How do you know if you’re living in a free society? Here’s a quick test: Are you allowed to say obviously true things in public? Or are you forced to lie? As George Orwell put it in “1984”: “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” But what if that freedom isn’t granted? What if you’re required to repeat things that you know aren’t true? What if everyone who hears you knows perfectly well that you’re lying, but they can’t say so out loud? What if everyone is required to nod along in mock sincerity as if it’s all completely real? That’s what a pep rally in a police state looks like: “Thanks to the dear leader for a bountiful potato harvest!” they chant, even as they starve to death. You get the same feeling as you watch the current race for the Democratic nomination.
It’s Not A Bribe When You Use Other People’s Money "There are people in prison right now for bribery. Judges have been removed from the bench for taking bribes, and people sent to cells for extended periods for offering and/or accepting them. So why aren’t the candidates running for the nomination for the Democratic Party for president among them? You name it, and there’s a Democratic candidate out there offering to give it to people if they’d just vote for them. How is that not bribery?
Want free college? Done, just vote for candidate X, Y, or Z.
Want your student loans “forgiven”? You got it, just vote for one of the candidates promising just that.
Sick of paying for rent?
Health insurance?
Cable?
Cell phones?
Food?
Housing?
You can find a Democrat somewhere who’ll swear it’s all yours, and “for free,” if you simply mark their name on your ballot...." Read all.
The Washington Post is all-in on stoking the fire of public harassment of Trump supporters, denying them public accommodations. So much for civility and mutual respect.
That’s the only conclusion to draw from this op-ed (non-paywall version here) published by the largest newspaper in our nation’s capital, written by Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of the Red Hen Restaurant that kicked out Sarah Sanders and her family while dining there.
The paper proudly tweeted out its contribution to the loss of civility.
If anyone is spreading hate, it is Wilkinson and spitting waitresses. The projection here is so obvious that one might think editors at the WaPo would get it, But no, the paper is part of the problem..." Read all.
The Supreme Court Just Made An Announcement About DACA | The Daily Caller:
The Supreme Court will decide whether President Donald Trump can rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program during its next term, the justices announced Friday.
DACA is an Obama-era amnesty initiative that extends temporary legal status to 700,000 foreign nationals who came to the U.S. as children.
A student-run Dartmouth College newspaper found that only three and four percent of Dartmouth seniors are favorable toward President Donald Trump and the Republican party, respectively.
One grad said his professor claimed that Trump’s election was the “worst day for America since Reagan was elected.”
When Television News Anchors Become Gun Control Activists
"On the subject of gun control, television news shows these days spout nothing more than propaganda.
This past Sunday, seven million Americans watched CBS’s "60 Minutes" explain why “AR-15s are the choice of our worst mass murderers.” It was the most-watched television program that day.
...But CBS was incredibly misleading in implying that AR-15’s are somehow uniquely designed for warfare.
...An AR-15’s .223-caliber bullets are so small that many states prohibit use of them for deer hunting. The fear is that these relatively small bullets will not kill the animals, but merely wound them, causing them to suffer.
These .223-caliber bullets are best for hunting small-game animals.
...But the military may stand to benefit from using .223-caliber bullets, because wounding rather than killing enemy troops is likely to slow down their comrades and greatly limit maneuverability.
Indeed, each soldier that is wounded slows down the movement of about seven other soldiers.
...The ultimate irony is that if CBS and other gun control advocates succeeded in banning .223-caliber rifles, larger-caliber hunting rifles would become more popular.
A shot from such a gun would be more likely to kill someone.
Whether this misinformation is a result of ignorance or political bias, the end result is to make Americans less safe." Read all.
Minnesota city council votes to ditch Pledge of Allegiance, reconsiders after backlash | Fox News:
A Minnesota city is reconsidering its decision to no longer say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of city council meetings after facing major backlash.
The St. Louis Park City Council unanimously voted on June 17 to amend the procedure rules so that the pledge would no longer be said before the start of every session in an effort to serve a more “diverse community.”
Who Pays for Student-Debt Forgiveness? Taxpayers who didn’t go to college, didn’t take on debt, or paid it off already!
Democrats have begun a bidding war over student-debt forgiveness.
Joe Biden proposes to expand it for public-school teachers.
Elizabeth Warren wants to forgive 75% of all student debt.
Bernie Sanders has raised the stakes to 100%.
No one doubts that student debt, which amounts to some $1.6 trillion in total, is a burden, or that college is a worthwhile investment for most graduates.
But forgiveness wouldn’t make that debt disappear.
It would merely transfer it to the federal debt—already $22 trillion—and stick taxpayers with...
History for June 30 - On-This-Day.com Lena Horne 1917 - Jazz singer, Susan Hayward 1919, Florence Ballard (The Supremes) 1943 David Alan Grier 1955 - Actor, comedian, Vincent D'Onofrio 1959 - Actor ("Law and Order: Criminal Intent"), Mike Tyson 1966 - Boxer 1953 - The first Corvette rolled off the Chevrolet assembly line in Flint, MI. It sold for $3,250. 1998 - Officials confirmed that the remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were identified as those of Air Force pilot Michael J. Blassie.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that migrants should “stay” in their countries of origin instead of undertaking the “dangerous” journey across the U.S. / Mexico border.
Graham’s comments on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum” came after several migrants, including three children, were discovered dead in South Texas near the Rio Grande river. Many of President Donald Trump’s critics, including Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, have blamed the deaths on the current administration’s immigration policies.
Michigan Capitol Confidential - Posts "Critics of reducing the amount spent by a federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative say the spending is imperative to protecting the Great Lakes as well as the livelihood of the people of Michigan. In 2017, the $300 million annual grant program gave $50,000 to the Detroit Zoological Society. The money paid for Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services after-school program with 20 teachers and 180 6th-through-8th grade students. This would “create an engaging learning environment where youth use science as a lens to make decisions and solve problems. Students will ask questions, collect data and conduct research, with opportunities to make a personal difference in water issues that affect their families, their community and the Great Lakes.”
Slow Learners on the Left | Power Line "Some days—actually most days now that I think about it—the left hands you an easy win. Take the case of Book Culture, a four-location independent bookseller in New York City. B ook Culture enjoys a reputation as a progressive bookstore, a certified outlet for all the literary needs of the wokerati. Trouble is, Book Culture is about to go under.
“Our four stores are in danger of closing soon and we need financial assistance or investment on an interim basis to help us find our footing. This is true in spite of the fact that business has been good and we are widely supported and appreciated,” [owner Chris Doeblin] wrote. “In the last 30 monthsthe payroll costs for Book Culture have risen by 50%and it has been difficult to adapt quickly enough. We have now made the structural changes to our company and the cuts that will allow us to move ahead profitably once we find the financial resources we need.”
Now, why might their payroll costs have risen by 50 percent? What could possible explain this. It’s a complete mystery. Oh, wait. . .
Doeblin blamed payroll cost increases on the city’s minimum wage raise, which he says increased hourly wages for his employees “from $10 to $15.25 since December 2016” and forced him to initiate layoffs and reorganizing.
But but but—I was told minimum wage hikes would have no effect on businesses! You mean mandated higher payroll costs might make some businesses unviable? And how could a progressive outfit like Book Culture have had a clear conscience about paying a miserable $10 an hour before the mandate?
What remedy does Book Culture propose?
A free labor market perhaps?
Silly me.
Of course you know the answer: government subsidies.
Doeblin explained to Gothamist what he believes the business needs to survive, and his larger ambitions to try to help other small businesses stay alive in an ever-changing city: “I think we need at least $500K in a term loan but I hope to find $750K to a $1M,” he said. “I would like the city to immediately [guarantee] such a loanand then embark on a serious plan to improve the odds of small business in New York. I would like to be on that panel too, because there is a lack of creative optimistic thinking and action.”
Here’s a serious plan: turn a profit, or close up.
Racial tensions in America, particularly with police, has been a hot topic with the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The politicians who make demonizing comments about the police are “not helpful at all,” Dennis Slocumb, director of Legislative Affairs for the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), told the DCNF.
“I can just speak in generalities that politicians who make political hay demeaning to the police … are just not helpful at all,” Slocumb told the DCNF. “I think it emboldens people to resist arrest. These guys [cops] aren’t driving down the streets saying, ‘Let’s go pick a fight with somebody.'”
Airplane Contrails Will Do Triple the Damage They Do Today By 2050, Study Finds - Slashdot "An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Scientist: The contrails left by airplanes last only hours. But they are now so widespread that their warming effect is greater than that of all the carbon dioxide emitted by airplanes that has accumulated in the atmosphere since the first flight of the Wright brothers. Worse still,this non-CO2 warming effect is set to triple by 2050, according to a study by Ulrike Burkhardt and colleagues at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Germany. Altogether, flying is responsible for around 5 percent of global warming, the team say, so this figure will soar even higher -- and no meaningful actions are being taken to prevent this..." The study has been published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics." Read all.
Far-right teen who branded Prince Harry 'race traitor' jailed - CNN
"London (CNN)A far-right teenager who reportedly branded Prince Harry a "race traitor" and suggested he should be shot after his marriage to Meghan Markle has been jailed in Britain for four years and three months.
Michal Szewczuk, 19, posted extremist material including an image of the prince with a gun to his head on a blood-spattered background, the UK Press Association (PA) news agency reported.
Published months after Harry's wedding to Meghan, whose mother is African-American, the image also featured a swastika and the phrase: "See Ya Later Race Traitor."..."
Read all.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that it should not be a crime for immigrants to overstay their visas or violate their immigration status.
Pelosi’s comments echo those made at Wednesday’s Democratic debate by former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and highlight the Democratic Party’s rapid shift in favor of open border policies.
Killer Heatwave – The New Climate Porn | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
Sun, snow and slopes: Snowbird to have Fourth of July skiing | fox13now.com:
How do you know if you’re living in a free society? Here’s a quick test: Are you allowed to say obviously true things in public? Or are you forced to lie? As George Orwell put it in “1984”: “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” But what if that freedom isn’t granted? What if you’re required to repeat things that you know aren’t true? What if everyone who hears you knows perfectly well that you’re lying, but they can’t say so out loud? What if everyone is required to nod along in mock sincerity as if it’s all completely real? That’s what a pep rally in a police state looks like: “Thanks to the dear leader for a bountiful potato harvest!” they chant, even as they starve to death. You get the same feeling as you watch the current race for the Democratic nomination.
It’s Not A Bribe When You Use Other People’s Money
Just THREE percent of 2019 Dartmouth grads support Trump: 
It was the most-watched television program that day.
Instapundit Blog Archive BLUE ON BLUE: 
Elizabeth Warren wants to forgive 75% of all student debt.
Bernie Sanders has raised the stakes to 100%.
No one doubts that student debt, which amounts to some $1.6 trillion in total, is a burden, or that college is a worthwhile investment for most graduates.
But forgiveness wouldn’t make that debt disappear.
It would merely transfer it to the federal debt—already $22 trillion—and stick taxpayers with...
Read all.
Elizabeth Warren wants to forgive 75% of all student debt. 
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that migrants should “stay” in their countries of origin instead of undertaking the “dangerous” journey across the U.S. / Mexico border.
But but but—I was told minimum wage hikes would have no effect on businesses! 
Racial tensions in America, particularly with police, has been a hot topic with the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The politicians who make demonizing comments about the police are “not helpful at all,” Dennis Slocumb, director of Legislative Affairs for the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), told the DCNF.
Airplane Contrails Will Do Triple the Damage They Do Today By 2050, Study Finds - Slashdot
Far-right teen who branded Prince Harry 'race traitor' jailed - CNN
Pelosi: ‘It Shouldn’t Be A Crime’ To Have An Immigration Status Violation | The Daily Caller: