Month: April 2016

General Dunford Suggests White House Is Limiting His Ability to Fight ISIS

On Thursday, Senator Lindsey Graham asked General Dunford about his ISIS strategy. “[T]he military strategy that we’re embarked on is the best way to destroy ISIL. And it’s what you recommended. Or is it limited by conditions put on you by the White House?” Dunford responded, “[T]o clarify, so if I say…” Graham interrupted, “[W]ould you do more if you could?” He answered, “I would do more if I could, but the limitation is not just a political limitation. Part of it is our partners on the ground…” Click here to see the video of the exchange.

Wow..

Watch this breathtaking video of a solar flare

NASA has released an awe-inspiring video of a solar flare that erupted on the sun on April 17. The video shows a bright, strobe-like flash on the sun’s right side, which the space agency said was a “mid-level” solar flare. The solar storm was captured by a NASA craft called the Solar Dynamics Observatory, which was launched in 2010. Because it was recorded in ultraviolet light, the video has been color-coded, NASA said. Solar flares and their radiation can disrupt communications, but according to NASA, this one “only caused brief radio blackouts.” The Solar Dynamics Observatory said that this region of the sun had so far only displayed minor flares, and that the arches in the footage after the flare is the sun’s “magnetic field reorganizing itself.” The sun’s most intense flares, called “X-class,” are ten times bigger than “M-class” flares, which this one was, NASA said.

Very cool!!  Click on the text above to see the video.    🙂

Will Ferrell ‘not pursuing’ ‘Reagan’ movie

It turns out Will Ferrell won’t play a dementia-stricken Ronald Reagan in a comedy that caused a stir once news of its plot broke. “The ‘Reagan’ script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered,” the actor’s rep told FOXNews.com. “While it is by no means an ‘Alzheimer’s comedy’ as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project.” It was widely reported on Wednesday that Ferrell was set to star in the film, written by Mike Rosolio. Many were distraught over the idea of the comedy, which focuses on President Reagan at the beginning of his second term as he falls into dementia and an intern is tasked with attempting to convince the leader of the country that he is playing the president in a movie. The movie upset Reagan’s family as well. His daughter Patti Davis expressed her anger to the New York Post’s Page Six. “There’s nothing funny about Alzheimer’s,” she said. “It is terrifying for the families of those who suffer from it. They live with the fear [of] what will change next. They have to live with this terror and grief every day. This movie is cruel, not just to my father, but to the millions of people who have the disease and the millions more who care for them and watch them suffer every day.” His son Michael Reagan tweeted his distaste. “Alzheimers is not a comedy!” In March, a live read of “Reagan” took place in Hollywood starring James Brolin, John Cho, and Lena Dunham.

And that should tell you all you need to know.  Lena Dunham is a nauseating, over-the-top, America-hating, uber-liberal.  Will Ferrell isn’t much better.  And, that’s too bad.  I thought Will was great in Elf, and he used to a very funny impression of George W. Bush.  But, this piece on Reagan wasn’t funny.  It was mean.  My late aunt suffered from Alzheimers, and my cousins went through that whole process up to her death.  She didn’t even recognize her sister, my mother, toward the end.  Alzheimers is a dreadful disease, and making fun of someone who has it is disgusting.  It’s one thing to do political satire.  And, these snotty, liberal elitists in HollyWEIRD do it all day long on SNL and so on..  That’s fine.  But, at SOME point it crosses the line.  That was the case here.  I’m sure the only reason Will pulled out was because of the backlash from Americans who didn’t appreciate seeing Ronald Reagan, a popular president who suffered from this awful disease, being made fun of like that…and the people told Will what he could do with himself.

Supreme Court denies bid to block Texas voter ID law

Texas’ controversial voter identification law will remain in effect, possibly through November’s elections, after the Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency request from a coalition of Latino advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers who say the measure is discriminatory. The unsigned order from the justices did not explain their reasoning, or whether there was any opposition. While it is a temporary decision, it could affect enforcement of similar laws in other states during a hotly contested presidential election year. A lawsuit challenging the Texas law known as SB 14 is still pending in a federal court, and the immediate issue was whether it could be enforced until the legal issues are fully resolved. A federal appeals court will hold a hearing next month on the issue, and the Supreme Court indicated it could revisit the issue later this year. One of the strictest such laws in the country, it requires voters to provide certain government-issued photo ID in order to cast a ballot. Texas officials and the U.S. Justice Department agree more than 600,000 eligible voters in the second-largest state lack one of the required IDs. Opponents say a disproportionate number are poor Hispanic and black voters. But state officials claim there have been no problems such as large numbers of eligible voters being turned away. A federal appeals court ruled the 2011 law had a “discriminatory effect” in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act. But the Supreme Court two years later struck down the VRA’s key enforcement provision, muting much of the federal government’s ability to monitor and block state laws that may deny voters fair, unfettered access to the polls. Against that backdrop is the Texas voter ID law, affecting more than 14 million voters this election cycle. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is poised to take another look at the issue in coming months, but both sides are at odds over its continuing enforcement. The ID requirements were used during the Texas primary last month, as well as the 2014 elections. The high court case is Veasey v. Abbott (15A999).

Excellent decision!!  This is far from over.  But, it was good first step.  So, we’ll take it!   🙂

Analysis: ‘Make America Mexico Again’: We Warned You About America-Hating Mobs

Since the advent of the of the Occupy Wall Street movement and continuing though the rise of Black Lives Matter, Breitbart News has been warning and educating our audience about the real nature of the radical protest movements that act both as the vanguard of the revolution for the far-left and the shock troops for establishment Democrats. The protests that America saw in California on Thursday and Friday should be wake-up call about the real nature and goals of these movements. The facts were all there about the people coming together not merely to protest Donald Trump but to strike out at America itself. Everyone could see the American flags burning, the Mexican flags flying, the violence and the vulgarity all aimed at capitalism, freedom, and white Americans. In my appearance Thursday morning on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125, I connected the dots on a modern day axis of evil we see destroying the modern world: the deadly alliance between radical Islam and the radical Left. I discussed the goal of these movements to destroy America and replace it with nation states divided along racial and cultural lines. It sounds crazy to think people really want to create the back-ruled country of New Afrikka out of America’s south or something as far-fetched as building a nation called Aztlan from the “stolen land” from California to Texas, but there it was on display in California. In one video clip, a foul-mouthed female activist bleats into her megaphone about hating America’s values and railing against slavery, homophobia, and patriarchy. The sick hypocrisy is that the leftists decrying slavery, homophobia, and patriarchy are defending Islamists who keep women as literal sex slaves, force female genital mutilations, and throw gay people off of buildings. Everything the left claims to hate about the West is practiced in Muslim majority nations across the globe, which are the global leaders in the real war on women. If you want to see real rape culture, you’ll find it in gang assaults from the Arab Spring in Cairo to the New Years attacks in Cologne to the “migrant” camps springing up as the Muslim invasion of Europe continues. Don’t count on the mainstream media to report it, however. Trained by the entrenched radicals of academia, they don’t dare color outside of the politically correct lines that have been set for them. They bring you cherry picked info filtered through ideological blinders that don’t let them report what’s really hapenning on the ground. You can’t expect the GOP establishment or their media lapdogs to give you the unvarnished truth either. Yes, the worst media on the right probably brings you more real information than a left wing outlet on a good day, but a combination of fear of being tarred with leftist insults and kowtowing to global big business interests mutes the real story. Unfortunately, on issues from immigration policy to “mass incarceration” to foreign entanglements with counties like Saudi Arabia, too often the establishment right and left work in collusion. Even self-defense against the protester gang is not tolerated. Note that when Donald Trump began to mock the disruptive mobs who had been attacking his supporters and trying to ruin his events for months, both the left and right establishment attacked Trump for creating an “atmosphere of violence.” The California protests proved once again that Trump and his fans are the ones responding to an atmosphere of violence and anti-American hatred. Tomorrow is May Day, and for the socialists, communists, and other radicals, it’s like Easter, Christmas, and their birthday all rolled into one. It’s a time for chanting and property destruction in the name of anti-Capitalism in events held all across America.

Breitbart reporter Lee Stranahan is responsible for that piece.  To see some affiliated photos and videos that support his thesis, click on the text above.  It was painfully obvious how anti-America, anti-capitalism and so on these thuggish protestors were..many of them waving the Mexican flag and all.

Massive Cartel Human Smuggling Ring Busted in Texas

A 2-year investigation has resulted in the indictments of 29 people and 86 criminal charges relating to a cartel connected-human smuggling operation in South Texas. The investigation which began in Atascosa County, Texas, tied in a suspected human smuggling operation that stretched from the border to as far as San Antonio and Houston. Atascosa County, located around the town of Pleasanton about 40 miles south of San Antonio, became the focal point of the investigation as authorities uncovered a stash house where up to 250 illegal immigrants per month were being smuggled, information provided to Breitbart Texas by Atascosa County District Attorney Gene Peña revealed. “What we have today is the result of a two-year investigation that has now resulted in the indictments of 29 individuals,” Peña said..

Outstanding!  To read the rest of this article, click on the text above.

Tesla coils ‘sing’ in electrifying performance

When most people rave about seeing an “electrifying” performance, they typically aren’t talking about witnessing real lightning on stage. But for the band ArcAttack, harnessing the power of 1 million volts of electricity — and turning that energy into music — is business as usual. ArcAttack creates music using two giant structures called Tesla coils, which were invented by the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla in 1891, as part of his dream to develop a way to transmit electricity around the world without any wires. Now, more than 120 years later, a band that is described by its founding member, Joe DiPrima, as a “mad scientist-slash-rock group,” has found an innovative way to use these tower-like structures for entertainment. The band performed Saturday (April 23) here at Smithsonian magazine’s “The Future Is Here” festival, a three-day event that explores the intersection of science and science fiction. When they are played, the Tesla coils emit a soft buzz before unleashing long tentacles of electricity. These sparks not only serve as a dramatic way to light up the stage, but also “sing” musical notes by causing air molecules to vibrate, creating sound waves. A bass guitarist typically accompanies the coils; during part of Saturday’s performance, he donned a metal suit and protective helmet, and stood between the two coils, playing a guitar as giant sparks lapped at the custom-made, lightning-proof instrument. Tesla invented his coil to do things like light up fluorescent bulbs without any connecting wires, but ArcAttack’s coils feature a slightly more modern design, making use of some components that weren’t available in the 1890s. But overall, Tesla’s original invention remains mostly unchanged, according to the band. ArcAttack’s Tesla coils have been “engineered in such a way that they play music,” DiPrima said. “The main tones you’re hearing are from the spark itself.” The Tesla coils consist of a primary coil and a secondary coil, each with a capacitor to store electrical energy and an inductor that resists changes in the electric current passing through. ArcAttack’s system takes low-voltage energy from a power source and then “steps it up” to a high voltage with a transformer. The devices store energy by vibrating at their natural frequency, and when the entire system is up and running, the primary and secondary coils can pass energy back and forth between each other. Eventually, the voltage at the top of the structure gets so high that it needs to burst out as an electric current. For the coils to play musical notes, though, DiPrima and his bandmates control the current and resulting sparks, toying with the frequencies so that the audience perceives the “pops” as pitches. In 2010, ArcAttack competed on the reality show “America’s Got Talent,” performing in the semifinals before they were eliminated. Now, the Austin, Texas-based band tours the country, doing live performances and educational outreach, such as making their equipment available to science museums, according to the group’s website. Working with electricity obviously requires rigorous safety provisions, but DiPrima, who used to work as a television repairman, said the singing Tesla coils are safer than people might expect. “I’ve shocked myself with televisions way more,” he said.

Very cool!!  To see a video of ArcAttack, click on the text above.     🙂

China Blocks U.S. Navy Flotilla’s Visit to Hong Kong

The Chinese government on Thursday denied a Navy flotilla access to the port in Hong Kong, Pentagon officials said Friday, the latest sign of escalating tension between the United States and China. The rare refusal to allow the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, and several other vessels accompanying it, to visit the port comes two weeks after the Stennis hosted the defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter, on a visit to the South China Sea, where the United States is challenging what it sees as excessive maritime claims by China. During the trip, Mr. Carter criticized the Chinese and said the United States would work with its allies in the region. “America’s policy continues to be one valued on principles of peaceful resolutions of disputes, lawful settlement of things like territorial disputes like the South China Sea, or anywhere else, freedom of navigation, freedom of commerce,” Mr. Carter said at the time. The denial was the first time the Chinese government had refused to allow an American aircraft carrier into the port in Hong Kong since August 2014, according to Pentagon officials. The Navy had asked the Chinese to let the Stennis and accompanying vessels visit the port next week, the officials said. There is currently a United States Navy ship in port in Hong Kong, the Blue Ridge, Kristin Haworth, a spokeswoman for the American Consulate in Hong Kong, said by telephone. The Blue Ridge is the command ship of the United States Seventh Fleet. “We have a long track record of successful visits to Hong Kong, including the U.S.S. Blue Ridge, and we expect that to continue,” she said. American naval vessels are frequent visitors to Hong Kong, regarded as one of the most desirable ports of call because of its night life and shopping. Before the 1997 return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, entry was never a problem because the city was governed by Britain. Since the transfer, the Navy has continued to make port calls in Hong Kong, but the Chinese government has on occasion rejected American requests. In 2007, China denied access to another aircraft carrier, the Kitty Hawk, as well as two minesweepers. In 2002, a guided-missile destroyer, the Curtis Wilbur, was also denied entry. The families of crew members from the Stennis and other vessels had been told that the ships planned to make a port stop, and many had already bought tickets to visit the sailors while they were there.

We need to return the sentiment and expel Chinese students here in America, and take other similar diplomatic action to let the Chinese government know that doing this has consequences.  They’re only doing this because they know Obama is weak and can be bullied easily.

US weighing under-the-radar routes for Syrian refugees?

The Obama administration appears to be bowing to international pressure and pursuing under-the-radar “alternative” ways to bring in more Syrian and other refugees — as soon as this year. The latest indication that the administration is preparing to take in more than the 10,000 Syrians this year it already has committed to follows a March 30 “high-level meeting” on Syrian refugee admission in Geneva, Switzerland — convened by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. At the meeting, attended by State Department officials, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called for countries to pursue “alternative avenues” for refugees – such as student and work visas, and expanded family reunification programs. “These pathways can take many forms: not only resettlement, but also more flexible mechanisms for family reunification, including extended family members, [labor] mobility schemes, student visa and scholarships, as well as visa for medical reasons,” Grandi said. This followed an adviser suggesting the U.S. ask universities to offer scholarships to Syrian students, and help Syrian-Americans bring in their extended families outside the “time-consuming” refugee resettlement process. The State Department immediately issued a media note reaffirming the “commitment to resettle at least 10,000 Syrians in FY 2016 and increase the total number of resettled refugees from around the world to 100,000 by the end of FY 2017.” Additionally, in a wordy statement, the State Department appeared to agree with many of Grandi’s conclusions. “The United States joins UNHCR in calling for new ways nations, civil society, the private sector, and individuals can together address the global refugee challenge. The United States encourages other countries to consider expanding resettlement and other forms of admissions for all refugee populations, ensuring that more of those in need have the opportunity to start their lives anew in safety and with dignity,” the note said. Nayla Rush, senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, said she thinks the administration is “100 percent” behind the idea. “My fear is they aren’t really going to let anyone know about it,” Rush said. Unclear is whether the refugees can be properly vetted, especially if they come in through an array of different visa programs. The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration levels, reported on the U.N. meeting earlier this week.

Agreed!!  There is no vetting process for these Syrian so-called “refugees.”  ISIS/ISIL has already infiltrated such “refugee” groups, as the Germans have found out already the hard way.  And, ISIS has made no bones about the fact that they plan to do the same thing here in America.  So, for Obama and his administration to knowingly, willing, want to import such a risk shows that Obama doesn’t care one bit about we-the-actual citizens of America.  No wonder Trump’s “America First” campaign is getting such traction…

New 360-degree Mars video puts you on the surface of the red planet

A new NASA video lets you see what it’s like to be a rover exploring a vast crater on Mars. The 360-degree video shows a panorama taken during the afternoon of April 4 on the red planet from the perspective of NASA’s Curiosity rover, a car-sized spacecraft that has been piecing together Mars’ history from the Gale Crater since the rover landed in 2012. In this panorama, Mars looks strangely Earth-like with its grey-blue sky and mountainous terrain. According to a NASA statement, some of the panoramic images taken from Naukluft Plateau (shown in the video) were shot from the “highest viewpoints” Curiosity has reached, producing a beautiful scene of the Martian landscape. “The scenes show wind-sculpted textures in the sandstone bedrock close to the rover, and Gale Crater’s rim rising above the crater floor in the distance,” NASA said in the statement. “Mount Sharp stands in the middle of the crater, which is about 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter.” Curiosity will eventually start investigating three interesting bits of geology on the lower levels of Mount Sharp. The rocks could help scientists understand how long the Gale Crater was habitable for microbial life millions of years ago, NASA said. Earlier in its mission, the rover found that the microbial life could have once survived in Gale Crater, which may have actually played host to long-lived lakes. At some point in its history, Mars changed from a warmer, wet world to the cold, dry one we see today. A NASA Mars orbiter called MAVEN discovered that the red planet’s atmosphere was torn from it by wind from the sun pounding it, causing it to slough off into space. So far, Curiosity has driven about 7.9 miles since landing on Mars, and it’s in relatively good shape to continue moving along on the rough surface of the red planet. Scientists are keeping a close eye on the rover’s damaged wheels, but they think Curiosity is up for its roving tasks ahead.

Very cool!!  To see the video, click on the text above.     🙂