Democrats Vs. Ordinary Catholic Guys | The American Conservative

Democrats Vs. Ordinary Catholic Guys | The American Conservative
“Why are you Christians so paranoid about the Democrats?”

Because of things like this:

A judicial nominee faced questions from Senators this month about whether membership in the Knights of Columbus might impede his ability to judge federal cases fairly. The Knights of Columbus say that no candidate for public office should have to defend his membership in a Catholic service organization.

Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) raised concerns about membership in the Knights of Columbus while the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed the candidacy of Brian C. Buescher, an Omaha-based lawyer nominated by President Trump to sit on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Senators also asked whether belonging to the Catholic charitable organization could prevent judges from hearing cases “fairly and impartially.”

In written questions sent to Buescher by committee members Dec. 5, Sen. Hirono stated that “the Knights of Columbus has taken a number of extreme positions. For example, it was reportedly one of the top contributors to California’s Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage.”

Hirono then asked Buescher if he would quit the group if he was confirmed “to avoid any appearance of bias.”...

WALSH: Jack Phillips Is Now In Court For Not Baking A 'Gender Transition' Cake. This Is Blatant Religious Persecution. | Daily Wire

WALSH: Jack Phillips Is Now In Court For Not Baking A 'Gender Transition' Cake. This Is Blatant Religious Persecution. | Daily Wire:

Scardina is a bully and a harasser. No rational person believes that his request was made in good faith. Even if it was (which, I emphasize again, it most certainly wasn't), a business owner has the right to decline to lend his labor and skill to the celebration of genital mutilation.

They lie to convince you taxes are good for the poor-----Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere — Institute of Economic Affairs

Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere — Institute of Economic Affairs:
"A global study found taxes on soft drinks, snacks, alcohol and tobacco are more likely to change the lifestyle behaviour of vulnerable poorer consumers.
At the same time, most of the tax revenues would come from higher income households.
Poorer sections of society are disproportionately affected by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to lifestyle, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, said the authors.
NCDs were described as a “major cause and consequence” of poverty.
The findings, from a series of articles published in The Lancet medical journal, were reported shortly before a controversial sugar tax on soft drinks comes into force in the UK on Friday.
...However the findings were strongly challenged by Christopher Snowdon from the Institute of Economic Affairs.
He said: “The claim that poor people disproportionately benefit from these taxes is absurd. 
“Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere in the world and smoking is much more prevalent among the poor than among the rich, despite decades of high taxes on tobacco.
There is precious little evidence that poor people benefit from being taxed.
On the contrary, sin taxes drive them further into poverty.”

NICK GILLESPIE: The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump.

NICK GILLESPIE: The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump.
"NICK GILLESPIE: 
The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump. In Fact, It’s Not Even Ending.

Trump is doing pretty much exactly what he promised he would do: Shrink our military footprint around the world, insist on a border wall, act impulsively and childlishly. Critics are right to chastise Trump for not following any sort of coherent process in arriving at or announcing his Syria decision, but it’s still the right decision. It’s always ugly and disturbing when the United States pulls out of occupied countries (remember Saigon?), but are we supposed to stay in Syria and Afghanistan forever?
In this case, Trump isn’t the problem. The problem is American foreign policy, which has been a virtually unmitigated disaster for the entire 21st century (and really, can we talk about Yemen at some point?).

The assumption that our prior Syria policy — or our prior foreign policy in general — was some sort of well-oiled high-performance machine that Trump is screwing up is hilarious. 
Who can look at the last two decades and think that?
Besides, you know, people who are paid to.--Posted by Glenn Reynolds"

Lunch video-----United Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Hawaii Travelogue - 1950

Noon-toon

Revealed: Antifa Leader Relied On Anonymity To Push Radical, Violent Communist Agenda | The Daily Caller

Revealed: Antifa Leader Relied On Anonymity To Push Radical, Violent Communist Agenda | The Daily Caller:

Smash Racism DC organizer Jose Martin, also known as “Chepe,” is a radical communist and Antifa leader operating in the U.S. He advocates for the violent overthrow of the government and for the murder of the rich and claims to have international involvement in left-wing movements.
Smash Racism DC is the Antifa group that protested in front of Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s house and berated Sen. Ted Cruz at a restaurant until he and his wife were forced to leave. It’s only one of the Antifa leader’s radical left-wing projects.
But the agitator has made great efforts to separate his fanatical personas from a third identity, his legal name: Joseph “Jose” Alcoff.

Haters gonna hate-----The New York Times Was Against War In Syria Before It Was For It | The Daily Caller

The New York Times Was Against War In Syria Before It Was For It | The Daily Caller
"What a difference a year can make for The New York Times.
As President Donald Trump announced his decision Wednesday to withdraw the nation’s 2,000 troops from Syria, a bipartisan cadre of opinion-havers attacked him as recklessly abandoning allies in the region and jeopardizing America’s influence over foreign affairs.
One newspaper was particularly harsh: The Times.
Quickly after Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced his resignation (in part as a protest against Trump’s decision on Syria) Thursday, America’s paper of record quickly produced a scathing editorial, proclaiming “Jim Mattis Was Right.”
“Who will protect America now?” The Times asked.
...Yet almost a year ago, on Jan. 19, 2018, that same editorial board raked the president over the coals for even daring to continue America’s policy of military adventurism.
The Times expressed concern that more American troops beyond the 2,000 initially deployed could soon be sent overseas in a mission without any clear goals.
“Syria is a complex problem. But this plan seems poorly conceived, too dependent on military action and fueled by wishful thinking,” The Times said..."

#1 Movie this day 1944-----Winged Victory 1944 - Lon McCallister - Jeanne Crain - Edmond O'Brien

Trump Decided To Withdraw From Syria After Stumping John Bolton With One Question | The Daily Caller

Trump Decided To Withdraw From Syria After Stumping John Bolton With One Question | The Daily Caller
"President Donald Trump reportedly stumped national security adviser John Bolton with one crucial question before making his heavily-criticized decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

The president agreed to the withdrawal during a December 14 phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan...

But Trump went off-script during the call and agreed with Erdogan, particularly when the Turkish president asked Trump, “Why are you still there?” when the Islamic State had been 99 percent defeated...
...White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller summed up the president’s view during a Thursday night appearance with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“This president got elected to get our foreign policy back on the right track after years of being adrift,” Miller said. 

“One foreign policy blunder after another in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya hasn’t worked out for our national interest.”

“And let’s talk about Syria,” he added. 

“Let’s talk about the fact — ISIS is the enemy of Russia. 

ISIS is the enemy of Assad. 

ISIS is the enemy of Turkey. 

Are we supposed to stay in Syria for generation after generation, spilling American blood to fight the enemies of all those countries? 
Wolf, when did the American people sign up to be in every war in every place in every side of every conflict all over planet earth?”..."

#1 This day 1958-----Alvin and The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

Watch: Gary Sinise Foundation Year-End Video Will Leave You in Tears

Watch: Gary Sinise Foundation Year-End Video Will Leave You in Tears

22 Dec 2018329

"The Gary Sinise Foundation released an emotional eight-minute video of its year-end activities, featuring testimonials from veterans and their families about how their lives were changed for the better.
The foundation’s video— released in time for the holiday season— opens with touching scenes of children and families embracing each other while actor Gary Sinise, best known for playing Lt. Dan in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, and the long-running CBS crime procedural CSI: NY, narrates in the background.
“Family. We share our joy with them; we count on them in troubled times,” Sinise says at the opening of the video..."

You ought to know!

Border Wall Vote Puts Vulnerable 2020 Democrat Senators in Spotlight

Border Wall Vote Puts Vulnerable 2020 Democrat Senators in Spotlight:

Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), who won a December 2017 special election in a state President Trump won by 28 points in 2016 under a perfect storm of unusual circumstances that will not be repeated in 2020, was the only Democrat to vote yes on the motion to proceed with the vote on the House-passed continuing budget resolution.
The other two Democrat senators who are vulnerable in 2020, Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), both voted no.

Swedish Immigration Policy: In Tentsa, Mass Immigration Without Assimilation | National Review

Swedish Immigration Policy: In Tentsa, Mass Immigration Without Assimilation | National Review
"A case of mass immigration without assimilation
I don’t go to those places without security,” a Swedish journalist tells me when I ask whether she would accompany me to some of her country’s “especially vulnerable” areas. 
The label is given by police to neighborhoods where crime is rampant and parallel social structures compete for authority with the state.
To the politically incorrect, these are also known as “immigrant ghettos.”
...the country that admitted the most migrants per capita was Sweden.
In one year alone, the northern European nation of 10 million added nearly 2 percent to its population. 
Most of those arrivals were young men. 
Tens of thousands more have continued to arrive since then.
It is too early to see the long-term impact of the 2015 migrant crisis, but if the past is any indication of Sweden’s future, the answer may be found in its “vulnerable” neighborhoods.
In recent years, the Nordic state known for scoring among the highest among all nations in quality-of-life indexes has also gained a reputation for gang shootings, grenade attacks, and sexual crimes..."

AM Fruitcake

History for December 24

History for December 24 - On-This-Day.com
Benjamin Rush 1745, Kit Carson 1809, Howard Hughes 1905
 

I.F. Stone 1907, Ava Gardner 1922, Ricky Martin 1971


1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr.


1968 - Three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, reached the moon. They orbited the moon 10 times before coming back to Earth. Seven months later man first landed on the moon.

Illegal Alien Assaults Border Patrol Agent | Arizona Daily Independent

Illegal Alien Assaults Border Patrol Agent | Arizona Daily Independent:

A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent was assaulted by a 19-year-old Mexican man on Wednesday south of Bisbee. The man, who struck the agent in the head with a rock, was charged with assaulting a U.S. Federal agent.

The way we were-----Snoopy's Christmas vs. The Red Baron - The Royal Guardsmen

Boob-tube-----Fractured Fairy Tales -- Snow White

American madrassas!-----UMN pays for students to discuss how 'heterosexism...has damaged us'

UMN pays for students to discuss how 'heterosexism...has damaged us'

• Participants in a University of Minnesota "Social Justice Leadership Retreat" will explore “race and racism, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic, and campus climate."
• Students are charged a $25 fee to participate, with UMN covering transportation, food, and lodging.
• The University of Minnesota Housing and Residential Life Department is hosting a “Social Justice Leadership Retreat" during which students can spend a weekend of “immersion” in social justice.
• “It is so rare that we really let down our guard and tearfully tell people how racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. has damaged us.”    

“The Social Justice Leadership Retreat is designed to help educate students about the concepts of social justice and community leadership through exploration of their own stories, the stories of others, and issues of oppression and privilege..."...

Boob-tube-----Fred Astaire & Eleanor Powell - Jukebox Dance

Huge Oil Spill Isn't China's Real Offshore Disaster - Bloomberg

Huge Oil Spill Isn't China's Real Offshore Disaster - Bloomberg:
"...The fact is, thanks to massive overfishing in China's territorial waters, there isn't much marine life left to kill in the disaster zone. 
...The shift was driven by a massive jump in China's seafood consumption as its population has become more affluent. 
...Chinese seafood consumption increased 50 percent in just the last decade, to 62 million tons annually. That accounts for nearly two-thirds of global growth.
China's wild catch from its territorial waters is now around 13 million tons, up from around 3 million tons in the mid-1970s. 
Even China's Ministry of Agriculture says that's roughly 25 percent more than what's sustainable. 
And it's still not enough: China's gone from being a seafood exporter to a seafood importer because of burgeoning demand..."

Follow the (climate change) money - Washington Times

Follow the (climate change) money - Washington Times:

The first iron rule of American politics is: Follow the money. This explains, oh, about 80 percent of what goes on in Washington.
Shortly after the latest Chicken Little climate change report was published last month, I noted on CNN that one reason so many hundreds of scientists are persuaded that the sky is falling is that they are paid handsomely to do so.
I noted that “In America and around the globe governments have created a multi-billion dollar Climate Change Industrial Complex.” And then I added: “A lot of people are getting really, really rich off of the climate change industry.” According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Federal funding for climate change research, technology, international assistance, and adaptation has increased from $2.4 billion in 1993 to $11.6 billion in 2014, with an additional $26.1 billion for climate change programs and activities provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009.”

Germany: New Law Banning Child Marriage Declared Unconstitutional

Germany: New Law Banning Child Marriage Declared Unconstitutional

• The ruling, which effectively opens the door to legalizing Sharia-based child marriages in Germany, is one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country.
• "Germany cannot, on the one hand, be against child marriages internationally, and on the other hand, be for such marriages in our own country. The best interests of the child cannot be compromised in this case. (...) This is about the constitutionally established protection of children and minors!" — Winfried Bausback, Bavarian lawmaker who helped draft the law against child marriage.
• "We should consider one more thing: judgments are made 'in the name of the people.' This people has clearly expressed through its representatives in the Bundestag that it no longer wants to recognize child marriage." — 

Making A Fortune: 19 Million Public Employees Across America Cost Taxpayers Nearly $1 Trillion

Making A Fortune: 19 Million Public Employees Across America Cost Taxpayers Nearly $1 Trillion:
"For the first time in history, 19 million public employee salaries at every level of government across America have been mapped and posted online
...Our online database is free to use and includes most employees within the federal, state, and local governments. 
...The data is full of stunning examples. 

• Tree trimmers in Chicago lopped off $106,000. 
• New York City school janitors cleaned off $165,000 while out earning the principals at $135,000. 
• Lifeguards in Los Angeles County, California, made up to $365,000. 
• In the small school district in Southlake, Texas (8,000 students), the school superintendent earned $420,000.

Help the reform-minded mayors, school superintendents, legislators and members of Congress by finding the waste, overspending, and bloated government in your very own neighborhood.
Search our interactive map of the top 2 million most highly compensated public employees across America. Just click a pin (your ZIP code) and scroll down to see the results that render in the chart beneath the map. Click here to access the map below.

Search 2 million public employee salaries by ZIP code at OpenTheBooks.com.OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

Last year, we found 1.7 million public employees earned $100,000 or more.
The vast majority – 1.3 million six-figure earners – worked at the state and local levels.
There were 105,000 local and state government employees out-earning every governor of the 50 states at a salary of $190,000 or more..."

Lunch video-----Giant ship going under the Lift Bridge in Duluth, MN Paul R. Tregurtha

Noon-toon

CAMP: How Is The Democratic Border Security Solution Morally Different From Trump’s Wall? | Daily Wire

CAMP: How Is The Democratic Border Security Solution Morally Different From Trump’s Wall? | Daily Wire:

So, given the erroneous but oft repeated talking point that there is no difference, practically speaking, between a border wall and a border secured by technology and manpower, one must ask a critical question: Why would Democrats decry a wall as immoral while simultaneously calling for measures that would, according to them, accomplish the same objective?
The answer is deceptively simple – optics.
First and foremost, the Democrats must oppose President Trump at every turn,

The fix is in?-----John Huber, Justice Dept. Sheriff Who Never Quite Rode Into Town | RealClearInvestigations

John Huber, Justice Dept. Sheriff Who Never Quite Rode Into Town | RealClearInvestigations
"John Huber has developed almost mythical status among pro-Trump tweeters since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed him to investigate why the FBI spied on Trump’s aides and whether they protected Hillary Clinton and her foundation over alleged misdeeds. 
...Instead, more than a year since his appointment, Huber’s lack of traction on either front is leading many once hopeful supporters to dismiss his investigation as a “sham."
RealClearInvestigations has learned from potential witnesses, their lawyers and others close to the investigations, that Huber has not impaneled a federal grand jury to subpoena witnesses or hear evidence.
...While some witnesses and their attorneys complain he’s not doing his job, some critics who once had high hopes for Huber now suspect he was never expected to. 
They say Huber’s appointment was always political, that the Justice Department had no interest in exposing its own corruption and named this longtime department official to mollify Republicans who clamored for the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate FBI and Justice activities under the Obama administration.
...Toensing represents a whistleblower in the so-called Uranium One scandal, who she says still has not been contacted by Huber. 
Her client, Doug Campbell, an FBI informant who claims to have evidence that Clinton helped Russians secure U.S.-based uranium rights in a quid pro quo for large donations to her family’s foundation and speaking fees for former President Bill Clinton from the Russian company at the heart of the deal..."