Month: November 2017

President Trump Donates Q3 Salary to HHS to Combat the Opioid Crisis

President Donald Trump has donated his third-quarter presidential salary to help the Department of Health and Human Services’ efforts to combat the opioid crisis, acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and the White House announced on Thursday. “His decision to donate his salary is a tribute to his compassion, to his patriotism and his sense of duty to the American people,” acting HHS secretary Eric Hargan said during Thursday’s White House press briefing. Hargan said the money will be used in the planning and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction. “HHS is proud to be working with the White House on this effort, and our team of public health experts brings a great deal of experience and expertise to the table regarding how to make these campaigns effective,” Hargan said. “At HHS, our goal is to create healthier lives, stronger communities and a safer country. And we’re glad to have a president who recognizes that the opioid crisis is a huge threat to all three of these goals.” Trump has vowed to donate his entire annual salary of $400,000 while he is in office. His first-quarter salary went to the National Park Service, and his second-quarter salary was given to the Department of Education.

Wow..  Kudos to President Trump for this class act.  Whatever you think of his Tweeting and some of the less that polite things he sometimes says, this act speaks volumes about his character.  And, we know that if Hillary had one, she wouldn’t give away a dime of her salary.  Remember when she was First Lady, and was caught stealing the White House china and other things when Bill was President, which the Clintons eventually had to return?  And, her $300K speaking fees at colleges, to talk about how high college tuition is?  She’s a self-righteous, entitlement-minded, self-serving narcissist.  Yeah..  Kudos to Pres. Trump.  You won’t see this story over at MSNBC or CNN..

French: Stop Misrepresenting Masterpiece Cakeshop

Forgive me for starting a piece with the oldest cliché in the practice of law. As the saying goes, “If the law is on your side, pound on the law. If the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. If neither are on your side, pound on the table.” In the run-up to the oral arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission on December 5, we’re seeing a lot of table-pounding from the Left. In fact, I’ve never seen a case more mischaracterized in my entire legal career. The actual facts of the case are crystal clear. Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to custom-design a cake to help celebrate a gay wedding. As a Christian, he finds same-sex unions to be unbiblical and immoral, and he wasn’t willing to use his artistic talents to advance a message he holds to be wrong. In fact, he’d frequently declined to design cakes that advanced messages he found to be offensive. But he never, ever — not once — discriminated against any customers on the basis of their identity. He baked cakes for people of all races, creeds, colors, and sexual orientatons. So why do so many on the left compare him to segregationists? Why do they use hypotheticals that have nothing to do with the facts of this case? Today the New York Times published a perfect example of pound-on-the-table misrepresentations. It’s by Barnard College professor and Times contributor Jennifer Finney Boylan. How does she distort the case? Let us count the ways. She begins of course by comparing Phillips to the owner of a restaurant who claimed a religious justification for denying service to African Americans. Then she compares him to a doctor who wouldn’t care for a lesbian couple’s baby. She talks about landlords, clinics, and other businesses — all of which could deny services to people “because of who they are.” She quotes a law professor (because of course law professors aren’t above misrepresenting cases) as saying, “We’ve never allowed a commercial business to justify discrimination against a protected class based on the First Amendment. We shouldn’t start now.” Here’s the thing — if the court rules for Phillips, it wouldn’t be starting now. Phillips isn’t discriminating against a protected class. I’ll repeat this until I’m blue in the face. He serves gay customers. If a black baker refuses a white customer’s request to design a Confederate-flag cake, he’s not discriminating on the basis of race. He’s refusing to advance a message. If a police officer’s wife refuses a black customer’s request to design a cake celebrating Assata Shakur, a convicted cop-killer and one of the FBI’s most-wanted terrorists, she’s not discriminating on the basis of race. She’s refusing to advance a message.

Exactly!  Well said, David.  David French is an attorney and Army Reserve officer (Major) who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq.  To read the rest of his legal op/ed here, click on the text above.

101st Airborne first test Army’s new M17 pistol made by Sig Sauer: ‘An easy, smooth-firing weapon’

Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s iconic 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, were the first to field the new M17 pistol this week. The era of the Beretta-made M9 for Army leaders is over with the introduction of Sig Sauer’s new Modular Handgun System. A select group of soldiers tested M17s on Monday. Roughly 2,000 pistols were inventoried and inspected prior to the demonstration. “This is another 101st first,” Maj. Gen. Andrew P. Poppas, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) commander said Wednesday. “Our 75-year legacy is full of landmark moments like this. […] It is an easy, smooth-firing weapon.” The M17 pistol and the M18 (a compact alternative) are variants of Sig Sauer’s commercially available P320 pistol. The products are the result of the New Hampshire-based company’s $580 million contract with the Army signed in January. “[M9s are] pretty dated technology,” Lt. Col. Steven Power said of Beretta’s pistol, which was an Army standard sidearm since 1986. “The specific performance improvements from MHS over the M9 include better accuracy, tighter dispersion, and better ergonomics, which combined result in a far more lethal pistol.” An official told Stars and Stripes on Thursday that the Modular Handgun System will be issued to 1st Security Forces Assistance Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, along with other units, before the end of the year. The decision to issue the sidearm to team leaders is a first for the service, the newspaper reported.

Congrats to Sig Sauer for another big win, and congrats to the Army for finally dumping the M9, which I’ve had the frustration of jamming on me more than once.  Sig Sauer is a HUGE improvement.  That’s why ALL of my personal sidearms are Sig Sauers.  Excellent!!   🙂

Unconditional Surrender: NFL Gives Players $89 Million for ‘Social Justice’ Spending with No Condition That Anthem Protests Will End

The National Football League and player representatives came to an agreement on Wednesday evening, that the league would throw $89 million at so-called “social justice” issues. The money represents a desperate attempt by the league to put an end to the constant anti-American protests held during the playing of the national anthem. Though, the agreement does not include a condition that the anthem protests will end. The two parties have agreed in principle that the league will spend the $89 million over a seven-year period on causes dealing with “criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education,” ESPN reported. The league is set to put more cash into these “social justice” issues than it has to support breast cancer awareness or its Salute to Service program, which celebrates and supports members of our armed forces. The agreement may have been fast-tracked because of reports that appeared saying that the player’s coalition had begun unraveling as some of the more radical players had reportedly become dissatisfied with the negotiations and agreements made by their representatives, Malcolm Jenkins (Philadelphia Eagles) and Anquan Boldin (retired). Earlier reports found that some of the groups set to receive portions of the NFL’s hush money include avowed communist Van Jones’ Dream Corps, which includes so-called “green energy” boosters Green For All, and numerous groups sponsored by hardcore leftist billionaire George Soros. In addition, a group of two NFL staff members and five players will frequently meet to review new causes that might become beneficiaries of the league’s “social justice” fund. It isn’t clear exactly why this agreement was made, however, as the in principle agreement does not include any language maintaining that the national anthem protests would come to an end. Meaning that despite the massive payout to shady left-wing causes, the players won’t be required to end their protests, the main reason the agreement was sought in the first place. It appears that the NFL just “hopes” that the protests will stop. This agreement seems to mean the player will have the expensive social justice cake and be able to eat it, too. Meanwhile, the latest ratings review for Monday Night Football (MNF) reveals that the program earned another season low. The MNF match up between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens drew a mere 6.0 in metered markets. That makes it the lowest rated MNF contest of the year for the NFL and ESPN. The Week 12 result is a 17 percent crash over last week’s MNF numbers.

The NFL, under the breathtaking lack of leadership of Roger Goodell, continues to cave to extreme liberal, politically correct nonsense.  At the same time, it’s losing viewers by the tens of thousands, and the tv ratings for NFL games continue to fall.  What morons!  Remember when you could watch an NFL game without all the politically correct, anti-America crap?  Good memories..  Oh well..

 

Stellar storms may light up signs of life on alien planets

Stellar storms, or eruptions of material that are regularly spewed into space by stars, could help scientists search for potentially habitable environments on alien planets, according to a new study. Most stars, including the sun, produce explosions on their surfaces that spit powerful particles out into space. These expulsions can rain down on nearby planets, and the new study shows that these interactions could create chemical “beacons” in the planetary atmospheres that reveal the presence of potentially life-friendly environments. “We’re in search of molecules formed from fundamental prerequisites of life — specifically molecular nitrogen, which is 78 percent of our atmosphere,” Vladimir Airapetian, a solar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement from the agency. Airapetian is lead author on the new paper, which argues that modern instruments could detect these prerequisite chemicals faster than they could detect signs of existing life-forms. “These are the basic molecules that are biologically friendly and have a strong infrared emitting power, increasing our chance of detecting them,” Airapetian said. Because Earth is the only known habitable world so far, scientists use it as a guide for what to expect when hunting for life beyond the solar system. Water vapor, nitrogen and oxygen are all products of life as we know it. While the sun releases a relatively light stream of charged particles and occasional, energetic bursts, other stars can release far larger, more energetic and more frequent doses that bathe their nearby planets. If the charged particles interact with the atmosphere of a planet containing those products of life — water vapor and molecular nitrogen and oxygen — the interaction could trigger a cascade of chemical reactions that form what Airapetian and his colleagues call “atmospheric beacons” — molecular oxygen, nitric oxide and hydroxyl (one atom each of oxygen and hydrogen, bound together), according to the statement. Then, if the conditions are right, researchers could detect those beacons. As light from the star hits the planet’s atmosphere, it would cause the beacons to send energy into space as infrared radiation. Examining the radiation from the atmosphere of such a world would reveal the presence of these beacons. Since it takes a significant amount of molecular oxygen and nitrogen to create the beacons, their detection could indicate an atmosphere filled with biologically friendly chemistry, indicating a potentially habitable exoplanet. “Taking what we know about infrared radiation emitted by Earth’s atmosphere, the idea is to look at exoplanets and see what sort of signals we can detect,” said study co-author Martin Mlynczak. “If we find exoplanet signals in nearly the same proportion as Earth’s, we could say that a planet is a good candidate for hosting life.”

Fascinating!!    🙂

Starnes: Jesus banned from buses in DC, but gay hookup ads allowed

The Archdiocese of Washington wanted to extend an invitation to commuters to find the perfect Christmas gift by advertising on city buses, but the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) threw up a roadblock. The advertisement depicted silhouettes of three shepherds walking at night with tall canes and sheep beneath a shining North Star. Emblazoned across the ad is the phrase: “FIND THE PERFECT GIFT.” But the transit authority rejected the ad because it “depicts a religious scene and thus seeks to promote religion,” according to a federal lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of Washington against the WMATA. “To borrow from a favorite Christmas story, under WMATA’s guidelines, if the ads are about packages, boxes or bags… if Christmas comes from a store… then it seems WMATA approves,” spokesman Ed McFadden said in a statement. “But if Christmas means a little bit more, WMATA plays Grinch.” The transit authority might have reconsidered its ban on the Catholic Church’s advertisement had they been selling goods and services, the lawsuit alleges. However, as we all know – the perfect Christmas gift cannot be bought. The perfect gift came from a much Higher Authority. The WMATA issued this statement: “In 2015, WMATA changed its advertising space to a nonpublic and prohibits issue-oriented advertising, including political, religious and advocacy advertising. The ad in question was declined because it is prohibited by WMATA’s current advertising guidelines.” WMATA’s revised advertising guidelines prohibit “advertisements that promote or oppose any religion, religious practice or belief,” the Archdiocese alleges. “We believe rejection of this ad to be a clear violation of fundamental free speech and a limitation on the exercise of our faith,” general counsel Kim Fiorentino said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our case to affirm the right of all to express such viewpoints in the public square.” And while the Archdiocese of Washington may not be welcome to advertise on public buses, the transit authority is more than happy to promote other enterprises – like gay hookup websites. In 2016 the transit authority defended its decision to allow Squirt.org to advertise citing First Amendment rights, CNS News reported. In other words, the transit authority’s decision to banish the Archdiocese is not nice – and definitely naughty.The Archdiocese of Washington wanted to extend an invitation to commuters to find the perfect Christmas gift by advertising on city buses, but the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) threw up a roadblock. The advertisement depicted silhouettes of three shepherds walking at night with tall canes and sheep beneath a shining North Star. Emblazoned across the ad is the phrase: “FIND THE PERFECT GIFT.” But the transit authority rejected the ad because it “depicts a religious scene and thus seeks to promote religion,” according to a federal lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of Washington against the WMATA. “To borrow from a favorite Christmas story, under WMATA’s guidelines, if the ads are about packages, boxes or bags… if Christmas comes from a store… then it seems WMATA approves,” spokesman Ed McFadden said in a statement. “But if Christmas means a little bit more, WMATA plays Grinch.” The transit authority might have reconsidered its ban on the Catholic Church’s advertisement had they been selling goods and services, the lawsuit alleges. However, as we all know – the perfect Christmas gift cannot be bought. The perfect gift came from a much Higher Authority. The WMATA issued this statement: “In 2015, WMATA changed its advertising space to a nonpublic and prohibits issue-oriented advertising, including political, religious and advocacy advertising. The ad in question was declined because it is prohibited by WMATA’s current advertising guidelines.” WMATA’s revised advertising guidelines prohibit “advertisements that promote or oppose any religion, religious practice or belief,” the Archdiocese alleges. “We believe rejection of this ad to be a clear violation of fundamental free speech and a limitation on the exercise of our faith,” general counsel Kim Fiorentino said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our case to affirm the right of all to express such viewpoints in the public square.” And while the Archdiocese of Washington may not be welcome to advertise on public buses, the transit authority is more than happy to promote other enterprises – like gay hookup websites. In 2016 the transit authority defended its decision to allow Squirt.org to advertise citing First Amendment rights, CNS News reported. In other words, the transit authority’s decision to banish the Archdiocese is not nice – and definitely naughty.The Archdiocese of Washington wanted to extend an invitation to commuters to find the perfect Christmas gift by advertising on city buses, but the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) threw up a roadblock. The advertisement depicted silhouettes of three shepherds walking at night with tall canes and sheep beneath a shining North Star. Emblazoned across the ad is the phrase: “FIND THE PERFECT GIFT.” But the transit authority rejected the ad because it “depicts a religious scene and thus seeks to promote religion,” according to a federal lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of Washington against the WMATA. “To borrow from a favorite Christmas story, under WMATA’s guidelines, if the ads are about packages, boxes or bags… if Christmas comes from a store… then it seems WMATA approves,” spokesman Ed McFadden said in a statement. “But if Christmas means a little bit more, WMATA plays Grinch.” The transit authority might have reconsidered its ban on the Catholic Church’s advertisement had they been selling goods and services, the lawsuit alleges. However, as we all know – the perfect Christmas gift cannot be bought. The perfect gift came from a much Higher Authority. The WMATA issued this statement: “In 2015, WMATA changed its advertising space to a nonpublic and prohibits issue-oriented advertising, including political, religious and advocacy advertising. The ad in question was declined because it is prohibited by WMATA’s current advertising guidelines.” WMATA’s revised advertising guidelines prohibit “advertisements that promote or oppose any religion, religious practice or belief,” the Archdiocese alleges. “We believe rejection of this ad to be a clear violation of fundamental free speech and a limitation on the exercise of our faith,” general counsel Kim Fiorentino said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our case to affirm the right of all to express such viewpoints in the public square.” And while the Archdiocese of Washington may not be welcome to advertise on public buses, the transit authority is more than happy to promote other enterprises – like gay hookup websites. In 2016 the transit authority defended its decision to allow Squirt.org to advertise citing First Amendment rights, CNS News reported. In other words, the transit authority’s decision to banish the Archdiocese is not nice – and definitely naughty.

Definitely a double standard being exercised by the WMATA.  Thanks to veteran culture warrior Todd Starnes for bringing this story to our attention.

Consumer Confidence Breaks Another Record, Hits 17-Year High

Consumer confidence in the U.S. is soaring yet again, reaching a 17-year high this month, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Index survey. The Conference Board’s latest survey of consumer confidence notes that consumer confidence rose to 129.5, its highest point since the index climbed to 132.6 in November 2000. Last month’s consumer confidence index already broke records, when the index for October increased to 125.9—the highest it had been since December 2000. The latest numbers have defied economists’ expectations, with many predicting that the index would go down to 124. “Consumer confidence increased for a fifth consecutive month and remains at a 17-year high,” Lynn Franco, director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, told CNBC. Franco predicts that the reason for the increase may have to do with consumers’ optimism about the economy’s expansion around the holiday season. “Consumers are entering the holiday season in very high spirits and foresee the economy expanding at a healthy pace into the early months of 2018,” Franco said. The index measures American consumers’ attitudes about the economy and their predictions of how it will fare during the next six months. Economists keep a watchful eye on this survey because consumer spending makes up 70 percent of economic activity in the U.S.

More great news on the economic front!  Outstanding!!   🙂

Trump Family Christmas Card Wishes Families ‘Merry Christmas’ Instead of ‘Happy Holidays’

President Trump is fulfilling his promise to bring back “Merry Christmas” to the White House by including the phrase in his 2017 White House Christmas card. The Trump family is taking a different approach with their holiday greeting than the Obama family, who opted to use the more generic phrase “Happy Holidays” in their greetings, according to the Daily Mail. The White House unveiled the card, which is signed by President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and their 11-year-old son Barron Trump, on Monday in the White House “Bookseller’s” area after revealing the Christmas decorations to the public. A gold presidential seal adorns the front of the card while the inside of the card includes the phrase “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” with the first family’s signatures at the bottom. Trump made a promise on the campaign trail to bring back the use of the phrase “Merry Christmas” around the holiday season. He began using the phrase around the holidays on his “Thank You” tour in Wisconsin in December 2016. The president reiterated his promise at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC, in October when he told the crowd of activists at the conference that he would support the use of the word Christmas again. “We’re saying Merry Christmas again,” he told the crowd.

Yes!!!  To see a pic of the card, click on the text above.  Excellent!!   🙂

ICE Arrests 42 Criminal Aliens Released by Sanctuary New York

Immigration officers based in New York City arrested 42 criminal aliens released by sanctuary jurisdictions. Thirteen other foreign nationals were also arrested as part of a six-day targeted operation carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers began the operation on November 13 and concluded it shortly before Thanksgiving. In total, officers arrested 55 illegal aliens. Forty-two of those arrested had been in New York law enforcement custody and were released despite ICE having placed immigration detainers on the aliens, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from ICE officials. “Forty-two of the 55 arrested during this operation were released from New York custody with an active detainer, which poses an increased risk to the officers and the community.,” ERO New York Field Office Director Thomas Decker said in a written statement. “It is important for city residents to know that although the City of New York releases inmates with active ICE detainers back into their community, ICE will be diligent in its responsibility to find those who come to the United States to prey upon our communities and ultimately have them removed from the country.” Official said those arrested include nine women and 46 men. They illegal aliens hailed from 22 countries. Those countries include: Mexico (20); Jamaica (5), Ecuador (4), Honduras (3), Colombia (2), Dominican Republic (2), El Salvador (2), Guatemala (2), Yemen (2), Bangladesh (1), France (1), Guyana (1), Jordan (1), Nigeria (1), Poland (1), Romania (1), Slovakia (1), Spain (1), Trinidad (1), Yemen (1), Serbia (1), Egypt (1).

For more..  Click on the text above.  Kudos to ICE for doing such a great job!!

U.S. Third-Quarter Growth Revised to Three-Year High of 3.3%

The U.S. economy’s growth rate last quarter was revised upward to the fastest in three years on stronger investment from businesses and government agencies than previously estimated, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. The latest results for GDP, the value of all goods and services produced, show the economy withstood major hurricanes to reach a more solid footing as it entered the final stretch of the year, thanks to stronger business spending that’s helping cushion a softer pace of consumption. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday, just before the GDP report, that the expansion is “increasingly broad based across sectors as well as across much of the global economy.” While the revised growth rate is in line with President Donald Trump’s goal, economists generally see such a pace as unsustainable and expect growth to slow sometime in 2018. Trump and congressional Republicans are pushing a tax-cut plan with the aim of lifting GDP gains to 3 percent annually, though analysts expect any economic boost to be modest, on balance, if the proposal becomes law. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, continues to be the main driver of growth, though revisions showed it was slightly weaker than previously estimated on purchases of both durable and nondurable goods. The biggest improvement came in business investment, which made a 1.2 percentage-point contribution to growth, up from 0.98 point in the initial estimate a month ago. In addition to greater spending on transportation equipment, the data also reflected more software spending. Nonresidential structures were revised to a bigger decline. While the first look at third-quarter gross domestic income showed a pickup, the prior quarter was revised downward by 0.6 percentage point, reflecting a smaller gain in wages and salaries. The average of GDP and GDI was a 2.9 percent gain. Corporate profits grew, albeit at a slower year-over-year pace than in the prior period. Price data in the GDP report showed inflation remains behind the Fed’s 2 percent goal. Excluding food and energy, the central bank’s preferred price index tied to personal spending rose at a 1.4 percent annualized rate last quarter, revised from 1.3 percent and following a second-quarter gain of 0.9 percent.

Definitely some mixed numbers.   But, overall, some really good news here!    🙂