Hillary Clinton Faces Uphill Fight for White, Rural Vote

Heh.

The MSM collectivists are simply obsessed with the GOP's alleged Hispanic problem, but as we saw in 2014, it's the Democrats who're facing the biggest demographic political hurdles. It's going to be extremely difficult for the Dems to win the White House in 2016, ironically so if Hillary Clinton wins the party's nomination. To put it matter-of-factly, she'll be an old white lady in a party coming off two terms of the left's so-called "rainbow" coalition of "the ascendant." It was Barack Obama who mobilized this coalition based on his diversity and radical Marxist pedigree. Clinton's got none of that, which is of course why leftists are jonesing for an Elizabeth Warren "populist" candidacy (more irony there, of course, with "Fauxcahontas").

In any case, see the Wall Street Journal, "Uphill Fight: Interviews in Arkansas Suggest Leeriness of State’s Former First Lady" (via Memeorandum):

DEVALLS BLUFF, Ark.—White, working-class voters in eastern Arkansas for years backed Democratic candidates, among them Bill Clinton and outgoing Gov. Mike Beebe, but have moved sharply toward Republicans in recent elections.

Now, as the 2016 election takes shape, some of Hillary Clinton ’s allies are trumpeting her potential as a presidential candidate to bring these voters back to the Democratic Party and to run competitively in a handful of states, including Arkansas, that have spurned President Barack Obama .

But even here, where Mrs. Clinton was the state’s first lady, many voters say they view her with the same leeriness they do Mr. Obama and other national Democrats. That points to a significant question should Mrs. Clinton run: whether enough such voters can separate her from the national party many have grown to dislike.

“I’m mad at the Democratic Party, and I don’t see Hillary changing that,” said Eddie Ciganek, a 61-year-old farmer who serves on Prairie County’s governing board and who has voted Democrat at times. “Her thinking isn’t going to be very far off from President Obama’s thinking, and I don’t think they’re moving the country in the right direction.”

Occasional Democratic voter Johnny Watkins, 64, wearing a light-blue work shirt after finishing his shift at the county landfill, said of Mrs. Clinton: “I don’t think she has any concerns about us.”

Working-class voters have long been a bedrock of Democratic support, and the party continues to do well with voters from lower-income households overall, according to exit polls.

But white, more rural voters in the South and elsewhere have been fleeing the party. Just five years ago, Arkansas Democrats held both Senate seats, three out of four House seats, the governor’s office and control of both chambers of the state legislature. The election in November of Republicans Tom Cotton to the U.S. Senate and Asa Hutchinson to the governor’s office will leave the Democratic Party without a single federal or statewide officeholder in Arkansas, a state that Bill Clinton carried twice by at least 17 percentage points.

Mrs. Clinton’s allies are confident she can attract white voters who have turned away from her party, particularly women. Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, who worked on her 2008 campaign, said she “demonstrated a significant ability to not only win votes from working-class white women but to connect with them on a personal level.”

After a rocky start in that campaign, Mrs. Clinton cast herself as a scrappy underdog and union ally while topping Mr. Obama in more than 20 states in Democratic primaries in places such as Pennsylvania and Ohio that have many white, working-class voters...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "Why the Democrats Got Crushed — Totally Freakin' Crushed! — And Why They Have No 2016 Lock."

Heidi Klum Christmas in St. Barts

At Egotastic!, "Heidi Klum on Christmas Caribbean Bikini Making the Sexy Vacation!"

PREVIOUSLY: "Heidi Klum's Sharper Image Too Sexy for Vegas!"

Special Offers in Home & Garden, Kitchen & Housewares

At Amazon, Shop Amazon Home - New Year, New You - Organize Your Kitchen

Open Season on Cops: One Suspect Still at Large After Officers Ambushed in South Los Angeles

The continuing cataclysm of the left's all-out war on law enforcement.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Uneasiness among L.A. police as 2 officers say they were shot at":

The search for a second suspect in an "ambush" on Los Angeles police was called off early Monday, and red and yellow caution tape barred entrance to the scene of the shooting.

"We don't know what precipitated the shooting," LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman told the Los Angeles Times, but "everyone's keenly aware of what happened in New York," and there is a "sense of uneasiness."

Sunday night around 9:20 p.m., two officers in a single patrol car were responding to a call and driving southbound on Hoover Street near 62nd Place. They saw a muzzle flash -- the visible blast from a gun -- and determined they were being fired at, Neiman said.

Neither officer was hurt, and they returned fire, officials said.

Police called a citywide tactical alert and launched a massive search. One person of interest was detained for questioning, but another man remained at large.

"It was an ambush," Deputy Chief Bob Green said. "They were fired upon without any prior contact with the suspects."

Neiman said, "It's very clear that the officers were in a black-and-white police car. The people who shot at these officers knew they were the police."

Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, one of the officers involved in the shooting showed multiple investigators around the crime scene. Investigators surveyed the east side of Hoover Street, where bullet casings from the gunman's weapon lay, according to police. Minutes later, investigators huddled around a gutter on the west side of the street, where they removed a weapon that appeared to be a rifle.

The setting of the shooting is a South Los Angeles neighborhood with primarily single-family homes, a few churches and a nearby high school.

The incident came less than two weeks after two New York police officers were fatally shot in an ambush...

More.

Video at CBS News, "Massive search after suspects fire on LAPD patrol car."

And at Twitchy, "‘How bad is this going to get?’ Suspects open fire on LAPD officers; One remains at large."

Can Afghan Security Forces Beat Back Taliban Without Support of U.S. Airstrikes?

Notes from Obama's precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

At LAT, "U.S. airstrikes remain crucial to Afghan forces in Taliban battles":

For several days, Taliban fighters barricaded on a mountaintop lobbed rockets at the remote town of Sangar in the valley below. Residents fled while police holed up in their outposts and begged superiors for help.

At a sprawling base about 100 miles away, a contingent of Afghan army commandos prepared to board a helicopter to join the fight. But their commanders, worried that the insurgents would shoot down the aircraft, called the American military first.

U.S. Apache attack helicopters swept in and launched missiles at the Taliban posts, said Afghan officials involved in the late September incident. The firepower scattered the insurgents, clearing the way for the Afghan commandos to break the siege in the eastern province of Ghazni.

The U.S.-led coalition officially denies carrying out airstrikes in the battle 125 miles southwest of Kabul, saying international forces provided only aerial surveillance. Under former President Hamid Karzai, coalition airstrikes in populated areas were sharply restricted, although distressed Afghan commanders often requested help anyway.

In this case, several Afghan officials and military commanders say, an American air assault ensured that the district did not slip from government control in one of the largest clashes in months in a volatile province connecting Kabul with southern Afghanistan.

"The American helicopters hit two points high on the mountain where the Taliban were firing at us," said Gen. Haider Niqpai, commander of the Afghan army's 3rd Brigade, based in Ghazni. "That was the turning point."

Even as President Obama prepares to declare an end to U.S. combat in Afghanistan on Dec. 31, the accounts of the battle in Ghazni illustrate how crucial — and politically sensitive — the U.S. role remains in the fight against Taliban-led insurgents.

"In just a few days, our combat mission in Afghanistan will be over," Obama said in a Christmas Day address. "Our longest war will come to a responsible end."

The U.S. force in Afghanistan will shrink to about 10,800 in January under a pared-down mission focused on training and counter-terrorism. But under combat operations rules that Obama approved last month, U.S. commanders will still be authorized to conduct airstrikes to help Afghan troops who are suffering record casualties in ground skirmishes with a resilient Taliban.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said recently that U.S. forces would provide "limited combat enabler support" to Afghan troops starting in January.

The airstrikes would allow the smaller U.S. force to support their Afghan allies, who have minimal air capability, while exposing Americans to less danger than in ground fighting.

But airstrikes also carry the risk of additional civilian casualties, which stoke public anger, keeping the United States deeply enmeshed in a conflict that the White House promised to end.

More.

Also, "Afghanistan: U.S.-led coalition formally ends 13-year combat mission."

Self-Serving Lawmakers and Unions Get a Boost from Aggravating Racial Tensions

From Professor Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "Politicians benefit from American tribal warfare":

"What if I told you," asks a Matrix-themed photo-meme that has been circulating on Facebook, "that you can be against cops murdering citizens and citizens murdering cops at the same time?"

Judging by the past few weeks, this really is a Matrix-level revelation, obvious as it may seem. We have Americans protesting because of police shootings, and we have police turning their backs on New York City's Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio over lack of support after two police were assassinated by Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, a gunman from Baltimore who said he was seeking revenge for the choking death of cigarette-tax evader Eric Garner.

And, as blogger Eric Raymond notes, the response has been divided: "Because humans are excessively tribal, it's difficult now to call for justice against Eric Garner's murderers without being lumped in with the 'wrong side.' Nor will Garner's partisans, on the whole, have any truck with people who aren't interested in poisonously racializing the circumstances of his death."

This is a tragedy, but not a surprise. Tribalism is the default state of humanity: The tendency to defend our own tribe even when we think it's wrong, and to attack other tribes even when they're right, just because they're other. Societies that give in to the temptations of tribalism — which are always present — wind up spending a lot of their energy on internal strife, and are prone to disintegrate into spectacular factionalism and infighting, often to the point of self-destruction.

Societies that temper those tribal tendencies, replacing them with the mechanisms of civil society, do much better. But there is much opportunity for political empire-building in tribalism, and if the benefits of stoking tribal fires exceed the costs for political actors, then expect political actors to pour gasoline on even the smallest spark.

That's pretty much what's happened in the last few months, and the results haven't been good. In America, we have both a police culture that is too quick to escalate force, and an aggressive victim culture, embodied by the loathsome Al Sharpton, that seeks to portray every police use of force, at least against members of the wrong racial and ethnic groups, as excessive.

A healthy society would stigmatize, marginalize and shun the tribalizers...

Still more at the link.

Cassandra Fairbanks Eviscerated on Twitter!

Heh, you gotta love it!

Good. RT @CassandraRules SOMEONE JUST PLOWED THROUGH OUR LINE AND HIT PROTESTORS

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

HAHAHAHAHAHA! RT @CassandraRules Why aren't they looking for the dude who plowed people down?!?! #LAPD YOU ARE GUILTY pic.twitter.com/7MYBgktzJd

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

I love cops. RT @CassandraRules This cop just said "you can't be in the street, you're gonna get run over" #LAPD http://t.co/AIa7wD6wG1

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

@KurtSchlichter @CassandraRules Idiots who to pretend to be victims and hate the country that protects their freedom #GetYourAssOutOfTraffic

— Doug Hagin (@DaleyGator) December 28, 2014

Somebody should call the cops. RT @KurtSchlichter Good. RT @CassandraRules SOMEONE JUST PLOWED THROUGH OUR LINE AND HIT PROTESTORS

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 28, 2014

.@iowahawkblog Dude, check out @CassandraRules's TL. She did. And tweeted about it. It's the greatest thing ever was.

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

Group protesting police calls 911 for help from police. https://t.co/foqf21cwrA ht @RightGlockMom

— Razor (@hale_razor) December 28, 2014

I'm not saying I want anti-American shitbag protesters to get run over. I'm just saying I think it's absolutely hilarious when they do.

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

I think you should respect the driver's powerful protest against asswipery. STOP TRYING TO CRUSH DISSENT! @CassandraRules @iowahawkblog

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 28, 2014

@CassandraRules @sarahrstevenson @KurtSchlichter The Revolution needs better traffic control.

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 28, 2014

@CassandraRules And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why nobody cares about some protester who was run over. @KurtSchlichter

— DM (@idaho_expatriot) December 28, 2014

@CassandraRules 1.Block Traffic. 2.Burn US Flag. 3.Call cops names. 4.Whine about cops not searching for driver. #Idiots @KurtSchlichter

— DM (@idaho_expatriot) December 28, 2014

PREVIOUSLY: "Cassandra Fairbanks Not 'Plowed Down' on Hollywood Boulevard Last Night: But 'the night is young...'"

Blake Lively Talks About What the Holidays Mean to Her

The lovely Ms. Lively.

Passengers Plead to Be Saved from Burning Ferry

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Passengers plead to be saved from burning ferry off Greek island":

Desperate passengers pleaded via mobile phone to be saved from a burning ferry off the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday as rescuers battled gale-force winds to get to them.

But with gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour making rescue difficult and dangerous, the crew has so far only managed to get 150 of the 478 people off the stricken “Norman Atlantic”, Greek officials said.

Seas were so violent that only 35 of those have so far been lifted from a lifeboat to a tanker that came to their aid, Greek Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said hours into the emergency.

He said seven merchant vessels have encircled the ferry in an attempt to shelter it from fierce Force 10 winds, as Greek and Italian firefighting vessels raced from their coasts.

Italian navy spokesman Riccardo Rizzotto said four helicopters were already at the scene and the ship’s captain had told coastguards that the ferry was now drifting towards the Albanian coast.

“The weather conditions are so bad we need an extraordinary level of support, which is effectively what is being put in place,” he said…

Search Resumes for AirAsia Flight 8501

At the Wall Street Journal, "Search for Missing AirAsia Flight 8501 Resumes: Disappearance of Plane Rekindles Fears After Flight From Indonesia to Singapore Goes Missing":

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Search teams scoured waters off Indonesia’s coast Monday after an AirAsia jetliner with 162 people on board vanished in a thicket of storm clouds the day before, kindling much of the same fear and anguish as the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370 months earlier.

The plane, which had been bound for Singapore, lost contact with air-traffic control less than an hour after takeoff from Surabaya, Indonesia, early Sunday shortly after requesting to climb to a higher altitude to avoid bad weather, officials said.

Ships and aircraft were deployed from across Southeast Asia to hunt for the plane. But as night fell more than 10 hours later, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that no trace had been found. The search resumed at dawn Monday after Indonesian officials suspended it overnight.

As distraught family members of passengers gathered at airports in Surabaya and Singapore to await any information about loved ones, the scenes of grief were reminiscent of those just over nine months ago, when a Malaysia Airlines plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. The fate of that plane remains a mystery...

Continue reading.

And at the New York Times, "Two Flights Missing, but Their Stories Are Not the Same."

America Needs to Crush the Enemy Within

From Jared Diamond, at LAT:

We Americans today are focused on the wrong threats to American democracy. We are obsessed with threats from overseas: from terrorists and Islamist extremists, and from other countries. But realistically, while terrorists and Islamists and other countries will continue to cause trouble for us, the chance of their ending American democracy is nil. The only real threat to American democracy comes from Americans themselves. If our politicians continue to yield to pressure from extremists not to compromise and remain mired in gridlock, the majority of decent Americans may in frustration come to view an authoritarian government as the only solution to political gridlock — as a lesser evil that has to be tolerated.

Interesting, but wrong.

The Madisonian system --- which favors so-called "gridlock" as a check on tyranny --- is what's preserving our freedom. It's the left that's "the enemy within." Rudy Giuliani said it again this morning: We haven't had this kind of radical anti-Americanism and anti-cop vigilantism since the 1960s. Leftists are emboldened. It's time to crush the f-kers.

Year-End Deals in Tech Accessories

At Amazon, Shop Amazon - Tech Accessories Year-End Deals

Sunday Rule 5 Roundup

Not sure how many fresh posts I can round up today, since I've been getting in some good Rule 5 blogging this weekend. But here goes.

At the Daley Gator, "THE DALEYBABE MEGAN YOUNG."

Now, over at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is a horrendous plastic water bottle causing the seas to rise, you may just be a Warmist."

From Ms. EBL, "Rams v. Seahawks Week 17, Rule 5 with bonus Marshawn Lynch."

And from Egotastic!, "Alyssa Barbara Big Bodacious Yum Yums in Lace Lingerie," and "Alyssa Barbara Hot in Sextastic Posing."

Now here's 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

At Soylent, "OverNighty in Leather."

More from Rio Norte Line, "Rule 5 – My Favorite Bond Girls – Monica Bellucci."

At Drunken Stepfather, "MILEY CYRUS POSTS ON INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY."

Still more from the Chive, "Red lipstick is always a nice touch (48 Photos)."

At Proof Positive, "Lackluster SF 49's vs 11-4 Cardinals."

Also at Knuckledragging, "So what’s the problem here?"

At First Street Journal, "From Around the Blogroll."

And at the Other McCain, "Are You Certain You Don’t Want to Consider Homeschooling Your Kids?"

At Ode's, "Hooter's Stop ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

Guns and Bikinis, "Beautiful Young Babe."

At Postal Dogs (be sure to scroll down), "So, looks like Jeb is thinking about it."

Check By Other Means as well, "Backlit."

Crazy Uncle Bubba, "Selfie Sunday!"

A View from the Beach, "Rule 5 Saturday - Madame Secretary - Téa Leone."

Don't miss Average Bubba, "Rule 5 : The Pre-Christmas Post…"

And at PCP, "Flowing Curves of Beauty."

Drop your links in the comments if I've missed your Rule 5.

Until then...

Gov. Jerry Brown's Aggressive Prison Parole Agenda Backfires as More Parolees Return

And he's supposed to be "Governor Competence."

At LAT, "As more inmates are released from prison, more parolees return":

Randy Whittenburg was a "commendable" candidate for release from prison.

After 31 years behind bars for his role in a Los Angeles strong-arm robbery that ended in murder, Whittenburg had earned four vocational certificates; completed Bible study, anger management and 12-step programs; and accumulated a file of prison officials' praise. He was married and had detailed plans for success.

Eighteen months after he was paroled in 2011, the 47-year-old was jobless, separated from his wife and riding around L.A. on a bicycle, packing heat. When his girlfriend locked him out, he fired his gun into her apartment, hitting her.

"God gave you a second chance," she whispered to him from her hospital bed the next morning. A recorded phone line in the L.A. County Jail captured her incredulity. "Why would you do something like this?"

That troubling question is increasingly being repeated at parole hearings across California as the number of inmates with life sentences who are granted release skyrockets under Gov. Jerry Brown. Currently nearly 2,000 murderers, hit men and robbers who spent decades locked up and now range from middle-aged to elderly are trying to find their way. Most succeed, but each month a few more fail, returning to the drugs and crime that put them in prison and raising public safety concerns.

California is one of four states in which the governor has final authority over parole decisions. A Times analysis of parole records found that Brown has allowed parole for 1,963 inmates with life sentences — more inmates than four governors released in the 27 years before he was elected.

With the dramatic rise in parole, The Times also found a disturbing increase in revocations. Since 2011, at least 50 inmates with life sentences, including 33 paroled under Brown, returned to prison or jail, accused of drug use, domestic violence, theft, even attempted murder. A Stanford University study found that among 860 inmates with life sentences who were paroled from 1995 to 2010, five returned to prison with new felony charges.

The governor defended his parole decisions and said he is abiding by the law and his own belief in redemption. But both Brown and his appointed parole board director declined to comment on the number of inmates who have returned to prison...

Of course they "declined" to comment.

Democrats make the state less safe, and the idiot "progressive" voters keep returning them to office. Yeah, California's f-ked up like that.

Keep reading.

'The moment each day’s work ended, the entire squad ran wind sprints the width of the field, as orderly as Blue Angel pilots, while the Redskins looked on...'

That quote really struck me.

A great read, at the Washington Post, "Washington Redskins, burning out under magnifying glass."

And the team just lost its finale to Dallas, 44-17.

Weatherman Bill Ayers Tells Bill de Blasio to Be Proud of Supporting Marxist Terrorists

Here's a lovely flashback for you, via Twitter:

"Terrorist Bill Ayers tells Bill deBlasio to be Proud of Supporting Marxists http://t.co/rb0ctoH55I #TCOT pic.twitter.com/jJFr7wUGDv" @KfromLI

— God, Guns, & Freedom (@VitoBagofDonuts) December 23, 2014

RELATED: "Walter James Casper Slams NYPD in Solidarity with Murderous Left-Wing Anti-Cop Vigilantism."

No Frontloading for California in 2015

California will hold its presidential primary elections in June, doing away with the earlier (and separate) primaries for the presidential nominations we've seen in earlier years.

Mark Barabak reports, at the Los Angeles Times, "Feeling left out in the Golden State as presidential campaign heats up."

And that reminds me: It's time to start reading Josh Putnam's blog, Frontloading HQ.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."




Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies."

More at Theo's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Season’s Beatings."

Cassandra Fairbanks Not 'Plowed Down' on Hollywood Boulevard Last Night: But 'the night is young...'

Cassandra Fairbanks is the notorious "@CassandraRules." The bitch was whining last night about getting "plowed down" by a hit and run driver during the left's anti-cop protest in Hollywood. Too bad she wasn't ground into the pavement, IMO.

At Twitchy, "‘Car plowed us down': #MillionsMarchLA demonstrators burn flag, block traffic [Vine]."

I can't believe these morons think they can block Hollywood Blvd on a Saturday night and not have trouble. Sheeeeesh. The night is young.
— Das Kuffar (@kufr666) December 28, 2014

Heading to Hollywood and Highland momentarily. #MillionsMarchLA pic.twitter.com/rCtH8JL7ui
— Cassandra (@CassandraRules) December 28, 2014

UPDATE: Cassandra took down her pics, but others have reposted them:

She's not radical! She's a sparkly protestor! @BevH111 @idaho_expatriot @CassandraRules @KurtSchlichter pic.twitter.com/AnTSspoGZY

— Stacey Lennox (@ScotsFyre) December 28, 2014

#USCvsNEB — 'Too Close for Comfort': USC Nearly Blows 18-Point Lead to Nebraska in Holiday Bowl

Exciting game. I could definitely do without that ending, though.

From Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "USC gets Holiday Bowl win that's too close for comfort":

It wasn't over until Nelson Agholor knocked down a Hail Mary pass.

On Saturday night in the Holiday Bowl against Nebraska, USC once again made it far too interesting.

As was the case in numerous other games this season, the Trojans were in position to put away an opponent and appeared as if they would not get it done.

But after an 18-point USC lead late in the third quarter had shrunk to three, Agholor batted away the last-second Hail Mary to preserve the Trojans' 45-42 victory at Qualcomm Stadium.

USC finished 9-4 in Steve Sarkisian's first season as head coach.

“We always try to make it exciting,” Sarkisian said, laughing. “We make it entertaining for everybody.”

USC fans might question the entertainment value, especially with memories of a loss to Arizona State on a Hail Mary still fresh nearly three months later.

“That wasn't new to us,” USC senior safety Gerald Bowman said, referring to the Trojans' penchant for late-game dramatics this season, in both wins and losses.

Quarterback Cody Kessler passed for three touchdowns, tailback Javorius Allen rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns and the Trojans overcame undisciplined play to hold off the Cornhuskers.

Kessler, who said he would return for his final season of eligibility, completed 23 of 39 passes for 321 yards, with one interception. He was named offensive player of the game.

Sarkisian had said before the game that the outcome would not “say who we're going to be next fall.”

But this much is clear: The Trojans need to find ways to close games better...

Keep reading.

Plus, "USC edges Nebraska in knockdown, drag-out, Hail-scary Holiday Bowl."

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Bill de Blasio: 'Apologize to the New York City Police Department'

Major Garrett interviews the former mayor, on CBS Face the Nation.

Both Obama and de Blasio "should lose Al Sharpton":

Commissioner Bill Bratton: NYPD 'Morale is Low'

Major Garrett interviews Bill Bratton, on CBS Face the Nation:

Los Angeles' Minimum Wage Hike Risks Driving Businesses to Nearby Cities

Well, you think?

At LAT, "Would an L.A. minimum wage hike push businesses to nearby cities?":

In less than four years, Tony Yanow has boosted Golden Road Brewing's production nearly sixfold, making beers from the Atwater Village brewery a mainstay in supermarkets across California.

He employs 300 workers in Los Angeles at the brewery and his Mohawk Bend restaurant in Echo Park. As part of a planned expansion, he expects to hire at least 100 more — but most of them may not be in the city.

As lawmakers consider potential minimum wage increases to as high as $15.25 an hour by 2019, Yanow is planning to expand into Orange County and is considering a new project in Glendale.

"I love L.A., but that doesn't mean it's my best bet," he said. "Do you want to go somewhere where you can make money, or do you want to go somewhere where they're stacking the cards against you?"

Los Angeles' minimum wage would apply only within city limits. So the city's unique geography — stretching from the northern reaches of the San Fernando Valley down to the port in San Pedro — provides plenty of options for business owners looking to avoid higher labor costs.

Dozens of municipalities directly border the city, but only two — Santa Monica and West Hollywood — are pondering raising their minimum wages.

Business owners also worry about losing customers if they raise prices to cover higher costs. Why not just buy that cheaper car wash, hamburger or piece of clothing in a neighboring city? While minimum wage advocates argue that higher pay for workers would translate into more spending, opponents worry the economic boost would migrate across the L.A. border.

Neighboring cities such as Burbank have a history of making aggressive plays to attract new businesses.

"There's at least 40 jurisdictions that'll be happy to pick our pocket," said Ruben Gonzalez, senior vice president at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. "Everywhere in the city, you can point to people who can move down the road and serve the same clientele."

Los Angeles' geography differs widely from that of other cities that have passed minimum wage increases, such as Seattle and San Francisco, which have more uniform borders and compact city centers. That means there has been little if any research that would apply to the wage hike being considered in Los Angeles.

"We really don't know what we're dealing with," said Christopher Thornberg, an expert on the California economy who is the founding partner of Beacon Economics. "This is a very aggressive hike they're talking about, in the context of a very convoluted geographic area."

The economics Einsteins of Los Angeles. Driving businesses and jobs outside the city limits.

You gotta hand it to the progs. They're really committed to their ideas, no matter how disastrous.

Keep reading.

Civics Education Making a Comeback

Well, it's about time.

As it is, we're teaching America's dumbest generation.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Civics Instruction Moves Up in Class: More States Mandate Tests on the Subject Amid a Movement for Use of Citizenship Exam":

After years on the back burner of the nation’s educational agenda, civics is making a comeback, with a number of states mandating new classes or assessments and a burgeoning national push for high-school seniors to pass the exam required of new citizens.

For the first time this past school year, a civics exam in Florida counted toward students’ grades, following a mandated class and exam instated the year before, while students in Tennessee started facing a required test two years ago. The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education mandated that the subject be a key component for learning at the state’s colleges and universities starting this school year. Both California and Illinois have statewide task forces and local projects aimed at embedding civics in schools.

“We’re seeing more rumblings of states and local districts recognizing the need for civic engagement, especially for youth,” said Paul Baumann, director of the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement at the Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit.

Recent national reports show students could use a lesson in civics, which generally studies the role of citizens in public issues and covers such topics as how to dissect current events or apply the Constitution to modern issues. About two-thirds of students tested below proficient on the civics portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in both 2006 and 2010. Only 10 states require a social-studies test to graduate from high school, according to the Education Commission of the States.

Recent federal policies, such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, linked money to tests on math and reading, and concerns about a shortcoming in job skills has pressured leaders to focus more on science, technology, engineering and math.

A Center on Education Policy study found in 2007 that about 45% of elementary schools reported cutting time for other subjects to focus on math and reading. And only about one in three elementary teachers reported covering civics subjects on a regular basis, according to federal survey data taken in 2006 and 2010.

Proponents say enhancing civics instruction could help reverse low voter turnout—about one in five adults ages 18 to 29 voted in the 2014 midterms, according to researchers at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service—and address mounting frustration with dysfunction in Washington. They also say it can help increase engagement by minorities and the poor, who typically receive less civics education than more affluent and white students.

“There’s a stronger sense from people now that we must do something in order to be functional as a nation and at the community level,” said Meira Levinson, an associate professor of education at Harvard University who has studied civic-empowerment issues.

Meanwhile, coalitions in seven states have launched a growing movement to require students to pass the U.S. citizenship exam before they can graduate. By the end of next year, proponents aim to introduce and pass legislation in 12 to 15 states.

“So little has been done over so many years now, let’s make sure we take that one solid first step,” said Sam Stone, political director for the Civics Education Initiative, an affiliate of the Joe Foss Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

But some backers of more civics study doubt the value of the 100-question citizenship exam, arguing it is more about rote memorization than learning how to be a better citizen...

Keep reading.

Holiday Saturday Rule 5

Here's a little a break from anti-cop vigilante blogging.

At the Superficial, "Hot Anais Zanotti Bikini Photos: Miami," and "Kat Torres Has The Holiday Spirit and Other News."

At Popaholic, "Daily Addictions – Christmas Edition."

Also, at Egotastic!, "India Reynolds Turkey Roasting, It’s the Next Big Thing, Err, Things, Err Just Look."

More at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is a field (far away from your home) that would be perfect for solar panels, you might just be a Warmist."

At 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

From Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: NYPD."

More at Soylent, "Bath Night Shower Scene."

Knuckledragging, "Your Good Morning Girl."

Also at Ode's, "E-Bay Scam Warning ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

Here's Drunken Stepfather, "VICTORIA JUSTICE IN COSMO OF THE DAY."

From Gator Doug, "THE DALEYBABE LYNDSEY FONSECA."

At GCeleb, "Alyssa Arce Bares Her Necessities" (via Linkiest).

Still more, from London's Daily Mail, "She's doing it again! Chelsea Handler posts yet ANOTHER topless snap to Instagram during holiday ski trip: Campaigning against Instagram censorship."

From Proof Positive, "Happy Boxing Day!"

At Theo's, "Bedtime Totty..."

The Hostages, "No time to motivate y’all, gotta get back on the clock. So babe fitness pictures. Merry Christmas."

Check Goodstuff's, "GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (170th Issue): Lily Cole."

Finally, at Egotastic!, "Rosie Jones for the Happiest of Holidays."

Backlash Against the Left's Deadly Anti-Cop Protest Movement

The left doesn't care about basic decency. They'll kill more cops as soon as they have the chance.

At the New York Times, "After Killing of Police Officers, Protest Movement Is at a Crossroads."

#HandsUpDontShoot #ShutDown5thAve #WinterOfResistance #every28hours #JailKillerCops #NoJusticeNoPeace pic.twitter.com/xBOiUJrCyB

— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) December 23, 2014

Bwahaha!! 'Proud Savage' Mona Eltahawy to Pay Restitution in AFDI Vandalism Case

Freakin' far-left scumbag Mona Eltahawy loses to Pamela Geller.

It's too sweet, lol.

At Atlas Shrugs, "Pamela Geller, Breitbart: ‘Proud Savage’ Mona Eltahawy Has to Pay Restitution In AFDI Ad Vandalism Case."

Joshua Williams, 'Peaceful' Ferguson Protester, Arrested for Setting Fire to QuikTrip in Berkeley, Missouri

Once again, leftist actions speak louder than words.

Leftists are liars.

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Protester who advocates peace charged with setting fire at Berkeley QT":

One of the most frequently quoted and photographed Ferguson protesters was charged Saturday with setting fire to a Berkeley convenience store earlier this week.

St. Louis County police arrested Joshua Williams, 19, of St. Louis, on Friday after several local media outlets and store surveillance captured images of him trying to set a pile of wood on fire outside the QuikTrip on North Hanley Road early Wednesday.

Williams confessed to setting fires at the store in a videotaped interview, according to court documents.

Police say Williams entered the QuikTrip shortly after looters shattered its glass doors during protests of the death of Antonio Martin, 18, who a police officer had shot earlier at the Mobil on the Run store across the street. Surveillance footage from the Mobil store shows Martin point what police say is a gun at a Berkeley officer before the officer fatally shoots him.

Williams can be seen in videos both inside and outside the looted QuikTrip, authorities said.

On Friday night and Saturday morning, a small group gathered at the St. Louis County Justice Center to protest Williams' arrest. Some were in disbelief over his reported confession and said the video images are not clear enough...

Yes, "disbelief."

I'm sure MLK is rolling over in his grave.

JetBlue Bomb Threats

JetBlue flies out of Long Beach Airport, just blocks from my college.

At the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "JetBlue aircraft inspected at Long Beach Airport following Twitter threat."

And at Gateway Pundit, "Bomb Threat Tweeted to Jet Blue After Offer to Send Police to NYPD Officers’ Funeral."

Also at Truth Revolt, "JetBlue Receives Bomb Threats, Faces Boycotts After Giving Cops Free Flights to Attend NYPD Funerals."

Just more leftist hatred. It's everywhere.

Stop Lying About the Police

From Rich Lowry, at National Review:

We have heard a lot lately about tensions between the police and the communities that they serve, and the urgent need to reduce them. Here’s an easy first step: Stop lying about the cops.

The “national conversation” about race and policing we’ve been having ever since Michael Brown was shot by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., last summer has been based on lies. The lie that Officer Wilson shot Brown while he had his hands up and was pleading “Don’t shoot.” The lie that New York City policemen targeted Eric Garner for a violent arrest because he was black. The lie, peddled especially by the progressive prince of New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, that the police are racist.

These are the lies that fuel hatred for the police, because if the police routinely execute black men in cold blood and serve a thoroughly racist system, they deserve to be hated. They should be the subject of nightly protests. They should be showered with obloquy. They should be harried by Attorney General Eric Holder. They should be considered a stain on the national conscience to be extricated at all costs.

This is the line of reasoning that leads to protesters chanting: “What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now.”

His rote praise of the police notwithstanding, especially now that he is under so much political pressure after the murders of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, Mayor de Blasio is deeply invested in this smear. It is why he has made career anti-police agitator Al Sharpton practically deputy police commissioner. It is why he considers the police a clear and present danger to his biracial son, Dante. It is why he said the tragic death of Eric Garner in police custody was the product of “centuries of racism.”

The logic of the de Blasio view tends toward the conclusion that the police are unbelievably insidious: They recruit people of all races to go into dangerous neighborhoods on the pretense of protecting innocent people there, when in reality the mission is to harass black kids and, should the opportunity arise, kill them. If this were true, it would make the police as a class not just racists, but sociopaths...

Keep reading.

The communist left's whole program is based on lies. Deceit, subterfuge, and lies.

PREVIOUSLY: "St. Louis County Police Video Shows Antonio Martin Raising His Hand, Pointing Weapon at Officer Before Fatal Shooting."

Also, Bernard Kerik, "War Is Being Waged on Our Homeland — By the Radical Left!", and Heather Mac Donald, "The Big Lie of the Anti-Cop Left Turns Lethal."

St. Louis County Police Video Shows Antonio Martin Raising His Hand, Pointing Weapon at Officer Before Fatal Shooting

Anti-cop vigilantes were out to protest on Christmas Eve in Berkeley, Missouri.

But again, the left's protests are based on lies and anti-cop propaganda and vigilantism.

Here's video showing the suspect Martin pointing his gun at the officer: "Antonio Martin Video ZOOMED in 1080p Antonio Martin Surveillance Video. Berkeley Police Shooting."

And here's the same video that was circulated on social media, which was cropped to show only "moments before" the shooting: "St Louis shooting: CCTV shows moments before Antonio Martin's death."

Also, check the report of the incident at the Wall Street Journal, from Wednesday, "Shooting Death of Black Man by White Officer Spurs Protests in St. Louis Suburb: Authorities Release Video of Incident Near Ferguson, Mo."

Remember, leftists hate the truth. The truth demolishes leftist propaganda. It destroy leftist lies.

FLASHBACK: See Bernard Kerik, "War Is Being Waged on Our Homeland — By the Radical Left!", and Heather Mac Donald, "The Big Lie of the Anti-Cop Left Turns Lethal."

New Year, New You at Amazon

More shopping, Shop Amazon - New Year, New You Event.

The Left's Anti-Cop Vigilantes Failing to Win Hearts-and-Minds

They're f-king communists.

At Nice Deb, "Anti-Police Protesters Failing to Win Hearts and Minds — But Give It Time…"



And at Power Line, "COMMUNISTS ARE BEHIND THE ANTI-POLICE PROTESTS IN NEW YORK."

Well, not just in New York, but yeah, communists: "RACISM IS THE DISEASE, REVOLUTION IS THE CURE!"

PREVIOUSLY: "Walter James Casper Slams NYPD in Solidarity with Murderous Left-Wing Anti-Cop Vigilantism."

Funeral Service for NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos (VIDEO)

At CBS News New York, "Funeral Service for Officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church In Glendale (VIDEO)."

More at ABC News Los Angeles:

Casket of slain NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos escorted out of Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens http://t.co/03aiGSGXCh pic.twitter.com/b2HzEdw0Jn

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 27, 2014

Cops Turn Backs on de Blasio at NYPD Officer's Funeral (VIDEO)

Totally dissing the Marxist Mayor de Blasio.

At the New York Post, "Cops turn backs on de Blasio at executed officer’s funeral":

As Mayor Bill de Blasio took the podium Saturday at the funeral of P.O. Rafael Ramos, thousands of police officers in the streets watching video of the service inside turned their backs, in unison, to the monitors.

Instead of listening to Hizzoner, whose brief remarks were carried live on large speakers and screens outside the Glendale church, the cops chatted and generally ignored the eulogy.

The mayor — whom union officials have said has “blood on his hands” for rhetoric that has created a dangerous atmosphere for cops, and led to the assassinations of Ramos and his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu — arrived 30 minutes early to the service at Christ Tabernacle Church with wife Chirlane McCray by his side.

A huge crowd of officers refused to acknowledge de Blasio, who quietly greeted Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and his wife before slipping into the funeral home adjoining the Glendale house of worship through a side door.

The Anti-Israel, Anti-Police Alliance (#NYPD)

From William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection:

I previously have written about the activities of anti-Israel activists in fomenting confrontation in Ferguson and New York City:

Intifada Missouri – Anti-Israel activists may push Ferguson over the edge.
Anti-Israel activist still stoking fires in #Ferguson.
“Pigs in a blanket” chanted in #Ferguson long before #NYPD executions.

I have a column at The NY Post on the subject, Partners in protest: The anti-Israel, cop-bash link.

That's really, really cool.

The Left's Campaign to Take New York City Hostage

At the New York Post, "It’s the lawlessness":

Ever since a Staten Island grand jury found no probable cause to indict a police officer in the death of Eric Garner, the protesters in this city have shown disregard for the law.

They have also been accompanied by ugly calls for “dead cops” and chants likening the NYPD to the KKK. No surprise, it crossed into violence with some smashing windows on a police car and others assaulting cops during the occupation of the Brooklyn Bridge.

But instead of demanding protesters obey the law, the mayor and others for too long validated an anger based on a smear: that cops do not value black life. Not once did we hear Mayor de Blasio or Al Sharpton state the obvious: If Eric Garner and Michael Brown had in fact put their hands up and not resisted arrest, they would be alive today.

This was followed by the official indulgence of protesters who deliberately blocked traffic, tried to disrupt events, from the Thanksgiving Day parade to the Christmas tree lighting, and later occupied the Brooklyn Bridge.

A week later, Ismaaiyl Brinsley posted “they take 1 of ours . . .  Let’s take 2 of theirs” and executed Officers Ramos and Liu as they sat in their car.

So let’s not pretend any of this is about the right to protest.

It’s lawlessness — done in a clear attempt to hold this city hostage — that is the real problem. And the city authorities who have until now winked at it.

The Backlash Against de Blasio

From Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Mag:

Cop-bashing New York mayor Bill de Blasio seems genuinely surprised at the ferocious backlash against him in light of the execution-style weekend killing of two local cops.

After spending the past year in office attacking police, the mayor is now scrambling to put the pin back into the grenade he threw into the local body politic. His crusade against the police goes back at least to his election campaign last year when he caustically criticized then-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policy.

De Blasio is appealing for calm and for a temporary suspension of the ugly anti-police protests his incendiary rhetoric has spawned.

Strangely, this far-left radical who, like his ally in the White House never puts politics aside for the benefit of the community, is now asking New Yorkers to do precisely that.

So far the New York Police Department isn’t in a mood to forgive de Blasio who has teamed up with racial arsonist Al Sharpton to lay waste to what’s left of civil society in the Big Apple. Before the two murders Sharpton had been leading marches where the demonstrators chanted, “What do we want? Dead cops.” Taking cues from the Westboro Baptist Church, Sharpton followers showed up at one cop memorial service chanting and heckling the mourners.

NYPD union leaders have asked de Blasio to skip police funerals and a large gathering of cops turned their backs on the mayor as he showed up Saturday at the Brooklyn hospital where the lifeless bodies of officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, had been taken after they were shot dead by an adherent of the Religion of Peace.

The shooter, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, was a Muslim apparently upset at what he believed were the racist killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in Staten Island. He indicated he was planning to kill “pigs,” and as Robert Spencer notes, “Brinsley’s Facebook page featured a photo of the Qur’an open to the eighth chapter, where Allah exhorts the believers to ‘strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah‘ (8:60).“

Since de Blasio was sworn in last New Year’s Day, New Yorkers have, in fits and starts, begun to realize that they elected a dangerously erratic Sandinista-loving radical as mayor. Although de Blasio’s reaction to the cop murders strikes many in the punditry as incompetent, they are being charitable. De Blasio’s behavior reflects his pathological,  hateful, profoundly anti-American ideology. He can’t conceal his contempt for those whose job it is to promote law and order.

This is what happens when a small-c communist becomes mayor of the nation’s greatest metropolis...

Keep reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "Walter James Casper Slams NYPD in Solidarity with Murderous Left-Wing Anti-Cop Vigilantism."

Walter James Casper Slams NYPD in Solidarity with Murderous Left-Wing Anti-Cop Vigilantism

Repsac3's right in line with pro-violence Gordon Barnes, "Editor of CUNY's 'Advocate' Newspaper Calls for Anti-Cop Violence to 'Bring About New, More Egalitarian Paradigm...'" To say nothing of the student red guards, "Brandeis Red Guards Threaten Daniel Mael for Reporting Khadijah Lynch's Radical Anti-Police Diatribes."

Remember, de Blasio announced his solidarity with the New York anti-cop street protests, and now Walter James Casper's attacking the NYPD officers for exercising their free speech rights to protest the city's anti-cop mayor.

Typical anti-cop scumbag:

Opposition to Mayor de Blasio has literally reached new heights http://t.co/8AQqVwkZUE pic.twitter.com/Gjwm9qYjRB

— New York Post (@nypost) December 26, 2014

Disgusting, divisive, and just plain sad.@nypost

— Walter James Casper (@repsac3) December 26, 2014

Leftist hatred straight up. That's Repsac's life and ideology.

After Christmas Rule 5

Here's a few babes to brighten the holidays.

From the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Winter Solstice Edition."

And at Egotastic, "Sabine Jemeljanova Bedroom Photoshoot for Zoo."

And check Sabine on Twitter.

More, at Zoo, "The Girls of ZOO 2015 Calendar!"

Also at the Rio Norte Line, "Rule 5: Vintage Christmas."

At the First Street Journal, "Rule 5 Blogging: From down under!"

And from Knuckledragging, "Your Good Morning Girl."

More, from 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

And at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is warmth created snow, you might just be a Warmist."

Soylent Siberia has "Coffee Creamer."

Also at Drunken Stepfather, "MORNING HANGOVER DUMP OF THE DAY," and "ALESSANDRA AMBROSIO HAS NO NIPPLES FOR VOGUE BRAZIL OF THE DAY."

Proof Positive has "Friday Night Babe: Emily Wickersham!"

Ode has "A Very Merry Christmas Woodsterman Style (VIDEO)."

See also, the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday."

Also Daley Gator, "THE DALEYBABE."

Now from Wine, Women, and Politics as well, "Multiple exposure."

Front Army has "Rachel McDonald."

At Postal Dog, "Maitland Ward is my favorite Santa's helper."

Some history from Ms. EBL, "Mandy Rice Davies RIP and British Profuma Sex Scandal Affair Rule 5."

And In a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has "Friday Pinups."

Finally, Bob Belvedere has "Tibby Muldoon."

Brandeis Red Guards Threaten Daniel Mael for Reporting Khadijah Lynch's Radical Anti-Police Diatribes

The American system of higher education remains the beachhead of leftist revolutionary agitation and indoctrination, and if you dare go against the radicals' party line you will be targeted for elimination.

Believe me, I know this personally. Always stand your ground and throw the "racism" allegations back in their faces.

Here's the background from previously, "Khadijah Lynch, Undergraduate Representative for Afro-American Studies at Brandies, Resigns After Outrageous Anti-Police Comments on Twitter."

And now check FrontPage Magazine, "Brandeis Students Threaten Journalist for Reporting Anti-Cop Statements":

Pro-Israel student activist and TruthRevolt contributor Daniel Mael has come under fire from campus progressives and fellow students for writing about a Brandeis student representative’s tweet declaring that she had “no sympathy” for the two NYPD officers murdered in Brooklyn Saturday. Since the story went viral, Mael has become the target of personal threats and a campaign to see him suspended or expelled from the school.

In his piece Saturday, Mael quoted multiple Twitter posts by Khadijah Lynch, at the time the Undergraduate Department Representative for Brandeis’ African and Afro-American Studies program, which expressed her lack of “sympathy” for the two police officers murdered earlier that day. “i have no sympathy for the nypd officers who were murdered today,” she wrote Saturday, followed by “lmao, all i just really dont have sympathy for the cops who were shot. i hate this racist fucking country.”

Mael followed the quotes with other inflammatory statements posted by Lynch, including posts asking “what the fuck even IS ‘non-violence’,” decrying “Zionism,” declaring “the fact that black people have not burned this country down is beyond me” and “I am in riot mode.”

TruthRevolt contacted Lynch for clarification about her statement about the NYPD officers; she responded by saying that any publication of her Twitter posts was “slander.” Mael reported that Lynch then returned to Twitter to say that she needed to “get my gun license. Asap.” and that “amerikkka needs an infitada” (a violent uprising).

This is the second time in recent weeks that TruthRevolt has been accused by left-wing activists of defamation for simply quoting them. The abortion activist and actress Lena Dunham went so far as to serve this publication with a cease and desist for reporting statement made in her own book.

When Mael’s article went viral, Brandeis officials distanced the school from Lynch’s comments, calling them “hurtful and disrespectful,” and African and Afro-American Studies Department Chair Chad Williams issued a statement announcing Lynch’s resignation from her position as student representative for the program. Williams also denounced online criticism of Lynch, which he described as “horrifically racist, sexist, Islamophobic and threatening physical violence.”

Now Brandeis students supportive of Lynch are attempting to start a movement to have Mael either suspended or expelled...

Keep reading.

And at Legal Insurrection, "Student Reporter under Attack at Brandeis Univ. for Reporting On anti-Police Tweets."

Californians Rising Up Against Obama's Lawless Open Borders Amnesty

Shoot, good thing.

Folks on the grassroots are standing up to Obama's lawlessness.

At LAT, "President Obama's executive action has served as a recruiting tool for groups opposing illegal immigration":

For years, Raul Rodriguez Jr. would let out an exasperated sigh, then move on, whenever he read or heard news about illegal immigration. But something clicked last summer when he saw reports of multitudes of Central Americans illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I've got to do something," Rodriguez, 72, said he told himself. "I've got to get off the couch and need to get people involved."

Rodriguez crafted signs denouncing illegal immigration for various rallies, including one in Murrieta a few days after busloads of Central American detainees were turned back amid vocal protests.

After President Obama announced his immigration reform plan last month, the Apple Valley resident started contacting congressional leaders to express his displeasure.

California's anti-illegal immigration movement has lost a lot of steam in the 20 years since voters passed Proposition 187, the ballot measure intended to deny taxpayer-funded services to those in the country illegally.

Polls consistently show that Californians don't see illegal immigration as the same type of threat they did in the 1990s, and a September USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll showed 73% of voters support some type of path to citizenship for those here illegally.

But the last few months have shown that the anti-illegal immigration forces remain small but potent — and a movement that backers hope will get stronger with Obama's action.

Tactics this time are changing. Robin Hvidston, president of We the People Rising, a Claremont organization, said her group and other California activists have focused on targeting congressional leaders outside the state because they know there's little they can do here.

"They see their only hope being the national government," said Roy H. Beck, who heads NumbersUSA, a powerful national advocacy group opposing illegal immigration. "They don't see a solution coming from inside California."

With Christmas Over, Millions of Gift Returns Begin

At the Wall Street Journal, "Purchases Boomerang Back to Retailers, Costing Them Dearly; Returns Are a ‘Dirty Business’":

The holidays may be over, but returns season is just getting started.

Ill-fitting sweaters, the wrong Frozen doll and unwanted accessories will be heading back to U.S. retailers, many in the same boxes they came in.

More than 20% of returns happen during the holiday season—about $60 billion in merchandise, according to Optoro, a logistics provider.

The U.S. Postal Service handled 3.2 million returns in the two weeks that followed last Christmas and said there will be even more this year. United Parcel Service Inc. expects to handle four million returns the first full week of January, up 15% from two years ago as online sales continue to grow.

“Returns in the e-commerce segment are a more important issue than they are in the typical retail channel, representing a larger percentage of overall sales,” said Mike Glenn, president and CEO of FedEx Corporate Services, on a recent call with analysts.

FedEx Corp. said it doesn’t provide projections.

Returns may be a boon for delivery companies, but they are a costly for retailers. Best Buy Co. estimates that returns, replacements and damaged goods represent about 10% of revenue and for the year cost the electronics retailer $400 million. The chain is trying to reduce those losses by selling more so-called open-box inventory online and at its stores around the country. Hudson’s Bay Co. , which owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, has tried to encourage customers to return products to its stores, so it can try to land another sale in the process.

“Returns—it is just a dirty business,” said Fred Poore, chief executive of logistics platform CommerceHub, which connects manufacturers with major retailers to fill online orders.

More.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Big discounts, crowds, return fraud expected with post-Christmas sales":

Retailers girded themselves for the second busiest shopping day of the year, but the day after Christmas is also known for something less beneficial to the bottom line: hordes of returns.

Americans were expected to throng stores to give back unwanted holiday gifts, hoping to exchange the duds for cash, gift cards, store credit or other products.

The crowds will be intensified by deep, inventory-clearing discounts meant to lure shoppers and encourage returners to stay in stores...

The crowds at some stores, however, will likely encourage criminals to try their luck, according to experts.

Return fraud is expected to cost retailers $3.6 billion this holiday season, up from $3.4 billion last year and $2.9 billion in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation.

Over the full year, the practice costs companies nearly $11 billion.

This winter, one in every 20 returns is dubious, according to the trade group – a hefty figure considering that the average person returned nearly four gifts last year.

Several strategies are common. Perpetrators purchase items at a discount online or in a store and then return it at a competing retailer’s brick-and-mortar store for full value.

More retailers are allowing consumers to return merchandise in person that was bought on the Internet, according to the National Retail Federation. But more – 18.2% this year compared with 15.5% last year – are also saying that they have endured return fraud with e-receipts.

Some 3.5% of online purchases returned to stores are fraudulent, according to the group.

Other fraud perpetrators recruit store associates, using their employee discounts to score a deal on the product before returning it for the original price. More than eight in 10 companies said they have been victims of employee collusion.

Some use counterfeit receipts – a practice reported by a quarter of retailers. Others buy electronics, take out the valuable components inside, refill the hollowed-out technology with weights and then return it in the original packaging.

The switch is an offshoot of a common tactic known as wardrobing, in which customers return clothing that they have already worn. This year, nearly three-quarters of retailers said they fell victim to the strategy, up from 62% last year.

For the most part, retail experts don’t suspect average consumers. Instead, they finger organized retail crime groups, which tend to steal merchandise en masse and then resell it.

Such groups cost retailers nearly $30 billion a year, according to the trade group. Criminals are most active in Los Angeles, followed by Miami and then Chicago.

The National Retail Federation surveyed loss-prevention executives at 60 retailers – nearly 93% of respondents said their companies experienced returns of stolen merchandise in the past year.

“These knuckleheads know when to come in – they practice this and they’re good at it,” said Bob Moraca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation.

Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers

I'm just blazing through this book, which I pulled down off my bookshelf while watching "Band of Brothers."

At Amazon, Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.

Alternative Christmas Message 2014

Love the accent.

From Rosie Jones, at Zoo Today.

PREVIOUSLY: "Christmas with Rosie Jones."

Monkey in New Delhi Resuscitates Electrocuted Friend

You gotta watch this clip.

At AoSHQ, "Monkey Saves Dying Friend Morning Thread."

Year-End Deals at Amazon

If you're shopping, Shop Amazon Instant Video - Save Up to 55% on Digital Movies & TV Shows.

Sex and Drugs Helps Bristish Economy Overtake France

This calls for some Ian Dury, heh.

At the Telegraph UK, "Britain edges past France on world stage":

UK economy, boosted by the inclusion of sex and drugs in national accounts, overtakes France by a whisker to become the world's fifth largest economy.

Britain has overtaken France to become the world's fifth largest economy, new analysis shows.

A shake-up of the national accounts this summer, which showed the UK's downturn during the Great Recession was shorter and shallower than previously thought, helped Britain overtake the Gallic economy by a whisker this year.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Britain's acceleration was also boosted by the inclusion of sex and drugs to UK growth. While the addition of prostitution and illegal drugs form part of new pan-European accounting standards, France has refused to comply with EU rules because it does not consider them to be "voluntary commercial activities".

Eric Dubois, a director at INSEE, France's statistics office, has described drug use as a "dependency" that does not involve "free will". He said prostitution was the result of "Mafia networks and trafficking illegal immigrants".

Official estimates show prostitution added about £5.7bn to the UK economy in 2013, while illegal drugs were worth about £6.62bn.

This helped the UK to overtake France by the narrowest of margins, the CEBR's analysis showed. UK gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to total $2.828 trillion (£1.816 trillion) this year, compared with French GDP of $2.827 trillion.

The CEBR expects Britain to pull further ahead of France in the coming years. This is despite concerns about the sustainability of the UK recovery raised after further data revisions this week showed growth in five out of the previous six quarters was weaker than thought.

Nominal UK GDP is expected to grow to $2.95 trillion in 2019, compared with $2.67 trillion in France.

More.

Oil's Swift Fall Raises Fortunes of U.S. Abroad

Transformations of global petroleum politics underway.

I love it!

At the New York Times, "Oil’s Swift Fall Raises Fortunes of U.S. Abroad":

BRUSSELS — A plunge in oil prices has sent tremors through the global political and economic order, setting off an abrupt shift in fortunes that has bolstered the interests of the United States and pushed several big oil-exporting nations — particularly those hostile to the West, like Russia, Iran and Venezuela — to the brink of financial crisis.

The nearly 50 percent decline in oil prices since June has had the most conspicuous impact on the Russian economy and President Vladimir V. Putin. The former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, a longtime friend of Mr. Putin’s, warned this week of a “full-blown economic crisis” and called for better relations with Europe and the United States.

But the ripple effects are spreading much more broadly than that. The price plunge may also influence Iran’s deliberations over whether to agree to a deal on its nuclear program with the West; force the oil-rich nations of the Middle East to reassess their role in managing global supply; and give a boost to the economies of the biggest oil-consuming nations, notably the United States and China.

It might even have been a late factor in Cuba’s decision to seal a rapprochement with Washington.

After a precipitous drop, to less than $60 a barrel from around $115 a barrel in June, oil prices settled at a low level this week. Their fall, even if partly reversed, was so sharp and so quick as to unsettle plans and assumptions in many governments. That includes Mr. Putin’s apparent hope that Russia could weather Western sanctions over its intervention in Ukraine without serious economic harm, and Venezuela’s aspirations for continuing the free-spending policies of former President Hugo Chávez.

The price drop, said Edward N. Luttwak, a longtime Pentagon adviser and author of several books on geopolitical and economic strategy, “is knocking down America’s principal opponents without us even trying.” For Iran, which is estimated to be losing $1 billion a month because of the fall, it is as if Congress had passed the much tougher sanctions that the White House lobbied against, he said.

Iran has been hit so hard that its government, looking for ways to fill a widening hole in its budget, is offering young men the option of buying their way out of an obligatory two years of military service. “We are on the eve of a major crisis,” an Iranian economist, Hossein Raghfar, told the Etemaad newspaper on Sunday. “The government needs money badly.” ...

In many ways, the recent price fall really is the United States’ work, flowing to a large extent from a surge in American oil production through the development of alternative sources like shale.

By offsetting declines in conventional oil production, increases in shale oil output have allowed overall American crude oil production to rise to an average of about nine million barrels a day from five million a day in 2008, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. That four-million-barrel increase is more than either Iraq or Iran, the second- and third-largest OPEC producers after Saudi Arabia, produces each day, and it has put strong downward pressure on world prices...

That's what I'm talking about!

Keep reading.