Monday, August 04, 2014

#1 on NYT! Remember when Costco told us they pulled the book cuz no one was buyin'? Drop your Costco membership!---------Costco Relents After Thousands Protest Decision to Pull Dinesh D'Souza Book

10574352_926382180721771_7884841497265595141_nCostco Relents After Thousands Protest Decision to Pull Dinesh D'Souza Book:
And the reaction got almost immediate results as the company announced it would put D'Souza's book, "America: Imagine a World Without Her," back on its shelves, despite, what it says are poor sales.
"Costco is not a book store. 
Our book shelf space is very limited," read a statement posted shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday. 
"We exercise discipline in the best utilization of that limited space based solely on what our members are buying. 
We can't carry every title that our members are interested in reading. 
We are constantly monitoring book sales, and make decisions to pull books off the shelves frequently based on sales volume to make room for other titles. 
Politics or controversy over content do not influence our decisions."


MUST SEE VIDEO! (only 57 seconds. Watch to unsettling end) U.S. Border Patrol Check Point

Travis Pope - U.S. Border Patrol Check Point:

For some reason, this assurance from our government doesn't make me feel any better. Actually worse...........CDC chief tries to ease fears of Ebola in U.S.: 'We can stop it from spreading'

CDC chief tries to ease fears of Ebola in U.S.: 'We can stop it from spreading' - Washington Times:
“Ebola is a scary disease because it’s so deadly,” Dr. Frieden said on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation.”
The plain fact is, we can stop it from spreading in hospitals, and we can stop it from spreading in Africa, which is really the source of the epidemic and where we’re surging our response.”
He added, “I don’t think it’s in the cards that we would have widespread Ebola in this country.”

Wait Until You Hear These Federal Workers’ Excuses For Surfing Porn Up To 8 Hours A Week On The Job

Wait Until You Hear These Federal Workers’ Excuses For Surfing Porn Up To 8 Hours A Week On The Job
The Washington Times’ Jim McElhatton has written a devastating pieceon government inefficiency and waste:
Lack of work has emerged time and again in federal investigations, and it’s not just porn, nor is it confined to the FCC. Across government, employees caught wasting time at work say they simply didn’t have enough work to do, according to investigation records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
McElhatton describes one FCC employee’s rationale for surfing porn on the job:
Things were slow, he told investigators, so he perused it “out of boredom” — for up to eight hours each week.

Anti-muffin top billboards removed by plastic surgery office after vandalism MLive.com

Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery muffin top billboard vandalizedAnti-muffin top billboards removed by plastic surgery office after vandalism | MLive.com:
"JACKSON, MI – A Jackson plastic surgery office removed three anti-muffin top advertisements from the area after one of the ads was vandalized.
The billboard, which once displayed the slogan, "friends don't let friends muffin top" was spray painted to include "You're beautiful!" and the two muffins shown atop a pair of jeans were also given smiley faces.
An Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery spokesperson had previously said the office intended to replace the billboard but reported Thursday they have since decided to remove the ad and two others.
"It just obviously wasn't the taste for Jackson," Tammy Nelis, office manager at Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery in Jackson said of the advertising campaign."

Many Parents Have to Pay Off Dead Kids' Student Loans - Families often have little legal recourse in these cases

Many Parents Have to Pay Off Dead Kids' Student Loans - Families often have little legal recourse in these cases:
"Probably the last thing parents mourning a deceased child want to do is deal with late notices from creditors—especially when those notices are for a student loan taken out by their lost loved one.
That's what happened to pastor Steve Mason, who found himself saddled with a $100,000 bill after his 27-year-old daughter died five years ago, leaving him and his wife to raise their three grandkids on the relatively modest salaries they both earn at a local church, reports CNN.
As a co-signer on his daughter's private student loans, Mason was on the hook for her IOU, which turned into $200,000 after interest and late fees piled up."

Why Obama Is Concocting An Impeachment Threat: Because He Has Nothing Else.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » KYLE SMITH: Why Obama Is Concocting An Impeachment Threat: Because He Has Nothing Else. It’s as i…: "
Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 6:43 pm"

It’s as if our president has read all of the disappointed head-shaking opinion pieces by Very Serious Liberals and is responding, “Hey, I’m not sad. I’m ridiculous!”

Because in the last couple of weeks Barack Obama has reached his Basil Fawlty stage.

Instead of John Cleese’s Fawlty rushing around a dismal English hotel trying to avoid insulting his German guests by squawking, “Don’t mention the war,” we have Obama stumbling around the country crying, “Don’t mention impeachment!”

The president is, of course, the only American of any standing whatsoever talking about impeachment.

At least Basil Fawlty had an excuse for his dizzy behavior: He had just been clocked in the skull with a frying pan.
Sadly, this is the most benign explanation. 
A scarier one is that it’s battlespace-prep because he’s planning something really awful and when serious people start talking impeachment he can say “they were planning it all along!”

A $15B upgrade for utilities: New EPA rules stoke Consumers, DTE move to wind and gas

A $15B upgrade for utilities: New EPA rules stoke Consumers, DTE move to wind and gas | Crain's Detroit Business
The EPA proposed in June that power plant carbon emissions be cut 30 percent by 2030. The proposal, coupled with previous rules that aren't friendly to coal, put natural gas front and center as the new leading candidate for a base-load fuel. 

A fracking-induced glut of it has soaked the markets, and natural gas produces half the carbon emissions as coal from a power plant, according to the EPA, making it a natural choice for utilities as a coal replacement. 
Wind is cheap and available in Michigan, making it the top choice for renewable energy power, industry executives said. 

Even without the new EPA proposal, utilities had reason to move away from coal. They have been adjusting their power generation arrangements to meet existing EPA rules, such as Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that utilities must meet by April of next year, unless granted extensions. At the state level, Gov. Rick Snyder in December went on the record saying Michigan should become less reliant on coal, which makes up more than half the fuel used to produce power in the state. 

The utilities say they are working on it. Consumers plans to shutter seven coal-fired units in 2016, leaving its five largest units in operation. DTE is also weaning itself away from coal. (See map, below.)

California school district gets rid of mandatory geography class, look at what class is replacing it

California school district gets rid of mandatory geography class, look at what class is replacing it | Young Conservatives:
Fullscreen capture 832014 112546 AM.bmp"Welcome to Obama’s America kids.
Geography?
Not important.
“Diversity and Inclusion”?
Very important."

"I don’t know why I am even surprised by this kind of thing anymore."
From NRO:
El Rancho Verde Unified School District will stop requiring its high-school students to take geography and instead require them to take a class on diversity and inclusion.
ERUSD president Aurora Villon said the class is necessary because minority students “need to feel validated.”
“When you negate their culture, they feel less than other students,” she said in an e-mail to Whittier Daily News.
“When you negate their culture, they feel less than other students”.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be hard to “negate” a kid’s culture when the little fella can’t even find their home country on a map?"

EAA - The Spirit of Aviation photos, pictures and videos on CrowdAlbum

EAA - The Spirit of Aviation photos, pictures and videos on CrowdAlbum

History for August 4

History for August 4 - On-This-Day.com:
United Kingdom: "Lights Out"--marking the start of World War One by turning off lights from 10 pm to 11 pm. #LightsOut


United Kingdom and Belgium: First World War Centenary Opening Day, locations in Scotland, Belgium and England. See https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/first-world-war-centenary

Coast Guard Day

Sturgis Rally begins at Sturgis, SD (Aug 4-10). 74th annual. See www.sturgis.com

Birth anniversary of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1821).



Birth anniversary of Louis Armstrong (1900-1971).

In 1892, merchant Andrew Borden and his wife were found dead at their Fall River, MA, home. Daughter Lizzie Borden was arrested for the ax murders but later ruled innocent in a jury trial.


Happy Birthday, President Barack Obama!

Happy Birthday! Richard Belzer, Jeff Gordon, Billy Bob Thornton

1735 - Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. The jury said that "the truth is not libelous." 


1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service was formed. This U.S. naval task force was the beginning of the U.S. Coast Guard. 


1914 - Britain declared war on Germany in World War I. The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality. 


1921 - The first radio broadcast of a tennis match occurred. It was in Pittsburgh, PA. 


1922 - The death of Alexander Graham Bell, two days earlier, was recognized by AT&T and the Bell Systems by shutting down all of its switchboards and switching stations. The shutdown affected 13 million phones. 


1944 - Nazi police raided a house in Amsterdam and arrested eight people. Anne Frank, a teenager at the time, was one of the people arrested. Her diary would be published after her death. 


1958 - The first potato flake plant was completed in Grand Forks, ND. 


1958 - Billboard Magazine introduced its "Hot 100" chart, which was part popularity and a barometer of the movement of potential hits. The first number one song was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool." 


1972 - Arthur Bremer was found guilty of shooting George Wallace, the governor of Alabama. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison. 


1977 - U.S. President Carter signed the measure that established the Department of Energy. 


1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal." 



1984 - Upper Volta, an African republic, changed its name to Burkina Faso. 


1987 - The Fairness Doctrine was rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission. The doctrine had required that radio and TV stations present controversial issues in a balanced fashion. 

Sunday, August 03, 2014

No More Cease-Fires: Netanyahu Promises ‘Full Scale’ Assault Against Hamas | Video | TheBlaze.com

No More Cease-Fires: Netanyahu Promises ‘Full Scale’ Assault Against Hamas | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue waging war on Hamas Saturday afternoon, saying Israeli operations would continue “at full scale” in order ”to bring back the quiet, peace and calm to citizens of Israel and severely harm terrorist projects.”


End of world warning: Violent solar flares could destroy the earth at any moment

End of world warning: Violent solar flares could destroy the earth at any moment | Nature | News | Daily Express:
"VIOLENT solar superstorms could destroy life as we know it at ANY MOMENT, shocked scientists have warned today.
It is “only a matter of time” before a catastrophic eruption on the surface of the sun hurtles towards the planet with devastating consequences.
The Earth could be the target of an explosion equivalent to “10 billion Hiroshima bombs exploding at the same time”.
It has emerged crisis meetings have been held to discuss how to limit the damage of solar superstorms which present a “long-lasting” threat to all forms of life.
Scientists warn communication systems will be crippled, vital services such as transport, sanitation and medicine will close, and loss of power will plunge the planet into darkness.
Ashley Dale, member of international task force SolarMAX set up to identify the risks of a solar storm, said: “Without power, people would struggle to fuel their cars at petrol stations, get money from cash dispensers or pay online.
“Water and sewage systems would be affected too, meaning that health epidemics in urbanised areas would quickly take a grip, with diseases we thought we had left behind centuries ago soon returning.”"

Obama Administration Is ‘Not to Ever Second-Guess Me Again’: Israeli Prime Minister Lashes Out | TheBlaze.com

Obama Administration Is ‘Not to Ever Second-Guess Me Again’: Israeli Prime Minister Lashes Out | TheBlaze.com:
"After a U.S.- and U.N.-brokered cease-fire fell apart hours after it began — because, Israeli officials said, Hamas “flagrantly violated” the truce —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at President Barack Obama’s White House, instructing the administration, “not to ever second-guess me again.”

Barney Frank on Obamacare rollout: 'They just lied to people'

Barney Frank on Obamacare rollout: 'They just lied to people' - Washington Times:
"Former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank questioned President Obama’s honesty regarding the rollout of Obamacare in a recent interview.
He told The Huffington Post on Friday that he was shocked at the mishandling of the new health care law.
“The rollout was so bad, and I was appalled—I don’t understand how the president could have sat there and not been checking on that on a weekly basis,” the former Democratic congressman told the website.
“But frankly, he should never have said as much as he did, that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it. 
That wasn’t true. 
And you shouldn’t lie to people. 
And they just lied to people,” he added.
Mr. Frank told The Huffington Post that Mr. Obama should have better explained the situation to the American people, and laid out the possibilities of losing their existing plans.
“He should have said, ‘Look, in some cases the health care plans that you’ve got are really inadequate, and in your own interests, we’re going to change them.’
But that’s not what he said,” Mr. Frank said."

The New York Times Runs a Full-Page Ad for a Marijuana Review Site

The New York Times Runs a Full-Page Ad for a Marijuana Review Site - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
"Last week The New York Times called for the legalization of marijuana.
Today it's running a full-page marijuana ad.
More exactly, it's advertising a website—Leafly—that reviews different strains of pot and directs you to the dispensaries, doctors, and stores that will help you get ahold of them.
The most striking thing about the ad is that it isn't striking at all. 
It would be easy to flip past this quickly without recognizing that it's about cannabis—and even if you do pause long enough to see what's being advertised, the idea of an ad for a marijuana review site in The New York Times just doesn't sound all that bizarre anymore.
That's when you know a social revolution is succeeding: when it starts to feel banal."
HIGH TIMES it ain't.

Finally,a "#1"that ain't in the toilet------- Where to Find the Fastest Wi-Fi on the Road

Where to Find the Fastest Wi-Fi on the Road - Airfarewatchdog
Here is the complete list of airports, hotels, and beaches with the fastest Wi-Fi. Click to see an infographic with more stats.
Top Airports with the Fastest Wi-Fi:
    1. Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Michigan (4.63 mbps)
    2. Denver International Airport, Colorado (4.33 mbps)
    3. Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida (3.74 mbps)
    4. Los Angeles International Airport, California (3.29 mbps)
    5. Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia (3.09 mbps)
    6. Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, Arizona (2.88 mbps)
    7. LaGuardia Airport, New York (2.67 mbps)
    8. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia (2.66 mbps)
    9. Logan International Airport, Massachusetts (2.51 mbps)
    10. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Minnesota (2.45 mbps)
    11. McCarran International Airport, Nevada (2.41 mbps)
    12. San Francisco International Airport, California (2.29 mbps)

    Oh, goody.......Marijuana initiatives have enough signatures to make November ballots in Saginaw, Clare and Harrison

    Marijuana initiatives have enough signatures to make November ballots in Saginaw, Clare and Harrison | MLive.com:
    " Voters in Saginaw and two northern Michigan communities are expected to vote on marijuana decriminalization in November.
    In addition to a ballot measure headed to Saginaw city voters, campaign supporters announced that similar measures will come to ballots in Clare and Harrison, as well."


    What This Republican Said About the Border Had Nancy Pelosi Charging Across the House Floor | Video | TheBlaze.com

    What This Republican Said About the Border Had Nancy Pelosi Charging Across the House Floor | Video | TheBlaze.com:
    "One Republican Congressman “hit the right nerve” Friday night — and found himself facing the wrath of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
    ABC News called it “an unusual breach of decorum.”
    The truth hurts