California Wildfires & Water Troubles -- A Tale of Progressive Mismanagement | National Review

California Wildfires & Water Troubles -- A Tale of Progressive Mismanagement | National Review:
"...But meanwhile, in the real (dry) world, did Brown’s state prepare for such a disaster during either its recent four-year dry spell or its near-record wet year in 2016?
Hardly.
Over some 50 consecutive months of drought, California did not start work on a single major reservoir — though many had long ago been planned and designed.
Instead, given the lack of water-storage capacity, and due to environmental diversions, tens of millions of acre-feet of precious runoff water last year were simply let out to the ocean.
This year, the state may want all of that water back.
...The hillsides are overgrown with drought-stricken scrub and half-dead trees, in part due to restrictions on grazing, brush removal, and logging. 
They prove to be veritable kindling that fuels raging fires.
Coastal California is hilly, difficult to build on, and prone to devastating earthquakes.
It is semi-arid, without much of an aquifer.
The life-giving watershed of the Sierra Nevada is more than 200 miles away.
In other words, some of the people most eager to offer green sermons to others live in one of the most artificial and ecologically fragile environments on the planet.
What are the lessons for the nation from these random glimpses of 21st-century California?..."
Read on!

#1 This day 1957-----Pat Boone - April Love

After student hangs Kate Steinle posters, university's bias response office launches probe - The College Fix

After student hangs Kate Steinle posters, university's bias response office launches probe - The College Fix:
"A student at the University of California San Diego has been contacted to report to its Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination after hanging pro-Kate Steinle posters across the campus.

On the evening of Dec. 7, Gregory Lu hung 150 posters of Steinle’s smiling face with the words “She had dreams too” in highly traversed areas across campus that other students typically hang items on, such as bulletin boards and the free speech area.
Four days later, an investigator with the Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination emailed Lu asking to meet with him.

...The day after Lu hung the posters, all of them had been taken down, he added.
The same day Lu was contacted by the bias office, the UC San Diego College Democrats had also called the posters “racist propaganda” targeting the “undocumented community” in a statement posted on their Facebook page. 

It went on to describe the posters as “displays of hate.”...

Read on!

You ought to know!

Rosie O'Donnell Vows to Give Jeff Flake, Susan Collins $2 Million Each if They Vote Against GOP Tax Cuts

Rosie O'Donnell Vows to Give Jeff Flake, Susan Collins $2 Million Each if They Vote Against GOP Tax Cuts:

"Like the national media and their Democrat allies, former comedienne Rosie O’Donnell is horrified at the idea of people being able to keep more of their own money. Using her verified Twitter account Tuesday night, the aging O’Donnell offered $2 million to both Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in exchange for a “no” vote on Tuesday night’s tax cut vote (an act that is unquestionably illegal)."

Harvard Study Says Michigan Elections Less Democratic Than Cuba, North Korea, Iran [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

Harvard Study Says Michigan Elections Less Democratic Than Cuba, North Korea, Iran [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"...The study ranked Michigan’s elections as less democratic than those of Cuba, Iran and North Korea. 
It reports the perceptions of 726 election experts about the electoral integrity — or how ethical the democratic process is — in each state.
Michigan is one of several states that is ranked lower than some authoritarian countries.
Michigan’s Perception of Electoral Integrity index score, which the project complied by using survey methods and 49 measurements, was 57 out of 100.
The Great Lakes State was ranked ahead of ten other states, including Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania..."
Read on!

AM Fruitcake

History for December 22

History for December 22 - On-This-Day.com
Giacomo Puccini 1858, Gene Rayburn (Rubessa) 1917, Barbara Billingsley 1922


Steve Garvey 1948 - Baseball player, Robin Gibb (Bee Gees) 1949, Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees) 1949, Ted Cruz 1970 - Politician from Texas


1775 - A Continental naval fleet was organized in the rebellious American colonies under the command of Ezek Hopkins.


1864 - During the American Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to U.S. President Lincoln from Georgia. The message read, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."


1894 - French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.


1941 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.


1961 - James Davis became the first U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam, while U.S. involvement was still limited to the provision of military advisers.


1984 - New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway. Goetz claimed they were about to rob him.


1990 - Lech Walesa was sworn in as Poland's first popularly elected president.


1991 - The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found along a highway in Lebanon.

Awans' Suspicious Used Car Dealership | The Daily Caller

Awans' Suspicious Used Car Dealership | The Daily Caller:

"The used car dealership known as CIA never seemed like an ordinary car dealership, with inventory, staff and expenses.

On its Facebook page, CIA’s “staff” were fake personalities such as “James Falls O’Brien,” whose photo was taken from a hairstyle model catalog, and “Jade Julia,” whose image came from a web page called “Beautiful Girls Wallpaper.”"

The way we were-----Billy Jack (One Tin Soldier)

Boob-tube-----Howdy Doody Show, The (Intro) S1 (1947)

Man with world's largest penis is now registered disabled because his 18inch member is so big... but he refuses to get a reduction

Man with world's largest penis is now registered disabled because his 18inch member is so big... but he refuses to get a reduction:

Roberto Esquivel Cabrera, from Saltillo, Mexico, has a 18.9 inch penis - believed to be the largest in the world.

WARNING

By Corey Charlton

20th December 2017, 3:31 pm

Updated: 21st December 2017, 11:20 am

THE man with the world's biggest penis has been registered as DISABLED and survives on government assistance and food banks.

Roberto Esquivel Cabrera, from Saltillo, Mexico, has a 18.9 inch penis - believed to be the largest in the world.

5

Roberto Esquivel Cabrera has the world's biggest penis, measuring a whopping 18.9 inches

Read on!!

Trump’s little-noticed war on hidden taxes - The Washington Post

Trump’s little-noticed war on hidden taxes - The Washington Post:
"The New York Federal Reserve estimates the U.S. economy will grow at an annual rate of nearly 4 percent in the fourth quarter.
That would be after breaking 3 percent growth in the second and third quarters this year. The Trump economy is booming.
And the New York Fed predicts the boom will continue, with growth above 3 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
The last time we had four consecutive quarters of growth above 3 percent was 13 years ago, in 2004-2005.
Can that kind of growth be sustained?
Many economists are skeptical and point to President Trump’s trade and immigration policies, which they say undermine his efforts.
The passage of pro-growth tax reform this week, on the other hand, could help Trump keep his pledge.
But one thing Trump has done that has received little attention despite arguably driving today’s economic boom is his decision to declare war on the regulatory state..."
Read on!

Linda Sarsour accused of sex abuse cover-up - Washington Times

Linda Sarsour accused of sex abuse cover-up - Washington Times:

"Linda Sarsour, one of Islam’s greatest propagandists and, oddly enough — given the Muslim religion’s overall doggy way of treating women — one of Feminist World’s emerging heroines, has been accused of bullying a sexual abuse victim into silence.

Well now, isn’t this a twist on the whole sexual harassment atmosphere that’s swirling about America.

Here’s what it’s about, according to The Daily Caller: Asmi Fathelbab, who worked as a contractor for Sarsour’s organization, the Arab American Association of New York,"

Illinois Lost 1 Resident Every 4.3 Minutes In 2017, Dropped To 6th Most Populous State | Zero Hedge

Illinois Lost 1 Resident Every 4.3 Minutes In 2017, Dropped To 6th Most Populous State | Zero Hedge
"Illinois is drowning under a mountain of debt, unpaid bills and underfunded pension liabilities and it's largest city, Chicago, is suffering from a staggering outbreak of violent crime not seen since gang wars engulfed major cities from LA to New York in the mid-90's.  
Here is just a small taste of some of our posts on Illinois' challenges:

• Illinois Pension Funding Ratio Sinks To 37.6% As Unfunded Liabilities Surge To $130 Billion
• Illinois Unpaid Vendor Backlog Hits A New Record At Over $16 Billion
• The State Of Illinois Is "Past The Point Of No Return"
• "What The Hell Is Going On In Chicago" And Other Highlights From Trump's Speech To FBI Grads

Given that, it's hardly surprising that the Prairie State lost a net 33,700 residents in fiscal year 2017, according to the Census Bureau.  
Also not surprising is the fact that the mass exodus from Illinois was the largest of any state in the country with lower taxed, lower cost of living states like Texas and Florida posting the biggest gains...
Read on!!

Venezuela Socialism Collapse Has Not Deterred U.S. Followers | National Review

Venezuela Socialism Collapse Has Not Deterred U.S. Followers | National Review
"By blaming everything else but socialism and tweaking its definition, the Left has managed to keep it haute couture.
It’s a puzzle.
Over the last decade, Venezuela has supplanted Cuba as the Shangri-La of the American left. 
Not long ago, self-declared socialist senator Bernie Sanders insisted that the American dream was more achievable in the Bolivarian Republic than in America.
A string of Hollywood luminaries made the pilgrimage to visit the socialist Mecca to say ponderous and stupid things.
Today, the praise is more muted, because events have illuminated that stupidity.
The government recently advised its citizens to eat their pet rabbits.
Inflation in Venezuela is reminiscent of Weimar Germany.
Roughly 85 percent of Venezuelan companies have stopped production to one extent or another, in the most oil-rich country in the world.
And yet, socialism is arguably more popular — in theory — than at any time in American history, particularly among young people..."
Read on!

Lunch video-----Stay in Queue

Noon-toon

Move Over 'White Privilege,' Now There’s 'Centrist Privilege'

Move Over 'White Privilege,' Now There’s 'Centrist Privilege':

"If you want to get a handle on just how far afield America’s colleges and universities have tilted, check out the student newspapers.

Written and edited by students, they often contain missives and articles that lay bare the potential of academic brainwashing on our youth.

At Chapman University in Orange, California (where tuition is more than $50,000 per year), a column by a scruffy looking political science major shows how far even well-regarded disciplines have fallen."

Das boot ist kaputt: German navy has zero working subs | Ars Technica

Das boot ist kaputt: German navy has zero working subs | Ars Technica:
"Germany has a submarine problem. During a test dive in October, the Deutsche Marine's U-35 struck something (probably a rock) with one of its four "X-rudders," the steering planes on its rear fins. 
The damage required the submarine to be towed back to a shipyard in Kiel for repairs—where it joined three other German navy submarines currently drydocked. 
The U-35 was the Deutsche Marine's only working submarine prior to the collision. 
The remainder of the German submarine fleet is in port at the German naval base in Eckernförde—waiting for dry docks in Kiel to open up.
...As a result, Germany's entire submarine service is left essentially sitting on its hands through at least the first half of 2018.