Law School Students Will Be Allowed To Postpone Final Exams | The Daily Caller

Law School Students Will Be Allowed To Postpone Final Exams | The Daily Caller:

"Columbia University has allowed law school students who feel they suffered trauma from two high-profile grand jury decisions to postpone taking their final exams, the school’s interim dean Robert Scott wrote in a message to students this weekend."

Yabba Dabba Dough: Wisconsin DOT spends $30K on 'Flintstones'-style training video

Yabba Dabba Dough: Wisconsin DOT spends $30K on 'Flintstones'-style training video « Watchdog.org:
"MADISON, Wis. — Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and let your mind go blank.
Now picture, if you will, a group of motorists navigating traffic, only their cars are not powered by gas, solar power or electricity.
Nope, the only way to get around in these vehicles is by extending your feet through the floorboard and skipping your toes across the pavement, a la the “Flintstones.”
But you would be incorrect.
What I’m talking about is a two-minute roundabout training video produced by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that features actors walking around in a circle with what appears to be cardboard automobiles hanging over their shoulders with straps.
And it cost you $30,000, according to DOT spokesman Steven Olson."

Former ABC Reporter Reveals Unflattering Account of How Obama Sometimes Handled Press Behind Closed Doors | Video | TheBlaze.com

Former ABC Reporter Reveals Unflattering Account of How Obama Sometimes Handled Press Behind Closed Doors | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Compton is the latest in a string of journalists who have complained recently about a lack of transparency from the Obama administration, including former New York Times editor Jill Abramson and Susan Page, formerly of USA Today.
“Before I walked out the door on September 10, I was a strong voice for complaining that this particular administration has been more opaque than any I have covered about what the President does in the Oval Office everyday,” Compton said. “He is far less accessible on photo-ops with meetings."

No money to fix roads.........One 'bad machine': Muskegon County to receive $600K for boat in Port of Muskegon

One 'bad machine': Muskegon County to receive $600K for boat in Port of Muskegon | MLive.com:

"MUSKEGON, MI – The Muskegon County is set to receive more than $600,000 for a new boat that would patrol and possibly fight fires or conduct search-and-rescue missions in the Port of Muskegon.
The county's board of commissioners, meeting as the Courts and Public Safety Committee Tuesday, Dec. 2, gave preliminary approval to receive a $604,575 grant from the Department of Homeland Security for a 32-foot port security boat.
The county will pay an in-kind match of $201,525 by conducting training drills, Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler said.
"It's a bad machine," said Muskegon County Commissioner Ben Cross."

Prof. Tells Students Not to ‘Tell Anybody’ About His Vexed Tea Party ‘Analogy’ — He Didn’t Know It Was Already Caught on Video | Video | TheBlaze.com

Prof. Tells Students Not to ‘Tell Anybody’ About His Vexed Tea Party ‘Analogy’ — He Didn’t Know It Was Already Caught on Video | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"A psychology professor at South Texas College in Weslaco, Texas, was seemingly caught on video last month comparing the tea party to the Nazis of the 1930s in Germany.

He then told his students not to “tell anybody” about his remarks — but one of his students had already started filming after he allegedly called Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a “bastard” for using the name “Cruz” to win his election."

Leftist fratricide! Delicious!-----The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power Couple

The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power Couple - The Daily Beast:
"Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge have always been entitled brats.
And now the media has finally noticed.
Just three years ago, Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge were the toast of the liberal establishment.

The Facebook co-founder and his politically ambitious husband embodied all the attributes of a bona fide “gay power couple.” 
In 2012, Hughes bought The New Republic, rescuing the flagship liberal magazine from financial peril and establishing himself as a player in Washington.
At the same time, Eldridge was quietly preparing to run for Congress in upstate New York.
Young, handsome, Ivy League-pedigreed, rich (“the wealthiest openly gay men under 30” according to The Advocate, a stretch considering that the fortune belongs to Hughes), and espousing predictably liberal political views, the Hughes-Eldridge partnership was destined to work wonders for America.
How swiftly things change.
In just the past two months, one half of this pair managed to single-handedly destroy a storied journalistic institution, while the other suffered a crushing electoral defeat in New York’s 19th Congressional District.
Last week, the 31-year-old Hughes forced the resignations of both the editor and literary editor of The New Republic, whose 100th anniversary he presided over last month at a star-studded gala in Washington, D.C.
In protest of the magazine’s newly ensconced CEO’s plan to transform TNR into a “vertically integrated digital media company,” the majority of the magazine’s senior and contributing editors resigned.
Weeks before the implosion at TNR, 28-year-old Eldridge lost his congressional bid by a stunning 30 points, despite having outspent his opponent nearly 3-to-1 in a district President Obama won by 6 percentage points.
The couple had purchased a $2 million home in the district expressly so that Eldridge could run there, their purchase of a $5 million mansion in the adjoining 18th having come to naught after that seat was won by another gay Democrat in 2012."

Petition calls on MSU to cancel George Will speech

Petition calls on MSU to cancel George Will speech:
A group of activists will deliver a petition signed by tens of thousands of people to Michigan State University to protest winter commencement speaker George Will, who they call a "rape apologist," leaders announced Monday.
.....because Will stated in a column that sexual assault victims make it up to achieve the "coveted status" of "victimhood."
The column can be read here.

A group of students will deliver the petition at noon on Wednesday to the MSU administration office. Molly Haigh, a spokeswoman for the women's advocacy group UltraViolet, said more than 40,000 people had signed the petition as of Monday evening.
"It is appalling that MSU, a school currently under Title IX investigation for failing to address rape on campus, would invite a man known for shaming survivors of rape on campus to speak at their graduation ceremony," said Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet.
"One in 5 women are sexually assaulted before graduating from college across America; this is an issue that MSU and every university should take extremely seriously.
We urge MSU to stop condoning rape and cancel George Will's speech."

*******************************************************************************

By George F. Will Opinion writer June 6 

Colleges and universities are being educated by Washington and are finding the experience excruciating. They are learning that when they say campus victimizations are ubiquitous (“micro-aggressions,” often not discernible to the untutored eye, are everywhere), and that when they make victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges, victims proliferate. And academia’s progressivism has rendered it intellectually defenseless now that progressivism’s achievement, the regulatory state, has decided it is academia’s turn to be broken to government’s saddle.

Consider the supposed campus epidemic of rape, a.k.a. “sexual assault.” Herewith, a Philadelphia magazine report about Swarthmore College, where in 2013 a student “was in her room with a guy with whom she’d been hooking up for three months”: 

Six weeks later, the woman reported that she had been raped. Now the Obama administration is riding to the rescue of “sexual assault” victims. It vows to excavate equities from the ambiguities of the hookup culture, this cocktail of hormones, alcohol and the faux sophistication of today’s prolonged adolescence of especially privileged young adults.“They’d now decided — mutually, she thought — just to be friends. When he ended up falling asleep on her bed, she changed into pajamas and climbed in next to him. Soon, he was putting his arm around her and taking off her clothes. ‘I basically said, “No, I don’t want to have sex with you.” And then he said, “OK, that’s fine” and stopped. . . . And then he started again a few minutes later, taking off my panties, taking off his boxers. I just kind of laid there and didn’t do anything — I had already said no. I was just tired and wanted to go to bed. I let him finish. I pulled my panties back on and went to sleep.’”

The administration’s crucial and contradictory statistics are validated the usual way, by official repetition; Joe Biden has been heard from. The statistics are: One in five women is sexually assaulted while in college, and only 12 percent of assaults are reported. Simple arithmetic demonstrates that if the 12 percent reporting rate is correct, the 20 percent assault rate is preposterous. Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute notes, for example, that in the four years 2009 to 2012 there were 98 reported sexual assaults at Ohio State. That would be 12 percent of 817 total out of a female student population of approximately 28,000, for a sexual assault rate of approximately 2.9 percent — too high but nowhere near 20 percent......

The World’s Climate Change Mafia Meet in Peru

The World’s Climate Change Mafia Meet in Peru | Somewhat Reasonable:

"To understand all the talk of “climate change” you must understand that everything and everyone involved—except for those of us who debunk the lies—are engaged in a criminal enterprise to transfer billions from industrialized nations to those who have failed to provide a thriving economy, often because they are run by dictators or corrupt governments who skim the money for themselves.

 The lies being inflicted on Americans include Obama’s “war on coal” that is shutting down coal-fired plants that affordably and efficiently produce the electricity the nation needs, along with the six-year delay of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Add in the thousands of Environmental Protection Agency regulations affecting our manufacturing, business and agricultural sectors and the price we are paying is huge.
 At its heart, environmentalism hates capitalism."

112 Solar Companies Close In 5 Years

112 Solar Companies Close In 5 Years | The Daily Caller:
Solar industry bankruptcies became a hot-button issue in 2011 after Solyndra declared bankruptcy. 
The company went broke after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees from the Obama administration.

Solyndra was quickly followed by Abound Solar and other green energy companies backed by the federal government. 

Abound got a $400 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration, but only used $68 million before the government cut off funding in the wake of Solyndra’s scandalous bankruptcy.

House Report: FDIC Targeted Gun Dealers Under Operation Choke Point | TheBlaze.com

House Report: FDIC Targeted Gun Dealers Under Operation Choke Point | TheBlaze.com:

"Another industry listed were payday lenders — the report found that FDIC had what amounted to a moral vendetta against these companies, even though they are legal.

“Personal animus towards payday lending is apparent throughout the documents produced to the committee,” the report said. “Emails reveal that FDIC’s senior-most bank examiners ‘literally cannot stand payday,’ and effectively ordered banks to terminate all relationships with the industry.”

NYT Aerial Photos: Detroit's Urban Fabric Looks Like 'A Moth-Eaten Blanket'

NYT Aerial Photos: Detroit's Urban Fabric Looks Like 'A Moth-Eaten Blanket' –  Deadline Detroit

Mad World NewsBar In Hot Water After 'RACIST' Drinking Promotion Advertised

Mad World NewsBar In Hot Water After 'RACIST' Drinking Promotion Advertised [Photos]: "Where Michael Brown’s name is mentioned, a protest ensues, which is exactly what happened Saturday evening at the bar once the word had gotten out about their insensitive promotion.
Angry residents in the area held signs and chanted outside Mug Shots — which goes by the slogan “where sarcasm is always free” — so really there is something for everyone without having to loot for it."

History for December 9

History for December 9 - On-This-Day.com
John Milton 1608, Clarence Birdseye 1886, Emmett Kelly 1898 


Kirk Douglas 1918 - Actor, Dick Van Patten 1928 - Actor ("Eight is Enough"), Dick Butkus (NFL) 1942 - Football player 


1803 - The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress. With the amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President. 


1848 - American author and creator of "Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit," Joel Chandler Harris was born. 


1854 - Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," was published in England. 


1926 - The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs. 


1958 - In Indianapolis, IN, Robert H.W. Welch Jr. and 11 other men met to form the anti-Communist John Birch Society. 


1960 - Sperry Rand Corporation unveiled a new computer, known as "Univac 1107." 


1962 - "Lawrence of Arabia," by David Lean had its world premiere in London. 


1990 - Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential election in the country's history. 


1996 - UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali approved a deal allowing Iraq to resume its exports of oil and easing the UN trade embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990. 

WATCH: This Fired Up Fox News Host Body Slams 'Racial Hatred' Obama In An Unforgettable Way

WATCH: This Fired Up Fox News Host Body Slams 'Racial Hatred' Obama In An Unforgettable Way:
"On her Fox News show, Judge Jeanine didn’t hide her feelings any more than Barack Obama hid his over the weekend. In an interview with Black Entertainment Television, Obama played directly to the frayed emotions of his audience, claiming that racism remains “deeply rooted” throughout the country."

Dems on ObamaCare: Was it worth it? | TheHill

Dems on ObamaCare: Was it worth it? | TheHill:

"Influential Democrats who have strongly defended Obama-Care for years are now publicly questioning whether the law was worth the political fallout.

Passage of the Affordable Care Act marked the start of a political unraveling for the Democratic Party, which lost huge majorities in Congress and control of a majority of state governorships in the last four and a half years."

19 Signs That You Live In A Country That Has Gone Completely Insane

19 Signs That You Live In A Country That Has Gone Completely Insane | The Daily Sheeple:
#1 When those occupying the highest offices in the land tell you that an $18,000,000,000,000 debt is “under control“, you live in a country that has gone completely insane.

#3 When the greatest dream in life for millions of your fellow citizens is to win the Powerball jackpot, you live in a country that has gone completely insane.

#4 When dressing up sex dolls in fashionable clothing and photographing them is considered to be art, you live in a country that has gone completely insane.

#6 When a boy can sue his high school for not letting him use the girls’ restrooms and win $75,000 in “damages”, you live in a country that has gone completely insane.

#7 When people that want to have sex with their own family members start demanding “equal rights”, you live in a country that has gone completely insane…

- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/19-signs-that-you-live-in-a-country-that-has-gone-completely-insane_122014#sthash.4bBsdP4x.dpuf

Loss of entry-level jobs a tragedy for American workforce

Loss of entry-level jobs a tragedy for American workforce « Watchdog.org:
"A whole generation isn’t learning the value of a dollar.
Entry-level jobs represent opportunities for young workers to learn basic skills as they climb the employment ladder, and it’s an opportunity that fewer are getting.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the youth employment rate — workers ages 16-24 — is in a state of serious decline.
In the mid to late 1980s, the percentage of employed youths ranged from 81 percent to 86 percent. In July, the month considered the peak for youth employment, only 51.9 percent had a job."

Eric Holder’s Racial Profiling Promises are the Same Promises He Made in 1999

Eric Holder’s Racial Profiling Promises are the Same Promises He Made in 1999:

"You see, Eric Holder’s promise that he will root-out racial profiling and recommit the federal Department of Justice to ensuring their version of justice sounds all well and good; however, the Attorney General has spent decades in the government and the inescapable fact is that this racial strife that is tearing this country apart has happened on his and President Obama’s watch."

Rolling Stone magazine brutally mocked by parody poster

Rolling Stone magazine brutally mocked by parody poster | TheBlaze.com

$466,642 Federal Study: Why Do Fat Girls Date Less and Risk More?

$466,642 Federal Study: Why Do Fat Girls Date Less and Risk More? | CNS News:
"The National Institutes of Health has awarded $466,642 in taxpayer dollars to Magee-Women’s Research Institute and Foundation in Pittsburgh, Pa., to study and compare the intimate relationships of obese and non-obese girls.
“Mounting evidence demonstrates that weight influences intimate (i.e., dating and sexual) relationship formation and sexual negotiations among adolescent girls.
Obese girls consistently report having fewer dating and sexual experiences, but more sexual risk behaviors (i.e., condom nonuse) once they are sexually active,” the grant abstract said.
 “No studies have actually examined whether the interpersonal skills and intimate relationships of obese and non-obese girls differ,” it said."

You are Entering the Government Pension Zone …

You are Entering the Government Pension Zone … [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"An alternative universe of finance and accounting practices

Most people don’t understand how government defined-benefit pension systems operate, which is one of many obstacles to reforming the deeply underfunded systems. 
Part of the problem is that the methods used in pension funding and accounting are very different from anything a regular person ever faces in their own personal finances.
For example, people rarely buy a product, including a financial product, without knowing its cost.
But projecting the cost of pension systems requires making various assumptions about the future to decide how much must be contributed to meet defined-benefit pension promises.
Making a wrong assumption can put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.
Complicating this, the incentives are strong for policymakers to make “rosy scenario” assumptions that let them get away with paying less now to prefund future benefits.
.....In the real world, individuals who don’t make required payments on their obligations face penalties. 
In the pension zone, the state continues to pay less into the school employee pension system than the amount its own actuarial accountants say is needed to cover future pension benefits without extra penalty.
All these factors have contributed to unfunded pension obligations growing so large they are diverting resources from other vital needs including road repairs and public safety.
Yet those who urge a common-sense reform like “stop digging a deeper hole” – close the systems to new employees and give them 401(k)s instead – are put off with false claims of excessive “transition costs.“"

New Law Lets Courts Decide If You Are a Sensitive Enough Parent

New Law Lets Courts Decide If You Are a Sensitive Enough Parent - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
"A new law in Great Britain could criminalize normal parenting—the kind practice by people who are not perfect every single second of every day.
The so-called "Cinderella Law" expands the definition of child cruelty to include any form of "emotional, psychological or intangible harm," writes barrister Jon Holbrook in SpikedOnline:
Under the amended offence it will be possible for a parent to be convicted of: smacking a child; not providing it with regular meals; leaving a crying baby alone on the petrol forecourt while visiting the station checkout; even ignoring teenage angst. 
Indeed, the wayward and emotionally fragile teenager, not to mention the teenager who dislikes his parents’ style of parenting, should have little difficulty making a case for his parents to be prosecuted. Defenders of the new law may guffaw at these examples, and claim that such prosecutions could never happen, but they are wrong."

Former Attorney General Explains How Republicans Can Fight Obama’s Executive Amnesty (and WIN)

Former Attorney General Explains How Republicans Can Fight Obama’s Executive Amnesty (and WIN):

"Former Attorney General of the United States Ed Meese served under President Ronald Reagan at a time when the rule of law meant something.

Meese recently joined fellow Heritage associate Mike Needham in a commentary piece detailing how the Republicans should counter President Obama’s unilateral amnesty declaration and, more importantly, how Republicans can win in this fight against a president who acts as an emperor."

AMERICA'S MILITARY: A force adrift

AMERICA'S MILITARY: A force adrift
A Military Times survey of 2,300 active-duty troops found morale indicators on the decline in nearly every aspect of military life.
Troops report significantly lower overall job satisfaction, diminished respect for their superiors, and a declining interest in re-enlistment now compared to just five years ago.
Today's service members say they feel underpaid, under-equipped and under-appreciated, the survey data show.
After 13 years of war, the all-volunteer military is entering an era fraught with uncertainty and a growing sense that the force has been left adrift.

The senior military leadership has my best interests at heart:
2009 – 53% agreed
2014 – 27% agreed

Not a parody

Not a parody | Power Line
Columbia Law School is permitting students claiming to be impaired due to the emotional impact of recent non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner matters to postpone taking their final exams. Here is the text of a message from interim dean Robert Scott to the law school community:

The grand juries’ determinations to return non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally. For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality.

For these reasons, after consultation with students in the law school and with colleagues on the law faculty and in the administration, I am taking the following steps to assure our responsiveness and involvement in this particular moment:

- In recognition of the traumatic effects these events have had on some of the members of our community, Dean Greenberg-Kobrin and Yadira Ramos-Herbert, Director, Academic Counseling, have arranged to have Dr. Shirley Matthews, a trauma specialist, hold sessions next Monday and Wednesday for anyone interested in participating to discuss the trauma that recent events may have caused .

Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Its Painful Reforms

Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Its Painful Reforms - The American Interest:
The Malfeasance

Had Detroit never been in the defined benefit pension business, it probably would never have gone bankrupt. Even with the collapse of the auto industry, rising poverty, blight and crime, the white and black middle class’ flight to the suburbs, and a legendarily dysfunctional city government, bankruptcy was not inevitable. Federal law makes it extremely difficult for cities to enter bankruptcy by imposing a cash-flow insolvency test. Massive debt is not enough. A city must be literally running out of money in order to break its contractual debt obligations in court. This is one of the most important reasons why so few of America’s many distressed cities actually go bankrupt.

But Detroit was running out of money, and pensions were at the root of the problem. When Detroit filed for bankruptcy in June 2013, 60 percent of its $18 billion in obligations it listed, and 92 percent of its unsecured obligations, were somehow pension-related. The $3.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities was just the beginning. There was also the $5.7 billion owed for retiree health insurance. This benefit, known as “OPEB” (other post-employment benefits), is common throughout the state and local sector because of the prevalence of defined benefit pensions. Pension eligibility often begins 10 or more years before Medicare eligibility, creating pressure for government employers to continue to provide gap health coverage for the years between retirement and Medicare. (Many governments also supplement Medicare after it kicks in at 65.) Detroit owed another $1.7 billion from a spectacularly imprudent attempt to backfill its pension system with funds borrowed from capital markets.

Michigan Legislation Could Give Ride-Sharing an Uber Lift

Michigan Legislation Could Give Ride-Sharing an Uber Lift [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"State Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw, introduced legislation that would create state-based regulations for ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. 
At first glance, the regulations appear reasonable and have the support of these so-called transportation network companies themselves, as reported by MIRS News (subscription required).
Uber and Lyft have faced challenges trying to break into new markets around the country, as each city has its own unique regulations for taxi services.
City governments don’t quite know how to regulate these new ride-sharing services though, because they don’t fit neatly into pre-existing taxi laws.
Naturally, taxi companies are lobbying local governments to ban or severely limit these services, as they (justifiably) view them as an existential threat to their business."

Fresh Off His U.S. Senate Election, Republican Cassidy Vows to Fight Obama’s Policies | Video | TheBlaze.com

Fresh Off His U.S. Senate Election, Republican Cassidy Vows to Fight Obama’s Policies | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Cassidy defeated Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in Saturday’s runoff with 56 percent of the vote.

“It is the exclamation mark on the message the American people sent on November the fourth,” Cassidy said of his victory. “The American people do not like the agenda that Barack Obama has staked out for our country.”

‘I don’t understand what she meant’ – Democrat Jane Harman can’t defend Hillary’s ‘empathy’ comment

‘I don’t understand what she meant’ – Democrat Jane Harman can’t defend Hillary’s ‘empathy’ comment » The Right Scoop -:
"Hillary supporter and former U.S> Representative Jane Harman had a very tough time understanding Hillary Clinton’s insane remark about “empathizing” with our enemies, much less defending it."

The wind energy credit buried in the tax extender deal should get the ax

The wind energy credit buried in the tax extender deal should get the ax « Hot Air:
It continues to dish out billions of dollars in wind energy credits which are distorting the market and continuing to flush taxpayer money into technology which is allegedly standing on its own feet these days. Also, recent changes to the language of the credit open it to systemic abuse. The American Energy Alliance explains.

“The wind PTC was a bad idea yesterday, it’s a bad idea today, and it will be a bad idea tomorrow.

“Over twenty percent of this extenders deal, nearly $10 billion, is a handout to AWEA and its allies like the League of Conservation Voters who spent $75 million during the midterm elections in an effort to defeat Republicans. Now the House Republicans are prepared to reward them with a massive handout courtesy of the American taxpayer. This sweetheart deal will cost American families close to $100 per household, and will stick them with more expensive and less reliable electricity in the future.

“A vote for this deal is also an endorsement of President Obama’s climate agenda, as the PTC is integral to the administration’s costly climate action plan.