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April 2017

Hello, dear readers. I’ve been writing at this site and others for years under the pen name of Aleister. I’ve decided to drop the moniker and write under my real name, Mike LaChance. The decision didn’t come lightly but I no longer see the need to work anonymously. I graduated from Emerson College in 1992 and I’m one of those Generation X libertarians you may have heard about. I remember the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Cold War. I was watching television when MTV still played music videos and Saturday Night Live made fun of all presidents, regardless of their party affiliation. I’m a Massachusetts lifer and when I started blogging, I worked in the very liberal fields of theater, sketch comedy and education in Boston, a very liberal city. Over the last two years, I have become a full time political blogger but my story goes back well over a decade.

On April 7th, 2017, after the sudden suspension of production of her show at TheBlaze, Tomi Lahren created a bit of a firestorm in the political world when she abruptly filed suit against her employer and Glenn Beck. The lawsuit alleged Wrongful Termination, Breach of Contract and a number of tort claims, among other things. Not long after the suit was filed, TheBlaze countered with a lawsuit of its own. While many outlets have commented on the circumstances surrounding the dueling lawsuits, few have considered the relative merits of the claims leveled on both sides. In my opinion – operating only on the facts currently available – Tomi Lahren has a tough road to recovery ahead of her.

Yesterday, Professor Jacobson penned a compelling argument about the dangers of being "branded" by President Trump:  Trump brands tend to spread . . . and stick. The latest person to be branded, he explained, is Elizabeth Warren, who falsely claimed to be Native American in an attempt to further her career.  You can read the details here. Speaking at the NRA convention, Trump referred to Warren as "Pocahontas," and the prof observed that "Trump is branding her.  And being someone who was a fake Indian is her brand. She’ll never shake it."

Baltimore is taking the idea of "sanctuary cities" to the next level in its ongoing "resistance" to President Trump's policy of enforcing our nation's immigration laws. The mayor has insisted that Baltimore is a "welcoming" rather than a "sanctuary" city, and earlier this month, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz signed an executive order regarding illegal immigrants.

Last weekend, I covered the #MarchForScience, an organized series of nationwide demonstrations supposedly in support of funding all science by the American government...but more an excuse for railing against the policies of President Donald Trump. This weekend, there was the "People's Climate March", supposedly in support of funding climate science by the American government...but more an excuse for railing against the policies of President Donald Trump.

Last week, the three Israeli paratroopers whose images were photographed as they stood in silent awe in front of Jerusalem’s Western Wall (the Kotel) shortly after its capture during the Six-Day War returned to the Old City to remember the moment and reenact the famous picture. In prior posts, we highlighted how on June 7, 1967 the three 20-something reserve duty soldiers—Zion Karasenti, Haim Oshri, and Yitzhak Yifat—inadvertently became the symbols of the Jewish people’s fulfilment of a 2,000 year old dream when the Kotel and the many other Jewish holy sites in east Jerusalem were liberated from an unjust and unlawful Jordanian occupation. As we noted, it happened when the late David Rubinger, a savvy photographer at the start of his career, also happened to be at the right place at the right time. He managed to capture what became the defining image of Israel’s extraordinary 1967 military victory and one of the most significant moments in modern Israeli and Jewish history:

If you thought campus craziness was a problem confined to the United States, guess again. University students in the UK want to ban whooping and clapping at events because these actions exclude deaf people. Of course, using 'Jazz Hands' instead would exclude blind people but what do you expect in this situation, logic? The Telegraph UK reported:
Whooping should be banned beause it excludes deaf people, Nation Union of Students say Students who whoop, cheer and clap should face “consequences” because they are excluding deaf people, delegates at the National Union of Students conference said.

The events of the past year on campuses have been beyond disturbing. We are witnessing nothing less than a cultural purge of dissenting views on a wide range of topics in the name of social justice. No disagreement is tolerated, not even the slightest deviation. That purge has been going on for many years, but seems to have intensified and is turning on speakers, professors and fellow students. Yale is a particularly vivid example. A faculty couple were harassed and confronted in threatening tones when one of them (the wife) dared raise the question of whether students were overreacting to Halloween costumes, Yale SJW Student to Professor: “I want your job to be taken from you.”

The "nerd prom" is a hideous display in which journalists mingle with celebrities to pat each other on the backs. Trump, who is constantly feuding with the celebrity journalists, declined to appear, as Professor Jacobson wrote in late February, Trump bows out of White House Correspondents Association “Nerd Prom”:
The White House Correspondents Association annual dinner is referred to by the members as “Nerd Prom.” Is there possibly a more annoying title in the world? They are not nerds. But they do think of themselves as being smarter than their readers and viewers. It’s a disgusting spectacle of insiders patting insiders on the back, and the in-the-know crowd rubbing of self-important elbows. Inevitably, “conservative” correspondents hoping to be accepted into the fold attend.
Not only that, Trump decided to counter-program his own 100-day rally to compete for eyeballs and media attention. I wrote about this recently, Trump Expertly Trolls Journalists Over “Nerd Prom” with Competing Rally:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a press conference in Long Island, New Jersey in which he addressed gang violence.  He directly addressed the brutal and growing barbarism of the MS-13 gang, stating that in the Trump era the violent grip this gang has on Long Island, in particular, is unacceptable and will be stamped out. MS-13 is a Salvadoran gang that has established roots across America and is touted as "the gang that scares other gangs." Fox News reports:
They’re known as MS-13, MS, Mara or Mara Salvatrucha, but by any name, they’re trouble.

A couple of days ago, a fire was set in the women's restroom on the pool deck of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas and an second fire was dealt with in the hallway of its 17th floor. The hotel's toasters were used to set the blaze.
Upon investigating, officials discovered four toasters—two on each floor— that were allegedly placed there to ignite fires.