What’s interesting in the news today?
First, a couple of quick IRS stories. More consequences and repercussions for Lerner.
“True The Vote” Files Lawsuit Against Lois Lerner Personally, Serves Her At Her House, from WeaselZippers
With over 500 groups effected, expect many more to come. And discovery should be interesting, as will depositions.
Next up… Scandal? What scandal?
Maybe they’re afraid they’ll be audited and have their phones tapped too.
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Next, is the Gang of Eight Immigration Bill falling apart? Let’s hope so.
Here’s more on that, from TownHall
Meanwhile, the federal govt. is contracting with another questionable illegal immigration advocacy/community organizer group.
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This one is just unbelievable. The terror, murder, and mayhem that terrorist group Boko Haram has spread across regions of Africa is well documented. They’ve been responsible for the murders of hundreds of Christians and others, many burned alive or shot while worshiping peacefully in their churches. Not to mention the dismemberments, rapes, and slavery. It’s bad enough that our govt. rarely stands up to them or calls them what they are. But it’s even worse when our govt. finally gets up their nerve, it’s to condemn the African govt. that’s cracking down on Boko Haram. From PJMedia
“Talk of “poverty,” “inequality,” “grievance,” and the rest of the canards used by Western leaders to overlook Islamic violence blatantly ignores all the facts. Boko Haram began its jihad in earnest because a Christian won what was described as Nigeria’s freest and fairest elections. And Islamic law forbids non-Muslims from ruling over Muslims — not because they’re bad for the economy, but because they’re infidels.
The full name of Boko Haram is “Sunnis for [Islamic] Propagation and Jihad” — which doesn’t reflect any economic grievances. Their repeatedly stated goal is the establishment of a pure Sharia state in Nigeria. In other words, they are motivated by the same Islamic supremacism that is prompting jihadis all around the Islamic world to attack, kill, and displace infidels, leading to, among other travesties, a mass exodus of Christians.
Once again, then, reality is easily ascertained — at root, Boko Haram’s terror campaign is entirely motivated by Islamic teachings — even as the Obama administration refuses to designate the group as a terrorist organization, wastes millions of U.S. tax dollars on superfluous initiatives (or diversions), and pressures the Nigerian president to make concessions to the jihadis — including building more mosques, the very breeding grounds for Islamic “radicalization.””
“And now, when the Nigerian government goes on the offensive to neutralize the terrorists responsible for countless inhuman atrocities, the Obama administration offers “a strongly worded statement” to defend their “human rights.” Meanwhile, when such jihadis daily persecute and murder non-Muslims around the world — Christians at the top of the list — the only sound coming out of the White House is of crickets chirping.
Postscript: Following Kerry’s call to protect the “human rights” of Nigeria’s jihadi terrorists, Obama himself has just urged Myanmar to “halt violence against Muslims” and “move ahead with economic and political reforms” — all while omitting the fact that the government’s offensive is in response to violent, separatist Muslims, whose jihad has nothing to do with “economic and political reforms,” only the subjugation of infidels.”
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So how do we prevent another Kermit Gosnell? Do we regulate, inspect, and oversee clinics to ensure standards are met? Not if you’re a Democrat. From CNSNews
“The way to prevent abortionists like convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell from occurring again is to build more Planned Parenthood clinics, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Thursday about legislation that would prevent abortion after 20 weeks nationwide.”
““We should be working to make sure that high quality health care is provided to the uninsured to make sure the full range of health care services, including family planning services that are available to people with money are available to the poor and uninsured as well,” Nadler said.
“If that means funding a Planned Parenthood clinic in every neighborhood to put guys like Gosnell out of business, so be it,” Nadler said.
Nadler called the hearing a “farce” and “just another battle of the Republican war on women.””
Says the guy taking thousands from the abortion mills who abort females by the millions. If there’s a War on Women, how come his side is the only one inflicting casualties?
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And one last piece…. Reason #6,486 to not send your kid to public schools. The school insists it’s all in good fun, and that the student council chose it. Yet the originally chosen name and subject makes that seem questionable to me. From EAGNews
“Deidri Hernandez’s seven-year-old son won’t be in school today, after officials at Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities confirmed they’re still holding “Switch It Up Day” – a time for students to come dressed as members of the opposite sex.”
“Hernandez tells EAGnews the day was originally billed as “Gender Bender Day,” but Tippecanoe officials made the name change after she called Principal Jeffrey Krupar to complain.”
“She wonders if it is being done to promote the acceptance of homosexuality to students in school, which runs from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Hernandez thinks it’s inappropriate to expose young children to these issues, even in a light-hearted manner.
“They might as well call it ‘Transgender Day,’” she says.”
Is she over-sensitive? It’s not like some public schools don’t already have a reputation for indoctrinating kids with stuff like this already. Either way, it doesn’t seem appropriate for Pre-K to 8th graders.
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Wandering Views 
When you have any kind of dress-up day in a school, many children come all wound up. Hyper. Super excited.
Calm? Not so much. Ready for anything except learning.
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O’Rilley, on FoxNews, keeps saying that Eric Holder, because of his involvement in all the scandals, is finished.
Holder is Obama’s right hand man. He is doing as he is told, and he ain’t going nowhere.
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If Obama has to sacrifice Holder to save himself, he’ll do it.
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Horrifying, the London story. (No photos, thank God) http://www.nationalreview.com/node/349308
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That is horrifying; I read this piece online last night, which made note also of the fact that police were relegated to, well, just standing there — because they were unarmed, of course.
What a bizarre scene.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/05/the-inevitable-decline-of-great-britain-cont.php
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I was rather surprised how long the police took and that the bystanders didn’t lynch the two attackers. In contrast to the amount of publicity this attack is receiving, a machete attack on an elderly Muslims by two English youth in Birmingham almost the same day received next to no publicity.
I’m with Robert …. theme days at school are annoying.
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HRW, The British were unarmed and they have gone soft.
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it appears thatcher emasculated a once proud working class.
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Another soldier stabbing, this time France.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/25/us-france-stabbing-idUSBRE94O09420130525?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637
“A French soldier patrolling a business neighborhood west of Paris was stabbed in the neck and injured on Saturday by a man who fled the scene and is being sought by police, President Francois Hollande said.
The 23-year-old was patrolling in uniform with two other soldiers as part of France’s Vigipirate anti-terror surveillance plan when he was approached from behind around 6 p.m. and attacked with a knife or a box-cutter.
A police union spokesman said surveillance footage of the attacker showed him as tall and bearded, aged about 35, possibly of North African origin and wearing a white Arab-style tunic.”
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HRW,
And does Thatcher get blamed for the fullfilment of leftist thought crime legislation, as well as keeping citizens and police from arms when necessary too? Is it also her fault that free speech is a long gone right in the UK and Europe?
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/471216/20130525/anti-muslim-woolwich-beheading-lee-rigby-english.htm
“The UK is preparing for weekend clashes with right-wing extremists and copycat terror attacks after the killing of British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.
Police have arrested three people ahead of planned protests in Newcastle.
The English Defence League and Newcastle Unites are both holding marches and demonstrations in the city centre on Saturday afternoon.
Ahead of the protests, Northumbria Police have arrested three men, two from Gateshead and one from Stockton, on suspicion of posting racist tweets.”
If left had their way and we had thought crimes legislation here, just imagine how many Dems we could jail over their Oklahoma tornado comments. They should be more careful about what they wish for. Someone might use the laws against them.
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This one has some real interesting details. Apparently British authorities were familiar with the men, and had even tried to recruit one to work for them as an informer on other terrorists.
There also seems to be some pretty severe backlash against muslims in the UK because of it.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130525/DA6GJ1200.html
“Counter-terrorism police also are questioning a friend of Adebolajo who was arrested Friday night immediately after he gave BBC Television an interview detailing why he thought Adebolajo may have become radicalized.
Metropolitan Police said the friend, identified by the BBC as 31-year-old Abu Nusaybah, was wanted himself on suspicion of “the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.” The force declined to elaborate.
In his BBC interview, Nusaybah said he knew Adebolajo as a moderate Islam convert. He said he thought Adebolajo’s behavior changed after a trip to Kenya last year, and alleged that Britain’s MI5 domestic spy agency tried to recruit him upon his return six months ago.”
“He said MI5 agents approached Adebolajo after he returned to Britain and initially asked him if he had met specific Muslim militants, then asked Adebolajo if he was willing to act as an informer. “He was explicit in that he refused to work for them,” Nusaybah said.
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The Stockholm riots have seen Sweden’s dreams of a perfect society go up in smoke. Several of the left’s Utopian dreams are taking a hit too. Turns out it doesn’t work like they thought it would. And while they go to great pains to not name the religous and ethnic reasons involved, or the perpetrators religon or ethnicity, it’s not difficult to figure out who they mean. The obvious reasons are ignored because of PC nonsense. I guess they don’t want to be called racists for being honest.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/10080320/Stockholm-riots-leave-Swedens-dreams-of-perfect-society-up-in-smoke.html
“Like the millions of other ordinary Swedes whom he now sees himself as one of, Mohammed Abbas fears his dream society is now under threat. When he first arrived in Stockholm as refugee from Iran in 1994, the vast Husby council estate where he settled was a mixture of locals and foreigners, a melting pot for what was supposed to be a harmonious, multi-racial paradise.
Two decades on, though, “white flight” has left only one in five of Husby’s flats occupied by ethnic Swedes, and many of their immigrant replacements do not seem to share his view that a new life in Sweden is a dream come true. Last week, the neighbourhood erupted into rioting, sparking some of the fiercest urban unrest that Sweden has seen in decades, and a new debate about the success of racial integration.
“In the old days, the neighbourhood was more Swedish and life felt like a dream, but now there are just too many foreigners, and a new generation that has grown up here with just their own culture,” he said, gesturing towards the hooded youths milling around in Husby’s pedestrianised shopping precinct.
“Also, in Sweden you cannot hit your children to discipline them, and this is a problem for foreign parents. The kids can feel they can cause whatever trouble they want, and the police don’t even arrest any of them most of the time.”
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No, HRW. The unions took away the manhood of the working class. They did the same thing in the US. One of the reasons Texas is still so strong is we have very few union members. Texans know: Join a union, run your employer out of business. Join a union, lose your independence and become one of the sheep.
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Wow make a flippant comment and generate a response. Other times I write paragraphs and get nothing back.
In regards to the soldier attack in London, the intelligence agencies knew about the attackers and were attempting to “flip” or “turn” them. Western intelligence agencies need to stop playing games and simply arrest them once they commit a crime …. a broken windows approach to anti-terrorism if you will.
Why are French soldiers on duty in their own country? We (the west) need a policing strategy not a war strategy to solving crimes committed as a political act. First step treat it as a crime not a political act. In the US that could mean employing the same strategies used against organized crime .. IRS and RICO.
Any attempt to regulate free speech is ridiculous. Allow the idiots (in this case EDL) to speak so we can better identify them. However uttering threats is a criminal offense and internet threats count so yes arrest the idiots. Again broken windows theory.
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The Swedish riots are interesting. Many leftist in North America have this blissful image of social democratic Sweden but they forget they are European, which means there are far more barriers especially subtle traditional barriers to integration.
But in reading the article, you can tell a Swedish riot is fairly minor; comparable to North Americans celebrating a local team’s championship. Canadians are more violent after a hockey game, win or lose. Its interesting that the first riot occurred after Sweden won the world hockey championships. Hockey is a white middle class sport whereas the immigrant working class prefers soccer (the difference in cost is a factor).
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Ricky — I would argue the exact opposite. The American working class is far more differential to authority than European. In most cases the employer emasculates the employee whereas unions give the worker strength and confidence to assert their rights and earn an income that supports a family. I have European friends and relatives (some western and some eastern) who often comment; “we wouldn’t tolerate the crap the Canadian workers put up with”.
As for American workers, my friends often comment, the American worker borrows money to buy stuff to forget his problems but then he has to work for the banks. Talk about emasculation …. debt peonage.
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HRW, Debt is a separate issue. Texas workers understand that unions lead to inefficiently, loss of competitiveness and ultimately the loss of their jobs. Half of the homes built in the US last year were built in Texas. We are a Right to Work state. Texans support their families by the quality of their work, not membership in a union.
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debt is not a separate issue …. non-union workers tend to be paid less, have no health insurance, no pension, and even die earlier. Thus, many RTW workers are forced into debt for medical or other reasons. (Texas has the lowest health care coverage)
To sum up, this study has found that worker-friendly states are significantly healthier, are more productive, have less poverty, and with citizens who enjoy longer life spans. In four of the seven measures (GDP per capita, poverty, insurance and life expectancy rates) so-called “right-to-work” states come out significantly (and statistically) worse.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as ‘right to work.’ It provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘works’. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining.
http://www.nea.org/home/52880.htm
Yes, its the NEA but even the WSJ said wages are lower and there’s less health insurance (in an otherwise positive article) . Yes, cost of living is somewhat lower but not always (more of rural vs urban issue than RTW vs pro-unioin) and the unemployment rate is about 1% less in RTW, however, some of that is due to a resource boom or other factors.
And historically, unions are responsible for the eight hour day, weekends, occupational health and safety, insurance, etc. Employers don’t just give these things, unions composed of workers, earned them. And thus when I half jokingly said Thatcher emasculated the British working class there was an element of truth.
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In other news the deficit is shrinking
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-23/the-deficit-is-shrinking-and-nobody-cares#r=hpt-fs
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So HRW, Your unions have produced huge unemployment rates in Michigan. Who is buying all those homes in Texas? Ghosts? I was never impressed with MLK, the economist.
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Averaged over time, unemployment in collective bargaining states is 1% higher than in RTW. Non-unionized factory workers aren’t buying the houses. Perhaps professionals and trades man involved in the resource-energy sector, which also explains Texas unemployment rates. Michigan is bouncing back as the auto sector recovers. I could ask you to compare Vermont to Nevada, instead I will repeat what the stats are pointing to …. a one percent difference. And even then we have to factor variables such as resource economies (Texas, OK, ND) Of the top five unemployment rates in the country, three are RTW (Nevada Mississippi, North Carolina) and two are collective bargaining states (California, Illinois). Thus, we’re left with a toss up … economist can’t and won’t point to RTW to account for the one percent.
Its not just an economics issue. Its the use of propaganda to obscure a deliberate attempt to lower the standard of living for a large group of people.
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When a city is run by Democrats and unions, this is the endgame:
http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/2362291
I guess we may have to add wings to our Fort Worth art museums.
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If anything, they should go to Austin.
Since the bankruptcy of Detroit has very little to do with the pros and cons of RTW, I take it you concede my point …. RTW states have lower wages, less health insurance, lower life expectancy, higher rate of poverty etc all in exchange for 1% less unemployment and even thats debatable.
As for Detroit, there are a number of reasons why it declined. And none of them sufficient it on their own. Charles LeDuff wrote Detroit: An American Autopsy and he blames just about everyone and everything. Corruption, greed, racism, white flight, corporate greed and malfeasance, and more.
Interestingly, many Detroit residents (or their grandparents) were initially from the South, both black and white. And now that the workers got too uppity, the corporations have reversed the migration and they themselves are moving south.
However, they’ve kept most of their plants in Ontario. Ontario may have militant auto unions but it has one thing RTW states don’t have —- free health care. Thus Ontario is now the center of auto manufacturing in North America making more cars than Michigan.
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As the granddaughter of coal minors on both sides I have to say the unions did some good, then they got greedy and turned into the people they once fought.
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Detroit is the ultimate union city. In the old days the vast majority of its workers were union. Its government has been led my nothing but Democrats for 50 years. The combinations of greedy, corrupt unions and stupid politicians produces job loss, population loss, crime and bankruptcy.
Fort Worth has the best art museums in the state. They were created by our philanthropic citizens, not our government. The art is not owned by the city.
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Foreign carmakers located their plants in right-to-work Southern states so they could produce a high quality product at a competitive price. One of the only union shops in Fort Worth is Lockheed which produces fighter planes. Since their only customers are stupid governments they don’t have to be efficient or cost competitive. Two of my friends work there (they are union members) and the stories they tell of how the union stifles efficiently and drives up costs would curl your hair.
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a common but entirely wrong meme. There is no doubt some unions esp in America are corrupt but to say they got greedy is to paint them with a wide brush. Unions are still needed if only to protect that gains previously made. Ironically, some of the corruption can be traced to FBI and other gov’t agencies to destabilize the unions and purge the socialists leaving informants in their place thus replacing true union people with self serving agents.
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the above was for kbells.
Ricky — i have plenty of friends, relatives, associates who work in union shops and these type of stories are far and few between. The main GM plant in Ontario is considered the most efficient auto plant in North American and yet has the most militant union local.
A union’s legal responsibility is to protect the legal and contractual rights of all workers who pay dues which occasionally result in unions protecting some people who may not entirely deserve it. Similarly corporations sometimes support managers who don’t deserve it.
There’s numerous explanations for Detroit — the book I refer to blames just about anyone — corrupt officials, local politicians, federal and state gov’ts, and auto executives. He’s easy on unions but he pulls no punches on the local officials and racial questions. However, the auto executives are pilloried for stupidity and a lack of innovation. He also rightly points out the auto industry’s departure to the suburbs where the mostly white residents refused to be annexed to black Detroit to supply it with the tax base that left when the big three moved out.
An other interesting book which doesn’t focus on Detroit but instead focuses on what the author Chris Hedges calls sacrifice zones. In his book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, he looks at Camden, NJ, and West Virginia he documents how corporations come in exploit a resource, natural or human, and then leave. His portrayal of Camden could easily have been Detroit.
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HRW, The old auto unions and Detroit’s Big 3 carmakers are like the old airline unions and the airlines before deregulation. After WWII we were the only capitalist industrialized country that had not suffered grave war damage. The unions could squeeze a lot out of the car makers because there was no foreign competition. Similarly, the airlines could afford to be very generous while federal price controls kept fares artificially high. In a competitive world economy US style unions will kill any company that doesn’t have a tremendous competitive advantage over its competition.
Detroit fascinates me, particularly the 1967 riot. Devils Night by Zeev Chafets is very good. There were at least four major factors in Detroit’s destruction.
1. The police (under a liberal Democrat mayor) were very passive in the early hours of the 1967 riot. This promoted massive looting and burning in many different parts of the city. The result of the riot and its aftermath was that virtually all whites wanted out. Soon most law-abiding blacks wanted out.
2. The Big 3 and the unions together made that industry uncompetitive. The workers helped. Union autoworkers routinely skipped work or showed up drunk or high. American cars became a joke.
3. Detroit got more than its share of federal welfare, education and housing money along with many other federal goodies. Combined with 1 and 2, this counterproductive aid turned Detroiters into uneducated criminals, addicts and bums.
4. Mayor Coleman Young. In Atlanta, black mayors worked with suburban mayors, knowing Atlanta needed to keep suburbanites coming (safely) to the city to work, shop, eat, etc. In Detroit Young was a corrupt taker of federal funds who essentially declared war on the suburbs. Therefore, the main inter-city commerce became suburban dope heads coming to Detroit to buy drugs.
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