Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

November 2015

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 10, 2015 2 Comments
Residents of the American Southwest were spooked by a US Navy missile test this weekend.
Panic and speculation spread Saturday night when a bright white light shot through the night skies in Southern California. Residents posted a flurry of videos on social media, together with theories of aliens or meteors. Others made panicked calls to law enforcement officials. But not to worry, U.S. military officials said. It was a planned missile test. The Navy Strategic Systems Programs held a scheduled missile test flight at sea from USS Kentucky, which is a ballistic missile submarine. The test was conducted off the coast of Southern California, the Pentagon said in a statement. It said the missile was not armed.
Residents of Arizona and Nevada also reported the streaking object in their skies.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 10, 2015 2 Comments
This week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington for his first meeting with President Barack Obama since the passage of the Iran nuclear deal. It was their first face-to-face conversation in over a year, and while DC journalists largely pitched the meeting as a welcome relief to the normally-tortured U.S.-Israel relations, I wrote yesterday that both leaders appeared almost too careful during the limited time they appeared together before the press. During this week's meeting, Netanyahu reportedly spoke at length with Obama over concerns regarding instability in Syria, and the uncertain (in international relations terms) status of the Golan Heights. This territory is important to Israel---especially now, since Islamic jihadists have gained significant control in bordering, war-torn Syria. Both former Ambassador Michael Oren and former cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser have publicly called for American recognition of Israeli sovereignty of the Golan, saying that it would help stabilize the region. More from the Times of Israel:
Israel claims the western Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and took steps to formally annex in 1981. The plateau is considered a critical strategic asset for Israel because it overlooks the towns and villages of much of the Galilee.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 10, 2015 11 Comments
Mark today on your calendars as the day that Hillary Clinton stared boldly into the face of an aggressive and violent patriarchy---and cackled. Actually, what happened was that an attendee at a Team Clinton Q&A on veterans and the military got a little too heated with his comments about Carly Fiorina, and Clinton laughed it off. The man---who is a veteran and who claims to have been an HP employee from 1999-2005---expressed his frustration with Fiorina by saying, "every time I see [Carly Fiorina] on TV I want to reach through and strangle her." Clinton's reaction? LOL:

Posted by Amy Miller on November 10, 2015 21 Comments
On this morning's episode of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and his fellow panelists dove deep into the University of Missouri race controversy, focusing on the forced resignations of university president Tom Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin. During the discussion, Scarborough did the unthinkable, and asked the question we've all been pondering since this story broke: what did these men do to deserve this? Scarborough's point was fair---the media hasn't uncovered or reported a single piece of evidence to suggest that either man turned a blind eye to complaints of harassment or abuse---but the panel, in true MSNBC panel fashion, proceeded to give him a lecture in Sensitivity 101. Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 10, 2015 11 Comments
At a time when a growing number of Americans are becoming more concerned about illegal immigration and border security, wouldn't it make perfect sense for the government to put a sanctuary city advocate in charge of our border? When we told them we we care about jobs and the economy, they gave us Obamacare. When we expressed concern about terrorism, they told us climate change was a bigger threat. Naturally, our concerns about immigration warrant a border chief who doesn't believe in enforcing immigration law. William La Jeunesse of FOX News provides this stunning report:
Sources: Vocal supporter of sanctuary cities on short list to be next head of Border Patrol A former San Francisco police chief and vocal supporter of a sanctuary cities policy is on a short list of candidates to become the new chief of the Border Patrol, according to sources.

Posted by New Neo on November 10, 2015 32 Comments
As a result of protests that included a hunger strike by a graduate student and the pressure of a threatened boycott by members of the football team, President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin of the University of Missouri announced their resignations yesterday. The protests occurred after a series of alleged racial incidents at the university. Here's a quick summary of the events leading up to their departures:
The protests began after the student government president, who is black, said in September that people in a passing pickup truck shouted racial slurs at him. In early October, members of a black student organization said slurs were hurled at them by an apparently drunken white student. Frustrations flared again during a homecoming parade, when black protesters blocked Wolfe's car, and he did not get out and talk to them. They were removed by police. Also, a swastika drawn in feces was found recently in a dormitory bathroom. The university did take some steps to ease tensions. At Loftin's request, the school announced plans to offer diversity training to all new students starting in January, as well as faculty and staff.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 10, 2015 3 Comments
On November 10, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed the infamous "Zionism Is Racism" Resolution 3379. The Resolution was revoked in 1991, but the theme remains the same among those who want to destroy Israel. You can attend just about any Boycott Divestment and Sanctions rally, "Jewish Voice for Peace" protest, "Campaign to End the Occupation" conference, and you will here vile rhetoric similar to that of Resolution 3379. You'll also hear it at some faculty associations where BDS resolutions have passed, such as the American Studies Association, and other associations where it is under consideration, such as the American Anthropological Association. "Zionism is Racism" in words or concept is the rallying cry of Students for Justice in Palestine and a host of other anti-Israel campus groups, as well. The oldest hate endures, taking new forms but never changing its tune. So it's worth considering the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan in opposition to that Resolution, which we covered before in my December 15, 2013 post, American Studies Association about to pass odious equivalent of Zionism is Racism resolution. Here is an excerpt from his speech could just as easily be given today, tomorrow or any other day:

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on November 09, 2015 18 Comments
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals just issued an opinion (full embed at bottom of post) upholding a lower court preliminary injunction against Obama's unilateral immigration executive order. The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (“DAPA”) program expanded a previous effort, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") by the Obama administration to protect from deportation illegal immigrants who were brought here as minor children, often referred to as "DREAMers." Under DAPA, parents who were here illegally but whose children were American citizens or lawful permanent residents could also apply for protection from deportation. Obama also expanded the rules for DACA, making even more illegal immigrants eligible to avoid deportation. DAPA drew a lawsuit very shortly after Obama signed the order last fall. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who was at that time serving as the state's Attorney General, led a twenty-six state coalition that opposed DAPA and they successfully argued for a preliminary injunction to be issued by a Texas federal court to prevent DAPA from being implemented. The federal government appealed that order to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, but their efforts would once again fail, as the Court, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that the injunction should remain in place.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 09, 2015 5 Comments
An ad released by a pro-Carly Fiorina PAC, Carly for America, released an ad Monday that spared no one. Taking on candidates both right and left, the ad features Fiorina begins with Fiorina explaining, "every election we hear a lot of talk, we hear a lot of good plans, we hear actually, a lot of good intentions, but somehow for decades, nothing really has changed."

Posted by Amy Miller on November 09, 2015 13 Comments
The drama swirling around Rolling Stone, staff writer Sabrina Erdely, and the University of Virginia continued today when Phi Kappa Psi's UVA chapter filed a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the magazine over a (now-retracted) story claiming that a freshman girl was gang raped during a house party. Erdely's "A Rape on Campus" story published in November of last year, and immediately ignited a firestorm of debate over campus "rape culture." The fraternity's image was trashed, their house vandalized, and both the university and fraternity national chapter suffered a major hit to their reputations. By December, however, Erdely's account of the attack on "Jackie" began to unravel. Following investigations by law enforcement, the university, and an increasingly skeptical media, Rolling Stone published a frantic retraction---and then the lawsuits started. More via Reuters:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 09, 2015 9 Comments
While European leaders and the mainstream media continue to defend open border policies, millions of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa have embarked on an unstoppable march towards Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the leading proponent of Europe’s policy of unrestricted migrant intake, and she is firmly backed by the EU’s powerful bureaucracy. Before the year ends, Germany alone is expected to take in as many as 1.5 million migrants. Despite repeated calls by the Islamic State to target European countries on their own home soil, EU leaders continue to brush aside the growing fear of terrorism and Islamic radicalisation in Europe. Faced with opposition from a few Eastern European member states, the EU has decided to double down on its open border policy. Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has joined the chorus, assuring Italians that there is no need to worry about Islamic terrorists posing as migrants; but the latest high-profile arrest in Italy of a known ISIS operative once again shows how out of touch European politicians really are with the grim realities of mass migration from predominantly Muslim countries.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 09, 2015 10 Comments
Today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama at the White House to discuss ISIS, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, and the continuing scandal that is the Iran nuclear deal. It was the first time the two men have met face to face in over a year, and the first time they have spoken since the passage of the Iran deal. During a private session with the press, Obama emphasized that both leaders are looking for "common ground," and condemned the latest wave of Palestinian violence perpetuated against Israelis; he backed the right of Israelis to defend themselves, but pushed Netanyahu for ideas on how to relieve the tension. Netanyahu continued his public support for a two-state solution, but insisted that a solution would only come when the Palestinians relent and recognize Israel as a Jewish state---which the Palestinians continue to reject. You can see the press briefing here:

Posted by Seth Barrett Tillman on November 09, 2015 26 Comments
I attended a three year high school from 1978 to 1981. I took the PSAT in tenth grade, and I checked off a box in the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test application inviting colleges to send me their literature. I was contacted by the United States Military Academy (“USMA”) at West Point, New York; my best friend was contacted by the United States Naval Academy (“USNA”) at Annapolis, Maryland. We were both invited to attend a conference for high school students interested in attending a service academy and in a military career. I went to the USMA conference; my friend went to the USNA conference, as did 100s of other high school students that year. Everyone knew the score: (1) the government picked up your education costs; (2) the government paid you a salary as you worked towards an engineering degree; (3) when you graduated, you were made an officer; and (4) then you served for four years in the military. It was a great opportunity: but only if you could survive the rigours of military academy life. And the conference gave you a fair opportunity to observe those rigours close up. During the conference, a major approached me individually, by name, and pulled me out of earshot of other student-attendees. I have always assumed he (or his colleagues) had similar conversations with many if not with all the other student-attendees.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 09, 2015 18 Comments
Yesterday on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd outlined the huge losses the Democratic Party has suffered under Obama's tenure. He even spoke to a Politico reporter who called the Obama machine a lie. David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon:
Meet The Press host Chuck Todd and his Sunday panelists outlined the Democratic Party’s heavy losses under the Obama administration, with panelist Marc Caputo saying the idea of the “Obama political machine” was a “lie” that couldn’t win without him on a ballot. Under Obama, Democrats have lost 13 Senate seats and 69 House seats in Congress, and the results are even more staggering on a local level. Democrats have lost 12 governorships, including Kentucky last week with the election of Matt Bevin, 30 state legislative chambers and more than 900 state legislative seats. That’s the worst showing for an incumbent president’s party since the Richard Nixon years, due to the taint of Watergate...
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH