Witness Describes Being Warned Before Attack: 'You're All Going to Die'

Leah Barkoukis  "Some concertgoers were reportedly warned about the shooting at a Route 91 Harvest country music festival, which left at least 50 dead and more than 400 injured so far.

"According to one witness, a woman taunted some concertgoers about 45 minutes before the attack that they were “all going to die.”

“ 'She had been messing with a lady in front of her and telling her she was going to die, that we were all going to die,” the witness told local news about the woman, who had pushed her way to the front of the venue.

“ 'They escorted her out to make her stop messing around with all the other people, but none of us knew it was going to be serious.' ” . . .

China openly discussing collapse of North Korea

By Thomas Lifson at American Thinker   "China has sent an unmistakable signal that Kim Jong-un had better not rely on the historic alliance between China and North Korea to resist President Trump's demands.  In fact, as he dallies with his troop of teen sex slaves, he had better keep in mind that Beijing is wondering what it might be like with the Kim dynasty out of the way.

"The Chinese way of delivering such a harsh message is to use a third party – preferably one without a policy role, but who clearly speaks for the ruling elite.  Someone, for instance, like the dean of international studies at Beijing University (the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford of China)." . . .

Yalu River bridges from China into North Korea

. . . China has long supported North Korea because it serves as a buffer from US troops stationed in South Korea, but Barthelemy Courmont, a China specialist at the Institute of Strategic and International Relations in Paris, said Pyongyang's downfall could be good for Beijing, especially economically.
"China now believes that a collapse of North Korea would not necessarily be to its disadvantage," Courmont said.
"If North Korea were to fall in a peaceful way, China would be best positioned for its reconstruction. China is the only country capable of overseeing the reconstruction of North Korea," he said.

. . .

 . . . "This sounds more like good cop/bad cop than outright conflict.  As with President Reagan, Trump is regarded as a bit of a madman, who might just start a nuclear war.  Even Kim Jong-un understands that North Korea cannot win such a conflict.  But now, the old passivity and delay that characterized American policy toward North Korea for the past three decades is over."

Puerto Rico Enters the 'Great American Victim Derby'

PJ Media  "Seems like everyone's a victim in the USA these days, from college "snowflakes" who can't abide someone with views unlike theirs within miles of their campuses to allegedly assaulted women wearing sexually explicit hats to multi-millionaire football players who are sure there's something wrong but can't always remember what it is (other than Donald Trump).  The latest of the many entries in this "Great American Victim Derby" is Puerto Rico -- or at least a significant part of the island's leadership.

"Who will win this derby?

"It's anybody's guess, but the thing about playing the victim game is that even -- perhaps especially -- when you do win, you're even more likely to continue to be a victim and play some more.  Victimhood is self-perpetuating -- a spiritual, emotional, political, and economic rerun out of the movie "Groundhog Day."

Every year it's the same thing and nothing changes.   Something bad happens and there you go again, drinking from the trough until you pass out like a fraternity boy being hazed for the thousandth time.

"Why not try something different for a change -- like taking responsibility?

"Are you listening, Puerto Rico?" . . .

N.F.L. Anthem Protests: Players Kneel, Stand and Hear Boos

NY Times  How fans responded on week 4

Liberation Sunday – Has the NFL surrendered?  "They asked us to choose sports heroes over country, and most people chose country."

. . . "The protests were as much about Trump as about racial justice, and that was before Trump even commented.

"Much like the media attempt to turn Houston, then Florida, and now Puerto Rico into Trump’s Katrina, there is nothing honest about how the media treats such disputes. Every event is twisted and turned to try to make it Trump’s Katrina, the defining event in which a passive president allows the media to freeze his presidency. Bush never recovered from the false blame placed on him by the media and Democrats for the failed Katrina response by local authorities, particularly in New Orleans.

"Trump could have sat back and seen a major, perhaps THE major, sports institution weaponized against him as part of #TheResistance, or he could have hit back.

"I’ll grant you, in a better world a president wouldn’t and shouldn’t respond to player protests in the way Trump did. But it’s not a better world. It’s a world in which there has been a sustained attempt to undo the election starting on election night, through Electoral College voting, into the Inauguration and the contrived Women’s March(es), and daily since then.

"The players protest cannot be viewed in isolation." . . .

How Every NFL Team’s Fans Lean Politically   . . . "Among the sports leagues we considered, the NFL had the most search traffic and the least partisan fan base. There is basically no correlation³between how Democratic or Republican an area is and how often its residents made NFL-related searches. By comparison, NASCAR has a very Republican fan base, which may explain why its team officials have been outspoken against the NFL protests. The NBA, meanwhile, has a largely left-leaning following, and the responses by its players and coaches have been especially critical of Trump.⁴

"Making matters more difficult for the NFL is that some teams are based in Democratic areas and others in Republican areas:" . . .

Baltimore Ravens suffer joint-worst defeat in their franchise history after Jacksonville Jaguars hand them Wembley Stadium thrashing

. . . " 'We knelt with them today. Nonviolent protest is as American as it gets. We knelt with them today and let them know we are a unified front. There is no dividing us. I guess we're all sons of bitches.'

"Veteran receiver Mike Wallace added: 'Sometimes when you feel things go too far, you have to make a statement.' 'I felt strongly about it. I will always back Kaepernick and the message that he sent.

" 'After yesterday, it went too far. I just felt strongly about it today. So I did what I did. I didn't need anybody to tell me yes, no, whatever. That was just the way I felt. When I walked out on the field, some of my other teammates felt the same I did. So we did what we did.' " . . .

Forum: What's Dumber? The NFL Knee Or Refusing Free Books From The First Lady?

JoshuaPundit

Every week on Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question,courtesy of Don Surber: What's Dumber? The NFL Knee Or Refusing Free Books From The First Lady?

 Rob Miller:You can't make this stuff up.

"The NFL commissioner and the team owner's refusal to rein in their pampered millionaires from disrespecting flag and country and obey NFL rules has already affected TV ratings, game attendance, and sales of NFL merchandise. It's even costing NFL games TV and radio sponsors as what amounts to an NFL boycott by their fan base spreads.

"Don Surber's Question calls for a comparison..to this.

"First Lady Melania Trump loved reading Dr. Seuss books to her son Baron when he was small, and the books themselves have long been associated with helping children learn to read and improving children's literacy.Even the National Education Association’s annual “Read Across America” day — when cities and towns across the country host events to celebrate reading — is on March 2, Seuss’s birthday. So the First Lady decided to purchase a complete set of the beloved books and sent the set as a gift to the librarian of the Cambridgeport School in Massachusetts, one Liz Phipps Soeiro.

"Soeiro not only refused the gift, but wrote a rude screed to the First Lady,criticizing Trump administration education policies and calling the pictures in the books “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.”

"I suppose that means President and Michele Obama are racists too, what with all the times they read Dr. Seuss to school kids.

"She also accused the First Lady of using the 'racist' gift to brainwash children. Which makes this nasty little attention whore a major hypocrite:" . . .

Ex-Flight Attendant Suing Airline, Union For Religious Discrimination

Hot Air

. . . "Charlene Carter was terminated in March, allegedly because she made a number of Facebook posts opposing abortion and sent messages to the president of the TWU local. Her messages included complaints that dues money had been used to fly union representatives to Washington for the Women’s March early this year. (Free Beacon) . . .

"Sometimes these cases can be hard to prove when you’re claiming wrongful termination, but Carter’s employer specifically cited her pro-life messages as being, “highly offensive in nature.” They also referenced her messages directed to Stone, describing them as, “harassing and inappropriate.” Stone may have felt harassed, but when the complaints are directly related to your handling of union funds that sounds like the sort of complaint you’re supposed to take seriously, investigate and respond to. It’s also a hot topic right now because the Supreme Court is preparing to hear some cases involving the mandatory collection of union dues and the politically slanted uses those funds are put toward regardless of the opinions of the members." . . .

At Least 50 Dead, More Than 400 Hurt in Las Vegas Concert Attack: Updated

Weasel Zippers photo

Update that you might expect: Islamic State claims Las Vegas attack, says shooter converted to Islam months ago, but provides no evidence

Washington Free Beacon   LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuters) – At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police.

"The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club.

"Some 22,000 people were in the crowd when the man opened fire, sending panicked people fleeing the scene, in some cases trampling one another, as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concert goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack.

"At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said.

"Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, and said they had no information yet about his motive.

"He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.

" 'We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied."

"Authorities had earlier regarded Paddock's roommate, Marilou Danley, as a person of interest, but later on Monday said they no longer regarded her as related to the case, CNN and Fox News reported, citing police sources.

"Police had located two cars that belonged to the suspect.

"The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise." . . .  (UK Daily Mail photos)

Listen to all the shots that were at first not comprehended.

Dr. Seuss? Racist?

The Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico's campaign to make Trump look bad

Geraldo Rivera calls BS on San Juan mayor’s false Trump blame: ‘I’m here. Who is dying?’ "The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, may have bitten off more than she can chew in politicizing the Trump administration’s relief efforts following Hurricane Maria now that Geraldo Rivera is on the case.

#SanJuanMayor says residents are "dying," & somehow @realDonaldTrump is to blame. I'm here. Who is dying? Why? Where? Let me help save them.Ads info and privacy

"When not busy cranking out nifty custom T-shirts and hats by candlelight, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has made a name for herself complaining about the people who have come to her island to help with recovery efforts."

Puerto Rico Mayor SLAMS Anti-Trump Mayor for ‘NOT PARTICIPATING’ in Relief  . . . "Cruz has repeatedly accused Trump and the federal government of abandoning Puerto Rico. She demanded in a press conference on Friday that Trump do more to help the island, adding that “we are going to see is something close to a genocide” if more is not done.

Mayor Perez told TheDC that the story Cruz is telling the media doesn’t mesh with what he has seen from the federal government.\

“ 'My experience is different. I have been participating in different meetings at the headquarters of FEMA and our government and the help is coming in and right now my experience is different from hers. I’m receiving help from the government, we are receiving assistance from FEMA, I got people over here helping us with applications for the people that have damage in their houses. And we have here in Guaynabo, we have thousands of people that lost partially or totally their houses,” said Perez, who is a member of Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party.

People notice something ODD about San Juan mayor’s T-shirt during CNN interview…   . . . "With Cruz prioritizing printing political T-shirts over storm relief, is it any wonder Trump took notice? In fact, Trump’s not the only one to notice the lack of action from Cruz. Asked about the situation, a neighboring mayor blasted Cruz while praising Trump’s response:

Guaynabo’s Mayor Angel Perez said he has no idea what the hell Cruz is talking about since his city has been receiving aid. The reason why they are getting help is because Perez has kept on top of relief efforts by attending meetings with officials from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and other federal agencies.“I don’t know why she is saying that,” Perez told the Daily Caller. “She is not participating in any meetings. We had a couple already with the governors and with representation of FEMA and of HUD, these whole federal agencies that have given us help. We are receiving assistance from FEMA. I got people over here helping us with applications for the people that have damage in their houses.”

"Meanwhile, real people are suffering in Puerto Rico. Sadly, liberals are more interested in turning their suffering into a political narrative, rather than actually doing what’s required to help themselves." . . .

EVEN Liberal PBS Debunks the Anti-Trump Media’s Puerto Rico LIES!
"President Trump has bent over backward for Puerto Rico, and the governor appeared on PBS, where he praised Trump for his swift response."

On the NFL protests

Football with a side of sanctimony  . . . "Starbucks tried something similar.  In 2015, the coffee company encouraged its baristas to engage customers in conversations about race.  This effort was terminated within a week, amid a firestorm of criticism, indignation, and jokes.  Their customers didn't want coffee served with self-righteousness back then, and football fans don't want to watch sanctimonious football players now.

"The NFL could stop this anytime it wants.  In July 2016, for example, the league prohibited Dallas players from wearing decals in support of five Dallas policemen who had been killed in an ambush. " . . .

 "This prompted the Ravens and the Jaguars to take their lack of respect for our flag overseas.  On September 24 in London, players for those teams kneeled for The Star-Spangled Banner, then stood up for God Save the Queen." . . .

Rick Moran: NFL desperately looking for compromise on anthem protests  
. . . "It also leaves the racial protesters out in the cold, preventing them from fulfilling Colin Kaepernick's promise: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.' " . . .


ESPN is indeed becoming more leftist:

Fox Video

Sharpton missed the boat this time:
Thomas Lifson: Al Sharpton, desperate for a popular cause, chases bandwagon that has already departed  . . . "There are lots of laws that impact “people of color” more than colorless people (as if Caucasians are transparent). Shall we throw out murder laws because blacks commit that crime more often?"
. . . Sharpton "sparked an actual pogrom, an antisemitic riot in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in 1991, and following his denunciation of “white interlopers” (A Jewish-owned store) in Harlem, Freddie’s Fashion Mart was firebombed with 7 deaths."


Kaepernick, the Smithsonian, and the Lessons of History  . . . " Fifty years later, the left has a death grip on the NFL.  There is a complete lack of leadership by the NFL owners and the commissioner to hold players accountable for their on-field political actions." . . .

Wall Street vets are threatening to pull the plug on the NFL  . . . "On Thursday, Allan Jones, founder of Check Into Cash, said that he is pulling all commercials for his lending companies during NFL games for the rest of the season.
"In other fallout, DirecTV said it will refund subscribers of its NFL Sunday Ticket package if they are opposed to the protests". . . 

How Trump beat the NFL   "The biggest story of the weekend is from Canton, Ohio, where suddenly -- spontaneously -- for no apparent reason but plain patriotism, the Pro Football Hall of Fame sprouted 800 American flags." . . .

Blame the NFL, Not Trump  . . . Trump is not adept at governing, but he is a master culture warrior. He is president because he knows his Middle American, working-class supporters, what angers and energizes them. He also seems to get, in a way his Beltway betters do not, the chasms between elite opinion and grassroots sensibility. His antennae detect when the former is woefully out of touch." . . .

The regret I have is not being able to undo the wrong done to black athletes of the past, such as Satchel Paige and so many others who could not participate in mainstream sports. They were not even allowed to eat in the same restaurants nor stay in the same hotels as whites. They are the ones I wish to have gone back in time and make everything right for, not these wealthy, left-wing anti-American malcontents. TD

Everything (That's Not Sexism) Is Racism

"With such a cynical, divisive and mendacious strategy, is it any surprise that the DNC coffers are running low?"

Clarice Feldman  "For some time now, Democrats have played the identity politics game, revving up grievances -- real or imagined -- of different ethnic groups with the only commonality a dismissive prejudice against middle-class white men. This divisive disunity strategy served them well for a while, but no longer. With nothing else to replace it, it’s between Scylla and Charybdis -- risk losing the base and seek broader appeal or crash into obscurity. They continue to choose poorly.

"I don’t know the name of the person who created this, but it shows rather well the arguments of the everything-is-racism in their deck of cards:

. . . 

"So many of the reported crimes purportedly motivated by Islamophobia have proven to be faked (like the crimes of racism and sexism) that rationally we’ve grown to view all with a jaundiced eye. Still, it took chutzpah for Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (former DNC chair) to suggest that the still barely covered Awan brothers scandal was a product of Islamophobia. 

"With such a cynical, divisive and mendacious strategy, is it any surprise that the DNC coffers are running low? Donors and supporters are abandoning the party in droves."

List of NFL Sponsors

Dear NFL: I’m not “boycotting” you. I just don’t care anymore, about you.

"The NFL players’ sideline protests over the National Anthem and flag have angered a lot of people. On the surface, that anger is about patriotism versus a sense of entitlement, with the players having too little of the former and too much of the latter.

"But there’s another feeling of disgust I’m hearing a lot, how the NFL was one of the few remaining places to which we could escape from politics and just be left alone and allowed to enjoy something. The NFL was an escape.

"That’s a sentiment I expressed in my post, NFL picked sides in the culture war, now it has to live with the consequences: . . ."

Posted at Legal Insurrection by 94Corvette 
"For those who want to let the sponsors of the NFL know that you are not approving of their support, here is a list of the sponsors" and when they became sponsors:

1. Gatorade (PepsiCo) Isotonic beverage ’83
2. Visa Payment systems services ’95
3. Campbell’s Soup Soup ’98
4. FedEx Package delivery service ’00
5. Frito-Lay (PepsiCo) Salted snack/popcorn ’00
6. Mars Snackfood Chocolate ’02
7. Pepsi (PepsiCo) Soft drinks ’02
8. Dairy Mgmt. Inc. Dairy/milk/yogurt/cheese ’03
9. Bridgestone Tire ’07
10. Gillette Health/beauty ’09
11. Verizon Wireless phones ’10
12. Barclays Affinity card ’10
13. Papa John’s Pizza ’10
14. Castrol Motor oil ’10
15. Anheuser-Busch Beer ’11
16. USAA Insurance ’11
17. Bose Home theater system ’11
18. Courtyard by Marriot Hotel ’11
19. Xbox (Microsoft) Video game console ’11
20. Quaker Oats Hot cereal ’12
21. Tide/Duracell Household cleaning/battery’12
22. Lenovo Computers ’12
23. McDonald’s Restaurant ’12
24. SAP Cloud software solutions ’12
25. Surface/Windows Tablet/PC operating system’13
26. CoverGirl Beauty ’13
27. Zebra Technologies Player-tracking technology’14
28. TD Ameritrade Personal investing ’14
29. Extreme Networks WiFi analytics provider ’14
30. Nationwide Insurance Insurance ’14
31. Hyundai Auto ’15
32. Dannon Yogurt ’15