Thursday, May 14, 2015

I'm back--with LOTS of not-to-be-missed political news

Update

We got in late Wednesday, exhausted, swamped and I'm still fighting a small lung infection. I'm sorry for the lack of news posts while I was away at a family funeral in St. Louis Saturday through Wednesday. I thank all those who honored my request to hold non-personal e-mails--I had only 550 unread emails in my in box Thursday morning. You may resume sending all usual emails. To those who sent email anyway, thanks and I apologize that I had to delete 90% of them unread, as there are not enough hours in the day to deal with that and my medical routine. And with what came in today, I have over 100 I haven't gotten to. ~Bob

General News and Comment

Important: Moody’s Downgrades Chicago Credit Rating To ‘Junk’ Bond Status
Excerpt: Citing the city’s underfunded pension crisis, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Chicago’s debt to junk bond status on Tuesday. The Ba1 rating means that Chicago’s $8.1 billion in debt carries a substantial credit risk. That credit rating is also just a few levels above bonds that are in default. (See next article. ~Bob)

Worth Reading: American Challenges: The Blue Model Breaks Down. By Walter Russell Mead
Excerpt: Here in the quiet precincts of the stately Mead manor in exclusive Queens, as the dew gently falls over the mist-shrouded lawns and the pigeons coo soothingly from the historic-landmarked eaves, it is sometimes hard to believe, but out there in the workaday world the long and graceful decay of the American social model is accelerating into a more rapid and dangerous decline. The core institutions, ideas and expectations that shaped American life for the sixty years after the New Deal don’t work anymore, and the gaps between the social system we’ve inherited and the system we need today are becoming so wide that we can no longer paper them over or ignore them.

Worth Reading: The Great Democratic Crack-Up of 2016: They may have a strong presidential candidate, but at every other level, the party’s politicians and activists are fighting to survive — and fighting with one another. By Robert Draper, NYT.
Excerpt: Maryland might seem a peculiar venue for a blood feud over the future of the Democratic Party. It is the second-bluest state in the United States, after Massachusetts, according to Gallup; its registered Democrats, more than 30 percent of whom are black, outnumber registered Republicans two to one. Maryland is home to an immense federal work force and is one of the states most economically dependent on the federal government. Its gun-control laws are among the strictest in the nation. In 2012, Maryland and Maine became the first states to ratify same-sex marriage by popular vote. Barack Obama’s statewide margin of victory was roughly 26 points in 2008 and 2012, the fifth highest in the United States. The last time the G.O.P. won control of the Maryland State Legislature was in 1897.

Alan Grayson erupts as Senate bid looms. By Marc Caputo and Elena Schneider
Excerpt: As he faces the pressures of a potential Senate bid in the nation’s biggest swing state, Florida Rep. Alan Grayson has hurled angry expletives at reporters and described his likely rival in crude terms during a tense conversation with the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. For all of his outbursts, Grayson has been inventive with his slurs. On Wednesday, he bizarrely accused one reporter of being a “s—-ing robot” — a phrase that’s sure to become part of his legacy of incendiary remarks, which include branding a lobbyist a “K Street whore,” likening the tea party to the Ku Klux Klan and accusing a Christian conservative opponent of being a member of the Taliban.

Clinton Foundation accepts new foreign donations despite Hillary's campaign promise. By Sarah Westwood
Excerpt: A number of foreign donors pledged new support for Clinton Foundation efforts during a conference in Marrakech last week, raising questions about the strength of Hillary Clinton's campaign promise to cut off foreign donations to her family philanthropy while she runs for president. The Kingdom of Morocco was among the foreign entities that committed to new projects at the Clinton Global Initiative event, which drew dozens of big-ticket donors to the country for a three-day meeting headlined by Bill Clinton. Hillary was slated to attend the Marrakech conference before her name was quietly removed from the schedule earlier this year amid criticism of the foundation's foreign activities.



Partisan Hack Stephanopoulos, ABC ‘Newsman,’ Gave $50K to Clinton ‘Foundation’
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/05/14/partisan-hack-stephanopoulos-abc-newsman-gave-50k-to-clinton-foundation/
Excerpt: ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has given $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, charitable contributions that he did not publicly disclose while reporting on the Clintons or their non-profit organization, the On Media blog has learned. In both 2013 and 2014, Stephanopoulos made a $25,000 donation to the 501 nonprofit founded by former president Bill Clinton, the Foundation’s records show. Stephanopoulos never disclosed this information to viewers, even when interviewing author Peter Schweizer last month about his book “Clinton Cash,” which alleges that donations to the Foundation may have influenced some of Hillary Clinton’s actions as Secretary of State.

It’s Good To Be A Clinton. By Derek Hunter 
Excerpt: Clintons are the non-virgins who are never sacrificed, never damaged, never held accountable. They’re like all the awful kids who toured Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with Charlie – only they didn’t get in trouble on the tour, stole the factory from Charlie and sued Willy for emotional damage and won. How is it that this family, more than any other, is above suspicion? Why do the world’s wealthiest people feel compelled to give this family hundreds of millions of dollars to do charity work for things literally thousands of charities already do? And why is it that, only a couple of weeks after initial reports of the appearance of influence peddling, the media has lost interest in that story?

Voters Should Be More Concerned About Hillary's Lies. By Dan Gilmore 
Excerpt: Despite what the Clinton Foundation hopes will appear to be a continued emphasis on transparency, people wishing to understand which foreign governments contributed to the “charity” continue to face difficulty — even after the foundation announced it would re-file its taxes because of “errors.” Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, told Reuters, “It’s clear that anyone wanting an accurate picture of the money flowing in and out of the Clinton Foundation using public records would fail miserably because the public records are both inaccurate and fairly opaque.” The ongoing investigation into the foundation prompted The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza to write that the question voters will have to answer in 2016 is if Hillary is too dishonest to be president.

Clinton vs. Brady
I think it is very illustrative of the importance we Americans attach to things that Tom Brady will almost certainly pay a MUCH higher penalty for the under-inflated footballs that "no one can prove he had anything to do with" (or the NFL would've banned him for life instead of merely penalizing him $4M+ [he is suspended without pay for 4 games at $1M+ per game]) and violating no laws than Hillary will be penalized for using a private email server illegally and erasing and obliterating her hard drive to obstruct justice by preventing its being searched, both of which she admits to. How sad to think the NFL puts more importance on its credibility and appearance of integrity than one of our great political parties. This is particularly so when the relative possible impacts of the infractions is considered; under-inflated footballs may or may not have made a difference to winning or losing a game of amusement. Weep for our country. Ron P.
Excerpt: Russ Feingold announced Thursday he will run to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat he lost five years ago to Republican Ron Johnson, fulfilling the hopes of Democrats who have been pushing for the liberal to return to political office.

Train approached curve at 106 mph, twice the limit
Excerpt: The Amtrak train that derailed here Tuesday night was traveling 106 mph, more than twice the authorized speed, as it approached a sharp bend in the tracks, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. The engineer applied the emergency brakes, but the action was too late. The train was still moving at 102 mph when it hit the curve about three seconds later and the engine and all seven cars derailed.

Excerpt: In light of Monday's deadly Amtrak train crash, liberals are jumping at the opportunity to spend more of you money on the railroad line in the name of "safety investment." Yesterday the White House touted President Obama's calls to increase Amtrak funding by $1 billion in his latest budget. (Never let a crisis go to waste. ~Bob)

Democrats Exploit Train Wreck to Derail Republicans. By Mark Alexander
Excerpt: Regarding the Philadelphia train crash, the blood of the seven dead was not dry on the tracks before Democrats attempted to convert this tragedy into political capital. (Never mind that the train was going 100mph in a 50mph zone. ~Bob)

Excerpt: Frankford Junction, the scene of Tuesday night’s deadly Philadelphia derailment of Amtrak Regional 188, has seen devastation before. On Labor Day, 71 years ago, the Congressional Limited careened off the tracks with 541 passengers on board including many service members on leave. Seventy-nine passengers were killed and 117 were injured in one of the worst rail disasters of its day. (Same route, same curve in tracks. You think they would've straightened the tracks/changed the route after that.....Barb)

Interesting: The Forgotten Realities of World War II. By Victor Davis Hanson 
Excerpt: The Soviet Red Army would eventually be responsible for three quarters of Germany's WWII casualties, but at a cost of approximately 9 million dead of its own combatants. Nevertheless, the Allied defeat of the Axis powers is more complicated than just the monumental and heroic sacrifice of the Soviet soldier. World War II started largely because the Soviet Union had had assured Hitler that the two powers could partner up to divide Poland. With his eastern rear thus secure, Hitler then would be free to fight a one-front war in the West against the European democracies. The Soviet Union only entered the war after it was double-crossed by Hitler in June 1941. Before the surprise German invasion, the Soviets had supplied Germany with substantial fuel, food and metals to help it bomb Great Britain into submission. For all practical purposes, Russia had been Nazi Germany's most useful ally.

Friendly Reminder: Pork Barrel Spending Jumped 55 Percent From Last Year. By Matt Vespa
Excerpt: Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has released their Pig Book, which concludes that since the earmark moratorium imposed in 2011, they have found wasteful pork in at least 12 appropriations bills. While the number of earmarks dropped from 109 in 2014 to 105 in 2015, the cost jumped 55.6 percent. In FY 2014, there were $2.7 billion in earmarks, while this year we’ll see $4.2 billion in pork. 

Christie buys $300K of food & booze with NJ expense account. By Mark Lagerkvist 
Excerpt: Chris Christie’s expense account tells a story of appetite and ambition, one that pits government waste against the New Jersey governor’s waistline. Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office. More than 80 percent of that money, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor’s office.

Slogan: Make the USA like Baltimore! O’Malley, eyeing the presidency, plans May 30 announcement. By John Wagner
Excerpt: Former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, who has been ramping up for a potential White House bid, plans to make an announcement about his political future on May 30 in Baltimore, aides said Wednesday.

School responds after York Co. senior asked to take down American flag
http://www.wnem.com/story/29059451/american-flag-stirring-controversy-at-high-school#ixzz3a7nEDaGz
Excerpt: A high school in York County has spoken out after students protested Thursday morning when a senior said he was asked to remove an American flag from his pick-up truck.
Thursday morning, several students, parents, and veterans protested the incident, many setting up across from school grounds waving flags.

Obama Criticizes Private Schools While Sending His Daughters to Private Schools
http://godfatherpolitics.com/22380/obama-criticizes-private-schools-while-sending-his-daughters-to-private-schools/#
Excerpt: I was driving along, listening to the radio, when I heard President Obama condemn rich folks for sending their children to non-government (private) schools. ... He’s not alone: [Rahm] Emanuel, who served in the White House as President Obama’s chief of staff for a few years, and his wife have chosen, according to a local radio station CBS News 2 in Chicago, to send their three children to the prestigious University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park. It’s the same school that President Obama’s daughters attended when they lived in Chicago. Sasha and Malia Obama now attend the private Sidwell Friends School. (Some days I think "liberal" is just a synonym for hypocrisy. ~Bob)

Illinois State Senator Barack Obama's 'Urban Agenda.' By Larry Elder 
Excerpt: But as a local Illinois lawmaker, then-state Sen. Barack Obama did, in fact, enact an “urban” agenda on education and housing. Bill Ayers, the former fugitive and still unrepentant domestic terrorist/member of the Weather Underground turned educator, founded the Chicago Annenberg Challenge with a $50 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation. Just three years out of law school, Obama chaired the newly formed CAC board from 1995 to 1999, spending millions to “improve” Chicago public schools. In all, CAC distributed more than $100 million from 1995 to 2001 to improve Chicago schools. Rather than fund the schools directly, Ayers required schools to work with “external partners,” who focused on political radicalism. 

Political Turmoil Returns to Burundi as President Seeks New Term. By Isma’il Kushkush
Excerpt: Then on Wednesday, a general took to the airwaves to declare that Mr. Nkurunziza had been ousted, leading to celebrations in the capital but adding to a long list of coups and coup attempts that have bedeviled this nation since independence in 1962. Members of the opposition say that under the Constitution, presidents are allowed only one renewal of a five-year term, so Mr. Nkurunziza is barred from running again.

Why Americans Are Abandoning Religion
Excerpt: Churches, in an effort to avoid losing government-guaranteed tax-exempt status, stopped speaking out about secular assaults on religious freedom. They stopped speaking against candidates who embraced the murder of the unborn or the corruption of the marital institution via governmental embrace of “alternative family structures.” Instead, they suggested that church was for barbecues, get-togethers, date nights, and the occasional Psalm-reading session.

Lying, Inc. Lying is insidious. When it becomes institutionalized at the top, cynicism and lawlessness follow below. By Victor Davis Hanson
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/lying-inc/#ixzz3a9MIWQ8U
Excerpt: ... "I don’t necessarily believe anymore that the driver of the car in a handicapped space who suddenly exits and bounds across the parking lot is always handicapped, or any more disabled than I was after a recent head, neck, and knee injury from a bad bicycle accident, for which walking, not sitting was clearly the better course of rehabilitation. Lying is insidious. When it becomes institutionalized at the top, cynicism and lawlessness follow below." (So many pull up in F-150s, Jeeps, SUVs, Escalades with high stepdowns into handicapped spaces/fire lanes and jump out and walk/run into whereever, obviously NOT handicapped; some look like football players. Many are black. Does black skin makes some more important than others; makes rules not apply as they do to others; some lives matter more than others; hence, the elimination of the fiber of the law and the degradation of society, promoted by current regime. It's just reparation, eh? --Barb. Hardly limited to blacks. ~Bob)

10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government
Excerpt: The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Baku, on the Caspian Sea, in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained by The Washington Post. Three former top aides to President Obama appeared as speakers at the event. ... The lawmakers who took the trip were Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Tex.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Ted Poe (R-Tex.) and then-Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.).

Police Officers: Morale Is Low In Departments Across The Country
Excerpt: Law enforcement officers at Washington, D.C.'s annual Police Week tell The Daily Caller that the anti-police climate is taking its toll on the men and women in uniform and that morale is low in departments across the country. One source told The DC Monday night that officers have stepped back from engaging in proactive policing, because they often see the same violent criminals they arrest immediately released on to the streets. (This is really getting to be a sad situation. What do people think will happen if there aren't enough cops to do a good job, or the ones that remain stop trying to do a good job? Is the answer to have all police presence in certain inner city areas stop, and then see how things go on there once the real Bad Guys know there is no one to stop them from doing anything they want? Yes, there are clearly occasional incidents where a cop goes haywire, and then he/she needs to come under the law like anyone else. But innocence until proven guilty needs to be observed, and above all, the instant assumption that a minority man dying during or after arrest proves racism has to stop. We need responsible leaders to stand up against the noise of the crowd and those who play to it. --Del)

Monty Python's Flying Coppers focus on so-called 'crimes' that most people do not consider illegal. By Richard Littlejohn
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3063525/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-Monty-Python-s-Flying-Coppers.html
Excerpt: The 21st-century police ‘service’ seem to model themselves on Monty Python, concentrating on so-called ‘crimes’ that most people wouldn’t consider against the law, while conspicuously refusing to do the job they’re paid for. Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary reported that the police were telling the public to investigate crimes themselves. For instance, burglary and vandalism victims were expected to check CCTV evidence and interview neighbours before troubling the Old Bill. Many officers had ‘given up’ investigating what he called ‘high volume’ crimes and concluded: ‘Effectively, what’s happened is that a number of crimes are on the verge of being decriminalised.’

The Obama administration stops at nothing to reward union bosses. By Hector Barreto
Excerpt: Big Labor and the Obama administration scored a big victory on May 5. It happened when Senate Republicans failed to secure a two-thirds majority to override the president's veto of legislation that would have reversed the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) "ambush" election rule.

Racist Democrats Oppose Obama: The Democrats Abandon Free Trade. By Steve Chapman 
Excerpt: For a long time, there was a bipartisan consensus for free trade. President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, and Democrat Bill Clinton got it passed. It prevailed in the Senate in 1993 with the support of 27 Democrats and 34 Republicans. The consensus wasn't unanimous by any means, but it was broad enough to steadily advance the cause. Tuesday's Senate vote against considering a bill to give President Barack Obama "fast-track authority" for trade deals suggests those days are gone. Only one Democrat supported it, with 42 opposed -- led by Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (Free trade builds economies, but hurts union bosses. ~Bob)

Democrats 2016: Sanders Now Clinton’s Chief Rival. By Geoffrey Skelley, Associate Editor, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Excerpt: “Inevitable.” That’s the word often used to describe Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Democratic nomination. Can anyone beat her? Anything’s possible, but the odds appear quite low. Still, her most threatening intraparty opposition could prove to be a man who isn’t even technically a Democrat (yet, anyway): independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a self-identified “democratic socialist.” We see him as a potential thorn in Clinton’s side, and to reflect that, we are moving Sanders to the top of the non-Clinton tier in our presidential rankings for Democrats.

Racist Left Slams 'Sexist' Obama Over Spat with Elizabeth Warren. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: Obama raised some eyebrows by calling Warren wrong on the facts and dismissing her opposition with this jab: "Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else." Serious shade. Here, the American Left's erstwhile hottest political crush takes a shot at the American Left's current hottest political crush, and some on the Left are reflexively resorting to identity politics demagoguery to fight back. Because of course they are: National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O'Neill on Wednesday called President Obama's critique of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sexist. (As I predicted, racism is out, sexism is in. ~Bob)

Important: What the Senate’s anti-TPP vote tells the world. By Stephen Stromberg
Excerpt: Where you stand on fast-tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is quickly becoming an ideological litmus test on the American left. But to some governments outside the United States, the TPP is already a litmus test of a much more consequential kind — of American seriousness in Asia. The stakes in the TPP debate are a lot higher than the trade deal’s potential economic benefits. The view from Singapore, a trading partner and a party to TPP negotiations, is that this is “a critical moment,” Grace Fu, a senior Singaporean diplomat, told me last week.

Hillary Clinton’s worries mount. By Jennifer Rubin 
Excerpt: It’s only Wednesday, but it’s already been a lousy week for Hillary Clinton. Trying to ride the populist tiger, remain silent on key issues and not be a target in the inequality wars would be a hard balancing act for any politician, but for one without much political grace and a problematic record, she has her hands full. The populist wave washed over the White House yesterday with a shellacking from President Obama’s own party on the trade agenda. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as she did on banking and on the president’s nominee for the No. 3 spot at Treasury, drove the debate and stood up to the president — from the left. Clinton did not have the nerve to do so or to bolster the president, once again showing that her caution paralyzes her and makes her irrelevant. 

Social Insecurity: The Looming Crisis. By Jim Harrington 
Excerpt: For years, actuaries, financial analysts and policy wonks have warned that Social Security is doomed to crash. Contrary to rosy predictions a decade ago that this popular government program has a funded lifetime of 33 more years and won’t sink into the red until 2017, Social Security actually went red in 2010 and will go broke in 2024.
In 1983, the Social Security trustees predicted that reforms would maintain the program’s solvency through 2048. Even they’ve changed their tune, though they won’t admit it’s as moribund as it actually is.

Obama Rips Fox: "We're Going To Have To Change How The Media Reports'
Excerpt: For going on seven years we have learned three things about President Obama: 1) He loves the poor so much he continues to create more of them. 2) He loves the poor so much he does everything in his power to keep them poor. 3) He doesn’t see the opposition as loyal, but as bad players — his enemy. ...We’re used to this Obama, the forever-partisan who has never seen himself as president of all the people but only of those who worship him. What was most revealing about the president’s comments was his expressed desire to “change how the media reports.” (Fox news ripped again. Show me your shocked face. There is one loose cow from the corral of ObamaPravda, or US Media Pool. Internet control coming soon. The Iron Curtain lives. Gee, and Hillary wants to change religion and how we believe and practice faith.....Pick your totalitarian in chief. --Barb)

United States Federal Regulatory State is Larger than India's Economy
Excerpt: In January 2015, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported outlays for fiscal year (FY) 2014 of $3.5 trillion and projected spending for FY 2015 at $3.656 trillion. The CBO projected that spending would reach $4 trillion by 2017, whereas President Barack Obama's federal budget proposal for FY 2016 already seeks $3.999 trillion in discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending. High debt and deficits notwithstanding, $4 trillion in annual spending will soon be the new normal.

Rising Dragon News

China to increase video surveillance in security push
Excerpt: China will ensure that all key public areas are covered with video surveillance cameras by 2020 to fight crime and ensure social stability, the government said on Wednesday, part of a broader push to step up security in response to violent unrest. China has already taken a series of measures to prevent attacks by extremists, including plans for an anti-terrorism law that would give the government broader surveillance powers and offering to pay for tips about violent plots.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins key China visit
Excerpt: Indian PM Narendra Modi has begun a three-day visit to China as the two countries seek to boost economic co-operation. Mr Modi has met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xian, capital of Mr Xi's home province of Shaanxi, and will later travel to Beijing and Shanghai.

Gun News

Mugging victim opens fire on suspects; one shot, two flee
Excerpt: Two men are on the loose and a third suspect is in the hospital after an alleged robbery victim fought back. A woman was approached by three men as she returned home from work in the 3300 block of W. 34th Street around 1 a.m. Friday. The men tried to rob her, but the woman fought back. ... Her father wanted his only daughter to be licensed to carry so she could protect herself. "Honestly, I mostly carry it because my dad wanted me to. Now I'm glad I listened," Crystal said.

Tulsa Homeowner Shoots Man Banging On Her Door
Excerpt: Police Captain Thomas Bell said the homeowner first thought her husband was returning home early, but then heard banging, screaming and breaking glass. Bell said the woman fired three shots through the door, hitting the man in the head, shoulder and upper chest. 

Police: Homeowner shoots suspect during home invasion
Excerpt: "I heard a few gunshots and then a couple of minutes later, I heard a knock on my door," said neighbor Sharmel Doberson. "She was like 'Mel, Mel Mel, call 911. Some guy just broke into my house. He had me and my old man and my daughter held down at gunpoint."

Police: Gwinnett robbery victim shoots assailants, kills one
Excerpt: A robbery victim turned the tables on his assailants late Monday night, shooting and killing an alleged robber during a home invasion at an apartment complex in Gwinnett County, police said. Two of the dead man’s alleged accomplices are in custody facing murder charges.

Race Card News

Charges Filed After Investigators Spot Unexpected Culprits on Video Allegedly Looting During Baltimore Riots. By Jason Howerton
Excerpt: The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has suspended two correctional officers without pay after they were caught on video allegedly looting a 7-Eleven store during violent riots in Baltimore last month. The video reportedly shows the two officers, identified as Tamika Cobb and Kendra Richard, leaving the convenience store with merchandise.

N.J. teacher fired over students' 'get well' letters to convicted cop killer
Excerpt: As its meeting stretched past midnight, the Orange school board on Wednesday voted to terminate the employment of a third-grade teacher for allowing her students to write "get well" letters to a convicted cop killer.

The Left's Twisted Concern for Premature Black (Voter) Deaths. By Nate Jackson
Excerpt: “Blacks die sooner than whites. How many votes has this cost Democrats?” So headlined The Washington Post over the weekend. It’s not so much that black lives matter, you see, as blackvotes matter to Democrat politicians. (Questions no one is asking: Men, who are more likely to vote Republican, die seven years sooner than women. How many votes has that cost Republicans? ~Bob)

Black Lives Don’t Matter
Why are Cops accused of racist brutality when arresting a black criminal by scrutiny of the suspect’s education level, available area jobs and white privilege when the thug runs, assaults the officer or resists arrest? Why a rush to defend black criminals over cops before any evidence is in; contending Police are guilty until proven innocent? More importantly why do Black lives (only) matter to the Media when it’s a black criminal killed by a white cop and not the high death rate of (Black on Black) killings? Where’s the Media defending the white NYC police officer, Brian Moore, who was just shot in the head and died at the hand of a black thug?

Cop’s Lives Matter Too. By David L. Goetsch
Excerpt: It is only May and already 11 police officers in America have been gunned down by vicious killers. The latest two—Officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate—were shot while making a routine traffic stop in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Yet, there are no marches in support of police officers and no protestors wearing T-shirts proclaiming “Cops Lives Matter.” Apparently to Al Sharpton, Malik Shabaz, and the usual cast of race-hustling characters who foment looting, arson, and violence whenever a young black man is shot by a police officer, cop’s lives don’t matter—even when the cop is black. This is a sad commentary on the double-standard that exists in American society today.

New details emerge after deadly playground attack
Excerpt: During that time, one witness, who wants to remain anonymous, said the suspect was lurking around the corner. That person tells FOX 17 the 12-year-old, who police identify as Jamarion Lawhorn, came out and asked to borrow a phone. That’s when Lawhorn called 911 and turned himself in. (Event from 2014, in Michigan. Michael Verkerke, who was stabbed to death while playing, was 9 and white. Followup story indicates 12-year-old black male has been ruled competent to stand trial as an adult in 2015. They have to be carefully taught.....Barb)

The Only Way to End Institutional Racism is to End the Democrat Party
Excerpt: The only way to end institutional racism in America is to banish the Democrat party and any future political entity Progressives might rebrand themselves as. Contrary to what minorities have been brainwashed to believe, it is the Democrat Party – not the Republicans – who have a rich and enduring history of racism in America. Democrats were the party of slavery. 

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News

Worth Reading: Learning from Obamacare's spectacular failures. By Phil Kerpen
Excerpt: Federal taxpayers spent a shocking total of $5.4 billion — with a B — on grants to establish what ended up being just 13 state Obamacare exchanges. In some states the failures have been spectacular enough to embarrass officials and imperil political careers, and in far too many places, Republicans who should have known better went along. It’s an object lesson in keeping your fingerprints off the other party’s very bad ideas, ... Tiny Vermont got $200 million and built a site so bad that they may pull the plug later this summer. Minnesota is also considering shutting down; they got $189 million. Hawaii’s site is hemorrhaging cash, despite getting $205 million from the feds, and is likely to shut down if state legislators say no to an emergency $28 million bailout request.

Out-Of-Pocket Spending Surges Under Obamacare
Excerpt: The growth in health care spending has slowed down and President Obama wants America to know his health care law gets the credit. Or maybe the blame, because one reason for that slowdown is that people are spending more out of their own pockets. Health care actuaries say that when people have to spend more out of pocket for health care, they tend to spend less elsewhere. And when a third party—employers, health insurers or the government—insulates consumers from the cost of care they tend to spend more. Out-of-pocket spending on health care declined for decades—until the Affordable Care Act kicked in:

Undocumented Democrat News

Maryland, Virginia suburbs receive surge of border kids from Central America. By Pamela Constable 
Excerpt: Three counties in the Washington region have received among the highest numbers of unaccompanied minors fleeing Central America since January, according to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. Fairfax, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties have taken in more children from the recent border surge than all but five other cities and counties across the nation, largely due to their sizeable populations of Central American immigrants.
Excerpt: Today, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 7 to 3 to raise taxes on Fairfax County homeowners. This year’s $185 dollar property tax rate increase on the average homeowner results in a 16% tax increase over the last 3 years.(See below. ~Bob)
Fairfax County Schools: How will FCPS go from a nearly $8 million shortfall in school year 2015-16 (FY 2016) to a projected shortfall of more than *$100 million in school year 2016-17 (FY 2017)?
Excerpt: For the past two years, FCPS has been projecting and communicating the anticipated shortfall of more than $100 million for school year 2016-17 (FY 2017). The cost drivers for the school year 2016-17 (FY 2017) budget include both items outside of FCPS' control, like retirement and enrollment increases, and providing competitive compensation for our teachers. The cost drivers include: a growing student population with diverse needs. (All conservatives deserve a throw pillow embroidered with “I TOLD YOU SO” on their couches. -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt http://www.nationalreview.com/newsletters)

With robust U.S. economy, remittances to Latin America hit all-time high
Excerpt: The volume of remittances received in Latin America last year topped the previous high of $65 billion reached in 2008, the Inter-American Development Bank said Tuesday, crediting an improving U.S. economy.

Defense Funding Bill Shouldn’t Allow Illegal Immigrants to Enlist in the Military. Rep. Dave Brat
Excerpt: Despite the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted down repeated attempts to encourage the recruitment of illegal immigrants into the military, we are seeing yet another attempt to encourage such recruitment recently inserted into a must-pass defense funding bill. Even worse, the push to recruit illegal immigrants is happening at a time when U.S. citizens are being downsized from the military or turned away by recruiters.

"You're Greener than Gore" News

Frac Sand Safe Despite What Environmentalists Say
Excerpt: Studies conducted by regulatory bodies and research groups have conclusively shown silica sand mining operations do not increase the concentrations of silica sand particles in the ambient air downwind of such operations. Water use data show silica sand mining operations consume a small fraction of statewide water resources. The existing local, state, and federal regulatory structure is designed to ensure silica sand mining - and myriad other industrial operations - is conducted in a manner that ensures compliance with air and water quality standards, and thus protects human health and the environment. The increase in silica and sand mining has had a substantial economic and employment benefits in the states that have benefited from the silica sand mining boom. Silica sand mining is an important part of the larger, recent revolution in domestic energy production, by which the United States is producing ever-increasing amounts of affordable clean energy by tapping into a huge supply of heretofore-untouched resources.

Wind energy myths spun by lobbyists and salesmen. By Mary Kay Barton
Excerpt: A recent letter in my local paper by American Wind Energy Association representative Tom Vinson is typical of wind industry sales propaganda. It deserves correction. This is the reality: Industrial wind energy is a NET LOSER – economically, environmentally, technically and civilly. Let’s examine how. Economically. New York State has some of the highest electricity rates in the United States – a whopping 53 percent above the national average. This is due in large part to throwing hundreds of billions of our taxpayer and ratepayer dollars into the wind. High electricity costs drive people and businesses out of the state, and ultimately hurt poor families the most.

Religion of Peace News

Worth Reading: The First — and a Half — Amendment. By Victor Davis Hanson
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418201/first-and-half-amendment-victor-davis-hanson
Excerpt: Every time the West has forgotten that fact — from putting on trial cranky Socrates or incendiary Jesus to routinely burning books in the Third Reich — we have come to regret what followed. Censorship, of course, is never branded as extreme and dangerous, but rather as a moderate and helpful means to curb the hate speech of a bald, barefooted crank philosopher who pollutes young minds and introduces wacky and dangerous cults, or a hatemonger who whips innocent people in front of a temple in between his faked and hokey miracles, or traitorous Jews who scribble and call their first-grade art the equivalent of Rembrandt or their perverted sexual fantasies the stuff of Hegel. Banning free expression is never presented as provocative, but always the final act of an aggrieved and understandably provoked society.

As Predicted: Saudi Arabia Promises to Match Iran in Nuclear Capability. By David E. Sanger
Excerpt: Now, as he gathered Arab leaders over dinner at the White House on Wednesday and prepared to meet with them at Camp David on Thursday, he faced a perverse consequence: Arabia and many of the smaller Arab states are now vowing to match whatever nuclear enrichment capability Iran is permitted to retain.

Obama Throws Summit, Nobody Comes. By Adam Campbell 
Excerpt: What if you threw a summit and nobody came? Barack Obama learned that the hard way–when four of the six Persian Gulf heads of state he invited to Camp David stood him up. The point of Obama’s summit was to calm fears about his potential nuclear deal with Iran. The potential deal created some strange bedfellows worldwide: uniting often-contentious Middle Eastern nations, and creating a bipartisan push for changes in Congress, who all feel the deal, as-is, will have a disastrous effect on the Middle East.

Surprise: Qatar to Free Taliban Commanders Exchanged for Bergdahl. By Admiral James A. "Ace" Lyons
Excerpt: The five senior Taliban Commanders released from Guantanamo (GITMO) in exchange for the return of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl are set to be freed from their “luxurious” confinement in Qatar effective June 1. These five hard-core terrorists are Mullah Norullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammend Nabi Omari. They were classified as some of the most dangerous Taliban commanders held at GITMO, according to Thomas Joscelyn of The Long War Journal. (Who would possibly have anticipated this could happen, that five of the most dangerous men, sworn mortal enemies of every American, would end up free as birds to go back to doing their best to lead their devotees in terrorism, murder, and of course, killing any Americans possible? What a shock! Well, who, that is, besides several million of us who looked at the trade for Bergdahl and knew instantly that the five murderers would eventually end up back on the battlefield, only now more respected than ever for having escaped Gitmo. Thank you, Mr. President. Will you now send the drones to take these guys out ASAP? Probably not, that would really offend some people over there. --Del)

51-Year-Old Actor Michael Enright Joins Kurdish Militia To Fight Isis
Excerpt: Michael Enright is one of the several hundred Westerners who have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join Kurdish combat units and fight the Islamic State. He’s an unusual volunteer in several respects: he’s 51 years old, the first time he handled a gun was at a shooting range right before he left for Syria, and he is almost certainly the only YPG fighter who has appeared in movies with Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp.

Pirates: Five Iranian boats fire shots in the Persian Gulf. By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Excerpt: Five Iranian boats fired shots across the bow of a Singapore flagged cargo vessel in the Persian Gulf on Thursday in an attempt to potentially stop the ship, a U.S. official told CNN. For the first time, the incident brought another Persian Gulf nation into the recent rising maritime tensions in the region. It is not yet clear if any of the rounds hit the Alpine Eternity. (Muslim Pirates go back many centuries, may have caused the decline of Rome. See: Mohammad & Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy by Emmet Scott. http://www.amazon.com/Mohammed-Charlemagne-Revisited-History-Controversy/dp/0578094185/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331580331&sr=1-1 ~Bob)

Excerpt: The Taliban claimed credit for an attack that killed 14 civilians, including 9 foreigners, at the Park Palace Hotel in Kabul that started last evening and ended this morning. The assault is the latest in a string of attacks that have targeted civilians at upscale hotels in the Afghan capital.

Yawn. It's what they do. Congo rebels may have committed crimes against humanity: UN. By Tom Miles
Excerpt: A Ugandan Islamist rebel group committed human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last year that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a U.N. report published on Wednesday. The Allied Democratic Forces killed at least 237 civilians in the last quarter of 2014, including 65 women and 35 children, the U.N. human rights office said in a statement.

Syria conflict: IS advances on ancient ruins of Palmyra
Excerpt: Palmyra, one of the archaeological jewels of the Middle East, is said to be under threat from Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria. The Jihadists seized buildings on the eastern edge of the adjacent city of Tadmur on Thursday, but their push was reportedly halted by the Syrian army.

Al-Qaeda’s Assassination Campaign Against ‘Blasphemous’ Bloggers. From the terror organization's dangerous new chapter: "Next target is loading... Stay tuned!"
Excerpt: As Westerners come under fire for drawing cartoons of Muhammad, Bangladeshi bloggers are being killed with hatchets for professing disbelief in the Islamic prophet or simply promoting a secular society. And as the West is focused on locating ISIS operatives and cells, al-Qaeda’s new chapter in southeast Asia is conducting the assassinations at an alarming rate — three victims in less than three months. Ananta Bijoy Das, a science writer whose numerous books included one on evolution, was hacked to death by four men wielding machetes and cleavers Tuesday as he went to work in the city of Sylhet.

Why Shiite Expansion Will Be Short-Lived
Excerpt: The sectarian conflict in the Middle East can neatly be divided into two sides: Sunnis and Shiites. Or so it would seem. The reality, it turns out, is more complicated. Sunni unity is a myth – the countries that constitute the Sunni camp are divided over a variety of issues. And the Shiites, whose power has grown since the early 1990s, nonetheless suffer from the inescapable constraints of being a minority population.

Muslims killing Muslims for Allah. ~Bob

45 killed in terrorist attack on bus in Karachi
Excerpt: At least 45 people were killed and 11 people were injured in an attack on a bus carrying members of Ismaili community near Safoora Chowrangi in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of Karachi.
Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali said that 60 people were on board the bus when gunmen opened fire and killed 43 passengers on the spot, killing the bus driver first. (The Ismailis provoked them by being Ismailis, you see. How dare they poke them in the eye in such a way? Didn’t they realize that their being Ismaili was offensive to these jihadists? They have no one to blame but themselves. So goes the reasoning of those who blame us for the jihad attack on our free speech event in Texas. --Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.org.)

Girding for the long haul of terror. America needs a new security strategy to deal with evil-doers in the homeland. By Sol Sanders
Excerpt: Two seemingly unconnected recent events but in reality intimately connected are sure signs that the war on terrorism is being lost. Of course, we must begin with that old Chinese adage: When a fish starts rotting, it stinks first from the head. President Obama has undeclared the war on terrorism, refusing even to name the enemy. But it takes two to tango — and the Islamic terrorists cling to their effort to inflict hurt on the United States whenever and now, alas, wherever, they can. The recent attack in GarlandTexas, revealed what the general public only had guessed: There are resident terrorists — some U.S. born, others naturalized citizens, some of Muslim descent, others converts to Islam — ready to spring into action. (Yes, yes, yes, it's time we reacted to all the propaganda that washes over the world daily from our enemies, and start replying with our own inputs, propaganda based on truth, not ideology and deception. When people hear nothing but the ceaseless condemnations of The Great Satan, the corrupt imperialist Crusader bastards, yadda-yadda, they of course soak in at least some of it. At least hearing some contrary inputs will let the more intelligent people question the lies broadcast about us, and lessen the level of resentment and victimization they have been indoctrinated into. It is a battle for minds too, and not engaging in it at all just cedes victory to our mortal enemies. --Del)

Church? Not the Mosque? New statistics show FGM on the rise in UK - Church called to act. By Heather Tomlinson
Excerpt: The church is being asked to raise the issue of Female Genital Mutilation in its communities, as new statistics show the illegal practice is an increasing problem in the UK.
Data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre identified 578 new cases in March in England. This brings the total figures up to nearly 4,000 in the UK since the data started to be recorded in September. 60 of these cases are in under-18s.

*****
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304815980&sr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here:


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