Suicide Bomber Kills 22 At Ariana Grande Concert In Manchester, Worst UK Terrorist Attack Since 2005

Zero Hedge  "What we know so far:

• The Manchester Arena was hit by at least one explosion during a concert by Ariana Grande

• Police confirm 22 Dead, around 59 injured

• Police state it is 'possible terrorist incident'

• UK officials suspect it was caused by suicide bomber.

• Senior counter-terrorism officials meeting in London

• Police warn people to stay away from area

• Emergency services rush to scene

• Ariana Grande 'Okay' following the incident

"Here is the summary: A man armed with an “improvised” bomb has killed at least 22 people and injured 59 outside a concert arena filled with teenagers in central Manchester on Monday night, in the worst terrorism incident in the UK since 2005. Police said the bomber, who died in the explosion, detonated the device shortly after the end of a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande at about 10.30pm. The incident adds the northern English city to the growing list of recent western targets that includes London, Paris, Stockholm and Berlin.

"Quoted by the FT, Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said they were still attempting to determine whether the attacker “was acting alone or was part of a network”." . . .

Islamic State jihadi claims responsibility for Manchester Ariana Grande concert attack   

Lets all ask together, "what evil have we done to offend you, Abu?"

What You Heard About Notre Dame Graduates Walking Out on Pence Is Wrong!

Independentsentinel.com  "The media is misreporting the story of the Notre Dame graduates who walked out on Vice President Michael Pence as he prepared to give his commencement speech. There is much more to the story.

"It’s fake news.  

"Unfortunately, some of the graduates of Notre Dame, who didn’t want Vice President Mike Pence to speak, walked out as you’ve heard. Mainstream media talking heads are gloating over it, but they aren’t telling you the whole truth.

"You’ve been told by the media that 200 students and families walked out and the audience loudly booed Mike Pence.

"About 50 to maybe 75 students walked out, though CNN said it was 200. If families left as CNN reported, it wasn’t obvious. The booing wasn’t for Pence, it was for the rude students who walked out with the encouragement of the idiot adults teaching their classes and possibly the adults at home.

"That was one expensive education wasted. They protested free speech. The Vice President’s speech was about the importance of free speech.

"When VP Pence concluded his speech, most of the graduates stood and applauded. No doubt many were not supporters but they were either pleased with his speech or they wanted to counter their rude classmates." . . .

African American Caucus leaders want to know why U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters was cut off during state convention speech

LA Times

"The head of the California Democratic Party African American Caucus said Monday he was working with state party officials to determine who was responsible for cutting off the sound to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters' microphone as she spoke to the group at the party's convention on Saturday.

" 'This is a very unusual situation, and we are collectively trying to figure out a path forward to address what happened and make sure these things do not happen in the future," Caucus Chairman Darren Parker said.

"Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat whose acerbic comments on President Trump have brought her national attention in her 14th term, was in the middle of a rousing speech against Trump on Saturday night when she was approached by a man who appeared to work for the convention center. 

" 'Hey, leave her alone," audience members shouted as he interrupted to speak to her privately, prompting Parker to show the man away.

" 'That's all right, that's OK — they try to shut me up all the time," Waters quipped to loud cheers as she continued to speak. " . . .

School: Praying for a Colleague is Unacceptable

Todd Starnes  "A school worker in Augusta, Maine was ordered to stop using religious phrases like “I will pray for you” and “You were in my prayers” because such language is not allowed inside a public school building – even in private conversations with coworkers.

    "The Augusta School Department launched an investigation of Toni Richardson after they alleged she “imposed some strong religious/spiritual belief system” towards a coworker.

    "Now, imposing your religion on someone is a serious allegation. Was Ms. Richardson forcing her coworker to convert to Christianity? Did she attempt to baptize him against his will?

    "It turned out to be nothing of the sort.

    "According to an official memorandum from the school district, Ms. Richardson had told a colleague that she was going to pray for him. It just so happens that Ms. Richardson and the colleague attended the same church.

Back in 2016, the colleague had been having a difficult time adjusting to his new job and Ms. Richardson did what most Christians would do – she told him that she would be praying for him.

    "Months later, the colleague and Ms. Richardson had a falling out – leading to the complaint about the prayers.

    "The district sent Ms. Richardson a “coaching memorandum” – warning her that such language is not acceptable – “even if that other person attends the same church as you.”

    "She was not even allowed to use the word “blessing.”

 “In the context of the ‘separation of church and state,’ this case prohibits public school-sponsored religious expression,” the memo read. “Therefore, in the future, it is imperative that you do not use phrases that integrate public and private belief systems when in the public schools.”

    "She was also specifically ordered not to make any “reference to your spiritual or religious beliefs.”

    "The district warned her that any additional infractions could lead to disciplinary action or dismissal.

    “ 'I was shocked that my employer punished me for privately telling a coworker, ‘I will pray for you,’” Ms. Richardson said. “I’m afraid I will lose my job if someone hears me privately discussing my faith with a coworker.”

"Sweet Lord Almighty, America!" . . .

This Professor Resigned Rather Than Go to Diversity Training

"It's hard to figure out what's more appalling about this episode: the ease with which powerful faculty members can strip their colleagues of their ability to do their jobs just because those colleagues exercise free speech and don't sign on to their ideological priorities—or the increasing power of bloated university bureaucracies, especially "diversity" bureaucracies over every facet of existence at a university that is supposed to be devoted to the life of the mind."

Weekly Standard

Paul Griffiths was an esteemed professor at Duke before facing disciplinary action.

You're in your early 60s, and you hold an endowed-chair professorship at Duke University's prestigious divinity school, where your specialty is Catholic theology, and where the subjects of the courses you teach include a range of religious and secular philosophers from Augustine of Hippo to Wittgenstein. You've also written 10 scholarly books as sole author and seven more as co-author or editor. Your endowed chair is the capstone of a distinguished academic career that includes teaching stints at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

"And then you get a mass email—in early February of this year—from one of your younger professor-colleagues. It says:

On behalf of the Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Standing Committee, I strongly urge you to participate in the Racial Equity Institute Phase I Training planned for March 4 and 5. We have secured funding from the Provost to provide this training free to our community and we hope that this will be a first step in a longer process of working to ensure that DDS is an institution that is both equitable and anti-racist in its practices and culture. … We recognize that it is a significant commitment of time; we also believe it will have great dividends for our community. … Duke Divinity School will host a Racial Equity Institute Phase I Training on March 4 and 5, 2017, 8:30—5 pm both days. Participants should plan to attend both full days of training.

On behalf of the Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Standing Committee, I strongly urge you to participate in the Racial Equity Institute Phase I Training planned for March 4 and 5. We have secured funding from the Provost to provide this training free to our community and we hope that this will be a first step in a longer process of working to ensure that DDS is an institution that is both equitable and anti-racist in its practices and culture. … We recognize that it is a significant commitment of time; we also believe it will have great dividends for our community. … Duke Divinity School will host a Racial Equity Institute Phase I Training on March 4 and 5, 2017, 8:30—5 pm both days. Participants should plan to attend both full days of training.

"Uh-oh, a "training" session. Anyone who's ever worked for an entity with a human resources department knows what that's going to be like: two very, very long days of "workshops" in which overpaid "training" hucksters—sorry, I meant consultants—haul out the PowerPoint slides and waste your time with yada-yada about multiculturalism, structural racism, microagressions, and whatever else is in the social-justice-warrior weapons cache these days. The email continued:" . . .

Cartoon added by TD

The Obamas: The Kardashians 2.0

"The Obamas telegraphed their Kardashian tendencies over the years by inviting criminal rappers, who had to wear ankle monitors so law enforcement could keep track of them, to perform at the White House.  They embraced the Black Lives Matter thugs while, for eight years, they dissed the police.  We will thankfully not see any of that in the Trump administration.  The Kardashian administration is over, and the Obamas are free to fulfill their full Kardashian dreams of all that the Kardashians represent."

via: cartoonsmix.com

nowtheendbegins.

Patricia McCarthy  "One need not to have watched the long-running reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians to know what it sells, what it represents, or what it says about American culture.   Since its debut in 2007, the show is a sort of flashing neon light warning about the failure of our educational system and our intellectual and critical decline.  In short, the Kardashian family is an exercise in greed, materialism, shallowness, amorality,  superficiality, and the self-absorption that characterizes much of the millennial generation.  The family, in all its soap-operatic nonsense, is a sad commentary on the entertainment industry and its willingness to capitulate to the lowest common denominator of our selfie-obsessed society.  The characters are, as the saying goes, only "famous for being famous."

"Over the eight years that the Obamas were in the White House, they spent one hundred million taxpayer dollars taking luxury vacations all over the world.  Often Mrs. Obama traveled with her mother, her daughters, and a bevy of pals to the finest, most expensive destinations in the world on our dime.  The presidential family was never one for a small footprint.  No.  They lived like royalty while lecturing the rest of us on how we should live, how our hard-earned money should be redistributed to those who earned nothing." . . .

Case in point:
Obama to Honor Controversial Rapper Known for Cop-Killing, Misogynistic Lyrics  "Are you kidding me? What is this “artist” doing performing at the White House? Is there no shame, is there no decency left in America? Where is the liberal outage at someone who advocates killing cops performing at the White House? Under Obama, America has not just gone Socialist, we’ve gone ghetto.

“ 'First Lady Michelle Obama has scheduled a poetry evening for Wednesday, and  she’s invited several poets, including a successful Chicago poet and rapper,  Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., AKA “Common.” However, Lynn is quite controversial, in  part because his poetry includes threats to shoot police and at least one  passage calling for the “burn[ing]” of then-President George W. Bush." . . .

Welcome to CSU-S&M

thefederalistpapers.

Mike Adams  . . . "Under the current system, the only speakers members of Students for Life at CSU­SM hear are those they are required to subsidize, which are hired by administrators in the Gender Equity Center and the LGBTQA Pride Center. It should go without saying that members of the group disagree with the speaker viewpoints, which include advocating for abortion and sexually promiscuous behavior. Yet they are banned from bringing in their own speakers to present a contrary view.

 "I first learned about all of this last semester when Students for Life at CSU­SM applied for funding and invited me to speak on their campus about the issue of abortion. Unsurprisingly, ASI denied the funding request.

" That is when I put the students in touch with my old friends (and my former lawyers) at ADF.

"As of this writing, ASI continues to provide funding through mandatory fees to the Gender Equity Center and the LGBTQA Pride Center, allowing them to pay to bring numerous speakers to campus, giving voice to their own views on a variety of topics that conflict with those of Students for Life, including abortion and human sexuality.

"However, their chokehold on the marketplace of ideas will soon be broken and students at CSU­SM will be granted the right to bring in their own speakers with opposing viewpoints. In other words, CSU­SM has absolutely no chance of winning this lawsuit. " . . .

FEC boss who tried to muzzle Drudge now on Soros payroll

Paul Bedard  "The former chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, who famously eyed regulating the politics of conservative outlets like the Drudge Report, has joined an advocacy group funded by George Soros and run by his son.

"Ann Ravel is the first fellow listed with the California advocacy group New America.

"Her fellowship began in March and pays a $30,000 stipend.

" 'We want to help amplify the work of each of our fellows, both to help them better articulate and reach their target audience, and to raise their profiles as change-makers," according to the group.

"Since leaving the FEC, Ravel has continued to speak out for more election regulation, especially on the internet where she sees political advertising shifting to in the next presidential contest." . . .More.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

The Obama Cult

No wonder the man's speeches were, and are are cluttered with  personal pronouns  such as "I", "Me", "Mine" as he referred to "my military", "my Secretary of State" and, of course, his use of Greek columns along with that loooong walk out into the crowd for his 2008 inauguration speech. TD

Richard Terrell   . . . "Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Obama cult was revealed early on, during the first campaign, in which a worship song, "Sanctuary," was adapted to the promotion of the One.  In this song, the worshiper pledges to make himself a sanctuary, pure and holy, for the Lord.  In the video adaptation, Obama is substituted for Christ as the object of honor and worship.  
"The words of the song are regularly interrupted with images of people exhorting viewers to "say the word – Obama!" and similar invitations.  The song itself says: "Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true.  With thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for you."

"That people, even longstanding church members, were more than willing to accede to this idolatry became apparent to me as I sought to alert friends to this emerging cultish devotion.  It made no difference, and my "look at this" exhortation was met with dismissal or blind eyes.  In one instance, a rock-solid, decades-long leader in my church, after receiving a message from me about these expressions, simply replied, "I believe in him."

"The Obama cult does, in fact, insert itself into the problematic arenas where religion and politics meet.  There has never been, in the U.S., a clearer flash point providing Christians with an opportunity to embrace or turn from lurid idolatry.  It constitutes, as it were, a test of allegiance, and Mr. Obama and his wife seem to have wanted it that way.  For many people, even among the "churched," the substitute Great One seems to have won the day." . . .

Newt Gingrich Drops Seth Rich Bombshell: DNC Operative Was Behind Wikileaks DNC Email Release

"It is amazing that the media was more interested in 2 scoops of ice cream President Trump was served after dinner rather than the 2 shots in the back that silenced Seth Rich."  deebyoda tweeted.

Jim Hoft

"On July 8, 2016, 27 year-old Democratic staffer Seth Conrad Rich was murdered in Washington DC. The killer or killers took nothing from their victim, leaving behind his wallet, watch and phone.

"Shortly after the killing, Redditors and social media users were pursuing a “lead” saying that Rich was en route to the FBI the morning of his murder, apparently intending to speak to special agents about an “ongoing court case” possibly involving the Clinton family.

"Seth Rich’s father Joel told reporters, “If it was a robbery — it failed because he still has his watch, he still has his money — he still has his credit cards, still had his phone so it was a wasted effort except we lost a life.' ” . . .

"This morning Newt Gingrich dropped a bomb on FOX and Friends on the Seth Rich story."

Melania Trump gets rave reviews in Saudi press

CNN!  "Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CNN) First lady Melania Trump's fashion choices got rave reviews in local Saudi Arabian press Sunday, despite forgoing the customary headscarf. 

"Both the first lady and first daughter Ivanka Trump have been closely watched in Saudi Arabia for both style and substance."

Arab News noted the resemblance as well, quoting a boutique-owner in Jeddah, Nahed Andijani: "When I saw her arrival pictures wearing a modest outfit respecting our culture, I was like, 'This looks so much like my abaya!' " . . .

"Trump wore the jumpsuit for a day of bilateral meetings before changing in the evening into a sweeping magenta gown, complete with flowing cape sleeves, for dinner at the Saudi palace. American press noted that the first lady and Ivanka Trump were the only women present at the opulent welcoming ceremony, which featured the Saudi king and Cabinet secretaries dancing with swords.

"Grisham said of the decision to opt out of the scarf that Trump has been working closely with the State Department protocol and received briefings before the first foreign foray.

" 'It was not required for her to wear a headscarf and nobody asked her to, and based on that she chose not to," Grisham said, adding that the first lady has been "studying hard" for the trip." . . .

Bob Schieffer: Trump ‘Sounded Like a President’ in Saudi Arabia Speech

Mediaite

. . .  "He took note of how Trump delivered this “dignified speech” and hasn’t tweeted out anything needlessly provocative recently.

"Schieffer added, “He didn’t sound like the guy at the end of the bar popping off. He sounded like someone who had actually thought he was going to say before he said it.”

"Reliable Sources guest host John Berman brought up the likely backlash he would get for giving Trump marks for passing that “low bar.” Schieffer said he’s not “normalizing” Trump and made it clear he has questions about Trump’s overall policy, but also felt Trump’s “different presentation” was noteworthy." . . .

Emphasis mine, to show the pressure the press is under to undermine this President.