Sunday, March 15, 2015

Police Shootings in #Ferguson Entirely Predictable — Anonymous Agitation! And Eric Holder Agitation!

From Matthew Hennessey, at City Journal, "Springtime for Chaos in Ferguson":

Shortly before shots rang out at Wednesday night’s protest outside the Ferguson Police Department, injuring two officers and reviving fears of return to last year’s social unrest, the Twitter account of Operation Ferguson posted an ominous warning: “This will not end well tonight.” Whoever composed the Tweet was right. Exactly how they knew is an open question.

The Operation Ferguson Twitter account has 70,000 followers. It is run by Anonymous, the mysterious band of online vigilantes and mask-wearing anarchists that allies itself periodically with far-left causes from the Occupy movement to Julian Assange’s Wikileaks. To read the stream of anti-police invective on Operation Ferguson’s timeline is to get a sense of Anonymous’s goals in Ferguson—and beyond. A pair of cellphone photos of cops in riot gear is captioned “punk ass terrorists.” A picture of a young African-American facing off with the police is accompanied by text: “You’ve been killing kids like me for decades. You can’t stop the revolution.” Yet another tweet reads: “protestors have taken streets to usher in the last days of the brutal regime. Same thing happened in #Egypt. #BlackLivesMatter”

During last year’s protests in Ferguson, Anonymous pledged to protect demonstrators from “abuse and harassment” at the hands of police. Hackers affiliated with the group crashed Ferguson City Hall’s e-mail server and, using a favored tactic, threatened St. Louis County Police Department Chief Jon Belmar by posting his home address, telephone number, and photos of his family. “I’ve said all along that we cannot sustain this forever without problems,” Belmar told the media late Wednesday after the shooting. “We were very close to what happened in New York”—a reference to the assassination of two NYPD officers last December.

Anonymous is not the only far-left group that has tried to turn Ferguson into the American Bastille. As the Daily Beast and the Blaze reported last year, well-known Communist agitators flooded into town following the death of Michael Brown with the goal of keeping emotions high and the revolution roiling. But the most-effective left-wing activist in Ferguson has got to be Eric Holder’s Justice Department.

Last week, the DOJ released a report clearing Officer Darren Wilson of misconduct in Brown’s death—the left’s initial justification for its war on Ferguson’s cops. But by dismantling the myth that Wilson had murdered Brown in cold blood, Holder risked undermining the agitators’ casus belli. So he went the extra step of accusing Ferguson’s police and courts of widespread and systemic racism. The report charged that the financially strapped city thought of its black citizens as not much more than a revenue stream. In a press conference, Holder decried last year’s riots, claiming that “violence is never justified,” before going on brazenly to justify the violence: “[S]een in this context—amid a highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment, stoked by years of bad feelings, and spurred by illegal and misguided practices—it is not difficult to imagine how a single tragic incident set off the city of Ferguson like a powder keg.”

Holder’s claim is that while Darren Wilson didn’t murder Michael Brown, in a way, the entire system did. This type of racial grievance-fueling is like a shot of straight adrenaline to the agitators of Anonymous and their fellow travelers on the professional far left...
Keep reading.

And see Caleb Howe, at Truth Revolt, "'Yes, He Is A Demonstrator': Police Announce Arrest Of Ferguson Cop Shooting Suspect."

#Ferguson Leftists Desperate to Distance Themselves from Cop-Shooting Mofo Jeffrey Williams

From Derek Hunter, at the Daily Caller, "Protesters, Media Try to Distance Ferguson Shooting Suspect From Protests":

Jeffrey Williams photo jeff-williams-facebook1_zps7zbtarlx.jpg
The arrest of Jeffery Williams, 20, for the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, has set off a rush to distance the protesters from the would-be cop killer.

Was Williams a “regular” attendee of protests, a casual participant, or not involved at all? There is a lot riding on the answer to that question.

In spite of the riots after the grand jury found no evidence to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, the protests have been portrayed as “largely peaceful.” If a member of those protests tried to assassinate two police officers on the day the chief of police of that embattled city resigned, it would harm that carefully cultivated image.

The “hands up, don’t shoot” protests successfully avoided association with Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who made statements on social media in solidarity with them before assassinating two New York City police officers in December. A second protester shooting police officers would make the “peaceful movement” argument a tougher case to make.

As such, protest leaders and reporters scrambled to contain the narrative and shift attention back to the report the Justice Department released claiming racism is rampant in the Ferguson Police Department.
Well, Williams has some significant ties to the protests, whether he was a "regular" or not. Indeed, he might have been a regular looter more than a protester, which tells you something. See Sooper Mexican, "BREAKING: Punk Arrested for Ferguson Police Shooting Said He LOOTED Over Mike Brown Shooting on FB."

Ferguson Protesters STOMP on American Flag and DESTROY IT in Front of Police Dept

At Sooper Mexican, "It’s really funny how Ferguson protest defenders keep telling us that they’re not all that bad and they’re just Americans like the rest of us. But then they do things like loot and burn down businesses, shoot at cops, and now, stomp on and destroy an American flag."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Branco Cartoons photo Bone-600-LI-594x425_zpsmuegxr0t.jpg

Also at Lonely Con, "Saturday Funnies," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Roundup..."

More at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Salvage Operation."

'Karl Marx was the foremost hater and most incessant whiner in the history of Western Civilization...'

From Gary North, Marx's Religion of Revolution: Regeneration Through Chaos:

Karl Marx
Karl Marx was the foremost hater and most incessant whiner in the history of Western Civilization. He was a spoiled, overeducated brat who never grew up; he just grew more shrill as he grew older. His lifelong hatred and whining have led to the deaths (so far) of perhaps a hundred million people, depending on how many people perished under Mao's tyranny. We will probably never know.

St. Louis County Police Announce Arrest of BLACK MOFO SUSPECT in Officer Shootings

At Gateway Pundit, "MUGSHOT -->>> FERGUSON POLICE SHOOTER ARRESTED ‘Jeffrey Williams’ a REGULAR PROTESTER (VIDEO)."



Also at Hot Air, "Arrest made in attempted assassination of Ferguson police officers."

Kelly Brook Ready for Primetime!

Heh, she's been ready.

At the New York Post:



BWAHAHA! More Democrats Dissing, Bailing on Obama!

Heh, you gotta love it.

At NYT, "More Democrats Are Going Their Own Way, and That's Away From Obama":
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans may be singularly focused on unraveling President Obama’s executive orders and actions, but when it comes to what is left of his viable policy agenda on Capitol Hill, Mr. Obama’s biggest problems are now often with Democrats.

The administration’s most pressing goal, expansive trade legislation, is adamantly opposed by scores of Democrats in the House and Senate even as most Republicans support it. Mr. Obama’s formal request for congressional authorization to fight the Islamic State is deeply imperiled, in no small measure because Senate Democrats find it wanting.

The president’s dismissal of the role of Congress in approving any nuclear agreement with Iran was facing a potential veto override before Republicans scrambled the political dynamic by sending a letter directly to the Iranian leadership. But if international negotiators reach an accord this month, Democrats’ concerns are all but certain to roar back.

Efforts to change a national security program that sweeps up Americans’ phone call data and other records have also stalled over disagreements with Democrats, even though both parties seek changes to the program.

Democrats may be unified on most of the policies that Mr. Obama called “middle-class economics” in his State of the Union address — which he has little chance of advancing with Republicans in control of Congress — but these other potential achievements may be imperiled.

“Over all, on economic issues, we pretty much walk in lock step,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Senate Democrat. But for issues on which Mr. Obama lacks a consensus with congressional Democrats, “he needs an amalgam,” Mr. Schumer said.

Administration officials note that Republicans, given their own infighting and other challenges, have failed to drive a wedge among Democrats on issues such as funding to keep the government open and the president’s veto of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Mr. Obama’s “willingness to put forward ideas that some in his party disagree with isn’t a sign of weakness,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. “In fact, it’s a sign of strength and evidence that he’ll work with anyone on either side of the aisle to keep the country safe and expand opportunity for the middle class.”

In some ways, Mr. Obama faces a predictable challenge. He is grabbing for goals at the sunset of his presidency, relying on a Congress controlled by a deeply hostile Republican Party and Democrats who are more concerned with protecting their own interests.

“He’s trying to create a legacy,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. “They’re trying to survive.”

At the same time, Mr. Obama is wrestling with issues that have historically divided Democrats, like trade and national security. “I don’t think it’s a function of his last two years in office,” said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. “I think it’s a function of the issues. I try to take it an issue at a time. That’s one of the advantages of where I am.”...
More.

Via Memeornandum.

Why Our Pansy-Assed Prep-School Diplomats Fail Against Putin and Islamic State

From Ralph Peters, at the New York Post, "Why our prep-school diplomats fail against Putin and ISIS":
Why do our “best and brightest” fail when faced with a man like Putin? Or with charismatic fanatics? Or Iranian negotiators? Why do they misread our enemies so consistently, from Hitler and Stalin to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliph?

The answer is straightforward:

Social insularity: Our leaders know fellow insiders around the world; our enemies know everyone else.

The mandarin’s distaste for physicality: We are led through blood-smeared times by those who’ve never suffered a bloody nose.
And last but not least, bad educations in our very best schools: Our leadership has been educated in chaste political theory, while our enemies know, firsthand, the stuff of life.

Above all, there is arrogance based upon privilege. For revolving-door leaders in the U.S. and Europe, if you didn’t go to the right prep school and elite university, you couldn’t possibly be capable of comprehending, let alone changing, the world. It’s the old social “Not our kind, dahhhling…” attitude transferred to government.

That educational insularity is corrosive and potentially catastrophic: Our “best” universities prepare students to sustain the current system, instilling vague hopes of managing petty reforms.

But dramatic, revolutionary change in geopolitics never comes from insiders. It’s the outsiders who change the world. In the 21st century, our government suffers from the sclerosis of insider thinking that constantly reinforces itself and rejects conflicting evidence. The result is that we are being whipped by savages.

Of course, the insiders can’t accept so abhorrent a prospect as their own fallibility. So when new blood does enter — through those same “elite” institutions — it’s channeled into the same old calcium-clogged arteries. And we get generals with Ivy League Ph.D.s writing military doctrine that adheres cringingly to politically correct truisms and leaves out the very factors, such as the power of religion or ethnic hatred, that prove decisive. Or a usually astute commentator on Eastern European affairs who dismisses Vladimir Putin as a mere chinovnik, a petty bureaucrat, since Putin was only a lieutenant colonel in the KGB when the Soviet Union collapsed and didn’t go to a Swiss prep school like John Kerry.

That analyst overlooked the fact that Hitler had been a mere lance corporal. Stalin was a failed seminarian. Lenin was a destitute syphilitic. Ho Chi Minh washed dishes in the basement of a Paris Hotel. And when the French Revolution erupted, Napoleon was a junior artillery officer.

And sophisticated Germans assumed they could use Hitler and then dismiss him, while other Europeans mocked him. Stalin’s fellow Bolsheviks underestimated him, until it was too late and their fates were sealed. The French didn’t notice Ho. And Napoleon shocked even his own lethargic family. The “man on horseback” is often the man from nowhere, and the members of the club ignore the torches in the streets until the club burns down around them.

Put another way: We are led by men and women educated to believe in the irresistible authority of their own words. When they encounter others who use words solely to deflect and defraud, or, worse, when their opposite numbers ignore words completely and revel in ferocious violence, our best and brightest go into an intellectual stall and keep repeating the same empty phrases (in increasingly tortured tones):

“Violence never solves anything.” “There’s no military solution.” “War is never the answer.” “Only a negotiated solution can resolve this crisis.” “It isn’t about religion.”

Or the latest and lamest: “We need to have strategic patience,” and “Terrorists need jobs.”

Every one of those statements is, demonstrably, nonsense most — or all — of the time. But the end result of very expensive educations is a Manchurian Candidate effect that kicks in whenever the core convictions of the old regime are questioned. So we find ourselves with leaders who would rather defend platitudes than defend their country.

And negotiations become the opium of the chattering classes...
Ralph is the best.

Keep reading.

Hat Tip: Astute Bloggers.

Paris Kosher Supermarket Where Four Jews Were Murdered in Charlie Hebdo Attacks Reopened Sunday (VIDEO)

Via Ruptly:



Crazy Emily Ratajkowski Outtakes

Ms. Emily in palm fronds is to die for, lol.

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, "Fun outtakes from Emily Ratajkowski's SI Swimsuit 2015 shoot in Kauai."

Bethany Lily

At Zoo Today, "Bethany Lily's insanely booby shoot! Remember the day you first saw Lucy Pinder, Joey Fisher or Stacey Poole? May we introduce 32G Bethany Lily. Remember the name..."

'This is what happens when you let people who think that *capitalism* is a dirty word run economic policy...'

Heh, from Moe Lane, "The fascinating thing about these stories of Seattle restaurant closings…"

BONUS: At Legal Insurrection, "Seattle Restaurants Struggle With New Minimum Wage," and Hot Air, "Seattle eateries closing as $15 minimum wage approaches."

Fashion Icons Dolce and Gabbana Strongly Oppose Homosexual Marriage, Homosexual Parenting, and Surrogacy

Hmm, all's not well in homosexual hegemony land.

From Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, at RWN, "Legendary Gay Designers Strongly Oppose Gay Marriage, Gay Parenting and Surrogacy."

And the obligatory left-wing hissy fit meltdown, at the Guardian UK, "Elton John and leading LGBT groups call for Dolce & Gabbana boycott."

Long Range Strike-Bomber

At Defense News, "Shrouded in Mystery, New Bomber Makes Waves.

And CNN, "New US stealth bomber shrouded in mystery."



BONUS: "Is U.S. Air Force superiority under threat?"

Obama Staff Behind Leaks in Hillary Clinton Email Scandal

Delicious!

At the New York Post, "Obama adviser behind leak of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal."

The slingshot's a nice touch, lol.

Obama Behind Leaks photo 10168129_10155581451260206_2070175337290016527_n_zpspa5supaq.png

Wealthy Members of the Tech Industry Insist on Secrecy

Whopping double standards from folks like Mark Zuckerberg, who want you to reveal increasingly large amounts of personal data while safeguarding their own like it's national security.

At the New York Times, "For Tech Titans, Sharing Has Its Limits."

The Death of Free Speech on Campus

Leftists are the problem, and they won't be forgiven.

From Pat Condell:


Britain Losing Military Clout, Worrying Allies

At the Washington Post, "U.K.’s shrinking military clout worries U.S.":
LONDON — With Europe facing its shakiest security environment in a generation, Britain has slipped into a familiar role: Washington’s tough-talking wingman.

British leaders have led the rhetorical charge against the twin menaces of Russia and the Islamic State while browbeating reluctant European governments to wake up to the reality of a newly unstable continent.

But behind the flinty facade lies an unmistakable erosion in British power, one that has reduced Washington’s indispensable ally to a position that U.K. officials, military leaders and analysts acknowledge could leave the United States without a credible partner in taking on the greatest threats to global ­security.

Britain’s diminished military capacity is a product of years of stringent austerity policies that show no sign of easing.

Despite a too-close-to-call election in less than two months, neither major party has stepped up to shield the military from further cuts, reflecting a public weary of foreign interventions after campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya that are widely seen as failures.

In the two conflicts that most directly imperil Europe today, Britain has been largely ­invisible.

Its contribution to the U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State is “strikingly modest,” according to a recent parliamentary report. And as Russia has eviscerated Ukraine over the past year, Britain has often been a bystander while others have tried to stanch the bleeding.

The British withdrawal from world affairs could soon accelerate, with budget cuts likely to take an even greater bite out of an already withered military.

A report issued this week by a respected British think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, found that Britain’s regular army could shrink to just 50,000 troops by 2019 – about half the number of the amount when the decade began and just a fraction of the figure from the height of the Cold War.

“The concern is that we’re going to fall from being a significant player to a bit-part player,” Dannatt said. “The U.K. isn’t of much use to the U.S. if we don’t have a worthwhile military force behind us. Anybody can talk tough. But if you don’t back it up, everyone just laughs at you.”

U.S. officials, normally unwilling to criticize their most stalwart ally, have been unusually open about their apprehension in recent days.

Last week, Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. Army chief of staff, said that he was “very concerned” about U.K. defense cuts and that they could result in British troops fighting within American ranks rather than alongside them in any future conflict.

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the BBC that she was alarmed by the “gap between the collective security needs that we all have and the resources we are bringing to bear.”

Although Power did not single out Britain for criticism, taking aim instead at Europe as a whole, she focused her comments on a NATO target for members to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

The long-standing goal is met by only four members from the 28-nation alliance: the United States, Estonia, Greece and ­Britain...
More.

Royal Air Force Flyover at St. Paul's Cathedral Honors Afghanistan War Veterans

Video via Telegraph UK.

Plus, at London's Daily Mail, "The Royals honour Britain's Afghan war heroes: Kate and William lead tributes to the 453 men and women who died fighting the Taliban at St Paul's memorial service."


Magical Leftist Thinking

From Andrew Klavan:



Saturday, March 14, 2015

Leftist Cop-Hate

From Heather Mac Donald, at the New York Post, "Fueling cop-hate: How politicians fan the flames":
Government-fueled cop hatred has claimed more victims. Two St. Louis-area police officers were shot Wednesday night during a protest outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department, one in the face, the other in the shoulder.

Both are expected to survive, unlike the two New York City police officers assassinated in December.

Such violence is the sadly predictable outcome of the lies about the police that government officials and the media have stoked for the last year.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has done all he can to keep tensions at a boiling point in Ferguson.

This, though his own Justice Department demolished the hoax that a pacific Michael Brown was killed in cold blood by Police Officer Darren Wilson in August.

The Justice report on the Brown shooting, released last week, demolished every myth around the shooting.

It confirmed virtually everything Office Wilson had testified to, including that Brown had attacked Wilson, tried to grab his gun, then charged at Wilson after the officer exited his car.

The iconic “Hands up, don’t shoot” slogan? Most certainly a fiction.

The report explained why Brown lay for four hours in the street before being taken away: “Kill the cops”-screaming protesters kept barging in on the crime-scene investigation, while gunfire rang around the perimeter. The detectives had to constantly put their work on hold while waiting for more backup.

The Brown report should have forced a massive reconsideration of the virulent anti-law-enforcement campaign that sprang up in the wake of the shooting.

Instead, Holder paved the way for the report’s marginalization by calling, a few days before its release, for a lower standard of proof for civil-rights cases.

Implication: Only an artificially high standard of proof prevented Justice from prosecuting Wilson.

This implication was utterly false. Wilson couldn’t be convicted under any standard of proof, since there is no credible evidence against him.
Yet the media ran with this “burden of proof” angle and buried the report almost as soon as it was released.

Meanwhile, in a stunning bait-and-switch, Holder presented a new report to justify last year’s riots and the ongoing anti-police campaign.
That report claimed that the Ferguson Police Department engages in a “pattern or practice” of violating blacks’ civil rights.

Where the Brown report was measured and thorough, this second report was disingenuous and agenda-driven.

Its most disturbing allegations consisted of anecdotes of apparently unconstitutional stops and arrests by officers acting boorishly toward suspects.

If those anecdotes are true and represent standard procedure in the Ferguson PD, then Ferguson’s force is abysmally trained, with little understanding of the Constitution and a great need for a refresher in courtesy and respect.

But after the evisceration of the Brown hoax, it‘s folly to take stories against the police at face value. Yet there’s no indication that the Justice lawyers double-checked any victim accounts.

Moreover, though the report calls such apparently bad stops “frequent,” it makes no attempt to quantify them in relation to the overall number of stops and arrests, and so establish a “pattern or practice” of civil-rights violations.

The rest of the report goes downhill from there. Its alleged statistical proof of race-based stops and arrests wouldn’t earn its authors a D in Statistics 101, since it lacks a valid benchmark for its stop and arrest data.

That benchmark would include, at a bare minimum, crime rates...
Still more.

Dodge Hasn't Been Able to Make Enough Hellcats to Meet Consumer Demand

This is way cool.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Hellcats? Dodge makes 'em fast, but not fast enough":

Electric cars? Plug-ins? Hybrids? Hydrogen fuel cells?

Nah. The hottest thing in the automotive world may still be raw horsepower.

Dodge has told its dealer network to stop taking orders for the 2015 Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcats, a pair of 700+-horsepower throwbacks that, the company says, it cannot make fast enough.

"Due to unprecedented demand for the 2015 Dodge Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcats, we are temporarily restricting orders while we validate current orders that are in the system," a company spokesperson said Friday.

First unveiled last May, the Hellcats push 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque out of a 6.2 liter V-8 engine. These sleds are said to get from zero to 60 in 3.6 seconds, leaving a trail of hot rubber in their wake.

The base MSRP is $59,995.

Did Dodge underestimate consumer demand? Or fail to anticipate the impact of falling gas prices?

Maybe. The Hellcats get about 13 miles to the gallon in city driving, and a mere 21 on the highway.

Dodge announced last fall that it had received more than 5,000 pre-orders for the 2015 vehicles.

Shortly after, as the vehicles began shipping to dealerships, reports began appearing in the automotive press that demand for the Hellcats was so strong that dealers were getting premiums of up to $10,000 per vehicle over the sticker price.

Current reports suggest the total number of Hellcats ordered may be as high as 9,000. Dodge would not comment on the number sold, or the number on order.

Could a President Hillary Clinton Be Trusted on Email Security?

Another astonishing letter to the editor, at the Los Angeles Times:
To the editor: Let's put aside the rather remarkable ruse that Hillary Rodham Clinton did not want to carry two email devices when she was secretary of State and therefore used a private account for conducting government businesses. After all, most smartphones can be programmed to handle multiple email addresses. ("Hillary Clinton tries to end controversy over private email account," March 10)

Rather, let's consider Clinton's contention that she used her personal email server for convenience. Otherwise put, the United States secretary of State breached security protocols with tens of thousands of emails for four years for her personal convenience.

What security breaches would arise for her convenience if she were president?

Mark S. Greenfield
Los Angeles

Fossil Fuels Will Save the World (Really)

From Matt Ridley, at WSJ.

Thoroughly Depressing Video of a Man Trying to Exercise His Right to Freedom of Speech

That's BFH's headline.

Actually, I get a kick out of these kinds of things. It's happened to me. Leftists cannot tolerate views that deviate from the collectivist party line. Plain and simple. You will literally be attacked for attempting to exercise your rights. I was attacked last summer while attempting to cover the Anaheim police brutality protests sponsored by ANSWER LA.

And watch this guy at the video attempting to express his opinions on the left's holocaust of abortion.

Criminal leftist thugs. At iOWNTHEWORLD Report.

14 STUDENTS ACCUSED IN VENICE HIGH SCHOOL SEXUAL ASSAULTS (VIDEO)

Horrible story.

At ABC-7 News Los Angeles:

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Fourteen students are accused in the sexual assaults of two underage girls at Venice High School.

The investigation began on Tuesday when police were notified by school administrators regarding a possible sexual assault.

Police located two victims, both students at Venice High School under the age of 17. The victims were subjected to a series of sexual assaults both on and off campus.

"They were able to identify 14 subjects that we believe are responsible for these sexual assaults and unlawful sex acts," said LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith during a news conference.

The alleged incidents occurred between December 2013 to March 2015. Smith said some of the sexual acts were forced, and others were consensual with individuals who were too young to give consent.

Eight students were arrested at the school on Friday morning, and one student was arrested off campus. A 10th person surrendered to authorities and was also arrested.
Still more.

Friday, March 13, 2015

The Compulsory Approval Doctrine of the Homosexual Rights Movement

I think I got this discussion going the other night when I tweeted out this piece from USA Today, "Celebs slam Catholic school teacher's frank comments about homosexuals."



And now see Robert Stacy McCain, "Patricia Jannuzzi Is Right":
“We need healthy families with a mother and a father for the sake of the children and humanity,” wrote Patricia Januzzi, in a Facebook post in which she warned that same-sex marriage is part of an “agenda” that aims toward the “slow extinction” of Western civilization.

Ms. Januzzi is a teacher at Immaculata High School, a private Catholic school in New Jersey. While I am not Catholic, I am sufficiently acquainted with their doctrines on marriage and the family to conclude that Ms. Januzzi said nothing in her rant with which the Pope would disagree. And having spent the past several months researching radical feminism, I can say with absolute certainty that the “agenda” is exactly what Ms. Januzzi says it is. But the 21st-Century Thought Police can’t let the truth be spoken:
SOMERVILLE, N.J. — An anti-gay rant by a religion teacher at a Catholic high school in New Jersey is drawing the ire of alumni across the country, including a former Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member and New-Jersey-raised Susan Sarandon. On her now-deleted Facebook profile earlier this week, the veteran private Catholic school teacher said gays or gay activists “want to reengineer western civ (sic) into a slow extinction” as part of their “agenda.”

“We need healthy families with a mother and a father for the sake of the children and humanity!!!!!” wrote Immaculata High School teacher Patricia Jannuzzi, adding that the argument that gays are protected under the 14th Amendment is “bologna.” . . .
Let me interrupt here to quote more of Ms. Januzzi’s post. She was reacting emotionally to a story (“Crass: Gay Activist Tweets THIS To Ben Carson Following CNN Interview”) that she linked on her Facebook page, and her point was not very clearly made. She said gay activists, after using the “born that way” argument to gain status under the 14th Amendment “equal protection” clause, will then “argue everyone should be able to choose” homosexuality. Anyone familiar with feminist theory knows that radical lesbians have never accepted the “born that way” argument, instead advocating lesbianism as a “challenge to male supremacy and its basic institution of heterosexuality,” to quote Professor Sheila Jeffreys. This feminist perspective was celebrated in a 1973 song by Alix Dobkin, “Every Woman Can Be a Lesbian.”

The radical “choice” view of sexuality advocated by lesbian feminists is seldom heard from gay males, who usually describe their homosexual desires as an uncontrollable urge. However, one finds across the spectrum of the LGBT rainbow a unanimous consensus on what we might call the Compulsory Approval Doctrine:
No one can ever be permitted to express a personal aversion or moral objection to homosexual behavior.
Disapproval is synonymous with “hate,” according to gay activists, and the cultural consequence of the Compulsory Approval Doctrine is to stigmatize heterosexuality as an expression of prejudice. Many gay people have convinced themselves that the “straight” person’s rejection of homosexual behavior is implicit proof of homophobia — an irrational fear — so that all heterosexuals are basically viewed as ignorant bigots afflicted with neurotic sexual repression. And if you dare cite religious injunctions against homosexuality, you thereby prove that you are certainly a hater. Quod erat demonstrandum.

The Compulsory Approval Doctrine of the gay-rights movement is exemplified by the thug mob reaction to Mrs. Januzzi...
RTWT.

Countdown to the End of Obama's Anti-Israel Presidency

Israel hatred continues to grow at the key plank of the Democrat Party.

From Caroline Glick, "Israel’s next 22 months":
The next 22 months until President Barack Obama leaves office promise to be the most challenging period in the history of US-Israel relations.

Now unfettered by electoral concerns, over the past week Obama exposed his ill-intentions toward Israel in two different ways.

First, the Justice Department leaked its intention to indict Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez on corruption charges. Menendez is the ranking Democratic member, and the former chairman, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is also the most outspoken Democratic critic of Obama’s policy of appeasing the Iranian regime.

As former US federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wrote this week at PJMedia, “It is perfectly reasonable to believe that Menendez may be guilty of corruption offenses and that his political opposition on Iran is factoring into the administration’s decision to charge him. Put it another way, if Menendez were running interference for Obama on the Iran deal, rather than trying to scupper it, I believe he would not be charged.”

The Menendez prosecution tells us that Obama wishes to leave office after having vastly diminished support for Israel among Democrats. And he will not hesitate to use strong-arm tactics against his fellow Democrats to achieve his goal.

We already experienced Obama’s efforts in this sphere in the lead-up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the joint houses of Congress on March 3 with his campaign to pressure Democratic lawmakers to boycott Netanyahu’s address.

Now, with his move against Menendez, Obama made clear that support for Israel – even in the form of opposition to the nuclear armament of Iran – will be personally and politically costly for Democrats.

The long-term implications of Obama’s moves to transform US support for Israel into a partisan issue cannot by wished away. It is possible that his successor as the head of the Democratic Party will hold a more sympathetic view of Israel. But it is also possible that the architecture of Democratic fund-raising and grassroots support that Obama has been building for the past six years will survive his presidency and that as a consequence, Democrats will have incentives to oppose Israel.

The reason Obama is so keen to transform Israel into a partisan issue was made clear by the second move he made last week.

Last Thursday, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice announced that the NSC’s Middle East Coordinator Phil Gordon was stepping down and being replaced by serial Israel-basher Robert Malley.

Malley, who served as an NSC junior staffer during the Clinton administration, rose to prominence in late 2000 when, following the failed Camp David peace summit in July 2000 and the outbreak of the Palestinian terror war, Malley co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times blaming Israel and then-prime minister Ehud Barak for the failure of the negotiations.

What was most remarkable at the time about Malley’s positions was that they completely contradicted Bill Clinton’s expressed views. Clinton placed the blame for the failure of the talks squarely on then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s shoulders.

Not only did Arafat reject Barak’s unprecedented offer of Palestinian statehood and sovereignty over all of Gaza, most of Judea and Samaria and parts of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, he refused to make a counter-offer. And then two months later, he opened the Palestinian terror war.

As Jonathan Tobin explained in Commentary this week, through his writings and public statements, Malley has legitimized Palestinian rejection of Israel’s right to exist. Malley thinks it is perfectly reasonable that the Palestinians refuse to concede their demand for free immigration of millions of foreign Arabs to the Jewish state in the framework of their concocted “right of return,” even though the clear goal of that demand is to destroy Israel. As Tobin noted, Malley believes that Palestinian terrorism against Israel is “understandable if not necessarily commendable.”

During Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, then-senator Obama listed Malley as a member of his foreign policy team. When pro-Israel groups criticized his appointment, Obama fired Malley.

But after his 2012 reelection, no longer fearing the ramifications of embracing an openly anti-Israel adviser, one who had documented contacts with Hamas terrorists and has expressed support for recognizing the terror group, Obama appointed Malley to serve as his senior adviser for Iraq-Iran-Syria and the Gulf states. Still facing the 2014 congressional elections, Obama pledged that Malley would have no involvement in issues related to Israel and the Palestinians. But then last week, he appointed him to direct the NSC’s policy in relation to the entire Middle East, including Israel.

The deeper significance of Malley’s appointment is that it demonstrates that Obama’s goal in his remaining time in office is to realign US Middle East policy away from Israel. With his Middle East policy led by a man who thinks the Palestinian goal of destroying Israel is legitimate, Obama can be expected to expand his practice of placing all the blame for the absence of peace between Israel and the Palestinians solely on Israel’s shoulders.

Malley’s appointment indicates that there is nothing Israel can do to stem the tsunami of American pressure it is about to suffer. Electing a left-wing government to replace Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will make no difference.

Just as Malley was willing to blame Barak – a leader who went to Camp David as the head of a minority coalition, whose positions on territorial withdrawals were rejected by a wide majority of Israelis – for the absence of peace, so we can assume that he, and his boss, will blame Israel for the absence of peace over the next 22 months, regardless of who stands at the head of the next government.

In this vein we can expect the administration to expand the anti-Israel positions it has already taken...
So hateful.

Continue.

Top Democrats Alarmed About Clinton's Readiness for Campaign

Delicious!

At the Washington Post, "Some top Democrats are alarmed about Clinton's readiness for a campaign":

Senior Democrats are increasingly worried that Hillary Rodham Clinton is not ready to run for president, fearing that the clumsy and insular handling of the nine-day fracas over her private e-mails was a warning sign about the campaign expected to launch next month.

Few Democrats believe that the revelations about her un­or­tho­dox e-mail practices as secretary of state are a substantive issue that would damage Clinton with voters, and many said she performed adequately in a Tuesday news conference defending herself.

But in interviews Wednesday with The Washington Post, current and former Democratic officeholders and operatives from across the country raised serious questions about her and her political team’s strength and readiness for a 2016 presidential campaign.

“She’s tried to put the day of reckoning off, but it’s come now, and I don’t think she can stand another couple of weeks of this without her structure in place,” said Jim Hodges, a former governor of South Carolina.

Some Democrats said Clinton’s initial refusal to provide answers in the growing e-mail controversy smacked of arrogance and a worrisome bunker mentality — and that the controversy was a self-inflicted wound.

“Had this story been responded to in two or three days instead of in eight days, it would not be as big,” said Robert Gibbs, a former White House press secretary under President Obama. “They are the ones who put air in this balloon in a way that was not necessary at all. . . . It’s clear they lack an apparatus. She’s a candidate without a campaign.”

A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Last week, supporters in Congress and others were willing to go on cable television to defend Clinton on the e-mails but were puzzled when her aides did not provide talking points or other information that might help them, according to Clinton allies. “A lot of people were flying blind,” said one Democratic ally who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment candidly. Requests for information “were met with dead silence” from Clinton’s team, this person said. “This shows they have a long way to go until their organization is ready for prime time.”

Some of Clinton’s longtime allies in the Senate and House leadership did receive guidance from the Clinton camp, although their aides were frustrated that they had to proactively reach out to Clinton aides to get it...
More.

Andrea Tantaros: Eric Holder is the 'Attorney General for the Criminal, by the Criminal, and of the Criminal...' (VIDEO)

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.



Thursday, March 12, 2015

Chrissy Teigen Photo Shoot ln Miami

At Egotastic!, "Chrissy Teigen Candids! Model Caught Topless in Miami Waters."

After Stoking Racial Hatred, Eric Holder Blames 'Damn Punk' for #Ferguson Police Shooting (VIDEO)

Great headline, via Gateway Pundit.



Islamic State Video Shows Israeli Arab Murdered by Child Jihadi

Another child murderer. They sure start them out young over there.

Watch at BNI, "Latest Islamic State (ISIS) video features a child executing an Israeli Arab, accused of spying for Israel."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Islamic State Video Purports to Show Israeli Arab Slain by Child":
A new Islamic State video purports to show a child executing an Israeli Arab man accused of spying for Israel.

The more than 13-minute video was released on YouTube by the Islamic State’s propaganda arm, Al Furqan Media. It depicts a lengthy confession by a man who identified himself as Mohammed Said Ismail Musallam from Jerusalem, followed by scenes that show a child holding and firing a handgun edited together with others that appear to show the prisoner being shot in the head.

Emmanuel Nachshon, the spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, said his government was investigating the authenticity of the video. Israel’s intelligence agency didn’t comment.

Though Islamic State has long expressed enmity toward Israel, Mr. Musallam’s slaying, if confirmed, would mark the first time the Iraq and Syria-based extremist group has been known to have killed an Israeli citizen.

Last month, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an interview with a man claiming to be Mr. Musallam’s father, Said Musallam, and he said his son wasn’t a spy. The senior Mr. Musallam, who lives in East Jerusalem, said his son had traveled to Islamic State-held territory last fall and had asked for money beforehand on the pretense that he would be studying at a college near Tel Aviv, according to the article.

“He left that morning and the next day, I tried to call him and the telephone was turned off,” Mr. Musallam’s father was quoted as saying. “I thought that maybe he was busy. After a week we got an email that he wanted to be a martyr and he was giving up everything in his life and his family.”

The newspaper quoted the father saying that he later learned that Mr. Musallam had been jailed for trying to escape to Turkey.

The video adds a new twist to Israeli politics only a week before hotly contested general elections, in which hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has campaigned on a platform of protecting the country from Islamists. Israel has largely stayed out of the conflict. But similar videos from Islamic State have drawn Jordan, Egypt, Britain and the U.S. deeper into the battle.

Tuesday’s video wasn’t the first appearing to show a child killer. Another released by the group in January purported to show a Kazakh child shooting two accused Kazakh spies in the back of the head.

The purported use of a child executioner adds a twist to a propaganda campaign that has repeatedly employed shock tactics to both attract potential recruits and frighten enemies.

Islamic State has released footage showing hostages and accused apostates and traitors shot with handguns and automatic weapons and public crucifixions. Others have been thrown from rooftops, stoned to death, burned alive or decapitated. It is all packaged with Hollywood-quality production values and action-movie flourishes.

The latest video featured a dramatic rendering by the prisoner, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, recounting and acting out his own story in a drawn-out confession. He describes himself as former firefighter in Jerusalem, is shown acting out his Israeli intelligence recruitment, training, deployment and subsequent capture as audio of his confession plays in the background.
More at LAT, "Family of slain Palestinian mourns, denies Islamic State's spy charge."

Deadly Reality: Investigators Worry That Producers' Search for Thrills Could Be Undermining Safety

At LAT, "As deaths rise on reality TV, film sets, many blame need to get 'dramatic footage'":


Unscripted action adventure shows have become a staple of the entertainment industry, and the helicopter collision that claimed 10 lives this week on a set in Argentina underscored the risks in reality television.

Nearly one-third of all fatalities on film and TV shoots over the last five years have involved reality shows, according to a Los Angeles Times review of U.S. government data. There were 20 deaths related to motion picture and television production for the five years that ended in December 2014, double the number of fatalities during the previous five-year period.

The increase occurred as workplace fatalities in the private sector overall declined 4%, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles injury data from coroner's reports, workers' compensation claims and other sources.

Deaths have occurred on soundstages and location shoots, on big-budget Hollywood blockbusters as well as small independent productions, the records show.

But reality TV shows — especially ones that highlight danger — have added risks, industry safety experts say, because producers need dramatic footage to compete for viewers in an increasingly crowded field.

In this atmosphere, safety can take a back seat to ratings, said Angela Plasschaert, a Los Angeles-based risk management consultant who works with film producers and insurance companies to assess risks and develop safety programs.

"The attitude is, 'Do what you've got to do, but don't get in the way,'" she said of some of her clients.

The cause of Monday's crash in Argentina — the deadliest yet in connection with a reality TV show — is under investigation. It occurred when two helicopters collided in midair during the filming of the series "Dropped" for French TV, in which participants are abandoned in the wilderness and must find their way back to civilization.

Helicopters were also involved in two of the worst U.S. filming accidents in recent decades — a 2013 crash in Acton for a reality TV show that killed three people, and the 1982 "Twilight Zone: The Movie" crash near Santa Clarita that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children.

Safety investigators say Hollywood producers often fail to take proper precautions.

"It's truly remarkable to me that production companies can use ultra-advanced technology to make spectacular films but too often they won't spend the modest resources necessary to make sure their workers are not injured or killed on the job," said David Michaels, assistant secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration...
More.

University of Oklahoma Expels Students for Constitutionally Protected Speech

Yep.

The First Amendment protect your racist views.

At Instapundit, "F.I.R.E.: University of Oklahoma Expels Students for Constitutionally Protected Speech. 'The university’s actions also present serious due process concerns'."

And hey, it's microaggressions all the way on the University of Oklahoma. See LAT, "University of Oklahoma minorities say 'casual racism' permeates their lives":
Every black person on campus knows another black student who left because of that isolation and the casual racism that grows in its place.

"People ask you, 'Can you teach me to twerk?'" Kadira said.

Mirelsie Velazquez, a Latina professor in the university's College of Education, came to Norman in August. She said she's often the only person of color in classes or walking around town.

With the release of the video, Velazquez said she's able to put faces and voices to the feeling she gets as a person of color standing in front of a room of white faces.

"As we stand there teaching, not just at Oklahoma, and then you think about how these students behave in private time, you wonder how do they view me and my community?" Velazquez said.

"It's hard to enter spaces and now be constantly thinking about how you're thought of."
It's hard out there!

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Clinton Email Scandal is Just 'Real Nonsense'

The lying hack d-bag is all put out by the Hillary Clinton email scandal, national security be damned. To say nothing of honesty, integrity and basic human decency.

At American Glob, "Rachel Maddow Not Sure if Media Will Be Able to Treat Hillary Clinton Fairly."

Owners of the Orange County Register Resign

This newspaper's going down. I drive past on the way home every day, and I think about it.

At LAT, "O.C. Register owners quit: Aaron Kushner, Eric Spitz resign executive duties."

Lily Aldridge: Behind the Tanlines

Plus Chrissy Teigen and more:



It's Time for Liam Neeson to Find a New Type of Movie Role

I've been thinking the same thing myself.

From Kyle Smith, at the New York Post, "Why Liam Neeson needs to close up that can of whoop-ass":


Neeson’s work ethic is admirable, if not astonishing — more than 25 major film roles since 2000, and I’m not counting all the drive-bys, like his portrayal of Good Cop/Bad Cop in “The Lego Movie.” But just as his wise old mentor act (Zeus, Aslan, Qui-Gon Jinn) started to become a bore, so too did his shoot-’em-up thrillers.
Neeson's also a Second Amendment hypocrite, which especially bugs me.

The Iranian Regime Remains in Power Through Torture and Murder of Its Domestic Critics

From Douglas Feith, at WSJ, "The Fatal Flaw in Obama’s Dealings With Iran":
The Iranian regime is theocratic and revolutionary. It came to power in 1979 on a wave of extremist religious ideology and remains committed to exporting its revolution. Its leaders despise liberalism and democracy. They particularly hate Western respect for the rights of women and homosexuals. The regime remains in power through torture and murder of its domestic critics. It makes frequent use of public executions—the numbers have increased lately even though President Hasan Rouhani is commonly called a reformer.

Abroad, the Iranian regime acts as a rogue. Its agents and terrorist proxies have committed bombings and other murders in countries including France, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Iraq. A U.S. court convicted Iranian agents of plotting in 2011 to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. by bombing a Washington, D.C., restaurant. Iranian officials foment hatred of the U.S. and Israel and call for the annihilation of both.

Iranian leaders have a long record of shameless dishonesty. Their aid to the tyrannical Assad regime has been massive since the Syrian civil war began, but they routinely deny it. And they make a practice of lying to United Nations weapons inspectors. Commenting on how the inspectors have repeatedly been surprised by what Iran hides, Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, told this newspaper in 2013, “If there is no undeclared installation today . . . it will be the first time in 20 years that Iran doesn’t have one.”

Iran is a bad actor, and history teaches that constraining bad actors through arms control and peace accords is a losing bet. The arms-control approach is to invite bad actors to sign legal agreements. This produces signing ceremonies, where political leaders can act as if there’s nobody here but us peaceable, law-abiding global citizens. The deal makers get to celebrate their accords at least until the bad actors inevitably violate them.

Nazi Germany violated the Versailles Treaty. The Soviet Union violated the Biological Weapons Convention, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, various nuclear-arms treaties and other international agreements. The Palestine Liberation Organization violated the Oslo Accords. North Korea violated the Agreed Framework.

Patterns emerge from this history. When leaders of democratic countries extract promises of good behavior from bad-actor regimes, those democratic leaders reap political rewards. They are hailed as peacemakers. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was cheered when he returned from Munich in 1938 with “peace in our time.” These leaders have a stake in their deals looking good. When those deals are violated, the “peacemakers” often challenge the evidence. If the evidence is clear, they dismiss the violations as unimportant. When the importance is undeniable, they argue that there aren’t any good options for confronting the violators.

In the end, the bad actors often pay little or nothing for their transgressions. And even if the costs are substantial, they are bearable. Just ask Russia’s Vladimir Putin, or Syria’s Bashar Assad or North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The Obama administration has wedded itself to a cooperative policy toward Iran. The White House rejects the coercive approach as not viable. But if Iran violates its deal with us, won’t our response have to be coercive? President Obama insists that his policy is the only realistic one. In doing so, he is showing either that he is naïve and uninformed about the relevant history or that he no longer considers an Iranian nuclear weapon “unacceptable.”

Working Class Americans Downbeat on Economy, Blame Obama

As I always say, the GOP has a huge opening on the economy.

At IBD, "Working Class Gives Up On Obama, Fears Job Losses":
In what could be a significant opening for the Republican Party, working-class Americans have largely abandoned President Obama and rejected his economic policies as they continue to suffer from the historically weak economic recovery, a new analysis of IBD/TIPP Poll data finds.

By wide margins, this group is more likely than any other income class to say the country is headed in the wrong direction, the economy is getting worse, and they fear losing their jobs.

Just 36% approve of the job that Obama is doing, compared with 43% overall, and vast majorities say his policies haven't helped the middle class.

Over the past two months, IBD has asked people to identify themselves as upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class or lower class.

The average income for self-described working class families was just over $50,700 a year, close to the national median household income. Those calling themselves middle class had an average income of $70,800, and the average for upper-middle class was close to $100,000...
More.

The Best Chromebook Money Can Buy

If you like Google Chrome, and you haven't yet tried a Chromebook, you'll perhaps find this of interest.

At TechCrunch, "Meet Google’s New Chromebook Pixel."

I'm sure it's nice, but honestly I don't like the new Chromebook keyboards, which I'm using on the new Acer Chromebook I bought in January. I especially dislike the lack of a CAPSLOCK key, which used to be on my previous Acer Chromebook. Don't know why anyone would remove that. It's surprising how often I click over there to use, only to find that it's gone.

Other than that, I recommend these machines quite enthusiastically.

Shop Amazon: Super Google Chromebook Pixel (4G LTE) Touch Screen 12.85" 2560x1700 3:2 LCD i5-3427U 4GB DDR3 64GB SSD 3.4lbs Ultraportable.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Monday, March 9, 2015

'There's a war going on between the executive and legislative branches...'

Heh. I guess Dems are all in a lather about the Republicans' warning to Iran.

See Byron York, "A war of Obama's making." (At Memeorandum.)

PREVIOUSLY: "GOP Senators Issue Warning on Iran Nuclear Deal."

Jeb Bush Faces More Resistance

Big surprise here.

At WSJ, "Poll Finds Big 2016 Field Divides GOP: While Democrats Back Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush Faces More Resistance From His Party":

The two most recognizable figures in the 2016 presidential race start off in very different positions within their own parties, and with Americans overall feeling more positive toward Hillary Clinton than Jeb Bush .

Those findings in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll reinforce the view that while the Democrats’ nominating contest now looks like a foregone conclusion, provided Mrs. Clinton enters the race, the Republican contest appears to be wide open, with no clear front-runner.

The survey found that 86% of likely Democratic primary voters say they are open to supporting Mrs. Clinton for the party’s nomination, and 13% said they couldn’t. Those polled view the former secretary of state more favorably than unfavorably, with 44% holding positive views and 36% with negative views of her.

Mr. Bush, an early favorite for the Republican nomination among GOP donors, faces more resistance within his party. Some 49% of people who plan to vote in GOP primaries said they could see themselves supporting Mr. Bush and 42% said they couldn’t, the survey found. Poll participants view him more negatively than positively, with 34% seeing him in an unfavorable light and 23% viewing him favorably.

The Journal/NBC poll of 1,000 adults was conducted March 1 through 5, a period when news reports surfaced disclosing Mrs. Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email account to conduct official business as secretary of state. Critics and some fellow Democrats have said the disclosures raise questions about Mrs. Clinton’s commitment to transparency in public office.

The two Republicans who begin the race on the strongest footing in the poll are Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. More than half of GOP primary voters said they were open to supporting Messrs. Rubio or Walker, compared with 49% who said so of Mr. Bush.

Resistance within the party to Messrs. Rubio and Walker is far lower than for Mr. Bush: Some 26% said they couldn’t see themselves supporting Mr. Rubio, and 17% said so of the Wisconsin governor.

The good news for Mr. Bush is that he has nearly a year to reshape his image before voting begins, and none of his likely rivals shows signs of running away with the race.

In fact, he would begin the 2016 campaign in much the same place that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney began the 2012 race in which he locked up the nomination after a long primary slog. Mr. Romney was viewed positively by 43% of GOP primary voters and negatively by 12% about a year before primary voting began, about the same as Mr. Bush is viewed among GOP primary voters today.

“He still has room to change his image,” Mr. Yang, the Democratic pollster, said of Mr. Bush. He noted that 43% of the public is still on the fence about Mr. Bush or doesn’t know him well enough to form an opinion...
More.


Racist Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity at University of Oklahoma

A pretty swift response by the university all around, especially with shutting down the fraternity.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Oklahoma fraternity's racist chant may cost its black chef his job."

And at Legal Insurrection, "University of Oklahoma severs ties with fraternity after racist video surfaces."

GOP Senators Issue Warning on Iran Nuclear Deal

At WSJ, "GOP Senators Warn Iran’s Leaders on Nuclear Deal":

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Monday sharply criticized an open letter by 47 Senate Republicans warning Iran’s leaders that any agreement between the White House and Tehran on nuclear weapons could be quickly nullified or changed once Mr. Obama leaves office.

The lawmakers were effectively aligning themselves with Iranian hardliners who oppose an international nuclear deal, Mr. Obama said.

The letter, which was signed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and a number of top committee chairmen, came as a major new complication in a debate over international nuclear talks that face a March 31 deadline.

Senators said that, unless approved by Congress, any agreement between world powers and Iran would be seen by GOP lawmakers as an executive agreement between Mr. Obama and Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and could lapse when a future administration takes over, or undergo modifications by lawmakers.

The senators noted that Mr. Obama will leave office in January 2017, while “most of us will remain in office well beyond then—perhaps decades.

“The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time,” said the letter.

Mr. Obama criticized the Republican outreach.

“I think it’s somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s an unusual coalition.”

Mr. Obama said his focus was on getting to an agreement with Iran that would allow the country to develop a nuclear energy program while ensuring that it could not be weaponized.

“I think what we’re going to focus on right now is actually seeing whether we can get a deal or not,” he said. “Once we do—if we do—we’ll be able to make the case to the American people.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that world relations are based on international obligations and commitments, “not based on the domestic U.S. laws.”

Any future annulment of U.S. commitments would be “an obvious violation of international laws, particularly if these commitments lie within the framework of a U.N. Security Council resolution and are the result of negotiations and agreement with five other countries which are permanent members of the Security Council,” Mr. Zarif said.

Those signing the letter included Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R., Ariz.), as well as 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Notably absent from the signatories was Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has been in the middle of discussions with the White House about the direction of negotiations...
More.

Far-Left Randi Weingarten's Charter School Closes After Years of Failure

At WSJ, "A Union Charter Flunks Out":
‘Our schools will show real, quantifiable student achievement and with those results finally dispel the misguided and simplistic notion that the union contract is an impediment to success.” So declared teachers union chief Randi Weingarten in 2005 upon launching the United Federation of Teachers charter school in Brooklyn, New York.

The UFT quietly let slip last week that this showcase K-8 charter school is closing after a legacy of failure. Ms. Weingarten’s experiment in education of the union, by the union and for the union is a case study in the problems with the status quo of union dominance over American public education.

In 2005 the UFT Charter School opened with a $1 million gift from the Broad Foundation and plans to reduce class sizes, increase collaboration among teachers with monthly “townhall meetings” and daily “community gatherings,” and replace principals with less adversarial “school leaders.” Instructional coaches were supposed to support teachers but not evaluate their performance.

All of this implemented the long-time union agenda for school reform and was meant to show that there was no great secret to such New York charter successes as KIPP Academy and Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy. You almost had to admire the union nerve because it showed their leaders believed their own advertising.

The school’s board of trustees consisted of union leaders, school staff and “community representatives” such as Acorn CEO Bertha Lewis. The union provided funds to cover deficits in addition to the Broad Foundation grant, which Ms. Weingarten promised would ensure that union dues wouldn’t pay for operating costs. Notably, the school shared space at no cost with a district public school. Recall that last year New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to ban such co-locations and charge rent to non-union charters that have private donors.

From the start the UFT charter suffered from high staff turnover, operational chaos and budget deficits. Student test scores lagged neighboring district and other charter schools. The school repeatedly failed to meet the performance benchmarks established by its charter authorizer, the State University of New York (SUNY).

In 2013 SUNY reported mixed results at the elementary school and that the middle school met only one of 15 Accountability Plan measures in math and none in English. Student test scores appeared to decline the longer students were enrolled. Half of fifth graders opted not to continue. Declining enrollment in the middle school exacerbated the school’s fiscal duress, which SUNY attributed to poor bookkeeping. The union bailed out the school with interest-free bridge loans.

SUNY also highlighted “chronic shortages of textbooks and unrepaired equipment,” missing standardized test booklets that were not returned to the publisher for scoring, violations of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and “limited instructional coaching.” SUNY reviewers saw students listening to music and chatting with friends. In one geography lesson, “rather than making use of technological resources to present the critical economic and political importance of the Nile, the teacher had students color in blank maps of the river.”

SUNY nonetheless granted the union a two-year conditional renewal with orders to shape up. The school then placed students on a heavy testing regimen—despite the union’s opposition to “high-stakes” testing everywhere else—yet teachers weren’t graded on student performance. The union even rejected President Obama ’s Race to the Top funds because it required that teacher evaluations be linked to student performance.

The school’s results speak for themselves: In 2014, 11% of students were rated proficient in English and 18% in math compared to 28% and 36% in schools with similar demographics, and 59% and 92% at the Harlem Success Academy, which enrolls more kids with disabilities. The union charter performed worse than 96% of its peers on subjective standards like “instructional core” and “systems for improvement” measured from parents, teacher and student surveys. On almost all counts the district middle school next door did better.

Threatened with non-renewal this year, the union decided to close the school...
More.

It's obvious to everyone but the Democrat Party faithful: Leftist regressivism destroys anything and everything it gets its hands on.

Fighter Pilot Passes Floating Snickers Bar

Heh, this is trippy.

Here: "How to Pass Snacks to the Rear Seat of a Fighter Jet."

Via ABC-7 Los Angeles, "VIDEO: How fighter pilots pass snacks to each other."

The 'Islamophobia' Scam Returns

See Robert Spencer, at FrontPage Magazine:
It wasn’t accidental that Hitler’s Reich had an entire Ministry of Propaganda: lying to the public is a major job, as the cleverest of propaganda constructs is always threatened by the simple facts. CAP is trying to compel non-Muslims to disregard what they see every day — Muslims committing violence against non-Muslims and justifying it by referring to Islamic texts — and instead embrace a fictional construct: Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance. This takes a relentless barrage of propaganda, and “Fear, Inc. 2.0” is just the latest in a steady stream from CAP and its allies, which are exponentially wealthier and better-funded than the groups CAP vilifies in this report.

“Fear, Inc. 2.0” is filled with assertions that white is black, and that your lying eyes are deceiving you. We’re told that I myself am “the primary driver in promoting the myth that peaceful Islam is nonexistent and that violent extremism is inherent within traditional Islam.” CAP doesn’t offer any evidence for this being a “myth” – it doesn’t have to, as its Leftist constituency takes that as self-evident.
Read the whole thing.

The new CAP report is here, FWIW.

Leftists are screaming "Islamophobia" today like they've been screaming "McCarthyism" since the 1950s. Of course, Joseph McCarthy was right about Communist infiltration in the U.S. government, despite his regretful turn to demagogy and, ultimately, self-destruction.

The folks at CAP and their regressive fellow travelers are literally working to bring down the United States in the current era. The battle's been raging for decades but with the election of Barack Hussein in 2008 far-left traitors gained a foothold in the White House. 2016 is about taking the country back once and for all.

U.S. and China Show Contrasting Shift in Global Economy

At WSJ, "Signals From U.S., China Show How Much Global Economy Has Shifted Since Crisis":
Developments in just the past week underscored a remarkable turnabout in the global economy since the financial crisis.

Six years ago, the U.S. was in financial panic, Europe was seen largely as an innocent bystander and China as an engine for a return to global growth.

Now the U.S. economy is charging ahead—producing jobs at the fastest pace since the late 1990s—while Chinese authorities are struggling to manage a gathering slowdown and Europe is still getting back on its feet.

Emblematic of the shifts are differing monetary signals: Strong U.S. jobs data Friday increased the likelihood the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates this year, while the People’s Bank of China added to a rate-cutting campaign early this month.

The mismatch in growth outlooks and policy responses portends financial-market aftershocks, including the potential for further gains in the U.S. dollar, which has appreciated 11% against a broad basket of other currencies in the past year and 2% against China’s yuan.

This backdrop also raises a big question: Can the U.S. economy—stronger but still weakened by crisis—power the global economy the way it did in decades past?

Because China accounts for a bigger share of global growth than it did before, its slowdown will surely have bigger global consequences than it might have in the past. But an improving U.S. and stabilizing Europe would help the rest of the world manage to weather China’s problems.

Central to the outlook: the changing patterns of financial stress across the globe.

Fed officials said Thursday that 31 large banks had passed its annual “stress tests” of their financial resilience, meaning they had capital buffers large enough to withstand a return to recession. It was the first time since the Fed launched the tests during the panic of 2009 that all banks had the capital needed to weather the Fed’s test of their financial health.

With U.S. financial institutions on surer footing, credit growth is accelerating. Commercial and industrial loan portfolios among banks in the U.S. were up 12% in mid-February from a year earlier, at the same time as real-estate and consumer loan portfolios are rising and growth of cash holdings slowing.

“It has been a painful path and somewhat disappointing, but we got to this point with a process of fairly gradual but significant adjustments in private sector [debt], a grinding healing in the financial sector and a Federal Reserve which has been consistently trying to offset [drags on growth],” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at J.P. Morgan .

Chinese authorities, on the other hand, reduced their growth target for 2015. At 7%, the world’s second-largest economy is still expected to expand faster than almost any other in the world, but the momentum has clearly downshifted.

Growth last year was 7.4%, the slowest pace in nearly a quarter-century. The International Monetary Fund has forecast 6.8% growth for 2015.

Moreover, China’s woes are reflected in the fortunes of other emerging economies oriented toward exporting commodities—Russia and Brazil are both in or near recession...
More.

And remember, the growing performance of the U.S. economy is in spite of the Obama administration, which has shackled U.S. growth and wages with its humongous regulatory and tax burden placed on business. We're still struggling to overcome weak wage growth this long after the crash. American workers are bearing the brunt of this disastrous Democrat "social justice" redistributionist regime.

Santa Barbara Fresh Market Closes: Will Shutter All Its Remaining Stores in California

Hmm...

And the state's economy is supposed to be picking up. Must be the disastrous regulatory environment, and in particular California's confiscatory tax regime.

There's a store in Laguna Hills as well. The company wanted to emphasize its growth strategy, and obviuosly the anti-business once-golden state wasn't going to fit with the plan.

At KEYT News Santa Barbara:



Sunday, March 8, 2015

High-Ranking Federal Officials' History of Using Personal Email for Government Business

Hmm...

What do we have here?

From Sharyl Attkisson, at the Daily Signal. (Via Instapundit.)

Email Scandal Disqualifies Hillary Clinton for POTUS

At IBD, "Emailgate Disqualifies Hillary Clinton for POTUS":

Hillary Emails photo ISS1a_150304_345_zpsu8jeoe73.jpg
The former secretary of state's use of a personal account to exclusively conduct government business and to protect her political future in violation of the law ought to disqualify her from the presidency.

'Witch hunts" sometimes find a witch, and those who dismissed the establishment of the House Benghazi Select Committee, chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., as just another witch hunt are eating their words.

The existence of a personal account that Hillary Clinton used to conduct government business as secretary of state was discovered by the committee and reported by the New York Times.

Clinton's use of this personal account explains why investigations of the Benghazi terrorist attack — and her culpability in our diplomatic mission's vulnerability there, the failure to heed warnings and the cover-up afterward — failed to find much email evidence of her direct involvement.

According to the Times, Clinton never used her official government email account at all. What's more, she used exclusively one set up on the day of her Senate confirmation as secretary of state. This indicates premeditation in an attempt to deceive the American people by someone determined to fulfill her ambition to be the first woman to sit in the Oval Office.

The Times said that Clinton's aides made no attempt to systematically preserve her emails on government servers as required by the Federal Records Act. Team Hillary is now trying to use the excuse that they thought their government recipients would archive the emails and that was thought to be good enough.

Instead, Clinton's aides carefully culled the emails to find which ones contained no information damaging to her political future, and only these would be turned over to the State Department to be archived.

Jason Baron, a former director of litigation at the National Archives, told the Times that it was "very difficult to conceive of a scenario — short of nuclear winter — where an agency would be justified in allowing its cabinet-level head officer to solely use a private email communications channel for the conduct of government business."

Actually, we can conceive of such a scenario — a presidential wannabe determined not to leave a potentially campaign-ending paper trail.

Though Benghazi occurred after the account was set up, the account fulfilled its predefined purpose and served to hide a paper trail documenting her malfeasance in office and deadly incompetence.

We know from others that warnings of the Benghazi terrorist attack came to her office along with warnings of the Benghazi mission's lack of security as it told of a surrounding sea of terrorist training camps...
Keep reading.

Kate Hudson in Tank Top and Daisy Dukes in Sunny Los Angeles

She's a sweetie.

At London's Daily Mail, "How to lure a guy in 10 seconds! Kate Hudson dons cleavage-baring tank top and Daisy Dukes for sunny LA outing."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Netanyahu Speech photo Take-Cover-600-LI-594x425_zpste4sy4rs.jpg

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

More at Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup...", and "What If Obama Were President in 1941?"

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Bomb Threat."