Monthly Archives: November 2013

America’s East-West Elites Estranged From The Heartland by Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

I would suggest to Facebook and Apple that they relocate operations to North Dakota to expose their geeky entrepreneurs to those who drive trucks and plow snow. Who knows — they might be able to afford a house, get married before 35 and have three rather than zero kids.

The densely populated coastal corridors from Boston to Washington and from San Diego to Berkeley are where most of America’s big decisions are made.

Those in Boston, New York and Washington determine how our government works; what sort of news, books, art and fashion we should consume; and whether our money and investments are worth anything.

The Pacific corridor is just as influential, but in a hipper fashion. Whether America suffers through another zombie film or one more Lady Gaga video or Kanye West’s latest soft-porn rhyme is determined mostly by executives who live in the thin Pacific strip from Malibu to Palos Verdes.

The next smart phone or search engine 5.0 will arise from the minds of tech geeks who pay $2,000 a month for studio apartments and drive BMWs in Menlo Park, Palo Alto or Mountain View.

The road to riches and influence, we are told, lies in being branded with a degree from a coastal elite campus like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or Berkeley. How well a Yale professor teaches an 18-year-old in a class on American history does not matter as much as the fact that the professor helps to stamp the student with the Ivy League logo. That mark is the lifelong golden key that is supposed to unlock the door to coastal privilege.

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Posted in Culture, Victor Davis Hanson

American Paintings: The First Thanksgiving 1621 by J.L.G. Ferris

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (August 18, 1863 – March 18, 1930) was an American painter best known for his series of 78 scenes from American history, entitled The Pageant of a Nation, the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist. The First Thanksgiving 1621 was painted in c.1932.

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Posted in American Paintings

Mystery surrounds Tijuana border rush (Video)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Crowd shouted “¡Viva Villa!” while approaching border

Video footage, anonymous leaflets, and eyewitness accounts on Tuesday offered some insights into last weekend’s incident that saw more than 100 people rush a heavily patrolled stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in broad daylight.

But the larger questions remained unanswered: Exactly who instigated the mass action on Sunday afternoon one quarter-mile west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry? And for what purpose?

Bryan Chilian said he was in the Tijuana River channel filming a documentary about homeless deportees when he and his two partners noticed the crowd shouting “¡Viva Villa!” and moving toward the border–and followed with their cameras. “We tried to figure out who was the leader, but we couldn’t,” Chilian said in an interview Tuesday. “We couldn’t see anyone leading or making signs.”

One of the partners, Jesús Guerra Huerta, said they didn’t recognize the participants from their months of documentary work in the area. “None of the people we know in the channel were there,” he said.

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Posted in Immigration, La Raza, Radicals

Ted Nugent Joins Rock to the Rescue Concert

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

The Motor City Madman is headed for Bloomington, Ill.

Ted Nugent has announced he’ll be joining some of the Midwest’s longest-running rock stars for the Rock to the Rescue fundraising concert on Dec. 4. As Bravewords notes, Nugent’s addition to the bill reunites the Midwest Rock & Roll Express tour lineup, which found him playing alongside Styx and REO Speedwagon.

Tickets for the Rock to the Rescue concert are being sold for $58, $43 and $28; according to the press release announcing the event, funds are being raised for “affected families in central Illinois communities that were left reeling in the wake of devastating tornadoes and winds.” Additionally, “In order to maximize charitable proceeds, the artists, along with numerous vendors, crew and local staff have generously forgone any personal compensation for the evening.”

“The good people of Illinois lent support and a helping hand to every artist on this bill at different times in their respective careers, and we owe a tremendous debt,” explained Styx guitarist James ‘JY’ Young. “It’s our turn to ask what we can do for this great state, and the best way we know to help those in need is to get on stage and let the incredible healing power of music play its part in rebuilding Illinois.”

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Posted in Ted Nugent

Tea Party PACs Have Raised More Money Than Karl Rove in 2013

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

According to Federal Election Commission records, two Tea Party political action committees have raised more money combined in 2013 than three political action committees affiliated with Karl Rove.

Politico reported on Wednesday that “[t]he trio of conservative outside groups founded by GOP strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie … American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS and the Conservative Victory Project jointly posted a $3.37 million fundraising haul …in the first half of 2013.”

In contrast, the two leading Tea Party political action committees–the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund super PAC and the TeaPartyExpress.org PAC–took in more than $4.1 million combined during the same period. The Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund raised $2 million and the TeaPartyExpress.org PAC raised $2.1 million. Both groups also had plenty of cash on hand as of June 30, 2013, the end of the reporting period. The Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund had over $600,000 in cash, and the TeaPartyExpress.org PAC had over $800,000 in cash.

Significantly, Politico reported that $1 million of the $3.3 million raised by Rove’s groups came “from a single corporate donor,” while most of the donations to the Tea Party PACs came from unitemized donations of less than $200.

According to Roll Call, “Our Country Deserves Better PAC – TeaPartyExpress.org reported it had receipts of $2,179,948 . . . as of June 30. The PAC received $1.8 million from contributors giving $200 or less.”

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Posted in Conservatism, Tea Parties

Obamacare Undermines American Values

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Several studies show that patients with Medicaid coverage have worse outcomes than the uninsured, and some Medicaid beneficiaries do not consider the program “real insurance.” Yet Obamacare dumps millions of American citizens into this troubled program, even as it grants many non-citizens the opportunity to pick health plans of their choosing.

We wrote earlier this week about the ways Obamacare discourages marriage and work. These aren’t the only traditional values it undermines.

Obamacare goes against two values that should be no-brainers: prioritizing American citizens over non-citizens, and prioritizing help for the disabled over assistance for able-bodied adults.

Prioritizing Non-Citizens Over American Citizens

Obamacare includes special provisions that allow many legal, non-citizen residents to qualify for federally subsidized insurance and, in so doing, offers these non-citizens more and better coverage options than American citizens.

The law as implemented creates two inequities that put American citizens at a disadvantage compared with non-citizens.

First, in states that expand their Medicaid programs, citizens with incomes under 138 percent of the federal poverty level will be automatically enrolled into Medicaid, while non-citizens will receive subsidies to purchase coverage in the Obamacare exchange.

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Posted in Democrats/Progressives, Health Care, Obama, Radicals

Hollywood Big Harvey Weinstein Defends Obama By Insulting America (Video)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Hollywood honcho Harvey Weinstein is embarrassed by America. Weinstein just cannot believe that America does not have tougher gun laws and truly universal health care. Hear more as Trifecta parses through Weinstein’s spirited defense of President Obama.

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Posted in Bill Whittle, Democrats/Progressives, Obama, Radicals

Pat Boone – It’s A Long Way To The Top

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.” William Shakespeare

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Posted in Daily Music Video, Pat Boone

Obama feels heat on deportations (Video)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

“The aide noted that Hong, the heckler, is an illegal immigrant himself who was arrested in 2011 and was not deported. Instead, he was invited to stand on stage with the president of the United States. ‘Most of the 12 million people here illegally are exempt for deportation under the administration’s polices,’ said the aide.”

The charged subject of deportations has moved to the center of the immigration debate as President Obama has come under growing pressure from allies to review his administration’s policy.

Immigration reform has been a winning political issue for Democrats, but some pro-immigrant advocates have become impatient with stalled comprehensive immigration reform legislation on Capitol Hill.

As the likelihood for congressional action diminishes, there is pressure on President Obama to act unilaterally.

The administration’s critics, meanwhile, have accused the president of not doing enough to enforce the law. They argue it has overstated the number of deportations.

Clarissa Martinez-De-Castro, the director of civic engagement and immigration at National Council of La Raza, an ally of Obama’s on immigration reform, said the administration should do more to prioritize deportations to focus on national security and community safety concerns.

“While the permanent solution has to come from Congress and all the pressure will be on them to deliver that, there are things the administration can and should do,” she said. “They should use their discretion to the fullest extent allowable.”

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Posted in Democrats/Progressives, Immigration, Obama, Radicals

Quick Pix: Mae Clarke w/Video

Posted on November 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Mae Clarke (born Violet Mary Klotz, August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress most noted for playing Dr. Frankenstein’s bride, chased by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and for having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy — both films released in 1931.