KWBaker

It’s hardly a recent revelation that the pieces that define “American style,” are so rarely produced in this country anymore. If you’re reading this site, it’s safe to assume that you’re aware of the steady deterioration of America’s garment industry, but (thanks in part to our shared awareness) there has also been the reactionary effect of bringing production back to the states. This can be seen in the multitude of shirt factories, denim labels, brands, and sites such as this across all categories that have opened over past decades.

These contemporary companies were not formed to compete with the mammoth conglomerates that produce overseas, rather they provide a higher quality product for a conscientious consumer. Again, this is not at all new revelation, but it does place the sheer resilience of America’s hand-sewn footwear brands in context. While many industries exported their production and have only recently begun to see a continental renaissance, our country’s small-scale hand-sewn shoe businesses have endured all along. These footwear brands, some of which have been around for over one hundred years, were able to convert the Native American moccasin tradition and weather the mercurial attitude of the American consumer year after year.

The perseverance of the American hand-sewn moccasin industry has a lot to do with pragmatism, as it’s simply not possible to match the quality of a hand-sewn shoe on a mass scale, and yes at times many of these labels have remained stuck in time, immune to the progressions of the clothing industry as a whole. This general stoicism paid off though as the wave caught up to them so to speak and the rising interest in hand made shoes, especially those with a “Made in America” tagline, also opened up space within this field for newer, more creative labels to exist alongside the stalwarts.

Foundational styles like the classic New England three eyelet camp mocc and ubiquitous boat shoe, are now joined by brightly colored loafers, pony hair lace-ups, and even stitched sneakers, making this an undeniably exciting time for handmade footwear in America. From the centenarian sewers with their ancient techniques to the budding brands that are changing what we think of when we hear the word “moccasin,” here’s America’s mighty crop of hand-crafted shoemakers.

Quoddy
Founded in: 1909
Located in: Perry, Maine
Fact: Founder Harry Smith Shorey was afflicted with Polio and chose to make hand-sewn shoes because it was a task that he could perform while sitting down.
Specialty: Classic perimeter laced non-slip soled boat shoes that are about as iconic as it gets.
Found at: Mr Porter, J. Crew, and Leffot, just to name a few.

Russell
Founded in: 1898
Located in: Berlin, Wisconsin
Fact: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the King of Nepal, and Robert Redford have all proudly worn Russell Moccs.
Specialty: Big, burly, brown leather boots designed to trudge through the Midwest’s worst.
Found at: Haven, Nepenthes, and Context.

Arrow
Founded in: 1951
Located in: Hudson, Massachusetts
Fact: Arrow boasts one of the most endearingly old school websites online.
Specialty: Understated, no-frills, round soled moccs, with sharp white stitching all the way around.
Found at: Nepenthes, and their own website, that’s about it.

Townview
Founded in: “The Late Eighties”
Located in: Dexter, Maine
Fact: Townview’s are literally home-made, since day one Galen and Gayanne Wintle had made all of Townview’s moccasins in their home studio.
Specialty: Double soled moccs, perfect for lounging around the house or a quick jaunt around the block.
Found at: Their charming site, and occasionally eBay.

Yuketen
Founded in: 1985
Located in: Hermosa Beach, California
Fact: With a penchant for stamped leathers, insane patterns, and hybrid styles, Yuketen was the first company to really push the moccasin into a new, more progressive territory.
Specialty: Hand-made leather shoes that have increasingly more innovative and off-the-wall as the years have gone on.
Found at: Gentry, Inventory, and Union LA.

Rancourt & Co.
Founded in: 2009 (with handsewn roots dating back decades)
Located in: Lewiston, Maine
Fact: The Rancourt family has been producing hand-sewn moccasins in Lewiston, Maine for three generations.
Specialty: Smart slip-ons and lace-ups that are both office appropriate and incredibly comfortable.
Found at: Brooks Brothers, Band of Outsiders, and Harrison Limited.

Oak Street Bootmakers
Founded in: 2010
Located in: Chicago, Illinois
Fact: Founder George Vlagos’ father John was a master cobbler who ran his own shop and it’s there that George first became interested in the art of handmade shoes.
Specialty: As their name would imply, Oak Street’s Trench Boot, a sleek, plain toed stomper, is what they’re best known for.
Found at: Independence, Nordstrom, and The Woodlands.

Wassookeag
Founded in: 2010
Located in: Dexter, Maine
Fact: Each pair of Wassokeag are produced one at a time, by hand, as they are ordered by founder Mark Wintle (who I suspect is related in some way to the Wintle’s of Townview fame.)
Specialty: The shoes that made Dexter, Maine famous – simple, no-frills, leather soled moccs. No more, no less.
Found at: Exclusively on the Wassokeag site.

New England Outerwear
Founded in: 2012
Located in: Rockport, Massachusetts
Fact: The New England Outerwear guys actually took the plunge and purchased their own factory in order to start the brand.
Specialty: Classic mocc styles that have been given a facelift through bolder color schemes and unique hides.
Found at: Blue Button Shop, Kafka, and Off the Hook.

Waltzing Matilda
Founded in: 2013
Located in: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Fact: Not much is known about Waltzing Matilda as they’re yet to come out with their first collection of shoes, but they purchased an old factory up in Maine earlier this year and they will be debuting footwear next summer.
Specialty: To be determined.
Found at: No where as of yet.

The next step up from boy scout model rockets is high power rocketry. This is real fun for adults. These things will go miles high. It’s a strictly build-your-own endeavor, requiring permits. The National Association of Rocketry publishes a bi-monthly magazine for sport rocketeers called appropriately enough, Sport Rocketry. But my friends who are avid amateur rocketeers scoff at Sport Rocketry as kid stuff. They want to make their own real rockets reaching the stratosphere. From their garages come complex computer-guided peaceful missiles. They struct their stuff in Rockets, the magazine of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.

-- KK

Sport Rocketry
$62 (includes membership)

Rocketry
$42

Sample Excerpts:

High Power Rocketry, also known as HPR, is similar to model rocketry with differences that include the propulsion power and weight increase of the model. They use motors in ranges over “G” power and/or weigh more than laws and regulations allow for unrestricted model rockets. Like model rockets, High Power rockets are typically made of safer, non-metallic materials such as cardboard, plastic, and wood, however, construction and recovery techniques usually differ somewhat, due to the requirements imposed by the use of HPR motors. This means that these models must be constructed in such a way that they have the ability to safely fly under these higher stress conditions.

High Power rocket motors cannot be purchased over the counter by the general consumer and typically are not carried by your average hobby store. They can be mail-ordered or purchased at some launch sites by adult modelers who are High Power certified, which is a requirement to purchase and use them. The NAR offers a three level certification program for modelers who want to fly high power rockets. Also, High Power rockets must be flown in compliance with their own separate High Power Rocket Safety Code.

Launching High Power rockets requires more preparation than launching model rockets. Not only is a larger field needed, but FAA clearance must be arranged, well in advance of the launch date. There may also be local or state regulatory issues to be addressed before you can fly your first high power rocket. This is another good reason for joining a NAR Section – many organized clubs already have the personnel and experience in making these tedious arrangements, freeing you to concentrate on the actual flying.

Credit where it is due: for once “No Drama Obama” showed some real anger and emotion. In addressing the nation about James Foley, President Obama had a level of righteousness in his voice he does not often have. While I think it unseemly that he was literally within ten minutes of his speech on a golf course, I appreciate the righteousness in his statement. But his words bother me greatly. His words expose why he can never beat ISIL.

In his speech the President said a few things.

There has to be a clear rejection of this kind of nihilistic ideologies. One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, there is no clear rejection of this nihilistic ideology. And while you and I may agree ISIL “has no place in the 21st century”, a lot of people do think it has a place. He said “ISIL speaks for no religion,” but they do. He and so many refuse to recognize that. It may not be Islam, but it is certainly a religion and it has many adherents.

The biggest issue, taking into account all of the above, was this:

People like this ultimately fail. They fail because the future is won by those who build and not destroy.

Herein lies the problem and why the President cannot beat ISIL. He is fond of talking about the arc of history bending in various directions. The truth is the arc of history does not bend on its own. People bend the arc. History bends in the direction of those who fight to bend it. As Mollie Hemingway notes, what President Obama said is “is literally Mickey Mouse philosophy. And I don’t mean that in a good way.”

The future is often won by those who fight to destroy. History bent toward the West after World War II because we destroyed the Nazis, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and so much more. History bent toward Alaric I and the Visigoths when they sacked Rome. In the long game, we face what we face in the Middle East today because of the sacking of Constantinople and the destruction of the last vestiges of the Byzantine Empire.

“[D]estruction after all is a form of creation,” wrote Graham Greene. There is a lot of truth in that. Combine President Obama’s naivety on this point with his statement on “nihilistic ideologies.” President Obama’s progressive ideology is nihilistic and deeply naive. Both the progressive ideology and ISIL end up in much the same place — progressive, secular utopia always ends in totalitarianism. It always ends in a police state where the state controls freedom. The victims of the utopia may be different from ISIL’s utopia, but there are still victims. History is filled with progressive utopias and those who suffer under them.

This arrives at the ultimate end and folly. Mr. Obama seems to think that if we can all just reject these silly ideologies and religion that we will order ourselves in a proper, tolerant society. Had he any sense of history he would know how wrong he is.

Men are brutal creatures when left to their own devices. Men in their natural state are savages who move immediately toward survival of the fittest. We do not order ourselves into utopia when stripped of ideology. We run headlong into the very nihilism Mr. Obama says we should reject. And here, friends, is where we reach the great point of division.

The world is divided into two groups: those who embrace the history and lessons of the West’s faith heritage and those who do not. Those who do not may divide among atheists, agnostics, and even ISIL. Those who embrace our heritage and that of the West know that men can be called out of their depravity and nihilism to a higher power and cause greater than themselves. But that cause is neither the collectivist state nor Muhammad. It is, instead, the one true God and Truth so many pretend do not exist.

Because too many of our political and intellectual leaders reject that altogether, they will only go for half-measures thinking ISIL cannot win on the arc of history and that it speaks for no man or religion. All those presuppositions are wrong and potentially fatal to more than those, like James Foley, who stepped too close documenting this evil.

The post President Obama Shows Why He Cannot Beat ISIL appeared first on RedState.

On Monday, a Rasmussen poll showed that a full 57 percent of black Americans believe that Officer Darren Wilson ought to be found guilty of murder for his shooting of unarmed 18-year-old black man Michael Brown. Meanwhile, 56 percent of white Americans believe there is not enough information to decide yet.

Clearly, the second position is correct. We simply do not have enough information at this point to determine whether Officer Wilson used excessive force, let alone whether he “executed” Brown, as the Brown family lawyers and Jesse Jackson claim. Wilson has not had a chance to tell his story; the police have not released the full narrative of his side. We do know that original reports that Brown was shot in the back were false; we know that Brown was hardly a “gentle giant” as he was portrayed in the media, given his strong-arm robbery of a convenience store minutes before the shooting; and new reports suggest that Wilson may have been beaten by Brown before the shooting.

But facts are of no relevance to many members of the black community, apparently. In June 2013, a poll showed that a full 86 percent of blacks believe that they do not get equal treatment under the law. Which means that for a huge swath of the black community, every time a black person and a white person are involved in a racial case, knee-jerk support for the black person is merited.

Ferguson is not the first time that huge percentages of the black community have jumped to judgment on racial cases without evidence. Unfortunately, those regular leaps to judgment completely undermine the credibility of legitimate claims regarding racist behavior.

Trayvon Martin. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin after a physical altercation. The police investigated and decided that the shooting was in self-defense. After public pressure, prosecutors brought a murder charge against Zimmerman, despite evidence that Trayvon Martin had been pounding Zimmerman’s head into the pavement when Zimmerman shot him. The media treated Zimmerman as a vicious white killer, despite the fact that Zimmerman was “white Hispanic.” In June 2013, after the not guilty verdict came down for George Zimmerman, a poll of black Americans showed that 86 percent of black Americans said they disapproved of the verdict, and 87 percent said that the shooting was unjustified. Among those number, presumably, we could count President “If I Had a Son, He Would Look Like Trayvon” Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, who pursued a Department of Justice case against Zimmerman even after the acquittal.

Duke Lacrosse. In 2006, black stripper Crystal Mangum falsely claimed that she had been raped by white members of the Duke lacrosse team. The Duke coach was forced to resign; the players were suspended; prosecutor Mike Nifong brought a case against the players despite countervailing evidence. Eventually, the case fell apart when it turned out that Mangum was lying. Nonetheless, in January 2007, weeks after the case was dropped by Nifong (who was eventually disbarred and convicted of criminal contempt), a CBS poll showed that 46 percent of black Americans thought the Duke lacrosse players were guilty, and 30 percent of black Americans said that race was the “single most important factor in the case,” according to Melissa Harris-Perry.

OJ Simpson. On June 13, 1994, OJ Simpson murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. The evidence was clear and convincing, including DNA, blood samples, and shoeprint analysis. Nonetheless, Simpson was acquitted; one of the jurors, gave “what looked like a black power salute” after the verdict was read. In July 1994, 60 percent of blacks said that it was either definitely or probably not true that Simpson had murdered Nicole and Goldman; that number maintained throughout the trial. Even today, 43 percent of blacks agree that OJ was not guilty.

Marion Barry. On January 18, 1990, Washington D.C. mayor and professional race-baiter Marion Barry was arrested after smoking crack in his hotel room. He was caught on video and audio doing so. Nonetheless, a Washington Post poll from February 1990 showed that just 26 percent of blacks thought that Barry was to blame for his arrest; 30 percent of blacks thought he should run again for mayor; 46 percent said they would vote for him if he ran.

Tawana Brawley. In 1987, 15-year-old Tawana Brawley, with the help of race-baiter Al Sharpton, falsely accused several white men, including District Attorney Steven Pagones, of rape. Brawley’s story was false in virtually every way. Nonetheless, a New York Times/CBS News poll in June 1988 showed that just 50 percent of blacks thought Brawley was probably lying, as opposed to 85 percent of whites.

Only a deep-seated belief in the corruption and evil of America’s criminal justice system justifies these numbers. If you believe the system targets black people, then outrage is always justified before the facts are in – and in many cases, even after the facts are in. And the media’s consistent desire to drive that perception continues to contribute to the vast racial gap in American beliefs about law enforcement and criminality.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.

The Islamic State (IS) slaughtered American journalist James Wright Foley, whom many remember for his fantastic contributions to the media. But there is one aspect of Foley’s life outlets allow to be overshadowed: Foley relied on his Catholic faith, especially the Rosary, when Qaddafi’s forces kidnapped him in Libya in 2011.

Foley attended Marquette University, a Catholic university in Milwaukee, WI. After Libyan forces released him, Foley penned a letter to Marquette to explain why the university was always a friend to him, but specifically in captivity. He told his colleague Clare his mother “had a strong faith” and this would allow her to know what happened to him. From Marquette:

I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.

Clare and I prayed together out loud. It felt energizing to speak our weaknesses and hopes together, as if in a conversation with God, rather than silently and alone.

After eighteen days, the regime allowed prisoners to call home. Foley talked to his mother, and she said friends and family prayed for him. Marquette even held a prayer vigil for him. She asked him if he could feel their prayers. He answered yes. From Marquette:

“I do, Mom, I feel them,” and I thought about this for a second. Maybe it was others’ prayers strengthening me, keeping me afloat.

On his last day in Tripoli he viewed the speech Tom Durkin, one of the friends Foley’s mother mentioned, contributed at Foley’s vigil. From Marquette (emphasis added):

To a church full of friends, alums, priests, students and faculty, I watched the best speech a brother could give for another. It felt like a best man speech and a eulogy in one. It showed tremendous heart and was just a glimpse of the efforts and prayers people were pouring forth. If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.

Foley’s parents also relied on their Catholic faith after he disappeared in Syria on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.

"Faith has been part of family life, but this has deepened my faith because there is our hope. Our hope is that God will take care of Jim," she said.

Father Paul Gousse, the priest at the Foleys' home parish, visited the family Tuesday. He did not speak to reporters, but the church asked people to respect the Foleys' privacy in this difficult time. Diane and John, Foley’s father, addressed the media on Tuesday. John said Foley “is in God’s hands” and everyone knows “he’s in heaven.”

Diane left this message on Facebook:

We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.

We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.

We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim.

A vigil for Foley is scheduled at Marquette for August 26 at 6:00 p.m. The university released a statement as well.

"The Marquette community is deeply saddened by the death of alumnus and freelance journalist James Foley, Arts ’96," the university said. "We extend our heartfelt prayers and wishes for healing to James’ family and friends during this very difficult time. James, who majored in history at Marquette, had a heart for social justice and used his immense talents to tell the difficult stories in the hopes that they might make a difference in the world – a measure of his character for which we could not be prouder."

Each illegal immigrant in the United States costs American citizens, Louisiana Republican Rep. Vance McAllister argued this week at a town hall meeting in his home state, according to The Town Talk.

“Every time one illegal immigrant comes to this country, you lose health care, you lose schooling, you lose education for one our citizens.” McAllister said, according to the local publication, due to their costs.

The congressman stressed the need to enforce America’s immigration laws and said that while he is for immigration reform, he is not for amnesty and to say otherwise “is ridiculous and baloney. I’m for the administration enforcing the laws.”

The Louisiana congressman, who is currently in the midst of a reelection bid, added that he is in favor of Republicans’ lawsuit against Obama, but is not on board with impeachment.

“I would rather deal with President Obama than I would President Biden,” The Town Talk quoted McAllister. 

Former KISS guitar slinger Ace Frehley loves to taunt his ex-band mate Gene Simmons. What Frehley won't do, though, is blend politics with his chosen profession.

Frehley spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about a number of topics while promoting his new CD Space Invader, including his combustible relationship with the KISS co-founder. But it's what the guitarist said about music and politics which sounded both original and heartfelt.

I don't think people in the entertainment business should get too involved in politics because it kind of blurs things. I want people to stay focused on my music, not because I don't want people to kill animals for leather. [Laughs] The whole PETA thing. I'm not saying it's wrong for other people, but my personal choice is no. Let's stay focused on the music. I don't want to be part owner of an [arena] football team. [Laughs] That's Paul and Gene's newest venture. The first thing that came to my mind [when I heard that] was, 'Hey, what about the music? Why don't you stay focused on the music?' It just seems like they're spreading themselves a little thin. Maybe you should focus on your records a little more and they'd be better. And you can quote that.

Simmons, though, clearly doesn't mind talking politics. In recent months he's been highly critical of President Barack Obama. Last week, he implored new immigrants to learn English in order to achieve the full American dream.

As international media focus on the harrowing plight of Iraq's Yazidi people as they attempt to escape genocide at the hands of the Islamic State terrorists, much has been made of the suffering of the thousands taking refuge on Mount Sinjar, without food or water. One octogenarian, threatened with death by the Islamic State, crawled for two days to reach the sanctuary at the foot of the mountain.

The woman, who gave her name to the Global Post only as Aissan, escaped being captured by the Islamic State for sale as a slave; she says she was told she was too old and no "good to anyone anymore" as the jihadists abducted her entire family, including a three-year-old and a five-year-old. The Islamic State did not leave her to rest, however; she was ordered to convert to Islam. Her grandson, Assad Haig, who was in the Kurdish city of Erbil while his family was taken away, received a call from his grandmother explaining the situation.

The next day, she said, the militants returned to her home and tried to force her to convert to Islam. When she refused, she said they gave her one night to change her mind: she would have to wear a burqa and recite words signifying conversion to Islam the next day or face death. She called Haig and told him she would rather die.

Aissan took the night as an opportunity to flee and began crawling on her hands and knees towards Mount Sinjar, where thousands were sheltered and close to death due to lack of food or water. Coming down from the mountain meant facing certain death in the hands of the Islamic State, but staying on the mountain would require extraordinary circumstances to survive. The journey took Aissan two days. She was found by Syrian Kurdish forces upon arrival and was able to contact Haig.

In the two days Aissan spent fleeing to Mount Sinjar, extraordinary circumstances did allow for the rescue of many on the mountain. The United States sent air reinforcements that allowed Kurdish Peshmerga forces to cut through the Islamic State's jihadists to reach the Yazidis. Helicopters from national and international sources dropped humanitarian aid and lifted all they could to safety.

The story does not have a happy ending for Aissan or her grandson. The rest of her family, except for Haig's father, remains missing, with little to no leads on where to find them. Reports suggest that the Islamic State jihadists are selling hundreds of Yazidis into the slave trade, while others remain in the custody of the terrorist group. The Islamic State has made clear that they intend to eliminate the Yazidi population of Iraq, as well as all who do not conform to their fundamentalist version of Sunni Islam.

Clive Palmer (pictured), Australian mining magnate and leader of the nation’s United Party, accused China of trying to take over the nation’s resources. Although he was quickly lambasted by ruling Liberal Party Prime Minister Tony Abbott, it seems that there is now a populist movement against China’s state-owned industries' aggressive acquisition of foreign companies and infrastructure.

“They want to take over our ports and get our resources for free,” Palmer said during a television appearance. He went on to say that China’s state-owned Citic Pacific Ltd., his partner in the world’s biggest magnetite iron ore mine in Western Australia, are “mongrels” and “bastards” for the way they subjugate their own people and Australians.

Tony Abbott’s government strongly encouraged expanding economic and trade relationships with China. Australia has a substantial balance of payments surplus with China. Australia exported $95 billion and imported $47 billion in 2013. Australia’s main trading partner is China with 27% of total exports and 15% of total imports.

In 2010 and 2011, Australia reported consistent trade surpluses due to high prices of commodities being predominantly shipped to China. Metals, coal, oil, and natural gas account for 54% of total exports; machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, and telecommunication lasers account for about half of imports. But since 2012, the trade balance has fallen back into deficit due to a sharp in what China is willing to pay for commodities.

Prime Minister Abbott attacked Palmer’s comments as “hugely damaging” and stressed the importance of Australia’s relationship with its biggest trading partner. The powerful Australian Industry Group, the equivalent of America’s Business Roundtable, condemned Palmer’s comments as “ill-considered and inappropriate.”

Palmer is embroiled in a nasty legal battle with China’s state-owned Citic Pacific that alleges he siphoned off $12 million from a joint account to help finance his own political campaign. His rising United Party has three senators in Parliament’s upper house, making it the key constituent that Abbott’s government must win to pass legislation opposed by leftist Labors and Greens.

On an ABC-hosted evening show, Palmer denied Citic’s allegations and called the company “Chinese mongrels.” He added, “I’m saying that because they are communists, they shoot their own people, they haven’t got a justice system, and they want to take over this country.”

Joe Hockey, Treasurer of Australia, said “It’s hugely damaging for Mr. Palmer to make those sorts of comments, because ultimately, he is the big beneficiary of a Chinese investment partner – someone that has paid to help him to develop his resources.” He warned that such comments threaten to “bring down the rest of Australia because of your biases.”

The Chinese embassy in Australia’s capital city of Canberra responded: “The words of Mr. Clive Palmer MP are absurd and irresponsible... full of ignorance and prejudice.”

Many Palmer supporters believe that the lawsuit filed by Citic against Palmer is retaliation for the United Party’s opposition to the Liberal Party’s efforts to finalize a free trade agreement with China.

Jacqui Lambie, one of the three United Party Senators, defended Palmer’s statements:

If anybody thinks that we should have a national security and defense policy which ignores the threat of a Chinese Communist invasion – you’re delusional and got rocks in your head. The Communist Chinese military capacity and level of threat to the Western world democracies is at an unprecedented and historical high.

Many Australians have quietly applauded Palmer’s comments that their government is “bending over backwards” for China. From 2006 to 2012, China invested $52 billion in Australia and was seen as bringing jobs and prosperity to the “Land Down Under.” But as many of those companies that China took over are now laying off Australians, populist political resentment has grown that Australia is now at the mercy of China.

The author will respond to readers' comments.

Ex-Im is set to run out of funds at the end of September. Let’s make sure that this vehicle for crony capitalism doesn’t get a new lease on life.
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As Congress remains in a protracted recess for another three weeks and the political news recedes from the headlines, it didn’t take long for the nonpolitical event surrounding the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, to become political. After all, everything in this day and age is ultimately politicized.

There is a narrative developing among some libertarian figures that the actions of the police in Ferguson represent the latest example of egregious abuses of “big government.” From listening to their diatribes one would come away with the impression that the local police decided to randomly kill an African-American teen in cold blood, then proceeded to terrorize the neighborhood and suspend civil liberties while engaging in para-military exercises throughout the streets. Their account of the tragedy portrays the situation as a zero-sum battle between agents of government and private citizens.

For some on the libertarian right, the fact that the “victims” of the alleged police brutality are black makes this both an opportunity to bash big government and make in-roads with the black community by showing how unbridled government control is particularly harmful to their way of life. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), for example, parachuted into the conflict by penning an op-ed unambiguously making this tragedy about race. While offering a terse throwaway line about the importance of police maintaining the peace, he then weaved in general bipartisan concerns about a militarized police into a politically motivated supposition about the role of race in this conflict – all before the facts are clear.

“Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them,” said Paul.

He then boldly presented a long-held left-wing patronizing talking point that “anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention.”

Really? Until Paul cites real evidence that blacks are punished more severely for crimes than whites or are wrongly accused of crimes more often than other people in the year 2014, he should leave the racial pandering to Al Sharpton. Clearly, this suburban police department was not ready to deal with such a volatile situation with full competence. But the notion that they had a racist agenda beyond protecting the citizens of the city or that they would have been more forgiving of other races engaging in violent rioting is not something that can simply be asserted.

Moreover, while this view of the events in Ferguson would indeed present us with an opportunity to show the harmful effects of a police state and the general concern of militarization of police, it fails to take a holistic approach to what actually happened.

There is nothing political about the events that took place on the tragic night of August 9, when Michael Brown was shot dead in an altercation with police. Like every individual fatally shot where law enforcement is involved, we have to learn the facts on the ground before pontificating and drawing politically motivated conclusions from the tragedy. The truth will come out through the judicial process.

What is clear from the aftermath of the shooting is that parts of the city erupted in mass rioting, burning down businesses and terrorizing neighborhoods with violence reminiscent of scenes in the Middle East. Even if a cop shot Michael Brown in cold blood, which has not been demonstrated, the lawlessness and the rioting was simply unacceptable and needed to be shut down immediately. Rioters weren’t just attacking the police; they were attacking private businesses and innocent citizens. There is no higher degree of tyranny than violent anarchy, in which people cannot travel freely without fear of harm to their bodies or property.

Conservatives are certainly in agreement with libertarians on many issues and share their concerns about over-criminalization of some dubious non-violent crimes or overzealous use of police to collect speeding tickets to purvey the welfare state. There is a valid general concern about the over-militarization of police forces, and there is certainly no need for such para-military arms of bureaucracies like the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Education.

But conservatives should not rush into the libertarian social media mob against all things police or government engaging in a zero-sum "the police acted stupidly" meme while obfuscating the fact that the rioting presented an imminent threat to the liberty of innocent citizens. As conservatives, we don’t believe in zero government. We believe in ordered liberty built upon a strong civil society. There is no place in a civil society for violent rioting, and we need brave members of law enforcement to help preserve that ordered liberty. Their absence would lead to rampant tyranny much worse than what we experience under our ever-encroaching government.

Indeed, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) struck the perfect pitch, encapsulating everyone’s concerns: "Police officers risk their lives every day to keep us safe, and any time a young man loses his life in a confrontation with law enforcement, it is tragic... Civil liberties must be protected, but violence is not the answer. Once the unrest is brought to an end, we should examine carefully what happened to ensure that justice is served."

There is so much common ground between conservatives and libertarians (and even liberals). We can craft legislation to clearly regulate the use of military tactics and weapons. We can work on sentencing reform for some non-violent crimes. But to completely and dishonestly ignore the role that violent crime plays in limiting liberty and the critical role that a robust police response plays in preserving liberty is antithetical to all of our values. And to engage in politically motivated racial pandering to help legitimize the behavior is shameless.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on Hillary Rodham Clinton's penchant for the high life, often at the expense of groups who want to hear her speak priot to what many believe will be a run for the Oval Office in 2016.

Reportedly, she "insists" on staying in the “presidential suite” regardless of where in the world she's traveling and "usually requires those who pay her six-figure fees for speeches to also provide a private jet for transportation — only a $39 million, 16-passenger Gulfstream G450 or larger will do".

This isn't the first time Hillary has made bad news involving finances. Not too long ago, Hillary took a lot of flack for claiming she and Bill were "dead broke" upon leaving the White House.

In fact, the former president spoke at the 2012 UNLV Foundation dinner, taking home a $250,000 fee. His spouse will get $225,000 to speak at the annual dinner. The size of Hillary Clinton’s fee has come under fire from critics who question the large expense in an era when students are hard-pressed to cover tuition and leave school saddled with massive debt.

Making matters worse for the former First Lady, her exorbitant speaking fee is only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to her demands.

But Clinton’s $225,000 is something of a cut-rate. Documents obtained by the newspaper show that she initially asked for $300,000 and reveal that she insists on controlling every detail of the private event, large and small, to ensure that she will be the center of attention.

“It is agreed that Speaker will be the only person on the stage during her remarks,” according to the May 13 contract the Harry Walker Agency signed for Clinton’s keynote address at the Bellagio.

According to her standard speaking contract, Clinton will remain at the event no longer than 90 minutes; will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people; and won’t allow any press coverage or video- or audio-taping of her speech.

The only record allowed will be made by a stenographer whose transcription will be given only to Clinton. The stenographer’s $1,250 bill, however, will go to the UNLV Foundation.

And Clinton’s demand for approval of all website material before it hits the Internet prompted a UNLV Web designer to grouse in an email that it seems “assbackwards in my mind.”

The foundation complied with Clinton’s wishes, however.

It has been a dizzying few months for big-time college football and basketball players, coaches, fans and the attendant media. How all of this will change college sports is yet to be determined, but without a doubt, we are in a new era. On the one hand, it is pleasurable to see an operation as bureaucratic, heavy-handed and corrupt as the NCAA take a few lumps. They ran themselves like you would expect a bunch of out of touch academia nuts would, which is to say, they had a rule for everything and common sense for nothing.

So afraid was the NCAA that Kentucky would buy basketball players or that Auburn would buy football players with suitcases of cash – that they made sure a poor kid playing for N.C A&T could not get a pizza or have his parents visit for the opening round of March madness. Only academic bureaucrats could have designed the NCAA rulebook. Which they did. Only IRS tax law is more cumbersome and nonsensical. (also designed by bureaucrats, I might add)

On the other hand, market forces of supply and demand insist that college athletes already had a pretty darn good deal. If not, rosters would go begging, and that’s not the case. There is more demand for these scholarships than there is supply – or put another way – there is more supply of good athletes than there is demand. This just is. Not that anyone on the NCAA’s defense team was smart enough to figure this out and say so.

Having said all that, some stipends for meals and some family travel should have been commonsense changes years ago. In fact, years ago colleges would allow for some meal and laundry money for athletes. And the rule about scholarships being offered on year at a time? Absurd. Many school have waived that option, but it was criminal in the first place.

The Landmark Rulings:

The first ruling was one that might manifest down the road more than it does immediately – and that is the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling that Northwestern University football players were employees – and thus could form a union. Reports from the inside say that while Wildcat players liked the ruling, they have very little interest in actually doing so. The ballot was secret, and not yet divulged – but that seems to be the consensus.

Unionization could well end up being a double edge sword for athletes – with a wickedly sharp back edge - and it seems as if the Wildcats figured that out. Be careful what you ask for.

Then, in rapid fire order came Maryland’s settlement with the ACC over conference exit fees, followed by the O’Bannon case against the NCAA and the splitting off of the 5 major conferences from the NCAA umbrella. Of these, the O’Bannon case is the most significant, but all of these issues are intertwined.

The ACC/Maryland settlement, combined with the Five Power conferences splitting off, probably brings an end (for a while) to the revolving door of conference memberships. This Pandora’s Box is shut -- for now.

I believe that led to the power schools and conferences readily agreeing to some of the O’Bannon ruling.

Concerning O’Bannon, it is a Pandora’s box that no one can fully contemplate yet. It will force some needed reforms, but the law of unintended consequences is always lurking – and often strikes shortly after a liberal judge has made a ruling.

Will this change the nature of the fans’ relationship with players, and schools? I think it might. Will the money factor be more important – in other words – will schools “bid” on players or will the stipend be a set fee? We love that universities compete on the field and on the court, but do we want to turn this into an economic competition purely? I don’t think so.

And what about the share of jersey and likeness revenues. It’s easy to think this is a good idea, but will the next Johnny Manziel cause dissension on his team with his big checks for jersey sales? You know, offensive lineman don’t sell jerseys, but they keep those that do healthy.

And all of this is likely to give even more advantages to the huge state universities - Ohio State, Florida, Michigan and Michigan State, etc. They all have more fans to buy more jerseys, and thus can indeed “buy” players from smaller schools simply based on that.

All of which begs another question: should Kentucky basketball return a percentage of its revenues to the citizens of Kentucky? After all, it is the name KENTUCKY that sells the tickets and brings in the donations. Did long before the current players were born and will long after the current players are off the team. If Manziel is worth something on the back of the jersey, what was Texas A&M worth on the front? Anyone who thinks the free market ramifications of this are one sided and simple is not paying attention. If the name Redskins is valuable to Daniel Snyder – and it is – then the name of a huge state brings incredible equity to sports teams.

Again, not that anyone on the NCAA defense team is smart enough to have said so.

And speaking of that, will those built-in fan bases remain as enthusiastic about paid players in the future? I think it’s an open question.

At this point, there are more questions than answers. I have my opinions, but this is now uncharted territory. Some of the changes will be good. Some of it will be bad. But almost all of it will be very different. 

Texas Governor, and 2016 Presidential hopeful, Rick Perry has been indicted by a grand jury. Rather ironically, as AP reports, Perry carried out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption, promising publicly to nix $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit unless District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg (who pled guilty to drunk driving) resigned. He was indicted by an Austin grand jury on felony counts of abuse of official capacity (maximum punishment 5-99 years in prison) and coercion of a public servant (2-10 years in prison). Perry is the first Texas governor indicted since 1917. We have one word... oops!

As AP reports,

A grand jury indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday for allegedly abusing the powers of his office by carrying out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption — making the possible 2016 presidential hopeful his state's first indicted governor in nearly a century.

 

A special prosecutor spent months calling witnesses and presenting evidence that Perry broke the law when he promised publicly to nix $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit run by the office of Travis County Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg was convicted of drunken driving, but refused Perry's calls to resign.

 

...

 

Perry was indicted on charges of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony with potential punishments of five to 99 years in prison, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years.

 

No one disputes that Perry is allowed to veto measures approved by the Legislature, including part or all of the state budget. But the left-leaning Texans for Public Justice government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint accusing the governor of coercion because he threatened to use his veto before actually doing so in an attempt to pressure Lehmberg to quit.

 

"We're pleased that the grand jury determined that the governor's bullying crossed the line into illegal behavior," said Craig McDonald, executive director of Texans for Public Justice. "The complaint had merit, serious laws were potentially broken."

 

...

 

Perry said Lehmberg, who is based in Austin, should resign after she was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunken driving in April 2013. A video recording made at the jail showed Lehmberg shouting at staffers to call the sheriff, kicking the door of her cell and sticking her tongue out.

 

Lehmberg faced pressure from other high-profile Republicans in addition to Perry to give up her post. Her blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit for driving.

 

Lehmberg served about half of her 45-day jail sentence but stayed in office, despite Perry's assertions that her behavior was inappropriate.

 

...

 

The indictment is the first of its kind since 1917, when James "Pa" Ferguson was indicted on charges stemming from his veto of state funding to the University of Texas in an effort to unseat faculty and staff members he objected to. Ferguson was eventually impeached, then resigned before being convicted, allowing his wife, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, to take over the governorship.

*  *  *

That'll teach you not to smile when President Obama visits.

*  *  *

Full indictment below:

Rick Perry Indictment

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

Back in the early 1990s, the North American Free Trade Agreement was one of the hottest political issues in the country.  When he was running for president in 1992, Bill Clinton promised that NAFTA would result in an increase in the number of high quality jobs for Americans that it would reduce illegal immigration.  Ross Perot warned that just the opposite would happen.  He warned that if NAFTA was implemented there would be a "giant sucking sound" as thousands of businesses and millions of jobs left this country.  Most Americans chose to believe Bill Clinton.  Well, it is 20 years later and it turns out that Perot was right and Clinton was dead wrong.  But now history is repeating itself, and most Americans don't even realize that it is happening.  As you will read about at the end of this article, Barack Obama has been negotiating a secret trade treaty that is being called "NAFTA on steroids", and if Congress adopts it we could lose millions more good paying jobs.

It amazes me how the American people can fall for the same lies over and over again.  The lies that serial liar Barack Obama is telling about "free trade" and the globalization of the economy are the same lies that Bill Clinton was telling back in the early 1990s.  The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with Paul Craig Roberts...

I remember in the 90′s when former Presidential candidate Ross Perot emphatically stated that NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) would create a giant “sucking sound” of jobs being extracted away from the U.S.  He did not win the election, and NAFTA was instituted on Jan. 1, 1994. Now, 20 years later, we see the result of all the jobs that have been “sucked away” to other countries.

 

According to an article by the Economic Policy Institute on 1/3/14:

 

“Clinton and his collaborators promised that the deal would bring “good-paying American jobs,” a rising trade surplus with Mexico, and a dramatic reduction in illegal immigration. Considering that thousands of kids are pouring over the border as we speak, well, how’d that work out for us?

Many Americans like to remember Bill Clinton as a "great president" for some reason.  Well, it turns out that he was completely and totally wrong about NAFTA.  The following are 20 facts that show how NAFTA is destroying the economy...

#1 More than 845,000 American workers have been officially certified for Trade Adjustment Assistance because they lost their jobs due to imports from Mexico or Canada or because their factories were relocated to those nations.

#2 Overall, it is estimated that NAFTA has cost us well over a million jobs.

#3 U.S. manufacturers pay Mexican workers just a little over a dollar an hour to do jobs that American workers used to do.

#4 The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States has more than doubled since the implementation of NAFTA.

#5 In the year before NAFTA, the U.S. had a trade surplus with Mexico and the trade deficit with Canada was only 29.6 billion dollars.  Last year, the U.S. had a combined trade deficit with Mexico and Canada of 177 billion dollars.

#6 It has been estimated that the U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every 1 billion dollars of goods that are imported from overseas.

#7 One professor has estimated that cutting the total U.S. trade deficit in half would create 5 million more jobs in the United States.

#8 Since the auto industry bailout, approximately 70 percent of all GM vehicles have been built outside the United States.  In fact, many of them are now being built in Mexico.

#9 NAFTA hasn't worked out very well for Mexico either.  Since 1994, the average yearly rate of economic growth in Mexico has been less than one percent.

#10 The exporting of massive amounts of government-subsidized U.S. corn down into Mexico has destroyed more than a million Mexican jobs and has helped fuel the continual rise in the number of illegal immigrants coming north.

#11 Someone making minimum wage in Mexico today can buy 38 percent fewer consumer goods than the day before NAFTA went into effect.

#12 Overall, the United States has lost a total of more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.

#13 Back in the 1980s, more than 20 percent of the jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs.  Today, only about 9 percent of the jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.

#14 We have fewer Americans working in manufacturing today than we did in 1950 even though our population has more than doubled since then.

#15 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, only 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#16 As I wrote about recently, one out of every six men in their prime working years (25 to 54) do not have a job at this point.

#17 Because we have shipped millions of jobs overseas, the competition for the jobs that remain has become extremely intense and this has put downward pressure on wages.  Right now, half the country makes $27,520 a year or less from their jobs.

#18 When adults cannot get decent jobs, it is often children that suffer the most.  It is hard to believe, but more than one out of every five children in the United States is living in poverty in 2014.

#19 In 1994, only 27 million Americans were on food stamps.  Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

#20 According to Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton University, 40 million more U.S. jobs could be sent offshore over the next two decades if current trends continue.

For much more on this, please watch the video by Charlie LeDuff posted below.  It is well worth a few minutes of your time..

So if NAFTA is so bad for American workers, then why don't our politicians just repeal it?

Well, unfortunately most of them are not willing to do this because it is part of a larger agenda.  For decades, politicians from both major political parties have been working to slowly integrate North America.  The eventual goal is to turn North America into another version of the European Union.

Just check out what former general and CIA chief David Petraeus had to say about this...

“After America comes North America,” Petraeus said confidently in answering the question about what comes after the United States, the theme of the panel discussion. “Are we on the threshold of the North American decade, question mark? I threw that away — threw away the question mark — and boldly proclaimed the coming North American decade, says the title now.” He also boasted about how the three economies have been put “together” over the last 20 years as part of the “implementation” of the North American Free Trade Act.

 

The “highly integrated” forces of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, Petraeus continued, will become the world’s powerhouse for energy and science. “There are four revolutions that are ongoing at various levels in each of the countries but foremost in the United States,” said the former CIA chief, who now serves as chairman of the KKR Global Institute. “The energy revolution is the first of those, which has created the biggest change in geopolitics since the rise of China since 1978.” The other “revolutions” include IT, manufacturing, and life sciences, which, “as highly integrated as they are, allow you to argue that after America comes North America,” he added.

When you hear our politicians talk about "free trade", what they are really talking about is integrating us even further into the emerging one world economic system.  And over the past couple of years, Barack Obama has been negotiating a secret treaty which would send the deindustrialization of America into overdrive.  The formal name of this secret agreement is "the Trans-Pacific Partnership", and it would ultimately result in millions more good jobs being sent to the other side of the planet where it is legal to pay slave labor wages.  The following is a description of this insidious treaty from one of my previous articles...

Did you know that the Obama administration is negotiating a super secret "trade agreement" that is so sensitive that he isn't even allowing members of Congress to see it?  The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being called the "NAFTA of the Pacific" and "NAFTA on steroids", but the truth is that it is so much more than just a trade agreement.  This treaty has 29 chapters, but only 5 of them have to do with trade.  Most Americans don't realize this, but this treaty will fundamentally change our laws regarding Internet freedom, health care, the trading of derivatives, copyright issues, food safety, environmental standards, civil liberties and so much more.  It will also merge the United States far more deeply into the emerging one world economic system.  Initially, twelve nations will be a party to this treaty including the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.  Together, those nations represent approximately 40 percent of global GDP.  It is hoped that additional nations such as the Philippines, Thailand and Colombia will join the treaty later on.

Unfortunately, most Americans are as uneducated about these issues as they were back in 1994.