Tuesday, July 31, 2018

The Saints Are Marching On, and On, and On…

 

A review of Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North by Jennifer L. Weber (Oxford University Press, 2007).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case it is worth much more: 217 pages of them. The text comes wrapped in a handsome dust jacket, colored black and gold and featuring an arresting editorial cartoon from the War. In it, a stern-visaged but comely maiden stands her ground, brandishing a sword in one hand and a shield emblazoned with the motto “UNION” in the other; a white star shines from her forehead, symbolizing divinity. She is menaced by three poisonous copperhead snakes, whose human heads—gaunt-faced, long-haired, and topped by a flat-brimmed hat—are drawn to look like the stereotypical Southerner.

SFC Jerry Shriver, Special Forces Legend





April, 24th, 1969
Quan Loi Airfield
South Vietnam


Adjusting his olive drab skull cap, he pushed another .38 revolver between his utility belt.

Shouldering the trusty M3 greasegun with its long silencer, he gave a quick tug to the multitude of grenades cinched at various points on his torso. Feeling them secure; he inspected the rest of the teams’ gear as they stepped on the skid and pulled themselves aboard the Huey.

The last on, he listened to the engines begin their low whine, rising in decibels as the blades rotated ever faster until the helicopter’s distinctive chop echoed among the dozens of green buildings and barracks that served as one of S.O.G’s launching pads.

The Huey nudged its way into a gentle hover then rotated to the right, dipping its nose, rising over the perimeter fencing into the morning sky, carrying with it a Special Forces legend who’d ran countless missions as these and defied the odds.

So much and so well, in fact that Radio Hanoi dubbed him ‘Mad Dog.’

More @ SOFREP

Will Tribalism Trump Democracy?

Via Billy

Will Tribalism Trump Democracy?

On July 19, the Knesset voted to change the nation’s Basic Law.

Israel was declared to be, now and forever, the nation-state and national home of the Jewish people. Hebrew is to be the state language.

Angry reactions, not only among Israeli Arabs and Jews, came swift.

Allan Brownfeld of the American Council for Judaism calls the law a “retreat from democracy” as it restricts the right of self-determination, once envisioned to include all within Israel’s borders, to the Jewish people. Inequality is enshrined.

And Israel, says Brownfeld, is not the nation-state of American Jews.

CNBC Survey: 59% Approve Trump’s Handling of Economy, Most Say U.S. Will Win Trade War

US President Donald Trump holds up 'Make Our Farmers Great Again!' hats as he arrives for a roundtable discussion on workforce development at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa, July 26, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)


President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy has the approval of 59 percent of the economists, money managers, and strategists surveyed in CNBC’s Fed Survey.

Economic growth is seen as hitting nearly 3 percent in 2018, according to the survey. The S&P 500 is expected to rise about 6 percent, while both inflation and unemployment are seen as staying low.

The yield on the 10-year is seen as rising to about 3.5 percent by the end of 2019, up from about 2.95 percent today.

Unsurprisingly, most of the participants in the CNBC Fed survey are not fans of tariffs, with 59 percent saying it will reduce economic growth and 54 percent saying it will reduce employment.

Perhaps more surprising is how small they think the economic impact will be. On average, they see the current round of tariffs and retaliation as reducing annual growth by around one-tenth of a percentage point. That would mean a 3.5 percent economy would grow at 3.4 percent instead, not optimal but not a catastrophe. Even if all the tariffs currently contemplated were put in place, the total effect would take just three-tenths of a percentage point off growth.

Perhaps because of how small of an impact tariffs would have, most economists think the U.S. is by far most likely to prevail in trade disputes with Canada, China, and the European Union.

Of course, if economic growth were lower, the effects of tariffs would be more perilous. Shrinking a 2 percent economy to a 1.6 percent economy would likely spark recession fears. This underlines the importance of Trump’s tax cuts and regulatory reforms, and undermines the critics who said the economy did not need additional economic stimulus. The stimulus created by the tax cuts gave the American economy more resilience in the face of trade disputes.

Charles Koch: Trump Tariffs ‘Ridiculous,’ ‘Unfair’ to Foreigners & Donald Trump: ‘Globalist Koch Brothers’ a ‘Total Joke’

David Koch and his brother Charles have given millions of dollars to libertarian causes (Photo Credit: AP).

Billionaire plutocrat and GOP mega-donor Charles Koch says President Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminum, steel, and thousands of Chinese-made imports are “ridiculous” and “unfair” to foreigners.
Koch, who funds a network of organizations with his brother, David Koch, told the media during a conference with donors over the weekend that Trump’s ten percent tariff on imported aluminum and 25 percent tariff on imported steel was not fair to foreign countries and foreign workers.

The Kochs’ free trade absolutism is vastly opposed by Republican and conservative voters, who are the most likely to support tariffs to protect American jobs and industries.

The latest Morning Consult Poll revealed about 71 percent of voters say cheap overseas labor displacing U.S. jobs has played a “significant role” or “somewhat of a role” in the steep decline in manufacturing employment years ago.

In a June Harvard/Harris Poll, 83 percent of Republican voters say they support tariffs on imported products like automobiles and electronics. Additionally, 81 percent of conservatives said they too supported tariffs, along with 61 percent of Americans living in rural communities.

Even when GOP voters and conservatives are told that Trump’s tariffs may lead to higher consumer prices, the vast majority continue to support the fair trade agenda. Nearly 75 percent of Republicans said they would still support the tariffs amid higher prices, and 70 percent of conservatives said the same.

More @ Breitbart

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FILE - In this June 27, 2018, file photo President Donald Trump hugs Senate candidate Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., during a campaign rally in Fargo, N.D. The conservative Koch brothers' network declared July 30, that it will not help elect Cramer, the Republican Senate candidate in North Dakota, turning its back on the GOP in a marquee election — at least for now — after determining that the Republican challenger is no better than the Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp. Photo: Evan Vucci, AP / Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


President Donald Trump dismissed the billionaire Koch brothers as “globalist” and a “total joke” on Tuesday.

“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas.”

Both Charles and David Koch have been highly critical of Trump’s immigration and trade agenda, especially at the beginning of their summer retreat with donors.

Trump ridiculed them for supporting some parts of his agenda – especially his tax cuts – but not for his efforts to protect the American worker.

More @ Breitbart

Fixing Flores agreement is the only solution to immigrant family separation and detention

   

By Sen. Chuck Grassley, Thom Tillis and Ted Cruz

Flores v. Reno puts our government in a difficult position. We shouldn't have to choose between ripping families apart and enforcing immigration law.

Like millions across our country, we too were horrified at the sight of thousands of children being separated from their parents. As parents ourselves, we can only imagine the pain and anguish these families faced. But, as U.S. Senators — and more importantly, as Americans — we also understand that our immigration system must also enforce our laws.

While this problem has persisted across the last five administrations, and there is legitimate criticism which can be directed towards this administration’s handling of this matter, the fact remains that the very institution in which we serve — the U.S. Congress — bears much of the blame for our current immigration crisis. For years, Congress has failed to take one simple step which could have prevented the family separations we now decry: repealing the Flores v. Reno consent decree as it relates to families. 

More @ USA Today

The Fourth Turning and a New Homeland for Euro-Canadians

Via Paul

 
It is my view, however, that the final spark for the Fourth Turning will be ignited by a Second American Civil War. Either way, the day of reckoning is coming. The chickens will come home to roost.
Steven K. Bannon, former advisor to President Donald Trump (and many others), agrees that a Fourth Turning began in 2008 with the global financial credit crisis and has argued that the administrative state must be dismantled in advance of the final climax. 

In “The Ethnic Cleansing of Whites in Canada,” I argued that a defined territory is crucial for our survival. According to Dr. Frank Slater, “the special quality of a defended territory is that it insulates a population from the vicissitudes of demographic disturbances . . .” Acquisition and defense of territory, notes Slater, are an integral part of the tribal strategy of humans. The passionate relationship between a people and its homeland has been constant throughout history. A people can suffer many setbacks, but as long as it retains its own territorial space, it can recover. [i] In the long run, only territory ensures survival, and human history is largely a record of groups expanding and contracting, conquering or being conquered, migrating or being displaced by migrants. The loss of territory, whether by military defeat or displacement by aliens, brings ethnocide.

Dem megadonor plans to give $110 million for midterms, but it could spell big trouble for Party leadership

Via John

 
“I don’t particularly want to be a Democrat,” Soros claimed. calls Obama his ‘greatest disappointment’ in sweeping NY Times interview: ‘He closed the door on me’

Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer is moving on plans that threaten to create a parallel party infrastructure that competes with the Democrat Party.

Steyer plans to spend at least $110 million in 2018, Politico reported, which would make the Democrat donor the largest single source of campaign cash on the left, according to the online news source.

With the large investment, the billionaire is very likely to end up shaping the issues Democrats run on in November.

Trump Doubles Down: Govt Shutdown ‘Small Price To Pay’ To Fix Immigration Law

 Trump Doubles Down: Govt Shutdown 'Small Price To Pay' To Fix Immigration Law

‘I don’t care what the political ramifications are,’ he says

 

President Trump doubled down on his consideration of shutting down the federal government to force Congress to address the country’s weak immigration and border laws.

“I don’t care what the political ramifications are, our immigration laws and border security have been a complete and total disaster for decades, and there is no way that the Democrats will allow it to be fixed without a Government Shutdown,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

More with video @ Info Wars

The Greatest Hero America Never Knew

 

The Department of Homeland Security is not doing its job. As proof, I, David Feherty, a 17-year resident of the Dallas area but an Irishman by birth, recently became an American citizen. There goes the neighborhood—but yay, me! The reason I felt compelled to become an American is my Troops First Foundation, a nonprofit organization that does its best to improve the quality of life and future prospects of some of our most severely wounded servicemen and women. I became involved after my first trip to Iraq, on Thanksgiving in 2007, and it was there I first heard the name of Col. Robert Howard.

More @ D Magazine

Democrat at ICE Hearing: Says Only Reason It’s Illegal for Anyone to Waltz Into Country Is Because of Trump

Via Billy


The Senate Judiciary Committee under the direction of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) held a hearing Tuesday on ICE and family detention centers.
Democrats are very upset that families who enter the US illegally are broken up. Democrats are always supporting their constituents in the illegal alien community.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) played the fool at this hearing.


The Hawaii liberal did not appear to know why illegal aliens are illegal.

 

During her questioning ICE Exec. Associate Director Matthew Albence had to explain to Mirono why illegal aliens are deemed illegal.

WALTER WILLIAMS: Capitalism loses to socialism in the polls

quotes-walter-williams-government-problems-solutions

"In government, the scum rises to the top."

Poverty is no mystery, and it's easily avoidable. The poverty line that the Census Bureau used in 2016 for a single person was an income of $12,486 that year. For a two-person household, it was $16,072, and for a four-person household, it was $24,755. To beat those poverty thresholds is fairly simple. Here's the road map: Complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children; and be a law-abiding citizen.

How about some numbers?

Here's What We've Lost in the Past Decade


The confidence and hubris of those directing the rest of us to race off the cliff while they watch from a safe distance is off the charts. 
 
The past decade of "recovery" and "growth" has actually been a decade of catastrophic losses for our society and nation. Here's a short list of what we've lost:

1. Functioning markets. Free markets discover price and assess risk. What passes for markets now are little more than signaling devices to convince us the economy is doing spectacularly well. It is doing spectacularly well, but only for the top .1% of 1% and the class of managerial/technocrat flunkies and apologists who serve the interests of the top 1%.

2. Genuine Virtue.

 More @ Two Minds

America Has Millions Of Millennial Brats That Need To Move Away From Mommy And Daddy And Start Acting Like Adults

Via Billy


If young adults are America’s future, then they better get their act together. Today, over 30 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds live with their parents or other family members. Meanwhile, marriage rates and fertility rates in the United States have both hit record lows in recent years. Instead of coddling these self-absorbed Millennial narcissists well into their adult years, we need to be kicking them out of the nest and encouraging them to learn to fend for themselves. In many instances, if they do not learn how to act like adults by the time they are 35, they never will. It is time for parents all over America to exercise some tough love, because we are facing a major national crisis.

Chinese Paper Warns US Against Stationing Marines at Taiwan Embassy

 American Institute in Taiwan
 We clearly have a chronic problem with China," Robert Lighthizer, the highest ranking US trade negotiator, said in testimony before the Senate last week. "Some issues will be dealt with in a short period of time," he said, but added that "directionally, we're going to have a problem with China that's going to go on for years."
If US Marines are sent to guard the de facto US embassy in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), it could be treated by Beijing as “severe subversion” and “even an invasion of the US military on Chinese soil,” a Sunday op-ed in Chinese state media warned.

A new report indicates US military personnel are set to deploy to the large new AIT building in Taiwan to safeguard US personnel there. Beijing would consider such a move a "subversion of the one-China policy," the Global Times op-ed warned, and grounds for Beijing to deploy "an increasing number of countermeasures which Washington will have to confront."

More @ Sputnik

The New York Times Just Published One Of The Most Racist Articles You'll Ever Read

 

If Twitter is looking to weed out the racism on its platforms, it may want to start with The New York Times. The paper recently published one of the most racist tweets you'll ever see: "New Hampshire is 94% white. It is now trying to figure out how to change that."

Attached to the tweet is a bigoted screed about New Hampshire's whiteness infestation. It begins with the sad tale of a certain Catalina Celentano, who moved to the state and discovered, to her horror, that most of its residents speak English. "She found herself in an ethnic vacuum," the author reports. One worries how Ms. Celentano will react when she learns that the vast majority of the Earth is a non-Spanish speaking "vacuum."

The article continues: