Remember When Starbucks Caved and Opened Their Bathrooms to Non-Customers? Here’s How That Worked Out.

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There are so many contrived outrages in a given week, let alone a year, that it can be hard to recall any individual instance of outrage after it has already passed. But the infamous Starbucks bathroom outrage was so phony, so absurd, and so disconnected from anything resembling logic or reason, that it deserves to be remembered.

In case you need a refresher course: a Starbucks manager at a location in Philadelphia came under heavy fire last spring after refusing restroom privileges to two non-customers. The men, who happened to be black, asked to use the restroom but were informed that only paying customers were granted access to the facilities. This was not a policy she invented on her own. At the time, many Starbucks locations enforced this rule, just as many other restaurants and stores enforce similar rules. . .

Fast forward a few months. Certain Starbucks locations, less than a year after announcing this enlightened new restroom philosophy, now must install special disposal boxes for used heroin needles. They’ll also be removing regular trashcans from some bathrooms after employees expressed concern about getting pricked with needles while changing out the bags. There have been reports of condoms, alcohol bottles, and blood stains on the floors. Indeed, this bathroom free-for-all has made bathrooms ironically less accessible as some Starbucks restaurants have had to close their stalls for extended periods due to, says the New York Post, “prolonged cleaning.”

It may be fairly pointed out that Starbucks probably had many of these problems even before the new policy. Yes, and that’s exactly the point. That’s why the policy existed in the first place. A spacious, private, single-stall bathroom at a Starbucks in an urban area is an attractive place for drug addicts, drunks, vagrants, and other assorted characters. Most businesses are not interested in becoming de facto homeless shelters or halfway homes. Historically, that’s why they reserve their bathrooms and their tables for people who are actually interested in purchasing their products. It’s not a fail-proof plan, but it’s relatively effective. There’s a reason why these needle disposal boxes only became necessary after they changed the policy. (Read more from “Remember When Starbucks Caved and Opened Their Bathrooms to Non-Customers? Here’s How That Worked Out.” HERE)

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Media’s Angry Response to President Trump’s Oval Office Speech Comes up Short

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A humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border must be addressed, President Donald Trump told the country last night in his first Oval Office address. His speech also addressed the flow of drugs and crime, the high rates of abuse associated with human trafficking, and the use of children as pawns to thwart laws protecting the U.S. border from illegal entry.

“This is the tragic reality of illegal immigration on our southern border. This is the cycle of human suffering that I am determined to end,” Trump said, laying out a plan that includes drug-detection technology, increased border agents and immigration judges, $800 million in humanitarian assistance and medical support, legislative changes to ensure the safe return of children who enter the country illegally, and $5.7 billion for a “physical barrier” to help stop illegal entry.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly responded to the address by saying there’s not really a crisis at the border. They told him that he should end the governmental shutdown, and said they could work on border security concerns in the months to come.

While pundits like to discuss who looked good and who looked bad in last night’s televised addresses, it’s worth pausing in appreciation of the various political leaders for taking part in the debate over national security and the extent of the problem caused by porous borders. Sometimes debates need to take place behind closed doors, but when competing ideologies are on display, it serves as a healthy public education about important issues that affect citizens’ lives.

The Democrats’ theme for the evening was “facts, not fear.” Many major media also adopted the same theme. The coordinated talking point began hours if not days before the speech even aired, with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota saying yesterday morning, “Fact-checkers are eating their Wheaties and getting extra rest since they will be working overtime tonight to separate fact from fiction on this border situation.” (Read more from “Media’s Angry Response to President Trump’s Oval Office Speech Comes up Short” HERE)

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Supreme Court May Allow Mothers to Kill Babies for Being Disabled or a Girl

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On Friday, the Supreme Court delayed its consideration of a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision that struck down two Indiana abortion statutes. The first banned abortions that take place as a result of the child’s race, sex, or disability. The second mandates that the remains of unborn children be buried or cremated.

This decision comes hard on the heels on the failure of a Republican-controlled federal government to take any action towards limiting abortion in the United States. Even Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, escaped unscathed, maintaining their government funding.

The Seventh Circuit’s rejection is even more frustrating considering the role abortion has played in legitimizing eugenics in both the United States and Europe. Such a resurgence is most notable in the plight of people with Down Syndrome.

In Iceland, for example, every single mother with an unborn baby diagnosed with Down decided to end the pregnancy. Only two to three babies with Down are born in the country every year. The small island nation is far from alone in this regard. In Denmark, 98 percent of women choose abortion when they discover their child has Down Syndrome, and the issue is replicated at somewhat lower levels across Europe.

In the United States, a smaller number of unborn babies diagnosed with Down are aborted compared to these countries, but our numbers are still unforgivably high. The best estimates claim abortion after prenatal diagnosis has reduced the total U.S. Down population by around 30 percent, a staggering amount. (Read more form “Supreme Court May Allow Mothers to Kill Babies for Being Disabled or a Girl” HERE)

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Iran Tests POTUS, Taking First American Hostage During Trump Era

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The terrorist regime that rules Iran has confirmed that it is holding U.S. Navy veteran Michael R. White hostage.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency Wednesday: “An American citizen was arrested in the city of Mashhad some time ago and his case was conveyed to the U.S administration on first days.”

The New York Times confirmed White’s capture on Monday after speaking to his mother.

“Iran has been holding an American Navy veteran in prison on unspecified charges since late July, when he was seized while visiting an Iranian girlfriend, his mother said Monday,” the Times reported.

Iranwire, a website for Iranian expatriates, also discussed White’s capture. In the piece, Irvar Farhadi, a former Iranian prisoner, said he met Mr. White at Iran’s Vakilabad Prison in the city of Mashhad.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), Vakilabad authorities conduct secret mass executions inside of the prison.

“He was not in a good psychological condition and is not allowed visitors or access to the phone. He is virtually a hostage without any charges against him,” Farhadi told Iranwire.

He added, “Michael is kept among dangerous criminals including murderers and professional drug smugglers and his life is in danger. I promised to myself that if I got out of prison one of the first things that I would do would be to inform people about the situation of this American prisoner.”

At least four U.S. citizens and one U.S. permanent resident are currently being held by Iran. CBS reports, citing sources, that Tehran is “holding the Americans to try to extract concessions such as those received in a deal reached with President Obama.”

President Obama set a dangerous precedent in paying a total of $1.7 billion dollars (in what appeared to resemble a ransom payment) for the release of four American hostages.

This is believed to be the first time that the Iranian regime has taken an American citizen hostage during the Trump era. The last known American detained by Iran was Xiyue Wang, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University. He was detained while conducting research in Tehran on August 8, 2016. Wang was later sentenced for espionage charges.

President Trump has a decision to make. He can follow in Obama’s footsteps and negotiate with the terrorist regime in Iran. He may instead choose to demand the unconditional release of the growing number of Americans held hostage by Tehran. The White House has not yet commented on the matter. The State Department said it was aware of the reports but did not comment further. (For more from the author of “Iran Tests POTUS, Taking First American Hostage During Trump Era” please click HERE)

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Kamala Harris: Look I Had a Huge Staff So It Was Hard to Notice My Aides Sexually Harassing People

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Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) stopped by CNN, speaking to host Jake Tapper, among other things, about her new book, The Truths We Hold. Harris is a potential 2020 candidate, so this book dropping prior to some national run is not all that surprising. The work is being criticized though, however, as a platitudinous mess. And if National Public Radio is saying there are issues with it, you know it’s probably a wreck:

There’s also some careful elision of facts. For example, Harris talks about her frustration with immigration policy in 2014, when “a big push was coming out of DC to expedite the decision-making process so that they could quickly turn undocumented kids and families back.”

Readers who have paid close attention to history might remember that in 2014, the president was Barack Obama. And while in other parts of her book Harris approvingly name-checks Obama — a popular guy whom she might want to deliver a stump speech or two — she forgets to name him here.

Harris is seen as one of the main faces of the Me Too movement, and someone who was part of the blitz against Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee who was besieged by evidence-free or uncorroborated allegations of sexual misconduct. She was a participant and actor in a coordinated political assassination attempt. Yet, like all Democrats, she got scum thrown in her face. One of her top aides resigned of sexual harassment. The wolf was in the hen house. The war on women has always been coming from inside the house. These liberals are perched high on their altar of self-righteousness until reality smashes their faces bloody. The Left has a rape and sexual harassment problem. The sleaze is everywhere. From the boardrooms of CBS (Hi, Les Moonves) to Hollywood and the New York Attorney General’s office. But how dare the Republicans pass legislation to protect unborn children. It’s the Handmaid’s Tale, alternatively called “a show that no one watches,” except that it’s not. (Read more from “Kamala Harris: Look I Had a Huge Staff So It Was Hard to Notice My Aides Sexually Harassing People” HERE)

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Ocasio-Cortez Slammed ICE, but Voted Last Week…to Give ICE More Funding

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President Trump delivered his address on border security. It is a crisis. It is a growing humanitarian crisis, despite Democrats and the liberal media saying otherwise. The Trump border security agenda calls for a wall and more funding for our enforcement agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE has been a prime target for progressives in the 2018 election cycle, being used as fodder for primary challengers.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is one of the most prominent anti-ICE members of Congress, as well as one of the faces of the ascending progressive wing of the party. Last night, on MSNBC, the official network of liberal America, she went on a tear (via Free Beacon):

Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old democratic socialist who was sworn into Congress last week, appeared on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” following President Donald Trump’s primetime address to the nation from the Oval Office. During the interview, Maddow asked Ocasio-Cortez to respond to his speech, prompting her to castigate Trump for requesting funding for ICE, an agency she has said should be abolished.

“The president should not be asking for more money to an agency that has systematically violated human rights. The president should be really defending why we are funding such an agency at all because right now what we are seeing is death. Right now what we are seeing is the violation of human rights,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

She argued that the primary reason for undocumented immigrants in the United States is “Visa overstay” versus people crossing over the border illegally. She then went on to accuse Trump of trying to restrict “every form of legal immigration there is in the United States.”

(Read more from “Ocasio-Cortez Slammed ICE, but Voted Last Week…to Give ICE More Funding” HERE)

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‘Is MS-13 Manufactured?’ Mark Levin Blows up Democrat Border Crisis Deniers

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Wednesday on the radio, LevinTV host Mark Levin was on fire, hammering home the case for supporting President Donald Trump’s effort to keep pressure on the Democrats until they compromise on funding a border security wall.

Levin rounded on the Democrats for suggesting the crisis on the border is “manufactured.”

“Is MS-13 manufactured? Is the importation of drugs manufactured?” Levin said. “When our federal law enforcement, the Border Patrol, ICE, the DEA, and others tell us what’s going on on the southern border and the consequences, are they all lying to us?”

Listen:

Levin blasted progressives for making a “crisis” out of health care, out of student loans, and out of climate change, while at each turn demanding massive government action to solve these so-called crises, but not for the border.

“It’s not the government’s job to run health care or colleges. It’s not the government’s job to nationalize air and water. It’s not the government’s job to destroy the Second Amendment and so forth. It is the government’s job to secure the border,” Levin said.

Levin warned that if Republicans buckle and reopen the government without concessions from the Democrats, the fight for border security will be lost.

“What’s at stake is our constitutional system, our republican system,” Levin said. “Because if the Democrats get away with this, with a 30-vote majority in the House of Representatives where we control the Senate and the presidency, if they get away with it this time, we will never stop this, ever. We will never be able to secure that border.” (For more from the author of “‘Is MS-13 Manufactured?’ Mark Levin Blows up Democrat Border Crisis Deniers” please click HERE)

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Republicans Are Pushing for a Compromise on the Border Wall — Here’s How They Want to Entice Democrats

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Republicans are quietly orchestrating a large immigration bill that would fund the border wall, but entice Democrats with some concessions, according to a report from CNN’s Manu Raju.

Raju reported that the deal would included $5.7 billion for the border wall that President Donald Trump has promised for more than two years, and it would give Democrats what they want in return — support for amnesty through DACA.

DACA is the amnesty granted by former President Barack Obama to some illegal aliens through “deferral” of deportations. The program has been excoriated by Republicans, including the president, but he has also said in the past that he could support some form of the policy.

The report says that the plan is still in early stages, but that Republican Senators hope it will lead to a breakthrough to end the government shutdown, now in its third week.

Raju said that Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner, indicated that the White House would be interested in a deal that would get funding for the border wall and could pass the Senate. He did not say whether Trump would sign the proposed legislation.

(Read more from “Republicans Are Pushing for a Compromise on the Border Wall — Here’s How They Want to Entice Democrats” HERE)

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WATCH: Trump Turns Question Around on Reporter Who Can’t Answer It

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President Donald Trump turned a question around on a “one-sided” reporter on Wednesday in the Oval Office, which left the reporter fumbling for words and unable to answer the question.

ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl pressed Trump about signing bills so government workers who are being furloughed could be paid. . .

“I mean, I watch your one-sided reporting,” Trump continued. “Do you think I should do that? Hey Jon, no, seriously, Jon: Do you think I should just sign?” . . .

“I’m asking you: Would you do that if you were in my position?” Trump said. “Because if you would do that, you should never be in this position. Because you’d never get anything done.”

(Read more from “WATCH: Trump Turns Question Around on Reporter Who Can’t Answer It” HERE)

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He Was Found Not Guilty in Court of Sexual Assault. His School Still Expelled Him.

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A male student accused of sexually assaulting a drunk female student was found not guilty in a court of law, but that didn’t stop his university from expelling him over the same accusation. The move was expected, as colleges and universities use a lower standard of proof for determining whether a sexual assault occurred — a standard that routinely ends with poorly trained administrators taking an accuser’s word over evidence.

Saifullah Khan, an immigrant who grew up in an Afghanistan refugee camp, won a full scholarship to Yale University. He would later be accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate in 2015 — an accusation that, in a rarity for campus accusations, actually resulted in a criminal trial. During that criminal trial, Khan was found not guilty, based on video evidence that showed him and his accuser walking arm-in-arm and smiling, as well as key-card evidence that supported his story that the woman invited him back to her dorm after he left, and then asked him to check on her friend who was actually too drunk.

Activists, working on emotion and not evidence, concluded that the system failed (because women, we’re told, never lie about sexual assault), and demanded Yale expel Khan anyway, ignoring the evidence in his favor.

Despite being found not guilty in a court of law, Khan still had to go through a campus tribunal, where he was not granted full due process rights (Yale is a private university and has more leeway in denying constitutional rights to students). In early October 2018, Khan was accused of sexual assault by a non-student who had previously acted as public relations consultant* for the Yale student (this young male accuser was previously the victim of a false accusation). Yale immediately suspended Khan after this new accusation. His attorney, Norm Pattis, posted on his blog that Washington, D.C. police — who investigated the accusation because that’s where the alleged assault occurred — closed the case without charging Khan. Yale, according to Pattis, “did not intend to call his accuser in Washington, D.C., concluding the young man lacked credibility.” . . .

This was November 2018. On Jan. 2, 2019, Yale expelled Khan for the allegation against him from 2015, for which he was found not guilty in the justice system. This made the hearing on the second accusation against him moot, according to his attorney. So, how was Khan found responsible for sexual assault by the school when a court found him not guilty? Pattis lays it out on his blog about the case, writing, “Mr. Khan was afforded due process at his criminal trial, but deprived a meaningful right to defend himself at the university’s tribunal.” (Read more from “He Was Found Not Guilty in Court of Sexual Assault. His School Still Expelled Him.” HERE)

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