Posts on Monday, December 23, 2019
Virgil has used his mystical powers to channel the thinking of Bill Clinton…
My misdirection plan is working well. Everyone’s talking about Trump and impeachment, not me and Jeffrey Epstein. Sweet.
The news these past few weeks has been all Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Nancy Pelosi—plus all those witnesses whose names nobody can remember anymore. But guess whose name you don’t see? …Sorry, haters!
Yes, Prince Andrew is getting kicked around, and good. At least he’s got a lot of happy memories.
He should’ve been more careful. Not let himself be photographed. (Snip) You’ve heard of witness protection? Well, I like protection from witnesses!
(Snip) won’t be hearing much
A grandfather in Gladstone, Oregon, recently decided to do something very unique for his grandkids this Christmas.“Every year we make a big deal and every week coming into Christmas, advent, every week we give them a gift,” Doug Hayes said of this year’s special gift, according to KENS 5.Video footage captured by a family member showed the pajama-clad children gathered on their porch steps, waiting for the big surprise to arrive. Moments later, a yellow Ward school bus with the words “Grandfather Express” painted on the side and a big red bow on the front pulled into the driveway.“It’s a bus!” one of the kids exclaimed,
Current immigration policy is muddied at best , functioning as half border protection, half charity for the world's poor. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg proposes to erase that ambiguity and just make it 100% charity.The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, released his immigration policy proposals on Sunday. There's essentially no difference between them and what the rest of the 2020 Democratic field has been saying, which is to say, he is for free healthcare for illegal immigrants and essentially no enforcement at the border.Buttigieg's proposal also contains no real policy.
Former second lady Dr. Jill Biden, whose husband former vice president Joe Biden is running for the 2020 Democrat nomination, handed out tamales and Christmas gifts to migrants in Mexico as part of a visit with local leaders on Sunday. Biden toured a migrant camp across the border from Brownsville, Texas, home to over 2000 asylum-seekers.
Dem Sen. Van Hollen:
‘Having the Bidens Testify Is Really
Irrelevant’ to Impeachment Articles replies
‘Having the Bidens Testify Is Really
Irrelevant’ to Impeachment Articles replies
Monday on “CNN Newsroom,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sounded off on the possibility Senate Republicans call on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, to testify over their dealings with Ukraine. Van Hollen said he thinks the Bidens testifying “is really irrelevant” in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial over “abuse of power.”“I haven’t heard any Republican senators say they wanted to call those witnesses,” Van Hollen remarked. “If they make that request, obviously that would become part of the discussion.
President Trump is set to hold his first 2020 campaign rally in Ohio. On Monday, the president’s reelection campaign announced his ‘Keep America Great’ rally will take place in Toledo on January 9th. (Tweet) President Trump will discuss his agenda in the highly competitive battleground state, which he carried by eight percent back in 2016.“Ohio is booming thanks to President Trump and jobs are coming back to the state. Since President Trump’s election, Ohio has added 94,700 new jobs, including 14,700 manufacturing jobs. President Trump is delivering on his promises, and he looks forward to celebrating those successes with the great men and women of Ohio.“
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declared that the United States is “not an advanced society” and is devolving into a fascist country while campaigning alongside presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in Los Angeles Saturday.“Establishing a loving society in the United States of America” isn’t an “irrational, overly feeling, sympathetic statement,” Ocasio-Cortez said. Instead, it’s part of an ongoing mission to achieve “an advanced society,” she argued, citing past remarks by Harvard University professor and fellow Sanders surrogate Cornel West.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) on Monday accused the House of not affording President Donald Trump “due process” in his impeachment as he reacted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) withholding the impeachment articles.Kennedy said on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.” the process was a “rigged game,” likening it to “carnival ring toss” because of how “fixed” it was.“The president was not afforded due process in the House,” Kennedy stated. “I mean, you can’t beat a rigged game. And the president was not allowed to call his own witnesses,
An American service member was killed in combat today in Afghanistan, the US military said, and the Taliban have claimed responsibility. The US military did not provide further details on the attack but the Taliban claimed they were behind the roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province that killed the soldier.The latest fatality brings the number of US deaths in Afghanistan this year to 20. There have also been three non-combat deaths in 2019. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year conflict.
Doctors are stumped about why a Minnesota woman had her first heart attack while giving birth at the age of 29.
It's one of the questions researchers hope to answer, thanks to a $5 million gift to the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation from Lee and Penny Anderson. (snip) The Penny Anderson Women's Cardiovascular Center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation will allow for long-overdue research into SCAD and other heart conditions that afflict women.
While Sen. Elizabeth Warren has eschewed taking money from wealthy campaign donors, President Obama is networking behind-the-scenes with the Democratic party's moneyed, vouching for the 2020 hopeful. 'Shattered' author Amie Parnes, writing for The Hill, explained that while Obama hasn't endorsed Warren - nor will he endorse any Democratic hopeful during the primary - he's made clear 'that he deems her a capable candidate and potential president.''He obviously think she's very smart,' one Democratic donor told Parnes.
Queen Nancy Pelosi is not amused. Having just demanded her subjects in the House impeach the president in a historic and unprecedented party-line vote, jeopardizing the reelection of many and even threatening her own reign, Her Royal Highness, aka the House Speaker, grew testy recently with inquisitive reporters.
Pelosi scolded the pesky press for wanting to know why, for the first time in the nation’s history, she did not follow the accustomed path of handing the articles of impeachment over to the Senate for an expected trial.
The U.S. has begun deporting Mexican nationals deep into the interior of their country, making illegal reentry that much more difficult — and immigration enforcement officials have not ruled out deporting them as far as Guatemala.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the government of Mexico announced the relaunch of the Interior Repatriation Initiative Thursday. Under the auspices of the agreement, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations will fly Mexican nationals hundreds of miles within Mexican territory, in lieu of simply repatriating them a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. immigration officials stated the program will not only reduce recidivism among illegal immigrants,
What I Learned Ringing the Bell
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You might be surprised at what you can see and hear while ringing the Christmas Bell for the Salvation Army. These last two weeks, I saw hundreds of people going in and out of our local Walmart, all coming within just a few feet of my Salvation Army Bell and Red Kettle. Soon after I started ringing the bell, a few people stopped to chat, and it was then that I realized that I had a great opportunity to learn some new things. I found that I was in the presence of authentic people living life,
The liberal media seem to only care about propping up billionaires when the views of the rich align with their own. The New York Times did an entire puff piece elevating the candidacy of liberal billionaire 2020 candidate Michael Bloomberg, with little criticism. The Times published what could be read as a teaser for an unofficial political biography for the billionaire owner of controversy-laced liberal outlet Bloomberg News, Dec. 22
The Best Things in Texas 2020
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There was no shortage of Texans who humiliated themselves, embarrassed us, and made the world a slightly worse place last year. But the good—if slightly less funny—news is that there were at least as many Texans who distinguished themselves, did us proud, and helped make Texas a kinder and more interesting place. Everyday heroes, wise centenarians, spelling bee champions, pathbreaking artists, fishermen with an odd sense of occasion, and people who turned everyone’s favorite punching bag—social media—into a tool for decency: those were the faces of Texas we’ll try to keep in mind in 2020, no matter how many fools and knaves do their worst to distract us.
1619 & all that
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We are a bit late in getting to that dog’s breakfast called “The 1619 Project,” The New York Times’s effort to “reframe”—read, “wildly distort”—the history and governing impetus of the American Founding. Readers of the satirical classic 1066 and All That know what fun can be had if you go about your job as a storyteller serving up “all the History you can remember” and pretending that it is the truth. “Histories,” we read in 1066 and All That, “have previously been written with the object of exalting their authors. The object of this History is to console the reader.”
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has soared past that of ex-President Barack Obama’s at the same point in his administration, defying negative sterotypes driven by opponents as he became only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.Trump’s job approval rating 151 weeks into his presidency sits at 45 percent, as revealed by a Gallup poll last Wednesday. That puts Trump three points higher than the 42 percent approval rating Gallup found for Obama at the same point of his presidency. Gallup’s poll recorded a similar job disapproval rating for both presidents 151 weeks into their administrations. Some 51 percent of voters said they disapprove of
Boeing’s CEO is resigning amid ongoing problems at the company over the troubled Max 737 aircraft. The board of directors said Monday that Dennis Muilenburg is stepping down immediately. The board’s current chairman David Calhoun will become president and CEO on Jan. 13. The board said a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company as it works to repair relationships with regulators and stakeholders. Calhoun says he strongly believes in the future of Boeing and the 737 Max. The plane was involved with two deadly crashes. Board member Lawrence Kellner will become non-executive chairman of the board.
A decade ago, Time Magazine unveiled an in-depth article on the death of Detroit. One of the politicians whom the article blamed for Detroit’s woes was Rep. John Dingell.
The Dingell clan has held a congressional seat outside Detroit since 1932. Their 87-year tenure has not coincidentally coincided with the decline of a thriving industrial city into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
But it’s been good for the Dingells, three of whom have sat in their congressional seat since the days of Herbert Hoover, the rise of Hitler, and the radio age, and fattened their pockets on its sinecures.
NEW YORK – Computer plate umpires could be called up to the major leagues at some point during the next five seasons. Umpires agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball in the development and testing of an automated ball-strike system as part of a five-year labor contract announced Saturday, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.The Major League Baseball Umpires Association also agreed to cooperate and assist if Commissioner Rob Manfred decides to utilize the system at the major league level. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because those details of the deal, which is subject to ratification by both sides, had not been announced.
The Era of ‘Good’ Fascism?
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Consider the recent statements and acts of iconic progressive celebrities .Jane Fonda is chronically furious. This time she directed her wrath at those who disagree about the urgency of ending the entire fossil fuel industry and ruining the current economy. Her idea is to put climate “deniers” on trial for incorrect speech. So much for the First Amendment. “Now, because of the fossil fuel industry, it’s too late for moderation,” Fonda says. “And given the emergency, it’s those who believe in moderation, in pre-Trump business as usual, who are truly delusional. And those who lie and continue to lie about what they’re doing to the environment should be
A BBC editor has complained that Number 10’s boycott of Radio 4’s Today programme is a “Trumpian” plot to “delegitimise” the broadcaster. Ministers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet have been noted for their conspicuous absence from the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme. Sources speaking to The Telegraph shortly after the Conservatives won their biggest majority since 1987 accused the BBC of biased coverage during the election and called on the taxpayer-funded broadcaster to launch an internal investigation into its coverage. “The BBC speaks to a pro-Remain metropolitan bubble
The world’s most obnoxious teenager is now exploiting the misery Australians are enduring as brush fires rage amidst a heat wave. One advantage of being 16 years old is that your ignorance is matched by your presumption that everything you believe is true and righteous, even if the reality is that you are ghoulishly capitalizing on the suffering of others an don’t know the first thing about this history of bushfires Down Under. (snip) Scott Morrison has dismissed Greta Thunberg’s call for Australia to take more action on climate change, declaring he was “not here to impress people overseas”.
Looking for last-minute presents? Don’t buy Amazon’s Ring home camera system. Easily hackable, super creepy, and massively Orwellian, Ring and other home surveillance tech give you the illusion of protection while stealing your privacy and autonomy. Ring isn’t the only device to have been hacked. Nest, Alexa, and baby monitors are just a few of the home devices that have bad actors have hacked and manipulated.
A perv recently used a Ring camera to gain access to an eight-year-old girl’s bedroom. Her parents had installed the device to keep tabs on her. Through the camera, a truly disgusting man can be heard to say: “I’m your best friend, I’m Santa Claus.”
Economist Mark Perry has been putting together a series of intriguing animated charts to show changes over time in everything from recorded music formats, Social Security spending, to top manufacturing nations.
Over the weekend, Perry posted his latest animated chart, this one showing per capita GDP among Latin American countries. Pay close attention to the highlighted bar, which represents Venezuela.
As Perry notes, in the 1980s, Venezuela consistently ranked in the top tier and when Huge Chavez took office in 1999, it was No. 4.
In the early years after his rise to power,
John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, criticized his old boss over the administration's misguided "rhetorical policy" toward North Korea along with its failure to exert "maximum pressure" during the high-stakes nuclear talks.Bolton’s comments, which were published late Sunday on Axios, come at a precarious time between Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. What once showed glimpses of an unlikely and historic foreign policy victory for Trump, now appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse.Bolton said he doesn't believe the administration "really means it" when they talk about stopping North Korea's nuclear ambition.
The British royal family released an adorable photo from Buckingham Palace that showed Prince George preparing Christmas pudding.The photograph, which also included Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince William, was shared on Instagram Sunday by the official account of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.“Four generations of the Royal Family together at Christmas,” read part of the caption.The image was captured as part of the Royal British Legion’s “Together at Christmas” initiative.“The initiative is designed to provide extra support to the Armed Forces
The president’s family members and the Trump organization shared a variety of festive photos on social media from this year’s Trump Christmas party at the Trump Tower in New York, as well as other events marking the beginning of the holiday season.Friday, the Trump organization threw a holiday celebration for the company’s employees, with Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, as well as Eric and Lara Trump in attendance … not to mention the jolly guy from the North Pole wearing his famous MAGA-hat-red suit.
Freshman swing district Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) said Saturday that Democrats will defeat Republicans by a “large margin” during the 2020 elections.Rep. Rose, who voted for both articles of impeachment this week, said, “Mark my words, okay? We are going to beat them by such a wide margin that next time around, they won’t even talk like this again, okay?”The New York Democrats’ comments contrast with Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), who believes that Rep. Rose will lose his seat in 2020.“Last night their obsession with impeachment finally came to a head, and they basically ended their majority,” Rep. Emmer said.
We’ve all heard the expression, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and most of us have witnessed it at some point in our lives. It typically refers to betrayal, especially regarding love, when a woman is spurned and replaced by another. It could also explain the righteous anger and rage one would feel if their greatest effort and achievement were taken from them, even more so if it was taken under false pretenses and through illegal subterfuge.Is anyone surprised that President Donald Trump would be
Many think of Hanukah as a fight for religious freedom. While religious freedom was at stake, it was part of a broader battle in behalf of the concept of national identity. The Maccabees, local Judeans who spearheaded the revolt against the overpowering northern Syrian Greeks and who inspired the grassroots, did so for the overarching cause of retaining Judea’s identity and Jewish character, which were under assault by those trying to denude Judea of its distinctiveness. (snip) Antiochus expected all countries under his jurisdiction to surrender their national sovereignty and independence and its citizens begin seeing themselves as citizens of the world, the Hellenic world.
When Kids Kill
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The brutal murder of Tessa Majors, an 18-year-old college student, attacked as she walked through Morningside Park in Manhattan, has chilled New Yorkers. According to news accounts, Majors was robbed and stabbed by three youths who accosted her, put her in a headlock, and emptied her pockets, then slashed her repeatedly with a four-inch knife blade. Found by police, she was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died. The prime suspects are three teenage boys, ages 13 and 14—the third hasn’t yet been apprehended—who confessed to seeking robbery victims in the park.
This horrible incident touches two raw nerves: one dealing with criminal responsibility and punishment for adolescents,
Military guys – and I am a graduate of the Army War College, which is not the one with noted expert on expertise Tom Nichols – try to abide by the apocryphal advice of Napoleon, who counseled that you should never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake. But this doesn’t apply to the Democrats because they are not only too dumb to listen to your warnings but their weird dogma actually makes it impossible for them to imagine that they are heading for disaster in 2020. So, I’m going to mock these losers mercilessly, safe in the knowledge
“Christianity Today exposed the reality of Evangelical division,” reads the headline to David French’s column today for The Dispatch. He notes “the malleability of the definition” of “Evangelical”:
Not all self-described “Evangelicals” share the same beliefs or the same faith habits. Exit poll questions about religious identity are far too imprecise to provide true insight into a complex community. Many people . . . describe themselves as “Evangelical” simply because it’s the best option in a limited exit-poll menu. When they hear “Evangelical” they often interpret it as “politically conservative Christian.”
Thirty-five percent of Americans identify as Evangelical,
The International Criminal Court is a creature of the United Nations that came into existence in 2002. The ICC’s mission is to “bring to justice the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind – war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.” Needless to say, it hasn’t had a lot of success in doing so, and has been deeply controversial from the beginning. The United States has never joined the ICC.
Israel hasn’t joined the ICC either, but the ICC’s chief prosecutor has nevertheless announced that she intends to investigate alleged Israeli “war crimes”:
residing judge Rosemary Collyer, having returned from her vacation on Mars and just in time for her retirement, has demanded of the FBI revised procedures to ensure that the multiple frauds committed upon the court, including inclusion of fraudulent material, omission of exculpatory information, and the deliberate alteration of documents to mislead the court. It was farcical to hear her, in the face of multiple felonies in a Deep State plot bordering on sedition, suggest that revised procedures for the handling and submitting of FISA applications is the answer to our chief law enforcement agency's attempt to overthrow a sitting president of the United States.
In a video that has gone viral, Nancy Pelosi tries to explain why she has decided to delay the impeachment circus. The key part of that sentence is "tries to." What comes out of her mouth makes no sense whatsoever. None.
If you want to know why Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House, you only have to watch this video of a news conference she gave on Thursday. Such eloquence! It's absolutely amazing to listen to her. Martin Luther King Jr., eat your heart out!
Obamacare’s Ozymandian Ruins
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All the sound and fury produced by the Democrats last week about impeachment drowned out a useful lesson concerning their last great act of legislative hubris. On Wednesday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declared Obamacare’s insurance mandate unconstitutional and, Friday, President Trump signed a budget package that repeals three of that law’s most outrageous taxes. These are just the latest fragments to fall on the growing pile of debris lying at the foot of Obamacare’s crumbling edifice. The ruins already contain dozens of provisions repealed by Congress, struck down by the courts, or rescinded by executive order.
If you are frowning at your screen,
It’s perfectly fine for politicians to look at ways to keep prescription drugs affordable. But why does the bigger problem of soaring hospital bills get so little notice?
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data out this month show that “retail prescription drug prices declined by 1.0 percent” last year, to $335 billion, while spending for hospital-care services rose at about the same rate as in 2017, to $1.2 trillion.
And that’s nothing new: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that drug prices have gone down for more months this year than they’ve gone up, something the White House understandably celebrated.
Hospitals represent a third
Heavy fog and an ice-slickened highway contributed to a massive pre-Christmas 69-vehicle pileup in eastern Virginia on Sunday that left more than 50 people injured, two in critical condition, authorities said.
The chain-reaction crash happened just before 8 a.m. in the westbound lanes of Interstate 64 near Williamsburg, Virginia, Virginia State Police Sgt. Michelle Anaya said during a news conference Sunday afternoon.
"We do not know the cause of the initial accident, but we do know that fog and the icy road conditions were causative factors in this multi-vehicle crash," Anaya said.
Nearly 200 evangelical leaders condemned Christianity Today's editorial calling for the removal of President Trump, which “offensively questioned the spiritual integrity and Christian witness of tens-of-millions of believers who take seriously their civic and moral obligations," they wrote to the magazine's president.
Christianity Today, one of the nation's top Christian magazine publications called for the removal of Trump on Thursday, one day after the House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment against him.