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April 2016

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2016 45 Comments
There have been multiple news reports over the past weeks about the intensity and seriousness of the FBI investigation into Hillary's use of a private server. The possibly unlawful mishandling of classified information is one issue. But it goes beyond that. Hillary set up a shadow electronic government exclusively under her control in what was an apparent conspiracy to evade not only the Freedom of Information Act but also various national security precautions. If Hillary wasn't a Clinton, and if she wasn't the leading Democratic candidate, an indictment would be close to a certainty.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2016 64 Comments
At one level, the North Dakota delegate selection today was not a big deal, because the delegates are "unbound" even on the first convention ballot. The delegates were not even required to openly state their candidate preferences as the Bismark Tribune reported:
Delegates at the North Dakota Republican Party convention elected 25 unbound delegates to be sent to the Republican’s national convention following a debate and failed request providing candidates the choice to declare their preference for president prior to the vote.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2016 8 Comments
I don't know Kay Wilson. But I've seen her on social media, both Facebook and Twitter. She frequently makes reference to how she was carved up and butchered by Palestinians, but harbors no hatred of Palestinians. Israelly Cool has extensive archives on Kay Wilson. I never really knew her story, though. But that story is in the news in Britain as part of the British coming to terms with their role in supporting terrorism against Jews in Israel through financial aid to charities and the Palestinian Authority. Several of our recent posts have addressed this British soul-searching:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 03, 2016 7 Comments
In the wake of the EU deal to return refugees to Turkey en masse, Greece is preparing for further violence and protests. The Guardian reports:
The Greek government is bracing itself for violence ahead of the European Union implementing a landmark deal that, from Monday, will see Syrian refugees and migrants being deported back to Turkey en masse. Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in Athens over the practicality of enforcing an agreement already marred by growing concerns over its legality. Islands have become flashpoints, with as many as 800 people breaking out of a detention centre on Chios on Friday.
The Greek government is expecting more violent protests and riots as the implementation begins tomorrow.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 03, 2016 10 Comments
As I was reading through my newsfeeds, I kept seeing this story about "black staffers" leaving the RNC in droves.  It sounded ominous, like everything the mainstream media and progressive left have been saying was playing out in a mass exodus of black Republicans from the party. Here are some of the headlines: from NBCNews:

Yet Another Top African American Staffer Departs RNC

from the Sun Times:

RNC Losing Top Black Staffer

from Huffington Post:

Top Black Staffers Leave The Republican National Committee

However, once you follow the link and read the stories, these black staffers are simply moving on to new and greener pastures, often within the GOP or in more lucrative media roles.  For example, the subject of the stories above is  Kristal Quarker-Hartsfield, the national director of African-American Initiatives at the RNC, and she "is leaving the organization to work for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) as his director of intergovernmental affairs."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 03, 2016 2 Comments
For April Fool's Day, Hamburger Helper released a rap album. And it's really good. No joke. The five-song album called, "Watch the Stove" features songs called "Feed the Streets", "In Love with the Glove" and "Food for Your Soul." The lyrics are family friendly: "I mix it so good you think I'm a natural/ You catch me at the stove, I was whippin' up a bowl/ I just came back from the stove five-star restaurant at home." The beats are solid. Catchy too. As awesome as the album itself is the backstory. Jessica Roy of the LA Times reported "Watch the Stove" was a local Minneapolis (home to General Mills headquarters) effort that included the musical brainpower of neighborhood college kids.
"It's really taken off," Taylor Madrigal told me. You know him better as DJ Tiiiiiiiiiip, one of the people featured on the opening track of the album, "Feed the Streets."

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 03, 2016 19 Comments
Stewardesses for Air France have been ordered to wear headscarves when flying into Iran's capital of Tehran and they're not happy about it. The order has sparked a backlash. The Telegraph reports:
Air France stewardesses mutiny over order to wear headscarves Air France stewardesses, furious at being ordered to wear headscarves in Tehran, say they will refuse to fly to the Iranian capital when the airline resumes the service later this month.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 03, 2016 5 Comments
On Thursday, a Muslim woman reported to police that a stranger who shouted "terrorist" at her slashed her face with a knife.  Apparently, after having been so "attacked," the woman then called 911, only to later admit that she was not attacked and that her wound was self-inflicted. The incident has been widely reported, including in a publication called Arab American News:
A blade-wielding wacko called a Muslim woman a “terrorist,” then sliced open her face as she left a downtown Manhattan cosmetology school, police said. The woman, 20, is a student at the Make-up Designory on Broadway near Rector St. and was leaving the building and walking toward Trinity Church at 4:50 p.m. when her attacker struck. Police sources describe him as a white man wearing a black hat and a black jacket. He came up behind her, slashed a roughly two-inch gouge into her cheek, and ran off, police sources said.The woman then ran back into her school on the 15th-floor and called a relative, who called 911.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2016 0 Comments
British civil and governmental societies are undergoing a soul searching as to the role Britain plays in funding terrorism against Israel and the BDS movement. As Jonathan reported, Britain Rocked By Revelation Of Taxpayer-Funded Palestinian Terror:
Great Britain’s Foreign Office and Department for International Development (“DFID”) have funneled million of Pounds, at least, to terrorists.  The report from the Daily Mail details how the UK’s policy of spending .7% of revenue on foreign aid distorts priorities and leads it to fund terror.  The Daily Mail report builds on a broader investigation from Palestinian Media Watch (“PMW”) evidencing the Palestinian Authority’s (“PA”) attempts to hide banned payments to terrorists from Western donors.
Anti-Semitism acting under the banner of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement also has garnered attention recently in Britain, British Campus Anti-Semitism on Display During Israel Hate Week:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2016 104 Comments
While Donald Trump leads in delegates, it's far from certain that he will obtain the needed 1237 delegates prior to the Republican convention. We may know whether Trump is on track to a majority after next Tuesday's Wisconsin primary, or the New York primary on April 19. If Trump falls short of that majority on the first ballot vote, even by one delegate, most of the delegates are released to vote as they want on the second and subsequent ballots. The Trump campaign obviously fears that second ballot, because it is trying to create a narrative that if Trump is close to the majority of delegates, or leads others by a lot of delegates, he should be given the nomination. Anything less will be "stealing" the nomination from him. Turning a plurality into a majority without actual delegate votes has no support in the most basic of convention rules, that an actual majority is needed to win. Trump predicted riots if he was close and didn't get the nomination.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 02, 2016 14 Comments
Back in 2012 Professor Jacobson reported on the organized movement to ban the term "illegal alien" because it is deemed "racist."  Since then, California governor Jerry Brown has banned the term, the LA Times drifted into lala land banning both "illegal immigrant" and "undocumented immigrant," and former House Speaker John Boehner issued a memo about "individuals living outside the rule of law." A group of graduate students at Dartmouth have succeeded in their bid to get the terms "illegal" and "alien" to describe illegal aliens removed from public libraries across America that use the Library of Congress subject list. The Washington Times reports:
The Library of Congress has decided to no longer use the heading “illegal aliens” in bibliographic records after Dartmouth College students petitioned to ban the “racially charged” term. The Library of Congress denied the ban request in 2014, arguing that “illegal alien” is an official term for people who are in the country without proper documents, students told Fox News.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 02, 2016 18 Comments
About 2 weeks ago, I noted that the limp-wristed handshake with Cuba's acting dictator Raul Castro perfectly captured Obama's presidency. He nearly topped this historic effort with this week's Nuclear Policy Summit commemorative photograph. The Daily Mail reports:
Surrounded by world leaders, President Barack Obama gave the peace sign as they gathered for a 'team photo' during a two-day nuclear summit. All eyes were on Obama as 54 other presidents and prime ministers joined him in Washington, DC, for crunch talks on Iran and terrorist threats involving nuclear weapons. There was one set of eyes, however, that was particularly focused on the President - those of Prime Minister David Cameron. Relations between Cameron and Obama have been strained since the President criticized the Prime Minister for getting 'distracted' during the crisis in Libya and turning it into a 's**t show'.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 02, 2016 19 Comments
Thanks in large part to the Emory University students who pathetically panicked after seeing pro-Trump messages written in chalk on campus sidewalks, pro-Trump messages are now appearing on other college campuses. The whole thing is going viral on Twitter under the hashtag #TheChalkening. Here are some choice examples:

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 02, 2016 17 Comments
The State of New York just passed two significant measures. One is a new family leave policy and the other is a new minimum wage of $15 an hour. Liberals are pretty stoked about both items. Smaller businesses, particularly in hard-hit upstate NY, not so much. Expect the people intended to benefit -- lower wage workers in marginal industries -- to be hardest hit because there will be fewer jobs. Entry level positions, where many people get their start, will be harder to come by. New York Mag reports:
New York Just Created a Revolutionary New Family-Leave Policy You say you want a revolution? A political, social, economic policy upheaval that will dramatically alter the playing field for millions of Americans by significantly reducing economic and gender inequality?
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