Portland trampoline park shutting down, owner blames millennials, labor laws

Oregon Live

"The owner of a pair of trampoline parks is shutting them down, citing Portland's minimum wage increases and the state's mandate to provide part-time employees with sick leave. Millennials also share part of the blame, he said.

"G6 Airpark owner Wesley Dameron, 38, in a note to customers drafted earlier this month that was posted to Reddit Wednesday, said he's shutting down his parks in Southeast Portland and Vancouver. In addition to minimum wage laws and sick leave mandates, Dameron also blamed a "ridiculously litigious society" as a reason for shuttering the parks." . . .

"When parents sign a waiver and clearly understand that their kid is jumping on a trampoline, but hold our facility responsible when their child breaks a leg, it's a blow to our organization," he wrote. "It's a massive time sink for me personally, it's stressful, my wife stresses out, and it's expensive."

. . . 

"Dameron couldn't be reached for comment. But the G6 Airpark owner in his note to customers also expressed incredulity at having to provide paid sick leave to "part-time high school students with no experience and no skill set.' " . . .

DHS Secretary: Democrats Owe Trump An Apology For Peddling Lies About His Remarks On Immigrants

americanthinker/cartoons/

Matt Vespa  "Katie wrote about this yesterday. President Trump had a roundtable discussion with those fighting sanctuary city policies that have become a protective shield for illegals to hide behind to avoid deportation. He called MS-13 "animals," but the liberal media decided to once again peddle fake news, erroneously claiming the president was saying this about all illegal aliens. Pavlich had the transcript:

SHERIFF MIMS:  Thank you. There could be an MS-13 member I know about -- if they don’t reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it.

THE PRESIDENT:  We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in -- and we're stopping a lot of them -- but we're taking people out of the country.  You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are.  These aren’t people.  These are animals.  And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. 

. . .

. . . "Now, Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen is asking Democrats who piled on the fake news train yesterday to hop off and apologize to President Trump. The DHS secretary added that she was “horrified” at how the record was being distorted (via Free Beacon):

Manners, Morals, and Political Correctness

The challenge before us is to carefully distill our morals from our manners.  Political correctness stifles open inquiry by choosing sentiment over reason as the hallmark of acceptable behavior.  In other words, hurting someone's feelings is a greater sin than perpetuating a falsehood.  Lies, however, constitute the grammar of tyranny.  Truth, as awkward as it may be, remains the bulwark against the mental slavery that precedes the kind of political tyranny the world knows so well.

Tiger Droppings

Saul Goldman   "Are manners and morals essentially the same?  Are manners merely "small morals," as Thomas Hobbes defines them?  Or is there a fundamental distinction?

"Moral philosophy is about our understanding of virtue or righteousness.  Manners, on the other hand, focus upon public or political behavior.  We might draw the distinction between manners and morals by stating that manners are instrumental behaviors while morals are existential.  One might differentiate them by pointing out that manners are social behaviors subject to place and time.  Manners govern actions.  Morals, on the other hand, define how we "ought" to interact.

"Since what we do is connected to why we should do it, manners and morals were investigated by both social scientists and philosophers.  Aristotle described manners as "practical wisdom" as opposed to philosophical wisdom.  Practical or political wisdom is devoted to man's self-interest or what is good for the individual.  But what is good for the individual must be evaluated against what is good in general.  Practical wisdom is about how a man may obtain something that is good for him.  Philosophical wisdom seeks to understand what is good.

"Much of our moral awareness derives from our perceptions of what feels good.  That is why David Hume argues that we determine virtue or vice by how we feel rather than what we think." . . .

Dishonest Dems, media ignore Trump’s triumphs

Boston Herald

Anyone expecting President Trump supporters to soften up on their allegiance to the president heading into the November midterm elections is sadly mistaken.
This past week, Democrats, the FBI and the liberal elite media gave Team Trump strong reasons to remain solidly behind the Republican commander in chief and his “drain the swamp” cause.
. . . 

"So what’s been the media focus of the week?

"President Trump referred to members of the notoriously violent MS-13 street gang as “animals.” He has used the same MS-13 description many times before, so the press was well aware of it. Still, it didn’t stop beat writers from The New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press, plus TV network and cable yakkers, from falsely reporting Trump’s remarks.

"They lumped in all illegal immigrants as “animals” with MS-13 kidnappers, rapists (especially child rapists) and murderers, and attributed it to the president." . . .

An increasingly powerful left wing is causing the party to abandon the Jewish state.

But a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from 13 Senate Democrats suggests the party may be at a tipping point.

Jonathan S. Tobin at National Review

"Over the past half-century, Republicans and Democrats have exchanged identities on Middle East issues. Republicans are now the lockstep pro-Israel party, and the Democrats are deeply divided about their attitudes toward the Jewish state. And as polling from both the Pew Research Center and Gallup indicated earlier this year, the split between the two major parties on Israel is growing.
"The previous administration accelerated these trends. President Barack Obama’s eight years were dedicated to creating what he called more “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel, and support for the Iran nuclear deal became a litmus test of Democratic-party loyalty. President Donald Trump has worked to overturn Obama’s Middle East policies, putting the remaining pro-Israel Democrats in a difficult political situation. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as well as his abandonment of the Iran deal, have been cheered by the Netanyahu government but panned by most Democrats, including some who in the past have advocated both of those positions.
"But reactions to the latest round of violence in the Middle East shows that the Democrats’ drift may be speeding up still more, with the party veering toward anti-Israel hostility." . . .
The moral compass of Democrats manifests itself:

• They support Muslims who murder shoppers in the streets
• Not one Democrat showed up at the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem
• California Democrat Kamala Harris openly disrespects those more capable than she.
• Democrats wanting to impeach President Trump
• Democrats would run America the way they run California, right?
• Waters promises 'reparations' if Dems take over in 2020
  
• The leftist Democrats (which is all of them; there are no moderate Democrats) in Congress . . .
• Democrats honor dictators over American conservatives

• To Gain Voters, Democrats Favor Immigration Anarchy ...

Above is just a small sample of the cancer in the American electorate 

And of course these next are solid reasons the leftists all have to vote Democrat:   Why I vote Democrat 

School Shooter Found Carrying Symbol Linked to Radical Trump Haters

"It appears that wearing the trench coat with its pro-socialist propaganda was common for the alleged shooter."

Western Journal  . . . "That suspected criminal has now been taken into custody and revealed as a 17-year-old student. As journalists poured over the alleged shooter’s social media accounts, they found something chilling.

"It appears that the shooter proudly wore a piece of pro-Communist propaganda on his clothing as he carried out the attack.

"Photos and descriptions from the accused criminal’s Facebook page show an unmistakable Soviet “hammer and sickle” pin placed prominently on the lapel of his jacket — the same jacket that witnesses said he wore during the rampage." . . .

. . . "The star pin appeared to be identical or similar to items available from MarxistBooks.com and other pro-socialist propaganda outlets.

"More recently, the symbol has become the de facto icon of radical anti-Trump protesters. There are numerous examples of liberal protesters waving the hammer and sickle flag or using the iconography on banners protesting the president and conservatism" . . .

Antifa and their colors:

Now we see the American Left as they truly are

The final irony here is that liberals tend to embrace godless evolution and generally believe that people are nothing but animals.  Yet as the brilliant G.K. Chesterton put it, "Man is an exception."  He "is always something worse or something better than an animal[.]"  So true.  And I think we know which free will-abusing people are keeping MS-13 gangsters company in the worse category.  Selwyn Duke

Dark Angel

Selwyn Duke: "If liberals were animals, it would be an improvement"  "Ever since President Trump characterized MS-13 gang members as "animals," Democrats have been playing dumb (when they haven't actually been dumb) for political gain.  What started with some fake news outlets purposely misrepresenting Trump's remarks and others sloppily parroting the deception has degenerated into the comical: leftists trying to save face and gain votes by cynically claiming they're offended that anyone would do violence to the principle of the dignity of all human persons.  Why, Nancy Pelosi, a pooh-bah of prenatal infanticide posing as a latter-day St. Thomas Aquinas, actually lectured us about how every person has a "divine spark.' " . . .

A grim spectacle: The left fully revealed  "Over the eight years of the Obama administration, the Democratic Party moved left, then more left, then hard, radical, Alinskyite left.  Terrible damage was done to the country as a result.  Obamacare virtually destroyed our once finest health care system.  The Iran deal was a cash cow for the mullahs; the West got nothing but the promise that Iran would become a nuclear power.  Obama thrived on racial strife, and so he exacerbated it day after day, any way he could.  He supported Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa.  He likely saw to it that tens of thousands of dollars were illegally funneled to those groups along with the millions sent their way by George Soros.  Obama enforced few if any immigration laws because the left needs that perennial immigrant underclass to gain power. " . . .

Notice the divinity here?

Would Nancy Pelosi say there is a spark of divinity in President Trump?

The Federalist asks, Do Liberals Hate Trump More Than MS-13?

. . . "When these outlets and journos were called out for their extremely misleading reporting, many of them chose to defend MS-13 rather than walk back their criticism of Trump. This is a gang with the motto, “kill, rape, control.”  

"Let’s take a stroll down the walk of shame, shall we?" . . .

Read the comments from these opinion shapers and teachers of our children.

. . . "It’s one thing to vehemently oppose this president, but to be brainwashed by your own hatred for Trump that you’re purposefully manipulating his remarks about MS-13 so that it appears that he was referring to all immigrants is truly appalling and absolutely shameful."

MS-13; the corrupt media throws this nation under the bus

Fake News story about Trump calling all immigrants “animals” is why people hate the media

"The MSM wonders why the majority of America cannot stand them. It’s probably because of the way they twist and edit President Donald Trump’s words.

"The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others all claimed that Trump called “some unauthorized immigrants” animals during a rant*. No. He referred to members of the dangerous MS-13 gang as animals.

"What Trump Actually Said.  CNN’s Jake Tapper posted the full context of Trump’s quotes:" . . .

*"Rant"; that's the NY Times choice of word.

The search for blame in Texas...once more

Sickle, hammer, and Iron Cross strike in Texas  . . . "The murderer of schoolchildren in Texas understood that the Soviet sickle and hammer, on the one hand, and the Nazi Iron Cross, on the other hand, are symbols belonging to the same ideological direction.  We do not yet know how strong the ideological convictions of this murderer are.  But we know one thing: America does not want to endure the massacres of children anymore – as we do not want to see another gun-free zone filled with blood.

"Massacres in Israeli schools are non-existent nowadays, just like gun-free zones.  American schoolchildren deserve the same protection as their Israeli counterparts.  Being a small country, Israel armed whom it could to protect their children: their teachers.  In America, it makes no sense to arm the teachers for a variety of reasons.  We should allow our teachers to arm themselves, but it should not be a government policy.
"Paradoxically, in order not to turn our country into a police state, we need police officers in every school." . . .

Note to CNN and ladies of "The View": Do not - repeat not - claim this is a Christian symbol:

I can just picture it now. CNN's Don Lemon, are you listening?  TD 

The inevitable blaming of the culture instead of the shooter.

. . . As I write this, after the politicians in Texas had their say, the tired liturgy began anew.
You know how this goes. You’ve seen it before: anger, tribal chant and politics, those who want armed security at schools, those who say there are too many guns in America already.
We slide into our default positions. We think by hashtag.
The uglier our thoughts, the harsher they are, the better. People let their anger roll off their thumbs and onto the Twitter accounts. You can watch the number of your Twitter followers grow when you call people like me a “gun fetishist.” . . .

J.J. Watt offers to pay funeral expenses for victims of Santa Fe High School shooting

SB Nation

"Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has reportedly reached out to Santa Fe High School — the site of Friday’s mass shooting in Texas — and offered to cover the funeral expenses of the victims. At least 10 people have died following the tragedy, with another 10 injured — the majority of which are students.

Mark Berman@MarkBermanFox26

Santa Fe High School officials have been notified that @JJWatt is personally going to pay for the funerals of all the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting tragedy.

10:22 PM - May 18, 2018 · Houston, TX

• 34.3K
• 12.7K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

"Watt expressed his grief on Twitter yesterday before reportedly contacting school officials. Houston is just 37 miles northwest of Santa Fe High School." . . .

Deviant Art

The Best Explanation for Our Spate of Mass Shootings Is the Least Comforting

National Review

. . . "Those who advocate for gun control have an immediate answer — the prevalence of guns in the United States. Yet guns have been part of the fabric of American life for the entire history of our republic. Mass shootings — especially the most deadly mass shootings — are a far more recent phenomenon.

"Writing in 2015, Malcolm Gladwell wrote what I think is still the best explanation for modern American mass shootings, and it’s easily the least comforting. At the risk of oversimplifying a complex argument, essentially he argues that each mass shooting lowers the threshold for the next. He argues, we are in the midst of a slow-motion “riot” of mass shootings, with the Columbine shooting in many ways the key triggering event. Relying on the work of Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter, Gladwell notes that it’s a mistake to look at each incident independently: . . ."

But Granovetter thought it was a mistake to focus on the decision-making processes of each rioter in isolation. In his view, a riot was not a collection of individuals, each of whom arrived independently at the decision to break windows. A riot was a social process, in which people did things in reaction to and in combination with those around them. Social processes are driven by our thresholds—which he defined as the number of people who need to be doing some activity before we agree to join them. In the elegant theoretical model Granovetter proposed, riots were started by people with a threshold of zero—instigators willing to throw a rock through a window at the slightest provocation. Then comes the person who will throw a rock if someone else goes first. He has a threshold of one. Next in is the person with the threshold of two. His qualms are overcome when he sees the instigator and the instigator’s accomplice. Next to him is someone with a threshold of three, who would never break windows and loot stores unless there were three people right in front of him who were already doing that—and so on up to the hundredth person, a righteous upstanding citizen who nonetheless could set his beliefs aside and grab a camera from the broken window of the electronics store if everyone around him was grabbing cameras from the electronics store.

. . .  

Student Says School Shooter Was Picked On By Coaches, Wore Trench Coat Daily

Prepare for more CNN appearances by those foul-mouthed Parkland brats.

Daily Wire . . . "He's been picked on by coaches before for smelling bad and stuff like that and he doesn't really talk to very many people," the student said. "He wears a trench coat every day and it's like 90 degrees out here."
"I heard that he wore a shirt today and it said 'born to kill,' the shirt he was wearing, I don't even know how the school can allow that," the student continued.
The reporter then asked the student about his reaction to the school's handling of the shooting, asking him if they handled it appropriately.
"No, they pulled the fire alarm and got everyone in one position, that's not smart," the student replied. "They should have done the right thing and left the people in the classrooms."
The reporter then appeared to try to bait the student into making a statement on gun control, asking him what he thought about the state of America today.

"The student once again pointed out the alleged gunman was supposedly bullied by coaches, saying, "I think it's stupid, the coaches can't talk to students like that and make fun of them. That's their fault, and strictly their fault. Not the kid's fault, but their fault, no one has talked to him or tried to be nice to him."

Texas Colonel Describes How Police Must Engage A School Shooter – Puts Parkland Police To Shame "Multiple law enforcement officers engaged the shooter who killed 10 and wounded 10 at Santa Fe High School in Texas Friday morning.
"That’s according to Texas Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw." . . .
"One of the Texas police officers was shot and severely wounded when he engaged the shooter. The officer has not been identified and is in the hospital.
"The actions of the Texas officers present a stark contrast to the actions of the Broward County Sheriff school resource officer during the Parkland, Florida shooting earlier this year." . . .

Two thousand years waiting for a restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem

"Two thousand years waiting for a restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem via Instapundit, and for some American Jews, today’s significance is that it gives them a chance to emote their hostility to Trump. Sad!"

"BECAUSE LEFTIST POLITICS HAS BECOME A RELIGION: Two thousand years waiting for a restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem, and for some American Jews, today’s significance is that it gives them a chance to emote their hostility to Trump. Sad!"