COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, December 05, 2016

Calexit ?

86 comments:

  1. Vegas goes with them. being a bedroom of LA.

    Then, up the coasts, everything east of the Cascades stays with me.

    They get all of California, Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, etc.

    Idaho, Wyoming, Montana head out on our own too.

    We remain in NATO, whatever California and the coast decides to do.

    Hopefully Idaho/Wyoming/Montana can eventually team up with B.C. and Alaska.

    Then all will be well.

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    2. Places like Detroit, Michigan and surrounds are up shit crick without a paddle.

      Nobody wants 'em.

      ******

      Can the USA be broken up ?

      Sure, given the will.

      Texas already has an automatic out.

      Montana already has an out if their guns are fucked with....

      We should adopt a Constitutional Amendment outlining an exit process, like in the EU.

      Our current Constitution is silent on these matters.

      It is not rational that one original generation, say of original Idahoans, that joined the Union, can thereby perpetually mandate that their descendants agree with their outlook.....forever.

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    3. Think Taiwan and China.

      Whose side are you on ?

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    4. Hell, think Hawaii and the USA.

      The Hawaiians weren't even given the option of voting for Independence.

      It was continued status as a dependency, or Statehood.

      Some of the actual Hawaiians are still pissed about this heavy handed craparoo.

      What kind of option is that ?

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    5. .

      Idaho, Wyoming, Montana head out on our own too.

      Watch the door doesn't hit you in the ass on the way out.

      .

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    6. .

      You remind me of all those snowflakes that were going to leave the country if Trump won.

      Waiting...

      Waiting...

      .

      Delete
  2. Joe Biden: ‘I am going to run for President in 2020’
    POSTED AT 9:01 PM ON DECEMBER 5, 2016 BY JOHN SEXTON

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/05/joe-biden-im-running-for-president-in-2020/


    Bwahahahahaha

    If this isn't a good reason to dissolve the Union I don't know what is....

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  3. Kevin de Léon, the President Pro Tem of the California State Senate, used his address at the swearing-in of new members on Monday to attack President-elect Donald Trump — but also advised fellow Democrats against seceding from the Union.

    ...

    In contrast to his counterpart in the other legislative house, de León struck a few conciliatory notes:

    I want to acknowledge my Republican counterpart, Jean Fuller, for her service and her friendship. And I want to say to all Senators, Republicans and Democrats, we are all part of the same California community.

    ...

    On the other side of the Capitol, California State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Panorama) took a far more inflammatory approach, rejecting calls for national unity and instead urging Californians to “fight.” Hendon deliberately excluded those Californians who had voted for Trump.

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    1. The Brown/Becerra Axis For Illegals

      https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265032/brown-becerra-axis-illegals-lloyd-billingsley

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  4. Here's the reason it's still OK to team up with B.C. (they are not so far gone) but not the rest of Canada -

    (report from 'The University of Ash'):


    The radicals have taken over: Academic extremism comes to Canada

    MARGARET WENTE
    The Globe and Mail
    Published Saturday, Dec. 03, 2016 6:00AM EST


    I bet the poor guy never saw it coming.

    Until recently, Henry Parada was director of the School of Social Work at Ryerson University, Toronto’s big downtown commuter school. His career was going well and he got major research grants. Now he has stepped aside after a handful of students calling themselves the Black Liberation Collective accused him of “a violent act of anti-Blackness, misogyny and misogynoir.” What was this act? It seems that he left a meeting where a black female speaker was giving a talk. No one knows why.

    What happened next won’t surprise anyone who has been tracking the steady rise of authoritarian illiberalism on the left. The Black Liberation Collective at Ryerson (which has perhaps the most diverse student body in the nation) issued an escalating series of rants demanding immediate action to address his crimes, along with institutional racism in general. Students disrupted faculty meetings. The administration has issued the standard non-response: Basically it values diversity and inclusion, and is looking into the matter.


    But really, it doesn’t matter what Prof. Parada did. He’s a white man, and therefore guilty.

    Here’s a partial list of what’s been happening on campus lately. At the University of Toronto, psychology professor Jordan Peterson is under attack – not least by his own administration – for refusing to use invented pronouns for transgender people. (Last year, Kenneth Zucker, a renowned U of T psychiatry professor, was fired from his position at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health because his treatment of transgender kids was deemed not radical enough.)

    At Queen’s, a good-natured off-campus costume party blew up into a crisis over racism. Queen’s principal Daniel Woolf denounced the event on his blog as “the unacceptable misappropriation and stereotyping of numerous cultures,” and solemnly vowed yet again to improve diversity and inclusion on campus. In other news from Queen’s, the head of a student theatre group was forced to grovel after announcing a plan to cast a white female as the lead in Othello. “There is absolutely no excuse for making a casting decision that was oppressive and caused people of colour to feel as though they were invalid,” she apologized. The production was cancelled.

    At many campuses, students routinely try to shut down controversial speakers because they might make someone feel queasy. When Marie Henein, Jian Ghomeshi’s defence lawyer, was invited to speak at Bishop’s University early next year and have her lecture live-streamed to other schools, one women’s studies major at St. Francis Xavier said that Ms. Henein’s talk was a “disservice to students who are victims of sexual violence.” To his credit, Bishop’s principal Michael Goldbloom wrote a rebuttal – an unusual act of academic courage these days.

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    1. How did we get here? Here’s a very short answer.

      University campuses have always leaned a little left. But in the 1990s, as the previous generation of academics was replaced by baby boomers, they began to lean dramatically left. The humanities and social sciences were colonized by an unholy alliance of poststructuralists and Marxists – people who believe that Western civilization is a corrupt patriarchy that must be dismantled.

      According to studies of U.S. universities, 18 per cent of social-sciences professors say they’re Marxists. Only 7 to 9 per cent identify as conservative. Leftism in the academy is a positive feedback loop – and we’re now well past the point where the radicals have taken over. Those who don’t agree just shut up. “There’s no question there’s an atmosphere of terror,” one (older, white, male) professor told me.

      According to classic Marxist ideology, people’s degree of oppression is determined by their ancestry and class. Today’s identity politics simply swaps in race and gender. But the anti-liberal thinking is the same. When your goal is revolution, dissent becomes intolerable, and you have a moral licence to shut down free speech. As the very liberal Jonathan Chait wrote in New York magazine: “Liberalism believes in political rights for everybody, regardless of the content of their ideas. Marxists believe political rights belong only to those arguing on behalf of the oppressed.”

      Social sciences and humanities make up only part of universities, of course. Other disciplines – engineering, physics, B-schools – are relatively apolitical. So how is it that the radicals wound up running the show? Here’s Jordan Peterson’s answer: “Engineers and scientists are interested in things. They say, you guys are all insane, just leave us the hell alone.” And by the time they look up, the power positions have been taken over by the radicals.

      Not so long ago, I thought this craziness would pass. Now I’m not so sure. When institutions cave in to radicals, their demands will only escalate. As for Prof. Parada, his is a cautionary tale. He believed in the revolution. And it devoured him.

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/academic-extremism-comes-to-canada/article33185073/

      The University of Thoughtlessness

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  5. Dudes...
    Did you watch it?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_3611174895&feature=iv&src_vid=gBWbfudLwtE&v=TU_qQKDpBiE

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    1. The cultivation culture is handed down from father to son....if one can recall who the father is, and who the son is.....

      Delete
    2. 'We figured out it was cheaper to use sunlight, than electric light....'

      Well, duh, a breakthrough !

      Delete
    3. 'community grown cannabis is better than conglomerate corporate grown 'cannabis' !

      yo dude

      'And the best brand of all, the very best, is 'Q-Weed' - that'll get you a mile high and blank minded in two tokes'

      Delete
    4. 'we take a 'contemporary' approach to governance'

      Delete
  6. 38 States: Easy peasy, as Trump's map indicates.

    2/3 of the House and Senate.

    Ah shit, as Rufus would say.

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  7. .

    Now he has stepped aside after a handful of students calling themselves the Black Liberation Collective accused him of “a violent act of anti-Blackness, misogyny and misogynoir.”

    Misogynoir?

    I had to look it up. Protest neologisms seems to have become a cottage industry on our college campuses. Make up a word. Write a book to explain the meaning of it. Charge $35 bucks for it. Demand that every college and university bookstore and safe place be stocked with it. Money for nuttin. That5 ain't working. Hell, you don't even need the meaning of the words you use, 'violent' for instance. And if you find the meaning doesn't fit just change a few letters, add a new prefix or suffix, create a new word, write a new book, and the beat goes on.

    The country's going to shit. If California and Idaho leave, it'll help but still...

    .

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    2. O do shut up.

      All anyone wants out of you is to know if you got another mutt yet.

      And a pic of the mutt, if there is one.

      Delete
    3. You had to look up misogynoir ????

      You idiot !!

      Any fool that can break a word apart can easily see it means prejudice against black women.

      jeezloueeze

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    4. .

      Sure, but did you use google or bing to look it up?

      .

      Delete
  8. "Q"Nit of the Day: Detroit, Michigan

    Detroit: Muslim “intended to use explosives to kill, injure people”

    DECEMBER 5, 2016 10:30 PM BY CHRISTINE WILLIAMS 6 COMMENTS

    Another apparent “homegrown jihadi,” Sebastian Gregerson, aka Abdurraahman bin Mikaayl, had the “knowledge and intent” to use those explosives to “kill, injure, and intimidate.”

    When FBI agents raided Gregerson’s home on the west side of Detroit on Sunday, they found several CDs marked “Anwar al-Awlaki,” the al-Qaida recruiter…..

    Back in June, Gregerson also bought “road spikes online that can be used to slow or disable vehicles. Other purchases included tactical training items, including handguns and dummy rounds.”

    For two terms, jihadists were enabled by the Obama administration and politically correct leaders who apparently believe the jihadist lie that to enact a zero-tolerance approach to protect Americans would be “Islamophobic” or racist or would just provoke jihadists further. It is a jihadist strategy, employed everywhere in the West to conquer the “House of War” through fear, intimidation and self-blame. America, thanks to the Obama administration, has now been infiltrated by jihadists who spread dawah and are recruiting daily.

    The mess is now left to be cleaned up by the incoming administration, which will undoubtedly be widely blamed by the mainstream media and leftist allies for provoking jihadists, rather than putting the blame where it is due and uniting to fight this historic global menace that virulently hates infidels and apostates.

    sebastian-gregerson

    “Feds: Detroit terror suspect intended to use explosives to kill, injure people in attack”, WXYZ Detroit, December 2, 2016:

    DETROIT (WXYZ) – A Detroit who was arrested after buying explosives from an undercover agent is facing multiple federal charges.

    According to an indictment unsealed in federal court, Sebastian Gregerson, aka Abdurraahman Bin Mikaayl, 29, is charged with receipt of explosive materials with intent to harm, two counts of unregistered possession of a destructive device and unlicensed receipt of explosive materials.

    According to the indictment, Gregerson received the explosives, which contained 26 ounces of Composition B, a combination of TNT and RDX, “with knowledge and intent that said explosive materials would be used to kill, injure, and intimidate a person.”

    The complaint chronicles a counterterrorism investigation that began in April 2015 following a tip that Gregerson, who the FBI said also is known as Abdurrahman bin Mikaayl, had weapons. The FBI said he bought grenades on Sunday from the undercover agent in Monroe and was arrested.

    The complaint said Gregerson earlier purchased “an arsenal of weapons, ammunition, tactical gear and tactical training materials.” It doesn’t say whether Gregerson was planning an attack or why he was purchasing explosives. The U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit hasn’t elaborated.

    In June, the FBI said Gregerson bought road spikes online that can be used to slow or disable vehicles. Other purchases included tactical training items, including handguns and dummy rounds.

    “The purchase of training versions of these weapons makes it unlikely that the weapons were purchased for recreational use, such as hunting,” the complaint states....

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/12/detroit-muslim-intended-to-use-explosives-to-kill-injure-people

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    2. .

      For two terms, jihadists were enabled by the Obama administration and politically correct leaders who apparently believe the jihadist lie that to enact a zero-tolerance approach to protect Americans would be “Islamophobic” or racist or would just provoke jihadists further.

      What the heck is this zero-tolerance approach these dolts are talking about? What exactly is different about it from what we are doing right now?

      It is a jihadist strategy, employed everywhere in the West to conquer the “House of War” through fear, intimidation and self-blame.

      Gee, the only ones it seems to work on are those from Idaho. The good news is I've heard Idaho will be leaving the union soon. As a secondary advantage, the average I.Q. in the US should rise appreciably.

      America, thanks to the Obama administration, has now been infiltrated by jihadists who spread dawah and are recruiting daily.

      What no mention of Bush? Proof that jihadwatch is partisan or simply doesn't know shit.

      The mess is now left to be cleaned up by the incoming administration, which will undoubtedly be widely blamed by the mainstream media and leftist allies for provoking jihadists, rather than putting the blame where it is due and uniting to fight this historic global menace that virulently hates infidels and apostates.

      Good lord, now even though Trump isn't even president yet, jihadwatch is already making up excuses for his inability to stop lone-wolf terrorist attacks. Proof that the boys at jihadwatch are clueless and just blowing it out of their ass.

      .

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    3. Virginexit


      WHY YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT VIRGINS IN PARADISE
      Will our ideological war against Islamic Supremacism ever get out of first gear?
      December 6, 2016 William Kilpatrick


      ....Did Artan leave any record of a desire to join the promised brides? Probably not. For some sensitive souls, some topics are just too delicate to be bandied about. Besides, as a cum laude graduate like Artan would understand, it sounds much nobler to say you are doing this deed in “retribution” for Muslim deaths than to say “I am doing this ‘cause I want my 72 virgins.”

      There is however, evidence from diaries, letters, posts, and interviews that the virgins are very much on the mind of jihadists and would-be-jihadists. (((((Take Mohamed Atta. Due to an airport error, his suitcase was left behind on the day of the 9/11 flight. In it were a wedding suit, a bottle of cologne, and a touching letter addressed to his brides to be.)))))

      Three thousand Americans are dead because Mr. Atta and his companions wanted to be with virgins in paradise. So it makes sense that in order to defeat the ideology of jihad you should train your ideological weapons on that adolescent fantasy and blast it to smithereens. Take away the virgins and you take away one of the chief incentives for jihad.

      But do you really want to go there? It just so happens that this particular fantasy is shared by the vast majority of Muslim males. It’s part of their religion. Here we come back to the general reluctance to criticize Islam. Part of that reluctance, as I’ve said, stems from the fear that criticism will precipitate World War III. The other reasons for the reluctance is the (largely secular) notion that religion is a private matter between an individual and his God and therefore it’s none of our business what another person believes.

      That, of course, is sheer nonsense, and especially in regard to Islam. Islam is a very public religion that aims to regulate every aspects of a Muslim’s life down to how he should wash his hands. Moreover, Islam is an expansionist religion that seeks dominance over all other cultures and religions—by force, if necessary. It’s not exactly a private matter when a Muslim warrior takes a sex-slave in Mosul, or flies a plane into the World Trade Center, or plows his car into a campus crowd. Islam doesn’t consider itself to be a private religion and neither should you. You have a personal stake in what Muslims believe just as Poles, Hungarians, and East Germans had a personal stake in what communists believed.

      Some say that Islam is a political ideology, some say that it is a religion, and some say that it is a mixture of both. But from one perspective, it doesn’t really matter. Islam is a belief system, and since those beliefs can have dire consequences for non-believers, they ought to be subject to public examination and criticism. There is certainly a risk in doing so, but it’s difficult to imagine anything more risky than the current policy of see-no- Islam. Ideological cold wars do not always lead to hot wars. The West’s Cold War victory over the Soviet Bloc seems to have prevented one. On the other hand, our reluctance to engage the more problematic aspects of Islamic thought only insures that more young men like Abdul Artan will be attracted to them. The jihad is accelerating, but our ideological war against it is still stuck in first gear.



      https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265052/why-you-should-worry-about-virgins-paradise-william-kilpatrick

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  9. December 6, 2016

    An engine breakdown that said it all

    By Silvio Canto, Jr.

    Over the years, Cubans, in the U.S. and the island, have come up with some rather amazing jokes about the death of Fidel Castro.

    For example, Cubans have joked about the inefficient Cuban bureaucracy by saying that Castro died years ago but they are still doing the paperwork.


    Another joke going around is that refugees from hell will soon show up in Florida's shores. Fidel's newest exiles from hell!

    Another joke is that Che greeted him in hell and then lit him up.

    However, no one could have foreseen what we saw in Cuba over the weekend. Yes, the car taking Castro's remains to his resting place broke down:

    The vehicle hauling the trailer carrying Castro’s remains broke down on the road near the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba during Saturday’s procession.

    Please don't blame the U.S. embargo because this is not a 1950s car. This is probably a small truck built in the USSR or somewhere in the old Soviet bloc. Maybe the Castro government forgot to pay the Russian equivalent of road assistance.

    Overall, it was a reminder of just how much harm Castro did to Cuba.

    As my parents, born in the late 1920s, will assure you, Cuba was not a perfect country nor the land of casinos that so many people talk about. It was actually a very dynamic place, a good place to live and the beneficiary of many immigrants who went to the island because they heard it was full of opportunities.

    Just a few days ago, I saw this in National Review:

    Cuba’s capital, Havana, was a glittering and dynamic city. In the early part of the century the country’s economy, fueled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown dynamically.

    Cuba ranked fifth in the hemisphere in per capita income, third in life expectancy, second in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, first in the number of television sets per inhabitant.

    The literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita.

    Many private clinics and hospitals provided services for the poor. Cuba’s income distribution compared favorably with that of other Latin American societies. A thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility

    How else do you think that Castro contacted Cubans almost nightly by TV? Well, there were lots of TV's spread out throughout the island with Cuban-owned stations broadcasting.

    Again, it was not a perfect country and politics had always been challenging to Cuba. But let me tell you about two things that did not happen in pre-Castro Cuba:

    1) People were not taking homemade rafts to the U.S.; and,

    2) Funeral cars did not break down on their way to the cemetery.

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    1. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/12/an_engine_breakdown_that_said_it_all_.html

      I think it's hilarious, and so fitting....

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  10. "Q" puts the laugh to Ruf's 'peak oil' -

    Quirk has branched out from the advertising business, has started an oil company named QMast, and has invented a new revolutionary way to extract oil.

    New technology better than fracking could vastly expand oil reserves

    By Thomas Lifson

    ....Now, the never-ending quest for new technologies has yielded a potentially revolutionary replacement or substitute for fracking: microwaving shale to extract oil and gas. James Watkins reports in Ozy.com:

    As strange as it sounds, producers are experimenting with ways to zap previously unextractable oil resources with microwaves, which has the potential to kick-start an even bigger energy revolution than fracking — and appease environmentalists while they’re at it. This is potentially “a whole shift in the paradigm,” says Peter Kearl, co-founder and CTO of Qmast, a Colorado-based company pioneering the use of the microwave tech. Some marquee names are betting on the play: Oil giants BP and ConocoPhillips are pouring resources into developing similar extraction techniques, which can be far less water- and energy-intensive than fracking.

    If producers can find a way to microwave oil shales in the Green River Formation, which sprawls across Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, the nation’s recoverable reserves could soar and energy independence could become more than an election slogan. Even with existing methods — strip-mining the shale and then cooking it, or injecting steam to cook the rock underground (hydraulic fracturing is useless here) — the formation contains enough oil to last the U.S. 165 years at current rates of consumption. Microwave extraction could goose those numbers even higher. After all, there are more than 4 trillion (with a “t”) barrels of oil in the Green River Formation.

    Let’s take a deep breath. One formation, previously inaccessible, has a century and half worth of oil for America.

    Sure, there is technology yet to be fully implemented, but the approach sounds promising, indeed:

    (((((Producers would microwave oil shale formations with a beam as powerful as 500 household microwave ovens, cooking the kerogen and releasing the oil. It also would turn the water found naturally in the deposits to steam, which would help push the oil to the wellbore))))).....



    500 micro-wave ovens !

    Only "Q" could come up with this remarkable solution to our oil production woes.

    I have it on the 'q-t' that "Q", always short of funds, is looking for a few well-heeled investors to join his new and secretive LLC.

    He tried to get funding from The Department of Energy, but they only lease lands to pay their own salaries. Disgusted, he said the D of E is no better than HUD.

    "Q" is also buying up the nation's supply of used micro-wave ovens.




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    1. "Q"'s original funding came from some guy named Peter Kearl, who now bills himself as co-founder and CTO of Qmast.

      In reality he's only a very junior partner. He provided the first $500 to the effort, and three micro-wave ovens.

      Delete
    2. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/12/new_technology_better_than_fracking_could_vastly_expand_oil_reserves.html

      What we can learn from this is that Ruf was really full of shit with his 'peak oil' craparoo, if "Q" can solve the problem with a micro-wave oven.

      Delete
    3. .

      Pentagon

      From the WaPo...

      Pentagon hid study exposing $125 billion in wasteful spending...

      Senior defense officials moved to kill the internal study — which revealed more administrative waste than expected — by discrediting and suppressing the results, according to interviews and confidential memos obtained by The Washington Post. The military feared Congress would use the findings as an excuse to slash the defense budget.


      .

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  11. 5 AFGHAN TEENS IN SWEDEN CHARGED WITH RAPING BOY....DRUDGE

    Well that just goes too far.

    Raping the women is one thing, but little boys....that deserves a charge.

    Sweden, O Sweden....

    Idiots.

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    1. Victim was an Afghan too -

      5 AFGHAN TEENS IN SWEDEN CHARGED WITH RAPING AFGHAN BOY

      STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Swedish authorities on Tuesday charged five teenagers from Afghanistan with aggravated rape for allegedly dragging another Afghan boy into a forest, threatening him with a knife and raping him.

      The alleged assault took place in October in a forested area in the city of Uppsala, north of Stockholm.

      Prosecutor Johan Stromback told The Associated Press that the five suspects are 16 and 17 years old, while the boy they allegedly assaulted is under 15. Stromback said all arrived in Sweden as unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

      The accused were charged with aggravated rape of a minor, a crime in Sweden that is punishable by at least four years in prison for adults and juvenile detention for minors, he said. The indictment calls for all five to be expelled from Sweden and barred from returning after serving any sentences.

      According to the indictment, the accused punched the alleged victim in the head, raped him and spat on him. It said the assault "was planned and lasted for at least an hour" and left the boy with bruises, scrapes and bite marks on his back.

      The accused allegedly filmed parts of the assault and threatened to post clips on social media if the victim went to police.

      The indictment says two suspects have acknowledged some allegations, but none has confessed to a criminal act.

      Stefan Wallin, a defense lawyer representing one youth, said his client neither admits nor denies the charges.

      "He has no recollection of the events because of alcohol intoxication," Wallin told the AP.

      Defense lawyers for the others didn't immediately return requests for comment.

      Delete
  12. Satellite photos reveal massive expansion of secretive Area 51....DRUDGE

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  13. Shit, I just heard $125 billion is ten aircraft carrier battle groups.

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    1. The USS Gerald R. Ford is slated to cost 12.8 billion all by it's lonesome.

      Delete
    2. Here's my contribution for one of the least usable web pages I've encountered so far.

      Hopefully I'll be dead before the figure out one that's so bad every user commits suicide.

      https://www.cnet.com/pictures/meet-the-navys-new-13-billion-aircraft-carrier/

      Delete
    3. How DOD's $1.5 Trillion F-35 Broke the Air Force - CNBC.com

      http://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/31/how-dods-15-trillion-f-35-broke-the-air-force.html

      Delete
    4. More than anything, the shift in strategy is an indictment of the way that the Air Force and the rest of DOD have been doing business for years. The F-35 has come to symbolize all that's wrong with American defense spending: uncontrolled bloat, unaccountable manufacturers (in this case, Lockheed Martin), and an internal Pentagon culture that cannot adequately track taxpayer dollars.
      ===
      A single Air Force F-35A costs a whopping $148 million. One Marine Corps F-35B costs an unbelievable $251 million. A lone Navy F-35C costs a mind-boggling $337 million. Average the three models together, and a 'generic' F-35 costs $178 million," Wheeler wrote.

      Delete
  14. AMERICA'S FOUNDING:

    "This country was founded on two principles, right – immigration and free trade. And that is what made America great over time because we had to develop and innovate in the U.S. and take those products and sell them around the world," Hayes said.

    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/05/exclusive-united-technologies-ceo-says-there-was-no-quid-pro-quo-with-donald-trump-about-carrier.html

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    1. "Ultimately, United Technologies agreed to receive $7 million in tax credits from the State of Indiana, issued at $700,000 per year for 10 years. Carrier also agreed to invest approximately $16 million in its Indiana facilities, and will keep more than 1,000 people employed in Indianapolis."

      Seems to me that if Indiana keeps 700 jobs, that's a thousand a year per job saved...
      heck of a deal to my mind.

      Or am I missing something?
      again

      Delete
    2. Critics, including some Republicans, said making such agreements with individual companies amounted to corporate welfare and was not an effective way of keeping or generating U.S. jobs.
      Sanders, who criticized U.S. trade policy in his race against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Trump's deal with Carrier set a "very dangerous precedent" of having taxpayers subsidize multibillion dollar corporations to "beg them" to keep jobs in the country.

      On Saturday, Sanders challenged Trump over his Rexnord tweet.

      Sanders is an idiot.

      http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/03/trump-targets-another-company-draws-sanders-criticism.html

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    3. Trump threatened to cancel the order for a new Air Force One, which would be used for future presidents. He said the cost of the new 747 was more than $4 billion.

      http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/06/boeing-shares-slide-after-trump-says-air-force-ones-cost-out-of-control.html

      Delete
    4. At 1000 folks, that's a little over 800 bucks an employee.

      Delete
    5. Sanders says that's a Massive Corporate Subsidy.

      ...in Sander'sWorld. tm

      Delete
    6. It is a deal I would take any day of the week.I read a report hose employees are making over $65 K a year. At a 30% tax rate, the government is getting their $800 back by 16 January , each and every year.

      Delete
    7. Barack Obama Blew $150 Billion to Increase Renewable Energy

      President Obama subsidized solar and other renewable energy in the United States with taxpayer money to the tune of $39 billion per year on average for the past 5 years. These massive subsidies, however, have done little to increase the contribution of solar power to the electricity generation mix as solar is expected to produce just 0.6 percent of electricity generation this year.

      Disregarding the cost to the American taxpayer and the failed solar projects in the United States, President Obama has pledged billions of dollars to fund solar energy development in India.

      On his trip to India, President Obama was hoping to bring back a deal similar to the one he made in China to peak the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected the President’s proposed global warming deal, realizing his priority should be to bring power to the hundreds of millions of Indians that lack access to electricity.

      At least 36 of his taxpayer funded green energy projects went belly up.

      http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/11/failure-barack-obama-blew-150-billion-to-increase-renewable-energy-generation-by-1/

      Delete
  15. Merkel's Burqa Ban

    It comes as the country reacts with horror at the murder of 19-year-old Maria Ladenburger – the daughter of a senior EU official.

    An Afghan migrant has confessed to raping her and then drowning her in a river in the city of Freiburg, German police say.

    The medical student was the daughter of Dr Clemens Ladenburger, a lawyer who assists the legal director of the European Commission.

    Maria helped out at a refugee centre in her spare time but is unclear if she was known to her alleged murderer.

    A police chief yesterday blamed the murder on Germany’s immigration policy and claimed it could have been prevented.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2339873/german-leader-angela-merkel-says-full-veil-is-not-appropriate-here-in-astonishing-u-turn/

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Final Act

    As the flames bore down on them, several victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire texted goodbye messages to their families.

    Some texted, “I’m going to die,” followed by, “I love you,” Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday. It was the last their relatives heard from them.

    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-fire-victims-texts-to-loved-ones-10703872.php

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The crowd held aloft cell phones, plastic candles, glow sticks and other light sources, but generally avoided lighting candles in a show of deference to the fire victims.
      ===
      Forget man caused global warming/sea rise:

      We're going to be buried in a sea of cellphones.

      Delete
    2. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Long-heartbreaking-day-closes-with-vigil-for-10723422.php

      Delete
  17. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's enthusiastic endorsement of a burqa ban is dominating headlines in Europe.

    ...

    Her greatest challenge, of course, will be convincing all Germans that she still has the right answers after 11 years in charge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Like all politicians, with Merkel the prime directive is holding onto office regardless of what it takes.

      .

      Delete
  18. Arriving in Taiwan, Idaho GOP’s Yates quizzed by reporters on Trump call

    President-elect Donald Trump’s historic chat with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen on Friday continues to stir controversy in global diplomatic circles and remains a huge story in Taiwan, where arriving Idaho GOP chairman Stephen Yates was met Tuesday by a scrum of reporters wanting to know more about his involvement in the call.

    According to the Taiwan News, Yates, an Asian expert who speaks fluent Chinese, was “surrounded by media” when he arrived early Tuesday at Taoyuan International Airport and quizzed on whether his visit would include a meeting with Tsai. Visiting as a guest of a Taiwan think tank, Yates said he didn’t know what his schedule would entail.

    A former national security adviser for Vice President Dick Cheney under President George W. Bush, Yates came to attention when he was identified as one of the people who facilitated the Trump-Tsai call, which undid nearly 40 years of diplomatic protocol in U.S.-Chinese relations and riled mainland China.

    Yates, speaking to the Statesman on Saturday, said he has advised the Trump transition informally on Asia matters but was not responsible for arranging Tsai’s congratulatory call. He did, however, fully endorse Trump’s decision to take the call, outlining his position in a column that appeared in the Statesman and Fox News, among other news sites.

    Conversing with local reporters mostly in Mandarin, Yates, according to the Taiwan paper, “urged the mainland not to overreact, adding that Trump was just kindly taking a congratulatory call from Taiwan and his foreign policy will be up and running after taking office.”

    http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/politics-blog/article119174268.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. Critics pointed to the event as a political gaffe reflective of Trump's lack of foreign policy experience, but the Justice Department filing suggests it was instead the result of a sophisticated monthslong developmental effort.

    As a lobbyist, Dole represents the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States -- an unofficial diplomatic office that facilitates relations between the two countries.

    The documents were filed before the phone call, making it unclear what role, if any, Dole played in setting up the actual phone call.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am 100% in favor of Merkel wearing a burka.

    It would be a simple act of politeness on her part, a mercy to eyes.

    She ain't no Melania Trump, that's fer shure.

    ReplyDelete
  21. WaPo: Chimpanzees recognize rear ends like people recognize faces

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/12/06/chimpanzees-recognize-rear-ends-like-people-recognize-faces/?utm_term=.be36fba81726

    MUST READ OF THE DAY

    ReplyDelete
  22. Go home, Silly Jilly -

    Breaking: Michigan appellate court tells state board to reject Stein recount
    POSTED AT 8:24 PM ON DECEMBER 6, 2016 BY ED MORRISSEY

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/06/breaking-michigan-appellate-court-tells-state-board-to-reject-stein-recount/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Meanwhile, in Berniezuela -

    Venezuelan women selling their hair to buy groceries across the border
    Dec 6, 2016 7:01 PM by John Sexton

    “the women come here with little kids and after cutting their hair they go buy food.”

    The humiliations Venezuelans have to endure under the shameful mismanagement of the socialist government seem to have no end. Thanks to the desperation for food and the high rate of inflation, women in Venezuela are now reduced to selling their hair to earn enough to buy something to eat. Reuters reports “draggers” working for Salons just across the border in Colombia have become a common sight:....

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/06/venezuelan-women-selling-their-hair-to-buy-groceries/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (bald is beautiful - it keeps some flesh on the bones)

      Delete
  24. Outside of Aleppo, the government and its allies are also putting severe pressure on remaining rebel redoubts. The Observatory said a heavy Syrian and Russian aerial bombardment in the last three days in the mostly rebel-held Idlib province to the southwest had killed more than 100 people.

    The rebels' loss of the eastern half of Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, would be the biggest victory of the conflict so far for Assad, securing his grip on all Syria's main cities.

    It would also be a success for President Vladimir Putin who intervened to save Moscow's ally in September 2015 with air strikes, and for Shiite Iran, whose elite Islamic Republic Guard Corps has suffered casualties fighting for Assad.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Video of Sam rescuing his dog goes viral -

    The hottest debate in news: The kangaroo punch
    POSTED AT 4:31 PM ON DECEMBER 6, 2016 BY ALLAHPUNDIT

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/06/the-hottest-debate-in-news-the-kangaroo-punch/

    Would Quirk punch out a roo for his mutt ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Take a look at the blood on the mutt's head and neck....

      Delete
    2. GREAT moves, Sam !

      M. Ali could have done no better.

      Delete
    3. Too bad work blocks YouTube.

      Delete
    4. You'll have to look it up later.

      You were eye to eye with the roo, and stunned the fucker.

      !

      He backed down and hopped off into the bush....

      :)

      Delete
    5. Watch the video closely - you almost decide to pull your knife and behead the roo at 1:47 - 1:49 !

      Delete
  26. CONGRESSWOMAN: 'Rational People' Talking About States Separating From USA....DRUDGE

    http://ntknetwork.com/disgruntled-democrats-want-a-constitutional-convention-to-leave-the-union/

    Take a look.....any SANE person would want a separation from that 'woman'....

    So if both sides to the political marriage agree, what's the problem ?

    I look forward to working with her....temporarily....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So if both sides to the political marriage agree, what's the problem ?

      An amicable divorce is in order....

      I've been in favor of secession for years.

      I've fished the Secesh River....

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secesh_River

      The Secesh River and secession.....

      That's The Outskirts of Heaven.....

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkXETsK1B2A

      ;)

      I look forward to working with her....temporarily....

      Delete
  27. It would in keeping with Great Britain allowing Scotland to vote on secession two years ago. It would be in keeping with Britain's own vote this year to withdraw from the European Union.

    It would be in keeping with the doctrine of states' rights, and yet another win for national self-determination and sovereignty.

    If California wants to exit, then by all means, say yes to Calexit. And let's speed up the process.


    California Dreamin'

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love and Theft Whiskey On My Breath

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=580SsnoG344

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love and Theft Angel Eyes

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKOR8TddfcM

      She likes whiskey
      With her water
      She ain't no typical
      Preacher's daughter

      Delete
  29. Delegates from the U.S. and Russia are due to meet later today in Geneva to discuss a deal which could see the withdrawal of all rebel fighters from the city.

    The opposition remains defiant, however, telling Washington they would not pull out despite international concern for the remaining civilians.

    Abu Abdel Rahman Al-Hamawi of the Army of Islam group said rebels “would fight until the last drop of blood.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      From what I've read, it sounds like Kerry is trying to slow walk negotiations and the Government forces aren't buying it.

      .

      Delete
  30. .

    Aleppo Explained

    Is a military solution the only option for Aleppo's warring parties?

    The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has proposed a political solution — rebel fighters leave eastern Aleppo through safe exits, government and Russian forces stop the bombing, and a council from the opposition-held districts takes control of the area. But the Syrian government has roundly rejected this. According to one minister, retaking Aleppo in full is now a key military priority.


    .

    ReplyDelete