PrairiePundit

In listening to Sex Johnson's response, it appears he is falling back on the belief that Muslims are so mentally unstable that if you talk about jihad and Islamic terrorism it drives them to mass murder.  You would think he would have a higher regard for their intellects.

Bill Gertz: U.S. intelligence agencies are said to be closely watching Russian online blogs and other postings for any signs that Moscow hackers have covertly obtained the bulk of Hillary Clinton’s email messages stolen from her private email server and are preparing to make them public. A U.S. intelligence official told Inside the Ring that the indications of the email release are being closely watched, although the veracity of at least two postings on the matter could not be confirmed as authoritative. A State Department official has said Russia is one of at least three foreign governments likely to have obtained the full content of the former secretary of state’s server through covert hacking operations. The other two are China and Israel. Russian intelligence agencies are suspected of cyberintrusions that obtained sensitive political information contained in Democratic National Committee networks. Last week, reports surfaced that computer networks of the Bill, Hillary and Chel...

Phyliss Chesler: Before dawn Monday, four suicide bombers killed five and wounded at least a dozen in the Lebanese Christian town of al-Qaa. Later that night, as townspeople prepared to bury their dead, four more suicide bombers hit. The attacks underscored just how endangered are Christians who live in today’s Muslim world. As the United States debates how many Mideast refugees to accept and who should get priority, the answer is staring us in the face: Those most in need of refuge are Christians and Yazidis who live among Muslims. On June 19, a suicide bomber killed three people as he detonated himself at a memorial to massacred Christians in Qumishi, Syria. On June 9, a Pakistani Muslim mob badly beat a man merely because he was a Christian. On June 5, two people were killed when Islamists targeted a church with rockets in Syria; the same day, a Christian man was hacked to death at his shop by Islamists in Bangladesh. On June 2, in Nigeria, Muslim youths beheaded a Christian w...

NY Times: Trump Institute Offered Get-Rich Schemes With Plagiarized Lessons Eric Thayer for The New York Times Donald J. Trump at a campaign event in Dallas this month. In 2005, he lent his name to a venture, the Trump Institute, that promised falsely that he had handpicked its teachers. The institute, to which Donald J. Trump lent his name in 2005, was owned by a couple accused of fraud, and its educational materials had been lifted from an old real estate manual. This raises questions about his management ability and  judgment in deciding who he will entrust with a business or job.  It goes to the heart of his premise that he should be trusted to run the government because he ran successful businesses. It also raises the question of why this story was not run during the primary season.  I think Ted Cruz was on to something once again that the media was holding back stories in hopes that Trump would get the nomination and then they would d...

NY Times: E.U. Is Democratic. It Just Doesn’t Feel That Way. The bloc was designed to defuse nationalist politics. That is why, for many Europeans, it does not feel like a working democracy. I do not think it is democratic in any real sense.  The European legislature is pretty toothless, and most of the decisions are made by "experts" who decide the power of the vacuum cleaner you can use and the shape of bananas you can buy rather than allow the market to make those decisions.  They impose this nonsense on those within its borders and the local parliament is unable to undo the mess.  It is another reason their economy is so anemic.

Express: The weapons arsenal was discovered during a top secret raid by a SWAT team in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Local politician Ismail Tipi revealed details of the raid and warned of “the danger of fundamentalists”. The weapons were found in a cold room of a greengrocer near a mosque. The state is the most populous state in Germany with nearly 18million people in the area, which includes Dusseldorf. Mr Tipi, who is a member of the Hessian parliament, warned of the dangers of Salafi fundamentalists. Germany has seen sharp increases in the number of ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafists in recent years, with the total number of sympathisers now seen at 8,900, up from 7,000 at the end of 2014, German officials said. He said: “According to my information, a weapons arsenal with war grade weapons was found in this search. ... The liberals can't blame this one on the NRA.  The can't blame it on Christians.  These weapons were procured by Muslims who are makin...

Susan Wright: SHOCKER: Gun Used In 2015 Paris Terrorist Attack Linked To Fast And Furious Operation Judicial Watch uncovered the connection by tracing the paperwork on the guns used.  It si not the first of the fast and furious weapons to be used in a terror attack. ... One newspaper even reported that a Muslim terrorist, intent on killing participants in a Muhammad drawing contest in Garland, Texas last year, bought a 9 millimeter handgun at a Fast and Furious-linked gun shop in Phoenix, despite having a criminal record that consisted of drug and assault charges. ... There were, of course, several Mexican citizens killed by the guns as well as a Border Patrol agent.

Mark Durie: In his June 14 address to the nation, President Obama attributed Omar Mateen's attack on patrons of Orlando, Fla.'s, Pulse nightclub to "homegrown extremism," saying "we currently do not have any information to indicate that a foreign terrorist group directed the attack." While Obama acknowledged that the Islamic State has called for attacks around the world against "innocent civilians," he suggested these calls were incidental, emphasizing that Mateen was a "lone actor" and "an angry, disturbed, unstable young man" susceptible to being radicalized "over the Internet." It is a terrible thing to misunderstand one's enemy so deeply. The doctrine of jihad invoked by terrorist groups is an institution with a long history, grounded in legal precedent going back to the time of Muhammad. Militants who invoke the doctrine of jihad follow principles influenced by Islamic law. The point to be grasped is t...

Fox News: A series of American airstrikes killed at least 250 ISIS fighters driving in a convoy outside Fallujah on Wednesday, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News. The strikes occurred on the outskirts of the Iraqi city in "southern Fallujah," a second U.S. defense official told Fox News. "There was a strike on a convoy of ISIS fighters trying to leave a neighborhood on the outskirts of southern Fallujah that we struck," the official said. At least 40 vehicles were destroyed in the airstrikes, a U.S. official told Reuters, which was first to report the air assault. The U.S. airstrikes come roughly 24 hours after the triple suicide bombing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that killed at least 42 people where ISIS is considered the prime suspect, according to top U.S. officials. ... This is what has been needed for some time.   For too long the US has restricted its pilots, to mostly punching holes in the sky and limited their ability to ...

Diana Furchgott-Roth: As we celebrate Independence Day on July 4, we can send a cheer across the pond to the British, who declared independence from the European Union on June 23. For the British, that means no more tax and regulatory harmonization without representation. Laws passed by Parliament will no longer have to be EU-compatible. It even means they will be able to keep their high-efficiency kettles, toasters, hair dryers and vacuum cleaners. As just one example of the absurdity of EU regulation, vacuum cleaners with over 1600 watts were banned by Brussels in 2014, and those over 900 watts are scheduled to be phased out in 2017. Brussels bureaucrats say that these vacuum cleaners use too much energy. No matter that the additional energy cost of a 2300-watt vacuum cleaner compared with a 1600-watt model is less than $20 a year, that it takes more time to vacuum with a low-energy model, and, most important, people should be able to choose for themselves how they want to sp...

It is probably asking too much to expect Trump to no longer be a 360-degree jerk.  But Lee sets out a reasonable course for Trump to take if he wants to bring reluctant conservatives into the fold.  It clearly is going to take more than just talking about Hillary Clinton's myriad faults. So far, Trump's idea of reaching out to those reluctant to support him is to threaten them with exclusion from the convention speaking schedule and now for ever being able to run again.  That is the kind of talk that will not be persuasive and shows his contempt for the constitution. It is up to Trump to reach out to those who are not supporting him.  He sounds more like the guy who tries to make up with his wife by saying "You don't sweat much for a fat person."  And the response has been more polite than he deserves.  He needs their support and he should start with an apology for the insults and false accusations.

Fuel Fix: The drilling business began turning around in the second quarter and oil executives are changing their tune about their prospects as crude prices rise, a new Dallas Fed survey shows. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ gauge of energy business activity climbed out of the red and into the black in the second quarter, signifying some drillers are trying to grow after a two-year oil bust that bankrupted scores of energy companies. More than half of the 152 surveyed oil producers and equipment suppliers believe crude prices will end up higher than $55 a barrel by the end of this year. “Oil prices are right on the cusp” of reaching profitable levels for the average U.S. driller, said Michael Plante, a senior research economist at the Dallas Fed. Companies said their oil fields break even from $50 to $62 a barrel. “There are a bunch of guys saying things have stabilized, which is definitely an improvement from the first quarter.” If prices hold up, many plan to keep expanding ...

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: Slush funds to pay 'personal consultant' Huma Abedin, a luxe Caribbean holiday for daughter Chelsea and payoffs to silence Bill's sex accusers - How Hillary has used donations to the Clinton Foundation as her 'personal piggy bank'  Author Jerome Corsi claims in his upcoming book, Partners in Crime, that the Clinton Foundation is 'a vast, criminal conspiracy' and 'a slush fund for grifters' with thousands of honest people who are victims after contributing their hard-earned money to what they believed would be used for philanthropic causes. The money that was donated to help earthquake victims in India and Haiti and HIV/AIDs sufferers in the Third World has mostly enriched the Clintons, Corsi claims. Driven by insatiable greed while crying they were near-broke, the couple schemed to monetize the White House and Hillary used her position as secretary of state to leverage lucrative deals for the Foundation as well as six-figu...

Daily Mail: Obama: ISIS are to blame for Istanbul atrocity - but 'they're going to be defeated' Obama said he called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan on his way to Canada to extend his condolences and reaffirm the United States' commitment to decimating the terrorist group. In the US he will not admit the terrorist ties even when the terrorist confesses their association with ISIL.  Why the double standard?  Why isn't he blaming the attack on the AK-47's?

Guardian: Belarusian president accidentally ​sparks international striptease Naked office selfies go viral after Alexander Lukashenko urges citizens to ‘get undressed and work till you sweat’ He could have just suggested changing the thermostat.

Fox News: A propeller-driven drone that can fly both in the air and underwater is in development at Rutgers University— a unique vehicle that caught the eye of the U.S. Navy and could be used in search-and-rescue operations and underwater inspections. The amphibious drone can emerge from the water and then fly through the air, and vice versa, meaning that operators could dispatch it from dry land, send it into water to take a look around, and then bring it back. F. Javier Diaz, a Rutgers University professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, explained that the breakthrough in the project’s development came when they decided to give the drone two sets of propellers, one above the other. That helps with the tricky transition from the water to air and back again. While one set of propellers struggles at the air-surface interface, the other set, either all the way in the air or water, works more effectively. “I think what really impresses people, is how e...

Fox News: Americans at Benghazi post were rescued by Qaddafi officer militia, report reveals Someone should ask Hillary Clinton about this.

NY Times: How Trump’s Campaign Could Redraw Allegiances A message radically different from what Republicans have advanced has considerable appeal to white working-class Democrats. He probably could nave not gotten the nomination without them and if the Republicans switch to closed primaries next time, he would probably lose.  Judging by the current polling, there may not be enough of them to push Trump past Hillary Clinton.

Fuel Fix: Rising crude prices could spur hiring across the Texas oil patch by August, a regional economist says, beginning a slow but steady reversal in the state’s energy employment after struggling drillers shed 1 in 3 jobs. Over the past two months, a dozen U.S. oil companies — including Devon Energy and Pioneer Natural Resources — have announced plans to plow an extra $600 million into their shale fields in Texas and elsewhere as crude prices hover near $50 a barrel. Several have dispatched new rigs and received drilling permits. Next, they’ll start hiring new people – unless, of course, the financial turmoil after the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union spreads to Britain’s global trading partners and chills energy demand growth . “We’ve endured this chaos for two years now,” said Karr Ingham, a Texas oil economist based in Amarillo. “It seems like we’re getting to the end of the tunnel. We’re finally seeing the fruits of all these terrible things that have...

Lisa Boothe: Elizabeth Warren has officially sold out her progressive base for Hillary Clinton. And her endorsement raises the question: What is she getting in return? If Republicans are lucky, it will be a Clinton-Warren Democratic ticket. After joining Clinton on the campaign trail, even twinning with the Democratic presumptive nominee in matching blue jackets, Warren created a firestorm of speculation that she would be tapped as Clinton's vice president. Republicans should welcome this. Picking Warren would be a wasted opportunity for Clinton and a victory for Republicans. Her only value is bolstering Clinton's support among groups that are already with her. According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll Clinton has a 17 point lead with women. Adding additional estrogen to the ticket may give her someone to match clothes with, but women already support Clinton by large margins. Additionally, may look to Warren to bring home Sanders supporters, but polls would ind...

Caleb Howe: DUMB: MSNBC’s Joy Reid (And Fans) Actually Thought This AR-15 Istanbul Tweet Was A Real Thing CNN reports that the terrorists in Instanbul were carrying Kalashnikovs. Which is translated as "AR-15" in American Mediaese. Several people took the tweet seriously and used it to attack the NRA .  Really.  Read teh whole thing to get the liberal mindset when dealing with terrorist and guns.

I found the New York Times and Washington Post coverage of the vote also overwrought.  I suspect the reason why is that liberals see the European Union as the ultimate progressive state where decisions are made by "experts" on such trivia as the curvature of a banana.  They just could not comprehend why anyone would reject a governance of experts and that is why they tried to attribute the loss to racism and xenophobia.

John Podhoretz: The Benghazi report released Tuesday makes clear that one dreadful constant of President Obama’s foreign policy is simply this: Deflect. Muddy the picture. Question the motivation. Blame the wrong culprit when naming the right culprit might interfere with your narrative, or if doing so might oblige you to act when you do not wish to act. In an addendum to the report, Reps. Jim Jordan and Mike Pompeo detail the fact that the administration knew perfectly well in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi that it had been planned and directed by Islamist radicals as an evil commemoration of 9/11. For example, at 11:23 p.m. on the night of the attack, Hillary Clinton e-mailed her daughter Chelsea to say, “Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an Al Quedalike [sic] group”. The next morning, she said, “We are working to determine the precise motivations and methods of those who carried out this assault.” Sound familiar? O...

Daily Mail: US Navy is developing 'supersonic submarines' that could cut through the ocean at the speed of sound using a bubble Researchers at Penn State Applied Research Laboratory are developing a new system using a technique called supercavitation. The design looks more like a rocket ship underwater that keeps a constant air bubble that allows the ultra fast speed.  It is based on the design the soviets used for a very fast torpedo.  The subs could cross the Atlantic in about an hour and the Pacific in about 100 minutes.  China is also developing similar subs.  The subs would certainly revolutionize naval warfare.

Daily Mail: FBI failed to tell hundreds of Americans that they were on an ISIS kill list after discovering 15,000 U.S. citizens were potential targets Included 70 plus military personnel or family members, 56 New Jersey state police officers, 36 Minnesota state police officers, 11 county board members in Tennessee and 50 federal employees. It si more evidence of how screwed up the Obama administration is when it come to protecting the people in the US from Islamic terrorism.

Chris Cillizza: Hillary Clinton’s email story continues to get harder and harder to believe Newly released emails poke holes in Clinton's initial explanation for why she decided to exclusively use a private email server for her electronic correspondence while serving as the nation's top diplomat. She is not to be trusted on the subject, but unfortunately for the country, Democrats do not care that she is a liar.  They would only care if she were a Republican.

NY Times: Suicide Bomb Attacks Kill Nearly 50 at Istanbul Airport Officials reported that as many as 60 people were wounded after three suicide bombers struck at Ataturk airport. The police fired shots at the suspected attackers at the entryway to the airport’s international terminal in an effort to stop them, an official said. The AP report says that Turkey believes the Islamic State is responsible for the attacks.  It appears that the Times is applying the discredited Obama administration's policy of willful blindness to Islamic terrorism.

Bloomberg: Venezuela’s Oil Output Decline Accelerates as Drillers Go Unpaid This should not be too surprising for a country that cannot afford to pay for the printing of its worthless currency.   Socialism is a disease that consumes all within its grasp.  It is a country with some of the world's largest oil reserves and it cannot even produce enough oil to pay fo itself.

Cruz also talks about the failure of the administration to produce witnesses to defend this weird policy.

The Hill: Clinton campaign: Benghazi report filled with 'discredited conspiracy theories' The campaign and the Clinton supporting media use this phrase rather than respond to the facts.  It is a way to avoid answering questions.  It appears to be a well-coordinated response which many in the media also use rather than doing their job. It was used recently about the book "Clinton Cash" which has not been discredited, but which the Clinton camp and their media supporters would like for voters to believe it is discredited.  It is all-purpose phrases used to avoid dealing with allegations of corruption by Hillary Clinton.

Thomas Sowell: Last week the Supreme Court of the United States voted that President Obama exceeded his authority when he granted exemptions from the immigration laws passed by Congress. But the Supreme Court also exceeded its own authority by granting the University of Texas an exemption from the Constitution's requirement of "equal protection of the laws," by voting that racial preferences for student admissions were legal. Supreme Court decisions in affirmative action cases are the longest running fraud since the 1896 decision upholding racial segregation laws in the Jim Crow South, on grounds that "separate but equal" facilities were consistent with the Constitution. Everybody knew that those facilities were separate but by no means equal. Nevertheless, this charade lasted until 1954. The Supreme Court's affirmative action cases have now lasted since 1974 when, in the case of "DeFunis v. Odegaard," the Court voted 5 to 4 that this parti...

Rick Lowry: What Brexit-bashing elites don’t get about democracy ... Judging by their dismissive tone, critics of Brexit believe that the European Union’s lack of basic democratic accountability is one of its institutional advantages — the better to insulate consequential decisions from backward and short-sighted voters. ... Maintaining British sovereignty, broadly construed, was the overwhelming rationale for Brexit. According to a survey by Lord Ashcroft Polls, 49 percent of Leave voters said the biggest reason for exiting the European Union was “that decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK.” Another 33 percent said it was the best way to regain power over UK borders and 13 percent said they worried the United Kingdom couldn’t control how the European Union “expanded its membership or its powers.” ... The EU needs to be more reflective on why so many opted to leave its embrace.  They now must also worry over other countries who may choose the same course...

Washington Times: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ignored repeated warnings of what one security agent called their “suicide mission” in Benghazi, creating the opportunity that terrorists took on Sept. 11, 2012, to kill the ambassador to Libya, two Republicans on the Benghazi probe charged Tuesday. As the Select Committee on Benghazi releases its long-awaited report, two of the panel’s Republican members, Reps. Mike Pompeo and Jim Jordan, released their own additional views, taking firm aim at Mrs. Clinton, who they said must answer for why she was so insistent on keeping people in Libya’s troubled second city — creating a target for the terrorists. “There was a very good chance that everyone was going to die,” one diplomatic security agent told the committee, recalling the troublesome security situation in the run-up to the attack. And even as Americans were dying in the attack, the State Department seemed more focused on trying to expunge an anti-Islamic video and app...

NY Times: Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren Take Aim at Donald Trump Hilary Swift for The New York Times Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at their first joint campaign rally in Cincinnati on Monday. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts campaigned with Hillary Clinton in Cincinnati, the first event that featured the two Democrats together. Warren is an anti-capitalist intellectual lightweight with a history of using dubious means to qualify as an affirmative action hire at Harvard.  She was grossly overpaid for teaching one class.  She has harped on Wall Street while Hilary has been raking in money from the same people Warren attacks. Meanwhile has the highest negatives of any candidate in history and he did it all on his own without Hillary's negative ads and Warren's insults.  Attacking Trump is like wrestling with a pig in the mud.  He will respond in kind and wi...

Fuel Fix: A global glut of liquefied natural gas is creating questions about when a “second wave” of LNG export projects will move forward after Cheniere Energy’s first shipments out of Louisiana this year. Five U.S. LNG export projects are under construction, including in Freeport and Corpus Christi, but many are awaiting both regulatory approval and corporate decisions on whether to invest billions of dollars during a market downturn. Perhaps the most brazen project is The Woodlands-based NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project in Texas. NextDecade proposes building what could be the nation’s largest LNG export facility, with the first of three phases scheduled to come online in 2020. The $6 billion project would be constructed on 1,000 acres at the Port of Brownsville near the Mexican border. “We want to be the leader of the second wave of export projects out of the U.S.,” said NextDecade CEO Kathleen Eisbrenner, a former executive at Royal Dutch Shell before founding the company in ...

Washington Free Beacon: Natural Gas Production Declines on Federal Lands Gas production on federal property declined each year between 2007 and 2014 Obama has tried to take credit for the falling prices of energy while doing all he can to reduce production of fossil fuels on federal land.  It is the private sector that has created the increased production that has destroyed OPEC's ability to dictate prices.

streiff: Obama Appointed Federal Prosecutor Lies To Try To Silence A Outraged Community The Obama administration sees concerned citizens as potential lynch mobs: ... This is not new. This is the way the Obama administration operates. Right after the San Bernardino massacre, Loretta Lynch promised "aggressive action" to combat "anti-Muslim rhetoric." Another Obama appointed US Attorney, this one a guy named Bill Killian in the Eastern District of Tennessee , has vowed to prosecute anyone saying hurty-hurty things about Muslims. ... It si how they roll.  It looks like they are more concerned about the phantom fears for the Muslim community than the victims of Muslim abuse.

Washington Examiner: ... ... The president consistently puts arbitrary caps on troop levels. He consistently makes it hard for generals to make honest, even-handed requests for troops. The rules of engagement are too limiting, in my opinion. Some of the rules that our intelligence community has to follow are too limiting. So there are multiple changes that we need to make to take the fight to the Islamic State. I have great praise for the FBI and domestic law enforcement agencies, but we can't keep our country safe, we can't stop terrorist attacks on defense. Ultimately in a country as large as ours, terrorists are going to get through, as we've seen in Orlando, in San Bernardino, in Fort Hood, at the Boston Marathon and in Chattanooga and so forth. We have to win the war on terror on offense, and that means going to places where groups like the Islamic State and al Qaeda are developing safe havens in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen and so forth. Examiner: Are there sp...

Red States: Ted Cruz Unloads On SCOTUS Over Abortion Ruling ... Unfortunately, the Supreme Court sided with abortion extremists who care more about providing abortion-on-demand than they do protecting women’s health. ... They hold the life of the most vulnerable cheap. Ben Sasse also weighed in on the distorted media coverage of the decision.

Fox News: The claim that the fatal 2012 Benghazi terrorist attacks were sparked by an anti-Muslim video was crafted in Washington by Obama administration appointees and reflected neither eyewitness nor real-time reports from the Americans under siege, according to the final report of the GOP-led Benghazi Select Committee. The GOP report, released Tuesday, followed by less than a day a report by the Democrats on the panel saying that security at the Benghazi, Libya facility was “woefully inadequate” but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never personally denied any requests from diplomats for additional protection. According to portions of the Republican report reviewed by Fox News, one U.S. agent at the American outpost in Benghazi, whose name was withheld for security reasons, told the committee he first heard “some kind of chanting.” Then that sound was immediately followed by “explosions” and “gunfire, then roughly 70 people rushing into the compound with an assortmen...

Politico: Poll: Majority of GOP voters want someone other than Trump Only 45 percent say they are satisfied with Trump and 52 percent say they would rather have someone else.  I am in the latter group. He still as done little to persuade the reluctant voters to support him.

Daily Mail: Breaking into homes, assassinating dogs, and even DEFECATING on carpets: The increasingly criminal and bizarre measures Russian agents are taking to intimidate US diplomats in Europe A number of US intelligence officials have told the Washington Post that Russia's intimidation against ambassadors have escalated to new heights since the Kremlin intervened in Ukraine. The Obama administration should be publicizing this bad behavior and making it clear that it is unacceptable.  So far there has been little to no public discussion of the disgusting behavior of the Russians.

Fox News: Al Qaeda urges lone wolves to target whites, to avoid 'hate crime' label They are apparently concerned about their religious bigotry being characterized as a hate crime.   They seem obvious to the fact that all of their attacks are hate crimes against non-Muslims or Muslims who do not accept al Qaeda's weird beliefs.

The Hill: The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a major win to abortion clinics in Texas in a decision that halts the state’s GOP leaders from enforcing one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws. The court’s 5-3 decision tosses out a previous ruling by an appellate court, which abortion rights activists warned would have sweeping implications for millions of women in Texas. The case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, marks the court’s first major decision on abortion in about two decades. It’s also one of the most anticipated decisions of the 2016 term, a year in which Antonin Scalia’s death shrunk the bench to only eight justices. Abortion rights activists sued Texas after its GOP-controlled legislature passed a strict law in 2013 that they said violates a woman’s right to an abortion under federal law. The law required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. It also required abortion clinics to meet the stricter standards of “amb...

NY Post Editorial: Only thing transparent about Hillary is her dishonesty The editorial discusses two issues.  One is the discovery an email that specifically contradicts her story of why she had her home brew server. ... It was November 2010, and Abedin had urged the secretary to get onto the state.gov email system or look at “releasing your email address to the department” because State’s spam filter was blocking messages from clintonemail.com. No, came Clinton’s reply: “Let’s get separate address or device but I don’t want any risk of the personal being accessible” — almost certainly meaning, accessible to Freedom of Information Act requests. And it directly contradicts her repeated claims that she relied on the private account purely to avoid having to use more than one device. The other AP story uncovered the fact that Clinton had scrubbed at least 75 meetings with longtime political donors, Clinton Foundation funders, etc., from her official State cale...

Washington Post: Foul-mouthed parrot’s words may be used as evidence in murder trial, prosecutor says Family members are convinced that Bud, an African gray parrot, has been replaying his owner's killing out loud for months. This parrot is no stool pigeon.  He appears to be the real deal.  The case sounds like something out of a detective novel.  The cross-examination could be a problem.

National Report: MSNBC Anchor Resigns; Admits to Spreading “Lies on Behalf of Obama” ... Wagner goes on to say, “I have spent my entire professional career working toward a position based on false pretenses. I have worked hard to obtain a position with a major news network and expected to be reporting on serious issues. Instead, I am handed Pro-Obama scripts and asked to be a mouthpiece for the administration.” ... MSNBC says she was unhappy with her contract.  I do not blame her for quitting, but I wonder what she really expected when she went to work for a network known for its liberal bias.

Susan Wright: Four years past and four American lives lost, still with no answers and very little concern (beyond saving his legacy) from the Obama administration. From POLITICO today: The White House and the House Select Committee on Benghazi are at a stand-off over whether President Barack Obama should answer a series of questions about the 2012 terrorist attack in Libya that left four Americans dead. Neil Eggleston, counsel to the president, blasted the committee for sending the president a list of questions about the attack — an inquiry the administration deemed inappropriate and a partisan attempt to frame the White House as uncooperative. So resentful is the Obama administration over being framed as “uncooperative” that they have consistently refused to cooperate. ... The most 'transparent" administration refuses again to be transparent when it serves their interests.  That is the way they roll and all that talk about transparency is just a con.

CNS News: Rep. Gohmert: If Orlando Was About Guns, Then 'Boston Was About a Pressure Cooker' Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) called it "outrageous" that House Democrats would grab microphones and prevent fellow lawmakers from conducting business in violation of House rules, all to make a point about gun control, which is really beside the point, he said: "And when people go on for 12 hours, saying things, 'It's about guns,' then that means Boston was about a pressure cooker. It wasn't. Both of them were about radical Islam," Gohmert told Fox News's Charles Payne. "And the reason people died unnecessarily is because this FBI, this Justice Department, this Homeland Security has purged their training materials, so FBI agents don't know what questions to ask to find out if Mateen [Orlando attacker] or Tsarnaev [Boston attacker] had been radicalized. ... There is more as he criticized the administration for allowing CAIR to sit...

Washington Examiner: Top officials from Ted Cruz's defunct campaign wouldn't get in the way if delegates attempted to fell the GOP's presumptive nominee at the Republican convention, but they are reluctant to become publicly involved in plotting any revolt. Donald Trump has begun looking ahead to a general election, but some of Cruz's former staff remain reluctant to board the "Trump train." Many of Cruz's supporters want to keep all of their options open as they proceed without any explicit public directive from the Texas senator. Rick Tyler, a former Cruz campaign communications director who left in February, said he thinks Cruz would be willing to re-enter the 2016 race if the opportunity presents itself at the convention. But, Tyler said, he does not think the campaign is making an effort to change the rules to benefit Cruz because of how it would make them look like sore losers. "If there was an independent effort that was successful, I c...

Christopher Monckton: For my final broadcast to the nation on the eve of Britain’s Independence Day, the BBC asked me to imagine myself as one of the courtiers to whom Her Majesty had recently asked the question, “In one minute, give three reasons for your opinion on whether my United Kingdom should remain in or leave the European Union.” My three reasons for departure, in strict order of precedence, were Democracy, Democracy, and Democracy. For the so-called “European Parliament” is no Parliament. It is a mere duma. It lacks even the power to bring forward a bill, and the 28 faceless, unelected, omnipotent Kommissars – the official German name for the shadowy Commissioners who exercise the supreme lawmaking power that was once vested in our elected Parliament – have the power, under the Treaty of Maastricht, to meet behind closed doors to override in secret any decision of that “Parliament” at will, and even to issue “Commission Regulations” that bypass it altogether. Worse, the...

Washington Examiner: Despite an increasing lead over businessman Donald Trump in head-to-head matchups, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is struggling to connect in some reliably blue states. Washington Post authors Philip Rucker and John Wagner report that there's concern among Clinton supporters who believe Trump might do well in three Rust Belt states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. "In Michigan, Pennsylvania and, to a lesser extent, Wisconsin, an affinity for Trump's message of economic populism and nationalism has surprised many Democrats," Rucker and Wagner wrote. "These are big, industrial states they have carried for the past three decades — and where Clinton, so far, has not fully focused." In Pennsylvania, Clinton and Trump are in a statistical tie , according to RealClearPolitics polling averages. In Michigan, Trump closed the gap between the two candidates considerably once he became the GOP nominee, and now...

Washington Examiner: ... Two major new polls released Sunday both show the presumptive Democratic nominee losing more declared support than her rival Donald Trump when the Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included in the polls. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has Clinton beating Trump 46-41 percent in a head-to-head matchup. With the other candidates included, however, her lead drops to 1 percentage point: 39-38 percent. ... Both Clinton and Trump have significant negatives as you might guess.   Many voters do not like either of them.  In this poll fully 23 percent of the votes do not like either of them.  I think Ted Cruz would be winning this race if the results of the GOP primary had not been skewed by so many Democrats voting for Trump.

Watts Up With That: Why did agriculture start 13,000 years ago? ... So, my conclusion is that over 4,000 years or 160 generations, things improved and they tried, and tried, and tried again until it worked: people are smart.…and animals actually could be pastured. Starting 14,000 yag, the sparse, scraggly growth started getting thicker and slightly more abundant. It wasn’t very good, but is was much better than 16000 yag.... and clever people could keep various animals alive in a herding lifestyle. ... It makes sense.  The current increase in CO2 has enhanced the growth of plants around the world.  It is what they thrive on.  The increased plants make it more feasible to feed animals.  It could not have happened without global warming 14,000 years ago.

NY Times: C.I.A. Arms for Syrian Rebels Are Stolen, Officials Say Weapons are systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, with some believed to have been used last year to kill two Americans and three others, according to American and Jordanian officials. I have also seen stories of the rebels turning the weapons over to al Qaeda affiliates in Syria.  It raises serious questions about the vetting process for arming these people, and the ability of the administration to actually vet those who are also trying to come to this country as refugees.

NY Times: In Vote, Hints of a Larger Unraveling Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is raising questions about the future of the order imposed by the United States and its allies after World War II. Britain has been a pillar of that system, as well as a beneficiary, and its departure is a test for Western alliances and institutions. What is overlooked is the tremendous opportunity for the UK in the English-speaking world.  For example, the EU failed to expand trade ties with India with its emerging markets.  The Brits can also renew ties withCanadaa and Australia and South Africa as well as the US.  The UK can also renew ties with those inside the EU who can move past hurt feelings without the baggage of the bureaucracy.

Red States: 12 Million Democrats Voted In The Republican Primaries The writer claims that Trump would have finished in fourth place without the Democrats crossing over for him.  I think in 2020 there will be a push fo ran entirely closed primary.

Independent on Sunday: German nudists outraged at new rules ordering them to wear swimwear as refugee shelter arrives on lake Officials said the rules were for generic public swimming pools and had been applied by mistake The nudists have been letting it all hang out at this location since 1905 which suggest that not even the Nazis took away their freedom to go clothes-free.  It points out how poorly these refugees fit in with a culture that believes in body freedom and eating bacon.

Richard Lawless: I can no longer sit quietly and watch this country implode from all of the Washington corruption. Today I watched Hillary Clintons speech and I was appalled. I watched her tell the audience how she would bring Wall Street to heel and hold them accountable. I listened to her say how she would use Dodd Frank legislation to manage that process. It is all complete BS. Hillary is fully aware of the large scale bond fraud uncovered in Puerto Rico. A criminal conspiracy so large that it calls into question all $70 billion dollars of Puerto Rican debt. Hillary is calling for a complete bailout and supports current legislation to do just that. The Puerto Rico Senate held investigative hearings in early 2015 to explore the financial failure of one of its largest municipal agencies. One government executive after another testified under oath that they knew they were technically bankrupt when they issued these bonds and could not pay them back. The witnesses then went on t...

Washington Post: Democrats see danger signs in states they’ve carried for decades In Rust Belt states where Hillary Clinton has not fully engaged, what is particularly striking is how many voters have reservations about Donald Trump — yet are still thinking of giving him their vote. If those states are turning into swing states, so are Utah and Arizona which have been traditionally Republican states.  In both instances, they are a reflection of how unpopular both nominees are.

Washington Post: After voting for Brexit, this county’s residents suddenly realize Europe might stop sending money The county gets more than $82 million annually in European subsidies that help finance infrastructure projects and education schemes. That money is a pittance compared to what the country sends to the EU every year.  The UK pays the EU about 12.9 billion pounds a year which works out to 35 million pounds a day.  The country would more than recoups the "subsidies" in less than three days. 

NY Times: What to Do About Guns? John Lewis Revives Civil Rights Tactic The Georgia representative and other House Democrats borrowed from an old playbook when they staged a sit-in to try to force a vote on gun legislation. It is strange to see Democrats who once supported civil rights actively pushing to deny 2nd and 5th amendment rights to others.   It is a reflection of the shamelessness of Democrats who are desperate to distract from the President's and the party'utterer failure to protect US citizens from Islamic terrorism.

Washington Post: 2.1 million Brits signed a petition for another EU referendum. They shouldn't hold their breath. Yes. It's actually happening. People in Britain are talking seriously about the possibility of another referendum. A petition calling for another referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union has now received at least 2.1 million ... It reminds me of the opening to Larry Gatlin's song Love Is Just A Game . Love is just a game, that everybody plays And when the game is over, not everybody pays Some play the game and lose Some play the game and win The winners walk out laughing, The losers cry, deal again. ...

Fox News: With Clinton at helm, State Dept. got 'prestigious' award for record-keeping At the same time then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was storing emails on a personal server in violation of the rules, her department twice received a "prestigious" award for its record-keeping practices -- an honor that, in retrospect, has watchdogs scratching their heads. ... She was also destroy required records of her calendar to hide meeting with donors including those from Wall Street. There is a wealth of material for political ads, if Trump ever gets around to running any.

Washington Examiner: TransCanada Corp. filed a claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement Friday seeking $15 billion over the Obama administration's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. The company filed the claim seeking arbitration under the trade agreement, arguing that they had reason to believe that they would emerge and win approval to build the Keystone pipeline, which was ultimately rejected by the Obama administration in November. In the filing, TransCanada said that the U.S. spent seven years using "arbitrary and contrived" analyses and justifications as they delayed making a final decision. "None of that technical analysis or legal wrangling was material to the administration's final decision," TransCanada said in the filing. "Instead, the rejection was symbolic and based merely on the desire to make the U.S. appear strong on climate change, even though the State Department had itself concluded that denial would have no signific...