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December 2016

If Germany’s largest Muslim group gets its way, the country’s media would be getting a makeover soon. To fight “anti-Muslim media bias", Germany's Central Council of Muslims (ZMD) is calling for the government to appoint more Muslims to the top governing bodies of broadcasting corporations in the country. Media coverage of Islam and Muslims is "inadequate and biased", complained Aiman Mazyek, Chairman of Central Council of Muslims. "To show Muslims from their negative sides, say ISIS, al-Qaida, serves as ‘projection’ and ‘eye catcher’ for many talk shows and headlines. This establishes a negative narrative." With Germany again in the grip of a fresh migrant crime wave, public relations woes and media narrative are all this Muslim group cares about. Earlier this month, an Afghan "refugee" was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a 19 year-old medical student in the city of Freiburg. In a separate incident, an Iraqi "refugee" was detained on suspicion of raping two Chinese students in university district of Bochum. Such crimes are becoming a daily occurrence in Merkel's Germany. Today, a 14 year-old girl in State of Thuringia was raped. The suspect was identified as a 22 year-old Afghan “refugee.”

We are witnessing nothing short of an attempt to steal the election by some Democrats and a very supportive mainstream and leftwing media, by causing Electors in the Electoral College to go rogue and vote for Hillary, or at least not vote for Trump. The first excuse for this tactic after the election was made by people like Prof. Lawrence Lessig. At least he was honest in his call to have the Electors stop Trump because he didn't like the result and thought Trump would be a horrible president on a host of issues. Honest, but severely misguided. Call that Operation Flip the Electors, Part One.

Wisconsin's presidential recount is over, done, and the results official. Trump remains the winner, gaining 131 votes over Hillary. Failed Green Party presidential candidate, Jill Stein, forked over $3.5 million for a hand recount, claiming she wanted to ensure the integrity of America's election process. It's probably just coincidence she chose to test the veracity of our electoral process in the three states Hillary was projected to win, but failed. In any case, Trump still wins:
In Wisconsin, officials said Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 22,748 votes out of about 3 million cast — an uptick of 131 over his initial advantage over Clinton.

Former Philadelphia Rep. Chaka Fattah has received 10 years in prison for racketeering, fraud, and money-laundering after his conviction on June 22. A jury found Fattah guilty "on 22 counts related to misspending federal grant money and for schemes linked to an illegal $1 million loan he received from a friend to help fund a failed 2007 mayoral campaign in the city."

Actions speak louder than words -- or at least that's what Pepsi's latest endeavor to expand into the health food department seems to suggest. People say they want healthier foods, but Pepsi has found that people prefer taste over nutritional information. Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi wants to make the company a "health juggernaut," but to keep up with the consumer wants, the company has increased the sugar content of its products.

The Russian hacking/tainted election story line is a particularly fascinating coping mechanism in leftist elite circles. All signs point to a painfully out of touch party platform, the world's worst presidential candidate, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the political landscape, yet Democrats are blaming the Russians for their embarrassing electoral loss. Worse still, there's no new evidence to suggest Russians swayed election results. Sure, the Wikileaks stuff was nasty, but that's old news. Should it be investigated? Probably. Though the same people demanding an investigation into this alleged hacking's electoral impact NOW also declared with certainty that Hillary's home-brewed server was never infiltrated by foreign foes. It's almost like this story line was cooked up as a last ditch effort to overturn the election results. Almost.

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U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond was not impressed by Jill Stein's request for a statewide, presidential ballot recount. Monday morning, Judge Diamond denied failed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's recount request. From the wires:
A federal judge on Monday issued a stinging rejection of a Green Party-backed request to recount paper ballots in Pennsylvania's presidential election, won by Republican Donald Trump, and scan some counties' election systems for signs of hacking.

The notion that American academia is a liberal bubble and echo chamber is nothing that Legal Insurrection hasn't documented and decried a thousand times. But it is refreshing to hear that complaint coming from the lips . . . of a leading liberal journalist. Today's Morning Joe devoted a segment to self-described liberal Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column, "The Dangers of Echo Chambers on Campus." Key lines: "We liberals . . . too often, we embrace diversity of all kinds except for ideological . . . We champion tolerance, except for conservatives and evangelical Christians. We want to be inclusive of people who don’t look like us — so long as they think like us." Also encouraging was the panel's consensus in praise of the column, including by Dems Mika Brzezinski and Harold Ford, Jr., and even from fellow Timesman Jeremy Peters.

It's difficult to think of anything less controversial than Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts crew but the classic Christmas special mentions Christianity explicitly which is a problem for some people. A staffer at a middle school in Texas decided to use imagery from the special as decorations but was told the decorations had to come down. Todd Starnes of FOX News reported:
School censors "Charlie Brown Christmas" poster One of the most poignant scenes in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is when Linus stands on a stage and recites a passage from the Holy Bible describing the Christmas story.