Costly beliefs: State squeezes last penny from bakers who defied lesbian-wedding cake order

Todd Starnes

"Melissa Klein was checking her bank accounts just a few weeks before Christmas when her face turned ashen. The money was gone – every single penny.

"Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries had confiscated all the cash in Mrs. Klein’s checking account and savings account as well as a special account set aside for their church tithe. 

"Yes, friends – the state of Oregon stole money meant for our Lord.

"Mrs. Klein and her husband, Aaron, are devout evangelical Christians who own a mom-and-pop bakery – Sweet Cakes By Melissa.

"In July, they were ordered to pay more than $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple after they refused to bake their wedding cake. The Kleins objected because of their religious beliefs.

"The judgment was awarded to the lesbians for “emotional suffering.' ” . . .

The other face of Jihad: It is an ugly face and it is turned towards Europe's women.

Phyllis Chesler

Chesler

. . . "Some media, including feminist media, refused to name the perpetrators as being of Arab or North African descent or as “Muslims.”  They do not wish to be demonized as “racists” or “Islamophobes” but there is also a legitimate feminist reason.

"European men rape European women every single day.  Gang-rape often characterize rapes perpetrated by young men in the West. But make no mistake:  the pattern of sexual harassment and rape in the Muslim world in general  is vastly different. Muslims in Sudan and Nigeria have perpetrated similar horrific attacks upon Christian, animist, and Muslim women. Similar atrocities took place in the former Yugoslavia, perpetrated by both Serb and Croat Christians and Muslims. Nevertheless, in an Islamist era, such Muslim-perpetrated attacks have assumed monstrous proportions.

"Recall the roving gangs in Egypt in Tahrir Square in 2011, the mass groping and the assault of blonde American journalist Lara Logan. Realize that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Egyptian Muslim and Christian women were also groped and sexually assaulted, whether or not they were wearing headscarves or face masks." . . .

Some of the commentary out there on Hillary

FBI's Clinton probe expands to public corruption track

. . . "Inside the FBI, pressure is growing to pursue the case. 

"One intelligence source told Fox News that FBI agents would be “screaming” if a prosecution is not pursued because “many previous public corruption cases have been made and successfully prosecuted with much less evidence than what is emerging in this investigation.” 

"The FBI is particularly on edge in the wake of how the case of former CIA Director David Petraeus was handled. " . . . 

Clinton supporters would vote for Hillary no matter what   "A former federal prosecutor recently made headlines with his prediction that Hillary Clinton will be indicted soon for trafficking in classified information on a private e-mail server while working as secretary of State. But should a criminal indictment put Clinton’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on hold? Just over half of Democrats say no." . . .

In recent poll, all leading Republicans beat or tie Hillary . . ."As usual in national polls, Trump is doing worse against Hillary than the other two, but I believe this is the first time he’s ever led Hillary, so that’s a change for the better for Trump."

Storm Clouds Form: Bob Woodward Compares Hillary Scandal to Watergate  . . . "Among the security breaches: Clinton forwarded the name of a confidential CIA source to staff at State through her insecure server. Michael Isikoff, a noted investigative reporter, told MSNBC’s Morning Joe last August that the naming of a CIA source was “evidence of a crime by somebody' ” . . .

Classified Clinton E-mails Skyrocket in Latest Document Dump

CIA Confirms Clinton’s ‘Top Secret’ E-mails Were Classified from Day One

Hillary: Look, My Latest Classified Email Problem is Just Another Fake Controversy  . . . "Network anchor John Dickerson doesn't quite allow her 'much ado about nothing all over again' spin to go unchallenged, pointedly noting that an active FBI investigation into various elements of her email scheme remains underway. " . . .

Hillary: By ordering “identifying headings” removed, I meant “don’t transmit classified info,” or something

The Clinton Standard: Third World Corruption   . . . "What is going on in Washington? Has it accepted the “Clinton standard” for sale of high public office?" Gennifer Flowers had this to say about Hillary.

40-something Hillary Clinton should worry Democrats
"The latest FOX poll is bad news for Mrs Clinton:  

She loses to Senator Rubio (50-41%),
Senator Cruz is up 7 (50-43%),
she ties Bush (44-44%),
Trump leads (47-44%),
and Christie leads (47-44%).    

"Dr. Carson is the only candidate she defeats, according to this poll.

"It takes more than one poll to persuade me one way or another.  However, there is a trend in the polls that should scare Democrats: Hillary is 40-something time after time." . . .

A few days ago, I joked with a Democrat friend that it may be time for Hillary Clinton to be indicted.  His response was interesting.  He said that it'd be a quick way to get rid of Hillary Clinton and open the door to fresh faces.

 Is Hillary Boring Democrats in Iowa?

There's no other way to say it: Hillary Clinton is very boring. The Democratic presidential frontrunner's campaign stops are, too. The members of her traveling press corps look like they'd rather be anywhere else. So do some of the attendees, who shift in their seats starting around minute 10. Even the campaign staffers pace the back of the room or tap inattentively on their iPhones as Clinton drones on about finding a cure for Alzheimer's and universal pre-kindergarten.

Report: Obama Wants to Become UN Secretary General, Netanyahu Doing Everything He Can to Stop Him

Townhall

"It seems President Obama has no intention of stepping out of the White House and fading from the limelight. No, he’s got his sights set on the world stage—this time as secretary general of the United Nations, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.

"But not all world leaders are keen to see this come to fruition, including first and foremost, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Washington Times reports:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly is planning payback for President Obama’s dismissing Mr. Netanyahu’s objections to the Iran nuclear deal last year. Mr. Netanyahu is said to be rallying moderate Arabs to thwart Mr. Obama’s bid to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations after he leaves the White House next year.

Mr. Obama has already discussed the issue with Republican, Democratic and Jewish officials in the United States, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.

Mr. Netanyahu recently is said to have gotten wind of Obama’s plans which he calls the Obama Project. “Wasn’t eight years of having Obama in office enough?” Mr. Netanyahu is quoted in the Kuwaiti daily as telling associates. “Eight years during which he ignored Israel? And now he wants to be in a position that is liable to cause us hardships in the international arena.”

"Further gripes Israel has with President Obama include the U.S. “moving closer to the Muslim Brotherhood, toppling the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and attempts to ally itself with political Islam,” the paper quotes a Netanyahu aide as saying."

"U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's term expires in early 2017, making Obama’s bid for the position a possibility. Last year after his speech at West Point, some pointed out that he sounded an awful lot like he was campaigning for the role."

For decades, Obama was mentored by the anti-Israel Jeremiah Wright, who taught that "Jesus Was a Palestinian, Jews “Don’t Have No Forgiveness” for Hitler"  and "that calls Israel an "apartheid" regime."

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Health Insurance

HopeNChangeCartoons

. . . "On Saturday, I received a phone call from daughter Jarlsberg (in her 20's), who was upset because she'd gone to the pharmacy to pick up her epilepsy medications (important, right?) and had her spanking new insurance card rejected at the cash register because the policy had been "terminated." Rather than immediately go into seizures, she paid cash for the prescriptions at the uninsured price - over $300 which she doesn't have to spare.

"So I tried to help clear up the obvious mistake, first by logging on to the website of her insurer: Blue Cross Blue Shield. No luck - nothing but rejections and system errors. So I called them and spoke to a "web support" specialist who assured me that the problem wasn't on my end. "It's always like that. We keep telling them to fix it, but..."

. . . 

"Never before has the government had such a convenient, all-encompassing tool to screw up individual lives by whim, ineptitude, or malicious intent. . . .  But even that pales in comparison to the anguish, suffering and death which Obamacare is already causing and will continue to cause long after his actual administration is just a painful memory."    By Stilton Jarlsberg

Obama goes it alone in his last State of the Union

CNN "The White House says President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night will be non-traditional.

"What that means: Obama will be talking about himself, not asking Congress for a long list of items he knows he'll never get.

"Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address a week after bypassing Congress by using his executive authority to expand gun rules. He could use the speech to highlight other issues on his agenda that he'll address without the help of Congress, like Guantanamo Bay, echoing previous executive actions on everything from immigration, carbon dioxide emissions and re-starting diplomatic relationship with Cuba.

"In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough signaled that Obama will pit the American people, watching on television, against Congress, his in-person audience, and its members' donors." . . .  Hat tip to Jody Hines

Black students demand segregated spaces from white students

Easily-influenced-white-guilt-afflicted students will soon be protesting for this on campus next semester as the self-righteousness oozes out of every white pore and their "skulls full of mush".  I fear we all know where Rev. Wright, Al Sharpton and Mr. Obama would come down on this. TD

The College Fix  . . . “Black students lack spaces where they feel safe and comfortable,” the UCLA demands state. “The Afrikan Diaspora floor is a way for us to connect more to other Black students, the Afrikan Student Union, and the Afro-Am department. The floor should be branded as a safe space for all Black students.' ”

From Red State:

The President Who Fell From Grace

commonsenseevaluation

Clarice Feldman  "As easily as he slid into office with no qualifications for the post, Obama is falling from grace with fate and the voters. His dishonesty and incompetence are too patent. This week, no sooner had his relatively sparsely viewed presser ended and his clearly manufactured tears about gun violence dried, than his central argument -- that gun control, not fighting Islamic terrorism, should be our priority -- was exposed as nonsense. A thug, who had stolen a gun from a cop, used it in Philadelphia to try to assassinate a law enforcement officer. Echoing Obama Philadelphia’s Democratic Mayor declared Jim Kenney wasted no time in declaring “There are just too many guns on the streets and I think our national government needs to do something about that.”  
. . . 
The Philadelphia Chief of Police then contradicted Mayor Kenney, who had said, “In no way, shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam has anything to do with what you have seen on that screen.” "Then he turned the presser over to Police Commissioner Richard Ross who directly contradicted the mayor’s fantastical account: He said the shooter confessed that he committed the act in the name of Islam and had pledged allegiance to ISIS."

. . . 

. . . "It looks as though an increasingly angry population too long silenced by PC-inspired speech restrictions and irrational multiculturalism imperils Angela Merkel’s open arms strategy and the European Union itself.". . . 

"At Legal Insurrection David Gerstman argues much the same point -- the media made Obama:  

Obama has failed in foreign policy, spectacularly.
This failure wouldn’t have been possible without a complicit media, creating a myth instead of a candidate. Will the editors of The Washington Post take a critical look at their 2008 endorsement and learn from their mistake before 2016? I wouldn’t count on it.

 Read more

Did you know about Hillary and the White House Travel Office?

She trashed Carly Fiorina for cutting jobs at HP, but only Hillary is recorded as saying "fire their asses!".

Hillary Clinton: A Career Criminal

How Hillary Clinton sicced the FBI on the White House travel office

. . . "The Clinton White House fired travel office director Billy Dale and other staffers under the guise of “sloppy accounting” to allegedly give the business to their friends from Arkansas. The staffers were innocent of any wrong doing." . . .

. . . "Linda [Tripp] with ease recalled [Director of Travel Office] Billy Dale’s pride and honor to serve. “He effortlessly coordinated complex itineraries.” It was his efficiency in times of crisis that really impressed her. “This wasn’t a job, but a career for Billy and his staff,” Linda raved. “All I did was watch in amazement and awe at how they worked.”. . . 

. . . “Billy Dale was escorted out of the White House by the FBI, put into a paneled van with no seats and told to sit on the floor the day the Clintons removed him,” Linda vividly recalled. “And I watched Hillary orchestrate that whole thing; siccing the FBI on them, getting them out,” she fumed.". . . 

 Not enough evidence to try Hillary for the firings   

. . . "Watkins drafted a 1993 memo in which he said he reluctantly fired the travel office employees at Hillary Clinton's "insistence."" 'We knew that there would be hell to pay if we failed to take swift and decisive action in conformity with the first lady's wishes," Watkins wrote in his unaddressed memo." . . .

Beethoven Google Doodle tests your knowledge of composer's melodies with interactive challenge

The Telegraph

"Ludwig van Beethoven's baptism took place 245 years ago. Can you help him piece his greatest work together?"

"Visiting the Google homepage begins an interactive story in which you must put together Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Für Elise, Moonlight Sonata and Ode to Joy.
"On his way to the concert hall, a run of bad luck sees Beethoven sees his compositions destroyed in various ways, and you have to arrange sheet music in the correct order to reach the finale.

 "December 17 is not actually Beethoven's birthday, which is unknown, but marks the anniversary of his baptism in 1770.". . . 

Hat tip to Susan Frost McHugh

Hillary Clinton Should Stop Excusing Juanita Broaddrick’s Sexual Assault (Updated)

The Federalist

So much is at stake when we are talking about presidential elections, especially if one potential candidate for the White House has enabled an alleged rapist.

"If Hillary Clinton wants to champion women’s rights, she should stop excusing the sexual predation of her husband, former president Bill Clinton. For someone so interested in combating the so-called War on Women, she has failed to address one of the most real issues women face—that of sexual violence.

"Anyone old enough to remember Clinton’s presidency is aware of the scandal and eventual impeachment over his behavior and prevarications on what truth actually is during the Lewinsky affair. In the background was Hillary, supporting her husband and family. Less covered and discussed were accusations of rape against the former president by Juanita Broaddrick, a former Clinton supporter." . . .

Broaddrick says she interacted with Hillary over this: “When they got there, she came directly to me and talked with me and said, ‘Bill and I are so thankful for all that you do for him.’ I was just going to say yes, and leave. She took hold of my hand. ‘Everything you do.’ And it sent chills up my spine. I thought, ‘My God, this woman knows. She knows everything.’” 

UPDATE: Bill Clinton Bombs in His First Solo Speech in New Hampshire

"Master communicator reveals Hillary Clinton hypocrisy for using him in the 'fight' for women's rights"

Still have one of these on your car?

Hillary’s EmailGate Goes Nuclear

Observer News    

"Does the latest release of Hillary’s State Department emails include highly classified U.S. intelligence?"

"Back in October I told you that Hillary Clinton’s email troubles were anything but over, and that the scandal over her misuse of communications while she was Secretary of State was sure to get worse. Sure enough, EmailGate continues to be a thorn in the side of Hillary’s presidential campaign and may have just entered a new, potentially explosive phase with grave ramifications, both political and legal.

"The latest court-ordered dump of her email, just placed online by the State Department, brings more troubles for Team Hillary. This release of over 3,000 pagesincludes 66 “Unclassified” messages that the State Department subsequently determined actually were classified; however, all but one of those 66 were deemed Confidential, the lowest classification level, while one was found to be Secret, bringing the total of Secret messages discovered so far to seven. In all, 1,340 Hillary emails at State have been reassessed as classified." . . .

"There are many questions here. How did Sid Blumenthal, who had no position in the U.S. Government in 2011, and hasn’t since Bill Clinton left the White House fifteen years ago, possibly get his hands on such highly classified NSA reporting? Why did he place it an open, non-secure email to Hillary, who after all had plenty of legitimate access, as Secretary of State, to intelligence assessments from all our spy agencies? Moreover, how did the State Department think this was Unclassified and why did it release it to the public?"

 By John R. Schindler

cagle.com/