Category: Media

Corrupt Civil Rights Leaders Won’t Support School Choice

So says Juan Williams:

“The civil rights challenge of this generation is education,” Williams said. “Dr. King would never allow anybody to buy his silence, to buy him off.”

He charged that unions are paying off civil rights leaders like Reverend Al Sharpton so that they will not support charter schools and education vouchers. “Poor people need better schools and you can’t make excuses at the cost of our children and our children’s future.”

via Fox News Insider. (with video.)

The editor didn’t even choose the best quotes.

“They don’t ever want those civil rights leaders to stand up and say ‘Yes.’ to charter schools. ‘Yes.’ to vouchers.”  …  “We need  — the black community — better schools.”

This is a big story.  But the MSM will not touch it.  Sadly.

Poor children being denied a good education is a tragedy.

Civil rights leaders on the take not supporting educational choice for these poor children is a travesty.

Survey of 15,000 Law Enforcement on Gun Control

The survey, which was conducted in early March 2013, received 15,000 responses from law enforcement professionals. It found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly anti-gun legislation and pro-gun rights, with the belief that an armed citizenry is effective in stopping crime. Response percentages varied only slightly when analyzed by rank and department size. Among the results:

  • 86 percent feel the currently proposed legislation would have no effect or a negative effect on improving officer safety
  • Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime
  • Demonstrating the opinion that the best way to combat gun crime is through harsher punishment, 91 percent said the use of a firearm while perpetrating a crime should lead to a stiff, mandatory sentence with no plea bargains. Likewise, 59 percent believe increasing punishment severity for unlicensed dealers would reduce crime
  • Respondents were more split on background checks, with 31 percent agreeing that mental health background checks in all gun sales would help reduce mass shootings, while 45 percent disagreed
  • 71 percent support law enforcement leaders who have publicly refused to enforce more restrictive gun laws within their jurisdictions
  • 82 percent believe gun buyback or turn-in programs are ineffective in reducing the level of gun violence
  • 91 percent support the concealed carry of firearms by civilians who have not been convicted of a felony and/or have not been deemed psychologically incapable
  • Likewise, 80 percent feel that legally-armed citizens would likely have reduced the number of casualties in recent mass shooting incidents
  • 38 percent believe the biggest cause of gun violence in the United States is the “decline in parenting and family values”. This was trailed by “overly lax parole and short sentencing standards” at 15 percent and “pop culture influence” (e.g., violent movies and video games) at 14 percent.

via: Business Wire / PoliceOne.com

This is incredible.  Don’t plan on seeing this in the MSM.

China Economy to Overtake U.S. by 2016

China’s economy expanded last year at 7.8pc – its slowest pace in more than a decade – and recent data has fuelled concerns that any rebound in the country’s growth is losing steam.

However, the OECD was upbeat, predicting in a new survey of China’s prospects that the country’s economy could expand by 8.5pc this year and by 8.9pc in 2014.

While the OECD noted the slowdown in China’s aggressive expansion, it nonetheless predicted that growth should average 8pc in this decade at current rates of investment and reform.

After allowing for price differences, it forecast that China could become the world’s largest economy, overtaking America, around 2016.

via Telegraph.

High debt is a drag on growth.  You’re using sooo much money for debt service (paying interest) that could have gone to pay for more useful activity… education, roads, technology, etc.

China’s economy grew at nearly 8% last year.  U.S.’s economy grew at less than 1/2 that. (Thanks Obamacare and businesses fearing other Obama policies.)

Also worth noting that this story NOT being carried by any major U.S. news organization save the Washington Post and CNN International.  Not even a single link / page to the regular CNN site despite the story begin pick-up by Reuters news service.  To ABC/NBC/CBS/MSNBC and yes, even Fox this story is not news worthy.

 

What Type of Gun Used at NY Car Wash & Barber Shop?

The following is the Associated Press report on the standoff between police and the man who they say opened fire at a barber shop and a car wash on Wednesday in upstate New York, killing four. But as the gun debate rages, it’s interesting to note that the gun used by the killer was not an automatic weapon, a so-called “assault weapon,” or even a handgun. Instead, it was a shotgun — the type of gun Vice President has been touting as a better protection option although it’s unclear what exact shotgun was used.

via TheBlaze.com.

Other than the Blaze zero media mentions of this interesting fact.

Shotguns are awesome powerful in close quarters combat when you don’t care who dies around you.  The damage per shot is staggering compared to that of “assault” rifles.  … No matter to some.  They actually want to ban everything.  It’s just one gun at a time for these folks.

John Cusack Interviews Law Professor Jonathan Turley

TURLEY: That’s exactly right. In fact, President Obama has not only maintained the position of George W. Bush in the area of national securities and in civil liberties, he’s actually expanded on those positions. He is actually worse than George Bush in some areas.

CUSACK: Can you speak to which ones?

TURLEY: Well, a good example of it is that President Bush ordered the killing of an American citizen when he approved a drone strike on a car in Yemen that he knew contained an American citizen as a passenger. Many of us at the time said, “You just effectively ordered the death of an American citizen in order to kill someone else, and where exactly do you have that authority?” But they made an argument that because the citizen wasn’t the primary target, he was just collateral damage. And there are many that believe that that is a plausible argument.

CUSACK: By the way, we’re forgetting to kill even a foreign citizen is against the law. I hate to be so quaint…

TURLEY: Well, President Obama outdid President Bush. He ordered the killing of two US citizens as the primary targets and has then gone forward and put out a policy that allows him to kill any American citizen when he unilaterally determines them to be a terrorist threat. Where President Bush had a citizen killed as collateral damage, President Obama has actually a formal policy allowing him to kill any US citizen.

via Truth-Out.org.

We’re at the point where the far left is starting to realize that Obama is simply shredding the Constitution.  I don’t think I’ve EVER agreed with  John Cusack before but he is 100% correct here.

CUSACK: Oscar Wilde said most journalists would fall under the category of those who couldn’t tell the difference between a bicycle accident and the end of civilization. But why is it that all the journalists that you see mostly on MSNBC or most of the progressives, or so-called progressives, who believe that under Bush and Cheney and Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzalez these were great and grave constitutional crises, the wars were an ongoing moral fiasco — but now, since we have a friendly face in the White House, someone with kind of pleasing aesthetics and some new policies we like, now all of a sudden these aren’t crimes, there’s no crisis. Because he’s our guy? Go, team, go?

I’m not sure that he means by “Pleasing aesthetics”.  Bush was not aesthetically pleasing?  I mean, he was no George Clooney but no ogre either.  … Or is that Obama is black?  I dunno.  But not sure I care either.  Where are all the anti-war protesters nowadays?

Overall this is an amazing piece that should be required reading for everyone on the Left.  They should think about all the venom they spewed at Bush for years for acting exactly like Obama.  I’m not saying Bush had it right… far from.  But the hypocrisy on the left is unbearable.

 

15 y/o Arrested 19th Time After Armed Robbery

A 15-year-old boy with nearly 20 arrests on his record has been charged with armed robbery after he held up a man near his home, police said.It was Jesus Castaneda’s 19th arrest, according to police, and his second gun-related charge. He was last arrested in August 2012 for unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

via Chicago Tribune.

Where’s Anita Alvarez on this?  Where’s the court system on this?

Why has the Tribune disabled the comments for this story?

More Money 4 Medical Malpractice Lawyers in IL

Medical malpractice lawyers are poised to make more money after Gov. Pat Quinn quietly signed a law allowing them to collect higher fees.

Doctors groups criticize the change, arguing that it will result in less money for injured patients who need it for costly health care and therapy. They also contend the measure was quickly pushed through the General Assembly in the waning days of a lame-duck session by ruling Democrats friendly to trial lawyers.  …

The bill surfaced in the Senate on Jan. 2, tacked onto a measure that originally dealt with firearm ranges. A day later it passed the Senate mostly on Democratic votes. Over in the House, powerful Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan sponsored the bill. A few days later it went to the governor on a 67-46 vote, again with mostly Democratic support. Quinn signed the measure into law Jan. 18, disclosing his move on a Friday afternoon, when politicians often choose to bury controversial news.The law eliminates the sliding scale that spelled out how much attorneys could charge for bringing medical malpractice cases. Previously, attorneys could collect one-third of an award up to $150,000, 25 percent for awards ranging from $150,000 to $1 million and 20 percent for awards of more than $1 million. Attorneys also could petition the court for even higher fees, a practice the new law eliminated.

The new system will see attorneys collecting a flat one-third rate on all awards. The Medical Society contends that means a patient who was awarded $1 million would now pay $333,333 in attorney’s fees as opposed to $262,500 under the old standards — the first $150,000 of the award at the one-third rate and the rest at the 25 percent rate.

via Quincy Journal.

The Machine at it again.

If this was such a great law, so helpful to the general public, then why passed in the dead of night and signed on a Friday afternoon?

Just more corruption from Michael Madigan and his trial lawyer buddies.

France’s Richest Man Moves to Belgium

The richest man in France has officially transferred his multi-billion pound fortune out of his homeland to Belgium.

Bernard Arnault, head of luxury goods group LVMH, insists he has moved his assets for ‘family inheritance reasons’.

But others are convinced that the 63-year-old has joined other tycoons and celebrities in wanting to avoid taxes – including a 75 per cent top rate on income – introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

via Mail Online.

This story does not exist to any U.S. media outlets.

The left wing media does not want anyone to think the Laffer Curve actually exists.

So now instead of getting a decent amount of money in taxes from this guy — they had to get greedy and push the tax rate to 75% — and now they get NOTHING.

There’s a quote going around today:

The problem is Socialism is that sooner
or later you run out of other people’s money.
— M. Thatcher

Held by Pirates for Nearly Three Years

After almost three years in captivity, the crew of the Iceberg 1, a cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates, are home after finally being rescued.  …

Its Dubai-based owner, who appears not to have been insured, refused to pay a ransom for it and simply went to ground, ignoring pleas for help from the hostages’ families.

Meanwhile, the governments representing the different sailors on board – six Indians, nine Yemenis, four Ghanaians, two Sudanese, two Pakistanis and one Filipino – were either unable or unwilling to mount a rescue attempt.  …

Now, though, it has been – courtesy of an armed raid not by the multi-national force, but by Somalia’s own fledgling anti-piracy patrols, who have been trained up a South African private military company. But while I would be the first to congratulate the Somali troops for completing what is an extremely dangerous job, I can’t help wondering why it had to be left to them. Freeing hostages is normally a task deemed suitable only for highly-trained special forces, and without casting aspersions on the Somalis’ abilities, I doubt they quite fall into that category.

The multinational force, on the other hand, has huge special forces assets galore, from Britain, France, the US and so on. Given the appalling plight of this ship, could they not perhaps have made an exception in this case?

 

The answer, I suspect, is that most nations are generally reluctant to risk the lives of their own troops to free citizens from other countries, which is probably fair enough. But this does give an idea of the limits to which the international force – and note that word “international” – is prepared to go.

 

One also can’t help wondering why India – which now sees itself as a global superpower, and has perfectly competent special forces – couldn’t have done the raid, given that six of the hostages were Indian. Yes, they would have ended up taking the lead on behalf of a few lesser nations in the process. But isn’t that what being a superpower is all about?

Kudos to the Somalis for pulling themselves together.

Shame on India for not lifting a finger.

It’s time the U.S. and the U.K. seriously think about their global roles as well.  Should add China and Russia to the list as well.  All countries rely on global trade.  All should be willing to do their part to keep global shipping channels free from pirates.

If we’re willing to commit 35,000 troops to kill Afghans who’ve done nothing wrong (other than try to survive) than can’t be pledge a small force of 100 to deal with pirates?

On Newton CT

I wrote this as a comment on the Chicago Tribune story:

While our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Newton CT the sad reality is that 18 children and 6 adults killed is what we in Chicago call the “Second and Third Week in July” every year.

Where is our national media attention? When will New York (liberal) reporters be seen in Englewood and Garfield Park interviewing parents of the slain?

I hate to play the race card but I see no other reason why Chicago’s murders are ignored by the national media. Most of Chicago’s victims are black while in Aurora CO and in Newton CT the victims are mostly white.

While you ponder the sadness today over yesterdays events in Newton CT please also keep in mind the hundreds of (mostly black) children gunned down every year on Chicago’s city streets.