Democrats, Glass Houses, and Racism

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”

Whether Abe Lincoln actually said this or not, it is advice some folks in public life should heed.

Honest Abe

This slightly restated variation should also be taken to heart:

Better not to be thought of as a racist than to open your mouth and remove all doubt—that you are.

 

Last Friday, enter one, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was being interviewed by Kara Swisher of the New York Times.

Ms. Swisher did mix up Eric Holder and Cory Booker, which led to Mrs. Clinton saying, “Well, they all look alike.”

Cringeworthy: Failed 2016 Candidate Says All Black Men Look Alike, Or Something

 

This is the same interview where Clinton said she would like to run again in 2020; well maybe.

 

Mrs. Clinton initially said “no” when asked whether she wanted to run for president again. She then paused and repeated “no.”

But after Ms. Swisher noted the slight hesitation, Mrs. Clinton seemed to reconsider her response, saying that a major task of the next Democratic president will be improving the international standing of the United States.

Well, I’d like to be president,” she said…

Hillary Clinton on Possible 2020 Run: ‘I’d Like to Be President’

 

Not to be outdone by Clinton, Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana removed all doubt.

 

Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly – one of the most vulnerable Democrats heading into next week’s midterm elections – is taking heat after awkwardly responding to a question during Tuesday night’s Senate debate with Republican Mike Braun by saying several of his staffers are great at their jobs even though they are minorities.

“Our state director is Indian American, but he does an amazing job,” Donnelly said during the debate. “Our director of all constituent services — she’s African American, but she does an even more incredible job than you could ever imagine.”

“Holy cats. Watch this clip. I can’t believe how terrible this is,” said Josh Holmes, a Republican operative and former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Others argued the comments would be considered a big gaffe – if said by a Republican.

Had it happened on the other side, I think it would be getting a lot more attention,” Braun said Wednesday on Fox News’ “The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino.”

Can we just be honest and say that if Mike Braun had said this it would be an issue but it won’t because Donnelly is a Dem?” Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe said.

Dem Sen. Joe Donnelly takes heat for awkward comment on hiring minority staffers, says he ‘misspoke’

 

Folks, part of the problem is that these elitist Democrats don’t see people as people, they see everyone in terms of groups and quotas.

These bogus heirs of Martin Luther King violate the principle at the core of his “I Have a Dream” speech when King states:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Rev. Martin Luther King

Democrats only care about the color of your skin or which bodily orifice you prefer to stick your reproductive organs into and not what’s on the inside of a person. They hijacked this Republican minister (Dr. King) and his push for true equality and substituted a fake solution in its place. King wanted a bottom-up solution (this is the core of the Christian Gospel) and the Dems want a top-down (State imposed) one. King wanted to change the hearts and minds of people not impose a solution by force.

This circles back to the post yesterday about Vice-President Mike Pence and Jews. One core assumption of the author of the hit piece on Pence, et al, was that a Messianic JewLoren Jacobs— was not a proper representative of the group. His activity in the community or whether he had been scheduled to speak prior to Saturday’s Synagogue attack were never researched or addressed by the author. The author was much more concerned that a Messianic Jew was not a proper representative of the group. Jacobs’ individual merits were irrelevant to his right to be on the stage at a Republican event.

Democrats are the Party of white supremacy and historically always have been. Dinesh D’Souza documents this well in his film, Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016).

Dinesh D’Souza

I marvel that Democrats can say stuff like the above all day long but get a pass while Republicans are ALWAYS presumed to be racist for believing in the value and worth of individuals.

Urban Meyer Having Health “Issues” Again

Just to be clear I’m being somewhat facetious here but I no longer trust this wannabe.  Meyer is the definition of a modern day Pharisee; which for those non-believers or those who attend Catholic service on Sunday but seldom listen, a Pharisee is someone who is self-righteous and a hypocrite.  Meyer who as was previously detailed in this space is a master of public relations, having coached both Aaron Hernandez, and Tim Tebow at the same time!  Hernandez being best known for killing at least 2 people and “allegedly” killing 2 more, killed himself in jail earlier this year.  Tebow of course being known as the heir apparent to the papacy when Pope Francis decides he wants to step down.

All kidding aside Urban Meyer’s Florida teams were some of the best I have ever seen, winning 2 national championships and could have played for a third had they not run into a buzz saw known as Alabama.  In January of 2009 he was admitted into the hospital, saying he was not going to resign but would be ready for next season…Urban lied, and coached the bowl game in January.  Following this game, he announced he would take a leave of absence, funny how this occurred after Tebow, Hernandez and the rest of the felons were leaving Florida.  Meyer returned in 2010 and proceeded to have his worst year at Florida, 7-5. He resigned at the conclusion of the year citing health reasons relating to his heart.  Yeah, read that again, his heart!  Probably the one human organ that can single handedly make your spouse a widow in a matter of minutes.  This dude apparently coached all year having heart issues….I call BS.

So then Meyer literally started working for ESPN calling games, so think brutal travel schedule, preparations during the week and sitting through some of the best college football games literally eight months after resigning.  Again…BS.  Then the Ohio State job opened up prior to the year starting, and suddenly I knew his plan all along.  He knew the cupboard was empty at Florida, but Ohio State had a scandal ridden coach leave, and now he could swoop in.  The white knight was back in business, and this all went down before the end of November 2011.  His third year at Ohio State, he won the national championship.  You can’t write a better script.  Earlier this season he was suspended due to the actions of one of his assistant coaches, but ole Urban had ‘em up and running; cruising into last week’s game against lowly Purdue undefeated.  Purdue beat ‘em 49-20, then something weird happened Tuesday 10/30.  Meyer called a press conference and once again citing health issues, this time a cyst on his brain diagnosed in 1998!  Is a reason for his possibly wanting to resign when “he can no longer give his all for Ohio State.”  Apparently he fell over on the sideline during a game a few weeks ago.  Yet he has been able to coach this entire time leading up to his one embarrassing loss.

I’m not impressed.  Honestly, far be It from me to accuse someone of being a liar, but this guy checks every box.  Seems like once things start to go against him he has to find a convenient excuse to exit stage right.  I’m sorry for your health issues, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say this, but you’re insufferable.  You somehow go out of your way to make it all about you all the time, even though you “allegedly” lead a college program.  Best of luck with your “health issues” that are over 20 years old.

I just call BS on this one…again.

“The Chief”

The Democrats 70 Million Dollar Mistake

Just to clarify, the 70 million has nothing to do with that rigged mega millions jackpot you Americans play.  That is the amount of DEMOCRAT/HOLLYWOOD/SILICON VALLEY money that has flown to Texas to attack Sen Ted Cruz.  Cruz is in the Senator who will be winning re-election in a week by around 10% mind you.  Cruz may have his misgivings and may have angered the Donald Trump coalition but he was not going to lose re-election, especially with very popular Governor Greg Abbott leading the ticket.  Again to re-iterate if you are from Rio Linda or think the Russia colluded, Ted will win with at least around 10% of the vote.  Forget about Beto O’Rourke for a minute, I’m going to lay out why those in charge of the Democrat’s Senatorial Campaign arm should be drawn and quartered.

Ted Cruz—CRA Savior

While they were blowing all this money on Cruz the same way Charlie Sheen blows the booger sugar, look at what happened to some of the other races for control of the Senate.

First look at North Dakota. Now full disclosure, the candidate had some missteps, but what if she got $10 million of that allotment?  Ten million is a ton in North Dakota, you could even dig up all my dead brethren to vote Left.  That seat?  Yeah it’s lost as well, GOP +1.

Now let’s take a look at Missouri. The incumbent has had a rough couple weeks since the Kavanaugh “No” vote. She is falling behind her challenger. Again could an infusion of $10 million help?  Sorry already went to Beto in Texas. I will call this race for the GOP as well, +2.

Trek up north to Indiana. This race should not be close. The GOP had a disaster of a primary with a challenger emerging mortally wounded. Again the race has closed and appears to be falling the way of the good guys. Polling again is close, but leaning GOP at this time.  We will call this +3 again. I think Democrats have been oversampled yet again here.  So we still would have had 50 million left, maybe another $10 here?

In Florida it’s a giant unknown who will come out on top, but a 24 year veteran Senator being virtually tied with–let’s say a Governor who carries a lot of baggage with him–is not good for the Democrats; especially headed down the stretch here.  It probably would have taken $15 million here but you have a late emerging race where the Democrats could lose.

Now we will look at 3 additional races, 2 held by the GOP.  I’m going to ignore the Tennessee seat, because it looks too far for Democrats to reach.  In Arizona, I cannot really get a feel on this one, I think the GOP challenger is a good one. The Democrat seems like a Code Pink whacko.  Hard to tell here but another $10 million out of that pot may push the Democrat across. This is the seat of aptly named Jeff Flake who basically is making Lindsay Graham into a fire breathing conservative.  Much like the Nevada seat we will discuss next I like the fact that the GOP is winning the Governor’s race in both states at current polling.

Nevada is a tough state for the GOP. Clark County, think Las Vegas, is growing and becoming more left quickly. The Senator is an incumbent and has made some missteps. He leads in polling but I think this is one we lose.  I think between Arizona and Nevada we lose 1.  Montana is another seat just out of our grasp, and a race Democrats could be wondering why they didn’t spend more there.  I think the Democrat wins.  So far if you’re keeping score at home GOP +2 with 1 pure toss up in Florida.  With the House looking likely to switch parties I cannot help but wonder what some Democrats will be thinking after seeing the Senate results.

I for one am glad they spent the money elsewhere.

“The Chief”

Liberals Light-Up VP Pence

Vice President Mike Pence, right, prays with Rabbi Loren Jacobs, of Bloomfield Hills’ Congregation Shema Yisrael, for the victims and families of those killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, at a rally for Republicans in Oakland County, Monday, (Tanya Moutzalias / AP)

On Saturday, some nut killed a bunch of Jewish folks worshipping in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Today, Vice-President Mike Pence is in Detroit, Michigan holding a campaign rally for a Jewish Republican named Lena Epstein. The distance between the two cities is about 300 miles, hundreds of precincts, and at state or two.

Pence is an openly Christian man that attends Bible studies in the White House and is known to pray regularly. In the article below, Pence is getting slammed at a campaign stop for having the wrong kind of Jew pray at the campaign rally. Pence had Loren Jacobs pray twice at the rally, once in the beginning and again to close the campaign stop.

Please note that the article posted below is a new article and not and opinion piece.

Instead of opening up with prayers for the 11 Jews shot dead Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue, Jacobs praised Jesus Christ and then offered prayers for four Republican candidates.

“I pray that you will enable Vice President Pence to fulfill his many and important responsibilities with excellence,” he added.

At the end of the rally, Pence, a devout Christian and hero of evangelicals, invited Jacob back to say a prayer for the victims as “a leader of the Jewish community here in Michigan.”

As you continue in the article then you get to the real rub, which is that Loren Jacobs is a Jew by upbringing and a Christian by faith.

“Messianic ‘Judaism’ is a branch of Christianity & offensive to the Jewish community. Lena Epstein knew this & so did Pence & his team. This wasn’t ecumenical; it was an insulting political stunt,” said Jason Miller, a Detroit rabbi, noting that there are more than 60 official rabbis in Michigan.

The “Messianic Judaism” movement promotes the conversion of Jews to Christianity. One group in the movement goes by the title “Jews for Jesus.”

The movement has the strong support of evangelical Christians, a corner stone of President Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ voter base.

Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow is a senior figure in the Messianic Jew movement.

Criticizing Jacob’s involvement in the rally, Danya Ruttenberg, a prominent young rabbi, blasted Pence as a “Christian supremacist.”

“Stop pretending and appropriating my people,” she wrote online.

The White House said Epstein was responsible for inviting Jacob to the event, and that the vice president “invited him back on stage to deliver a message of unity.”

Pence stuns Jews with prayers by ‘Christian rabbi’ after temple massacre

 

In defense of the Vice-President I would like to ask the following:

  • How many Jewish Rabbis actually believe the Torah is the Word of God and authoritative in their lives?
  • How many Torah believing Rabbis are registered to vote as Republicans?
  • How many Torah believing Rabbis are willing to publicly endorse anyone or anything related to Donald Trump or Mike Pence?
  • How many did so during the 2016 election cycle?
  • How many of the above defined Rabbis live in Detroit?

Thus this article is utilizing a strawman argument as a pretext for bashing Christianity.

Oh, my Christian church prayed for the Jewish victims and their families at our Christian worship service the following day as did many millions of Christians across this nation and probably the world.

Those making sour grapes about Pence’s campaign stop are not Republicans and would never vote for the candidates that were on the stage. This article is a political hit piece crafted on the eve of a close election.

Voter Fraud Made Easy?

Sacramento County appears to make voter fraud easy. They eliminated traditional polling places, instead mailing ballots to all registered voters in the county. Voters are supposed to return their ballots to a drop center in their community. As my wife and I found out, these drop centers are not manned and nobody is tracking when your ballot is turned in. In a strict sense, there is no effort at any chain-of-custody for ballots. The only proof that anyone has that they voted is a signature on the outside of the ballot envelope and a stack of I Voted stickers on top of the ballot drop box should you choose to get one.

What happens to the ballot once it is returned? In the old days, the signature was checked before the envelope was opened; however, do you really think somebody is checking every signature for 300,000 ballots? The second would be what happens if it doesn’t match the signature on file? Again, in the old days, the ballots were not counted. Furthermore, the voter is never notified that their ballot is not counted or had a problem. If it is a legitimate mistake, too bad. If voter forgets to sign the envelope then what happens?

Color me cynical but I have extra blank ballots at my house every election cycle since this system was implemented. I’m confident that many other folks are experiencing the same situation. I’m sure nobody would ever think to go house to house to collect these extra ballots in exchange for money, food, or in the name of keeping elections honest. Surely, not!

Here are other voting concerns that folks are having this election season:

Los Angeles, California –  The LAPD arrested 3 people on Friday for voter fraud, just latest in a long list of arrests for the charge. The suspects are paying homeless people a dollar or a quarter, or food or cigarettes to forge names on California ballot measures. And it’s been going on for years.

Suspects set up tables on Skid Row where they approach homeless people to gather forged signatures. The California government claims that such situations are “rare.” But according to the LAPD officer who patrols Skid Row, it’s common. So far in 2018, the LAPD has arrested 7 people for felony voter fraud and 4 of those charges were reduced to misdemeanors. Which effectively erases the problem from people’s radar. This is an excuse for Democrats to say that voter fraud is “rare.”

Voter Fraud in Los Angeles- Paying Homeless to Forge Signatures

 

San Francisco reportedly spent $310,000 on a new registration system aimed at getting non-citizens to cast votes in school board elections.

The program resulted in 49 new voters, which turned out to cost the city $6,326 each, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The paper called the effort “pretty much a bust the first time out.”

Local officials suggest residents who might otherwise consider registering are worried the Trump administration would learn their identities.

San Fran spends $6,300 for each non-citizen voter to sign up

Lest you think California is the only spot experiencing voter issues, remember that everything is bigger in Texas.

When the registered independent went to a recreational center in Grapevine, Texas, last week, he planned to vote for Senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke. The Hart machine offered a fast-tracked option for straight-ticket voters. Martin selected it, expecting the machine to populate an all-Democrat ballot.

“It floored me. My vote showed up on the machine for the wrong senator. Instead of Beto O’Rourke – the Democratic candidate – it said [Republican candidate] Ted Cruz,” he said. After noticing the error, Martin backtracked to the initial screen and manually registered his vote.

The Texas secretary of state has been aware of the issue for at least a week.

An election advisory from Director of Elections Keith Ingram, dated Oct. 23, said: “We have heard from a number of people voting on Hart eSlate machines that when they voted straight ticket, it appeared to them that the machine had changed one or more of their selections to a candidate from a different party. This can be caused by the voter taking keyboard actions before a page has fully appeared on the eSlate, thereby de-selecting the pre-filled selection of that party’s candidate.”

Martin denied misusing the machine. “What is this going to be, another Dade County?” he said, referring to disputed Florida ballots in the 2000 presidential election. “The only vote that counts with national scope is the one being destroyed.”

Marian Schneider, president of Verified Voting, a voting integrity organization, issued a statement Monday in response to reports that voters in the state’s six largest counties experienced problems using the company’s machines. She called for verifiable systems that include a voter-marked paper ballot: “Verified Voting calls on Secretary of State Rolando Pablos to launch a broader and more robust statewide public information effort to advise voters to carefully check their choices as displayed before submitting them. . . . Paper ballots that are retained can be later sampled to check if the software is correctly reporting the voters’ selections. Without such a safeguard, public confidence in elections diminishes.”

The issue, she said, impacts 5.1 million Texas voters, at a minimum.

This isn’t the state’s first problematic run-in with the Hart voter systems, according to Sam Taylor, communications director for Pablos, who confirmed that voters in only five counties had experienced issues with the machines.

During the 2016 election, the agency ran tests on the machines after voters’ choices of presidential candidates were deselected. The problem affects only the first race on the ballot. In 2016, that was the presidential race. This year, it’s the senatorial contest.

Texans say glitchy voting machines are changing their ballots

 

A voter fraud investigation in Dallas County continues to deepen with prosecutors asking a judge late last week to impound a “suspicious box” of mail-in ballot applications they believe may be tied to a political candidate in the May election.

Investigators appear to be homing in on the candidate, who they did not name in new court documents but described as a suspect who lives in Grand Prairie. Authorities are also looking into two other suspects who are connected to the candidate and who prosecutors say assisted voters in mailing ballots in envelopes signed with suspected forged signatures. Those votes were rejected from being counted.

The filing Friday by the district attorney’s office revealed new details in a wide-ranging investigation of thousands of suspicious mail-in ballots and ballot applications submitted in West Dallas and Grand Prairie since last year. This year, prosecutors have investigated possible fraud in the handling of more than 1,200 mail-in ballot applications that generated at least 459 ballots from West Dallas, Grand Prairie and parts of Oak Cliff, Assistant District Attorney Andy Chatham said in March.

Voter fraud investigation deepens in Dallas County, targeting Grand Prairie candidate

 

Voting machines — even the optical scan ballot machines — are computers running specialized programs. Cybersecurity experts warn that antiquated hardware, remote access malware and insecure databases are vulnerabilities that might allow hackers to meddle with elections.

As the federal government has noted, states are responsible for conducting elections. Due to budget constraints, many voting machines haven’t been updated in years. In 2016 Christopher Famighetti of the Brennan Center for Justice interview told CBS News, “We found that more than 40 states are using voting machines there that are at least 10 years [old].”

This year at the cybersecurity conference Defcon, hackers were able to crack a Diebold voting machine in 15 minutes.

Campaign 2018: Voting machines are vulnerable to hacking

 

Children as young as 5 will compete to hack election results websites, and DEF CON has partnered with children’s hacking organization r00tz Asylum to award prizes to the first and youngest kids to breach the sites and hack equipment.

Jake Braun, a former White House liaison for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told ABC News that the conference decided to invite young hackers because it would be a “waste of time” to demonstrate that cybersecurity experts can hack election results reporting sites.

These websites are so easy to hack we couldn’t give them to adult hackers — they’d be laughed off the stage,” Braun told ABC News. “They thought hacking a voter website was interesting 20 years ago. We had to give it to kids to actually make it challenging.”

At DEF CON ’18, kids as young as 5 challenged to hack election results websites, voting machines

Until governments get serious about voter integrity I don’t look for things to improve.

God, Europe, and Law

Last week while we were all distracted by the fake bombs sent via snail mail to various Democrat leaders, other things more significant were afoot elsewhere in the world.

 

Blasphemy is defined as “the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God

It is part of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

There is a little known movie about a man that is transported from 1890 to the present (ok 2002) and is shocked at what he sees. On the one hand, marvels of technology and on the other the decay in societal values. At one point he goes into a movie theater and hears God’s name used in vain. Shocked he runs out and complains to the first theater employee that he encounters. The guy selling soda and popcorn looks at him with a blank stare trying to figure out first what using the Lord’s name in vain even means and secondly why this guy is upset when people talk like that all the time.

Time Changer (2002)

 

The Irish constitution’s preamble still begins “in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity” and acknowledges “all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial.” Its text continues to read “the State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honor religion.”

While 20th century Ireland was a strongly Catholic society where lay political leaders implemented Catholic faith and morals as they perceived them, sometimes in close cooperation with Church leaders and other Catholic institutions, in recent decades the country has secularized.

While Ireland has higher Mass attendance rates than many traditionally Catholic countries in Europe, vocation numbers have plummeted and self-identified Catholics have dropped to 78 percent, according to the 2016 census, and almost one in ten now identify as having no religion.

The secularizing changes are attributed to scandals involving clergy sex abuse, other abuse in other Catholic-run institutions, as well as increasing affluence and influence from international corporations and NGOs.

Ireland’s long-standing pro-life constitutional protections were repealed in a May 2018 vote with over 66 percent voting in favor. In May 2015 Ireland became the first country to implement gay marriage by a popular vote, with 62 percent of voters backing the change.

Ireland is one of 71 countries where blasphemy is illegal.

Irish voters remove blasphemy punishment from constitution

 

After this weekend, now blasphemy is illegal in 70 countries because Ireland voted overwhelmingly to drop the prohibition from their constitution.

 

DUBLIN, Ireland – Exit polls indicated Irish voters were expected to repeal the Republic of Ireland’s constitutional prohibition against blasphemy, with close to 70 percent of voters backing the change in a Friday vote, the Irish Times has reported.

Catholic bishops did not put forward a defense of the law, though one Muslim leader spoke in its favor.

“The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law,” said the constitutional passage in question, which dates back to 1937.

As passed, the referendum would remove blasphemy from this list of offenses, and allow the Irish parliament to change laws penalizing blasphemy.

This continues a trend that Europe is moving away from any pretense of holding to its very deep rooted Christianity. However, this is not the end of blasphemy news last week. While Christianity has been further diminished, Islam has been elevated throughout the European Union by the European Court of Human Rights.

Europe’s ever-steady march towards illiberal, totalitarian nonsense continues apace. The European Court of Human Rights ruled this week that defaming the Prophet Muhammad is not protected speech. More specifically, the court said an “Austrian woman’s conviction for calling the prophet of Islam a pedophile didn’t breach her freedom of speech,” the Associated Press reported.

The ECHR explained in its ruling that Austrian courts had “carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected.” The woman explained in 2009 during a seminar discussion that the Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to a six-year-old girl was basically “pedophilia.”

“A 56-year-old and a 6-year-old? What do you call that? Give me an example? What do we call it, if it is not pedophilia?” she said.

The woman was charged and convicted by a Vienna court in 2011 of “disparaging religious doctrines.” The woman was ordered to pay a $547 fine, plus costs, the AP notes. An Austrian appeals court upheld the 2011 ruling.

On Thursday, the ECHR explained in its ruling that the Austrian court’s decision “served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace.”

The seven-judge panel also argued in its ruling that there’s a difference between child marriage and pedophilia:

[B]y accusing Muhammad of paedophilia, the applicant had merely sought to defame him, without providing evidence that his primary sexual interest in Aisha had been her not yet having reached puberty or that his other wives or concubines had been similarly young. In particular, the applicant had disregarded the fact that the marriage with Aisha had continued until the Prophet’s death, when she had already turned eighteen and had therefore passed the age of puberty.

European Court of Human Rights: Sorry, Charlie Hebdo, but you had it coming

 

The recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (henceforth ‘the Court’), upholding Austria’s decision to charge somebody for insulting Islam, poses an interesting quandary to its regular critics.

On the one hand, it has upheld what a great many liberals and conservatives alike consider to be an absurdly restrictive judgement. It may not (quite, yet) have imposed an Europe-wide blasphemy law, as sometimes suggested, but it has upheld Austria’s.

But on the other, those whose overweening concern is with democratic accountability and national sovereignty, and therefore oppose the imposition of law by a transnational judiciary, cannot without great care demand that the Court ought to strike down Austria’s laws when we don’t like them.

Moreover, Scott argues that the Court is actually suggesting – at a time when blasphemy legislation is falling across the continent, most recently in Ireland – that signatories of the Charter have a duty to “criminalise “improper and abusive attacks” on objects of veneration”.

But in justifying their ruling the judges appear, if I read Scott’s analysis correctly, to be setting precedents which could well lead to impositions on other nations at a later date. If it becomes established that religious persons have a right not to be offended, it will fall on other states to uphold that right. Where Austria leads, other may have to follow.

Of course, Theresa May has backed away from her earlier enthusiasm for withdrawing from the authority of the European Court of Human Rights. But incidents such as this, where rights law starts metastasising and threatening to impose fresh obligations on democratic governments without any popular mandate, remind us why our relationship with it is something which future, post-Brexit governments may need to revisit.

The European Court of Human Rights has set a problematic precedent on religious freedom

 

Given the above events, when in Europe, you can blaspheme Jesus all you wish but to treat Mohammed the same way is to incur the wrath of the secular elites. Sadly, Mark Stein is vindicated once again in his prediction that it is an actuarial certainty that Europe will be Islamic in a few short decades.

To quote to pop song of a few decades ago,

All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.

— Pink Floyd 1979

.

FBI’s Tesla Criminal Investigation

Despite what some fan boys have told me about how ingenious Elon Musk is, Tesla is once again in the news for blowing smoke. Being that they make electric cars, that in itself is quite a feat.

Following the recent spanking by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into Tesla for lying to investors.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are examining whether Tesla misstated information about production of its Model 3 sedans and misled investors about the company’s business going back to early 2017, people familiar with the matter say.

Action in the criminal investigation, headed by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco, has intensified in recent weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission settled separate civil charges with Tesla and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, the people said.

Tesla had disclosed on Sept. 18 that it had received a “voluntary request” for documents from the Justice Department, 10 days before the company and Mr. Musk struck a settlement with the SEC of civil charges on in a separate case involving controversial tweets from Mr. Musk. But it hasn’t been previously reported that the Justice Department is focusing on Tesla’s Model 3 production issues dating to early last year and that the criminal securities-fraud probe is intensifying.

In February 2017, after reporting fourth-quarter 2016 results, Tesla laid out an aggressive production plan to bring out the Model 3, with plans to ramp up to 5,000 vehicles a week in the fourth quarter. On a conference call that month with analysts, Mr. Musk said he was pushing suppliers to be ready for a weekly run rate of 1,000 vehicles in July to 2,000 in August and 4,000 in September.

A few months later in July, Mr. Musk sounded confident that Tesla would be producing 20,000 Model 3s a month in December 2017, in line with his previous pledge of having 5,000 vehicles a week by year’s end. “Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec,” he tweeted on July 2, 2017, days before the first Model 3 rolled off the production line.

Tesla ended up producing 2,700 Model 3s for all of 2017, and 793 in the last week of 2017.

Now the FBI is comparing the company’s statements with its production capability during 2017. Authorities are homing in on whether the company made projections about its Model 3 production knowing it would be impossible to meet the goals, people close to the situation say.

Tesla faces deepening criminal probe over whether it misstated production figures

Give Musk’s erratic behavior recently and his supposed genius I.Q. it makes me wonder if he wants to be kicked off the Tesla Board so when the proverbial wheels fall off the company he can avoid the blame. I don’t recall that being the captain’s strategy when the Titanic hit the iceberg but then again you can only go down with your ship once.

Trump Impeachment Now Endangered

Republicans have a reputation for playing checkers while Democrats run rings around them because they are playing chess. Democrats plan and scheme while Republicans react. Democrats are big on the credo “he who defines the issue wins the debate” while Republicans just stare with glassy-eyed amazement at their opponents.

Folks I’m sensing one of those scenarios—the attempt to impeach of Donald J Trump—unfolding before our eyes now. Granted this is speculation but let’s connect some dots.

1 The conventional wisdom this election season has been that Democrats will clean House and Senate and take Congress away from evil Republicans and restore it to its rightful owners; the Democrats.

2 Robert Mueller has rallied the Dems for the last two years on Russian collusion but it is clear that he will not be delivering the goods to Impeach Trump.

3 Democrats claim that they never let a good crisis go to waste—especially one that George Soros is willing to finance—and George has found a new cause of late that is sucking-up much media time going into the election.

4 Democrats see open borders as a way to expand their control of the political apparatus of the United States. They want illegal aliens to vote in our elections to keep them in power. Every time someone wants to limit elections to US citizens—which by the way is the law in every state in the Union except maybe California—Democrats are the first to run to some judge of their own choosing that claim voter suppression. Democrats want illegals and felons to vote. Democrats want rampant voter fraud. Democrats want chaos. Democrats rule by dividing people into groups and then pitting the groups against each other.

5 The Guatemalan Invasion is a trap that is being set for Trump. It is organized and paid for by folks in the United States including George Soros. The Dems figure that they have Trump boxed into a corner where either way Trump loses and they win. They see no scenario in which he wins.

Invasion force following their flag

If Trump caves and lets these folks into the United States then he will forever have to give up his promise of the wall. He will be called a hypocrite for campaigning on border security and then collapsing like George W Bush when the rubber hits the wall.

Or, Trump really does call out the troops to protect the border. Trump has reportedly said he will do this. In this instance, Democrats are hoping the Trump does what he said. They will call him hotheaded and move to impeach him immediately because they will maintain that he doesn’t have the right to deploy troops within the borders of the United States. Democrats will cite the Posse Comitatus Act as grounds saying the President doesn’t have the legal authority to deploy troops.

6 Using Posse Comitatus Act is thus their Plan B to remove or severely cripple Trump. The House will Impeach him whether the Senate later votes to remove him or not. They believe that they have the votes to remove Trump but if not, so tarnish him that he won’t run again in 2020. They don’t want to defeat Trump, they want to destroy him.

The only problem with the above scenario is that the Democrat Wave that has been forecast for the last six months is turning out to be “vaporware”. The political polling folks are collapsing their predictions about a Democrat Wave.

Two months ago, Democrats were believed to be picking up four to six Senate seats and now the opposite is being said. Republicans are likely to pick-up more seats in the Senate.

In the House, two months ago, Democrats were expecting to pick-up at least 60 seats but now there is doubt that they will take back the House. Republicans are expected to lose seats this cycle but may be able to maintain control. Without control of the House, no impeachment proceedings can be started.

The catalyst for this change in political fortunes appears to be the direct result of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. Thus Dianne Feinstein has singlehandedly saved the Republicans for themselves.

 

Further Reading

The Blue Wave Was a Lie, But It Could Be Even Worse for Democrats

Polls Could Be Missing a GOP Surge. Here’s Why

U.S. military weighs request for troops on Mexico border

Soros? GOP Rep. Posts Video Purportedly Showing People Being Paid To Join Honduran Caravan

DHS: We Can Confirm There Are Criminals, Gang Members in the Illegal Caravan

Note: Democrats dispute whether Soros is paying for the “refugees” but he funnels money thru many organizations dedicated to open borders. Someone is paying for food and supplies for a group that yesterday was reportedly about 14,000 strong to walk over 1,000 miles to the US border. Talk about a community organizer.

Democrats Field Bottom Feeder Candidates

In addition to such documented liars as Elizabeth Warren, here are three samples of the idiots that Democrats expect low information voters to support on November 6th.

 

Kyrsten Sinema Democrat for US Senate

 

Lie #1 She grew up homeless

However, one of the key claims made by Sinema is now being challenged by The New York Times.

Throughout the campaign, Sinema, a member of Congress who represents Arizona’s 9th District, has repeatedly made the claim that she comes from humble beginnings. She recounts in interviews and in speeches that she spent the majority of her childhood living homeless and in a former gas station without utilities.

In February, she tweeted, “I’m a little bit different than most people in politics. For nearly 3 years, my family lived in an abandoned gas station without running water or electricity. Those were tough times, but I knew it could be different.”

Additionally, Sinema touts the idea that she would be the rare senator who has dealt with being homeless.

However, court documents obtained by The Times are now casting a shadow of doubt on her claims.

Oops: Democrat Candidate’s Childhood Poverty Story Revealed To Be Fake

Kyrsten Sinema–aspires to be a homeless politician after November 6th

Lie #2 Arizona Voters Are Crazy

The GOP has sought to highlight Democrat Kyrsten Sinema’s past radicalism — she protested the Afghanistan war in a pink tutu, and her organization portrayed American soldiers as murderous skeletons inflicting “US terror” — as well as her biographical…shall we say, enhancements.

She called Arizonans “crazy” and Arizona the “crazy” state.

Hoo Boy: Democrats’ Arizona Senate Nominee Caught on Tape Bashing…Arizona

Clearly, she has never been to California.

 

Lie #3 Stay at Home Moms Are “Leeches”

“These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they’re choosing to live that life,” she told Scottsdale nightlife magazine 944. “That’s bulls**t. I mean, what the f*** are we really talking about here?” . . .

Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Attacked ‘Bullshit’ Stay-At-Home Moms For ‘Leeching Off Their Husbands’

 

Stacey Abrams Democrat for Georgia Governor

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, dismissed the notion that free-market principles might play a role in improving health-care outcomes for her constituents during a town hall in Atlanta on Sunday.

“And I am sick and tired of hearing about the free market being the solution to this problem because I’ve never seen the free market write a prescription in rural Georgia,” Abrams said. “I mean, I’ve never seen the free market show up and give someone Metformin so they can have a little bit of control of their diabetes before it turns into an amputation of their foot. I’ve never seen the free market say I’m going to replace that stent in your heart next door and not make you go 200 miles to get it done. The problem with the free market is the free market needs to make a profit and there is no profit in doing the right thing.”

Stacey Abrams Blasts ‘Free Market’ in Town-Hall Rant

Stacey Abrams–relying on voter fraud because she doesn’t stand a chance in the free market of ideas

A 1992 photo of Stacey Abrams, who is now the Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, has resurfaced, showing Abrams ― who was in college at the time ― at a protest where students burned what was then Georgia’s state flag.

Old Photo Of Stacey Abrams Protesting Confederate Symbol On State Flag Resurfaces

 

Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Tuesday the Democrats’ “blue wave” in November would be comprised of those who are “documented and undocumented.”

Stacey Abrams: ‘Blue Wave’ Is ‘Comprised of Those Who Are Documented and Undocumented’

 

Ilhan Omar Democrat for US Congress

Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-60B) currently leads the race to fill the federal House seat being vacated by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN). Immediately after being elected to her current seat in 2016, Omar faced allegations — soon backed by a remarkable amount of evidence — that she had married her own brother in 2009, and was still legally his wife. They officially divorced in December 2017.

The motivation for the marriage remains unclear. However, the totality of the evidence points to possible immigration fraud and student loan fraud.

Official School Records Support Claims That Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) Married Her Brother

Ilhan Omar–redefining the idea of being her brother’s keeper

 

Whether their gender is an issue, I will leave for you to decide. Personally, I agree with Rush Limbaugh. “I like the women’s movement…especially from behind.”

Facebook’s Decline Among Teens

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is losing popularity with teenagers. This is ironic since it was founded as a way for teens to keep in touch. Instead, Facebook has become the place to go for older people to see who had a baby or when the next class reunion will take place and stuff like that. Facebook is not bleeding users as quickly as Myspace did many years ago but the trend is not good.

Facebook will see a decline among teenagers in the U.S. this year, says market research firm eMarketer.

EMarketer predicts 14.5 million people ages 12 to 17 will use Facebook in 2017, a decline of 3.4% from the previous year, as they migrate to Snap’s Snapchat and Facebook’s Instagram.

Monthly Facebook usage among those under 12 and ages 18 to 24 will grow more slowly than previously forecast, too, according to eMarketer.

The forecast suggests young people are turning away from the world’s most populous social network, which reached 2 billion users this year.

It’s a grown-up problem for Facebook which needs young users to develop the habit of checking Facebook so it can show them ads well into adulthood.

EMarketer forecasting analyst Oscar Orozco says teens and tweens, seem less engaged on Facebook, logging in less frequently and spending less time there.

For years there have been warnings that Facebook was losing its cool with young people.

Facebook may have a grown-up problem: Young people leaving for Instagram and Snapchat

 

As if losing your cool with teens was not enough, there is this from U.K.’s Metro

Facebook ‘could collapse’ if it keeps being dogged by scandals over misinformation and election hacking, says the author of a 2010 book on the company. David Kirkpatrick says advertisers could start to shun the platform if the scandals don’t stop – after a year of seemingly endless controversy over misinformation, privacy and ‘fake news’.

Kirkpatrick said that if Facebook stops being a virtual watercooler for friendly conversation, but a lair for trolls and misinformation – advertisers might find the service too dangerous to showcase washing tablets and shoes.

Research earlier this summer suggested that young people are deserting Facebook.

Just 51% of teens are on Facebook, suggesting young people are turning away from a social network which was once a pivotal part of adolescent life.

Facebook ‘could collapse’ if election scandals keep coming, author warns

 

There has been a huge decline in teenage Facebook users over the past three years as youngsters ditch the social network in favour of platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, a new study reveals.

That’s according to the Pew Research Center, which reports that the number of teenage Facebook users (aged 13-17) had plummeted from 71% in 2015 to 51% in 2018.

Facebook’s popularity amongst teens is fading and fading fast

 

Censorship of conservatives is an issue that also is causing folks to look for friendlier alternatives to Facebook’s social platform. The evil algorithm gets the blame but really Facebook is intolerant of people that stray from liberal orthodoxy. They fail to realize that Silicon Valley’s values are not those of America’s Heartland.

 

The disconnect between the real value of companies like Facebook and their sky high stock prices is concerning. This “tech bubble” will eventually correct itself but whether that is the result of bleeding users or advertisers or something else remains to be seen.