Steve Harvey is Taking Too Much Blame for Miss Universe Disaster: Who Designed the Card That Set Harvey Up to Fail? He or She Should Be Taking Just As Much Blame

I don’t watch beauty pageants, and think they’re a waste of time unless Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell get into another feud over it.  But in this case, I’m making an exception because I like Steve Harvey.   He announced the wrong contestent had won and then had to painfully announce that another contestant had actually won.

Take a look at the card that they gave Harvey to read off of:

Now there’s a report out that the teleprompter that Harvey was reading off of was wrong as well.

Get off of Steve Harvey’s case, people.  The card above is clear as mud, and the teleprompter is never wrong…right President Obama?

Harvey’s mistake was the last in a string of mistakes made by others who need to share in the criticism.   Hope Trump and Rosie weigh in on this.   If they do, and Steve Harvey fires up his usual comic routine, it’ll provide all of us some much needed comic relief.

Here’s a Thought: What if Trump Won the GOP Nomination But Then Announced That He Was Running the Rest of the Race as an Independent?

That’s hard to imagine, but what if Donald Trump did take that step?

What legal options would the GOP have?   Is the nominee contractually bound to the party after accepting their nomination?   Would he have to decline the nomination?  I doubt the parties have a contingency plan for dealing with a nightmare scenario like that.  And it would be just like a vindictive Trump to force that kind of an issue.

I can’t see Trump leaving the GOP in a position to reorganize around a new candidate and challenge him if he were to start an independent run.

Trump’s in a position to destroy any chance of a GOP victory for the White House next year and decimate the national level organization.

Interesting thought.

On a side note, I’m not impressed with Lindsay Graham’s power of persuasion.   He’s being lead around by Trump too.

Trump is a Genius: Not Because of His Plan to Ban Muslims from Entering the Country, But Because He’s Forcing the ENTIRE Field to React to His Splash Statements

Donald Trump is a genius.  He’s leading the entire field around by the nose and kicking them in the butt at the same time.     No wonder his poll numbers have jumped.

He’s making fools out of the GOP.   Every politician who is reacting to his splash statements have fallen into a trap. 

His competitors have to stop allowing him to dictate what the next discussion will be.  If they want to win, they MUST get out in front of Trump and make their own waves.  Impress us.

U.S. Air Force Running Low on Munitions: Administration and Congress Needs to Pay Attention to Air Force Funding Requests

The Air Force announced that their stockpiles of missiles and bombs is getting a tad low, and that it might take up to four years to replenish the stockpiles to prewar levels.

They’ve dropped 20,000 bombs and missiles on ISIS, according to reports.

The Administration and Congress need to act to supply the Air Force with the kinds of munitions that they’re expending against ISIS, especially if it’s going to take a number of years to produce the needed weapons.

Is This What Trump Was Referencing When He Said That American Muslims Were Celebrating 9/11?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5BtQgTGOI4

Very interesting story, especially since it’s a CNN story. 

Finally, Someone With Guts to Stand Up to Russian Aggression: While the Loss of Life is Regrettable, the Russians Have Been Inflicting Casualties on People Fighting ISIS

Turkey shot down a Russian Air Force aircraft, and put Russia on notice that it won’t tolerate Russia’s blatant disregard for the airspace of other nations.

While I doubt that Russia will attack Turkey militarily, I can see diplomatic and economic reprisals in the near future. 

The last thing that Russia needs is a shooting war with NATO.

With Possible ISIS Bomb Bringing Down Russian Airliner Over Sinai Peninsula, Perhaps Russians Will Get With the Program and Start Focusing on ISIS Exclusively Instead of Assad’s U.S.-Backed Enemies

One of the features of Russia’s air campaign in Syria has been that Russian jets have been rarely hitting ISIS targets , while focusing most of their targeting on President Assad’s U.S.-backed opposition.   Note the map below:

Even though this map has not been updated since October 5th, the Russian targeting hasn’t changed a whole lot.  Reports of Russian air strikes on rebel controlled territory have been coming in daily.

But with a possible bomb onboard a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula, and with ISIS claiming credit for taking down the flight with over two hundred Russian citizens on board, perhaps the Russians will go after ISIS more, which is what they should have been doing from the very beginning. 

Assad’s fate can be decided later. 

ISIS is the bigger threat; that’s the narrative that the American and Russian governments need to agree on.   

Carson is Partially Right, Though What He Probably Meant to Say Was that Sharia Law is Incompatible With the U.S. Constitution

Dr. Ben Carson created a furor when he said that Islam was not compatible with the U.S. Constitution.  I believe what he meant was that Sharia law is incompatible with Constitutional law.

All you have to do is look at the Preamble to the Constitution and then look at the plight of women already living under Sharia law, especially the type embraced by ISIS, the Taliban, Saudi Arabia (with their morality police), and other Islamic countries whose women are treated horribly.

And it doesn’t matter which flavor of Sharia law we’re talking about, whether it’s Shiite or Sunni.  It’s equally awful to women.

Liberty for all people is not possible under Sharia.  That makes it totally incompatible with life under the United States Constitution, which is common sense.  Wish Carson hadn’t stumbled over this issue.   

While the Constitution does not permit the specific banning of Sharia law, it does invalidate any laws that come into conflict with the Constitution, which is the Supreme Law of the land.  That includes 12th century barbarism that our enemies want to impose on us.

I hope the courts remember that.

Some European Countries Now Under A Refugee Tsunami Once Criticized U.S. Moves on Illegal Immigration: Now They’re Doing What They Once Criticized to Deal With Their Own Problems

The wheel turns, does it not?

I’ve been watching the unfolding European drama on illegal immigration with great interest, and can’t help but think about those European nations that once harshly criticized U.S. moves to prevent what’s now enveloped Europe. 

U.S. immigration policies of the past have been dubbed “racist” and “fascist” by European governments, and over at the U.N.,  in particular the 2010 Arizona anti-alien laws which placed tough restrictions on illegal immigrants entering Arizona and finding work there.

Now some of these same European countries are following similar tracks to control the tidal wave of illegal immigration to their nations, and it’s making American liberals very uncomfortable.   European nations are rushing troops and police to their borders and shutting down their transportation systems to prevent movement of people.

That being said, there’s no easy answer to today’s problems and Europe is getting hit with a heavy dose of reality.   It may tear the EU apart far faster than anything else.

The West needs to do a far better job with their collaborative foreign policies, so that there’s less of an incentive for people to leave their home countries.  Why leave when one can earn a living and live in relative safety with family and friends in familiar surroundings?  That should be the Western goal, if they don’t want to absorb millions of new people.

Come Now, CNN: “Anchor Babies” is a Racist Term According to Liberals and Their Pro-Immigration Supporters, So Why Are You Allowing One of Your Web Site Commentators to Use the Term to Describe Conservatives?

Nice going, CNN.

One of their commentators dared to use the “anchor baby” label to describe conservatives in a new op-ed piece, which flies in the face of the official liberal party line against using the term in the ongoing immigration debate.

Is it a racist term, or is it not, CNN?  And if it is, someone owes everybody an apology.  If it’s not, they should still apologize for offending the feel-good crowd whose feelings are undoubtedly hurt by those words even appearing on a liberal news outlet’s web site.

Perhaps they should hold a funeral for this term too.  After all, it worked so well when they held a funeral for the “n” word in Detroit and elsewhere and symbolically buried the (real) racist term. 

So much for CNN’s pretense of impartiality.  Again.

Aren’t there more pressing stories to cover, instead of a news outlet making itself part of the news?

GOP and Democratic Presidential Nomination Fields are Weak Due to Top Draws Being Sideshow Distractions: Trump Makes Waves, and Hillary is Getting Smacked Around by Waves of Trouble

Donald Trump keeps drowning the other GOP candidates out, and Hillary Clinton is drowning in her own troubles.  

And if Trump is talking about throwing away $1 billion on his campaign, he isn’t going away anytime soon.   As an entertainer, Trump has no equal.  But his political skills are unproven, and his ability to deliver on promises that he’s making are questionable at best, except in one area: the economy.  I think he’s got the best chance out of all the candidates to turn things around in that area.

Hillary Clinton’s legal problems are continuing to mount, and her scheduled appearance before Congress next month to answer “all” questions seems to be a last-ditched effort to save her political career from smashing onto the rocks.  She seems to be putting herself in additional legal peril with this move.  

If Hillary is charged with a crime, Biden’s almost certain to jump in.  He has a certain credibility that Hillary does not have in the honesty department.   Gore is a one-issue candidate if he were to jump in.   He won’t get elected on a global warming platform. 

Sanders is a joke.  The first and only thing that he’s said that I totally agree with is this: he owes BlackLivesMatter no apology whatsoever.   They stormed his rally and should be apologizing to Sanders, not the other way around.    I totally disagree with Sanders on all of his other stands.  

The other GOP candidates need to be bold, and be themselves, not repackaged Democrats.  EVERY time a Republican tries to out-Democrat a Democrat, he or she gets pounded on Election Day.   They’re allowing Trump to control the direction of the conversation, and reacting to Trump instead of getting out in front with their own ideas.  Get on it!

What Happens to Hillary Clinton’s Campaign if She’s Charged With a Crime? Will She Get Out?

Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the White House will likely end if she is charged with a crime. 

She should probably get out now, so that she can begin to prepare her legal defense against the criminal investigation that is now being conducted by the FBI.   And it is a criminal investigation.

Hillary should have realized that what she was doing with her email was illegal and a major security problem.     Given that, I wonder who she will throw under the bus to save herself. 

That’s what the Clintons do best.

Japanese Emperor Should Issue Final and Complete Apology for Japan’s Role in World War II, Then There Should Be No Expectation of Further Apologies: Today’s Japanese Political Leaders Weren’t Even Alive During World War II, So It’s Unfair to Insist That Generation After Generation of Japanese Leaders Who Had Nothing to Do With World War II to Keep Apologizing

Japanese Emperor Akihito delivered a glancing blow of an apology to nations that Japan invaded during World War II, which set off a new round of resentment in South Korea and in China. 

Under the Japanese constitution, the Emperor cannot make or issue political statements without the permission of the Japanese government, so he went out on a limb to say what he did about World War II.

Prime Minister Abe is openly resentful of apologizing, which has generated a ton of resentment in China and in South Korea.

It’s really past time for Japan, South Korea and China to let World War II finally end, and I think the Emperor will have to get really involved.  He needs to issue a complete and final apology on behalf of the entire Japanese nation for Japan’s role in World War II, including the rape of Nanking and the use of “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers. 

Then there should be no expectations of further apologies from Japan’s political leaders.

It’s unfair for China and South Korea to continue to want apologies from Japan’s political leadership as most of Japan’s current politicians were born after World War II.  Prime Minister Abe was born in 1954.   

Every time a Japanese prime minister is forced to issue another World War II apology, it causes huge political problems for him from his domestic audience.  Communist China may want that, but it isn’t good for one nation to exert that kind of influence over another.

Japan’s leadership really needs to get it together and allow the Emperor to issue a final statement.   It’s time to let World War II get out of the realm of current events and allow it to take it’s place in the history books.

Shouldn’t the Focus Be on the Funerals for the Victims of the Charleston Shootings, and Not on a 150 Year Old Debate That Shows No Sign of Easing?

I think there’s a couple of misplaced issues in the Charleston massacre, that can wait for a while.

Instead of focusing energy on the victims, their families and making the church that was attacked whole again, a great deal of political capital and energy has been shifted to going after the Confederate flag, which continues to fly on state capitol grounds in the South, or is on license plates.

The Confederate battle flag debate has been ongoing for 150 years and shows no signs of going away anytime soon.  In fact, retailers can’t keep the rebel battle flags in stock; they’re flying off the shelves since the controversy re-erupted in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.

That was expected.  When a movement gains steam, it often spikes sales of whatever item is in the political crosshairs.

The flag debate can be put on hold until after the victims’ funerals are held.   The second item is the gun debate that lib Dems keep rehashing.   That can wait too.

Political activism should not supplant honoring the victims, and comforting their families.

Kid Who Shot Up Charleston Church Cannot Claim Insanity: His “Last Rhodesian” Manifesto Makes Clear Who He Doesn’t Like, and Who He Was Going to Go After in Charleston

The person who shot up the Charleston church on Thursday night and killed nine people will not be able to claim insanity, in my opinion.

The reason I say that is because of his website and manifesto.   It lays out his hatred of people who are non-white and broadcasts his intentions to attack a target in Charleston and hurt people.

His photos are particularly troubling, with various references to neo-Nazi propaganda.   His web site is going to be of particular interest to the prosecution, with regards to his rumored intention to plead insanity.   It might have had some traction if the web site and manifesto didn’t exist, but the manifesto was too well-researched and organized (I disagree with the entire thing, by the way), even though it was bizarre rant.

The photos establish his hatreds over a long time period, with various neo-Nazi references (the 1488 thing, which I had to look up), stomping on, spitting on and burning the American flag, and similar photos involving apartheid-era Rhodesian and South African flags.  

It will be hard for him to claim temporary insanity with the web site and manifesto anchor wrapped around his neck.  

He’s competent enough to stand trial and pay for what he’s done.

Senator Tells Pope to Stay Out of Climate Change Debate: “Do Your Job and We’ll Do Ours!” OK, Except Congress Shouldn’t Be Involved in the Climate Change Debate Either!

This is a good one. 

The Senate chair of a climate change committee is tired of Pope Francis speaking out about climate change, telling the Pope to “do your job and we’ll do ours.”   I happen to agree that the Pope shouldn’t be involved in this mess of a debate, but the Senator overlooked something very critical:

Congress shouldn’t be involved in the debate either.  No politician has any business in an ongoing and unsettled scientific debate.   They’ve already screwed this situation up almost beyond belief, and on an international scale.

This is a scientific debate that hasn’t reached a final conclusion about what’s really going on with the climate.  The scientific community involved in the climate change debate is a train wreck, and keeps coming up with contradictory theories to explain things.  And the politicians love to turn these things into talking points.  

The disaster of carbon credit markets is one example of politicians to make more money off something that they have absolutely no control over and barely understand.  Political snake oil….

The scientific community is too polarized by this issue to give our leaders sound advice on what the facts are.   Settled science?  I think not.

Honesty from the scientific community will do more to further our understanding of the world around us far more than politicians taking a stand.   The politics can wait until the science is actually settled.

Recent Government Paper Manipulates Climate Change Data so Blatantly that Even Climate Change Scientists Are Balking: Sad State of Affairs in Global Warming Alarmism Movement

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a report that manipulated climate change data AGAIN which changes the data to show nothing but rises in global temperature over the last seventeen years and not any kind of pause or cool down.

This kind of blatant data manipulation is EXACTLY the reason that people like me doubt the official (and government approved) narrative about global warming.   The NOAA report is a political document meant to silence political opponents of global warming.   This is also what happens when politicians enter a scientific debate.   

But climate scientists themselves are publicly challenging the NOAA report, saying that the manipulated data does nothing to further understanding of what’s actually happening,    The NOAA-branded report is just adding fuel to a fire that the government wants to go away.   But they keep engaging in science fiction instead of science fact.   And they’re being called on it by people on their own side of the equation.

Pretty sad state of affairs for the global warming alarmism side when they criticize a report meant to silence their opposition.

It will be interesting to see if the people criticizing the government report change their tune in coming weeks, or if they stick to their guns.

No Progress on Straightening Out Primary Calendar: All States Should Set Their Primaries Earlier as a Show of Support for Challenging the Unbalanced Primary System

During the last primary season, Michigan was one of several states that the DNC and RNC singled out for punishment for daring to draw attention to the unfairness of two states getting the lion’s share of attention from the candidates due to their first-in-the-nation primary elections, and the respective (not so respective) National Committees of both parties going along with the system.

Michigan’s electoral votes were cut in half as a result by both parties.   Thanks for nothing, DNC and RNC.   I selected a side and wrote in Mickey Mouse.   That’s what I thought of my half-strength vote.

New Hampshire and Iowa have different issues on their plates than Michigan has.  Here’s a sample of issues in the headlines in those three states:

Iowa has been focused on ethanol, gasoline taxes, drone surveillance, “telemed” abortions, state aid for broadband access and same-sex marriage. 

New Hampshire has been focused on marijuana legalization, sexual orientation discrimination, the death penalty, immigration,  Common Core and Indian gaming. 

Michigan is focused in on its economy, deer hunting, bird flu, Common Core, fracking, repealing the state’s prevailing wage law, wolf hunting, recreational marijuana legalization, insurance premiums, funding for schools and roads, and guns.

Are Michigan’s issues any less important than New Hampshire’s or Iowa’s?  I think not.

During the last primary season, Michigan bumped up its primary election in violation of the rules so that our issues could be heard in all the racket emanating from Iowa and New Hampshire.

I hope more states cross the red line and schedule their primary elections early next year, and really stick it to both the DNC and RNC.   And if they do to those states what they did to Michigan, I hope all kinds of people write in Mickey Mouse or vote for “none of the above.”    

Much more to follow on this issue in the coming weeks and months.

GOP Field is Unimpressive: Mickey Mouse May Get My Vote (Again) for Next Year’s Primary

The last few primary elections, if I’ve been annoyed with the choice of contenders that the main parties have put forth, I’ve picked a side and then voted for Mickey Mouse. 

He may get my primary vote again, if things stand as they are.  I’m not impressed so far with the current field of candidates.

Someone had better start knocking ‘em out of the park, real quick.

Texas Police Officer Who Stopped Two Terrorists During Attack on Mohammed Cartoon Gathering is Still Unknown: He Probably Wants to Protect His Family From Retaliation

A heroic police officer who shot two terrorists after they opened fire with AK-47s on police and security officers at a controversial Mohammed cartoon gathering is still not publicly known, and that’s not a bad thing.  The police officer probably wants to protect his family, so the media should respect that.   I’m content with not knowing his name.

The terrorists drove up, got out of their car and opened fire, wounding an unarmed security guard.  It’s being said that the police officer drew his sidearm, killed one of the attackers immediately and wounded the other, which ended the situation. 

I don’t know if his name can be suppressed as the shooting is a matter of public record so his name’s probably going to be released.   Hope they’re taking steps to protect the officer’s loved ones before that happens.