Starbucks’ new bathroom policy not working out as hoped (However, it is working out as expected.)

Legal Insurrection

"It has been 7 months since the famous purveyor of caffeinated confection, Starbucks, declared their bathrooms “open to the public” without the need to purchase their products.

"Data suggests that the virtue signaling isn’t working out as well as hoped by the corporate leaders. A New York Post team investigated several Manhattan bathrooms and found that there wasn’t an open stall.

…A half-dozen toilets were locked or barricaded for no clear reason. Others were closed for prolonged “cleaning,” which an insider said was needed after extreme soiling caused by drug-using, incontinent vagrants.

“Letting everybody in has resulted in nobody getting in,” an employee at one branch fumed.

“Rest Room closed,” declared signs at 399 Seventh Ave. (entrance on West 32nd Street) and at a branch at Pearl Street and Maiden Lane. At 252 W. 31st St., the road to relief was blocked by garbage cans. Furniture and boxes formed a barrier at 61 W. 56th St.

A rope and traffic cones barred the way at 38 Park Row. When a desperate visitor asked if the loo would reopen any time soon, a barista directed him to a Dunkin’ Donuts nearby.

"Why would the bathrooms need “prolonged cleaning”? Perhaps the experience of the Seattle shops provides an explanation:

You Are Here San Francisco Creates First Transgender District

From 2017: Intellectual Takeout

"San Francisco created a special cultural district for transgender persons, marking the first legal transgender district created anywhere in the world.

"San Francisco’s Tenderloin district is now home to “Compton’s Transgender Cultural District,” The Daily Beast reported Tuesday.

The Tenderloin is a triangular neighborhood located a few blocks from San Francisco’s City Hall. It is also San Francisco’s most notorious drug district, according to authorities, Vice reported in 2014.

It is one of the most dangerous districts in the city, authorities say.

Mahogany

Hyde Street’s 300 block is regarded as the city’s grossest block. Human waste lying in the streets is a norm, reported The New York Times in October. The block is part of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

The district was created in order to create a safe space for transgender persons and to aid those who identify as transgender being pushed out of their own neighborhoods, according to Compton’s district manager, Honey Mahogany, the Beast reported. 

The district will also teach San Franciscans about the history of transgender evolution, Mahogany said, according to the Beast.

“The Tenderloin has always held a really special place in my heart as a trans person with the way the community is accepting of gender variant and trans people of color,” Mahogany said, the Beast reported.

Is There Anything Environmentalists Won't Blame On Climate Change?

They also know that the climate is always changing. (Take a trip to the Grand Canyon if you don't believe it.)  And the public knows that not everything bad that is happening today can possibly be the result of a less-than-1-degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures over the past 100 years.

Investors  "Climate Change: CNN this week published a huge story saying the source of the migrant caravan wasn't so much corrupt Central American governments, violence or lousy economic policies. It was climate change. This is just the latest attempt by environmentalists to blame any and all bad news — even acne — on climate change.

"The CNN story, complete with pictures, videos and charts, claims that climate change is responsible for the drought in parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua that forced thousands to flee for the U.S.

"Well, not "responsible," exactly. The author admits part way through that "Studies have not definitively tied this particular drought to climate change." 
. . . 
"In other words, the entire premise of story is pretty much bunk. The best the CNN reporter could come up with is that "computer models show droughts like the one happening now are becoming more common as the world warms."

"Why would you need computer models to tell you what is supposedly happening right now? Probably because in the U.S., at least, there's been no increase in droughts since the 1890s.

"Unfortunately, playing fast and loose with the facts and jumping to wild conclusions is now the standard operating procedure when it comes to global warming." . . . Full article here: 
 https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/environmentalists-climate-change-blame/

First Lady Melania Trump Visits U.S. Military and Families…

The Last Refuge  "Earlier today First Lady Melania Trump visited Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Joint Base Langley-Eustis and the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. Continuing to blaze her own trail, our First Lady actually flew on a v-22 Osprey."

Melania Trump

✔@FLOTUS

An incredible flight today on a V-22 to visit the service members aboard the USS George HW Bush. Thank you to ALL who serve!

Clinton Whistleblowers: Thursday’s Public Hearing to Reveal “Explosive” Information

Sara Carter  "A trove of documents on the Clinton Foundation alleging possible pay for play and tax evasion have been turned over to the FBI and IRS by several investigative whistleblowers, who will be testifying in an open hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday, according to the committee and lawmakers.

"Roughly 6,000 documents that are expected to reveal the nearly two-year investigation by the whistleblowers with a private firm called MDA Analytics LLC, which allegedly turned over the documents more than a year and a half ago to the IRS, according to John Solomon, who first published the report last week in The Hill. 

"The whistleblowers are former federal criminal investigators, who allege that the Clinton Foundation was “engaged in illegal activities and may be liable for millions of dollars in delinquent taxes and penalties,” according to Solomon.

"The Department of Justice and the FBI’s Little Rock, Ark. field office, which is believed to be investigating the foundation, have allegedly obtained the documentation from the whistleblowers as well, according to lawmakers who’ve spoken with the whistleblowers.

"Clinton Foundation officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

"However, a former whistleblower, who has spoken with agents from the Little Rock FBI field office last year and worked for years as an undercover informant collecting information on Russia’s nuclear energy industry for the bureau, noted his enormous frustration with the DOJ and FBI. He describes as a two-tiered justice system that failed to actively investigate the information he provided years ago on the Clinton Foundation and Russia’s dangerous meddling with the U.S. nuclear industry and energy industry during the Obama administration." . . .

Fear the left Incoming NY State AG admits her plan to find a crime by Trump or 'anyone in his orbit'

WITCH HUNT: NY Attorney General Says She'll Investigate Everyone Around Trump

New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James is buttressing President Trump’s claims that there is a “witch hunt” pursuing him; she told NBC News that she intends to investigate not only the president, but also his family and "anyone" in his circle who may have violated the law.  . . .

Thomas Lifson  "Another Democrat has revealed her totalitarian impulse under the malign influence of Trump Derangement Syndrome.  Letitia James, who will take office as attorney general of the State of New York, has just admitted to the friendly folks at NBC News that she is channeling Lavrenty Beria, Stalin's notorious secret police head, who famously said, "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."

"I think within the first 100 days this bill will be passed," she said, adding, "It is a priority because I have concerns with respect to the possibility that this administration might pardon some individuals who might face some criminal charges, but I do not want them to be immune from state charges."

"With Rep. Ted Lieu admitting his frustration with the First Amendment, yesterday saw two prominent Dems revealing the inner tyrants.

It seems to me a safe bet that once the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, they will spiral even faster into a frenzy to "get" Trump and will present a spectacle to the American public that will be a sobering lesson.  But in the month ahead, I would not rule out more auto-unmasking of tyrant-wannabes."

Dem Rep. Ted Lieu says that he'd 'love to be able to regulate the content of speech'

Now, the second clause of his second sentence is curious.  That Congressman Lieu thinks that in the long run, free speech is a good idea suggest that right now, he doesn't think it's a good thing.  Does this mean that during the Trump presidency, free speech would be suspended if he had his druthers?  Would the "long run" be when Democrats have imported enough impoverished foreigners to guarantee perpetual rule?  Or maybe just when Trump is out of office?
Last March, I noted that TDS is driving what I called "the great unmasking of the left."

The Trump border reality show edition

Bookworm Room
"Trump turned the debate over funding a Southern border wall into a brilliant reality show, with Pelosi and Schumer as his hapless foils . . . and much more.

Cartoon added by TD

. . . "Even at the reliably Left-leaning Daily Beast, Matt Lewis explained that Trump walked away the undisputed victor: . . ."

. . . "But do you want to know how I know with certainty that Trump was the victorious alpha in that room? This is how: The Left focused obsessively on the fact that Trump interrupted Pelosi. The horror!Trump interrupted Nancy Pelosi 15 times in the Oval Office. Watch her coolly shut it down. (Leftist sexism overflowed!)

How Nancy Pelosi Masterfully Dismantled Trump : Do not mansplain to the former — and likely future — Speaker of the House.

Commentary: Pelosi-Trump exchange put the rudeness of ‘talking over’ on full display

Congresswoman, Interrupted : President Trump’s interruptions of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are part of a long tradition of men talking over female colleagues.

"If the only thing you can say after a televised debate about a matter of enormous importance to Americans is “he was mean to the most powerful woman in America,” you’ve conceded that you’ve lost the substantive argument." . . .

That Oval Office sit-down? Pelosi and Schumer got skunked.  "There are thousands of families in the U.S. who have lost children and family members to illegal aliens in a variety of horrific ways.  In that sure-to-go-down-in-history Oval Office confab, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer effectively let us know that they don't care about us or our losses.  They need Democrat voters; that is their abiding goal."
. . . 
"That Oval Office sit-down with the Beavis and Butt-Head of the House and Senate will go down in history as the best of political theater and a demonstration of presidential genius."

Earl of Taint

France: Understanding the Gilets Jaunes Uprising

"The vast majority haven't been told the truth about life for ordinary citizens, in France. As a result, they don’t understand the significance of the violent ‘gilets jaunes’ protests across the country. Having lived in France for years, REX explains why these are the most important protests in France since 1968 - and likely a beacon for citizens all across Europe."

Rich Terrell

Quod Verum  "Millions of French citizens have been violently demonstrating across France for the last month.

"They are known as the gilets jaunes, or "yellow jackets". The protestors wear the yellow high-viz jacket, that is common on building sites and airports.

"It’s a powerful totem for the French deplorables, a unifying symbol of ordinary, working class folk across the nation.

"France is no stranger to organized protests, or as they are called, manifestations. These are a dime-a-dozen in France. Typically they are union-engineered strikes, used as a weapon in the never-ending negotiation between organized labor and the French state.

"Forget what FakeNews is telling you. This is no ordinary manifestation.

"This is a genuine uprising by millions of city and country folk, young and old, crossing different ethnic and cultural lines.

"Macron’s diesel tax hike wasn’t the cause of the gilets jaunes movement. It was the spark detonating a bomb, that has been building for decades.

"It is the first time since 1968, that France has seen such a genuine and uprising popular uprising, against the French state.

"This protest is different. And it has very specific, historic reasons, as this article will reveal." . . .

"Even as Paris burns, America’s media and other Democrat establishments demand that America institute the socialist policies that are destroying Europe."

Identity Politics Poses a Genuine Threat to America. Here’s Why

Is identity politics reaching a breaking point?

. . . "Hudson’s Fonte outlined what has become the framework for identity politics on the left.“Multiculturalism, the diversity project, and critical theory” are the three major cornerstones of this creed, Fonte said."In a 2013 article in National Review, Fonte described the “diversity project” as: “[T]he ongoing effort to use federal power to impose proportional representation along race, gender, and e.thnic lines in all aspects of American life.”

"Multiculturalism comes in a hard version and a soft version, he said."The soft version celebrates ethnic subcultures, examples being St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo."The hard version, Fonte said, has damaged society. He concisely summed up its tenets:The United States is a multicultural society in which different cultures—African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, and women—have their own values, histories, and identities separate from and sometimes in opposition to dominant Anglo, white, male culture.

"This creed divides America into many peoples and has become the dominant ethos taught in American schools." . . .

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii called on the men in America to “just shut up and step up” . . .

Government Indicts Ham Sandwich: Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty

Ann Coulter  . . . "This is how they lure you into arguing about something that doesn’t matter.

"In the 1990s, Chinese nationals were literally dragging duffel bags of money into the Democratic National Committee as President Clinton allowed sensitive ballistic-missile guidance technology to be transferred to the Chinese government.

"No charges. No independent counsel.

"Clinton held illegal campaign fundraisers at the White House, where Chinese citizens handed checks directly to White House staff.

"Still no charges and no independent counsel.

"Videotapes of the White House fundraisers surfaced, featuring the president and vice president glad-handing campaign donors on federal property.

"And again, no charges, no independent counsel.

"The New York Times’ response to Attorney General Janet Reno’s refusal to assign an independent counsel to these textbook campaign finance violations was a forceful editorial lightly ribbing Reno for her “blunders.”

"Saturday Night Live was tougher on Reno.

“Weekend Update With Norm Macdonald,” Nov. 8, 1997:

With the release of over 100 hours of videotape of President Clinton at campaign fundraisers, the pressure continues to mount on Attorney General Janet Reno to name an independent counsel to investigate the president. In addition, some senators are said to be furious that, instead of watching the videotapes, Reno has been taping over them with episodes of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

"But now we’re supposed to care that Trump’s personal lawyer lied about a legal payment to, depending on your point of view, a mistress or an opportunistic grifter — AND HE USED A TRUMP ORGANIZATION EMAIL ADDRESS."

Meadows: Three Clinton Foundation whistleblowers with ‘EXPLOSIVE’ info will testify this week

Ian Macfarlane

National Sentinel  "Hail Mary: The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus said Tuesday that no fewer than three whistleblowers with “explosive” information regarding the Clinton Foundation are set to testify before a House committee this week.

"During an appearance on Fox News with host Martha McCallum, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., discussed the year-long investigation of Utah federal prosecutor John Huber, whom former Attorney General Jeff Sessions tasked earlier this year to look into alleged nefarious activities involving the foundation.

“ 'They [whistleblowers] have 6,000 pages of evidence that they’ve gone through,” McCallum said. “The foundation raised $2.5 billion, and they’re looking into potential improprieties. What’s next on this investigation?”

“ 'Well, I think for the American people, they want to bring some closure, not just a few sound bites, here or there, so we’re going to be having a hearing this week, not only covering over some of those 6,000 pages that you’re talking about, but hearing directly from three whistleblowers that have actually spent the majority of the last two years investigating this,” Meadows said." . . .

Trump sprang three traps on Pelosi and Schumer yesterday

Thomas Lifson  "President Trump clearly shocked House speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday with his televising of the Oval Office sit-down over his demand for $5 billion in funding for border security, including funding of critical mileage for his border wall.  Knowing well that Pelosi had already vowed publicly that "transparency and openness" would characterize the Democrat-run House starting next month, her plaintive request to speak in private scored points for Trump and revealed her hypocrisy before any substance at all was considered.

"The remarkable body language during the meeting tells the story of Trump's dominance.  Here is the full video of the press gaggle . . .:

. . . 

"Chuck Schumer took the bait on the second trap, and after the Oval Office meeting, he employed triumphantly the term "Trump Shutdown" as if he had won a victory through Trump's surrender.  Thus fortified, he is more likely to take Trump's dare and refuse funding for adequate border security and metaphorically throw Bre'r Trump into the briar patch.

The third trap is maneuvering the Senate Democrats into standing for open borders, or at least ineffective border security.  The current House of Representatives will pass the funding.  It is the Senate, where a 60-vote filibuster could be employed, that would be the obstacle.

Never forget that Trump was the most successful producer of reality television in the history of the medium.  He understands drama and a story arc.  Chuck Schumer leading a Senate filibuster right before Christmas to stymie border protection is exactly the story Trump wants the nation's TV-viewers to absorb.