Pension Shortfall Since 2009 is Enough to Give Every Teacher a $180K Bonus [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

Pension Shortfall Since 2009 is Enough to Give Every Teacher a $180K Bonus [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"From 2009 to 2016, the gap between how much the state of Michigan has saved and how much it needs to cover pension promises made to school employees and retirees has grown by $17.1 billion. The pension system’s unfunded liability was $12.0 billion in 2009, and it rose to $29.1 billion in 2016.
How much is $17.1 billion?
It's enough to give each of the state’s 95,000 public school teachers a $180,000 bonus."

University hosts training on how to 'reduce the impact of white privilege' - The College Fix

University hosts training on how to 'reduce the impact of white privilege' - The College Fix:
"Western Washington University is scheduled to host a workshop today that aims to “reduce the impact of white privilege on social and academic relations,” according to campus officials.
Part of its Campus Equity and Inclusion Forums, the event at the public university is designed for faculty, staff and students, who will use presentations, interactive exercises and facilitated discussions to learn “how to reduce the expression and effects of white privilege,” the university’s website states.
...“I think the harmful effects of ‘white privilege’ are that it can reflect an insensitivity to the subtle effects of both racism and lack of awareness of the differences between how people of color and people called ‘white’ are treated in everyday life,” Jimerson told The College Fix via email.
“Not being aware that other people face daily, often subtle, discrimination can make white people insensitive to these debilitating effects.”
The seminar is open to everybody, but Jimerson acknowledged it’s especially helpful for white people..."

Anatomy of a Deep State - WSJ

Anatomy of a Deep State - WSJ:
"On May 8 a woman few Americans have heard of, working in a federal post that even fewer know exists, summoned a select group of 45 people to a June meeting in Washington. 
They were almost exclusively representatives of liberal activist groups. 
The invitation explained they were invited to develop “future plans for scientific integrity” at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Meet the deep state. 
That’s what conservatives call it now, though it goes by other names. 
The administrative state. 
The entrenched governing elite. 
Lois Lerner. 
The federal bureaucracy. 
Whatever the description, what’s pertinent to today’s Washington is that this cadre of federal employees, accountable to no one, is actively working from within to thwart Donald Trump’s agenda.
There are few better examples than the EPA post of Scientific Integrity Official. (Yes, that is an actual job title.) 
The position is a legacy of Barack Obama, who at his 2009 inaugural promised to “restore science to its rightful place”—his way of warning Republicans that there’d be no more debate on climate change or other liberal environmental priorities.
Team Obama directed federal agencies to implement “scientific integrity” policies..."

You ought to know!

The Democrats’ Second Secession & America’s New Civil War | Frontpage Mag

The Democrats’ Second Secession & America’s New Civil War | Frontpage Mag:

"The 2016 platform of the Democratic Party vows “a societal transformation” that will “end institutional and systemic racism in our society.” This is the ideology of cultural Marxism. “Institutional racism” as a systemic American problem is a political fiction. Americans outlawed “institutional racism” half a century ago with the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. Any incidence of institutional racism today is actionable in the courts – the utra-liberal courts that threw out Trump’s executive orders on extra-legal grounds because of off-the-cuff remarks he made on the campaign trail.

“Systemic racism” and “institutional racism” are anti-American mythologies that drive the Democratic Party’s political agendas. The Democratic platform and Democrats generally, regard every social disparity as prima facie evidence of racial or gender oppression, and attribute such disparities not to individual decisions and performances but to un-named “policies,” which if they actually existed would be illegal. Consider this plank in the 2016 Democratic Party platform:"

Caroline Camden Lewis: Social Justice Grammar and 'Zir' Own Agenda — The Patriot Post

Caroline Camden Lewis: Social Justice Grammar and 'Zir' Own Agenda — The Patriot Post:
"This year, Merriam-Webster released the new “Eleventh Edition Collegiate Dictionary,” which has been lauded as a “courageous” step against racism, exclusivity and gender-bias.
This edition adds 1,000 new words including “micro-aggression,” “safe-space” and other “lingual innovations.”
The glowing announcement from the See Thru Edu (a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation) praises Merriam-Webster for joining “the fight for social justice” stating, “Soon, it will be impossible to use any word or grammar that has not been approved as multiculturally-sensitive, nonsexist, inclusive, inoffensive, nondiscriminatory, nonracist, diplomatic, gender-free or non-biased.”...
Read on!

AM Fruitcake

Court rebukes NSA over surveillance of U.S. citizens | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Court rebukes NSA over surveillance of U.S. citizens | McClatchy Washington Bureau:

"U.S. intelligence agencies conducted illegal surveillance on American citizens over a five-year period, a practice that earned them a sharp rebuke from a secret court that called the matter a “very serious” constitutional issue.

The criticism is in a lengthy secret ruling that lays bare some of the frictions between the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and U.S. intelligence agencies obligated to obtain the court’s approval for surveillance activities."

History for May 28

History for May 28 - On-This-Day.com:
Thomas Moore 1779 - Lawyer, social philosopher, author, Jim Thorpe 1888 - Olympic athlete, baseball and basketball player, Ian Fleming 1908 - Author, journalist, created character of James Bond


Gladys Knight 1944 - Singer, Rudolph Giuliani 1944 - Mayor of New York City, Marco Rubio 1971 - Politician


1533 - England's Archbishop declared the marriage of King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid.


1863 - The first black regiment left Boston to fight in the U.S. Civil War.


1928 - Chrysler Corporation merged with Dodge Brothers, Inc.


1934 - The Dionne quintuplets were born near Callender, Ontario, to Olivia and Elzire Dionne. The babies were the first quintuplets to survive infancy.


1937 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, DC, signaling that vehicular traffic could cross the newly opened Golden Gate Bridge in California.


1987 - Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow's Red Square after evading Soviet air defenses. He was released August 3, 1988.


1996 - U.S. President Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal were convicted of fraud.


1998 - Pakistan matched India with five nuclear test blasts. The U.S., Japan and other nations imposed economic sanctions. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said "Today, we have settled the score with India."

Center for Medical Progress: Undercover Video of Planned Parenthood Removed from YouTube at Judge Order | National Review

Center for Medical Progress: Undercover Video of Planned Parenthood Removed from YouTube at Judge Order | National Review:


"Yesterday evening, the Center for Medical Progress undercover footage — recorded at the 2014 and 2015 National Abortion Federation conventions — was removed from YouTube, supposedly for a violation of the site’s Terms of Service agreement. (A copy of the video can be found here. More detailed footage giving context for some of the clips is available here and here.)

A few hours later,"

Former Navy Seal: 'Go To Hell, Katy Perry' [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller

Former Navy Seal: 'Go To Hell, Katy Perry' [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller:


"Fox News host Shannon Bream asked Higbie what he thought of requiring immigrants to take cultural classes to aid assimilation efforts in the wake of terror attacks.

“If you come to America, you’re American and nothing else,” Higbie said. “[But] we don’t have people who respect the culture of the United States of America.”

“You have people like Katy Perry…this woman has said ‘oh we need to give them hugs, hug it out,'” Higbie mocked. “Go to hell Katy Perry.”"

The way we were-----Edith Piaf - Non, Je ne regrette rien

Man in clown makeup accused of killing man with bladed gloves in Denver

Man in clown makeup accused of killing man with bladed gloves in Denver:
"Denver police have arrested a man who was wearing clown makeup when he allegedly stabbed and slashed a 29-year-old man to death with a glove that had blades attached to the end of each finger.
Christian Lee Gulzow, 36, allegedly attacked the victim at 12:49 a.m. Tuesday following an argument near Torchy’s Tacos at West 11th Avenue and Broadway, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
...Witnesses told police that the suspect, wearing white clown makeup accented with black streaks on the face, suddenly began threatening the victim with a glove with blades that were 2- to 3-inches long.
They were near the Corner Store at West 10th Avenue and Broadway..."

Rumors of Fox News Death Greatly Exaggerated: Ratings Still Strong for May | Mediaite

Rumors of Fox News Death Greatly Exaggerated: Ratings Still Strong for May | Mediaite:
"Fox News certainly finds itself in a situation of flux in the wake of Bill O’Reilly‘s departure and adjustments to its prime time line-up, but the network is far from being out for the count.
The cable news outlet slid to third in the 25-54 age demographic during a recent period of five days, its worst showing since June 2000.
During the first two weeks of May 2017, however, Fox News led its competitors at CNN and MSNBC in key areas..."

Manchester Bomber Was Repeatedly Reported to Authorities Over Five Years

Manchester Bomber Was Repeatedly Reported to Authorities Over Five Years:

"The reports date back five years, when two youth workers are said to have phoned an anti-terrorism hotline to report concerns over Adebi’s “extreme views” whilst he was completing his last year at school, the BBC has reported.

Two of Abedi’s friends were also so concerned about his behaviour that they separately phoned the hotline, five years ago, and again in 2016."

Men should be part of diversity, not its victims

Men should be part of diversity, not its victims:
"...So I’m going to list a few offensive words and phrases that should be avoided in the interest of fairness, and some common stereotypes that should not inform faculty and staff’s decision-making and interaction with students.
So let’s get started:

• “Toxic masculinity.” As Toni Airaksinen has noted, this is a common and destructive concept on campus: “On college campuses across the globe, young men are treated to lectures, workshops and extracurricular activities that teach them their masculinity — an element at the very core of their identity — is dangerous, poisonous and even toxic.”One of the goals of Title IX is to ensure that no student must endure a hostile educational environment based on sex discrimination. It’s hard to imagine a more hostile educational environment than one that characterizes the gender identity of a large number of students as poisonous. Can students comfortably learn and interact with faculty and staff at an institution that sees their gender identity as toxic?It’s hard to see how that’s possible.
• Likewise, references to “testosterone poisoning” should be avoided. This variant on “toxic masculinity” identifies a particular hormone (stereotypically identified with men, though in fact women produce testosterone too, and suffer problems if it’s too low) as poisonous. Again, this is simply a statement of naked gender prejudice whose expression is likely to make students who identify as male feel uncomfortable, unappreciated, and stigmatized...

Read on!

Ingenue-Washing Book Covers is the Hot New Thing | The Digital Reader

Ingenue-Washing Book Covers is the Hot New Thing | The Digital Reader
"The book publishing industry is notorious for white-washing book covers by replacing the minority main character with a white (and sometimes male) figure who might not even be in the book.

Now Tara Sparling brings a new scourge to our attention: ingenue-washing.
A surprising number of books are being published with a faceless 20-somthing girl on the front cover:
Sparling explains in her post that publishing has taken the lazy way out (my words) and settled on 20-something white chicks as the symbol of all femininity rather than design covers to suit the content.
...It has almost become a cliche, and it's not the only time we've seen it. 
Even the reprint of The Bell Jar was afflicted by the same stereotyping. 
And so was Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, as well as other books.
And the problem gets worse when we move beyond the western world.
...Is the book set in the Arab world, or was it written by an Arab?
Then obviously it needs a woman wearing a headscarf or niqab on the cover:

Lunch video-----Afterburner w/Bill Whittle: The Lynching

Noon-toon

Undercover Video Center for Medical Progress Exposes Gruesome Abortion Practices | National Review

Undercover Video Center for Medical Progress Exposes Gruesome Abortion Practices | National Review:

"Here are some of the most horrifying remarks from the brand-new undercover footage. Attendees made some of these comments during official presentations, and others directly to undercover CMP investigators.

Dr. Lisa Harris, the medical director of Planned Parenthood of Michigan:"