Murder in America - Murder map: Deadliest U.S. cities - Pictures - CBS News

Murder in America - Murder map: Deadliest U.S. cities - Pictures - CBS News
"In America's urban centers, 3,081 people were murdered in the first half of 2017, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association Violent Crimes Survey. 
That's up from 2,994 people for the same period in 2016.

Here are murder rates in 61 cities and major urban centers across the U.S. for the first half of 2017. The rates are calculated per 100,000 residents, based on the most recent population data for each city. 
1. St. Louis, Missouri-The murder rate in St. Louis is 29.1 per 100,000 -- the highest of all the cities included in the police chiefs' data. 

Ninety-two people were murdered in that city in the first half of 2017..."

Read on!

The Solemn Duty of Government and the Military | The Heritage Foundation

The Solemn Duty of Government and the Military | The Heritage Foundation:

"For over 225 years, the U.S. Constitution has served us well, but some federal judges seem to have misplaced their copies. How else to explain recent 18th-century-type edicts from four federal district judges who are presuming to run the military without any authority under Article III of the U.S. Constitution?
Articles I and II, respectively, assign to Congress and the Executive Branch shared power to establish and implement military policies. In the waning months of his administration, President Barack Obama unilaterally decided that individuals identifying as transgender or having gender dysphoria could serve openly in the military."

Lawmaker: Michigan no-fault insurance hike is 'a farce' - Story | WJBK

Lawmaker: Michigan no-fault insurance hike is 'a farce' - Story | WJBK

"(WJBK) - To say State Rep. Pete Lucido (R-Shelby Township) is upset about the latest insurance rate hike, would be an understatement.

On Thursday the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association announced starting July 1st - you will pay $22 more a year -- bringing the total to $192 a year for each insured vehicle.

Lucido wants to know why since the catastrophic claims fund currently has $21 billion.

"This is a farce, this is un-American and uncivilized in today's society," Lucido said. "We shouldn't be paying for this; we need to have them under oath. We need to have those books open. We need to know how much people are making and where that money goes."

Lucido says the only people who do know is the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association because years ago it became a private fund.

The organization claims the mandatory fee to cover unlimited medical benefits for injured drivers are going up because of higher than expected claims..."
Read on!

Facebook Eyes the Midterms | Power Line

Facebook Eyes the Midterms | Power Line:
"...I think it remarkable that Facebook intends to take on “false narratives,” i.e., “intentionally divisive headlines and language.” 
Is it surprising that people disagree about “what an appropriate narrative is”? 
How Facebook intends to referee competing narratives, I can’t imagine. 
Well, no, actually I can.

How about “false facts”? 
Here, Facebook must rely on fact-checkers:

Today, I want to talk about one part of our strategy: our partnership with third-party fact-checking organizations. We’re seeing progress in our ability to limit the spread of articles rated false by fact-checkers, and we’re scaling our efforts.

Here’s how it works:

* We use signals, including feedback from people on Facebook, to predict potentially false stories for fact-checkers to review.

* When fact-checkers rate a story as false, we significantly reduce its distribution in News Feed — dropping future views on average by more than 80%.

* We notify people who’ve shared the story in the past and warn people who try to share it going forward.

* For those who still come across the story in their News Feed, we show more information from fact-checkers in a Related Articles unit.

* We use the information from fact-checkers to train our machine learning model, so that we can catch more potentially false news stories and do so faster.

So it all comes down to, who are the fact-checkers? 

A Facebook employee stated at the press conference that approved fact checkers will be those who have signed on to Poynter’s international fact checking network principles. 

You can see the list of signatories at the link; the only one that I recognize as more or less conservative is the Weekly Standard. 

Facebook has already said that it will use Politifact and Snopes, both left-leaning, as fact checkers. 

At the press conference, it got even worse:

In the US, we recently announced a partnership with The Associated Press to use their reporters in all 50 states to identify and debunk false and misleading stories related to the federal, state and local US midterm elections.

The Associated Press is the number one source of left-wing bias in the American press. 

Its “fact checks” are directed almost exclusively against President Trump and his administration, rarely against Democrats. 

I have written about them a number of times. 

In my judgment, the AP’s anti-Trump “fact checks” are wrong as often as they are right. 

Most often, they just assert Democratic Party talking points. 

If the AP is to be Facebook’s principal fact-checker for the midterm elections, Facebook may as well outsource the function to the Democratic National Committee..."

Read all!

Lunch video-----Dana Loesch: Left Using Parkland Kids to Silence Pro-Gun Americans

Noon-toon

Studio CEO: 'Very Powerful People' Pressured Us Not To Release 'Chappaquiddick' | Daily Wire

Studio CEO: 'Very Powerful People' Pressured Us Not To Release 'Chappaquiddick' | Daily Wire:

"Finally, Americans will be given the full truth and nothing but the truth about what happened the night Sen. Ted Kennedy left an innocent woman to drown in a car as he fled from the scene of an accident.
The film "Chappaquiddick," starring Jason Clarke as the Kennedy golden boy and Kate Mara as his fateful victim, comes out next weekend, but according to the film's executive producer, powerful players have tried to prevent that from happening."

GE tests a new engine on a 747 and boy does it look weird - CNET

GE tests a new engine on a 747 and boy does it look weird - CNET:
"Commentary: When GE tests a new engine, it mounts it on an old plane. The GE9X is a lot bigger than a 747's existing engines.
...Here, for example, is a video of a Boeing 747-400 taking off.
But something doesn't look quite right. 
One engine looks far bigger than the others.
Is this someone's idea of humor?
Not at all.
For one, the video was released two weeks ago...
Instead, this celebrates GE Aviation's March 13 maiden test of its new GE9X engine, one that is set to power Boeing's new 777X planes.

#1 Movie this week 2005-----Guess Who - Trailer

Coffee cancer warning: What science says about cancer risk, coffee and acrylamide - CBS News

Coffee cancer warning: What science says about c
"...The California law
Since 1986, businesses have been required to post warnings about chemicals known to cause cancer or other health risks - more than 900 substances are on the state's list today - but what's a "significant" risk is arguable.
Coffee sellers and other defendants in the lawsuit that spurred Thursday's ruling have a couple weeks to challenge it or appeal.
The law "has potential to do much more harm than good to public health," by confusing people into thinking risks from something like coffee are similar to those from smoking, Giovannucci said.
The International Food Information Council and Foundation, an organization funded mostly by the food and beverage industry, says the law is confusing the public because it doesn't note levels of risk, and adds that U.S. dietary guidelines say up to five cups of coffee a day can be part of a healthy diet..."
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#1 This day in 1982-----Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock N Roll

Social media firms like Facebook want us addicted to popularity & status

Social media firms like Facebook want us addicted to popularity & status:
"...When humans evolved in small bands of 20 to 100 people, standing within the tribe was vitally important.
Your reproductive success, access to resources, and even your children’s future, depended a lot on your popularity.
It’s not surprising, then, that people who experienced a rush of pleasure when they received social validation — a “dopamine hit,” in today’s popular language of neurochemistry — were more likely to survive, leaving a strong evolutionary bias toward people with a desire to receive social approval. (And a fear of social disapproval, which is why speaking in public is one of the greatest phobias.)
Social media companies know this, and take advantage of it.
There’s even a company called Dopamine Labs that specializes in making apps more addictive.
(And “more addictive” is a fair way of putting it, given that “dopamine hits” in the brain are also a key mechanism for addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and the like.)
...Regulation is a blunt instrument, and I don’t like it.
But if the tech industry is seen as being in the business of addiction, regulation is likely to take place."

You ought to know!

3 Out of 4 Convicted Terrorists Came to U.S. Legally Via Current Immigration System - Judicial Watch

3 Out of 4 Convicted Terrorists Came to U.S. Legally Via Current Immigration System - Judicial Watch:

"Illustrating the national security threats created by the nation’s immigration system, the overwhelming majority of individuals convicted of terrorism are foreigners who entered the United States legally through various federal programs. Three out of every four convicted terrorists between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2016 are foreign born and came to the United States through our immigration system, according to a new report issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
At least 549 individuals were convicted of terrorism-related charges in American federal courts since 2001 and 402 of them—approximately 73%–were foreign-born, the report says."

Chinese Tiangong-1 space station burns up over Pacific Ocean - CNET

Chinese Tiangong-1 space station burns up over Pacific Ocean - CNET:
"China's out-of-control Tiangong-1 space station is no more, or at least it is no longer what it once was. Whatever bits of the spacecraft didn't burn up on its long descent through the atmosphere are now likely headed to their final resting place on the floor of the south Pacific.
The Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California reports that Tiangong-1 re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the ocean near Tahiti at approximately 5:16 p.m. PT on Sunday..."

AM Fruitcake

AM Fruitcake

History for April 2

History for April 2 - On-This-Day.com
Hans Christian Andersen 1805 - Author ("The Ugly Duckling"), Frederic Bartholdi 1834, Emile Zola 1840 - Novelist


Walter Chrysler 1875 - Auto manufacturer (Chrysler Corporation), Buddy Ebsen 1908 - Actor ("The Beverly Hillbillies," "Barnaby Jones"), Sir Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness de Cuffe) 1914 - Actor ("Bridge Over River Kwai," "A Passage to India," "Star Wars")


1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida. The next day he went ashore.


1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum.


1902 - The first motion picture theatre opened in Los Angeles with the name Electric Theatre.


1910 - Karl Harris perfected the process for the artificial synthesis of rubber.


1935 - Sir Watson-Watt was granted a patent for RADAR.


1972 - Burt Reynolds appeared nude in "Cosmopolitan" magazine.

1982 - Argentina invaded the British-owned Falkland Islands. The following June Britain took the islands back.