Conservative Musings

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Friday, July 15, 2016

Gun Control Advocates Are In Favor Of Everyone Not Having A Gun, Yet They Will Not Do It For Themselves

Check out the following video by Project Veritas. Gun Control advocates will not put up a sign in their home that they do not have a gun but they want to get rid of all guns that others own. A bit of hypocrisy? We believe so.

Enjoy the video.

Conservative Tom

Here is the link:
https://www.yhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnNa-vLg89coutube.com/watch?v=cnNa-vLg89c

Things Usually Are Not What They First Appear And The Phhilando Castile Case Is A Great Example

GUESS WHAT WE JUST LEARNED ABOUT THE GUN PHILANDO CASTILE

WAS CARRYING….

All week long people have been crying foul in regards to the deaths of two black men at the hands of police.

Listening to them you’d think the police just walked up to two random black guys and killed them for no reason at all.

But that’s not the case at all.

While the death of Alton Sterling seemed to be more cut and dry (he had a long rap sheet and was accused of waving a gun at someone) the death of Philando Castile was anything but.

At least at first appearance.

In the now viral video the now deceased Castile lies in the front seat of a car having
just been shot. His girlfriend says he was shot while retrieving his license after
announcing he has a CCW.

Turns out those facts might not be the least bit true.

The shooting of Philando Castile seemed like the perfect, airtight case for anti-cop protesters to use against law enforcement. A man pulled over for a broken taillight reached for his wallet and said he was legally carrying a concealed firearm. A cop shot him with his child in the car, leading to his death.

Increasing the outrage was a graphic video of Castile’s death, shot by his girlfriend, Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds.

Things began to go downhill from there. First, the Minnesota county that would have issued Castile’s concealed carry permit said that he hadn’t even filed an application for one; the gun was being illegally carried.

Then, it came out that he wasn’t being pulled over for a broken taillight when he was stopped in Falcon Heights, Minnesota on July 6. He actually matched the description of a man who committed an armed robbery in the area the day before.

But what about the child, you may ask? Well, it’s not as if either Philando Castile or Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds abstained from doing things they shouldn’t have with their child in the car. New video shows that both of them would do drugs while driving with their child in the backseat.

The videos, unbelievably, were posted to Reynolds’ Facebook account.

Given the rather irregular look of that cigarette and Ms. Reynolds’, um, laconic demeanor, I’m going to assume that’s not tobacco.

Oh well. At least it was a one-time occurrence, something that happened while they were … oh, wait, there’s another video of Reynolds doing drugs in their car with their kid present?

In this one, Philando Castile doesn’t seem to be present (although it’s difficult to tell, thanks to the fact that Reynolds seems very impressed with her ability to inhale marijuana and dedicates almost every moment to filming herself). At 2:09, she also seems to intimate that she sells drugs, something that would intimate they were perhaps deeper in crime than just the average stoner couple.

Of course, I’m sure they never drove their daughter around while stoned.

This doesn’t mean that the shooting of Philando Castile was justified, and for all we know this could be a case for the courts. Whatever the matter, though, it’s not a case for the court of public opinion — especially when that opinion is manipulated by the omission of facts by the media.

And yet again we’re now being presented with what might seem to be a completely justified shooting.

If Castile matched the description of a criminal and was engaged in criminal activity (carrying an illegal gun) then it stands to reason the officer acted in fear of his life being taken away.
Now we can only assume at this point in time what exactly what happened.

That’s why we have to wait for a trial…and not allow social media and it’s lack of transparency determine where the guilt really lies.

Do you have a problem with people blaming the police before all the facts are in?

Another Reason NOT To Elect Hillary

If Clinton Is Elected, Get Ready for Taxpayer Funded Nationalized Health Care

Edward Morrissey

July 14, 2016

If Clinton Is Elected, Get Ready for Taxpayer Funded Nationalized Health Care

Imagine traveling on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, the ship that its makers famously bragged was unsinkable. The ship has just hit a massive iceberg, its famed compartment design has failed to contain the breach, and the bow is getting dangerously close to the water. Suddenly, one of the crew rushes up to you and says, “I know exactly what will save us …. Another iceberg!”

This week, that is exactly what advocates of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, prescribed for the ailing, byzantine Obamacare system. As the few remaining Obamacare co-ops collapse, despite billions in federal subsidies, Democrats want to revive a controversial component of their party’s original plan: the public option.

Citing competition concerns, Obama urged lawmakers to revive a Medicare-esque government plan, at least in smaller markets. “Adding a public plan in such areas would strengthen the marketplace approach, giving consumers more affordable options while also creating savings for the federal government,” Obama wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “I think Congress should revisit a public plan to compete alongside private insurers in areas of the country where competition is limited.”

The Daily News reported over the weekend that Hillary Clinton has backed the idea, although she has been less explicit about the idea. During the Democratic primary, Clinton opposed Bernie Sanders’ demand for “Medicare for all” as far too costly. Her campaign now says that she favors state-based, government-run plans to provide more competition.

Recall that the initial ACA proposals included the public option to combat the supposed corporate greed that drove health-insurance underwriters. A government-provided plan in each market, based loosely on Medicare, would act to keep excessive profits in check by forcing insurers to lower premiums. Profit margins for health insurers at that time were hardly at windfall levels; the average was a modest 3.3 percent in 2008, far lower than, say, the legal profession (14.3 percent).

Opponents of the public option accused the Obama administration of using the public option as a Trojan horse for nationalized health care by undercutting prices and forcing insurers out of the industry. Even some advocates admitted as much. At that time, Rep. Anthony Weiner (then D-NY) told Joe Scarborough in August 2009 that of course single-payer was the end game.

“You actually do want the federal government to take over all of health care,” the MSNBC host said. “I want Medicare for all Americans,” Weiner replied – a slogan that reappeared during Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2015. A month after Weiner’s admission, the Democrat-controlled Senate Finance Committee put an end to the public option. In its place, however, came federally subsidized co-ops. They filled the same role as the public option where they existed, and had two purposes – one explicit, the other less so.

The more explicit purpose, or at least the one touted by ACA advocates, was to provide more choice outside of the for-profit industry, in exactly the same manner that Obama demanded in his JAMA argument. The less explicit purpose was to prove that the government could run a health insurance plan better than private-sector corporations, despite their experience and investment in risk-pool management.

Unfortunately for Obamacare cheerleaders, almost every co-op has hit their own icebergs over the past year. In the past two weeks alone, two of the few remaining (in Oregon and Illinois) have closed their doors, leaving both patients and providers in the lurch. They have blamed a decision by Congress to limit risk-corridor payouts to taxes collected on “excess profits” by other insurers, but that acknowledges a core criticism of the public-option concept: they are incapable of sustainable operations without large infusions of federal subsidies.

As critics predicted in 2009, the public option in the form of co-ops turned out to be unsustainable. The biggest problem for Obamacare advocates is that they turned out to be far less sustainable than private-sector insurance, even under the onerous conditions imposed on insurers in the ACA’s mandates. The icebergs turned out to be so large that the government’s ships sunk immediately without general-fund dollars to keep them afloat, making arguments that the government could operate better than private-sector insurers.

The irony of using the competition argument for the public option should not be overlooked. As noted, the underlying motive of establishing the public option was to crowd out private insurers, but even apart from that, Obamacare has been the biggest threat to choice. During the debate over the ACA in 2009-10, Democrats argued that setting up exchanges and establishing national mandates on coverage would improve competition. Republicans argued that eliminating laws barring interstate sales of insurance would work better.

The results speak for themselves. After three years of attempting to work within the ACA’s framework, insurers are now walking away from numerous markets, and some suggest that an exit from Obamacare altogether may not be far off. They can see the icebergs on the horizon better than the government, and know that they cannot avoid them forever.

The argument for a public option now amounts to a back-door opening for the single-payer system that Democrats wanted all along. Unlike the co-ops, which didn’t have direct access to general-fund spending, public-option plans would allow the executive branch to direct funds on a nearly unlimited basis as an entitlement program, removing the barriers to a sea of red ink. All it does is rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking ship – and like the Titanic, there won’t be nearly enough lifeboats for the rescue needed from the coming disaster.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

French Terror Attack By "A Muslim"?

HORROR IN FRANCE! 73 FEARED DEAD AS TRUCK PLOWS INTO CROWD

'We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around'

Published: 2 hours ago. Updated: 07/14/2016 at 7:34 PM

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/07/Chelsea-Schilling_avatar-96x96.jpg

CHELSEA SCHILLING About | Email | Archive

image: http://www.wnd.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-print/images/printer_famfamfam.gif

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW.jpg

Images of the aftermath surfaced on social media following an attack in Nice, France, in which a truck plowed into a crowd of people (Photo: Twitter)

In another terrorist attack in France, at least 73 people are feared dead in Nice after a truck plowed through 200 yards of people in a crowd celebrating a national holiday Thursday evening, according to French TV channel BFM-TV.

In another incident in the same time period, the Eiffel tower was reportedly lit on fire in what French police said was an accident.

And at least three explosions have rocked Brussels, Belgium.

An estimated 150 people were reportedly injured in Nice. Witnesses say gunmen have taken hostages in the Meridien Hotel, the Hotel Negresco and the Buffalo Grill restaurant, the London Daily Mail reported.

Unconfirmed reports say ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Nice attack. Jihadist networks celebrated the carnage on social media, reported the Washington Post.

“Gunshots rang out in the streets, with gunmen targeting hotels and cafes in the port city as residents were warned to lock themselves in doors for their safety,” the Daily Mail reported. “Hostages have been taken in a hotel in the city. The RAID anti-terror squad has been deployed to the city.”

The vehicle ran into the crowd of people celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday on the Promenade des Anglais seaside sidewalk.

The truck in Nice was loaded with arms and grenades, said Christian Estrosi, president of the region.

The news came just as London’s Express reported the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, was ablaze after a truck filled with fireworks ignited the structure. French police say it was an accidental truck fire and has been extinguished.

The following is an image posted to Twitter:

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Eiffel-TW.jpg

Eiffel Tower appears to be burning in Paris after firework truck ignites, London’s Express reports

Meanwhile, as many as three explosions were heard through Brussels, Belgium, as a fire ripped through the capital city, according to the Express. The following photo was posted to Twitter after the explosions:

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Brussels-TW.jpg

The driver in Nice, France, reportedly aimed for people as they tried to run away.

Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice native, told the Associated Press he saw a truck drive into the crowd. Then he said a man exited the truck and began shooting.

“There was carnage on the road,” Bouhlel said. “Bodies everywhere.”

People fled the scene, and there were reports of loud explosions.

The station said the government is asking citizens to remain at home.

“It’s total panic,” a witness told the channel by telephone, according to the London Telegraph. “We saw a white lorry which drove directly into people on the Promenade des Anglais. A gunman fired into the crowd before being shot by police. Perhaps they are dead, I’m not sure.”

An Agence France-Presse reporter on the scene said he saw the white truck speeding toward people as they left the celebration.

“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around,” he said.

Another witness said, “It is absolute chaos. … Police are flooding the streets, including anti-terrorism officers. Nobody knows what to do, except to hide away. Gunmen are meant to be targeting hotels.”

GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump reacted to news of the Nice attack.

“Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France,” he said. “Many dead and injured. When will we learn? It is only getting worse.”

This was reported to be the truck that drove into the crowd:

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW3.jpg

More photos and video from the scene posted to social media (Warning: Graphic photos):

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW6.jpg

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW4.jpg

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW2.jpg

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/Nice-TW5.jpg

(Warning: The following video contains graphic images of the aftermath of an attack)

Developing …

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/truck-plows-into-crowd-on-bastille-day-in-france/#mfc42qMr7pFgFk3B.99