Clinton Foundation Took Corrupt #FIFA Money

At some point there's gotta be some accountability. There's gotta be some effect from all of this blatant, repeated, and insidious corruption.

At the Daily Beast:

No surprise there: Clinton Foundation Took Corrupt #FIFA Money; Host Qatar Gave Millions http://t.co/ooFSznOUdc @Instapundit @lamblock

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 29, 2015

The Journal Science Retracts Homosexual Marriage Paper After Lead Author Accused of Falsifying Data

This is the best thing to happen to the political science discipline in a long time. I mean, actual scholarly integrity appears to be taking a priority over favored ideological findings that have now been roundly attacked as faked.

Lying and bullying to push homosexual marriage has never been a problem for the left. But turns out making political science look bad is bad. What folks mustn't forget is that this scandal reflects even more harshly on the homosexual rights movement. Here's one instance where radical leftist fraud ain't getting a pass. Too much is at stake for political scientists and their media shills to let it go. Perhaps leftists see homosexual marriage as a sure thing now, in any case, and are willing to throw this dude Michael LaCour under the bus. Either way, homosexual marriage politics is getting to be like "climate change": it's a scam in which leftists hoodwink the people only to see a rational backlash in public opinion reverse the left's purported gains. It's going to be a major setback if the Supreme Court rules against the depraved leftists in Obergefell v. Hodges next month.

Either way, all traces of LaCour, a grad student at UCLA, have been removed from the Political Science Department's homepage, and the journal Science has formally retracted the research.

The Los Angeles Times has a great report, "Gay marriage canvassing success detailed, dashed as study's findings are doubted":

I am embarrassed (seriously) at how excited I am to see LaCour's "defense" tomorrow. Does this mean I'm a bad person?

— Michael Munger (@mungowitz) May 29, 2015

Laura Gardiner knew she was making a difference with her work.

As national mentoring coordinator at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Leadership Lab, she and her colleagues had toiled to train 1,000 volunteers who had fanned out across Los Angeles and beyond, lobbying voters in precincts that had cast ballots against gay rights.

The idea was to push back against prejudice, house by house — and over the years, the group's internal evaluations indicated, the Leadership Lab had gotten quite good at changing voter minds.

When an independent study published in the prestigious journal Science confirmed the group's success, Gardiner had been thrilled.

Then, last week, a report was issued raising significant doubts about the study's validity.

“It felt like being cheated on in a relationship,” she said Thursday after the journal issued a formal retraction. “Breakup songs have been cathartic this week.”

The study had excited readers well beyond Gardiner's circle for its surprising conclusion that a single doorstep chat could prompt a skeptic to embrace marriage equality. It even reported a “spillover” effect that extended to household members who didn't talk to canvassers.

Although the findings contradicted a body of research that said firmly held opinions weren't easily swayed by lobbying and political advertising, they seemed to confirm an idea people were happy to embrace — that honest conversation and open minds could bring people together.

The study made headlines across the country and was featured on the public radio program “This American Life.” Its primary author, UCLA graduate student Michael LaCour, scored a job offer from Princeton University.

As LaCour prepared to decamp for New Jersey, he handed off the study to a team at Stanford and UC Berkeley.

That's how things began to unravel.

The new researchers were the first to suspect that something wasn't quite right with LaCour's data. They produced a report that persuaded LaCour's coauthor, Columbia University political scientist Donald Green, to request a retraction last week.

The editors of Science agreed, citing three reasons for retracting the study. They said LaCour lied about the way he recruited participants for his study and did not pay volunteers to complete online surveys, as he had claimed. They also said he lied about receiving research funding from the Williams Institute, the Ford Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. LaCour's attorney has acknowledged both of these deceptions.

Perhaps most significantly, the editors said, “LaCour has not produced the original survey data from which someone else could independently confirm the validity of the reported findings.”

LaCour still maintains that his study is sound. He said he has been preparing a “definitive response” to his critics, which he plans to provide Friday.

“I appreciate your patience, as I gather evidence and relevant information,” he said Thursday in an email to The Times....

The study results purported to show that after speaking with canvassers, people were more  inclined to support same-sex marriage, an increase from 39% to 47%. One year later, support for gay marriage was 14 percentage points higher among people who were lobbied by a gay person and 3 percentage points higher among those who were canvassed by a straight person, the study said.

With LaCour wrapping things up at UCLA, the LGBT Center brought on David Broockman, a professor of political economy at Stanford, and Joshua Kalla, a political science graduate student at UC Berkeley, to carry on the research.

But as they made plans to track a forthcoming canvassing project the Leadership Lab is undertaking in Miami, they started noticing problems with the work. For instance, as they began their own pilot survey, they noticed that their response rate was “notably lower” than LaCour's.

When they sought additional advice from the survey firm that LaCour had reportedly employed, they quickly realized something was amiss.

“The survey firm claimed they had no familiarity with the project and that they had never had an employee with the name of the staffer we were asking for,” the researchers wrote. “The firm also denied having the capabilities to perform many aspects of the recruitment procedures described.”

Alarmed, Broockman and Kalla turned a skeptical eye toward LaCour's data and began investigating further with the help of Yale political scientist Peter Aronow. They soon realized that some of the paper's key data were identical to that of a different national survey conducted in 2012: the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project. That discovery raised “suspicions that the data might have been lifted from CCAP,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers compiled their findings in a 26-page report and sent it to Green. When confronted with the findings, Green immediately sent a letter to Science requesting that the paper be retracted.

“I am deeply embarrassed by this turn of events and apologize to the editors, reviewers, and readers of Science,” Green wrote.

Also at BuzzFeed, "UCLA Student at Center of Science Scandal Apparently Faked Another Study, About Media Bias," and at New York Magazine, "Michael LaCour Made Up a Teaching Award, Too."

Still more at the New Republic, "Science Fiction: Michael LaCour's Gay Rights Canvassing Hoax Shows the Limits of Peer Review."

And see Tim Groseclose especially, at Richochet, "A Scandal in Political Science":

I predict that UCLA will refuse to award him a PhD, and I predict that Princeton will retract the assistant professorship that it offered him. I predict that UCLA or Princeton or both will conduct an investigation. I suspect that they will find that LaCour faked results in a few papers, not just one.

Also noteworthy is that co-author Donald Philip Green, a major political science scholar and professor at Columbia University, cut ties with LaCour so fast it's like you don't know what hit you. And Professor Lynn Vavreck of UCLA, who is LaCour's dissertation chair, has also thrown the dude under the bus faster than you can say the "science is settled."

Expect updates tomorrow when this flaming fraud LaCour comes clean on his deceit.

Letter Writer at Sunbury Daily Item Demands 'Regime Change' and 'Execution' of President Obama

The newspaper's apologized now, but man, talk about a blunt letter to the editor.

Here, "What is a Ramadi?":

Recent national news reveals that ISIS has recaptured Ramadi in Iraq. I assume that we’re expected to ignore the loss of Ramadi to ISIS. Our lead-from-behind coward-in-chief has been strangely quiet on the subject. While he seldom misses the chance to run his mouth on any subject that suits his agenda, apparently he’s having trouble discussing a situation which has become a complete debacle and for which he alone is responsible.

After all — we’re supposed to be friends with our enemies. By all means — expedite withdrawal of U.S. forces, contrary to the advice of those military commanders who cautioned against withdrawal. But their advice was ignored and many were purged because they refused to follow someone so grossly incompetent in the politics and practice of warfare.

So now we’re learning the results of spending billions of taxpayer dollars and thousands of American lives that were expended in the initial capture of Ramadi. Our esteemed leader proclaimed that we should withdraw because the Iraqis were offended by the presence of American troops in their country. So we bailed out — leaving behind billions of dollars of equipment and ammunition, which was promptly captured by ISIS. Yes, this is the same highly skilled organization that our misguided leader called the JV team.

Hey Barack, would you care to address the nation and expound on your grandiose plans for defeating this JV team which is whipping you soundly?

The saddest part of this situation is the realization that the American blood lost in the initial capture of Ramadi was apparently lost in vain, due solely to the gross incompetence of our commander-in-chief.

To the families of those fallen heroes whose blood lies on the sands of Iraq; don’t you think it might be time to rise up against an administration who has adequately demonstrated their gross incompetence?

I think the appropriate, and politically correct, term is regime change. Forgive me for being blunt, but throughout history this has previously been accompanied by execution by guillotine, firing squad, public hanging.

I have absolutely no reason to expect that current practice should be any different. The end result is elimination of the problem, the method is superfluous. When society dictates, the end always justifies the means, otherwise the action would not be taken.

W. Richard Stover
Lewisburg

And here's the apology at the Daily Item, "Today's Editorial: We bungled the Obama attack letter." (At Memeorandum.)

Also, "Reader response: EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Item received more than 100 Letters to the Editor in response to a Monday Letter to the Editor. Here is a sampling of the letters received from around the nation."

More at Politico, "Pa. newspaper: Sorry we published letter calling for Obama's execution." (At Memeorandum.)

Actually, it's a great letter. Obama is putting the nation at risk --- and indeed, countries in crisis do indeed implement regime change and the "elimination of the problem." Revolutionary times call for methods commensurate to the scale of leftist treason. But we're a democracy. We solve problems through the rule of law. Still, you'd think Democrats would themselves better adhere to the Constitution, lest they bring about the kind of extra-constitutional means the letter writer so desires.

The Education Apocalypse

I started reading Professor Glenn Reynolds' new book, The Education Apocalypse: How It Happened and How to Survive It.

It's an updated version of The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself.

So many of the predictions in the earlier version were coming true the revised edition warranted a whole new title. The preface to the new volume lays out the dynamics quite well. A quick and concise read --- and very enjoyable.

Plus, Father's Day - Gifts in Kitchen & Dining.

I'll have more blogging tonight and through the weekend.

Islamic State Unleashes Suicide Bombings in Iraq

Astonishing chaos.

At Telegraph UK, "Islamic State launches wave of suicide attacks on Iraqi troops":

More than 17 troops killed in co-ordinate attack as army tries to retake key city.

Islamic State jihadists have unleashed a wave of suicide attacks targeting pro-government troops in western Anbar, a day after Baghdad launched a new offensive to drive them from the province.

Up to 17 soldiers were killed in the explosions that took place outside of Fallujah, a town controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant inside the Sunni heartland Anbar.

Brigadier General Saad Maan Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Joint Military Command said on Wednesday that the militants had struck near a water control station and a lock system on a canal between Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River.

The troops had been deployed there as part of a new push to try to take Anbar, after the Iraqi army suffered its biggest military defeat there this year in the loss of Ramadi city earlier this month.

Brig Gen Ibrahim added that the Islamic State extremists used a sandstorm that engulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night to launch the deadly wave of bombings.

He said it was not clear how many suicide attackers were involved in the bombings but they hit the military from multiple directions.

The attacks took place just hours after the ministry of defence announced the new mission.

More.

Also at France 24, "Iraqi forces push to surround IS-held Ramadi - IRAQ." And at CBN News, "Wave of ISIS Bombings Leaves 17 Iraq Troops Dead."

The Godless Perverts Social Club

Heh, the Other McCain doing what the Other McCain does.

They were going to call their site "The Democrat Agenda," but ... http://t.co/nK379Kfyks

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) May 27, 2015

In the ecstatic throes of passion, the atheist lesbian feminist shouts, "Oh, Science!" http://t.co/8jMy7zAcR3

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) May 27, 2015

No, this is NOT an Onion parody. http://t.co/8jMy7zAcR3

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) May 27, 2015

Indeed, I take pride in my ability to find high-intensity lunatic feminism. http://t.co/qli7NPj67R @Mekbeth8

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) May 27, 2015

And buy Robert's book, Sex Trouble: Essays on Radical Feminism and the War Against Human Nature.

It's great!

The Day-by-Day Clinton Scandal Tracker!

An exclusive, from Doug Ross, "Just so you can keep 'em all straight. Summarized and sanitized for your protection! SCANDAL TRACKER!"

Runners Gored by Bulls at Festival of the Crosses in Peru (VIDEO)

You gotta love the bulls.

Black-on-Black Violence Surges Over Memorial Day Weekend

At CBS News Baltimore, "29 Shootings, 9 Fatal, Over Memorial Day Weekend In Baltimore."

Also at Bloviating Zeppelin, "Baltimore black-on-black murders since Gray: where are the riots?"

And see USA Today, "Baltimore, other cities see violent holiday weekend":

Violence surged in major U.S. cities over Memorial Day weekend, bringing new highs for homicides in Chicago and Baltimore after years of declining crime.

Nine murders and nearly 30 shootings over the weekend brought Baltimore's monthly homicide toll to its highest point in more than 15 years, taxing a city and police department already pushed to its limits after rioting last month.

Baltimore logged a record 35 homicides as of Tuesday, the most in a single month since 1999. This year, the city has had 108 homicides.

"I've never seen anything like it," City Councilman William "Pete" Welch told The (Baltimore) Sun. "The shootings and killings are all over the city."

The Memorial Day weekend was also a bloody one in Chicago, where at least 12 people were killed and 44 were wounded in gun violence from Friday night to Tuesday morning. The rash of violence continues a trend of killings and shootings that began this year after the city recorded the fewest homicides in decades last year.

The weekend's wounded include Jacele Johnson, 4, shot in the head Friday evening as she sat in a car on the South Side with a 17-year-old cousin, who was shot in the chest. On the city's West Side, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the back and the leg.

About two hours earlier, a 19-year-old man was gunned down two blocks from Chicago Police Headquarters, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Even before this weekend's incidents, murders were up 17% and non-fatal shootings had jumped 24% from the same time last year, according to Chicago Police Department statistics. The city has recorded 133 homicides this year as of May 17 compared with 114 at the same time last year. There have been 693 shootings this year compared with 560 at the same time last year.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who won re-election in April, touted the strides Chicago has made under his watch in reducing the number of homicides. The nation's third-largest city had 407 murders last year, the city's fewest in five decades.

After seeing crime drop sharply in the first half of 2014, St. Louis saw a steep rise in violence in several neighborhoods as protests grew, following the shooting death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson by police officer Darren Wilson. By year's end, St. Louis logged 157 homicides, the city's highest yearly toll since 2008.

The problem has persisted this year as well: Homicides went up 6% for the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year.

Police Chief Sam Dotson said he noted a decrease in police-initiated interactions with residents in the midst of the worst protests in the St. Louis area in the weeks after Brown's killing in August. Police also were less active in November after the St. Louis County prosecutor announced Wilson wouldn't face criminal charges.

In Baltimore, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts wrote a letter to community leaders Monday, acknowledging the disintegrating relationship between police and the community. He said the police would move "aggressively" to address the violence.

Baltimore, he wrote, is "in the midst of a challenging time. Following a period of civil unrest, we have been experiencing an increase of the pace of violent crime, most notably homicides and shootings."

Plus, more at Fox News, with Megyn Kelly and Dana Loesch, "White House Suggests More Gun Control Is the Answer to Spike In Violence - The Kelly File."

Changing of the Guard at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Cribbed from Woodersterman's.

Waterspout Sends Bounce House Flying in Fort Lauderdale — With Kids Inside!

Wild!

Watch: "Bounce house with kids inside swept into the air by waterspout."

5th Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Against Obama's Illegal Immigration Amnesty

It's gonna go to the Supremes.

At LAT, "Obama immigration overhaul and 'Dreamers' handed another legal setback."

And at Politico, "Ruling puts Obama's immigration legacy in jeopardy":

Latest legal blow could put final decision close to the end of his presidency.

A series of setbacks and delays in the key legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration could irreparably damage his legacy on the issue, even if the Supreme Court ultimately upholds his authority to act.

The latest blow came Tuesday as a three-judge appeals court panel voted, 2-1, to deny the administration’s request to proceed with Obama’s plan to grant quasi-legal status and work permits to millions more illegal immigrants while litigation over those actions plays out.

Two and a half months after the Justice Department sought an emergency stay of a judge’s order blocking Obama’s moves, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals turned down the request.

If the administration can’t get the Supreme Court to act promptly to lift the injunction or chooses not to try, the White House could find Obama’s long-promised immigration actions on hold until the Supreme Court rules definitively on the legal questions at stake — a ruling that likely wouldn’t come until next June.

More.

At the clip, Michelle Malkin destroys Obama administration lackey Mark Hannah.

Megyn Kelly Eviscerates Obama for Shameful 'No Major Ground Wars' Memorial Day Comments (VIDEO)

Megyn Kelly is the freakin' best!

Background at Gateway Pundit, "In Memorial Day Speech Obama Brags About ‘Ending’ War in Afghanistan … (No One Applauds)."

Watch, "Reaction to President Obama's Memorial Day Remarks - The Kelly File."

Specials in Toys & Games

At Amazon, Shop - Travel Friendly Toys & Games Event.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I'll have more blogging tonight.

The Saluting Boy on Omaha Beach

This is absolutely amazing.

Watch at FrontPage Magazine, "An 11-year-old old boy says thank you to the soldiers who fought and died on Omaha beach on D-Day morning 70 years earlier..."

U.S. Military Proposes Challenge to China Sea Claims

At WSJ, "Moves would send Navy planes, ships near artificial islands built by China in contested waters":

The U.S. military is considering using aircraft and Navy ships to directly contest Chinese territorial claims to a chain of rapidly expanding artificial islands, U.S. officials said, in a move that would raise the stakes in a regional showdown over who controls disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has asked his staff to look at options that include flying Navy surveillance aircraft over the islands and sending U.S. naval ships to within 12 nautical miles of reefs that have been built up and claimed by the Chinese in an area known as the Spratly Islands.

Such moves, if approved by the White House, would be designed to send a message to Beijing that the U.S. won’t accede to Chinese territorial claims to the man-made islands in what the U.S. considers to be international waters and airspace.

The Pentagon’s calculation may be that the military planning, and any possible deployments, would increase pressure on the Chinese to make concessions over the artificial islands. But Beijing also could double down, expanding construction in defiance of the U.S. and potentially taking steps to further Chinese claims in the area.

The U.S. has said it doesn’t recognize the man-made islands as sovereign Chinese territory. Nonetheless, military officials said, the Navy has so far not sent military aircraft or ships within 12 nautical miles of the reclaimed reefs to avoid escalating tensions.

If the U.S. challenges China’s claims using ships or naval vessels and Beijing stands its ground, the result could escalate tensions in the region, with increasing pressure on both sides to flex military muscle in the disputed waters.

According to U.S. estimates, China has expanded the artificial islands in the Spratly chain to as much as 2,000 acres of land, up from 500 acres last year. Last month, satellite imagery from defense intelligence provider IHS Jane’s showed China has begun building an airstrip on one of the islands, which appears to be large enough to accommodate fighter jets and surveillance aircraft.

The U.S. has used its military to challenge other Chinese claims Washington considers unfounded. In November 2013, the U.S. flew a pair of B-52 bombers over disputed islands in the East China Sea to contest an air identification zone that Beijing had declared in the area.

Officials said there was now growing momentum within the Pentagon and the White House for taking concrete steps in order to send Beijing a signal that the recent buildup in the Spratlys went too far and needed to stop.

Chinese officials dismiss complaints about the island-building, saying Beijing is entitled to undertake construction projects within its own sovereign territory. They say the facilities will be used for military and civilian purposes.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters,” said embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan, using the Chinese name for the Spratlys. “The relevant construction, which is reasonable, justified and lawful, is well within China’s sovereignty. It does not impact or target any country, and is thus beyond reproach.”

More.

Plus, "China Lashes Out Over U.S. Plan on South China Sea."

VIDEO: Jennifer Lopez Cutout Bathing Suit for Us Weekly

Following-up from earlier, "Smokin' Jennifer Lopez Cutout Bathing Suit for Us Weekly Cover Photo."



BONUS: At Egotastic!, "Jennifer Lopez Wicked Swimsuit Behind the Scenes (VIDEO)."

Jeffrey Spector Kills Himself at Swiss Dignitas Clinic Despite Not Being Terminally Ill

He was going to be terminally ill, with a tumor lodged next to his spine.

But his disease hadn't advanced that far yet. He just said fuck it anyway. Might as well go for it before the going got too rough.

At the Telegraph UK, "Dignitas death sparks renewed controversy over assisted suicide law."

And at the Guardian, "Man who killed himself at Dignitas explains decision in film."

I don't like it. Assisted suicide is rife with abuse. Frankly, it's unholy and evil, but then, all that progressives touch is unholy and evil.

'Are you barbecuing this weekend?' Democrats Keep Demonstrating What Memorial Day Is Not About

At Twitchy, "Democrats acknowledge that Memorial Day is about more than President Obama eating ice cream."

Are you barbecuing this weekend? President Johnson loaded his plate at his Texas ranch in 1967. pic.twitter.com/fecRBibzsL

— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) May 23, 2015

@TheDemocrats Who the hell is running this account? Might want to check with Wikipedia to find out what Memorial Day's about.

— jon gabriel (@exjon) May 23, 2015

.@TheDemocrats Could you morons be more tone deaf?? Memorial Day is NOT about Democrat Presidents. It is NOT about BBQ! It's about HEROES.

— L. North (@LadyLNorth) May 23, 2015

More Memorial Day Lily Aldridge

Following-up from earlier, "Yeah, Lily Aldridge, Freakin' Patriot Babe."

At Maxim: