Blog Heap o'Links for June 2014

Links in this view: 170
1

Playing Politics

Kansas Flag

“We just witnessed in Mississippi the unmistakable and unforgivable betrayal of conservative Republicans by our own GOP establishment. GOP insiders actually joined league with liberal Democrats to defeat a fellow Republican for the offense of being conservative. The National Republican Senate Committee poured over $200 thousand into Mississippi as well as an army of staffers who knocked on 45,000 doors and made 18,000 phone calls… Kansas is the battlefield. Remember Mississippi.”
—Dr. Milton Wolf, candidate for U.S. Senate in Kansas

3:19pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Wars and Rumors

Israel Flag

"With heavy grief, this evening we found three bodies. All signs indicate that they are the bodies of our three abducted youths –- Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel," Netanyahu said before the start of an emergency cabinet meeting. "They were abducted and murdered in cold blood by human animals. On behalf of the entire Jewish people, I would like to tell the dear families –- the mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and brothers and sisters –- we are deeply saddened, the entire nation weeps with you. We will give the boys a proper burial."

Then the prime minister quoted Israeli poet Hayim Nahman Bialik. "'Vengeance for the blood of a small child, Satan has not yet created,'" he said. "[N]either has vengeance for the blood of three pure youths, who were on their way home to meet their parents, who will not see them anymore. Hamas is responsible –- and Hamas will pay. May the memories of the three boys be blessed."

8:17pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Four villages in north-eastern Nigeria have been attacked by suspected Boko Haram militants who targeted at least one church. The bodies of at least 40 civilians and six militants have been recovered… latest assault on villages near Chibok, the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted in April.

8:08pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
Crazyface

Jihadist militant group Isis has said it is establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria. It also proclaimed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph and "leader for Muslims everywhere".

8:03pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

The Islamist Abu Saffiya from Chile, shows off the spoils of war and raises the Islamic flag at a former Iraqi military base. Another Islamist mocks Obama at the end of the video: “Obama, did you prepare enough diapers for your soldiers?” [Oh, ha ha. Very droll. Eat pork and die. And not for mocking our Numbskull in Chief. That's my job.]

7:53pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Theory of Education

So the College Board is using the alleged curricular pressure as a pretext to implement a curriculum that is completely at odds with the traditional APUSH course – which was designed to provide students with a balanced survey of the American experience while also preparing them for college-level courses in American history. “Balance” has disappeared. Students will learn a great deal about American oppressors and exploiters but little about the dreamers, innovators, and heroes who built our country.

The redesigned Framework is best described as a curricular coup.

3:24pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Police Riot

…recalls feeling a low blood sugar incident coming on… pulled his car over… That's the last thing Mathieu, who is diabetic, remembers until he awoke to being beaten by San Antonio, Texas, cops. …three broken ribs and cuts and bruises over his body. Cops say he refused… to step out of his car.

8:11pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Political Theater

…unlike other super PACs, the UP ["Unlocking Potential"] Project will not do battle on TV. Instead, the PAC will solely focus on the ground game, organizing and mobilizing grassroots networks, especially of women, that can help Republicans win the messaging battle woman-to-woman and neighbor-to-neighbor.

"We need to name and shame Democrats who play the 'war on women' game," Fiorina told Breitbart News. "Too often, Republicans have allowed the label to stick because of a misguided theory that by ignoring a charge it just goes away...We need to organize strong conservative activists, especially women, and energize them to take action on behalf of our conservative principles. Women make up half this country. The UP Project is no longer going to allow Democrats to pretend we are single-issue voters." [Video at link or http://youtu.be/CgZGRXG9Gto]

8:06pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Sharia Sucks

How a Sydney teen, 13, was kidnapped by her father, taken to Syria and forced to marry her cousin before escaping violent and terrifying ordeal on her 18th birthday… beaten by her father and brother… still hiding from her father, who is also now allegedly back in Sydney…

7:50pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

McCain

"Obviously, I claim credit for it, but, actually, the reason why he won was that he had a really excellent get-out-the-vote campaign," McCain told The Arizona Republic. "There are some people who are complaining that African-American voters voted. I thought one of the major priorities of the Republican Party was to get all minority and ethnic voters out to vote for Republicans." [This lying, brainwashed Manchurian DIABLO needs to put a cork in it for good. "Complaining that African-American voters voted" is a lie worthy of his being struck by lightning. He is pure evil, and I rue the day I ever voted "for" him (really, truly, purely against the other guy).]

8:22pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
Facebook

We now know that’s exactly what happened two years ago. For one week in January 2012, data scientists skewed what almost 700,000 Facebook users saw when they logged into its service. Some people were shown content with a preponderance of happy and positive words; some were shown content analyzed as sadder than average. And when the week was over, these manipulated users were more likely to post either especially positive or negative words themselves.

This tinkering was just revealed as part of a new study, published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Many previous studies have used Facebook data to examine “emotional contagion,” as this one did. This study is different because, while other studies have observed Facebook user data, this one set out to manipulate it.

3:29pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Impeach Obama

Cutie-pie O

Obama sends CIA to UK to probe terrorist 'breeding ground': President in pointed snub to MI5 over 'lone wolf' mission to interrogate British security experts…

8:13pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
Smug O

As illegal immigrants flood across the border, President Barack Obama is still reportedly planning to issue an executive action to give temporary amnesty and work permits this year to the parents of illegal immigrant children.

3:21pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
2

Feeding Ourselves

…wafer-like, gluten free, and can survive being baked. They can even hold up in the oven without a cupcake tray — on what planet is that a reality!?

8:00pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Bruce “BooBoo” Long, 68, of Bartlesville, passed away suddenly, Thursday, June 26, 2014. … BooBoo always said “Clowns never die, they just parade away.”

8:27pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

Policing Ourselves

…a terrific example of citizen accountability through filming cops [video at link]

3:26pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
3

Defending Ourselves

Rep. Randy Weber introduced a bill Monday to hold Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador “accountable” for their citizens’ illegal migration by suspending foreign aid to those countries.

“The recent influx of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) has become a humanitarian crisis and has proven that certain laws are working against the United States of America,” Weber said Monday. “Texas, a border state, has repeatedly asked for help from the White House to mobilize our National Guard, and there has been no answer from the President or his administration. Frankly, the border states have been left hanging to fend for themselves, increasing the health and security risks to our citizens,” Weber added, explaining that state resources are being used to deal with the influx, but “it is still not enough to solve this crisis.”

8:24pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW

United States of America

1. General Introduction: A Dangerous Plan of Benefit only to the "Aristocratick Combination"…

7:56pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 30 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

Mexico Flag

A former Mexican cartel soldier who turned against the narco terrorists and joined the burgeoning Mexican militia movement has been found shot and tortured along with his wife and children in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

5:41pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW

Samarra's al-Askari Mosque contains the mausoleums of two Shia Imams, making it a key pilgrimage point and one of the most significant sites of worship for Shia worldwide. The bombing of the mosque in 2006 set off a vicious cycle of violence… ISIS follows a deeply puritanical Sunni thread of Islam that believes shrines are antithetical to Islam and should be destroyed — a practice they have carried out in areas they control in Syria. ISIS has tried to take control of Samarra. But it's been forced back by a coalition of the Iraqi Army and Shiite militias which now guard the shrine and the city. This has not stopped ISIS' from lobbing mortars at the shrine in an attempt to demolish it…. (From Jun 24)

2:57pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW
Crazyface

…as part of its blitz-campaign to take over northern Iraq, ISIS found and the promptly executed Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the judge who sentenced Saddam to death: a death which to many was the crowning moment of the second US invasion of Iraq, and the confirmation of successful US foreign policy.

1:26pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW

Criminally Stupid

When being questioned… Peck pulled out headphones from his pocket when the police noticed an suspicious item came out and hit the ground. Officers discovered a small box of meth….

1:30pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW
3

US Military

Dog

…more than 1,200 brave military dogs used to protect troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere were killed by our government after they were retired… euthanized because they were deemed too “dangerous” for civilian adoption or jobs with law enforcement agencies, as well as for medical reasons… 16 retired pooches that once worked as guards or bomb sniffers were “put down” between 2001 and 2005 simply because “they were not wanted” by anyone…

1:21pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW

Securing Our Borders

Officials in [Portland, South Portland and Bangor, Maine] say they plan to defy the state and continue offering General Assistance welfare benefits to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

5:38pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW

Defending Ourselves

A sign on the front door of Shooters Grill [in Rifle, Colorado] reads, “Guns are welcome on premises. Please keep all weapons holstered, unless the need arises. In such cases, judicious marksmanship is appreciated.”

5:47pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 29 :MW
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Wars and Rumors

Since they began their blitz just over a fortnight ago, Sunni insurgents in Iraq have destroyed half of the Iraqi army and inflicted $10 billion in losses, a senior Iraqi defense official said. [War News Updates editor comments: "These loses are staggering and mind-boggling .... and I suspect that the real numbers are probably higher."]

8:08pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Theory of Education

Petitioners, organized by the National Associations of State Boards of Education (NASBE), recently filed a lawsuit arguing that the repeal of Common Core is unconstitutional under Oklahoma state law. The plaintiffs take issue with a provision in House Bill 3399 allowing the state legislature to be involved in drafting new standards to replace Common Core….

7:17pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Political Theater

Rage Guy

The political strategist for the re-election campaign of New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez (R) reportedly confronted on Saturday a group of pro-life demonstrators in Albuquerque by lashing out, “You are all pieces of shit!”

8:48pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Under Tyranny

Plane

According to my best reading of a notice the FAA announced on Monday, things like the US $154 Husban X4 quadcopter are no longer toys—they are true drone aircraft in the FAA's eyes and cannot be flown without a certificate of authorization or special airworthiness certificate.

Huh?

Up to now, the FAA has been distinguishing model aircraft from small drones (or small unmanned aerial systems, to use the FAA’s preferred terminology) according to whether they are flown for recreation or for commercial purposes.

7:11pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
Donkey's Rear

Senate Democrats are steadily pushing forward with what they hope will become the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The proposed amendment would give Congress authority to regulate every dollar raised, and every dollar spent, by every federal campaign and candidate in the country. It would give state legislatures the power to do the same with state races. [How does the Fed make State Law??]

Framed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as a response to campaign spending by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers…

5:58pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Hang Those Who Betray Public Trust

Eric Holder Puckered

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, TX) [offers $1,000,000 for Lerner's emails]: "We know those emails are out there, we know they can be found. We just need the people to help find them. This is a way to work around the attorney general to achieve justice," he continued, accusing Holder of helping hide the truth and calling for his resignation. "The attorney general can't say attorney general forever. We will get justice."

7:32pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
Wedding Rings Interlocked

Two years after activists for same-sex marriage obtained the confidential tax return and donor list of a national group opposed to redefining marriage, the Internal Revenue Service has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to settle the resulting lawsuit. The Daily Signal has learned that, under a consent judgment today, the IRS agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage. [Will the guilty parties be paying that $50,000, or will it just come from Tax Money? Just guess.]

7:22pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Justice?

Crazyface

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the man the U.S. accuses of being the ringleader in the deadly 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, pleaded not guilty Saturday during a brief appearance in federal court in Washington. [Another Obama-created nightmare of jurisprudence, compounding upon an Obama-created nightmare of ambassadorial death. The term is clusterfuck.]

7:27pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Impeach Obama

Cutie-Pie O

The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer spoke to a handpicked contingent of bored, phone-gazing millennials on Thursday. "…I’m like a caged bear and every once in a while I break loose.…” In the deep recesses of his narcissistic mind comparing himself to a caged bear connotes a fearsome creature, but to the rest of us poor schmoes all we envision is a pitiful creature relegated to wearing silly ruffles riding a ridiculously undersized tricycle….

7:45pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
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Climate Changes

Sun

Republican congressional candidate Lenar Whitney released a video Friday calling global warming "the greatest deception in the history of mankind." Calling Al Gore and other liberal politicians pushing global warming "delusional," Whitney reminds viewers that "The earth has done nothing but get colder each year since the film's release." Whitney then goes on to cite a litany of other scientific facts to rebut and mock global warming believers, including President Obama, whom she calls "foolish" for blaming his lousy economy on warming. [Watch on YouTube]

7:58pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Digital Theory of Education

Andrew Lampart found he couldn't access the National Rifle Association's website while on campus at Connecticut's Nonnewaug High School. But he could go to pro-gun control sites just fine. Investigating further, he found the state Republican Party's website was blocked, but not that of the Democratic Party. Anti-abortion websites were blocked, but not those of pro-choice groups. Christian websites, including that of the Vatican, were blocked, but not Islamic websites.

8:46pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

People Do Drugs

There is more land devoted to opium production that ever before, in large part because more acres are being used as poppy fields in Afghanistan, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. … Myanmar is also ramping up opium production… [and yet:] The report found that drug use “is stable” across the world…

8:02pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
3

US Military

A US Navy Harrier pilot has landed his aircraft on a stool after a landing gear failure. The incident took place on the USS Bataan earlier this month. [Cackling talking-heads news report video at link]

7:41pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Defending Ourselves

The Richmond County, Georgia, school system has agreed to pay $1,000 and legal expenses to a mother who was barred from her child's elementary school after she posted a photo of her state weapon carry license on Facebook. … She says [police] questioned her not only about her carry permit but about the fact she is in the Army. [But of course the Richmond County or Georgia State taxpayers will be paying that $1000, not the people who should be made to pay it.]

8:25pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
Google

Beginning in September, Google plans to block firearm, ammunition, and gun accessory ads.

7:54pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

Governing Ourselves

US Flag

In conversations with attendees, and from the stage as Former Governor Sarah Palin, Sen. Rick Santorum, and Rep. Allen West addressed the crowd of about 500, the anger about Cochran's controversial electoral tactics was palpable. …

West: “That was a disgrace. That was not standing on principal that’s not standing up for what you believe in, that was just a career politician that just wants to go back to Washington D.C. That was despicable, it’s immoral and it’s disgusting.”

Palin: “Well shoot, our own party was proving this last week, to potentially manipulate and exterminate the integrity of a primary election.”

Santorum: “America’s bigger than that, it’s not about one battle its about fighting for what you believes is what is right for the country and staying engaged, we’re not allowed to get discouraged.”

West: “This is not our last stand it is our greatest stand. Plant the flag. Make a stand."

7:52pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW

US Election 2016

Clinton

In a new interview with NBC, former President Bill Clinton has now joined wife Hillary Clinton in claiming that they were "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001.

8:29pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
O Hillary

Former Secretary Hillary Clinton admitted that she probably made a mistake when she suggested that she and Bill Clinton were “dead broke” after leaving the White House. “But you know my inartful use of those few words doesn’t change who I am, what I’ve stood for my entire life what I stand for today.” [Yes, that's true.]

8:27pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
Hillary Faced

“Well you have to be a little bit crazy to run for president, let me just put it like that,” [Hillary] Clinton laughed… [Video at link]

[Her] "life of service… [is] a very hard job, and it’s a job that, you know, you have to be totally consumed by, and that’s kind of the definition of being a little bit crazy, I think…."

8:14pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 28 :MW
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Wars and Rumors

The wars in Iraq and Syria have effectively merged into one sprawling conflict, especially in light of the massive blitz across northern and central Iraq by militant group ISIS and its affiliates. The multi-country crisis has taken on increasing complexity as Iraq and Syria fragment along sectarian and ethnic lines. … Twitter user @deSyracurse has put together a fascinating and impressively granular map of the spreading chaos throughout the two countries.

4:41pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

The Hatra complex, a Unesco world heritage site which features 200ft-high temples, now stands in territory claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) group. There are fears the stone statues within the area could be destroyed by jihadists, who have already demolished a statue of Iraqi musician and composer Othman al-Mousuli 70 miles away in Mosul. [See pix at link]

4:29pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

A Royal Navy patrol ship tracked down and intercepted two Russian landing craft in the English Channel yesterday.

HMS Severn, a 1,700-tonne River-class patrol ship armed with three machine guns, headed off the two military vessels sailing east through the Channel.

The ship 'closed and tracked' the Russian craft as they, which are thought to have been moving from the Mediterranean back to their home bases.

4:27pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Russia has lost contact with one of three military satellites responsible for detecting intercontinental ballistic missile launches, leaving Moscow blind to possible nuclear attacks… [War News Updates blogger comments: "This is not reassuring news to know about as tensions rise between Russia and the West."]

4:23pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Iraq

… just four days before he was scheduled to return home. …Moncie Lamar Johns joined the Marines when he was 17 years old and served 22 years, including fighting in Operation Desert Storm. He retired in 2010 as a gunnery sergeant and moved back to the United States, wanting to spend time with his two young daughters. But [Father] Bill Johns said something was missing for his son, who was one of four siblings. His two brothers also served in the military. "He's been always a person to want to help. And he found out really on the jobs here he couldn't help a lot of people,” Bill Johns said. “But he told me a couple times he said, 'Dad, I can help them overseas.'”

5:38pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Bush's Iraq compared with Obama's "Iraq" [image at link]

4:33pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

Smug O

"But sometimes, the news that's coming off is just — these are just Washington fights. They're fabricated issues, they're phony scandals that are generated. It's all geared towards the next election or ginning up a base. It's not on the level." [Says the expert.]

5:17pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Hang Those Who Betray Public Trust

EPA administrator Gina McCarthy admitted that some of the information and emails they are seeking were "lost" in another of the Obama administration's many "hard drive crashes." The admission prompted Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) to ask, "What is it with bureaucrats and public employees…the hard drives crash?"

4:45pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Impeach Obama

Hillary, Guzzling

The thing with Obama is that he can’t be bothered and there is no hand on the tiller half the time. That’s the story of the Obama presidency. No hand on the f***ing tiller.The IRS targeting the Tea Party, the Justice Department’s seizure of AP phone records and James Rosen’s emails — all these scandals. Obama’s allowed his hatred for his enemies to screw him the way Nixon did. …incompetent and feckless… You can’t trust the motherf***er. Obama has treated Bill and me incredibly shabbily. And we’re angry… [Hillary, from Edward Klein's book Blood Feud]

5:23pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
Angry O

[An excellent and in places humorous video compilation of bald-faced b.s. by the Bullslinger in Chief.]

5:08pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
Crybaby O

June 24 2014 Tuesday-Today Megyn Kelly DESTROYS State Dept. Lackey Marie Harf on Obama Administration Hypocrisy [Video from Fox News at link]

4:56pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

"The improper criteria used to highlight organizations for investigation just by their name was a mistake," [IRS Commissioner] Koskinen [a form of weasel] said. "I apologize to anybody who ever had their applications held up needlessly. Everybody needs to be confident that the IRS is going to treat them fairly no matter who they are. Republicans, Democrats, whatever organization they belong to. So it's a serious matter." However, he maintained that evidence uncovered so far by six investigations found no involvement by the White House, as alleged by some Republicans. [Just as he earlier said he found no evidence of wrong-doing.]

4:19pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
3

US Military

Our troops must adhere to the sharia during the Islamic month of Ramadan in Bahrain and other Muslim countries. Subjected to dawah (proselytizing) by an Islamic cultural adviser at the Naval Support Activity, soldiers are forced to sit through lessons on Islam. No eating, drinking, alcohol, smoking during the month of Ramadan. This is what the Obama administration and the US military are obsessed with as armies of jihad tear through the Middle East.

5:44pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Israel Stands Alone

Israel Flag

"Hamas, a vicious terrorist organization that seeks Israel's destruction, and has launched thousands of rockets into Israel, killing innocent civilians. These rockets have also killed dozens of Americans. [Video at link of US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on kidnapped Israeli teens]

5:30pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
Israel Flag

But rather than discouraging Hen, the hostility he faced inspired him to redouble his efforts. In the one and a half years since Hen arrived in Seattle, keeping track of Hen was much like tracking a tornado. Always in motion, always traveling Hen shared the beauty of Israel with over 40,000 students from High School through college. His final project, supporting the students of the University of Washington in fending off a BDS inspired divestment resolution resulted in a decisive victory. …

“What did I learn? That Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism….

4:52pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

US Congress

Thanks, @replouiegohmert for "joining" me on @AmericaNewsroom this morning #photobombed pic.twitter.com/NeRjH4vajh

5:51pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Securing Our Borders

…this was the week in which the Obama administration's attempts to deflect blame for the border crisis fell apart. … Recent days have been filled with anecdotal reports, from local news outlets in Central America to major American newspapers, citing immigrants who say they came because they believe U.S. law has been changed to allow them to stay. And now comes word that Border Patrol agents in the most heavily-trafficked area of the surge, the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas, recently questioned 230 illegal immigrants about why they came. The results showed overwhelmingly that the immigrants, including those classified as UACs, or unaccompanied children, were motivated by the belief that they would be allowed to stay in the United States — and not by conditions in their homelands.

5:00pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
Obama Young Smoking

“Death trains” rumbling through Mexico teeming with children, headed for the U.S. border. Teenage girls raped. Unspeakable violence at the hands of ruthless coyotes, carrying out President Obama’s stunningly reckless new foreign policy. … Actions have consequences, Mr. President. And executive actions have executive consequences. You are personally responsible for the harrowing condition of every one of these children. You are personally responsible for ripping apart every single one of these families.

4:35pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

More than 52,000 children have entered the country illegally in recent months… space is running out to house the children and adults… U.S. Border patrol agents are reportedly getting sickened from the refugees… “I’ve talked to border patrol down in McAllen. They’ve seen TB; they’ve seen chicken pox; they’ve seen scabies. And according to Border Patrol, 4 or 5 of their agents have tested positive for those diseases.” … “I’ve had a 7-year-old little girl from El Salvador with her mother come to my front door just in dire need, lost, needing help,” says Linda Vickers… her ranch is about 60 miles north of the border… “Young men that have had multiple deportations and do not want to get caught. I’ve heard them tell border patrol as they’re loading them into their vehicle ‘That’s okay, Obama’s gonna let me go.’

4:12pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

Defending Ourselves

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to allow gun stores to exist "in only about half of a percent of Chicago's geographic area" got the go ahead on June 25. City Alderman voted 48-0 in favor of the plan.

4:49pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW

There was a small applause when Obama mentioned the need for background checks to keep people from just walking into a store to buy a semi-automatic. The problem with this statement is we have had background checks to keep people from just walking into a store to buy a semi-automatic since 1993.

4:17pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 27 :MW
1

Untied Nations

United Nations experts said Wednesday that Detroit’s decision to cut off water to residents who haven’t paid their bills may violate international human rights. … The U.N. experts said international human rights law requires governments to take urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to essential water and sanitation. “The households which suffered unjustified disconnections must be immediately reconnected,” the U.N. statement said. [There is no situation the UN can't make worse.]

7:01pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

Big Nanny

Big sodas can stay on the menu in the Big Apple after New York state's highest court refused Thursday to reinstate the city's first-of-its-kind size limit on sugary drinks. But city officials suggested they might be willing to revisit the supersize-soda ban. [Mindful Webwork Daily Doodle from 2013 Feb 20: I Drink to Bloomberg - ballpoint on styrofoam]

6:42pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

Sharia Sucks

An Egyptian man was convicted and sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison along with a fine of $840 dollars for violating Egypt’s blasphemy laws, which make illegal any criticism of the Islamic religion. … Kerolos’ lawyer said, "Kerolos didn't intend to insult the Islamic religion, only he made a like on the page of Knights of the Cross on Facebook. He doesn't have much experience in the internet plus he suffers from poor eyesight. So there was not any intention for the contempt or blasphemy of Islam.”

9:41pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

Impeach Obama

Smug O

The Obama administration is "not bluffing" in its intent to take executive action on immigration policy if House Republicans don't act soon, top Democratic leaders warned Thursday.

7:22pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW
2

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Sooner Park Play Tower

The one-of-a-kind Sooner Park Play Tower is being refurbished after standing for more than 50 years. Designed by architect Bruce Goff, the tower was a gift from the Price family to the children of Bartlesville in the early 1960s. … Its futuristic design is reminiscent of the time it was built when Americans dreamed about landing on the moon and exploring outer space. …

6:37pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW
3

US Military

US Flag

A Veterans Affairs nurse who spent 28 years at the embattled agency's facility in Albany, N.Y., says when she came forward to report abuse including stolen drugs and mistreatment of patients, her supervisors turned on her instead of trying to fix things.

6:55pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

Opposing Tyranny

If Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS scandal, he should be impeached, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said for the first time today. [Video here]

6:46pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

US Judicial Branch

…Noel Canning v. NLRB, the Court in a majority opinion by Justice Breyer held that President Obama exceeded his authority when he claimed to recess appoint NLRB members while the Senate was holding pro forma sessions….

…McCullen v. Coakley, the Massachusetts abortion clinic speech-free zone case. In another unanimous rejection (although with three justices concurring only in the judgment because they would have gon further), the Court held that the Massachusetts law was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment….

7:19pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW

US Election 2016

Guzzling Hill

"I started asking Ms. Clinton questions. Mostly policy stuff, really focused on immigration. She was responding, but seemed a little off. I figured she was just distracted and didn’t feel like it was worth her time. I kept going, but was starting to get frustrated. I decided I would ask her something I hadn’t really planned on. I said, ‘Ms. Clinton, some have suggested that you aren’t healthy enough or are too old to pursue the presidency. Do you have a comment on that?’. I knew I had crossed a line for her right away. She snapped back, ‘It’s my turn. I’ve done my time, and I deserve it.’ Then she stormed off. After she left, one of her handlers came up to me and told me he would need the recording of our interview and that it was now ‘off the record’. I was shocked and disappointed, but it was clear that it wasn’t a negotiation."

Neuroscientist and aging expert Dr. Philip Kao suggests that this angry reaction and sudden divergence from her manicured talking points may be an early sign of dementia

6:31pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 26 :MW
1

Theory of Education

  • 10-year-old girl raped in OKC elementary school
  • Student accused of threats at Mustang school
  • Police investigate sexual assault claim at Sand Springs school
  • Four-year-old wanders from OKC school, found in city street
  • Kellyville teacher arrested for sex with student
  • Yukon settles lawsuit over bullying ... by teachers
  • Okla. high school coach arrested on molestation complaint
  • Self-interest of grown-ups again trumps concern for the children
  • Sex abuse of students by school personnel addressed in new Title IX guidance
  • Two former Okla. school bus drivers charged in alleged sexual contact with young girls
  • Former Oklahoma high school coach guilty of rape
  • Tulsa Public Schools bus nearly hit by train
  • Tulsa sixth-grade teacher arrested for lewd molestation
  • Two Oklahoma inquiries focus on possible sexual relationships between teachers and students
  • Coweta Public Schools bus driver arrested for lewd molestation
3:21pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW

Taxes Suck

Under Stockman’s bill, “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act,” taxpayers who do not provide documents requested by the IRS can claim one of the following reasons:

  1. The dog ate my tax receipts
  2. Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
  3. Traded documents for five terrorists
  4. Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
  5. Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
  6. Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
  7. Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
  8. Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
  9. Was short on toilet paper while camping
  10. At this point, what difference does it make?
3:05pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW

Democracy in Action

“The mainstream media is complicit in the cover-up and in the denial and in the overlooking of information for the American people. Most people don’t even know we are in as bad a condition as we are in. Because you’re not gonna hear it on the 6 o’clock news or the 7 o’clock news that only 58 percent of registered voters voted in the last presidential election. The mainstream media said, ‘A record!’ What about the 42 percent that stayed home? I’ve even heard people say, ‘Well, I don’t vote because I don’t know what’s going on. And I say ‘Good!’ Stupid people are ruining America, and I’m glad some of them stay home!”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/20/herman-cain-urges-uninformed-voters-to...

3:02pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW
2

History

“It’s amazing that just a few feet from here where I’m standing are the signatures of the 56 Founders who put their names on a Declaration that changed the course of history,” [First Lady Michelle Obama] said during her speech, referring to the Declaration of Independence. “And like the 50 of you, none of them were born American – they became American.”

…Did she actually mean that those who signed the Declaration of Independence and participated in the drafting of the Constitution were not born in America? Benjamin Franklin was born in Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison were born in Virginia. John Adams was born in Massachusetts. Surely she knows this. But maybe not. …

3:09pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW
3

US Military

71 years before Memorial Day was recognized as a national holiday, citizens of Bartlesville, Indian Territory were honoring those who had served their country. According to records, White Rose Cemetery hosted memorial day services in the year 1900, just three years after Bartlesville had been incorporated and seven years before Oklahoma became a state.

3:25pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW
US Flag

For the 12th year running, Bartlesville's White Rose Cemetery hosted a Memorial Day Service. … Bill Teal from the American Legion spoke about the flag and the meaning behind the folds of the flag before a 21 gun salute honored those who gave all in service of their country. …

2:56pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW

Being Human

Almost 95 when she finally gave up square dancing, Irene Trask needed a new outlet for her energy.

But had somebody else not suggested it, shot putting and javelin-hurling most likely would not have been at the top of her list. Ranked for several years running as the oldest participant in the annual Tulsa Parks-sponsored Oklahoma Senior Olympic Games, the Bartlesville resident would go on to rack up some 40 gold medals by the time she was done. Irene Beulah Trask died Wednesday [2014 Apr 9] in Bartlesville. She was 106.

h/t: NewsOK
3:28pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW

Free Expression

“At that point, I took a step and attempted to cross,” Faust outlined. “Once I stepped into the street, [the officer] put my hands behind my back.” Faust and a second member of his congregation, Ramon Marroquin, were then charged with “interfering with public duties." … “Thankfully, the Texas Appeals Court recognized that the beauty of the First Amendment rests in its tolerance of all viewpoints, no matter how politically incorrect, unpalatable or inappropriate they might appear to others,”

3:45pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW

US Military Casualties

Services are planned this weekend for a Kansas soldier who was among those killed when a military plane crashed in Alaska more than 60 years ago. …Earlier this week, the Department of Defense released the identities of 17 people onboard the C-124 Globemaster, which crashed in 1952. The department was able to identify the victims after the glacier shifted two years ago, releasing the remains. Army Pvt. Leonard Kittle of Caney [Kansas] was among the 52 killed. Kittle will be buried Saturday next to his mother's grave at the Sunnyside Cemetery in Caney, where Kittle was born and raised. His casket was flown with an Army honor guard to Tulsa on Thursday and then driven north to Caney on U. S. 75 through Bartlesville. (Jun 20)

3:23pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 24 :MW
2

Spiritual Matters

…God was the author so "who exactly would I get the approval from?" [Concerns cases regarding Bible, Urantia Book, Course in Miracles, Christian Science, more]

4:54pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 23 :MW

Marriage Today

Wedding Rings Interlocked

Secretary of State John Kerry introduced her: “The government in Moscow may look at Masha as a troublemaker to contend with, but here in the United States, we know that she is a wonderful person – a mother, a journalist, an extraordinary human rights defender – and we are honored by her presence here.” Kerry, however, did not show a YouTube clip of Gessen calling for the destruction of marriage and stating that this is the inevitable intention of those calling for same-sex marriage.

5:45pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 23 :MW
3

Urantiana

Urantia

Member of The Urantia Book Fellowship and seasoned author Nicholas P. Snoek just released his fourth book on this topic in the hopes to explain this second work of scripture in a more user-friendly way. “Another View” tells of a young Dutch boy as he becomes aware of an invisible friend who helps him explore religion and its background.

4:49pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 23 :MW

Human Right

Punishing perpetrators and compensating victims is not what reparations advocates want. They want government to compensate today's blacks for the bondage suffered by our ancestors. But there's a problem. Government has no resources of its very own. The only way for government to give one American a dollar is to first — through intimidation, threats and coercion — confiscate that dollar from some other American.

Therefore, if anybody cares, a moral question arises. What moral principle justifies punishing a white of today to compensate a black of today for what a white of yesterday did to a black of yesterday?

There's another moral or fairness issue. A large percentage, if not most, of today's Americans — be they of European, Asian, African or Latin ancestry — don't even go back three or four generations as American citizens.

-Walter E. Williams

4:47pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 23 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

The Islamist group "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) is celebrating their successes against the Iraqi army, proudly displays captured military vehicles. And the terrorists mock the internet Michelle Obama (50)! They spread via Twitter and on Internet sites a photomontage of the U.S. First Lady, show it with the saying "Bring back our Humvee" (Eng. "brings back our Humvee"). Only two days ago the ISIS terrorists had spread videos in which they pose on a captured "Humvee" SUV. [Translated by Google.]

4:00pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW

Political Theater

Anti-Mary Landrieu ad by Genration Opportunity [video]

4:28pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW

Untied States

Activists in Northern California, near the border with Oregon, are pushing to secede from the Golden State. [Video]

4:06pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW

Impeach Obama

Kerry Salutes

“We are interested in communicating with Iran. That the Iranians know what we’re thinking, that we know what they’re thinking and there is a sharing of information so people aren’t making mistakes,” Kerry said. Actually, the Iranians do know what Kerry and Obama are thinking. But do Kerry and Obama know what they’re thinking? [Remember the phrase "Axis of Evil"?]

4:10pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW
2

Marriage Today

Pelosi

CHICAGO — Four “Pelosi Buses” full of traditional marriage supporters are headed to the nation’s capital today for the annual March for Marriage. The buses are sponsored by members of CatholicVote.org in response to California Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s recent letter to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone urging him to not attend the March for Marriage.

3:33pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW
3

Securing Our Borders

Texas Flag

Texas Governor Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and Speaker Joe Straus today directed the Texas Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) to immediately begin law enforcement surge operations on the Texas/Mexico border. The DPS will attempt to combat the flood of illegal immigration into the state in the absence of adequate federal resources to secure the border. State leaders have authorized approximately $1.3 million per week to fund border security operations.

4:13pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW

US Election 2016

Hillary Clinton Ogles Christina Aguilera

“I would say [to Clinton], ‘You took a case of mine in ’75, you lied on me… I realize the truth now, the heart of what you’ve done to me. And you are supposed to be for women? You call that [being] for women, what you done to me? And I hear you on tape laughing.”

10:59pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW
Suprised Hill

Hillary, surprised by the request, replied, “Yeah, I’m not gonna make it out to Chris Stevens.” Mattera followed-up with, “What difference does it make?” -Matt Fox / Daily Surge [Video]

4:20pm CDT Fri 2014 Jun 20 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

Austin, TX, United States (4E) – Two Austin, Texas men have been arrested and charged with terrorism for recruiting Americans to fight alongside jihad rebels in Somalia and Syria

4:03pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 19 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

From the first outbreak of the crisis in the southern city of Deraa to apocalyptic forecasts of a Middle East soaked in blood, many combatants on both sides of the conflict say its path was set 1,400 years ago in the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad and his followers.

Among those many thousands of sayings, or hadith, are accounts which refer to the confrontation of two huge Islamic armies in Syria, a great battle near Damascus, and intervention from the north and west of the country.

The power of those prophecies for many fighters on the ground means that the three-year-old conflict is more deeply rooted - and far tougher to resolve - than a simple power struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel foes.

8:06pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

Mohamed Elibiary… A member of President Obama’s Homeland Security Advisory Council known for controversial Twitter posts that seem to support the Muslim Brotherhood wrote Friday that it is “inevitable that ‘Caliphate’ returns.”

7:59pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

More British citizens joined the jihad in Syria and Iraq than signed up for the Army Reserves over the last twelve months

7:45pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

U.S. Special Operations forces captured one of the suspected ringleaders of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi in a secret raid in Libya over the weekend… Ahmed Abu Khattala… captured Sunday near Benghazi by American troops, working alongside the FBI… apprehension is a major victory for the Obama administration, which has been criticized for having failed so far to bring those responsible for the Benghazi attacks to justice. [A major victory? For someone the New York Times was able to track down? This of course is not something which could have been done anytime in the past two years, and is only being done now because everything else in Obama's foreign policy is major fail? No, not at all.]

7:39pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

Hang Those Who Betray Public Trust

Two weeks later, she said the drive had been sent to a forensic lab for a final attempt, and a few days after that Ms. Wilburn delivered the fatal news: “The sectors on your hard drive were bad which made your data unrecoverable.”

Ms. Lerner replied with thanks, and her philosophical take that “sometimes stuff just happens.” [May it happen to you, you traitorous hag!]

7:51pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

Impeach Obama

Fishy

President Obama announced Tuesday his intent to make a broad swath of the central Pacific Ocean off-limits to fishing, energy exploration and other activities. [The Hell you say!]

7:43pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW
2

Marriage Today

Wedding Rings Interlocked

The Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco… it's his duty to uphold traditional views of marriage even if such views are unpopular. He also challenged his critics to practice what they preach, writing that Americans who oppose same-sex unions have become targets of discrimination and intolerance.

3:42pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW

Healing Ourselves

California is currently experiencing a whooping cough epidemic… more than 800 new cases of pertussis… reported in the last two weeks. …3,458 cases of whooping cough… as of June 10 – more cases than were reported in all of 2013… [No mention of the unvaccinated Americans or the influx of diseased illegal immigrants flooding So Cal.]

8:21pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW
3

Israel Stands Alone

"President Obama should immediately direct the Department of State to suspend assistance to the Palestinian Authority until the PA recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and takes specific and affirmative steps to renounce and eradicate terrorism. This most recent vicious attack on innocent young civilians demonstrates beyond any doubt that the PA is not fulfilling these conditions, and not one more U.S. taxpayer dollar should be sent to support them until they do." -Ted Cruz

7:54pm CDT Tue 2014 Jun 17 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

The USS Mesa Verde with 550 Marines onboard has entered the Persian Gulf on Monday for a possible operation in Iraq. It comes after President Obama ruled out sending ground troops to the militant-assaulted country. [Before he ruled them back in.] The USS Mesa Verde is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, a ship designed to carry an expeditionary force across the sea and deploy landing craft and helicopters. … Washington already dispatched the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush to the Gulf on Saturday.

11:23pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

'My husband told them we were Christians and they shot him in the head' …

In the space of just three days:
Images of Iraqi men being rounded up at gunpoint, beaten, herded like cattle into lorries and shot dead in a ditch by a row of masked ISIS fanatics sent shockwaves across the world.
Taliban insurgents sliced off the fingers of 11 people as punishment for voting in Afghanistan’s democratic presidential election while 60 people were killed in a series of rocket barrages and scattered attacks
The desperate search continued for three Israeli teenagers allegedly kidnapped by Hamas militants as more than 150 suspects were arrested in relation to the abduction.
Nigeria's former president admitted that the 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants two months ago may never be found.
Pakistani jets killed 37 militants in retaliatory airstrikes today, a week after Taliban insurgents stormed Karachi airport and opened fire in a commando-style attack that left 38 people dead.

Over the past month, the world's media has been awash with gruesome images depicting insurgent barbarism whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, Palestine or Syria.

5:03pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW
Crazyface

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group of Islamic militants currently overrunning several large Iraqi cities, posted gruesome photos of what it boasted was a large massacre of up to 1,700 Iraqi prisoners and soldiers. The photos show ISIS soldiers marching men to roadside graves and shooting them while they lay face down in the dirt…

4:42pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Iraq

President Obama announced on Monday evening that US ground troops 'equipped for combat' are being sent to Iraq - just days after claiming that no American soldiers would be deployed to the war-torn country.

In a letter to Congress, the president said American troops will be returning to Iraq only three years after they left and their deployment began on Sunday.

However, Obama said that their only purpose will specifically be to protect US personnel and the US Embassy in Baghdad - and not join in the fierce fighting raging outside the Iraqi capital.

8:36pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

The release of al Baghadi and other jihadist insurgents from the Bucca prison, coupled with President Obama’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011 rather than follow the military’s advice to leave a residual force behind, turned the smoldering embers of the once defeated al Qaeda-backed insurgency into a raging out-of-control conflagration.

6:56pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Fun can be Dangerous

Plane

Delta Flight 630 from Detroit changed course Wednesday afternoon after a controller told the pilot not to complete the landing and then said he was only kidding, [Not to worry. The President will fire the lot of them, like Reagan. Right?]

5:22pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Nature can be Deadly

Twisting Twister

At least one person has died and scores more injured after two tornadoes struck in Nebraska on Monday. … The Associated Press reported the number of those critically injured was 16.

8:40pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Impeach Obama

The man who led the charge to have Eric H. Holder Jr. held in contempt of Congress is on a new crusade: to impeach the nation’s first black attorney general. [Excuse me? What does "first black" have to do with anything, you racist?]

“There’s a total disregard for the rule of law,” Rep. Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Republican, told The Washington Times. “We can’t sit idly by here as we see the Constitution and justice being defamed right and left at the whim of the attorney general.”

5:32pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW
2

Life and Death

An outtake from Casey Kasem during his American Top 40 days where he blows up over a long distance dedication. There's also a special guest appearance by Rick Dees. Warning: Very rough language! [Video]

5:37pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Big City Stories

…another bloody weekend in Obama's hometown of Chicago as the city celebrated Fathers day. By the time the weekend drew to a close, two were dead and 25 wounded in violence across the city….

5:08pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Policing Ourselves

The Nationwide Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation reports a 40-percent increase in the number of officers killed on the job this year. A total of 63 officers have been killed, up from 45 from last year this time. …attackers like those in Las Vegas, determined to die to kill police officers, are "one of the biggest challenges" officers face.

11:19pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

Man and Woman

Blank Face

In other action Monday, the AMA said transgender people should be able to switch the sex designation on their birth certificates without having sex-change surgery. Most states make the operations a prerequisite. But the new AMA policy acknowledges that gender identity doesn't always match a person's birth anatomy. An AMA report says identification documents that are consistent with gender identity rather than anatomy is essential to basic social and economic functioning. The report also says patients deserve medical care that is appropriate to their birth anatomy even if they self-identify as the opposite sex. [And in a SHOCKING development:] The new policy won praise from the National Center for Transgender Equality. [Imagine if the AMA had gone 180 the other way and said, um, sorry, boys is boys and girls is girls and your genes don't lie, whether you imagine otherwise or how you get mutilated. Heresy! Uproar! How… un-scientific?]

11:32pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW
3

Securing Our Borders

US Flag

And now comes word that Border Patrol agents in the most heavily-trafficked area of the surge, the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas, recently questioned 230 illegal immigrants about why they came. The results showed overwhelmingly that the immigrants, including those classified as UACs, or unaccompanied children, were motivated by the belief that they would be allowed to stay in the United States -- and not by conditions in their homelands.

8:18pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

US Election 2016

Hillary ogling Christina Aguilera

"At the risk of appearing predictable, the Bible was and remains the biggest influence on my thinking. I was raised reading it, memorizing passages from it and being guided by it. I still find it a source of wisdom, comfort and encouragement." —Hillary Clinton

11:05pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW

When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.” [From 2008]

8:22pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW
Young Hillary

Newly discovered audio recordings of Hillary Clinton from the early 1980s include the former first lady’s frank and detailed assessment of the most significant criminal case of her legal career: defending a man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. … include Clinton’s suggestion that she knew Taylor was guilty at the time … Clinton can also be heard laughing at several points when discussing the crime lab’s accidental destruction of DNA evidence that tied Taylor to the crime.

5:12pm CDT Mon 2014 Jun 16 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

World Trade Centers, before

Judge Jeanine: Tonight I'm Worried… You Need to Be Afraid [about consequences of Iraq. Video]

10:23pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

One of the five senior Taliban leaders transferred to Qatar in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl played a key role in al Qaeda’s plans leading up to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mohammad Fazl, who served as the Taliban’s army chief of staff and deputy defense minister prior to his detention at Guantánamo, did not have a hand in planning the actual 9/11 hijackings. Along with a notorious al Qaeda leader, however, Fazl did help coordinate a military offensive against the enemies of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan the day before. And Osama bin Laden viewed that September 10 offensive as an essential part of al Qaeda’s 9/11 plot.

9:58pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Mosul Islamist take-over: Up to 1,000 Christian families have reportedly fled Iraq's second biggest city "This could be the last migration of Christians from Mosul." [War News Updates editor comments, "From a historical perspective this is an incredible depressing event. Mosul has had a Christian community for almost 1,800 years .... and today .... they are now all gone."]

9:48pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Fighters from Kurdish regions are mobilizing to stop the threat of Islamist militants who are advancing across parts of Syria and central Iraq from reaching their own nearby territories.

Northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, and the Kurdistan Communities Union, which controls the Kurd-dominated region of northeastern Syria, both pledged Wednesday to resist the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, as the group extended dramatic military gains

9:31pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
World Trade Towers, before

The Islamist extremist some are now calling the most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he was released from the biggest U.S. detention camp in Iraq in 2009. “He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’” recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca. … King had not imagined that in less that five years he would be seeing news reports that al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS, the ultra-extremist army that was sweeping through Iraq toward Baghdad.

9:21pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Theory of Education

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed Friday a controversial bill that many critics of the Common Core standards said would bind the state further both to the nationalized standards and the PARCC tests aligned to them. … The governor added that the measure “would significantly impair parents’ ability to have clear information about the performance of their child’s school and teachers’ ability to have meaningful feedback.”

9:23pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

The Republican controlled legislature in South Carolina recently infuriated liberal groups by insisting that state universities teach students about the U.S. Constitution and other founding documents.

4:12pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Police Riot

“I come outside, jump in the truck, and the whole thing’s been torn apart inside, wires had been yanked out, the paneling had some scratches on it…” It was the police: "Sir, your car was checked by TPD K-9. The vehicle was searched For marijuana due to a strong odor coming from the passenger side of the vehicle. Any questions call [phone number] - Cpl. Fannin"

9:29pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Big Brother

Mordor Eye

If you don’t agree to submit your child to a psych eval for twirling a damn pencil, that’s child abuse. Say goodbye to him. This is Big Government in a nutshell: People you’ve never met making huge decisions about your life for reasons you can’t comprehend. And nobody is accountable.

10:09pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Hang Those Who Betray Public Trust

The Internal Revenue Service told Congress Friday it has lost a trove of emails to and from Lois Lerner, a central figure in the agency's Tea Party controversy, sparking outrage from congressional investigators who have been probing the agency for more than a year.

The IRS said it cannot locate many of Lerner's emails prior to 2011 because her computer crashed during the summer of that year.

10:18pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
Bender

Lois Lerner lost email narrative debunked by IT experts on The Mark Levin Show

10:16pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
Crazyface

The White House is making plans to transfer more detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay despite the mounting political furor over the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

4:08pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Impeach Obama

A targeting memo sent to the State Department by the Defense Department’s Africa Command two days after the Benghazi attack listed 11 suspects with ties to Al Qaeda and other groups… arrived two days before then-UN ambassador Susan Rice appeared on television shows blaming the assault on an inflammatory video… [and] nearly a day before presidential aide Ben Rhodes sent an email also suggesting the video – and not a policy failure… [But what difference does? it? make?]

9:52pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
2

Oklahoma

Okla. Flag

Most years, two term Congressman Jim Lankford (R-OK) would be considered a shoe-in to replace retiring Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) as his party's nominee in the upcoming Oklahoma U.S. Senate Republican primary this June 24. With a reliably conservative voting record (Heritage Action Scorecard rates him at 82 percent) and the support of the Washington establishment, Lankford entered the race when Coburn suddenly announced his retirement in January with a 37 point lead in the polls.

But Lankford's top challenger, former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, has made a surprisingly strong challenge, climbing from a huge deficit to run neck-and-neck with Lankford in polls from this spring.

Shannon served as the youngest Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives ever from 2012 to 2014. While there, he established a strong conservative record as a fiscal hawk, supporting efforts to eliminate the state's debt by selling off unused state assets. He has continued in his Senate campaign to support classic conservative positions.

Shannon's limited government message has garnered the support of a host of national Tea Party groups--including the Senate Conservatives Fund--as well as some high profile Tea Party favorite politicians. Sarah Palin, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz have all endorsed him.

9:08pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Marriage Today

Wedding Rings Interlocked

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) were among other leftist politicians and gay advocacy leaders who used the words of Pope Francis to criticize San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for his upcoming participation at the March for Marriage in Washington D.C. on June 19th. … “We ask that you will reconsider your participation and join us in seeking to promote reconciliation rather than division and hatred…."

While … the left accused Cordileone of promoting “division and hatred” through participation in the March for Marriage, the archbishop described those with activist agendas against marriage as “bullies,” and urged young pro-lifers during the March for Life last January to stay “close to Christ” as they seek to present the truth about marriage.

“Future generations will understand that the natural truth of marriage benefits everyone and discriminates against no one,” the archbishop said. “But prepare yourselves: It will require heroic virtue, for there is a lot of reverse bullying going on these days.”

10:05pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

Modern Family Life

Melinda Gates, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has announced that her international family planning foundation will no longer fund abortion because she believes abortion and family planning have become “conflated.” … [Melinda Gates:] "The question of abortion should be dealt with separately. But in the United States and around the world the emotional and personal debate about abortion is threatening to get in the way of the lifesaving consensus regarding basic family planning."

9:34pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
3

US Military

Alison Spann was just 9 when she learned her father, a U.S. Marine turned CIA operative, had become the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan. Thirteen years later, she found out her country had freed the Taliban leader who may have played a role in his death. … “My initial reaction was shock. I was shocked that our president would release five of the most high-risk prisoners being held in Guantanamo in exchange for one American. As a whole, my family was extremely upset and saddened that our government would do something like this, especially in light of the fact that it seems that people in the intelligence community are fairly united in their belief that these terrorists are likely to seek to further harm Americans in the future.”

Securing Our Borders

Mexican Flag

President Barack Obama's administration is knowingly allowing illegal immigrant gangsters from Mexico and Central America into the United States, and some are even being reunited with their family members.

The gang members reportedly belong to some of the most dangerous gangs in Central America and Mexico, like MS-13, but Border Patrol agents are handcuffed, especially if the illegal immigrants are deemed to be "minors."

9:10pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW

US Election 2016

Surprised Hill

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dismissed Matt Drudge and Karl Rove as “gamers” trying to plant false information in people’s heads.

9:25pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
Guzzling Hill

…a giant squirrel has been stalking former first lady Hillary Clinton during her national book tour… wearing a T-shirt saying, “Another Clinton in the White House is Nuts.”

9:12pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 15 :MW
1

Hang Those Who Betray Public Trust

I’m a DOJ lawyer, so you obviously cannot use my name or any identifying information. But the idea that a “hard drive crash” somehow destroyed all of Ms. Lerner’s intra-government email correspondence during the period in question [2009-2011] is laughable. Government email servers are backed up every night. So if she actually had a hard drive fail, her emails would be recoverable from the backup. If the backup was somehow also compromised, then we are talking about a conspiracy.

5:51pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 14 :MW
2

Spacecraft

Star Trek's Enterprise

The interstellar spacecraft builds on previous designs that thoeretically allow distant travel by bending space-time… Called IXS Enterprise… Alcubierre's theory was published in 1994 and involved enormous amounts of energy being used to expand and contract space itself - thereby generating a 'warp bubble' in which a spacecraft would travel. Allowing space and time to act as the propellant by pulling the craft through the bubble would be like stepping on an escalator….

2:11pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 14 :MW

Future is Now

Flying car

Colonies on the moon, underwater and in Antarctica…

2:21pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 14 :MW
3

US Congress

Second-term Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, plans to challenge Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for the second most powerful House leadership position. …released a statement announcing his bid for House majority leader, saying he believes Majority Leader Eric Cantor's primary loss on Tuesday shows, “Americans are looking for a change in the status quo.”

5:55pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 14 :MW

US Election 2016

Hill

Clinton was speaking about her "serious concussion." As she spoke, her eyes began to cross and go in opposite directions as she affirmed that there are "no lingering effects" and she is now in "very good" health. [Video]

3:36pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 14 :MW
1

Impeach Obama

Angry O

The world is less violent than it has ever been. It is healthier than it has ever been. It is more tolerant than it has ever been. It is better fed then it’s ever been. It is more educated than it’s ever been. Terrible things happen around the world every single day, but the trend lines of progress are unmistakable. -Obama

12:00am CDT Wed 2014 Jun 11 :MW

The terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 used cell phones, seized from State Department personnel during the attacks, and U.S. spy agencies overheard them contacting more senior terrorist leaders to report on the success of the operation… adds to the body of evidence establishing that senior U.S. officials in the Obama administration knew early on that Benghazi was a terrorist attack…

12:00am CDT Wed 2014 Jun 11 :MW
3

US Congress

[E]verything had to go perfectly… The majority leader does not get resoundingly defeated for the first time in American history any other way. … The cameras were already there, Brat just had to show up to get his first national attention, for free. Without spending a penny, Brat convinced the 7th District that Cantor was a liar. Of course, it was true.

3:00pm CDT Wed 2014 Jun 11 :MW

Securing Our Borders

Immigrants Crossing

Newspapers in El Salvador and Honduras are promoting policies by the Obama administration that defer deportation to minors brought to the United States as children by their parents — known as "Dreamers" — and those that are housing illegal children at military bases in the South and West.

9:47am CDT Wed 2014 Jun 11 :MW
1

Impeach Obama

But the Bergdahl deal had the fierce moral urgency of now(!), as in now we have to get Obama’s VA scandal off the news. So as it turns out they really didn’t keep this a secret, except from the people they’re required to tell. And in an added wrinkle, they now claim it was Chuck Hagel, not the idiot Obama, who signed off on the deal. Right.

9:00am CDT Tue 2014 Jun 10 :MW
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Wars and Rumors

The Obama administration isn’t only giving the Taliban back its commanders — it’s giving them weapons... Miliary records and sources reveal that on July 25, 2012, Taliban fighters in Kunar province successfully targeted a US Army CH-47 helicopter with a new generation Stinger missile.

2:30pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 8 :MW
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Digital Culture

"Disguisable weapons wanted," says the ad. Hilarity ensues. [Graphic record at link.]

1:12pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 8 :MW

…privacy advocate Julian Oliver, member of a group called "Stop The Cyborgs…" published a simple computer program that can detect when Glass is being used and stop it from connecting to a network. That in turn means that Glass can't access cloud servers and apps….

1:08pm CDT Sun 2014 Jun 8 :MW
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WW2 - still with us

The best-laid plans of the Supreme Allied Command were almost immediately rendered moot; the massive landing amounted to a chaotic dumping of troops into a very hostile environment. Allied forces landed out of position, units were a shambles, and radio communications were knocked out.

But Ambrose identifies a crucial difference between the German and Allied fighting men. The Germans were hamstrung by sweeping orders issued from far away. In contrast, the Allies relied on mid-level and junior-grade officers issuing impromptu commands based on facts gleaned first-hand.

There is no more dramatic example of F.A. Hayek's seminal discovery: the importance of dispersed information--"knowledge of time and place." [From 1999 Dec issue]

6:04pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 7 :MW

Theory of Education

'We hate math' say 4 in 10 — a majority of Americans. [Um... seriously? See graphic at link.]

6:06pm CDT Sat 2014 Jun 7 :MW
1

WW2 - still with us

Alarm bells rang throughout MI5 …was the crossword being used to tip-off the Germans?

Two officers were sent immediately to Leatherhead in Surrey, where a man called Leonard Dawe lived. He was the crossword compiler, a 54 year-old teacher.

Why, the officers demanded to know, had he chosen these five words within his crossword solutions?

“Why not?” was Dawe’s indignant reply. Was there a law against choosing whatever words he liked?

3:19pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

Humans can be Dangerous

Zoo worker in gorilla suit shot with tranquiliser dart during 'escape drill' because no-one told the vet it wasn't real

2:47pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

Big Whoops Cascade

Gold Star Mothers

Sondra Andrews’ son, 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews, is one of six soldiers killed reportedly while searching for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The sergeant’s return from captivity has stirred “very raw emotions.”

“It gets really hurtful when I think, this guy was worth my son’s life? My son who was patriotic? Who was a true soldier? Who defended his country with his life?” Andrews told Army Times via phone on Monday. “That guy was worth that? I don’t think so.”

Andrews also was upset to hear the U.S. government agreed to release five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom.

“I bet you anything there were soldiers killed or wounded capturing those five guys,” she said. “So what does that do for their sacrifice? They sacrificed for nothing, because they turned right around and let them go.”

… she wants people to know her son was a good man and a good leader who always wanted to join the Army. Darryn Andrew’s son was just 2 years old when his father was killed. His daughter was born four months later.

“He was a wonderful father and family man, an amazing son, a great brother,”

8:10pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
Tired O

Both President Obama and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class. They have no idea

3:02pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

Taliban 'was thrilled' when deserter Sgt Bergdahl's father thanked 'Allah the merciful' in his White House press conference… "This is incredible, he's gone way way beyond just a father reaching out to his son. He’s actually putting so many lives in danger, and he’s giving a propaganda tool to Mullah Omar, who is the leader of the Taliban who the U.S. has been looking for for years."

2:26pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

But the festive mood prevailing on Saturday after Bergdahl's release was soon tempered by criticism from some former members of his combat unit that he was unfairly being hailed as a hero.

Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter said he received a phone call from a fellow police chief in Tennessee asking him, "'What's wrong with you people?'" Asked what he meant, Gunter recounted that the caller angrily replied: "'What the hell's your problem for supporting this deserter?'"

2:20pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
Crazyface

Taliban Commander Says More Kidnappings to Come After Bergdahl Deal

2:16pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

Here's the thing about Bergdahl and the Jump-to-Conclusions mats: What if his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership? ...

h/t: Twitchy
2:13pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

Impeach Obama

White House officials thought exchanging 5 Taliban leaders for 1 deserter would encourage “moderate” taliban to take peace process seriously… [Seriously? Seriously.]

2:37pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
Bossy O

That whole “Like A Boss” thing the Dems were peddling a couple of weeks ago? [see graphic at link]

2:32pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
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Spacecraft

NASA Is About to Test a Mega-Parachute at the Edge of Space - If the largest ever supersonic parachute works, we'll be a step closer to putting a human on Mars.

3:22pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW

WW2 - less with us

Chester Nez, last of original Navajo code talkers of World War II, dies. … After the war, the Japanese chief of intelligence, Lt. General Seizo Arisue, admitted they were never able to crack the Navajo code used by the Marines and Navy, according to the Navy. … "I could understand when they sent the message and received on the other end," Nez said. "I could understand, and I could sit there and write it down myself. I still remember it." It was a far cry from his childhood, when he was forced to attend a boarding school and punished by the teachers for speaking Navajo…

3:10pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
3

US Congress

Barbara Boxer

“Madam chairman, we don’t normally have hearings requiring the witnesses to fill in bubble test forms,” Vitter interrupted, as Boxer gaveled him down.

“Excuse me,” she responded. “When you have this gavel, you make the rules.”

2:43pm CDT Thu 2014 Jun 5 :MW
1

Impeach Obama

According to NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd, the White House expected “euphoria” over the release of the last American soldier held captive in Afghanistan and was completely blindsided by the wave of outrage with which the Bergdahl swap was greeted.

3:00pm CDT Wed 2014 Jun 4 :MW