These "grants" are simply payback to political supporters-----Feds spent $2 million to have wives nag men about chewing tobacco

Golden Hammer: Feds spent $2 million to have wives nag men about chewing tobacco - Washington Times:
"Since 2012 the government has spent nearly $2 million on a campaign to get women to nag the men in their lives to quit using smokeless tobacco.

The National Institutes of Health has sponsored a continuing grant for the Oregon Research Institute to “evaluate an innovative approach that encourages male smokeless tobacco users to quit by enlisting the support of their wives/partners, both to lead smokeless tobacco users to engage in treatment and to help them sustain abstinence.”
Researchers had already “established that women can be readily recruited” to get their husbands to quit chewing tobacco, but now the project is going a step further with a multimedia push that includes a website with an interactive and tailored support plan.
Researchers will conduct a randomized clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of the cessation program."

‘Those Are Great Talking Points’: Ted Cruz Hits Back at MSNBC Host’s SCOTUS Claim With Two Questions | Video | TheBlaze.com

‘Those Are Great Talking Points’: Ted Cruz Hits Back at MSNBC Host’s SCOTUS Claim With Two Questions | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a Republican presidential candidate, sparred with MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Wednesday over whether the Supreme Court has become too “partisan” following the high court’s recent decisions on Obamacare and gay marriage."

The PC zealots will never stop!-----Memphis City Council unanimously votes to dig up Confederate general, wife

Memphis City Council unanimously votes to dig up Confederate general, wife - Spokane Conservative | Examiner.com:
"Late Tuesday, the Memphis, Tennessee, City Council voted unanimously to dig up the remains of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife, Talking Points Memo reported Wednesday.
The council also voted to remove a statue placed in Forrest's honor.
The move came after Mayor A.C. Wharton called for the bodies to be dug up and relocated.
Tuesday's vote is not the end of the story, however.
According to WREG, the Chancery Court would also have to approve the removal of the remains and Forrest's family would also be involved in the decision.
Forrest and his wife are currently buried beneath a statute honoring the general in a park which had been named after him until two years ago..."

Must read!!-----Greece -- Corruption & Lawlessness Are the Root of the Problem-by VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

Greece -- Corruption & Lawlessness Are the Root of the Problem | National Review Online
by VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Barbarians at the gate usually don’t bring down once-successful civilizations.
Nor does climate change.
Even mass epidemics such as the plague that decimated sixth-century Byzantium do not necessarily destroy a culture.
Far more dangerous are institutionalized corruption, a lack of transparency, and creeping neglect of existing laws.
All the German euros in the world will not save Greece if Greeks continue to dodge taxes, featherbed government, and see corruption as a business model.
...Americans, too, should worry about these age-old symptoms of internal decay.
The frightening thing about disgraced IRS bureaucrat Lois Lerner’s knowledge of selective audits of groups on the basis of their politics is not just that she seemed to ignore it, but that she seemingly assumed no one would find out, or perhaps even mind.
And she may well have been right.
...Ultimately, no nation can continue to thrive if its government refuses to enforce its own laws.
Read it all and fear for our future.

This is SOP in too many of our cities and counties-----Audit finds massive financial mismanagement in West Covina

Audit finds massive financial mismanagement in West Covina - LA Times:
"A scathing state audit of West Covina's finances found massive bookkeeping errors and questionable spending of taxpayer money.
Auditors, in a report released Thursday, found the city lost potentially millions of dollars and allowed questionable spending on city credit cards.
Among the findings, the controller said that the city lost $1.04 million by not following the law during a sale of city land to a developer who planned to build condos on the parcel.
The city also failed to comply with rules requiring it receive written proposals and accept the lowest responsible bid for contracts over $30,000, auditors said.
"City officials made numerous questionable decisions by not following the contract process and approving contracts without detailed review and analysis of reasonableness," according to the audit. "We identified numerous contracts and transactions that raised questions about the reasonableness and proper use of public funds.""

NY House Passes Bill That Allows Shooting FULL TERM Babies in the Heart with Poison to Abort | Washington Weekly News

NY House Passes Bill That Allows Shooting FULL TERM Babies in the Heart with Poison to Abort | Washington Weekly News:

"AB 6221 passed the State Assembly 94-49, and would expand the leniency for third trimester abortions. If AB 6221 passes the Senate and becomes law, the wording of the abortion statute will allow full-term abortions as long as it’s “relevant to the well-being of the patient.”

Reasons included under the new language would be, emotional, familial, age, physical, or psychological. So for example, if a potential mother feels she’s not “emotionally stable” to handle a baby two weeks before birth, New York will allow her to have an abortion."

The New H-6K is China's B-52

The New H-6K is China's B-52 | RealClearDefense:
"...The H-6K is Beijing’s B-52 — a far-flying, fuel-efficient heavy bomber combining a simple, time-tested airframe with modern electronics and powerful, precision weaponry.
Although to be fair, the B-52 flies much farther with more bombs and missiles.
Still, over the vast Pacific Ocean, where the tyranny of distance prevents most aircraft from operating efficiently, the H-6K could prove to be one of China’s most important planes in wartime.
...Like the Soviets, the Chinese modified the basic, four-person H-6 for a wide range of missions.
The H-6A was an atomic bomber. 
The H-6B was a recon plane.
The H-6C was a conventional bomber.
There’s an H-6U tanker version.
The H-6H, M and K models carry cruise missiles.
...Swapping old engines and electronics for modern gear, the H-6K represents a huge evolutionary leap over the old Xian bombers.
...Supported by tankers, an H-6K armed with YJ-12s or CJ-20s could venture deep into the Pacific, hunting for American ships or even flying within striking distance of America’s own main bomber outpost in Guam, some 3,000 miles from the Chinese mainland.

Daily News Briefing: Here are 16 facts that corroborate Donald Trump's statements on immigration

Daily News Briefing: Here are 16 facts that corroborate Donald Trump's statements on immigration | Best of Cain:

SUMMARY

• OVERWHELMED - There are over 200 "sanctuary cities" in 32 states that give safe harbor to illegal immigrants, even violent ones with felony records like the man accused of killing a San Francisco woman last week, according to The Center for Immigration Studies.

IN THE DISTRICT

• TRUMP - Donald Trump's position on immigration does not seem to be hurting the real-estate developer's standing in the Republican presidential primary. Two new polls have him in first place among registered Republican voters.
  • The latest poll arrived Thursday. In the Economist/YouGov poll, Trump holds 15% of the Republican vote nationally — ahead of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida (11%).
  • A new Public Policy Polling survey of North Carolina published Wednesday also placed Trump ahead of the GOP pack. In that poll, Trump led Bush 16% to 12%.

• TRUMP - According to a recent Newsmax.com article, here are 16 Reasons Donald Trump is not wrong on immigration:
  
  • 1. The border is extremely porous: The United Nations reported that 97 percent of the illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. clandestinely do so across the nearly 2,000-mile Mexican border, but only 20 percent of those who cross illegally are caught.
  • 2. Illegal immigrants do bring crime: Of the 61,529 criminal cases initiated by federal prosecutors in 2013, more than 40 percent were filed in court districts neighboring the border. Nearly 22 percent were drug-related, 19.7 percent were violent crimes, and 10.2 percent involved white-collar offenses.
  • 3. Immigrants are killing Americans: According to the Center for Immigration Studies, 57 percent of the 76 fugitive murderers wanted by the FBI in 2009 were foreign-born. The Center also disclosed that in Maricopa County in Arizona, 22 percent of felons are illegal immigrants.
  • 4. Illegal immigrants pose a danger on the roads: About 4.5 million illegal aliens in the U.S. drive on a regular basis, many without licenses or insurance or even the ability to read road signs written in English, The New York Times reported. In Arizona, 63 percent of cited drivers have no license, no insurance, and no registration for the vehicle, and 97 percent of them are illegal aliens.
  • Read on.

• OVERWHELMED - There are over 200 "sanctuary cities" in 32 states that give safe harbor to illegal immigrants, even violent ones with felony records like the man accused of killing a San Francisco woman last week, according to The Center for Immigration Studies.
  • Meanwhile, high-profile Democrats now speaking out about San Francisco's "sanctuary" treatment of an illegal immigrant charged with the murder of a young woman weren't always so critical of the policies.
  • Read on

Illegal immigrants responsible for almost three-fourths of federal drug possession sentences in 2014

Illegal immigrants responsible for almost three-fourths of federal drug possession sentences in 2014 | Washington Examiner:
"Of the more than 2,200 people who received federal sentences for drug possession in fiscal year 2014, almost three-quarters of them were illegal immigrants, according to new data from the United States Sentencing Commission.
Illegal immigrants also made up more than one-third of all federal sentences, that data said.
The commission's data showed a slight decline in the total number of illegal alien sentences from 2013 to 2014, but still showed that the illegal population is a major contributor to federal crimes in America."

The IRS scandal just got even worse | New York Post

The IRS scandal just got even worse | New York Post:

"As part of the project, the IRS handed the FBI 21 computer disks with 1.23 million pages of confidential IRS returns from 113,000 nonprofit 501(c)(4) groups — nearly every 501(c)(4). This, though federal law generally bans the IRS from sharing such data.

The evidence shows “that the Obama IRS scandal is also an Obama DOJ and FBI scandal,” noted Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The FBI and Justice Department worked with Lois Lerner and the IRS to concoct some reason to put President Obama’s opponents in jail before his re-election. And this abuse resulted in the FBI’s illegally obtaining confidential taxpayer information.”

Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge

Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge:
"After seeing years of decline in violent crime, several major American cities experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year.
Milwaukee, which had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in city history last year, has recorded 84 murders so far this year, more than double the 41 it tallied at the same point last year.
...Baltimore, New Orleans and St. Louis have also seen the number of murders jump 33% or more in 2015.
Meanwhile, Chicago, the nation's third-largest city, has seen the homicide toll climb by 19% and the number of shooting incidents increase in the city by 21% during the first half of the year.
In all the cities, the increased violence is disproportionately impacting poor and predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods. 
In parts of Milwaukee, the sound of gunfire has become so expected that about 80% of gunshots detected by ShotSpotter sensors aren't even called into police by residents, Flynn said."

History for July 10

History for July 10 - On-This-Day.com:
John Calvin 1509, James Whistler 1834, Aldolphus Busch 1842 


Nikola Tesla 1856, Jake LaMotta 1921 - Boxer, Fred Gwynne 1926 


David N. Dinkins 1927, Arthur Ashe 1943, Arlo Guthrie 1947 - Singer 


1821 - U.S. troops took possession of Florida. The territory was sold by Spain. 


1900 - ‘His Master’s Voice’, was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine. 


1913 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was 134 degrees in Death Valley, CA. 


1925 - The official news agency of the Soviet Union, TASS, was established. 


1940 - The 114-day Battle of Britain began during World War II. 


1953 - American forces withdraw from Pork Chop Hill in Korea after heavy fighting. 


1962 - The Telstar Communications satellite was launched. The satellite relayed TV and telephone signals between Europe and the U.S. 


1985 - Coca-Cola resumed selling the old formula of Coke, it was renamed "Coca-Cola Classic." It was also announced that they would continue to sell "New" Coke. 


1989 - Mel Blanc, the "man of a thousand voices," died at age 81. He was known for such cartoon characters as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. 


1998 - The World Bank approved a $700 million loan to Thailand. 

1998 - The U.S. military delivered the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie to his family in St. Louis. He had been placed in Arlington Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown in 1984. His identity had been confirmed with DNA tests.

VIDEO: Who’s Godless Now? Putin Says Obama Has Turned USA Into Godless Sewer

VIDEO: Who’s Godless Now? Putin Says Obama Has Turned USA Into Godless Sewer:

"In a recent keynote speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values. Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.”

Putin positioned Russia as a strong defender of “traditional values” compared to the west he described as morally bankrupt and slipping into chaotic darkness."

Map Reveals Vast Network of 'Sanctuaries' For Dangerous Illegal Aliens

Map Reveals Vast Network of 'Sanctuaries' For Dangerous Illegal Aliens

How they "think"-----The Two Big Factors That Determine Where Hate Groups Thrive

But, but, but.... they tell us "diversity is our strength"......
Rev. Wright seems to be left off this list.
Rev. Farrakhan too!
Who'd of thunk?
The Two Big Factors That Determine Where Hate Groups Thrive - NBC News:
Where is the hate in America?
A new analysis purports to pinpoint it.
...And data from the Southern Poverty Law Center suggests the nation's racial and ethnic hate groups are heavily concentrated in areas with two key factors: lower incomes and greater diversity.
Analyzing the SPLC hate group list with the demographic county types identified by the American Communities Project reveals counties that hold those common traits are the most likely to be home to those extremist groups.
The places with the highest number of SPLC hate groups per person in the American Communities Project are the counties called Evangelical Hubs, with 208,000 people per hate group, and the African American South, with 223,000 per hate group.
...Again, hate groups are scattered across the country, but those two factors together — low income and high diversity — appear to be crucial for engendering the rise of groups on the SPLC's list..."

Trey Gowdy Says Hillary Clinton Made a Big False Claim During CNN Interview — and He Just Released the Proof | TheBlaze.com

Trey Gowdy Says Hillary Clinton Made a Big False Claim During CNN Interview — and He Just Released the Proof | TheBlaze.com:

“The committee has issued several subpoenas, but I have not sought to make them public,” Gowdy said in a statement. “I would not make this one public now, but after Secretary Clinton falsely claimed the committee did not subpoena her, I have no choice in order to correct the inaccuracy.”

Symbolism: Why the Facebook Icon was Sexist

Symbolism: Why the Facebook Icon was Sexist
Apparently, a change was made to the Facebook Icon. 
A change that you needed, but never knew you needed, because your privilege is showing.

You may have been too busy being a grown-up and having a life to notice, but not only has it been changed…it’s also a “huge difference for gender equality.”
Granted it’s only a huge difference if you have no idea what those words mean, but that is neither here nor logical.The symbolism is everywhere, man. I mean, woman. I mean, is it womyn? Damn, I’m getting sued.From the [place genderless descriptor] who led the charge…
“As a woman, educated at a women’s college, it was hard not to read into the symbolism of the current icon; the woman was quite literally in the shadow of the man, she was not in a position to lean in…”

Much to my dismay, not long into my tenure as a Facebook designer I found something in the company glyph kit worth getting upset about. There in the middle of the photoshop file were two vectors that represented people. The iconic man was symmetrical except for his spiked hairdo but the lady had a chip in her shoulder. After a little sleuthing I determined that the chip was positioned exactly where the man icon would be placed in front of her, as in the ‘friends’ icon, above. I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration but as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me.

This is the best part…

As a result of this project, I’m on high alert for symbolism...

Public university raises tuition, removes cap on insurance claims for sex-change operations

Public university raises tuition, removes cap on insurance claims for sex-change operations - The College Fix:
"Officials running the University of Minnesota’s student health insurance program have removed the cap on insurance claims for sex-change operations for the coming school year, a campus spokesman confirmed to The College Fix.
Another change for the 2015-16 school year? 
A tuition increase.
Under the new rates, in-state tuition, frozen since 2012, will grow by $180, while the nonresident rate will climb by $1,350, the Star-Tribune reports.
That’s a 1.5 percent increase for in-state residents, and a 7 percent hike for nonresidents, the Tribune added.
...At the University of Minnesota, the 2013-14 Student Health Benefits Plan covered up to $35,000 in gender identity claims.
During the last school year the cap was bumped up to $50,000 – according to the Minnesota Daily student newspaper.
But for the coming year, the 2015-16 Student Health Benefits Plan will allow students to submit any claim without limitation for gender identity therapies..."

Islamic State on the Run?

Islamic State on the Run? - WSJ
President Obama delivered on upbeat progress report Monday on the fight against Islamic State, and we can only hope that this time he’s right.
A reason for skepticism is that Mr. Obama has offered similarly confident predictions of eventual victory before.
Speaking at the Pentagon, the President noted that Islamic State had been hit by more than 5,000 air strikes, “lost more than a quarter of the populated areas that it had seized in Iraq,” failed in key battles at Kobani, Mosul Dam and Tikrit, “alienated those under its rule” and united the world against it.
He also promised an intensified air campaign against its leadership in Syria and its oil facilities in Iraq, along with an intensified effort to train and equip friendly local forces.
These promises are encouraging if belated, but his strategic summary is not the whole truth.
While the President delicately referred to the Islamic State’s conquest of Ramadi along with swaths of central and southern Syria, he made no mention of its offensive against Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, or its seizure of Palmyra, which in addition to its archeological sites is a center of oil production. Five thousand air strikes (over a year) sound impressive, but that’s a fraction of the 30,000 sorties that President Clinton ordered, over 78 days, to dislodge Slobodan Milosevic from Kosovo in 1999.
More broadly, Islamic State continues to attract foreign recruits and expand its global franchise at an accelerating rate.
Joiners don’t like losers, and the new jihadis must not think ISIS is losing..."

Gowdy announces plan to interview three Clinton insiders

Gowdy announces plan to interview three Clinton insiders | Washington Examiner:
"Gowdy highlighted the fact that Clinton edited some of the email exchanges she submitted to the State Department and withheld the entirety of others, suggesting the gaps in published exchanges created by such interference could "lead an observer to confuse" conversations like the one that was leaked to the reporter.
"Several of Secretary Clinton's earlier representations appear to be factually deficient including, but perhaps not limited to, her representation that she turned over her complete record as secretary of state, that she used a single device for 'convenience' and that there was no classified information in her emails on her server," Gowdy wrote to Cummings Monday."

This is what they "teach"-----‘Abolishing White Masculinity’ prof: Successful blacks who tout ‘American dream’ aid 'white supremacist ideology'

‘Abolishing White Masculinity’ prof: Successful blacks who tout ‘American dream’ aid 'white supremacist ideology' - The College Fix:
"Professor: ‘That white supremacist ideology is alluring’
Dr. Stephany Rose, an associate professor of women’s and ethnic studies at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and author of “Abolishing White Masculinity,” recently argued that successful black people who believe in the “American dream” perpetuate white supremacy.
She also suggested too many famous black people buy into the notion that the “American dream is available to any and everyone one as long as you work hard.”
“So white supremacist ideology doesn’t work simply because white people invest in it, but because there are other communities that invest in the idea that this is normal, that capitalism is normal,” Rose said during the radio show.
“Like, to not even be able to imagine a world without capitalism.
To not be able to imagine a world without hierarchy and competition.”
...Rose’s faculty bio states her “scholastic interests emerge from a personal space of being an African American woman contextualized by the historical and contemporary dynamics of power and privilege operating at the crossroads of race, gender, class, sexuality, and religion that manifest in the United States and are transmitted via cultural imperialism throughout the globe.”
...Later in their radio discussion, Dr. Lewis circled back to the topic of black people buying into so-called white supremacist ideology, and argued that anybody “can be conditioned to fear the black male body even if it’s another black male body.”
“Look at Bill Cosby,” she said.
“I’m not even talking about his gruesome track record of rape and sexual assault.
I’m talking about the way he has hated black people in his many speeches denigrating us for names that we have, for the way we choose to speak, for the things we choose to do.
Look at Clarence Thomas.
Clarence Thomas might be one of the most ardent white supremacist I know in my life.”

Greece and the Flight From Reality

Greece and the Flight From Reality - WSJ:
"On Sunday, Greece became only the second country in history—Argentina was the first—to make the transition from membership in the developed world to membership in the developing one.
Now the question is: 
Who’s next?
The question is worth asking since so many very serious people— Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman, Jeffrey Sachs and Joseph Stiglitz among them—think Greeks did the right thing by voting down their creditors’ demands that they attempt to live within their means as a condition of further largess.
Mr. Stiglitz, who doubles as a cheerleader for Argentina’s Kirchner government, says a “no” vote gives Greece the chance to “grasp its destiny in its own hands” even if it means a future “not as prosperous as the past.”
Destiny can seem so romantic—particularly to intellectuals wealthy enough to disparage the value of other people’s economic aspirations.
Destiny also has its uses for politically ambitious ideologues throughout Europe determined not to let the Greek crisis go to waste. 
France’s far-right National Front, Spain’s far-left Podemos Party, and Italy’s far-out Five-Star Movement all cheered Greece’s “no,” and they will emerge politically stronger should Athens now succeed in extorting better terms from its creditors.
If nobody has the will to enforce the rules, nobody will have the desire to follow them.
But maybe rules isn’t quite the right word.
The larger issue is reality—and Greece’s flight from it.
Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 177%, which sounds like an abstraction but means that this year Greece will produce barely half as much as it owes. 
This is what the Greek government and its fellow travelers call austerity."

Good intentions or power grab? HUD unveils regs to diversify neighborhoods

Good intentions or power grab? HUD unveils regs to diversify neighborhoods | Fox News: "WASHINGTON –  The Obama administration announced new rules on Wednesday that are meant to racially integrate America's neighborhoods but some conservatives claim are an attempt by Washington to play a heavy-handed role in creating “utopias.”
The new HUD housing rule comes on the heels of a landmark Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the federal agency’s power to ban housing policies that hurt minorities.
The Fair Housing Act, which originally was passed in 1968 and barred racial discrimination, demanded the government end segregation.
The new rule takes this a step further and requires cities across the country to scrutinize their housing patterns for racial bias and report the results every three to five years.
Communities would also have to set and track goals to further reduce segregation.
...But others say the rule is nothing short of a government power grab.
“This overreaching new regulation is an attempt to extort communities into giving up control of local zoning decisions and reengineer the makeup of our neighborhoods,” Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., told FoxNews.com in a written statement on Wednesday.
...Gosar believes the proposal will have far-reaching consequences that only boosts the federal government’s power over where homes can be built and who can live in them.
...“This rule is not about racial integration; racial segregation in housing is illegal and has been for decades,” Heritage Foundation fellow Hans von Spakovsky told FoxNews.com.
“Americans have the ability to live anywhere they want.
This is about left-wing, progressive social urban planners who have taken control through the Obama administration who hate suburbs and don’t like Americans using cars or owning single family homes in neighborhoods that are not high-density.”
Von Spakovsky believes the rule will make things worse for the poor...."