterate the First Amendment as it pertains to political speech. No one has passed a law saying you can be arrested for what you say. The usurpation of liberty never works like that. Rather, a complicated web of bureaucracies and legal authorities have established regulations in the name of "fairness" or "good goverment" or "transparency" or what-have-you.

WSJ: ObamaCare 'cost controls' haven't, don't and won't

ObamaCare, officially known as the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, is a good example of how names politicians give to things often have little or nothing to do with the actual substance of the thing. You'd think from the name of the law - and from much of the Democrat rhetoric in support of the law - that it cuts costs and saves people money. Anyone who has seen what's happened to health insurance premiums knows that's not true. But if you still were holding out hope that ObamaCare would save money in some obscure corner of the world, please be advised: Even the government's own controlled laboratories for cost-cutting under ObamaCare are not cutting costs:

Idaho city tells pastors: Celebrate gay weddings or face fines, jail time

Bakers, photographers and florists are being forced to shut down their businesses unless they accede to demands that they join in the celebration of gay "marraiges," but so far no one has faced jail time for putting commitment to the Word of God ahead of the demands of homosexuals and their cultural champions.

Party time in D.C.: Federal tax revenues top $3 trillion

You may be pinching pennies because cash is tight in the Obama economy of slow GDP growth, stagnant wages and high taxes. But you should be willing to be happy for others who have no such problem! Your congressman has plenty of money to spend! More than ever, in fact. Let him know he's welcome:

To evade Obama censorship, press corps will try this thing called Google to send pool reports

The fact that the Obama White House tries to censor press reports is surely the most important angle to this story, but in commenting about it, I really can't get past the ineptness of the White House press corps that is necessary to even make such meddling possible.

Obama: Hey, I hugged and kissed the medical staff treating Ebola patients

Here is the final word on Ebola safety. Barack Obama never does anything without carefully thinking through the potential negative consequences, right? The man who let Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi write his health care takeover bill, who prematurely pulled combat troops from Iraq, who exploded federal spending . . . right, that guy surely wouldn't act impulsively in deciding who to put his mouth all over with Ebola spreading, right?

Actually there were lots of chemical weapons found in Iraq, says . . . the New York Times?

The last thing you expect is for the New York Times to publish a story vindicating the Bush Administration report that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, thus justifying the invasion that overthrew him.

City of Houston subpoenas pastors' sermons to see if they're criticizing lesbian mayor

We already told you earlier today that folks are willing to use the gay rights movement as a pretext to go after those who live by the Word of God. Then we were talking about some lunkhead at a Canadian tourism company. I bet you didn't think the attorneys for a major American city would ever try to subpoena pastors' sermons to see if they had dared to speak any criticisms of the city's lesbian mayor.

VIDEO: Pro-gay tourism company mocks job-seeker because she attended Christian college

Canada's Bethany Paquette surely had no idea what a firestorm she was walking into when she applied for a job as a tour guide with Amaruk Wilderness Company.

Entire California town weirded out by mysterious creepy clowns

The normal ones are creepy enough. These things are just downright horrifying. Have fun, Bakersfield:

Even top U.S. general admits airstrikes-only war isn't stopping ISIS

If the objective of the war against ISIS is to make sure that under no circumstances will Barack Obama ever break his promise to "not get us dragged into another ground war," then congratulations. The man is an absolute rock when it comes to holding a position he thinks is necessary to avoid forfeiting political capital.

Dallas nurse contracts Ebola from patient; protocols apparently not followed

This development does not mean we have some sort of Ebola epidemic. What it does mean, however, is that we really don't know as much as we think we do about how to contain it and prevent health care providers from contracting it. That is disconcerting not because it necessary means a huge outbreak is in the offing, but because you can't take seriously the assurances of government health officials who tell us there's nothing to worry about.

UAW publishing names of 'scabs' - aka people who don't want to join UAW

To those who buy the romanticized image of labor unions - those brave champions of the working man who work day and night to protect the best interests of just plain folks against the robber barons in the boardrooms and the plush corporate offices - it's hard to conceive of why anyone would not want to join the United Auto Workers.

New York Times upset GOP talking about 'dark, unsafe world'

In case you hadn't noticed, radical Islamists are on the march in the Middle East, Russia is attacking its neighbors, Iran's nuclear ambitions are continuing unabated, Syria isn't really giving up its chemical weapons as it promised, children are being dumped onto our border, Venezuela is in an upheaval . . . and the New York Times is on the story.

Bowl Cut Jr. appears to have run to the store and not come back

I'm fully expecting the Dennis Rodman jokes - maybe they've just gone shopping for wedding dresses together, which could net them a spot in an upcoming Republican campaign commercial that will outrage Democrats - but the serious side of me doubts that Kim Jong Un would let himself remain in seclusion this long knowing it's leading to speculation that he's not in control. At least, this is, if it's up to him, which there's growing reason to think is not the case:

White House covered up Secret Service scandal until after 2012 election

Let's begin here by acknowledging something pretty basic: At this point, you pretty much assume this sort of thing, don't you? Some sort of internal subterfuge that will make the Obama Administration look bad starts bubbling to the surface. An internal investigator finds out what's been going on, and it's not good, and everyone's first priority - the electoral impact - starts looking pretty ugly as the voters prepare to go to the polls.

Court's gay marriage non-action may not be the big deal everyone thinks

Gay marriage advocates think they won a huge victory the other day when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from seven states of a lower court ruling that threw out their gay marriage bans. Defenders of traditional marriage, by contrast, are upset with the conservative majority on the court for not taking the case.