Tuesday, May 19, 2015

CRONY MEDIA: The protected, connected liberal media elite

By Against Crony Capitalism

I hate the term “elite.” This implies some sort of extraordinary skill, which in my experience in Washington, at least with the media and definitely in politics is not apt. But you get the point. Statist, entitled, usually wealthy (though typically not rich) folks who like to frequent the Georgetown cocktail circuit and get a thrill when Politico comes calling. The folks who actually care about Washingtonian Magazine.

They aren’t elite, but they are the political class. And they are protected. The Stephanopoulos kerfuffle is a great example. Why does this guy still have a job?

This problem isn’t about the donations being made in the first place, it’s the fact that he hid them from viewers while covering, and defending, the Clinton Foundation.

Last week Stephanopoulos announced as somewhat of a self-imposed punishment that he will not moderate a GOP primary debate scheduled for Feb. 6 with the Republican National Committee, but he was never confirmed to moderate the debate by the RNC in the first place.

Special treatment isn’t just reserved for Washington’s politicians, it’s for the most liberal, elite anchors as well. As for the rest of us, there are consequences for breaking the law and for conflict of interest nondisclosure.

Read Katie Pavlich's entire article on crony media here.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

SOUNDS SUSTAINABLE TO ME: Nearly $30,000 of debt for every man, woman and child on the entire planet

By Michael Snyder

Did you know that there is more than $28,000 of debt for every man, woman and child on the entire planet? And since close to 3 billion of those people survive on less than 2 dollars a day, your share of that debt is going to be much larger than that. If we took everything that the global economy produced this year and everything that the global economy produced next year and used it to pay all of this debt, it still would not be enough. According to a recent report put out by the McKinsey Global Institute entitled “Debt and (not much) deleveraging“, the total amount of debt on our planet has grown from 142 trillion dollars at the end of 2007 to 199 trillion dollars today. This is the largest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and those numbers mean that we are in substantially worse condition than we were just prior to the last financial crisis.

When it comes to debt, a lot of fingers get pointed at the United States, and rightly so. Just prior to the last recession, the U.S. national debt was sitting at about 9 trillion dollars. Today, it has crossed the 18 trillion dollar mark. But of course the U.S. is not the only one that is guilty. In fact, the McKinsey Global Institute says that debt levels have grown in all major economies since 2007. The following is an excerpt from the report

Seven years after the bursting of a global credit bubble resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, debt continues to grow. In fact, rather than reducing indebtedness, or deleveraging, all major economies today have higher levels of borrowing relative to GDP than they did in 2007. Global debt in these years has grown by $57 trillion, raising the ratio of debt to GDP by 17 percentage points (Exhibit 1). That poses new risks to financial stability and may undermine global economic growth.

What is surprising is that debt has actually grown the most in China. If you can believe it, total Chinese debt has grown from 7 trillion dollars in 2007 to 28 trillion dollars today. Needless to say, that is absolutely insane…

Larwyn's Linx: Obama's Middle East Policy is in a State of Collapse

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Nation

Obama's Middle East Policy is in a State of Collapse: John Hinderaker
Hillary’s closest adviser is hiding the truth of her emails: Paul Sperry
State Dept. plans to release Hillary Clinton's emails in Jan. 2016: Josh Gerstein

The Culture War is Upon You, Whether You Want it or Not: Leon H. Wolf
Who is a Journalist?: Cal Thomas
Obama Changes Policy On Military Equipment To Police Departments: William Teach

The Republicans in 2016 Are DOOMED!!!!!!: Erick Erickson
Clinton going full progressive to re-energize the Obama coalition?: Ed Morrissey
Obamacare Updates: Tale of Fail from Coast to Coast: Guy Benson

Report: Hillary already picked her VP: Jazz Shaw
Lindsey Graham Wants To Kill Americans Without Inconvenient Trials: James Joyner
Why Pamela Geller is Hated: Dennis Prager

Economy

Obama Says This 'Rotting, Decaying Hellhole' a Symbol of 'Promise For America': ZH
Supreme Court Strikes Down Maryland 'Double Tax' Law: Newsmax
Shoppers could soon have difficulty finding meat's origin: Mary Clare Jalonick

Scandal Central

The Truth About Benghazi Slowly Emerges: John Hinderaker
SMOKING GUN! US Was Running Weapons Thru Benghazi to Syria: GWP
Key Hillary Clinton Claim on Emails Was a Lie: Olivery Darcy

Documents Reveal Benghazi Libya Weapons (Provided by U.S. and NATO) Shipped To Syria: Treehouse
Obama Rewards Rioters With $163 Million for ‘Community Organizing Jobs’: Warner Todd Huston
Did $17 million disappear from Clinton Foundation?: Jerome R. Corsi

Climate & Energy

The New York Times Must Ignore History to Place Blame on California’s Woes: Erick Erickson
Wind farm 'needs 700 times more land' than fracking site to produce same energy: Telegraph
Drought cuts power production of California dams: LAT

Media

NY Times Calls For Turning Detroit Over to ISIS By Importing Syrians To Take It Over: WZ
Dershowitz: Obama a “Foreign Policy Disaster ... I wouldn’t Let Him Negotiate a One-Month Lease”: FreeLight
Bracken From Earlier This AM: WRSA

The Budding Flower of Savagery: Camp o' the Saints
Observations on Government: Economic Noise
ABC Policy Required Stephanopolous to Disclose $75,000 Clinton Foundation Donation: Brent Scher

Liz Cheney Flips Media’s Script on Iraq War: LI
Land of 1000 Microaggressions: Jim Goad
Acceptable Ethnocentrism–Jay Z Posts Bail for Ferguson, Baltimore Protesters: James Kirkpatrick

World

The Vainglorious Mr. Kerry: AmInt
Iran: We Have 'Divine Permission to Destroy Israel': Clarion Project
Iran to Saudis: We’re Going to Land This Ship No Matter What: AmInt

Hamas Using Truce to Prepare for Next Clash with Israel: Yaakov Lappin
Israel Warns: Hezbollah Makes Lebanon a Human Shield: P. David Hornik
Nothing Another 42,000 Airstrikes Can't Fix: Mark Steyn

ISIS Posts Photos THANKING Obama for What They Just Got From Him: ConTrib
Russian, Chinese navies begin first joint drill in Mediterranean: World Affairs
Deathblow to the Dollar: The Trumpet

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Hack of airplane systems described in FBI docs raises security questions: Teri Robinson, SCMag
A Life Hack For Sleep: Breathing Exercise Can Put You To Sleep In 60 Seconds?: Lizette Borreli
Can Wikipedia forecast the flu?: Mark Rockwell, FCW

Cornucopia

Wall Street and 5th Avenue Planned for Benghazi: Denise Simon
Reprise: The People of OWS: Like the People of Wal-Mart, Only Not As Smart: MOTUS
Five Best Weekend Watches: Stephen Pulvirent

Image: Obama Just Called This "Rotting, Decaying Hellhole" A Symbol Of "Promise For The Nation"
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "THEN SHE STOOD NEXT TO THE COFFINS OF THE DEAD AND LIED: Hillary Received Memo Describing Benghazi As Planned Terror Attack Within Hours. “New documents obtained by Judicial Watch and made public Monday show that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior officials under President Obama were given intelligence within hours of the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack describing how it had been planned at least 10 days in advance ‘to kill as many Americans as possible.’”

Also, they locked up a filmmaker for a year, just to support their cover story. Nice people." --Glenn Reynolds

Monday, May 18, 2015

CONGRESSMAN: Changes needed in Jade Helm military exercises

By Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)


Over the past few weeks, my office has been inundated with calls referring to the Jade Helm 15 military exercise scheduled to take place between July 15 and September 15, 2015.

This military practice has some concerned that the U.S. Army is preparing for modern-day martial law.


Certainly, I can understand these concerns.

When leaders within the current administration believe that major threats to the country include those who support the Constitution, are military veterans, or even "cling to guns or religion," patriotic Americans have reason to be concerned.

We have seen people working in this administration use their government positions to persecute people with conservative beliefs in God, country, and notions such as honor and self-reliance.

Well, you don't see this every day.

At least, I don't: "Long-Exposure Portraits Lit by Glowing Plankton."

Photographer Eric Paré has built much of his career around the concept of light painting, but a recent photo shoot he did involved a very different source of lighting: the bioluminescence of glowing plankton... “Basically, those little creatures can emit light when activated. So we simply ran into the ocean like crazy and it started to glow,” Paré tells PetaPixel.

Specific types of plankton have the ability to glow when startled in order to distract or confuse predators. The light helps attract bigger predators that eat the plankton’s predators.

There are a number of well-known beaches that glow at night when the algae-filled waves crash into the sands. Paré recently visited one of them, Holbox Island in Mexico, during a recent public art festival in the area.

To capture these photographs, Paré had his subjects pose motionless in the ocean during 30-second exposures at a “very high ISO.”


You can see more of Paré's unique pics here.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.
 

SHOCKER: Hillary Claim That She Used Only One Personal Email Account While at State... Also a Lie

I hope you're sitting down:

Emails published by the New York Times Monday indicate that Hillary Clinton used more than one private email address during her time as secretary of state, contradicting previous claims from the Democratic presidential contender’s office.

Multiple emails show Clinton used account “hrod17@clintonemail.com” while serving in the Obama administration as secretary of state.

Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, had previously told Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) that that particular address had not “existed during Secretary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.”

Another statement from Clinton’s office said she only used one address during her time as secretary of state... Clinton served as secretary of state from Jan. 2009 to Feb. 2013. The emails she sent with the “hrod17@clintonemail.com” were sent in 2011 and 2012, according to the documents released by the Times.

A representative for Clinton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze.


As security experts noted a few months ago when the Hillary email scandal first broke, it's virtually certain that Hillary's email server was compromised by foreign governments. Which means Hillary put her own butt-covering over national security.

If America is willing to elect a sleazy, lying, unscrupulous, unethical, lying crook like Hillary in 2016, well, we deserve everything we get. Yes, I said "lying" twice. Because she warrants it.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

RIPPLE EFFECT: Saudis said to be purchasing nuclear weapons from Pakistan to counter Iranian threat

By The Tower

Saudi Arabia had made the “strategic decision” to purchase a nuclear weapon from Pakistan amid the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, a former American defense official said in a report published today in The Sunday Times.

“There has been a longstanding agreement in place with the Pakistanis and the House of Saud has now made the strategic decision to move forward.”

While the official did not believe “any actual weaponry has been transferred yet”, it was clear “the Saudis mean what they say and they will do what they say”, following last month’s Iranian outline nuclear deal. …

Asked whether the Saudis had decided to become a nuclear power, the official responded: “That has to be the assumption.”

The assessment is shared by an American intelligence official who spoke to the Times, saying that “hundreds” of CIA employees are trying to determine if Pakistan has already supplied any nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

JAW-DROPPING: Documents Reveal Obama, Hillary Knew Al Qaeda Had Planned Benghazi Attack 10 Days in Advance

By Judicial Watch

"These documents are jaw-dropping. No wonder we had to file more FOIA lawsuits and wait over two years for them. If the American people had known the truth – that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top administration officials knew that the Benghazi attack was an al-Qaeda terrorist attack from the get-go – and yet lied and covered this fact up – Mitt Romney might very well be president. And why would the Obama administration continue to support the Muslim Brotherhood even after it knew it was tied to the Benghazi terrorist attack and to al Qaeda? These documents also point to connection between the collapse in Libya and the ISIS war – and confirm that the U.S. knew remarkable details about the transfer of arms from Benghazi to Syrian jihadists." --Tom Fitton

Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained more than 100 pages of previously classified “Secret” documents from the Department of Defense (DOD)and the Department of State revealing that DOD almost immediately reported that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was committed by the al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood-linked “Brigades of the Captive Omar Abdul Rahman” (BCOAR), and had been planned at least 10 days in advance. Rahman is known as the Blind Sheikh, and is serving life in prison for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and other terrorist acts. The new documents also provide the first official confirmation that shows the U.S. government was aware of arms shipments from Benghazi to Syria. The documents also include an August 2012 analysis warning of the rise of ISIS and the predicted failure of the Obama policy of regime change in Syria.

The documents were released in response to a court order in accordance with a May 15, 2014, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against both the DOD and State Department seeking communications between the two agencies and congressional leaders “on matters related to the activities of any agency or department of the U.S. government at the Special Mission Compound and/or classified annex in Benghazi.”

Spelling and punctuation is duplicated in this release without corrections.

A Defense Department document from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), dated September 12, 2012, the day after the Benghazi attack, details that the attack on the compound had been carefully planned by the BOCAR terrorist group “to kill as many Americans as possible.” The document was sent to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Obama White House National Security Council. The heavily redacted Defense Department “information report” says that the attack on the Benghazi facility “was planned and executed by The Brigades of the Captive Omar Abdul Rahman (BCOAR).” The group subscribes to “AQ ideologies:”

Larwyn's Linx: What Stephanopoulos still hasn’t disclosed

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Nation

What Stephanopoulos still hasn’t disclosed: Paul Mirengoff
The Fall of Ramadi: Moe Lane
McConnell Sings Obama’s Praises During Chat With Stephanopoulos: Donn Marten

Anti-Semitism and Jewish Dissonance on the Way to 2016: Matthew Hausman
Ted Cruz, the Only Republican Arrogant Enough to Be President: David P. Goldman
Why NSA surveillance is worse than you’ve ever imagined: James Bamford

Bored to Death: Do Jeb and Hillary Really Want to Be President?: Roger L. Simon
Cities On Fire – Seattle: NoisyRm
U.S. attorney's bizarre statement on Tsarnaev death sentence: Thomas Lifson

Convention of the States: Marty R. Brown
Immigration: 445,000 awaiting a court date, which might not come for 4 years: LAT
Crime Plummets in Chicago as Conceal Carry Permits Rise: Keith Farrell

Economy

It’s Time For An Equal Tax: Amy Otto
US Spending on Social Programs 17 times that of Socialist China: GWP
The Student-Loan Problem Is Even Worse Than Official Figures Indicate: Instapundit

Scandal Central

The Amtrak Crash: Why The FBI Lied And Why It Is No Freak Accident: Shoebat
Call Hillary’s Consigliere, Cover Up Queen Cheryl Mills, To Testify: WZ
Stop me if you’ve heard this one; Hillary took money from more companies seeking influence: Jazz Shaw

Media

Editor In Chief Of World’s Best Known Medical Journal: Half Of All The Literature Is False: Arjun Walia
The case for conservative civil disobedience: Carlos Lozada
Barack Obama Tried to Silence Political Speech in 2007: Sara Noble

Like Father, Like Daughter: Al Sharpton’s Kid Sues NYC for $5 Million For Sprained Ankle: DC
‘Clinton Cash’ author: George Stephanopoulos guilty of ‘hidden-hand journalism’: Morgan Chalfant
‘Clinton Cash’ Author Reveals Other Ties Stephanopoulos DIDN’T Admit or Apologize For: Sooper

World

Islamic State overruns Anbar Operations Command, takes full control of Ramadi: LWJ
‘Strategy to defeat Islamic State is working,’ US Department of Defense claims: Bill Roggio
Breaking the Silence about EU-backed NGO War on Israel: LI

Time to Stand Up to China in the South China Sea: Michael Mazza
What The West Needs To Know About Islam: William J. Federer
Amb. Power’s Bizarre Analogy: Columbia Mattress Girl and Afghan women: LI

Obama: that chlorine gas Syria is using, well I’m fine with it: RS
The Mayaguez Incident: RS
The U.S. State Department Is Now Al-Qaeda’s Command And Control Center: Shoebat

Revisiting the Rose Garden fiasco at the Vatican: Vlad Tepes
NATO foreign ministers meet to discuss Russian aggression: RS
Paris: In Latest Violent Antisemitic Attack Two Assailants Pin Down Victim While Another Beats Him: Algemeiner

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

NASA sets $2.25m prize for 3D printed Mars habitats: SlashGear
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's radical experiment led 14% of employees to quit: Richard Feloni
New Jersey looks to the future, plans to deregulate Verizon landline phone service: WyBlog

Cornucopia

The Opposite of Diversity: UNIVERSITY*… So Shut Up!: MOTUS
Preakness Stakes Snapchat Shows a Chivalrous Cam Newton: Black and Blue Review
Picture exclusive: James Bond crew take to the Thames to film for Spectre: Spectator

Image: Nine killed in fight between bikers in Texas
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: The left has to do some soul-searching and reflect why it describes anti-Semitism as political expression, but criticism of Muslims as hate speech. Liberal Jews have to do the same about Obama.

...The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (“BDS”) and Israel Apartheid Week (“IAW”) movements are purely creations of the progressive left in partnership with Islamist interests. The left is obsessed with demonizing Israel and advancing anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, with progressive academics routinely defending campus anti-Semitism as political speech while simultaneously censoring any criticism of Muslims as “Islamophobic.”" --Matthew Hausman

Sunday, May 17, 2015

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR Under Obama’s proposed nuclear deal, “Iran will walk into the nuclear club"

By Josh Siegel

Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, snapped his fingers to signify how quickly the Jewish state could go from being strong to vulnerable in the face of a nuclear Iran.

The same fragility can describe the current U.S.-Israel alliance at a time when the countries’ governments disagree over the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

In a speech meant to both reassure—and pressure—his country’s best ally, Dermer today tried to make the case that though his country disagrees with the Obama administration on the merits of an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, Israel and America share an unbreakable bond.

On the 67th anniversary of Israel’s independence, Dermer, speaking at The Heritage Foundation, said that the U.S.-Israeli relationship would live on eternally.

But at the same time, Dermer argued that the impending nuclear deal would threaten Israel’s survival and pit the U.S. not only against the wishes of the Jewish state, but also, of the broader Arab world.

Remember When Barack Obama Tried to Silence Political Speech in 2007?

By Sara Noble

Barack Obama said during a speech at Georgetown last week that we’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, indicating that Republican leaders Boehner and McConnell were the ones needing changing. He also said, we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues, specifically referring to Fox News at the time.

Signs of how Obama thinks about dissent and free speech were evident in a bill he tried to pass in 2007. The bill would make lying a federal crime if it concerned politics around election time.

By rights, that should put Obama in prison but it’s geared to set up Republicans.

Barack Obama’s answer is always to add big government control and he wants to do it if a politician or someone loosely tied to a politician lies or appears to have lied. It would have a chilling effect on political speech.

In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer introduced S. 453, the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007, a bill which was reintroduced in 2009 by Sen. Conyers and then again in 2011 by Senators Schumer and Cardin.

It was unnecessary since voter intimidation is already illegal but it had a clause that distinguished it.

Larwyn's Linx: ABC and George Stephanopoulos Clinton Foundation Hypocrisy Is Staggering

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

ABC, Stephanopoulos Clinton Foundation Hypocrisy Staggering: Victor Davis Hanson
Rock City, The Casbah: Mark Steyn
When Times Get Hard: Christian Mercenary

Democrats Have a Socialist Problem in 2016: Glob
Waterboarding Worked: Debra Saunders
Smartest Guy Ever to Become President Blows It Again: Michael Walsh

Obama Should Release Trade Agreement Details: Rick Jensen
Ted Cruz Was Fearless Yesterday: Erick Erickson
Texas House Calls for Article 5 Convention to Restrain Federal Government: Breitbart

Obama Failed to Appoint Railroad Chief: Dossier
In Chicago, As Concealed Carry Goes Up, Crime Is Plummeting: DownTrend
Report finds majority of cop killers had guns illegally: Jennifer Cruz

Economy

How to Get Rich: Ace
The new curriculum…: The Real Revo
H-1B visa employees are crowding out other workers says new study: WorkPermit

Scandal Central

Hillary Clinton personally took money from companies that sought to influence her: Jonathan Allen
Clintons Earned $30 Million in 16 Months, Report Shows: Times
Ferguson Protest Leaders Paid $5,000 a Month to Disrupt & Instigate Violence: GWP

You Should Be Angry About Jade Helm Even If You're Not Crazy: William M. Arkin, Gawker
DHS IG Report Undercuts Obama's Dishonest Argument for Executive Amnesty: Paul Mirengoff
State Dept. must produce emails between Clintons and agency officials by... September: Sarah Westwood

Climate & Energy

The New Bee Crisis Is Just Like The Old One: Phony: Henry I. Miller

Media

MSNBC Posts Vicious Anti-Cop Video: Scoop
PBS Anchor Judy Woodruff Also Admits Donating to Clinton Foundation: Tim Graham
Obama's People: GayPatriot

SHOCK CLAIM: Hillary Clinton Forces Campaign Parody Taken Down: GWP
Barack Obama Marks Death Of B.B. King With Picture Of . . . Barack Obama: WZ
‘The Little Slush Fund That Could’: #HillaryChildrensBooks is the order of the day: Twitchy

Why I Choose to Purse Carry: Kippi Leatham
Every Now And Then A Blind Squirrel Finds A Nut: Ace
Hello Young People, I'm Hillary Clinton!: AmDigest

World

Islamic State Raises Their Black Flag Over Ramadi: WZ
Top Iranian General: "We Welcome War with the Americans": Clarion
ISIS Supporters Shaken By U.S. Killing Of Abu Sayyaf, Vow Revenge: Vocativ

An open letter to the Pope: Dror Eydar
Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood Puppet Sentenced to Death: NCRenegade
Erdogan Of Turkey: Elect Me Because I Promise to "Invade Jerusalem”: Shoebat

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The Navy’s New Binoculars Can Identify You From 700 Feet Away: Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne
Ciudad Perdida: Lost City in Colombian Highlands holds Mysteries of Ancient Civilization: Ancient Origins
Terrorists could bring down U.S. grid with radio waves: F. Michael Maloof

Cornucopia

Michael Jordan's Highland Park Mansion Now Half of Original Asking Price: AJ LaTrace
Stop What You’re Doing Right Now And Look At What Ann Romney Wore Last Night: IJR
Inconvenient Facts: Chlorine, It’s not just for toilets anymore.: MOTUS

Image: Islamic State Raises Their Black Flag Over Ramadi
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "Jeb Bush is running as this season's calm, reassuring, won't frighten-the-horses candidate who'll suck up all the money that might otherwise go to wild'n'crazy frothing loons like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, or whoever. Why, he's such a normal, reasonable chap he's even hot for action on "climate change". Can't get more normal than that, can you?

And yet he has some of the weirdest ideas of any candidate. It was often said of his brother that, to compensate for his preppy Waspy Connecticut Kennebunk blueblood background, he became exaggeratedly Texan, to the derangement of the left. Jeb seems to have taken it to a whole other level, and become exaggeratedly multicultural and, indeed, on his wilder shores, post-American. Aside from that business of self-identifying as "Hispanic" on his government paperwork, there seems to be a broader psychological impulse at play [wherein he believes that] immigrants are to be preferred over those of the native-born...

...the Democrat/union/welfare/race-huckster axis ... has totaled Detroit. But, if you regard remorseless mass immigration as an existential threat to advanced societies, this doesn't seem to be one of those issues on which Jeb seems likely to triangulate. A man who wants to Islamize Detroit because it's worked out so well in Dearborn would seem an odd choice even for the Stupid Party." --Mark Steyn

Saturday, May 16, 2015

GREAT NEWS: Russian, Spanish-language ads fueling rampant driver’s license fraud in Vermont

By Bruce Parker

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Foreign-language ads are helping out-of-state illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain Vermont driver privilege cards, the chief inspector of the Vermont DMV has revealed.

“We found two ads out of state … saying you can come here and get a driver’s license,” Capt. Drew Bloom, chief inspector of the DMV, told Vermont Watchdog.

“One of them was in Spanish and the other was in Russian,” he said.

The revelation comes days after DMV Commissioner Robert Ide said his department’s investigation into driver’s license fraud extended to foreign countries and even other continents.

In the first of two print ads obtained by Watchdog.org (above), a message in Russian translates as follows:

Under What Authority Can Obama keep his TPP Trade Deal Secret?

By Jon Rappaport

To the US Congress: reveal the contents of the TPP now

It seems like a case of mass hypnosis. People claiming they can’t say what’s in the TPP trade agreement. And mainstream media accept this premise.

“That’s right. Congress must stay silent.”

Pop quiz: who says the text of the TPP must remain secret?

Under what authority?

Members of Congress are scuttling around like weasels, claiming they can’t disclose what’s in this far-reaching, 12-nation trade treaty.

They can go into a sealed room and read a draft, but they can’t copy pages, and they can’t tell the public what they just read.

Why not?

If there is a US law forbidding disclosure, name the law.

WORTH REMINDING THEM: In 2013, the RNC Said Mark Levin Should Moderate a GOP Debate

Given the recent debacle involving ABC News, George Stephanopoulos, and Politico -- which highlights the incestuous and corrupt goverment-media axis -- I thought it was worth revisiting the topic of GOP debate moderators.

Recall that Snufflapoulos moderated several GOP debates in 2012 with sickening results. In one instance, ABC's "paid Democrat hitman" suddenly shifted the topic from job creation to "banning contraceptives", which was the Ass Party's bogus meme of the month.

In August of 2013, after significant criticism of its choice of moderators, the Republican leadership suddenly announced a willingness to embrace the conservative wing of the party.

Sean Spicer, the Communications Director of the Republican National Committee, made a surprising statement: he said that Mark Levin should moderate the GOP debates. Levin formally accepted the offer.

I was able to interview Spicer at the time and it's worth revisiting his remarks.

Ross: Sean, a recent statement you made really caught conservatives by surprise -- and in a positive way. You said you thought Mark Levin and perhaps other conservative thought leaders should moderate GOP debates. How serious was that statement and did the reaction catch you by surprise?

Spicer: That was a very serious statement. Obviously, we're not at a point yet of picking debate forums or moderators, but we are definitely committed to energizing the conservative base. It's common sense: anyone's who listening to Rush, Levin, Hannity... they are addressing the issues that the grassroots are concerned with.

What I also find absolutely unbelievable is that in 2008 Chris Matthews, of all people, moderated two GOP debates. Yet why wouldn't we insist on the converse situation?

Now is the time to remind the RNC that we will hold them accountable for their statements.

Mark Levin and Sean Hannity should each moderate a GOP debate.

And I guarantee the ratings would break records. I guarantee it.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

Are We a Nation of Laws... or a Nation of Thugs?

By Karl Denninger

I've laid this out many times over the years but perhaps it deserves a more-concentrated version.

The United States is relatively unique in terms of structure in our governmental system, and has a well-defined hierarchy of laws that the founders put forward a means to respect.  Let's start with that hierarchy, which is indisputable:

  • Natural law; that is, law that is simply due to nature.  The essence of being human defines these foundational boundaries; no government can or ever does, as you cannot lay claim to what which you never possessed.
  • Constitutional law; that is, law that is supreme in the nation and is intended to respect natural law (which sits above it) and divide responsibility for the remaining areas of governmental debate into appropriate sections.
  • Federal law, that is, laws bearing on and governing those areas of responsibility The Constitution granted to the Federal Government.
  • State law, that is, laws bearing on and governing those areas of responsibility The Constitution granted to the States, beginning with each State's Constitution and continuing through its statute system.
  • County and incorporated entity law, which bears on those areas of responsibility State Constitutions granted to the counties and incorporated political subdivisions (e.g. cities and townships.)

An alleged law further down the hierarchy that proclaims something to be illegal (or legal) that is contrary to the provisions above it is void as if it was never passed; it creates no office, it provides no power or shield.  If this general principle is disregarded then there is no law at all since any inferior political subdivision instantly loses its inferior status when it passes such an act.  

You cannot believe in a representative republican form of government, nor take an oath to same in any respect and at the same time permit or recognize any such act of usurpation as doing so is a declaration that the political subdivision in question has become superior to those above it.

Further, note that an act contrary to the law does not change the law; it merely ignores or contravenes it.

Larwyn's Linx: Granny Hillary Wants the Power to Ban Books and Movies that Criticize Her

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Hillary Wants the Power to Ban Books and Movies that Criticize Her: Power Line
Former Obama CIA Chief: Hillary’s Emails Compromised By Our Enemies: Steven Ahle
US Conduct Special Operations Raid In Syria, Kill Top ISIS Official: Ace

Washington Post's Eric Wemple Blasts ABC For Stephanopolous Deception: Ace
Stephanopoulos Enters into Modified Limited Hangout Phase of Scandal: Ed Driscoll
Whom would you pick to moderate the Republican debates?: AT

Bummer: Boston Marathon Misunderstanderer of Islam Gets DEATH: Casey Harper
Let Syrian 'refugees' revitalize Detroit? What could go wrong?: AT
What The Hell Did Dzhokhar Do As He Was Led Away?: Sooper

How’s That Coexistence Working Out for You?: Susan Brown
Mark Levin – Obama Has the Mindset of a Despot: Sara Noble
Shorter Obama: You're Stupid and Incompetent, But Of Course I am Not: PW

Economy

Democrat Hank Johnson threatens violence over any move to limit government: PW
Charter Schools—–Education Reform That Works: Mahattan Instittute
The Hierarchy We Have Lost, And Must Reclaim: Market Ticker

Scandal Central

Was The Derailed Amtrak Train Hit By An Object?: William Teach
Amtrak is a Government Failure: Every Joe
University of Colorado’s Soviet NKVD policy of turning student against student: PW

Climate & Energy

New Claims ‘Murky’ Global Warming Statistics Are ‘Guessed At’: GWPF
Are The Seas Really Rising Faster Than Ever?: William Teach
Things in General: Willis Eschenbach

Media

Guess Who Delayed Response to Stephanopoulos Scoop So Politico Could Publish First?: Ace
Stephanopoulos Another Example Of Revolving Door Journalism: IBD
Clinton Foundation donors include dozens of media organizations, individuals: Dylan Byers

Under Armour Flooded with Public Outrage After Disgusting Shirt Design: BuzzPo
Feminists’ Brains Are IMPLODING All Over Twitter At This EPIC Gavin McInnes Performance: Sooper
Headline: Obama Has Less Than $1,001 In Bank: BlurBrain

World

Islamic State seizes government center in Ramadi: LWJ
Confused at Camp David: Alan W. Dowd
Child bride faces $25,000 fine for rejecting marriage: Family Ostracised: Emirates 24|7

Radical Islamists: Equal Opportunity Murders: DTG
The King Of Bahrain Makes An Easy Call: Springer's Blog
Mossad and Ayatollah Khomeini: a thriller that wasn't: Simply

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Court keeps cellphone network ‘kill switch’ a secret: Evan Killham
Reddit Flaps Gums at Harassers: Richard Adhikari
The Characteristics Of Great Brand Stories: Bernadette Jiwa

Cornucopia

A Dishonest Man You Can Always Trust To Be Dishonest: MOTUS
The Bill Ayers - Jade Helm Connection: Radical Conservative
7 Anti-Gun Myths That Need To Be Debunked ASAP: Right Planet (2013)

Image: A Dishonest Man You Can Always Trust To Be Dishonest
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Counter Jihad: Help fight the spread of the Global Jihad Movement

QOTD: "If Hillary gets her way and Citizens United is overturned, the path will be cleared for Congress to enact legislation that makes it a crime to criticize President Clinton in a book or movie. So far, the political class has only tried to ban books and movies that endorse or criticize candidates 60 days out from an election, but there is nothing magic about that number. Next time, they could punish anyone who publishes a book or produces a movie critical of Hillary 180 days, or 360 days before the next election. Is there any reason why Hillary’s Supreme Court justices, committed to reversing Citizens United, would balk at such legislation? None that I can see. We are living, after all, in the era of the permanent campaign.

Has there ever been a time when free speech is popular? Perhaps not; certainly not today. Not on the left. But those who might consider supporting Hillary Clinton for president should think carefully about the powers she wants the federal government to wield." --John Hinderaker

Friday, May 15, 2015

Why the Clinton Foundation Scandal Should Terrify Every American

By Peter Schweizer

One of the last vestiges of broad-based bipartisan agreement in American politics is the belief that foreign money should not influence U.S. political leaders and their decisions. The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the ban on foreign political money, and President Barack Obama and Republicans have echoed similar themes.

We now know that the Clinton Foundation served as a conduit for the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign individuals, entities, and governments. Moreover, during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Sec. of State, former President Bill Clinton received numerous lucrative speaking fees funded by foreign entities, including a $500,000 Moscow speech paid for by a Kremlin-linked bank with interests pending before Mrs. Clinton’s State Dept. 

But does any of this matter? Moreover, is it, as some have intimated, akin to “bribery”?

As Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton made combatting corruption by foreign actors “a major focus of U.S foreign policy,” as her spokesperson at the time put it. More specifically, she pledged her support for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) “anti-corruption agenda.” So, how does the OECD define bribery?  

BOOM: Federal Court Issues Historic Ruling in Hillary Email Scandal

By Judicial Watch

Last Friday, a federal court judge did something we had never seen before – U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton reopened a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The lawsuit had sought documents about an advertisement intended to air in Pakistan entitled “A Message from the President of the United States Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

Judge Walton issued the ruling on Friday, May 8, in response to a joint motion by Judicial Watch and the State Department. This is historic. My attorney colleagues at Judicial Watch tell me they are aware of no precedent of another FOIA lawsuit being reopened by a federal court.

Judicial Watch filed suit in December 2012, after the State Department failed to respond to a September 24, 2012, FOIA request for all records concerning the advertisement produced by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad intended to air in Pakistan. The advertisement was an absurd and dishonest “apology” for the Internet video that President Obama, then-Secretary of State Clinton, and other administration officials falsely blamed for inspiring “spontaneous demonstrations” resulting in the attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya. The disgusting ad was a misuse of tax dollars and part of the cover-up of the truth about the Benghazi terrorist attack.

How Illinois Public Sector Unions Destroyed Chicago

By ProPublica

What happens when you’ve been kicking the fiscal can down the road for years, but the road suddenly hits a dead end? That’s what Chicago – and the state of Illinois – are about to find out.

Chicago’s immediate problem is yesterday’s credit downgrade by Moody’s Investors Services, which turned its debt to junk and could force the city to immediately come up with $2.2 billion to satisfy debts and other obligations.

When big cities have had debt crises – such as Detroit’s recent problems or New York City’s epic problems in the 1970s – states typically rode to the rescue in one way or another. But Illinois, which has the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, says it can’t help the stricken city.

The downgrade follows a Friday decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, which invalidated state limits on cost-of-living adjustments to state pensioners. The limits were part of a slate of reforms signed into law in 2013 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, to deal with underfunded pensions.

Moody’s said the court decision was key to its downgrade because the city has been hoping to dig out of its own financial hole by reducing cost-of-living adjustments, which typically raise the cost of pensions by close to 50 percent.

Chicago’s predicament actually has its roots in a 2003 decision by Illinois to kick the pension can down the road – by borrowing money to fund pensions rather than trying to get the benefits reduced or to stepping up payments to make them financially sound.