The New Cold War’s Arctic Front

The New Cold War’s Arctic Front - WSJ:
G-7 leaders gathering in Bavaria on Monday vowed to extend sanctions if Russia doesn’t dial back its aggression against Ukraine. 
Previous sanctions haven’t deterred Kremlin land-grabs, and the question now isn’t if Russian President Vladimir Putin will strike again but whom he’ll target next.
Mr. Putin considers Europe’s eastern periphery, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, part of Russia’s imperial inheritance.
Yet in recent years the Russian leader has also turned his attention northward, to the Arctic, militarizing one of the world’s coldest, most remote regions. 
Here in Finland, one of eight Arctic states, the Russian menace next door looms large.
“That is a tough nut to crack, to know exactly what the Russians want,” newly appointed Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini says.
“But I’m sure they know.
Because they are masters of chess, and if something is on the loose they will take it”—a variation on the old proverb that “a Cossack will take whatever is not fixed to the ground.”
...These changes have implications not just for trade but also for the ability to exploit the vast energy resources beneath the Arctic. 
Energy fields in the region have to date produced some 40 billion barrels of oil and 1,100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the region also holds 13% of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil, a third of the world’s undiscovered conventional gas and a fifth of the world’s undiscovered natural-gas liquids.
No wonder Moscow has been racing to reopen old Soviet bases on its territory across the Arctic and develop new ones. 
Mr. Putin wants by the end of 2015 to have 14 operational airfields in the Arctic, according to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and he has increased Russia’s special-forces presence in the region by 30%.....

Reporters Grill Josh Earnest Over Evacuation of WH Press Room: ‘Who Covered Up the Cameras in This Room?’

Reporters Grill Josh Earnest Over Evacuation of WH Press Room: ‘Who Covered Up the Cameras in This Room?’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:
“Who covered up the cameras in this room?” one reporter asked.
“These are cameras that are owned by news organizations…but somebody cut off our ability to see what was going on in this room by turning the cameras down. 
Who did that and why?”
Earnest said he wasn’t sure who tampered with the news cameras because he wasn’t in the room.
Reporters also found it strange when Earnest revealed that President Barack Obama and other White House staff were not evacuated —"

EU referendum: MPs support plan for say on Europe

EU referendum: MPs support plan for say on Europe - BBC News
MPs have overwhelmingly backed plans for a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.
The vote, which followed the first debate on the EU Referendum Bill, means the legislation moves to the next stage of its progress through Parliament.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said a "generation" had been denied a say on the UK's place in Europe, and the public must now have the "final say".
MPs voted by 544 to 53 in favour of the bill.
...Prime Minister David Cameron, who first promised a referendum in 2013, has pledged to negotiate a "better deal" for the UK in Europe in advance of the vote - to be held by the end of 2017 at the latest.
Mr Hammond said a vote - which would be the first on the UK's links with Europe since 1975 - was needed to renew the democratic legitimacy of the UK's relationship with the 28-member body.
"...But an entire generation of British voters has been denied the chance to have a say on our relationship with the European Union. And Mr Speaker, today we are putting that right."

Smart justice? Michigan bills would end mandatory prison sentences for crimes involving a gun

Smart justice? Michigan bills would end mandatory prison sentences for crimes involving a gun | MLive.com:

LANSING, MI — Michigan judges could have more discretion when sentencing people who carried a gun while committing a crime under legislation debated Tuesday in Lansing.

House bills 4419 and 4420 would end mandatory two-year sentences for first-time felony firearm charges, which typically force or extend prison stays for those convicted of other crimes.

Instead, a person who possessed a firearm during the commission of another felony could be sentenced to up to -- or less than -- three years in prison. That time could be served concurrently with any sentence for the underlying crime, and a felony firearm conviction would not disqualify an inmate from parole consideration.

State Rep. Kurt Heise, a Plymouth Township Republican who chairs the House Criminal Justice Committee and sponsored one of the bills, said lawmakers should support the legislation if they are "really serious about what our governor calls 'smart justice.'"

The proposal would potentially cut state incarceration costs, but it's already facing pushback from one of the state's top elected officials.

Thug Puts Knife to Texas Grandma's Neck... Her Next 9 Words Immediately Sent Him Running

Thug Puts Knife to Texas Grandma's Neck... Her Next 9 Words Immediately Sent Him Running
Jewell Turner was sitting in her van outside of her Fort Worth, Texas, doctor’s office when a young man approached and asked for directions, a common ploy used by stick-up artists to put their victims off guard.
“Never thought that when I turned my head that that young man would stick a knife to my throat,” Turner told the local NBC affiliate.
But the suspect did just that, saying, “I don’t want to hurt you, but I want your money. And I will hurt you if I have to.”
But Turner had no intention of being a victim that day and luckily had a small handgun with her, which she quickly put to use.
“I just reached down, got the gun and turned around and pointed it to his face.
And I told him, I said, ‘You back off, or I’ll blow your head off.’ 
And his eyes got big and he just backed up and he took off walking down the street like nothing happened,” Turner said.
Here's the ugly truth about blood pressure medication your doctor will never tell you.
After the incident, Turner admitted that it had revealed the darker side of humanity to her, even in herself.
“I noticed there was a dark side in me, too.
Because when I first pulled that gun on him I actually wanted to shoot him.
But I stopped and thought about it,” Turner said (H/T The Blaze).
Thankfully, this older woman had a tool with her that leveled the playing field, removing the advantage enjoyed by the younger, stronger, and faster thug.
Even better is the fact that Turner didn’t have to fire her gun, as its mere appearance was enough to make the thug quickly reconsider his course of action.
The anti-gun and citizen control groups would have grandma Turner be disarmed, with no way to defend herself from the thug demanding she hand over her money, or worse....

Holi crapoli!!!-----Sanders Close on Clinton's Heels in Wis. Straw Poll

Sanders Close on Clinton's Heels in Wis. Straw Poll | RealClearPolitics:
"Bernie Sanders had a strong showing at the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s presidential straw poll on Saturday, finishing a close second to Hillary Clinton, the race’s overwhelming frontrunner.
The Vermont senator received 41 percent of the 511 delegate votes at the state’s convention in Milwaukee, while the former secretary of state won by a narrower margin than she is accustomed to seeing in presidential opinion polls, garnering just 49 percent.
The result is a significant one for Sanders, who polls at just 11.5 percent nationally in the RealClearPolitics average..."

Even Liberal NPR Covers EPA Fracking Study as ABC, NBC Punt

Even Liberal NPR Covers EPA Fracking Study as ABC, NBC Punt:

"NPR's Morning Edition on Friday actually covered the EPA's new report that found that fracking for oil and natural gas "has not caused widespread pollution in drinking water," as host Renee Montagne put it. The liberal public radio network's report came as ABC and NBC maintained their blackout on the study on their morning and evening newscasts.

Montagne led into correspondent Jeff Brady's report by spotlighting how the "new report from the Environmental Protection Agency is actually being hailed by the oil and gas industry."

So sad...clickhole!-----Gwyneth Paltrow Tried To Survive A Week On Food She died...

Gwyneth Paltrow Tried To Survive A Week On Food She died... | ClickHole:
"We all know Gwyneth Paltrow as an actress.
But as a lifestyle blogger and humanitarian, Paltrow also uses her fame to try to raise awareness about important issues.
For instance, Paltrow recently sought to shed light on the struggle millions of Americans living in poverty face just trying to put food on the table by challenging herself to survive for one whole week on food stamps, and by day five, she was dead.
Yep, the Shakespeare In Love and Iron Man star tried to feed herself on just $29 for an entire week in order to demonstrate just how desperate things are for the nation’s working poor, and after spending her entire budget on barely enough food to create two healthy, well-balanced meals and a couple of snacks, Paltrow slowly starved to death over the next four days."
Yes, it's a parody site

History for June 10

History for June 10 - On-This-Day.com
Andre-Marie Ampere 1836 - Developed technology for measuring electricity, Hattie McDaniel 1889, Clyde Beatty 1903 


Saul Bellow 1915, Judy Garland 1922, F. Lee Bailey 1933 - Attorney 


Jurgen Prochnow 1941, Elisabeth Shue 1963, Jeanne Tripplehorn 1963 - Actress 


1793 - The Jardin des Plantes zoo opened in Paris. It was the first public zoo. 


1801 - The North African State of Tripoli declared war on the U.S. The dispute was over merchant vessels being able to travel safely through the Mediterranean. 


1902 - The "outlook" or "see-through" envelope was patented by Americus F. Callahan. 


1903 - Binney & Smith Company began developing a product line of wax crayons. The product was named Crayola. 


1916 - Mecca, under control of the Turks, fell to the Arabs during the Great Arab Revolt. 


1920 - The Republican convention in Chicago endorsed woman suffrage. 


1925 - The state of Tennessee adopted a new biology text book that denied the theory of evolution. 


1935 - Alcoholic Anonymous was founded by William G. Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith. 


1943 - Laszlo Biro patented his ballpoint pen. Biro was a Hungarian journalist. 


1948 - Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound in the Bell XS-1. 


1994 - U.S. President Clinton intensified sanctions against Haiti's military leaders. U.S. commercial air travel was suspended along with most financial transactions between Haiti and the U.S. 


1996 - The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Florida Panthers in a 1-0 triple overtime game. The win ended a four-game sweep for the Stanley Cup.

Former WH Chief of Staff Unloads on Obama Admin: ‘Dumb,’ ‘Tone Deaf’ and ‘Incompetence’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

Former WH Chief of Staff Unloads on Obama Admin: ‘Dumb,’ ‘Tone Deaf’ and ‘Incompetence’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:

“Dumb,” “tone deaf,” “boggles the mind,” “insensitive” and “incompetence.”

Those are some of the words former White House chief of staff for George H.W. Bush, John Sununu, used in discussing the Obama administration and its decision to send Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to a pro-Israel conference where he praised the administration’s Iran deal. He was booed."

Plus, I think the have "winter" in these other countries-----You Don't See This Every Day...

You Don't See This Every Day... | Zero Hedge:
"Day in, and day out, American investors are bombarded with bloviation on how the American economy is leading the world (and that's why you need to buy moar stocks).
The only problem is... it's a lie, as the following chart clarifies."

The Full Story of The McKinney Texas, Pool Mob – Inside The “Craig Ranch” Subdivision…

The Full Story of The McKinney Texas, Pool Mob – Inside The “Craig Ranch” Subdivision… | The Last Refuge:
The Full Story of The McKinney Texas, Pool Mob – Inside The “Craig Ranch” Subdivision…

Posted on June 8, 2015 by sundance

Here’s The Story of The McKinney Pool Fiasco

The Origin – The woman who organized the event in McKinney, Texas is named Tatiana Rhodes (or Tatyana Rhodes). She is approximately 19-years-old; however, she retains a fake id and has began scrubbing most of her social media accounts, so her exact age is undetermined. Update: confirmed profile DOB 04/02/1995, so Tatiana Rhodes is 20.

Tatiana had been promoting a party via twitter under the hashtag name “Dime Piece Cookout” for approximately a month.  She planned the event at a sub-division called “Craig Ranch” in McKinney Texas.

Tatiana (pictured below left) lives in the sub-division with her mother Lashana Burkes (pictured right).  Both appear to be natives of Chicago.

The Craig Ranch subdivision has a neighborhood park and a gated pool and clubhouse for residents.  The pool and clubhouse is gated and a scan card is needed to gain access. (You an explore via google earth here)

The subdivision has a Homeowners Association (HOA) which regulates and controls the activities in/around the HOA swimming pool and clubhouse and has strict rules for usethereof.

In addition to HOA rules the local community has a resident magazine which provides information to Craig Ranch residents on events and reminders of activities.  One of therecent articles covered the use of the recreational facilities to include the pool and clubhouse:

Neither Tatiana Rhodes nor her mother sought permission to use the pool or clubhouse area as part of the event.  However, Tatiana hired a DJ and promoted the event to include a pool party:

There are numerous social media links reflecting that Tatiana organizes these “parties”, and charges for attendance, as a profit generating business.  Her enterprise name is promoted under the auspices of “Twinzzpromotions” and uses the email address twinnzzpromotions@gmail.com:
Click top link to read it all.

Mike Rowe’s Stellar Reply to Letter Writer Calling His Work Ethic Movement ‘Right-Wing Propaganda’ | TheBlaze.com

Mike Rowe’s Stellar Reply to Letter Writer Calling His Work Ethic Movement ‘Right-Wing Propaganda’ | TheBlaze.com:

"Last week at a policy conference in Mackinac, I talked to several hiring managers from a few of the largest companies in Michigan. They all told me the same thing – the biggest under reported challenge in finding good help, (aside from the inability to “piss clean,”) is an overwhelming lack of “soft skills.” That’s a polite way of saying that many applicants don’t tuck their shirts in, or pull their pants up, or look you in the eye, or say things like “please” and “thank you.” This is not a Michigan problem – this is a national crisis. We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.

These are the people you’re talking about Craig, and their number grows everyday."

Country-rap! Showin' some balls!!!-----Rick Perry Taps a Defiant Country-Rap Tune

Rick Perry Taps a Defiant Country-Rap Tune | RealClearPolitics:
"Rick Perry “don’t back down,” no matter how many other candidates join the 2016 Republican presidential race.
At least, that’s what his new campaign theme song asserted at his kickoff rally in Dallas last Thursday.
Perry marched up to the podium to a personalized version of “Answer to No One,” a country-rap song originally co-written and sung by Georgia native Colt Ford."

Students demand conservative-libertarian columnist be fired for ‘racist, unsafe’ views

Students demand conservative-libertarian columnist be fired for ‘racist, unsafe’ views:
"PETITION: ‘We do not believe students have a protected right to use a student publication … as a platform to proliferate racist stereotypes and misinformation’
A student at Duke University who has penned columns for the Duke Chronicle that favor conservative and libertarian principles is now the target of a student protest demanding his termination as the campus newspaper’s opinion editor in a petition that calls the columnist’s views “racist” and “unsafe.”
Duke student Jonathan Zhao – a rising senior tapped as the new opinion page editor of the Duke Chronicle – has written columns in the past titled “Gay marriage is not a right,” “Equal pay is anti-feminist” and “A farewell to arms control.”
...While he has often touted positions counter to mainstream politically correct beliefs on campus, the tipping point against Zhao came after he penned a column May 27 titled “The plight of black America” that stated: 
“The greatest obstacle to the advancement of black Americans isn’t racism or past injustices but rather the black community itself.” 
...The petitioners do not address Zhao’s lengthy “black America” column point by point, but rather attack his character and suggest anyone who believes as he does is unfit to serve as editorial page editor...

Pathetic republicans here in Michigan-----Conservative Review - Scorecard

Conservative Review - Scorecard:

In Chicago, a Public University Moves to Seize Private Property | TheBlaze.com

In Chicago, a Public University Moves to Seize Private Property | TheBlaze.com:

"Should a public university be allowed to seize private property from people who don’t want to sell?

That’s what Northeastern Illinois University is trying to do.

The school is located in a north side Chicago neighborhood with an eclectic offering of restaurants and mom-and-pop stores. Many of the small businesses in the area have been in the owners’ families for generations – but that’s not what university officials want on their campus. The university is suing to bulldoze those private businesses and turn over the property to a private developer instead."

10 Bloody Amusement Park Accidents

10 Bloody Amusement Park Accidents - Listverse
8Action ParkPhoto: Geoff Cooper

Action Park
Vernon, New Jersey

New Jersey’s Action Park boasted perhaps the worst reputation of any amusement park in history. The place was a perfect storm of unsafe rides, drunken patrons, and disinterested teenage employees. Countless injuries were suffered on the park’s water slides. At least six people were killed during the park’s history, including three drownings, an electrocution, and a heart attack allegedly caused by the shock of frigid water beneath a rope swing.

One man died when the car he was riding on leapt off the Alpine Slide, causing him to smash his head on a rock. By 1998, the crushing weight of lawsuits forced the owners to close down Action Park. A few years later, it was reopened in a sanitized version as Mountain Creek with a new emphasis on safety, the reckless and sinister history buried beneath signs and regulations.

Cultural suicide-----Times Op-Ed Goes All In On Student Debt Silliness

Times Op-Ed Goes All In On Student Debt Silliness - Forbes
On Saturday, the New York Times op-ed page went all in on the fact-free faux-populism surrounding student debt. 
In an exceptionally tone-deaf piece—and that’s saying something, given the competition in this area—cultural critic Lee Siegel, author of un-ironically-titled Are You Serious and three-time grad of Columbia University, urges borrowers to default on their student loans, just as he did. 
Siegel argues that student loans are in fact immoral, and that defaulting is the path to liberation:

"Years later, I found myself confronted with a choice that too many people have had to and will have to face. I could give up what had become my vocation (in my case, being a writer) and take a job that I didn’t want in order to repay the huge debt I had accumulated in college and graduate school. Or I could take what I had been led to believe was both the morally and legally reprehensible step of defaulting on my student loans, which was the only way I could survive without wasting my life in a job that had nothing to do with my particular usefulness to society. I chose life. That is to say, I defaulted on my student loans. As difficult as it has been, I’ve never looked back. The millions of young people today, who collectively owe over $1 trillion in loans, may want to consider my example."

Melodrama aside, this is, quite possibly, the worst advice you could give. 
Defaulting on student loans leads to damaged credit, relentless hounding from collection agencies, garnished wages and tax refunds, and—most importantly—an increase in the amount of money you will owe (to cover the cost of collection). 

Selling our country----An Afternoon Visit to a Chinese Maternity Hotel

An Afternoon Visit to a Chinese Maternity Hotel
After driving 30 minutes east of downtown LA, I reached the apartment complex in Rowland Heights, California, that was rumored to contain a so-called Chinese “maternity hotel”: a place of questionable legality, where wealthy women seeking American citizenship for their children and a way around the one-child rule come to stay for a long vacation—one that happens to result in a baby about two-thirds of the way through.
“For about $15,000 you can have our basic package, a three-month stay here, with food and some Los Angeles tours,” Grace explained.
“If you want to pay more, you can get more tours and outings to better shopping and more time around the city.”
This is the going rate for the thousands of wealthy Chinese families looking to ensure a good future for their children.
They pay a deposit, then jet off to Southern California on a tourist visa and give birth to American citizens, which provides them a way around the one-child policy and a pathway for their kids to have easier access to American schools. 
Maternity hotels guide them and shelter them throughout this long process.
The practice is known as birth tourism, and it’s not illegal—strictly speaking.
It is, however, against the law to mislead customs officials into believing you’re in the United States purely as a tourist if your actual intention is to have a child on U.S. soil.
To get around this, many maternity hotels offer a coaching service to help their clients get through customs with ease. (They also provide medical recommendations and transportation when the time comes to give birth.
...Information from one of the search-warrant affidavits revealed that the proprietors of StarBabyCare have been conducting business for more than 16 years..."

Egypt Backtracks on Calling Hamas a Terrorist Group | TheBlaze.com

Egypt Backtracks on Calling Hamas a Terrorist Group | TheBlaze.com:
"CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court overturned a decision naming Hamas a terrorist organization Saturday, a ruling coming after months of increasing hostility to the blockaded rulers of the Gaza Strip.
The Urgent Matters Appeals Court cited a lack of jurisdiction as the reason for annulling the earlier court’s ruling."

France Dumbing Down Their Curriculum?

France Dumbing Down Their Curriculum? | Better Ed
France has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the world at 20%.

According to an NPR article, the distressing dropout rate has led French president Francois Hollande to call for what critics are characterizing as a dumbing down of the curriculum.
This strategy should sound familiar to Americans. 
In response to dropouts and the presumed need to send every student to college, the curriculum in America’s secondary schools has been dramatically watered down in recent decades.
...Next, French reformers wish to present “European civilization through the lens of the slave trade and colonialism” rather than emphasize the ideas that created modern Europe – kind of like A.P. U.S. History, which goes light on the Founding Fathers and heavy on a critique of America’s past wrongs.
An overarching goal of the proposed reform, according to NPR, “is to make the heavy, French middle school curriculum more interesting and lively for students.” 
So, France thinks education will be more effective if school is more entertaining? Americans: does this sound like déjà vu or what?!?...”