The Smoking Gun

Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's version of Tonto or Boy Robin revealed in deposition:

Clinton did not want the State Department emails that she sent and received on her private computer server to be accessible to "anybody,"

Associated Press

There is no way Hillary Clinton, an attorney, Senator, and wife of a two-term president can plead ignorance of the Federal Records Act of 1950 and the Freedom of Information Act of 1966.

The Federal Records Act is the "basis for the Federal Government's policies and procedures for creating, maintaining, and disposing of Federal records. The act and its related regulations define Federal records, mandate the creation and preservation of those records necessary to document Federal activities, establish Government ownership of records, and provide the exclusive legal procedures for the disposition of records."

The Freedom of Information Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures and grants nine exemptions to the statute. It  requires agencies to publish their rules of procedure in the Federal Register, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(1)(C), and to make available for public inspection and copying their opinions, statements of policy, interpretations, and staff manuals and instructions that are not published in the Federal Register, § 552(a)(2). In addition, § 522(a)(3) requires every agency, "upon any request for records which. . . reasonably describes such records" to make such records "promptly available to any person." 

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but if you want to make that argument in re. to Hillary Clinton I would simply say that if true it simply underscores her incompetency as an attorney and as a federal executive. Honestly, at this point it should be "Game Over" for Hillary Clinton.

Turkey 2016

36+ Dead, 147+ Wounded.

EU SUPERSTATE

Goren tek-en

Is it me or didn't the Germans already try this once?

With the help of the Vichy French too, I might add.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany are due to reveal a blueprint to effectively do away with individual member states in what is being described as an “ultimatum”.

Meanwhile, there are rumors of an alliance with the Japanese.

Express

Daily Mail

TEXIT?

Amidst the Brexit, renewed calls for Texas Independence

The Texas Nationalist Movement is renewing calls for a ballot referendum calling for secession from the United States. Texas which was an independent nation from 1836-1845 would have the 10th largest economy in the world if an independent state.

US News 

CBS 

Reuters 

All is not coming up roses

Spain and Belgium would likely vote No on Scottish membership in the EU.  Spain "will not want to create the precedent" of a region "deciding to leave and join the EU in their own right" given the secessionist movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country." and Belgium is "extremely worried ... a Scottish precedent would really encourage the now very rich region of Flanders to secede from the Kingdom", adding: "This would impoverish Belgium." Telegraph

It also calls into question whether other countries with secessionist movements like Italy and Romania would vote in favor.

Meanwhile the Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart and the President of the Hauts-de-France region Xaviar Bertrand want to let the migrants through the Chunnel. The Sun

BREXIT?

By the time this posts they'll probably know which way the vote went but for American's it will be fresh news when they wake up.

Today's the day

Voters in the United Kingdom go to the polls to vote on the Brexit and according to CNN it's too close to call.  Admittedly it's none of our darn business but what do you think they will do vs. what do you think they should do? Results are expected around breakfast UK time so maybe sometime in the middle of the night here.

Bushido?

TEPCO, the utility that ran Fukushima has apologized for what is in essence a cover-up in intentionally not using the term "melt-down" to describe the catastrophe.

TEPCO President Naomi Hirose issued the apology after it was revealed he instructed officials not to use the term melt-down and instead use the term "core-damage".

"I would say it was a cover-up," Hirose told a news conference. "It's extremely regrettable."

Hirose said he will take a 10 percent pay cut, and another executive will take a 30 percent cut,

 for one month each to take responsibility.

Really? That's what you're going with?

What the government originally released:

"I pledge allegiance to [omitted] may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of [omitted]."

What eventually came out:

“I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State,” 

So the key question is... WHY? Why would you release a redacted version in the first place?  The intent was to protect? ISIS? Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? 

Here is a full transcript of one of the calls:

OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.
OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [Arabic]
OD: What?
OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings.

OD: What’s your name?

OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.
OD: Ok, What’s your name?
OM: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.
OD: Alright, where are you at?
OM: In Orlando.
OD: Where in Orlando?
[End of call.]

The full transcript was only released after public and political outcry.

And silly me, I always thought OCO stood for Overseas Contingency Operation when in reality it is [omitted] Contingency Operation, who'd have thought? 

This call was followed by a nine, sixteen, and a three minute call.

According to TIME:

In these calls, the shooter, who identified himself as an Islamic soldier, told the crisis negotiator that he was the person who pledged his allegiance to [omitted], and told the negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that is why he was “out here right now.” 

Palomares

In January 1966 a B-52 bomber collided with a KC-135 tanker over Spain spilling its contents of Mk-28 hydrogen bombs.  Three landed near the village of Palomares, the fourth fell into the ocean.  The non-nuclear explosives in two of them detonated contaminating a 2 square kilometer area with plutonium.

Here is a story of the veterans that got stuck cleaning it up.

You are Worthless

Painting: Labor by Charles Sprague Pearce

While wandering the electronic halls of the internet I came across this fairly interesting argument, laid out in part here:

Example 1: Gains on Capital

            Joe places $100,000 in a certificate of deposit earning 6% per annum. Joe gave up his $100,000 for a year and at the end of the year he received $106,000 of which only $6,000 would be income as defined by the act. Joe still has his original $100,000 and can 'rent' it out again for another year, but he pays taxes only on the $6,000 gain.

Example 2: Gains on Sales

            Tom buys a widget for $1 and sells it for $2. Tom gave up $1 in order to receive $2, but only the additional $1 is considered income. Tom still has his dollar back and can purchase another widget to sell, but he pays taxes only on the $1 gain

Example 3: Gains on Labor

            Bob pays Bill $50 to unplug Mrs. Haversham's drain for which Bob charges Mrs. Haversham $75. Bob gave up $50 in order to receive $75, but only $25 is considered income, his realized gain of $25 on Bill's labor. Bob still has his original $50 that he can use to purchase more labor that he can sell for profit, but he pays taxes only on the $25 gain. 

But what about Bill's $50?  What has Bill given up? Nothing?  Bill gave up a day out of his life, he expended his effort and skill, employed the use of his working tools. Bill no longer has his day or his labor, both are spent. He cannot, even with every penny of his $50, buy another day or recover the effort he expended, yet according to the government, his $50, every bit of it, is profit, gain, accession to wealth and was received in exchange for nothing.

Joe recovered his $100,000, and paid no tax on it; Tom recovered his $1 and paid no tax on it; Bob recovered his $50 and paid no tax on it; but Bill can never recover his day, energy or labor, but pays tax on his gross revenue, including the value of his day, energy and labor and even if the value of that day, energy and labor exceeds the gross revenue!  

Read the entire article here: What is Income?

The government assigns a value of 0 to your time and labor by declaring that the entirety of your compensation is profit, in other words; You are Worthless! And you have got something (profit) in exchange for nothing (time/exertion/skill).

Desert Trip II

On October 7th, 8th, and 9th... and now with a second weekend added Oct 14th, 15th, and 16th in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club is the Mega-concert of this millennium (at least so far). On Friday nights will appear The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Saturday night will feature Paul McCartney and Neil Young, and Sundays will see Roger Waters and The Who. A general admission three-day pass will run $399.

Reactionary Much?

I am, I have to admit, sadly disappointed in my fellow Americans.  In a poll of some 380,000 of you, when asked the question "Should people on the terror watch lists be banned from buying guns?" An overwhelming 94% of you replied "YES".

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger

nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

And yet you are ready and willing to allow some nameless bureaucrats to place your name on a list.

Shame. 

Let's not Ignore the Elephant in the Room

Photo: Peter H. Wrege

Now before you get all bent out of shape, I'm not impugning the bravery or commitment of the Orlando Police Force.

But lets face some difficult facts:

The first shots were fired at 2:02 AM

The police breached the building at approximately 5:05 AM

The police response directly contributed to 39 of the 49 deaths (yes, 49... I don't  give a rat's ass about the shooter).

Why do I say that? Because National Guard combat studies have shown that survivability can be increased by up to 66% with immediate paramedic critical trauma care. In practice the chance of survival can easily be boosted by 25%.

The problem is not with our police officers but with our tactics.  We cannot wait 3 hours to breach in a situation like this.  If the police had breached the building in 15 minutes from arrival or even 30 the casualty count would have been much lower.

Police say they had to wait three hours to access (sic) the situation, get armored vehicles on the scene and make sure they had enough personnel. CNN

If your goal is preventing the deaths of police officers our tactics are highly effective, if they are aimed towards reducing or minimizing civilian deaths they suck.  I thought we expected far more from our police than what was given, I am just as sure that many of the officers were immediately prepared to breach the building and were held back by leadership.

Interesting

In the wake of the Orlando attacks I was perusing some poll results:

Out of 24000+ respondents 60% support a temporary ban on Muslim immigration.

Out of 4000 70% think Obama should label it for what it is... Radical Islamic Terrorism.

Out of 2500 64% think Trump would be more effective at stopping terrorism than Hillary (21%)

In the wake of the attack Hillary calls for banning assault weapons and Trump calls for banning Muslim immigration.  Which do you think will play better in the election.

So what does Hillary actually want to ban? Below is the weapon allegedly used in the Orlando attack, the Sig Sauer MCX .223

Guns and Ammo: Sig Sauer MCX

 It's black and scary for sure but honestly, it can't really fire any faster than this:

Which is a Ruger Mini-14 categorized as a "ranch rifle", I believe.

Folks, a semi-automatic is a semi-automatic is a semi-automatic. They fire as fast as you pull the trigger and they fire as many bullets as are in the clip. You want to do something effective? Ban collapsible stocks and set a minimum length so they are not easily concealable, but frankly there is little mechanical difference between them. The term "Assault Rifle" is little more than a dog whistle.  We did after all fight WWII with this one:

What's the difference?  The SIG Sauer is made out of cheap plastic.

ORLANDO

NEED I SAY MORE?

 

Desert Trip

On October 7th, 8th, and 9th... and now with a second weekend added Oct 14th, 15th, and 16th in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club is the Mega-concert of this millennium (at least so far). On Friday nights will appear The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Saturday night will feature Paul McCartney and Neil Young, and Sundays will see Roger Waters and The Who. A general admission three-day pass will run $399.

4.7%

Administration claims that unemployment fell to 4.7% in May is belied by the latest Harris poll.

The Labor Department reported that the headline unemployment fell to 4.7 percent. That rate does not include those who did not actively look for employment during the month or the underemployed who were working part time for economic reasons.

The Harris poll indicates that 43% of the unemployed have given up looking and that the number of people not counted in the unemployment figures grew by 664,000 to 94.7 million. Of those in the not looking category, only 22% were voluntarily out of the workforce. Of those 94.7 million roughly 73 million have just given up.

 

Is Trump Right

About Judge Gonzalo Curiel?

Can a Judge, at least a former member of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, a group associated with, if not affiliated with, The National Council of La Raza, preside in a fair and unbiased manner over a lawsuit involving the man who wants to build the Great Wall of America?

Would you liberals have been comfortable if the judge presiding over the Ferguson case had been a former member of the Missouri WASP Bar Association?  Or would you have claimed bias? 

Is La Raza a racist organization?

“I hear more and more Mexicans talking about la raza—to build up their pride. Some people don’t look at it as racism, but when you say ‘la raza,’ you are saying an anti-gringo thing, and it won’t stop there. Today it’s anti-gringo, tomorrow it will be anti-Negro."  ~  César Chávez

Seriously, liberals, what would you think of a white organization named "The Race"?

Do I think that Gonzalo Curiel is biased against Donald Trump because he wants to build a wall? I don't know him, but probably not, Trump's complaints about Curiel (and in NY, AG Schneiderman) go back to the beginnings of these cases.  Still, there can be no question of impartiality on the part of the Judge and I think it best that he recuse himself, just as I would think it best if the Judge in the Ferguson trial recuse himself if he was a former member of the Sons of the Confederacy.    

Not So Secret Service

Former Agent David Byrne has a tell-all book due to come out the 28th of June.  Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate. On Hillary he has the following to say:

"volcanic, impulsive, enabled by sycophants, and disdainful of the rules set for everyone else"

This post isn't really about the book though, this post is a question.  Should our own Praetorian Guard be publishing tell-all books about the inhabitants and goings on of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Congratulation Liberals

You have far exceeded the abilities of my conservative brethren and may have actually figured out a way to get me to vote for Trump

How 'bout one for the old Alma Mater

 

 

The Future: Leonard Cohen

In light of yesterday's post:

And here's some more Leonard Cohen just for fun:

Imagine if you will...

Photo: Chen-Pan Liao

Imagine if you will that it's 1950, 1960, 1970, or 1980, in fact any year before 1984 will work.

You get up in the morning at 0623 get in a shower set to 114 degrees for 12 minutes.  You remove 2 eggs, some bacon, and orange juice from your refrigerator.  You have toast... medium light.  Unbeknownst to you all of this information is being recorded by a third party.  You get in your car at precisely 0725 and head to the train station, your route, turn by turn being annotated in a ledger.  You buy a ticket on the 0745 train, and find a seat.  Someone looking over your shoulder takes note of every article you read.

At work you spend 73.4% of your time actually working, everything you do is monitored and recorded.  On the way home you go to the mall, you are followed from store to store, not only what you buy is recorded but everything you look at as well.  Finally home you kick back on the couch with a TV dinner and watch only 23 minutes of the news (you change the channel after the weather), everything you watch, the commercials you flip away from, all of it is recorded.  At the end of the day you get into bed at precisely 2117 PM.

For those of you old enough to remember... how would you have felt about the society described?  A society in which all of your activities are monitored, scrutinized, and analyzed.  Everywhere you go, everything you do, everything you buy (and how much and how you paid for it), EVERYTHING, is tracked.

That society exists today.  If I asked you thirty or forty years ago to allow me to attach a tracking device to you, chances are you would have gotten fairly upset... today, we carry them willingly.  They are in our phones, our cameras, our cars.  Didn't get NAV? Doesn't matter your car is still equipped with a GPS... OnStar, Sync, Access Assist, every vehicles has the equipment whether you subscribe to the service or not. How do you think GM knows where to send the police if you're in an accident and unable to press the button? Disabled the GPS on your phone? Doesn't matter the phone can be tracked based on the cell towers it is in communication with.  

You don't even need to go online, if you make a purchase with anything but cash everything about it, time of day, amount spent, what items you purchased can be assigned to your name and tracked. If you have a credit card with RFID not only what you purchased can be tracked but how long you spent in front of a particular display can be tracked... ever wonder how come you get bombarded with ads for a product you didn't purchase?  Well, you simply spent too long in front of the Balsamic Vinegar shelf.

The time is not far off when you can get a complete inventory of what is in your house, your refrigerator, your kitchen cabinets at any given time, the technology exists today. General Mills most likely knows what you buy already, in the not to distance future they'll know if and when their products are in your home and whether you bought and ate that box of Cheerios or whether it's still up there lingering in some dark corner of your kitchen, uneaten and unappreciated.

Welcome to the future! Hope you like it.

Censorship by another name...

When business colludes with government to silence the people it's still censorship.

Utah Republican Todd Weiler, sponsor of the Utah Bill declaring pornography a public health crisis has sponsored new legislation that would put statewide filters in place to ensure no Utah residents could view pornography. Internet users would be required to contact their internet service provider to opt-out of the filter so they can view adult content.

RawStory 

Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft to partner with the EU government to combat "hate" speech.  "there is a need to ensure such activity by Internet users is “expeditiously reviewed by online intermediaries and social media platforms, upon receipt of a valid notification, in an appropriate time-frame,”"

Bloomberg 


Facebook, already accused of manipulating data trending to suppress conservative topics is now being suspected of manipulating religious stories as well.

CNA