Putin Gets His Own Army

Putin Gets His Own Army - Bloomberg View:
"President Vladimir Putin has overhauled Russia's law-enforcement operations to create a domestic army that ultimately would answer to him personally, not to one of the government ministers.
It was the clearest demonstration in years of the Russian leader's concern about preserving his power.
On April 5, Putin submitted a bill to the Russian parliament that carved out a National Guard from the Interior Ministry's Interior Troops.
The Interior Ministry is essentially the police force; the 170,000-strong Interior Troops are the crack riot police and counterinsurgency units.
During Putin's first two presidential terms, they bore the brunt of the fighting in the formerly secessionist region of Chechnya, and they have dispersed many unsanctioned rallies.
In addition to the Interior Troops, all of the ministry's elite units, nicknamed "cosmonauts" by opposition activists for their round helmets and "Star Wars"-like gear, will also be included in Putin's army, with the potential for further expansion.
Immediately, the number of National Guard personnel will exceed 15 percent of the Russian armed forces that are supposed to deal with external threats.
This powerful, well-trained force will operate outside the ministry under the command of Viktor Zolotov, a long-time Putin associate, whom the president appointed head of his personal bodyguard immediately after moving into the Kremlin in 2000.
Like many Putin friends in government service, he is far wealthier than his official income could ever allow, and he is far more personally loyal to the president than Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Zolotov will report directly to Putin..."

U2's Legendary Singer Bono Just Dropped The Hammer On Migrants...Liberals Can't Believe It

U2's Legendary Singer Bono Just Dropped The Hammer On Migrants...Liberals Can't Believe It:

"Bono, the lead vocalist of the legendary rock band U2, has long been known as one of the few big-time celebrities conservatives can often agree with. From his praise of capitalism as a means of lifting the world’s poor out of poverty, to lauding former President George W. Bush for his significant contributions to halting the spread of the AIDS epidemic in Africa, Bono often defies the stereotype of liberal pop artists.

The music icon’s latest message is about the refugee crisis currently wreaking havoc on Europe, and it’s not one liberals are going to like, either."

Top 10 Global Warming Lies That May Shock You

Top 10 Global Warming Lies That May Shock You - Forbes
Global warming alarmists frequently make false and deplorable assertions (see, for example, my recent column debunking false claims that global warming is causing a decline in wheat production), but the Environmental Defense Fund’s recent fund-raising mailer, “10 Global Warming Effects That May Shock You,” may well set a new low. 
However, climate realists can make lemonade from EDF’s preposterous mailer by using it to show open-minded people the difference between global warming alarmists and global warming truth-tellers.
EDF has assembled what it believes to be the 10 most powerful global warming assertions in the alarmists’ playbook, yet each assertion either backfires on alarmists or has been proven false. 
While reading how flawed EDF’s assertions are, remember these are the very best arguments global warming alarmists can make. 
Open-minded readers should have very little difficulty dismissing the mythical global warming crisis after examining the top 10 assertions in the alarmist playbook.
...Alarmist Assertion #4
“Sea Levels Rising – Warmer temperatures are causing glaciers and polar ice sheets to melt, increasing the amount of water in the world’s seas and oceans.”
The Facts
The pace of sea level rise remained relatively constant throughout the 20th century, even as global temperatures gradually rose.
There has similarly been no increase in the pace of sea level rise in recent decades.
Utilizing 20th century technologies, humans effectively adapted to global sea level rise.
Utilizing 21st century technologies, humans will be even better equipped to adapt to global sea level rise.
Also, the alarmist assertion that polar ice sheets are melting is simply false. 
Although alarmists frequently point to a modest recent shrinkage in the Arctic ice sheet, that decline has been completely offset by ice sheet expansion in the Antarctic.
Cumulatively, polar ice sheets have not declined at all since NASA satellite instruments began precisely measuring them 35 years ago..."
Prepare for their lies.
Read 'em all!

AM Fruitcake

History for April 14

History for April 14 - On-This-Day.com:
Anne Mansfield Sullivan 1866 - "The Miracle Worker", famous for teaching Helen Keller to read, write and speak, Arnold (Joseph) Toynbee 1889 - Historian, author, John Gielgud 1904 - Actor (Movies: "Arthur")


Frank Serpico 1934, Loretta Lynn 1935 - Country singer, first woman to earn the CMA's Entertainer of the Year award, Julie Christie 1941 - Actress ("Dr. Zhivago", "Shampoo")


1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's dictionary was published under the name "American Dictionary of the English Language."


1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth. He actually died early the next morning.


1912 - The Atlantic passenger liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg and began to sink. 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived.


1939 - The John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first published.


1969 - For the first time, a major league baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada.


1986 - U.S. President Reagan announced the U.S. air raid on military and terrorist related targets in Libya.


1988 - In New York, real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted for income tax evasion.


1999 - Pakistan test-fired a ballistic missile that was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching its rival neighbor India.

http://libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2016/04/socialist-playgrounds-by-tammy-derouin.html

Socialist Playgrounds

By Tammy Derouin

I went on a little road trip this past weekend and stopped at a state park up north.  As I enjoyed the view of Lake Michigan and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, I spotted a lost treasure in my rear view mirror; a playground slide from another time.

It wasn’t colorful, nor was it made of durable plastic or bubble wrapped for your safety.  Unlike today’s socialist playgrounds, it begged you to climb and play at your own risk.  It was designed and built to last.  If you respected it, it provided you with many years of fun.  If you abused it, it could be unforgiving as you learned valuable lessons. 

There was a time when all playground equipment was not meant for everyone, at every age.  You had to start on the small equipment and work your way up.  Up was an understatement.  Those steal steps went straight to the sky!  It seemed like such a long climb but, what a reward when you finally got to the top. 

Once you got there, heart racing and legs slightly wobbly, you could see the whole playground.  It was a wonderful view.  If you realized you weren’t ready, you had to retreat back down the steps.  Of course, that would upset everyone who was behind you, but that’s how you learn.  No one was at the top to hold your hand or to give you a free pass.  It was all you.  The desire to be successful pushed you to not give up.  You would continue to try until you could take that final step, get into position and reap the sweet rewards of success on the ride down.

For those of us who remember the thrill of the old playground slide, we know two things.  First, the slide was fast.  It was meant to thrill.  If you felt the need to stop, you had to stop yourself.  Second, the sun is hot so the slide is hot.  If wearing shorts, well, it didn’t take long to figure it out. 

Today’s playground equipment is a good example of what is happening to us as a whole......

Government Collects Record-High Taxes in First Half of FY 2016

Government Collects Record-High Taxes in First Half of FY 2016:
"Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $1.48 trillion for the first half of fiscal year 2016, but the federal government still ran a $461 billion deficit during that time, according to the latest monthly Treasury Department statement.
...The federal government collected $1,476,218,000,000 in the first half of fiscal year 2016.
Most of the $1.48 trillion came from individual income taxes, which comprised almost half of that total, totaling $675 billion.
...This means that since 1998, tax revenues have increased 33 percent.
Although the federal government brought in a record of approximately $1.48 trillion in revenue in the first half of fiscal 2016, according to the Treasury, it also spent approximately $1.94 trillion, leaving a deficit of approximately $461 billion."

Bye, bye 1st amendment rights-----Tulane Frat Builds "Trump Wall" in Front of House - Black Activists Illegally Tear It Down

VIDEO=> Tulane Frat Builds "Trump Wall" in Front of House - Black Activists Illegally Tear It Down - The Gateway Pundit:
The Kappa Alpha fraternity is supporting Donald Trump this election cycle To show their support the young men built a Trump wall in front of their fraternity house.

But not everyone liked the Trump wall.

The Hayride posted video of black activists, possibly members of the football team, illegally destroying the wall.

No doubt, this vandalism will be allowed at Tulane.

More here.

Former Navy SEAL Commander Reveals What ‘Scares’ Him the Most About the Current Landscape: ‘The World Is Descending Even Further Into Chaos’ | TheBlaze.com

Former Navy SEAL Commander Reveals What ‘Scares’ Him the Most About the Current Landscape: ‘The World Is Descending Even Further Into Chaos’ | TheBlaze.com:

"Former Navy SEAL commander Rorke Denver has intense, firsthand insight into the monumental dangers facing both the nation and the world at large, having led more than 100 special-forces missions in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East throughout his career.

But it’s what Denver, author of the new book, “Worth Dying For: A Navy SEAL’s Call to a Nation,” sees happening inside of America that truly leaves him fearful of what’s to come."

They're not fileing to PAY taxes, they're filing to get refunds and cash!!!-----IRS chief: Agency encourages illegal immigrant theft of SSNs to file tax returns

IRS chief: Agency encourages illegal immigrant theft of SSNs to file tax returns | Washington Examiner:
The IRS is struggling to ensure that illegal immigrants are able to illegally use Social Security numbers for legitimate purposes, the agency's head told senators on Tuesday, without allowing the numbers to be used for "bad" reasons.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen made the statement in response to a question from Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., during a session of the Senate Finance Committee about why the IRS appears to be collaborating with taxpayers who file tax returns using fraudulent information. 
Coats said that his staff had discovered the practice after looking into agency procedures.
"What we learned is that ... the IRS continues to process tax returns with false W-2 information and issue refunds as if they were routine tax returns, and say that's not really our job," Coats said.

"We also learned the IRS ignores notifications from the Social Security Administration that a name does not match a Social Security number, and you use your own system to determine whether a number is valid."
Asked to explain those practices, Koskinen replied, "What happens in these situations is someone is using a Social Security number to get a job, but they're filing their tax return with their [taxpayer identification number]."
What that means, he said, is that "they are undocumented aliens … . They're paying taxes.
It's in everybody's interest to have them pay the taxes they owe."
As long as the information is being used only to fraudulently obtain jobs, Koskinen said, rather than to claim false tax returns, the agency has an interest in helping them. 
"The question is whether the Social Security number they're using to get the job has been stolen. 
It's not the normal identity theft situation," he said..."

2013-Race baiting for years-----Now peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are racist

Now peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are racist | The Daily Caller:
"A public elementary school principal in Portland, Ore. has declared that eating or talking about peanut butter sandwiches is probably racist.
She has also instituted a separate-but-unequal drum class for minority students only.
Verenice Gutierrez, the principal at Harvey Scott K-8 School, discussed her bizarre brand of logic in an interview with the Portland Tribune.
“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” Gutierrez asked. “Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.”
...“When white people do it, it is not a problem, but if it’s for kids of color, then it’s a problem?” the 40-year-old El Paso, Texas native said.
“Break it down for me. That’s your white privilege, and your whiteness.”
It’s also not clear where Gutierrez believes offer white-people-only drum classes are offered.
The Tribune notes that all principals employed by the Portland Public Schools participate in a district-wide equality training program called “Courageous Conversations.” 
The goal of the program is to condition principals and teachers to see their own “white privilege,” which will lead to an improvement in the academic performance of minority students..."

Lunch video-----Are 1 in 5 Women Raped at College?

Noon-toon

Pope Says No to Trans-Kids, Teach Them ‘to Accept Their Own Body’

Pope Says No to Trans-Kids, Teach Them ‘to Accept Their Own Body’:

"The Pope’s words echoed a recent statement from the American College of Pediatricians, which warned against the physical and psychological dangers to children posed by advocates of transgenderism. Failing to identify with one’s biological sex signals a psychological disorder that must be dealt with, not pandered to, the physicians proposed.

The doctors declared that human sexuality is “an objective biological binary trait” rather than an infinite series of self-determined “genders.” The norm for human design, the doctors said, “is to be conceived either male or female. Human sexuality is binary by design with the obvious purpose being the reproduction and flourishing of our species,” and therefore, “XY” and “XX” are “genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder.”"

Feds Give University of Michigan $500,000 to Watch for Male Students Committing Microaggressions

Feds Give University of Michigan $500,000 to Watch for Male Students Committing Microaggressions - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
"The University of Michigan is conducting a study on male engineering students to determine whether their unconscious biases—microaggressions—are driving women out of the field.
The study is funded via the National Science Foundation, which means taxpayers coughed up more than $500,000 for it. 
Men are more likely than women to go into engineering, and researchers want to know if sexism plays a role in that.
This study involves male engineering students being recorded while they interact with their female counterparts.
Researchers will then watch the tapes and make a note of any microaggressions..."

7 Facts You Need To Know To Debunk The #EqualPayDay Lie

7 Facts You Need To Know To Debunk The #EqualPayDay Lie | Daily Wire
"The left has declared today #EqualPayDay.
Why?
Because this is supposedly the day that women must work until this year to earn what a man earned the previous year.
Women supposedly earn $0.79 cents for every dollar earned by a man – but, of course, this neglects the fact that women choose different jobs, take time off from work for different reasons, work fewer hours, and make different life decisions on average. 
When all the confounds are removed, women earn just as much as men, and in major cities, actually earn more than men.
But never mind: women must be treated as victims.
That’s because victimhood equals virtue, and women must be granted cherished minority victimhood status.
So, here are seven facts you should know about the mythical wage gap commemorated by the nonsensical #EqualPayDay:
Read 'em and stop the haters.

ESPN’s Bomani Jones ‘Caucasian’ Stunt Falls Flat

ESPN’s Bomani Jones ‘Caucasian’ Stunt Falls Flat:
"ESPN’s Bomani Jones really wants you to know that his T-shirt is clean, and powerful.
Bomani Jones wore a ‘Caucasians’ t-shirt after his appearance on Mike & Mike last week.
A shirt basically identical to a Cleveland Indians shirt, complete with Chief Wahoo, except it says, ‘Caucasians’ and has a dollar sign in place of a feather.
USA Today found it awesome, and even included it in a video of the post-show interview:
“ESPN’s Bomani Jones appeared in an extra segment following his time on Mike and Mike on Thursday morning to explain his t-shirt that read ‘Caucasian’.
...If you are offended by the shirt, you must be offended by the Indians’ Chief Wahoo logo. 
If not, you’re hypocritical.

...Of course, Jones didn’t really have to “defend himself.”
It’s not like it was an adversarial interview.
Not only that, it’s not like anyone is really offended by the Caucasians t-shirt.
According to Brian Kirby of Shelf Life clothing, who produces the shirt, “the ‘Caucasians’ shirt has been his most popular seller since he began making them in 2007…” 
With plenty of palefaces among those who are buying up the shirts.
So, in other words, Bomani Jones’ stunt backfired.
He wore the shirt to provoke anger on the part of white people by flipping the tables and exposing them as hypocrites for being offended by ‘Caucasians,’ while they cheer for the Redskins, Chief Wahoo, the Braves, and so on.
Except very few, if any, white people are offended by the shirt. 
Proving the opposite of Jones’ point. 
And that maybe, just maybe, it’s time for race hucksters like Bomani Jones to get a life."

Taxes Part I: How Income Tax Began | Glenn Beck

Taxes Part I: How Income Tax Began | Glenn Beck:

"Taxes Part I: How Income Tax Began
When the Constitution was written and ratified, the only taxes allowed by America’s founding document were to pay the debt and provide for the common defense and general welfare. “Welfare” meant the general well-being of the people, not government handouts to people who didn’t work for a living."

Desk-Size Turbine Could Power a Town

Desk-Size Turbine Could Power a Town:
"GE Global Research is testing a desk-size turbine that could power a small town of about 10,000 homes. 
The unit is driven by “supercritical carbon dioxide,” which is in a state that at very high pressure and up to 700 °C exists as neither a liquid nor a gas.
After the carbon dioxide passes through the turbine, it's cooled and then repressurized before returning for another pass.
The unit’s compact size and ability to turn on and off rapidly could make it useful in grid storage.
It’s about one-tenth the size of a steam turbine of comparable output, and has the potential to be 50 percent efficient at turning heat into electricity.
Steam-based systems are typically in the mid-40 percent range; the improvement is achieved because of the better heat-transfer properties and reduced need for compression in a system that uses supercritical carbon dioxide compared to one that uses steam.
The GE prototype is 10 megawatts, but the company hopes to scale it to 33 megawatts.
Doug Hofer, a GE engineer in charge of the project, shows off a model of the turbine.
In addition to being more efficient, the technology could be more nimble—in a grid-storage scenario, heat from solar energy, nuclear power, or combustion could first be stored as molten salt and the heat later used to drive the process.
While such a heat reservoir could also be used to boil water to power a steam turbine, a steam system could take 30 minutes to get cranked up, while a carbon dioxide turbine might take only a minute or two—making it well-suited for on-the-spot power generation needed during peak demand periods.
GE's system might also be better than huge arrays of batteries.
Adding more hours of operation just means having a larger or hotter reservoir of the molten salt, rather than adding additional arrays of giant batteries.
“The key thing will come down to economics,” says Doug Hofer, the GE engineer in charge of the project.
While there’s work ahead, he says, “at this point we think our economic story is favorable compared to batteries.”"

AM Fruitcake

History for April 13

History for April 13 - On-This-Day.com:
Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 3rd U.S. President - More information here - Today in U.S. President History, Alfred Butts 1899 - Architect, game inventor (Scrabble), Dan Gurney 1931 - Auto racer 


Paul Sorvino 1939 - Actor ("Law and Order", "Dick Tracy"), Tony Dow 1945 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver"), Rick Schroder 1970 - Actor ("Silver Spoons", "NYPD Blue") 


1808 - William "Juda" Henry Lane perfected the tap dance.


1860 - The first mail was delivered via Pony Express when a westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, CA from St. Joseph, MO.


1959 - A Vatican edict prohibited Roman Catholics from voting for Communists.













1964 - Sidney Poitier became the first black to win an Oscar for best actor. It was for his role in the movie "Lilies of the Field."


1981 - Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke received a Pulitzer Prize for her feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict named "Jimmy." Cooke relinquished the prize two days later after admitting she had fabricated the story.


1997 - Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament at the age of 21. He also set a record when he finished at 18 under par.


1999 - Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, MI, to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Thomas Youk. Youk's assisted suicide was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes" in 1998.

SEIU reportedly spent millions on minimum wage initiative as enrollment drops | Fox News

SEIU reportedly spent millions on minimum wage initiative as enrollment drops | Fox News:

"The report by the Center for Union Facts, a watchdog group, says that the new figure is in addition to the $50 million already spent since 2012. The numbers come from the 2015 financial disclosures released by the SEIU that were was analyzed by the CUF.

What the CUF discovered was that a majority of the $20 million spent for the “Fight for 15” campaign last year went to various organizing committees and that the powerhouse union was likely spending even more, due to staff salaries, legal services and money paid to minimum wage advocacy groups such as the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and the Economic Policy Institute (EcPI).

“While the SEIU has made some headway in its push for a job-killing $15 minimum wage, working Americans appear to be sending a clear message to SEIU big spenders:"

Olivier Blanchard eyes ugly 'end game' for Japan on debt spiral

Olivier Blanchard eyes ugly 'end game' for Japan on debt spiral:
Japan is heading for a full-blown solvency crisis as the country runs out of local investors and may ultimately be forced to inflate away its debt in a desperate end-game, one of the world’s most influential economists has warned.
Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said zero interest rates have disguised the underlying danger posed by Japan’s public debt, likely to reach 250pc of GDP this year and spiralling upwards on an unsustainable trajectory.
“To our surprise, Japanese retirees have been willing to hold government debt at zero rates, but the marginal investor will soon not be a Japanese retiree,” he said.
Prof Blanchard said the Japanese treasury will have to tap foreign funds to plug the gap and this will prove far more costly, threatening to bring the long-feared funding crisis to a head.
“If and when US hedge funds become the marginal Japanese debt, they are going to ask for a substantial spread,” he told the Telegraph, speaking at the Ambrosetti forum of world policy-makers on Lake Como.
Analysts say this would transform the country’s debt dynamics and kill the illusion of solvency, possibly in a sudden, non-linear fashion.

NPR Asks If It's 'OK to Profit' From Cooking Food of 'Other Cultures'...Or Is It Racist?

NPR Asks If It's 'OK to Profit' From Cooking Food of 'Other Cultures'...Or Is It Racist?

Since National Public Radio is a taxpayer-funded liberal sandbox, you can find examples nearly every day of NPR conducting a conversation with its liberal audience on all the liberal obsessions of the moment, like the new political-correctness theme of “cultural appropriation,” like being mad at Justin Bieber for wearing dreadlocks, because that’s a black thing.

This week, NPR asked “When Is It OK To Profit From Cooking Other Cultures' Food?” In other words, is it okay for an Indian-American to run a pizza joint, or an Italian to run an Indian restaurant? If you're a white guy cooking Mexican food, it is racist or "neocolonialist"? Apparently, to the Left, you should “stick to your own kind” when selling food.

NPR’s Maria Kodoy and Kat Chow (seriously, a food expert named “Kat Chow”?) went to Twitter to ask fellow liberals what they thought:

Recently, we started a conversation about food and race. Specifically, we wondered out loud, who gets to cook — and become the face of — a culture's cuisine?

Our question was prompted by a recent Sporkful interview with Rick Bayless, who has faced criticism over his long career. Although he is an Oklahoman with no Mexican ancestry, he has become one of the most prominent ambassadors for Mexican cuisine in America....

As with many things involving race and class in America, there are no easy answers — and we're not expecting to find any clear-cut ones. We're more interested in starting a conversation..."