Atlantic City, America’s Worst-Rated Town, Stares at Default

Atlantic City, America’s Worst-Rated Town, Stares at Default - WSJ:
"Atlantic City has so little money left that it could miss a $1.8 million bond payment due Sunday, a step that would make it the first New Jersey municipality to default on debt since the Great Depression.
The Jersey Shore gambling destination has endured years of strain as a third of its casinos shut down. But now its cash levels are low enough that bankruptcy is a possibility for the 39,000-population city, according to Mayor Don Guardian.
“We’re down to a couple million dollars on any given day,” the mayor said in an interview.
Once prized as a vacation destination because of its giant casinos and boardwalk, Atlantic City is in this position because of a declining economy and mounting debt. 
Its predicament is more severe than most distressed U.S. municipalities because it has the worst credit rating of any American city.
...As recently as a year ago, bondholders purchased about $50 million in Atlantic City bonds backed by state aid payments..."

Army Retains Decorated Green Beret Who Punched Afghan Child Rapist | Glenn Beck

Army Retains Decorated Green Beret Who Punched Afghan Child Rapist | Glenn Beck:

"FOX EXCLUSIVE: In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Army decided late Thursday to retain a decorated Green Beret it had planned to kick out after he physically confronted a local Afghan commander accused of raping a boy over the course of many days."

Kansas governor’s withdrawal decision has the refugee contractors defiant; NJ withdraws too!

Kansas governor’s withdrawal decision has the refugee contractors defiant; NJ withdraws too! « Refugee Resettlement Watch:
"See our previous two posts on Kansas here and here.  And, come on Texas, join the crowd!!!Now here is the lengthy and informative article from Miss Elise at the Huffington Post (we have reported on her pro-open borders writing previously) about Governor Sam Brownback’s (former great enthusiast for the refugee program) change of heart.

Emphasis below is mine:

Fifteen years ago, then-Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) gave an impassioned speech in support of refugee resettlement. He called helping and taking in refugees “some of the most noble and ennobling things we can do,” and said the United States should admit “substantially” more than 80,000 people, the ceiling at the time.

“I want to ensure that any refugee dealing with our system sees the best of who we are and what we represent,” he said at an event ahead of World Refugee Day in 2001. “We are a better nation because of the refugees and asylees amongst us.”

If refugees currently dealing with the system are going to see the best of America, though, it will be in spite of Brownback. Now governor of Kansas, he announced Tuesday that his state would no longer work with the federal government to resettle refugees, the final step in a months-long effort to keep out Syrians that now is directed toward refugees in general.[….]

His decision won’t have a major impact on refugee resettlement to Kansas — although the governor has implied that he’s effectively banning the program in the state, all his withdrawal means is that another agency will have to coordinate the services for it to function in Kansas.  [Remember “services”=your financial support of refugees.—ed][….]

But Brownback’s shift was troubling for refugee resettlement groups.

Here we learn something we didn’t know about those regulations that the Office of Refugee Resettlement crafted from thin air (with no legislative authority!)..."

Lunch video-----Fracking Facts: Benefits of Fracking

Noon-toon

Obama Unveils New Gun Control Plan, Including ‘Smart Gun’ Requirements and More | TheBlaze.com

Obama Unveils New Gun Control Plan, Including ‘Smart Gun’ Requirements and More | TheBlaze.com:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced new steps Friday to help curb gun violence, including by identifying the requirements that “smart guns” would have to meet for law enforcement agencies to buy and use them as well as sharing mental health records with the federal background check system."

Michigan Senate Committee Passes Bill to End Common Core After Child’s Compelling Testimony

Michigan Senate Committee Passes Bill to End Common Core After Child’s Compelling Testimony | Tenth Amendment Center Blog:
 "LANSING, Mich. (Apr. 27, 2016) – Yesterday, an important Michigan Senate committee passed a bill to withdraw the state from Common Core standards after compelling testimony by a 7-year-old boy.
Passage of the legislation would take an important step toward nullifying nationalized education in the state.
Senate Bill 826 (SB826) was introduced on Mar. 1 by Sen. Patrick Colbeck and six co-sponsors.
The legislation would void Common Core standards and create a framework to establish new state standards to replace them.
The bill passed in the Senate Education Committee by a 4-1 vote on Apr. 26.
It will now move on to the full Senate for further consideration..."

Blog: Nursing student robbed and beaten in broad daylight on Chicago 'El' train as other passengers ignore her plight

Blog: Nursing student robbed and beaten in broad daylight on Chicago 'El' train as other passengers ignore her plight:
It has taken a lot of concerted effort on the part of the grievance industry, but the bonds of civil society are finally fraying to the breaking point.  
In broad daylight at 10 AM Thursday, 19 year old nursing student Jessica Hughes was attacked and beaten by a pair of muggers whose... 

• race the media do not care to mention, as 
• other passengers on the train did not lift a finger to help her. 

Chicago TV Station WLS interviewed her:

"If you were seeing someone else getting abused, wouldn't you want to step in?" Hughes said.

I look at Ms. Hughes’s face and see a heartbroken young woman, probably an idealist judging by her chosen profession that aims at helping others. As her question indicates, she cannot comprehend that others did not care about her plight, for she automatically would come to the aid of another under trying circumstances..."

She do look like a hoe-----Black students issue demands to college after black student's racially offensive cartoons are printed

Black students issue demands to college after black student's racially offensive cartoons are printed - The College Fix:
Black students at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware have issued a set of demands to the school administration after the student newspaper published two racially insensitive cartoons.

The images, drawn by (black) student Bryheim Muse, depict “a caricature of a black woman saying, ‘Would you look at the time… I’m late for my abortion’ while wearing a shirt that reads ‘Black Lives Matter,’” and “a gardening hoe asking a black man ‘Who is you calling a hoe?’”

The man responds “I’m sorry ma’am, you just look like a hoe.”

Some took the cartoons as a joke, but others found them “racist and sexist.”

HuffPost Black Voices reports:

Shaylynn Bivens, vice president of the university’s black student union, sent a statement to The Huffington Post about the problematic nature of the drawings, especially when a racial divide already exists on campus.

“We have worked hard, especially black women, to defy and break down all of the stereotypes that were thrown at us,” she said in the statement. “It is humiliating to know that we were dehumanized by a fellow African-American male. He essentially gave the white students a reason to disrespect and think less of us. That comic promotes hate speech. Student Tiffany Griffin said she wasn’t satisfied with the forum [set up by the administration and newspaper to discuss the issue]. She told HuffPost that several students felt the administration wasn’t taking the matter seriously. So she, along with Bivens and Damyra Price, created a list of demands which they said they plan on presenting to University President Robert Clark in a meeting on Thursday..."

Bailing out the banks and hedge funds-----On Eve of Default, Puerto Ricans Are Broke and Feel Out of Luck

On Eve of Default, Puerto Ricans Are Broke and Feel Out of Luck - Bloomberg:
"...The island is “broke” and business is bad, Jimenez says, gesturing at his thick wad of unsold tickets -- testimony to a public feeling down on its luck.
Then he looks over to the utility building:
“They made a lot of money, and there were lots of bonds.
But not anymore.”
Of course, Puerto Rico still has bonds -- about $70 billion outstanding.
What it’s short of is cash to repay them with. 
The indebted Caribbean island, home to 3.5 million U.S. citizens, has juggled dwindling resources from one hand to another for months now, to keep creditors at bay.
The crisis is set to tip into a new phase this weekend when $422 million of payments are due and, as things stand, unlikely to be made in full -- threatening the biggest default yet.
Cue a flurry of activity in New York, where hedge funds are consulting their lawyers, and in Washington, where lawmakers are wrangling over a rescue package.
Congress failed to come up with one by this weekend’s deadline, when the island’s Government Development Bank, which lends money to the local authorities that run schools and other services, is the potential defaulter. 
Some of its bonds trade at just 20 cents on the dollar, amid last-ditch talks to defer payments..."

Socialism-----Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollars

Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollars:

Target Stock Drops After Store Announces Controversial ‘Inclusivity’ Policy | TheBlaze.com

Target Stock Drops After Store Announces Controversial ‘Inclusivity’ Policy | TheBlaze.com:

"Following the Target Corporation’s decision to allow transgender customers and employees to use whichever bathroom they prefer, the retail brand’s stock has slightly fallen.

The drop may be nothing more than a coincidence, but Target’s stock price has dipped by 5.8 percent since April 19, when the store first announced the “inclusivity” policy."

Gonna hurt...someone-----Deadline nears on Teamster pension cuts

Deadline nears on Teamster pension cuts | Duluth News Tribune:
"Hundreds of former truck drivers gathered at Holy Family Catholic Church in Duluth Thursday hoping to hear good news about their retirement pensions.
A special appointee of the federal government must decide by May 7 whether to accept or deny a plan by the Central States pension fund to cut monthly benefits for Teamster retirees by up to 70 percent to keep the pension fund solvent.
The decision will impact some 400,000 current and retired Teamsters in 38 states, including thousands in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
...In Minnesota, the Central States fund pays benefits of about $143 million a year, with the proposed cuts wiping out two-thirds of those payments affecting some 15,000 workers and retirees. 
The proposed cuts average about 34 percent but range to 50 percent or more.
Anyone over 79 or who is disabled is exempt from the cuts..."

AM Fruitcake

History for May 1

History for May 1 - On-This-Day.com:
Benjamin Henry Latrobe 1764 - Architect known for his design of the United States Capitol and the Baltimore Basilica, Kate Smith 1909 - Singer, Glen Ford 1916 - Actor ("Gilda", "The Courtship of Eddie's Father")


Jack Paar 1918 - Radio and television comedian, talk show host ("The Tonight Show"), Joseph Heller 1923 - Novelist, short story writer, playwright, Scott Carpenter 1925 - One of NASA's original seven astronauts


1707 - England, Wales and Scotland were united to form Great Britain.


1898 - The U.S. Navy under Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines.


1937 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II.

1948 - The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.


1952 - Production of Mr. Potato Head began.


1960 - Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Powers was taken prisoner.


1961 - Fidel Castro announced there would be no more elections in Cuba.


1992 - On the third day of the Los Angeles riots resulting from the Rodney King beating trial. King appeared in public to appeal for calm, he asked, "Can we all get along?"

2nd Russian fighter jet engages in barrel roll over US spy plane, official says | Fox News

2nd Russian fighter jet engages in barrel roll over US spy plane, official says | Fox News:

"For the second time in less than a month, a Russian fighter jet conducted a barrel roll over a U.S. spy plane in the Baltic Sea Friday, flying within just 100 feet of the aircraft, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News.

The Russian Su-27 zipped past the U.S. RC-135 surveillance plane in international airspace, the official said."

Beer Becomes the Latest Scarcity in a Venezuela Crippled by Shortages

Beer Becomes the Latest Scarcity in a Venezuela Crippled by Shortages - WSJ: "CARACAS, Venezuela—The largest private Venezuelan company and producer of 80% of the beer consumed here began to shut down its last beer plant on Friday, the latest deprivation in a country crippled by shortages.
After Empresas Polar SA closed its three other beer plants over the past several days, the shutting of the San Joaquin plant, near Valencia, will leave just a week’s supply of beer, the company said.
Like many other firms here, Polar blames the government, which hasn’t allocated the dollars the company needs to pay for imported raw materials such as malted barley.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government controls access to dollars, doling them out via a stringent currency exchange in which many companies find it hard to pay suppliers abroad.
There are far fewer dollars these days.
Foreign reserves have fallen to just a third of what they were in 2009, and Venezuela will struggle to pay billions in bond payments due later this year, according to Caracas-based consultancy Econometrica.
Triple-digit inflation here is the world’s highest.
The International Monetary Fund says the economy will contract 8% this year.
The country’s 30 million people have withstood shortages of food and medicine, their daily life punctuated by rolling power blackouts. 
Now, beer is disappearing from store shelves."...

Symbolism Instead of History

Symbolism Instead of History | Frontpage Mag:
Replacing Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill is likely to be Barack Obama’s only lasting achievement.
He certainly won’t be remembered for tangible benefits he has brought to black people. 
But like most progressives, useful political symbolism trumps reality.
In fact, Obama has done little for black people.
Larry Elder lays out the cold hard facts:

• “The net worth of all non-white families has fallen almost 20 percent since Obama took office. 
• For blacks, it’s even worse. 
• The so-called black/white wealth gap is at a 25-year high––with black income down, homeownership down and equity down. 
• From 2007 to 2010, blacks’ net worth declined 13.5 percent. 
• But over the next three years––from 2010 through 2013––it plummeted another 34 percent.” 
• And the black unemployment rate is 9.2 percent, twice that of whites. 

Black pundits, professors, and race-baiters have cleaned up on white guilt and vote-trolling Democrats, but blacks most in need have been abandoned.
Having done little for a majority of blacks, Obama instead has peddled the symbolic racial politics of outfits like Black Lives Matter, which claims that there is an epidemic of policemen wantonly gunning down innocent black men in the streets.
Once again, fact is irrelevant to a movement whose goal is to leverage social and political power from the misery of black social dysfunctions.
...Of those 965 killed, only 90 were unarmed, and the majority of those were white.”
Meanwhile, about 5,000 blacks a year are murdered, the vast majority by other blacks.
All we get in response from Obama are crickets and tumbleweeds.
Once again, symbols are more useful than reality..."

‘It Is Not Acceptable’: Cruz Calls Out ‘Leftist Agitators’ for ‘Trying to Silence’ Trump | Video | TheBlaze.com

‘It Is Not Acceptable’: Cruz Calls Out ‘Leftist Agitators’ for ‘Trying to Silence’ Trump | Video | TheBlaze.com:

“The First Amendment protects everyone’s right to speak, but you don’t have a right to threaten violence, you don’t have a right to shout down others, and these protesters appear to be trying to use violence and threats,” Cruz said. “These are the strategies of MoveOn.org, of the leftist agitators who try to silence a voice they don’t like.”

Emma Thompson and sister break a court injunction to film a Great British Bake Off parody

Emma Thompson and sister break a court injunction to film a Great British Bake Off parody | Daily Mail Online:
Get off my fracking land! 
Furious farmer sprays MANURE at Oscar winning actress Emma Thompson after she breaks a court injunction to protest on his field 

• Actress Emma Thompson and her sister Sophie baked cakes on Lancashire land earmarked for gas exploration
• Sisters breached High Court injunction prohibiting entry to site and Lancashire Police called but no arrests made
• The irate landowner then turned up and sprayed raw sewage at the pair before driving away in his tractor 
• Emma and Sophie - who won celebrity Masterchef - filmed Great British Bake Off parody, 'Frack Free Bake Off' 

Make America Grow Again

Make America Grow Again - WSJ:
"When did Americans decide that 1% or 2% economic growth is acceptable, that puny wage increases are inevitable, and that we should all merely shrug and get used to the country’s diminished expectations?
Those questions come to mind watching the desultory reactions to Thursday’s report that the U.S. economy grew by a meager 0.5% in the first quarter of 2016.
..President Obama didn’t comment on the first quarter, but the New York Times rolled out an interview with him Thursday, part of a larger apologia for his economic record, in which he offered this beauty: “I actually compare our economic performance to how, historically, countries that have wrenching financial crises perform. By that measure, we probably managed this better than any large economy on Earth in modern history.”
Mr. Obama has already compared himself favorably to every President except Lyndon Johnson, FDR and Lincoln, so why fake humility in his home stretch?
The reality is that the first quarter is further evidence of what has been the weakest economic expansion in the postwar era. 
...The American economy hasn’t grown by more than 3% since 2005 (3.3%), the longest such stretch of malaise that we can find in the Bureau of Economic analysis tables going back to 1930. 
Even the Great Depression saw a snap back to rapid growth from 1934-1936..."

Lunch video-----Accidental take-off of Victor----Bob Prothero explains what happened.

Noon-toon

After Islamic State Attacks From Brussels to Paris, U.S. Sends Delta Force and Navy SEALs to Hunt Terrorists — You Can Guess What Happened | TheBlaze.com

After Islamic State Attacks From Brussels to Paris, U.S. Sends Delta Force and Navy SEALs to Hunt Terrorists — You Can Guess What Happened | TheBlaze.com:

"After Islamic State terrorists carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris, Egypt and other parts of Africa, the U.S. reportedly sent U.S. special operations forces after those believed to be responsible for planning the acts of terror.

And they were up for the challenge."

CNN #1 IN CABLE NEWS IN PRIME TIME; BEATS FOX NEWS FOR 5 OF THE PAST 8 MONTHS

CNN #1 IN CABLE NEWS IN PRIME TIME; BEATS FOX NEWS FOR 5 OF THE PAST 8 MONTHS – CNN Press Room - CNN.com Blogs:
"CNN ranked #1 in cable news in prime time in April.
CNN beat Fox News for the fifth time in the last eight months in M-Su prime time (four of the past eight in M-F prime) among adults 25-54. 
The last time CNN had this many prime time wins in an eight-month period versus Fox News was over 14 years ago (Nov. 2001).

ONCE AGAIN, THE ONION PLAYS CATCH-UP WITH REAL LIFE: College Encourages Lively Exchange Of Idea:

ONCE AGAIN, THE ONION PLAYS CATCH-UP WITH REAL LIFE 
"College Encourages Lively Exchange Of Idea: Students, Faculty Invited To Freely Express Single Viewpoint.
Saying that such a dialogue was essential to the college’s academic mission, Trescott University president Kevin Abrams confirmed Monday that the school encourages a lively exchange of one idea. 
“As an institution of higher learning, we recognize that it’s inevitable that certain contentious topics will come up from time to time, and when they do, we want to create an atmosphere where both students and faculty feel comfortable voicing a single homogeneous opinion,” said Abrams, adding that no matter the subject, anyone on campus is always welcome to add their support to the accepted consensus.

Is it news, or is it The Onion? 
Who can tell anymore?"

Group of girls fighting to join California Boy Scout troop

Group of girls fighting to join California Boy Scout troop | abc13.com:
"SANTA ROSA, CA -- The Boy Scouts of America recently changed its policy on gay troop leaders, now that organization faces another controversy, a ban on girls.
A group of girls in Santa Rosa wants to formally join the local troop, and say they will fight on to be one of the boys.
Allie Westover is a fit and active young lady who loves the outdoors.
Until recently, she was part of a Boy Scout's program in Santa Rosa called learning for life which allowed the girls to do the same things as the boys in the troop.
"Just recently they said we couldn't participate," Westover said.
That, after a parent complained.
"Oh my gosh, the girls doing Cub Scouts and Boy scouts activities, so with that they complained to the national," said Danelle Jacobs, a parent.
The girls and their parents are expected to protest on Friday by handing in their applications to the local Boys Scouts Council..."

ICE under fire for releasing thousands of illegal immigrants with rap sheets | Fox News

ICE under fire for releasing thousands of illegal immigrants with rap sheets | Fox News:

"According to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2015 “freed 19,723 criminal aliens, who had a total of 64,197 convictions among them.”
This included “8,234 violent convictions and 208 homicide convictions.”

ICE Director Sarah Saldana defended her agency, even characterizing the statistics as an improvement while claiming they were being politically manipulated."

World’s largest aircraft “weeks” away from first UK test flight

World’s largest aircraft “weeks” away from first UK test flight | Ars Technica
Airlander 10, the world's largest and longest aircraft, is preparing to gently glide out of its gargantuan shed—which is incidentally the largest hangar in the UK—at Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire.
Earlier this month, Airlander 10, which is being built by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), was officially named Martha Gwyn by the duke of Kent. HAV is now in the "final stages of testing" before it can exit the hangar, which will be a "matter of weeks" rather than months.
The Martha Gwyn is an odd beast.
At its most basic, it's a 92-metre (302ft) blimp filled with 38,000 cubic metres of helium..."

AM Fruitcake