Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Dems Turn to Debarred Convicted Felon as Star Witness in Futile Kavanaugh Fight ~ They’re really getting desperate – but since when has the Left ever been concerned with credibility? ~

Set to testify on Friday in opposition to Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court is John Dean, a convicted felon and disbarred lawyer who gained fame for flipping on former President Richard Nixon during Watergate.

See also: SCOTUS Confirmation Hearing for Brett Kavanaugh Ends With More Sparks

 
Space-case whodunit: Did someone sabotage the International Space Station? ~ A small leak – not a tear, but a hole that had been drilled – was probably a quality control issue – the module was built by Russian company Energia ~

NASA has issued a statement of full confidence in Russia to complete their investigation and fix the problem. However, NASA and the Trump administration should seriously consider the implications of having to rely on Russia to get back and forth to the ISS. We need transport over which we can apply direct oversight and inspection, even if this just turns out to be a manufacturing fumble. It’s time to accelerate our efforts and develop an American option for manned space travel. Either we’re fully invested in a manned space program, or we need to stop pretending we are.

 
After all, this just happened last week ~ Russian Nuclear Bombers Intercepted Near Alaska ~ Some rather disconcerting news that didn’t make the mainstreams’ radar at all ~

Two Russian nuclear-capable bombers were intercepted by American F-22 jets near Alaska on Saturday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command disclosed.
 
The bombers were detected flying near the Aleutian Islands, said Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
 
“Clearly Russia is rehearsing a large-scale war,” Stephen Blank, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, said of the war games in a recent article in RealClear Defense.

 
“John McCain is real Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood” ~ Hmmm… Egyptian media personality makes a very interesting allegation ~

TV host Ahmed Moussa claimed that McCain, recognised in the US as a national war hero and longtime senator, was, in fact, the ‘real Supreme Guide’ of the Muslim Brotherhood.
 
“[McCain] was the main supporter for the terrorist Brotherhood,” he added. “Senator McCain was the one who opened up the Congress to the Brotherhood. He was the one arranging the meetings and appointments and providing them with protection.”

This isn’t outside the realm of possibility. As Robert Spencer points out ~

Remember that when Michele Bachmann called for an investigation into Muslim Brotherhood infiltration in the U.S. government, McCain denounced her on the Senate floor as a bigot and an Islamophobe. There was no investigation.

 
Nicaragua: Christians attacked, detained and killed as ‘enemies of the regime’ ~ Things appear to be going from bad-to-worse in Ortega’s socialist utopia; the tyrannical president just kicked the UN Commission for Human Rights out of the country ~

(F)ollowing the expulsion of the UN team anti-government protestors took to the streets again on Sunday (2 September). In the clashes with pro-government forces at least three more people were injured […]
 
On 23 August, the bodies of three men were found in Mozonte, 171 kms north of the capital Managua. Police said the men were all members of a gang and the violence was crime-related, reported national news site 100Noticias.
 
However, ABC local News identified one of the men as pastor Justo Emilio Rodiguez Moncada (35) of the evangelical Camino de Santidad church in Managua. The men were found with hands and feet tied and bullets in their head, making it look like an execution. Relatives say that the authorities only try to cover up the atrocities of the regime.

A couple days after Ortega booted the U.N. Human Rights group out of the country ~ Nikki Haley Leads U.N. Security Council Debate on Nicaragua ~

Haley, currently President of United Nations Security Council as part of its rotating leadership, originally had her proposal for a meeting on Nicaragua blocked by five other countries including China and Russia.
 
“The Security Council should not, it cannot, be a passive observer as Nicaragua continues to decline into a failed, corrupt and dictatorial state because we know where this path leads,” Haley said on Wednesday […]
 
In the past four months, at least 322 have died and thousands more left injured as a result of a government-sponsored crackdown against political demonstrators demanding Ortega step down and call fresh elections. Pro-government gangs have also begun targeting Catholic Churches, many of whose members are opposed to his leadership.

 
Wiccans Accuse Sephora Of ‘Culturally Appropriating’ Witchcraft. There’s Just One Problem ~ Good grief. Stop whining. Turn ’em into frogs ~

Wiccans and pagans are reportedly crying foul on cosmetics retailer Sephora which introduced a “starter witch kit” as part of its Halloween offerings, accusing the chain of profiting off “cultural appropriation.” […]
 
But there’s one big problem with the witches’ claims. Wicca and paganism aren’t new religions and “witchcraft” as these women are practicing it is actually a collection of beliefs and practices “appropriated” from other cultures. Sage burning is a Native American practice. Gypsies popularized fortune telling and Tarot. And crystals, well, those probably originated on weird communes in the 1960s, but that’s still someone else’s culture.

 
Who Owns Science, Anyway? ~ Much as they do on the political front, progressives have been trying for decades to squelch scientific debate. The “Open Science” movement may help change that ~

Who owns science? In the old days, scientists were self-funded or supported by patrons. Nowadays, much of science is funded by governments. And yet the results of the research remain largely behind paywalls: journals that require subscription fees often beyond the reach of the common man […]
 
The thinking behind Open Science is that people who fund the research ought to be able to see the results.

What a radical concept 😯
 
Report: Despite Pleas from Police, Tallahassee Murder Rate Increased 52% Under Gillum Leadership ~ Another city’s crime rate climbs under Democrat leadership. So Florida should elect him as their governor?!

 
Pro-lifer accuses “Shout Your Abortion” of stealing her photo for piece bragging about 3 abortions ~ Because nothing so typifies the Left as dishonesty. If they ripped off the picture, they probably fabricated the entire story ~

“I am 23, I have a good life, I don’t want to destroy it because of a bunch of children that I am not ready for. Doesn’t that make sense? I have ZERO regrets on what I have,” the author writes, wishing that abortion was seen as “just another surgery.”
 
“Heather’s” essay was picked up on multiple websites and received widespread condemnation in pro-life and conservative circles.
 
24-year-old Molly Schaap subsequently reached out to LifeSiteNews and other pro-life outlets to declare that she was actually the woman in the header image … but she was pro-life, had never had an abortion, and did not give Shout Your Abortion permission to use her photo.

 
Hillary Clinton to stump for Bob Menendez in the most ethically backwards campaign event of all time ~ What a pair. These two should both be wearing orange jumpsuits ~

Eighteen counts of bribery have scared many Democrats away from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., but they didn’t scare away Hillary Clinton. The failed presidential candidate is coming to New Jersey to campaign for the ethically challenged and politically beleaguered incumbent senator […]
 
The senator was credibly accused of running an immigration racket. He provided visas for several of the girlfriends of convicted fraudster Salomon Melgen, and that wealthy ophthalmologist in turn provided him with flights on a private jet, nights in Paris, and rounds of golf at private clubs. If it wasn’t for a mistrial, Menendez would likely be behind bars.

 
Massive Pro-Life Protest With 20,000 People Forces Guatemala to Cancel Bill to Legalize Abortions ~ Wow. This country is seriously pro-life ~

Guatemala only allows abortion when the mother’s life is at risk, and has strongly opposed any moves to impose widespread abortion. Last year, the military blocked a Dutch ship distributing illegal abortion pills, saying it would defend “human life and the laws of our country”.
 
A bill sponsored by the leftist Convergencia opposition party had included a clause that would allow underage girls that have been the victims of sexual abuse to abort in the first 12 weeks.
 
On Sunday 20,000 people, backed by the Catholic and Evangelical churches, took to the streets in protest of the bill and in support of life and family. This fierce opposition forced activists into a hasty retreat, leading to them deciding to remove the clause yesterday.

 
After Pride parade, priest cleanses route with holy water ~ This is awesome. They should try this in Boston after St. Patrick’s Day next year ~

Fr. Oleg Mokryak, head of the Missionary Department for the Diocese of Odessa, Ukraine, walked with parishioners along Seaside Boulevard, “dousing the road, people, and monuments with Holy Water,” according to a report Orthochristian.com.
 
Fr. Mokryak explained he was, “cleansing the boulevard after the sexual deviancy parade that defiled the street.”

And… my favorite tweet of the week ~

A lot of people are protesting Kavanaugh yet not one of them has bothered to come up with a rational justification for protesting Kavanaugh

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 4, 2018