Black Lives Matter Terrorists Murder Dallas Cops

From Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "Is the race war Barack Obama wanted breaking out in Dallas and across America?":

The ambush-style mass shooting of cops in Dallas, Texas, last night makes it clear that it is time for the dangerous, anti-American insurgency called Black Lives Matter to be designated a terrorist organization for fomenting a war against the nation’s law enforcement officers.

As FrontPage went to press early Friday morning, five Dallas area police officers were dead, systematically slaughtered by snipers.

That makes it the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.

The officers were killed during a demonstration in downtown Dallas against police brutality that leftists say is directed at black Americans as a matter of government policy. Similar marches and rallies took place in other cities, including New York, Oakland, Calif., and Denver, Colo. One suspect has been killed and three others remain in custody. Police have not yet released their identities. [Police now have released the identity of one suspect, Micah Xavier Johnson, who was killed in the standoff.]

Of course, murdering police officers has long been encouraged by activists with the Black Lives Matter cult, with the support of the activist Left. A year ago Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who openly advocates the mass murder of whites, called for “10,000 fearless men” to “rise up and kill those who kill us.” Like many radicals, Farrakhan mischaracterizes Black Lives Matter as a rising civil rights movement.

President Barack Obama, who a decade ago promoted inter-racial warfare in Kenya, has long tried to provoke civil unrest here in the U.S. with his hateful anti-cop rhetoric and his relentless demonization of opponents. His goal is fundamental transformation of the United States. A Red diaper baby who identifies violence-espousing communist Frantz Fanon as an intellectual influence, he has also steadfastly refused to condemn the explicitly racist, violent Black Lives Matter movement. In fact Obama has lavished attention on the movement’s leaders and invited them to the White House over and over again.

Members of the Democratic National Committee expressly endorsed Black Lives Matter, throwing their lot in with black racists and radical Black Power militants. The DNC officially embraced a statement that slams the U.S. for allegedly systemic police violence against black people. A resolution passed by hundreds of delegates at the DNC meeting in Minneapolis last year accuses the nation’s police of "extrajudicial killings of unarmed African American men, women and children."

The Left persists in these lies because, well, that’s what these people do.

According to one analysis, of all the people shot and killed in the U.S. by police so far in 2016, only 24 percent, or 122, were black. Black people are only about 13 percent of the population but they commit around half of all violent crimes. So far this year 47 percent of people shot and killed by police, or 235 individuals, were white.

Only 3 percent, or 13 people shot and killed by police year to date were black and unarmed. The percentage for whites is exactly the same. In other words, police are shooting and killing unarmed blacks and whites at the same rate, Paul Joseph Watson observes.

“There’s no racial disparity,” he says. “Do we have a problem with police brutality in America? Yes, undoubtedly. Is it almost exclusively targeted towards black people as Black Lives Matter claims? No, but the polarizing way in which Black Lives Matter made it all about race has divided the nation and made half of the country completely disinterested.”

Watson addresses “black people,” telling them that “Black Lives Matter is hurting you. It’s doing incredible harm. Martin Luther King achieved justice and civil rights by championing equality and building bridges with white America.”

Black Lives Matter, on the other hand, demands racial segregation, keeps whites out of its meetings, and urges the killing of police, he adds.

Returning to the situation in Dallas, as of 11:45 p.m. Central time, 11 officers from the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system had reportedly been shot. DPD chief David Brown told reporters that two snipers opened fire from elevated positions in downtown Dallas. Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings (D) said the shooting began at 8:58 p.m. local time. Brown added that suspects may have also planted a bomb downtown.

Four of the murdered police officers worked for the DPD. The other deceased officer worked for DART.

The killing spree followed days of media-hyped adverse publicity for police forces in Louisiana and Minnesota.

In its intensifying assaults on American law enforcement the Left seized upon a police-involved death earlier in the week of a notoriously violent criminal in Louisiana who had reportedly menaced an innocent by-stander with a gun.

Recidivist felon Alton Sterling, a black offender well known to local law enforcement, was shot to death by police early Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge following a physical struggle with police in which Sterling may have reached for a weapon. Both officers “believe they were completely justified in using deadly force,” according to the local district attorney.

Although even with graphic video footage of the shooting it’s not entirely clear what happened as the two cops and Sterling struggled, the Left is moving full speed ahead portraying the deceased career criminal as a martyr slaughtered by the evil system that rules a hopelessly racist America.

The Left reveres thugs. It jumped on the bandwagon promoting the lie that Michael Brown of Ferguson, Mo., and Trayvon Martin of Sanford, Fla., were innocent angels unjustly cut down by white executioners. The truth, as we now know, is that both young black men were killed in self-defense by the white men they intended to harm...

Keep reading.

All the racial healing...

Following-up, "Race War: 5 Officers Killed in Sniper Ambush Attack During #BlackLivesMatter Protests in Dallas."

Here's Jon Gabriel:

My favorite part about the Obama era is all the racial healing.

— jon gabriel (@exjon) November 24, 2014

And also, from Michelle Malkin:

#FlashbackFriday What Assata taught me ===> https://t.co/kMXlLJeWCJ

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 8, 2016

"The left’s sick fetish for cop-killers is still going strong after four decades of violence..." https://t.co/zPXoFqBIEE via @MichelleMalkin

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 8, 2016

Race War: 5 Officers Killed in Sniper Ambush Attack During #BlackLivesMatter Protests in Dallas

Well, I knew something was going to happen last night. Sadly, it was even worse than I predicted at my post, "Heading Out to Dodger Stadium."

Here's Heather Mac Donald's book, which should see some brisk sales today, considering, The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.

I was having a great time at the ballgame. Dodger Stadium is a relaxing place. I was sitting there thinking that if we could just set aside our ideological battles and enjoy baseball together, things would get better. Silly me to sit there all dreamy and idealistic while white cops were being gunned down by a Black Lives Matter sympathizer in Dallas. I guess I have to step back into the real world again, and I hope my predictions aren't quite so accurate.

Some photos from last night:







I'll be blogging about events throughout the day. Thanks for reading.

Heading Out to Dodger Stadium

I'm taking my son to see the San Diego Padres at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I'm going with my now-retired colleague Greg Joseph and his son Eric.

Eric's a director of an after-school program and we're taking a bus full of kids up to the game. It's going to be cool.

At any rate, I'll have more blogging late tonight or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, check out Heather Mac Donald's new book, The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.

I think there's going to be rioting tonight. Probably in Minneapolis, and perhaps all over, if the Black Lives Matter thugs are able to foment an uprising.

Deal of the Day: Hoover Shoulder Vac Pro Backpack Vacuum [BUMPED]

Cool vac.

At Amazon, Hoover Commercial C2401 Shoulder Vac Pro Backpack Vacuum with 1-1/2-Inch Attachment Kit.

Also, The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring / The Two Towers / The Return of the King Extended Editions) [Blu-ray].

Plus, Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season.

More, Alonzo Hamby, Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century.

Ellen Meiksins Wood, The Pristine Culture of Capitalism: A Historical Essay on Old Regimes and Modern States.

And H.W. Brands, American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900.

BONUS: Max Hastings, The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945.

WATCH: Raw Video Shows the Moment Police Shot and Killed Alton Sterling

This is graphic.

Content warning, at Ruptly, "USA: Footage shows moment police shoot Alton Sterling dead *GRAPHIC*."

Previous blogging at my "police brutality" tag.

Why Trump Will Win In November

From David Horowitz, at FrontPage Magazine, "It’s national security, stupid":

In elections generally - but this one in particular - things are not always what they seem. Take the apparent exculpation of Hillary by FBI director James Comey. The Democrats responded with a statement that the issue had now been “resolved” because the target had not been indicted. But not so fast. The failure to indict was not an exoneration, and what the public witnessed - the secret meeting between the head of Justice and the target’s husband, the job offer to her would-be prosecutor, and the FBI’s  dossier of her misdeeds – was in effect a second trial, and it came with a conviction. The former Secretary of State had lied to Congress and the public, and not about private matters like sexual escapades with interns. She had lied about national security matters, and was reckless in handling secrets that affect the safety of all Americans. Worse, the fact she appeared to be getting away with a serious crime was a dramatic confirmation of Trump’s campaign narrative: the system is corrupt, the fix is in, I will change all this.

The Comey episode also turned a lot of Republican heads – most notably Paul Ryan’s – that had been openly skeptical of Trump’s candidacy, and lukewarm in endorsing his campaign. Until that moment, the failure of some Republicans to rally behind the Republican nominee, indeed to refrain from seconding Democrat attacks, has been the chief weakness of Trump’s candidacy. When Trump objected to an obviously biased judge – a member of “La Raza” and opponent of securing the border – Ryan and other Republicans joined the Democrats in the ludicrous charge that Trump was a racist. (What Republican candidate in the last thirty years have the Democrats not slandered as racist?) But Ryan is not attacking Trump now. Instead he is calling on officials to remove Hillary’s security clearance – a strong signal to voters that she is not fit to be commander-in-chief, and a powerful reinforcement of Trump’s campaign theme.

At the moment, Trump is in a virtual dead heat with Hillary, which is remarkable considering the slanderous attacks on his character not only by Democrats but by the chorus of #NeverTrump Republicans who have also called him a sexist and xenophobe, and have compared him to Mussolini and Hitler. These negatives have hurt him but will ultimately fail for the same reason that the anti-Trump attacks in the primary failed. Trump is not an unknown quantity. He has been in front of the American public for thirty or forty years. Nothing in the public record would validate the charge Trump is a racist, let alone Hitler. Consequently these negatives are unlikely to over-ride the actual issues when voters make the judgments that will determine the election. At the same time, the obviousness of the slanders merely serves to confirm Trump’s narrative that corrupt elites fear him and will do anything to prevent him from upsetting their apple carts.

The reason Trump will win in November is that national security is at the top of voter concerns and Trump has been a strong advocate on this front. Beginning with his promise to build a wall, made national security issues – vetting Syrian Muslim refugees, rebuilding the military, “bombing the sh-t” out of ISIS and naming the enemy – have been centerpieces of his campaign. Of course he has also had help from the terrorists who carried out the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino and Orlando, and from a feckless Obama who refuses to recognize the Islamist threat. But so did Mitt Romney, who had Benghazi and Fort Hood and the same feckless commander-in-chief to work with. Romney, however, chose not to do so. He took the war issue off the table when he embraced Obama’s foreign policy in the third presidential debate and never tried to make it central again.

 Since World War II no Republican has won the popular vote in a presidential election where national security has not been a primary issue. The one seeming exception is Bush’s victory in 2000. But Bush did not win the popular vote even though he was able to get the necessary majority in the electoral college.  In this election, Trump has instinctively seized the high ground on national security. He has put the disasters of Obama’s Middle East retreats front and center, and s challenged the crippling denial of the commander-in-chief and his failure to take appropriate measures to defeat our enemies at home and abroad.

Thanks to nearly eight years of a party in power that refuses to secure our borders and is more interested in disarming law-abiding Americans than confronting the terror threat in our midst, national security is now a primary issue on the minds of all Americans. Donald Trump speaks to those concerns in a way that the damaged and compromised Hillary cannot. Her fingerprints are all over the disastrous Obama policies in the Middle East. National security is an issue that crosses party lines and also gender lines. Even more important, it is an issue that unifies the Republican coalition, whose current disunity is Trump’s greatest weakness. With the fallout from Hillary’s server fail as a backdrop, Trump should be able to bring his party together at the upcoming convention, and go on to secure a victory in November.

Philando Castile Character Assassination?

Following-up on my previous post, which has all the links to the debate I've been discussing, "Black Deaths and Police Brutality, Caught on Video."

I still think the Minnesota shooting was an unjustified use of force, and frankly, I don't see why it's necessary to assassinate the guy's characters. Same thing for Alton Sterling, although he was clearly resisting arrest. It's not to say that background is irrelevant, and of course I'd never be one to feed into the Black Lives Matter propaganda program of lies.

But still, this isn't my first reaction. See Cernovich on Twitter, linking Charles C. Johnson. It's nasty dirty politics. I guess somebody's gotta do it:

BREAKING: #PhilandoCastile From #FalconHeightsShooting Was Crips Gang Memberhttps://t.co/zNSZRZGBxj

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) July 7, 2016

Nina Agdal Checks Out Vintage Cars at Coney Island Mermaid Parade (VIDEO)

She's vintage, lol.

Via Sports Illustrated:

Black Deaths and Police Brutality, Caught on Video

I wanna re-up my post from yesterday, where I expressed my misgivings on the issue of police brutality. Where the Alton Sterling case had some gray areas (IMHO), the Philando Castile case in Minnesota is very different. It looks like the cops just opened fire for no reason (see Bearing Arms).

Here's yesterday's post, "Update on Alton Sterling Shooting."

And previously, "Police Officer Fatally Shoots Driver in Falcon Heights, Minnesota; Aftermath Video Posted."

And now here's Sarah Kendzior, who I linked yesterday. She's good.

At Toronto's Globe and Mail, "Black deaths, police brutality, caught on video: No justice, only sequels":

My latest for @globeandmail: Black deaths, police brutality, caught on video: No justice, only sequels https://t.co/ZNGaz7KeEL

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 7, 2016

In 1991, when video was released of Rodney King being beaten by Los Angeles police officers, Alton Sterling of Louisiana was 12 years old. Philando Castile of Minnesota was seven.

The King video was supposed to provide irrefutable evidence of what black Los Angeles residents had been describing for decades: systematic, racist police brutality. Now, many assumed, the violence black Americans had long endured from police would not be denied. Now, finally, officers would have to face legal repercussions.

But instead, the officers who abused Mr. King walked free. And today, videos of Mr. Sterling and Mr. Castile being killed by police officers circulate online, joining videos of police officers killing Laquan McDonald of Chicago, Walter Scott of North Carolina, and Eric Garner of New York, among others.

The legacy of the Rodney King video was not justice, but sequels.

Mr. Sterling died at 37. Mr. Castile died days before his 33rd birthday. They left behind children, parents, and friends. They were men who loved and were loved. Today their loved ones, in the midst of grief, are tasked with not only proving these men’s innocence, but vouching for their basic humanity. Advocates of Sterling and Castile will fight to put the officers who killed Sterling and Castile on trial, knowing Sterling and Castile were on trial their whole lives in the court of public opinion. Their very existence as black men is considered, in the eyes of many Americans, evidence of their guilt.

Police officials and media will publicize criminal records – as they already have for Mr. Sterling – to try to justify a killing that had nothing to do with his previous low-level offences. They will assassinate Mr. Castile’s character, as they consistently assassinate the character of even the youngest African-Americans – children like 12-year-old Tamir Rice, killed by a police officer while playing in a park.

They will do anything to make people turn away from the videos, the proof, the pain.

They know that no documentation will bring justice if the audience is willfully blind – seeing only what they want to see. What many want to see is justification for black death...

Keep reading.

Trump Endorsements

After this week, lots of folks bit the bullet and endorsed Donald Trump. The FBI's refusal to indict Hillary was the last straw.

Here's Bruce Kesler, at Maggie's Farm, "You can’t avoid the truth, sad as it may be: Trump is the only revolution we’ve got."

And Peter Ingemi, at Da Tech Guy's Blog, "Donald Trump or Civil War, I Choose Trump."

Police Officer Fatally Shoots Driver in Falcon Heights, Minnesota; Aftermath Video Posted

Well, it's the summer of black police brutality videos, I guess.

At the New York Times, "Philando Castile Shooting in Minnesota Leads Governor to Seek U.S. Investigation."

CBS News Minnesota's posted the 10:00 minute video, and blacked out the bloody images of the victim. But he's definitely dying, "Video: Police Shooting Aftermath Live On Facebook."

And, at Memeorandum, "Police Fatally Shoot Man During Traffic Stop, Aftermath Video Posted."

ICYMI: Roger Scruton, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands

This book's like a handbook for the postmodern left.

I'm keeping it handy as I read a lot of the hardcore Marxist literature.

Here, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left.

Tomi Lahren Interview: Sexual Assault Survivor and 2nd Amendment Advocate Kimberly Corban (VIDEO)

She spoke at Politicon.

Great legs.

And watch, at the Blaze, "Joining me now, sexual assault survivor and Second Amendment advocate, Kimberly Corban."

Pamplona Bull Run 2016 (VIDEO)

Well, the running actually looks kinda fun, and take a good look, because who knows how long this will continue? Leftists are ramping up their protests.

From the other day, "Animal Rights Activists Poured Artificial Blood Over Themselves in Pamplona, Spain (VIDEO)."

It's PETA, "RUNNING OF THE BULLS - PAMPLONA - BULL FIGHT PROTEST - PETA."

And via Euronews:

Emily Ratajkowski Poses for Harper's Bazaar

At London's Daily Mail, "Emily Ratajkowski poses NAKED atop a horse for Harper's Bazaar."

BONUS: Flashback, "EMILY RATAJKOWSKI WET SHOWER TOPLESS OUTTAKES."

Muslim Immigration to the West Threatens Women (VIDEO)

It's Ayaan Hirsi Ali, for Prager University.

And her recent book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.

Kim Strassel Talks About The Intimidation Game

A great interview, at the Daily Signal.

And here's her book, The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech.

Devin Brugman Shares Bikini Photos from Greek Vaction on Instagram

Looks like a fan account.

And she should have fans, dang!

Devin Brugman puts on a busty display in sexy triangle bikini https://t.co/ZgCLK3csy7

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) July 6, 2016

And from yesterday, "Natasha Oakley Speaks Out."

David Horowitz, Unholy Alliance

A great book.

A classic.

Here, Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And the American Left.

Deal of the Day: Dremel 3-Tool Craft & Hobby Maker Kit [BUMPED]

At Amazon, Dremel 2290 3-Tool Craft & Hobby Maker Kit with 200-Series Rotary Tool, Engraver & Butane Soldering Torch.

Plus, Save on Building Supplies.

And, Home & Kitchen Markdowns - Kitchen & Dining - 50% Off or More.

Also, from Heather Mac Donald, The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.

Harry Stein, No Matter What...They'll Call This Book Racist: How our Fear of Talking Honestly About Race Hurts Us All.

David Limbaugh, The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama's War on the Republic.

And Patrick Garry, Conservatism Redefined: A Creed for the Poor and Disadvantaged.

BONUS: Kim Strassel, The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech.

Update on Alton Sterling Shooting

The Daily Beast has a very graphic video of the shooting, via Memeorandum, "New Video Emerges of Alton Sterling Being Killed by Baton Rouge Police."

Obviously, information is scarce, but like with the death of Eric Garner in New York, the police can sometimes be seriously fucked up. While there's no "epidemic" of police killings of "unarmed black men," I'm upset with a lot of these deaths, and I can see how they fuel the leftist assault against law enforcement.

And I don't care if the guy Alton Sterling was a convicted molester, or whatever people are saying. The video sure looks like excessive force. You can see the man start to bleed out at the clip. He was shot right in the chest, so no doubt he didn't last long.

Police work is a nasty, ugly line of business. I used to hate cops when I was a kid, because they hassled me and profiled me. But I don't hate them so much anymore. I distrust them with my liberty, but I do know that most of them are decent individuals who mean well, and often are placed in unwinnable circumstances.

In any case, here's Bob Owens at Bearing Arms, "Most of What You’re Reading About Alton Sterling is Written byy Idiots" (via Memeorandum):

Here’s what really happened, based upon what we actually know.

* Police were called to a Baton Rouge (Louisiana) convenience store on a “man with a gun” call.
* Officers made contact with Alton Sterling at the convenience store because he matched the description provided by the caller.
* Officers had a conversation that led to a confrontation with Alton Sterling. We do not know the details of this conversation.
* A person in a nearby car began (badly) recording with a low-quality cell phone camera just as officers stepped back and fired a taser at Alston Sterling.
* You can distinctly hear the crackle of the X26 taser. It fires a second time. Alton Sterling is unmoved by either taser attempt.
* Up until this point, Sterling has been passively non-compliant, at least while on camera.
* An officer tackles Alton Sterling, and once Sterling is on the ground he starts actively resisting officers.
* The officer who fired the taser is able to secure Sterling’s left arm with great difficulty, and pins it under his legs.
* The other officer, the one who tackled Sterling, is attempting to control Sterling’s right arm, but it is out of camera view behind the bumper of the car.
* The officer who tackled Alston Sterling yells “He’s got a gun!” Sterling is seen still actively resisting. We still cannot see Alton Sterling’s right arm as the tackling officer fights to control him.
* The officer who had twice tasered Sterling draws his handgun to retention. He presumably issues the warning to Alton Sterling face to face: “Hey bra! You f*cking move, I swear to God.”
* Two shots are fired, and the cell phone video loses focus and goes back inside the car.
* Several other shots are heard.

These are the only real facts that we know.

More.

If the investigation, which is now going to be run through Washington, reveals that Sterling was reaching for, or holding, his weapon, it's most likely his killing would be justified. But see Owens' post for the last analysis on that point.

Now, see Sarah Kendzior, your classic progressive intellectual (who nevertheless is quite good at her reporting):

My piece from May on real "Ferguson effect": police who murder are not punished but rewarded https://t.co/0xDe4xPiE1 pic.twitter.com/4KzWqBJMdo

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 6, 2016

Scroll through her feed for more.

Previously, "Alton Sterling Shot by Police After Scuffle Outside Convenience Store in Baton Rouge (VIDEO)."

Follow-Up on Michelle Fields Interview with Steve Malzberg

First page of Michelle Field's book (Barons of the Beltway: Inside the Princely World of Our Washington Elite — and How to Overthrow Them), where she alleges Corey Lewandowski nearly pulled her to the ground at the Donald Trump event. She flatly denied making the allegation in the book when called out by Steve Malzberg on Newsmax, and then she quit the interview. But it's right there. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a liar. And that's a bald-faced lie.

Sad.

Here's the initial report, "Michelle Fields Abruptly Ends Interview When Called Out by Steve Malzberg on Corey Lewandowsk Lies (VIDEO)."

J. Kael Weston, The Mirror Test

Obama's going to leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, which is about the most decent thing he's done all year.

More on that later.

Meanwhile, here's J. Kael Weston's new book, The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hillary Clinton Expanding College Plan to Offer 'Free' Tuition to Millions

"Free" college.

She's really feeling the Bern on this one.

Remember, Sanders' full program, education plus universal health care, etc., was pegged at more than $18 trillion over ten years.

Let's hope Crooked Hilary doesn't go that far, sheesh.

At WSJ (via Memeorandum):

In a bid to win over rival Bernie Sanders and his supporters, Democrat Hillary Clinton is expanding her college plan to offer free tuition to millions of families, a modified version of what Mr. Sanders pushed during his presidential campaign and a major concession.

The new plan will offer free tuition at public schools to students in families earning up to $85,000 a year at first, with that threshold increasing to $125,000 by 2021.

Mr. Sanders welcomed the plan as “a revolutionary step forward.”

Speaking to reporters, he applauded her move as “very, very significant” and said the new plan combines the best of both candidates’ ideas. But he continued to hold off an endorsement for Mrs. Clinton, who has the Democratic nomination in hand. “This is one issue—there are other issues,” he said.

Throughout their primary campaign, Mrs. Clinton argued that her college affordability plan was superior. Her proposal guaranteed that families wouldn’t have to borrow money to attend college, but insisted that students and their parents contribute what they could afford. She described this as a way to make sure everybody had “skin in the game.”

In a statement, Mrs. Clinton sidestepped the political imperatives in revising her plan and continued to talk about her policy in terms of “debt-free” college, as opposed to Mr. Sanders’s more sweeping vision of “tuition-free” school.


“American families are drowning in debt caused by ever-rising college costs and it is imperative that the next president put forward a bold plan to make debt-free college available to all,” she said.

It is not clear how many additional families would get free tuition under the modified version compared with the original Clinton plan. The campaign also didn’t say how much the new version would cost or how she would pay for it...

"Tuition-free."

"Debt-free."

What difference does it make? It's going to be a massive taxpayer-funded boondoggle either way.

And to be clear, I support free community college education. It was free back in the 1970s in California, and it was designed as affordable for everyone. But even that's going to be hard to finance in this day and age. I'd like to see more affordability, more federal grants, and so forth. But no doubt it's going to cost a lot. Young people are being deceived if they think they're going to get a 100 percent free ride. It ain't going to happen.

Keep reading.

Italian Coast Guard and Navy Intercept 4,500 Refugees During Operations in the Mediterranean (VIDEO)

They should pick up these "refugees" and dump them in Germany, and the chancellor's office.

Via Ruptly:

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair Responds to Chilcot Inquiry Report (VIDEO)

As promised, following-up from earlier, "U.K. Chilcot Report Offers Devastating Critique of Tony Blair and the Iraq War," and "FLASHBACK: Tony Blair Testimony Before the Chilcot Inquiry in 2010 (VIDEO)."

Plus, updates at Telegraph UK, "Chilcot report: Tony Blair takes 'full responsibility' for Iraq war as Jeremy Corbyn 'apologises sincerely on behalf' of Labour party":

“The decision to go to war in Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power in a coalition of over 40 countries led by the USA, was the hardest, most momentous, most agonising decision I took in 10 years as British prime minister.

“For that decision today I accept full responsibility, without exception and without excuse. I recognise the division felt by many in our country over the war and in particular I feel deeply and sincerely – in a way that no words can properly convey – the grief and suffering of those who lost ones they loved in Iraq, whether the members of our armed forces, the armed forces of other nations, or Iraqis.

“The intelligence assessments made at the time of going to war turned out to be wrong. The aftermath turned out to be more hostile, protracted and bloody than ever we imagined. The coalition planned for one set of ground facts and encountered another, and a nation whose people we wanted to set free and secure from the evil of Saddam, became instead victim to sectarian terrorism.

“For all of this I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe.”

The full video is here, "[Full speech] Tony Blair speaks after publication of Chilcot report."

Charles Krauthammer: Hillary Clinton's a 'Non-Criminal Liar'

That's the conclusion from listening to FBI Director Comey's remarks yesterday, says Dr. K.

Watch, from Fox News' Special Report, "The political ramifications of the FBI's Clinton decision."

Also at the video: Kirsten Powers and Mercedes Schlapp.

FLASHBACK: Tony Blair Testimony Before the Chilcot Inquiry in 2010 (VIDEO)

Following-up from earlier, "U.K. Chilcot Report Offers Devastating Critique of Tony Blair and the Iraq War."

It turns out Tony Blair gave a public speech today, and he apparently got choked up. I'll look for the video clip shortly and update.

Meanwhile, here's his initial testimony to the committee of inquiry, at ODN, "The day Tony Blair gave evidence to the Iraq war inquiry."

Natasha Oakley Speaks Out

She's one of the A Bikini A Day ladies.

The other is the mind-blowing Devin Brugman.

At Harper's Bazaar:

Natasha Oakley Speaks Out About Body Shamers https://t.co/l27QnJ5h9S pic.twitter.com/7jVqTVzSl0

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) July 5, 2016

More, at London's Daily Mail, "Wish you were here! Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman continue their envy-inducing holiday in Greece and show off their incredible curves in sexy swimwear."

Three Sylmar High School Baseball Players Enlisted in the Army

A great story.

One of those little nuggets of news that rekindle your faith in the goodness of America.

Remember, we're constantly bombarded with how terrible we are by the left. When I see a story like this, of young people resisting the left's nihilist culture, I want to shout it from the rooftops.

At LAT, "'Go Army' more than a motto for Sylmar High baseball players":

Mario Xavier Cruz, Robert Jaime and Erick Aleman. Coached by Ray Rivera. 'I've always wanted to serve my country' https://t.co/6pfoJYIh3Z

— Angel Rodriguez (@ajrod) July 1, 2016

When Mario Xavier Cruz and Robert Jaime, baseball teammates at Sylmar High, look up into the sky on the Fourth of July and see fireworks bursting in the air, their thoughts may turn emotional.

Jaime leaves July 11 for Army boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C. Cruz leaves the same day for Fort Sill, Okla.

Another Sylmar teammate, Erick Aleman, left June 20 for boot camp at Fort Benning, Ga.

“I’m very proud,” Sylmar baseball coach Ray Rivera said. “Three players off one team.”

Rivera doesn’t act like an Army drill sergeant — though his preseason conditioning sessions are pretty tough and he’s got an Army haircut. But the coach does offer a clear message to any player who shows up.

“I tell them everything we do here is geared for preparing you for life,” he said.

And the players agree that baseball has helped prepare them for Army life.

“Playing baseball really influenced me to join,” Aleman, a pitcher, said in an email before he left. “Baseball gave me the personal courage and confidence to join. The skills that I learned, I will use throughout my military career and life.”

Said Cruz: “Baseball takes a lot of discipline and you have to be mentally tough.”

Aleman was first to sign up, then he started talking to Cruz and Jaime. Soon, they were all in.

“I’ve always wanted to serve my country,” said Jaime, an all-East Valley League catcher who batted .437 and also starred as a wrestler. “I always looked up to soldiers and saw how much respect they got.”

Rivera, who has been Sylmar's coach for 14 seasons, had other players join the military but never this many from one team.

“All three of them could have gone to college,” he said...

Keep reading.

Alana Blanchard Surfing the Gold Coast, Australia (VIDEO)

She's a cool chick.

Brazil Ramps Up Security Before Rio Olympics (VIDEO)

My wife was saying last night that she wouldn't go.

And you can see why!

Watch, at CBS News This Morning, "Rio police battle security crisis as Olympics loom."

That's an excellent report. Brazil's deploying twice as many police and security personnel than Britain did for the London games in 2012.

Theresa May Once Called the Tories the 'Nasty Party' (VIDEO)

Interesting.

Watch, at the Telegraph UK, "Theresa May in 90 Seconds: Who is the woman bidding to be the next Prime Minister?"

And ICYMI, "Theresa May Wins First Round of Conservative Party Leadership Vote."

Alton Sterling Shot by Police After Scuffle Outside Convenience Store in Baton Rouge (VIDEO)

This story's trending on all the morning news programs, and at Memeorandum, "Video captures white Baton Rouge police officer fatally shooting a black man, sparking outrage."

Alos at USA Today, "Protests break out after Baton Rouge police fatally shoot man."

More, at the Baton Rouge Advocate, "Baton Rouge NAACP leader calls for police chief to resign after Alton Sterling shooting."

And watch, at ABC News:

Kid at Basketball Camp Falls to the Floor After Seeing Stephen Curry (VIDEO)

This is fantastic!

At AP, "Basketball camper drops to floor after meeting Steph Curry."

And watch, at the Warriors' Twitter feed, "Some lucky basketball campers got the surprise of a lifetime."

German Leftist Selin Gören Lied to Police About Being Raped by Islamic Refugees

Because she didn't want to "encourage racism."

Seems like this kind of thing's becoming pretty common over there.

Now she's apologized.

At Jihad Watch, "Germany: Leftist pol raped by Muslim migrants, lied to police to avoid encouraging racism":

“She now says people must never ‘twist the truth’ even if it is politically expedient to do so.” If the Left in the aggregate took her advice, it would have to close up shop. Lying because it is politically expedient is the hallmark of the Left’s approach to the Muslim migrant inundation, and to the jihad threat in general.

Keep reading.

Kelly Brook: 'It's Not Me, It's You'

Seen just now on Twitter:

We are Trending!!!!!!! Thanks everyone keep watching #INMIY 😘😘😘 pic.twitter.com/fdLbMmoIKO

— Kelly Brook (@IAMKELLYBROOK) June 30, 2016

@IAMKELLYBROOK This show is awesome, its a must watch a WOW kelly still has it! #INMIY pic.twitter.com/ER3SBNAVB4

— daniel scrafton (@danielScrafton9) June 30, 2016

London Nights @steamandrye ❤️ pic.twitter.com/W3ZrbePoi6

— Kelly Brook (@IAMKELLYBROOK) July 1, 2016

She's full-figured, man!

17-Year-Old Loses Right Hand in Long Beach in Yet Another Preventable Fireworks Tragedy

I've been posting on these horrific mishaps all weekend, preventable tragedies.

At the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Boy, 17, loses hand in Central Long Beach fireworks accident."

Parents.

Where were the parents of all the kids, now maimed from parental negligence?

Lissy from Manchester

It's Lissy Cunningham, featured for Rule 5 on August 12 last year.

At Page 3, "Lissy from Manchester is a total knockout in this sexy topless shoot."

U.K. Chilcot Report Offers Devastating Critique of Tony Blair and the Iraq War

I'm just reading, soaking this in.

And of course folks have long known where I stand. Indeed, the Iraq war's the main reason I started blogging. (See, "The Iraq War and Stubborn Myths," and "Judith Miller, 'I took America to war in Iraq. It was all me...'")

At the Telegraph UK, "Chilcot report: 2003 Iraq war was 'unnecessary', invasion was not 'last resort' and Saddam Hussein was 'no imminent threat'."

And at the Guardian UK, "Chilcot report live: Blair says report clears him of 'bad faith' but Iraq inquiry says he exaggerated case for war."

Also, at London's Daily Mail, "BREAKING NEWS: Chilcot's damning verdict on Blair's Iraq War: 'WMD threat was NOT justified', military action 'was NOT a last resort' and invasion was based on 'flawed intelligence'."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "U.K.’s Long-Awaited Chilcot Report into Iraq War Criticizes Legal Basis for Invasion":

LONDON—The U.K. government under former Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Parliament to vote in favor of joining the Iraq war when the legal basis for U.K. military action was “far from satisfactory,” according to the findings of a high-profile inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the war.

The roughly 6,000-page report released Wednesday, which comes seven years after the inquiry was launched, also said policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments, according to John Chilcot, the retired civil servant who led the inquiry.

The assessments “were not challenged, and they should have been,” Mr. Chilcot said.

The long-awaited report is the culmination of the inquiry launched in 2009 by the then-governing Labour Party to address public criticism of the case made for the war and preparation for reconstruction in Iraq, among other issues.

The report also said that planning and preparation for Iraq after Saddam Hussein was deposed were “wholly inadequate.”

In response, Mr. Blair defended his decision to take military action, saying he did what he thought was the right thing and that the inquiry didn’t find otherwise.

“The report should lay to rest allegations of bad faith, lies or deceit,” he said in a statement. “Whether people agree or disagree with my decision to take military action against Saddam Hussein; I took it in good faith and in what I believed to be the best interests of the country.”

Some 179 British military personnel died in the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, which Mr. Blair at the time justified with assertions that the regime had weapons of mass destruction—a claim that turned out to be false.

Britain’s role in the 2003 Iraq invasion continues to shape the British public’s appetite for military involvement in foreign wars and comes as the U.K. reassesses its role in the world following the vote to leave the European Union...

More.

Fascinating politics of this. See how the report damages the "neoliberal" Blairite faction of the U.K. Labour Party, and then strengthens the neo-communst Corbyn partisans? It's almost too pat. And of course we'd never be having a vigorous debate in the U.S. on the origins of the war --- a relitigation of the war, in the parlance --- because Hillary Clinton, the Democrat Party nominee, was one of the war's biggest boosters in the Senate in 2002.

I love it!

Expect updates on this throughout the day. Leftists want a criminal indictment for Tony Blair. It's freakin' amazing. Oh, the vindictive hatred is just seething. The issue's a classic polarizer of our times.

Animal Rights Activists Poured Artificial Blood Over Themselves in Pamplona, Spain (VIDEO)

You know, after posting all the bullfighting videos over the years, I'm very sympathetic to this protest.

It's not just about killing the animals, which I don't oppose in terms of food production, etc. It's should we be making a sport out of it, a full spectacle which is obviously barbaric in some respects? Frankly, I've been to bull fights in Mexico, and it feels like you're at any other sporting event. But then, you kill the animal.

In any case, something to think about.

Watch, at Euronews, "Pamplona: Topless protesters pour fake blood over themselves prior to bull run."

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's Gatling Gun (VIDEO)

Via CNN:

Ellen Meiksins Wood

I'm reading Ellen Meiksins Wood's, Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism.

I picked up a copy at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena a couple of weekends ago (when I was at the Politicon convention).

She's also the author of The Pristine Culture of Capitalism: A Historical Essay on Old Regimes and Modern States, a topic of longtime interest to me in political science. One of my favorite books from graduate school is Perry Anderson's, Lineages of the Absolutist State.

Anderson defined Marxist historical-sociology and the state-building approach in political science. The work of Meiksins Wood is very closely related in terms of establishing historical change as a site of theoretical contestation. I enjoy reading this stuff.

Also from Meiksins Wood, The Retreat From Class: A New True Socialism.

Texas Teenager Rowdy Radford Loses Leg and Fingers in Homemade 'Sparkler Bomb' Explosion

He may be blind as well. Folks are waiting for those eye-patches to come off.

Watch, at USA Today, "Sparkler explosion gravely injures teen."

And London's Daily Mail, "Texas teenager, 15, loses his leg and fingers and could go blind after 'bomb' made from 180 sparklers explodes in his hand."

Previously, "9-Year-Old Girl Loses Left Hand in Illegal Fireworks Explosion in Compton."

Hillary Clinton and President Obama Campaign Together for the First Time!

Heh.

Ima leave this right here:

President Obama Makes First Appearance at Hillary Clinton Campaign Event. pic.twitter.com/YoDaO8ZOV1

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 5, 2016

Timely: Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It

Great holiday reading.

At Amazon, If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

Revolutionary Reading [BUMPED]

I posted Bernard Bailyn's The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution the other day.

But see also, Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution.

Plus, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815.

Also, Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life.

And, by Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson.

Gary Wills, Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

More, from Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.

BONUS: From Dana Loesch, Flyover Nation: You Can't Run a Country You've Never Been To.

Theresa May Wins First Round of Conservative Party Leadership Vote

I thought I liked her, until I found out that she praised Islamic sharia.

See the Telegraph UK, "Theresa May hails ‘benefits’ of Sharia as inquiry set up into ‘misuse’ of Islamic law."

That's a terrifying statement, actually. And to think, David Cameron was shamelessly politically correct as well. Won't be much of improvement on the Tory front-bench then.

And she's not well like among the "Leave" partisans, it turns out:

Bet this won't get reported on BBC, the British ppl would finish the Tories. They will never be in government again. pic.twitter.com/5PfzhDYeia

— Denise (@LittleMissFoxyy) July 5, 2016

@LouiseMensch May would be worst decision. Need to ensure PM is a leave candidate and a strong one at that.

— Laura Katherine' (@LauraK2610) July 5, 2016

Whoever the Leave nominee is will have all of our FULLEST backing against Theresa May https://t.co/AA0Oict82Y

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) July 5, 2016

In any case, back to the Telegraph, "Conservative leadership election: Theresa May wins more than half of MPs' votes as Liam Fox is knocked out of race."

Islamic State Shifts Tactics

Islamic State, as it loses territory, boosts more traditional suicide terror attacks (rather than more classic insurgency initiatives).

I've been blogging most of these Ramadan attacks, although I missed the gruesome hacking attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

It's bad.

At WSJ, "Islamic State Extends Reach as It Suffers Defeats":

Islamic State Extends Reach as It Suffers Defeats https://t.co/GecqdgHt5b

— WSJ World News (@WSJworld) July 5, 2016

During a rare spate of attacks in Jordan recently, Western officials in the capital Amman intercepted messages from Islamic State leaders urging supporters to spread terror at home rather than join militants across the border in Syria.

That call, which was sent to all the group’s affiliates, and a similar appeal in a public speech by an Islamic State spokesman were followed by attacks outside the boundaries of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. In the past week, supporters with suspected or confirmed ties to Islamic State have launched deadly strikes in Turkey, Iraq and Bangladesh.

Islamic State is increasingly reverting to less expensive but spectacular guerrilla maneuvers, calling on supporters to launch assaults while its costly makeshift army faces retention problems and casualties, Western officials said. It is expanding its global scope, inspiring groups and individuals spread across several continents, even though they may have different agendas and operational methods.

The frequency of attacks outside Syria and Iraq has increased in tandem with battlefield and territorial setbacks that have deprived the militants of key sources of income such as oil. The group’s shift in tactics has been prompted by those territorial losses, U.S. officials and security advisers say...

Keep reading.

Great graphics at the link.

Father Accidentally Kills 14-Year-Old Son at Florida Gun Range (VIDEO)

So sad.

But the father refused to tow the depraved leftist gun control line.

At London's Daily Mail, "'The gun didn't kill my son. I did': Distraught father blames his 'operating error' for accidentally shooting dead his boy, 14, at the 'world's safest gun range'."

And watch, at Fox News 13 Tampa Bay:

Beverly Hills Accused of Running Homeless Man Out of Town with Private Security

And the guy was apparently well liked.

At LAT:

Have Beverly Hills “greenshirts” run a homeless man out of town? https://t.co/Kiw300hMR5 pic.twitter.com/9N0mps7UGA

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 5, 2016

George Saville slept on a cot in a downtown homeless shelter. In the morning, he would catch the bus to Beverly Hills.

There, Saville’s wit and wide knowledge of news, entertainment and sports drew a circle of admirers, including a half-dozen people who took their morning coffee at Urth Caffe.

The cafe owners supported him. Sports stars such as Lamar Odom and Jason Kidd stopped by for daily tidbits of information. Arab royals from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel asked him to pose in their selfies, Saville’s supporters said.

“He’s smart; he has historical references,” said Maria Belknap, a business manager and Urth patron. “He knows the L.A. Times and New York Times inside and out and he can talk about everything.”

“At best he is charming, at worst he is harmless,” said television host Larry King, who eats breakfast nearby and has slipped him cash on occasion. “Every community has a panhandler, and Beverly Hills is not so far above it.”

City officials, however, call Saville an opportunist and “aggressive panhandler” and considered drawing up a “shame list” to pressure cafe owners to stop catering to him.

After a run-in with a city-funded private patrol, known to locals as “greenshirts,” Saville was charged with two misdemeanors and ordered to stay away from the restaurant. Saville’s friends call the charges bogus and merely a ploy to drive the 57-year-old homeless man out of town.

“What you’ve mounted is an extrajudicial squad of greenshirts [who] are there to clear the streets of undesirables,” David Lyle, president of a television and digital content producers association, told the Beverly Hills human rights commission in May.

At a separate hearing, James Latta, the city’s human services administrator, countered that, “if it’s someone that wanted our help and needed help, we’ve got it for him. But this individual doesn’t want it.”

Saville’s clash with officials raises questions about how far cities can go to clear public spaces of indigents — and what obligation, if any, homeless people have to accept services and shelter...

Yasiel Puig Rocks Red, White, and Blue Cleats for Fourth of July at Dodger Stadium (VIDEO)

That's cool.

And that's announcer Vin Scully at the clip. This is his last season calling games for the Dodgers, and it's bittersweet, especially since Sports Net L.A.'s the only local network (not Cox Cable, Time Warner, etc.).

#TrumpGirlsBreakTheInternet Is Still Going Viral (VIDEO)

Actually, I think they're a little late, but it's a cool video.

At the New York Post, "These sexy Trump supporters are going viral."

And still a few stalwart Trump babes posting selfies:

#WomenForTrump #MAGA #Americanasfuck #trumpgirlsbreaktheinternet pic.twitter.com/MduFpxI1xT

— 3/75thRangers4Trump (@cdubhulksmash) July 4, 2016

The #4thOfJuly party doesn't stop! #America #women4trump #maga #students4trump #trumpgirlsbreaktheinternet #Retweet pic.twitter.com/pIxai4zVuE

— Trump Hotties (@hottiesfortrump) July 4, 2016

#IndependenceDay #trumpgirlsbreaktheinternet #maga pic.twitter.com/eBPaUhAfwH

— Bernie v Trump 2016 (@BernieTrump2O16) July 5, 2016

Happy 4th of July! #trumpgirlsbreaktheinternet #babesfortrump #maga pic.twitter.com/Sh897VcK8i

— Bernie v Trump 2016 (@BernieTrump2O16) July 5, 2016

@BabesForTrump #americanasfuck #trumpgirlsbreaktheinternet pic.twitter.com/Q1M2D27yyE

— 3/75thRangers4Trump (@cdubhulksmash) July 5, 2016

F.B.I. Will Not Seek Charges in Hillary Clinton Email Probe (VIDEO)

No one should be surprised. I certainly wasn't expecting any charges.

The fix is in. And it's been in. This is the Clintons we're talking about.

Watch, at CNN, "FBI Director: No charges appropriate in Clinton case."

And at WSJ, "FBI Won’t Recommend Criminal Charges Against Hillary Clinton Over Private Email Use":

FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton was “extremely careless” in handling classified information while secretary of state and added scores of emails on her personal server contained highly classified information—but he said the FBI won’t recommend criminal charges against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee...

Keep reading.

Also at Instapundit, "THE FIX WAS IN ALL ALONG: Comey: Despite Mishandling of Classified Info, Risk That She Was Hacked, FBI Won’t Recommend Prosecuting Hillary."

Alyssa Arce Fourth of July (VIDEO)

Via Playboy:



BONUS: At Hot Celebs, "ALYSSA ARCE – TOPLESS PHOTOSHOOT BY GLEN KROHN (NSFW)."

Model Hailey Clauson Hot Dog Eating (VIDEO)

Heh.

'Tis the season.

Via Sports Illustrated:



BONUS: "Hailey Clauson In Nothing But Body Paint - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015 (VIDEO)."

Immigration is the Key

From Professor Michael Curtis, at the New English Review:

The Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin once said, “There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” He might have been talking of the UK in June 2016 with the events connected with the referendum on June 23, 2016 on British membership of or Brexit, exit, from the European Union.

Britain has innumerable problems concerning its membership of the EU and the issues of freedom of movement of goods, capital, services, and people, and about the right of EU citizens to live and work in any EU state.  Yet, whether voiced openly or not, at the heart of the events is the widespread public concern about the increasing immigration into the country.

Those events resemble a film noir or a Shakespearean play, say Julius Caesar, with its political turmoil, its incorrect assumptions and unexpected outcome of the referendum, its undisguised ambitions not made of sterner stuff, its intrigues and betrayals of leading political figures supposed to be friends and allies.

Among the star events in this continuing serio-comical drama are the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister, the turmoil for leadership of the Conservative Party, the resignation of Nigel Farage, from his position as leader of the anti-immigrant party UKIP (UK Independence Party), and the stubbornness of Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party in refusing to heed the sizable vote of his parliamentary colleagues calling on him to resign.

Yet, all interested in the present U.S. presidential election should take account of the British events and possible parallel between the two counties. There is a distinct resemblance regarding pertinent issues and popular anxieties. Similar factors are said to trouble citizens: the impact of globalization; the free trade economy; the decline in jobs and wages; the weakening of national dignity and esteem.

In both countries a considerable part of the electorate appears disgruntled, antagonistic to established power institutions, and concerned with what they regard as a decline in the status and popularity of their country. If the disgruntled in the UK want to throw off the shackles of the supposed tyranny of the European Union and the detached bureaucracy in Brussels, supporters of Donald Trump want to end the tyranny of established authorities in Washington, D.C.

Keep reading.

9-Year-Old Girl Loses Left Hand in Illegal Fireworks Explosion in Compton

She lost some fingers on her right hand too.

God, this is horrible!

Watch, at ABC News 7 Los Angeles, "9-YEAR-OLD GIRL LOSES HAND, FINGERS IN COMPTON FIREWORK EXPLOSION."

Suicide Bombers Attack Across Saudi Arabia, Including Holy Site of Medina (VIDEO)

My god!

It's never ending terror jihad!

At the Washington Post, "Three suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia extend global wave of bombings and a bloody week":

BEIRUT — Suicide bombers suspected of links to the Islamic State struck for the fourth time in less than a week on Monday, targeting three locations in Saudi Arabia in an extension of what appeared to be a coordinated campaign of worldwide bombings coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Initial reports suggested there were relatively few casualties in the attacks at a U.S. consulate, a mosque frequented by Shiite worshippers and a security center in one of Islam’s holiest sites, the historic city of Medina. Security officials told news agencies that two security guards died in the Medina attack.

The attacks nonetheless offered further evidence that in the three years since it declared the existence of its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State has developed the capacity to strike at will at the time of its choosing in diverse locations around the world...

Keep reading.

And at CNN:

Nigel Farage Resigns as Leader of U.K. Independence Party (VIDEO)

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "NIGEL FARAGE RESIGNS AS HEAD OF UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY."

I'm not linking, but they're absolutely tipsy at the news over at the far-left Guardian UK.

Bella Hadid White Sheer Crop Top in Manhattan

At Egotastic!:

Bella Hadid absolutely kills me, in the way I prefer to be killed. Wicked hot young model busty body perennially on some kind of exhibitionist display. Sometimes it's revealing photoshoots, or beach candids, or other times she's just in some fashionable outfit that cost more than my rent but shows off her incredibly boobtastic female form in absolutely hot spotlight.

More at the click-through.

The Enduring Legacy of George Washington

From Salena Zito, at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Independence and the enduring legacy of George Washington":

What drives a man to service, leadership, sacrifice, greatness? Whatever it is, Washington possessed it, and every American has benefited.

At great piece.

Zito's a patriot herself.

Washington took stock: half his men were wounded, some drunk the gun powder soaked & most of the livestock was dead https://t.co/EfMtYiDFlX

— SalenaZito (@SalenaZitoTrib) July 4, 2016

Independence & the Enduring Legacy of George Washington | RealClearPolitics https://t.co/EfMtYiDFlX

— SalenaZito (@SalenaZitoTrib) July 4, 2016

How the Global Elite Weaponized Immigration

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Using migrants to push multiculturalism has been a disaster":

Freedom of movement ought to be one of the cornerstones of an open, liberal society. The freedom, that is, not just to seek refuge, but to search for a better life elsewhere, to pursue one’s dreams and ambitions in territories far from one’s birthplace.

Yet if the commitment to free movement is to be more than a shallow, feelgood posture, we need to recognise, in the here and now of a 21st-century Britain, that immigration troubles and discomfits people. Indeed, it appears as a socially disorienting force, overturning the everyday rituals, customs and other unspoken components that make up a community’s way of life. ‘I feel we are losing our country’, ran the pre-referendum refrain.

So why does immigration appear as a profound threat to the way of life of so many? The answer is to be found not in immigration itself, but in the context in which immigration has assumed, almost inadvertently, a quasi-missionary role – the context, that is, of a Britain that no longer knows what it is, or what it is for.

This is not the cry of the everyman, who feels he is losing his cultural moorings; it is principally the angst of Britain’s ruling elite, which feels it has already lost its cultural moorings. The historical sources of British national identity – Empire, Unionism and, latterly, the Second World War and the Cold War – and the moral confidence that flowed from them, have long since dried up.

National traditions, canons, values are now experienced by Britain’s elite not as the substance of Britishness, but as dead weights around modern Britain’s neck – to be cast off, dumped. And the political elite’s wilful estrangement from its own traditions has transformed the role of immigration, and, crucially, diminished the significance and meaning of national borders...

More.

Why the World Is Rebelling Against 'Experts'

From Joel Kotkin, at the Daily Beast, "An unconventional, sometimes incoherent, resistance arises to the elites who keep explaining why changes that hurt the middle class are actually for its own good":

Why the World Is Rebelling Against 'Experts' (Joel Kotkin / The Daily Beast) https://t.co/7BpR09XZUk https://t.co/y0xRnWkw4n

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) July 4, 2016

The Great Rebellion is on and where it leads nobody knows.

Its expressions range from Brexit to the Trump phenomena and includes neo-nationalist and unconventional insurgent movement around the world. It shares no single leader, party or ideology. Its very incoherence, combined with the blindness of its elite opposition, has made it hard for the established parties across what’s left of the democratic world to contain it.

What holds the rebels together is a single idea: the rejection of the neo-liberal crony capitalist order that has arisen since the fall of the Soviet Union. For two decades, this new ruling class could boast of great successes: rising living standards, limited warfare, rapid technological change and an optimism about the future spread of liberal democracy. Now, that’s all fading or failing.

Living standards are stagnating, vicious wars raging, poverty-stricken migrants pouring across borders and class chasms growing. Amidst this, the crony capitalists and their bureaucratic allies have only grown more arrogant and demanding. But the failures of those who occupy what Lenin called “the commanding heights” are obvious to most of the citizens on whose behalf they claim to speak and act.

The Great Rebellion draws on five disparate and sometimes contradictory causes that find common ground in frustration with the steady bureaucratic erosion of democratic self-governance: class resentment, racial concerns, geographic disparities, nationalism, cultural identity. Each of these strains appeals to different constituencies, but together they are creating a political Molotov cocktail...

RTWT.

Leftist 'Anti-Fascist' Yvette Felarca Caught on Video Attacking Peaceful Protester in Sacramento (VIDEO)

The most gobsmacking thing is that she's a junior high school teacher in Berkeley!

Shouldn't be surprised, I guess. We've got enclaves in this country that've been literally taken over by the forces of global anti-Americanism. It's pretty bad.

I saw the raw video last week after the rioting, but CBS News 5 San Francisco covered it on the local news. And at the Los Angeles Times, "Bay Area school threatened after teacher clashes with neo-Nazis at state Capitol."

Here's Sacramento Police refusing their oath to protect the Constitution

Call their Internal Affairs (916) 808-2290 pic.twitter.com/SqpubPvFyA

— Jared Wyand (@JaredWyand) June 28, 2016

Previously, "'No Free Speech for Fascists!' — Leftist Extremists Launched Violent Attack at Sacramento Rally (VIDEO)."

Taylor Swift Bikini Shots

Looks like she had breast augmentation surgery.  I saw something about that earlier, but here's your proof.

At London's Daily Mail, "PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Tom loves Taylor... and he's got the T-shirt! Hiddleston declares his devotion to Swift with a tattoo and vest in her name as the couple frolic in the sea with their A-list friends."

Tom Hiddleston declares his love for Taylor Swift with 'tattoo' and a t-shirt https://t.co/gC5gXzeoXu pic.twitter.com/AGjXzEL1EL

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) July 4, 2016

BONUS: "Actress Ruby Rose and new girlfriend Harley Gusman frolic in the sea at Taylor Swift's party," and "Karlie Kloss stuns in red bikini at BFF Taylor Swift’s beachfront home."

Hey Ungrateful Leftists, Catch a Flight to Cuba, LOL!

Michelle Malkin cracks me up.

She's got an Independence Day video, at the link.

I think conservatives took over the #AmericaWasNeverGreat hashtag, lol.

To the #AmericaWasNeverGreat ingrates: It's our day to tell you to SIT DOWN==> https://t.co/GRYH1xmaST #IndependenceDay

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 4, 2016

Celebrate 4th of July with Super Model Nina Agdal (VIDEO)

She's a fine Danish babe, and honorary American!

Via Sports Illustrated: