Saturday, August 01, 2015
This Guy Might Look Like a Construction Worker, but He’s Really Part of an Undercover Police Operation | Video | TheBlaze.com
This Guy Might Look Like a Construction Worker, but He’s Really Part of an Undercover Police Operation | Video | TheBlaze.com:
“What we’ve done here is we’re able to put officers in the roads so we’re able to get close enough almost inside their cars so we can look down and see exactly what they’re doing on their phones,” Officer Nick Serkedakis told WSB-TV.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re stopped at a light, if you’re on a public thoroughfare and facing the phone we’re going to have a conversation with you,” Serkedakis added to the news station."
“What we’ve done here is we’re able to put officers in the roads so we’re able to get close enough almost inside their cars so we can look down and see exactly what they’re doing on their phones,” Officer Nick Serkedakis told WSB-TV.“It doesn’t matter if you’re stopped at a light, if you’re on a public thoroughfare and facing the phone we’re going to have a conversation with you,” Serkedakis added to the news station."
Here's What the Guy Who Paid $50,000 to Kill Cecil the Lion Can Learn from the Guy Who Paid $350,000 to Kill a Black Rhino
Here's What the Guy Who Paid $50,000 to Kill Cecil the Lion Can Learn from the Guy Who Paid $350,000 to Kill a Black Rhino - Hit & Run : Reason.com:"Done right, paid hunts for endangered animals can be a huge boon for conservation
Days after the news of the death of Cecil the Lion broke—and weeks after the actual hunt—the Internet is still in an uproar.
The dentist/hunter who killed the beloved big cat has shuttered his business in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and seems to have gone missing.
Everyone from Betty White to Zimbabwe's minister of the environment is pissed.
...But the problem isn't that Palmer paid a lot of money to hunt a lion, it's that he didn't pay enough money, he paid it to the wrong people, and he killed the wrong lion..."
America's college obsession is depriving the military of the best officers, Marine says
America's college obsession is depriving the military of the best officers, Marine says - The College Fix
According to a new study by the left-leaning Brookings Institution, officer quality in the U.S. Marines “has steadily and significantly declined since 1980.”
Co-authored by a Marine lieutenant in Afghanistan who’s a grad student at Tufts University, Matthew Cancian, the paper blames college attendance rates for the plunge:
We didn’t find it was due to more minorities or women in the ranks, as many have assumed.
The basic answer is that more people are going to college.
...The expansion of the pool of college students means a larger, but lower quality, pool of potential officers.
While our data were about Marine officers, the results likely apply to the whole military.
Average intelligence has plummeted, the authors learned from data obtained in a public-records request:
For example, 41% of new Marine officers in 2014 would not have met the intelligence standards demanded of officers in World War II.
This decline is especially surprising because, as others have documented, 2011 saw the most intelligent group of enlistees in the history of the volunteer military.
Thus, even as the intelligence of our enlisted troops have been rising, that of our commissioned officers has been declining.
According to a new study by the left-leaning Brookings Institution, officer quality in the U.S. Marines “has steadily and significantly declined since 1980.”
Co-authored by a Marine lieutenant in Afghanistan who’s a grad student at Tufts University, Matthew Cancian, the paper blames college attendance rates for the plunge:
We didn’t find it was due to more minorities or women in the ranks, as many have assumed.
...The expansion of the pool of college students means a larger, but lower quality, pool of potential officers.
While our data were about Marine officers, the results likely apply to the whole military.
Average intelligence has plummeted, the authors learned from data obtained in a public-records request:
For example, 41% of new Marine officers in 2014 would not have met the intelligence standards demanded of officers in World War II.
This decline is especially surprising because, as others have documented, 2011 saw the most intelligent group of enlistees in the history of the volunteer military.
Thus, even as the intelligence of our enlisted troops have been rising, that of our commissioned officers has been declining.
Michael Swartz: Big Win: Court Says Public Sector Employees Have Right to Work, Too
Michael Swartz: Big Win: Court Says Public Sector Employees Have Right to Work, Too — The Patriot Post:
"When Michigan shocked the nation and passed its right-to-work law three years ago, there was no question that Big Labor wouldn’t take it lying down.
The tentacles of Big Labor run deep in the state, not only in the obvious automotive-related businesses but also in the state employees organized under the United Auto Workers (UAW) banner.
It was on behalf of those workers, who fall under the auspices of the state’s Civil Service Commission, that the UAW filed suit to maintain its hold on the agency fees it has routinely extracted from these workers.
But the move backfired.
The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the 2012 right-to-work law even for public-sector employees.
The 4-3 decision fell mainly along party lines — five of the seven members of the court are Republicans, and the two Democrats were among the dissenting trio.
...About 36,000 workers are affected by the decision, along with millions of dollars that will stay in the workers' wallets rather than fattening the coffers of Big Labor.
If the trend from other states adopting similar right-to-work provisions holds true, as many as 20,000 of those workers could walk away from the union."
"When Michigan shocked the nation and passed its right-to-work law three years ago, there was no question that Big Labor wouldn’t take it lying down.
The tentacles of Big Labor run deep in the state, not only in the obvious automotive-related businesses but also in the state employees organized under the United Auto Workers (UAW) banner.
It was on behalf of those workers, who fall under the auspices of the state’s Civil Service Commission, that the UAW filed suit to maintain its hold on the agency fees it has routinely extracted from these workers.But the move backfired.
The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the 2012 right-to-work law even for public-sector employees.
The 4-3 decision fell mainly along party lines — five of the seven members of the court are Republicans, and the two Democrats were among the dissenting trio.
...About 36,000 workers are affected by the decision, along with millions of dollars that will stay in the workers' wallets rather than fattening the coffers of Big Labor.
If the trend from other states adopting similar right-to-work provisions holds true, as many as 20,000 of those workers could walk away from the union."
Federal Judge Threatens to Haul IRS Commissioner Into Court, but Has Equally Harsh Words for Trial Lawyer | TheBlaze.com
Federal Judge Threatens to Haul IRS Commissioner Into Court, but Has Equally Harsh Words for Trial Lawyer | TheBlaze.com:
"A federal judge not only threatened to hold IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in contempt if the agency didn’t provide documents in the manner ordered by the court, but he issued the same strong warning to his lawyer as well.
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan — during a status call for the case involving the IRS singling out tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections — said that he was “not going to tolerate further noncompliance with the court’s orders.”
"A federal judge not only threatened to hold IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in contempt if the agency didn’t provide documents in the manner ordered by the court, but he issued the same strong warning to his lawyer as well.U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan — during a status call for the case involving the IRS singling out tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections — said that he was “not going to tolerate further noncompliance with the court’s orders.”
Baltimore killings soar to a level unseen in 43 years
Baltimore killings soar to a level unseen in 43 years:
"BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore reached a grim milestone on Friday, three months after riots erupted in response to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody:
With 45 homicides in July, the city has seen more bloodshed in a single month than it has in 43 years.
Police reported three deaths — two men shot Thursday and one on Friday.
The men died at local hospitals.
With their deaths, this year's homicides reached 189, far outpacing the 119 killings by July's end in 2014.
Nonfatal shootings have soared to 366, compared to 200 by the same date last year.
July's total was the worst since the city recorded 45 killings in August 1972, according to The Baltimore Sun.
...Baltimore is not unique in its suffering; crimes are spiking in big cities around the country."
"BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore reached a grim milestone on Friday, three months after riots erupted in response to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody:
Police reported three deaths — two men shot Thursday and one on Friday.
The men died at local hospitals.
With their deaths, this year's homicides reached 189, far outpacing the 119 killings by July's end in 2014.
Nonfatal shootings have soared to 366, compared to 200 by the same date last year.
July's total was the worst since the city recorded 45 killings in August 1972, according to The Baltimore Sun.
...Baltimore is not unique in its suffering; crimes are spiking in big cities around the country."
History for August 1
History for August 1 - On-This-Day.com:
Francis Scott Key 1779, Herman Melville 1819, Arthur Hill 1922
Dom DeLuise 1933, Yves Saint Laurent 1936, Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) 1942
1774 - Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.
1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.
1893 - Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.
1894 - The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.
1936 - Adolf Hitler presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin.
1944 - In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.
1956 - The Social Security Act was amended to provide benefits to disabled workers aged 50-64 and disabled adult children.
1957 - The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was created by the United States and Canada.
1973 - The movie "American Graffiti" opened.
2006 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro turned over absolute power when he gave his brother Raul authority while he underwent an intestinal surgery.
Francis Scott Key 1779, Herman Melville 1819, Arthur Hill 1922
Dom DeLuise 1933, Yves Saint Laurent 1936, Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) 1942
1774 - Oxygen was isolated from air successfully by chemist Carl Wilhelm and scientist Joseph Priestly.
1834 - Slavery was outlawed in the British empire with an emancipation bill.
1893 - Shredded wheat was patented by Henry Perky and William Ford.
1894 - The first Sino-Japanese War erupted. The dispute was over control of Korea.
1936 - Adolf Hitler presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin.
1944 - In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.
1956 - The Social Security Act was amended to provide benefits to disabled workers aged 50-64 and disabled adult children.
1957 - The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was created by the United States and Canada.
1973 - The movie "American Graffiti" opened.
2006 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro turned over absolute power when he gave his brother Raul authority while he underwent an intestinal surgery.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Conservatives Win Big Fight Over ‘Radically Revisionist’ High School American History Curriculum | TheBlaze.com
Conservatives Win Big Fight Over ‘Radically Revisionist’ High School American History Curriculum | TheBlaze.com:
"The previous incarnation of AP American history standards — which took a decade to put in place — were released last year to a volley of criticism. Names such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were omitted and detractors said negatives in U.S. history were emphasized while positives — such as America’s role in winning World War I and World War II — were tamped down.
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said the course was so anti-American that those who completed it would be “ready to sign up for ISIS.”
"The previous incarnation of AP American history standards — which took a decade to put in place — were released last year to a volley of criticism. Names such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were omitted and detractors said negatives in U.S. history were emphasized while positives — such as America’s role in winning World War I and World War II — were tamped down.Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said the course was so anti-American that those who completed it would be “ready to sign up for ISIS.”
Census Bureau data shows that MORE young adults are living with their parents
Census Bureau data shows that MORE young adults are living with their parents | Daily Mail OnlineRevealed: MORE young adults are living with their parents, with one in three failing to move out despite wage increases and strong job market
- New research based on Census Bureau data showed continued increase
- 20.4million adults aged 18-34 still live with relatives
- Comes despite continual increases in wages and overall employment
- Findings were produced by analysis from the Pew Research Center
Fourth Undercover Planned Parenthood Video Released — and It’s Graphic | TheBlaze.com
Fourth Undercover Planned Parenthood Video Released — and It’s Graphic | TheBlaze.com:"Just two days after releasing an explosive third video in their undercover Planned Parenthood series, activists with a pro-life, medical ethics group are back with a fourth installment that they claim shows an abortion doctor “negotiating a fetal body parts deal, agreeing multiple times to illicit pricing per body part harvested, and suggesting ways to avoid legal consequences.”
Syracuse pushes retirement buyouts after audit finds 200 managers supervise one person apiece
Syracuse pushes retirement buyouts after audit finds 200 manag
ers supervise one person apiece - The College Fix:
"University also raised tuition while enacting other cost-saving measures
Syracuse University – a 2015 “Best Value School” according to U.S. News & World Report – recently began offering employees a retirement incentive package on the heels of an audit which found more than 200 managers oversee just one person each.
The report states 211 managers, or 30 percent, have only 1 “direct report,” and another 134 managers have just two people reporting to them.
Ninety-three managers have three people reporting to them, it adds, noting the private university employs “too many decision makers...”
"University also raised tuition while enacting other cost-saving measures
Syracuse University – a 2015 “Best Value School” according to U.S. News & World Report – recently began offering employees a retirement incentive package on the heels of an audit which found more than 200 managers oversee just one person each.
The report states 211 managers, or 30 percent, have only 1 “direct report,” and another 134 managers have just two people reporting to them.
Ninety-three managers have three people reporting to them, it adds, noting the private university employs “too many decision makers...”
Wayne County edges toward state control as Snyder confirms emergency
Wayne County moved closer to state oversight after Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder affirmed the county’s financial emergency status Thursday.
The confirmation came eight days after Snyder said he agreed with a state review team that found a fiscal crisis in the county amid budget shortfalls and rising pension costs.
The governor’s move gives the county commission seven days to choose one of four options: a consent agreement, mediation, an emergency manager or a Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
The consent pact, which would chart a plan with the state for how to revive the county’s finances, is preferred by County Executive Warren Evans.
That would keep the county’s current leadership in control..."
Is the United States Facing an ‘Existential Threat’ On Its Southern Border? | Video | TheBlaze.com
Is the United States Facing an ‘Existential Threat’ On Its Southern Border? | Video | TheBlaze.com:“A lead character in the documentary tonight is Chris Farrell, who’s our lead investigator,” Fitton explained on The Glenn Beck Program. “He’s a former counterintelligence officer with the U.S. Army. … Chris and our other colleagues on our investigative and journalist staff have uncovered shocking information at the border.”
Fitton said they uncovered evidence that Al Qaeda’s chief of operations has flown into the United States from Mexico, and he was part of a plot to bomb the Sears Tower as well as Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago studios."
Although this aired on Wednesday, it's possible to go back and watch it.
An alt view-----The Obama Administration Should Stop Lying About Iran
The Obama Administration Should Stop Lying About Iran - Reason.com:
Barack Obama and John Kerry are playing with fire.
They presumably want Congress and the American public to accept the nuclear agreement they and four other governments struck with Iran, but they work against their own objective by accepting the false premise of their opponents: namely, that Iran's regime is untrustworthy, dangerous, bent on becoming a nuclear power, and containable only by a U.S. readiness to wage war.
Who knows if the president and secretary of state really believe this?
But they ought to know that this premise is wrong.
Their incentive to accept the false premise is obvious.
Neither wants his obituary to declare that his greatest achievement was to persuade Iran not to develop a weapon it had no intention of developing.
...It would be better for Obama and Kerry to tell the truth for once:
Iran has not been seeking a nuclear bomb.
This has long been well-understood by American and Israeli intelligence and military agencies.
As former CIA analyst Ray McGovern points out, George W. Bush had to give up plans to attack Iran in 2007 because a National Intelligence Estimate signed by all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies found that Iran had stopped (alleged) research on nukes four years earlier.
This conclusion was renewed regularly in subsequent years.
In fact, as Gareth Porter notes, "US national intelligence estimates during the Bush administration concluding that Iran had run such a program, including the most famous estimate issued in November 2007, were based on inference, not on hard intelligence."
We have many other indications of Iran's non-interest in nukes, all of which are documented by Porter, the man who literally wrote the book on the case. (See Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.)"...
Barack Obama and John Kerry are playing with fire.
They presumably want Congress and the American public to accept the nuclear agreement they and four other governments struck with Iran, but they work against their own objective by accepting the false premise of their opponents: namely, that Iran's regime is untrustworthy, dangerous, bent on becoming a nuclear power, and containable only by a U.S. readiness to wage war.
Who knows if the president and secretary of state really believe this?
But they ought to know that this premise is wrong.
Their incentive to accept the false premise is obvious.
Neither wants his obituary to declare that his greatest achievement was to persuade Iran not to develop a weapon it had no intention of developing.
...It would be better for Obama and Kerry to tell the truth for once:
This has long been well-understood by American and Israeli intelligence and military agencies.
As former CIA analyst Ray McGovern points out, George W. Bush had to give up plans to attack Iran in 2007 because a National Intelligence Estimate signed by all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies found that Iran had stopped (alleged) research on nukes four years earlier.
This conclusion was renewed regularly in subsequent years.
In fact, as Gareth Porter notes, "US national intelligence estimates during the Bush administration concluding that Iran had run such a program, including the most famous estimate issued in November 2007, were based on inference, not on hard intelligence."
We have many other indications of Iran's non-interest in nukes, all of which are documented by Porter, the man who literally wrote the book on the case. (See Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.)"...
Time is Running Out to Fix Social Security
Time is Running Out to Fix Social Security | Economics21
Social Security finances are on an unsustainable trajectory requiring legislated corrections as soon as they can be enacted.
The essential problem is that the program’s costs are growing faster than its tax base.
This is inherently unsustainable and requires correction.
The sooner the pace of cost growth can be slowed to a sustainable rate the better, both in terms of equity across generations, and to fix the problem before it becomes intractably large.
Social Security finances are on an unsustainable trajectory requiring legislated corrections as soon as they can be enacted.
The essential problem is that the program’s costs are growing faster than its tax base.
This is inherently unsustainable and requires correction.
The sooner the pace of cost growth can be slowed to a sustainable rate the better, both in terms of equity across generations, and to fix the problem before it becomes intractably large.
The Closed Covenants
The Closed Covenants - The New York Sun:
"A remarkable four minutes of video has emerged from Secretary of State Kerry’s testimony before the Senate.
It shows the Secretary squirming under the questioning of Senator Cotton on what the agile Arkansan calls the “two secret side deals” between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran.
They are related to inspections of the Iranian regime.
The video shows the two leaders of the American negotiating team — Mr. Kerry and Secretary Moniz of the energy department — stating that they don’t know who, if anyone, has read these two secret agreements...
“Why can’t we confirm or deny the content of these agreements in public?” Mr. Cotton inquires. “Why is it classified.
It’s not a sensitive U.S. government document.
The ayatollahs know what they’ve agreed to.”
“Because,” Mr. Kerry replies, “we respect the process of the AEAI, and we don’t have their authorization to reveal what is a confidential agreement between them and another country.”
Senator Cotton then asks him:
“So the ayatollahs will know what they’ve agreed to but not the American people...”
It shows the Secretary squirming under the questioning of Senator Cotton on what the agile Arkansan calls the “two secret side deals” between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran.
They are related to inspections of the Iranian regime.
The video shows the two leaders of the American negotiating team — Mr. Kerry and Secretary Moniz of the energy department — stating that they don’t know who, if anyone, has read these two secret agreements...
“Why can’t we confirm or deny the content of these agreements in public?” Mr. Cotton inquires. “Why is it classified.
It’s not a sensitive U.S. government document.
The ayatollahs know what they’ve agreed to.”
“Because,” Mr. Kerry replies, “we respect the process of the AEAI, and we don’t have their authorization to reveal what is a confidential agreement between them and another country.”
Senator Cotton then asks him:
“So the ayatollahs will know what they’ve agreed to but not the American people...”
Watch as Ted Cruz Initiates Tense Exchanges With Top Obama Admin. Officials on Iran: ‘Don’t Distort My Words’ | Video | TheBlaze.com
Watch as Ted Cruz Initiates Tense Exchanges With Top Obama Admin. Officials on Iran: ‘Don’t Distort My Words’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:“Senator, I never said the word ‘apology.’ I never mentioned apologizing. I said we should thank them from extraordinary service…Please, don’t distort my words,” Kerry said.
“Secretary Kerry, it is duly noted that you do not apologize to the families of the service members that were murdered by the Iranian military,” Cruz replied. “Do you apologize or not? I don’t want to put words in your mouth — so which one is it?”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)