Month: May 2016
State Department Audit Slams Hillary!
Also in related news:
The Romanian hacker who claimed he easily breached Hillary Clinton’s email server pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to two counts of computer hacking charges, as part of a deal with the Justice Department.
In exchange for a reduced sentence, Marcel Lehel Lazar – also known as Guccifer — has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the future.
(Fox News)
Politico has this:
Significantly, the report also reveals that Clinton and her top aides at State – Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan, Huma Abedin, and possibly others – refused to cooperate with the IG’s investigation despite the IG’s requests that they submit to interviews.
The report is devastating, although it transparently strains to soften the blow. For example, it concludes that State’s “longstanding systemic weaknesses” in recordkeeping “go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State.” Yet, it cannot avoid finding that Clinton’s misconduct is singular in that she, unlike he predecessors, systematically used private email for the purpose of evading recordkeeping requirements.
…A long-awaited State Department inspector general report on the impact of personal email use on recordkeeping at State was released to lawmakers on Wednesday, and concluded that Clinton violated the agency’s records rules. And as many Americans prepare for the traditional Memorial Day kickoff to the summer season, longtime Clinton aide Cheryl Mills is scheduled to sit for a sworn deposition Friday in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the conservative group Judicial Watch.
Mills’ testimony would be the first known time a member of Clinton’s inner circle has been questioned under oath in the email controversy. Another top Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, is set to testify next month. And Clinton herself is awaiting a judge’s ruling on whether she should be required to give a deposition.
No matter how that comes out, Clinton also faces an ongoing FBI investigation into the email set up. Some of her aides have already been questioned. She’s expressed a willingness to sit down with investigators — something they’re expected to take her up on in the next few weeks. Unless it takes place in complete secrecy, such a session would be the highest-profile legal spectacle the former first lady has faced since she testified 20 years ago before a federal grand jury investigating the disappearance and reappearance of Whitewater billing records.
“I think the [Office of Inspector General] report is going to be of interest and the testimony is going to be out there,” said Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton. “I think the courts will take action this summer….I don’t see any of this going away.”
On top of all that, there’s an expected House report on Benghazi. And a slew of planned document releases from the State Department that a conservative group is planning to make into a movie.
“We have been for months and we will be for the next several months on the receiving end of document productions from the State Department and others,” said David Bossie of Citizens United, another conservative organization. “We have been and continue to be in the works on a Hillary documentary….We’d like to have something launch on or around the the Democratic Convention.”
[….]
“Whether it’s the Benghazi report, the state IG report or other types of releases, those are just a variation of bad for Hillary Clinton because on that day and time whenever those happen it is taking her off her message and making her have to answer questions related to these issues that she doesn’t want to talk about,” the veteran GOP operative said. “That’s called winning, if you’re Donald Trump.”
…A-N-D T-H-E… Washington Times weighs in:
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly broke government policy by using her own secret email server and top aides misled other department staff to cover for her, an inspector general concluded in a report sent to Capitol Hill Wednesday.
Not only did her use of the secret server shield her communications from open-records laws, but she also broke department policy by failing to report several hacking attempts, the inspector general said in an 83-page investigative report that is devastating in its conclusions.
After one of the 2011 hack attempts Mrs. Clinton’s tech staffer shut the server down for a few minutes, hoping that would solve the situation, but quickly warned top aides not to send Mrs. Clinton “anything sensitive” after the attempted breach, according to the report, which was obtained by The Washington Times.
After another suspicious attempt Mrs. Clinton said she was scared to open email — but failed to report the matter.
“Notification is required when a user suspects compromise of, among other things, a personally owned device containing personally identifiable information,” the investigators said. “However, OIG found no evidence that the Secretary or her staff reported these incidents to computer security personnel or anyone else within the Department.”…
Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi Speaks About Minimum Wage
(H/T Breitbart) “I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry — it’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient [while] making $15 an hour bagging French fries,” Rensi said Tuesday.
“It’s nonsense and it’s very destructive and it’s inflationary and it’s going to cause a job loss across this country like you’re not going to believe,” Rensi added.
WaPo’s Robert McCartney Changes View on Washington Redskins
Until his latest column on the issue, Robert McCartney (who is the Washington Posts senior regional correspondent, covering politics and policy in the greater Washington, D.C.), was very much against the Washington Redskins using said name.
He changed his mind because of the Washington Post’s poll showing 9-out-of-10 Native-Americans don’t care about the controversy. Mind you, this is nothing new poll-wise, and MY question would have been something like this:
➤ “why do you think it is that you have never heard about the majority of American Indians supporting the Redskins Football name and emblem before this?”
➤ “Do you think there may be a disconnect with ‘where’ you receive your news and reality -or- alternate viewpoints closer to the truth than where you currently do?”
Here I am thinking about the now famous quote by elite Manhattanite and New Yorker columnist Pauline Kael after Richard Nixon’s sweeping presidential victory in 1972: “I don’t know how Richard Nixon could have won. I don’t know anybody who voted for him.”
The same thinking applies to Mr. McCartney.
For more clear thinking like this from Dennis Prager… I invite you to visit: http://www.dennisprager.com/ ~ see also: http://www.prageruniversity.com/
Bathroom Wars ~ Firewall!
In his latest Firewall, Bill looks into the fallacies involved in the latest product of the Progressive Synthetic Injustice machine.
What Islamic State Wants
ISIS has conquered territory across the Middle East and northern Africa. It has terrorized its occupied cities, sown terror across Europe, and spread its ideology around the world. But what does ISIS want? What does it believe? Where did it come from? And can it be stopped? Tom Joscelyn, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, explains.
Who’s More Pro-Choice: Europe or America?
Are abortion laws more conservative in America or in Western Europe? Would a pregnant woman seeking an abortion have an easier time getting one in Texas or in…Germany? The answers, as talk show host Elisha Krauss explains, may just change how you think about America’s abortion laws.
Larry Elder vs. Internet Troll on Freddie Gray
Per “The Sage’s” style, Larry builds up to the point. He lays out his case well, and then seamlessly weaves it into a short-live “Twitter exchange” that exemplifies the depth of the Left’s thinking. They [the professional Left] love to label and mock — Russell Kirk once said: “Thinking in slogans ends with thinking in bullets” (http://tinyurl.com/jt5eza4). So while this is a fun exercise in facts trump emotion… remember, it is emotional support for ideology that killed a record number of people in world history by Leftists in the 20th Century.
- Listen To Larry on The Answer (870AM) from 6-9pm
- For more clear thinking like this from Larry Elder… I invite you to visit: http://www.larryelder.com/
- Also visit his Twitter page (https://twitter.com/larryelder) as well as his blog: http://www.elderstatement.com/
A Free People’s Suicide ~ Os Guinness
Eric Metaxas and Socrates in the City host an evening with author and social critic Os Guinness on the topic, “A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future,” September 13, 2012.
Federal Overreach Into Bathrooms
New York Values ~ Pronouns (UPDATED!)
I have recently started rereading “The Conservative Mind” and thought this was fitting:
- The radical, when all is said, is a neoterist, in love with change; the conservative, a man who says with Joubert, Ce sont les crampons qui unissent une génération á une autre — these ancient institutions of politics and religion. [A great rudimentary definition of “newsspeak”]
- Washington Post blogger Eugene Volokh revealed the New York City Commission on Human Rights has issued guidance that employers, landlords, professionals, and businesses can now be fined up to $250,000 for not using an individual’s preferred name, pronoun, or title under the New York City Human Rights Law – “regardless of the individual’s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual’s identification.” (NewsBusters)
Greg Koukl talks about “New York Values” in that if you do not use a preferred pronoun after it has been made clear the person wishes to be called “he,” “she,” “zhe,” no sex… whatever.
Breitbart notes the story:
Did you call a transsexual person “he” or “she” when they preferred to be called “zhe?” According to a newly updated anti-discrimination law in New York City, you could be fined an eye-watering $250,000.
In the latest, astonishing act of draconian political correctness, the NYC Commission on Human Rights have updated a law on “Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Expression” to threaten staggering financial penalties against property owners who “misgender” employees or tenants.
Incidents that are deemed “wilful and malicious” will see property owners face up to $250,000 in fines, while standard violations of the law will result in a $125,000 fine. For small business owners, these sums are crippling.
It’s not as simple as referring to transmen “he” or transwomen as “she,” either. The legislation makes it clear that if an individual desires, property owners will have to make use of “zhe,” “hir” and any other preferred pronoun. From the updated legislation:
The NYCHRL requires employers and covered entities to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun and title (e.g., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual’s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual’s identification. Most individuals and many transgender people use female or male pronouns and titles.
Some transgender and gender non-conforming people prefer to use pronouns other than he/him/his or she/her/hers, such as they/them/theirs or ze/hir…..
Daily Caller notes this craziness as well:
Calling a person “she” instead of “ze” could be grounds for a $250,000 fine in New York City under new civil rights guidelines published just before Christmas which ban the “misgendering” of individuals.
Discrimination based on gender identity has been illegal in New York since 2002, but last week the New York Commission on Human Rights released a new set of guidelines that specify the many ways one can violate the law. The guidelines apply to employment, housing, and public accommodations, though some exceptions exist for particularly small employers and for religious organizations.
New York officials claim the new policy makes it the most aggressive city in the country in terms of protecting the rights of the transgendered….
Ted Cruz wisely released a video (probably a set of them that will confirm his Manahaatan values brought up in the GOP debate:
HotAir notes that Cruz will pick up these attacks:
…“A thrice-married man is going to come into South Carolina expecting to be the Republican nominee?” [Charlie] Condon asked incredulously. “He’s pro-choice. He’s pro- gay marriage. He’s against traditional values. He’s New York, and he’s got to talk about that.”…
Gateway Pundit notes that “masturbation booths” have started to appear curbside in New York City:
Eco-Fascism In Portland Schools
Via Climate Depot:
In a move spearheaded by environmentalists, the Portland Public Schools board unanimously approved A RESOLUTION AIMED AT ELIMINATING DOUBT [not possible] of climate change and its causes in schools.
“It is unacceptable that we have textbooks in our schools that spread doubt about the human causes and urgency of the crisis,” said Lincoln High School student Gaby Lemieux in board testimony. “Climate education is not a niche or a specialization, it is the MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR MY GENERATION TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN OUR CHANGING WORLD” [my activism gives me worth]…
Maybe the Portland schools can have Bill Nye “the Fascist Guy” in to give speeches.