West Virginia Launching Blockchain-Powered Mobile Voting System

(TIM) — West Virginia is test launching a mobile voting system powered by blockchain technology in its upcoming primary election on May 8th. The system will initially be available only for active-duty military registered voters and their “eligible dependents” in Harrison and Monongalia county. The state is the first in the country to be testing a blockchain-backed voting system for a […]

Taxpayers Shell Out $175K for Brave Cop Fired by Dept. for Refusing to Kill a Man

After a heroic cop did the right thing and chose not to kill a suicidal father, he was fired for preserving life. Now the taxpayers are being held responsible for the murderous wishes of the department.

The post Taxpayers Shell Out $175K for Brave Cop Fired by Dept. for Refusing to Kill a Man appeared first on The Free Thought Project.

Twitter To Crack Down On Revenge Porn Ahead Of Senate Intel Committee Hearing

Via StockBoardAsset.com,

Last week, Twitter Safety released ‘a calendar of our safety work’ in approach to make the social media platform a much safer place. Twitter’s blog indicates “far too often in the past we’ve said we’d do better and promised transparency but have fallen short in our efforts”. The timeline will include regular and real-time updates about safety changes and overall progress of the social media channel to provide transparency. The blog also indicates “this is the first time we’ve shared this level of visibility into our work”.

According to Ars Technica, Twitter’s transformation will begin this Thursday–

On October 27, Twitter will expand what types of “non-consensual nudity” (aka “revenge porn”) that it takes action against. The company will already act when a victim complains, but Twitter will soon act even in cases where the victims may not be aware images were taken, instances like upskirt photos and hidden webcams. “Anyone we identify as the original poster of non-consensual nudity will be suspended immediately,” 

What is Revenge Porn?

The term ‘revenge porn,’ though frequently used, is somewhat misleading. Many perpetrators are not motivated by revenge or by any personal feelings toward the victim. A more accurate term is nonconsensual pornography (NCP), defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images of individuals without their consent.

As of June 08, 2017, C.A. GOLDBERG, PLLC, who focuses in the areas of revenge porn, domestic violence, sexual assault, & public figure crises says about 38 US states have adopted ‘revenge porn laws’. Interesting enough, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, and South Caroline do not have ‘revenge porn laws’.

Here are various states and the penalties for revenge porn…

Revenge porn search term in the United States has been an explosive trend over the past 5-6 years. States such as Maine, West Virginia, and Kentucky have the highest interest by region.

Unfortunately, millions of Americans idolize Hollywood, who have been actively promoting revenge porn for the world to see. The latest story is Rob Kardashian posting nude pictures of Blac Chyna…

Back to the Twitter’s blog post, where the social media platform has outlined 4-months of proposed transparency in attempt to make the platform a much safer place. After Thursday, on November 03, Twitter will suspend organizations and groups who have a history for advocating violence . This will include banning hate imagery in profile headers and avatars, along with banning “hateful display names”.

Most social media channels are in damage control ahead of the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify in a public hearing November 01 about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Twitter has felt the need to become more ‘transparent’ and tackle revenge porn ahead of the meeting.

Here are questions we ask: 

1. 
   

   Why does Twitter suddenly care about revenge porn?

   
   


2. 
   

   Is it because of the Senate Intelligence Committee meeting?

   
   

*****

Are insiders attempting to transform Twitter <TWTR>  post -81% stock crash?

Depravity, Frivolity, And Dissent: Are We Watching The End Of An Empire?

Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

A 40-year-old essay predicted the end of an empire and current events sure make it look like we’re watching it happen in real time.

I spend a fair bit of time scanning the news every day for my site, Preppers Daily News. And some days, I just have to shake my head as I realize that people are so desperate for…something…that they just keep going to further and further extremes to try and find that elusive thing their lives are missing.

The more I read, the more likeness I see to Sir John Glubb’s essay, The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival. (It’s only 24 pages and you should definitely read it – it’s brilliant.) Sir Glubb wrote this outstanding work when he was 79 years old, after a lifetime of being a soldier, traveling the world, and analyzing history. It’s well worth a read as he goes into detail about the fall of empires past.

The final stage of the end of an empire is the Age of Decadence.

Some signs of this age are political dissensions (Antifa, anyone?), an influx of foreigners (Europe, anyone?), the welfare state (America, anyone?), despair (350 million people diagnosed), depravity (see below), and the rise of frivolity as people try to fill lives that have less and less meaning.

Sound familiar?

This video is a brief synopsis of the signs of an empire that is near its end.

A synopsis I read makes Glubb’s theory entirely applicable to modern society:

In the age of decadence many people choose to behave in ways that are unsustainable, apparently unaware of the consequences. They indulge in excessive, often conspicuous, consumption. An absurdly wealthy elite emerges, but instead of repelling the masses it is admired and celebrated. Those outside the elite aspire to similar levels of consumption, and are encouraged by the availability of cheap credit. People become convinced that increased consumption is the key to happiness, but in its pursuit they become measurably less happy. As David Morgan says, “you can never get enough of what you don’t need.”

 

At this point in the life cycle of an empire frivolity, as Glubb calls it, comes to the fore. In order to distract people from what’s really going on, the economy creates diversions. Voyeurism becomes central to culture: the gladiatorial spectacles in decadent Rome are mirrored in today’s ‘reality’ television. People become fixated on celebrity as the genuinely noteworthty become understandably camera shy. These invented celebrities are ‘famous’ just for being famous…

 

…Debauchery is another recurring theme at the end of empire. Society develops a strangely immature obsession with sex. People drink themselves to the point of unconsciousness and shamelessly collapse in the street. In Roman times, binge drinkers were left to their fate. Today’s debauchery is supervised by the police; its ‘victims’ are taken care of by hard-pressed health care professionals, placing further pressure on the public purse. And, all the while, supermarkets and corporations make a killing selling discounted booze to people barely old enough to buy it. This is our modern-day bread and circuses, with obese citizens literally becoming a burden on the state.

 

But the small can never satisfy the large. Cheap pleasures fail to compensate for the absence of meaning in so many people’s lives. A hankering for something greater remains…growing numbers are denied access to work; they can find no meaningful involvement in their community, so their potential goes unfulfilled. When people are prevented from fulfilling their potential, they often self-destruct. (source)

By “Empire,” I’m not referring specifically just to the United States in particular, but Western Civilization in general. We’re watching our friends in Europe go down the same path. How can anyone look at the following stories and think that we are all okay and that this is sustainable?

NOTE: The story below isn’t pretty and there is adult content. If you are offended by adult content, take my word for it and do not read on. If you do read on, don’t get mad that you read adult content and complain in the comments. Thanks. DL

Dissent

Never have America and Europe seen their citizens more at odds. Here in the United States, the last election caused more division than any other in history. Friendships and family relationships ended over who people’s voting choices. Once Trump was inaugurated, things didn’t settle down. There are still groups who want to overthrow the “Trump-Pence regime.” Some students can’t even tolerate the existence of those with opposite beliefs.

The education system doesn’t help. Some professors are actually encouraging violent revolt. Californians are talking about seceding from the United States because Trump won.

In Europe, the UK voted to leave the European Union and Catalonia voted to leave Spain.  People are firmly divided between welcoming immigrants and banishing immigrants.

Chaos is everywhere and there is little middle ground.

Unfathomable crimes

Crimes are becoming more horrific and mindboggling. A 17-year-old girl was trying to walk home through a “no-go zone” in the UK and was sexually assaulted 3 separate times in one hour. A man in Pennsylvania tried to strangle his girlfriend to death because she changed the passcode to the IPad. A Georgia woman murdered her two toddler sons by putting them in the oven and then video-chatted their father.

A Hollywood fixture has been accused of assaulting and harassing dozens of women, which led thousands of other women to share their horror stories with a #MeToo hashtag on Twitter. I have seen report after report recently of teachers having sex with their high school students.

Premature Sexuality

Sexuality is being introduced to our children far too early, For example, libraries around the country are having “Drag Queen Story Hour.” A picture is worth a thousand words.

What’s the purpose of this? Here’s a quote from a magazine write up entitled “An amazing demon drag queen has entertained children in Michelle Obama’s library” that explains:

Drag Queen Story Hour aims to give young children “glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models,” according to the programme’s website…

 

…The Drag Queen Story Hour site explains that the event “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood”.

 

“In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.

 

The programme “happens regularly in LA, New York, and San Francisco, and events are popping up all over the world!”

I actually don’t have an issue with adults who are drag queens – heck, I sang along at a show in Vegas, and as a libertarian, I believe that consenting adults can do what they want. I have not raised my kids to mistreat others because of their sexuality. They’d be in massive trouble if they did. I did, however, manage to teach them to be kind individuals without taking them to Drag Queen Story Hour when they were 3.

Let me be absolutely clear that while I don’t think Drag Queen Story Hour is an attempt to sexually abuse children, it does lead me to the over-sexualization of kids. I don’t even know the names of all the genders and sexualities that are being claimed and LBGT keeps adding so many initials, I can’t keep up. No wonder kids are confused. I’m confused and I’m a grown-up.

Decades ago, anything on TV before 9 o’clock was pretty innocent. We didn’t have laptops and cell phones that allowed us to learn way too much, way too soon. We didn’t take quizzes on Buzzfeed to see if we were ready to have anal sex that night and we didn’t turn to Teen Vogue to learn about oral sex. These days, Teen Vogue is racier than Cosmo was in the early 80s. How do we protect our children’s innocence in this environment? How do we let them just be kids and find their own ways? Heck, even in Disney movies, everyone’s gotta have a love interest. Why?

Normalization of pedophilia

Children are exposed to far too much, far too young. This makes them ripe targets for pedophiles. Let me be clear on this too. Pedophilia is always, always wrong and extraordinarily harmful to children.

To make matters worse, there is a sick attempt to normalize pedophilia. Salon magazine had published numerous articles with titles like, “I’m a pedophile but I’m not a monster” which has since been deleted due to the public outcry. There are even forums about “moral pedophilia.” Here’s a quote:

Our website is intended to reduce the stigma attached to pedophilia by letting people know that a substantial number of pedophiles DO NOT molest children, and to provide peer support and information about available resources to help virtuous pedophiles remain law-abiding, and lead happy, productive lives.  These are our stories.  There are brief bios of the two founders of the site and collections of other personal stories. (source)

I keep wondering, are the people in charge of media trying to normalize this so that when they inevitably get outed for molesting children, no one will care? Watch this video about the rampant pedophilia in the entertainment industry – and then remember, these are the people who influence the views of the folks who idolize celebrities.

Tony Podesta, the brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, was spotlighted for his incredibly disturbing art collection that showed the torture and murder of children. (Here is a shocking post with images found using “Tony and Heather Podesta’s art collection” as a search term.) And who can forget that sick “spirit cooking” scandal during the election? There are some things we simply cannot unsee.

The mainstream wants to blame the collapse of civilization on Trump, but they ignore the fact that in this administration, more than 1500 pedophilia-related arrests took place in the first full month of his presidency. Just last week, 84 children were rescued from a sex-trafficking ring, with the youngest of those sweet angels only 3 months old. A THREE-MONTH-OLD BABY WAS FOR SALE FOR $600!!!!

Bestiality

Speaking of “art,” a Slovenian woman just won a prestigious art award for being “in seclusion” with her dogs for 3 months. Of course, for some of us, just hanging with pets sounds awesome, but we don’t hang out with pets like Maja Smrekar does. She breastfed a puppy and fertilized one of her eggs with what she says was a “fat cell” from another of her dogs. Mmm hmm. This video that documents her “art” is another thing to add to the can’t-ever-unsee-it list. The jury that awarded her the prize said, “What is making this artwork so special is the total commitment of the artist.” Apparently, I just don’t understand art. Or commitment. Or what cool people do with their pets.

They’ve had to make laws in numerous states to combat an apparent uptick in bestiality. One guy was arrested for sneaking into a neighbor’s yard and doing it with their donkey. Numerous times. This lady says she’s literally married to her dog. All of these people (Can’t-Unsee Warning) also claim to have romantic relationships with animals.

Bestiality is actually legal in these US states: Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming, and the District of Columbia. Apparently, parties are organized where people can engage in sex acts with animals. Publicly.

Not to be outdone, this gal is done with humanity altogether and says she now is…a cat. I wasn’t sure if this went in the bestiality section or where.

The emptiness of society

Perhaps people should first examine the depravity and frivolity that passes for art and entertainment these days.  A walk in the woods to look at fall leaves will not suffice for much of the population.

People are so desperate for that rush of endorphins that they’re constantly seeking something more and more outrageous to give it to them. Normal things no longer give them that fleeting feeling of joy. Their own lives are so empty that they focus on the lives of people famous for being famous to fill them up.

When society is more interested in reality television than actual reality, how can we expect that same society will be invested in our future?

Mapping The Most (And Least) Valuable States In America

Everyone knows location is the most important part of real estate. You can’t change where your house is (all things being equal). You have to consider school districts, crime rates, commute times—the list goes on and on. It can be much simpler when you’re considering buying a home to compare apples to apples so you can see how the real estate market differs according to location.

So HowMuch.net created a new visualization showing land and housing prices at a glance.

Source: HowMuch.net

The blue dots represent the value of an acre of land, and the red circles indicate the median value of a home. The bigger the blue dot and the larger the red circle, the more expensive it is to become a property owner. Small circles and dots likewise indicate a very low cost of purchasing property. The home values are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Consumer Survey, and the numbers behind the land values come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

As HowMuch.net notes, several things stand out in our illustration.

An acre of land is much more valuable in the Northeast compared to any other part of the country. This is partly because the Eastern seaboard is a very densely populated area with several large cities, most notably New York. It is also a historical artifact that Europeans settled New England first and then moved west, meaning that New York and Massachusetts have some of the oldest modern structures anywhere in the U.S. In other words, Eastern cities are a lot older than Midwestern cities, so there isn’t a lot of farmland for suburban expansion anymore. We should also mention that in terms of geographic size, these are some of the smallest states in the country. Matter of fact, the three states where the cost of an acre of land is greater than the median price of a house are all located on the East Coast, and they happen to be some of the smallest states in the Union (Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey).

Median home values (the red circles) are a different and more complicated story. California has the most expensive houses by far ($449,100). Oregon and Washington boast similarly high housing valuations as well ($264,100 and $284,000, respectively). It is also expensive to buy a home on the East Coast with six out of the top ten states with the most expensive median home values.

But there’s a noticeable dip in both housing and land prices in southern and midwestern states. Prices slowly rise the further you move from east to west. This highlights unique economic developments over the last several years, including the boom in oil exploration in North Dakota and the growth of Western cities thanks to young people,like Denver. Snowbirds also tend to move to Florida and Arizona after they retire, which also pushes up housing prices in those places.

Top 5 Most Expensive States to Buy a Home 

1. California - Value per acre: $39,092; Median Home Value: $449,100


2. Massachusetts - Value per acre: $102,214;  Median Home Value: $352,100


3. New Jersey - Value per acre: $196,410; Median Home Value: $322,600


4. Maryland - Value per acre: $75,429; Median Home Value: $299,800


5. New York - Value per acre: 41,314; Median Home Value: $293,500

Top 5 Cheapest States to Buy a Home

1. West Virginia - Value per acre: $10,537; Median Home Value: $112,100


2. Mississippi - Value per acre: $5,565; Median Home Value: 112,700


3. Arkansas - Value per acre: $6,739; Median Home Value: $120,700


4. Oklahoma - Value per acre: $7,364; Median Home Value: $126,800


5. Kentucky - Value per acre: $7,209; Median Home Value: $130,000

All this shows that the laws of supply and demand are alive and well in the real estate market. You can easily find cheap acres of land where they are plentiful and un-useful (sorry, Nevada), but owning property is a lot more expensive in smaller places crowded with lots of people. As always, location, location, location.

The Real Estate Market, Explained In One Graph

The U.S. housing market has now surpassed its pre-recession peak by 4.3%. This is great news for the economy, although there’s still an ongoing debate about the possibility of another housing crash.

Whatever you believe about real estate, there’s no doubt that prices depend on where you live. HowMuch.net created a new visualization to demonstrate what this looks like...

According to Zillow,  the median price for a house is $200,400, up 7.4% over last year.

So, naturally, how big of a house can you afford with a mortgage of $200,400? Our visualization answers this question on a sliding color-coded scale. We broke each state into a grid with 25 boxes, representing 2,500 square feet—that’s a large home with at least 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Green boxes indicate affordability and orange and red boxes mean it’s expensive. We then graphed how much house you can purchase with exactly $200,400.

The results highlight the enormous differences between housing values in the U.S. It is all about location, location, location.

In the Hoosier State, your $200k mortgage can purchase 2,330-sq. ft., but in Washington D.C. only 497 sq. ft. That’s the difference between a large home and a cramped studio apartment.

The fact that Washington D.C. boasts the most expensive housing market in the coutry should come as no surprise to observers of the economy in the aftermath of the recession. While real estate market crashed in other metro areas, it kept rising in Washington D.C. The nation’s capital has actually started to come back down to Earth, but the area is still an outlier. If you can get a high-paying job in the government, chances are that you’ll need to find a roommate to make ends meet.

Except for Ohio, rural states without large cities dominate the list of affordability. The five most affordable states to purchase a home for a mortgage of $200,400:

1. Indiana - 2,330 sq. ft.

2. Arkansas - 2,227 sq. ft.

3. Mississippi  - 2,277 sq. ft.

4. West Virginia - 2,252 sq. ft.

5. Ohio - 2,252 sq. ft. 

The five most unaffordable states highlight pockets of high economic growth in the U.S. (like Colorado) or a restriction in housing availability (like Hawaii, which is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!).

1. Washington D.C. - 403 sq. ft.

2. Hawaii - 418 sq. ft.

3. California - 713 sq. ft.

4. Massachusetts - 887 sq. ft.

5. Colorado - 982 sq. ft.

Think about the inequality here: The fourth most unaffordable state in the country (Massachusetts) is still more than twice as affordable as Washington D.C. and Hawaii.

Whether you are buying a home or just renting, chances are you know that the price you pay can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. If you ever think you are paying too much, just know that someone else in Washington D.C. is paying a heck of lot more for a smaller home.

Data: Table 1.1 

Krauthammer Warns Impeachment Would Be "A Catastrophic Mistake"

"I think [impeaching Trump] would be a catastrophic mistake," warned outspoken conservative, and Fox News contributor, Charles Krauthammer, noting that there"s no evidence Trump has committed any crime.

.@krauthammer on Dems wanting @POTUS impeachment: "I think that would be a catastrophic mistake." #Tucker pic.twitter.com/lHLj6quOLO

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 4, 2017

As The Hill reports, Krauthammer stressed that he doesn"t defend Trump, but only thinks that impeachment is a mistake.

"Again, I think he"s unfit," Krauthammer said, "but that"s not the grounds for removal."

"I don’t think he’s very well fit for the presidency. But fitness is not a reason for impeachment and removal."

Crucially, Krauthammer notes, as demonstrated by last night"s rally in West Virginia...

Trump"s base is still firmly behind him and worries "I think we’re really headed into very choppy and dangerous constitutional waters"

“Here’s a guy whose numbers are down in the 30s,” Krauthammer said on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“He’s got this grand jury, reports of a grand jury being convened, he’s got the walls kind of closing in on him in Washington. And here he’s going out into the country and saying ‘These are my people. These are real people. Forget about the numbers. Forget about the chatter in Washington. Forget about the stories about Russia – which he spent a lot of time on - but I represent a huge constituency of tremendous support and enthusiasm.’”

Townhall notes that Krauthammer then stressed the importance of our democratic process.

“Again, I think he’s unfit but that’s not the grounds for removal,” Krauthammer said.

“What it means is, if you think a man is unfit, you vote against him. But you don’t remove him from office and that’s where I’m afraid we are headed given the forces that are surrounding the president. I just hope that cooler heads prevail. There will be another election – there always are – people can make their choices."

With a final ominous warning to the Left...

“I think this appearance that he did in West Virginia tonight is a way of saying my numbers may be down but I command a formidable army.”

President Trump Says He Will Make A "Very Big Announcement" Tonight

President Trump just teased a "very big announcement for the press and everyone else" that will take place at his planned rally in West Virginia tonight....

WATCH: President Trump says he has a "very big announcement tonight" during his planned rally in West Virginia https://t.co/GfRJUNlit0

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 3, 2017

President Trump is due to arrive at the the event at 18:20 ET and is due to begin speaking at 19:05 ET (departing at 20:30 ET).

So - what will it be?

His resignation? War with North Korea? Perry as Homeland Security head? Scaramucci is coming back? Sessions is fired? Rewriting the Constitution? Martial Law? Mueller fired? Or... more on record high stocks, great jobs, and how awesome he is doing?

High Schools Drop "Valedictorian" Distinction Fearing Lower-Ranked Kids May Feel &#039;Triggered&#039;

We"ve spent a fair amount of time over the past several years writing about the "participation trophy generation" (a.k.a. "millennials) and, more specifically, how their inflated sense of entitlement and self-worth, irrespective of work effort and/or innate talent, would not serve them well in the real world. 

You see millennials, despite what your enabling handlers (a.k.a. "educators") have told you your whole life, people here in the real world couldn"t care any less about your feelings, think your "Gender Studies" degree was a complete waste of your parents" money, will not promote you just because anything less would be a "triggering" event and do not recognize your standing to demand "safe spaces".

In fact, taking a moment to truly internalize the following quote from our favorite movie would serve you well.

“Listen up maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You"re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We are the all singing, all dancing crap of the world.  We are all part of the same compost heap.”

And, while we"ve been forced to write post after post detailing the lunacy of your behavior as you frolic aimlessly on the campuses of liberal bastions of higher indoctrination across this great country, growing more and more sickened with each new display of entitlement, we have to say that your efforts to eliminate high school rankings is a new low, even for you.

Unfortunately, as the AP points out today, that is exactly what seems to be happening at high schools all around the country as the title of "valedictorian" is being eliminated and/or bestowed upon so many kids in each graduating class that it"s rendered meaningless.

“More and more schools are moving toward a more holistic process. They look deeper into the transcript,” Gottlieb said.

Wisconsin’s Elmbrook School District has for several years ranked only the valedictorian and salutatorian, and only then because the state awards scholarships to schools’ top two graduates, according to Assistant Superintendent Dana Monogue. The change has been accepted by colleges and community alike, Monogue said.

“We are encouraged by any movement that helps students understand that they’re more than a score, that they’re more than a rank,” she said.

One school in Tennessee awarded the "valedictorian" title to 48 kids, or roughly 25% of the entire graduating class.

Tennessee’s Rutherford County schools give the valedictorian title to every student who meets requirements that include a 4.0 grade-point average and at least 12 honors courses. Its highly ranked Central Magnet School had 48 valedictorians this year, about a quarter of its graduating class.

At another school in Maryland, the AP highlights the woes of a concerned mother who wonders how ranking might affect her teenager"s confidence.

The day rankings came out at Hammond High School in Columbia, Maryland, students were privately told their number — but things didn’t stay private for long.

“That was the only thing everyone was talking about,” said Mikey Peterson, 18, who shrugged off his bottom-third finish and will attend West Virginia University in the fall.

A spokesman for the Howard County, Maryland, district said schools recognize their top 5 percent so students can include it on college applications and hasn’t considered changing.

“There was a big emphasis on where you landed,” said Peterson’s classmate Vicki Howard, 18. “It made everything 10 times more competitive.”

Peterson’s mother, Elizabeth Goshorn, said she can’t walk into his school without hearing good things about her affable son, but worries about how rankings can affect a teenager’s confidence.

“It has such an impact on them as to how they perceive themselves if you’re putting rankings on them,” she said.

Try as you might, ignoring the principles of basic mathematics does not mean that they cease to exist.  And while your enabling parents, high schools and colleges may share your view that ranking people on the basis achievement is racist, sexist and/or any other number of adjectives you may wish to throw out there....again, we assure you that the real world does not care.

Life is competitive and your relative performance versus your peers will ultimately determine your success in life irrespective of how "triggering" that fact may be.  The sooner you realize that fact, the sooner you"ll be able to move out of mom"s basement.

Not All Democrats Pissed About Paris Pullout - Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Has Trump&#039;s Back

Amid a cacophony of autistic screeching from the left following Trump"s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, at least one Democrat stands strong behind the President. Senior ranking Democrat Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, issued a statement saying he "does not believe that the Paris Agreement ensures a balance between our environment and the economy."

Manchin - a staunch advocate for the West Virginia coal industry, has drawn criticism from the left - with some calling him a "rogue conservative Democrat" for cozying up to President Trump, as well as his not-so liberal views on energy independence. In addition to being the only democrat to cross party lines and vote to confirm Jeff Sessions, Manchin had some harsh words for White House National Economic Council director, "globalist" Gary Cohn last week - after the former #2 employee at Goldman Sachs made anti-coal comments in Europe...

“Yeah, Gary, I don’t know what the hell happened with Gary. Jesus Christ, what’s wrong with these people?” Manchin joked when asked for a response to Cohn’s comments this week that coal “doesn’t make much sense anymore.” Cohn’s comments run counter to President Trump’s position on the issue, too, since Trump said the “war on coal is over” with him as president. -Breitbart

Statement:

My statement on @POTUS"s decision to leave the #ParisAgreement pic.twitter.com/gvoCXwms9l

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) June 1, 2017

Biden: Hillary Failed Because She Ignored The Middle Class

Is Joe Biden an "agent of Putin"? Given his not-unusual foot-in-mouth-frankness at an eent Thursday night, one might think The Democrats will be calling for a probe of his connections to Russia soon...

As CNN reports, former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday indirectly knocked Hillary Clinton"s failed 2016 campaign at a Thursday event, suggesting that the former secretary of state failed to talk to middle-class voters.

"What happened was that this was the first campaign that I can recall where my party did not talk about what it always stood for -- and that was how to maintain a burgeoning middle class," Biden said during an appearance at the University of Pennsylvania.

"You didn"t hear a single solitary sentence in the last campaign about that guy working on the assembly line making $60,000 bucks a year and a wife making $32,000 as a hostess in restaurant."

"And they are making $90,000 and they have two kids and they can"t make it and they are scared, they are frightened."

Despite calling half the nation "deplorable" and beyond help, Clinton did attempt to speak to working class voters on the campaign trail, including through multiple bus trips through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. But the overarching message of her campaign, especially at the end, (and The Democrats since), was more often anti-Donald Trump than policy messaging toward these voters.

Philly Cinco De Mayo Celebrations Canceled Over Trump Immigration Crackdown

Following the Trump administration"s recent federal illegal immigration crackdowns, organizers have canceled El Carnaval de Puebla, a major Cinco De Mayo celebration in Philadelphia.

This week, ICE announced that 248 people in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia are now in federal custody awaiting deportation after a two-week sweep.

And now, NBC reports that the annual parade through South Philadelphia has taken place in late April or early May for the last decade and is the city’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration. Organizer Edgar Ramirez said as many as 15,000 gather from as far as New England and Chicago.

“The group of six organizers decided to cancel unanimously,” Ramirez said. “Everyone is offended by the actions of ICE. They did not feel comfortable holding the event.”

The decision to cancel El Carnaval, Ramirez said in an interview Friday, was “sad but responsible” in light of the immigration crackdown by federal authorities.

“We have people who travel all the way from Chicago, Connecticut and New York. We don’t want anything to happen to them,” he said.

ICE Officer Khaalid Walls of the agency"s Philadelphia office said in an email that "ICE’s enforcement actions are targeted and lead driven. ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately."

As for a return of Carnaval, organizers will decide sometime in the future if the parade once again dances its way through the heavily Latino Pennsport neighborhood, Ramirez said. “Let"s see how things are next year," he said.

Size Matters: Visualizing The Tallest Building In Each State

The United States has some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, but their distribution is extremely uneven. Today’s infographic comes from Highrises.com, and it covers the tallest building in each state.

As Visual Capitalist"s Jeff Desjardins explains, New York City alone has 6,229 highrises – more than the next nine cities combined, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, and Dallas.

Surprisingly, multiple states don’t have a single building over 200 feet (61 m) tall. The tallest building in Vermont is an 11-story apartment building called Decker Towers. South Dakota is nearly as quaint – the CenturyLink Tower in Sioux Falls is the tallest building in the state, but it’s also only 11 stories tall.

TOP TEN LIST: THE TALLEST STATES

Here is the building that tips the scale for each of the ten “tallest” states:

TOP TEN LIST: THE SHORTEST STATES

Here is what ranks as the tallest building for the “shortest” ten states (also includes D.C.):

WHAT IS THE TALLEST BUILDING IN EACH STATE?

Not surprisingly, about 76% of these highrises are office buildings, with one of every three named after a bank. However, the tallest buildings in some of states have pretty unique purposes. The tallest habitable building in D.C., for example, is the lengthily-named Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is also the largest Roman Catholic church in North America.

The tallest building in Nevada is The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the respective State Capitol buildings of North Dakota and West Virginia tower above any other skylines in those states.

Americans Couldn&#039;t Wait To Ditch These 10 States In 2016

With 2016 now a distant memory for most of us, we take a look back with United Van Lines at the migratory patterns of Americans over the course of the year. After a quick review of the data, a few interesting themes emerge:

1.  People continue to flee the indebted, pension ponzi burdened liberal states of New England and the Midwest with New Jersey, Illinois, New York and Connecticut all ranking at the very top of the most ditched states of 2016. 

2.  Obama"s obliteration of the coal industry has pushed people out of Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio, none of which appeared on the list of most-ditched states back in 2008 and 2009 before Obama took office.

3.  Finally, the natural migratory pattern of New England"s liberal elitists seems to be toward cheaper and lower taxed states in the Southeast and Western portions of the country...go figure.

And here is the full, official list of the top outbound states for 2016:

1. New Jersey


2. Illinois


3. New York


4. Connecticut


5. Kansas


6. Kentucky


7. West Virginia


8. Ohio


9. Utah


10. Pennsylvania

Meanwhile, after topping the chart as the most moved to state for the past three years, Oregon had a disappointing 2016 and dropped all the way to number three behind South Dakota and Vermont....perhaps those retirees from New England were a little put off by the liberal snowflake riots that plagued the state after Hillary"s loss two months ago.

1. South Dakota


2. Vermont


3. Oregon


4. Idaho


5. South Carolina


6. Washington


7. District of Columbia


8. North Carolina


9. Nevada


10. Arizona

As a simple recap, Americans are moving from heavily-regulated, bureaucratic, high cost-of-living states with massive indebtedness and failing pensions to more affordable states.  Seems fairly logical.

Finally, here is a handy chart from Van Lines that shows how the migratory patterns of Americans have changed since the late 70"s.

Here Are Links For Live-Stream Coverage Of The Electoral College Vote By State

A lot of people don"t like the idea of Donald Trump in the White House.

In an interview with Rock & Pop , Malcorra, the Argentinean Foreign Minister said that although " it is difficult to say" about the controversial candidate, his rise "is revealing of how American society is standing in these elections." " It is revealing a lack of understanding of the world. It is worrisome, is a move to a model quite unpredictable , " said the chancellor. (Argentinean Foreign Minister Malcorra, Rock & Pop reported in infoBAE America, May 27 2016).

When Donald takes over in the White House, will he tell Argentina what they can do with their mythical Malvinas claim? Falklands – 1833 Usurpation & UN Resolutions: https://www.academia.edu/21721198/Falklands_1833_Usurpation_and_UN_Resolutions