At the San Francisco Chronicle, "6 dead, 7 hurt in Berkeley balcony collapse."
And at CBS News San Francisco, "Raw Video: Irish Students Among 5 Dead, 8 Injured In Berkeley Balcony Collapse," and "Chopper Aerials of Deadly Berkeley Balcony Collapse.
Plus, "Team Coverage of Deadly Berkeley Balcony Collapse."
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
So, This 'Unequivocal' Climate Science Dude Isn't Too Bright
Two tweets, and actually just one actual rejoinder, was enough to send this climate cultist heading for the tall grass. [ADDED: Clicking back over on this dolt's handle I see he's got me blocked, and again that's after just one reply. That's it. Towering intellectuals over on the left's "scientific" bench, lol.]
It's a religion with these people. Seriously, climate change politics is actually a faith, and it's so far gone now that you have a real religious leader --- the Pope --- marching at the front of the shock troop formations of the global left. It's pretty fascinating as a study in mass hysteria.
It's a religion with these people. Seriously, climate change politics is actually a faith, and it's so far gone now that you have a real religious leader --- the Pope --- marching at the front of the shock troop formations of the global left. It's pretty fascinating as a study in mass hysteria.
#Climate deniers can't really argue science anymore.
They only have values.
And #PopeFrancis destroys that argument.
http://t.co/koLrrczbpj
— Tim Ream (@ourcarbon) June 16, 2015
.@ourcarbon Actually, it's not "science" to argue the science is settled. Science is never settled.
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 16, 2015
@AmPowerBlog Actually, I never said climate science was settled. Don't say I did. But the scientific consensus is warming is "unequivocal."
— Tim Ream (@ourcarbon) June 16, 2015
.@ourcarbon Distinction without a difference. You attack climate change critics as if they're Holocaust "deniers." What's wrong with you?
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 16, 2015
Katrina vanden Heuval prompted this with her piece, at WaPo, "Cracks appear in the climate change deniers’ defenses."
France's National Front Announces New 'Far Right' Coalition in European Parliament
Geert Wilders is on board.
At LAT, "Far right forms coalition in European Parliament":
And at WSJ:
At LAT, "Far right forms coalition in European Parliament":
France's National Front announced Tuesday it had formed a new far-right bloc in the European Parliament that will qualify for up to nearly $20 million in funding over the next four years.More.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the FN, said the group would be called Europe of Nations and Freedoms.
Her allies share Le Pen's desire to curb immigration and the influence of Islam in Europe -- a concern that critics have described as xenophobic. They include the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Freedom Party of Austria, Italy's Lega Nord and Vlaams Belang from Belgium as well as lawmakers from the Polish KNP party.
At a press conference in Brussels, Le Pen described it as a "political strike force that will go far beyond our previous situation." She said far-right parties like the FN had “growing support” in Europe.
“This group is the result of a year of efforts, and our wish to avoid making dubious alliances like other groups. It’s good news for our countries, our people, our freedom,” she said.
Geert Wilders, a member of the European Parliament from the Dutch Freedom Party, told reporters: "Today is D-day, it’s the beginning of our liberation. ... I really believe today is a historical moment."
He added: "We are the voice of the European resistance, we defend national identity, our prosperity and our sovereignty. This is an excellent day because we will gain influence in the European Parliament with the newly formed group."
Wilders then addressed the European far-right’s major concerns: immigration and Islam. "The timing is right. A catastrophe is coming to the European Union and Europe today,” he said. “One million people are trying to arrive from northern Africa and this mass immigration should be stopped.”
He said the group would fight the “Islamization" of the continent and “stand for our own national values.”
As well as more money, the group will get more speaking time during European parliamentary sessions, more staff and access to key posts increasing its influence across the continent.
Reaction from more centrist European parties was dour. A German member of the European Parliament, Herbert Reul of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, told journalists it was a "bad day for Europe."
European Parliament groups must be made up of at least 25 members from at least seven countries...
And at WSJ:
Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders to announce far-right bloc in European Parliament http://t.co/RCVWLgNNyS via @WSJ
— Stephen Fidler (@StephenFidler1) June 16, 2015St. Louis Cardinals Investigated by F.B.I. for Hacking Astros
Talk about a change of pace, wow.
At the New York Times, "Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network":
Continue reading, as well as the responses at Memeorandum.
ADDED: More from Bill Shaikin:
At the New York Times, "Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network":
WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating whether front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past two decades, hacked into internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel.Fascinating.
Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said.
The officials did not say which employees were the focus of the investigation or whether the team’s highest-ranking officials were aware of the hacking or authorized it. The investigation is being led by the F.B.I.’s Houston field office and has progressed to the point that subpoenas have been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball for electronic correspondence.
The attack represents the first known case of corporate espionage in which a professional sports team has hacked the network of another team. Illegal intrusions into companies’ networks have become commonplace, but it is generally conducted by hackers operating in foreign countries, like Russia and China, who steal large tranches of data or trade secrets for military equipment and electronics.
Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.
The Cardinals officials under investigation have not been put on leave, suspended or fired. The commissioner’s office is likely to wait until the conclusion of the government’s investigation to determine whether to take disciplinary action against the officials or the team...
Continue reading, as well as the responses at Memeorandum.
ADDED: More from Bill Shaikin:
Whatever it takes? Cardinals under FBI investigation for hacking -- into Astros computers, per @nytimes:
http://t.co/ovL7YVwGl8
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) June 16, 2015
MLB statement on alleged hack: League will act "once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) June 16, 2015
Cardinals statement: “The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) June 16, 2015
More Cardinals: "Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further.”
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) June 16, 2015
Are Social Issues Hurting Democrats?
From the letters to the editor, at the Wall Street Journal, "Do Social Issues Hurt Democrats?":
Democrats got hammered last November in the congressional elections, and not just on the economy. I expect we're reaching the tipping point on many of the social issues addressed at the letter, and if the Democrats struggle to mobilize commensurate numbers of voters from 2012, the party's nominee could get hammered in 2016. Immigration, especially, is bound to be a hot-button issue, as it raises both economic and social issues. Homosexual marriage continues to be explosive, even more so with so much uncertainty going forward on constitutional grounds. (Folks like the lying sack Michael LaCour aren't doing the Democrats any favors either.) On racial issues in particular, don't be surprised if the Democrats get tagged with unflattering connections to Rachel Dolezal, especially on racial preferences in the workplace and campus political correctness.
The Democrats are the fringe party of American politics. The media elite also happen to be fringe whackjobs, which is why Hillary can count on a least a two-to-three point handicap going up against the generic GOP nominee, and perhaps even more.
Karl Rove asks, “Are Social Issues Hurting Republicans?” (op-ed, June 4). I wonder why his question is rarely, if ever, asked about Democrats. Do they not lose as well as gain votes by the positions they take on sociocultural issues? Are the political platforms of the Democrats less laden with these concerns than those of the GOP? I wonder how many votes the Democrats lose because of their position on such issues as late-term abortion, same-sex marriage, their encouragement of dependency on government, their opposition to school choice through vouchers and charter schools, limits on religious freedom, distribution of contraceptives and referrals for abortion to school children without parental consent. Are these social issues hurting Democrats?Great questions.
Edward Maillet
Charlottesville, Va.
Democrats got hammered last November in the congressional elections, and not just on the economy. I expect we're reaching the tipping point on many of the social issues addressed at the letter, and if the Democrats struggle to mobilize commensurate numbers of voters from 2012, the party's nominee could get hammered in 2016. Immigration, especially, is bound to be a hot-button issue, as it raises both economic and social issues. Homosexual marriage continues to be explosive, even more so with so much uncertainty going forward on constitutional grounds. (Folks like the lying sack Michael LaCour aren't doing the Democrats any favors either.) On racial issues in particular, don't be surprised if the Democrats get tagged with unflattering connections to Rachel Dolezal, especially on racial preferences in the workplace and campus political correctness.
The Democrats are the fringe party of American politics. The media elite also happen to be fringe whackjobs, which is why Hillary can count on a least a two-to-three point handicap going up against the generic GOP nominee, and perhaps even more.
Doctor Linked to Drug Deaths Allowed to Practice on Probation
This story's a blast from the not-too-distant past.
The brother of one of my students, a lovely young woman, was one of the patients discussed in a 2012 report at the Los Angeles Times, "DYING FOR RELIEF: Legal drugs, deadly outcomes."
Now it turns out the doctor at the center of the case, Van H. Vu, is still practicing medicine.
See, "Doctor linked to drug deaths allowed to practice on probation":
The brother of one of my students, a lovely young woman, was one of the patients discussed in a 2012 report at the Los Angeles Times, "DYING FOR RELIEF: Legal drugs, deadly outcomes."
Now it turns out the doctor at the center of the case, Van H. Vu, is still practicing medicine.
See, "Doctor linked to drug deaths allowed to practice on probation":
An Orange County doctor accused of gross negligence in the care of two patients who fatally overdosed on drugs he prescribed has been placed on probation by the Medical Board of California.
Van H. Vu, who owns a busy pain clinic in Huntington Beach, agreed not to contest the board's accusation, to take classes in prescribing and record keeping and to submit to an outside practice monitor for five years. In exchange, the board allowed Vu to keep his license and continue prescribing potent painkillers.
A 2012 Times investigation revealed 16 patients' overdose deaths associated with Vu's practice and raised questions about the medical board's oversight of doctors who prescribe dangerous narcotics. The Times found that even when the board sanctioned doctors for problem prescribing, in most cases it allowed them to continue practicing and prescribing with few or no restrictions. Eight doctors disciplined for excessive prescribing later had patients die of overdoses or related causes. Prescriptions those doctors wrote caused or contributed to 19 deaths, The Times found.
A board spokeswoman said the agreement with Vu, which took effect Friday, served the public interest by avoiding the expense and uncertainty of a trial.
“It makes the resolution faster,” spokeswoman Cassandra Hockenson said. “We still have the upper hand. He will be watched very, very closely.... If he deviates one iota from these probationary requirements, revocation is back on the table.”
Lawyers for Vu did not return calls.
Sally Finnila-Sloane, whose brother died after getting a prescription from Vu, said she was disappointed with the board's decision.
“He had his hand slapped, and my brother's dead,” she said.
The Times revealed that Karl Finnila, 43, died on a sidewalk hours after getting a prescription from Vu. The medical board faulted Vu for prescribing to him even after learning he was suicidal and seeking drugs. The coroner left half a dozen messages for Vu asking for information about Finnila, but the calls went unreturned, records showed.
“How is that right? How is that fair? Where's justice?” his sister asked. “The worst thing that's happened is the guy had his name published in the newspaper.”
A criminal investigation opened in the wake of the Times report is ongoing, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry.
In interviews in 2012, Vu described himself as a conscientious, caring physician. He declined to comment on individual cases, citing confidentiality laws, but he said he treats many “very, very difficult patients” whose chronic pain is sometimes complicated by substance abuse and depression, anxiety or other mental illness.
“Every single day, I try to do the best I can for every single patient,” he said. “I can't control what they do once they leave my office.”
Clarissa Ward Reports: An Inside Look from Yemen -- A Country in the Midst of Civil War
This is excellent reporting, from last night's CBS Evening News:
How to Destroy Islamic State?
A symposium, at National Journal, "What Should the U.S. Do About ISIS?"
"We know what the United States is not doing: playing to win." http://t.co/QAsJMbhMzh pic.twitter.com/XiZbiLWWCx
— National Journal (@nationaljournal) June 15, 2015
Justine Ezarik and Tony Hawk
Not expecting to see this pairing.
From iJustine on Twitter:
From iJustine on Twitter:
.@tonyhawk and @ijustine showing some love for Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5. pic.twitter.com/eR8n7BBMvG
— YouTube Gaming (@YouTubeGaming) June 15, 2015Megyn Kelly Interviews Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal
There's still more steam to this story, as Rachel Dolezal is expected to hit some major network talk shows today, especially the Today Show on NBC.
Critics Say L.A.'s Minimum-Wage Victory is Tainted by Organized Labor's Push for Exemptions for Union Workplaces
You think?
At the Los Angeles Times, "Labor leaders' credibility slips in minimum-wage debate":
At the Los Angeles Times, "Labor leaders' credibility slips in minimum-wage debate":
L.A.'s decision to boost the minimum wage should have been the sweetest of victories for organized labor.Continue reading.
Mayor Eric Garcetti helped union leaders and their allies achieve a long-sought goal Saturday, signing an ordinance that moves the city's hourly minimum to $15 by 2020.
But for some partisans on each side of the debate, that historic moment has been tainted by labor leaders' last-minute push for an exemption for unionized workplaces. The request for a union waiver — proposed and then abruptly shelved — drew national attention, much of it negative, to the county Federation of Labor and its recently installed top executive, Rusty Hicks.
When Hicks and his allies advocated for the increase, "they basically said everybody who works in Los Angeles is entitled to $15 an hour — that that's the minimum people should be paid so they can pay rent and support their families," said lobbyist Steve Afriat, who bucked other business officials by endorsing a $15 minimum wage last fall. "And then … they hardly take a break before they say, 'We want our members exempt from it.'"
That request hurt the credibility of union leaders, Afriat said, particularly among L.A. leaders who are not their "knee-jerk" supporters. Other assessments were similarly harsh.
Political analyst Harold Meyerson, an expert on organized labor, called Hicks' handling of the proposal a "self-inflicted disaster" in an op-ed in The Times. The gossip site Gawker outright mocked backers of the idea.
And USA Today's editorial page said the opt-out clause showed labor was looking to use the minimum wage increase as "a weapon to pressure companies to unionize," since unionized companies would then have the ability to negotiate a subminimum wage.
Hicks said he broached the idea of an exemption to the citywide minimum wage last month, in phone calls to staffers with City Council President Herb Wesson and Councilman Curren Price. Those calls took place after the council had backed a plan for raising the wage but before its vote on the specific language. Once the information got out, spurring a backlash, Hicks held a news conference to explain that city leaders would take additional time to study the idea.
Wesson is now planning a discussion of the issue this fall. But others say labor leaders might have done better to let the idea die a swift and public death...
Ted F'king Cruz!
He wasn't in the news yesterday, but Jeb "Amnesty" Bush was, heh.
Cool.
Cool.
TED f'KING CRUZ
#StandWithCruz or Get MCCAINED, ROVED OVER & JEBBED IN THE EYE AGAIN
#Cruz2016 pic.twitter.com/BBdrfwKADc @IngrahamAngle #lnyhb
— SpreadButter (@SpreadButter) June 16, 2015Universal Pictures Announces 'Pitch Perfect 3'
Anna Kendrick's got a profitable franchise going there.
At WSJ:
At WSJ:
‘Pitch Perfect 3′ Set for July 2017. #PitchPerfect2 http://t.co/KatpEAxJcw
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 16, 2015Happening #3 https://t.co/stKYCSHqs9 pic.twitter.com/TRRMW3YeiG
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) June 15, 2015Brace Yourself: Huge Majority Expects Nationwide Racial Unrest This Summer
The poll's from April, "Baltimore Riots: Poll Finds 96% Expect More Racially-Charged Unrest Nationwide."
But John Fund's picked up on it, at National Review, "Most Americans Expect a Long, Hot Summer of Racial Unrest. Moynihan Would Not Be Surprised."
No justice. No peace.
But John Fund's picked up on it, at National Review, "Most Americans Expect a Long, Hot Summer of Racial Unrest. Moynihan Would Not Be Surprised."
No justice. No peace.
Most Americans Expect a Long, Hot Summer of Racial Unrest. Moynihan Would Not Be Surprised. http://t.co/lYFZqntNUi pic.twitter.com/PgtPZA31B5
— National Review (@NRO) June 15, 2015Watters' World: What's Off Limits in Today's PC-Drenched Cultural Minefield?
From yesterday's O'Reilly Factor, a great segment with Jesse Watters:
Monday, June 15, 2015
Reactions to 'Game of Thrones' Season Finale
This is good. At the Los Angeles Times, "All these people are done with 'Game of Thrones.' Are you?"
Plus, a great interview with Kit Harrington, at Entertainment Weekly, "Game of Thrones star on that shocking death: 'I'm not coming back'."
And at BuzzFeed, "29 Questions I Have After the “Game of Thrones” Season 5 Finale."
Plus, a great interview with Kit Harrington, at Entertainment Weekly, "Game of Thrones star on that shocking death: 'I'm not coming back'."
And at BuzzFeed, "29 Questions I Have After the “Game of Thrones” Season 5 Finale."
“I will never watch this stupid show ever again!” #GoT #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/wUIs3xxk6S
— Alex Alday (@alexalday) June 15, 2015Syria's Aleppo Shows Toll of Nearly Three Years of War
A great piece, at LAT, "In war-shattered Aleppo, some of Syria's toughest civilians stay put":
In war-shattered Aleppo, some of Syria's toughest civilians stay put http://t.co/tkuClZDSxd
— Carol J Williams (@cjwilliamslat) June 14, 2015A series of checkpoints and barriers cobbled together from tumbleweeds, discarded furniture and assorted urban detritus mark the path to one of the world's most storied sites: Aleppo's ancient covered market, the heart of the Old City.
Much of the magnificent souk, with its vaulted ceilings, stone arches and hanging lamps, is now a charred ruin. Labyrinthine corridors trod upon for centuries in this former Silk Road terminus stand silent, abandoned except for Syrian army special forces.
The troops are posted about 30 yards away from rebels who occupy the other half of the bazaar, the core of the Old City, a United Nations World Heritage site. Below ground, the two sides engage in tunnel warfare: Rebels seek to blow up military positions from their tunnels, while soldiers aim to thwart subterranean assaults from their own passageways.
At street level, the staccato of gunfire and thud of mortar rounds sporadically break the stillness. And then there are the hellish improvised bombings, loud explosions followed by the cries of anguished survivors.
"If we only had six months of peace, people would come back and this could all be reconstructed," a Syrian army commander said as he strolled through the market, noting that many of the centuries-old stone walls were still intact, albeit blackened by fire.
But a rare visit by a Western correspondent to the government-controlled neighborhoods of Aleppo makes clear the jarring toll of nearly three years of warfare.
This historic city, once Syria's commercial hub, is divided between government forces and various Islamist rebel groups, whose brigades form a semicircle around the town. A stalemate set in almost three years ago, and shows no sign of abating.
President Bashar Assad has vowed not to withdraw forces from the once-bustling city of about 3 million, despite recent rebel gains elsewhere in the north against an overstretched military.
Power and water shortages, along with daily mortar and sniper attacks, leave the estimated 2 million who remain here on edge. The Internet and other communications are spotty. Many of the factories that made Aleppo a thriving industrial capital have been looted and destroyed, the machinery and wiring carted off to neighboring Turkey, business leaders say.
In May 2014, rebels with Al Nusra Front managed to cut off most of the water supply to government-controlled areas for 13 days. The Al Qaeda affiliate is one of several opposition factions in Aleppo. Islamic State, the Al Qaeda offshoot that is a rival of Al Nusra, was driven out of Aleppo city in early 2014 by other rebel groups, but maintains a presence in the rural Aleppo region.
With the airport mostly out of service, the army keeps the city resupplied via a circuitous eight-hour road link to Damascus that skirts rebel territory...
Wet and Wild Erin Heatherton
Here's a break from the fake black woman blogging, lol.
Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
I love this lady. She's not a malnourished waif:
More: "Erin Heatherton Body Paint," and "Victoria's Secret Model Erin Heatherton Shows Off Bikini Body During St. Barts Photo Shoot."
Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
I love this lady. She's not a malnourished waif:
More: "Erin Heatherton Body Paint," and "Victoria's Secret Model Erin Heatherton Shows Off Bikini Body During St. Barts Photo Shoot."
Eastern Washington University Scrubs Rachel Dolezal from Africana Studies Department Homepage
Well, her mug used to be proudly displayed at the department's website, but it's gone now. The Google search for her name there redirects as well, lol.
From John Nolte, at Big Government, "RACHEL DOLEZAL’S NAME REMOVED FROM UNIVERSITY FACULTY PAGE":
From John Nolte, at Big Government, "RACHEL DOLEZAL’S NAME REMOVED FROM UNIVERSITY FACULTY PAGE":
Early Monday afternoon, Rachel Dolezal, the 37 year-old blonde-haired, freckle-faced white woman who was caught pretending to be black last week, was still listed as a professor of Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University.More.
Dolezal’s name and profile have now been removed from EWU’s website.
In the wake of Dolezal’s resignation from the NAACP Monday, Breitbart News reached out to EWU to ask about her status. At 1pm ET, when we left numerous voice mail messages for EWU’s media relations department, Dolezal’s name and profile were still live on the web page.
Leftists Explain Away 'Ferguson Effect' Crime Wave
This is one of those "just wow" pieces that makes you shake your head. Man, I still get flabbergasted as the left's shameless depravity.
From Heather Mac Donald, at the Wall Street Journal, "Explaining Away the New Crime Wave."
Hat Tip: Elizabeth Price Foley, at Instapundit, "NOTHING TO SEE HERE, KEEP MOVING: Explaining away the Ferguson Effect. Heather MacDonald explains the price of anti-police agitation by the political left."
Also at Memeorandum.
From Heather Mac Donald, at the Wall Street Journal, "Explaining Away the New Crime Wave."
Hat Tip: Elizabeth Price Foley, at Instapundit, "NOTHING TO SEE HERE, KEEP MOVING: Explaining away the Ferguson Effect. Heather MacDonald explains the price of anti-police agitation by the political left."
Also at Memeorandum.
Austrian Brothel in Salzburg Offers Free Sex to Protest High Taxation
Well, they were offering free drinks too, but I'll bet men were coming for the free sex, heh.
Watch: At Ruptly, "Austria: Brothel offers free SEX in protest against taxation."
Watch: At Ruptly, "Austria: Brothel offers free SEX in protest against taxation."
Defiant Rachel Dolezal Refuses to Apologize After Stepping Down from Spokane NAACP
She's a disgusting moral reprobate. And a leftist. But I repeat myself.
At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Race-faker Rachel Dolezal puts on a bold front as she steps down as NAACP chapter president - but still REFUSES to apologize for lying about being white, not black."
At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Race-faker Rachel Dolezal puts on a bold front as she steps down as NAACP chapter president - but still REFUSES to apologize for lying about being white, not black."
Rachel Dolezal puts on a bold front after stepping down as NAACP chapter president http://t.co/9INY5hSQiV pic.twitter.com/uDkKjlofP1
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 15, 2015'Vexatious' Rachel Dolezal Sued Howard University for 'Racial Discrimination' in 2002
Man, this lady is the consummate operator who's been working all the angles. Sheesh.
The Smokin' Gun has the story, "NAACP Imposter Sued School Over Race Claims: Rachel Dolezal Alleged She Was Victim of White Discrimination."
And from the comments at Black America Web:
She lost the case, lost an appeals case, and had to pay court costs to Howard University, even found to be "vexatious" litigant.
She hadn't "transitioned" to black quite yet. See, "When Rachel Dolezal Attended Howard University, She Was Still White."
Added: More at Hot Air, "Revealed: Rachel Dolezal sued Howard University for … discriminating against her because she’s white."
Plus, the blogs beat the mainstream media to this story --- again, heh.
At Telegraph UK:
The Smokin' Gun has the story, "NAACP Imposter Sued School Over Race Claims: Rachel Dolezal Alleged She Was Victim of White Discrimination."
And from the comments at Black America Web:
Rachel Dolezal has not always pretended to be black. In 2002, when I worked at Howard University, she filed a lawsuit against the University and the incoming chairman of the Art Department, as “Rachel Moore,” her married name at the time, asserting various grounds of discrimination, including her race (Caucasian), color, gender and pregnancy. She alleged that the defendants refused to grant her a scholarship and Teaching Assistant position for her second year, and a faculty position upon graduation based upon her race, pregnancy and gender. She lost the case on all counts in the D.C. Superior Court. The case was Rachel Moore v. Howard University, Civ. No. 02-7193 (D.C. Super. Ct. 2002). She also lost her appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals, App. No. 04-CV-00234 (D.C. 2004). She seems to be an opportunist and clearly embraced her white race when she filed the lawsuit.At the time, Dolezal was using the surname of her ex-husband, Kevin Moore.
She lost the case, lost an appeals case, and had to pay court costs to Howard University, even found to be "vexatious" litigant.
She hadn't "transitioned" to black quite yet. See, "When Rachel Dolezal Attended Howard University, She Was Still White."
Added: More at Hot Air, "Revealed: Rachel Dolezal sued Howard University for … discriminating against her because she’s white."
Plus, the blogs beat the mainstream media to this story --- again, heh.
At Telegraph UK:
Rachel Dolezal sued university for discriminating against her because she was white http://t.co/3zauz0CpB4 pic.twitter.com/T2Q3HWut1A
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 15, 2015Ferguson Businesses Struggle to Rebound After Radical Left-Wing Riots and Destruction
One more of the "Ferguson effects" now savaging communities across the United States. Of course, in this case, it is Ferguson, struggling to overcome the left's revolutionary anarchy and violence.
At the Wall Street Journal, "In Ferguson, Mo., a Long Road Getting Back to Business":
The truth is coming out.
Keep reading.
At the Wall Street Journal, "In Ferguson, Mo., a Long Road Getting Back to Business":
FERGUSON, Mo.—Idowu Ajibola, 57, opened a pharmacy in this area eight years ago, tapping savings, family money and funds from his retirement plan. He added a beauty-supply business to the premises in 2008.The damage in Ferguson is just a fraction of the devastation the left is inflicting on America.
Mr. Ajibola’s fortunes changed last year after the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white police officer. During a period of widespread unrest, looters cleaned him out of high-price items, such as packages of hair extensions that sold for around $200 each. Mr. Ajibola estimates the rioting cost him $50,000 in stolen or destroyed merchandise; another $50,000 in fixtures were ruined.
“I lost quite a few customers,” said Mr. Ajibola. “People wouldn’t come in. It was a bad situation.”
Ten months after Mr. Brown’s death, businesses are still struggling to rebound in this suburb of St. Louis whose population of 21,000 is two-thirds African-American and has a median household income of less than $40,000.
With sales and traffic down on West Florissant Avenue, the Ferguson area that bore the brunt of looting and vandalism, Mr. Ajibola, who emigrated from Western Nigeria more than 30 years ago, decided to convert his wrecked beauty-supply shop into a dollar store. The new place sells items such as coffee mugs and kitchen supplies—goods less likely to attract shoplifters or looters.
Nearly half of the roughly 500 businesses operating in Ferguson and adjacent communities, such as Dellwood and Jennings, suffered property damage or lost revenue as a result of the unrest, according to the regional development association, North County Inc. Sixteen businesses closed. Seven of those have yet to reopen, while four have relocated, according to a city tally.
In April, the nation was again reminded of the emotional and physical scars that can result from civil unrest. The death of a 25-year-old Baltimore black man, Freddie Gray, who died after being arrested, set off another wave of protests, riots and looting. Close to 400 businesses, most of them small, suffered some kind of property damage or inventory loss, according to the Baltimore Development Corp.
And yet the cities’ challenges are different. Baltimore has a larger tax base spread out over a diverse, stable middle class. It also enjoys a strategic location near the nation’s capital. As for Ferguson, “it’s going to be harder” to recover, said Bruce Katz, founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Katz notes that Ferguson has a relatively weak local economy. Local government in the region is split among dozens of municipalities with limited authority and funding, making it more difficult to spur growth.
Sales tax distributions to Ferguson fell 3.5% to $2.6 million in the period between August 2014 and May 2015 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Missouri Department of Revenue. This figure likely understates the pain felt by local business owners, since it includes receipts from Wal-Mart, Home Depot and other big-box stores that contribute a substantial portion of the total.
In December, Moody’s Investors Service assigned a “negative outlook” to Ferguson, which could mean a downgrade to its credit rating later on. A lower rating could affect rates at which the city can borrow money in the future...
The truth is coming out.
Keep reading.
Negative Externalities: Consolidation Wave in Health-Insurance Industry Intensifies — #ObamaCare
This is the kind of industry tendency you see when markets are dysfunctional from heavy-handed regulation. It's funny too, since leftists used to be the ones decrying big corporations as the enemy of the little people. Not any more. The insurance industry is shaking out to a few big providers of services, no doubt the result of a survival of the fittest effect following our national ObamaCare nightmare.
Remember, with this kind of consolidation you get monopolistic effects, and less competition means higher costs to consumers in the long run. ObamaCare has not reined in costs as Obama and his clueless proponents have argued. Rates continue to rise and now insurers are scrambling to bulk up among regulatory incentives. The government and big business axis is enlarged at the public's expense, putting the lie to Democrat Party claims as the ally of struggling American families.
At the Wall Street Journal, "Anthem Talks to Cigna on Possible Takeover":
Remember, with this kind of consolidation you get monopolistic effects, and less competition means higher costs to consumers in the long run. ObamaCare has not reined in costs as Obama and his clueless proponents have argued. Rates continue to rise and now insurers are scrambling to bulk up among regulatory incentives. The government and big business axis is enlarged at the public's expense, putting the lie to Democrat Party claims as the ally of struggling American families.
At the Wall Street Journal, "Anthem Talks to Cigna on Possible Takeover":
Anthem Inc. has made a takeover approach to Cigna Corp. as talks for consolidation in the health-insurance industry intensify.More.
The companies have been in discussions for months and within the past 10 days Anthem has made two takeover bids, the last at about $175 a share, according to people familiar with the matter. Anthem’s efforts have been rebuffed by Cigna, the people said.
Cigna Chief Executive David Cordani wants to be in charge of a combined Anthem-Cigna and that has created a stumbling block to a deal, according to some of the people.
Cigna, based in based in Bloomfield, Conn., had a market value of $35 billion Monday morning before The Wall Street Journal reported on the talks. With a typical takeover premium, a takeover could value the company at well over $40 billion. Anthem, based in Indianapolis, had a market value of $43 billion.
Shares of Cigna rose 15% on the news to $157.37 in midday trading, while Anthem’s stock rose 2.5% to $164.75.
The industry is facing intense pressure to squeeze out costs and find ways to capture opportunities arising from the Affordable Care Act. An ever-larger share of the companies’ business is tied to government programs and the health law’s exchanges, where cost-conscious individuals buy their own plans. Getting bigger also could give insurers increased leverage in negotiating rates with hospitals, many of which have expanded through their own mergers.
The big health insurers have long been expected by analysts to turn to mergers that will give them the heft to better compete as the industry evolves, and when The Wall Street Journal first reported last month that Humana Inc. is exploring a sale of itself, it became clear a consolidation effort in the industry was finally under way in earnest.
The Anthem talks for Cigna show that the next deal in the industry won't necessarily be a sale of Humana, as many industry watchers expected. Indeed, if Anthem and Cigna were to get together, that would remove two possible buyers of Humana, which could leave it with only one major dance partner, Aetna Inc., which itself could be a takeover target.
Humana has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore so-called strategic alternatives and had held sale talks with companies including Cigna and Aetna, people familiar with the matter have said. Humana, based in Louisville, Ky., gets the bulk of its revenue from its business administering the private version of the federal Medicare program. The company is seen as a prize because of its powerful Medicare franchise, which is growing rapidly as baby boomers age into eligibility and opt for these plans, known as Medicare Advantage.
Aetna has been viewed by some industry analysts as the most likely acquirer of Humana, and executives at Aetna have spoken publicly about their interest in acquisitions. Anthem also has been linked to Humana, though some industry experts believe such a tie-up could face regulatory challenges over Humana’s commercial business, which overlaps with Anthem’s in markets such as Kentucky.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest player in the industry by revenue, is eyeing Cigna and Aetna, according to people familiar with the matter. A UnitedHealth deal for Humana has been seen as less likely because of the potential size of the two companies’ combined Medicare businesses, which could draw antitrust pushback.
The welter of takeover activity in the industry stands out even by the standards of what has become one of the hottest mergers-and-acquisitions markets in years. As always with M&A, it is possible no big deals will be struck in the industry in the foreseeable future and other potential combinations may yet arise...
Driver Killed in Fiery Crash on La Cienega in Beverly Hills
Gnarly.
At LAT, "Driver killed in fiery crash in Beverly Hills; La Cienega Boulevard closed."
And watch at CBS News Los Angelers, "Witnesses Unsuccessfully Try to Pull Driver from Fiery Car Crash In Beverly Hills."
At LAT, "Driver killed in fiery crash in Beverly Hills; La Cienega Boulevard closed."
And watch at CBS News Los Angelers, "Witnesses Unsuccessfully Try to Pull Driver from Fiery Car Crash In Beverly Hills."
Girl, 10, Dies After Losing Consciousness on Magic Mountain Roller Coaster
This is horrible!
At LAT:
At LAT:
Girl, 10, dies after losing consciousness after going on Revolution ride at Magic Mountain http://t.co/v5GNdFAfea
— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) June 15, 2015Outraged Spokane Community Members Want Apology from Disgraced Race Appropriator Rachel Dolezal (VIDEO)
Spokane's KXLY 4 News is really going all out to bring the latest on the Rachel Dolezal story.
Listen to the elderly community member talk some common sense on this issue. The big thing is the lies. Dolezal is a disgusting liar. And while the women say that race isn't the issue, at least one of the women indicates that Dolezal's racial appropriation is an issue, "because you have to live it" to really know what it's like to be a black person in America.
And remember, these are regular folks. Not the rotten egg leftists that are polluting out culture with lies, depravity, and cultural deviancy.
More of these interviews, KXLY. Moar please!
PREVIOUSLY: "Rachel Dolezal's 'Birth Parents' Do Not Understand Why She's Misrepresenting Her Ethnicity (VIDEO)," and "UPDATED: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of NAACP in Spokane - #Dolezal Statement Added!"
Listen to the elderly community member talk some common sense on this issue. The big thing is the lies. Dolezal is a disgusting liar. And while the women say that race isn't the issue, at least one of the women indicates that Dolezal's racial appropriation is an issue, "because you have to live it" to really know what it's like to be a black person in America.
And remember, these are regular folks. Not the rotten egg leftists that are polluting out culture with lies, depravity, and cultural deviancy.
More of these interviews, KXLY. Moar please!
PREVIOUSLY: "Rachel Dolezal's 'Birth Parents' Do Not Understand Why She's Misrepresenting Her Ethnicity (VIDEO)," and "UPDATED: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of NAACP in Spokane - #Dolezal Statement Added!"
Rachel Dolezal's 'Birth Parents' Do Not Understand Why She's Misrepresenting Her Ethnicity (VIDEO)
Well, this story should finally start fading from major media attention, although Dolezal's Big Lie is a turning point for far-left racial grievance hucksterism.
Her parents, of course, have huge material interests in discrediting their daughter, with the brother's child molestation case, although taken on their own the parent's statements show that Rachel's years-long racial appropriation campaign has been extremely damaging and malevolent.
And ICYMI, "UPDATED: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of NAACP in Spokane - #Dolezal Statement Added!"
Her parents, of course, have huge material interests in discrediting their daughter, with the brother's child molestation case, although taken on their own the parent's statements show that Rachel's years-long racial appropriation campaign has been extremely damaging and malevolent.
And ICYMI, "UPDATED: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of NAACP in Spokane - #Dolezal Statement Added!"
UPDATED: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of NAACP in Spokane - #Dolezal Statement Added!
This just in from various sources. Expect updates:
More tweets coming in:
Here's the report at the Spokesman review, "Rachel Dolezal resigns as president of Spokane NAACP":
Added: There's now a Memeorandum thread as well.
JUST IN: NAACP Spokane president Rachel Dolezal steps down; the movement is larger than a "single person's story." pic.twitter.com/Fewh7PJfAu
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 15, 2015
Spokane NAACP president Rachel Dolezal steps down. More coming soon.
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 15, 2015
More tweets coming in:
Unapologetic Rachel Dolezal resigns from NAACP chapter over race 'storm' http://t.co/zhM2Zchk52
— Liberally Lisa (@LiberalMunky) June 15, 2015
Rachel Dolezal resigns as president of NAACP Spokane chapter http://t.co/U2w8YCZGRj
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 15, 2015
Breaking News: Rachel Dolezal Steps Down as President of Spokane, Wash., N.A.A.C.P.
http://t.co/768deOZa5l
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 15, 2015
Here's the report at the Spokesman review, "Rachel Dolezal resigns as president of Spokane NAACP":
Rachel Dolezal resigned as Spokane NAACP president this morning. In a letter sent to the NAACP Executive Committee she wrote, “It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley.”Here's her statement, from Spokane NAACP Facebook page:
Dolezal’s resignation comes after accusations that she’s been passing as a black woman for years, when her family says she’s white. Although the NAACP hasn’t taken an official position, some leaders and former leaders are calling for her resignation. One member started an online petition on Friday, calling for Dolezal’s resignation. A demonstration is planned for tonight in downtown Spokane.
Charles Thornton, the former vice president of the Spokane NAACP chapter, called for Dolezal’s resignation via email.
“It is difficult for me to believe anything Rachel Dolezal says. She has completely lost the trust I had in her,” Thornton wrote. “The lies she told to me go deeper than I could imagine. Rachel Dolezal needs to resign.”
Dear Executive Committee and NAACP Members,
It is a true honor to serve in the racial and social justice movement here in Spokane and across the nation. Many issues face us now that drive at the theme of urgency. Police brutality, biased curriculum in schools, economic disenfranchisement, health inequities, and a lack of pro-justice political representation are among the concerns at the forefront of the current administration of the Spokane NAACP. And yet, the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.
I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story. I am consistently committed to empowering marginalized voices and believe that many individuals have been heard in the last hours and days that would not otherwise have had a platform to weigh in on this important discussion. Additionally, I have always deferred to the state and national NAACP leadership and offer my sincere gratitude for their unwavering support of my leadership through this unexpected firestorm.
While challenging the construct of race is at the core of evolving human consciousness, we can NOT afford to lose sight of the five Game Changers (Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Health & Healthcare, Education, Economic Sustainability, and Voting Rights & Political Representation) that affect millions, often with a life or death outcome. The movement is larger than a moment in time or a single person's story, and I hope that everyone offers their robust support of the Journey for Justice campaign that the NAACP launches today!
I am delighted that so many organizations and individuals have supported and collaborated with the Spokane NAACP under my leadership to grow this branch into one of the healthiest in the nation in 5 short months. In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP.
It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley. It is my hope that by securing a beautiful office for the organization in the heart of downtown, bringing the local branch into financial compliance, catalyzing committees to do strategic work in the five Game Changer issues, launching community forums, putting the membership on a fast climb, and helping many individuals find the legal, financial and practical support needed to fight race-based discrimination, I have positioned the Spokane NAACP to buttress this transition.
Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It's about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum. It's about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.
With much love and a commitment to always fight for what is right and good in this world,
Rachel Dolezal
Rachel Dolezal just floated her first excuse: https://t.co/9K49gvdhib pic.twitter.com/tBgHdIz4lQ
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) June 15, 2015
Added: There's now a Memeorandum thread as well.
Rachel Dolezal Says Something Really Crazy in Her Resignation Statement http://t.co/eZetVYB6F2
— el Sooper Ù† (@SooperMexican) June 15, 2015Clinton Campaign Denied Access to David Martosko, Political Editor of Britain's Daily Mail
A closed, insular and obstructionist campaign is going to flail in the increasing and sustained spotlight of the presidential campaign trail. You'd think the Clintons, political veterans if there ever were any, would know this.
At London's Daily Mail, "Hillary Clinton campaign denies access to DailyMail.com political editor as Monday's pool reporter in New Hampshire" (at Memeorandum):
Or maybe "the larger" issue is that Martosko is conservative. Martosko a former executive editor at the Daily Caller, the right-wing media shop owned by Tucker Carlson.
Yeah, that might have something to do with it. The Clinton campaign's showing its ideological discrimination and bigotry against conservative journalist. Who'd have thunk it?!!
More at Memorandum and Politico.
At London's Daily Mail, "Hillary Clinton campaign denies access to DailyMail.com political editor as Monday's pool reporter in New Hampshire" (at Memeorandum):
The Clinton campaign denied access to the designated print pool reporter in New Hampshire this morning."About the larger" what? About the larger critical coverage at the Daily Mail? Well, we wouldn't want to throw the Clinton coronation of track, now would we?
David Martosko of DailyMail.com was told by Hillary for New Hampshire staffer Meredith Thatcher that he was not approved for Monday's pooled events.
When Martosko asked Thatcher to phone her boss, Harrell Kirstein, he was again told that he had not been approved by the campaign.
Martosko pressed further and asked Thatcher if he was being prohibited from getting on either of the pool vans, to which she replied; 'I'm afraid that's right.'
When he asked why, she responded; 'All I know is what Harrell has told me. I got an email saying the print pooler would be changed for today. Sorry.'
Martosko then spoke with Clinton press aide Nick Merrill for 10 minutes and learned that the campaign would not be allowing the designated print reporter to cover Mrs. Clinton today.
Merrill offered varied and contradictory reasons for this decision.
First he confirmed that the concern had to do with the Daily Mail’s status as foreign press, saying; 'We’ve been getting a lot of blowback from foreign outlets that want to be part of the pool and we need to rethink it all, maybe for a day, and just cool things off until we can have a discussion.'
Martosko then informed Merrill that the Guardian is part of the pool, and that the pool does not discriminate on the basis of media ownership.
Merrill said that the campaign’s position is that the Daily Mail does not qualify because it has not yet been added to the White House’s regular print pool – something Martosko informed him was a timing issue, not a White House choice, since Francesca Chambers, the Mail's White House correspondent, has been vetted and has a hard pass.
'We’re just trying to follow the same process and system the White House has,' said Merrill.
Merrill then insisted that the decision had 'nothing to do' with the campaign considering the Daily Mail foreign press.
'We don’t consider you foreign press,' he said.
Merill then added; 'This isn’t about you. It’s about a larger...' and did not continue his sentence...
Or maybe "the larger" issue is that Martosko is conservative. Martosko a former executive editor at the Daily Caller, the right-wing media shop owned by Tucker Carlson.
Yeah, that might have something to do with it. The Clinton campaign's showing its ideological discrimination and bigotry against conservative journalist. Who'd have thunk it?!!
More at Memorandum and Politico.
New statement from Hillary press sec: "We have been working to create an equitable system…” (see last update) http://t.co/i16VjQfgJU
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 15, 2015Angry Black Lady Slams #RachelDolezal: A 'WTF Story That Will Hopefully Fade Away...'
Imani Gandy is the "Angry Black Lady" on Twitter, and she's angry about racial appropriator Rachel Dolezal.
Seriously, though, if you're a so-called left-wing progressive supporting the lying sack Dolezal, you're a "racist" and "shit-stirrer." You really need to rethink your commitments, because Rachel Dolezal is a terrible person and if you're backing her you are too.
When ppl ask if #transracial is a thing, tell them it’s not and send them this: http://t.co/TSs7ny3Y30 #RachelDolezal pic.twitter.com/krcAhK7I6b
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015Most ppl trying to make #transracial happen are racists and shit-stirrers. But too many actual progressives think it’s a thing. IT’S NOT.
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015“Black is not a feeling… It's an existence created for us by racists as a tool to justify ill-treatment and codify oppression into law.”
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015I truly don’t give a crap about #RachelDolezal. It’s a WTF story that will hopefully fade into the distance after ppl are done clowning her.
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015But this shit is being used to harm or delegitimize trans people. And that’s what I won’t stand for.
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015And almost all of the idiots who are claiming to be #wrongskin or #transracial are the same clowns from the #yourslipisshowing shenanigans.
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 13, 2015Seriously, though, if you're a so-called left-wing progressive supporting the lying sack Dolezal, you're a "racist" and "shit-stirrer." You really need to rethink your commitments, because Rachel Dolezal is a terrible person and if you're backing her you are too.
'Game of Thrones'— Season 5 Recap
If you missed the season finale and are planning to watch the reruns, skip this post.
Otherwise, a great recap, at the Wall Street Journal, "‘Game of Thrones’ Season 5 Finale Recap: ‘Mother’s Mercy’."
Otherwise, a great recap, at the Wall Street Journal, "‘Game of Thrones’ Season 5 Finale Recap: ‘Mother’s Mercy’."
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Karen Finney, Hillary Clinton Spokeswoman, Can't Answer Question About Hillary's Two-Faced Rhetoric on Income Inequality
Chris Wallace pins-down Ms. Finney, on this morning's Fox News Sunday, "Chris Wallace hammers Karen Finney on Hillary Clinton's income hypocrisy."
EU-Greece Talks on Bailout Break Down, Setting Up Showdown
At WSJ, "Greek Prime Minister Tsipras bets on securing better deal directly from eurozone leaders":
More.
BRUSSELS—Talks between Greece and its European creditors collapsed over the weekend, setting up a high-stakes showdown in which the country’s prime minister is gambling he can wrest a softer bailout deal directly from eurozone leaders.Greece won't default. There won't be a "Grexit." The EU states don't wont a collapse of the EMU and they'll find a way to save monetary union, even if they don't like bailing out Greece.
The swiftness with which European officials dismissed the Greek government’s latest proposals on Sunday—calling them “vague and repetitive”—suggests Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is placing all of his bets on appealing for better terms to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 17 other eurozone leaders at a Brussels summit on June 25. If he fails, a default on the country’s debt and a possible exit from the currency bloc loom.
Ahead of the summit and a big debt payment due on June 30, Mr. Tsipras also risks triggering a run on banks by panicked depositors and being forced to restrict withdrawals and transfers of euros within and out of Greece. That could quickly create a situation beyond Mr. Tsipras’s and the government’s control, officials from the country’s creditors fear.
After a flurry of meetings aimed at mending Greece’s moribund €245 billion ($275 billion) international bailout, the European Commission, which has been leading the negotiations, sent out a brief statement Sunday, saying the gap between the two sides over what spending cuts and other concessions Greece would have to make was still as high as €2 billion of budget revenues annually.
“There remains a significant gap between the plans of the Greek authorities and the [creditors’] requirements,” it said.
The breakdown in talks marked the end of a tumultuous week for Athens and its creditors, which include the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
On Monday, Greece sent new proposals on how to break an impasse that stepped away from budget targets its creditors thought it had already agreed. On Thursday, the IMF pulled out of the bailout talks, citing lack of progress. Later that day, senior officials from eurozone countries for the first time jointly discussed a “Plan B” to the negotiations—that no deal will be found and Greece defaults on June 30.
That is when the eurozone portion of the rescue program expires and the government faces a €1.54 billion payment to the IMF, which it won’t be able to make without a new bailout transfer...
More.
Huge Homosexual Crowd for LGBT Pride Parade in West Hollywood (VIDEO)
Well, at least these idiots are out and proud about their identity, and not laying down a years-long "transracial" shakedown scam.
At CBS News Los Angeles:
At CBS News Los Angeles:
'The 2016 presidential election is a battle of color-blind, America-supporting rationalism versus race-obsessed, America-hating emotionalism...'
That's a quote for the ages, from Elizabeth Price Foley, at Instapundit, "THERE’S SOMETHING TO THIS: Philip Klein: If Republicans can’t beat Hillary, they should disband the party..."
Sunday Cartoons
At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."
Also at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Employment Opportunities," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."
More at Lonely Con, "Saturday Funnies."
Cartoon Credit: Mike Lester.
Also at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Employment Opportunities," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."
More at Lonely Con, "Saturday Funnies."
Cartoon Credit: Mike Lester.
Samantha Hoopes, the Lady from the 'American Thickburger' Video
She's interviewed at Fox News Entertainment: "Samantha Hoopes: 'Sex Sells'."
Here's the original commercial, ICYMI: "Most American Thickburger Video."
Here's the original commercial, ICYMI: "Most American Thickburger Video."
Hippos Roaming the Streets of Tbilisi
It's not just hippos!
At London's Daily Mail, "Apocalyptic scenes in Georgia as lions, bears, wolves and a hippo are among dozens of animals on the loose in the streets of Tbilisi as church leaders blame catastrophe on decision to melt down monastery’s bells."
And video here: "Tbilisi Flood: Hippo roaming streets in Georgia after zoo ‘escape’."
At London's Daily Mail, "Apocalyptic scenes in Georgia as lions, bears, wolves and a hippo are among dozens of animals on the loose in the streets of Tbilisi as church leaders blame catastrophe on decision to melt down monastery’s bells."
And video here: "Tbilisi Flood: Hippo roaming streets in Georgia after zoo ‘escape’."
Broken City: San Bernardino, Once Solidly Middle-Class, Distills America's Urban Woes in the Age of Obama
So sad.
At the Los Angeles Times, "San Bernardino: Broken City."
At the Los Angeles Times, "San Bernardino: Broken City."
As other CA cities rise out of the recession, San Bernardino has become one of the poorest http://t.co/lJhcy7Mwtk pic.twitter.com/b7UsBKUO4S
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 14, 2015Spokane NAACP Rejects #RachelDolezal's Call to Cancel Public Meeting Scheduled for Monday
At the Spokane Spokesman Review, "Rachel Dolezal postpones meeting with NAACP board in Spokane."
The local NAACP argues that Shaniqua lacks the authority to cancel the meeting on her own:
The local NAACP argues that Shaniqua lacks the authority to cancel the meeting on her own:
Rachel Dolezal notifed Spokane NAACP members today that a meeting scheduled to take place Monday has been postponed. The meeting was to have allowed Dolezal, the organization’s president, to address the growing controversy over the disclosure that she has falsely been portraying herself as black for years.And on Twitter:
The short message said, “Due to the need to continue discussion with regional and national NAACP leaders, tomorrow’s meeting is postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date. We appreciate your patience and understanding at this time.”
About an hour later, board member Lawrence Burnley emailed NAACP members to say that he doesn’t believe Dolezal has the authority to postpone the meeting.
“I don’t see any language in the by-laws that empowers you, or any one member, to arbitrarily cancel/postpone tomorrow’s meeting,” wrote Burnley, chairman of the chapter’s executive committee.
Burnley notes that the executive committee is scheduled to meet today.
Spokane NAACP Facebook page says tomorrow's meeting is canceled - #RachelDolezal had been set to speak: https://t.co/knCoUZ3pd3
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) June 14, 2015Rachel Dolezal postpones meeting where she was to address race questions http://t.co/UW8HiyW5rz
— The Guardian (@guardian) June 14, 2015#RachelDolezal won't say more until Monday. "It's not about satisfying everyone's ethno-curiosities," she says. pic.twitter.com/a3ueKB3w9U
— Daniel Walters (@danielwinlander) June 13, 2015REPORT: Rachel Dolezal's Parents 'Outed' Her in Retaliation for Supporting Victim of Accused Brother in Child Molestation Case
Now this is getting juicy.
Althouse blogged it first, "'Rachel Dolezal supporting victim who accused her brother of child molestation, suggests parents outed her as white in retaliation'."
And the scoop's at the New York Daily News, "EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Dolezal supporting victim who accused her brother of child molestation, suggests parents outed her as white in retaliation":
She's keeping a low profile, alright. Man, this woman is messed up.
She's expected to make a public appearance tomorrow, and as noted earlier, she's under investigation: "Spokane Officials Investigating Rachel Dolezal's Behavior on Ombudsman Panel."
According to the Daily News report:
This is what happens when ideology takes over a person's identity. Family is destroyed in pursuit of a radical racial political program. And frankly, it's only the super far-left ideological whack jobs --- with TPM's Josh Marshall as representative --- who are supporting her. It's not regular rank-and-file black folks. They're outraged at this ghoul's racial appropriation and they want it to stop. They want her to come clean. Own up to her lies and apologize.
I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. I expect Dolezal's going to lay down some long sob story and dish out some "transracial" identity bullshit while preemptively attacking her critics as ignorant flyover bigots.
This is what the left does after they screw up royally. They never take responsibility. They never own up to the deviancy and deceit. They're bad people all around.
ADDED: At London's Daily Mail, "Did Rachel Dolezal's parents out her as white for supporting brother's accuser? Family rift 'deepened after claims of sexual assault against NAACP leader's brother'." (Via Memeorandum.)
Althouse blogged it first, "'Rachel Dolezal supporting victim who accused her brother of child molestation, suggests parents outed her as white in retaliation'."
And the scoop's at the New York Daily News, "EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Dolezal supporting victim who accused her brother of child molestation, suggests parents outed her as white in retaliation":
The sensitive matter at the center of the Rachel Dolezal family schism concerns a felony case involving charges of sex assault against Dolezal’s older brother, the Daily News has learned.Continue reading.
The white Dolezal, who has made international headlines for masquerading as a black woman, has been assisting a victim who has accused Dolezal's biological older brother of child molestation in Colorado, sources confirmed to The News Saturday.
Joshua Dolezal, 39, was charged in 2013 with four felony counts of sex abuse of a victim who was a minor at the time, sources and court records confirmed.
The ongoing case in Clear Creek County is set to go to trial later this summer and has a status conference set for Monday, the sources confirmed.
Dolezal declined to speak with The News on Saturday but previously suggested the timing of her white Montana-based parents’ media interviews about her racial identity was somehow connected to the Colorado case — and designed to damage her credibility.
The embattled head of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, now under scrutiny for claiming she is black, kept a low profile Saturday after taking the 21-year-old adopted black brother she has been raising as a son to the airport...
She's keeping a low profile, alright. Man, this woman is messed up.
She's expected to make a public appearance tomorrow, and as noted earlier, she's under investigation: "Spokane Officials Investigating Rachel Dolezal's Behavior on Ombudsman Panel."
According to the Daily News report:
Saturday’s stunning revelations came as the 37-year-old Dolezal was expected to speak with members of the local NAACP on Monday about the racial ruse that went viral since coming to light on Thursday.She's causing pain with her diabolical ideological "transracial" political charade. Her parents are aggrieved by her lies, and after being estranged for so long Shaniqua's siding against the family in a child molestation case involving her brother. Frankly, her personal life is completely shot. She's put her radical left-wing ideological program ahead of basic decency and love of family. She's thrown her parents under the bus because they don't back her lies. They are hurting. They obviously love their daughter and this whole national story is the result of this terrible woman passing herself off as black, lying about her identity, and bringing shame upon her blood relatives in the meanwhile.
It’s been years since she spoke with her parents, Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal. She became estranged from the pair well before the criminal case was brought against her brother, sources have said. Dolezal cut off contact with them sometime after her 2004 divorce and increasingly embraced black culture and brought her adopted brother Izaiah Dolezal to live with her in Idaho and Washington when he was a teen.
She even began claiming a close friend, Albert Wilkerson, a black man, was her father.
Paternal uncle Dan Dolezal said Dolezal and Wilkerson shared a father-daughter type of bond, but that her characterization of him as her real father bothered her biological relatives.
“I think Albert was kind of baffled as well," said the uncle, 63. “When she started calling him dad two or three years ago, it caused my brother quite a bit of pain.”
This is what happens when ideology takes over a person's identity. Family is destroyed in pursuit of a radical racial political program. And frankly, it's only the super far-left ideological whack jobs --- with TPM's Josh Marshall as representative --- who are supporting her. It's not regular rank-and-file black folks. They're outraged at this ghoul's racial appropriation and they want it to stop. They want her to come clean. Own up to her lies and apologize.
I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. I expect Dolezal's going to lay down some long sob story and dish out some "transracial" identity bullshit while preemptively attacking her critics as ignorant flyover bigots.
This is what the left does after they screw up royally. They never take responsibility. They never own up to the deviancy and deceit. They're bad people all around.
ADDED: At London's Daily Mail, "Did Rachel Dolezal's parents out her as white for supporting brother's accuser? Family rift 'deepened after claims of sexual assault against NAACP leader's brother'." (Via Memeorandum.)
Spokane Officials Investigating Rachel Dolezal's Behavior on Ombudsman Panel
Shaniqua's expected to make a public statement Monday.
Meanwhile, local officials are investigating this woman's lies.
At the Spokesman Review:
Meanwhile, local officials are investigating this woman's lies.
At the Spokesman Review:
Spokane’s embattled NAACP president faces a challenge on a new front.
A source close to Spokane City Hall said city officials have opened an investigation regarding Rachel Dolezal’s behavior as an Office of Police Ombudsman commissioner. The source declined to be named because the case still is open, but said the inquiry is not related to her claims about her race.
Police ombudsman commissioner Kevin Berkompas said he became aware of an investigation into Dolezal about a month ago but cannot discuss it.
“There is an open investigation,” he said. “I have not seen the investigation or the complaint. They have not told us who it was from.”
The examination of Dolezal’s work as an ombudsman commissioner makes two investigations open at City Hall related to Dolezal. Last week, Mayor David Condon and City Council President Ben Stuckart announced that the city would investigate whether Dolezal lied on her application to become an ombudsman commissioner. She checked multiple boxes on a form inquiring her race, including white and black. Last week, however, her parents said she is white and has been lying about her race.
Dolezal was appointed to the commission when it was formed last summer as part of an effort to boost oversight of the city’s Police Department. She was elected the president of the Spokane branch of the NAACP in November.
Attempts to reach her Saturday afternoon were unsuccessful. But late Friday, she sent out a statement promising to address the controversy swirling around her on Monday.
Both she and the NAACP executive committee will make statements during the NAACP meeting scheduled for Monday evening, Dolezal wrote in an email.
“I have discussed the situation, including personal matters, with the Executive Committee,” she said. “I support their decision to wait until Monday to make a statement.”
On Friday, an online petition calling for Dolezal to resign her position in the NAACP was posted on moveon.org by Kitara McClure, the former multicultural director at Spokane Community College and a member of the NAACP.
McClure argues that the issue that Dolezal needs to address is not race, it’s integrity.
“The basis for what’s really wrong with this entire situation has been lost in race,” she said. “Race is not the issue. You cannot lead without honesty.”
Dolezal did not just tell a single lie about her race, McClure said.
“It’s a web of half-truths and make believe,” she said. “For the local and the national NAACP to say they stand behind her is appalling.”
McClure said she worries that people will pull away from the NAACP and hamper the work being done if Dolezal remains as president.
A mistake must be acknowledged and apologized for before anyone can move forward, McClure said.
“I believe the community wants to forgive her, but first she has to come clean,” she said. “People just want the truth.”
McClure said that after she posted the online petition Friday she received a text from Dolezal that said, in part, “Please don’t contribute to the drama.”
She also received a text uninviting her to Monday’s NAACP meeting just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday, McClure said...
Crony Capitalism Is How You Beat Hillary
Heh.
At Breitbart, "Salon: Tea Party Gets It Right–Crony Capitalism Is How You Beat Hillary."
At Breitbart, "Salon: Tea Party Gets It Right–Crony Capitalism Is How You Beat Hillary."
Salon: Tea Party Gets It Right–Crony Capitalism Is How You Beat Hillary
#ClintonCash
#OhHillNo
http://t.co/5PjGAbMC7k pic.twitter.com/up0YZtZrYw
— Linda Suhler, Ph.D. (@LindaSuhler) June 14, 2015'He spoke with tears of 15 years how his dog n' him, traveled about...'
I haven't been posting my drive time music roundups quite so much, mainly since Mark Thompson took off with his "Mark in the Morning" show sometime back. I still keep it on the Sound L.A., although it's not until later in the mornings when the music start to play and the talk settles down.
In any case, the station's weekend playlist is always more eclectic. You can sit out on the porch with the radio on and enjoy the morning.
Here's the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, from while I was out earlier this morning getting bacon and eggs and coffee. "Bojangles" used to make me sad when it came on back in the day, when I was just a little boy.
In any case, the station's weekend playlist is always more eclectic. You can sit out on the porch with the radio on and enjoy the morning.
Here's the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, from while I was out earlier this morning getting bacon and eggs and coffee. "Bojangles" used to make me sad when it came on back in the day, when I was just a little boy.
In the Shape of a Heart
Jackson Browne
9:54 AM
Mr. Bojangles
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
9:50 AM
King of California
Dave Alvin
9:45 AM
Baller Blockin'
E-40
9:42 AM
Revival
The Allman Brothers Band
9:34 AM
Coda (I Like To Get To Know You)
Spanky & Our Gang
9:31 AM
Help Me
Joni Mitchell
9:27 AM
It Don't Matter to Me
Bread
9:24 AM
Hold Your Head Up
The Zombies
9:18 AM
Tell Her No
The Zombies
9:16 AM
Anticipation
Carly Simon
9:09 AM
Only You Know and I Know
Dave Mason
9:05 AM
Somebody to Love
Jefferson Airplane
9:02 AM
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
Bob Dylan
8:54am
Islamic State Tweets Pamela Geller's Home Address
She's on the front line of freedom.
I know this is a new development, but frankly conservative speakers can't go anywhere without personal security. In Pamela's case, she's going to need armed guards stationed out in front of her house. It's the way it is for the good people of America, folks who stand for freedom against the left's forces of darkness.
At Atlas Shrugs, "ISIS Jihadist Tweets Pamela Geller's Personal Address In Call to Kill ‘Draw Muhammad’ Contest Organizer."
I know this is a new development, but frankly conservative speakers can't go anywhere without personal security. In Pamela's case, she's going to need armed guards stationed out in front of her house. It's the way it is for the good people of America, folks who stand for freedom against the left's forces of darkness.
At Atlas Shrugs, "ISIS Jihadist Tweets Pamela Geller's Personal Address In Call to Kill ‘Draw Muhammad’ Contest Organizer."
Why isn’t the Obama administration protecting Americans? Why is he providing cover for savages hellbent on destroying American freedoms and those who stand for it? Why is he importing hundreds of thousands of Muslims from jihad nations?
College Activists Divided on Response Cultural Appropriator #RachelDolezal
Poor kids, lol.
At the Spokane Spokesman Review, "College activists divided on response":
But by lying about her race she's alienated huge swaths of communities who'd have normally been endeared to her message. Of course with the left these days it's pretty much all about lies, distortion, and the flight from reality. We're seeing case after case of backlash against the leftist regressives, from the dishonest "Black Lives Matter" movement to the bogus "rape culture" and now the retarded "Wrong Skin" meme.
Leftists are increasingly marginalized despite improvement in public opinion on social issues. When you actually boil down to what these ghouls are all about, the natural reaction is revulsion.
Keep reading.
At the Spokane Spokesman Review, "College activists divided on response":
Disclosures that Rachel Dolezal, a prominent Spokane civil rights activist and president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, may have engaged in a ruse to present herself as a black woman despite having white parents has incited differing and often opposite reactions from leaders of local universities, black student unions and her former students.It's actually sad, in that this bitch Dolezal could've actually done right by a lot of people, as her own parents pointed out.
Satori Butler , the president of Eastern Washington University’s Black Student Union, doesn’t think Dolezal’s race should matter. Butler knows Dolezal personally and considers her a mentor. She doesn’t recall Dolezal ever labeling herself as black, nor did Butler ask.
“If she was yellow, green or purple, we would still respect her,” Butler said.
Dolezal is the adviser for EWU’s Black Student Union as well as a part-time instructor. Her classes focus primarily on African-American culture and art.
“I just think this is the media’s way of tearing down a leader that is helping the African-American community,” Butler said.
Halle Thomas, treasurer of Gonzaga’s Black Student Union, is concerned that by concealing her race Dolezal benefitted from aligning herself with a marginalized group – while still reaping the benefits of appearing to be a light-skinned African-American.
“She has been potentially walking around in blackface all of these years,” Thomas said.
Bailey Russell, president of the Gonzaga Black Student Union, and Thomas want Dolezal to explain.
“My overall opinion is that I think Ms. Dolezal needs to come out and make an official statement about this,” Russell said.
Thomas added, “I need her as a community member to come forward and just talk and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on.’ ”
In 2007, James Hand took an art class with Dolezal at North Idaho College, where she taught at the time. Hand said “she definitely portrayed herself as black.” That confused him and other students because she had such light skin, he said.
Tamara Wright Chavez, who took three of Dolezal’s classes at EWU, said she doesn’t think her teacher misrepresented herself. Wright Chavez, who is black, said she assumed at first that Dolezal was white, but her instructor’s knowledge of black culture and history made her think otherwise...
But by lying about her race she's alienated huge swaths of communities who'd have normally been endeared to her message. Of course with the left these days it's pretty much all about lies, distortion, and the flight from reality. We're seeing case after case of backlash against the leftist regressives, from the dishonest "Black Lives Matter" movement to the bogus "rape culture" and now the retarded "Wrong Skin" meme.
Leftists are increasingly marginalized despite improvement in public opinion on social issues. When you actually boil down to what these ghouls are all about, the natural reaction is revulsion.
Keep reading.
MSNBC Bends Over Backward to Whitewash #RachelDolezal's Cultural Appropriation
It's Melissa Harris-Perry, the race-baiting idiot extraordinaire.
At Truth Revolt.
Watch: "Melissa Harris-Perry on Rachel Dolezal: ‘It Is Possible That She Might Actually Be Black?’"
The stupid really burns on that one.
At Truth Revolt.
Watch: "Melissa Harris-Perry on Rachel Dolezal: ‘It Is Possible That She Might Actually Be Black?’"
The stupid really burns on that one.
Leftist Mayors Surge Into Power in Spain
Well, we've got our share of Marxist mayors over here, from Eric Garcetti to Bill de Blasio.
But Spain's got it particularly bad, man.
At WSJ, "Shift seen as possible predictor for national elections later this year":
We've got a lot of work ahead of us restoring limited government (and basic human decency) to this country in the years ahead. Thank goodness we're not so far gone as the unlucky bastards about to be plunged into a communist nightmare in Spain.
Keep reading, in any case.
But Spain's got it particularly bad, man.
At WSJ, "Shift seen as possible predictor for national elections later this year":
In Barcelona, the social activist elected mayor says she will clamp down on the overdevelopment of tourism, while allowing some government decisions to be determined by online referendums. In A Coruña, home to three of the 10 richest Spaniards, the former law professor taking charge at city hall vows to implement “99 measures for the 99% of the citizenry,” including a reduction of his own salary as mayor.Radical leftists stateside are hoping that our crop of Marxist mayors will be a harbinger as well. Doubtful, but we'll see. For all of Hillary Clinton's leftist preening, she just doesn't come off as an authentic acolyte of Che Guevara and the like. As it is Obama's Marxism has only been halted by the system of separation of powers created by the founders, and even then Che Barack has been roundly criticized for his far-left executive authoritarianism, not the least from ideological leftists.
A new wave of leftist leaders is taking power in city halls across Spain on Saturday, replacing career politicians sullied by economic crises and corruption scandals. Generally political neophytes, they were chosen by alliances among left-leaning parties and citizen movements that finished strongly in May 24 municipal and regional elections.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party lost absolute majorities in 127 of the 154 largest cities it won in elections in 2011. In coalition bargaining that could stretch into the summer, the party also stands to lose control in several of the nine Spanish regions where it ran as the incumbent.
This urban shift could be a harbinger of national elections later this year in which Mr. Rajoy has said he would seek a second term. Cities “are to a large extent showcases for trends in national politics,” said Carlos Flores JuberÃas, a constitutional law professor and political analyst at the University of Valencia, noting that success in local races presaged national electoral triumphs by the Socialist Party in the 1980s and the Popular Party in the 1990s...
We've got a lot of work ahead of us restoring limited government (and basic human decency) to this country in the years ahead. Thank goodness we're not so far gone as the unlucky bastards about to be plunged into a communist nightmare in Spain.
Keep reading, in any case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
