Denis “the fixer” McDonough is President Obama’s current Chief of Staff.   [Keeping tabs on him is also a little fun hobby of mine.]   The Fixer Goes To Germany.

Hey, why not…. what else does he have to do ?

WH Chief of Staff Denis McDonough held "intensive talks" today in Berlin to ease strained relations over spying/surveillance matters.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 22, 2014

WASHINGTON — In a sign of just how much German-American relations have frayed, President Obama sent his chief of staff to Berlin to try to smooth over the rupture caused by recent revelations of American spying on its ally, the White House said Tuesday.

Denis R. McDonough, the president’s chief of staff, met with his German counterpart in Berlin on Tuesday for what the White House called “intensive talks on the state of bilateral relations and future cooperation.” The American and German officials agreed to set up a dialogue “to address concerns of both sides,” the two sides said in identical statements issued by the White House and the Chancellery in Berlin.

The surprise trip by such a close confidant of Mr. Obama’s underscored the seriousness of the friction over recent disclosures about American espionage in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel was already livid last year when she learned that her cellphone was being tapped by the National Security Agency, and the damage only deepened this month with the arrest of a German intelligence agent accused of spying for the United States.

Germany responded to the latest case by expelling the C.I.A. station chief in Berlin, who has now left the country. Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel discussed the episode in a recent telephone call and American officials said Mr. McDonough’s trip originated from that conversation. The latest falling out came even as Mr. Obama is pressing Ms. Merkel to orchestrate a tougher European response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. (more…)

DETROIT (WWJ) – After a class action lawsuit filed against the city of Detroit, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund says that recent water shutoffs to Detroit residents were racially motivated.

Veronica Joice with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund says, “That (the shutoffs are) being done in a discriminatory fashion; and they should at least take a look at whether there’s a better way to do this that doesn’t affect the most vulnerable citizens — the majority of whom are African American here in Detroit.”
Attorney Alice Jennings, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Detroit residents, said it’s a known fact that there are corporations that owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
“These companies are basically Caucasian companies,” Jennings said. “The folks who are being cut off are almost one hundred percent African American.”
(more…)

Redistribution of intellectual effort.   No, this is not a joke – unfortunately.  If you earn an “A” and you are white or Asian, you need to have your grade lowered so a minority grade can be raised if lower.

WISCONSIN – A new policy at the University of Wisconsin – Madison states that good grades should be distributed equally among students of different races.


The policy, named the “Framework for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence,” calls for “proportional participation of historically underrepresented racial-ethnic groups at all levels of an institution, including high status special programs, high-demand majors, and in the distribution of grades.”
UW – Madison professor W. Lee Hansen wrote about his concerns with the policy in a piece published Wednesday. (more…)

Despite the threats of violence and bombs thousands of Pro-Israel supporters joined Pam Geller to show unwavering support for Israel:

Wolverine Pam Geller has lots more pictures HERE:

Meanwhile in Boston (more…)

Last week we shared the story of reports from inside the Border Patrol who refused to participate in removing the Murietta protesters.   When DHS riot squads were called into action by the Obama administration the Border Patrol warned they would ‘stand down’ and not enforce -or participate in- the aggressive tactic.
In response to that article many people said such a position was hard to believe because the current federal government has so radicalized and militarized so many agencies – people simply find it hard to believe the BP law authority would refuse to obey.
I kept quiet and chose not to argue the point.    However, what many people forget is how the Obama regime began their tenure.  Remember Brian Terry, or Fast n Furious?   The Obama administration has been openly and specifically hostile to the U.S. Border Patrol boots on the ground.   The BP know this administration does not care about their personal safety.   Today’s border activity is yet another example of why, if push comes to shove, the Border Patrol will side with citizens, not the administration:

FOX EXCLUSIVE: RINCON PENINSULA, Texas — U.S. Border Patrol agents on the American side of the Rio Grande were forced to take cover Friday night when high-caliber weaponry was fired at them from the Mexican side of the river, sources told FoxNews.com.
The weapons were fired at the U.S. side of the riverbank in the area of the Rincon Peninsula across the Rio Grande from Reynosa, Mexico, at about 8:30 p.m., sources said. Bullets ricocheted into an area where Border Patrol agents were positioned, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told FoxNews.com.  (more…)

(National Journal) […]  When asked by CNN’s Candy Crowley for if U.S.-Russia relations were now “at Cold War levels,” Feinstein did not hesitate. “Yes,” the California Democrat replied.

“The issue is, where is Putin? I would say, Putin, you have to man up,” Feinstein said. “You should say if this was a mistake, which I hope it was, own up. even if it was, it was a horrendous mistake. … and it points out the futility of what is going on in Ukraine.” (more…)

It should be anticipated the Muslim Brotherhood will intensify calls for further attacks against Egyptian authorities – especially given the el-Sisi support for Israel’s efforts against Hamas.    The Brotherhood and Hamas are ideological brethren.   With Libya in a state of civil war and crisis, the Eastern Libya border to Egypt will be used by the severe Islamists as an incursion zone to attack.   

Remember the most hated man in the region (by the terrorists) is not Benjamin Netanyahu, it is Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi .  President el-Sisi has deconstructed the terror networks, arrested the brotherhood members, and jailed the violent extremists.

VIA BBC – Gunmen have killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in western Egypt, security officials say.

The attackers used grenade launchers and heavy machine guns when they attacked the desert post some 390 miles (630km) west of Cairo, officials said.  It is not yet clear who carried out the assault.  Militants have intensified a campaign against the security forces since the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power just over a year ago.  (link)
(more…)

A few days ago we posted some details, and a large dose of opinion, about the latest misguided efforts of Glenn Beck’s “Bold and Sanctimonious Tour” – and a strange thing happened…. few, if any, thought our critical outline was controversial.

It would appear the Patriotic U.S. Sleeping Giant is awake, at least on this issue:

Is it really “charity” when the federal government is using the IRS to collect the “offering”?

What follows below is a little more depth on the issue of “Faith Based” organizations and those receiving federal grants to facilitate illegal immigration.
We have received numerous requests to turn the eye of research into exactly what these organizations are.   Specifically, one group that is continually in the media stories when they describe “faith-based” organizations and subsequent assistance to illegal aliens, or unaccompanied alien children, Baptist Child and Family Services or BCFS.
“Faith Based Organizations“.  Has a nice charitable ring to it, no?  At least on the surface it’s a great sounding catch phrase.   Such descriptivism gives the reader or listener the impression of “charity” in some form.    At the very least, as Mr. Teddy Bears and Soccer Balls -Glenn Beck- has recently been espousing, they would seem quite, well, “charitable“.
Alas, not so fast.
Allow us to introduce to you Mr. Kevin Dinnin.
He’s the paid President and CEO of Baptist Child and Family Services Emergency Management Division (BCFS-EMD).  We found him by backtracking the name of the principal officer posted on their 2012 tax filings.
Paid at an annual salary of $477,799+ I might add.
Not a bad gig for himself and rest of the BCFS-EMD leadership and staff who pulled in, and paid  $33,000,000 in wages for 2012.
Yes, that is THIRTY THREE MILLION.   In payroll.
You see, BCFS is two entities.  You have BCFS and BCFS-EMD.

BCFS Health and Human Services’ Emergency Management Division (BCFS EMD) is a non-profit partner of federal, state and local government and private industry. Our organization specializes in emergency management, incident management, disaster response, public health and medical emergency response, mass care, medical sheltering and planning for vulnerable populations.  (link)

Call me crazy but I thought that’s what FEMA was for….. oh well, I digress.
Now, at this point I’d usually link to a bunch of internal publicly available information about BCFS-EMD so you could cruise around and dig in for your own analytical curiosity.   However, a strange thing happened while assembling this research; the site closed down many of the page functions during my assembly….. presto:  “ACCESS DENIED” !

I’ll have to leave it up to you why they did this.   But I can assure you the change in sunlight protocol occurred between the hours of noon on Wednesday 7/16/14 and 11:30pm that same day.   How do I know?  Because for the past two days I’ve been mining data on this organization – and the “Access Denied” only occurred after I had already been assembling the cast of characters and tracking down their tax filings.
(more…)

Updated Interactive Map – CLICK HERE

WASHINGTON DC – The White House won’t reveal where it is housing thousands of Central American juvenile migrants because their privacy rights trump Americans’ right to know what‘s happening in their neighborhoods, press secretary Josh Earnest declared July 16.
“The public does have a right to know what’s happening… [but] at the same time, there are privacy rights that are included in the law that this administration is committed to enforcing and following,” Earnest told Ed Henry, Fox News’ White House correspondent.
“We are not surprised in the least to see the Obama administration imitate the smugglers,” William Gheen, founder of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, told The Daily Caller. “This is how smuggling operations work, this is what the smuggler-in-chief wants — secret planes and secret buses full of illegal immigrants.” (more…)