States ration birth, marriage, death certificates after paper company suddenly closes

WASHINGTON –  Someone call Dunder Mifflin: Several states are reporting a paper crisis, after an Ohio company that produces highly specialized paper for vital records closed without warning.

California has been hit the hardest by the shortage, and several counties are now being forced to ration birth, marriage and death certificates. 

In California, the only other company that can meet its needs, under state law, is in Canada. Officials say it would likely take months for Canadian Bank Note Co. to get up to speed with the state’s paper needs – but that’s only after a contract is signed. In the interim, counties are left finding short-term solutions for the growing backlog.

The restrictions “will impact a lot of folks,” Rob Grossglauser, a lobbyist for the County Recorders’ Association of California, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The closure of Sekuworks, the Ohio paper company, has a handful of states scrambling to find a fix, including Minnesota and South Carolina. 

But California law is specific and requires the state to print all vital statistic certificates using a specialized – and some argue antiquated – type of printing, known as "intaglio." Besides Sekuworks, no other U.S.-based companies can handle that type of printing. 

Since the company closed, several California counties there have started to limit residents to one copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate. The restrictions are creating major headaches for people who are realizing just how important the documents are when trying to obtain licenses, handle funeral arrangements or apply to schools.

Intaglio printing is done using ink that is below the surface of the plate. The design is etched into the printing plate, which is typically made from copper, zinc, aluminum and in some cases, coated paper. The benefit of intaglio is that it’s a near-perfect way to prevent counterfeits. Minnesota employs the method for a range of sensitive documents and South Carolina – which recently adopted new standards – used it for death certificates. 

But critics argue it’s too labor intensive, antiquated and expensive.

In central California, Stanislaus County officials are now working with area school districts to provide a free “verification of birth” for people who otherwise would need a copy of their child’s birth certificate to enroll in school.  

California has two types of certified birth notices – an authorized copy and an informational copy. While both are certified copies of the original document, an authorized copy establishes the identity of a person. An informational copy cannot be used for identity purposes and carries an inscription across the face of the document stating, “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY.”

Informational copies are available to anyone who requests one. Authorized copies are not.

County Clerk-Recorder Lee Lundrigan sent letters to school districts notifying them of the change and has been working to provide parents with emergency options.

South Carolina initially addressed its paper shortage by limiting the number of death certificates it issued to five per person.

The move put pressure on funeral homes and handicapped their ability to help families through the difficult process of losing a loved one. While a five-certificate limit might sound like a lot, Pamela Amos, general manager at McAlister-Smith Funeral Homes, told The Post and Courier that most families need at least 10 certified copies of a death certificate and that the state-sanctioned limits caused “a major issue for a lot of families.”

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control – the agency authorized to issue the certificates – was notified on July 9 Sekuworks had laid off most of its employees and was in the process of selling its business. 

South Carolina, though, lifted its five-copy limit on Aug. 11 after the state signed a new contract with supplier R.R. Donnelley, Jim Beasley, a spokesman with the state DHEC, told FoxNews.com. Beasley indicated the state, unlike California, was able to revise its own security standards, and in turn use a different kind of paper. 

“In 2014, we had already begun the process of revising our specifications for security paper to be used on birth and death certificates,” Beasley said. “We had issued a request for proposals from vendors to meet the new standard. Coincidentally, the bids for a new provider were scheduled for opening on July 9, 2015, the same day we were informed of the work situation with Sekuworks.”

The DHEC began processing back-order requests immediately and expects to resume normal operations by Wednesday, he said.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, officials at the state’s Department of Health are working to establish a new contract with a new vendor. The state is still about a month away before “everything is in place and a new supply could start flowing,” Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota DOH, told FoxNews.com. Schultz believes there is enough supply statewide to meet the demand if offices cut down on duplicates. 

“Requests for certificates will continue to be fulfilled, but that fulfillment may occur at locations people don’t regularly use, through the U.S. mail or from neighboring county vital records offices,” he said.

Multiple emails, telephone calls and other attempts by FoxNews.com to reach Sekuworks were not successful.

Via: Fox News

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Poll: Only 40% of Teachers Support Common Core

(CNSNews.com) – Less than half of Americans (49 percent) now say they support Common Core State Standards (CCSS). 

Public support dropped 4 percent since last year and 16 percent since 2013, when 65 percent of Americans were in favor of the national education standards, according to the ninth annual Education Next poll released Tuesday.

Only 5 percent of Americans say that Common Core has had a “strongly positive” impact on their local schools, with 19 percent characterizing the impact as “strongly negative.”

The greatest change in opinion was among teachers. Although 76 percent said they were in favor of the Common Core standards in 2013, that percentage “collapsed” to just 40 percent in 2015, a 36-point difference, pollsters reported.

“While support for standardized testing remains strong, the debate over the Common Core State Standards continues to divide both teachers and the general public,” according to the poll, which was conducted in May and June by Paul Peterson and Martin West of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

(See  ednext_2015_poll_1.pdf )

Among teachers and parents, the two groups most directly impacted by CCSS, “respondents who believe the standards have had a negative effect on schools (51%) exceed those who think they have had a positive effect (28%),” researchers noted.

Support for Common Core is down among both Republicans and Democrats. In 2013, 57 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Democrats said they supported CCSS. But by 2015, that percentage had dropped 20 points for Republicans (to 37 percent) and seven points for Democrats (to 57 percent).

Now exactly half (50 percent) of Republicans responding to the survey say they oppose Common Core, compared to just 16 percent of Republicans who were against it in 2013.

Among Democrats, who are the most likely to support Common Core, opposition over the last two years rose consistently, from 10 percent in 2013, to 17 percent in 2014, to 25 percent in 2015.

Via: CNS News

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[VIDEO] CBS and NBC Fail to Cover IRS Data Breach, Feds Approving Drilling in the Arctic

In Monday evening’s edition of network bias by omission, CBS and NBC neglected to stories concerning a data breach of American taxpayers at the scandal-ridden IRS and the Obama administration finally giving approval for a major oil company to begin oil drilling in the Arctic off Alaska’s coast. Surprisingly, ABC’s World News Tonight picked up the pieces and provided their viewers with coverage of a full segment on the IRS breach and a brief on the future of drilling in the Arctic. 

On the subject of the IRS, anchor David Muir described the information as “a troubling new development in the case of computer hacking at the IRS” as “far more taxpayers’ documents could have been compromised than we first knew.” 

Speaking with Muir, senior Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas reported that “three times as many taxpayers [were] affected” as “[t]he number jump[ed] from 114,000 identified in May to roughly 334,000 possibly targeted.”

Thomas further explained in the time remaining how the information that the IRS has on Americans includes their salary, address, and date of birth to name a few that all could easily enable thieves to “assume your identity” and make hundreds of thousands of people victims of identity theft.

While Telemundo kept their viewers in the dark on this story, Univision’s Noticiero Univision had an 18-second news brief from co-anchor Jorge Ramos on the data breach and the growing number of Americans potentially affected.

Concerning the oil drilling, Muir dedicated a 14-second brief to the long-awaited decision by the Obama administration: 

Tonight, oil drilling set to begin again in the Arctic Ocean. The U.S. government giving Royal Dutch Shell the final permit to drill off Alaska’s northwest coast. The first drilling there in more two decades. Shell bringing in special equipment to comply with environmental regulations.

On the Spanish-language network front, Telemundo and Univision ignored it while the PBS NewsHour and FNC’s Special Report joined ABC in covering this development regarding the future of drilling in the Arctic.

Instead of mentioning either one of these stories, CBS Evening News fill-in anchor Charlie Rose promoted viral video of a dump truck driver in Saudi Arabia driving with the container up when it crashed into a highway sign.

Via: Newsbusters

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EPA HIDING DATA FROM TOXIC SPILL IT CAUSED IN COLORADO

The Environmental Protection Agency insists it needed to take over a gold mine in Colorado. But — now that it’s caused a massive pollution spill — the agency refuses to furnish proof that it ever needed control of the mine.

Not only did the EPA coerce the mine owner to grant it access on threat of a $35,000 per day fine and then fail to take common sense precautions to check the water pressure behind the Gold King mine when it began removing debris from the portal, now the agency is hiding the data related to the before and after effects of the spill.

On Friday Breitbart News posed eight specific questions to the EPA regarding the pollutant levels and exfiltration rates at the Gold King mine and the Red and Bonita mine during the period before and after the August 5 spill into the Cement Creek and Animas River in Colorado. The agency failed to offer any response by our Monday evening story deadline.

Those questions are:

1. What was the rate of exfiltration in GPM (gallons per minute) from the Gold King portal before the spill?

2. What is it now?

3. What was the rate of exfiltration in GPM from the Red-Bonita portal before the spill ?

4. What is it now?

5. What was the PPM (parts per million) for arsenic, cadmium, lead and copper in the exfiltrating water from the Gold King portal before the spill?

6. What is it now?

7. What was the PPM for arsenic, cadmium, lead and copper in the exfiltrating water from the Red-Bonita portal before the spill?

8. What is it now?

Dave Taylor, the retired geologist who predicted the EPA project that caused the toxic spill would “fail in 7 to 120 days” tells Breitbart News EPA’s failure to provide this information is troublesome.

“These are simple questions with simple answers that they undoubtedly have at their fingertips. If not, then there is something they don’t want us to know,” Taylor tells Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.

“Forget about what happened during the spill. Comparing this before and after information will tell us EXACTLY what has occurred and what changes the spill may have caused,” Taylor says.

Dr. David Lewis, a former EPA scientist and currently the director of research for theFocus for Health Foundation, tells Breitbart News that he is finalizing plans for his independent analysis of current Animas River pollution levels available for public review by as early as next month.

Republican Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson is scheduled to visit Durango, Coloradoon Tuesday to find out more details about the toxic spill into the Animas River caused by EPA incompetence.

Via: Breitbart

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WATCH LIVE: Scott Walker Reveals Obamacare Alternative

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) is scheduled to make a speech from Minneapolis on Tuesday morning in which he lays out his plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “If you’ve had it with Obamacare and you want someone who is going to do something about it, I am your candidate,” the Republican presidential candidate said in prepared remarks released ahead of the speech.

According to Politico, Walker aims to replace Obamacare with a plan “that would return authority to the states and provide sliding-scale tax credits directly to consumers who don’t get coverage at work to help them buy insurance.” In addition he would “give states greater say over Medicaid, which he would break into separate plans for different groups, such as poor families, people with disabilities and low-income seniors.”

Watch live stream video below, via NBC News:

VIDEO LINK

Via: Mediaite

Obama: Earning Contempt, at Home and Abroad

From Thucydides’s Athens to 21st-century America, appeasement is not a winner. 

The common bond among the various elements of the failed Obama foreign policy — from reset with Putin to concessions to the Iranians — is a misreading of human nature. The so-called Enlightened mind claims that the more rationally and deferentially one treats someone pathological, the more likely it is that he will respond and reform — or at least behave. The medieval mind, within us all, claims the opposite is more likely to be true. 

Read Gerhard Weinberg’s A World at Arms or Richard Overy’s 1939, for an account of the negotiations preceding World War II, and you will find that an underappreciated theme emerges: the autocratic accentuation of the human tendency to interpret concession and empathy not as magnanimity to be reciprocated, but rather as weakness to be exploited or as a confession of culpability worthy of contempt.

The more Britain’s Chamberlain and France’s Daladier in 1938 genuinely sought to reassure Hitler of their benign intentions, the more the Nazi hierarchy saw them as little more than “worms” — squirming to appease the stronger spirit. Both were seen as unsure of who they were and what they stood for, ready to forfeit the memory of the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of their own on the false altar of a supposedly mean and unfair Versailles Treaty. 

Hitler perversely admired Stalin after the latter liquidated a million German prisoners, and hated FDR, whose armies treated German POWs with relative humanity. In matters big and small, from Sophocles’ Antigone to Shakespeare’s King Lear, we see the noble and dutiful treated worse by their beneficiaries than the duplicitous and traitorous. Awareness of this pernicious trait is not cynical encouragement to adopt such pathologies and accept our dog-eat-dog world. Rather, in the postmodern, high-tech 21st century, we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking we have evolved to a higher level than what Thucydides saw at Melos or Corcyra — a conceit that is dangerous for the powerful and often fatal for the weaker.

Via: National Review

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[VIDEO] Rents are rising, but there are ways to stretch your dollar

If you're paying more for rent this year, you're not alone. Rents climbed an average of 15 percent across the country between 2009 and 2014, according to a recent analysis by the National Association of Realtors, and the cost to rent in some markets like New York, Seattle and San Francisco has jumped more than 20 percent.

Renters nationwide can now expect to spend 30 percent of their income on rent, according to a new report from the real estate data firm Zillow, which noted that rental affordability worsened year over year in 28 of the 35 largest metro areas covered by the company.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, attributes rising rents to "supply constraints" in housing and rentals: fewer rentals means higher prices. And millennial renters have been particularly hard hit, as rents are rising faster than income levels in many markets. "It's very demoralizing," he said.

But that doesn't mean you can't get a good deal—even in high-rent cities. Here's how to get the most for your money no matter where you live.

Expand your search. Rent is often highest in the hottest areas of a city. Even moving a couple subway stops or highway exits away can make a big difference in what you'll pay, said Paul Magyar of Mirador Real Estate in New York City.

For example, the average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan was nearly $3,200 (in a nondoorman building) in July, according to the latest rental market report from real estate group MNS. But the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Harlem, an area that is rapidly gentrifying, was $2,145—far less than the city's overall average rent and $700 less per month than the average one-bedroom rent in the neighboring Upper West Side neighborhood. And Harlem is only one or two stops away from midtown Manhattan on an express subway line.

Moving a little further outside a city can also save money. But it's worth factoring in the cost of owning a car and paying for gas if you're considering a suburban rental versus living in a city with good public transportation.

Decide your budget and stick to it. Before you start looking, figure out what you can afford to pay each month. Experts suggest spending no more than 25 to 33 percent of your income on rent. "It's not an investment," said Catherine Seeber, a senior financial advisor at Wescott Financial Advisory Group in Philadelphia. And you want to make sure you have enough money set aside for emergencies and other expenses. (A new Zillow analysis found renters with a high burden—those who spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent—have a median savings rate of zero.)

Don't forget incidentals. Be sure to find out what's included in the rent and what's not (like water, heat and laundry). Seeber also recommends making sure your landlord, building superintendent or management company will be easily accessible. Otherwise, if you need an emergency repair, it could end up costing you time—and money, if you pay out of pocket with no guarantee of reimbursement.

Consider a roommate. Splitting the rent with a roommate means you can often afford a nicer apartment than you could on your own. Not only will you save money on rent, but you can split the cost of utilities, Wi-Fi and other bills.

Check the out clause. Find out what's entailed if you or your landlord wants to end the lease early. Not only do you want to know what you might be responsible for if you need to move before your lease ends, but you want to know what to expect if an owner decides to sell the unit or move into it. If that happens, you could end up looking for a new place and paying moving fees before you planned on it, said Brian Morgan a realtor for Citi Habitats in New York City (where you may be on the hook for another broker's fee as well).

You could also consider living in a more reasonably priced city like Detroit, Memphis, Tennessee, or Lexington, Kentucky, where the NAR noted incomes have risen faster than rents. Although the same rules apply there too, of course.

Via: CNBC

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Uncertain local job market awaits Qualcomm workers

As Qualcomm readies to cut thousands from its global workforce, what kind of job market will displaced employees find in San Diego if they want to stay here?

The answer is not as clear as you might expect.

Some experts say the job market is healthy. The countywide unemployment rate is just 5 percent. Local employers have added 38,500 jobs so far this year. Qualcomm lures top-tier engineers to San Diego from around the globe. There’s plenty of demand from the region’s defense, medical device and software outfits for technology talent with a Qualcomm pedigree, say experts.

“If you have to lose a job, this is probably one of the best times for it to happen,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. “In technology, engineers are in demand, and they can find jobs in San Diego.”

Other experts. however, say the region’s telecommunications and semiconductor sectors are not what they used to be in terms of employment.

Cricket parent Leap Wireless was sold to AT&T and downsized. Nokia has shrunk its footprint locally after being purchased by Microsoft, shedding 129 workers in July alone. Over in Orange County, Broadcom — where skills of Qualcomm employees might best translate — is in the throes of being purchased by Avago Technologies, a Singapore-based serial acquirer that aims to wring $750 million in annual cost savings out of the deal.

San Diego’s semiconductor/electronic components manufacturing jobs declined from 7,700 workers to 5,200 jobs over the past decade, based on data from the Employment Development Department. Telecommunications employment fell from 15,200 to 8,400 over the same period.

Via: San Diego Union Tribune

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Punish and Reform the EPA

The accidental spill of toxic wastewater into Colorado’s Animas River is an ironic case study: The very organization meant to protect Americans from environmental catastrophes was responsible for perpetrating it. How should the Environmental Protection Agency be held accountable?

Colorado, and the states downstream of the spill, should sue the EPA. But, instead of merely recovering the cost of environmental damage, the lawsuit should focus on taming the leviathan the EPA has become.

Created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, the EPA, at its best, has been an important part of improving air and water quality. Clear standards, enforced in a straightforward way have been successful. The fact that the American environment is cleaner and safer than it has been in a century is partially due to EPA action.

In recent years, however, the EPA has moved away from those clear standards, preferring to exercise vague discretion in a way that is costly and often ineffective.

After the Gulf oil spill, the agency was vindictive in its treatment of BP. It banned the oil company, as well as 21 subsidiaries unconnected to the spill, from obtaining new federal contracts due to a “lack of business integrity.” The ban was lifted only after BP sued the EPA. In total, BP paid $54 billion in settlements, including $5.5 billion to the EPA for violating the Clean Water Act.

To be clear, it is not vindictive to hold BP – or anyone else – accountable for environmental damage. But, it is not responsible for the EPA to strain its authority to engage in a self-serving money grab.

The situation with the Animas provides more evidence that EPA’s desire to expand or protect its power can too often trump environmental stewardship.

For example, EPA Director Gina McCarthy told reporters, “The good news is [the Animas River] seems to be restoring itself.” Imagine the (justifiable) outrage from the EPA had BP made such a claim only a few days after the Gulf spill was capped when much of the damage had yet to be assessed.

And it’s not just British oil companies the EPA targets. The EPA threatened a Wyoming man with a $75,000-per-day fine for building a pond on his own property. Such behavior led a Washington Post editorial to observe, “The EPA is earning a reputation for abuse.”

The EPA often argues that money should be no object when protecting the environment. The same agency, however, has been circumspect about paying the significant costs for the damage it caused.

The wide gap between the cavalier attitude toward businesses and personal property rights and their own squeamishness to hold themselves accountable demonstrates that institutional – rather than environmental – protection is playing a decisive factor in EPA decision-making.

If EPA chooses to protect is own, rather than holding employees accountable, can we accuse Director McCarthy of a “lack of integrity”? To what standard will she be held?

The contrasting way the EPA dealt with BP and its own damage at the Animas River demonstrates that agency motives are not always entirely pure. They are quick to demand others pay and give them power, using the environment as a lever. But when their own funding and power is questioned, they minimize the environmental damage and cost. Director McCarthy even had the lack of awareness to tell the people of Colorado not to worry because the “EPA is here.”

The bottom line is that while the EPA has done much good, it has come to associate environmental protection with its own aggrandizement. Now is the time to make it clear that environmental protection, not a self-serving power grab, is what the public wants.

Via: Real Clear Science

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Are Republicans Happier in Their Marriages Than Democrats?

Republicans are happier and more stable in their marriages than Democrats, according to a study released Monday.

W. Bradford Wilcox, a prominent sociologist at the University of Virginia, released the analysis finding that Republicans are more often married, less likely to be divorced, and happier in their marriages than Democrats.

Forty percent of Democrats between the ages of 20 and 60 are currently married versus 57 percent of Republicans in the same age range, according to evaluation of the national General Social Survey.

Among Democrats who have previously married, 47 percent have been divorced compared to 41 percent of Republicans who have previously married.

Wilcox said this is potentially because Republicans are more likely to embrace a “marriage-mindset,” which views marriage as the best way to “anchor” a relationship and a family. He said this mindset also emphasizes marriage as a binding commitment, which makes people more likely to invest themselves into the institution.

“If you value an institution and if you value a relationship, you’re more likely to give that person and institution the benefit of the doubt,” he said.

Wilcox and his co-author Nicholas Wolfinger also explored marital quality, finding that among those who are married, 67 percent of Republicans say they are “very happy” in their marriages. Sixty percent of Democrats say the same, marking a seven-point gap.

This disparity shrank to 3 percent when the researchers controlled for demographic and cultural differences between each party.

>>> Index of Culture and Opportunity: Social and Economic Trends That Shape America

White and religious Americans, who are more likely to identify as Republicans, were also more likely to report they are “very happy” in their marriages. Education did not play a significant role.

Wilcox and Wolfinger wrote in their report for the Institute for Family Studies that while race and religiosity account for more than half of the “Republican advantage” in marital quality, the remainder may be explained through attitudes.

“Perhaps Republicans are more optimistic, more charitable, or more inclined to look at their marriages through rose-colored glasses,” they wrote.

Wilcox said this blend of optimism and charity along with the tendency of conservatives to view marriage more favorably could explain why Republicans perceive their marriages more positively.

Wilcox said he began investigating the link between partisanship and marriage following the rise of the 2010 book “Red Families v. Blue Families,” which argued that blue regions cultivate stronger and more stable families because of liberal emphasis on education and the tendency to delay marriage and parenthood, all of which are linked to lower divorce rates.

Wilcox said his study shows that the “presumption” that blue families are stronger and more stable “doesn’t hold water in many important respects” and, in fact, “suggests the contrary.”

Via: Daily Signal

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[VIDEO] Left goes insane over video of cute white sorority girls having fun

Here’s a shocking piece of news for you: College sorority girls prance around, often in rather skimpy clothing, while engaging in generally mindless activities like, er . . . prancing around. They also put on makeup. They also shake their groove thangs and know perfectly well that you’re going to help yourself to a look. And if they want other girls to be interested in joining them, they know that the best way to make that happen is to show themselves, you know . . . prancing around, etc.

As far as the political and cultural left is concerned, here’s an even more shocking piece of information about certain sororities: Many of the girls are white. In some cases, all of them are white. When you combine that with the general nature of college greek organizations in the first place, you end up with promotional videos that appeal to the college girl looking to spend four years partying, but have the exact opposite effect on the enforcers of mandatory “diversity” and hypersensitivity.

So be on notice: The following four-minute video is not to be watched. It is not empowering. It is not diverse. Watching it will make you less of what the left demands that you be - even less than you already are. And we can’t have that. So don’t watch.

Alpha Phi has “removed” the video, which is hilarious insofar as the attention it’s attracted has prompted it be re-posted to hundreds of YouTube accounts, and consequently embedded all over the Internet at sites like this one. But shame on you if you don’t hate it with every fiber of your being. Just consider:

 The six-minute-long clip was published last week to attract potential new recruits ahead the annual sorority rush recruitment event at the university, Mashable reports. The video shows the sorority sisters running around campus in bikinis and football jerseys and putting on makeup, among other things. 

  Criticism towards the chapter was initially sparked by an op-ed published by writer A.L. Bailey on local news website, AL.com. “It’s all so racially and aesthetically homogeneous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying, so Stepford Wives: College Edition. It’s all so … unempowering,” Bailey wrote of the video. 

  Since then, the video has been reuploaded by countless YouTube users. While commenters panned what they referred to as the video’s sexist undertones, others have defended the video as just being a fun promotion for the group.

A college sorority that’s “hyper-feminine.” Never thought I’d see the day.

I’ll be honest here: I am not a fan of fraternities and sororities at all. Never have been. Despite their claims that they’re really about friendships, professional connections and community service, anyone who’s ever attended college knows that they’re really about getting drunk and partying - and paying for the privilege to do so.

My wife thinks it’s ironic that Animal House is one of my favorite movies, but it’s the very fact that nothing in the film can be taken seriously that makes me like it so much. I wouldn’t want to be around that scene for one second, nor would I want my son around it, so I enjoy the fact that the film depicts everything connected to it spinning completely out of control at the end.

But that’s what’s noteworthy about the criticisms of this video. The issue is not the debauchery that goes on in fraternities and sororities. That’s perfectly fine to the complainers. It’s the fact that the girls are white, and that they act like girls. I suppose if they were prancing around in bikinis (or better yet, topless) and angrily shouting for their right to have abortions, the left would find that admirable. But because they’re white girls and they’re putting on makeup and having fun, (and also because they’re good looking), the video has to be extricated from the consciousness of the nation.

By the way, the black football player doesn’t seem too bothered by the lack of diversity to which he is the conspicuous exception. Nor would anyone expect him to be.

Via: Canada Free Press

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IG: Yes, The Los Angeles VA Is Shredding Vets’ Claims

It’s been confirmed. Employees at the Los Angeles VA Regional Office shredded paperwork related to veterans’ disability claims.

A new report from the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general discovered that a tip-off received in January alleging that staff improperly shredded documents is nothing short of true.

According to investigators, it’s not clear how many documents were shredded prior to the start of the review, but they did find nine documents related to veterans’ claims discarded in the shredding bin, despite policies existing to prevent this exact practice. Five of the documents had missing signatures from both employee and supervisor.

In one case, VA staff received a letter confirming that a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder was unemployable and promptly placed the document into a red box designated for shredding. Staff did not include the claim in the electronic system.

“Due to noncompliance with VBA policy, poor controls, inadequate oversight, and lack of training, the Los Angeles VARO put veterans’ claims-related documents at risk for inappropriate destruction,” investigators found. “Because the Los Angeles VARO did not consistently follow VBA’s controls, it is likely that VARO staff would have inappropriately destroyed the nine claims-related documents we found.”

This isn’t the first time VA has had a problem with employees wantonly shredding essential documents. Following revelations of the practice in 2008, VA established the position of Records Management Officer.

So what happened in Los Angeles?

No such position existed from August 2014 up until the time of the IG’s investigation in February 2015.

In August 2014, the person who filled the position of RMO was promoted. Those duties were passed to untrained staff from the Support Services Division, who conducted what they referred to as a “cursory review” of documents before they were tossed in the shredding bin.

Investigators soon realized that a “cursory review” just meant that they’d sit and watch as documents were dumped into shredding bins.

“We determined that SSD staff were not properly trained and their cursory reviews were inadequate to identify and separate any claims-related documents from other documents,” the report noted. “They were not familiar with claims-processing activities and lacked the knowledge needed to identify claims or claims-related documents.”

The troubling nature of document shredding at the Los Angeles office has prompted the IG to launch investigations in 10 regional offices across the country.

Follow Jonah Bennett on Twitter

Via: California Political Review

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Trump showed how to speak truth on immigration; Now which GOP candidate will do the same on race?

In his August 17 monologue, Rush Limbaugh discussed Trump's spot-on immigration plan extensively, a plan that incorporates all three of the main points I summarized in my August 5 article, “Hard Truth for the GOP from its Base.” I can’t and don’t claim Trump got his plan from me -- any marginally thoughtful political observer not paralyzed by total dependence on corporate money can see America’s desperate need to halt illegal immigration and cauterize the risk of its recurrence. Not only did Rush praise the Trump plan, but -- at least as important -- pointed out, citing serious polling evidence, that Trump’s immigration proposal resonates loud and clear with the overwhelming majority of the US electorate (not just with Republicans and conservatives), and that any major Republican candidate who had timely addressed immigration as Trump has would be leading the field now by a wide margin.

Check out Rush’s monologue. It should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the future well being of America. And forgive my pointing out that the same message can be found in my now two week old article.

The next major issue/opportunity that the mainstream Republican field is preparing to fumble through pusillanimous silence and lack of vision is the "black lives matter" fraud.

Expect the Democrat perpetrators of the Left’s latest despicable falsehood -- that America and its police are racist -- to soon start interrupting Republican candidates, as they already have Bernie Sanders. And to demand that the Republicans grovel and apologize too, as Sanders has. Recalling the debate, Scott Walker, ill-advised and politically tone deaf, has already shown how not to handle this issue: Asked what he would say to those who claim blacks are victims of racist police, Walker mumbled something PC about the need for thorough training and imposing consequences on bad cops. Thus, giving credence to the lie. I doubt that the cops of America and their families thank Walker for those remarks.

What Walker should have said, and what any Republican interested in winning the presidency should say to the thugs themselves, or to anyone who brings up their libels, is something like this:

"I've got news for you buddy/Ma’am: This is the least racist nation in history and so are its police. America is the best place on the planet to be a black person or to be any minority. The overwhelming majority of Americans, and their police, have been struggling for decades to treat everyone fairly and justly. To call this nation, its people or its police racists is a damned lie."

These sentences, if any Republican had the vision and courage to utter them, would be remembered to great good consequence. The vast majority of Americans feel in their gut they are not only true, but the heart of the matter. About 80% of the electorate would breathe a collective sigh of relief to hear someone at last stand up for the truth.

Once that core message had been delivered, the candidate could add whatever he/she wants about how the problem facing American blacks is not racism, which is a politically motivated lie, but that the problem includes the destruction of the black family, children growing up without fathers, and low wages and no jobs for black youth, at least in part because of out-of-control illegal immigration, all deliberately engineered by the Democratic Party to create dependency and buy black votes.

Via: American Thinker

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Clinton Double Standard? Meet the Marine Being Punished For Sharing Classified Information To Warn Against An Attack

As the situation surrounding Hillary Clinton's possession of top secret, classified information on her personal email server continues to get worse, comparisons between the former Secretary of State and those prosecuted for improper handling of classified information are being made. Of course, the case of General David Petraeus has come up, but there are others in the military who have been prosecuted or severely punished for doing far less to damage national security in comparison to the Democrat presidential candidate.

Take for example Marine Reserves Major Jason Brezler, who exposed classified information in 2012 in order to warn fellow Marines about corrupt and violent Afghan Police Chief Asadullah Sherzad. Eventually, Sherzad instructed one of his minor officers to carry out an insider attack by killing three Marines who were working out and unarmed in their gym. ... .

Brezler is facing a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps for providing requested information to Congressman Peter King that was deemed classified.

Via: Townhall

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Calling in the God squad [AL SHARPTON] to save the Iran deal

The White House campaign to save the Iran nuclear deal is getting a boost from the God squad.

Faith-based groups, many of them increasingly nervous about the well-funded push by opponents of the deal, are intensifying their lobbying of lawmakers ahead of an important congressional vote on the agreement

Over the weekend, the Rev. Al Sharpton called on black churches to mobilize in support of the nuclear deal. On Monday, a group of 340 rabbis from multiple strands of Judaism released a letter, urging lawmakers to vote for the agreement. And plans are in the works for a coordinated rollout of endorsements by a number of religious groups next week, an organizer said.

The campaign is led largely by Catholic and Quaker groups, such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and it reflects many of the organizations’ traditional anti-war stances. It also comes as themes of anti-Semitism and Islamism have risen in the debate.

Some of the undecided lawmakers being targeted, among them prominent Democrats, have Jewish constituents and donors who fear the agreement will empower Iran, whose Islamist leaders are avowedly anti-Israel and have even questioned the Holocaust. (Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson recently suggested in much-criticized remarks that President Barack Obama was anti-Semitic for pursuing negotiations with Iran.)

The campaign against the deal is being led by groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Republican Jewish Coalition, and as much as $40 million or more is believed will be spent by the opposition on ads and other efforts, including sponsoring town halls to confront wobbly lawmakers.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, is feeling pressure from every side but particularly from his Jewish constituents. He has attended two town halls in the past week, the first hosted by AIPAC and other groups which local news reports described as tense. During the second gathering, hosted by Jeffries himself, a woman in the crowd compared a former State Department official who spoke in favor of the deal to supporters of Adolf Hitler.

Via: Politico

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