ON THE night of June 3rd–4th 1989 the Chinese army unleashed its tanks in the centre of Beijing to crush a protest that had begun seven weeks earlier against the Communist Party’s autocratic rule.

Ever since, Chinese officials grow nervous in the run-up to the anniversary of the crackdown. This year they are especially jittery, fearful that the symbolic passage of a quarter of a century might encourage some dissidents to be more daring than usual in their public remembrance of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who were killed.

Security forces around the country are on heightened alert, particularly in Tiananmen Square, the plaza that has become synonymous with the unrest. (more…)

You’ve probably seen this picture before:

But have you ever seen the full picture ?

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Lt. Christopher Barella, who is a white male, successfully  sued the village of Freeport in Long Island, NY for racial discrimination after he was denied the opportunity to even interview for the position of Chief of Police.  Barella was awarded $1.35 million overall, which includes $200,000 in punitive damages.  The village of Freeport will also have to pay his legal fees and all court costs related to the proceeding.

According to documents filed in Barella’s claim, the village under mayor Andrew Hardwick’s leadership chose Miguel Bermudez, an officer of hispanic origin, who had fewer academic qualifications and scored lower on the application test for Chief, on the basis of race only.  The jury agreed.

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At a meeting held in New Hampshire to address parent’s unhappiness and push back against the “Common Core” curriculum, the meeting opened with a “moderator” setting the stage for the idea that parents who oppose “Common Core” have a hidden (racist) agenda and their concerns about Common Core are unfounded, unreasonable and worthy of dismissal:

“Every teacher that’s using it, is basically saying, this is inspiring …people who are actually using it, like it, again, in terms of local control, you still have local control, if you want higher standards, if that is your genuine point (emphasis mine), then you can go ahead and do the higher standards and the process was indeed entirely transparent…

A teacher who drafted the standards starts to speak:

“I’m not being paid to be here, either. I’m just a teacher who helped write the standards.  And the reason I helped write the standards, and why I am here today, is that I as a white male in society, I am given a lot of privilege that I didn’t earn.

(crowd murmurs disagreement….) (more…)

“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period.   We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

Well, unless you’re talking about Iran (Green Revolution we let get wiped out), Egypt (where we hurried in the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood), Syria (and that whole “red line” thingy), Iran again (the sanctions lifted so they can have a nuke), Israel (the target of the Iranian nuke), Ukraine (they really didn’t need the whole Crimea thing), Canada (and that pesky on-again/off-again election year keystone issue), South Korea (as we watch N-Korea fire missiles at them).   Other than that, you can count on us.  Maybe…..

Hey now,… “if you like your country – you can keep your country”.  “Period”.

(Via The Hill) Vice President Biden on Tuesday sought to reassure Romania that the U.S. would defend its borders amid concerns that Russia’s incursion into Ukraine could spread into other parts of Eastern Europe.

“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period,” Biden said while touring a Romanian air base. “We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

The borders of Romania, which, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic, lie less than 250 miles from Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow earlier this year. (more…)

Everything we ever needed to know about collective unions we learned in Kindergarten. Why run around gathering up all the Easter Eggs – if they are just going to be reassembled in a big pile at the end of the hunt and equal amounts given to each ?

PENNSYLVANIA – Few workers would turn down a raise. Union members, however, can have raises turned down on their behalf.

Employees of a Pennsylvania grocery store learned this the hard way.

Managers at the Giant Eagle grocery in Edinboro, Pa., wanted to reward hard work. So they boosted the wages of two dozen high-performing employees above their union rates. But United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23 was not pleased. The union argued the pay increases violated their contract, took Giant Eagle to court and forced it to rescind the raises.

Why did Local 23 oppose higher pay for its members? Because it upended their seniority system, allowing junior employees to make more those with more seniority. Local 23 wanted uniform pay scales—even if that meant cutting some of their members’ wages. (more…)

Good summary of Michelle Obama’s speech ideology to the graduating class of Topeka Kansas from Truth Revolt:   

For Michelle Obama, the world is black and white. But not about good and evil, right and wrong. Her black and white is all about skin color.

She talks about it often, incessantly, even, injecting race and racism into speeches and events in which they have no business. And she did so again on Friday, when she traveled to Topeka, Kansas, to deliver a speech to graduating high school seniors.

First, a background note: Her speech was moved up a day after parents complained that her visit to a school district — just blocks from the historic schoolhouse central to the Brown v. Education Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation — would focus on race, not their children’s accomplishments.

And that, in fact, is exactly what the first lady did.  (more…)

Sevastopol, Crimea (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Friday to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol, in what is his first visit to the disputed territory since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.

The President arrived in the port of Sevastopol by sea, in an event televised by Russian state TV, and watched while flanked by senior officers as Russian warships took part in a naval display in the Black Sea.

The military parades, held each year to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, come amid soaring tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are planning a weekend referendum on autonomy.  (continue reading)

  Independent journalist Jack Cashill discusses his examination of the Trayvon Martin shooting/George Zimmerman case (“If I had a son: Race, Guns and the railroading of George Zimmerman”) at a forum held at the Platte County Resource Center in Kansas City, Missouri and televised on C-Span’s “Book TV”.
The entire discussion is about 1 hr  and 15 minutes long.  He opens up the discussion of his book about the Trayvon Martin shooting by laying down the foundation for the Progressive/Communist Agitprop history of politicizing non-political criminal cases for the advancement of the Socialist agenda, starting with the Sacco/Vanzetti case in the 1920’s.  It is a worthwhile listen for those who don’t have a full appreciation that the techniques used by the Progressives in the Trayvon Martin drama were from an old, old playbook.

For some reason this continuing saga of socialist oppression seems to have escaped the mainstream media…. Sean Penn unavailable for comment (?) 

(From PanAm Post Via WeaselZippers) Peaceful protests in Venezuela will from now on require express authorization from the mayor or the governor of the jurisdiction where they are carried out. The Supreme Court (TSJ) made this decision yesterday, declaring that the right to protest “is not an absolute right.”
https://twitter.com/DefendWallSt/statuses/460131943276085248
Police forces will now be legally allowed to disperse people who shut down a street to voice their complaints. Also, the attorney General will be allowed to prosecute unauthorized protestors for disobedience.
The TSJ considered it is imperative to “guarantee the right to free movement,” which would justify dispersing any unauthorized congregation. According to the ruling, written by Judge Arcadio Delgado, local police forces have “an obligation to cooperate with the rest of the security forces in maintaining public order during the illegal exercise of the right to protest.” (more…)