Coyote stuck on a rooftop of bar in NYC. This is how the bar owner thinks he got up there http://t.co/VdpCa1pKHs pic.twitter.com/Ud7XybNraB
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) March 31, 2015
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Good News/Bad News: Vacant NY buildings now have occupants...coyotes...
Facebook secretly tracks users after they have quit?
Via The Independent:
A new report claims that Facebook secretly installs tracking cookies on users’ computers, allowing them to follow users around the internet even after they’ve left the website, deleted their account and requested to be no longer followed.
Academic researchers said that the report showed that the company was breaking European law with its tracking policies. The law requires that users are told if their computers are receiving cookies except for specific circumstances.
Facebook’s tracking — which it does so that it can tailor advertising — involves putting cookies or small pieces of software on users’ computers, so that they can then be followed around the internet. Such technology is used by almost every website, but European law requires that users are told if they are being given cookies or being tracked. Companies don’t have to tell users if the cookies are required to connect to a service or if they are needed to give the user information that they have specifically requested.
But Facebook’s tracking policy allows it to track users if they have simply been to a page on the company’s domain, even if they weren’t logged in. That includes pages for brands or events, which users can see whether or not they have an account.
Two criminals...err...I mean federal agents charged for stealing bitcoin.
March 30, 2015 The Justice Department announced Monday it is charging two federal agents with using bitcoin to launder money while the pair investigated Silk Road, a now-defunct website where criminals relied on the digital currency to conduct illicit business.
The investigators being charged are Carl Mark Force IV, who worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Shaun Bridges, a former Secret Service agent. Force is being charged with wire fraud, stealing government property, and money-laundering; Bridges is accused of of wire fraud and money-laundering.
Force and Bridges are described in a criminal complaint as abusing their positions as federal agents to "engage in a scheme to defraud a variety of third parties, the public, and the government, all for their own financial enrichment."
Force, according to the Justice Department's investigation, was an undercover agent who communicated online with Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road and a target of a separate investigation. But while on the job, Force developed a number of separate online identities in order to engage in "complex bitcoin transactions to steal from the government and the targets of the investigation," the complaint alleges.
Bridges is charged with diverting more than $800,000 in digital currency to a personal account—funds he acquired as a result of the Silk Road investigation.
Image of the Day: Angie's List Inc Stock Chart
Graph via Google:
The Dow gained 1.49% Monday 03/30/15. Angie's List lost 2.21% for the day and about half it's value in the last year. I don't think their Indiana boycott is going to matter much. This company is headed for the ash heap of history.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Fun Video: UFO attacking Taliban compound?
From the comments it's either a an AC-130 Gunship or Stealth Bomber, but I like the idea aliens are on our side. Whatever it is, it unleashes massive pain on the Taliban. What do you think?
Dept. Of Labor Economist: Christians are Nazis over Indiana Religious Freedom Law...
She now claims her Twitter account, home computer and work computer were hacked. I am calling BS on her.
This tweet has been deleted.
Interesting: In 1998, State Sen. Barack Obama voted for same version of Indiana Religious Freedom Reformation Act
Via Washington Times
“When you have a law like this one in Indiana that seems to legitimize discrimination, it’s important for everybody to stand up and speak out,” said Mr. Earnest on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
Just before Mr. Earnest made his comments, however, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence defended the law in an interview on the same show, noting that the federal government and 19 other states previously passed a Religious Freedom Reformation Act, including Illinois.
After President Bill Clinton signed the federal Religious Freedom Reformation Act (RFRA) in 1993, “some 19 states followed that, and after last year’s Hobby Lobby case, Indiana properly brought the same version that then-state Sen. Barack Obama voted for in Illinois,” Mr. Pence said.
Indiana Senate Republicans made the same point in a Thursday press release: “The bipartisan respect for religious freedom has also carried over to the votes for most state-level RFRAs. For example, when President Obama was an Illinois State Senator in 1998, he voted for Illinois’ RFRA.”
Mr. Obama served as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. The Illinois RFRA took effect in July 1998.
Team Hillary threatens Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley
Via Daily Caller:
A former governor on ABC’s “This Week” made a not-so-veiled threat Sunday to former Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley that he could lose a cabinet position in Hillary Clinton’s administration by running against her.
Former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who also serves as a Senior Advisor to Ready for Hillary PAC said, “She is comfortable enough to be able to withstand a primary.”
Granholm added, “And Martin O’Malley, he’s a very nice guy, and I was thinking he might make a nice member of a President Clinton administration, so he better watch it.”
“I think he and anybody else, she would welcome into the mix,” Granholm continued. “That would be healthy. But I also think ultimately, she’ll be the next president.”
Keep on reading…
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Interesting: "Flamin' Hot Cheetos" fit Obama administration "Smart Snack" guidelines...
Change: Cheetos reformulated "Flamin' Hot Cheetos" to fit Obama administration "Smart Snack" guidelines. I doubt this is what school lunch Nazi Michelle Obama had in mind.
Yet it turns out that those fiery Cheetos beloved by school children (some kids even made an epic rap paean to Hot Cheetos a few years ago) actually qualify as a "Smart Snack" under revised federal nutrition guidelines for schools.
The Obama administration rolled out the new guidelines last year in a bid to limit the amount of junk food kids eat in school, but nearly half of all U.S. states have formally rejected the standards as too strict. Some legislators think the rules make it too hard for schools to raise money through snack sales at vending machines.
But at Chicago's Whitney Young High School, Flamin' Hot Cheetos remain among the most popular snacks sold. "They're good, like, they just taste delicious," says Cashari Norwood, a junior at the school. "And like, I'm a vegetarian and so sometimes, I just want to eat something that's good, and I can't even really get that here."
These aren't just any Flamin' Hot Cheetos. They're a reformulated version with less fat, less salt and more whole grains. But is that really what the scientists at the Institute of Medicine had in mind when they wrote the recommendations that would become the Smart Snack rules?
De Blasio Justice: Two bleeding 16-year-old girls given jaywalking tickets after hit by car...
Via NY Post:
Brooklyn cops who said they were following Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero orders to crack down on reckless drivers and pedestrians gave two bleeding 16-year-old girls jaywalking tickets as they were being treated in an emergency room after a car hit them, their enraged parents told The Post.
Teen pals Beanca Moise and Jo-Anna Thiboutot had suffered multiple fractures and deep bruises in the March 14 accident while crossing busy Flatbush Avenue in Sheepshead Bay.
But the cops told their parents the tickets were mandatory given the mayor’s “zero tolerance” jaywalking policy.
Keep on reading…
Shocking: Iranian presidential aide defects during nuke negotiations; claims US "mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf "
Is anyone shocked?
Via The Telegraph:
A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.
Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA)….
In his television interview, Mr Mottaghi also gave succour to western critics of the proposed nuclear deal, which has seen the White House pursue a more conciliatory line with Tehran than some of America’s European allies in the negotiating team, comprising the five permanent members of the UN security council and Germany.
“The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal,” he said.
Keep on reading…
Ted Cruz campaigns in New Hampshire
Via Dallas News
Ted Cruz, the first and so far only major candidate for president, swept into New Hampshire on Friday, upbeat and eager to embrace the outsider label he’s cultivated since erupting on the national scene three years ago.
“I am amazingly, powerfully, profoundly optimistic,” said the Texas senator, boasting to a cheering crowd at a VFW post that he had raked in $2 million within three days of launching his campaign Monday.
“The New York Times said Cruz cannot win because he is hated by the Washington elites,” Cruz said, and the 150 or more activists erupted. “I gotta admit, I wanted to Xerox that and mail it to all 300 million people.”
Cruz invoked the new rhetoric he unveiled with the launch of his campaign at Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian college. He said he’ll rely on an “army of courageous conservatives” to propel his bid for the GOP nomination...
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Empire star Taraji P. Henson apologizes to LAPD for accusing them of racially profiling her son...
Via Daily Mail:
Empire star has issued a groveling apology to the LAPD admitting her son was not racially profiled.
The actress unleashed a scathing attack on officers earlier this week, accusing them of pulling over her 20-year-old son Marcel ‘for no reason’ to ‘illegally search his car’ in Glendale, California, in October.
But after the force released dash-cam footage showing the car streak through a red light, Henson has backtracked.
The video, released on Friday, shows Henson admit to having marijuana and Ritalin on him, before an officer also finds hash oil, a grinder and a knife.
After a short and calm conversation, the officer lets Henson drive off without a ticket.
Keep on reading…
Hillary's server: Wiped clean...
Via NRO
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton failed to provide any new documents to the congressional panel investigating the Benghazi terrorist attacks, instead notifying the committee that she has “wipe[d] her server clean,” the lead investigator announced.
“After seeking and receiving a two week extension from the Committee, Secretary Clinton failed to provide a single new document to the subpoena issued by the Committee and refused to provide her private server to the Inspector General for the State Department or any other independent arbiter for analysis,” Representative Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), the chairman of the select committee investigating the attacks, announced Friday evening.
“We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server,” he continued. “While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the Department.”
Friday, March 27, 2015
Nation debt increased $145,131.60 per household while retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada served in Congress
Via CNS News:
(CNSNews.com) – The debt of the federal government has grown $16,955,289,814,977.42 during the 32 years that current Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has served in the United States Congress. That equals an increase of about $145,131 for every household in the country.
There have been five presidents during that time, including three Republicans (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush) and two Democrats (Bill Clinton and Barack Obama).
Reid was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 and then was elected to the Senate in 1986. He first took office in the House on Jan. 3, 1983, the first business day in January of that year. At the beginning of that day, according to the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt for December 1982, the total public debt of the federal government was $1,197,073,000,000.
Reid announced today he would not seek reelection in 2016. As of March 25 of this year, the latest day for which debt numbers are available, the federal debt was $18,152,362,814,977.42.
That means that since Reid first joined Congress in 1983, the federal debt has increases $16,955,289,814,977.42.
As of December 2014, According to the Census Bureau, there were 116,827,000 households in the United States. The $16,955,289,814,977.42 that the debt has increased since Harry Reid first joined Congress thus equals $145,131.60 per household.
Keep on reading…
School calls military style haircut extreme...
Via Daily Caller:
A second grader in McMinneville, Tennessee has been forced to shave his head after his principal said his “military” haircut wouldn’t be allowed in class.
According to Adam Stinnet’s parents, the seven-year-old boy got a “high and tight” haircut to imitate his brother, a soldier in the Army who has served in Afghanistan. Just one day later, on March 9, the family received a letter from the principal saying the boy’s new look violated a school rule against “mohawk haircuts and other extreme cuts.”
His parents disagreed and sent Adam to school again without cutting his hair. This time, his mother, Amy, was summoned to meet the principal in person, and was told that until Adam’s hairdo changed, he would not be allowed back in class.
Deciding that the hair wasn’t worth having Adam suspended, Amy decided to give in.
“I did shave his head,” Stinnett said Thursday, according to the Army Times. “With no hair, he looks sick all the time.”
Keep on reading…
Interesting: Scandals forcing Hillary Clinton to delay announcement of 2016 campaign...
Via Washington Times
Many of the key figures cited in a scathing inspector general’s report this week are allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, marking the latest in a series of stumbles for the former first lady and secretary of state that likely forced her to delay her planned presidential campaign announcement.
A Democratic strategist familiar with her team’s thinking said they are scrambling to limit the damage and readjust the campaign rollout schedule after the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general revealed an apparent cronyism scandal that ensnared Mrs. Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, and two of her political confidants, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell.
The accusation that a top Obama administration official did favors for the three politically connected Democrats follows other damaging revelations swirling around Mrs. Clinton, including that the Clinton Foundation pocketed foreign donations while she was secretary of state and that she exclusively used a private email account that concealed official business while she was in office.
“She is being tarnished before the race starts. It’s kind of like if you’re a race horse having a leg broken on a regular basis and the wound never heals,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic campaign adviser who worked for President Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign.
Congratulations: You are footing the bill for federal employees doing union work all day...
Federal and state employees should be banned from unionization.
Via FOX News
Via FOX News
When he arrived on Capitol Hill in January, freshman Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., discovered something he had no clue was going on. Hundreds of federal employees spend their entire workday — not doing the business of the government, but working for their unions.
Hice told Fox News he was shocked by what he found.
“Waste on an egregious level by federal employees who are taking taxpayer monies and using it for purposes other than the reason they were hired,” Hice said.
It’s called “official time,” and it was sanctioned into law by Congress in 1978. Lawmakers voted to allow federal employees who are union members to spend part of their day addressing union issues. The reason behind the law: Federal employees are not required to join a union even if they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The Civil Service Reform Act was designed to make up the financial gap of unions having to represent employees who did not pay dues, by allowing federal workers to “volunteer” time during their working hours to address grievances, work on collective bargaining and deal with other issues....
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Tweet of the Day: @Germanwings ridiculous reason for not releasing the pilots names...
@BluegrassPundit please understand that we will not release any of the names not only due to data protection but to honor their privacy. LM
— Germanwings (@germanwings) March 26, 2015
Pro-Abortion supporter throws Molotov cocktail at anti-abortion protesters outside Planned Parenthood
Can someone teach the left to protest peacefully like the Tea Party?
Police: Woman threw Molotov cocktail at anti-abortion protesters outside Planned Parenthood. http://t.co/hQQuyKkv6f pic.twitter.com/sD3ljexXvo
— keyetv (@keyetv) March 24, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Flashback: Obama celebrated trading five Taliban commanders for Bergdahl at White House with Bergdahl's parents
Sargent Bowe Bergdahl is finally formally charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Obama celebrated trading five Taliban commanders for Sargent Bergdahl by inviting Bergdahl's apparently loony parents to the White House.
Susan Rice claimed Bergdahl served with "Honor and Distinction." Yeah. Right.
The White House backed up Susan Rice's disingenuous claim.
Former U.S. war prisoner Bergdahl faces possible life in prison http://t.co/tUekCsseDg
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 25, 2015
Obama celebrated trading five Taliban commanders for Sargent Bergdahl by inviting Bergdahl's apparently loony parents to the White House.
"It's a good day." —President Obama to Bob and Jani Bergdahl on the recovery of their son, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl pic.twitter.com/8gb6tkdSZ0
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2014
Susan Rice claimed Bergdahl served with "Honor and Distinction." Yeah. Right.
Susan Rice Flashback: Bergdahl Served 'With Honor and Distinction' http://t.co/VOAEnxUQJi (via @IanHanchett) pic.twitter.com/v1IzqmZbcH
— Breitbart.TV (@BreitbartVideo) March 25, 2015
The White House backed up Susan Rice's disingenuous claim.
FLASHBACK: W.H. Stood By Susan Rice 'Honor And Distinction' Claim After Bergdahl Swap [VIDEO]: One of Jay Carn.. http://t.co/714jWZFmqa
— Chris (@Chris_1791) March 25, 2015
Congratulations: You are spending $150,000 to test “mindful eating intervention” on third graders
Via WFB
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending nearly $150,000 to test a “mindful eating intervention” on third graders in California.
A grant awarded earlier this month outlined the project that will use the methods of a Zen teacher to try to fight childhood obesity and turn kids into “change agents” to teach others how to eat healthily.
The project, entitled, “Foodie U: The Impact of a Pilot Mindful Eating Intervention on Food Behaviors Among Children and Families,” will focus on low-income Hispanic children.
“The elementary school age is a crucial period for developing life-long dietary habits while parents still significantly influence their food intake,” the grant said. “A school-based mindful eating intervention with parent involvement may positively influence children’s food behaviors.”
Mindfulness is a New Age meditation technique that traces its origins from Buddhism. People engaging in mindfulness are encouraged to focus on the present moment “non-judgmentally.” A 60 Minutes segment on mindfulness showed Anderson Cooper using the practice by eating in silence very slowly, focusing on every bite.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent $100.2 million on studies testing mindfulness meditation.
Keep on reading…
Tweet of the Day: Obama's lifetime budget vote totals (It's not good)
Only one vote in Senate for Pres. Obama’s budget today: 1. Check out the lifetime totals … pic.twitter.com/0uqfpMgLNs
— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 24, 2015
Barney Frank on Joe Biden: "he can’t keep his mouth shut or his hands to himself.”
Via Politico:
Vice President Joe Biden is his own worst enemy, former Rep. Barney Frank said in a recent interview with Larry King, calling the veep “talented” but also “someone who lacks discipline.”
“Joe is his own worst enemy,” Frank said on “PoliticKING with Larry King” on Ora.tv. “He’s a very bright guy, very good values,” Frank said, noting the vice president’s years-old plan to divide Iraq into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish sections. “But he just — he can’t keep his mouth shut or his hands to himself.”
“It’s out of good intentions, but I think he has unfortunately diminished people’s perception of his abilities,” Frank added.
The vice president drew unwanted attention last month for putting his hands on the shoulders and whispering into the ear of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s wife Stephanie while her husband spoke.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Stupid Tweet of the Day: Politico reporter claims rights are man-made
Here is a hint for Meredith Shiner. If rights are man-made, then it is OK for man to take them away from you. If that doesn't bring it home for you, read the Declaration of Independence.
Bizarre to talk about how rights are God-made and not man-made in your speech announcing a POTUS bid? When Constitution was man-made?
— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner) March 23, 2015
Doubling Down on Stupid: W.H. Stands by Previous Obama Claim that Yemen Is a Model for Success
The basis of propaganda is to repeat a lie often and with authority and it eventually becomes the accepted truth.
Lois Lerner can still take a look at your tax returns?
It's time to disband the IRS and go to a national sales tax or flat tax.
Via Forbes:
Via Forbes:
Could Lois Lerner still take a look at your tax returns on IRS computers? It sounds preposterous, but a new watchdog report says former IRS employees still have access to IRS computer systems long after they have no official business with the information. The report is by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. The GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. In the case of IRS security, the report says not well.
This report cites significant deficiencies in the security of IRS financial reporting systems. Millions of Americans who are legally required to file taxes are fearful about fraud. The report says the IRS needs to continue improving controls over financial and taxpayer data. In the case of former IRS workers with continuing access to IRS data systems, they need to be cut off. Keep on reading...
Monday, March 23, 2015
Governor Moonbeam: Global Warming Causing Extreme Cold or Something...
“What he said is absolutely false,” Brown said. “Over 90% of the scientists who deal with climate are absolutely convinced that the humans’ activity, industrial activity … are building up in the atmosphere, they’re heat trapping, and they’re causing not just one drought in California but severe storms and cold on the East Coast.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/22/politics/ted-cruz-2016-election-global-warming-jerry-brown/
Guess who are "Birthers" now? (NYT's and WaPo!)
Look who is blowing the "Birther" horn now.
I say we let the Supreme Court decide who is a natural born citizen. The Constitution isn't clear and never defines the term. The possibilities are:
A: Must have one citizen parent, but can be born anywhere.
B. Must have two citizen parents, but can be born anywhere.
C. Must be born on US soil, but can have noncitizen parents.
D. Must be born on US soil, but can have only one citizen parent.
E. Must be born on US soil and have both citizen parents.
Cruz fits A. Obama fits D. Neither are natural born citizens under definition E. There have been several questions recently about candidates. John McCain fits B. The Senate passed a resolution in 2008 declaring him a natural born citizen. It didn't carry the force of law. Several people have tried to have the courts consider if Barack Obama is a natural born citizen, but the cases have been dismissed due to "Lack of standing."
Ted Cruz is already getting questions about his Canadian roots - http://t.co/RFdExwMLvB @arappeport pic.twitter.com/HREyRiPgP6
— David Joachim, NYT (@davidjoachim) March 23, 2015
How the Ted Cruz birthers are different than the Obama birthers http://t.co/3ATPkhahHW pic.twitter.com/iSD83YOcOv
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlakeWP) March 23, 2015
I say we let the Supreme Court decide who is a natural born citizen. The Constitution isn't clear and never defines the term. The possibilities are:
A: Must have one citizen parent, but can be born anywhere.
B. Must have two citizen parents, but can be born anywhere.
C. Must be born on US soil, but can have noncitizen parents.
D. Must be born on US soil, but can have only one citizen parent.
E. Must be born on US soil and have both citizen parents.
Cruz fits A. Obama fits D. Neither are natural born citizens under definition E. There have been several questions recently about candidates. John McCain fits B. The Senate passed a resolution in 2008 declaring him a natural born citizen. It didn't carry the force of law. Several people have tried to have the courts consider if Barack Obama is a natural born citizen, but the cases have been dismissed due to "Lack of standing."
The surge Obama supports: Second wave of illegal teens coming across the southern border...
Via The Washington Examiner:
The next explosion of illegal teen border crossing is in full swing, but just one-in-six are being sent home, with most of the rest settled in the United States, according to new government figures.
The U.S. Border Patrol agency reported that they have seized 12,509 illegals under age 18 since October, making it the second biggest surge in history after last year's unprecedented movement of unaccompanied youths across the nation's southern border.
However, when compared to the numbers of illegal kids turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it is clear that most are being "booked in" to U.S. facilities and then released — not sent home.
Tweets of the Day: A Crazy Pair From Daily Kos
Wow.
Republicans: the party of forced birth for teenage sex slaves http://t.co/W6RWXIGjvN pic.twitter.com/p0adgUXv35
— Daily Kos (@dailykos) March 23, 2015
Ted Cruz wants 100 racists in the Senate http://t.co/gDIx4QxJ70 pic.twitter.com/pUYDxFFhOL
— Daily Kos (@dailykos) March 23, 2015
John Bolton on formatting reason for leaving Iran off terror list: "It's a flat lie."
Click image for video.
The Obama administration is populated with compulsive liars.
John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., sounded off tonight on the news that Iran and Hezbollah were omitted from the latest U.S. terror threat list.
This year’s Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities doesn’t include Iran or Hezbollah in the terrorism section. Catherine Herridge reports that the office of National Intelligence Director James Clapper cites a change in formatting as a reason for this removal.
“It’s a flat lie […] the people who would say this is a format change are weasels,” Bolton said.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Flashback: In September, Obama Calls Yemen's War On Terror A Success
The Obama curse strikes again...
Starbucks dumping #RaceTogether campaign
(AP) Starbucks baristas will no longer write “Race Together” on customers’ cups starting Sunday, ending as planned a visible component of the company’s diversity and racial inequality campaign, according to a memo.The coffee chain’s initiative will continue more broadly without the handwritten messages, Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson said.The cups were always “just the catalyst” for a larger conversation and Starbucks will still hold forum discussions, co-produce special sections in USA TODAY and put more stores in minority communities as part of the Race Together initiative, the memo from CEO Howard Schultz said.The campaign has been criticized as opportunistic and inappropriate, coming in the wake of racially charged events such as national protests over police killings of black males. Others questioned whether Starbucks workers could spark productive conversations about race while serving drinks.
Sen. Ted Cruz to throw his hat in 2016 ring Monday...
Via Houston Chronicle:
Sen. Ted Cruz plans to announce Monday that he will run for president of the United States, according to his senior advisers, accelerating his already rapid three-year rise from a tea party insurgent in Texas into a divisive political force in Washington.
Cruz, scheduled to speak Monday at a convocation ceremony at Liberty University in Virginia, will not form an exploratory committee but rather launch a presidential bid outright, said advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.
Over the course of the primary campaign, Cruz will aim to raise between $40 million and $50 million, according to advisers, and dominate with the same tea party voters who supported his underdog senate campaign in 2012. But the key to victory, Cruz advisers believe, is to be the second choice of enough voters in the party’s libertarian and social conservative wings to cobble together a coalition to defeat the chosen candidate of the Republican establishment.
The firebrand Texan may have few Senate colleagues who will back his White House bid, but his appeal to his party’s base who vote disproportionately in Republican primaries could make him competitive in Iowa and beyond.
Keep on reading…
Obama's peace partner, Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, called for “Death to America” on Saturday
Via The Times of Israel:
Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for “Death to America” on Saturday, a day after President Barack Obama appealed to Iran to seize a “historic opportunity” for a nuclear deal and a better future, and as US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed substantial progress toward an accord.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Sacre bleu! The French are taking a tougher stance on Iran nuke deal than Obama...
Well, this is embarrassing.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland—France is again adopting the toughest line against Iran in negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, potentially placing Paris at odds with the Obama administration as a diplomatic deadline to forge an agreement approaches at month-end.
President Barack Obama called French President François Hollande on Friday to discuss the Iran diplomacy and try to unify their positions. The presidents “reaffirmed their commitment” to a deal “while noting that Iran must take steps to resolve several remaining issues,” the White House said.
French diplomats have been publicly pressing the U.S. and other world powers not to give ground on key elements—particularly the speed of lifting U.N. sanctions and the pledge to constrain Iran’s nuclear research work—ahead of the March 31 target.
Rasmussen: 60% believe any Obama-Iran nuke agreement requires the approval of Congress
Via Rasmussen:
Voters remain lukewarm about the nuclear deal the Obama administration is negotiating with Iran, and most think it needs to be approved by Congress. But they aren’t happy with the letter 47 Republican senators sent to the Iranian government putting the current negotiations in question either.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Likely U.S. Voters favor the administration’s deal seeking a 10-year freeze on Iran’s nuclear development program in exchange for lifting some sanctions on the Iranian economy. But the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that slightly more (39%) still oppose such a deal. Twenty-five percent (25%) are not sure. […]
While voters are almost evenly divided over the deal itself, 60% believe any agreement the Obama administration makes with Iran regarding the Iranian nuclear program requires the approval of Congress. Just 23% disagree, while 17% are undecided.
Obama cedes Yemen to the terrorists...
BREAKING: U.S. is evacuating roughly 100 special forces from Yemen as security situation deteriorates: http://t.co/Y3jUjcrRZn
— CNN International (@cnni) March 21, 2015
Rep. Trey Gowdy demands Hillary turn over the server...
Via Fox News:
The chairman of the congressional committee probing the Benghazi terror attacks has formally asked that Hillary Clinton turn over her personal server — warning that the House could take steps to pressure her if she refuses.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sent a letter, released Friday, to Clinton’s attorney requesting that the former secretary of state “relinquish” the server to a “neutral, detached and independent third-party” for review.
The server has become a point of controversy after she admitted to exclusively using a private email account and a personal server while secretary — yet insisted her server would remain private, though some lawmakers want access to it to ensure she’s turned over all official emails during her tenure.
Gowdy’s letter suggested that Clinton could turn the server over to the State Department inspector general for review. He said it’s important for a third party to look over the contents to ensure any public documents are released.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Liberal Heartache: The Goracle isn't interested in running in 2016
Via MSNBC.com:
Carter Eskew, who ran the advertising and messaging team for Gore’s 2000 campaign and remains in contact with the politician-turned-climate change advocate, flatly shut down the notion. “[H]e is neither doing nor thinking anything about running,” Eskew said in an email.
“I have no indication this is real,” said longtime Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, who was a top strategist on Gore’s 2000 campaign. “I think it’s a media creation.”
Indeed, Gore himself has given no indication he’s interested in a return to politics. He’s become a wealthy businessman, author, and advocate and has avoided weighing in on politics outside the handful of issues he deeply cares about, including climate change. And running against the wife of his former ticket-mate would tip of a Democratic family battle royale that the party seems uninterested in having.
Liberal Heartache: MSNBC is having a rating crisis...
Maybe they could actually report the news instead of the heavily filtered and biased contend they currently regurgitate daily.
Via Politico:
Via Politico:
It would be hard to imagine a news event better tailored to MSNBC’s Venn diagram of “lean forward” liberals and “place for politics” political junkies. Yet when Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ presumptive 2016 presidential nominee, held a news conference about her private email use last week — a media frenzy that functioned, albeit inadvertently, as the informal launch to her highly anticipated campaign — less than 13 percent of the total cable news audience was tuned to the network.
The low turnout wasn’t a fluke: Year-to-date, MSNBC’s daytime viewership is down 21 percent overall and 41 percent in the coveted 25-to-54-year-old demographic, putting it in fourth place behind Fox News, CNN and CNN’s sister network HLN. Its prime-time ratings are down 24 percent and 42 percent, respectively. In both daytime and prime time, MSNBC is bringing in its smallest share of the demo since 2005, the year before Keith Olbermann’s scorched-earth admonitions of the Bush administration ushered in the current era of Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton.
In a memo to staff in December, MSNBC President Phil Griffin conceded that the network is suffering: “It’s no secret that 2014 was a difficult year for the entire cable news industry and especially for MSNBC,” he wrote. But change was coming, Griffin promised, with “more announcements in the New Year.”
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Image of the Day: Ruth Bader Ginsburg sees her first smartphone...
Why are democrat women so homely?
Hillary Clinton: 'We Really Need Camps for Adults'
Dumbest idea ever from the woman who can't handle packing two phones!
WH says Netanyahu re-election "undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy"
Almost unbelievable...
Via Weekly Standard:
Via Weekly Standard:
In a comment unprompted by any question from the media, White House press secretary lashed into some of the rhetoric Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu used in his reelection campaign. The White House even suggested it had hurt Israel’s democracy and America’s relationship with its greatest ally in the Middle East.
“There’s one other thing that I anticipated might come up that I just did want to mention as it relates to the Israeli elections. Specifically, there has been a lot of coverage in the media about some of the rhetoric that emerged yesterday that was propagated by the Likud Party to encourage turnout of their supporters that sought to, frankly, marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens. The United States and this administration is deeply concerned by divisive rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told the media aboard Air Force One today.
“It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together...
Obamacare record keeping costing small businesses thousands...
NEW YORK (AP) – Complying with the health care law is costing small businesses thousands of dollars that they didn’t have to spend before the new regulations went into effect.
Brad Mete estimates his staffing company, Affinity Resources, will spend $100,000 this year on record-keeping and filing documents with the government. He’s hired two extra staffers and is spending more on services from its human resources provider.
The Affordable Care Act, which as of next Jan. 1 applies to all companies with 50 or more workers, requires owners to track staffers’ hours, absences and how much they spend on health insurance. Many small businesses don’t have the human resources departments or computer systems that large companies have, making it harder to handle the paperwork. On average, complying with the law costs small businesses more than $15,000 a year, according to a survey released a year ago by the National Small Business Association.
“It’s a horrible hassle,” says Mete, managing partner of the Miami-based company.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Most transparent administration ever sets new record for FOIA non-compliance
Heh...
Via AP:
For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. …The government’s new figures, published Tuesday, covered all requests to 100 federal agencies during fiscal 2014 under the Freedom of Information law, which is heralded globally as a model for transparent government. They showed that despite disappointments and failed promises by the White House to make meaningful improvements in the way it releases records, the law was more popular than ever. Citizens, journalists, businesses and others made a record 714,231 requests for information. The U.S. spent a record $434 million trying to keep up.
The government responded to 647,142 requests, a 4 percent decrease over the previous year. The government more than ever censored materials it turned over or fully denied access to them, in 250,581 cases or 39 percent of all requests. Sometimes, the government censored only a few words or an employee’s phone number, but other times it completely marked out nearly every paragraph on pages.
Florida House advances bill to keep transgenders out of the wrong bathroom...
Bathroom usage should be determined by plumbing, not how someone claims they feel that day.
Via The Tampa Tribune
Via The Tampa Tribune
After a two hour hearing, a House panel Tuesday cleared legislation cast as “common sense” by proponents, but vocally opposed by the transgender community, which says it’s discriminatory.
The bill (HB 583) makes it a second-degree misdemeanor for someone to use a single-sex restroom if it does not match the gender on that person’s driver’s license or passport.
It has become the most contentious measure during the early parts of legislative session, with hours of testimony during its first two committee stops.
It is sponsored by state Rep. Frank Artiles, a Miami Republican, who says his top goal is public safety. He is specifically taking aim at a Miami-Dade County law that he says is overbroad, and will allow heterosexual men access to women’s bathrooms.
Netanyahu wins decisively...
Via Times of Israel:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party was the clear winner in Tuesday’s election, a near-final tally showed early Wednesday morning, defeating the Zionist Union by a margin of some six seats.
That margin was far more decisive than TV exit polls had predicted when polling booths closed at 10 p.m. on Tuesday. All three TV polls had put Likud and Zionist Union neck-and-neck at 27 seats, albeit with Netanyahu better-placed to form a coalition.
On the basis of those TV polls, Netanyahu hailed a Likud victory, though Herzog refused to concede. As counting proceeded through the night, however, the Likud opened a growing margin of victory.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
GOP Congressman turns Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew into a spineless jellyfish...
It's going to be fun watching more administration officials try to answer if they knew Hillary's private server email address.
State Department's Psaki: Hillary didn't sign OF-109 form when she left...
If there is not requirement or penalty for not signing, will all federal employees start refusing to sign a OF-109 form when they leave? Why wouldn't they? There is apparently no rule requiring it and no penalty for not signing.
Via Politico:
While State’s Foreign Affairs Manual declares that “a separation statement will be completed whenever an employee is terminating employment,” Psaki insisted that Clinton’s departure without signing the form didn’t run afoul of any directive.
“We’re not aware of any penalty for not signing it,” Psaki said. “It’s not a violation of any rule.”
Obama heartache: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared victory after a tight national election
Against all odds:a great victory for the Likud. A major victory for the people of Israel!
— בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 17, 2015
51% now think Hillary's private email server is a serious problem...
Via CNN:
Washington (CNN)- Unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton are on the rise and perceptions of her as “honest and trustworthy” have dropped following the revelation that while serving as secretary of state she used a personal email address and home-based server to conduct State Department business.
But questions about Clinton’s email practices may not harm her chances if she makes a run for the White House in 2016, as a new CNN/ORC poll finds 57% of Americans say she’s someone they’d be proud to have as their president.
SEE: The complete CNN/ORC poll results
Overall, 51% in the poll call Clinton’s use of a personal email system rather than a government provided one a very or somewhat serious problem, 48% say it’s not too serious an issue or no problem at all. And the public is similarly split over whether Clinton did something wrong by using the personal system; 51% say she did, 47% that she did not.
Obama blames Bush for ISIS...
ISIS is a direct result of Obama's hands off approach to the Middle East after the Iraq draw down.
Via Grabien:
Via Grabien:
OBAMA: “ISIL is a direct outgrowth of al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion which is an example of unintended consequences — which is why we should generally aim before we shoot. We’ve got a sixty country coalition. We will slowly push back ISIL out of Iraq. I’m confident that will happen.
But what I’m worried about and what we have to stay worried about is even if ISIL is defeated is the underlying problem of disaffected Sunnis around the world but particularly in some of these areas, including Libya, including Yemen, where a young man was growing up and has no education, has no prospects for the future, is looking around. And the one way that he can get validation power respect is if he’s a fighter. And this looks like the toughest gang around so let me affiliate with them. And now you’re giving me a religious rationale for doing this.
That’s a problem we’re going to have generally and we can’t keep on thinking about counter-terrorism and security as entirely separate from diplomacy, development, education — all these things that are considered soft but in fact are vital to our national security. And we do not fund those. If you ask the average person, ‘How much do we spend on foreign aid?’ They will say, ‘25 percent of the federal budget.’ Well, it’s little over 1 percent. We should be thinking about making investments there that ultimately save us from having to send our young men and women to fight or having folks come here and doing great harm.”
Keep reading…
Monday, March 16, 2015
Most transparent administration ever is removing regulation requiring transparency...
You can't make this up...
Via USA Today:
Via USA Today:
WASHINGTON — The White House is removing a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act, making official a policy under Presidents Bush and Obama to reject all requests for records to that office.
The White House said the clean-up of FOIA regulations is consistent with court rulings that hold that the office is not subject to the transparency law. The office handles, among other things, White House record-keeping duties like the archiving of e-mails.
But the timing of the move raised eyebrows among transparency advocates, coming on National Freedom of Information Day and during a national debate over the preservation of Obama administration records. It’s also Sunshine Week, an effort by news organizations and watchdog groups to highlight issues of government transparency.
“The irony of this being Sunshine Week is not lost on me,” said Anne Weismann of the liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.
Keep on reading…
State Dept. Spokesperson Jen Psaki Again Refuses To Say Whether Clinton Signed Separation Agreement
Who did Jen Psaki have sex with to get this job?
Change: Hillary Clinton’s camp now claim they read every single deleted email...
Via Fox News:
Hillary Clinton’s camp late Sunday issued a significant clarification about the steps they say were taken to review thousands of personal emails before they were deleted, claiming her team individually read “every email” before discarding those deemed private.
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill made the clarification in a written statement to Fox News. This comes after the former secretary of state’s office revealed last week that while more than 30,000 “work-related” emails were turned over to the State Department, nearly 32,000 were deemed “private” and deleted.
This admission raised questions over how her team decided to get rid of those messages. Merrill on Sunday clarified an earlier fact sheet that described some of those methods but did not say every email was read.
Tweet of the Day: Ferguson protesters stomp on American flag
Protesters stomp on USA flag and threaten to burn it. #FergusonPD #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/kDw12sySqw
— News This Second (@NewsThisSecond) March 15, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
James Carville: I 'Suspect' Hillary Used Private Email to Avoid Congressional Oversight
Thanks for being honest. Now, if Hillary would only come clean.
Hero: Ted Cruz wants NASA to start exploring space again...
Via The Hill:
A battle of interplanetary proportions is brewing on Capitol Hill.Obama has cut NASA spending.
It’s not “Star Wars,” but partisan lines are quickly being drawn in a budget battle over the future of NASA, which could have a long-term impact on the space agency’s ability to explore the deepest corners of space as well as the ground beneath our feet.
On one side are Republicans who accuse the Obama administration of taking its eye off the ball by funneling too much money into research about the planet Earth, rather than focusing on distant worlds and stars.On the other, Democrats argue that the administration’s plan is critical to harness the best of NASA’s talents, protect our planet and consistent with the agency’s wide-ranging mission.
Now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress for the first time in years, the fight is spilling into the open.
“In the past six years, too much of NASA’s focus has been driven by the political agenda of politicians in Washington rather than the core mission of focusing on space exploration,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who leads the Senate subcommittee on Space, after a hearing on the agency’s budget this week.
“That’s what NASA was created to do and it’s where its energy should be focused.”
Cruz pledged to flex Capitol Hill’s muscle by passing a NASA authorization bill that “continue[s] this discussion of getting back to the core priorities of NASA.”
But Democrats are likely to push back.
Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), the top Democrat on Cruz’s panel, warned against “false choices” between exploring distant worlds and studying our own planet. Keep on reading...
"NASA-Budget-Federal" by 0x0077BE - Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA-Budget-Federal.svg#/media/File:NASA-Budget-Federal.svg
Report: Valerie Jarrett is behind Clinton secret email leak...
Via NY Post
It’s the vast left-wing conspiracy.
Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett leaked to the press details of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail address during her time as secretary of state, sources tell me.
But she did so through people outside the administration, so the story couldn’t be traced to her or the White House.
In addition, at Jarrett’s behest, the State Department was ordered to launch a series of investigations into Hillary’s conduct at Foggy Bottom, including the use of her expense account, the disbursement of funds, her contact with foreign leaders and her possible collusion with the Clinton Foundation.
Six separate probes into Hillary’s performance have been going on at the State Department. I’m told that the e-mail scandal was timed to come out just as Hillary was on the verge of formally announcing that she was running for president — and that there’s more to come.
Members of Bill Clinton’s camp say the former president suspects the White House is the source of the leak and is furious.