Sunday, December 31, 2017

Was a Drunken Conversation Really All the Probable Cause the FBI Needed to Investigate a Presidential Campaign?

Via Billy


Today the New York Times ran a piece that could best be described as either “alternative history” or “propaganda” that appears sourced from inside the FBI. The gist of the story is that George Papadopoulos, a guy no one had heard of before his indictment by Robert Mueller on some chickensh** charges of lying to federal investigators (essentially this means you gave them answers they didn’t like) started the whole investigation.

You can believe this story if you wish but there is no more reason to believe it than anything more substantial than the email Brian Ross talked about a couple of weeks ago.

More @ Red State

Who Wanted $700,000 to Get Someone to Accuse Donald Trump of Sexual Harassment?

Via Billy

 

During the latter stages of the 2016 presidential campaign ambulance chasing attorney Lisa Bloom presented a series of women she alleged had been sexually harassed, or worse, by Donald Trump at some previous point in his life. One of the accusers was a woman named Jill Harth who claimed Trump cornered her in his daughter’s bedroom (+10 for a salacious detail) and “groped” her. Another client alleged that Donald Trump had raped her when she was 13, but she backed out of a scheduled news conference and her identity remains unknown (at least to me).

Today the New York Times did a story on how sexual harassment claims have been weaponized by political partisans. One of the cases they focused on was the Trump allegations.

More @ Red State

Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments

Via L

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wYw_xRgAkTM/hqdefault.jpg

This series, in its unrevised form, was posted in Summer  2005.  I thought it was lost forever, but Allen Wilson has been kind enough to send me dozens of old pieces that have disappeared from the old website.

Part One:  Capitalism

1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence, was marked also by the publication of Adam Smith’s path-breaking book on economics, The Wealth of Nations. This is no accident, according to a familiar myth put out by American classical liberals who call themselves conservatives, because America is a land of individualists who came to a New World seeking freedom from monarchy, aristocracy, the patriarchal family, religion, and tradition, and our way of life is based on the principles of John Locke and the Scottish Enlightenment: human equality, natural rights, the consent of the governed. These principles are the basis of the democratic capitalism revealed to the world by Adam Smith. Since Adam Smith was also a great moral philosopher and even a moral theologian, modern capitalism is essentially a moral proposition.

This thumbnail sketch of American exceptionalism and the significance of Adam Smith is, like most of what we have been taught to believe, ahistorical buncombe.

Justice Dept. Officials Gave Clinton More Than $416,000 in 2016 Campaign Contributions

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More than 2,600 individual contributions collectively worth in excess of $416,000 were made to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by persons who listed the Department of Justice (DOJ) as their employer, according to federal campaign data compiled by opensecrets.org.

Contributions to President Donald Trump were paltry by comparison, coming from only 61 individuals listing DOJ as their employer and making 54 donations collectively worth $20,252. All of the data covered the election cycle from Jan. 1, 2015, through the 2016 election on November 8.

More @ Lifezette

Trump wishes a Happy New Year to his supporters, haters, enemies and fake news

Via Billy

 Trump wishes a Happy New Year to his supporters, haters, enemies and fake news

President Trump wished Americans a Happy New Year from his Mar-a-Lago luxury resort in south Florida on Sunday, saying that his New Years wishes extened to not just his supporters but also his "enemies" and the "fake news" media.

"As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!" Trump tweeted.

More @ The Hill

Trump administration shuts down $13 billion Obama-era Amtrak non-existent 'agreement'

Via Billy

The project would have built an Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to Penn Station in New York City. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The Trump administration has shut down a $13 billion federal spending plan to rebuild an Amtrak project between New York and New Jersey.

According to a letter obtained by Crain’s New York Business, the administration called the deal proposed by former President Barack Obama — which would have been half paid for by the federal government — “non-existent.”

“Your letter also references a non-existent '50/50' agreement between [the Department of Transportation], New York, and New Jersey. There is no such agreement," wrote Federal Transit Administration deputy administrator K. Jane Williams in a Friday letter. “We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent 'agreement' rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders.”

Iran accounted for 55% of all recorded judicial executions in the world during 2016 & Protests Take Important Centers, Will The Regime Be Toppled?

 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSQX_MXUQAA4YaI.jpg

 
 The lady with the gun is my mum.

President Trump should take decisive action in 2018 to support the ouster of the virulently anti-American theocracy that has ruled Iran with an iron fist and threatened its neighbors for the past four decades.

The president’s first step should be to throw American support behind the brave anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets in mass demonstrations across the Islamic Republic since Thursday. The street protests continued Saturday, with demonstrations in cities including the capital of Tehran and Kermanshah.

In a good first step, the U.S. State Department announced Friday that the America “strongly condemns the arrest of peaceful protesters. We urge all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption.”

More @ Fox

*********************

Iranian Revolution in Shahyad Square.jpg

  Excerpt
To walk towards the path of a liberal, and progressive nation, every young Iranian must have a willingness to take up available arms, if any. In addition, If there are no arms, the GCC and Saudi in particular will likely be happy to lend a hand. Indeed, conspiracy theorists are blaming the CIA, Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia for being behind the Iran protests. Whatever the truth is the battle for Tehran will have ramifications for Syria and the wider middle East.

Most key federal agencies have cut staff under Trump

Via Billy

Most key federal agencies have cut staff under Trump: report

A number of key federal agencies have seen their staff numbers decrease under the Trump administration, according to a report from The Washington Post.

The Post reported that every Cabinet agency has seen their permanent staff numbers shrink under Trump, with the exception of the departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Interior.

The staff cuts represented a fulfillment of President Trump's campaign promise to make cuts in the federal bureaucracy and reverse former President Obama's hiring expansion.

Trump is set to announce new cuts as part of the 2019 budget, which is aimed at decreasing the deficit to pay for the recently passed GOP-backed tax law.

More @ The Hill

Woodward/Bernstein decry media's 'smugness' & 'self-righteousness' toward Trump + Graham: 'We should all want to help' Trump

Via Billy

Veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein said there should be less pettiness and outrage in the media when it comes to President Trump. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein hit the news media Sunday for adopting an unnecessarily hostile "tone" in their coverage of the White House.

Appearing Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," the two longtime reporters said there should be less pettiness and outrage in the media when it comes to President Trump.

"We oughtn’t be too provocative, which we sometimes are with a president who’s putting a lot of bait out there and sometimes we take the bait and get a little petty," said Bernstein.


************************************* 

Intoxicated man found with small arsenal on top floor of Hyatt Regency downtown


Evidently three guns instead of 300 is now a small arsenal.....

  A man has been arrested on multiple charges after police located a small arsenal of guns on the top floor of the Hyatt Regency on Louisiana Street downtown, Houston police said.  

Police at the hotel called for backup around 1:30 a.m. Sunday after they attempted to arrest the man for being intoxicated and trespassing. When help arrived, police noticed ammunition laying around the man's hotel room, Lt. Gordon Macintosh with Houston police said. 

The man was arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon and trespassing. When investigators looked into his room further, they located an AR-15, a shotgun, a handgun and lots of ammunition, Macintosh said.

More @ Click 2

Democrats should get on board with making Trump tax cuts permanent

Via Billy

Democrats should get on board with making Trump tax cuts permanent

On Christmas Eve, CNN’s Jake Tapper told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), “Next year, 91 percent of middle income Americans will receive a tax cut.” Tapper asked, “Isn’t that a good thing?” Sanders replied, “Yeah, it is a very good thing. And that’s why we should’ve made the tax cuts for the middle class permanent.”

Could it be that a bipartisan policy consensus has finally emerged on Capitol Hill? The leaders of both parties and most rank and file members agree that the middle class tax cuts in the new tax law should be permanent. These cuts include lower income tax rates on the middle class, the doubling of the standard deduction, and the additional $1,000 per child tax credit, all of which are set to expire after 2025. So lawmakers should make them permanent now.

More @ The Hill

Trump: Dem Elections In 2018 Would ‘Totally Kill’ Wealth Created In 2017

 U.S. President Donald Trump smiles during a meeting with manufacturing CEOs at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump warned voters of a Democratic party victory in the 2018 midterm elections saying it would reverse the economic gains seen under his presidency.

The president also blasted his former opponent Hillary Clinton in an earlier tweet saying the stock market would have lost 50 percent of its value if she had been elected in 2016.

The economy has boomed under Trump’s presidency so far with 87 new highs for the Dow Jones since the president was elected. There’s also been a three year high GDP growth rate despite two massive hurricanes and an unemployment hovering around 4 percent. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta recently told a roundtable attended by The Daily Caller that he expects nearly two million new jobs to have been created under Trump.


Weiner Laptop Doc: Assange Warrant Issued 2 Weeks After Swedish Election Leaks Warning

 sdf

A confidential document found on Anthony Weiner's laptop reveals that the United States Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden expressed concerns in 2010 that WikiLeaks would release classified US documents related to Sweden ahead of the September 19 Swedish election, tipping the vote towards the Pirate Party. The subject of the cable reads "Wikileaks: The Pirate Party's White Horse Into Sweden's Parliament?"

On June 29, 2010 a US diplomat met with three members of the Pirate Party - which is described in the cable as a "mixture between communism and libertarianism," yet whose members are "well-salaried professionals, independent  from the party for income." Two of the "pirates," according to the report, were active in the "youth branch of the conservative party currently leading government."

The Embassy cable notes the "grim electoral outlook for Pirates" - as confirmed by a Pirate party member interviewed by the US diplomat, "Unless WikiLeaks Saves the Day." 

More @ Zero Hedge

Victims of the red revolution: The haunting faces of prisoners worked to death in Stalin's slave camps emerge as 100th anniversary of 1917 Bolshevik takeover approaches

Via David

The bodies of hundreds of Polish people lie dead in a mass grave in Katyn, Poland. By the time the last Soviet gulag closed its gates, millions had died. Some worked themselves to death, some had starved, and others were simply dragged out into the woods and shot

Trudging through mud in sub-zero temperatures, digging the earth with their bare hands and heaving huge rocks with the most primitive of tools, these horrifying photos have revealed life inside Joseph Stalin's gulag prisons, where people were worked to death in Soviet labour camps through the mid-1900s. 

This year marks 100 years since the 1917 Russian Revolution, which led to Vladimir Lenin taking control of the Soviet Union. When Lenin died in 1924, Stalin rose to power and became the state's authoritarian leader.

Between 1929 and the year of Stalin's death in 1953, 18million men and women were transported to Soviet slave labour camps in Siberia and other outposts of the Red empire - many of them never to return.

More @ Daily Mail

Trump: I use social media to 'fight a very dishonest and unfair press'

Via Billy

Trump has accused reporters of making up sources before. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Trump again accused the media of making up sources and fabricating stories and said he uses social media to combat the “very dishonest and unfair ‘press.’”

“I use Social Media not because I like to, but because it is the only way to fight a VERY dishonest and unfair ‘press,’ now often referred to as Fake News Media. Phony and non-existent ‘sources’ are being used more often than ever. Many stories & reports a pure fiction!” Trump tweeted Saturday.

A year later, an investigation in search of a crime

Via Billy

In November Steve Bannon told me Mueller would continue his witch hunt and drop something big before the 2018 elections to help Democrats. It looks like Steve Bannon was right.

In all of the end-of-year reviews, the most surprising (and most disappointing) realization for many is what’s missing from the list: the charging of Donald Trump.

Indeed, much like Mark Twain, President Trump could claim reports of his impending indictment have been much exaggerated. Even before he took the oath of office, commentators predicted indictment or impeachment as the inevitable end for the 45th president. While 2018 (and special counsel Robert Mueller) could still bring new evidence or allegations, a review of the “clear” crimes articulated over the year have produced little in terms of actual charges.

Collusion


More @ The Hill

Iran's protests are powerful and real. Why are mainstream media outlets so hesitant to report on them?

Via Billy

http://a57.foxnews.com/media2.foxnews.com/BrightCove/694940094001/2017/12/30/896/504/694940094001_5697029848001_5697025453001-vs.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

For all the squabbling that social media platforms are notorious for, their relevance to the media landscape plays an important role in times of protest.

This was evident with Black Lives Matter, among other movements. It’s been evident for the past three days in Iran, where thousands have taken to streets and public squares calling for an end to the hardline conservative regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The question that needs to be asked right now is why traditional mainstream media outlets – grandstanding over their importance in this new, bold era of fact-checking and truth-telling – have largely ignored a blossoming revolution.

More @ Fox

Former Sheriff David Clarke: Make the media 'taste their own blood'

Via Billy


Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke took a swing at the media on Saturday in response to reports about a past FBI investigation that looked into his emails.

“BREAKING NEWS! When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up FAKE NEWS to smear me, the ANTIDOTE is go right at them,” the ex-Sheriff tweeted. “Punch them in the nose & MAKE THEM TASTE THEIR OWN BLOOD. Nothing gets a bully like LYING LIB MEDIA’S attention better than to give them a taste of their own blood #neverbackdown”

RIP, Michel, My Good Friend

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, people standing and outdoor
 
Michel J. Miklaszewski died peacefully in Naples, FL, on October 3, 2017. Michel was born in Roubaix, France on November 21, 1942, and moved to the Charleston area with his family in 1955. He graduated from Berkeley High School and attended The Citadel and the Belmont Abbey. 

He is survived by his mother, Paulette Miklaszewski; siblings, Jeannette Seneca (Russell); Brigitte Miklaszewski; Etienne Miklaszewski (Sandra), and Jacqueline Whelan (Stephen); his daughter, Lisa Lopez; and granddaughter, Lilyan Taylor, both of Charlotte, NC; many nieces and nephews and an extended family in France. 

He was predeceased by his wife, Joan Miklaszewski, and his father, Joseph Miklaszewski. Michel was a memorable man, the life of every gathering, always with a funny story to tell and passionate about sailing, jazz and traveling. He will be missed by his family and friends. Services are private. Donations may be made to Avow Hospice Care, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, FL 34015. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ 

 Published in Charleston Post &Courier on Oct. 7, 2017

The Desire For Total Control

Via Billy
http://images.slideplayer.com/14/4493077/slides/slide_7.jpg
 They ruled Vietnam for 1,000 years.

It goes way, way back. Check out the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. Man wanted to reach to Heaven by his own efforts, to be God, as it were. If you read the Genesis account you see that he didn't quite make it. However, that has not stopped his efforts in that direction for centuries and they continue to this day.

The Caesars controlled the Roman Empire, which was all of southern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean area, and much of North Africa; the known world at that time. Caesar (depending on which one) was a benevolent dictator. You could have whatever religious beliefs you wanted to--as long as you recognized Caesar as Lord. The Christians wouldn't, couldn't, do that, hence Caesar would not have total control--and that was where their problems began. For them, Jesus the Christ was Lord, not Caesar. When Caesar tried to force the issue, and a lot of Christians died, it was the beginning of the end for Rome.

For us in this country, it goes back to the British Empire.

The number of people who are willing to hear the truth is always smaller than the number of people who desire a comforting lie.

Via L

Richert_01-2018

Most people think of E.F. Schumacher today (to the extent that they think of him at all) as some sort of vaguely leftist harbinger of the environmentalist movement.  His most famous work, Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, is often reduced to “Buddhist Economics,” the title of one of the essays collected therein.  Though it is true that Schumacher developed an interest in Buddhism during a stint as an economic consultant in Burma in 1955, his fascination with Catholicism ran much deeper, and after 15 years of intellectual and spiritual study, he entered the Catholic Church in 1971, two years before he published Small Is Beautiful.

For those familiar with the Church’s social teaching, the concept of subsidiarity, and the distributism of G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, and Fr. Vincent McNabb, Schumacher’s work is as Catholic as Catholic can be, even if he never identified it as such.  And there’s no reason why he should have: Subsidiarity is a doctrine developed from natural law, not from revelation, which means that all men can arrive at its truth, regardless of their faith (or lack thereof) in Christ.

Oddly enough, though, one of the reasons Schumacher is usually dismissed by American conservatives is that those conservatives—including many (indeed most) Christian conservatives in the United States—have taken their stand with the universalizing forces of modernity, otherwise known as liberalism.

More @ Chronicles

DOUBLE DEALING AND DESECRATION IN MEMPHIS

Via SHNV

https://www.toddstarnes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/forrest-696x392.jpg

Men of the Division,

Commander Stone asked me to write you and address a serious matter facing our brothers in Tennessee. By extension of our common heritage, it also affects us.

As many of you are probably aware by now, last night, the city council of Memphis, Tennessee voted unanimously to remove the memorials to Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis in a city park. They did so to thwart state law, which similar in ways to ours, prohibits the removal of such objects barring certain circumstances, on public property. To maintain compliance with the law, the city council sold the parcels of land to a non-profit for a pittance, run by a member of the same council, so that they memorials were technically on private land and not public. Under this scheme, the memorials were removed by heavy equipment under the cover of darkness and with full police protection.

You should note two things about this event other than the obvious desecration of our heroes:

(1) By all accounts, the bodies of General Forrest and his wife still lie in the grave beneath his memorial. That was my first concern and I scoured the news yesterday and today to try and figure out if the bodies were previously removed and if not, what plans the city had to handle the remains with proper dignity. Regardless, it is clear that despite the fact that human remains are involved, the city and the savages supporting the removal of General Forrest's legacy know no decency or end to their crusade against us and our ancestors. The point is, occurrences like this should not shock you anymore. This is the new normal. First it was just courthouse paintings and flags. Then it was equestrian statues in big cities. Now it is actual grave sites. Even with laws in place to protect our memorials, they are still being removed. The question is: "where will they stop in their war against our heritage?" The answer is: "They won't stop." They are literally digging us up now. You need to understand that.

(2) This method of selling the land to sympathetic parties in backroom deals will be employed across the nation and probably in North Carolina to remove memorials honoring Confederates and other heroes from our history. I sincerely hope that it will not become a widely adopted strategy by the left, however, it is genius in its level of evil and extortion. Even if such transactions are not lawful, like that in Memphis where a conflict of interest is clearly problematic, it puts the onus on parties like the SCV to bring suit and incur the cost of pursuing justice. With our limited resources and potential lack of standing in unsympathetic judicial forums, we will quickly be drained of money and the ability to fight.

I don't have a solution for this problem. General Forrest's protectors in Tennessee did everything they could and they won fair and square. The statue was to remain in the park in accordance with state law. However, when the left did not like the result, they changed the rules. Now, not only is General Forrest gone but a memorial to Jeff Davis is gone as well. We went from victory to double defeat overnight.

Obviously, the Tennessee Division and IHQ will be fighting this removal, however, the damage is done and it is uncertain that the statues, already sitting in an undisclosed location, will ever be restored. These are low times for us and they may get worse. It is more important now than ever to stay the course, attend your camp meetings, participate at the Division level, and make the NCSCV a stronger brotherhood. We can only depend on ourselves and it is up to us to ensure that our heritage survives this second period of reconstruction. We have to stick together.

When it's all said and done, the only thing that truly matters is God's will. Let us have faith that he will not allow the forces of evil against us, who promote a godless and despotic existence, to triumph in the end.

Deo vindice,

Jake Sullivan
Heritage Officer
North Carolina Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
jakersullivan@gmail.com

Ann Coulter: No DACA Amnesty ‘Until There’s a Wall and Hell Freezes Over’

 Screenshot

New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter says President Trump should not begin to consider amnesty for illegal aliens “until there’s a wall and hell freezes over.”

In a post on Friday, Coulter responded to a tweet by President Trump in which he reiterated that he would only be willing to sign off on an amnesty beginning with nearly 800,000 illegal aliens if his list of pro-American immigration principles were enacted simultaneously.

Those principles include full funding for the construction of a border wall — which has been stalled in the prototype stage — as well as an end to “chain migration,” which makes up more than 70 percent of all legal immigration as it allows newly naturalized immigrants to bring an unlimited number of foreign relatives to the U.S. with them.

Additionally, Trump says in exchange for DACA amnesty, he wants to see an immediate end to the Diversity Visa Lottery program, whereby 50,000 visas are randomly given out all over the world every year to foreign nationals who do not have to meet a rigorous set of skills or requirements.

More @ Breitbart

PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS IRAN: Regime Mobilizes Police, Anti-Riot Forces Beat Protesters, “Death to Dictator!” - Trump Responds

Via Billy

 

  Sohrab Ahmari @SohrabAhmari

Whatever comes next, Iranians have already shattered one liberal myth: namely, that Trump has revived the regime’s popularity at home. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/iranians-shatter-an-obamaian-myth/ 

President Trump warned the regime late Friday night – “The World is Watching.”

DHS: Deportations of Illegal Aliens Living Across U.S. Increase 37 Percent Under Trump

Deportations of illegal aliens living across the United States in the interior of the country increased 37 percent after President Trump signed his Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States Executive Order five days after being inaugurated.

A year-end Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report reveals how effective Trump’s pro-enforcement executive order has been throughout the first year of his presidency thus far, with deportations of illegal aliens living in the U.S. — and not those caught at the border — peaking at more than 61,000 between January 20 to September 30, 2017.

Compare that figure to the number of illegal aliens living in the interior of the country who were deported in that same time frame under former President Obama, when less than 45,000 illegal aliens were deported.


Overall, Trump’s ICE agency in the full Fiscal Year of 2017 deported 226,119 illegal aliens, including those caught at the southern border and those arrested and deported from the interior of the U.S. This is a slight decrease from the Fiscal Year 2016 deportations, when more than 240,000 illegal aliens were deported, but ICE officials say this is entirely because of the record decline in border-crossings under Trump.

More @ Breitbart

Corrupt FBI Leaker Comey Lied to Congress – Abedin Emails Released Friday Provide Further Support

Via Billy


Your earlier clip with Mr. Comey talking about intent is a fraud.  There’s no requirement for proving intent under that particular citation I gave you a moment ago.  Intent is irrelevant.  The fact that the loss or the mishandling of the national defense information occurred – that’s the crime.
Farrell went on to state –
Frankly, these documents conform the foundation for an indictment of Comey and [Peter] Strzok, the investigator who is at the center of this entire nightmare of a security problem.

Lindsey Graham: We need new special counsel — just for Trump dossier

 Via Billy
 Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview:
 I've spent some time in the last couple of days, after a lot of fighting with the Department of Justice, to get the background on the dossier, and here's what I can tell your viewers: I'm very disturbed about what the Department of Justice did with this dossier, and we need a special counsel to look into that, because that's not in Mueller's charter. And what I saw, and what I've gathered in the last couple of days, bothers me a lot, and I'd like somebody outside DOJ to look into how this dossier was handled and what they did with it.
And the one thing I can say, every prosecutor has a duty to the court to disclose things that are relevant to the request. So any time a document is used to go to court, for legal reasons, I think the Department of Justice owes it to the court to be up-and-up about exactly what this document is about, who paid for it, who's involved, what their motives might be. And I can just say this: After having looked at the history of the dossier, and how it was used by the Department of Justice, I'm really very concerned, and this cannot be the new normal.

10 Ways Life in Russia Is Better Than in America

Via Peter

kolomna-restaurant

It has now been exactly a year since I returned to Russia.
 
One of the questions I get asked the most from Russians and foreigners alike is whether I enjoy living here, or whether I am disappointed. My answer is that it fell within my “range of expectations”. I like to think that this is a function of my perception of Russia prior to 2017 having been reasonably accurate, and considering I was blogging as “Da Russophile” on Russia matters until 2014, that’s pretty much an accolade. In my experience, the typical response of visiting foreigners and expats to life in Russia is one of pleasant surprise, no wonder since Russia might as well be “Equatorial Guinea with hackers” so far as the Western media today is concerned. However, I banally didn’t have anything to be particularly surprised about, pleasantly or otherwise.

Even so, there are areas where Russia shines, as well as some where it doesn’t (that’s for an upcoming just published post on 10 Ways Life in America is Better than in Russia).

First, the good points – where Russia performs better than the United States.

Joe Carr Commentary: It Is Time To Stand Firm in Support of Our History

Via Billy
 

There is an old adage that “what is done in darkness will come to light.” City officials in Memphis who concocted a secret scheme to “sell” a couple of public parks for $1000 each in order to evade state law prohibiting removal of statues and monuments without proper approval may soon learn the truth of that saying. As soon as they “sold” the parks, two monuments to Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis were quickly removed by the “new private owners” in the dark of night.

More facts are coming to light, and it is increasingly clear that the scam was carefully orchestrated by the Mayor and local political activists to skirt the clear intent of the law. If it was such a good idea, why was it done secretly and without public input and debate?

More @ TN

Friday, December 29, 2017

FBI executed search warrant on former Sheriff David Clarke's emails

Via Billy

A court filing made public this week says that the FBI obtained a search warrant in March to go through former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke's personal email. This was for an investigation into an incident between Clarke and fellow airline passenger, Dan Black, in January. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The FBI obtained a search warrant to access former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke’s personal email in March, according to a federal court filing made public this week.

An affidavit dated March 7 explained the FBI wanted access to Clarke’s personal Gmail account for an investigation into an incident between Clarke and fellow airline passenger, Dan Black, in January.

Black sued, claiming he was unlawfully detained by six uniformed deputies and two K-9 dogs after a squabble with Clarke aboard an American Airlines flight in January.

Special Agent Jennifer Walkowski requested the search warrant for the FBI after being pointed towards the emails by Milwaukee County auditors.

Iranian Protesters Chant: “Death to the Dictator! Death to the Dictator!”

Via Billy



Iranian protests are spreading throughout the country.
A woman protested on a street corner without her hijab on Thursday.

This brave woman  stood up against the regime.


Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner is the Director of ‘Memphis Greenspace,’ Which Took Down Civil War Monuments

Via Billy


Dated
 
The hasty removal of two Confederate monuments Wednesday overnight has sparked a number of questions into the specifics of the transaction between Memphis city officials and the virtually unknown non-profit corporation that bought the properties, called “Memphis Greenspace.”

Shelby County Commission member Van Turner held a press conference Thursday to begin to answer those questions, beginning with the fact that he is the director of “Memphis Greenspace.”

WREG News Channel 3 was in Memphis to cover the presser:

More @ TN

Tennessee House Republican Caucus Calls for Investigation into Removal of Confederate Statues in Memphis

Via Billy


Dated

On Thursday, Tennessee House Majority Leader State Rep. Glen Casada (R-Thompsons Station) and Republican Caucus Chairman State Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) called for an investigation into the removal of two Confederate statues Wednesday evening from property that was owned by the City of Memphis until just a few hours earlier.

“Last night, the Memphis City Council unanimously approved the sale of the Health Sciences Park and Fourth Bluff Park under the cover of night to a private entity. For years, these two parks have housed the statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis,” the statement began.

Casada and Williams noted that “within an hour following the vote … cranes were spotted shortly thereafter to remove both statues,” adding:

Multiple questions have been raised involving the legality of these actions, including:

More @ TN

Another Teresa Sue Update

January 19, 2016 Teresa Sue's New Acreage!

January 24, 2017 First Winter At Teresa Sue's New Place

May 31, 2017 Teresa Sue Update

Hi Brock!

I've been meaning to get you a reply, but I've been trying to play catchup with everything.

Our address is ........... We are a good hour drive out of St Maries though, to the southwest.  It's actually only approx 22 miles, but it's all dirt road so it takes a while to get here.

We haven't had the snow we had last winter, which here at the top where we are we were just a couple of inches shy of eleven feet of snow last year. We've been just getting an inch here and two inches there until last night.  We got eight inches of snow and now it's warming up and starting to rain on top of that. 

So in this photo we have all this heavy, wet snow coming off the roof.

 

In this photo you see the lumber that is going to be used next spring to build a roof over the length of the building (60' ), what I'm calling my Idaho veranda 😁.  Then that snow off the roof nonsense will be over, no more shoveling out doorways.

Not a lot has changed outside because we have been working inside so much.  This upcoming year will see a lot of change though as we finish more of the inside work.  I now actually have kitchen cabinets and J installed the kitchen light fixtures. I also have a beautiful new gas stove.  I cooked on a hot plate, crockpot, electric skillet, and toaster oven for over a year so I'm enjoying my new stove!

 

We still have our trim work, case out the windows and add trim, plate rail, crown, base trim, inside doors, and flooring to do along with a few odds and ends to do.  It's been a busy, busy year.  Slowly but surely it's getting done.  Considering J works 60-70 hours a week at his job, then on the place, I think we're doing great.

Within two weeks we are buying a new tractor with a backhoe and we will be able to get so much done, from digging a gas line for the propane tank to landscaping.  Working on our mile+ road is a priority too. 

We are also hoping to complete a cordwood garden shed, a three sided machine shed, and fence the garden/orchard.  Did you know deer will eat even the prickly vines of a zucchini plant? Yep, they will.  My strawberry bed only survived for the grace of bird netting!😎

As far as getting back east again, the answer is yes.  Maybe a few times even, it just depends on if Autumn and Ruben decide to stay in Virginia when he gets out of the corps.  He's waiting to see if he gets promoted.  If he doesn't he is going to drop his retirement papers.  I certainly would still love to stop and visit with you.

Well, I don't know if there is anything of interest in this to post about, you might want to use last Jan. pics, they rather look the same, haha😄.

In the meantime until spring breaks and I can play on the tractor I'm settling in to work on the family genealogy.  I still have that rebel ancestor to investigate 😄.  I also have some quilting and sewing to do before the outside takes all my time.

Take care!

TeresaSue  

Trump: Post Office Should Charge Amazon More Money for Delivery

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File

Breitbart

 A 2017 Citigroup analysis revealed that each package from Amazon gets a government subsidy of $1.46.

President Donald Trump believes that the post office should charge Amazon more money for delivering its packages across the world.

“Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer?” Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday. “Should be charging MUCH MORE!”:

The president’s comment on Twitter continued his ongoing frustration with Amazon after they received record profits in 2017.

A 2017 Citigroup analysis revealed that each package from Amazon gets a government subsidy of $1.46.

The modern post office has lost billions of dollars every year, with few options for recovering its debt. From 2007-2017, the post office has lost $65.1 billion.

Just Amazing: Study: 27 Percent of California Youth Are Gender ‘Nonconforming’

Gender Non-Conforming

A new study released at UCLA finds 27 percent of California’s young people between the ages of 12 and 17 self-report that others view them as gender ‘nonconforming” at school.

The study – which has a margin of error of about six percent – was based on the inclusion of two questions in the California Health Interview Survey that were asked of 1,594 California young people between the ages of 12 and 17.
First, the young people were asked, “Are you male or female?” and, subsequent to that question, they were asked:
A person’s appearance, style, dress, or the way they walk or talk may affect how people describe them. How do you think other people at school would describe you?
  • Very feminine
  • Mostly feminine
  • Equally feminine & masculine
  • Mostly masculine
  • Very masculine
More @ Breitbart

Trump unchained: staff leaves, hardline ideas rise

 https://assets.rbl.ms/17017181/980x.jpg
 
If you ask some close to President Trump what worries them most about 2018, it's not Robert Mueller's probe. It's that establishment guardrails of 2017 come down — and Trump's actual instincts take over.
Next year will bring "full Trump," said one person who recently talked to the president.
 
Trump has governed mostly as a conventional conservative — on tax cuts, his Supreme Court pick, and rolling back regulations. Most of his top advisers are fairly conventional conservatives, so that makes sense.
Most of those in his current decision-making circle — even if they're not mainstream Republicans — are defending mainstream Republican principles like free trade and an internationalist view of foreign policy
But top officials paint a different portrait of Trump when it comes to what he really wants on trade, immigration and North Korea — but has been tamped down by skeptical staff and Cabinet officials.
More @ AXIOS

Betsy DeVos looks to curb federal 'overreach' in education

Via Billy

 The Education Department wants to free

The Department of Education has its sights set on regulatory reform in 2018. Led by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who often speaks out against what she calls a "one-size-fits-all" approach to education, the department is focused on reviewing rules and requirements issued by previous administrations, seeking to curb what she says is federal overreach.

That review will involve further consideration of the Obama administration's Title IX guidelines on how campuses should handle sexual assault, which DeVos rescinded to the applause of many observers on both the Left and Right in September. A department source told the Washington Examiner they are working to have the draft rule out by March.

CNN Legal Analyst Said He Was Mad at Trump's Attacks on FBI, But Then He Looked 'Into the Facts'

 CNN

As questions are being raised about the impartiality of the FBI agents working with Robert Mueller, President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to go after the FBI. The tweets have people worried that Trump may end up firing Mueller, which they claim would be an abuse of power.

CNN legal analyst Paul Callan said he was at first very angry that Trump would publicly go after the FBI, but as more and more information has come to light, he actually changed his mind.

“Originally, I was angered at the president's attacks on the FBI,” Callan said. “I thought they were unjustified.”

“But when I started to delve into the facts, boy there's some really disturbing stuff here," he continued.

More with video @ IJR