Ace of Spades HQ

April 19, 2018

California declares state of emergency over massive population growth of illegal aliens. (The jokes just write themselves here)

—krakatoa

Have at it.

Posted by krakatoa at 12:42 PM Comments

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

This reminds me of a short story, "The Garden Party," by Katherine Mansfield, in which the huge divide between two social classes is used as a backdrop. One character has no concept of how the other class lives, and when I read this story I remember thinking, "What a twit."

America is the same way. And it is very possible that the seemingly unbridgeable divide between the ignorant elites who are afraid of the very idea of guns and the normals who up until now looked at them with mild amusement, thinking, "What twits," will take a more significant turn. I cannot imagine how we can coexist.

Woman calls cops on man playing with his kids at park because she was afraid of his pro-gun shirt

Blue Lives Matter reported that Benbrook Police Department Cpl. J. Reese said the woman did indeed call police on Johnston, and described him as a “suspicious person” who had a “gun holstered to his chest” and wearing the offensive T-shirt.

When Reese arrived at the park, he spoke with the woman, who said that Johnston was “was making other parents on the playground very uncomfortable with his T-shirt.”

“The subject did not act threatening to anyone, nor did he threaten anyone,” Reese noted, and later described Johnston as “polite.”

“She was not scared of the gun,” Reese added. “[She] was concerned about his T-shirt.”

According to Johnston, who “voluntarily identified himself” to Reese, he offered to show his gun permit to police.

“They didn’t ask,” Johnston told Blue Lives Matter.

Posted by CBD at 11:00 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Titan's Goblet
Thomas Cole

Posted by CBD at 09:30 AM Comments

The Morning Report 4/19/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. As we roll into a Thursday, it's Comey, Comey, Comey! The release of "Mein Come-pft!" went over pretty much as expected; the press slobbering all over it while the public at large yawned. In fact, about the only people who showed up for his book signing in DC a couple of days ago were reporters, and I assume that was about the same at the Barnes and (ig)Noble in Union Square in NYC yesterday. Actually, I see that that's precisely what happened, except he got heckled by "far right" reporter Laura Loomer who shouted "you're going to get locked up!" Not so nutty-sounding; a recent poll shows a sizable chunk of Americans would like to see that happen.

Meanwhile, Bob Goodlatte is pushing to have the Comey memos released, which of course would prove that this entire investigation is as we have known all along a concocted witch hunt to overthrow the President. And that's why the shambling walking colostomy bag called Jerrold Nadler is squealing like a pig because he knows this all too well, and that if they are released Mueller will be shut down.

Meanwhile, the real high crimes, treason, gonniffing and miscellaneous meshugas of Hillary Clinton barely registers on the radar, as the ex-business partner of the Awans' dad claims that all the stolen data (wiped, like, with a cloth) is now in the hands of the Pakistani government.

On the foreign policy front, as the Korean situation evolves in ways that no one could have imagined (the NorKs past disingenuousness notwithstanding), on the heels of Secretary of State Pompeo's visit with Whoa, Fat!, PDT is stating that he will not be playing games and will walk away from a summit if he senses his counterpart is doing so. In any case both Rush and Daniel Greenfield are marveling at his successes which, along with the aforementioned old lady's crimes, goes either unnoticed or distorted by the Democrat-Media Complex to look like disasters. But you knew that already, and that's why you come here, gentle reader.

In related news, as our southern border is now the entry point for growing numbers of illegal aliens being smuggled in from Bangladesh, Paul Ryno and the GOP-e CoC-servatives are planning on doing something - attempting to ram home an Amnesty bill right before the midterms. Amazing how they are motivate to act when it's to sell out the American people.

Speaking of politics, bearing the above in mind, the so-called Democrat "blue wave" at least at this stage is looking more and more like wish-casting. As PDT's achievements take hold, specifically deregulation and the tax cuts, the Democrats are becoming more and more shrill in their attacks against him, the second amendment, the first amendment and American values in general. It's a complete turnoff to most normal people, and yet the propagandists continue to pluck that chicken. Saner (if you could call it that) heads on the Left are getting nervous that the calls to impeach PDT could backfire bigly come November. But still, they'll persist. In fact there's a link that the Democrats are hot and horny to make, get this, reparations a major part of the party platform in the next few years. And then there's that pornographic parade float of hatred and obscenity what calls itself a professor from Fresno State. QED. All that said, the GOP, if it in fact actually did represent our interests, are positioned to utterly destroy the Democrat-Left for at least a generation. But as we all know, that's not their job. It's too preserve, protect and defend the New Deal, Great Society and Hope & Change until they can throw an election and reinstall a Democrat majority. No wonder you get the attitude of the guy who'll vote for convicted felon Michael Grimm rather than allow the Dems to take over. What a revolting choice we seem to always face. Something's gotta give. Feh.

From hither and yon, evidently H.R. McMaster's father was found dead and the incident has now been ruled suspicious. Meanwhile the ATF is investigating 704 pounds of TNT gone missing from a Pennsylvania construction site. Stop me if you've heard this one: people keep telling you that it's no longer safe for Jews to walk the streets of major European cities wearing Stars of David or yarmulkes. You tell them they're crazy and just to prove it's a myth, you put a yarmulke on your head. See? No problemo! And then, some random Muzzy sees you, takes off his belt and starts whipping on you. Man, what a buzz-kill.

Lastly, today marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Alone, half-starved and after watching thousands of their relatives die from disease, starvation and then later, mass deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, a few hundred or so managed to hold off the German police and even Waffen SS units for a few weeks armed only with a couple pistols and molotov cocktails. Rather than be slaughtered, they chose to fight and die for their honor. And five years later, the fighting spirit of those martyrs laid the foundation for the modern state of Israel, which was born five years later and today celebrates its 70th Anniversary.

And still, they persist...

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

MUELLER WITCH HUNT

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 07:17 AM Comments

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (4/18/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

(Was there a terrible canoe accident?)

***

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

“The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in ‘Metcalfe’s law’—which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants—becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.” -Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, 1998, via Zero Hedge

Quote II

“Republican Party swampers in Washington have come to the surface to oppose my candidacy for the U.S. Senate.”

“West Virginians are aware that McConnell cannot vote in their election. They want him to mind his own business and do his job. A job he has not done now for over 30 years. Balance the budget Mitch and stay out of West Virginia, Don Blakenship

Quote III

“Sean Hannity is an advocate for Donald Trump,” Limbaugh added. “And in this day and age, advocates for Donald Trump are no different than Trump in that they have to be destroyed, they have to be targeted, they have to be held up for ridicule because it’s all about getting Trump. Every bit of this is about getting Donald Trump. The Washington establishment cannot allow for Donald Trump to succeed. He’s an outsider.” Rush Limbaugh

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:05 PM Comments

Toy Nostalgia Thread

—Ace of Spades

Betsy Wetsy, 1950s.

Assorted commercials from the 60s, including Slinky, the toy you give to nephews you don't like.

Also, Mr. Machine and Mr. Potato head.

Mattel "Tommy Burst" Detective Set, a cap-and-safety-slug kind of gun, including tommy gun and snubnose revolver. Looks cool. 1960s.

Marx Sound-o-Power Military and Western Rifles, looks like 1960s. Doesn't seem to launch anything, but makes a nice racket.

Secret Sam spy kit.

Barbie's Dream House, 1960.

Malibu Barbie Camper Set, 1970s.

Rock'em Sock'em Robots, 1960s ad.

Rock'em Sock'em robots, 1975.

Action Jackson, 1972. He doesn't look like an action hero. He looks like a lounge-rat at the Regal Beagle.

Here's a 20 minute long compilation of old toy commercials, including GI Joe toys, Marvel super hero dolls, I mean action figures, and something called "Action Man" I never heard of, which is just a generic ~~doll~~ action figure that you can change into Batman, the Phantom, the Lone Ranger, Superman, etc.

Also: The "Big Jim" rescue rig and of course, the EVIL KNIVEL toy!

Oh man, the Six Million Dollar Man toy, too.

Here's the Six Million Dollar Man toy commercial all by itself.

Girder and Panel building set, 1957 commercial on a live tv show (it looks like).

Easy Bake Oven, 1963 ad.

Easy Bake Oven, 1972 ad.

Donald Duck Hippety-Hop, early/mid 70s. I never understood this "toy." It seems to be for slow children.

This is another toy I was pretty sure was intended for slow children: Shrinky Dinks.

Shogun Warriors vs. Godzilla toys, 1970s.

Mego Planet of the Apes dolls, I mean action figures. Several commercials, including one of Ape City and one of the Fobidden City. 1970s.

And obviously: The Mego Star Trek toys. Several commercials.

I can't find a commercial for this, but here's the "Earthquake Tower" danger playset, with real swaying action and a stupid little record with earthquake/emergency sound effects.

U-Fly-It toy plane, which I actually got to play with once. It was ass. It was just a plane on a string where you could slow the movement along the main guide-wire by tightening another string.

I've never seen this toy, but it's another toy plane -- the "Air Devils" -- and it looks kinda cool.

Flying Aces flight deck with a couple of foam "jets" that are catapult-launched from a aircraft-carrier-styled deck with a pistol-grip launch trigger.

Big Wheels from 1978.

Merlin, the amazing electronic device that let you play seven incredibly boring games with just one overpriced toy. 1980.

Colleco Football, the game that took about two hours to completely master and BTFO. Pretty soon you were scoring touchdowns just by winking at the thing.

He-Man Castle Grayskull commercial. 1980s. Here's a long compilation of a bunch of commercials. Bash-o-saurus? What?

Zany Zappers. Good Lord. It's like a Seizure in a Box.

And -- "Hey good-looking, we'll be back to pick you up later!"

Posted by Ace of Spades at 08:16 PM Comments

Meghan McCain to James Comey: Are You Sure You're Not a Partisan Political Commentator? Cuz You Sorta Sound Like a Partisan Political Commentator to Me

—Ace of Spades

By the way, does anyone else notice that Comey looks luminously orange, with ghost-taint white half-moons under his eyes, in all of his media appearances?

Check out Comey's Hunter Moon make-up on the former Bill Clinton communications director's nonpartisan political show, and this other picture from that appearance here, and then compare those looks to the lambently-orange glow he sports on The View appearance (video at the link).

Who's orange now, bub?

It's almost as if that's a fairly standard make-up application for tv appearances, and it's almost as if someone who spent a decade on TV might have just adopted it as a habit.

"I want to believe you're not a political person," McCain said to Comey. "You’re the head of the FBI, but you write in your book how you went to President Obama, and you were on the verge of tears, saying you were going to miss him. You also said were dreading the next four years with Trump."
...

McCain then brought up how Comey's wife went to the anti-Trump Women’s March and was "very sad on election night."

"But why bring up politics now?" McCain said. “No disrespect, but what your take on the current Republican Party is -- I'm more interested in what you know about national security."

"I brought it up because I was asked about it," Comey said.

Later in the interview, McCain told Comey that he sounds "like a political commentator."

Incidentally, John Sexton writes that Comey has a good, sound explanation as to why he felt it necessary to note that he was (briefly) re-opening the Hillary Clinton investigation despite all the caterwauling from the left that he should have done his Deep State Duty and concealed that information from the public.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 07:31 PM Comments

Congress Makes Criminal Referrals to Department of Justice for Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok

—Ace of Spades

A veritable basket of deplorables.

"We write to refer the following individuals for investigation of potential violation(s) of federal statutes," states the letter obtained by this reporter. "In doing so, we are especially mindful of the dissimilar degrees of zealousness that has marked the investigations into Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, respectively. Because we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are vetted appropriately."
...

"Accordingly, we refer to DOJ all DOJ and FBI personnel responsible for signing the Carter Page warrant application that contained unverified and/or false information for possible violation(s) of 18 USC 242 and 18 USC 1505 and 1515b," the criminal referral states. It refers to a letter drafted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to Sessions this March.

Comey is referred because he leaked four memos to his pal -- who now claims to be his lawyer, to invoke attorney-client privilege -- out of seven he prepared upon his firing, four of which were found to be confidential. Now, if four of those seven are confidential, and four were leaked to his pal -- I'm sorry, I mean his """"""attorney"""""--- that means at least one of the memos leaked was confidential.

Hillary Clinton is referred because of FEC violations -- she and the DNC claimed they were only paying Perkins-Coie for legal expenses, though we now know a large amount of the money paid to Perkins-Coie was then paid to Fusion GPS not for legal expenses but for oppo research. FEC rules say you can't lie in your disclosure forms about what your money is actually being spent on.

Note that Michael Cohen was raided because of possible FEC violations -- they want to claim Cohen, by paying Stormy Daniels, was actually donating to Trump, beyond the legal limit -- and yet no one's raiding Perkins-Coie for fairly clear FEC violations.

Strange, that.

It seems some criminal referrals are treated by the Deep State as serious enough to violate attorney-client privilege and others are entirely ignored.

Loretta Lynch is being referred for reprisal against a whistleblower:

Lynch was referred after concerns were made regarding her decision to threaten with reprisal the former FBI informant, William Douglas Campbell, who first came forward in 2016 with insight into the sale of the Canadian firm Uranium One, which controlled nearly 20 percent of U.S. uranium mining interests in the United States, as previously reported.

McCabe's Handmaidens, Page and Strzok, are referred for possible "interference" in the Hillary investigations.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:33 PM Comments

McCabe's Lawyer: McCabe Repeatedly Told James Comey That He Was Leaking to the WSJ and Had His Approval, Despite Comey's Denials

—Ace of Spades

Statement from Andrew McCabe’s Attorney Michael R. Bromwich: pic.twitter.com/JrWcEtt3od
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 18, 2018

One possible explanation that some might suggest that splits it down the middle (and maybe keeps both men from a perjury rap) is that McCabe told Comey that he was going to rebut the WSJ's previous article suggesting that McCabe and the FBI were slow-playing the Hillary investigation, but Comey did not know that McCabe was going to tell them (or rather have his "Special Counsel," almost certainly Lisa Page tell them) about the phone call from the Principle Acting Deputy Attorney General in which the "PADAG" tried to back McCabe off from investigating, but McCabe bravely soldiered forward.

(According to the perfectly truthful McCabe, that is.)

This sort of "one's half right, the other's half right" explanation might be enough to keep them both out of jail.

This attempt at a reconciliation between the two conspirators' stories has been floated before:

Another source familiar with the matter argued that the discrepancy between the two accounts is more about the fact that they are recalling the interaction differently than a dispute about what took place, saying both were acting in "good faith."
"They recall it differently," the source said. "Andy thinks in good faith he told him, and Comey in good faith says he wasn’t told."

The source added that “the notion that the two guys are pitted against each other is crazy."

That's from a John Sexton post, but the language is actually quoted from CNN, which is of course cozy with all the leakers and conspirators and trying to keep its sources playing nice with each other.

And trying to keep them out of jail.

And trying to keep themselves from having to testify in any prosecutions about who leaked what to whom.

And trying to keep the public from learning their own central role in the campaign of illegal leaks against Trump, acting as the AV Squad All-Stars for the Deep State High School.

Buuuuuuut...

For one thing, the OIG report's language is pretty firm on the point that McCabe did not just lie once, but four times, and wasn't just hazy on details of what his Trained Parrot (probably Special Counsel Lisa Page) was leaking to the WSJ on his orders, but claimed that he had no idea who was talking to the WSJ at all.

As detailed below, we found that in late October 2016, McCabe authorized Special Counsel and AD/OPA to discuss with [reporter Devlin] Barrett issues related to the FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation (CF Investigation)…The disclosure to the WSJ effectively confirmed the existence of the CF Investigation, which then-FBI Director Comey had previously refused to do.
We found that, in a conversation with then-Director Comey shortly after the WSJ article was published, McCabe lacked candor when he told Comey, or made statements that led Comey to believe, that McCabe had not authorized the disclosure and did not know who did. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.5 (Lack of Candor -- No Oath).

We also found that on May 9, 2017, when questioned under oath by FBI agents from INSD, McCabe lacked candor when he told the agents that he had not authorized the disclosure to the WSJ and did not know who did. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor -- Under Oath).

We further found that on July 28, 2017, when questioned under oath by the OIG in a recorded interview, McCabe lacked candor when he stated: (a) that he was not aware of Special Counsel having been authorized to speak to reporters around October 30 and (b) that, because he was not in Washington, D.C., on October 27 and 28, 2016, he was unable to say where Special Counsel was or what she was doing at that time. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor -- Under Oath).

Note that one of those incidences of "lack of candor" was about lying to Comey, which could be explained away by claiming Comey is either lying or mistaken. But the next two raps for "lack of candor" involve McCabe claiming he didn't know his Special Counsel was talking with the Wall Street Journal -- and Comey isn't anywhere involved there.

Whether or not McCabe had Comey's approval, as McCabe's lawyer alleges, to make these disclosures to the WSJ does not change the fact that when asked if he knew who was leaking he lied to investigators about it.

Even if he's claiming that he was telling the truth (sort of) that he didn't know who made a specific disclosure, he knew damn well he had authorized his Special Counsel to make some disclosures to the WSJ, and was lying when he claimed he didn't know what she was doing on specific days (when he knew full well she was communicating with the WSJ -- on his orders, or at least at his urging, let's say).

Now that these two old clucking hens are squabbling at each other, this is even more amusing. Click on each of the two partial, chopped-off images to see them in full:

It's beautiful pic.twitter.com/P3EJ7BIfez
— Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) April 18, 2018

BTW, I found this when searching Sexton's older posts, which I hadn't seen before -- Max Boot whining that sure, maybe some laws were broken here and there, but Trump!!!

Posted by Ace of Spades at 05:11 PM Comments

Shattering the Glass Cellar: Hillary Clinton is Spectacularly, Radioactively Unpopular Now

—Ace of Spades

But she seems so nice!

Here's why people are still talking about Hillary Clinton, despite her losing in 2016. She's incredibly unpopular, and that makes her worth keeping in conversation for Rs. pic.twitter.com/JYWkOpPt8U
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) April 17, 2018

Losing candidates fall in popularity, I'd guess, because their pre-election popularity was artificially and temporarily boosted by partisans "coming home" to support the candidate.

When a candidate loses the election, she loses all of that temporary, contingent support.

And if she loses an election most expected her to win, she also loses support from people who supported her even without the "coming home" bonus.

Republicans, I'd imagine, continue to dislike her at the same rates they always did. Even the NeverTrumpers feel freer about criticizing Hillary Clinton now, and they backed her, either openly or passive-aggressively.

But Democrats blame her, correctly, for being a terrible candidate. They should also blame themselves for having deluded themselves into thinking she was a good candidate, despite all available evidence.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 04:07 PM Comments

Former Smiths Frontman Morrissey: London is a Violent Shithole, Its Mayor Can Barely Speak English, and the City Now Has the Highest Rate of Acid Attacks Outside of Bangaledesh

—Ace of Spades

Well, it's time for him to be Depersoned.

Morrissey stated that London "is debased" and that "civilisation is over".

...

Morrissey, 58, also went on claiming that "we now live in the Age of Atrocity" because of the way authorities have been dealing with acid attacks in London.

Speaking to interviewer John Riggers via his new website Morrissey Central, the singer said: "London is second only to Bangladesh for acid attacks.

"All of the attacks are non-white, and so they cannot be truthfully addressed by the British government or the Met Police or the BBC because of political correctness.

"What this means is that the perpetrator is considered to be as much of a victim as the actual victim."

...

He said: "As far as racism goes, the modern Loony Left seem to forget that Hitler was Left wing.

"But of course, we are all called racist now, and the word is actually meaningless.

"It's just a way of changing the subject. When someone calls you racist, what they are saying is 'hmm, you actually have a point, and I don't know how to answer it, so perhaps if I distract you by calling you a bigot we’ll both forget how enlightened your comment was'."

Posted by Ace of Spades at 03:14 PM Comments

Mitch McConnell: Hold a Floor Vote on Linsdey Graham's "Bipartisan" Bill to Unconstitutionally Forbid the President From Firing Mueller...?
Nah, Brah

—Ace of Spades

The fact that he shows he's got some spine on occasion makes it all the more disappointing when he rolls over.

But still, maybe that should just make us grateful for the times when he does show some spine.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday thwarted a bipartisan effort to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job, saying he will not hold a floor vote on the legislation even if it is approved next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
McConnell said the bill is unnecessary because President Donald Trump will not fire Mueller.

"We'll not be having this on the floor of the Senate," McConnell said on Fox News.

His comments came amid widespread opposition to the bill among members of his caucus, with several GOP senators saying the bill is unconstitutional.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:18 PM Comments

LOL: Egg McMuffin Getting Letters from the FEC Telling Him He's in Violation of Law

—Ace of Spades

"Sacred honor." "Eternal truths." LOL.

Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin’s failed campaign ended its quixotic journey six-figures in debt as of summer 2017, and records show it has missed every deadline to file the required financial statements since then, according to a review by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent numerous letters to the McMullin For President Committee over the last year warning that the organization risks fines for failing to file and for making errors on financial statements it did manage to submit.

McMullin’s committee was nearly $645,000 in debt just after the 2016 presidential election, according to a financial statement the group filed to the FEC in December 2016. By July 2017, it increased to nearly $670,000, that month’s filing shows.

That was the last financial statement McMullin's committee filed. Since then, the organization has missed three deadlines, including one that passed Sunday. The FEC has consequently sent the group warnings that it could face penalties if it doesn't provide the necessary information.

"It has come to the attention of the Federal Election Commission that you may have failed to file the above referenced report of receipts and disbursements or failed to file a report covering the entire reporting period as required by the Federal Election Campaign Act," reads a February letter from the FEC.

"The failure to timely file this report may result in civil money penalties, suspension of matching funds payments, an audit or legal enforcement action," the letter continues. "The civil money penalty calculation for late reports does not include a grace period and begins on the day following the due date for the report."

Let me put on my speculation cap:

This was leaked to the Daily Caller by some people who got stiffed by McMullin and who want to pressure him to pay them. Who? Well, he has a short list of vendors. Shouldn't be hard to narrow it down to a couple.

Just speculatin'.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 12:57 PM Comments

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"I read that Neil Gorsuch sided with the progressives in a SCOTUS ruling on immigration law, to much disappointment. And some conservatives, especially the NeverTrumpers, are snarking 'But Gorsuch!' as if this is somehow means that Trump's decision to nominate Gorsuch was poor. But let me remind them: Neil Gorsuch was on any number of conservative short lists for SCOTUS, even before Trump became a serious player in national politics. So if, say, President Cruz or President Walker had appointed him, would they be flinging poo at them, too?"

Stupidest Award Ever:

The New York Times shares the Pulitzer in National Reporting with The @WashingtonPost for coverage that unearthed possible ties between Russia and President Trump’s inner circle https://t.co/l4rodIjHy3
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 16, 2018

Good heavens. The award was for reporting on "possible ties between Russia and President Trump's inner circle." Not anything definite, mind you, but merely 'possible'. This is not that far from being given a participation trophy.

The New Face Of Christianist H8:

Denmark to Sweden: "You Icebacks Are All a Bunch of Politically Correct Soy-Boys":

Danes making fun of Sweden’s soaring crime & SJW antics. Great sketch.
pic.twitter.com/HyFqtMhZA7
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) April 17, 2018

The takedown is pretty savage. Apparently, Sweden is so deep in denial that even their Scandi neighbors are starting to notice.

Probably The Most Disgusting Photo On The Internet Right Now:
I was in a perverse mood when I was putting this rant together, so yes, you can click on the photo to see the full-sized version and confirm that Slick Willie's flag is at half mast. So to speak.

Remember: this guy used to be the president of the United States.

AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List

For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact FenelonSpoke, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at

fenelon direction 18 circle 'a' gmail dot com

(All one word, no spaces)

-----------

never enough caffiene- (3/10/18 ) Please add my stepdaughter Amy and grandkids Emma and Ryan to the list. They are dealing with the changes in their lives from an impending divorce. Emma has been deeply effected due to ongoing severe anxiety issues.

thathalfrican- (3/10/18 ) Mother's Passing. Prayers for the Family.

Sharkman- (3/11/18 ) Little Danica Jane, my buddy's two-year old niece who is about to have her second brain surgery in the last few months to try to stop an incredibly aggressive brain tumor.
https://tinyurl.com/Heal-Danica-Jane
Poor little thing has had 3 months of chemo and radiation after her first surgery in November of 17.

chavez the hugo- (3/12/18 ) Wife's Cousin was killed on his Harley. Wife's Mother is also slowly going blind.

GGE of the Moron Horde- (3/21/18 ) I've already mentioned my niece on the ONT, she's 5 months old now and has infant leukemia. She's gone through the first round of chemo and it looks like she's in remission, however she still has to do the second round of chemo and a bone marrow transplant before she can be called fully cured. And now for the second person. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer on Friday. I know it's a highly treatable and survivable form of cancer, it looks like it was caught early and she's in otherwise excellent health.

Dennis- (3/21/18 ) 79 Y.O. Dad fell again and couldn't walk for several days (too many beers) after a trip to the ER. Now back in hospital again with low oxygen levels and some pneumonia. Too many years smoking. So pray for my mother who has to put up with her stubborn husband and that hopefully she will be able to care for him when he gets home.

joeindc44- (3/21/18 ) My father is undergoing a severe COPD episode, including pneumonia and and lung embolism, after breaking his hip. He could use some prayer time so that he stays strong and pulls through this.

Detroit Pete- (3/21/18 ) How can I add my wife Sandy to the prayer list? She has pancreatic cancer.

ChuckR- (3/22/18 ) My business partner's wife has had a recurrence of bone cancer and on 3/22 is having surgery on both hips. She is a wonderful person, kind and caring. Prayers please for her recovery.

TonyPete- (4/17/2018 ) whose wife R needs healing from an auto immune disorders.

Josephistan- (4/17/2018 ) needs a new job and strength to deal with impending downsizing at current job.

Miley- (4/17/2018 ) Prayers for Evan,a young man who needs healing from brain damage after something fell on him.

Big V- (4/17/2018 ) asked for prayers for the family and friends of his friend "Battleship Sailor" who died in a accident while preparing a birthday dinner for his wife.

Jane D'oh- (4/17/2018 ) Family and friends of a church friend of hers and his family. He died after being in hospice with liver failure.

LindaFell- (4/17/2018 ) asked for prayer for her husband who had been out of work for a year and has developed a phone application for Apple that has been approved. She asks for prayers for success for this venture.

Sulla- (4/17/2018 )Needs prayers for blessing and healing for his dad who is waiting for results from a medical test, after having gone through cancer before..

ibguy- (4/17/18 ) My Baby Sister Joyce has an inoperable glioblastoma (brain tumor). Although we've been remarkably blessed by an extra year with her, it appears that her fight for life has taken a downturn. She seems to be failing more rapidly now, and the oncologist is recommending hospice. Would appreciate Horde prayers that her journey be as pain-free and dignified as possible.

Some Guy In Texas- (4/17/18 ) I thought I'd send you a follow-up to my prayer request from 2 months ago. The little girl in question has an inoperable brain tumor. It always hits little kids, and it is 100% of fatal within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis. The tumor effects physical functioning and so the child loses the ability to walk and communicate by speech. It's terrible to watch her decline.

Because it is a rare cancer there's not a lot of research into it. Also since there is no possible surgical solution I think it gets overlooked even more. Having said that, there is a research program at Sloan-Kettering where one very dedicated doctor has developed some very promising therapies. I don't know that the ultimate outcome will be any different but the child's life may be extended and her physical condition improved so that her quality of life may be very improved. The happy news is that she has been accepted as a test subject for the study. And so she and her family have and much brighter outlook and hope than they had before. So, to that extent, prayers have definitely been answered. Thanks for the prayers, horde

An anonymous poster (4/17/18 ): A friend from high school lost his daughter to cancer. She was diagnosed three weeks after getting married, and died 6 months later. Parents should not outlive their children. Pray, please, for consolation and peace of mind for her parents and widower, and the repose of the soul of dear Adeline.

-----------

Please contact FenelonSpoke through email, as she cannot be around for many of the posts in threads. Feel free to copy and paste emails to her for Prayer Requests.

Close it up

Posted by OregonMuse at 11:25 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Portrait of Paolo Morigia
Fede Galizia

Posted by CBD at 09:30 AM Comments

The Morning Report 4/18/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Midweek already and kudos to the pilot of the that Southwest Airlines jet for her skill and calmness under pressure in bringing the plane in safely. Sadly, one passenger died but it could have been much worse.

In the lead is the absolute chutz-pocrisy on display by the usual suspects in the propaganda mill about Sean Hannity, which is not only a nothing-burger since Hannity is not an official journalist but a pundit (though he is far and away more of a journalist in the true sense of that word than anyone in the MFM) and the more salient point to remember is that we wouldn't even be talking about this were it not for Robert Mueller's near year-and-a-half long Deep-State-sponsored witch hunt to overthrow the President. That said, Rush Limbaugh took virtually his entire show to unpack the conflicts of interest that are part and parcel of not only the Media-Government complex but with the players who are sitting in judgment of this President. Not least of which is Kimba Wood - a Democrat judge, ally of the Clintons who officiated Nazi collaborator George Soros' wedding, and who outed Hannity as Michael Cohen's client for no other reason than to destroy him. In the process, she almost just singlehandedly destroyed the status of attorney-client privilege. Disgraceful is too mild a word. In any case, listen to Limabugh or read the transcript of the show (linked up top). When you see all of the names in black and white, it's kind of staggering.

Meanwhile, the somewhat disturbing news that Nikki Haley's underling is a big Never-Trumper and a Zuckerberg open borders booster. What the hell? That said, she did endorse Dondi in the Florida primary but she has been stellar at the UN (despite the reported spat with Larry Kudlow over China). At least a rare moment of sanity has prevailed with the GOP who are refusing to bring the blatantly illegal bill to protect Mueller from being fired up for a debate.

Moving along to the international front, first there are reports that Secretary of State Pompeo actually held a secret meeting with Whoa, Fat! just this past Easter and there is also a very surprising report that both the North and South are planning to meet to officially end the Korean War. I am obviously very wary of anything coming out of the North, given the history, especially the utterly failed ~~diplomacy~~ appeasement of Clinton, Dubya and Obama. That said, if this does pan out it would be one of the most significant foreign policy achievements of any President since Ronald Reagan won the Cold War and liberated Eastern Europe from Soviet domination. Here's hoping.

On the political front, the Koch Brothers are going to dumping millions into an ad campaign promoting, get this, Amnesty and open borders. Talk about lawyers having one client. The GOP has only one constituent - the Chamber of Commerce. Time for the NRA party, but that's another story. Meanwhile, Mitch McKochbrother is trying to sabotage a conservative candidate in West Virginia and install a flunky while the Democrats in the Senate are hitting the campaign trail early, and leaving a number of PDT nominees in the lurch. Meh. Recess appointments.

And speaking of Democrats, there is trouble in socialist paradise. Cynthia "Tricky Dick-Less" Nixon just got the endorsement of the barely concealed Marxist "Working Families" Party over Andrew Cuomo. It's a big deal in the State since they attract a significant number of minority voters and it's not coincidentally Bill DeBolshevik's center of power.

On the economic front, teh Ted is leading the charge to make the Trump tax cuts permanent, and yet severe conservatism has led to $4.47 trillion in spending and debt.

As we all know, and has been a pet alarm bell if you will of mine, the indoctrination mills that are our schools are front and center with a report of the latest AP American History book being about what you'd expect in content; that is virtually a screed against Judeo-Christianity, western civilization, Caucasoids, America as founded and the truth. Also, it turns out that Obama's school discipline rules (which resulted in 17 deaths in Parkland, FL) created their own disparate impact in that minority students were allowed to run wild in the halls because, racism. I know I'm hocking a tchainik but taking back our schools and our children has got to be the prime, long term unwavering mission if we really are to save America from turning into a nation of Camera Hoggs in every corner of society. Because that will be the death of our society.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

IN THE LEAD

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 07:19 AM Comments

Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (4/17/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

*****

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking. Henry Ford

Quote II

The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality. Andrew Jackson

Quote III

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin

Quote IV

Elections should be held on April 16th- the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders. Thomas Sowell

Quote V

Whatever Trump says, America is not coming out of Syria. We are going deeper in. Trump’s commitment to extricate us from these bankrupting and blood-soaked Middle East wars and to seek a new rapprochement with Russia is “inoperative.”Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:07 PM Comments

Barbara Bush Dead at 92

—Ace of Spades

RIP.

This follows swiftly upon her decision to forgo additional treatment for her illnesses and instead only receive comfort care.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 08:21 PM Comments

Power-Tripping Tyrannical Tyke Now Calls for More Boycotts

—Ace of Spades

First of all, David "Camera" Hogg's last boycott, of Laura Ingraham, boosted her ratings by 20%.

Now, having high ratings means little if advertisers boycott, but if you get your ratings higher, you'll have offers.

Having failed to bring down Laura Ingraham, the lil'est demagogue figures he should go after easier targets-- such as the Vanguard Group, a little mom-and-pop investment operation with a mere $1.5 trillion (with a t-r-i) under its management.

I'm sure he'll be able to pressure this behemoth, which is by the way charged with the task of maximizing shareholder value, into divesting itself of the $47 million it invests, per its dispassionate analysis of best benefit to clients, in gun manufacturers.

He also demands boycotts of Blackrock and a little firm called Credit Suisse.

By the way, I don't know much about Credit Suisse but I know the Swiss are famously cooperative with demands about how they run their banks and investments. They roll over like puppies in need of a rub.

John D. Davidson looks at the most recent outbursts of Messianic Progressivism and concludes that progressivism is "at its heart a savior complex." He notes a recent book about Woodrow Wilson's Comey-like Messiah complex.

After the war, at the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson's arrogance and moralizing became untethered from reality. O’Toole recounts one instance when Wilson "startled Lloyd George by observing that organized religion had yet to devise practical solutions to the problems of the world. Christ had articulated the ideal, he said, but He had offered no instruction on how to attain it. 'That is the reason why I am proposing a practical scheme to carry out His aims,' he told his fellow statesmen."
George later wrote that, "Clemenceau slowly opened his dark eyes to their widest dimensions and swept them round the assembly to see how the Christians gathered round the table enjoyed this exposure of the futility of their master." Imagine being so possessed of your own self-righteousness that you think you should propose “a practical scheme” to carry out the aims of Jesus Christ.

That, in a nutshell, is progressivism. It is hubris and conceit mixed with a tyrannical impulse, and it is one of the reasons we have so much moralizing in America today, yet so little morality.

I think I liked the old system in which there was only one Savior (though who that savior was might be contested among several candidate) better than the new system in which every #Woke16YearOld with a blue checkmark is now a would-be savior.

A commenter suggested a terrific comparison of David Hogg -- the temperamental, power-mad mutant who wishes anyone he doesn't like into The Cornfield.

That's good. That's real good, David. It's a good thing you wished the Vanguard Group into the cornfield. We all like your nigh-random outbursts and angry displays of callow power. It's good that you do all the things that you do.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 07:39 PM Comments

Store Under Fire from Fat Acceptance Tumblrinas For Making Clothing for Slim Women

—Ace of Spades

The logical end of all the claptrap about "impossible beauty standards" -- if it's really "impossible" to be skinny, therefore only dangerous experimental drugs and surgeries could be responsible for someone's slim build, and therefore, that build must be branded dangerous.

"Asos has come under fire for stocking 'dangerous and irresponsible' size 2 clothing with a 22-inch waist -- the same as a six-year-old child," the Mirror reports. The company defends selling these items, saying it's catering to more petite women. Asos also says that "cultural, physical and individual differences are to be celebrated."
The Mirror notes that Asos, of course, has a point: "While the average woman in the UK is a size 16 with a 34in waist, if a 5ft woman has a 22in waist they would be considered as having a healthy slim BMI."

In other words, a size 2 woman is not necessarily unhealthy. However, we now live in a world where you can blast away at people who aren't fat.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb told The Daily Mail: "It runs the risk of normalising sizes which are extreme for adults. It sends out a very dangerous signal to teenagers and young women.'"

That petite, healthy women exist isn't a "dangerous signal."

However, the social justice crowd has turned fat into something to be celebrated, while a healthy BMI is to be shunned, mocked, and eliminated to protect the feelings of others.

Folks, if you want to end body shaming, that's fine. What you don't get to do is simply turn it into a one-way street. You don't get to scream that all bodies are beautiful, then tell a store they're wrong for selling products that fit some bodies.

If the dresses themselves are a "dangerous signal" about excessive non-fatness, what of the women with such dangerous body shapes themselves? If their clothing is to be outlawed -- isn't it even more imperative to outlaw the slim bodies themselves?

Strange -- I'm beginning to suspect the Tolerance Mobs are kinda intolerant, when you get right down to it.

Also Stupid Update: God Save Us from #Woke5YearOlds.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:20 PM Comments

On Starbucks and "Racism"

—Ace of Spades

1. Restaurants/coffee shops like Starbucks exist, in case the Social Justice Warriors weren't aware of this, to sell things to paying customers.

2. These shops usually have chairs and tables. These are not "free" for anyone to use. They are provided as an included benefit, a lagniappe, for those who actually do pay for food or coffee.

3. Indeed, as businesses don't give anything away for "free," the cost of space, and of air conditioning, and the costs of furniture, etc., is actually included in the cost of the food and drink they sell to paying customers (there's that phrase again).

4. Ergo, if you do not buy anything in the shop, you are not paying your share of the cost of space, the air conditioning, the lighting, the furniture, etc.

5. And, in fact, by using the limited resource of available chairs and tables, a nonpaying noncustomer is actually preventing paying customers from using them.

6. The individuals here were not paying customers. They were free riders, permitted in the store only due to the indulgence of the manager and his desire to not make a scene.

7. Rather than accepting that their presence was merely tolerated as an indulgence, they decided to take it up another notch by asking for the bathroom code, despite (I'm pretty sure) signage indicating that bathrooms were for paying customers only.

8. This is the standard way these shops operate. They do not wish to become private unfunded homeless shelters, providing indoor chairs and bathroom facilities for transients.

9. After being told they could not use the bathrooms unless they were paying customers, instead of doing the obvious thing of laying down a buck and a half for the smallest size tea, thus complying with Starbucks' rules and becoming a minimum-level paying customer, they apparently refused.

10. They were then told to leave, which is Starbucks' right -- again, the table and chairs and space are provided as a courtesy to paying customers, not anyone who just wants to get off the street and use the business as an office-away-from-home as they wait for another party, who would probably also be a nonpaying noncustomer. I say that because if they planned on staying at Starbucks, they shouldn't have been so resistant to just paying for a tea.

Unless they intended to be briefed on real estate opportunities by this friend for a few hours, also without ever paying for anything in the shop.

11. Black people often claim that white people don't listen to them or don't believe them about cops and businesses hassling them. Well, let me note that goes in the other direction: I and most white people here can attest that this rule -- no bathroom use for nonpaying noncustomers-- also applies to white people, and I've been denied the code or the key most of the times I've asked to use the bathroom without first paying. Sometimes I'll say "I have to go to the bathroom, but I'll order as soon as I'm out," and they give up the code, and then I order.

This is not a Black People Only rule.

This rule is so omnipresent I'm frankly shocked these people were surprised by it. I understand the rule and the exchange (my purchase for the accommodation of a seat or use of the bathroom) implicitly. Usually, if I have to use the bathroom, I don't even ask for the key without making at least a small purpose. I don't want then to tell me "No, it's against store policy" so I just buy something to avoid that tiny indignity.

Why was this such an outrage to these guys? Do they never get out?

And again: Why not just shell out the buck and a half for a small tea?

If you're going to deny the lived experience of members of an entire race as false and made-up, then you're a racist.

And pretty much all white people can tell you: Yes, this is standard. If someone gives you the key without a purpose you have won the day and should count yourself lucky, or count the clerk as kind, because that's not very common.

12. Having now gone from one indulgence to asking for another, the manager thought it was time to inform these gentlemen that Starbucks is not, in fact, a public convenience, but a private business engaged in the business of actual business, and asked them to leave.

Once again, they seemed to have ignored the possibility of just ordering a small tea as a way to gain the right to sit and use the bathrooms.

13. They refused to leave, now announcing themselves as squatters, and so the manager called the cops to escort them out -- which is what any business would do when their quite lawful and understandable rule that you either buy something or leave is ignored.

14. The cops came and also told the gentlemen it was time to move on, given that they had no legal right to be in the store, and were continuing to refuse the trivial gesture of paying $1.50 for a small tea that would make this situation all copacetic, and then they apparently told the cops they weren't going anywhere. They apparently believed they had/have the right to sit in someone else's private property uninvited and unwanted until they feel like leaving.

15. They also apparently believe that the claim "I'm waiting for a friend" somehow gives them the right to remain uninvited and unpaying in someone else's establishment. They also seem to not realize that if they just went outside and waited for their friend there, their friend would of course see them as he approached the doors to enter.

16. Now having refused the cops' reasonable request to leave -- and therefore now in defiance of a cops' lawful order to stop trespassing on someone else's private property when you have been lawfully asked to leave -- they were arrested.

17. And no, I don't agree with Ed Morrissey's claim that the manager should have expected them to be arrested when he called the cops. That's absurd. Most cops do not arrest homeless people laying on a blanket outside a restaurant when the restaurant calls the cops. Nor do they usually arrest drunks who refuse to leave a bar at closing time. They simply tell the person it's time to move on to go bother another business, or call a cab and go home.

I don't believe the cops had any intent to arrest these guys; they had the intent to get them to leave, per the owner's lawful request that they do so. I think it was their refusal to do so that escalated this from a "Move on" situation to a "Now we're taking you in" situation.

It's a bizarre idea that someone should "expect" that minor interactions with the cops like this would of course result in an arrest, instead of a simple "Move on."

18. But this is of course racism because the people being asked to move on were black. Once upon a time, the civil rights movement was dedicated to ensuring that blacks were treated no differently than whites by police and businesses; now it seems dedicated to ensuring they are treated differently -- with greater latitude and indulgence.

Because yes, white people are denied the right to use bathrooms all the time, and no, white people cannot just set up shop in a private business without paying for anything without being asked to either buy something or find someplace else to go.

19. I have a small amount of expertise on this: I used to be a waiter. And I can tell you that even paying customers, who've bought a fair amount of food and drink, will be pressured to pay and leave if they overstay at their table without ordering more and more food or drink. Restaurants will give you about 30-40 minutes after coffee to wrap up -- assuming it's a sit-down restaurant -- and then, if you just continue to gab, waiters will begin conspiring to pressure you to leave. These pressure tactics include giving you the bill, even when you did not ask for it, and then repeatedly coming to the table to ask "Is there anything else you'll be needing?" If you do not take the hint, you will ultimately be told you have to clear the table to allow other patrons to sit.

And yes, I've had to do this. I was young and felt uncomfortable about it, but the owner told me: Tell them to leave. That table is worth money to me and they can't occupy it for an hour and a half after their meal as if it's their living room.

(BTW, I thought I'd lose my tip over this, which would have sucked, as they did order big meals and lots of drinks, but they were cool about. They did not start berating me about their imagined rights to occupy a table on a busy night for hours and hours. They understood that their overstay had been indulged, but ultimately, the restaurant reserved the right to end this indulgence after a reasonable time.)

(And, BTW: having been a waiter, and having experienced this a lot, if I'm out to dinner with you, and we begin to overstay, I will start getting antsy and saying "We should either go or order more food and drink or relocate to the bar" because I know that restaurants and waiters start to get very pissy about overstaying, no-longer-ordering table-squatters. The tenseness of this situation was instilled in me from my own career as a waiter.)

(If you didn't know this, you're either someone who leaves promptly, or you've been very indulged by wait-staffs, or you just don't pick up on social cues and nervous energy very well. Basically, the rule is that after 45 minutes, restaurant patrons, like unrefrigerated fish, begin to stink.)

20. Although this happens all the time to white people, no stories about it ever go viral, because, well, who gives a fuck. It's stupid to even complain about commonsensical policies.

21. Yet this is now national news because it happened to black guys.

22. Who despite the many opportunities to make all of this square by just ordering a $1.50 small tea, just continued to demand further indulgence of the manager.

23. Now Starbucks is saying this was all contrary to their policy and, presumably, anyone who wants to sit in their shops and not order anything and use the bathrooms has the right to do so as long as they like.

24. Starbucks, in other words, has just announced its stores are not stores primarily, but are now privately-funded shelters and bathroom facilities for the homeless. You don't have to spend a slim dime in the store to sit as long as you please and use the bathrooms.

25. That'll be great for Starbucks' business. Their yuppie douchebag clientele love the homeless in the abstract, but we'll see how much they appreciate their coffee shops being jammed with them, close-up-like, occupying most tables and chairs.

26. I don't even want to defend Starbucks; I want them to have the full taste of Social Justice Warrior progressivism. If this is the company's ideology, then they should live that ideology to the full.

27. I have a feeling Starbucks is just claiming this policy until the Social Justice Warrior locusts find a new business to harass, and then, when they do move on, they'll quietly shift the policy back to "Paying Customers Only," but I think it would be a hoot if conservatives monitored them to make sure they're sticking with this new, idiotic policy of letting anyone just sit and lounge without actually buying anything.

28. I think it would be funny if rightwing blogs made sure they were continuing this policy and made sure everyone knew they were backsliding when they do, inevitably, backslide into a non-insane position.

29. Because fuck them.

30. Here's Sargon of Akkad on this whole contrived, invented, made-up racial nontroversy.

BTW: Starbucks will begin implementing a new policy of instructing employees about "unconscious racism."

Soon, they'll have to start training people to avoid "unconscious desire to keep vagrants and transients from just parking themselves in their shops all damn day."

Posted by Ace of Spades at 04:15 PM Comments

Gorsuch Votes With Liberals on Deportation Case

—Ace of Spades

It's a pretty defensible vote.

The law says you can be deported for any "aggravated felony." One category of "aggravated felony" is "a crime of violence."

The man the government sought to deport was convicted for burglary, twice.

Is burglary a "crime of violence"?

There is some argument one could make, if one wanted, that burglary is a "crime of violence." Historically, it was defined as breaking into a home at night, and treated more severely than other breaking and entry crimes, such as robbing a business or warehouse. That's because when you're breaking into a home at night, the odds that there will be law-abiding people present is high, and therefore the chance of violent conflict similarly high.

But I don't think most burglary statutes now require the dwelling in question to be a "home," and I don't think the "night" part is required often, either.

Either way, while someone could make this argument, is this a case where the law, on its face, apprises the reasonably-informed citizen of what the law is and what the punishments for breaking them shall be, as is generally required of laws?

(Or, at least: Which, in an earlier, better day, is what the law was supposed to do, before laws became so numerous and so vague that most citizens simply assume that if they're not doing something the state specifically demands, they're probably breaking some law or some claimed interpretation of some law?)

Gorsuch voted in favor of the notion that the law should be reasonably clear and specific enough to alert the reasonably-intelligent average citizen what the law is and what the consequences of breaking it are. The average citizen would probably not calculate that "burglary," especially as currently defined, could be claimed by an imaginative prosecutor to arguably be a "crime of violence," or, more accurately, "a crime of an elevated risk of a possibility of violence."

Though that applies to citizens, generally such principles apply to non-citizens too.

AllahPundit points out that the decision relies heavily on a previous ruling striking down a similarly-vague criminal statute (this one, regarding deportation, is civil in nature), a decision written by Antonin Scalia.

I guess people can argue about this either way, but I don't think anyone should take this as a sign that Gorsuch is secretly one of them. Antonin Scalia would often write surprisingly (surprisingly, for the unschooled) decisions favoring criminals, because he was a stickler about laws saying what they mean and meaning what they say, without lots of room for imagineering by ambitious prosecutors. (He was also pretty adamant on the Constitution similarly meaning what it said, you may have heard.)

In a famous ruling, he declared that the system of having alleged child sex abuse victims testify outside the courtroom with the testimony conveyed into the courtroom by closed circuit tv -- this done to spare the victim of having to confront his violator in open court -- to be unconstitutional, because the Constitution does explicitly guarantee the accused to have the right to "confront his accusers."

I'm sure Scalia wasn't happy that likely/alleged underage sex victims had to bear the angry stare of their rapists, and probably had sympathy for efforts to insulate them from that, but he couldn't just hand-wave away the Constitution's explicit guarantee here.

(Scalia tossed out all this strict interpretation of the Constitution, even when it favored criminals, when it came to drugs and drug searches, however.)

At any rate, if Congress wants to make burglary and other dangerous-yet-not-violent-per-se crimes deportable, it has the power to do so; but I can't say that Gorsuch cast an "unconservative" vote by, essentially, demanding that the State be specific about what the law is and not rely upon prosecutors' whims to decide what the law will be as regards this or that defendant.

Meanwhile, old effeminate manbabies who like to pretend to be sober, responsible analysts when they're not pretending to be giggling 12 year olds on Twitter gonna do what they do:

But Gorsuch!

heheheheheh
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) April 17, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:27 PM Comments

Hm!

—Ace of Spades

Jennifer Rubin has become a leading voice for a group of conservative intellectuals who don’t fit comfortably in either political party—and sees the party she left behind as “immoral” and “anti-American.” https://t.co/AAyzEh57vq via @POLITICOMag pic.twitter.com/4KgcVN4QjY
— POLITICO (@politico) April 17, 2018

From The Intellectual's musings:

As the party of Trump, Republicans may lose an entire generation, Rubin warns. And policy wins like the tax bill aren't going to sway millennials' opinions of the GOP.
"It is a remarkably idealistic generation. What motivates these people is not tax policy, is not party economics or party foreign policy; it’s issues that have a moral and a value-laden core," Rubin said. "They look upon environmentalism as a moral issue, as a moral cause. They look upon guns as an issue of [whether] we as a society value children."

Posted by Ace of Spades at 12:58 PM Comments

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

This entitled twit does a huge disservice to the real victims of sexual assault. Her politically or neurotically motivated charges, after eight years of silence on the matter are self-serving and offensive. What does she expect Stanford to do...take away the guy's degree? Send the campus police to arrest him? Throw poo?

This Stanford Alum Says She Was Raped 8 Years Ago, Demands a Title IX Investigation

Imagine, for example, if there was evidence that needed to be collected or people that needed to be spoken to promptly in an investigation like this...Time is an issue, and I feel like they were just very much dragging their feet.

The arrogance and lack of self awareness on display here is frightening. I have no problem with Stanford getting dragged through the mud, but some poor schmuck may have a huge public relations problem rearing its ugly head, and maybe even a legal one.

It is this kind of behavior that has shifted the paradigm of sexual assault from one of reflexive sympathy for the victim to one of wariness and suspicion of any charge not backed up with incontrovertible evidence. It is partly a result of the current wave of feminism that demands total obeisance to Woman as the superior sex, and then at the same time demands assistance and accommodation and recognition that Woman is vulnerable and weak and incapable of anything without societal assistance.

That's just nuts, and I reject it.

Posted by CBD at 11:00 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Children
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola

Posted by CBD at 09:30 AM Comments

The Morning Report 4/17/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. The big story this Tuesday is the outing of Sean Hannity as Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen's unnamed client. This revelation has caused the collective hydra/Cerberus head(s) of the Democrat-Left-Media Complex to explode, with the concomitant smearing of Hannity as a liar, conflicted, etc. etc. with the execrable Gerry Connelly calling for him to be fired. Meanwhile, the "judge" overseeing this case is none other than Kimba Wood. Yes the Kimba Wood who was a Bill Clinton appointee - and promoted by Hillary at the time - as attorney general whose nomination was derailed because she had an illegal alien maid, the Kimba Wood who sentenced Michael Milken to 10 years in prison but granted him parole after barely two, the Kimba Wood who officiated the wedding of convicted felon and Nazi collaborator George Soros, the Kimba Wood who is a lifelong Democrat. Yup. No conflict there at all. Not a smidgen of corruption.

But let's slam on the brakes here for a moment, step back and remember that Sean Hannity, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels and the attendant flea circus surrounding her and all of this has absolutely ZERO to do with what Robert Mueller was charged with investigating way back in early 2017. To wit, the President's alleged collusion with the Russians to somehow steal the 2016 presidential election. Hence, my renaming of the title of this category.

The Democrat-Left-Media Complex and the Deep-State insurrectionists disgust me. You know what, let Mueller stay where he is and keep doing what he's doing. In the end, he will wind up as disgraced and discredited as James Comey. The President's approval rating is at or around 51%, other polls reflect my and our sentiments about Mueller and this sham witch hunt, Democrats are tanking in the generic ballots, despite the GOP-e's best efforts to intentionally sabotage their chances in November and throw the election so as to enable PDT to be impeached. If this is what we have to endure, then so be it.

Meanwhile, when it comes to actual criminality, Hillary Clinton remains unpunished vis a vis her e-mail scandal (see the link about the Awans, too) and Uranium 1 to name but a few, as Jim Jordan is still screaming about how the DoJ continues to stonewall Congress in getting to the bottom of the aforementioned.

Moving right along, the President is signaling his desire to get what American troops there are on the ground in Syria out with his call to Arab states to send troops to pick up the slack. One of them, Qatar, I'm not so sanguine about given the recent revelations about their supporting terrorism as well as the spread of sharia, stealth and otherwise, to the US. But given the longstanding enmity between the Saudis and the UAE to Iran, as well the new Saudi prince's open hostility towards the mullahs across the Gulf, this will be a test I think of his resolve, both if he does indeed send troops and their effectiveness in that rats nest. Even so, it does beg the question what is the end-game/ideal outcome in Syria, not just for us but overall, and how is that goal achievable? Stay tuned.

Closer to home, teachers union prexy Randy Weingarten was overheard on the Acela plotting to have her minions go on strike in Puerto Rico. That said, the preschool to postgrad propaganda mill that is academia in America must be utterly crushed if we are ever to really turn this country around. And speaking of Puerto Rico, convicted felon and Nazi collaborator George Soros plunked down some serious money in Florida, hoping to gin up voter turnout of the hurricane-displaced Puerto Ricans come this November. Deport, confiscate and salt the earth where he stood. In any case, Rush weighs in on an extended riff about the so-called Democrat "blue wave," and along with all the other troubles I mentioned above, the Women's Marchers' embrace of extremists of all stripes (most notably Sarsour the Hamas Louse and a website that's a cover for sex trafficking ring) is going to weigh down Democrat candidates like a collapsing bollard at a memorial service.

On the second amendment front, Laura Ingraham not only survived Camera Hogg's attempt at tortious interference, but her viewership has actually risen. Meanwhile, Daniel Greenfield highlights the banking sector's attempt to short circuit gun manufacturers by denying them credit. The most recent example being Bank of America who also tried this one neat trick on the coal industry. Nice to know that they took billions of dollars in bailout money from gun owners and electricity users back in 2008. I warned about this a few months ago; the major venture capital firms such as Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Black Rock and several others are now populated by adult versions of Camera Hogg on their boards of directors and they will attempt to do what politicians and even the rigged courts couldn't do. This is dangerous. It also illustrates perfectly the poisoned fruit from the tree of the academic propaganda mills. Mercifully, institutions like Wells Fargo as reported yesterday are bucking the trend. But all it takes is a Lois Lerner and a James Comey still embedded in the bureaucracy to put the rhetorical gun to their heads. Just like Janet Reno did to the banks when she enforced the Community Reinvestment act and lit the fuse to the 2008 financial meltdown. Speaking of which, Fannie & Freddie are still alive, well and funded by Congress. And yet, Paul Ryno and peak widow's peak. Feh.

Lastly, tens of thousands of New Yorkers have blasted the state parole board for granting parole to convicted cop killer Herman Bell, who aided and abetted in the heinous 1971 "Black Liberation Army" ambush of NYPD officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. Meanwhile, infamous cop killer Joanne Chesimard received a $15,000 check from the state of North Carolina for some real estate deal. RUFKM? Every penny that she could conceivably get should go to the widow of NJ State Trooper Werner Foerster. It would be nice if the SEALs could go into Cuba and repatriate her back to the States. Nicer if she assume room temperature.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

MUELLER "INVESTIGATION"

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 07:08 AM Comments

Monday Overnight Open Thread (4/16/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

***

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

“If we really are committed to honesty in this digital age, we need to be willing to filter information." Jared Colton, Utah State University

Quote II

"At the dinner they basically threw me out when they wanted to talk about confidences. I am not a supporter, I am not a defender of Donald Trump the person, I'm a defender of civil liberties and basic due process." Alan Dershowitz

Quote III

"The most notable feature of a disturbance in your city last summer, was the hanging of some working people by other working people. It should never be so. The strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be the one uniting all working people, of all nations, of all tongues, and kindreds. Nor should this lead to a war on property, or the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor -- property is desirable -- is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built," Abraham Lincoln

Quote IV

“I basically explained to him my whole family dynamic. The thing is, I feel content because I’ve actually gotten a lot done. And I’ve gotten much of what I came here to do done. Not everything, but much of what I wanted to do. And, you know, I feel like I’ve accomplished great things,” Paul Ryan (R-WI)

*****

Normally Tax Day is April 15th. This year it is tomorrow, April 17th. Are you ready? A historical perspective to our tax system.

We are quickly approaching the deadline for filing (and paying) our federal and state income taxes (extended to Tuesday, April 17 this year because April 15 falls on a Sunday and Monday is Emancipation Day), and that means it’s time for my annual post at tax time to help put things in perspective.

1. Some Historical Perspective. “In the beginning” when the US federal income tax was first introduced in 1913, it used to be a lot, lot simpler and a lot easier to file taxes; so easy in fact that it was basically like filling out your federal tax return on a postcard.

For example, page 1 of the original IRS 1040 income tax form from 1913 appears above. There were only four pages in the original 1040 form, including two pages of worksheets, the actual one-page 1040 form above, and only one page of instructions, view all four pages here. In contrast, just the current 1040 instructions for 2017, without any forms or schedules, runs 107 pages (forms and schedules are available separately here and here).

Individual federal income tax rates started at 1% in 1913, and the maximum marginal income tax rate was only 7% on incomes above $500,000 (more than $12.7 million in today’s dollars). The personal exemption in 1913 was $3,000 for individuals (more than $76,000 in today’s dollars) and $4,000 for married couples (nearly $102,000 in today’s dollars), meaning that very few Americans had to pay federal income tax since the average annual income in 1913 was only about $750. The Tax Foundation has historical federal income tax rates for every year between 1913 and 2013 here for tax brackets expressed in both nominal dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars and the 2017 tax brackets here.

*****

Lately Law Enforcement has taken a big hit in the area of public relations. There are two sides to every story. The story presented by a former street cop.

“De-policing should scare the hell out of every American,” Pomper writes. “Especially at this critical time when our enemies, ISIS and other Islamist terrorists – not to mention our own criminals – are, in the truest sense of the phrase, hunting Americans in the streets.” Why, he asks, “would the left engage in something so suicidal as marginalizing police officers at a time like this? Because ideology and politics trump all.” Bingo.

That politically correct ideology – identity politics – is force-fed even to the cops themselves. In Pomper’s own Seattle, for example, under a Race and Social Justice Initiative established several years ago, officers are required to attend social justice day camps where they are lectured about white privilege, minority victimhood, and “how unconsciously (and consciously) racist and bigoted cops are – especially white cops. Don’t even try to argue; to argue also means you are even more racist. The left isn’t interested in your point of view.” Similar programs have been instituted on other major cities across the country.

*****

Vice President Mike Pence. Quiet, unassuming and effective.

Unless you read the Spanish-language tweets, or read all the way to the bottom of U.S. news accounts about the Summit of the Americas, you'd never know what a kickass job Mike Pence did for the U.S. this week in Lima, Peru.

He knocked it out of the park with his lead on Venezuela's moral odiousness and failed democracy and in so doing, brought the rest of the long-reluctant Latin states along with him, stating: “We want one message to be clear: We are with the people of Venezuela.”

I'm guessing that Tim Kaine Who Will Never Be Vice-President of The United States of America would be swapping spit with Nicolas Maduro.

*****

President George W. Bush failed Americans in many ways. The ONT opines that one of his biggest failures was not pardoning Scooter Libby. President Trump has and this is driving some Dems nuts, including one Adam Schiff (D-CA)

You would have to believe that the president picked the ~~Scooter Libby~~Mark Rich out of a hat, out of the thousands of people seeking a pardon, this was a complete coincidence," Schiff said. "I don't find that the least bit credible."

Funny I don't recall Schiff calling out Hillary while she was Secretary of State or presidential candidate.

*****

Thank you JEF, His past policies contribute to Identify Theft to this day.

Diving deep into the beginnings of DACA, Jan Ting, a law professor at Temple and former assistant commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, details how the Obama Homeland Security Department (DHS) kept the use of stolen Social Security numbers from being counted against would-be DACA applicants.

As he shows, the promise to forgive the crime, one that is pervasive among illegal aliens, was consciously designed to incentivize DACA-eligible “dreamers” — for the never-passed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — to come out of the shadows and apply for the program.

*****

Participation trophies. Microaggressions. Now doypacks. Straight-to-pan plastic pouches.

A supermarket is to introduce touch-free packaging to help squeamish millennials who are afraid to touch raw meat before cooking it.

Sainsburys said it was bringing in the straight-to-pan plastic pouches, which are known in the industry as "doypacks", after a survey showed the prospect of coming into contact with uncooked meat products induced high levels of anxiety among shoppers under the age of 35.

So baiting their own hooks and filleting their catch is out of the question?

*****

Meet the new science same as the old science.

Sixty six years ago, experts used the exact same words.

Dr. William S. Carlson, an Arctic expert, said last night that Polar icecaps were melting at an astonishing and unexplained rate and threatening to swamp seaports by raising ocean levels.

“The glaciers of Norway and Alaska,” he said, “are only half the size they were 50 years ago.”

*****

Starbucks, a righteous lib business looks like they are guilty of racial profiling. Two African-Americans arrested for hanging out at a Philadelphia Starbucks.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson issued a statement late Saturday apologizing for the apparent racially motivated arrest of two black customers at the behest of a Starbucks manager in Philadelphia. The two men, according to reports, were waiting for a friend inside a Starbucks store, but were asked to leave because they had not yet made a purchase.

Staff then reportedly called police, who arrived and arrested the men for trespassing. The arrest was captured on video by another customer who attested the men had done nothing wrong. Subsequent reports indicate the two men were real estate developers waiting to meet an investor.

*****

The ONT Musical Interlude

April 16, 1977, David Soul one half of TV cop show "Starsky & Hutch", went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Don't Give Up On Us', his only US hit. Also No.1 in the UK. via thisdayinmusic.com

***

April 16, 1924, Born on this day, American composer, conductor and arranger, Henry Mancini. His best known works include the theme to The Pink Panther film series, 'Moon River' to Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. He died 14th June 1994. via thisdayinmusic.com

*****

This guy doesn't qualify for a Genius Award Winner but the Dumb F*ck Award. David Buckel.

An environmental activist committed suicide on Saturday in a park in Brooklyn, New York, by setting himself on fire.

The man was protesting the use of "fossil fuel" — which he said was leading to an environmental disaster in the world — when he poured gasoline on himself and burned himself to death in Prospect Park.

"David Buckel, 60, left behind a charred corpse and a typed suicide note that said he was burning himself to death using 'fossil fuel' to reflect how mankind was likewise killing itself, police sources said," reported the New York Post.

*****

There are right ways and wrong ways to hijack public transit. Genius Award Winners.

A naked man on a train and a knife-wielding man’s attempt to steal a bus made for an interesting 12 hours, but Metro leaders assure the public that they’re an anomaly.

Overall statistics for the most serious crimes on the rail and bus system, they said, are down to the lowest level in at least a decade.
Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld also responded Thursday to concerns from riders that another sexual assault on a Metro train was kept quiet a few weeks ago.

In all three incidents, Wiedefeld emphasized, the men now charged with the crimes were quickly arrested.

*****

Strangers help a man and his best friend. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

It took a Facebook group, a search team and a lot of patience, but a Collinsville man and his emotional support dog were finally reunited, three weeks after they were separated by a car crash.

Summer, a miniature Australian Shepherd, was ejected from the car during a crash with her owner, Andre Wild, on March 17 in Collinsville. Summer ran into the woods near Morrison Avenue and St. Clair Avenue before police could catch her and since then, hundreds of metro-east residents have been on the look-out or actively searching for her.

*****

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Ideas That Didn't Work Out.

Notice: Posted with permission by AceCorp, LLC. Sorry we do not accept C.O.D.s

Close it up

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:03 PM Comments

Inspector General Report Into Hillary Email Investigation to be Released In May

—Ace of Spades

So this will be interesting.

So what's going to be in this report? The IG has been very tight-lipped but a report published in January by the Washington Post indicated Horowitz was looking at McCabe's apparent failure to pursue a probe involving Hillary's email server...

Specifically, that's in regard to McCabe being told that classified information was found on Anthony Weiner's computer -- yet sitting on that information for weeks.

And...

Horowitz was also looking into why an investigation into the Clinton Foundation also seemed to stall at McCabe's desk...

A lot of investigations into Hillary Clinton died on McCabe's desk.

McCabe, notoriously, refused to recuse himself from overseeing these investigations, despite his wife getting a huge cash infusion from Hillary Clinton's bagman Terry McAuliffe.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 07:57 PM Comments

Sean Hannity: I Asked Michael Cohen For Legal Advice But He Has "Never Represented Me In Any Matter"

—Ace of Spades

Hannity's statement:

Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective.
I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third-party.

In response to some wild speculation, let me make clear that I did not ask Michael Cohen to bring this proceeding on my behalf, I have no personal interest in this proceeding, and, in fact, asked that my de minimis discussions with Michael Cohen, which dealt almost exclusively about real estate, not be made a part of this proceeding.

I'm not sure if that should have had any legal distinction regarding the current hearing. (Though it probably did-- Kimba Wood rejected Cohen's request to review the seized documents before the FBI did.)

I assume Cohen brought up his "third client" because judge Kimba Wood (remember her? Google "Nannygate") was questioning whether Michael Cohen was a bona fide lawyer or just Trump's business partner with legal expertise.

Giving someone legal advice is something a lawyer does, routinely; not all lawyer interactions involve "representing" someone in a court case or business deal involving a third party.

And I think Hannity is wrong to say that "representing" must involve a third party; I think any lawyer who gave you advice, as a lawyer, would say he's "representing" you, as he's representing you as far as your legal interests, researching the question, analyzing the precedents, etc.

I'm not sure if payment matters, either.

This looks like Hannity is throwing Michael Cohen under the bus, and so also Trump then, because I think it hurts Michael Cohen's position the fewer clients he actually has. (At least in Kimba Wood's mind it seems to hurt his position.)

Not sure why Hannity is making this distinction.

I guess he's making this distinction because reporter Gail Sherman is claiming that Hannity hired Michael Cohen to advise him regarding the Media-Matters-led boycott of Fox, which Hannity himself denies:

What part of Michael and I never discussed anything that involved any third party is so hard to understand? https://t.co/uha1z13RJf
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 16, 2018

From Mediaite:

Noting that Hannity had come under pressure from left-wing groups -- Media Matters, for one, targeted Hannity's advertisers over the Seth Rich story --Sherman said he was told that Hannity "got paranoid" and hired Cohen to look into those groups.

"This could be interesting because oftentimes private investigators are hired by law firms because it allows attorney/client privilege to be maintained," Sherman added. "So there is a scenario in which if they seized Michael Cohen's documents inadvertently we might be able to learn to what degree did Sean Hannity try to go after his enemies with shady tactics like private investigators."

You mean like the way both Obama and Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS through a DNC lawyer? Something you in the media haven't found to be a compelling or "interesting" storyline at all.

In any event, Hannity called up MSNBC (of course this was on MSNBC) to deny it.

Let's check in to see how the sober-minded, country-first, anti-tribalist NeverTrump heroes are reacting:

If this Hannity thing is as bad as it looks, who gets his Fox time slot?
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 16, 2018

I don't see how Hannity did anything wrong here. I'm not sure how this DOOMS Hannity.

Does French mean that Hannity's in trouble because he didn't disclose that he asked Michael Cohen some questions while reporting on him?

Seems so:

I’m incredibly surprised that the man who pushed the Seth Rich conspiracy theory would conceal material facts from his audience /sarc.
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 16, 2018

Has David French's cuck-buddies all disclosed how close they are to FusionGPS, which was paid to stop, and then to prematurely end, the Trump presidency?

Is French going to call for all his pals to note how often they have drinks with Glenn Simpson, and how close their ties are with him?

Nah.

French himself considered running as Bill Kristol's catspaw spoiler candidate.

If French is now a bear on full disclosure -- Can I ask, did David French, perhaps, take a meeting with Bill Kristol's donors? Maybe a get-to-know-you coffee?

Are any of those donors active in funding FusionGPS? Were they active in first funding FusionGPS to dig dirt on Trump (and Ted Cruz)?

I don't know if that happened. But since no one's asked yet: I'm asking now.

In case it wasn't obvious before, it's very obvious now: The government/media class is extraordinarily incestuous with lots of little connections here and there.

Doesn't seem fair that the rule of Full Maximum Disclosure of every single contact that might compromise one's objectivity only being inflicted on the Garbage People the Establishment's Minions Don't Like. Seems the same rule should be applied to them.

In the meanwhile, former Clinton appointee to be AG Kimba Wood (she was never confirmed) ruled that Cohen has no right to review the seized documents before the FBI does.

Sort of related: Page 6 claims that Michael Cohen helped kill an US Weekly story about an affair between Don Trump, Jr., and former attention-seeker Aubrey O'Day.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:52 PM Comments

Gainz? "Fat Studies" "Scholar" Proposes New "Athletic" Exhibit to Rebut the Fat-Shaming Norms of Bodybuilding: "Fatbuilding," Which Is Just Like Bodybuilding, Except Instead of Showing off the Muscle You've Built, You Show Off the Fat You've "Built"

—Ace of Spades

This is a published scholarly article.

Taxpayer-funded libraries pay large sums of taxpayer monies for the privilege of keeping journals like this in a smelly sub-basement that no one ever goes to.

Fat Studies scholar thinks that bodybuilding is oppressive to fat people and offers "fat bodybuilding" as a solution 😂😂😂https://t.co/DTTLexKEEC pic.twitter.com/yDrZr3oLWB
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

What have you been smoking? LOL. pic.twitter.com/nH8z3LL549
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

When you're tired of eating tilapia and brown rice 5 times a day... pic.twitter.com/4wrQJl7cPD
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

Haha, yeah... pic.twitter.com/ZcZ6SSCLzH
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

I'll skip one tweet here and just tell you what the excerpt said: It noted that there had previously been parody fat "bodybuilding" exhibitions like one called the "Fattylimpics."

He mentions that, because he's about to say that his "fatbuilding" contest would expressly not be parodic intent, but a true competition to see how fat you can make yourself:

It's funny how your ironic comments are pretty much the actual arguments of the author. pic.twitter.com/Jaar8SLFtv
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

Um... sounds like a blast. pic.twitter.com/070P5kimWO
— New Real Peer Review (@RealPeerReview) April 14, 2018

By the way, this is also from @RealPeerReview (the greatest account on Twitter):

Haha 😂(h/t: @JimTheBastard) pic.twitter.com/wUf42XFFvv
— Amir Sariaslan (@AmirSariaslan) April 16, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 05:27 PM Comments

Washington Post Poll: Democrat Lead in Midterms Down to Just 4 Points

—Ace of Spades

WaPo Poll: Democrats’ advantage on generic ballot down to 4 points. https://t.co/F1GHYPOhDa
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) April 16, 2018

Overall, averaging in all of the recent polls, the lead is down to 6.2 points, per Real Clear Politics.

One odd thing, that might not matter either way, is that what 538.com calls "gold" standard polls, those who do live human interviews (as opposed to robocalls), etc., now show the tiniest Democrat lead in forever, while non-"gold" polls show their lead to be about at the peak it's often been at.

Took the @fivethirtyeight adjusted generic congressional polling by month... and something very different seems to be happening right now... pic.twitter.com/6aEoTSXnPW
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 16, 2018

It's unclear if this matters. I could see Republican voters being more honest on a robocall survey -- not worrying about the judgment and contempt of a human interviewer -- and yet, Republicans now fare better with human interviewers.

Update: Is the change due to Democrats' determination to ban guns?

One reason why the generic ballot closing in the WaPo poll: growing intensity from pro-gun Republicans.

Emerging as top issue for those on the right as well as the left. pic.twitter.com/C5S5Dqryrf
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) April 16, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 04:22 PM Comments

Judge Forces Michael Cohen to Disclose Name of Client Who Had Instructed Him to Keep It Secret

—Ace of Spades

Cohen has multiple clients, but some wish to not be known.

Cohen was in court protesting the FBI raid into his confidential exchanges with clients. The judge demanded he reveal the name of his client, despite the client's instructions to keep it secret.

News: The 3rd client is Fox News host @seanhannity
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 16, 2018

And of course the leftwing is now attacking Hannity for not disclosing his secret relationship with Cohen:

Sean Hannity being a client of Michael Cohen’s while also doing a bunch of segments on the raid, etc. without disclosing he’s been a client of Cohen’s is honestly not even cracking the top-3 most professionally/journalistically problematic things Hannity has been doing since 2016
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) April 16, 2018

Hannity had specifically directed Cohen to not reveal his status as a client.

Cohen declined to identify the third client in a filing in Manhattan federal court, where he will appear Monday at a hearing to determine whether federal prosecutors can review materials seized in an FBI raid on his office, home and hotel room last week.
"The third legal client directed Mr. Cohen to not to reveal the identity publicly," Cohen’s lawyers wrote.

And then the FBI raids Cohen's offices and bang! It's in the HuffPo.

It's almost as if this raid were a political hit intended to embarrass Trump and his supporters and score points for the Democrat/Socialist coalition.

Correction: I initially wrote that this was a leak from the FBI. I was wrong. Cohen was forced to disclose this in court. Why it wasn't disclosed in the judge's private chambers and kept secret, I don't know.

I suspect because #TheResistance.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 03:07 PM Comments

FBI Insiders Furious About James Comey's "Self-Serving," "Gauche" Cash-In

—Ace of Spades

Jana Winters reporting.

James Comey’s first interview since President Trump fired him as director of the FBI has enraged his former agents, who deluged The Daily Beast with their disdain as they watched him tell his side of the story to George Stephanopoulos on Sunday night.
Seven current or former FBI agents and officials spoke throughout and immediately after the broadcast. There was a lot of anger, frustration, and even more emojis--featuring the thumbs-down, frowny face, middle finger, and a whole lot of green vomit faces.

...

"Hoover is spinning in his grave," said a former FBI official. "Making money from total failure."

When a promo aired between segments announcing Comey's upcoming interview with The View, the official grew angrier.

"Good lord, what a self-serving self-centered jackass," the official said. "True to form he thinks he’s the smartest guy around."

...

One longtime Team Comey source--who is still an FBI agent--sent thumbs-up emojis repeatedly during the first half hour, but even this loyalist began to lose patience by the halfway mark--sending a frowny face. A few minutes later there was a nauseous emoji, and then a poop emoji after the final segment.

The fact that FBI agents are sending poop emojis to reporters tells you a lot about where the Current Year FBI is.

One source pointed out that, given that James Comey had a national security-involved job, the intelligence community was supposed to review his book prior to publication. That source guesses that Comey ignored this standard requirement.

Oh, and this doesn't boost confidence in the FBI, either:

Truly can't tell the parodies from the real reports on Comey. I think this is real, even though it appeared in Rolling Stone. https://t.co/AGPkP3rtZr pic.twitter.com/jp0n56pV0S
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 16, 2018

Oooh!!! He's wearing a blue shirt! And I thought blue shirts were only a myth!!!

Update: Some selected chapter titles from James Comey's girlish, bitchy old hen memoir:

Chapter 5: My Shoe Closet and the Principles of Its Organization

Chapter 8: FroYo Fridays!!!!

Chapter 11: Boys Are Stupid!

Chapter 12: CrankyVag and How to Fix It: Six Tips Guaranteed to Turn Your Poonani From "Meh" to "Yeh!"

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:17 PM Comments

Progressive Lunatics Reacting to News of Chick-Fil-A Coming to New York City With the Poise and Equanimity We've Come to Expect of Them

—Ace of Spades

Chick-fil-A’s arrival in New York City feels like an infiltration, in no small part because of its pervasive Christian traditionalism. https://t.co/wnhMrMBN6z
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) April 13, 2018

Nothing broadcasts the utter provincialism of NYC like hand-wringing from The New Yorker over Chik-fil-A. https://t.co/aXhPOX9Buk
— John D Davidson (@johnddavidson) April 13, 2018

Dearest Maude,
The days grow longer, the nights more weary.
A fortnight from now we expect to be besieged by delicious chicken, politely delivered by kind laborers. The horrors are unspeakable.
I dare say we won't make it out alive.
Avenge me,
Williamhttps://t.co/ovHY181nUK
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 13, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 01:20 PM Comments

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"So when Chick-Fil-A first opened a location in New York City, the idiot mayor Bill de Blasio called for a boycott. Seriously? Whoever heard of a mayor declaring war on a newly opened business in his own town? Before now, I mean. It didn't used to be like this. But now, everything is nuts. It's like we've been slammed right in the middle of Heinlein's Crazy Years, and the next thing you know, de Blasio will be eating a clay sandwich on the steps of City Hall. Better that, apparently, than Chick-Fil-A."

Crushing The Patriarchy:

Posted by OregonMuse at 11:20 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The New Bonnet
Francis William Edmonds

Posted by CBD at 09:30 AM Comments

The Morning Report 4/16/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Start of a new week and first up is the ridiculous spectacle of crooked cop and serial liar James Comey sitting down with pint-sized ~~journalist~~ Clinton hatchet man George Stephanopoulos for an interview, coming on the heels of the former's blockbuster tell-all book (/sarc). The reaction to Comey and his book has been lukewarm at best within Democrat-Left-Media complex circles. In fact, Loretta Lynch is firing back from under the bus where Comey threw her, and Clinton friend and Stephanopoulos colleague Lanny Davis is ripping him a new one. The official story is that they are enraged about his reopening of the investigation into Hillary's e-mail server just a week before the election. They're not necessarily pissed because they thought it was a bombshell of an October surprise (though it didn't exactly help her, did it?) since everyone thought she was going to win in a landslide. As did Comey since he has openly admitted that the reason he did so was as a pretext to clear her before her coronation since an investigation afterward would taint (phrasing) her mercifully never-to-be administration.

The reason for the animus, I think, is that the demonstrably false allegations and criminal behavior of one of the nation's top law enforcement officers and the agency that until recently has had an almost mythical (and undeserved) reputation for integrity has put Robert Mueller and the "Russian collusion" investigation into a truly horrible light. Probably the nail in its coffin, though it won't stop Mueller from going after the President and anyone associated with him over anything and everything just to sabotage him any way they can, but I digress. In any case, as evidenced by last week's Rasmussen poll, a large majority of Americans now believe the investigation into the President is (as we here have known all along) a politically motivated witch hunt. And for Comey to come out with a screed and an interview on national TV that pretty much confirms it , the knives are out for him. The question still remains as to whether or not Mueller and/ Rosen~~stein~~penis will be fired. I say, leave them right where they are. No need to turn them into martyrs when the public sees them as the bad guys, especially before the midterms.

On to foreign policy and the aftermath of the missile strikes at Syrian CW facilities. On the positive side, Assad's chemical warfare research and manufacturing sites were obliterated and that is a good thing, not just because it prevents him from using them on his own civilians but it prevents them and perhaps other, more deadly chemical or nerve agents from falling into the wrong hands and being used in, say, the New York subway or the Mall of America. Tactically, contrary to Russky propaganda claims, the DoD says none of their missiles were shot down and all hit their targets. Russia's vaunted SA-300 and 400 surface-to-air missiles were either ineffective or not in use; analysis is that they did not want to turn on the radar in fear of revealing how they operate. In any case, the strikes send a message to Russia, Iran as well as the NorKs and Chi-Coms and it was a reset of Obama's absolutely disastrous "red-line" fiasco and general torching of the Middle East during his 8 year Reign of Error.

That said, Syria for all intents and purposes is a failed state (thank you, Obama) and there are no good players there that deserve American boots on the ground. Even the Kurds, although I support the idea of supporting them politically in cleaving off the northern part of that country as well as the eastern party of Turkey and their area of Iraq for an independent Kurdistan. And speaking of Turkey, the sooner they are booted out of NATO and Erdogan marginalized, the better. Syria is a dangerous quagmire. Best avoided but dealt with firmly as and when needed.

Back at home, it looks like ~~Rand Paul~~ Luap the Lesser might be joining with the Democrats to torpedo Mike Pompeo's nomination for ~~CIA chief~~ secretary of state (corrected) despite his qualifications, temperament and class. Closeted homosexual and bust out grandstanding jerk Cory Booker was praised by unindicted terrorism co-conspirators CAIR for opposing Pompeo for his truthful remarks about Islam. Funny, though, is that there has been no comment by CAIR on Booker's defense of homosexuals. Hmmm. In any case, even if Rand does torpedo the nomination, McConnell can theoretically bring Pompeo up for a floor vote. Then again, McConnell.

On a positive note, two judges on the SCOTUS shortlist have been nominated for lower court benches and the red tape keeps getting ripped out. On the gun front, the NRA is announcing an ambitious (and considering today's climate, highly attainable goal) of 100,000 new members in 100 days, and hallelujah Wells Fargo. Evidently, they like what we call in the trade "turning a profit."

From hither and yon, a homosexual civil rights attorney doused himself with gasoline and immolated himself because no one was taking so-called "global warming" seriously. When we say liberalism is a mental disorder, here's your proof. Sheesh. Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health so, politics aside, prayers up for the family as they cope, and we note (in the sidebar) with sadness the passing of R. Lee Ermey at 74, immortalized on screen as the terrifying Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann from "Full Metal Jacket." Thanks for your service, sir, godspeed and "oo-rah!"

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

IN THE LEAD

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 07:02 AM Comments

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (4/15/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

*****

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

“You know, maybe I don’t need to say this because it’s pretty obvious: we are living in challenging times. We’re living through a war on truth, facts, and reason. Watching as racists and white supremacist views are lifted up in the media and in the White House.”Hillary Clinton

Quote II

“The Conservative does not despise government. He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it.” Mark R. Levin

Quote III

“Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples' money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other peoples' freedom and security.” William F. Buckley Jr.

Quote IV

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” Max Lucado

Quote V

Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names, liberty and tyranny. The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep was a black one. Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty." Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was murdered this day 1865.

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:53 PM Comments

Weekend Gun Thread

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

***

We need more of this.

We are taught that sports are good for youth. Teamwork, dedication, sportsmanship are just some of the topics taught. Sure there is Friday night football and Saturday night basketball. But shooting teams take a back seat. Team shooting teaches discipline not violence.

However, allow me to just point out what most of you already know: shooting does require a lot of time and discipline to master. Yeah, you can learn the mechanics of it pretty quickly, but it takes a lot of work to become really good at it, and then that skill has to be maintained as shooting is a perishable skill. These kids work as hard as any other athlete. Their work is just different.

Further, let’s also note that these are usually not the kids you have to worry about. Yes, much has been made of the Parkland killer being part of his school’s rifle team, but he’s the exception, not the rule. Also, had the school and police done their job, he would likely have been barred from participating anyway.

***

Shotguns are fun. And the Keltec KSG-25 looks like a hoot.

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 07:31 PM Comments

Food Thread: Unlabeled Containers...What's In Your Wallet Freezer?

—CBD

I usually have pre-portioned cookie dough in my freezer, and often two or three different kinds! I'll chill the extra dough, form it into balls, then freeze them on an aluminum pan before tossing them into plastic bags. It's a great way to avoid baking and eating the entire batch of dough, and it's fantastically convenient to have ready-to-bake dough at hand. I have found no degradation in quality after freezing, and preparation is simple. If I have time I will allow the dough to defrost directly on the baking sheet, or if I am strapped for time, just bake them directly from the freezer. That requires a bit of attention, but there are worse things in life than peeking at cookies as they bake!

But last night I poked around the freezer and found only one bag of cookie dough, and for the life of me I had no idea what the hell they were! They looked like they had oatmeal in them, but clearly they weren't run-of-the-mill oatmeal raisin cookies.

But I am nothing if not adventurous, so into the oven they went, and 17 minutes later they emerged to much acclaim and rejoicing. I think they were these, from Martha Stewart, but really, that's just a guess, because I DIDN'T LABEL THEM!

It worked out quite well, but just imagine if they had been something completely different. Something like these, or these, or these?

So...what's in your freezer or refrigerator that isn't readily identifiable, but still in that hazy realm of, "maybe I should defrost that and eat it for dinner?"

Any success stories? Probably, but what I am really interested in is the horrible failures!

******
Last week I mentioned cooking lentils, and how good and satisfying they were. But I neglected to explain the entire recipe, and the ingredient I left out is pretty important.

Yup. Bacon. I chopped some up and sauteed it for the fat in which to cook the rest of the ingredients, and also because...duh...bacon!

******

Commenter "clutch" mentioned recently that he makes his own hardwood charcoal, and he was kind enough to share how he does it. If you haven't grilled with it, it is absolutely worth trying. It burns hotter and cleaner and at least in my experience longer than commercial briquettes.

First, I thought CBD stood for Coached by Duffy (Daugherty). Oh well...

There are a few ways to make your own lumpy charcoal. I use a blue enameled roasting pan and put my hardwood scraps in it and put it in the woodstove that I use to heat my house. The wood gas (methane) leaks out of the loose lid and ignites. When no more flames come out of the lid, your charcoal is done.

Another way to do it would be to make a fire in a 55 gallon barrel and you could put your wood scraps in a new paint can, punch a few holes in the lid to allow the wood gas to escape. You'd best do that outside, not in your kitchen...

I use hardwoods like oak, hickory, locust and cherry gleaned from a cabinet shop across the street from my Dad. I probably have a dozen sacks of charcoal for this summer and another couple hundred pounds ready for next winter's cooking in the woodstove.

******
I have never heard of this stuff, but it sounds like loads of fun. Chili Crisp: Spicy, Salty, Crunchy, Tingly, and Good on Everything. There is a recipe along with the article, so if you can't find the brand in question, you can always make it yourself. But...it sounds like a bit of a chore, so I am going to look for a jar of it before I plunge into homemade.
******

A simple salad is such a great accompaniment to a meal, but too many chefs and too many restaurants make it a bigger deal than it should be. Salad doesn't need 10 ingredients! The recipe at Chez Dildo is simple: red lettuce, chopped endive (the mildly bitter flavor is a great counterpoint), a few grape tomatoes and a good vinaigrette. I love the crisp and tart flavors, and it is a great palate cleanser, almost like a digestif!

******
Biscotti are great with a cup of good coffee. Although come to think of it, they would improve a cup of bad coffee...

I have made this a couple of times, but never got 65 pieces out of the recipe. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but they tasted good, so tough.

ANISE BISCOTTI

2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brandy
1 1/2 teaspoons anise extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons aniseed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with foil. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Combine brandy, anise extract and vanilla extract in glass measuring cup. Add dry ingredients and brandy mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in almonds and aniseed.

Form two 2-inch-wide, 13-inch-long strips on each sheet. Moisten fingertips and smooth dough into logs. Bake until golden and firm to touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer sheets to racks and cool completely.

Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Transfer cooled logs to work surface. Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on baking sheets.

Bake cookies until dry and slightly brown, turning every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.)

Makes about 65

******
Food and cooking tips, flourless chocolate cake, Oakland style BBQ sauce, gefilte fish replacements, thick and fluffy pita and other goodies with impressive girth: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com. Recipes for low-carb Pop-Tarts will be deleted with extreme prejudice.
Close it up

Posted by CBD at 04:00 PM Comments

California declares state of emergency over massive population growth of illegal aliens. (The jokes just write themselves here)

—krakatoa

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report 4/19/18

—J.J. Sefton

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (4/18/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Toy Nostalgia Thread

—Ace of Spades

Meghan McCain to James Comey: Are You Sure You're Not a Partisan Political Commentator? Cuz You Sorta Sound Like a Partisan Political Commentator to Me

—Ace of Spades

Congress Makes Criminal Referrals to Department of Justice for Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok

—Ace of Spades

McCabe's Lawyer: McCabe Repeatedly Told James Comey That He Was Leaking to the WSJ and Had His Approval, Despite Comey's Denials

—Ace of Spades

Shattering the Glass Cellar: Hillary Clinton is Spectacularly, Radioactively Unpopular Now

—Ace of Spades

Former Smiths Frontman Morrissey: London is a Violent Shithole, Its Mayor Can Barely Speak English, and the City Now Has the Highest Rate of Acid Attacks Outside of Bangaledesh

—Ace of Spades

Mitch McConnell: Hold a Floor Vote on Linsdey Graham's "Bipartisan" Bill to Unconstitutionally Forbid the President From Firing Mueller...?Nah, Brah

—Ace of Spades

LOL: Egg McMuffin Getting Letters from the FEC Telling Him He's in Violation of Law

—Ace of Spades

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report 4/18/18

—J.J. Sefton

Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (4/17/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Barbara Bush Dead at 92

—Ace of Spades

Power-Tripping Tyrannical Tyke Now Calls for More Boycotts

—Ace of Spades

Store Under Fire from Fat Acceptance Tumblrinas For Making Clothing for Slim Women

—Ace of Spades

On Starbucks and "Racism"

—Ace of Spades

Gorsuch Votes With Liberals on Deportation Case

—Ace of Spades

Hm!

—Ace of Spades

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report 4/17/18

—J.J. Sefton

Monday Overnight Open Thread (4/16/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Inspector General Report Into Hillary Email Investigation to be Released In May

—Ace of Spades

Sean Hannity: I Asked Michael Cohen For Legal Advice But He Has "Never Represented Me In Any Matter"

—Ace of Spades

Gainz? "Fat Studies" "Scholar" Proposes New "Athletic" Exhibit to Rebut the Fat-Shaming Norms of Bodybuilding: "Fatbuilding," Which Is Just Like Bodybuilding, Except Instead of Showing off the Muscle You've Built, You Show Off the Fat You've "Built"

—Ace of Spades

Washington Post Poll: Democrat Lead in Midterms Down to Just 4 Points

—Ace of Spades

Judge Forces Michael Cohen to Disclose Name of Client Who Had Instructed Him to Keep It Secret

—Ace of Spades

FBI Insiders Furious About James Comey's "Self-Serving," "Gauche" Cash-In

—Ace of Spades

Progressive Lunatics Reacting to News of Chick-Fil-A Coming to New York City With the Poise and Equanimity We've Come to Expect of Them

—Ace of Spades

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report 4/16/18

—J.J. Sefton

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (4/15/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Weekend Gun Thread

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Food Thread: Unlabeled Containers...What's In Your Wallet Freezer?

—CBD

Mitch McConnell: Hold a Floor Vote on Linsdey Graham's "Bipartisan" Bill to Unconstitutionally Forbid the President From Firing Mueller...?
Nah, Brah