Open Borders Threaten European Nations and U.S.

[From article]
the immigration crises both here and in Europe have underscored growing anger at the arrogance and incompetence of unelected bureaucrats and their rules.
The big election kerfuffle of the week was the Pope’s ill-considered attack on those who want to limit illegal immigration from Mexico by building a wall at the border. To many it seemed an attack on Donald Trump whose campaign against illegal immigration struck a receptive chord with voters. Many noted the hypocrisy of such a statement coming from the head of the Vatican state which is itself surrounded by a wall erected in the ninth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries to protect against pirates and invaders.
[. . .]
In the United Kingdom, efforts to withdraw from the European Union are mounting, inspired in large measure by the flooding into Europe of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East -- migrants who cannot truly be assimilated, affordably supported, or expected to share the nation’s ethos on things like religious tolerance, civil liberties, women’s rights, and even the rule of law. Just another example of how softhearted empathy for others clashes with reality.
[. . .]
membership of the European Union prevents us being able to change huge swathes of law and stops us being able to choose who makes critical decisions which affect all our lives. Laws which govern citizens in this country are decided by politicians from other nations who we never elected and can’t throw out. We can take out our anger on elected representatives in Westminster but whoever is in Government in London cannot remove or reduce VAT, cannot support a steel plant through troubled times, cannot build the houses we need where they’re needed and cannot deport all the individuals who shouldn’t be in this country. I believe that needs to change.
[. . .]
The ability to choose who governs us, and the freedom to change laws we do not like, were secured for us in the past by radicals and liberals who took power from unaccountable elites and placed it in the hands of the people. As a result of their efforts we developed, and exported to nations like the US, India, Canada and Australia a system of democratic self-government which has brought prosperity and peace to millions.
Our democracy stood the test of time. We showed the world what a free people could achieve if they were allowed to govern themselves.
In Britain we established trial by jury in the modern world, we set up the first free parliament, we ensured no-one could be arbitrarily detained at the behest of the Government, we forced our rulers to recognise they ruled by consent not by right, we led the world in abolishing slavery, we established free education for all, national insurance, the National Health Service and a national broadcaster respected across the world.
[. . .]
EU immigration policies have encouraged people traffickers and brought desperate refugee camps to our borders.
Far from providing security in an uncertain world, the EU’s policies have become a source of instability and insecurity.
[. . .]
The former head of Interpol says the EU’s internal borders policy is “like hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe” and Scandinavian nations which once prided themselves on their openness are now turning in on themselves. All of these factors, combined with popular anger at the lack of political accountability, has encouraged extremism, to the extent that far-right parties are stronger across the continent than at any time since the 1930s.
[. . .]
The EU is an institution rooted in the past and is proving incapable of reforming to meet the big technological, demographic and economic challenges of our time. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and [. . .] it is now hopelessly out of date.
[. . .]
The EU is built to keep power and control with the elites rather than the people.
[. . .]
As a minister I’ve seen hundreds of new EU rules cross my desk, none of which were requested by the UK Parliament, none of which I or any other British politician could alter in any way and none of which made us freer, richer or fairer.
[. . .]
We can take back the billions we give to the EU, the money which is squandered on grand parliamentary buildings and bureaucratic follies, and invest it in science and technology, schools and apprenticeships. We can get rid of the regulations which big business uses to crush competition and instead support new start-up businesses and creative talent.
[. . .]
With few changes, Gove’s passionate protest against the EU echoes the plaints of American conservatives and libertarians against the increasing power and arrogance of our own federal government. While the immigrant crisis makes the Brexit move more popular now than it has been, it is only a catalyst for a rising tide in the West against centralized government by unelected bureaucrats.
[. . .]
This is why, on 23 June, we have to vote to leave the EU. To buy into Mr Cameron's pretence is to give him and successive politicians a license to lie. If as a people, we accept this garbage, we will take anything – and deserve what we get.
[. . .]
And to think that the lack of walls triggered a long overdue resurgence of nationalism is surely ironic.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/good_fences.html

February 21, 2016
Good Fences
By Clarice Feldman

Muslim Terrorists Conduct Psychological Warfare in U.S.

[From article]
the FBI has issued an alert to local law enforcement regarding threats to the family of military, even though these incidents have gone largely unreported by mainstream media.
According to president of AMI Global Security and international security consultant Anthony Mele, this is just another tactic used by jihadists engaging soft targets:
[. . .]
This is not just a war of inflicting mass casualties; it's a religious war. They are engaging in psychological warfare to force their enemy into submission of their ideology. They are just testing the waters right now in America; we haven't seen anything yet. This is something counter-terrorism professionals have been warning against for some time.
Psychological warfare is the use of propaganda, threats, and other psychological techniques to mislead, intimidate, demoralize, and otherwise influence the thinking or behavior of an opponent. It has been used through the ages as an effective tool against the enemy, and Mele says America is not prepared for it.
While much of the Western world is beginning to see firsthand what these people are capable of, America appears to still be the ostrich with its head in the sand. We carry on business as usual, as if the world is not at war. The American people in general are not prepared in any way for what is foreseen among the intelligence community.
[. . .]
He believes that the most important thing every citizen should do is exercise his Second Amendment right to arm himself.
[. . .]
We can't look to our governments to protect us from immediate threats. Even local enforcement can only do so much with response times. Those who believe their local, state or federal government is going to save them, are endangering themselves and could risk their lives with that kind of thinking.
[. . .]
Other options for defense are home security and self-defense classes.
[. . .]
How many people could fathom a day where there are multiple rapes and sexual assaults on the streets of a westernized society like Germany? Who would have thought just twenty years ago that individual military family members would be targeted for kidnapping or worse?
Businesses that survive over generations do so not because they keep the same "business as usual" model. They change and adapt with the times and trends. It's time for American citizens to do the same. What worked in previous decades for security and safety no longer works for citizens in this new era of terror.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/02/terrorists_in_america_engaging_in_psychological_warfare.html

February 21, 2016
Terrorists in America Engaging in Psychological Warfare
By Jamie Hope

Victims Of James Bulger, Boston FBI Scandals May Get Relief

Mary Callahan, Widow of John Callahan, killed by James Bulger 

[From article]
“The law in this area is complicated … nonetheless we were and remain committed … to allowing proceeds of the Defendant to go to victims.”
While that may clear up a lot, it will never erase the bottomless mistrust among this community of victims toward a federal government that enabled Whitey to amass a fortune believed to be north of $25 million.
It’s that basic suspicion that drives Mary Callahan, widow of John Callahan, a man Whitey marked for death, to wonder how much money could be pulled in if only the feds would auction off the arsenal of weapons found in Santa Monica.
[. . .]
Even in that dreadful “Black Mass,” Whitey was very, very good for Johnny Depp. And the sad irony is that Hollywood Johnny has already pocketed millions more as fake Whitey than Mary Callahan, the real-life widow of one of Whitey’s victims, will ever see.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/peter_gelzinis/2016/02/gelzinis_whitey_victims_families_receive_glimmer_of_hope

Gelzinis: Whitey victims’ families receive glimmer of hope
Peter Gelzinis

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Boston Herald

Goldman Sachs, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Wealthy New York Socialite Targets of Justise Department Money Laundering Scheme

Jho Low and Alicia Keys attend a charity event in 2013.
Photo: AP[From article]

He arrived from out of nowhere in 2009, a mysterious, geeky 28-year-old dropping ridiculous amounts of money all over the city.
When Lindsay Lohan was celebrating her 23rd birthday at 1Oak, he sent 23 bottles of Cristal to her table. He spent $160,000 on bottle service one evening at Chelsea hot spot Avenue and once flew eight waitresses from Greenwich Village club Pink Elephant to an afterparty — in Malaysia.
Yet no one knew who this man, Low Taek Jho — otherwise known as Jho Low — was, or where he got his money.
[. . .]
The intrigue only deepened over the next few years, as Low collected a staggering amount of luxury real estate and famous artwork. He spent $30.55 million for an apartment in the Time Warner Center, as well as $23.98 million for a condo at the Park Laurel.
He bought Monets, Basquiats, Rothkos. He is widely thought to be the person who bought Picasso’s “Women of Algiers” last May for $141 million at auction — the most expensive painting ever purchased. He made the ARTnews list of the world’s 200 top private collectors.
Now the mystery of Jho Low may have finally been solved, thanks to a scandal that threatens the government of Malaysia and Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs.
[. . .]
Federal investigators are probing what could end up being “one of the largest money-laundering frauds in the world,” a source told The Post.
Rich history
Jho Low certainly is well connected. The son of a rich Malaysian businessman, he attended the Wharton School and became a financial consultant. One of his clients was Terengganu, an oil-rich sultanate of Malaysia, which in 2008 set up a sovereign wealth fund called TIA.
One of Low’s friends from boarding school in London was Riza Aziz. In April 2009, Aziz’s stepfather, Najib Razak, became prime minister of Malaysia.
[. . .]
Then, last year, it all started to fall apart. First, the fund missed a payment on the $11 billion it owed to creditors. Then, in July, the Wall Street Journal reported that about $681 million from 1MDB ended up in the prime minister’s private bank account. Razak denied the money came from 1MDB.
There were calls for Razak’s resignation, which he has ignored, as Malaysian officials and the US Justice Department — along with Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong — have launched investigations into possible corruption.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/28/malaysia-goldman-sachs-and-mystery-millionaire-probed-in-one-of-worlds-largest-frauds/

Mystery Malaysian high roller at center of global laundering probe
By Jennifer Gould Keil
New York Post
February 28, 2016 | 4:51am

Long Island, NY Greedy Cousins Murder Uncle. Police Incompetenece, or Intentional Negligence

John Frankowski Jr. and Kim Delaney (left) claim their cousin Jonathan Roman (top right) killed their father, John S. Frankowski Sr. (bottom right), at the request of their aunts.Photo: Edmund J. Coppa ; AP

[From article]
A middle-aged momma’s boy who was sentenced to 18 years to life behind bars Monday for murdering his uncle was actually the puppet of a greedy family “cabal,” a Long Island lawsuit charges.
The children of victim John S. Frankowski, Sr. claim in the civil suit that their cousin, convicted killer Jonathan Roman, 44, was acting at the direction of his mom Sandra Roman and aunt Annmarie Porter.
The sisters wanted their brother Frankowski dead to land another $100,000 apiece on top of the $200,000 each they were already getting from their late mother’s estate, according to the documents.
[. . .]
Frankowski’s son, John Jr., added of his relatives, “Clearly they’re a bunch of bumbling buffoons.
“But obviously, had it not been for [our investigation], I truly believe that Jonathan and the rest of family, in their mind, thought they were going to get away with murder.”
Jonathan Roman was slapped with the hefty prison term Monday after reading a statement in a Nassau County court in which he said he was sorry for his crime.
“I was using cocaine and smoking pot, I definitely wasn’t thinking clearly that day. I was speaking to my uncle for a while, I brought up an issue with the house and my uncle, and I began to argue. My uncle started to fight with me. Next thing I know, my uncle is dead,” the killer said.
Judge David Sullivan said, “This obviously is a cowardly and heinous act.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s son,w ho traveled from Florida for the sentencing, lamented, ”My dad will only be stories to my children.
“I lost myself after my father was murdered,” he said.
[. . .]
After John Sr. went missing in early 2014, Sandra Roman left his son a voice mail asking him to call her. In the background of the March 2 call, her son Jonathan Roman can be heard saying “the f–king eyeballs are out” — an unsettling reference to the medical examiner’s testimony during Roman’s trial that the 71-year-old’s eyeballs bulged out when the killer choked him to death, court documents state.
That same night, surveillance video from across the street showed Roman lugging a body out of his uncle’s house in a tarp and stuffing it into the trunk of his mom’s car, the suit says.
The elderly man’s mangled corpse was found buried in a 6x6x4 shallow grave in the woods behind Sandra Roman’s house five days later.
The paper also charge retired Naussau County Detective Ronald Dandrea with helping to try cover up the murder, telling Sandra’s other son, Stanley, that “police would not look for John S. Frankowski Sr. because he was ‘old and white.’ ”
[. . .]
After John Sr. went missing in early 2014, Sandra Roman left his son a voice mail asking him to call her. In the background of the March 2 call, her son Jonathan Roman can be heard saying “the f–king eyeballs are out” — an unsettling reference to the medical examiner’s testimony during Roman’s trial that the 71-year-old’s eyeballs bulged out when the killer choked him to death, court documents state.
That same night, surveillance video from across the street showed Roman lugging a body out of his uncle’s house in a tarp and stuffing it into the trunk of his mom’s car, the suit says.
The elderly man’s mangled corpse was found buried in a 6x6x4 shallow grave in the woods behind Sandra Roman’s house five days later.
The paper also charge retired Naussau County Detective Ronald Dandrea with helping to try cover up the murder, telling Sandra’s other son, Stanley, that “police would not look for John S. Frankowski Sr. because he was ‘old and white.’ ”

http://nypost.com/2016/02/29/sisters-had-their-brother-killed-for-200k-inheritance-family/

Sisters had their brother killed for $200K inheritance: family
By Julia Marsh, Reuven Fenton and Emily Saul
New York Post
February 29, 2016 | 12:05am

Springfield MA Police Arrest 20 Drug Distributer Suspects

Photo courtesy: Springfield Police Department
[From article]

Springfield police have arrested more than 20 suspected drug dealers and confiscated nearly 7,200 bags of heroin in the area.
WWLP-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1WRUlaT ) police conducted several drug raids last week on Lebanon Street, White Street and other areas.
Authorities say police on Friday night raided what they called a "heroin distribution den," finding more than 600 bags of heroin and other drugs. Police also recently seized more than eight pounds of cocaine.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/02/more_than_20_arrested_in_springfield_drug_raids

More than 20 arrested in Springfield drug raids
Associated Press

Monday, February 29, 2016

Boston Herald

Virginia Woman Policeman, Massachusetts Native, Shot Dead Responding To Domestic Violence Call

29-year-old Officer Ashley Guindon shot dead after she answered a domestic violence call at a Virginia home on Saturday - her first day on the job.

[From article]
An Army staff sergeant assigned to the Pentagon has been charged with shooting dead a rookie police officer on her first day and his wife.
Ronald Hamilton, 32, is being held without bond accused of shooting dead 29-year-old Officer Ashley Guindon after she and two coworkers answered a domestic violence call at his home on Saturday evening.
According to an affidavit, Hamilton's wife Crystal, 29, called police begging for help at 5.30pm.
By the time Guindon arrived with her field officer Jesse Hempen, 31, and ten-year police veteran David McKeown, 33, Crystal was shot dead, the affidavit states.
Hamilton allegedly opened fire as soon as the officers arrived, fatally shooting Guindon and wounding the other two. The Hamiltons' 11-year-old son was in the house at the time but survived unscathed.
On Sunday, police chief Stephen Hudson paid tribute to Guindon's work and gave a poignant account of the passion she showed when she interviewed for the job.
Crystal Hamilton's sister also paid tribute to Guindon as she thanked the police force for their attempts to apprehend the suspect. 'Most importantly, the officer who sacrificed her life for my sister and my nephew,' she told ABC7.


Ronald Hamilton, 32, is being held without bond accused of shooting dead 29-year-old Officer Ashley Guindon after she answered a domestic violence call at his home on Saturday - her first day on the job.

The suspect is an active duty Army staff sergeant assigned to the Joint Staff Support Center at the Pentagon, according to Cindy Your, a Defense Information Systems Agency spokeswoman based at Fort Meade, Maryland.
The death of Ashley Guindon was just the latest tragedy to strike the family.
Her father, David, committed suicide the day after he returned home from Iraq in 2004, where he served with the New Hampshire Air National Guard. He was buried with full military honors on August 26 that year.
'He came home and took his own life,' said Dorothy Guindon, Ashley's grandmother.
Ashley was his only child.
Ashley was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. The family later moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire, according to her grandmother.
'This is really a shock to us,' Dorothy Guindon said. 'Ashley was such a nice person.'
Officer Brandon Carpenter, at the county's adult detention center, says Hamilton is being held without bond at the jail on charges that include murder of a law enforcement officer, first-degree murder, two counts of malicious assault and two counts of use of a firearm during a felony.
Hamilton is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning.
Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert told The Associated Press on Sunday morning that the gunman's wife was the victim in the domestic incident. He did not provide her name.
The shooting occurred Saturday evening at Hamilton's home in Woodbridge, where neighbors say he lived with his wife and their son.
Guindon had a degree in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master's degree from George Washington University in forensic science.
She served in the military from 2007 to 2013 as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Prince William County, where Woodbridge is located, is a suburb 30 minutes outside Washington, D.C., and has a relatively low crime rate.
Guindon had been a county police officer a few years ago and had left and returned to the force, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday night.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3467706/Police-3-officers-shot-1-fatally-domestic-incident.html

Pictured: The Army staff sergeant assigned to the Pentagon, 32, charged with shooting dead Virginia police officer, 29, on her first day on the job and his wife
Ronald Hamilton, 32, is charged with capital murder of Ashley Guindon
He is a staff Army sergeant assigned to the Pentagon
Guindon was on her first day - she was responding to domestic violence call from Hamilton's wife Crystal on Saturday at 5.30pm
By the time Guindon and team arrived, Crystal, 29, was shot dead
Guindon was then shot dead too, while two male officers were shot and wounded
The Hamiltons' 11-year-old son was in the house but survived unharmed
By MIA DE GRAAF and KALHAN ROSENBLATT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 12:30 EST, 28 February 2016 | UPDATED: 06:59 EST, 29 February 2016

White House Chief Advisor Exhibits Government Pension Abuses

[From article]
The City of Chicago is being fiscally devoured by pension obligations run up by politicians buying votes.
[. . .]
Pension costs overwhelm the city’s ability to deliver any actual services, and the tax increases necessary to pay for both services and pensions predictably could drive away businesses and residents, leaving behind another Detroit.
[. . .]
Valerie Jarrett, President Obama’s supreme consigliere, and, many believe, the de facto president of the United States, while the nominal POTUS plays golf, watches televised sports, and stays current with the latest TV shows and rap music?
[. . .]
Now 59, Jarrett had collected a total of $306,080 in pension payouts as of last summer, records show. That’s more than 27 times the $11,132 that she paid toward her board pension through payroll deductions from her CTA paychecks.
Besides her CTA pension, she makes $173,922 a year in her role as Obama’s senior adviser — a job she has held since his first term in the White House in 2009.
If she lives another 20 years – not an unreasonable lifespan by any means for someone receiving top-notch medical attention – Jarrett will end up taking a million bucks in pension payments for eight years of part-time work.
Why should anyone get decades’ worth of pension payments for a few years of part-time work?

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/02/valerie_jarrett_is_the_poster_girl_for_chicagos_pension_crisis.html

February 20, 2016
Valerie Jarrett is the poster girl for Chicago’s pension crisis
By Thomas Lifson

Imagining Barriers To Voting

Why not make all laws optional? Whoever wants to vote can vote whenever and for whoever he wants. If increasing voter turnout is the goal providing ice cream and pizza is a known incentive. It works for dedicated human rights activists among privileged Harvard Law School students. It will work for ordinary members of the 99 percent. Making taxes optional would work well.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160223/NEWS/160228803

Guest column: Remove voter barrier, establish automatic registration
By Janet Domenitz and Ian Barber
Posted Feb. 23, 2016 at 11:16 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Abused White Workers Support Trump

[From article]
The doing with the Negro was the worst, and still is, but the doing with the worker has come a close second. First the worker had to be exempted from the law against combinations, then protected from the exploitation of long work days. Then the worker had to be protected from want with government social insurance instead of his own mutual-aid society. The result was inevitable. The working class came to expect that the ruling class would look after it with good jobs and good wages forever.
But the labor unions exempted from laws against combination turned into parasites that killed their host manufacturing corporations and their good jobs at good wages, and government social insurance is not social and not insurance, but a way for the ruling class to pay off its supporters.
Then the ruling class tired of its working class supporters, decided they were racists and sexists, and went back to its old game of playing mischief with the Negro.
[. . .]
It planned to lead minorities, women, the educated, and young people to a new Promised Land of Hope and Change in which the white working class would only be a long withdrawing roar. Only Charles Murray, reviled for writing badthink about IQ in The Bell Curve, had the wit to write about the mess of the white lower class in his Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010.
[. . .]
Life is good for the global educated elite, in the world designed, implemented, and ruled by the educated elite, even if you affect a rebellious conservatism like me.
But what about the rest of America?
The rest of America is looking right at the Gates of Hell. All because it believed the government when it promised good jobs at good wages.
[. . .]
The arc of history does not bend towards justice, as President Obama believes; it bends towards extinction for the defeated males, whether you are talking about the Rape of the Sabine Women by Rome, the Vikings sailing up the rivers of England in 1000 (men slaughtered, women and children enslaved), or the demoralized remnant of the Plains Indians with the highest male suicide rate in the U.S.
And the same goes for the farmers pushed off the land by the agricultural revolution, and the hand-loom workers by power looms, and the semi-skilled manufacturing workers buffeted by automation and low-wage Asians.
Life, the Universe, and Everything is about bucking the system and surviving to fight another round, and like the Jews, never, never give up. If you sell your birthright to the ruling class for a mess of pottage you will pretty soon be left without pottage.
There is only one sensible answer to the question of what the Trump voters want. If they want anything other than to demand that the government “do nothing with us,” then they are taking a fateful step towards oblivion.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/what_do_the_trump_voters_want.html

February 23, 2016
What Do the Trump Voters Want?
By Christopher Chantrill

Paris Accord On Climate Change A Failure

[From article]
The PA is mainly about money transfers, designed to provide a legacy for president Obama. Unlike the KP, the PA has little to do with climate. Although it talks bravely about keeping global warming below 2degC, it never explains how to define and measure this (alleged) “critical” threshold. I recently referred to it as a big "nothing-burger" -- borrowing a term used by the late Anne Gorsuch, EPA chief under president Reagan.
As compared with Kyoto, the PA includes both industrialized and developing nations, but its legal status is not well defined: Some nations have considered it a protocol to the (Rio de Janeiro) Global Climate Treaty, the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), and have ratified it as an international treaty. On the other hand, the White House (WH) does not label it a formal treaty and has not submitted it to the US Senate for ratification, fearing it will turn the PA down. [Even after nearly 20 years, everyone still remembers the unanimous Senate vote for the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (of July 1997) against such a treaty.] Instead, the WH planned to meet US commitments though Executive Orders and by relying on its own interpretations of relevant laws
[. . .]
The PA can be briefly summarized as follows:
Each nation proposes to reduce emissions but sets its own voluntary emission target for greenhouse (GH) gases, especially for carbon dioxide (CO2); there is no overall target for global reduction. This procedure follows the pattern of the US-China agreement of November 2014, in which China decided to continue with business as usual (BAU) until reaching a 2030 peak -- and then gradually reduce CO2 emissions. In this manner, each signatory nation to the PA can pick and choose their emission targets and timing.
Furthermore, each nation reports its own emissions; there is no overall supervision.
No sanctions are applied if a country fails to abide by its announced plan.
[. . .]
The scheme is a simple bribe; it involves transfer of resources from hard-working non-wealthy citizens in developed nations to the Swiss bank accounts of kleptocrat dictators running most of the developing nations.
[. . .]
In trying to figure out what to do, I believe the Congress will go back to evaluate the science, starting from the beginning. Once they become better informed and the warmers can no longer beat them up with unproven claims, they will see the fraud themselves. Nobody will have the patience to wait for a new outcome, or to invest in climate research, while the misled and misleading warmers try to conjure a new approach. We could be watching a major historical occurrence in scientific research, forcing "scientists" to relearn the scientific method and to return to honesty as the first postulate of scientific research. We may eventually see the collapse of the climate industry.
Gordon Fulks wrote:
[. . .]
the clear harm would have been to the states forced to follow EPA regulations that are now likely to be overturned. The problem goes far beyond the EPA coal regulations; it involves Obama exceeding his authority with an obvious end-run around the Congress.
[. . .]
If Federal agencies are to continue enjoying the deference they now get from the courts, they have to be forced to do reputable science, not merely reputable politics.
“This could be the beginning of the end of Obama's dictatorial tendencies. We can only hope that it is likewise the beginning of the end of the climate scam.
[. . .]
Wall Street Journal editorial:
[. . .]
Once the Clean Power Plan starts, it becomes self-executing. If the EPA loses down the road, it will laugh that the opinion is too late and thus pointless.
“The White House has been right about the success of its damn-the-law strategy—so far. Last year in Michigan v. EPA, the Court voided a 2012 rule on mercury emissions. The chief EPA air administrator then gloated on the EPA website that the ruling didn’t matter
[. . .]
Rivkin & Grossman in the Wall Street Journal:
“President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is dead and will not be resurrected. The cause of death was hubris. As a result, the plan’s intended victims — including the national coal industry, the rule of law, and state sovereignty — will live to fight another day.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/paris_climate_accord_hope_change__and_collapse.html

February 23, 2016
Paris Climate Accord: Hope, Change -- and Collapse
By S. Fred Singer

U.S. Population Fragmented, Divided, White House Proud

[From article]
Moderation is taken for apathy, and patience is looked upon as a pretext for inaction. There is mounting unrest and violence not only among university students but in society at large. The product is a weakening of confidence between young and old, between racial groups, between partisan political factions, between students and administrators, between citizens and government. An individualism of suspicion and distrust is replacing an individualism of opportunity and hope."
Written almost 50 years ago, the above aptly describes what is assailing America today. In 1968, Philip H. Rhinelander, then a professor of philosophy and humanities at Stanford University, wrote a piece entitled "Education and Society" for The Key Reporter which was delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Stanford on June 15, 1968.
[. . .]
One cannot enter a classroom of higher learning today without walking into pitched battles and extreme positioning. University students deride the idea of consensus-building and seek to run administrators out of town. Any student daring to express an opinion different from the politically correct one of the day is frightened into mental subservience, so much so that logical argumentation is in tatters. Aristotle's classifications of ethos, pathos, and logos rarely make their way into classroom discussions as shouting matches become the rule of the day.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/authentic_rebellion.html

February 23, 2016
Authentic Rebellion
By Eileen F. Toplansky

One More Reason To Vote For Trump

How to make someone smile

[From article]

Rev. Al Sharpton told attendees at a Center for American Progress Action Fund event Thursday he would flee the country if Donald Trump won the election, in order to avoid being deported by Trump.
Sharpton, a Democrat, had positive feedback for many of the Republican presidential candidates until he got to Trump.
"If Donald Trump is the nominee, I'm open to support anyone [else], while I'm also reserving my ticket to get out of here if he wins, only because he'd probably have me deported anyway," Sharpton told attendees, who responded in laughter.
Sharpton, who has participated in various national protests condemning police brutality, did not explain why he thinks Trump would deport him, though both New Yorkers have publicly shared their differences of opinion on various issues.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/al-sharpton-might-get-out-of-here-if-trump-wins/article/2584260

Al Sharpton might 'get out of here' if Trump wins
By ANNA GIARITELLI

@ANNA_GIARITELLI

2/25/16 6:41 PM

Privileged Harvard Law School Students Protest Award To Dean

"Reclaim Harvard Law spokesperson Alexander J. Clayborne [. . .] protested what [he] said was [the] university’s lack of diverse faculty last fall." Clearly "diverse" is a dog whistle for "black." Diverse includes persons with disabilities. Any of that diversity at the law school? As many if not more Americans have disabilities than there are black Americans. These privileged students demand more privileges revealing their greed, and lack of sensitivity for vulnerable humans, civil rights and equal opportunity for others. Is this what the law school teaches? Or do they bring those traits with them.
"protesters asked why Minow had not yet visited 'Belinda Hall,' the location of their ongoing sit-in." These privileged pampered student protesters are not thankful for their blessings. The Dean could have them forceably removed. But they are pampered and weak. May not survive an encounter with strong opposition.

[From article]
Reclaim Harvard Law spokesperson Alexander J. Clayborne [. . .] protested what [he] said was [the] university’s lack of diverse faculty last fall.
[. . .]
protesters asked why Minow had not yet visited “Belinda Hall,” the location of their ongoing sit-in.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/26/activists-interrupt-minow-brandeis/

Student Activists Protest Award Ceremony for Law School Dean
By CLAIRE E. PARKER,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
February 26, 2016

"Super Lice" Found in 25 States

[From article]
A strain of so-called ‘super lice’ has hit a reported 25 states, causing concern and frustration among parents because the bugs can’t be killed with most over-the-counter treatments. The treatments, known as pyrethroids, had a 100 percent success rate in 2000 against lice but now only work in 25 percent of cases, KSDK.com reported.
A new FDA-approved treatment called AirAlle, which was developed by Lice Clinics of America, has been found to be effective against the super lice, with treatments costing about $170.
“We use heated air, and we dehydrate the lice and the eggs in a single treatment,” Claire Roberts, CEO of Lice Clinics America, told KSDK.com. “It takes about an hour, and we guarantee it.”
[. . .]
Parents should teach their children about the repercussions of sharing hats, hairbrushes and contact with another’s hair, KDSK.com reported.
For those parents whose children do come home with lice, experts caution not to panic and to stick to what they know. Old-fashioned nit-picking will help but may take longer than usual. Experts instruct parents to vacuum where hair has fallen, wash bedding in hot water, and throw stuff animals and clothing in a hot dryer for 20 to 30 minutes.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/26/super-lice-outbreak-hits-25-states/

‘Super lice’ outbreak hits 25 states
By Fox News
February 26, 2016 | 8:40pm

University of California Berkeley Police Seek Drugging Victims Of Frat Parties

[From article]
UC Berkeley police are seeking possible drugging victims who attended fraternity parties this month.
Campus police said Thursday that two female students may have been drugged at a party hosted by Chi Psi. Two other female students may have been drugged at a Phi Gamma Delta party.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/26/berkeley-police-seek-drugging-victims-of-fraternity-parties/

Berkeley police seek drugging victims of fraternity parties
By Associated Press
New York Post
February 26, 2016 | 11:37am

NYPD Pot Bust In Greenwich Village Yields 300 Pounds of Dope

Washington Square Park

[From article]
Cops busted three men who allegedly accepted a delivery of 300 pounds of pot in Greenwich Village on Friday, police said.
The officers spotted the men hauling a large wooden crate into a Bleecker Street building and became suspicious. They found it held 150 pounds of pot, cops said.
On board a delivery truck was another crate that allegedly held the same amount of pot.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/27/cops-bust-trio-accepting-300-pound-pot-delivery/

Cops bust trio accepting 300-pound pot delivery
By Amanda Woods
February 27, 2016 | 2:25am

New York Post

Private Equity CEO Earned $799 million Last Year

Steve Schwartzman and his wife Christine

[From article]
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman earned an impressive $799.2 million in 2015, making him the wealthiest man in private equity, it was revealed Friday night.
Schwarzman’s compensation was up from $689.3 million in 2014 after a record year for Blackstone Group LP, the Wall Street Journal reported.
[. . .]
Schwarzman and his wife, Christine, are prominent on the philanthropy and social circuit. He gave $100 million to the New York Public Library in return for having his name inscribed on two stone pedestals flanking the main entrance. He gave $10 million to DC’s Kennedy Center over 10 years, and $100 million to create a scholarship program at Beijing’s Tsinghua University. He also gave $150 million to his alma mater, Yale.
But in a 2008 New Yorker interview, Schwarzman — who came from humble beginnings as the son of a Pennsylvania dry-goods store owner — said, “I don’t feel like a wealthy person. Other people think of me as a wealthy person, but I don’t. I feel the same as when I was a fifth-year associate trying to make partner at Lehman Brothers. I haven’t changed.”

http://pagesix.com/2016/02/26/blackstone-ceo-raked-in-799m-in-2015/

Blackstone CEO raked in $799M in 2015
New York Post

Page Six
By Emily Smith
February 26, 2016 | 9:53pm

Wealthy Manhattan Lawyer Acquitted of Rape, Convicted of Sexual Abuse

[From article]
Jurors acquitted a wealthy Manhattan lawyer of trying to rape a woman on a fold-out Murphy bed in his posh Midtown office — but they took plenty of pot shots at him as they left the courthouse.
“He’s absolutely a douche,” a female juror said of Dan Nelson, as her fellow panelists nodded their heads affirmatively. “He’s not a nice guy, that’s the first thing we agreed on.”
The jurors did find Nelson, 39, guilty of the lesser charges of sexual abuse and obstruction of breathing for the bizarre August 21, 2014 encounter.
Nelson, who downed three bottles of wine before he met his accuser, told jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court that he wasn’t ‘up’ to raping her because he’s impotent and hadn’t taken his Viagra pill.
[. . .]
Nelson met his accuser at Bull McCabe’s after midnight and he took her back to the conference room of his East 56th Street firm, Nelson & McCulloch, where he specializes in intellectual property law.
They made out and took off their clothes. But the woman changed her mind about the one-night stand.
She accused Nelson of pinning her down on the designer Italian-made bed, choking her as she told him to stop and tearing off her dress as she fled naked into the street.
“When you are trying to drag a naked woman from an elevator, you are clearly not inviting her back to have tea,” argued ADA Maxine Rosenthal.
[. . .]
“He was a jerk that night,” the attorney said. “But being a jerk isn’t a crime.”
Nelson faces up to 7 years in prison on the sexual abuse charge.

http://nypost.com/2016/02/26/lawyer-accused-of-raping-woman-on-murphy-bed-is-acquitted/

Lawyer accused of raping woman on Murphy bed is acquitted
By Rebecca Rosenberg
February 26, 2016 | 8:03pm

New York Post

Harvard University Studies Sexual Behavior of Students For Federal Government

After studying campus sexual practices, will the federal government issue guidelines for proper behavior? The city of Cambridge appropriates taxpayer funds to rear children just as predicted by George Orwell. Government will control all behavior especially mating and rearing children. Will that end all freedom to be bad and to have fun? Will everyone strive to be conformist and obedient?



http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/26/gsas-departments-sexual-harassment/

Departments Instruct Graduate Students On Sexual Harassment
By MELISSA C. RODMAN and LUCA F. SCHROEDER

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
February 26, 2016

Conservative Political Committee Blocks Free Speech, Anti Terror Activist

[From article]
For years, I have wrestled and wrangled with and cajoled the CPAC organizers to allow me the same privilege they routinely extend to other conservative groups: the right to host events at the largest gathering of conservatives in the country. Every year I faced roadblocks, delays, and lame excuses -- all stemming from the crippling cowardice of the CPAC leadership and its adamant refusal to grapple honestly with the jihad threat. This year, with jihadis threatening the whole world, it hasn’t gotten better -- it has gotten worse.
[. . .]
the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), wanted to be a full-fledged sponsor of CPAC, so that I could host an event, “How Liberal Ideology Is Crippling National Security Capability.” Being a CPAC sponsor is not some honor that CPAC organizers confer; any conservative group can buy sponsor status.
[. . .]



we invited the internationally renowned Dutch freedom fighter Geert Wilders, who just won the “Politician of the Year” award in The Netherlands. We also invited British politician Paul Weston of LibertyGB, who was arrested for quoting Winston Churchill’s words about Islam; Swiss freedom fighter Oskar Freysinger; Israeli political analyst Caroline Glick; and DHS whistleblower Philip Haney.
[. . .]
They were concerned about security because of the death threats I have received since my free speech conference in Garland, Texas last May was attacked by Jihadis. I assured them that my entire security apparatus, a seasoned team of the top professionals in their field, would be in place (at our expense, not CPAC’s), and that several of my speakers who are European politicians would also be coming with their own secret service protection.
[. . .]
At CPAC 2008, I introduced Mark Steyn. I also once introduced David Horowitz. But once I started to criticize CPAC, the ACU’s David Keene, along with members of the ACU board such as Grover Norquist and Suhail Khan, those invitations quickly stopped coming.
[. . .]
we succeeded in bringing much-needed coverage of the jihad threat that CPAC was resolutely ignoring. Apparently because they were determined to continue ignoring it, I’ve had problems with the ACU leadership for years, as they have steadfastly refused to address the jihad threat and related issues adequately, and have continuously marginalized the most courageous voices.
[. . .]
after I fought fiercely for months trying to get Wilders on the official CPAC roster. They should have been clamoring to have him. He represents the fight for the idea of American freedom, our unalienable rights as endowed by our creator. After much conversation, David Keene was planning to give the Courage Under Fire Award to Wilders at CPAC for his fight for free speech (the very bedrock of conservative principles).
Yet within 24 hours of the decision to give Wilders the Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire award, it was withdrawn. Keene canceled the decision to honor Wilders because of an article in Newsweek in which David Horowitz and my AFDI colleague Robert Spencer criticized CPAC for its Norquist-mandated refusal to deal with the jihad or Islamic supremacism in any meaningful or effective way.
[. . .]
I hosted a panel on Islamic Law in America, featuring Justice Department whistleblower J. Christian Adams, Robert Muise of the American Freedom Law Center, and others. By this time, David Horowitz was no longer a sponsor of CPAC: the Norquist/Khan cabal was deeply problematic to many others besides me. We partnered with the Tea Party. Despite our being under the official umbrella of the Tea Party, CPAC put that event in a tiny, windowless, sweltering room
[. . .]
I appeared on Breitbart’s “Uninvited” panel -- after being banned by the ACU.
[. . .]
I had to promise that if I came to CPAC, there would be “no cartoons.” So I had to surrender on the point where free speech is most challenged in order to speak out there for free speech. They also told me I could not publicize my event beforehand. My past events at CPAC were always SRO, but if I couldn’t publicize it, how would people know to come? Nevertheless, I agreed to every request.
[. . .]
Schneider told me Tuesday that they were not allowing AFDI to be a sponsor – not because of security concerns, but because I have criticized them in the past for not paying adequate attention to the jihad threat.
When Schneider told me that I was being denied because of the “negative press coverage” I had previously given them, after months of saying that they were hesitating because of something else, I responded that I had reported on what happened. I reported what was true and accurate. Back on our first phone call, Schneider had even admitted that I had been right about CPAC: that in previous years the conference had gone to great lengths to avoid the subject of jihad and sharia. And yet now that was why they were denying me an opportunity to host an event there. It looks as if Schneider’s new and improved CPAC is the same as the old, broken CPAC.
[. . .]
It is apparently official CPAC policy at this point to avoid and ignore the greatest national security threat to our country -- or at best to feature speakers whose analysis is hamstrung by political correctness and ignorance of the subject. Year in, year out, the ACU has managed to keep jihad and sharia off the CPAC schedule.
[. . .]
The Middle East is on fire. ISIS has vowed to commit a jihad attack larger than 9/11 and called on Muslims to murder American civilians. The country is deeply concerned about the jihad issue, and yet it is hardly anywhere on the CPAC schedule, and they’re not allowing me space because I criticized their weakness and flabbiness on this very issue in the past.
[. . .]
CPAC doesn’t deserve the name “Conservative.” It should be called the “Cowards Political Action Conference.”

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/cpac_turns_me_awayyet_again.html

February 26, 2016
CPAC Turns Me Away…Yet Again
By Pamela Geller

Anti Israel Propaganda At Vassar College

[From article]
Jasbir Puar, an associate professor in the Women and Gender Studies Department at Rutgers University [is] widely known as a tenured professor of anti-Israeli rhetoric, a key figure in the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, and a proponent of the resolution of the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions. Indeed, Puar introduced her lecture by congratulating the Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine, who had proposed a BDS resolution to be voted on in March.
[. . .]
The current tuition for Vassar students is $63,000 a year. Two questions can be asked. Did those students who attended the lecture get their money's worth, and are they instructed at Vassar in a peculiar kind of language that can grasp the "prehensive forms," which no one else outside Poughkeepsie can penetrate?
No official transcript was made, because of a ridiculous excuse for the need for "congeniality and respect." Thus, the world will never know the full extent of the wit and wisdom of Puar.
[. . .]
The bizarre presentation, if one can possibly understand Puar's convoluted language, appears to be that Israel's occupation has resulted in the maiming and stunting of the Palestinian population, and that BDS is both necessary and a step toward armed resistance against Israel.
[. . .]
her main purpose was to continue her condemnations of Israel and her calling for boycotts of Israel.

[. . .]
since the movement's real purpose is the elimination of the State of Israel.
[. . .]
It is an unfortunate truth that many in American faculties have disgraced themselves in two ways. One is by sponsoring anti-Israeli rhetoric, whether out of anti-Semitic beliefs or not, or at least not responding to vicious attacks. The other is to make clear the lack of intellectual substance, as well as the dishonesty, in some of the presentations at sponsored events.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/the_need_for_honest_discussion_at_american_colleges.html

February 26, 2016
The Need for Honest Discussion at American Colleges
By Michael Curtis

ABC News Feature, Consent On Campus

It was curious watching the 17-minute presentation at Pennsylvania State University on Nightline. Rape is a crime under American law. Crime under American jurisprudence has two elements, an act, actus reus, and an idea, mens rea, often called intent. The word intent was never mentioned. I was paying attention listening for it. If the matter is a crime, the suspect must have the requisite intent. That is what made/makes rape cases so difficult, and why there were, and are, so many non prosecutions. But under this new system intent is not a concern. 



Consent is the concern. Consent is given by the person acted upon, agreeing to be acted upon. The actor, if criminal the suspect, must obtain consent, so that he or she does not have any criminal intent. That shifted the weight of whether it was crime from the mind of the suspect into the mind of the victim. Without consent it is a crime. No matter what the suspect has in his or her mind. It also facilitates proving crime. What is or was in a suspect's mind is not obvious. But consent can be obvious. But consent raises other difficulties as discussed on that ABC feature, e.g., how long is the consent good for? 

No mention of intent

changing 200 years of common law, and American Jurisprudence

http://abc.go.com/shows/nightline/listing/2016-02/25-022516-consent-on-campus-a-nightline-event

NightlineFebruary 2016
02/25/16: Consent on Campus: A 'Nightline' Event
18:41 02/25/16 NR
Consent on Campus: Can Consent Education Help Prevent Sex Assault Among College Students?; Consent on Campus: What Does Giving Sexual Consent Mean?
ABC News

Amazon's "Best Seller" Lists

[From article]
I would like to tell you about the biggest lie in book publishing. It appears in the biographies and social media profiles of almost every working “author” today. It’s the word “best seller.”
This isn’t about how The New York Times list is biased (though it is). This isn’t about how authors buy their way onto various national best-seller lists by buying their own books in bulk (though they do). No, this is about the far more insidious title of “Amazon Bestseller”—and how it’s complete and utter nonsense.
Here’s what happened in the book industry over the last few years: As Amazon has become the big dog in the book world, the “Amazon Bestseller” status has come to be synonymous with being an actual bestseller. This is not true, and I can prove it.
Last week, I put up a fake book on Amazon. I took a photo of my foot, uploaded to Amazon, and in a matter of hours, had achieved “No. 1 Best Seller” status, complete with the orange banner and everything.
How many copies did I need to sell be able to call up my mother and celebrate my newfound authorial achievements? Three. Yes, a total of three copies to become a best-selling author. And I bought two of those copies myself!
[. . .]
My company has helped sell over 5 million books and advised or managed book launches with every major publishing house, including Amazon.
We have important rules at my company about the projects we take on. We don’t work with authors whose books we wouldn’t read ourselves, and we don’t guarantee best-seller status. We say no to more work than we say yes to, but these principles help us avoid the gimmicky, one-hit-wonders who aren’t looking to write great books but instead are looking to trick people into thinking they have.
[. . .]
It used to be a real mark of distinction to hit the best-seller lists–because there were fewer lists and fewer authors
[. . .]
In most cases, your book not only has to be good enough for a legitimate publisher to publish it, but you have to outsell all the other books out there, past and present, even if you’re paying for it out of your pocket.
[. . .]
Because of the high bar, the term “bestselling author” was a term with some meaning.
[. . .]

Step 1: Writing my book (~2 seconds)
I didn’t feel like writing a book so I instead just took a photo of my foot. I called the book “Putting My Foot Down” and included one page with, you guessed it, a photo of my foot.
[. . .]
Gone are the days of having to be selected to put out a book. Gone are the days of having to go to a bookstore to see what is available. [. . .] These days, over one million books are published each year, with at least half of these self-published.
[. . .]
For the authors: I hope my story illustrates that the best marketing tactic you can use for a book is to write a great book that actually sells over the long term.
[. . .]
focus on crafting a book that will sell for decades.
[. . .]
Author’s update: Since writing this piece and making my debut, my book has inexplicably been removed from the Amazon catalogue. I have yet to hear from an Amazon representative on the matter, but it is clear that something is afoot.

http://observer.com/2016/02/behind-the-scam-what-does-it-takes-to-be-a-bestselling-author-3-and-5-minutes/

Behind the Scam: What Does It Take to Be a ‘Best-Selling Author’? $3 and 5 Minutes.
By Brent Underwood

02/23/16 10:00am

Are Elections Under Control of Establishment

[From article]
(1) Don't you get the strange feeling that this has all been suspiciously easy?
[. . .]
(2) Don't you find it odd that Trump, who habitually says the harshest, crudest, vilest things he can think of about anyone he perceives as an opponent or threat, never substantively criticizes the key players in the establishment at all?
[. . .]



So everyone, from mainstream "liberals" Robert Reich and Bill Maher to mainstream Republicans Orrin Hatch, Bob Dole, and Trump himself, acknowledges that Cruz is the only candidate so anti-establishment as to cause real hatred and fear among the bipartisan progressive zeitgeist.
[. . .]
(3) If you were Rove, McConnell, and the rest of the GOP elite, and you wanted to end the growing grassroots threat to your power and influence once and for all, how would you go about it?

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/three_simple_questions_for_trump_supporters.html

February 26, 2016
Three Simple Questions for Trump Supporters
By Daren Jonescu

Scalia Fought Kritarchy, Trump Fights Stupidity, Anti Americanism

Antonin  Scalia fought against Kritarchy

[From article]
Among this election season’s oddities was the dust-up between Pope Francis and Donald Trump. After departing Mexico, the pontiff appeared to criticize Trump in an interview, suggesting that building walls — not bridges — “is not Christian.”
Calling the comment “disgraceful,” the presidential front-runner and insulter-in-chief compelled the Vatican to Think Again before retreating. Meanwhile, comedians joked that the perceived papal putdown would cause church attendance to fall and Trump’s poll numbers to surge.
Indeed, by crossing swords with the pontiff, Trump burnished his image as a fearless fighter, a trait his voters prize. Unfazed by his incoherence, lack of policy specifics or controversies, Trump supporters, like columnist Jim Nolte, are tired of losing and want “someone who will do whatever it takes to win.”
Buoying Trump is Americans’ sense of powerlessness and insecurity. Consider these controversial policies imposed on disapproving majorities using extra-constitutional means: the Iran deal, the irresponsible and never-debated Omnibus budget, Obamacare, trade promotion, and executive actions and sanctuary-city policies that nullify immigration laws.
[. . .]
That Bork was Scalia’s ideological and intellectual equal but was rejected shortly after Scalia’s unanimous approval speaks to how politicized the theoretically independent judiciary has become. Consider that it was President Franklin Roosevelt’s fellow Democrats who foiled his plan to pack the Supreme Court.
[. . .]
Thomas Jefferson warned that giving “judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not … would make the judiciary a despotic branch.” Now, having morphed from “the least dangerous branch” into an unelected super-legislature of nine philosopher kings with lifetime appointments, it’s not surprising Supreme Court nominations are hotly contested and fraught with hypocrisy.
[. . .]
By short-circuiting the democratic process for resolving emotionally charged issues, Scalia believed the court was violating “a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation.”
[. . .]
As Scalia argued while pointing to unfree nations that have charters of rights, “It isn’t the Bill of Rights that produces freedom; it’s the structure of government that prevents anybody from seizing all the power.”
Essentially, the founders used constitutional walls to separate and check power so that diverse people with differing beliefs would be free to build bridges of mutual respect and tolerance, forging an open and decent society. The Supreme Court’s unlikely “best buddies” — rivals Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — built a remarkable bridge, a lesson for Pope Francis, Trump and Trumpkins.
Think Again — Isn’t the best way to “Make America Great Again” to elect a president who’ll adhere to America’s great constitution?

http://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/20807989-113/sturm-scalias-lessons-for-trumpkins

Melanie Sturm
Think Again
February 24, 2016
Sturm: Scalia's Lessons For Trumpkins

MIT Researcher Finds Thwarting US FOIA is Pervasive Among White House Appointees, PR Flack Denies

White House sure fooled a lot of people. Must be proud.

[From article]
Former US Attorney General Eric Holder is a huge fan of NBA hall of famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
So much so that Holder used Abdul-Jabbar's birth name, Lew Alcindor, as an alias for his official Department of Justice (DOJ) email account, raising more questions about the email practices of top Obama administration officials, and about the ability of US government agencies to track down correspondence in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
The Lew Alcindor revelation was made in a February 16 letter that DOJ sent to VICE News and Ryan Shapiro, a historian and doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in national security research.
"For your information," the letter said, "e-mails in the enclosed documents which use the account name 'Lew Alcindor' denote e-mails to or from former Attorney General Holder."
The letter was part of about 500 pages of heavily redacted emails and other documents [pdf at the end of this story] given to VICE News and Shapiro in response to a FOIA lawsuit filed in late 2014. The documents show that Justice Department officials sent emails to Lew Alcindor regarding calls from lawmakers for a federal investigation into claims that CIA personnel spied on Senate staffers while the Senate was drafting a report about the CIA's torture program. Holder's name does not appear anywhere in his Lew Alcindor email account.
[. . .]
Fallon made the disclosure less than a week before he announced that he would serve as lead press secretary for Clinton's presidential campaign. Fallon identified two of the email accounts Holder previously used, but they weren't the names of any known living person. Fallon declined to identify Holder's third email alias other than to say that it was "based" on an athlete. (Before leaving the DOJ in April 2015, Holder had still been using the Lew Alcindor email address.)
Fallon, who exchanged many of the emails in the cache with Lew Alcindor, explained the rationale for the practice: to combat spam and to avoid being inundated with correspondence from the public.
A Justice Department spokesman told VICE News there was nothing improper or legally questionable about Holder using the identity of a living person for his email account. Nor was it in any way an attempt, he said, to thwart FOIA or the Federal Records Act, which requires government agencies to preserve federal records. DOJ officials who handle FOIA requests and congressional inquiries, the spokesman said, knew of Holder's email aliases.
[. . .]
A few years ago, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, came under fire from conservative lawmakers and open government advocates — and was accused of attempting to thwart open records requests and federal records retention laws — after it was revealed that she used the email alias Richard Windsor when conducting official business.

https://news.vice.com/article/while-us-attorney-general-eric-holder-used-kareem-abdul-jabbars-birth-name-as-his-official-email-address

While US Attorney General, Eric Holder Used Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Birth Name as His Official Email Address
By Jason Leopold
February 25, 2016

Love Is the Answer, How To Fight Heroin Abuse

“It's a regional and national and international issue if you’re talking about stopping the drug trade,” said City Councillor Jan Devereux. Councilor Devereux is correct, no will to curb massive import of drugs to supply the enormous appetite of Americans. Council can pass resolutions to close the southern border and to increase strict oversight of goods entering the USA. But the best and only answer is, "All you need is love."
[. . .]
[Devereux: other methods of combating the epidemic are beyond municipal control.]

City Council can pass law requiring a Narcan capsule to be included with all sales of heroin or oxycodone pills.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/25/cambridge-opium-crisis-council/

Cambridge Discusses Plans for Overdose Treatment
By JOSHUA J. FLORENCE and SAMUEL VASQUEZ,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

February 25, 2016

John Kerry Unsure Mass Murder of Christians By Muslims is Genocide

Under current White House only Muslims can be victims. And anyway saying bad things about Muslims is worse crime against humanity than murdering Christians and Jews. Not like this is something new. See e.g., Act For America founder Brigitte Gabriel whose parents were murdered by Muslims in Lebanon. Kerry is thinking about it.

[Transcript of hearing included]
[From article]
Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State and Foreign Assistance today that he is having an “additional evaluation” done to help him determine whether the systematic murder of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East—at the hands of the Islamic State and others—should be declared “genocide.”
“I will make a decision on it as soon as I have that additional evaluation and we will proceed forward from there,” Kerry said.
Kerry was responding to a question put to him by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R.-Neb.), who is the sponsor of a resolution that would declare on behalf of Congress that it is in fact genocide.
[. . .]
Fortenberry told Kerry about a young Syrian man who had been murdered by jihadists after refusing to renounce his Christian faith.
“I had the extraordinary privilege of being in the room with Pope Francis when he, in a very powerful moment, was given a small cross, a Christian crucifix,” said Fortenberry. “That crucifix had belonged to a young Syrian man who had been captured by the jihadists, and he was told to choose: Convert or die. And he chose his ancient faith tradition. He chose Christ, and he was beheaded.”
“His mother was able to recover the body, recover this cross, and bury him,” said Fortenberry. “She fled to Austria, which set the stage for this moment which I witnessed.”
“Mr. Secretary, this is repeating itself over and over and over again against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the region,” said Fortenberry.
“What I’m urging here today,” said Fortenberry, “is that you use the authority and power of your office to call this genocide, to help restore the rich tapestry of the ancient faith traditions in the Middle East, to stop this assault on human dignity and civilization itself.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/kerry-state-doing-additional-evaluation-decide-if-slaughter-mideast

Kerry Having ‘Additional Evaluation’ Done to Decide if Slaughter of Mideast Christians is Genocide
By Terence P. Jeffrey

February 24, 2016 | 3:14 PM EST

New York Football Giants Player Sues Reporter For Privacy Violation of Medical Records

Jason Pierre-Paul and Adam Schefter

Photo: AP; ESPN

One more benefit of the new health care law brought to you by lawless and clueless Democrats. Online medical records are easily accessible to hackers, criminals, and data brokers. See e.g., Marc Goodman's book, Future Crimes.

[From article]
Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is flagging ESPN and its reporter Adam Schefter for posting his private medical records online to millions of readers.
Pierre-Paul, 27, sued ESPN and Schefter in a Florida court Wednesday, citing a violation of his privacy.
The NFL player blew off a finger in a July 4 fireworks mishap and was treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, according to his lawyers Mitchell Schuster and Kevin Fritz.
Schefter “improperly obtained” Pierre-Paul’s medical chart showing the defensive end had his right index finger amputated and posting the record on Twitter to nearly 4 million followers, the suit says.
[. . .]
The reporter said he tweeted the image of the medical record to bolster a story about the surgery.
Schefter, 49, who lives in New York, is a regular contributor to ESPN TV programs like “NFL Insiders,” “Monday Night Countdown” and “SportsCenter.”
Pierre-Paul’s Miami Dade County civil suit, which does not specify money damages, says that while the player’s injury may have been “a matter of legitimate public concern,” the “chart was not.”

http://nypost.com/2016/02/24/jpp-sues-espn-adam-schefter-for-posting-his-medical-records/

JPP sues ESPN, Adam Schefter for posting his medical records
By Julia Marsh
New York Post
February 24, 2016 | 8:33pm

Mayor Of Spring Valley, NY Accused During Public Comment Of Sleeping With Wife of Speaker

Demeza Delhomme, the mayor of Spring Valley, NY

Photo: AP

[video embedded]

[From article]
A Rockland County village meeting devolved into a scene out of Maury Povich on Tuesday night when a resident accused the mayor of using his “power” to have sex with his wife.
Reginald Alfred, a 48-year-old maintenance man, took the microphone at the meeting and began sharing details of how Spring Valley Mayor Demeza Delhomme was a homewrecker who ruined his 12-year marriage, according to video recorded by The Journal News.
“He destroyed my house. He destroyed my family. I have two daughters,” he said during a 15-minute shouting fest that riled up city officials and other residents in the audience.
When another resident in the audience asked Delhomme if he knew Alfred’s wife, the controversial mayor yelled, “I know everybody in this community. I don’t know the person.”
He vehemently denied the claims while holding his phone that was recording the confrontation, yelling, “I don’t know this man. I’ve never met this man.”
Alfred went back up to the mic at least one more time, calling the mayor a “liar.”

http://nypost.com/2016/02/24/the-mayor-slept-with-my-wife-man-claims-at-village-meeting/

Village meeting bombshell: The mayor slept with my wife
By Sophia Rosenbaum
New York Post
February 24, 2016 | 4:15pm

US District Court Judge Approves Complaint Citing Harvard University's Violations of Americans With Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act

[From article]
In the original complaint, the plaintiffs cited Youtube videos, podcasts, and edX courses—part of a joint venture between Harvard and MIT—as examples of Harvard’s online content that purportedly deny access to deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
The complaint alleges that Harvard has violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American Disabilities Act of 1990 by not inserting digital captions into online educational content. The former mandates that federally-funded educational institutions provide equal access to all individuals, regardless of disabilities. The latter law mandates that public places of accommodation “not deny persons with disabilities” their services.
Harvard sought to delay or dismiss the case until the U.S. Department of Justice issued specific digital provisions of the ADA given the lack of current legal precedence for online public spaces.
Interpretations of the ADA have varied since the original law went into effect in 1990, according to Caroline Jackson, an attorney for the National Association of the Deaf.
“Back then, public life was tangible. It was the stores you could walk into, it was the sidewalks you could get on, it was the doctors that you could go see in person,” Jackson said. “Since then, public sphere has become intangible; it’s become the cybersphere.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/25/harvard-lawsuit-deaf-proceed/

Judge Recommends that Disability Lawsuit Proceed
By MARELLA A. GAYLA,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
February 25, 2016

Anti Israel BDS Academics, Are Anti Semitic

[From article]
As [Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University Miriam F.] Elman told her audience, “in the Middle Ages Jews were hated for their religion, in the 19th and 20th centuries they were hated for their race and today they are hated for their nation-state.”
Excepting some fringe student groups enthusiastic about boycotting Israel, the BDS movement is mostly absent from the academic scene in Rochester. The president of the University of Rochester, Joel Seligman, is a vocal critic of the movement. And while there are academics in town who sympathize with the movement enough to sign statements, at the moment BDS has no visible academic advocates in Rochester.
[. . .]
Elman is no firebrand rhetorician, but rather a level-headed, meticulous scholar. She focused on the differences between legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitism, which “is not in the eye of the beholder.” Anti-Semitism “crosses the line” surpassing the merely uncivil to constitute an assault on Jewish identity. We see it when historical and cultural links between Jews and Israel are refuted and when Israel is singled out for scrutiny like no other nation on earth. Most of all, we see it when three age-old stereotypes of Jews are projected onto the entire nation of Israel: the lust for power and control, the lust for blood, and the portrayal of Jews as animals, inferior to non-Jews. This rhetoric is the lifeblood of the BDS movement.
[. . .]
Elman noted the correlation between anti-Semitic activity on college campuses and campuses with active BDS movements. She shocked her audience with examples of high-profile academics like Judith Butler, Steven Salaita and others who “couch their assaults on Israel in the language of human rights” and use their skills to construct a narrative portraying Israel as the ideological successor to Nazi Germany. Scholars refer to this ugly slur as “Holocaust Inversion” – which, in the words of Manfred Gerstenfeld, is “the portrayal of Israelis and Jews as modern-day Nazis.”
[. . .]



Perhaps most unexpected was Elman’s critique of Jewish groups involved in the BDS movement. Most people are familiar with the 2,000 year history of Christian anti-Semitism and the 1,400 year history of Islamic anti-Semitism, but it seems counterintuitive that Jews could oppose the existence of Israel.
[. . .]
the American Historical Association voted 144 to 55 against joining ranks with the BDS movement. The AHA’s decision is praiseworthy, but it runs counter to the current tide. The BDS movement is growing, and it has been endorsed by the world’s most famous academic – Steven Hawking. And even though BDS votes may actually be illegal, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) opposes academic boycotts, many academic associations are moving ahead with efforts to impose full economic and academic boycotts of Israel, including barring their colleagues (who may not share their alacrity for anti-Zionism) from collaborating with Israeli scholars.
[. . .]
There are no conservatives in BDS ranks.
The BDS movement is an outcome of the New Left’s dominance in American academia, especially Middle East Studies. Naturally, BDS gained momentum as its proponents gained rank within their respective institutions.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/fighting_the_bds_movement.html

February 25, 2016
Fighting the BDS Movement
By A.J. Caschetta

Spineless Politicians Hate Trump Because He Defeats Mean-Spirited Journalists

[From article]
In our epic war of Right vs. Wrong, Trump defeats the media cartel, day after day. Nobody has done that since Reagan. Ted Cruz is an excellent candidate, but Trump has already accomplished the impossible -- and he doesn’t get any credit for it from conservatives. In fact, our elites keep missing the significance of Trump’s constant suckering of the media.
[. . .]
We can never forget that U.S. ‘liberals” of this generation are not liberals at all; they have fallen back into ruthless Leftism, just like the old days of Joe Stalin. This is the Left that threw Lawrence Summers out as president of Harvard for wondering out loud whether some boys are just better in math than girls. This is the Left that keeps imposing ever-harsher speech and behavior codes on college students, with white guys as the official scapegoats.
[. . .]
This is a culture war, but with every terrorist attack you can bet that the Left is in collusion, one way or another. Obama refuses to label Jihad as War against us, and he has imposed crippling limitations on the FBI, DOJ, CIA, DHS, the Pentagon, and your local cops.
[. . .]



Wars are won by superior strategy, supported by excellent tactics, but not the other way around. You can have the best soldiers in the world but you also need great strategy, and the leaders to plan and execute it.
The media are our strategic enemy.
This cannot be said often enough.
If Obama and Hillary disappeared tomorrow, the Party Media would just find another brain-locked ideologue to take their place. Obama is replaceable, but the media are forever.
Or at least they think so.
[. . .]
But this is war, and war is not nice. The only thing worse than war is defeat.
If you can’t tolerate the only way any Republican has found to beat the Party Line, just consider the alternative. Trump has executed the only winning media strategy since the Boomer Left stole our culture.
The bottom line is whether you want the country to win or lose. Period.
This is going to be a watershed election, whether you and I like it or not. Our future is at stake.
Sometimes, extreme maladies call for extreme cures.
Bad language is not the worst thing, considering the alternative.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/trump_and_the_culture_war.html

February 25, 2016
Trump and the Culture War
By James Lewis