The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge by gun rights activists to a Chicago suburb’s ordinance banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, handing a victory to gun control advocates amid a fierce debate over the nation’s firearms laws.
The 2013 ordinance passed by the city of Highland Park, Illinois will remain in place. By opting not to hear an appeal of a lower-court ruling that upheld the measure, the justices declined to take up what would have been a high-profile gun rights case following a succession of mass shootings including the one last week in San Bernardino, California.
The Highland Park measure bans various semi-automatic weapons, including well-known guns such as the AR-15 and AK-47, in addition to magazines holding more than 10 rounds of bullets.
Two conservatives on the nine-member court, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, said the justices should have taken the case.
Thomas wrote a six-page dissent in which he said that despite recent pro-gun rights rulings by the conservative-leaning high court, several lower courts “have upheld categorical bans on firearms that millions of Americans commonly own for lawful purposes.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Assault Weapon Ban” HERE)
Iran has carried out a new medium range ballistic missile test in breach of two United Nations Security Council resolutions, a senior U.S. official told Fox News on Monday.
Western intelligence says the test was held Nov. 21 near Chabahar, a port city in southeast Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province near the border with Pakistan. The launch took place from a known missile test site along the Gulf of Oman.
The missile, known as a Ghadr-110, has a range of 1,800 – 2000 km, or 1200 miles, and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile fired in November is an improved version of the Shahab 3, and is similar to the precision guided missile tested by Iran on Oct. 10, which elicited strong condemnation from members of the U.N. Security Council.
“The United States is deeply concerned about Iran’s recent ballistic missile launch,” Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said in a statement after the last Iranian ballistic missile test in October.
President Obama mentioned the Iranian missile test during a press conference on Oct. 16 and said the United States was preparing to brief the U.N. sanctions committee. He added that it would not derail the nuclear deal. (Read more from “Iran Tests Another Mid-Range Ballistic Missile in Breach of UN Resolutions” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-08 00:27:492016-04-11 10:55:22Iran Tests Another Mid-Range Ballistic Missile in Breach of UN Resolutions
Back before 2008 Peter Schiff was harshly criticized and laughed at for his predictions about a coming economic collapse. Among other things Schiff warned that consumer spending had hit a wall, stocks were overpriced and lax credit lending practices would lead to a detonation of the banking system. Rather than heed the warnings, the biggest names in mainstream media tried to discredit him for not toeing the official narrative. Shortly thereafter, of course, Schiff was vindicated and much of the doom he had forecast came to pass.
Today, Schiff continues to argue that the economy is on a downhill trajectory and this time there’ll be no stopping it. All of the emergency measures implemented by the government following the Crash of 2008 were merely temporary stop-gaps. The light at the end of the tunnel being touted by officials as recovery, Schiff has famously said, is actually an oncoming train. And if the forecast he laid out in his latest interview is as accurate as those he shared in 2007, then the the train is about to derail.
We’re broke. We’re basically living off of debt. We’ve had a huge transformation of the American economy. Look at all the Americans now on food stamps, on disability, on unemployment.
The whole economy has imploded… the bottom hasn’t dropped out yet because we’re able to go deeper into debt. But the collapse is coming.
Fundamentally, America is worse off now than it was pre-crash. With the national debt rising unabated and money being printed out of thin air without reprieve, it is only a matter of time. (Read more from “Financial Analyst Warns: The Whole Economy Has Imploded… Collapse Is Coming” HERE)
The Hillary Clinton campaign is out with an ad highlighting her record as an advocate for LGBT rights. The spot includes images of gay couples kissing each other.
The liberal website Slate praises Clinton for including same-sex kissing in her campaign ad, saying, “Given the distressingly puritanical rules that govern gay PDAs, it’s both impressive and heartening that Clinton includes gay kisses in her official campaign spots.”
“The ad forces viewers to confront images that might make them feel slightly uneasy, then encourages them to view such affection as a normal, healthy manifestation of adult intimacy.”
The Slate writer complains that, “it is a depressing but incontestable fact that most straight people—including many LGBT allies—are uncomfortable with the sight of same-sex kisses. Some straight people defend their disgust by pretending to be repulsed by all public kissing.”
In the ad, Clinton says that she’s “running for president to stand up for the fundamental rights for LGBT Americans and all Americans.” (Read more from “Liberal Praise New Clinton Ad with Homosexuals Kissing” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-12-08 00:24:042016-04-11 10:55:23Liberals Praise New Clinton Ad with Homosexuals Kissing
Oil prices have slumped by 5% after the latest attempt by Saudi Arabia to kill off the threat from the US shale industry sent crude to its lowest level since the depths of the global recession almost seven years ago.
Signs of disarray in the Opec oil cartel prompted fears of a global glut of oil, wiping $2 off the price of a barrel of crude on Monday and leading to speculation that energy costs could continue tumbling over the coming weeks.
Shares in energy companies lost ground as the impact of the drop in oil prices rippled through European stock markets. Prices of other commodities also weakened following disappointment among traders that Opec had decided late last week to keep flooding the global market with cheap oil.
Iron ore continued its steady fall and finished the latest session at $38.90 per tonne, squeezing profit margins to the bone at even large producers such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, whose shares fell sharply on the Australian stock market on Tuesday.
The consultancy Capital Economics tweeted: “#Oil sell-off after #OPEC makes even ECB look good. Better to have announced something, even if less than hoped for, than nothing at all…” (Read more from “Opec Bid to Kill off US Shale Sends Oil Price down to 2009 Low” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-08 00:16:462016-04-11 10:55:23Opec Bid to Kill off US Shale Sends Oil Price down to 2009 Low
Touch-screen ordering at fast food restaurants, robots welding car parts at Tesla factories, apps like Uber taking a bite out of the taxi and limo industry: They’re all good for innovation but perhaps not so great for the workers whose jobs are on the line, according to real estate billionaire Jeff Greene.
“What globalization did to blue collar jobs and the working class economy over the past 30 or 40 years, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics will do to the white collar economy — and at a much, much faster pace,” says Greene.
It’s a problem that will only exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and the poor, he claims, because we’ve left ourselves unprepared for the inevitable automation of many jobs traditionally done by humans.
“I realized that that is the greatest threat we have in our country today,” says Greene. “So I thought, ‘Let’s convene some of the greatest minds from academia, government, business and the nonprofit sector to come together to talk realistically about what’s happening.’”
What he devised is a two-day conference spanning Monday and Tuesday dubbed “Closing the Gap: Solutions for An Inclusive Economy,” hosted by Greene at Palm Beach’s Tideline Ocean Resort & Spa. Speakers include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, author Thomas Friedman, former Apple and Pepsi CEO John Sculley, lawyer and TV personality Star Jones and boxing legend Mike Tyson. (Read more from “Billionaire Jeff Greene Says Technology Will Kill White-Collar Jobs, Hosts Conference on Inequality” HERE)
The year is 2040, and as you wait for a drone to deliver your pizza, you decide to throw on some tunes. Once a commodity bought and sold in stores, music is now an omnipresent utility invoked via spoken- word commands. In response to a simple “play,” an algorithmic DJ opens a blended set of songs, incorporating information about your location, your recent activities and your historical preferences—complemented by biofeedback from your implanted SmartChip. A calming set of lo-fi indie hits streams forth, while the algorithm adjusts the beats per minute and acoustic profile to the rain outside and the fact that you haven’t eaten for six hours.
The rise of such dynamically generated music is the story of the age. The album, that relic of the 20th century, is long dead. Even the concept of a “song” is starting to blur. Instead there are hooks, choruses, catchphrases and beats—a palette of musical elements that are mixed and matched on the fly by the computer, with occasional human assistance. Your life is scored like a movie, with swelling crescendos for the good parts, plaintive, atonal plunks for the bad, and fuzz-pedal guitar for the erotic. The DJ’s ability to read your emotional state approaches clairvoyance. But the developers discourage the name “artificial intelligence” to describe such technology. They prefer the term “mood-affiliated procedural remixing.”
Right now, the mood is hunger. You’ve put on weight lately, as your refrigerator keeps reminding you. With its assistance—and the collaboration of your DJ—you’ve come up with a comprehensive plan for diet and exercise, along with the attendant soundtrack. Already, you’ve lost six pounds. Although you sometimes worry that the machines are running your life, it’s not exactly a dystopian experience—the other day, after a fast- paced dubstep remix spurred you to a personal best on your daily run through the park, you burst into tears of joy.
Cultural production was long thought to be an impregnable stronghold of human intelligence, the one thing the machines could never do better than humans. But a few maverick researchers persisted, and—aided by startling, asymptotic advances in other areas of machine learning—suddenly, one day, they could. To be a musician now is to be an arranger. To be a songwriter is to code. Atlanta, the birthplace of “trap” music, is now a locus of brogrammer culture. Nashville is a leading technology incubator. The Capitol Records tower was converted to condos after the label uploaded its executive suite to the cloud. (Read more from “Is the Future of Music a Chip in Your Brain?” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-08 00:15:482016-04-11 10:55:23Is the Future of Music a Chip in Your Brain?
By Jack Davis. Donald Trump is dominating the Republican presidential contest, according to a new CNN/ORC poll that shows Trump with more than twice the support of his nearest opponent.
The poll shows that 36% of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents support Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas is at 16 percent. Ben Carson is at 14 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is at 12 percent. No other candidate tops the 5 percent mark.
The CNN/ORC poll showed an 8 point decline for Ben Carson, a 5 point decline for former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush and a 4 point decline for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., since the mid-October CNN/ORC poll. Trump rose 9 points since the last poll. Cruz rose 12 points and Rubio rose 4 points.
Trump showed big margins in the poll when it came to big issues. On the economy, 55 percent said they trust him the most to handle this vital issue, 46 percent ahead of his nearest rival. In the war against ISIS, 46 percent said they trust him the most, a 31-point margin over his nearest foe.
Trump stands tallest among Republican voters who consider an issue to be “extremely important.” On the economy, 60 percent of those who said that issue was extremely important said Trump could best handle it. For voters for whom immigration is extremely important, 55 percent back Trump to lead. For voters who think terrorism is extremely important, 49 percent back Trump to lead the fight against ISIS. (Read more from “The 2016 Race Just Got a ‘Bombshell’ Dropped on It- Trump Is Grinning from Ear-To-Ear” HERE)
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Donald Trump’s Latest 9/11 Claim Draws More Scrutiny
By Reena Flores. In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired just days after the fatal San Bernardino shooting, Donald Trump claimed that he would “go after the wives” and families of terrorists because they “absolutely knew it was happening” — just like, he said, terrorists’ wives and families knew during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“I will tell you, I would be very tough on families,” Trump promised. “Because the families know what’s happening.”
Trump has pushed differing variations of this solution before: On Fox News last week, he said that “when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.”
Speaking with “Face the Nation” moderator John Dickerson, Trump said “common sense” was his motivation to go after terrorists’ families.
But he also cited the attacks on September 11, 2001 as a main reason to do so. (Read more from “Donald Trump’s Latest 9/11 Claim Draws More Scrutiny” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-07 01:35:252016-04-11 10:55:23The 2016 Race Just Got a ‘Bombshell’ Dropped on It- Trump Is Grinning from Ear-To-Ear
The press release outlet best known for its fanatical dedication to the socialist agenda — you may know it as The New York Times — has finally issued the Democrats’ long sought-after call for government confiscation of America’s guns.
It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency.
Of course, the Times fails to note that the recent Paris terror attacks (and many other examples of mass shootings in Europe) occurred under strict gun control regimes. They refuse to describe how disarming law-abiding citizens might prevent killings by Jihadists and the criminally insane (but I repeat myself).
Oh, and box-cutters were used to kill 3,000 Americans on 9/11. A home-made IED killed and crippled more than 100 people at the Boston Marathon. Knives and automobiles are the weapons of choice these days for slaughtering Israeli Jews.
The enemies of mankind will always find ways to kill en masse. Disarming Americans is not only unlawful and functionally impossible, it is a predicate for more terror and tyranny. But The New Democrat Times knows that, of course.
These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing.
Guns are tools of a free people, and are used hundreds of thousands of times a year — by the federal government’s own measures — to protect life and property. In fact, statistics indicate that crime would increase if gun ownership were to be further restricted.
As the Left likes to lecture us: the science is settled. Over the past several decades, concealed carry laws have propagated like weeds and invariably violent crime rates decrease as a result.
Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens.
There it is: a call for gun confiscation. In the words of one of Obama’s favorite apparatchiks, Rahm Emanuel, never let a crisis go to waste.
Guns in the hands of America’s law-abiding citizens are the problem.
Not failing to name the enemy of Western civilization that has carried out more than 27,000 deadly terror attacks since 9/11.
Not failing to crush the cockroaches that take credit for religiously inspired attacks around the world.
Not refusing to profile and track the organizations than inspire, fund and facilitate an ideology of hatred, terror and world domination.
No, the criminally insane editors of the Times want Americans helpless and more Jihadists imported into the U.S.
I would bet that there was an editorial like this in Germany during the rise of Hitler, Red China during the era of Mao, and Cambodia amidst the ascent of Pol Pot.
The Democrat Party and The New York Times are enemies of freedom and allies of Jihad. (For more from the author of “THERE IT IS: New York Times Calls for Forcible Gun Confiscation” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-07 01:34:322016-04-11 10:55:24THERE IT IS: New York Times Calls for Forcible Gun Confiscation; Obama Isn’t Too Far Behind
A new intelligence report commissioned by the White House says that the ISIS terror group will grow in numbers and territory unless it suffers significant losses in Iraq and Syria.
The findings sharply contradict previous statements by President Obama and other White House officials that ISIS has been “contained” by a program of U.S.-led airstrikes and the deployment of approximately 3,500 U.S. forces to train and otherwise aid moderate Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters.
On Sunday, a U.S. official told Fox News that ISIS has been able to effectively recruit and attract affiliates despite losses on the ground, and has now supplanted Al Qaeda as the primary global jihadist threat.The official said that going forward, the entirety of the ISIS threat must be addressed, and the group’s main base of operations in Syria must be “degraded.”
The findings were first reported by The Daily Beast, which said the White House asked for the assessment prior to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, in which ISIS militants killed 130 people in a series of coordinated shootings and suicide bombings.
In response to the report, The Daily Beast said President Obama had directed Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford to come up with new strategies against ISIS. (Read more from “Intelligence Report Commissioned by White House Says ISIS Not Contained” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-07 01:32:462016-04-11 10:55:24‘Obama Lied’: Intelligence Report Commissioned by White House Says ISIS Not Contained
