2013 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year

2013 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year | Zero Hedge

The fifth anniversary of Zero Hedge is just around the corner, and so, for the fifth year in a row we continue our tradition of summarizing what you, our readers, found to be the most relevant, exciting, and actionable news of the year, determined objectively by the number of page views. 

Those eager for a brief stroll down memory lane of prior years can do so at their leisure, by going back in time to our top articles of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. 

For everyone else, without further ado, these are the articles that readers found to be the most popular posts of the past 365 days.

• In 25th place, with just over 100k reads, was the extended profile of the puppetmaster of the biggest geopolitical event of 2013, the false flag-driven Syran conflict which nearly escalated into the world's first YouTube "justified" world war pitching the US-led west against the Russia-led east, the Saudi intelligence chief: Prince Bandar, exposed in "Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War." The war was avoided with a last minute gambit by Putin, which lead to a historic detente between the US and Iran, as well as an unprecedented breakdown in US relations with its long-time middle east allies Saudi Arabia and Israel. Look for the Middle East to make geopolitical headlines in the new year since the underlying issue - Europe's dependence on Gazprom - remains entirely unresolved.

Kick off

Your Favorites: Our Top 10 Stories of 2013 [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

Your Favorites: Our Top 10 Stories of 2013

By MICHIGAN CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL STAFF REPORTS | Jan. 1, 2014

The bankruptcy of the city of Detroit reignited interest in a story from 2012 about the Detroit Water Department employing a horseshoer thanks to a union contract — despite the department having no horses. That was the No. 1 story viewed on the Michigan Capitol Confidential website in 2013.

Among our Top 10 stories viewed by readers online, coverage included a commentary article about why Michigan should cut subsidies for higher education, two stories about state teacher compensation and an article about educators from across Michigan suing the MEA and their local unions to protect right-to-work rights.

In the past year, Michigan Capitol Confidential stories have been featured on virtually every major news source in Michigan while appearing nationally in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, the Huffington Post, Instapundit, National Review, Reason, Carpe Diem, Hot Air and many other websites, TV stations and radio programs.

Below are the Top 10 items for views between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.

1. No Horses, But Detroit Water Department Employs 'Horseshoer'
2. Five Reasons The Government Shouldn't Subsidize Higher Education
3. Huffington Post Gets Charter Study Wrong
4. Michigan Teachers Rank No. 2 For Salary
5. Bill Would Prohibit Asset Forfeiture In Michigan Without Criminal Conviction
6. Charter School Superintendent Makes Over $339K a Year
7. Minimum Wage Increase: A Serious Effort or Just Rhetoric?
8. Average Michigan Teacher Salaries Climb
9. Teachers Sue MEA To Escape Union
10. MSU English Professor Threatens Students In Anti-Republican Rant

They don't even "give you everything". They just "take everything"-----L.A. starts 2014 with its new plastic-bag ban

L.A. starts 2014 with its new plastic-bag ban - latimes.com:
"For Los Angeles residents, the perfect holiday gift this year might have been a reusable grocery bag.
On Wednesday, large grocery stores will be prohibited by law from providing free plastic bags.
Shoppers will be required to bring their own bags when stocking up on food and goods, or pay 10 cents per paper bag provided by the grocery store. 
...Nearly 90 cities and counties in the state — including unincorporated Los Angeles County — have passed similar legislation. "

When the press is a poodle

GAFFNEY: When the press is a poodle - Washington Times

This nation’s Founders had a special role in mind for the media in the constitutional arrangements they carefully constructed. It was to provide a fourth source of checks and balances on the potential abuse of power by the three branches of government, by virtue of journalists’ independence and, if assured freedom of the press, their ability to expose and, thereby, to counter overreaching presidents, legislators or courts.

The Framers of our Constitution didn’t reckon on the American media in the age of Obama, however. 

....Finally, as Matt Continetti of The Washington Free Beacon recently observed, the press “pool reporter” selected to cover Vice President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with Chinese leaders was not even a journalist. 
He was Steve Clemons, a Democratic foreign-policy activist.
And it showed in the slanted reporting he provided to the “working press” along for the trip and, through them, to the rest of us.

At a time when Mr. Obama is increasingly engaged in extraconstitutional and unconstitutional behavior, a free press performing the function envisioned for it by the Framers is more necessary than ever.
In its absence, there’s every reason to think that not only will the mainstream media be poodled, but the country will go to the dogs.

Two powerful sentences--Here Comes the ObamaCare Tax Avalanche

Here Comes the ObamaCare Tax Avalanche - AMAC, Inc.:
"Because it is politically vital to hide tax increases from the Sainted Middle Class, much of this burden is hidden as pass-through taxation – you think your premiums are increasing, but it’s really an income redistribution scheme with the tax burden laid on insurance providers, who pass it along to you.

This has the enormous political benefit of diverting public anger over increased premiums against the insurance providers, rather than the government, which is something the former should have considered more carefully before hopping into bed with the latter, visions of mandatory commerce dancing in their heads."

Imagine if we had a Muslim Brotherhood member as president----Obama Admin Asks Judge To Release Radical Leftist Lawyer Lynne Stewart Who Conspired With Jihadist Cleric…

Obama Admin Asks Judge To Release Radical Leftist Lawyer Lynne Stewart Who Conspired With Jihadist Cleric… | Weasel Zippers: "
Lynne “Whiskers” Stewart was convicted of helping the Omar Abdel-Rahman aka “Blind Sheik” communicate with his jihadist followers in Egypt while he was locked up in a U.S. prison."

Pilot captures stunning, bird's-eye photos of icy Lake Michigan shoreline

Pilot captures stunning, bird's-eye photos of icy Lake Michigan shoreline | MLive.com:
"Holland resident Jeff Pett captured two shots of the frozen Lake Michigan shoreline with his iPhone on Saturday, calling it "a beautifully sunny day" that was hard to resist."

"Hope and Change" achieved neither if these.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order. -Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher (1861-1947) 

These 13 Tax Increases Hit in 2013

These 13 Tax Increases Hit in 2013:
"Before you review the list below, put these two on your watch list for 2014:
Obamacare’s individual mandate.
Beginning in 2014, it’s mandatory to purchase health insurance.
If you don’t, you’ll pay a penalty that dramatically increases over time.
It starts at $95 or 1 percent of your income (whichever is greater).
It rises to $325 or 2 percent of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.
Obamacare tax on insurance companies.
If you liked seeing your premiums go up, you’ll love this new tax on health insurers—which they are most likely to pass on to you."

WATCH REPLAY: 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena

WATCH LIVE   REPLAY 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena - latimes.com
The 125th Tournament of Roses Parade kicks off Wednesday at 8 a.m. as Pasadena (PST) celebrates 2014.

Canada’s Top Ten List of America’s Stupidity

PatriotsBillboard | Canada’s Top Ten List of America’s Stupidity:

* The Canadians Appear Smarter Than Some People Give Them Credit For. Lord Help Us Recover From The Damage Done By Our Despot President and His Hatchetmen.                                                                                     

10. Only in America … Could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

9. Only in America … Could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black. 40+% ofall federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!

8. Only in America … Could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

7. Only in America … Can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

6. Only in America … Would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just ‘magically’ become American citizens.

5. Only in America … Could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as “extremists.”

4. Only in America … Could you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

3. Only in America … Could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes(Nike).

2. Only in America … Could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year – for total spending of $7Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money.

1. Only in America … Could the rich people – who pay 86% of all income taxes – be accused of not paying their “fair share” by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all.

Mostly spending money they don't have, restricting businesses they don't own and creating criminals out of law abiding citizens-----40,000 new laws take effect in 2014

And exempting themselves from those laws they prefer not to apply to them, their families or their friends (read: those who've bought an "indulgence").
40,000 new laws take effect in 2014 – The Lead with Jake Tapper - CNN.com Blogs:

"It may have been the least productive year for Congress in history, at least in terms of passing laws – fewer than 60 of which made it through the House and Senate and were signed by President Barack Obama.

Across the country, however, state lawmakers were busy getting more than 40,000 bills passed, ones that tackle everything from drones to food stamp benefits.

In Illinois for example, teenagers will no longer get to use tanning beds without a doctor's note.
If you live in Delaware, visit the shark fin buffet while you can, a new law will make it illegal to own, sale, or distribute the controversial delicacy.
And in California, new laws take effect that will let students take part in school sports, or use bathrooms based on their gender identity, regardless of the gender noted in their birth certificates."

Fast food CEO: How govt regulation is driving us aboard

Fast food CEO: How govt regulation is driving us aboard:
""Under the current U.S. business climate, regulatory and tax restrictions tend to curb otherwise dynamic entrepreneurial energy," Puzder said. "We'd love to see more growth in domestic markets.
Unfortunately, it's easier for our franchisees to open a restaurant in Siberia than in California.""

WeMOG today 1:00-All Welcomed!

Anyone who wants to get the cobwebs off, come ski, hike, or snowshoe.

N. Ottawa Dunes at 1:00, Jan. 1,  2014

Ski conditions are great.  

I checked them out today.

Meet at Coast Guard Park in Ferrysburg, off N. Shore Dr.  at 12:55. 

Hit the trails promptly at 1:00.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, outdoor, 2014!

RealClearPolicy - The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

RealClearPolicy - The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

By RCP Staff

A list, based purely on pageviews:

10. Can We Afford Obamacare? by Christopher Holt

9. Driving Toward Failure, by Rich Tucker

8. How to Survive the Higher-Ed Meltdown, by Thomas K. Lindsay

7. What Progressives Must Do to End U.S. Malaise, by Will Marshall

6. How Common Are Child Gun Accidents? by Robert VerBruggen

5. When Is College Worth It? by Robert VerBruggen

4. How the States Committed Suicide, by Paul Moreno

3. University-Assisted Suicide, by Thomas K. Lindsay

2. The Stigma of Racism, by Robert VerBruggen

1. Detroit and the Special-Interest State, by James V. DeLong

The worst of 2013

The worst of 2013:

The worst of 2013

By Tracy K. Lorenz

December 31, 2013 - This time of year everyone has a best and worst list but when I read those lists I tend to only read the “worst” part anyway so why not just cut out the middle man…

.....“Obamacare” – Gee, who could have seen that one coming? You’ve got a president who promised every government contract over $25,000 would go out for bids then he gave the contract to a Canadian company without taking bids on it.

The website didn’t work, the Lions won more games than the amount of people who were able to sign up for it, no one was able to keep what they had, prices went through the roof, the Doctors weren’t happy, the patients weren’t happy, the Democrats pointed fingers, and in the end no one has a clue what’s going on. Maybe we should have elected an insurance organizer instead of a neighborhood organizer.

Obama in general – Even his staunchest followers are jumping ship like hairy rats, he fooled a lot of people for five years but eventually reality bubbled to the surface and it was pretty evident the king had no clothes. On the plus side I hear his golf game is better than ever, I just wish someone would tell the guy that taxpayer dollars aren’t his families personal ATM. It seems like everything he’s doing is exactly what he accused the auto executives of doing before he illegally fired them.

Happy New Year...she votes--------Woman Who Breaks Toilets With 7’ Butt Hopes To Inspire Larger Ladies

Woman Who Breaks Toilets With 7’ Butt Hopes To Inspire Larger Ladies // Mr. Conservative:
"A woman who has a 7 foot wide butt is speaking out publicly in effort to inspire larger ladies.
Sarah Massey, 33 has potentially the largest butt in the world and after many years of teasing and insensitive comments, she is trying to help ladies that may be going through a similar situation.

Saying that her body is the result of a genetic condition, she says she has trouble with ordinary things such as buckling her seat belt, fitting through doors and has even broken a toilet just by sitting on it."

History for January 1 - Moved for Bowl games, Didn't work out, Republican Emancipation, 1st Rose, "Island Paradise"?, Clinton's scam, Even worse, Better them than US.

History for January 1 - On-This-Day.com:
1622 - The Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the New Year (instead of March 25th). 










1804 - Haiti gained its independence. 









1863 - U.S. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the rebel states were free. 









1902 - The first Tournament of Roses (later the Rose Bowl) collegiate football game was played in Pasadena, CA. 










1959 - Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and seized power in Cuba.





1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. 






1995 - The World Trade Organization came into existence. The group of 125 nations monitors global trade. 






1999 - The euro became currency for 11 Member States of the European Union. Coins and notes were not available until January 1, 2002. 

Yup. They're still pissed off. And It's still our fault------2013: A Quick Look Back

2013: A Quick Look Back

2013: A Quick Look Back

Posted about 5 hours ago | 0 comment

In two days we begin a new year. And so, I thought I’d use my final post of 2013 somewhat snarkily reflect on 2013 and make a few predictions for what might happen in the coming year. Here we go:

“Marriage equality” will happen soon enough, but that really wasn’t the fight to pick. 2013 was clearly the opening act for what seems to be the main event that will be the legalization of same-sex marriage in most places. What got subsumed in the popular narrative of this issue is that marriage is an inherently fraught and conservative institution that often doesn’t benefit those who are most often subject to oppression and discrimination–women, brown and black folks, poor folks, trans* folks. Moreover, the use of healthcare as a primary example of why same-sex marriage is needed does nothing but deflect our attention from the fact that everybody, regardless of marital status, should have access to health care. And frankly, healthcare shouldn’t be something bought and sold on anybody’s marketplace. After all, this is people’s well-being we’re talking about here, right? Anyway, I do not stand in the way of folks and their broom jumping activities. I do, however, think that if this is supposed to be the defining civil rights issue of our time, then folks in the next time should try a little harder.

....Paula Deen, Phil Robertson, et. al. are racists, etc., but that’s precisely why they’re on television. I wrote about this last week, but since the general tendency has been to take Robertson’s revisionist history to task, I think it bears repeating: I submit that the unspoken understanding that these folks are racist is what contributes to their popularity. Seriously. It’s why folks watch, waiting for that racist moment to chastise and punish so they don’t have to deal with their own shit. And the anti-whatever activists stay champing at the bit, waiting for moments like this so that they can up their image via open letters and other history lessons. If the Duck Dynasty crumbles the way Deen’s did, there will be another crew of southerners waiting to take their place in 2014.

No black life is safe. Of course, the story of the year for this site and others was the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. The effects of Trayvon Martin’s murder continue to reverberate in various ways. Perhaps the most resounding refrain, however, is that black life untethered to the prison industrial complex is, still, something regarded as disposable and worthless. One can hope that in the new year the effort is less about appealing for the recognition of black folks as worthy through traditional channels, and more of an endeavor to recognize that a new m.o., one that recognizes the beauty and value of blackness and black people, is in order.

Have a great start to 2014.

Our nation's next President?

Come on. This is no surprise------Shock study: Most convicts, up to 73%, register as Democrats

Shock study: Most convicts, up to 73%, register as Democrats | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"A new study of how criminals vote found that most convicts register Democratic, a key reason in why liberal lawmakers and governors are eager for them to get back into the voting booth after their release.

“Democrats would benefit from additional ex-felon participation,” said the authoritative study in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science."

Censoring you from the truth can be hazardous to your health----Charlottesville Newspaper Shuts Down Comments on Knockout Game Report for 'Hateful Nature'

Yes.
There is a race war going on in parts of our country.
And the liberal media is actively covering it up.
Charlottesville Newspaper Shuts Down Comments on Knockout Game Report for 'Hateful Nature' | Truth Revolt:

On Monday, Charlottesville, Virginia’s News and Arts Weekly shut down the comment section of its website on an article regarding a brutal incident of the so-called “Knockout Game” in the city’s mall – based on the “hateful nature” of the comments.

The article itself reported on victim Jeanne Doucette and her boyfriend Marc Adams being pummeled into unconsciousness by a group of three black males. Doucette caught the beating on camera. The newspaper stated:

Both victims wondered whether the episode was an example of the so-called “knock-out game,” in which assailants randomly strike an innocent passerby with the goal of rendering them unconscious. Several such assaults have resulted in the deaths of victims.

The post, which was linked by the Drudge Report, quickly went viral, spurring commenters to post messages about the knockout game and the incident. The editor-in-chief for the site, Giles Morris, warned commenters that their posts could be deleted:

Dear Readers, This is a local news story about an alleged assault that occurred on our Downtown Mall. Please do not use this comment stream as a forum for social diatribes, for racist ranging, or for expressing anger. We will delete you.

Thanks,

The Editor

After one commenter responded with a quote from George Orwell – “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” – Morris shut down the thread. He wrote, “This comment stream has been closed due to the hateful nature of the discussion the story generated. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Smaller than North Carolina?-------Mich. posts 2nd year of population growth, may fall in '14 rankings

Mich. posts 2nd year of population growth, may fall in '14 rankings | The Detroit News:
"Michigan posted a second consecutive year of slight population growth in 2013 after experiencing losses during the prior seven-year period, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday.

.....One demographer cautioned against such a rosy forecast. William Frey at the Brookings Institution warned that without more robust growth, Michigan is bound to be overtaken next year by North Carolina as the ninth most populous state in the country."

P.C. EDUCATION LED TO LIBYA DEBACLE

Instapundit » Blog Archive » P.C. EDUCATION LED TO LIBYA DEBACLE: 

P.C. EDUCATION LED TO LIBYA DEBACLE:

Finally on this point, why does the American MSM almost never mention tribes, except occasionally as an afterthought, and never speak about how countries like Libya are organized socially, and how that affects their politics? 

There are so many examples of this that it cannot simply be a coincidence. This is not the place to go into detail, but it comes down, I think, to a form of political correctness that tacitly prohibits any mention of what might be taken even to imply that Libyans (or Yemenis or Syrians or Egyptians, or Pashtuns, or…) might in some way be pre-modern, as we understand the term. (Actually, they’re less aptly described as pre-modern than simply as different, but lowest-common-denominator Enlightenment universalism is very bad at acknowledging the dignity of difference.) 

That kind of appellation is considered just this side of racist in the higher etiquette of American Enlightenment liberalism, deeply dented, as it has been, by the nonsense of anti-“Orientalism” regnant now for more than a generation in academe. Yes, it was at university where our elite press reporters and their august editors learned this stuff. 

As long as our elite press censors itself in this manner, an objective socio-political description of these (and other) countries will remain impossible, and a distorted understanding will inevitably feed misbegotten policy adventures like the Libya war. I would like to be able to assure you that what ails the academy and the press does not afflict the clear-eyed professionals at the CIA and the State Department and USAID and the NSC and the officer corps of the uniformed military. Yes, I would like to… but a lot of these guys went to those same universities.

America has been ill-served by its higher education establishment in a number of ways."

Anti-TEA Party GOP PAC funded by Labor Unions

Anti-TEA Party GOP PAC funded by Labor Unions | Dr. Rich Swier:
"The anti-TEA Party GOP PAC Republican Main Street Partnership has been exposed. The Partnership mission states, “Main Street is aligned with the governing wing of the Republican Party and centrist policy makers.”
Former Ohio Representative Steve LaTourette is the President and CEO of RMSP.
LaTourette was one of only seven Republicans who voted “NO” on a measure introduced in the US House of Representatives to strip all government funding from NPR.

In a meeting with transit advocates, LaTourette disparaged fellow legislators, referring to them as “knuckledraggers that came in in the last election that hate taxes,” due to their reluctance to even consider revenue as part of a compromise to extend the debt ceiling."

The Republican Main Street Partnership has emerged as an outspoken, deep-pocketed player in pro-business GOP plans to beat back tea-party challengers next year. But the group’s new super PAC has an unexpected source for its seed money: labor unions.

The super PAC, called Defending Main Street, has not yet submitted a major donor disclosure to the Federal Election Commission. But documents filed by other groups show that two labor organizations, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Laborers’ International Union of North America, directed a combined $400,000 to the Republican group in September and October.

Main Street says it has raised roughly $2 million total between its super PAC and an affiliated nonprofit group so far—and that means labor has supplied at least 20 percent of those funds.

Yes. It can get worse. And it will get worse-------Medicaid expansion: The worst of Obamacare's four big lies

Medicaid expansion: The worst of Obamacare's four big lies | WashingtonExaminer.com

Obamacare, and its trio of sponsors in President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, will come to be known for the four big lies.

The first two lies are widely known and hardly disputed.

Lie #1: Even if you liked your plan, you often didn't get to keep it.

Lie #2: Even if you loved your doctor, he or she may no longer be in your network, the president's promise notwithstanding.

Lie #3: The total cost of individual policies for the privately insured -- including the higher deductibles -- will not be lower in 2014 than it was in 2013. (Recall the president promised an average premium savings of $2,500 per insured person every year.)

The first three lies were explicit. They were repeated again and again and again by the president and his allies. 
The fourth lie, though, was implicit, and it is by far the most pernicious of them all.

That lie was that the expansion of the number of enrollees in Medicaid was a good thing. It isn't. Far from it in fact. It is nothing short of a health care disaster.

The reasons for this absolute truth are many and detailed, and Roy's book lays them all out in a manner that simply cannot be debated. The book may be ignored, but it cannot be refuted.

To be enrolled in Medicaid is to be condemned to inferior, indeed almost nonexistent, health care. 

The payment levels provided by Medicaid are so low as to erect barriers to health care to the Americans forced into its often deadly embrace.

Where the Heck Do Cashews Come From?

Where the Heck Do Cashews Come From?:

they really do have hate in their hearts----MSNBC Host Makes Fun of Mitt Romney's Black Grandson

See disgusting video of these angry morons at the link:
MSNBC Host Makes Fun of Mitt Romney's Black Grandson - TheWrap

Host of eponymous “Melissa Harris-Perry Show” is under fire for making the race of Romney’s adopted grandson a punchline

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry concluded the “What’s So Funny About 2013?” segment of her Sunday show with a chorus of laughter at the black grandson pictured in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s family Christmas photo. The chuckles were directed at baby Kieran – who was adopted by Romney’s son Ben and his wife Andelynne in September.

“One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just isn’t the same,” panelist Pia Glenn offered as a caption for the photo, which the Romneys tweeted on Christmas Eve. (Lyrics of the original Sesame Street song are, “One of these things just doesn’t belong.”)

“And that little baby, front and center, would be the one,” Glenn said.

Comedian Dean Obeidallah joked that the baby is a token.

“It really sums up the diversity of the Republican party and the RNC, where they have the whole convention and they find the one black person.”

Conservative blogs on Monday roundly criticized MSNBC and the panelists for the segment. Commentator Caleb Howe wrote tongue-in-cheek on The Right Scoop: “He’s not a child adopted by loving parents prepared to provide him with a better life in keeping with the family’s values. Nope. He’s just a token. A punchline, not a person.”

“It’s funny because Romney is white and his grandson isn’t, which is obviously hilarious. Because as everyone knows, the races should not mix,” Howe added [emphasis original].

Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, who ran for president in 2008, also has an adopted child of a different race. McCain’s wife Cindy brought daughter Bridget home after a cyclone relief trip to Bangladesh in 1991.

Aside from murder, that is......10 top stories of 2013 in metro Detroit

10 top stories of 2013 in metro Detroit | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Detroit’s historic bankruptcy was clearly the story of the year in Michigan and beyond.
It’s not nearly over, as its far-reaching impact is measured from the city streets to Wall Street.
But there were plenty of other things happening, from silly to tragic.

Here are other top stories, based on what you read on freep.com in 2013.
“Lapeer 6-year-old drives family car, heads to Chinese restaurant”"

Metro's Detroit's most notorious crimes of 2013: A look back at a violent year

Metro's Detroit's most notorious crimes of 2013: A look back at a violent year | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"An escaped inmate led police on an hours-long manhunt across Detroit.
A 19-year-old was fatally shot on the porch of a Dearborn Heights home.
A gas station employee on the state’s west side was abducted.

These are just a handful of stories that grabbed headlines in 2013.
Here are some of the biggest crime stories of the year."

The definatitive link----Lake Superior State University :: Banished Words List :: The List

Lake Superior State University :: Banished Words List :: The List:
"SELFIE-Has the honor of receiving the most nominations this year."

2012 http://www.lssu.edu/whats_new/articles.php?articleid=2545

2011 http://www.lssu.edu/whats_new/articles.php?articleid=2332

"Far more than $225 an ounce" for something they can grow in their living room?-------High Prices for Getting High Expected as Colorado Opens Legal Pot Shops

High Prices for Getting High Expected as Colorado Opens Legal Pot Shops - US News and World Report: "The state will impose total taxes of 25 percent on marijuana plus the regular 2.9 percent state sales tax, and local taxes will also apply on top of those.
At Kine Mine, a store in the small town of Idaho Springs, for example, total taxes will come to 31.9 percent – 27.9 percent in state taxes plus 1 percent in county taxes and a 3 percent city tax, according to store founder Theran Snyder.

But he expects he may have to charge recreational users even further above and beyond his medical marijuana prices to stay stocked.
....Though Snyder declines to give exact price points, he believes he may have to charge far more than $225 per ounce for non-medical marijuana to ensure that product stays on the shelves when the new law kicks in."

Remember when 'civility" was the big buzzword among the elite left?--------------'Entourage' Creator's Crack: Gays Should Shoot 'Duck Dynasty' Star

'Entourage' Creator's Crack: Gays Should Shoot 'Duck Dynasty' Star:
"Entourage creator Doug Ellin is taking sides in the Duck Dynasty culture war via his Twitter account.
Ellin mentioned the reality show's controversy several times in recent days, most notably with a Tweet that mirrors the tolerance some on the left show for those who have different point of views."

RINOs are dangerous to your freedom-----The West Michigan Rino Hunters search for Senator Hansen

Great video from our young, West Michigan Patriots.
Plus, these RINO hunters understand that Sen. Hansen's "generosity" is coming out of their pockets.
Wake up folks!
He's spending your future!
click link to see video:
The West Michigan Rino Hunters search for Senator Hansen | Michigan Campaign for Liberty:

Progressive's prognostications as accurate in their anti-gun propaganda as they are in climate change hysteria----2013: Fewest Police Killed by Firearms Since 1887

2013: Fewest Police Killed by Firearms Since 1887:
"A December 30th report released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that 2013 had the fewest police deaths by firearms since 1887.
According to the report by the Associated Press, there were a total of "111 federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial officers killed in the line of duty nationwide" in 2013.
Of these 111 fatalities, "46 were killed in traffic related accidents and 33 were killed by firearms." 
The number of firearm related deaths is down 33 percent and is "the lowest since 1887."
Moreover, "deaths in the line of duty generally [all causes] fell by 8 percent and were the fewest since 1959."
All of this happened while a potentially record number of Americans were obtaining and carrying handguns on their persons for concealed carry, personal protection, and home protection. "

The criminalization of honest, law abiding Americans-Tougher NY gun law results in 1,146 felony charges

Remember.
NONE of these Americans were breaking ANY law until the gun grabbers created this new law. Intended, not to protect ANYONE from these Americans.
But, instead, to create a new class of American criminal.
Obama's america....... 
Tougher NY gun law results in 1,146 felony charges:
"ALBANY, N.Y. — Nearly a year after passage of the state’s new gun law, dealer sales of popular AR-15 semi-automatic rifles have ended in New York and arrest data show more than 1,000 gun possession charges in New York City were boosted from misdemeanors to felonies because of the changes.

Meanwhile, 59 people have been charged statewide with misdemeanors for possessing large-capacity magazines or having more than seven bullets loaded in a magazine, both outlawed by the law passed last January in the aftermath of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn."
....“January will be the first anniversary,” he said of the law. “Show me proof violence is down, shootings are down, murders with handguns are down.”

▶ THE CUTEST ANIMAL MOMENTS OF 2013

▶ THE CUTEST ANIMAL MOMENTS OF 2013 - YouTube: "

Proof of global warming!