[FOX] FOX Business’ Lou Dobbs said Wednesday that Democratic policies are to blame for Illinois’s budget crisis.
"Democrats have controlled the state legislature for 14 straight years...given the unconscionable mess that Democrats made of Illinois, perhaps President Trump should just say ’no, no bailout,’" he said.
Illinois could go down as the first U.S. state to have a "junk" credit rating, with $15 billion in unpaid bills.
Dobbs said the state should be stripped of its name for its irresponsible economic actions.
#1
Bail out? One condition, the creation of Fiduciary Tribunals which will have the authority to strip any and all politicians of that governmental level and their families for two generations of their assets, income and pensions that contributed to the insolvency of the state for the past 50 years.
You think they'd be willing to give their 'last full measure of devotion' for that? Or they just want other people's money? /rhet question
[Defense One] The end game has arrived. In Syria, the U.S.-backed campaign to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State is nearing its final chapter. And yet the rifts inside the United States government about what to do next, as ISIS falls, are as evident in President Donald Trump’s administration as they were many months ago in Obama’s. The questions about the long-term have yet to be answered.
Just take two fronts: America’s relationship with the Syrian Kurds who are leading the grinding fight against ISIS, and the question of Iran after ISIS.
Already there is a gap between the State Department and U.S.-led forces fighting the war in Syria. Parts of the State Department -- particularly U.S. diplomats based in Turkey -- share the Turkish government’s concerns about U.S. forces aligning with Syrian Kurds and have been worried about U.S. plans to have Syrian Kurds take part in whatever stabilization efforts come next. Meanwhile, in the eyes of those in uniform inside Syria with an up-close view of the battle, the Syrian Kurds are the best fighting force America has in country. They’re also most able to access and assist with Syria’s humanitarian crisis and post-conflict stabilization.
The divide is driven by the differing mandates facing State and the Pentagon. The State Department is working to keep NATO ally Turkey in dialog and on board. The Pentagon is charged with fighting ISIS with local forces and without tackling the Assad regime.
This means that Trump’s State Department can’t fully embrace a stabilization plan in Raqqa (much less negotiate one with Russia) so long as the Syrian Kurds remain both a central part of it and aligned with the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist separatist group. That’s a challenge. In April, a group called the Raqqa Civilian Council was established to return order and forge a durable peace after the defeat of ISIS. It was founded and is led by Kurdish and Arab allies of America’s anti-ISIS coalition.
[Breitbart] I think I’ve found the core problem with health care in America. And guess what? It involves Delta Airlines!
A few weeks ago, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was going on and on about a "single insurance provider" that pays for 49 percent of all births, as well as full health care costs of almost 40 percent of all children in the United States. This single "insurer," Maddow said, was the biggest "health insurance provider in the country by a mile."
Maddow was talking about Medicaid, which, of course, is not "insurance" but "welfare."
When we’re allowed to call things whatever we want in order to win an argument, there is a total breakdown in democratic politics, fair commerce, and social interaction.
Thus, for example, until we get our terms straight, Americans will be forced to keep paying through the nose whenever they try to buy actual health insurance -- because they aren’t buying health insurance; they’re paying for other people’s welfare. Washington will never be able to make it legal to sell real health insurance -- because, if they try, the welfare recipients will mob congressional offices claiming that Republicans are murdering them.
There is no truth in any discussion of Obamacare. Currently, the most persistent lie is the claim that -- according to scoring by the CBO! -- 22 million Americans would "lose" their health insurance under the Senate health care bill. Turn on the TV right now and you’ll hear someone saying this.
h/t Instapundit
Everyone who has tried them tells me threesomes are difficult. And anyone can imagine that threesomes with the government are the most difficult of all. Suddenly it’s no longer a matter of whose elbow is in whose eye, but a matter of whose legal rights are getting stripped, which way the courts lean, and who is likely to lose his parental privileges and, likely, his liberty or at the very least his wealth.
Which is why I find it absurdly rich of CNN (All the news fit to fake) to wonder why American couples are having less sex than they were 20 years ago.
The article disingenuously roots around for an answer (so to put it, to coin a phrase) and comes up with several. It’s not that they’re wrong ‐ precisely ‐ it’s more that they determinedly ignore what is at the back of those obvious causes of the ‐ ah ‐ dry spell enveloping Americans.
...As for the why of psychological conditions, let me see: courts incredibly biased in favor of women in both custody and divorce proceedings have made a mockery of the "equal rights" of a couple. At the same time everything from entertainment to the news to political campaigns (I’m looking at you Hillary) have managed to turn American women into the unhappiest, most privileged and dissatisfied minority in the world.
American women who are favored in everything from hiring to promotion to marriage to--well, everything ‐ due to subtle and blunt governmental pressure, are daily bombarded with the idea they’re downtrodden, mistreated and live in a patriarchy. And no matter how hard those of us who grew up abroad roll our eyes, some number of them will believe it.
Obviously, CNN has no idea why this type of disparate treatment and gaslighting should interfere in the intimate relationships between human beings.
#1
This is an ongoing trend in the western world. It is men who are turning away. Men will be men and the natural way of things have changed. Too much to say here but it is a very real trend. The most common response of men I have found is that "women are crazy". The more you do for them the more unhappy they become. So men adapt. They play video games. They work many hours. In those worlds, sanity can be maintained. Then I just realized that if you don't have that luxury the gang family is a real choice for many men in the urban environment. Where you learn a new language of ebonics. Where you learn other basic survival skills. Making it very difficult to break free of the only life you know. Society is destroying family, culture, religion, the very basic building blocks of a stable society.
The reason Mayberry was so peaceful and quiet was because nobody was married. Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Howard, Goober, Gomer, Sam, Earnest T Bass, Helen, Thelma Lou, Clara and, of course, Opie were all single. The only married person was Otis, and he stayed drunk.
[AmericanBluesScene] Blues and jazz are uniquely American art forms. Folks can discuss the origins of each, but one fact is indisputable: When it comes to blues, the state of Mississippi is exceptionally blessed. Of particular note are what is known as Hill country blues and Delta blues. Along with the history of these genres and just as important, are the lives and work of the authors, performers, and interpreters of this music.
Everyone from Robert Johnson, Willie Brown, Ishmon Bracey, Bo Carter, and Son House, to Little Freddie King, Robert Bilbo Walker, James Cotton, Elmore James, and Charley Patton has contributed to the mythic folklore and seemingly endless catalog of music that constitutes the Delta blues. A list of no less talented performers has contributed their vast abilities to the Hill country blues including probably the best known of these, “Mississippi” Fred McDowell.
Today in Mississippi there are many programs and initiatives to not only keep Mississippi’s rich music heritage alive, but also to bring that legacy to new generations so that they can keep it and pass it to their children. This year Mississippi is celebrating “Mississippi at 200” with unique events and programs throughout the state.
American Blues Scene was fortunate to spend some time with Abe M. Hudson Jr., elected Mississippi State Representative, on June 28th, 2016 in a special election for District 29, Bolivar and Sunflower Counties. He is a native son of the Mississippi Delta, and a graduate of T.L Weston High School in Greenville, Mississippi. After graduation, he attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a BSBA in Marketing. He then attained two Master’s degrees, an MBA and a MSBA in Finance, from Mississippi State University. Hudson is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Urban and Regional Planning from Jackson State University.
Hudson owns two businesses, Abe Hudson Consulting Services, and Real Delta Tours and Artistry. Real Delta Tours and Artistry is a company committed to providing authentic Mississippi Delta Tours, creating handmade invitations, and sponsoring creative events. The businesses are located in downtown Cleveland, Mississippi.
Initially, we rattled off just a sampling of celebratory events coming up including Bo Carter’s Headstone Celebration, and the City of Cleveland Bicentennial Celebration, hosted by Cedric Burnside. Then too, there’s the New York City premiere of the Daniel Cross documentary, I Am the Blues, which sees the great Bobby Rush guiding the filmmakers around the Delta and Hill country to meet and film pioneers of Mississippi blues. We asked Representative Hudson what he thought about Mississippi being so blessed with events celebrating the blues. More at the link
#1
Best blues bar I ever found was under the arch in St. Louis @0300. Six stools, two tables, one-eyed bartender, albino on the harmonica and singing, white guy on the horn.
#2
Skidmark, if you happen to be passing near Cincinnati on August 11-12, we're having our 25th annual blues fest. It's not as big as the entire state of Mississippi, but we enjoy ourselves. Mr. Wife and I will be working both days, after which I plan to collapse. Details here.
This year Mr. Wife started a new program at the Cincy Blues Society where people can donate money to provide tickets to veterans, distributed by the DAV and AFTA-Cincinnati. I'm really proud of him. Thus far we have enough donations to provide tickets to 300 veterans and their guests!
#3
I told Mr. Wife I posted the above, and he reminded me that we also are having the local chapter of Guitars for Vets open for the national headliners on the main stage Friday night. Guitars for Vets is a national program providing therapy for veterans with PTSD through music.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
