Progressives Demand Safe Spaces For Illegals

The progressive Democrat Washtenaw County Sheriff is very mad that ICE dared detain illegals in his jurisdiction.

The Detroit Free Press: ICE 'targeted' Ypsilanti parents near bus stop, sheriff says

 Because ICE should ignore illegals near bus stops, right?  Does the Washtenaw County Sheriff ignore other criminals because they happen to be near bus stops?

Who knew a bus stop was a criminal empowerment and sanctuary zone? 

Michigan Democrat politicians are now demanding sanctuary spaces be created where ICE cannot enforce out immigration laws.

The Detroit News: Washtenaw Co. sheriff, Ypsilanti supt. slam off-campus ICE arrests of parents

 The bill package — introduced by State Sens. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield; Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township; and Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit — defines "sensitive locations" as "an educational institution; a place of worship; a hospital; the site of a funeral, wedding, or other public religious ceremony; a courthouse; or the site of an organization that is assisting children, pregnant women, victims of crime or abuse, or an individual with significant mental of physical disabilities,"

We will note that Federal Law trumps state law  (pun quite intended( - especially in the area of immigration enforcement - thanks to the Obama Administration suing states on the proposition that it is the federal government and not the states that enforce immigration law.

 So yes, the bill package is basically null on arrival thanks to the precedent set by the Obama administration's court action and these Democrat lawmakers should know that and thus are grandstanding and wasting legislative time with stupid bills virtue signalling on behalf of illegals rather than representing their legal constituents.

Or they are too stupid to now that, which makes one wonder why they are in our legislature and they're trying to be all hip and insurrection-y against the federal government in their quest to keep illegal aliens here at all costs, even above their legal residents.

The Intellectual Vanguard Of The Workers

Really, really,  hate that the Workers are uniting on their own without having the intellectual vanguard leading them.

Note that this person, Juliette Kayyem, is very much one of the elite.  

Married to a Federal Court of Appeals judge no less, and she was Obama's Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and is currently the Senior Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is Faculty Director of the Homeland Security Project and Security and Global Health Project. 

She also presently serves as a CNN National Security Analyst.

So she's allegedly one of your betters and an "expert" on national security.

Yet, she doesn't know that draining gas from truck tanks and slashing tires results in trucks that are really difficult to move. She also does not know that that slashing a tire filled to 120 psi is really not a smart idea for the slashee's health - but could be fun for the rest of us to watch.

Obama really had the smartest people working for him, now didn't he?  And CNN and Harvard has her now - make of that what you will.

Meanwhile, the intellectual vanguard has managed to drive inflation to its highest rate in 40 years, with no signs of stopping, further harming the very workers they claim to champion.

Judgments And Liens To Be Removed From Credit Reports By Government Order - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Yes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that rather rogue agency created by the Obama administration decided it didn't like that judgments and tax liens were being reported and negatively affecting peoples credit scores - poor and minorities hardest hit doncha' know?

The Detroit Free Press: Credit scores may jump this month thanks to new scoring rules enacted after CFPB study

Of course, while this will help the scofflaws with outstanding judgments and tax liens, will now be more likely to get credit they otherwise would not, but this will likely increase the cost of credit for everyone as lenders won't be able to factor the risk that the money they lend many not be able to be paid back by the borrower after the borrower is garnished or has their assets seized to satisfy the outstanding judgments and tax liens.

What could possibly go wrong with making sure subprime and deep subprime borrowers get even more access to credit and with lenders not able to know the full scope of the risk they are making lending to them?

Obama: Undocumented Illegals = Good, But Undocumented Cubans = Bad

In one of the ending moves in the waning days of the Obama administration, he sticks it to yet another group that doesn't flock to support him and of which he is less than enamored: people fleeing the socialist paradise of Cuba.

Illegal aliens aplenty can flock through our southern border and get DREAMer status as exhorted by Obama, but the idea of Cubans fleeing that socialist hellhole run by his close compadres getting legal status in the US sure seems to have stuck in his craw.

After all, how dare the ungrateful snits try and flee a communist county whose leaders Obama admires.

The Detroit News: Havana hails end to U.S. immigration policy for Cubans

Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned

Obama golfs as Louisiana Flooded

Heck, the only way we even know via the mainstream media outside of Louisiana that there even is a flooding disaster of immense proportions during the One's golf vacation is that Trump, unlike Obama, has actually gone to Louisiana. Obama doesn't deign to disrupt his vacation for such little things as the flooding out of thousands of homes on a scale rivaling Katrina yet receiving scarce coverage as Bush is no longer in office. Now Obama interrupting his golf vacation for a Clinton fundraiser is de rigeur, for showing any recognition that thousands have been flooded out of their homes, not so much.

Well, He Would Know......

Kerry says governmental corruption fuels extremism

From the Detroit News.

That he said it with a straight face shows a rather decided lack of self-awareness, not to mention awareness of the administration of which he is a member. Reading his entire statement at the article is even more guffaw-inducing.

If Obama and Today's Democrats Were Running Things In 1944...

After Massacre At Malmedy, Democrats Gather At Virginia Bund Hall

Declaring not all Nazis are responsible for the massacre at Malmedy, Democrats gathered at a local Bund hall in Virginia to express support.

Democrat AG Lynch promises to take swift action against anyone uttering anti-Nazi rhetoric.

Continuing to claim the act was most likely just an act of "battlefield violence", the President continued his demand for unilateral disarmament and an immediate withdrawal of all American forces from Europe.

"These types of massacres don't happen in other countries." said the President, speaking from Katyn, Poland.

An Interesting Juxtaposition Regarding Police Armored Vehicles

On the one hand, in the wake of the Sudden Jihad Syndrome attack yesterday in San Bernardino we have images of Police armored vehicles being used to protect both police and citizens in the aftermath.

Now this today in the Detroit Free Press: Michigan cops fume over loss of U.S. military vehicles

The Obama administration may want to rethink that generalized recall of such vehicles that was an attempt to show they were "doing something" after Ferguson. After all, the vehicles may indeed be needed for their intended lawful and proper purpose.

Heckuva Job There, Archuleta!

As blogged on Instapundit by Ed Driscoll, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, the location of the greatest data breach to occur against the US Government so far, is an Obama appointee. it turns out she was appointed for political reasons rather than competence as she had no background in the realm of stuff that OPM does but was rather qualified for being a stalwart Democrat community organizer.

It's a pity she didn't organize some Information Security at OPM.

Her reaction to an earlier breech by the Chinese in July 2014 was that there was nothing to fix, this while the OPM inspector General was pointing out serious security deficiencies as far back as 2007.

In other words, a breach of this nature wasnot on out of the blue attack but was instead predictable to occur based on past performance (or lack thereof). With her expressed "Remain calm, all is well" kind of attitude, its no wonder that cyber-security there was weak and that this breach has the incredible scope and implications that we're learning that it has.

As Borepatch blogged many a time regarding cyber-security: It wasn't an afterthought, it wasn't a thought at all.

The Administration's ITAR Baby

The latest Obama administration's assault against both the First and Second Amendments is coming out of the State Department.

As reported by the NRA-ILA, Old NFO, Sebastian, at the Michigan Gun Owners forum, and by lots of others in the blogosphere, the State Department is looking to expand and apply ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) to blog posts and other internet activity.

This is being done on the theory that posting about firearms and ammunition specifications where a foreigner could access it would constitute an export of technical information that would require the poster of the information to first get authorization from the government before posting it. You can puzzle your way through the very lengthy regulation (on the internet) at the Government Press Office.

In short this proposed regulation contains a serious prior restraint towards those that would comment about technical details regarding firearms and ammunition online with serious and severe penalties for non-compliance. Discussing how to repair or modify a firearm would count as technical data under the proposal.

Sebastian over at Shall Not Be Questioned has all the details on how you can make a public comment on this proposal, and you've got until August 3rd to do so. Keep the comments polite, keep them to the point, keep them substantive and serious, and get the comment in on time.

Obama's Spokesman's Latest Career Move.

Legal Insurrection reports that former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is taking a job as Global Chief Communications Officer for McDonald's.

Too bad it wasn't Burger King.

If Gibbs had, he would've been going from Telling Whoppers to Selling Whoppers.

Most Transparent Administration, Evah.

The Detroit News: U.S. sets new record for denying, censoring fed files

The Obama administration set a new record again for more often than ever censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn’t find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy.

It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged.

In addition, the administration, in another burst of transparency, is going to exempt the White House Office of Administration form FOIA requests. Of course, the administration blames Bush for the Obama administration making this formalized ruling. This blame is because, you know Bush did it first and all that so it's cool for Obama to formalize the denial of responses to FOIA for the Office of Administration.

Le Sigh.

The Obama Administration couldn't be bothered to send any top-tier leadership to the Paris March, probably out of fear of offending Muslims or even worse, missing a golf game.

And both CNN and The New York Times can't be bothered to actually show the post-attack Charlie Hebdo front page out of fear of offending Muslims or of getting their buildings attacked which may equate to much the same thing. People pissed at their fawning coverage over the Book of Mormon, their gratuitous display of "Piss Christ", or a slew of anti-Semitic cartoons and other anti-religious acts can take notes on how to prevent such offensive coverage.

Such leadership and courage from the American left these days.

That I and many other conservative and libertarian bloggers would defend a highly offensive Marxist magazine's free speech rights while its fellow travelers shy away from the same or give a "Yes it's terrible, but they had it coming for dressing like that" type answer is an interesting commentary on today's politics and values.

Some Of The Last Economic News Of 2014 - US Lost Billions On Auto Bailout

Depending on who you ask, the United States Treasury, meaning you the taxpayer, lost either $9.3 Billion (with a B) or $16.56 Billion, depending on how you do the accounting.  Under Government accounting rules it's the $16.56 number that counts but the administration is touting the $9.3 Billion dollar figure.

In Government-speak, losing $9-$16.5 billion in a transaction is a resounding success.

Must Be A Magic Vest

Another Ebola-infected patient is brought to the US.

He's a native of Sierra Leone but also a US permanent resident so flying him here for treatment was apparently the thing to do.

NBC: Ebola-Stricken Surgeon Dr. Martin Salia 'Extremely Critical'

The article notes he's in very bad shape, however the most interesting part is this photo of him being loaded onto and ambulance upon his arrival for transport to the hospital:

Notice how everybody involved in the transport is in protective suits, masks and goggles except one guy.

The guy in the chatreuse vest that reads "Safety Officer".

Ok then.

Coming Soon: Ebola And Obama's CDC - The Seussical

Nurse: Can I travel after contact with Ebola and go with a fever on a plane?
CDC: Of course you can my dear, there's no shame!

Lab tech: Can I travel after exposure to Ebola on a ship?
CDC: Of course you can! Enjoy your trip!

Liberian Traveler: If from a place with Ebola can I come to Michigan?
CDC: As long as you state you're asymptomatic and self-monitor then come, come again!

Everyone Else: Will finally you stop travel from Ebola infected areas and impose quarantine to keep us all sane?
CDC: Never, that might interfere with Hope 'n' Change!

Feel free to add your own couplets in the comments.

YGTBSM: Liberian Visiting Oak Park [Michigan] Just Told To Watch For Ebola Symptoms

Our betters in government have apparently learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The outbreak in Dallas was apparently an insufficient wake-up call, so it's incompetent business as usual, and the consequences may be severe.

The Detroit News: Liberian visiting Oak Park told to watch for Ebola symptoms

The Oakland County Health Division said officials learned about the man from the Michigan Department of Community Health, which had been informed by the Centers for Disease Control, according to a statement.

The man, who has not been named, entered the United States through an airport in New York City, where he "was screened in accordance with CDC protocol before being permitted to enter the country," officials said. "The man said he had had no contact with anyone known to have the Ebola virus and was observed to be symptom free at the time of arrival.

"When he landed at Detroit Metro Airport, he was screened a second time by the CDC which showed he remained symptom free."

The CDC has asked the man to self-monitor his symptoms daily, and "out of an abundance of caution," an Oakland County Health Division epidemiologist has been assigned to communicate with him twice a day to monitor his health for at least 21 days, officials said in the statement.

So out of an abundance of caution they'll let a suspected carrier roam around in public and just self-monitor for 21 days?

CDC? That One Job Thing? Hello?

With this focus on political correctness and refusal to ban travel from infected areas for political reasons, the Obama Administration's response to Ebola is clearly desperate but not serious. With this administration, Hope seems to be the strategy.

CDC - Please Stop Screwing Up Just One Job, OK?

So not only was it incorrect that the second nurse got on the plane to Ohio without any symptoms as originally claimed, as she did in fact have a fever.

Incredibly, she reported she had a fever to the CDC who then told her she could travel anyways.

CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. John LaPook reports that Vinson called the CDC several times before boarding the plane concerned about her fever.

“This nurse, Nurse Vinson, did in fact call the CDC several times before taking that flight and said she has a temperature, a fever of 99.5, and the person at the CDC looked at a chart and because her temperature wasn’t 100.4 or higher she didn’t officially fall into the category of high risk,” said Dr. LaPook on the CBS Evening News.

Yes, WTF was she thinking getting on a plane knowing she had a fever and had worked with an Ebola infected patient? If she was concerned and had two brain cells to rub together how about a voluntary quarantine or getting tested before getting on a plane with over 130 people on it?

More importantly WTF was the CDC rep thinking in okaying the nurse to travel? Is s/he still employed by the CDC at this point?

It's just not reassuring that Frieden of the CDC is now saying the risk that she infected other passengers is "extremely low", considering the stellar track record they've had on this so far.

One Job CDC, you've got Just. One. Job.

CDC, You Had One Job.

And you damn well seem to be flunking it.

The Detroit News: Feds admit to failings in Ebola response

I realize spending millions on politically correct yet stupid things like fighting privatization of government run liquor stores , or your sister organization the NIH spending millions on things as useful as $509,840 grant from NIH to pay for a study that will send text messages in “gay lingo” to meth-heads, may be distracting you from your core competencies.

Oh, and until blocked by Congress the CDC was happily distracted working on anti-gun ownership propaganda rather than you know, having you Center on Diseases that need to be Controlled.

Just One Job CDC. All we want is for you to be competent at One Job.

So Make An Unauthorized Database Of Americans' Personally Identifiable Information. What's The Worst That Could Hppen?

Borepatch notes that even Law Enforcement Surveillance software is vulnerable to being compromised.

But worry not, the Feds, namely the The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), are rolling out what is quite arguably, at least by Republicans as the Democrats don't seem to care, unauthorized expansion of their authority to create a mortgage database that will potentially contain all borrowers' personal identifying information including social security numbers, race, address, mortgage payment history, all credit lines including student loans and credit cards, employment status, education and religion.

It would cover these details on every home purchased with a mortgage since 1998. It may have full data and persoanl identifying information to match against other datasets or just samples with the personal infor removed for further data analysis.

Categories of individuals covered by the system is blithely described in the regulation notice is "Individuals who have records in one or more credit bureaus or consumer reporting agencies."

In the modern USA, that's just about everybody.

A one-stop identity theft database, where you can bet security may get as much as an afterthought or not even a thought at all.

It is not quite fully explained as to why the the FHFA and CFPB want this expansion and what they will do with it, and the effect on consumer privacy that it will have on Americans for these government agencies to have this data at their fingertips is not discussed. On top of that, the potential for far too much havoc if the database is compromised certainly makes it worth worrying about, and for this expansion to be stopped until both its unintended and intended consequences are fully understood.

The Hill: Federal mortgage database draws privacy concerns from GOP