IT’S REALLY NOT THAT UNCOMMON: The New York Post is reporting that a Washington research firm of for…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » IT’S REALLY NOT THAT UNCOMMON: The New York Post is reporting that a Washington research firm of for…:
"IT’S REALLY NOT THAT UNCOMMON: The New York Post is reporting that a Washington research firm of former journalists were behind the salacious Russian/Trump dossier:

Fusion GPS describes itself as a “research and strategic intelligence firm” founded by “three former Wall Street Journal investigative reporters.” But congressional sources says it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda. “These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,” a congressional source familiar with the dossier probe said. “These guys had a vested personal and ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House.”

"The fact is that that firms creating opposition research are often staffed with former journalists, who use their connections in the editorial world to redistribute this sort of thing. 
(Naturally, there are “right-leaning” as well as “left-leaning” firms of this sort.) Work in a newsroom long enough and you’ll begin to recognize “oppo” when you see it.  
Sadly, a number of journalists who were laid off by big news outfits and can’t find work elsewhere have resorted to doing this kind of work. 
As news organizations cut back on reporting, it’s easier than ever to get “oppo” published as news without sufficient fact-checking. 
What’s the opposite of a virtuous circle?

**Update: Austin Bay answers the question."

Flock Of Ospreys

Photo: Flock Of Ospreys:

Posted 7/1/2017

Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft fly in formation over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sydney, June 29, 2017. 
The aircraft are assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265. 
Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Amy Phan

AM Fruitcake

History for July 3

History for July 3 - On-This-Day.com:
George M. Cohan 1878 - Entertainer, playwright, composer, Franz Kafka 1883 - Author, Tom Stoppard 1937 - Playwright


Dave Barry 1947 - Humor writer, Montel Williams 1956 - Talk show host, Tom Cruise 1962 - Actor


1608 - The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.


1775 - U.S. Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, MA.


1863 - The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, PA, ended after three days. It was a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated.


1922 - "Fruit Garden and Home" magazine was introduced. It was later renamed "Better Homes and Gardens."


1924 - Clarence Birdseye founded the General Seafood Corp.


1930 - The U.S. Congress created the U.S. Veterans Administration.


1944 - The U.S. First Army opened a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France.


1954 - Food rationing ended in Great Britain almost nine years after the end of World War II.

Trump blasts states for refusing to cooperate in voter fraud probe - Washington Times

Trump blasts states for refusing to cooperate in voter fraud probe - Washington Times:


"President Trump on Saturday slammed states that have refused to turn over voter registration data to his newly created commission investigating voter fraud nationwide.
“Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “What are they trying to hide?”"

The way we were------The Three Degrees- -When will I see you again-

The real reason Obama didn’t take the Russia hacks more seriously | New York Post

The real reason Obama didn’t take the Russia hacks more seriously | New York Post:
"....But the real problem here is not so much Barack Obama’s failure to act as the most plausible reason for his inaction: Vladimir Putin’s capers didn’t impact the election results.
Many on the left think that, regardless of whether Republicans colluded with Moscow — a charge for which there is still no proof — the Russians stole the election from Hillary Clinton.
As The Washington Post breathlessly wrote, the Russian hacking was “the political crime of the century.”
That’s why Obama’s decision not to publicize the crime frustrates the left.
They think he threw away a golden opportunity to ensure that Trump — the alleged beneficiary of Putin’s scheme — would be defeated.
While Democratic operatives like John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chair whose e-mails were hacked by the Russians, are willing to grant absolution to Obama, the explanations we’re hearing from the Obama camp are unpersuasive.
The claim that Obama didn’t want to be seen as intervening in the campaign is laughable.
More plausible is the notion that he was sure Clinton would win anyway and making a big deal about the hacking would undermine the legitimacy of an election the Democrats thought they had in the bag.
But there’s a simpler, even more plausible explanation for Obama’s inaction:
The president saw that the hacking was having almost no impact on the course of the campaign and thus wasn’t going to mess with the results. 
Far from the crime of the century, it was, at worst, a minor annoyance to Clinton that Obama obviously felt didn’t warrant a major dustup with Putin..."
Read on!

Why James O'Keefe Is a More Honest Journalist than the MSM | Roger L. Simon

Why James O'Keefe Is a More Honest Journalist than the MSM | Roger L. Simon
"The rap on James O'Keefe — whose latest bombshell caught CNN's quasi-Marxist star pundit Van Jones with his well-tailored pants down — is that his Project Veritas videos are "unfairly edited."

I have news for O'Keefe's critics. 

All videos (and films) are basically unfairly edited, as Sergei Eisenstein and the early Soviet directors demonstrated a hundred years ago. 

It's the nature of the medium. 

Some things get left out and others put in.

Nevertheless, the video or movie camera is a recording device. 

On close examination, looked at specifically, the actual photographs and recordings finally don't lie, juxtapose them how you will. 

• Van Jones did say "Russia is a nothingburger!" 
• The network's John Bonifield did call CNN's Russia narrative "bullsh$t" concocted for the money. 
• The repellent lady from Planned Parenthood did offer to sell fetal parts. 
• The equally repellent Democratic Party operatives did instigate violent demonstrations at Trump rallies to make the candidate's supporters look like thugs. 
• O'Keefe himself did walk back and forth undettered across the Rio Grande from Mexico to the USA dressed as Osama bin Laden to show the pathetic level of our border security.

I could go on. 

There are many more, including examples unmasking the shibboleths of voter registration, but the point is obvious. 

Despite some selective editing (but not any that materially alters the facts) and sometimes overly portentous music (why bother when you have the goods?), what James O'Keefe reports is true. 
It happened.

Because they so often rely on leaks — no photographs, videos or anything like them, often nothing concrete at all — what the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and so many others (even the front pages of the Wall Street Journal, alas) report is very often, one is tempted to say most often, either a distortion or an outright lie. 

This is particularly true when what they are reporting has political relevance — and so much does..."

Bergdahl case: Judge lets rare misbehavior charge proceed

Bergdahl case: Judge lets rare misbehavior charge proceed:

"The military judge overseeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's case says prosecutors can try the soldier on a rare charge alleging he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

The judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, rejected a defense motion on Thursday to dismiss the charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which carries up to a life sentence."

Divided America Stands—Then, and Now - WSJ

Divided America Stands—Then, and Now - WSJ
"If there’s one thing Americans of all political stripes can agree on, it’s that the country is divided—bitterly, dangerously, perhaps irreconcilably riven.
“It shows up in very cinematic fashion, in things like the Scalise shooting,” says historian Allen Guelzo.
“So we jump to the conclusion: Oh my goodness, does it mean we’re on the brink of civil war?”
No, answers Mr. Guelzo, director of the Civil War Era Studies Program at Gettysburg College.
The Civil War was singular and is almost certain to remain so.
But he does see continuities, some of them surprising, between then and now.
And he thinks today’s divisions are worse than those of any time in American history except the 1850s and ’60s.
Today “there are a lot of unhappy personalities, and there are divisions of cultural values,” Mr. Guelzo tells me..."
Read on!

Europe's Migrant Crisis: Views from Central Europe

Europe's Migrant Crisis: Views from Central Europe

• Many so-called asylum seekers have refused to relocate to Central and Eastern Europe because the financial benefits there are not as generous as in France, Germany or Scandinavia. In addition, hundreds of migrants who have been relocated to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which rank among the poorest EU countries, have since fled to Germany and other wealthier countries in the bloc.
• "It needs to be said clearly and directly: This is an attack on Europe, on our culture, on our traditions." — Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydło.
• "I think we have a right to decide that we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country. That is a historical experience for us." — Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, referring to Hungary's occupation by the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1699.

The European Union has initiated legal action against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland for failing to comply with a controversial order to take in thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The so-called infringement procedure, which authorizes the European Commission, the powerful executive arm of the European Union, to sue member states that are considered to be in breach of their obligations under EU law, could lead to massive financial penalties..."
Read on!

Lunch video-----The Fall of Chicago. There Will Be No Economic Recovery.

Noon-toon

19th Obamacare Co-Op Folds, Leaving Only 4 Operating in 2018 - Washington Free Beacon

19th Obamacare Co-Op Folds, Leaving Only 4 Operating in 2018 - Washington Free Beacon:

"Minuteman Health is the 19th co-op that will not be operating and selling insurance on the Obamacare exchanges in 2018. This means there are only four co-ops of the 23 originally created through Obamacare that will still be offering health care plans next year."

WAIT, THERE WAS A TRUCE? “Dems say goodbye to truce, use inflammatory rhetoric against GOP healthc…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WAIT, THERE WAS A TRUCE? “Dems say goodbye to truce, use inflammatory rhetoric against GOP healthc…:
"WAIT, THERE WAS A TRUCE? “Dems say goodbye to truce, use inflammatory rhetoric against GOP healthcare,” including these gems from the past 24 hours:

● “On CNN, Montel Williams: GOP Plan Would Send 140 Million to ‘Death.’”
—Headline, NewsBusters today
● “Republicans are trying to pass a bill that could kill up to 27,000 in 2026 so they can give tax cuts to the wealthy.”
—Deleted tweet by Bernie Sanders yesterday.
● “Let us be clear and this is not trying to be overly dramatic: Thousands of people will die if the Republican health care bill becomes law.
—Not-deleted tweet by Bernie Sanders, yesterday.
● “Forget death panels. If Republicans pass this bill, they’re the death party.”
—Not-deleted tweet by Hillary Clinton, yesterday.
...Or as Seth Barron noted in City Journal last week in response to GOP Rep. Steve Scalise being shot by a deranged Sanders supporter, “Every policy difference, no matter how trivial, has been cast as a matter of life and death. 
Proposed changes in federal Medicaid reimbursement practices will consign ‘tens of thousands of people’ to early death, according to Senator Bernie Sanders, while rolling back federal guidelines on transgender bathroom signage will cause more teenagers to kill themselves, according to ThinkProgress…Trump’s opponents in the media, academia, and politics can pretend that their calls for radical action were meant metaphorically or in a nonviolent sense. 
But they are the ones who opened this box of fear, panic, and rage. 
Let them take responsibility for the climate that now exists.”

Why Government Schools Fail - Reason.com

Why Government Schools Fail - Reason.com:
"Every year, almost every industry improves.
We get more choices—usually better choices, for less money.
"But of all the products we make and the services we provide, there's one that stands out as an exception," according to the Cato Institute's Andrew Coulson.
"One activity in which excellence doesn't spawn countless imitators or spread on a massive scale: schooling."
Why not?
What can be done about it?
These questions are asked and often answered by Coulson's new PBS TV series School Inc. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/school-inc/
It's a wonderful three hours, reaching back years to America's first experiments in education and traveling the world to look at schools in Chile, England, Sweden, India and Korea. In Korea, top teachers make millions.
Why haven't American schools improved? 
The education establishment says, "We don't have enough money!"
But American schools spend more per student than other countries.
Spending tripled during Coulson's lifetime and class sizes dropped.
But test scores stay flat.
"Schools adopted all sorts of new technologies, from projectors to personal computers to 'smart' whiteboards," says Coulson.
"None of these inventions improved outcomes ... Educational quality has been stuck in the era of disco and leisure suits for 40 years, while the rest of the world has passed it by."
The main reason for that is that most schools are controlled by government. 
Government is a monopoly, and monopolies resist change..."
Read on!

Blog: California Dems kill plan to forensically audit Janet Napolitano's $175-million scandal at the University of California

Blog: California Dems kill plan to forensically audit Janet Napolitano's $175-million scandal at the University of California:
"Janet Napolitano got caught by a state auditor hiding $175 million in discretionary funds in the Office of the President of the University of California, while pleading poverty and asking for tuition hikes.  Even worse, she tried to rig the audit.

There is enough smoke there to conceal a substantial fire.

It would seem merely prudent to send in the forensic auditors – people skilled at tracing funds that got squirreled away through accounting maneuvers.  
Of course, this presupposes that the people in charge care about whether or not money was stolen, misappropriated, or wasted when an executive took pains to hide it.

A Republican in the California State Assembly, Dante Acosta of Santa Clarita, sought to launch an examination of how those funds were used.  
And not a single Democrat supported the effort to pierce the darkness (where democracy dies, according to the Washington Post) with a genuine forensic investigation.

Patrick McGreevy reports in the Los Angeles Times:

Two months after a state audit found mismanagement at the University of California, Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday blocked a Republican legislator's proposal to have auditors go back in and look deeper at spending, this time with an eye for possible criminal activity.

....However, no Democratic lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted to authorize a new audit[.]..."

You ought to know!

'Obamaphone' program riddled with fraud: Audit - Washington Times

'Obamaphone' program riddled with fraud: Audit - Washington Times:

"The controversial “Obamaphone” program, which pays for cellphones for the poor, is rife with fraud, according to a new government report released Thursday that found more than a third of enrollees may not even be qualified.
Known officially as the Lifeline Program, the phone giveaway became a symbol of government waste in the previous administration. Now a new report from the Government Accountability Office bears out those concerns."

Protecting the world!-----Carrier Strike Group 5

Photo: Carrier Strike Group 5:

Posted 6/30/2017

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 29, 2017) Ships assigned to Carrier Strike Group 5 sail in formation during a live-fire gunnery exercise. 
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, providing a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. 
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan Burke)