First Monday of 2016 roundup

The pro-tyranny, Constitution-hating Most Equal Comrade is surely underestimating the firestorm his announcement, scheduled for tomorrow, that his DoJ will take executive action to erode post-Americans' Second Amendment rights is going to ignite.

The MEC does know how to do planned decline, though, it must be admitted:

Manufacturing activity in the U.S. contracted at the fastest pace since July 2009 in December, dampening optimism over the strength of the economy and adding to uncertainty as to how fast the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year, industry data showed on Monday.

In a report, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of purchasing managers fell to 48.2 last month from a reading of 48.6 in November. Analysts had expected the manufacturing PMI to inch up to 49.0 in December.

The New Orders Index registered 49.2, an increase of 0.3 points from the reading of 48.9 in November. The Production Index registered 49.8, 0.6 points higher than the November reading of 49.2.

The Employment Index registered 48.1, 3.2 points below the November reading of 51.3. The Prices Index registered 33.5, a decrease of 2.0 points from the November reading of 35.5.

On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.

Several nations known for their prowess in making things are currently hobbled - and how:

Following China's disappointing drop in Manufacturing PMI overnight, this morning started off poorly with Canada's PMI crashing to its lowest reading since records began at 47.5. Then US Manufacturing PMI tumbled to 51.2 - its lowest print since October 2012 (with US factory orders collapsing to weakest since 2009). But The ISM Manufacturing crashed to 48.2 (deep in contraction) - the weakest level since June 2009, with employment bumping along at its lowest level since September 2009 and imports (reflecting domestic demand perhaps) crashed to levels only seen twice in 20 years.

The manufacturing recession is now inevitable: the only question is when and how it will spread to the service sector and be recognized by the NBER:

And Billy Jeff the Zipper serves up some pretty weak tea when asked a question he should have seen coming for years:

Former President Bill Clinton was asked Monday about his “past,” following Donald Trump’s comments on Clinton’s long record of sexually harassing women.

Clinton was campaigning for his wife Hillary in New Hampshire, while Hillary spent the day in Iowa.

Clinton said that “Republicans have to decide” if his past experiences with women are fair game on the campaign trail.

“I think there’s always attempts to take the election away from people,” Clinton said, referring to his wife, whom he cheated on.

And today's recommended reflection-on-the-big-picture read: Roger  Kimball's praise for Antonin Scalia's remarks at a Roman Catholic school in Metairie, Louisiana. The remarks themselves:

 . . he argued, “one of the reasons” that the Untied States has prospered so mightily is that the American people have always done God honor. "God has been very good to us, “ he said. “That we won the revolution was extraordinary. The Battle of Midway was extraordinary. I think one of the reasons God has been good to us is that we have done him honor. Unlike the other countries of the world that do not even invoke his name we do him honor.”

What follows is a thought-provoking look at whether Thomas Jefferson mainly saw the role of Christianity in the nation's life as that of behavior modifier, or whether it was based on metaphysical truths discernible only by faith. The comment thread is interesting, too, with several people quoting various Jefferson writings to substantiate the view that he was a sceptic at best.

But let us remember that Jefferson was the third president. The first two were clearly men of deep faith.

The American Revolution came along at an interesting moment, when Enlightenment thinking was sandwiched in between the First (Wesley, Whitfield, Gilbert Tennent) Great Awakening and the Second (Barton W. Stone, Charles Grandson Finney). One can see both of these great strains in the American spirit (liberty, but also reliance on divine grace) as essential conditions of human well-being, as distilled from the country's experience and the type of guidance provided by its leaders in its first few decades of experience.

Anyway, worth perusing.

James Dellingpole at Breitbart with a devastatingly comprehensive list of substantiations for what all you sharp LITD readers have always known: the idea that the global climate is in any kind of trouble is a scam being run by evil totalitarians.